Mistress of Mercia

Four - The Knight's Demise

The tournament that Morgana had spoke of was quickly approaching, though Valda had no intention of entering. She had already realized that Uther didn't even think of letting her compete. Lily had suggested she dress as a man, but Valda only scoffed. She wasn't going to use foolish trickery just to compete against a bunch of self-righteous knights--and the ever egotistical Prince Arthur. 

Valda instead, spent the day in the library, reading and sketching in her book. She took to looking at the flowers in an agriculture tome, much to the chagrin of the library keeper, Geoffrey of Monmouth. He wasn't particularly fond of Valda, nor was he appreciative of her presence, but he only huffed whenever she entered the library, ignoring her.

The door opened, earning a gruff muttering from Geoffrey as a knight waltzed it. Leon was dressed in his armor, face scrunched as he peered at the disheveled shelves. When his eyes landed on Valda, he smiled.

"Ah, Your Highness," He bowed. "Your presence is requested by Prince Arthur."

Valda quirked a brow at him, slamming her drawing book closed, "May I ask whatever for?"

"Training," Was all the knight said.

Valda furrowed her brow, "Training? Doesn't he have enough knights at his beck and call to train with him, as well as a servant he seems perfectly willing to maim?"

Leon smiled, but shook his head, "Merlin has retired for the day," Leon explained. "Arthur still wants more practice, so he requested you."

"Tell him no," Valda reopened her book.

It was silent a moment, and she could've sworn she heard a pin drop.

"Pardon?" Leon asked, eyes wide.

Valda looked up, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face, which had Leon's stomach turning in unease. It was the kind of smile you saw a wolf grin before it swallowed it prey, "Tell the Prince that I am otherwise occupied, and will not drop everything to help him in this foolish matter, and tell him in those words exactly."

She might've felt bad for putting Leon in such a position, if she didn't know how much Arthur let his knights get away with. Only Leon, though, would she torment as such. It was just too fun to see his face turn pale at the thought. He was too nice to object, though, and simply bowed and left.

"A tongue like that will get you into a world of trouble," Geoffrey spoke from down the way, not looking up from his paper-cluttered desk.

Valda shrugged, even though he couldn't see, and went back to drawing.

~𝓜~

Valda was going to kill Arthur, she was sure of it. All day, without fail, he had kept Lily busy. Every time she would see her maidservant, she would rush out an excuse as to why she couldn't chat, usually with 'Arthur asked' tacked onto to end. She was sure he was going to run the poor girl into the ground with all the work, and Priamos wasn't much better off. After her refusal to train, he had poached her best knight, which left Valda alone with no one to talk to.

Instead of sulking, she simply fled to Morgana to vent. In the passed for days, they had become closer, with Morgana latching onto her like she was a drop of water in a drought. Most of their talks tended to center around Arthur, which made Valda a bit wary, but Morgana took up enough dead air for the both.

"I mean really, who does he think he is?" Morgana scoffed from behind her screen as she changed into her clothes, trying to pick one out for the tournament and subsequent feast. "He runs around all day, swinging his sword, and expects women to just swoon at his feet."