AM I THE ONE? | Arthur Pendragon [1]

Confidence and Pride

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

    I took a deep breath while holding the knob with my hand, trying to stop my other hand from shaking, before opening the doors to Arthur's chambers, where I saw him, Merlin, and Owain. The three men turned around to look at me as they heard the door open and smiled at me, while I smiled in return as I walked up to them.
"How are you holding up, Owain?" I asked kindly, giving the knight a small smile. I befriended all of the Camelot Knights, including Owain, and I honestly feared for his life at the moment.
"I'm absolutely fine, Annabelle." He assured, before smiling at me again. "What about you? You seem nervous."
"I am." I admitted, before holding up a red stripe of cloth. "I thought you could wear it today. For luck." Owain smiled and grabbed the cloth from me.

*Third Person's P.O.V.*

    Arthur looked over at Annabelle and Owain as they smiled at each other, and felt a jealousy swirl in his stomach. However, his eyes also held pain, as Annabelle smiling at another man was just another reminder that she and Arthur can never be together. And that hurt the Prince more than anything.

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

"Thank you." Owain said with a smile as he held the cloth in his hand. "I shall wear it with pride. But I won't need luck." I shook my head slowly, looking down.
"Don't be so sure about that." I muttered.
"Sorry?" Owain raised his eyebrow as Merlin and Arthur shared a look.
"Owain, don't be too confident." I said. "It might be the death of you."
"Annabelle, you don't know what it's like to be a Knight." Owain said gently, before looking at me with a small smile. "I'll be fine." He then proceeded to leave, but I grabbed his arm as he passed me and forced him to stop.
"Listen to me, Owain." I said harshly while holding his arm tightly. "This isn't like any fight you've had before. This is a fight to the death, not a play-fight with wooden sticks!" I exclaimed. "Don't let your confidence take over your mind. Think with your head, Owain! Not your pride."

*15 minutes later*

    The deadly silence was interrupted by the sound of drums being played by some of the Camelot guards as the King made his way up onto the royal stand, while Arthur and Owain walked out onto the arena. Uther sat down in his throne as he stared at the Black Knight, who was standing as still as a statue while holding his sword by the hilt with both hands and keeping the end of the blade stuck in the ground, and the rest of us followed suit. Merlin, who was walking behind Arthur and Owain, stopped to stand next to Gaius, while the Knight and the Prince continued. Arthur said something to Owain quietly, before walking over to stand in front of the royal stand, while Owain and the Black Knight faced each other.
"The fight will be to the Knights' rules!!" Arthur announced, and hesitated for a second before continuing. "To the death!" He then made his way over to the stands. I gave him a small but nervous smile as he passed me, and he returned it, before sitting down on his father's left, while one of the Camelot guards took off Owain's cloak. Owain then handed the guard his sheathed sword so that he could put on his helmet, before grabbing it again, this time unsheathed, and getting into the fighting stance. The Black Knight then twirled his sword around professionally, before also getting into the fighting stance. "Let battle commence!" As soon as these words left Arthur's lips, the Black Knight charged at Owain, hitting his shield with the sword repeatedly. I cringed at every blow, and felt Morgana's hand grab mine in worry.
    The crowd made a small noise as the Black Knight slammed his sword against Owain's shield incredibly hard, making him stagger backwards. Thankfully, Owain recovered quickly and deflected the next blow. After a second or two, the knight hit Owain's head with his sword, but the helmet kept Owain from any harm other than the ringing in his ears.
"Come on, Owain." Gwen mumbled worriedly, making me grab her hand with my other one and squeeze it reassuringly. Although the truth is that I'm not sure if I did it for her comfort, or mine.
    The Black Knight tried to slice Owain's stomach, but the Camelot Knight quickly dodged the blow and held up his shield as the Black Knight slammed his sword against it multiple times. I gasped quietly as the Black Knight slammed his sword against Owain's shield with immense force, nearly making him fall down. The crowd also made a noise, and some people even stood up to get a better view of what was happening. At one point, Owain had enough time to collide his sword with the Black Knight's, but he only got three hits before the knight kicked him in the chest, making him fall down while everyone in the crowd, including me, Morgana, and Gwen, gasped in worry. The Black Knight tried to land the final blow, but Owain quickly rolled over and got back on his feet. The Black Knight didn't seem tired at all, and continued to hit Owain's shield with huge amount of force.
"One well-aimed blow!!" Arthur called to Owain in an urgent and worried voice as Owain was pushed onto the ground once again. The Camelot Knight, hearing his Prince's call, managed to get up slightly so that he was kneeling on one knee, and blocked the Black Knight's attack with his shield above his head. He then saw the opportunity, and stabbed the Black Knight in the stomach. I gave a sigh of relief, and felt a smile tug on the corners of my lips.
"Yes!!" I heard Merlin's voice faintly, but my brows furrowed when the Black Knight simply twirled his sword around and stood his ground, not even grunting in pain. As if he didn't even feel the blade pierce his body.
        The Black Knight then attacked with much more force than before, eventually pushing Owain to the ground. After another blow or two, the Black Knight brought his knee up and hit Owain in the face, making him fall down from his sitting up position and the helmet fall off his head. Owain was still in shock from the hard blow, and didn't have the strength to get back up; but it was too late either way. The Black Knight now stood above him, and grabbed his sword with both of his hands, before piercing Owain's heart with the blade.
        The crowd gasped and many turned around, as did Gwen and Morgana, but my eyes were glued to Owain's now dead and bloody form on the ground. My eyes filled with tears of pain as I lost a good friend, and the only thing I could see was the token I gave him on the ground, being gently pushed by the wind.
        Everyone was dead silent, and Arthur and Uther kept their gazes on the floor, not looking up. I could see that Arthur, especially, was trying to fight off the tears of anger and sorrow as the Black Knight simply walked over to standing the middle of the arena once again and took off his gauntlet.
"Who will take up my challenge?" His voice rang through his scraped helmet as he threw the gauntlet onto the ground in front of the royal stand, before grabbing his sword by the hilt with both hands and sticking the sharp end of the blade, which was stained with the blood of my friend, into the ground. I saw rage bubble up in Arthur, and my heart flipped as he got up as fast as lighting, and tried to jump over the wooden barrier.
        I didn't know whether to be thankful or not when Uther stopped him by grabbing his shoulder roughly, but another knight, who was also a good friend of mine, jumped over the wooden barrier and picked up the gauntlet.
"I, Sir Pellinore, take up the challenge."
"So be it." The Black Knight said, before his covered eyes snapped to Uther. He then simply walked away as Arthur, who was breathing heavily and fuming with rage, shook his father's hand off his arm. I blinked away the tears and stood up, not letting either Morgana or Gwen stop me, and left the stands to walk over to Merlin and Gaius. As I stopped next to them, my eyes glued on the Black Knight who was slowly walking away, Merlin put his arm around me comfortingly but also stared at the mysterious knight.
"Shouldn't you tend to his wounds?" Merlin asked Gaius, making our guardian look at him weirdly.
"He took a hit." I said, agreeing with Merlin.
"Owain didn't land a blow." Gaius said, confused by our point.
"No, I saw it." Merlin said, and I nodded.
"So did I. The sword definitely pierced him."
"Are you sure?" Gaius asked, although he wasn't very skeptical, which confused me slightly.
"Our eyes are quicker than yours." I said, glancing at him before returning to staring at the Black Knight's retreating back. "He should be dead."
"Perhaps he already is."