The Royal Scandal *Book One*

The Death of a Knight S1 E9

💚 16/01/2021 💚

The next morning, anxiety pulsed through my veins as I made my way towards Arthur's chambers in order to wish Sir Owain good luck. Not that it was going to be any help, he was still going to get hurt because I knew that the black Knight was going to win. I know, I know. I should try and remain positive about it, but how could I? No one has ever seen this man fight before so how were we supposed to prepare Owain against him if we have never experienced it?

Once I got to Arthur's chambers, I knocked on his door and waited for an answer. I really did not fancy walking in on a naked Owain so I decided to wait as long as necessary.

After a couple of minutes, the door opened to reveal Merlin.

"Good morning, Princess," Merlin smirked.

"Good morning, Merlin," I replied, but I could feel my cheeks warming up at the memory of last night.

"Ah, Chelsea. I was wondering when you'd get here," Arthur called through, as he saw me walking in.

"Meaning?" I asked confused.

"I'm waiting for you to begin your superstitious nonsense," Arthur replied.

"It's not superstitious, it's just a nice gesture," I told him, walking over to Sir Owain. "This is for good luck," I said simply, handing over a small piece of fabric that was believed to be lucky.

"Thank you, my Lady. I will wear it, but I will not need luck," Owain told me confidently. His hubris was worrying me slightly due to the fact that it might get to his head and lead to his downfall.

I moved to the side and let Merlin continue prepping Owain's armour for the fight.

"You've never fought in mortal combat before. It's different. It's not like the training I've been giving you," Arthur told Owain, walking up behind him.

"Yeah, I know," Owain replied smirking slightly. Was he excited about this? Did he not realise that there was an increasingly high chance that he was going to die?

Arthur too looked pretty annoyed that Owain wasn't taking this seriously so he spun him round so he was now facing him.

"Listen to me, the problem is we've never seen him fight. You have to quickly get the measure of him," Arthur explained.

"But I have the same advantage, he's never seen me fight," Owain countered.

Arthur nodded his head and looked over at me worried.

"True," Arthur muttered.

"You've watched me," Owain stated.

"Yes," Arthur said.

"And?" Owain encouraged.

"And I know no one braver," Arthur said, patting him on the shoulder.

This is how they all are at the start. So confident that they are the best and that they are going to win, but most people rarely do. Sir Owain's confidence was going to be his hamartia.

By now, Merlin had finished helping Owain and was standing back to watch the two Knights.

"Remember, all it takes to kill a man is one well-aimed blow," Arthur reminded him, just as the door opened and Gwen walked in.

She curtsied to Owain, who bowed his head in response.

"The Lady Morgana asked me to give you this token. She wishes you to wear it for luck," Gwen said, holding up some red ribbon.

Seems like Morgana and I have been having similar thoughts. Smart brains think alike. Arthur looked over at me as if to say, 'you planned this.' I just shrugged back, giving him a small smile. Owain then looked over at Arthur smirking.