Merlyn - Arthur x Female Merlin [1]

Chapter Seven: Armour

Merlyn had been learning how to be Arthur's servant for the past week. She hadn't actually worked for him yet but that was coming. First, she had to learn where everything was in the castle, how you addressed the nobility; just basically how everything is run. But now her training was over. Camelot was holding a tournament that Arthur was going to compete in which meant he needed a servant. Merlyn had been serving the prince all day and had gotten word that he wanted to practice and apparently he had asked for Merlyn specifically. why she had no idea, she thought that he had plenty of knights to pick on.

Merlyn finally had made her way down to the training grounds outside of the barracks to where Arthur was waiting. She made sure she was wearing her trousers, tunic and corset. He was practicing the motions of sword fighting on his own; Merlyn stood and watched him as he swiftly made his way through various moves. He was good. Light on his feet, apt with his sword, good posture; Merlyn couldn't deny it, the man was a good swordsman. Granted he should be since he had been training since birth. Once Arthur had gone through his actions, Merlyn saw the confident smirk on his face – he knew he was good. Unable to stop herself Merlyn called out

"Arthur, I thought you'd be trained to fight since birth. That's pretty shoddy footwork for a lifetime's worth of training. You should fire your teacher." At her voice, Arthur swung around. For a one moment, Arthur looked down at his feet. He actually frowned at his feet for a moment before he registered the smirk that was on Merlyn's face. She was teasing him, aggravating him on purpose! Merlyn couldn't help the smirk that can onto her face.

"There is nothing wrong with my footwork" Arthur replied, "And you can't address me as 'Arthur', its either Sire or My Lord." Merlyn sighed as she spotted the armour, sword, mace, shield and various other weapons set aside. She quickly made her way over to the pile.

"Yeah, no" Merlyn replied, "It's either Arthur ... or ... Prince Prat." Arthur stabbed his sword into the ground and glared at Merlyn as she picked up a shield and sword. Arthur couldn't believe the girl. Why had his father made her his servant?"What?"

"You will address me properly" Arthur said before he watched Merlyn move away from the pile of armour and weapons, the shield securely on her arm and the sword held tight in her right hand. She stopped when she was a metre or so in front of him. Suddenly, Merlyn fell into a fighting stance, her shield towards Arthur and her sword pointing straight at him, level and ready.

"Make me" she said, the dare clear in her blue eyes. Arthur couldn't help the small smile that came to his face. Reaching for his sword, he yanked it out of the ground and grabbed his shield before falling into the same fighting stance.

"You should be wearing armour"

"Don't like it, too heavy." Suddenly, blade clashed with blade. For the next few hours, Arthur and Merlyn fought one another, neither one ever really getting the upper hand. The swords and shields being expertly used. Arthur couldn't help but admit that Merlyn was an excellent fighter. She was able to hold her own against him with a sword – yes, he saw the areas she needed improvement in but considering she came from a farming village she was amazing.

However, once their training was over every one of Merlyn's muscles hurt. She had never fought for that long before and it was killing her muscles. Towards the end of their training session, Merlyn was getting knocked on her ass more and more. Finally, Arthur had called it and allowed Merlyn to return to her chambers. When she got there, Gaius was working on something but Merlyn had no idea what. Once she was inside the room, she dropped the armour she had to carry back to her chamber – she had Tournament etiquette to learn and having the armour was going to help her learn how to actually put it on a knight.

"So, how was your first day as Arthur's servant?" Gaius chuckled at Merlyn's tired expression.

"Everything hurts" Merlyn whimpered. Gaius only laughed at the young witch. "You know you're supposed to be supportive?!"Swiftly, Merlyn undid her bodice and threw it on a nearby chair. She sighed in relief as her abdomen was freed from the constraints. As Merlyn sat down at the table Gaius came up behind her and began massaging her shoulders.