Avalon- A Merlin FanFic

Chapter 22- The Royal Elven City

New chapter! There's more irritated Levalen and joking Merlin in this one, as well as a new character. Enjoy!

Merlin's POV

When he defrosted, Levalen was not pleased, to say the least. I had to threaten him with freezing him again to stop him from throttling me. He was now sulking as we continued walking through the forest, he wasn't saying a word. Not. A. Word. It was so quiet that I actually found myself starting to miss his sarcastic remarks and comments. At least they were something to break the silence as we made our way to the elven city. I decided to try striking up some conversation.

'So, Levalen. How far are we now from the city?' I asked him.

There was no reply.

'Levalen? Are you going to keep sulking? Really?'

He still didn't reply.

'Look I'm sorry for freezing you but-'

'About an hour.' He said. 'And I was not sulking, I was simply awaiting an apology. I don't care that you're one of the wonderful triunity, it doesn't give you a right to go around freezing people.' After that Levalen was quiet once more, but it was a more comfortable silence that the one that I had previously endured.

And hey, at least it was only an hour until I had more company than Levalen the sulky elf.

As I walked I began humming softly, it was just out of habit. Walking through the forest like this reminded me of when me and Arthur used to go out hunting together, and I would hum then too, until I was hit over the head and called a clotpole.

Levalen turned his head to glare at me. I carried on humming until he started walking towards me.

'WILL YOU STOP WITH THE HUMMING. YOU WERE ANNOYING WHEN YOU WERE MOPING, BUT THIS IS ON ANOTHER LEVEL.' He shouted this literally a few inches from my face, making me take a step back.

It struck me then that Levalen was actually very similar to Arthur. Stubborn, blonde, sulky, easily angered, and apparently averse to humming.

'Levalen! Is that you?' A voice sounded from further down the trail.

Levalen spun around and his eyes widened in recognition. 'Chief Advisor! It is a pleasure to see you again.' Levalen's voice had undergone a sudden transformation to being polite, and he even gave the person a little bow.

The figure in the distance walked towards us, and their features became visible. It was a small female elf, who looked to be around the age of forty. Her ears were long, longer than Avie's or Levalen's, and they reached just past the top of her head. Her skin was dark, ad her hair was black and cropped short. One of her ears was decorated with a dozen golden rings, each of them slightly different in shape and size.

Her clothes were strange, different to anything I had seen worn in Camelot. They consisted of a tunic made out of an unrecognisable material, and trousers made from some kind of leather. Her boots reached up past her knees, and she had a cutlass hanging from a leather belt.

The main thing I noticed about her though, was the magical power that radiated from her.

It was stronger than the power I had sensed around Levalen, though still not as strong as the power of Morgana or Avalon. But I could tell that this was not a woman to be trifled with.

'It is nice to see you safe, Levalen. Who is this with you?' She cast a sharp eye over me.

'Karliah, this is Emrys.' He replied. The elf raised her eyebrows slightly, before taking a step before me and holding out her hand.

'Nice to make your acquaintance, Emrys. My name is Karliah, and I serve as the chief advisor her her Royal Highness, Empress Avalon of the elves.' I took her hand and shook it.

'Please, call me Merlin. Emrys is just the name that I was given by the druids.' I replied.

Karliah gave me a nod, and turned back to face Levalen.

'I presume you were making your way back to the Royal City?' She asked.

Levalen nodded. 'We were. Why were you out here and not in the palace?' He asked.

Karliah narrowed her eyes. 'State business. You know that I cannot discuss it here.'

At this, Levalen threw a quick glance in my direction. I would have missed it if I blinked. 'I see.' Was his curt reply. 'Well, we're going to carry on towards the city. What about you Karliah?'

'I will accompany you both back. It will make it much quicker for you both to get through the gates, and back into the city.' She answered.

'Come on then Merlin, follow us.' Levalen said.

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We reached the Royal Elven City an hour before nightfall. The City was not what I had expected, it was a fair bit different from Camelot. All of the buildings apart from a small few were made from wood. When I say made from wood, I mean that the buildings looked to be a part of the trees themselves. The City wasn't too dissimilar from the forest we had walked through to reach it.

The few buildings that were not made from trees looked like they were sculpted from precious metals. There was a huge palace of gold sitting on a slight hill, right in the centre of the city. It had gemstones embedded into the walls in a number of places, with murals carved into the walls in other places. It was one of the most intricately designed things I had ever seen.

Levalen laughed when he saw my awestruck expression. 'That is my sister's house.'

My jaw dropped. 'Avie LIVES there?!'

He rolled his eyes. 'She is the Empress of an entire race, what did you think she lived in? A mud hut? As her family, I stay in one of the rooms of the palace. Karliah also resides in the palace, as she holds such an important role.'

Karliah nodded. 'There are a few others who also reside there. They mainly hold positions in the military and so on. Servants live out here in the town. We just make do without them at night time. Come, you two. There are some important matters that I must discuss with you both. Such as the location of the Empress.'