bitchprince | The Citadel, Camelot, Sunday

It was the first day of the jousting tournament. There was no place Arthur would rather be than out there, amidst the tents, observing his final preparations and discussing the oncoming matches with his knights. (And, perhaps, making it clear to them that he really did expect them to face him as they did anyone. It wasn't that he had anything to prove here, anymore - not after a year and a half of facing all kinds of warriors in Fandom - but it was terribly annoying, not to mention disrespectful towards the sport itself)

But other concerns called. Father had asked him to make his way inside for the final audiences of the day, before court adjourned towards the jousting field. In Fandom, it was halfway into summer by now; in Camelot, spring had only just truly began, and the audience chamber was awfully cold.

"I come bearing urgent news," said the next citizen. He had a young face and a clean tunic fit for a nobleman, but his accent was not that of Camelot's court. Arthur shifted on his throne and glanced silently towards his father.

[[ for wee ocd, Merlin and a bunch of NPCs; some spoilers for Merlin 2x02, although we go off page quite a bit ]]

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"I have travelled here from the far reaches of Northumbria," the man continued, "Several months ago, I found myself welcomed at King Odin's court. He... is not of the same humour as he once was. Not after the loss of his son."

At that, his eyes darted towards Arthur, almost guiltily.

"Continue," Uther said, steel-faced.

"I... served his Majesty for some time," he said, "He came to trust me. One day, he called for a guest. A dark and threatening man. I believe his name is Myror, an assassin. And I believe they made-- arrangements against your son. The prince." Arthur gained a slight, respectful nod of his head.

The frown on Uther's face deepened. "And you are sure of this?"

"I was there in person," he spoke, "Odin has put a price on Prince Arthur's head."

Arthur paced out of the audience chamber with determination grifted onto his face. He was not about to let news like this throw him off of his game - but it was certainly going to be harder to find time to train and relax between matches with the guards watching his every move.

"Merlin," he said, "Time to get my armor and lance - the tournament is about to begin."

Ah, Once and Future Queen, how we skate you by with various adjustments. (I swear, Merlin seasons only ever get truly interesting towards the back half, although every episode has its bits and bobs that are fun. Just don't ask

bigdamndestiny about the violins. The violins)

And epic lighting!

NEEDS MOAR BACKLIGHTING. And fans imagining strands of saliva that aren't there!

Aaaand look at that. Francine was going to be very frowny about this after he assured her nothing was trying to kill them this week.

Come to think of it, Merlin was rather frowny as well.

"...you're still going out there?" Arthur, this was Merlin's look of disbelief. So much disbelief that he would cause the Doctor to not come back by not believing in him.

That's a lot of disbelief.

"He wouldn't dare," Uther snarled, getting up out of his throne and pacing like a caged tiger.

"He's been maddened with grief, my Lord," the man said, carefully.

Uther's features became distinctly uglier. "I've heard of this Myror," he said, darkly. And picked up his sword.

"I believe he's headed for Camelot as we speak." A long pause. "I bring you this information at... great risk to myself." And lo, he got a small purse of coins tossed his way before being dismissed.

"I'm hardly going to forfeit the tournament just because there's an assassin on the loose," Arthur said, glancing at him like that was the most bizarre idea in the world. "What would the people think?"

"Oh, I don't know... that there's an assassin on the loose?"

"I stand for Camelot in this tournament." You know, in case one was wondering whether Arthur's head had achieved some less concrete-like attributes in Fandom. "With any luck, the guards will capture this... Myror before he gets anywhere near. And besides-- it would hardly do for me to look like some bounty is enough to scare me."

Merlin was trying very hard to not hit his head on the wall. Very hard, Arthur.

"Are you going to at least try to be careful?"

Arthur took a deep breath. "We've been over this, Merlin," he said, patiently. "Jousting. Not a pillow-fight."

"Yes, but no one was out to kill you then!"

"Merlin, I'm not throwing the tournament over this," he replied. Slightly less patiently. "I'm not a coward."

"It's not about cowardice," Merlin replied. "It's about something we call 'not dying'."

"Merlin," Arthur said. Pointedly. "I'm jousting. The people expect me to do so. And that's final." A pause. "You're going to take this as an excuse to sneak around, aren't you?" That's what we call a 'counter-attack'.

"...of course not." Well, duh.

Arthur shot him a sharp look. "Just don't cast any spells in public," he hissed, coming in closer just to make sure they weren't overheard.

"Well, that had been the plan..."

"Merlin!"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "This is hardly the first time I've done this."

"And I know you," Arthur said, dryly, and maneuvered them rather stealthily into an empty hallway. "Whatever you wind up doing, Merlin, be careful about it. Don't do anything stupid."

"Stupid?" Merlin grinned quickly, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek before anyone might see them. "Never."

Arthur took another deep breath, and shot him a look to indicate he wasn't Buying That but he was going to let it slide. "My armor, Merlin," he said, instead, "Time to get to the tournament grounds before we're late."

Edited 2010-06-27 16:37 (UTC)

I saw the ep with Morgana finally!!! And Merlin's big boo-boo move! ZOMG YEEE!

And tendrils!

The Citadel, Camelot, Sunday

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