AN EVIL OLD TOAD
Chapter One: In Which Gwaine Throws A Tantrum
By: A1&2
IMPORTANT! No OC pairings! Nobody falls in love with the OC! In fact, it's quiet the opposite!
Author's Note: This is a "The Herald of A New Age" AU. My Co-Author and I were intrigued when Gwaine states that "my sister's an evil old toad," so….. We've decided to see if Gwaine's sister is, indeed, an evil old toad!
Disclaimer: We don't own Merlin!
"Gwaine!" Percival, Leon, Merlin, and Arthur caught up to the other knight, who was heading towards Elyan's chambers. "Didn't think you'd go visit Elyan without us, did you?" asked Arthur, who was enjoying the disappointed glare Gwaine was giving him. Gwaine forced a smile.
"No, no, of course not, Princess," He said. The group barged into Elyan's room as he was changing. Gwaine stole his pants from the bed and the knights began a game of keep-away, which was foiled by Merlin, who dropped Elyan's pants in a fit of clumsiness.
"Thanks Merlin." Elyan said, deciding to ignore the fact that Merlin hadn't meant to help him win over his pants.
"So, mate, how does it feel to be possessed?" Gwaine asked, clapping Elyan on the back. Elyan shuddered, then came up with a fool proof plan to shut Gwaine up.
"How does it feel to have an evil old toad for a sister? Bet you'd be eternally grateful to get rid of her, huh?" Elyan taunted. Gwaine's face turned red as everybody in the room turned to stare at him.
"Wait, Gwaine has a sister?" Arthur asked.
"Why haven't I heard of her?" Merlin whined, slightly offended. Gwaine glared forcefully but kept his mouth shut.
"Tell us. We're your friends." Percival said.
"Come on, Sir Gwaine! We'll try not to laugh." Leon said unconvincingly. Gwaine was the only one who seemed to think the situation was serious.
"There isn't anything to laugh about. I had a sister. Now I've got an evil old toad I'll hopefully never see again." Gwaine said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring hard at the ground. The other knights, the Prince, and Merlin finally realized they'd hit a sore spot on their normally jovial drunkard.
"Right…. Well, maybe we should go to the tavern? That always makes you feel better." Elyan suggested, feeling guilty that he'd hurt his friend. Gwaine shook his head.
"I don't need to feel better! Go to the tavern if you want." Gwaine said, shoving past everyone and stalking towards his own room.
"Let's go hunting. You know where we'll be if you'd care to join us, Gwaine." Arthur called after him.
Confused about everything that had just happened, the group slowly shuffled away. Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm.
"Go on without me. I've still got to polish your armor." Merlin said. Arthur hit him over the head.
"When I get back I expect to be able to see my face on every inch of it- and find out what's wrong with Gwaine." Arthur whispered the last bit so the person in question wouldn't hear. Merlin nodded. He never polished Arthur's armor by his own will- so what else had the stupid prat expected him to do if not to find out what was wrong with Gwaine?
Merlin found him lying in his bed, angrily staring at the ceiling.
"You can tell the Princess that if he has a question he can ask me to my face." Gwaine said. Merlin shrugged.
"I would've come even if Arthur hadn't told me to. Do you want to….talk?" Merlin asked.
"No," Gwaine said, shaking his head. "Talking never helps. It never makes sense, either."
"You'd be surprised what happens when people listen. I mean, I'm sure Lamia wouldn't have been a problem if you idiots had listened to me." Merlin said, trying to lighten the mood. Gwaine smiled ruefully.
"Listen? Nah, I suck at that. Now go polish the Princess' armor."
-:-
"ARTHUR!" Merlin yelled, barging into his master's room. "He's gone! I can't find him anywhere, and his horse is missing!"
Arthur looked up from his very important speech, then decided that he would just let Merlin write it for him later. Speaking of Merlin…..
"Who's gone, Merlin? Your imaginary friend?" Arthur asked, bored out of his mind. Merlin's next words snapped him out of his daze.
"Gwaine. Is. Gone. Gone! Just, poof! Disappeared!" Merlin said hysterically.
"Get the other knights-we ride out immediately! And inform Agravaine that he shall be taking over for a brief period of time, and that he is not to tell anyone of this!"
An hour later, and Gwaine's faint but traceable trail was being pounded into the earth by King Arthur and his knights, along with a skinny serving boy who looked like he would snap in two at the next gust of wind.
"His trail heads into Gawant! Do we keep going, sire?" Leon asked, slowing his horse.
Arthur overtook Leon and shouted back, "Lord Godwyn is an ally of Camelot! If we don't find Gwaine today, we will be welcomed at his castle."
"Perhaps we should send a messenger, then," Leon suggested, catching up to his prince. "I doubt Lord Godwyn would like it if five people arrived unannounced." Arthur slowed his pace, his head tilting slightly in thought.
"Very well. Merlin! Ride ahead and inform Lord Godwyn that we will be visiting for a brief period of time."
Merlin blinked owlishly. "Why do I have to do it?"
Arthur sighed in exasperation. "Because, Merlin, you're a servant." Really, why did Merlin have to be such an idiot?
"But what if there are bandits?" Merlin pleaded. "Or if there's a bear?"
"Then I suppose you'll have to hope you have a faster horse than you thought."
Merlin huffed, "Fine," and spurred his horse into a faster gallop.
-:-
"King Arthur!" Lord Godwyn greeted the young king with a welcoming smile. Servants – including Merlin – were already hurrying forward to take the men's bags and lead the horses to the stables. Well, Merlin was just standing there, bags in hand. "Welcome!"
Arthur bowed, and replied, "I apologize for such a short notice, Lord Godwyn. Had I known earlier that I would be making this trip, I – " Lord Godwyn cut him off cheerfully.
"Nonsense! It is always a pleasure to see a friend! And Elena was quite happy to hear that you were coming, too." He waved a duo over; one was obviously Princess Elena, while the other was quite obviously her servant.
"For those of you who have not met my daughter, this is Princess Elena, and her servant Adelaide." The two women curtsied, Adelaide more deeply than Elena. "Adelaide," he added, "please show these gentlemen to their rooms." Adelaide nodded, and hurried up the steps with the men following her.
-:-
"An' then, she goes and sets the house on fire!" Gwaine slurred drunkenly as he regaled his new drinking buddies with his story. "'Pparently, she was practicing a spell to bring our dad's stone rabbit to life, only she burned our house down!" His buddies howled with laughter, some not even sure why they were laughing.
"An' – an' this is the best part," Gwaine leaned in close, looking around to make sure that there weren't any outsiders following the conversation. No worries there – the "insiders" consisted of the entire tavern.
"Magic ain't allowed in Caerleon!" Gwaine hooted. "An' our land got confiscated!" The drunken men bellowed with laughter, and Gwaine suddenly felt a flash of rage.
"IT AIN'T FUNNY!" he roared. The tavern went silent. "OUR HOME GOT TAKEN AWAY BY THA' – THA' NOBLE AN' YOU'RE LAUGHIN'?" A blurry figure approached him.
"Come on, now, you said it was funny," he protested.
Swaying, slightly, he considered the man's words for a brief moment, studying his tankard of ale. Had he said it was funny? Because it hadn't been funny at the time – he could vaguely remember him and his sister snarling at each other, then watching in horror as the only life he had ever known was ripped away by a pig-headed, stuck-up jackass.
He decided the man was lying, and broke his nose.
-:-
Adelaide puffed slightly as she carried Elena's laundry. She had liked Elena when she met the woman, even if she was a princess and a future queen, but sometimes she regretted taking Elena's job offer. Honestly, the woman went through at least six outfits a day – one for breakfast, one for her midmorning ride, one for lunch, one for her afternoon ride, one for dinner, and one for her post-dinner ride. And she soiled them all! Well, she couldn't really blame her for clumsiness; Adelaide heard it hadn't been as bad as a couple years ago, but Elena still knocked over the occasional goblet or plate. She wished she could just use magic, but didn't dare get caught.
"Oof!" she grunted as she stumbled into someone. "Scuse me, mate. Laundry's heavy," she apologized as she backed up. Now she could see it was that boy, Marley or something, who had come riding in, announcing that King Arthur was terribly sorry, but one of his knights had had a temper tantrum and ran off to God-knows-where and that he needed a place to stay for a while.
"It's alright," Marley responded. "Adelaide, right? I'm Merlin." Oh. So it was Merlin, not Marley. Adelaide felt a small stab of guilt; it was so noble-like to forget a servant's name and for that servant to remember hers. Ferociously, she shoved down her guilt.
"Nice to meet you, mate. Gotta go get this washed now," She said curtly, and made to move around him. To her dismay, he pivoted to walk alongside her.
"That looks heavy," he remarked. "Here, let me help." Adelaide jerked away from the hand reaching out, again feeling slightly guilty as he gave her a vaguely hurt look. If she replaced the blue puppy dog eyes with brown ones – Adelaide pushed the memory back with a silent curse. Damn it!
"I don't need help," she snapped angrily. "I'm perfectly capable of doing the laundry on my own, thank you very much." Adelaide marched off, leaving a bewildered Merlin standing in the hallway.