Lady Knight Missione (Merlin fanfic)

Chapter Nine

Even though I am at the 'hard skill level,' Alex and Elie are still a year ahead, leaving me one year behind, even if I am a year older then Alex and she younger then Elie as well. I am scared for the future, not for just mine but for Elie's and Alex's, and also Al's. Al who will most likely be left alone, which may put too much strain on the older man to run this household alone. He looks old enough to be my grandfather and even though he is stronger than most in so many different ways, he won't stop aging, no one does. I will be worried for a very long time.

This year is Elie and Alex's last and my second last, they will finish their training and no doubt be gone before I even start my last, leaving me and Al alone. I don't want them to leave for my own selfish reasons which are that they are my friends and I will miss their company and insight dearly. This is not my only reason for the other is my increased worry for Al who looks to be in his early ninety's, his years are catching up to him. These thoughts plague me for the next and last year, so much so that sometimes I can rarely sleep.

Summer comes and the last day of the 'hard' level come with it, and tomorrow I will start the 'expert' level or last level, alone. We all gather in the common room and have a wonderful dinner that Al insists he cook himself which is delicious as all Al's meals are. He is a fine chef. Even Alex says, "Not bad."

We are greedily eating the food faster then I think we ever have, considering this is our first meal, (long story) and Elie isn't nagging us for eating with lack of grace which has somehow over the years embedded in my brain, but not tonight. I am almost done my second helping when Al surprises us all by saying something that eases my worry and gives me better peace of mind, but only a little, "Alex and Elie, I know this was your last year and you probably want to leave. I am an old man though and it is getting harder to stress my body like I used to. I also know that Missy wants to learn the last of what I know about swordsmanship. So of it's not too much to ask for I would like you to stay another year and help me teach Missy."

"Of course." They say in unison.

I look over at Al surprised by what he said but also grateful and when our eyes meet, he winks. I smile a small smile as I realize that he is doing this for me and for them. He has a way of knowing certain things and so in thanks I place the last piece of bread that I snagged from Alex and Elie's reach beside his bowl. He picks it up and dips it in his soup, eating it up in one gulp. Patting his stomach he smiles to me and I nod back with my own smile.

The year passes by with little to no surprising events and the only ones that are noteworthy are the silly situations that each of us foolishly got ourselves into, and of course the birth dates of each of us. We never acknowledge Al's turning of age for he says that he is too old. So first comes Elie's who turns twenty one and since where I come from at the age of twenty one is the age where you are allowed legally to drink alcohol, I borrow some from Al and give a glass to Elie. Let's just say it is stronger than I thought because for the whole night he is singing at the top of his lungs and the next morning he is very ill. Alex's is next, turning nineteen in the month of the new year and for her I travel to her parents grave marks, bringing back small pieces of rock from each. I bring it to the blacksmith who accepts my plea for help and I get the stones set on a chain which is the gift I give her. Last is my birthday when I turn twenty years just as spring comes. Elie gives me a pair boots which I badly need a new pair of, Al gives me the day of chores off and Alex a cloth band that has my and all of our names stitched into it to tie my hair together. It is a good year.

Summer comes and my last lesson is taught by Al which is more than just the skills of how to use a sword, and it goes well. It is educational and changes my views on a few things but it never wavers the goal I set out not a few years ago, which is to become a Knight of Camelot. So after we are finished we go inside where Alex and Elie have a cooked meal ready for us all to eat and to celebrate.

After a while Al leaves us, complaining of tiredness and retires to his room, leaving us three alone to talk. So that's what we do for most of the night, we talk, first we joke and reminisce about the good old times in the past when we were just kids, then we talk about recently, now, and finally the future which is where I admit what I dream of.

"The truth is my friends, I very much want to go to Camelot and become a Knight." I tell them.

"And I want to go to Camelot as well in hopes of finding my brother there." Says Alex.

"I want to return home, but not yet, first I want to travel and see the sights, and I want to go to Camelot as well." Tells Elie as he looks longingly at Alex. He would follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond if she wanted. I feel a ping of jealousy in me at the looks that he and she give each other. What I wouldn't give to have what they have.

"Then we shall go together." I say.

"And no matter what we shall always return here, every summer just in case we get out of each other's company, and to visit Al who has given us so much." Suggests Elie.

Alex lifts her glass that may have some ale that we may or may not have borrowed from Al into the air, me and Elie follow suit as she says, "We shall make this solemn promise, here and now, among friends, more than friends," she winks at Elie, "maybe enemies" she glares at me, but it's in a playful way, "but always ally's." She looks at both of us. "Here, here!"

We clinked our three glasses and the promise is sealed.

....

I am in need of a horse since I never obtained one when the others did for I was sick at the time, paying the price of going out in the freezing rain. So the next day I set out to the village close by alone which I insist upon, and it takes a few days. When I arrive it is mid-day and already the village is full with life as people are everywhere. I come across the stable and as soon as I see her, I know that she is my steed. She is a dark brown beauty, only not yet a year old and already trained. I name her Nadine. As I pay for her I make small talk with the owner who informs me that King Uther died a few years ago and Prince Arthur is now King Arthur, Camelot is now under the reign of King Arthur himself. I am surprised but also happy in a way that it is him and not his father, for I have heard none too pleasant things about King Uther. I leave the stable hand and ride Nadine out into the forest and back to Al's.

I ride the rest of the day and stop, making camp to spend the night, which I do. The next day after some food for me and Nadine we leave towards Al's. When we arrive, I am greeted with a sight that I know I will never forget.