I Loved You Once in Silence

Valiant

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Camelot hosts a tournament in honor of Arthur and Morgana's engagement.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Word Count: 3676
Content Warning: None


And all the characters are owned by Julian Jones and Shine Limited.

Credits at the end.

News of Prince Arthur and Lady Morgana's engagement traveled fast. When Merlin left for the castle, the sun wasn't yet in the sky. Even so, peasant celebrations had begun. He couldn't go five minutes without seeing some drunk men stumbling around, or a woman proclaiming, "Hail the new Princess Morgana!" Though Merlin knew most of them were just using the proclamation as an excuse to break out the bonfires and gin, it made him feel sick to his stomach. Neither Arthur nor Morgana wanted the union, so why should the kingdom celebrate it? Not to mention...

Nope. Nope. Nope. Stop thinking like that. You'll get yourself killed.

His day started off as he expected--the cook showed him where Arthur's breakfast would be placed each morning, Gwen showed him where they kept the buckets for washing and clotheslines, and the royal housekeeper gave him his list of duties for the day. He woke Arthur, only to get a boot thrown at his head, laid out clothes and a bath, and waited for the prince to finish his morning meal. It wasn't fun work, but at least he wasn't being beaten to death by a javelin.

The day took a turn for the worst when King Uther summoned everyone to court. Merlin stood with Gaius and Gwen, doing his best not to stare at Morgana too much. She stood to the left of Uther with Arthur to his right. It would be dangerous for either of them to suspect anything.

"News of the marriage has spread throughout the kingdom," Uther began in a pleasant but official tone. Morgana and Arthur bore identical stoic expressions. "The people are rejoicing. I, of course, am overjoyed the plans have been met with such enthusiasm. I've decided to set a date for the affair--in the usual tradition, Prince Arthur and the Lady Morgana will marry at the full moon. The next full moon."

Merlin forced himself to clap, though he couldn't quite align his reaction with the ecstatic applause of the others. Arthur's clapping was a little too slow to be joyous, and Morgana's smile didn't quite extend to her eyes. When the clapping died down, Uther continued his speech.

"There will be a tournament to honor my daughter-to-be, extended to all the knights in the kingdom, in two day's time. Dismissed."

The throne room cleared until only Arthur and Morgana were left, with Merlin and Gwen standing awkwardly in the corner, watching them duke it out.

"I cannot believe he would do something like this without so much as a word!"

"Of course he pushed it forward, Morgana. The people are celebrating; he wants to ride the popularity while he can."

"Why are you defending him?! It's your future down the drain too."

"Yes, well, maybe I actually care about the well-being of the kingdom more than my personal feelings on the matter."

Morgana grit her teeth and stared him down for a horrible few seconds. Then, she stormed out, each clip of her shoes echoing louder than usual. "My lord," Gwen told Arthur with a dip of the head, then followed her mistress out the door.

"What are you looking at?" Arthur grumbled. "I need to prepare for the tournament. Get my armor, go on!"

That face told Merlin he was going to be the royal punching bag for the second day in a row.