1. 𝕻𝖆𝖕𝖊𝖗 𝖂𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 • bbc merlin

𝔟𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔱𝔴𝔬

My dear readers. Ladies and gentlemen. I'm pleased to announce that we officially have a release date for the sequel to Paper Wings. Please give a warm welcome to...

RISE!

In a way to thank you all for the support you've shown this story, I've decided that I will update Rise twice a week – tuesdays and fridays will be the fixed days for this! 

The story will be initially released on May 13th, 2022, which is next Friday. You will get the prologue and playlist. Then, on Tuesday 17th, you will get the first three chapters – all at the same time! After that, you'll start getting one by one with each update. 

Now, without further ado, here is a sneak-peek of Rise! 

I put the knights through their first jousting drill on a sunny morning, at Uther's request. He kept insisting that 'lady work' with horses was useless, referring to my habit of doing liberty work in order to improve the horse-human relationships. I deeply disagreed, and I think that the results speak for themselves, but I figured that they were ready for bigger things anyways, and read an entire book on jousting in preparation.

"Alright, since you cavemen don't have pool-noodles, we'll be using pillows. Whoever hits their opponent in the face, wins," I instructed, nodding towards the big pile of pillows gathered atop a gable. "My Lady, with all due respect, jousting is about knocking the other person off the horse, using a lance," Sir Merrick told me, frowning in confusion. "Yes, I know, but this will teach y'all better reflexes and balance, so shush it, Rick," I replied with a pointed look.

Arthur watched from the sidelines, an amused look on his face. He refused to join my training sessions with the knights, claiming that he was too advanced for them. I liked to believe that I could possibly beat him at anything that involved riding, but I liked that he stayed out of the training, for I feared we would get into some sort of disagreement that could lead to a strain in our growing relationship.

Merlin helped me sometimes, when the Prince allowed him to put off his chores for a bit. Today was one of such days, and he'd be in charge of managing the pillows and the scoreboard – which was just a paper parchment with the knights' names on it. "Where did you get all these?" he questioned while eyeing the pillows. "Utah's room, don't tell him," I joked. The sorcerer snorted and rolled his eyes. In fact, I had bought them, but the thought of stealing them from the King had crossed my mind. However, in the end I concluded that purchasing them from the townspeople would be a nice way to help their struggling economy.

"Okay, here's the scoreboard. Whoever wins will go against Dallas and I," I explained, holding up the paper for the knights to see.

I'd always loved the idea of knighthood and everything that entailed: cool armour, heroics, and horses. Renaissance fairs were always something I enjoyed, but I knew it was pretty much an impossible dream in medieval England, given that I'm a female. I'd brought it up to Uther one time, but he'd quickly turned it down. So I figured that if I challenged the knights and bested them, I could get the King to reconsider. Or at least to agree that I'd make a good one.

"We cannot joust against you, my Lady," Leon argued with a wary look. "Shush it, Lee. I'm the boss here," I scolded.

"He is right, Astraea. You could get hurt," Arthur jumped into the conversation. "You're not a part of this, Prince Charming!" I called to him with a playful glare. He simply rolled his eyes.

"Okie dokie. Gareth, Lowell. You're up," I stood next to Merlin and watched as the two aforementioned knights readied their horses, each on one side of the training arena. "Ready...set...go!" I called out, and the two horses charged at each other.

Thank you again for the love and support! Expect to find Rise on my profile on May 13th!