The One Where All The Knights Love Fem!Merlin

Lancelot

It really was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping and the plants were all radiating with life. Merlin knelt down at the root of a tree, gathering mushrooms for Gaius and placing them in a basket. 

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Merlin looked up at the strange sound. She turned around to see a large, winged, creature charging towards her. Forgetting her basket, Merlin made an attempt to outrun it, but she tripped on a tree root. She cursed her clumsy self and closed her eyes in anticipation, knowing that she was about to be eaten. 

Instead, Merlin heard a battle cry as a man jumped in front of her, swinging his sword at the creature. Unfortunately, the sword broke the moment it hit the creature. "Run!" The man cried. He grabbed Merlin by the arm and they ran to a fallen tree, jumped over it and hid behind it. The creature flew away. 

Out of breath, Merlin looked over the tree. "It's gone. You saved my life. I'm Merlin."

"Lancelot," the man said before falling unconscious. Lancelot's hand, which was holding his side, fell, revealing a growing blood spot.

-

Somehow, Merlin was able to drag Lancelot to Gaius' chambers. Together, they lifted Lancelot onto the patient bed. Gaius immediately got to work. "The wound itself is superficial," he said. "The fever will pass, and he should be fine by morning."

Sure enough, Lancelot was up and moving the next morning. 

Lancelot looked out of the window in Gaius' chambers. "Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of coming here. It's my life's ambition. I know that  I expect to much. After all, who am I? They have their pick of the best in the land."

"Lancelot," Merlin interrupted.

"Yes?"

"I'm sure they'll love you."

"I would not be too sure, Merlin," Gaius interjected.

"What do you mean?"

"The first code of Camelot is that every knight must be of noble blood. Are you of noble birth, Lancelot."

Lancelot hung his head. "No, I'm afraid not."

"But that's not fair," Merlin protested.

"Fair or unfair, that's the way it is. I'm truly sorry, Lancelot," Gaius said, before leaving his chambers to run some errands.

"Perhaps we could create a fake seal-"

"No, Merlin."

"But Lancelot-"

"No. I cannot become a knight through a lie. It's against what the knights stand for."

Merlin's shoulders slumped. "Alright. But I could always-"

"Merlin."

"Fine. I better get to work, but I'll see you later?"

"Yes. I will just be here."

-

As Merlin did her daily chores, her mind kept on wandering back to Lancelot. It was not fair that he could not be a knight just because of the circumstances of his birth. If Lancelot had allowed her to, she would have created a fake seal using magic so that Arthur would think that he was a noble. Although, it probably would not have ended well.

Merlin's thoughts were interrupted by the warning bells.  Merlin ran to the square to see what was going on. Merlin helped an injured woman sit while Gaius attended to another villager. Lancelot ran over to see what the matter was.