It's a beautiful day. The sky is mostly clear, the grass is a healthy green, the birds are singing and the people are chattering in the town below the castle. With his enhanced hearing, he can hear them, he can't hear what they're saying, but he can hear their muffled voices. He stands on the hill for a few minutes simply taking in the view with it's smells and sounds. His large paws slightly sink into the soil.
A black wolf with intriguing blue eyes. A dire wolf.
Dire wolves are not listed as magical beings – all except Merlin, but that's a secret few know – and so no one has thought to kill him. If they did, they are just a hunter. On his back sits a leather pack made specifically for him that carries some blankets and books and other inedible stuff. In his mouth is a white envelope aged slightly by it's travels.
This is the largest mass of people that Merlin has ever been near. He's not even in the town yet! He is obligated to walk into Camelot, and not just because he needs to find Gaius. His ears slightly flatten and his eyes narrow at the reminder of his secret mission. Deciding he has postponed his trip into the town long enough, he starts walking down the hill, his tail swaying with his movements.
The town is lot louder than what Merlin could hear from up on the hill – no surprise – and while everyone might give him quizzical looks and mothers pull their children by the arms to keep them from running up to pet him, no one actually tries to stop him from walking deeper into the town. The guards at the gate had told him the way to the court physician's chambers after he showed them his envelope, but Merlin finds himself following a crowd of people who make their way to the courtyard just inside of the castle gate, ushered by guards with trumpets. Might as well see what the people here do. Probably should, if the King is giving a speech. But when the accused magic user is led out in chains and steps onto the small stage where the executioner stands, Merlin finds himself wanting to leave. He somehow manages to steel himself into place. King Uther's words are muffled, ignored by the black dire wolf who stares intensely at the prisoner. He seems to be… accepting of his death. He sheds no tears, isn't quivering like a leaf, staring down at the block of wood where he will soon lay his head to be severed. He smells brave. He doesn't regret what he has done, but he doesn't smell of death or blood. The executioner and the block do, but not the prisoner. He hasn't killed nor harmed a soul.
Merlin is so caught up in reading the man's energy, he barely processes that the King is wrapping up his short speech. At least not until the subject of the speech and Merlin's study is being forced onto his knees and his head forced to the wood block. Merlin looks up towards where King Uther stands on a balcony, dressed for show and his right hand raising in time with the executioner's ax-thing, or the executioner raising his ax in time with the king's hand. Merlin forces himself to watch it come down upon the accused, resisting the urge to flinch when it cracks against the wood, unlike the humans who let out an assortment of sounds as well as turn away.
They all start to walk away as the King says a few more words, something about a celebration for twenty years of peace without the interference of magic. But before he could finish his speech, a sharp wail of a woman pierces the air. Looking as best he can through the mass of people, he sees hints of a rag clothed elderly woman. Her smell is familiar, not a smell of a person he has met before, but rather… similar to someone else who he also hasn't exactly met. A small clearing is formed around her as she stares up at the king with tears streaking her aged cheeks. Her voice is cracked by age and sobs. Merlin feels obligated to listen to what she says. He senses some strange energy surrounding her. He senses… magic. The king is also a part of her attentive audience, his brows furrowing at her outburst. Merlin can't tell if it's anger or confusion that furrows his brows, maybe it's both.
"There is only one evil in this land, and it is not magic," she wails. "It is you! With your hatred and your ignorance! You took my son!"
The accused's mother. Merlin slightly crouches into a defensive stance when he feels her magic strengthen. She stands taller, not backing down from King Uther's glare.
"And I promise you, before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…" she continues with wrath lining her voice.
Her magic is stronger and Merlin has enough sense not to reveal himself by challenging it.
"… a son for a son."
If the king wasn't furious before, he definetly is now. Merlin stands his ground, hidden behind the people. He stays to the edge of the crowd no matter how much he wants to pounce from all the magic and dark emotions swirling in the thick air.
"Seize her!" King Uther booms.
The guards start advancing through the crowd, onlookers frantically waving their limbs in an attempt to get out of their ways. Over all the yelling and clanging of weapons and armor, no one would be able to hear the elderly woman chant a spell, but with his wolf hearing, Merlin can. It's a transportation spell, so he stays put, but can't keep himself from growling. There is a little kid to his right – what is a kid doing watching an execution?! – and driven by instincts, Merlin moves to get between the spell chanting woman and the small terrified child. She disappears into a cloud of smoke. When the smoke clears, everyone chatters in hushed voices. Merlin continues to stare at the spot where the elderly woman once stood, only looking away and behind him when he feels a little hand patting his hind leg. The little kid still looks scared but otherwise looks curious as she pats his fur. A mother walks up and hurriedly pulls her away.
"Bye, bye wolf," says the little girl as she is dragged away, waving the tiny hand that is not in the death grip of her mother.
He returns the gesture using his tail. The little girl giggles at the sight.
People start pouring past him. Some stare at him or jump from surprise at seeing him in the square, others are still to shocked by the events that had just unfolded to really be bothered by the presence of dire wolf. He stands there for a while, watching the people pass by and then looking up at the balcony where the King had stood, who obviously having left seeing that he isn't there anymore. With one last look to the stand where the executioner and some darkly dressed men are moving the body and the basket with the accused's head, Merlin turns around and follows the crowd. It's about time he actually went to find Gaius.
He feels someone's eyes on him from one of the castle windows, he looks up and sees a dark haired maiden in green. They just stare at each other before Merlin thinks it best to continue walking.
Since Gaius is the court physician, his workplace is obviously within the castle walls. He shows his envelope to the guards with Gaius's name written neatly on it, and one of the guards opens the wooden door for him. He walks through the hall ways guided by what he remembers of Gaius's scent when he came to visit Merlin's past owner a few years ago. It smells like Gaius has been out today… many times, so there might not be any work for Merlin to do today. He reaches the door labelled 'Court Physician' – because he can read, he's not as stupid as dog mind you – and looks both ways to make sure the coast is clear. Gaius is the only one here who knows about his gift. No one is around as far as Merlin can see and hear. He looks at the door knob, because of course none of the doors here are going to have handles, and lets the golden electricity fizzle within him. His blue eyes glow gold for a second and in the next moment, the door is open a smidge. He puts his snout to it pushes it open the rest of the way. Inside, he sees no hint of Gaius but can smell him as clear as day. There are the scents of other people who have passed through and one that is fairly recent, but it is past office hours so they should be gone. He closes the door with his hind leg before he finally speaks.
"Gaius?" He calls out.
Magic has given him the ability to speak just like a man.
He receives no response, but hears someone shuffling towards the door to what Merlin guesses to be a guest room or a storage room. The latter option makes more sense. Merlin starts walking to the room.
"Gaius? It's Merlin. Sorry for my tardiness, there was a little event in the squ…"
Merlin doesn't finish his sentence when he sees the person on the other side of the door. It's not Gaius.