Warnings: Silliness, OOCness, overuse of cliches, some typos and overall bad attempts at humor.
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. Also, I don't want to plagiarize anything, if one of the chapters seems too similar to something already written, please tell me and I'll take it down. ^^
The city was safe once again, and the citizens rebuilt their homes and replanted their crops with the expertise of those who suffer their impending doom once every year. Once again Arthur was King and Morgana was on the run, so Tristan and Isolde (I know what you are thinking: Isolde is dead! What is she doing here? Well, let's say that the one who died was Isolde's evil twin sister, who was in fact called Dahlia.) decided to spend a few days there, since they had run out of men, horses and things to smug in general.
And the idea of settling down did sound real good, especially now that no one would think Isolde had multiple personality disorder, so Camelot seemed as good a place as any. Once you removed evil half-sisters, random magical monsters and assassination attempts, it was probably a rather normal and maybe even a bit boring place, wasn't it?
The first time the couple shared their thoughts with someone, they were given a very long, very awkward look until the person shook his head and walked away muttering, 'newcomers'.
And so, their 'normal' days in the city began…
Day 1: Go to the dungeons.
The day, of course, started in a very predictable way. A noble from the border came with his entourage, and they spent a couple of days in the castle. It was to be expected, a lot of Lords came around this time of the year to assess the damage and see what they could do or how to get benefits out of it. And so it was that, on the third day, the noble requested an audience with the King, with the Knights of the Round Table, Tristan, Isolde, Gaius and Merlin present.
"I am very thankful for your hospitality, my Liege, that is why it pains me to bring you bad news." His tone seemed just a tiny bit too repentant to actually be true.
"What is it?" Arthur sat on the throne, frowning.
"This is Robert, a man who has my complete trust. He claims that he has seen… a sorcerer. Perfoming magic, here in the castle." The guy was brown haired, brown eyed, overall uninteresting and probably a major bootlicker.
"It was your manservant, my Lord. I saw Merlin using magic, no doubt about it."
There was a deadly silence for a few seconds. Tristan blood froze; he had seen how loyal Merlin was, and he had seen Arthur turn back on a dark tunnel possibly full of enemies to find him, but magic… he wondered how the King would react. He tried to spy the reactions of the room but most of them were so stone-faced that he couldn't tell what they were thinking. Gwaine did seem to find it pretty funny, which was weird; the blond had thought that he was fond of the boy.
Arthur just stood there for several seconds before sighing. "Merlin, go to the dungeons."
Of course, the servant didn't stay quiet at this. "What? Why do I have to? You are not even going to call some guards to drag me away?"
"We don't have time for this, Merlin, they have better things to do than babysitting you. Go."
"But I don't want to! The dungeons are filthy, dark, cold, there are spiders and really, that man last week swore that–"
"Don't be such a girl, everyone here has been in the dungeons once or twice. Even Sir Leon. Do you see him complaining?"
"Can't I go to the stocks instead?"
"Yes. After you go to the dungeons."
"Dollop-cabbage-headed prat, and then you wonder why I am always late. Fine. Three hours and I'll break myself out."
"Merlin…"
"Five hours?" The prince just glared at him.
"Alright, alright, I'm going." Merlin sent one last exasperated look at the people reunited there, and the couple could clearly see Gaius, Gaius, shrugging. Then he left.
Thankfully, they weren't the only ones surprised at the odd exchange. The noble scratched his head and spoke again. "Err… my Lord? Do you think is, ah, wise to let a sorcerer go free like that? What if he flees?"
"He knows the consequences if he does. Well, if there is nothing else, you are dismissed." And before anyone could utter another word he stood up and left the room. The noble and his servant shared a look before leaving, confused about what had happened.
"Great." Gwaine complained. "Now Princess won't have anyone to bully in the training field. Really, couldn't that Lord Whatever wait a day?"
The Court Physician was angry too. "The excuses that boy uses to not clean the leech tank." Everyone made a disgusted face at the mental image. Then Isolde decided that things had gone far enough really, and that they should be at least a bit worried that one of his friends would most definitely be sentenced to die. "Aren't you worried about Merlin?"
Everyone stared at her. "Nah."
That evening, after worrying like crazy for hours, Tristan and Isolde decided to break Merlin out and become outlaws again if that was what it took. Very determined they went to the dungeons, knocked the guard –called Bill– out, stole the keys and searched for the cell…
…which wasn't all that hard to find. There were a few candles inside, some pillows and even a small bookcase! The prisoner was sitting in the middle with the back turned to them, grumbling something under his breath and…
"Merlin? What on Earth are you doing?" Isolde asked, and the boy turned startled, showing a full armor and a sword by his side.
"I'm polishing Arthur's armor and sharpening his sword, what else? I wanted to have this done earlier, but Bill was here telling me a recipe with chicken that sounds actually quite good, do you want it?"
"Um, yes, that would be great but… shouldn't you be… you know… trying to escape or to claim your innocence… or something?"
"Why?"
"Because they are going to execute you tomorrow?"
"Nah, it never gets that far. I would give it another ten minutes or so."
Ten minutes later, Arthur came with two guards and the servant who had inculpated Merlin. He opened the cell. "It seems like Robert was trying to inculpate you to get your post, so the charges are cleared. You can go."
"Impressive, it only took you eight hours this time."
The King smiled deviously. "Now, I think I heard you say that you wanted to be put on the stocks?"
Merlin groaned and went back to the cell. "I'll be here, if someone needs me. Umm… I should really paint the walls, this grey is pretty depressing."
Finally one of the guards took pity in the couple, and explained cheerfully that Merlin was accused of sorcery at least once or twice every month. They actually had tried to make him a plaque with his name on the cell, but Aggravaine had thrown a fit when he saw it, so they took it down. And with all the destruction going around now, no one knew where it was, so they let it be.
(Incidentally, about ten days later another visitor accused Merlin of sorcery and Tristan offered his help to paint the whole cell white and blue, as an apology to poor Bill).
Please review if you liked it! I'm actually writing this on a notebook between classes and lunch breaks, so there won't be quick updates, sorry.
