It had been eight long years since Adeline Dartmouth and Arthur Pendragon had seen one another. The two, once attached at the hip, are reunited when Camelot hosts a festival that brings some of the most important and royal families from across Albio...
The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly over the large group gathered in the grandstands to witness the first of many tournaments to come over the coming weeks. Thankfully, the wind picked up a little, making for a comfortable event. The crowd was busy chatting amongst one another, waiting for the main event to begin.
"Out of all the events to start the festival with, you wouldn't think it would be one as exciting as a sword fight," Chloe commented as she and Adeline took their seats in the center of the stands. "You would think that would be saved for later. More drama, you know."
"I guess Uther wants to start on a high note. Get the citizens eager to see what's next," Adeline replied, looking around the arena. "And it looks like it's working. The knights will have quite the audience."
"I'm looking forward to it," Chloe bounced with elation. "I've never seen a fight like this before."
"You are in for a big treat," Morgana and Gwen sat directly behind the two women, smiling at the pair in greeting. "Only the best of the best signed up for today's sword fight, so we are going to get some intense action."
"Any bets on how it will play out?" Adeline asked them.
"Well, Arthur is the best knight in Camelot, no doubt," Morgana started. "But I haven't seen any of the other knights from neighboring kingdoms are with a sword, so it's anyone's match today. Should be fun!"
Adeline shook her head in agreement before turning her attention back to the field. The men were slowly making their way to stand before the king, who was going to announce the beginning of the sword fight. Morgana was right, they were in for a fun day. Arthur, unsurprisingly, led the pack. Dozens of visiting knights flanking him on either side. Adeline's chest swelled with pride. He winked at her, making her turn a bright shade of red.
"Knights of Camelot and visiting kingdoms," Uther's voice bellowed through the stadium. "Today you will be competing in the first of many exciting events taking place within the city. Today, you will put your swordsmanship to the test to see which of you has the best skill in the realm. Keep it clean, and may the best knight win!"
Cheers erupted amongst the crowd as all but two knights exited the field. Two knights unfamiliar to Morgana, Gwen, Chloe, and Adeline stood before one another, ready to fight.
"Begin!"
Immediately, the knights jumped into action. Swords clanging loudly as the men danced around one another. Though none of the four women knew who they were, they were all very impressed with the skills the men possessed.
"If all the knights are like this, Arthur might have some stiff competition," Chloe commented, when the man in the orange cloak pinned the one in blue to the ground. One down, many more matches to go.
"I hope he doesn't let his head get in the way," Adeline agreed.
"Arthur, get his big head in the way? Never!" Morgana laughed.
+++++
Merlin's mind was spinning. The young warlock didn't get much sleep the night before. He'd been thinking about the possibilities of what could potentially happen that day. What those women he and Chloe overhead at the feast last night. Of course, he had been assuming the worst of the worst to happen, but as he watched Arthur breeze through his second match that afternoon to no problems whatsoever; maybe he'd been overthinking things. Perhaps they had been wrong after all.
"What's with that face?" Arthur's voice broke Merlin's concentration once the blond entered the tent. "We're winning. Should be happy."
"Technically a bunch of knights are winning. You're just part of the ones that are continuing on," Merlin stated.
"You don't have to be a jerk about it," Arthur tossed his sword on the table. "Now we sit and wait again. You'd think my father would have thought the details through."
"Gives you a chance to catch your breath," Merlin shrugged, folding one of the corners of the tent open, observing the crowd. "Notice anything strange out there?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Arthur commented. "Maybe you misheard."
"No, no, Chloe and I distinctly heard them say something was going to happen today," Merlin said.
"Or they realized how terrible of an idea trying to use magic with all of these witnesses around," the prince joined Merlin in watching the crowd. "I wouldn't risk it, if I was them."
"Hmm," Merlin's eye landed on the blonde maidservant he'd grown to like in the last few days. "Or perhaps it's the perfect time since everyone is so occupied with the fighting going on."
"We'll have to wait and find out," Arthur said. "Ada and Chloe seem to be enjoying themselves. They don't look very worried."
"They do, don't they?"
"You like her." It wasn't a question.
"Sure, Chloe is very nice."
"Not like that, Merlin," Arthur chuckled. "You like like her."
"Like like? What are we, ten?" Merlin asked. "And me? You seem to forget that I found Ada in your rooms this morning."
"And?" Arthur watched Ada laughing with the other women. "We were clothed."
"Thank goodness for that," Merlin mumbled. "Will that be a common occurrence?"
"Most likely."
"Good to know."
+++++
What a long day. Adeline was tired, and she knew everyone around her was too. The heat of the day finally lifted, and the final match was about to begin. Took long enough, but to no one's surprise; Arthur made it to the finals. His challenger was a knight none of them knew. The knight's name was Andrew, from a small village of little to no importance. He was an outstanding fighter, however. Arthur was going to have a hard time beating the knight in purple.
Both Andrew and Arthur were losing steam. Adeline could see that, and it wasn't surprising in the least. Though they had breaks between each fight, the toll of the day was waning on them. Arthur's footwork was getting sloppy. His blows weakening with every passing moment. It wasn't looking good.
"Oh my," Morgana gasped, the four women rising to their feet alongside the others in the stands, as Andrew pinned Arthur to the ground. His sword inches from his neck. "I don't think I've ever seen Arthur lose a sword fight before."
"It was a very valiant effort," Gwen clapped along with the others. "Talk about entertainment."
"Artie is going to beat himself up about losing, you know," Adeline joined in, observing the two knights in front of her, Andrew helping Arthur to his feet.
"He is going to need some extra care tonight, Ada," Chloe joked, causing Adeline to blush.
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Knight Andrew
*****
Long time, no update. Not sure why, but this chapter took forever to put into words. I just wanted to get it out to you as soon as I could, so the next one will be the continuation of this. In a way, that is.
Question for you readers, do you prefer longer chapters or shorter chapters?
