Epiphanyx7 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
epiphanyx7) wrote2009-06-10 10:01 pm
epiphanyx7) wrote2009-06-10 10:01 pm
Entry tags:
Fic: - Merlin/Arthur (Girl!Arthur AU) 2/14
Title: Dream With Everything, part 2/14
Length: Chaptered (1821 words this part)
Rating: not for children
Summary: AU. Arthur is a pretty princess. No. Srsly.
Warnings: Language, Spoilers for Episode 1x02 Valiant.
Notes: I don't know if I'll ever finish this, so I may as well post it, right? Title from the song "This One's For the Girls" by Martina McBride.
2. Valiant.
"I'm the princess's maid, " Gwen explains later. "So I have to help her dress, bathe, all the - um, normal activities of life. You, sadly, are the only male in Igraine's retinue at the moment, so all the manly duties fall to you. Taking care of her horse, escorting her on her rides and hunting trips, sending messages, assisting her in mounting and dismounting from her horse, and - well."
"Well?" Merlin asks, curious.
Gwen smiles. "There's more to Princess Igraine than meets the eye," She says. "I suppose you'll find out what that means, later."
-
Arthur is fighting imaginary monsters in an empty practice ring when Merlin sees him next.
"Merlin!" He yells, waving a sword. "Get armor on and spar with me!"
He doesn't have to, of course, but Merlin has a suspicion that there's something about Arthur he's not quite putting together, and the fact that Arthur just expects everyone to do his bidding is only slightly worrisome and definitely intriguing. Merlin grabs a chain shirt and a helmet, and sparring with Arthur is exactly as humiliating an experience as he thought it would be.
Arthur is good - strong, flexible, and almost unbelievably fast, landing a flurry of blows that Merlin doesn' thave the slightest idea how to defend himself against. Within five minutes, Merlin feels as if he's going to be beaten black and blue, bruised all over. Every single time he picks himself up, though, Arthur's eyes end up more and more pleased, a smile hovering over his lips. "Again," he says, and Merlin groans but lets the noble boy beat on him.
"I'm going to enter the tournament," And when Merlin turns to look at him, he sees the sparkle in Arthur's sea-blue eyes, the flush on his cheeks, and he realizes that Arthur is indeed a lot more than he seems.
Arthur is Princess Igraine.
Arthur is Kink Uther's only child, heir, and precious daughter.
Arthur is going to enter the tournament.
"Oh bloody hell," Merlin says, and makes a mental note to find all of Arthur's (or perhaps he should be calling her Igraine?) armor and reinforcing it with magic.
-
Two knights withdraw from the tournament when they see Arthur has presented himself. One of them is Lord Morgan. The other one, Sir Ewan, has a look of such intense disappointment on his face, as if he thinks he could win, but not against Arthur.
"It's not fair," Merlin says to Arthur, later, helping him into his armor (and even with her breasts bound, it's obvious Igraine is female until she puts on the tight leather shirt and the chain-mail on top).
Arthur looks at him with one eyebrow raised. "I've fought Ewan before," He says. "He would have lost."
-
Merlin's fairly certain Arthur - Igraine - isn't as good as he - she - thinks she is. She's probably a decent fighter, but she's a woman and a princess besides, so it's too easy to think that the other men have simply been letting her win, taking it easy on her.
He was wrong.
Arthur doesn't just hold his own in the tournament, he dominates it. Most of the other men - knights trained outside of Camelot, with no idea of who Arthur is, or why two of Camelot's knights withdrew from the running - fall quickly, and later they talk about Arthur's prowess with a sword in awed tones.
The look - pure, impotent fury - on Uther's face is terrifying enough that Merlin is almost breathless with fear while Arthur battles foe after foe. The fact that Arthur wins - continuously - does nothing to amend the fact that the seat beside Uther is curiously empty, Gwen making apologies to the king and saying that "Her Highness is feeling a bit ill, and sends this token to her Champion, Sir Arthur....?"
Nobody attempts to stop her, though, which is probably because if Uther were to uncover the truth in front of all these witnesses, Igraine's reputation would be tarnished beyond repair. He may be an angry, bitter man, but even Uther is not foolhardy enough to ruin his own daughter.
-
It's purely by accident that Merlin walks by Sir Valiant's rooms, and sees him standing in front of a shield with the snakes slithering outwards, eating a mouse he dangles enticingly in front of their not-quite-living faces.
"Oh, bloody hell," Merlin swears, and runs off to tell Igraine.
-
It's a singular honor that he's allowed in the Princess's Suite, and only then in the presence of her Lady-in-Waiting or her Lady's maid. Fortunately, Merlin's used to ignoring convention.
Igraine is sitting, poised, in a blue day-dress, her face composed. "What are you doing in here?" She asks, curiously.
"Sir Valiant has a magic shield and he's using it to win the tournament," Merlin says. "Oh, and your father is going to kill you, by the way."
Igraine looks away. "I have no idea what you are speaking about," She says coolly.
"Right," Merlin rethinks his previous statement. "Sir Valiant has a magical shield and he's using it to win the tournament. Snakes come out of it and probably bite people and are poisonous or whatever, so that would be bad. Especially, your highness, if something were to happen to Arthur. You know, your champion?"
And Igraine freezes, face struggling to maintain neutrality. "I see," She says.
When night has already fallen, the spell won't work.
-
Midnight. The spell won't work. Merlin buries his face in his hands and tries to imagine how he's going to explain to Uther that yes, he knew that the princess was fighting in a tournament, and yes, that was dangerous, and yes, she'd died - but it wasn't Merlin's fault.
Somehow, the scenario in his head always ends with Merlin being beheaded in the courtyard.
-
Dawn breaks and the spell won't work and Merlin's head is swimmy with exhaustion. "I hate you," he tells the stone dog before he turns back to the magic spell book and tries to read the words as they weave and bob in front of his eyes.
-
He's half asleep, but there is a large, vicious dog in his room, and the statue is nowhere to be seen.
"I did it!" Merlin crows, triumphant, and then he scrambles to his feet and bolts out the door.
-
When Arthur kills Valiant, there's silence in the courtyard. Arthur turns to Morgan, returns his sword, and then stalks off. Merlin scrambles to follow him, chasing him all the way into the castle and halfway to his rooms.
"Are you okay?" he asks, as Arthur stalks boldly through the hallway.
"Merlin," Arthur hisses, teeth gritted together. "Follow me and for god's sake, shut up!"
They stumble into Igraine's rooms, where Gwen is waiting with a bowl full of water and a worried expression. "Thank god you're back," Gwen says, looking at Merlin while she speaks. "Are you okay?"
"No," Arthur says, while Gwen and Merlin both begin to take off the armour. The chain shirt follows soon after, and then the rest of Arthur's clothes. Underneath, she is wearing a tightly laced leather corset, flattening her chest.
It occurs to Merlin that he should probably be grovelling or averting his eyes or something, but Igraine's body is covered with dark, mottled bruises, cuts and scratches from the armor. "Help me get this thing off," She gasps, gesturing at Gwen.
Gwen tries to untie it, but Merlin interrupts with a dagger and cuts the laces clean off-- those, at least, are easy enough to replace.
The bruises covering Igraine's chest and back are from pure force, the strength of the blows she has withstood throughout the course of the tournament. In places, the chainmail dug in so deeply it cut her. In others, she simply wasn't fast enough. Gwen bathes her wounds, eyes wide with concern, and Igraine makes irrational demands of Merlin.
"I'm not a bloody physician!" He yells. "What do you expect me to do?"
"Steal the balms and elixirs if you must," Igraine orders him. "I don't care if Gaius will be furious. You cannot - cannot tell him. If he comes to tend to my wounds, everyone will know, and I will be ruined."
"You're bloody well lucky to be alive!" Merlin snaps, stomping out of her chambers to go and do exactly that.
-
Princess Igraine moves very gracefully at the banquet, her lovely face lightly powdered and lips outlined in red. Merlin thinks that he can see a tiny bit of swelling near her lip, but he maybe sort-of convinced Gaius to show him how to magically enhance the bruise balm, so it's a lot less noticeable than it should have been.
She stays away from Uther. The King does not demand her presence or even comment at all, aside from a terse "I see you have recovered from your ailment," spoken at the beginning of dinner. Merlin replaces Gwen halfway through the meal, pouring wine liberally into Igraine's goblet, unwatered, in order to deal with the pain.
She is mostly silent.
"Thank you, Sir Morgan," She says, when he comes to ask her to dance.
"It would be my pleasure, milady," He responds.
The way Igraine flinches every single time she's forced to take a turn on the floor tells Merlin more than he really needed to know about the relationship between Sir Morgan and the princess.
-
Length: Chaptered (1821 words this part)
Rating: not for children
Summary: AU. Arthur is a pretty princess. No. Srsly.
Warnings: Language, Spoilers for Episode 1x02 Valiant.
Notes: I don't know if I'll ever finish this, so I may as well post it, right? Title from the song "This One's For the Girls" by Martina McBride.
2. Valiant.
"I'm the princess's maid, " Gwen explains later. "So I have to help her dress, bathe, all the - um, normal activities of life. You, sadly, are the only male in Igraine's retinue at the moment, so all the manly duties fall to you. Taking care of her horse, escorting her on her rides and hunting trips, sending messages, assisting her in mounting and dismounting from her horse, and - well."
"Well?" Merlin asks, curious.
Gwen smiles. "There's more to Princess Igraine than meets the eye," She says. "I suppose you'll find out what that means, later."
-
Arthur is fighting imaginary monsters in an empty practice ring when Merlin sees him next.
"Merlin!" He yells, waving a sword. "Get armor on and spar with me!"
He doesn't have to, of course, but Merlin has a suspicion that there's something about Arthur he's not quite putting together, and the fact that Arthur just expects everyone to do his bidding is only slightly worrisome and definitely intriguing. Merlin grabs a chain shirt and a helmet, and sparring with Arthur is exactly as humiliating an experience as he thought it would be.
Arthur is good - strong, flexible, and almost unbelievably fast, landing a flurry of blows that Merlin doesn' thave the slightest idea how to defend himself against. Within five minutes, Merlin feels as if he's going to be beaten black and blue, bruised all over. Every single time he picks himself up, though, Arthur's eyes end up more and more pleased, a smile hovering over his lips. "Again," he says, and Merlin groans but lets the noble boy beat on him.
"I'm going to enter the tournament," And when Merlin turns to look at him, he sees the sparkle in Arthur's sea-blue eyes, the flush on his cheeks, and he realizes that Arthur is indeed a lot more than he seems.
Arthur is Princess Igraine.
Arthur is Kink Uther's only child, heir, and precious daughter.
Arthur is going to enter the tournament.
"Oh bloody hell," Merlin says, and makes a mental note to find all of Arthur's (or perhaps he should be calling her Igraine?) armor and reinforcing it with magic.
-
Two knights withdraw from the tournament when they see Arthur has presented himself. One of them is Lord Morgan. The other one, Sir Ewan, has a look of such intense disappointment on his face, as if he thinks he could win, but not against Arthur.
"It's not fair," Merlin says to Arthur, later, helping him into his armor (and even with her breasts bound, it's obvious Igraine is female until she puts on the tight leather shirt and the chain-mail on top).
Arthur looks at him with one eyebrow raised. "I've fought Ewan before," He says. "He would have lost."
-
Merlin's fairly certain Arthur - Igraine - isn't as good as he - she - thinks she is. She's probably a decent fighter, but she's a woman and a princess besides, so it's too easy to think that the other men have simply been letting her win, taking it easy on her.
He was wrong.
Arthur doesn't just hold his own in the tournament, he dominates it. Most of the other men - knights trained outside of Camelot, with no idea of who Arthur is, or why two of Camelot's knights withdrew from the running - fall quickly, and later they talk about Arthur's prowess with a sword in awed tones.
The look - pure, impotent fury - on Uther's face is terrifying enough that Merlin is almost breathless with fear while Arthur battles foe after foe. The fact that Arthur wins - continuously - does nothing to amend the fact that the seat beside Uther is curiously empty, Gwen making apologies to the king and saying that "Her Highness is feeling a bit ill, and sends this token to her Champion, Sir Arthur....?"
Nobody attempts to stop her, though, which is probably because if Uther were to uncover the truth in front of all these witnesses, Igraine's reputation would be tarnished beyond repair. He may be an angry, bitter man, but even Uther is not foolhardy enough to ruin his own daughter.
-
It's purely by accident that Merlin walks by Sir Valiant's rooms, and sees him standing in front of a shield with the snakes slithering outwards, eating a mouse he dangles enticingly in front of their not-quite-living faces.
"Oh, bloody hell," Merlin swears, and runs off to tell Igraine.
-
It's a singular honor that he's allowed in the Princess's Suite, and only then in the presence of her Lady-in-Waiting or her Lady's maid. Fortunately, Merlin's used to ignoring convention.
Igraine is sitting, poised, in a blue day-dress, her face composed. "What are you doing in here?" She asks, curiously.
"Sir Valiant has a magic shield and he's using it to win the tournament," Merlin says. "Oh, and your father is going to kill you, by the way."
Igraine looks away. "I have no idea what you are speaking about," She says coolly.
"Right," Merlin rethinks his previous statement. "Sir Valiant has a magical shield and he's using it to win the tournament. Snakes come out of it and probably bite people and are poisonous or whatever, so that would be bad. Especially, your highness, if something were to happen to Arthur. You know, your champion?"
And Igraine freezes, face struggling to maintain neutrality. "I see," She says.
"Don't get me wrong," Merlin adds. "Because Arthur - for all that he's a complete and utter prat, as much as waste of air as you are, your highness, I still don't want him to die because Valiant can't win on his own."
"Noted," Igraine says. "And if you ever insult me again, I'll have you thrown in the stocks."
-
"You can't fight him!" Merlin yells at Arthur.
"If I withdraw, people will think I'm a coward," Arthur responds. "And - and then I won't be able to stay here. None of the knights will respect me, I'll become--"
"I really don't think that anyone wants you dead." Merlin says, because Igraine is the damned princess, and too valuable to die in some stupid tournament.
"I'd rather die," She responds angrily.
"Igraine," Merlin says.
She spins around, eyes flashing angrily. "Arthur," She hisses. "You call me Arthur - and never make a mistake like that again, I will have you killed, Merlin!"
He nods.
"I'd rather be dead and ruined than trapped in her life," She says. "I'd rather be dead, Merlin, and if I die --- if I die... then, so be it."
-
Merlin wants to accuse Valiant directly, except he's a servant and his word is worthless. He doesn't have any proof, and Valiant was angry enough with Merlin just in the same room as his shield. He's running out of ideas, and then he thinks "Right, just expose him to everyone while keeping your own secret, you fool."
He even practices the spell on a stone dog he stole from the courtyard.
Gaius would be proud.
When night has already fallen, the spell won't work.
-
Midnight. The spell won't work. Merlin buries his face in his hands and tries to imagine how he's going to explain to Uther that yes, he knew that the princess was fighting in a tournament, and yes, that was dangerous, and yes, she'd died - but it wasn't Merlin's fault.
Somehow, the scenario in his head always ends with Merlin being beheaded in the courtyard.
-
Dawn breaks and the spell won't work and Merlin's head is swimmy with exhaustion. "I hate you," he tells the stone dog before he turns back to the magic spell book and tries to read the words as they weave and bob in front of his eyes.
-
He's half asleep, but there is a large, vicious dog in his room, and the statue is nowhere to be seen.
"I did it!" Merlin crows, triumphant, and then he scrambles to his feet and bolts out the door.
-
When Arthur kills Valiant, there's silence in the courtyard. Arthur turns to Morgan, returns his sword, and then stalks off. Merlin scrambles to follow him, chasing him all the way into the castle and halfway to his rooms.
"Are you okay?" he asks, as Arthur stalks boldly through the hallway.
"Merlin," Arthur hisses, teeth gritted together. "Follow me and for god's sake, shut up!"
They stumble into Igraine's rooms, where Gwen is waiting with a bowl full of water and a worried expression. "Thank god you're back," Gwen says, looking at Merlin while she speaks. "Are you okay?"
"No," Arthur says, while Gwen and Merlin both begin to take off the armour. The chain shirt follows soon after, and then the rest of Arthur's clothes. Underneath, she is wearing a tightly laced leather corset, flattening her chest.
It occurs to Merlin that he should probably be grovelling or averting his eyes or something, but Igraine's body is covered with dark, mottled bruises, cuts and scratches from the armor. "Help me get this thing off," She gasps, gesturing at Gwen.
Gwen tries to untie it, but Merlin interrupts with a dagger and cuts the laces clean off-- those, at least, are easy enough to replace.
The bruises covering Igraine's chest and back are from pure force, the strength of the blows she has withstood throughout the course of the tournament. In places, the chainmail dug in so deeply it cut her. In others, she simply wasn't fast enough. Gwen bathes her wounds, eyes wide with concern, and Igraine makes irrational demands of Merlin.
"I'm not a bloody physician!" He yells. "What do you expect me to do?"
"Steal the balms and elixirs if you must," Igraine orders him. "I don't care if Gaius will be furious. You cannot - cannot tell him. If he comes to tend to my wounds, everyone will know, and I will be ruined."
"You're bloody well lucky to be alive!" Merlin snaps, stomping out of her chambers to go and do exactly that.
-
Princess Igraine moves very gracefully at the banquet, her lovely face lightly powdered and lips outlined in red. Merlin thinks that he can see a tiny bit of swelling near her lip, but he maybe sort-of convinced Gaius to show him how to magically enhance the bruise balm, so it's a lot less noticeable than it should have been.
She stays away from Uther. The King does not demand her presence or even comment at all, aside from a terse "I see you have recovered from your ailment," spoken at the beginning of dinner. Merlin replaces Gwen halfway through the meal, pouring wine liberally into Igraine's goblet, unwatered, in order to deal with the pain.
She is mostly silent.
"Thank you, Sir Morgan," She says, when he comes to ask her to dance.
"It would be my pleasure, milady," He responds.
The way Igraine flinches every single time she's forced to take a turn on the floor tells Merlin more than he really needed to know about the relationship between Sir Morgan and the princess.
-
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(Anonymous) 2009-07-18 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
Yes.
I am planning on writing each episode of Season One for this universe, and an epilogue.
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<3 thanks for your comment!
a girl!arthur/merlin fan
(Anonymous) 2011-04-08 07:22 am (UTC)(link)