"You promised you would!" Princess Mithian pestered King Arthur. Arthur was already late for a council meeting, but a persistent princess was not letting him forget his promise to teach her sword fighting.

"I know I did Mithian. But as you can see, I've been busy trying to run a kingdom. I can't even train my own knights, I had to have Leon take over"

Mithian huffed. "Then have Leon teach me." she crossed her arms over her chest and glared.

"He can't. He's busy too, everyone is busy." Arthur said. "If you want to learn sword fighting so badly, go ask Merlin. I taught him the basics, he'l know enough to start teaching you."

Mithian could have sworn that as Arthur walked away he muttered "If he doesn't take your head off with the first swing"

Merlin let all the armor clatter to the floor when Mithian approached him with the question in the armory. He looked up at her sheepishly as he picked it back up.

"You want me to do what?" He asked. He stood up and placed the armor on a nearby table.

"You heard me." Mithian said. "Arthur promised to teach me last time I was in Camelot but since then he's grown too busy. He told me to ask you."

Merlin laughed nervously. "I'm not that good, my lady. I barely know the basics, you'd be better off getting a knight to help you."

"They're all busy." Mithian grumbled. "Just teach me what you know."

Merlin looked at Mithian with a wary eye. "Alright, but you'll need to change out of-" He gestured to her gown.

"Oh, right. Of course." Mithian said, a light blush tinting her cheeks.

Mithian waited in the courtyard, skirts traded in for a pair of trousers. Merlin had told her the best place to practice was a clearing just outside the castle walls. He had left her to change while he went and gathered the horses and blunt swords.

"Are you ready?" Merlin came up behind the princess, two horses trotting behind him with swords strapped to their saddles.

Mithian nodded, taking a set of reins from Merlin. "I want to thank you, for teaching me." She said, swinging her leg up and over the saddle.

Merlin chuckled. "Don't be thanking me yet. I'm not very good at fighting myself."

Mithian smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine. You just teach me the basics, and hopefully by the time I'm ready to learn more Arthur will have some free time."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Merlin said as they trotted into the forest. "Arthur's teaching method is to clobber you with a sword until you block him."

"Surely he's not that bad." Mithian said. Merlin just laughed.

The pair rode the rest of the way in silence, every once and a while turning to look at the other, smiling when they were caught looking.

When they arrived at the clearing, Merlin helped Mithian down before gathering the swords.

"Why don't we start with how to hold a sword." Merlin handed the sword to the princess. She took it weighing it in her hands and getting a feel for it.

"Like this?" She asked, holding the sword as Merlin had often seen the children in the market hold their toy swords.

He laughed softly. "Not quite, here." Merlin stood behind Mithian, reaching around her and placing his hands on hers, guiding them until they were in position. "There, you've learned the first step to sword fighting."

Mithian lowered the sword, pulling out of Merlin's arms to face him. "Show me something else."

It was near dusk by the time they rode back into the citadel. People were rushing about, finishing their last minute shopping. Children groaned as they were called for bed.

Mithian got off her horse before Merlin could help her. "Thank you. For everything." She said, handing the reins to Merlin. "No one's ever bothered to teach me before, and I had fun with you."

Merlin blushed deeply, the red reaching all the way up to the tips of his ears. Mithian smiled at the servants embarrassment.

"I-it was nothing, my lady." Merlin stammered. "I would be happy to do it again."

"I'll have to take you up on that." she said. She glanced around before leaning towards Merlin, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "Goodnight, Merlin." She whispered before heading to the castle.

Merlin stood there in a daze, his fingers touching where the princesses mouth had been but a moment ago. "Goodnight, Mithian."He called quietly. He watched he walk away until she was long out of sight.