CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH ( ii. )
"Why are you wearing Arthur's shirt?"
Calliope stops chewing. She glances up at Morgana from the table as her eyes flicker down to the porridge in her bowl. She's barely been awake twenty minutes, and Calliope is not a morning person. She needs at least half an hour of silence before she can function as a normal human being.
When her blue eyes find Morgana again, who crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows in a knowing way, Calliope shrugs.
"Mine got blood all over it."
"Sure," Morgana says with a sly smile.
"What exactly are you getting at here, Morgana?"
The brunette adjusts her belt as her sword hangs from it in a decorative sheath.
"Just that you and Arthur have seemed really close the past few weeks. That's all," Calliope tries to seem unaffected by her words as she finishes her breakfast. "You two used to not be able to stand the sight of each other. What changed?"
Calliope opens her mouth to answer; she isn't sure exactly what she's planning on saying, but before either of them can find out, Arthur and Merlin come into the room, finally awake from their heavy slumber. Hunith fixes each of them a bowl of porridge.
When Arthur brings his nose to the food, his nostrils flare in disgust, and he carefully sets the bowl down on the table when Merlin's mother isn't looking. Calliope rolls her eyes at his actions. Sure, the breakfast doesn't taste like the fancy food he gets in Camelot, but it's all these people have. Would it kill him to show a little bit of decency?
And, he doesn't even dress himself. Merlin stands behind him, putting his brown vest over his shoulders. Arthur just can't stop acting like a stuck up prat, can he?
Morgana leans against the wall, watching them with amusement.
"Have you still not learned to dress yourself?"
"You don't have a dog and fetch the stick yourself," he glances over his shoulder. "No offense, Merlin."
Calliope swings her legs over the bench she's seated on, not being able to help herself from butting in, "You know, princess, I'm trying to see things from your perspective, but I just can't seem to get my head that far up my ass."
Everyone in the room chuckles as Arthur gives the blonde a look of utter annoyance. Hunith looks between the two, amazed that the prince would let someone speak to him that way.
"I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion, Calliope."
The blonde smirks, putting up her hands in surrender, but Morgana decides to take another playful jab.
"Oh, and Arthur, it was so nice of you to lend Cal your shirt," The other people in the room--Merlin, Hunith, and Gwen-- stop what they're doing. Arthur presses his lips in a firm line as Morgana walks over to him and pats his shoulder. "Such a generous gesture."
Calliope looks down at the dark blue shirt that's tucked into her pants because it was way too big on her at first since Arthur is much taller than her, and his chest is broad and muscular. Merlin grins at her, and she throws a narrowed glance at him telling him silently to keep his mouth shut.
"Prince Arthur," Hunith walks forward, breaking the awkward moment. "You didn't finish your breakfast."
"Didn't I?" Arthur asks, his eyes glimpsing down to the bowl of soupy porridge.
"Come on," Calliope says, standing up from the table with a glint in her eyes. "Eat up."
As Hunith walks away, Arthur sniffs a spoonful of the food, "Mmm," he says, peeking into the kitchen to make sure Merlin's mother isn't looking, and then he passes off the bowl to Gwen before nudging Merlin. "Right, we need to get going. We need wood, and lots of it."
Gwen takes a bite of Arthur's breakfast to make it look like he had eaten it while Calliope leans down to lace up her boots.
"Arthur said it was lovely," Gwen says as she hands the bowl back to Hunith.
Once Calliope has her shoes laced up, she rises to her feet and grabs her sword from the corner. They have to teach the village all about combat in one day because Kanen will be back in less than forty-eight hours. The majority of the villagers have never end held a proper weapon before, so gathers her patience--as much as she could ever muster-- and steps out of the house.
Arthur and Merlin are working on getting enough weapons for the men awaiting their training by the large patch of grass behind the animal pins. She glances over all of them. None of the men look like fighters in the slightest, but if they have the strength and determination to protect their homes, then they might be able to get further than anyone believes.
Sure, fighting requires a level of coordination and agility, but it's also a mental game. If someone is afraid, and if they let their fears and emotions cloud their mind, no matter how strong of a warrior they may be, they will certainly perish. A skilled fighter has a switch in their mind they can turn off to focus on the battle they're facing. Some take that switch too far and apply it to other areas of their life. Calliope fell victim to this for years. For so long, she felt nothing except a thirst for revenge. It's a black hole that some never escape.
Calliope is surprised she made it out. Sepharin, on the other hand, never did, and never will.
She's brought away from her thoughts when she notices Merlin coming out of the woods with more wood. A boy around his age follows him. That must be Will.
The young sorcerer brings the wood to Arthur and lets it fall out of his arms while Will comes to stand beside Calliope to watch the training session.
Calliope's eyes flicker over to him, "I hear you're not impressed with the prince."
"I think he's full of shit actually."
"I did too once," Calliope says through a small laugh as she pushes herself off the wall. "When I first met Arthur, I thought he was nothing more than an arrogant royal that only cared for himself."
"Isn't he?" Will asks, his arms crossing over his chest.
The blonde shrugs, "He wouldn't be here if he was."
She leaves Will alone by the house to contemplate her words. As she joins Arthur in front of the men, some of them eye her with suspicion; nothing new. She guesses they didn't see her fighting off Kanen's men, but they would change their opinion of her soon enough.
Arthur faces the men, lacing his hands together behind his back.
"I won't be able to teach you everything there is to know about fighting with a sword, but you can learn the basics. To start; the stance, how to parry a blow, and how to land your own."
Calliope leans over, "Do I get to demonstrate by hitting you a bunch? Because if that's the case, I am very excited."
"Calliope is an extremely skilled fighter, especially in hand-to-hand combat," Arthur says, ignoring her words. "Later, she will be showing you a few pressure points you can aim for in your opponent if you ever find yourself disarmed. We have a long day ahead. Let's get started."
The men begin with wooden staffs as they learn the proper footwork for swordsmanship. They partner up and memorize the proper form off of Arthur's counts. Calliope and Arthur walk around, carefully observing their movements and tweaking them when they are incorrect.
At first, some of the men seem hesitant to listen to Calliope, but she showcases her knowledge by how well she is able to pinpoint even one small detail out of place and explain how to correct it in a very professional way. They also notice how Arthur listens to her suggestions as an equal and works together with her to train the men as efficiently as possible.
By the time they move up to wooden swords, there is no hesitation when Calliope tells them to fix something, but she can sense the exhaustion in their bodies. Many of them start to have even sloppier form and struggle to hold onto their weapons. Their faces are drenched in sweat, and a few look like they might pass out.
Calliope walks up to Arthur, nudging his shoulder.
"I think they could use a break."
Arthur nods, stepping forward and raising his voice, "Alright, that's enough for now. Go get some water and rest for a few minutes!"
Absolute relief floods all of their faces as they set down the wooden swords and head for the well.
"I told Matthew to be our lookout," Arthur says as he walks to the well with Calliope to get some fresh water. "He took a horse and rode out to keep watch for any of Kanen's men."
"That's probably for the best. He was clueless out there, even with a wooden sword."
As the prince dips a small wooden bowl into the bucket of water, Calliope notices Gwen and Morgana walking up to them. She greets them with a friendly smile as she takes a turn getting water from the well.
Morgana stops in front of Arthur, crossing her arms over her chest, motioning to to exhausted men sitting on the grass, "Looks like the battle's already been fought and lost,"
"They'll toughen up."
"They need to," Morgana replies.
"How are we doing with weapons?"
"There isn't much, but we should be able to scrape together what you need."
Gwen glances at Morgana, "It's not the weapons that worry us. It's having enough people to use them," that's a good point. Even if the men suddenly became good fighters, Kanen had way more warriors at his disposal. "We think the women should be allowed to fight."
"You haven't enough men," Morgana says. "If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not."
"I think that's a great point," Calliope says, turning to Arthur with a smirk as she sides with them. "Any woman who wants to fight should be given the chance."
With a sigh, Arthur shakes his head, "It's too dangerous."
"You're letting Cal fight!" Morgana exclaims.
"That-that's different and you know it, Morgana."
She crosses her arms over her shoulders, "Why? Because you favor her?"
Damn, she's really digging into him.
"No, because Calliope knows what she's doing; she's...a better fighter than any man I know," Arthur glances over at her. "She can take care of herself."
Morgana has anger all over her face as she watches Arthur go back to the men and Calliope offers her an apologetic look, but she's not willing to give up. She inhales a deep breath before walking with Calliope to the prince.
When the men get back to their feet, Morgana calls out for everyone to hear, "You know, Arthur, I think these men will benefit from a little demonstration."
"Morgana-"
"What? Watching the two best fighters in Camelot have a little sparring match might be very educational." Really, Morgana just wants to watch Arthur get his ass kicked because she knows Calliope will win. She turns to the men. "Don't you think so?"
One of the men speaks up, "You did say she would show us some hand-to-hand combat."
Everyone around stops what they're doing--eager to see the sparring match. Calliope turns to Arthur, shrugging her shoulders with a sly grin.
"What's wrong? Are you afraid to get your ass kicked in front of everyone, Pendragon?"
Arthur looks to the sky, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Fine," he lets out through a long sigh. "Let's do this."
A crowd has gathered around them, including many of the women in the village. Morgana stands beside Gwen, a smirk on her lips as Merlin finds his way to the front. He also always loves watching Arthur get beat up by Calliope.
Calliope and Arthur circle each other like they are in a fluid dance; they stay on their toes, anxious to see who will strike first. The blonde has her fists raised in front of her face, her eyes locked with Arthur's. They've never sparred like this before--they always have used swords, so this should be interesting.
"You scared, princess?" She asks, quirking an eyebrow playfully and earning a chorus of chuckles from the crowd.
"Bloody hell, will you stop calling me that?" he replies in an annoyed voice.
"Make me," Calliope answers, a glint in her blue eyes that causes a new level of tension to rise between them.
Calliope keeps her patience. She watches him with a focused stare, aware of every twitch of his muscles.
Then, her patience pays off as he strikes first. Arthur throws a strong punch near her face, but his fist collides with the back of her arm as she deflects the blow and grabs his arm. She swings him around her body, using his own momentum against him. The blonde pushes the prince back, a clever smirk on her face as he turns to face her again.
Everyone watching the fight has wide eyes at how easily she avoided his attack, and anticipation takes over as they watch them circle each other again.
This time, Calliope strikes first. Her punch is quick and coordinated, but Arthur turns and blocks the blow from hitting his nose. He retaliates by throwing his fist into her side, but she grabs onto him, throwing herself up and using her weight to bring him down to the ground with her, and Arthur's back collides with the dirt--hard.
She recovers quickly, but he's on her again, fists flailing. It's back and forth: Punch. Block. Jab. Dodge. Any onlookers would think this is a coordinated dance. They make it look so effortless and easy, but both are starting to break a sweat.
"Ready to tap out?" Calliope asks as she throws a hard kick to his chest.
Arthur stumbles back, annoyed as always, "Not even close."
He lunges at her again, managing to get a quick jab to her ribs. She grits her teeth as he uses his bigger figure and strength to catch her into a chokehold. Calliope keeps her hands between his arms and her throat.
"Maybe you should tap out," his breath tickles her ear, but no she will not get distracted by how hot this fight is. Honestly, the best way to flirt with Calliope is to challenge her to hand-to-hand combat.
"Over my dead body," she exclaims as she lets go and brings her elbow into his groin.
The prince winces as Calliope brings herself to her senses and throws a quick punch to his jaw, knocking his head back before spinning around and delivering the final blow of her foot that sends him to the ground.
Arthur rolls over, bringing himself to a sitting position as the women in the crowd cheer. He shakes his head, accepting his defeat.
While Calliope helps him up, Arthur turns to Morgana, who looks very pleased with the outcome, "And that is why Cal can fight Kanen's men." He's never called her Cal before--always her full name, but something about her nickname coming from his lips makes her heart leap in her chest.
As the crowd disperses, the men surrounding them awaiting the rest of their training are suddenly glad Arthur was the one in the demonstration and not them.
♛ ♛ ♛
All the fun from training is brought to a sudden halt the next morning when Calliope hears a scream echo through the entire village.
Thinking Kanen's men have arrived early, Calliope grabs her sword and runs out of Hunith's house with Merlin close behind. Instead, she sees a single horse riding into the village with its rider hunched over.
An arrow sits in his back with a piece of paper attached to it. As Calliope gets closer to the scene, she realizes who it is. Matthew. The man Arthur sent as a lookout for Kanen's men.
"Get him down from there!" Arthur yells as some of the men grab Matthew's body and lower him down from the horse.
His lifeless eyes stare up at the sky as the prince leans down to tear off the note attached to him by the arrow. The villagers stand around in shock, some of them sniffling with tears.
"What does it say?" Merlin asks.
Arthur glances down, "Make the most of this day. It will be your last."
"Matthew! No!"
A woman, who must be his wife, drops her basket of food and runs up to him, collapsing over his body and letting out a loud string of sobs.
"You did this," Will's voice rises from the crowd. "Look what you've done. You've killed him!"
"It wasn't his fault," Merlin says.
Will points an accusing finger at the prince, "If he hadn't been strutting around treating this like his own personal army, it'd never have happened!"
"These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in even if you aren't!" Arthur retorts.
"You're sending them to their graves!" Will exclaims, causing Arthur to look down at the woman mourning her husband. "You've killed one man. How many more need to die before you realize this is a battle that can't be won?" Arthur breathes heavily as Will turns to his people. "When Kanen comes, you haven't got a chance. You're going to be slaughtered."
Will storms off with Merlin following close behind, and Arthur presses his lips in a firm line, his eyes overcome with regret at the sight of Matthew's dead body. Calliope can tell he blames himself since he was the one who told him to be the lookout, but he couldn't have predicted this. Kanen's cruelty is on a whole other level than they realized.
As the villagers pick up Matthew to move him, overtaken with grief, Calliope walks up to the prince. He stares at the men that take his body away, Will's words echoing steadfast in his thoughts.
At first, the blonde doesn't say anything. It's a small moment of silent comfort before she moves her hand to his shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Arthur. Will doesn't know what he's talking about--he's just afraid."
"Maybe there is some truth to what he says."
"No, that's not--"
"Look at those men, Calliope," Arthur points to the men they've been training. "They're not soldiers. We're fooling ourselves to think any differently."
"You're right. They're not soldiers. They're people who want to protect their home; their families. That carries much more strength than you realize," she inhales sharply, deciding to share something she thought she never would. "I know what it's like... to lose your home to men like Kanen," Arthur's eyes find hers as she lets a small section of her walls come tumbling down. "A raiding party attacked my village when I was nine. My father was slaughtered with everyone else and my mother was taken. I was the only survivor, and now when I look back, I would have done anything to save my family, no matter the cost."
His gaze softens at her confession. He's known her parents are gone, but never could have imagined it was because of something like that, "Calliope, I'm...I'm so sorry."
She gives him a nod of thanks, "The point is, if people are given the chance to protect those they care about, they'll take it. I know I would've, so fuck what Will says. If he wants to be a coward and run, then let him, but don't allow his fear to stop you from doing what you know is right for this village."
Her words are strong and convicting, and Arthur knows she's right.
The people of Ealdor will want to defend their home, and even if they fail, they will proudly go out fighting.
♛ ♛ ♛
hello everyone! i was going to try to cram all of episode 10 into 2 chapters, but it's an episode where a lot happens, and i feel like it's better as 3. i'm already at 3500 words, and we haven't even gotten to when they fight kanen's men, so we are ending it here.
as always, remember to vote and leave your thoughts in the comments <3 :)