Love Riders

Chapter 8: The Tournament of Love

~Two Weeks Later~

It had been two weeks since Evangeline had been kidnapped by Morgana and Sir Peter had been thrown in the dungeons. Ever since then, everyone in the castle had been taking extra precaution to make sure the girls and Arthur are safe. Arthur was still searching for Morgana while still trying to spend time with Evangeline. Victoria was getting to know Merlin a little bit more and bonding more with her sister.

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The girls woke up to Mariam telling them to quickly get up and go see King Uther. Once the girls were dressed in their everyday clothes, they ran into the throne room to meet their "father."
After the girls arrived in the throne room, they curtsied and went to their respective side. King Uther smiled at everyone that was in the throne room and said, "I am very pleased to make this announcement. Camelot will be hosting a sword fighting tournament which will pit knight against knight."

The girls talked amongst themselves and then stole a glance at Arthur and Merlin. After the meeting was over, everyone in the throne room went back to whatever it was they were doing.

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The girls went back to their room and had Mariam fix their hair into matching braided crowns. When Mariam was done with the girls' hair, the girls were out the door and onto their daily activities.

"Hey Eva, who do you think will win the tournament?" Victoria asked her sister as they were walking to their daily lessons.

Evangeline looked at her sister with a smirk plastered on her face. "I don't think, I know. I know that Arthur is going to win just like he has every other year in the past."

Victoria merely smiled at her sister and said in a sing-songy voice, "Somebody's got a crush!" Evangeline gave her sister a death glare, which only made Victoria laugh out loud.

Evangeline just shook her head and hid her face with her hands as she started to blush a nice shade of red. "Oh shut up! I do not!" Evangeline said to her sister through gritted teeth.

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Morgana had since come back to Camelot and apologized to everyone in her own way. Right now, however, she was with Gwen and the girls. They were talking, giggling, and getting dressed for the Tournament.

Gwen was doing Victoria's hair into half up-half down hairdo, while Morgana was helping Evangeline pick out a dress to wear.

"So, Tori...do you have a crush on Merlin?" Gwen and Morgana asked Victoria at the same time.
Victoria flushed and stammered out, "N-No. W-We're just friends, t-that's all. W-Why?" Evangeline laughed kindly at her sister's reaction, while Gwen smirked and Morgana looked at Victoria with some seriousness in her eyes.

"Oh, please. Don't give me that crap. We all see how you make googoo eyes at each other," Morgana said matter-of-factly as she handed Evangeline a green dress with a silver belt.
Victoria flushed a deeper shade of red, as she knew that she had been beaten. "Fine. I do happen to have a crush on Merlin. But then again, I'm not the only one here who has a crush on someone. Eva, would mind telling us who your crush is?" Victoria said trying to get her sister to admit her feelings toward Arthur.

Evangeline flushed and said, "I don't have a crush on anybody. Why would say such things?" Victoria looked at her sister and started to sing under her breath.

"Arthur and Evangeline sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, second comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" When Victoria was done singing, Evangeline flushed and even deeper shade of red.

When Gwen was done with Victoria's hair, Morgana helped Victoria find her dress. While Evangeline was behind the screen changing into the dress, she said something that made Victoria smile to herself.

"Fine. I do happen to have a crush on Arthur. Is everyone happy now that I have admitted that?" After Evangeline said that, Victoria smiled and grabbed her blue dress with a silver belt.
Gwen and Morgana smiled once they heard that Evangeline has a crush on Arthur. After Evangeline was changed into her outfit for the Tournament, Morgana did her hair into a braided crown.

Victoria took her outfit, went behind the screen and changed into her outfit. Then Victoria slipped into her matching blue and silver shoes. Once she put her shoes on, she grabbed a pair of matching green and silver shoes from Morgana's closet to give to her sister.

After Evangeline and Victoria were dressed in the respective outfits, they helped Gwen and Morgana get ready. Gwen ended up getting dressed in a purple and green embroidered dress with a purple corset tied together with gold ribbon. She also had a half up-half down hairdo and wore matching purple and green shoes. Morgana ended up getting dressed in a full-length purple and gold dress with a matching colored belt. She also wore her hair off to the side and wavy. Then she also wore matching purple and gold shoes.

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Once the four girls were dressed and ready to go, they went to the balcony part of the castle. King Uther smiled at the the girls, as he showed the girls the knights participating in the tournament.

The men were in a straight line behind King Uther. Gwen was off to one side behind Evangeline, Victoria, and Morgana. Merlin was off to one side behind Arthur.

There was one knight in particular who stood out from the rest. That knight just so happened to be Knight Valiant. He kept eyeing Victoria in a flirtatious way, while Morgana was making googoo eyes at him.

Merlin looked between Knight Valiant and Victoria, soon getting jealous and angry with the Knight. Morgana soon became resentful and furious with Victoria, because she felt that she was taking Knight Valiant away from her.

Victoria was currently speaking with Knight Valiant, while Arthur just so happened to be eyeing Evangeline in a flirtatious manner. Evangeline was blushing as she sent the same flirtatious eyeing back to Arthur. Victoria stole a glance at Merlin for only a second to see that he was hurt and fuming.

Once Victoria and Knight Valiant were done talking, the three girls greeted the rest of the knights. They all seemed determined to win the tournament, but half of them didn't look like they would make it past one second of it.

After the whole meet and greet with the Knights, Victoria tried to find a moment to talk to Merlin. However, Gwen was escorting the three girls back to their designated chambers.

That night Evangeline went off to sleep thinking of Arthur Pendragon, while Victoria couldn't sleep. She was up trying to figure out what she was going to tell Merlin when she saw him. IF she saw him again, he probably didn't want to talk to or see her again based on his facial expression from earlier.

Finally, Victoria went to sleep thinking of Merlin and what she was going to say to him even if he didn't want to see her ever again.