Knight of Old [Noble Merlin AU]

Snake Combat Tactic

In case you were wondering, chapter one's alternate title is as follows: In which Lord Merlin beats up an Old Lady.

Alright, on to the show!

...

While Knight Valiant was off gallivanting with his new sheild, Merlin was adjusting to court life. Uther thought it best if Arthur and him trained one-on-one. He secretly wondered if it was because he had actually beaten Arthur in a fight, twice even. So here they were, wacking each other. Merlin hitting Arthur senseless in his turn, while Arthur tried to teach Merlin battle instincts.

"Head!"

THWAK.

"Sheild!"

CLINK.

"Body!"

BUMF.

"Sheild!"

DOING!

"Ow! That was my head. Prat."

"Merlin, how am I ever going to get you battle-ready if you don't exspect the unexspected?" the blonde demanded.

Merlin readjusted his mail while the prince rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's again then. But after that, we're having an actual duel. I can beat you and your shoddy foot-work any day!"

"Oh ho ho! That's a bet I know you'll lose."

"Then shall we? My Lord."

.

Later that night was the welcome feast for the tournament the King held every spring. Gwen wasn't sure how she felt about surving at it; not at all. At least she got to see friendly faces around. Arthur was laughing along the other meat heads. Typical.

Merlin seemed to have struck up a conversation with Sirs Leon and Bedivere. He was smiling while the others told him stories. Gwen didn't want to admit it, but somehow he could pull off armor. The thought had her blushing, so she turned away before Merlin could see it. It was improper for two people of their statuses to be together. Gwen turned to see Morgana staring dreamily at the raven.

.

Morgana finally worked up the nerve to talk to Merlin. Thankfully, it was actually acceptable for her to spend time with the newest knight, and she planned to do just that.

"Hello Merlin. Are you ready for the tornament tomorrow?"

.

He made his way down to the cave walking like a zombie, which wasn't entirely wrong. That damn training was going to kill him soon; especially because Arthur thought he needed more practice. Stupid Arthur. Stupid Training. Stupid, stupid Destiny. He couldn't just be normal, nooo he had to special.

Merlin continued stomping down the steps, landing at the bottom with a great huff. At least he had one person (*cough* dragon *cough*) he could to about anything.

"Uhh! I ache all over. Is this what's like to be old?" he stared.

"Merlin, I may be old, but I'm not that old!" came the dragon's indignant reply.

"Fine, fine, you win Kilgharrah. What did you want to speak about?"

The beast just shook his head. "I was going to tell you more about the Old Knights, but now I'm not so sure."

"What?! No! Please, I'll be good; I want to know more!"

A deep chuckle filled the cave. "Very well, I will tell you. Hmmm were to start... ah yes that's it; the begining. Long ago this land was in a constant cycle of blood shed and war. One man was destined to change that. He was going to unite the lands under peace and joy. Yes Merlin, that was Bruta- Camelot's first king. Bruta decided the best way to do this was to rally the Knights of Old together.