Of Chores and Crowns (A Merlin Fanfiction) ✔

Chapter Two

Faye turned as white as a sheet and gasped, her hand flying to her chest. I felt dread pool in my stomach.

Nothing happened at first, but then the knight raced forward and grabbed both of our arms in his grasp. He yanked us out of the room and started towing us down the hall.

I stumbled at first, dazed about everything that was happening. Now that the knight had brought it to our attention, I realized I could hear screams and the clanging of blades. There was a battle raging throughout the castle, and I had not even realized it.

I stumbled again, and almost fell to the ground. That's when I noticed Fayelinn's expression.

She was petrified.

Her face was pale, and tears were streaming down her face.. She knew as well as I did that nobody was meant to escape alive today during this battle.

She looked so broken and dismayed, that I couldn't help but pull myself together.

My lady needed me.

I yanked my arm out of the knight's grasp, and moved to her side. The knight reflexively released her as well. I pulled her into my arms.

"Take up your sword and fight!" I snapped to the knight when he tried to grab us again.

He looked like he was about to protest, but with one glare from me, he shut up and armed himself. I clenched my teeth and followed after the knight as he led us towards the escape tunnel.

However, the closer we got to our destination, the closer we came to the battle. Blood splattered the floor, bodies were scattered here and there, and the sounds of war grew louder and louder.

When we reached the courtyard, it was filled with battling warriors. I tried to avoid looking at the dead, but it was hard. The knight led the way through the courtyard, protecting us from any attacks that came at us.

We were almost to safety when Faye slipped in a puddle of blood and fell to the ground. She started screaming, staring at her bloodied hands.

I knelt down next to her, forcing her to look at me. Tears streamed down her blood speckled face.

"Fayelinn, we need to keep moving, okay?" I said, searching her face.

She stared into my eyes for a couple of moments before nodding. I stood up, yanking her to her feet next to me. The knight started moving again, and we followed after him. The hallways on this side of the castle were even worse than the other side.

We were almost to the tunnel, when bandits came around the corner, surrounding us.

Faye choked back a sob, and I drew her behind me, prepared to die if I had to in order to keep her safe. The knight flung himself in front of both of us, his sword at the ready.

Faye grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly.

There were three bandits, and I was sure the knight could handle them if he had been alone. However, he wasn't and now he will be worried about protecting us, and not focusing completely on the battle.

With a yell, the bandits attacked. The knight let out a yell of his own and flew into motion, his blade flashing. He easily took care of the first two, but the third managed to get past his defenses. The blade poked out of the man's back right at us.

Faye let out a scream, scrambling backwards, as the knight fell, dead. The bandit grinned at us, his teeth glistening. He took one step towards us, making Faye scream again.

I acted without thought. I leapt forward, grabbing the hilt of the sword, and pulling it out of the dead knight's chest. I pointed the bloody blade at the chest of the bandit. He seemed amused by my actions, and chuckled, taking another step forward.