Defying Destiny - A Merlin Fanfic

Chapter 13

Later that day, Aria was back in the training grounds about to face off against Arthur. The Knights, Merlin and Violet were all standing on the sidelines watching.
Aria had a red cloth tied onto her belt to show that she was trying out to be a knight.

" Merlin, who is this man? Where'd he come from? Why is he so small?" Gwaine bombarded Merlin with questions.

" Trust me, you'll recognise them once they take off their helmet" Merlin grinned. Gwaine just looked at him confused.

Arthur started walking up to Aria who was still disguised as a man.

" Well, here we are, your final challenge. Succeed and you join the elite; fail and your journey ends here!" Arthur announced so everyone could hear " Peter, your time starts now! " Arthur then put on his own helmet and gestured for a servant to turn over the hourglass.

Aria and Arthur both drew their swords and approached each other.

Arthur swung his sword at Aria who easily blocked it with her own sword and pushed Arthur back. Arthur stumbled but quickly regained his balance and swung at Aria again.
Back and forth they went, Aria attacked, Arthur blocked, Arthur attacked and Aria blocked.

The fight had been going on for a while and from the sidelines, Mordred was impressed by the mysterious knight's skill. Not many people could keep up with Arthur in a sword fight for this long without making a mistake and having Arthur trip them up.

Suddenly, Arthur got blinded by the sun reflecting off Aria's armour and Aria gained the upper hand. he swept Arthur's feer out from under him, making him fall flat onto his back and his sword was thrown out of reach.

Aria placed the tip of her sword on under Arthur's chin. She was breathing heavily, out of breath from the fight.

" Do you submit, sire?" Aria smugly asked her brother.

Arthur looked around before suddenly trying to grab Aria's leg to trip her up but it didn't work as she quickly regained her balance and pointed her sword at Arthur again.

" Do you submit, sire?" Aria asked again

Arthur reluctantly nodded and let Aria help him up as the knights clapped and cheered.

" Right, we had a deal. I tested you, and you take off your helmet, that was our deal. Honour it" Arthur breathed as he and Aria put away their swords.

Aria timidly reached up and took off her helmet very slowly. Everyone was holding their breaths. The Knights in anticipation to know who the mystery knight was and Merlin and Violet worrying about what Arthur's reaction would be when he found out it was Aria underneath the helmet.

Aria finally removed her helmet and let her braided blond hair fall over her shoulder. It was slightly messy from where it had been under the helmet and from the fight. Loose strands blew gently in the wind.

Aria smiled sheepishly at her brother.

" Hello Arthur"

Mordred smiled slightly, amazed that Aria was able to fool everyone and make them believe she was a man. Arthur was speechless as were the rest of the knights, apart from Gwaine.

" Well, now the hight makes sense" The others just looked at him not saying anything.

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Night had fallen and Aria had been confined to her chambers for the rest of the day after Arthur found out she was pretending to be a man.

Aria was lying on her bed facing her window. Her armour lay forgotten on her dining table and she was only in her white undershirt and black trousers. Her boots lay at the foot of her bed and her hair was still in a messy braid. Ruby was lying by Aria's side whining as she could tell her owner was upset.