Royal in Hiding

Chapter 19: A Quick End and a Long Mend

Merlin glanced at his companions before looking back at Filworth. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
Filworth looked upset slightly. "I'm Filworth!" He complained slightly.
"Right, so what do you want?" Merlin asked as his three companions moved closer.
"Well, I'm the King now, and you're under arrest. Your army have been slaughtered, you are out of moves." Filworth bluffed slightly.

Merlin raised an eyebrow but went along. "Really? Well, I suppose you got me."
"Huh?" Filworth asked, taken aback by Merlin's calm demeanor.
"Yes, I surrender." Merlin confirmed.

"What?" Mordred hissed, confused as to the situation.

"So, let us draw up the terms." Merlin continued as he moved, taking a seat on the throne. "My men will need to be adequetly fed and sheltered, obviously."

Filworth was struck in the middle of the room in confusion. "Uh."

"Then we must talk about our horses, they are quite expensive and I would hate for them to be malnurished." Merlin continued on, swing his legs across the arm of the throne as he took on a lax position that still screamed of power.

Filworth gaped at the King, nothing seemed to be working out to plan. "But-" 

"After that I must ask, how do you plan on taking care of the dragons?" Merlin finished, directing his question towards the supposed "King" before him.

"Dragons?" Filworth meekly asked, his face void of any color.

"Dragons. They love staying indoors believe it or not." Merlin continued.

"Indoors?" Filworth confirmed, his voice up in octaves.

Just then, the castle wall collasped. Avrae stood in the wreckage, fumming with fury.

Merlin and his three companions all scurried over to the dragon, who quickly lit the room on fire.

Filworth was shocked. He thought it would be easier to defeat Merlin but as the large fireball shot towards him, he realized that it was the end for him.

"She played me." He whispered just before the heat burned his skin.

Calavari grinned from her relm in Hell. "I did not play you, you were King for a short amount of time, and now, I will collect. Two souls for the freedom of magic."

Merlin felt power as he flew on Avrae through the town to where the final battle was taking place. "Lets help Aurther out a little." Merlin stated, dragons lowering from the clouds and raining hell on the soldiers left fighting.

It was a short battle, Merlin thought to himself later. Not worthy of the time and years he spent preparing for it. But then, maybe that was why it wad so short. After facing so many foes and learning so much, defeating Draegan and his successor was much easier because he had dealt with worse. In hindsight, Nimueh was a much more formidable opponent and Morgana had powers to be reckoned with. Yet he had defeated each in a few battles before. 

Merlin shook his head as he worked in his father's- no- in his office. Either way, the pain and rage he had felt for all those years didn't seem to have gained quite eniugh justice for the short battle that took place over a day.

"How did we lose to him the first time?" He wondered out loud as he shook his head.

"Because you trusted him." Joetta answered as she entered the room. "He betrayed you and your family in the dead of the night under a spell. There was no time." She continued as she went to lean against his desk. "But this time, you were prepared. You knew your opponent and you didn't underestimate him. You wasted no time in pretty words and got to business." She explained softly. "Like a King." She added.

"Who was Filworth?" Merlin asked curiously as he remembered the man who came to a swift end.
"Filworth was my Father's second in command. He was power hungry but was born into the position." Joetta recalled bitterly. "I didn't like him all that much." She paused and looked at Merlin. "Why do you ask?"

Merlin leaned back in his chair as he stretched, his hands cramping from the paperwork he had ti fill out. "He tried to take over as King after Draegan was defeated."

Joetta raised an eyebrow in shock and slight amusement. "Oh? And how did that end?"

"I think Avrae mistook him as a pig and roasted him in the throne room. Which has to be rebuilt." Merlin mused softly as he stared into Joetta's eyes.

"She didn't make any mistake, let me tell you." Joetta jested with a giggle. "What now?" She asked softly, serious all of the sudden.

Merlin sighed as he looked out his window. "We need to rebuild. We already have an alliance set to be hammered out in a months time over at Camelot with Arthur. Morgana has elected to stay here and become a lady of the court. We have a lot of refugees that we need to place. It's going to be a journey, but hopefully we can get Larcean back to her former glory."

"We?" Joetta asked with a smirk.

"Will you marry me?" Merlin asked as he knelt before her and offered a ring.

Joetta was silent for a while. She didnt have to think about her answer but she enjoyed watching Merlin squirm as she looked at him

"Well? If you don't want to that's okay, you still have that position of a ladyship open to you." Merlin stuttered nervously.

Joetta laughed and pulled his face up to her lips. "Merlin?" She mumbled against his lips slowly.
"Yes?"
"Shut up and marry me."
"Okay." Merlin agreed quickly before he paused.

"Hey wait, did you just? That's my job!" Merlin protested as he realized he just accepted Joetta's proposal and not the otherway around.

"No its not." Joetta corrected as she moved to leave the room.
"No it's not." Merlin agreed with a smile as the door clicked shut behind her.

Later that day, Joetta had the ring proudly on her wedding finger. At Dinner, the knights, Arthur, and Morgana all noticed the ring but were hesitant to say anything. Finally, Arabella spoke up. "It's killing me! Merlin, are you two getting married?"

Merlin and Joetta laughed as each and everyone at the table leaned in to hear the response. "Yes. We are."

"Finally!" Arthur shouted, earning a glare from Joetta. "Sorry, but it's true. We all saw it coming. You two cost me five silver pieces."

Gwaine grumbled under his breath. "I lost ten."

Slowly the rest of the knights except Mordred joined in with differing amounts.

Morgana glared at Mordred. "You cheated!" She declared as everyone shifted their gaze to the quiet Knight.

"Did not!" He denied before grinning. "I just took advatage of my desirable assests to make an accurate estimate that has now won me around one hundred silver pieces."

Merlin laughed loudly at the antics of his friends, enjoying the playfull bickering. "Just like old times." He stated with a grin before throwing back the rest of his wine.