Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Treasures, trinkets and troubles

Merlin is a dragon, living in the kingdom of Camelot where Uther's fear of magic had led to a total ban on any and all kinds of shifters, forcing them either to flee or go into hiding. He tries his best to stay hidden but he can't resist taking small, shiny trinkets that catches his eye. Most of them are never of any greater value or even thrown away by their previous owners but he cannot keep himself from hoarding it anyway. He also cannot, unfortunately, keep away from Arthur's things and that's where the trouble starts...

::

"Merlin!" Arthur's voice rang through the castle, loud and clear, and the man in question reluctantly lifted his head from where it rested on the table to meet Gwaine's curious gaze.

"What did you do this time then?" the knight asked as he leisurely cut off a slice of apple and offered it to his friend.

"Nothing" was Merlin's muffled response as he munched on the apple. "And besides, he's not that angry."

"Oh, really?" Gwaine smirked, finishing off the fruit and tossing the core out of the open window.

"Yes, really, because when he's really angry he sounds…"

"Merlin!"

"… like that" Merlin finished the sentence as he scrambled to his feet. "I need to go."

"Good luck with the princess!" Gwaine hollered after him as he ran from the room.

"Finally!" Arthur paced around the room when Merlin stumbled through the door, narrowly avoiding falling over. "Where have you been?"

"I was just…"

"No, forget about that, I don't even want to know" the prince interrupted him. "Where's the buckle for my cloak?"

"It is right there, sire, next to your crown" Merlin said, hurrying over to the table where he'd already readied Arthur's clothes for the evening. "It's all laid out for you, sire."

"Not that one, Merlin, the one with the rubies" Arthur snapped. "My father has invited some lords from our northern territories and I can't very well be expected to show up with a red cloak and a buckle with sapphires on, now can I?"

"Of course not, sire" Merlin mumbled, although he doubted that the northern lords, or Uther for that matter, would even notice anything. "I'll look for it." And he did, while Arthur was getting more and more impatient, huffing and clicking his tongue when the search was proving to be non-successful. The problem was that while Merlin knew exactly where the buckle was, he couldn't simply go there and get it. Because it was in Gaius' chambers. In his room. Underneath his bed. Under the loose floorboard. In a box. Where he'd hidden it because it looked nice together with his other treasures, and because he hadn't been able to resist the urge to take it. Merlin seldom questioned his dragon instincts, but right now he wished them to the darkest dungeon in the castle for getting him in trouble like this.

At last he managed to find another buckle that luckily met Arthur's approval, despite not being embellished with rubies, and helped his prince get dressed for the feast. Once the festivities had started and Arthur was well and truly occupied he risked sneaking back to his bedroom, getting the buckle and putting it back in Arthur's chambers, mentally readying himself to be scolded tomorrow when the buckle would be magically found again. Arthur would surely not miss the opportunity to tell him what a useless servant he was, not being able to find items that were clearly right under his own nose. Then he returned to the great hall just in time to refill Arthur's goblet, never noticing the prince's suspicious frown as he looked at his very clearly breathless servant.

::

If that had been the only incident Merlin might have gotten away with it but as it was he found himself hiding a small goblet in his bedroom not even a fortnight later. How would he have known that it was Arthur's favourite? (And seriously, who even had a favourite goblet?") He managed, just barely, to put it back before Arthur became too suspicious. Then it was a small metal figurine that wasn't even worth anything and that he was so sure that no one would miss, but apparently it had been gifted to Arthur as a kid and still held a good deal of sentimental value to the prince. And although he took such care putting everything back as soon as he realized that Arthur missed them he couldn't quite shake the feeling that Arthur knew that something was going on.

Early one morning the door to Gaius' chambers was suddenly thrown open and guards poured into the room, quickly spreading out and starting to search the room.

"I'm sorry, Gaius" Arthur apologized as he supervised the guards making an absolute mess of everything. "I'll have some servants sent down to help you put everything back when they're done." Merlin stumbled out of his bedroom, still rubbing his eyes. Despite the noise that all the guards were causing he was still half asleep, blinking owlishly at his mentor before realizing that Arthur and the guards were in the room as well.

"What's going on?" he asked, and then his eyes widened in fear when he saw what was happening.

"Everyone's chambers are to be searched, by order of my father." Arthur's mouth turned down at the corners. "Apparently I'm not the only one whose things have mysteriously gone missing and my father wants to make sure that there is no thief within the walls of the citadel."

"But maybe these things are just misplaced?" Merlin asked, cursing himself when his voice threatened to turn shrill with fear. "I mean, your things were found again, right?"

"Not everyone is unfortunate enough to be burdened with such a useless servant as you Merlin" Arthur teased, bumping against his shoulder in a way that one of Arthur's knights would have called a sign of affection between men but Merlin called it by its right name, physical violence.

"You wouldn't last a day without me, sire" he answered, luckily with his voice under control this time. Arthur couldn't know that anything was wrong and he forced himself to act normal despite wanting to scream every time the guards came close to his room. By the time that the guards left he was shaking and felt sick with fear.

"You're lucky that the prince didn't find anything" Gaius whispered in his ear as he carefully placed vials back in their rightful places and Merlin swallowed nervously. He knew very well that he wouldn't be so lucky again.

During the day he was more distracted than usual, thinking and wondering what to. The incident in the morning had made him realize that he hadn't been as careful as he'd needed to be and that it wasn't safe to keep his treasures in the castle anymore. He'd have to risk to move them, take them to the forest where he went to shift which was dangerous in itself. It also only solved half of the problem because even if he hid away the things that he'd already taken he still couldn't keep himself from taking new ones it seemed. At supper he couldn't manage more than a few bites and Gaius shook his head.

"You have to stop this, Merlin" he said seriously. "The prince already suspects that something is amiss and that, bad as it is, isn't even the worst. What if he was to learn the truth about you?" Merlin slumped where he sat, listlessly playing with the piece of bread that he should've eaten if his stomach hadn't been in uproar.

"I know" he answered morosely. "But I have to take them, I just have to. I can't control it. I need these things Gaius, even if I don't know why."

"You have to try to fight it, Merlin" Gaius admonished him and although Merlin knew that his friend and mentor was only trying to help he felt like screaming at him, throwing things around and generally behaving like an idiot. He wanted to tell Gaius that if it was so damn easy, why didn't he just do it himself then? But it wasn't fair and Merlin knew that, so he tried taking deep breaths and tried to calm down. Gaius saw him struggling.

"I know it's hard, my boy" he said, placing a comforting hand on Merlin's shoulder. "I'll try and reach out to some of my contacts and see if they have any more information on dragons than what I have access to."

"Thanks" Merlin said and he meant it, but he really didn't want to get his hopes up in vain. Most of the literature about magic and shifters had been systematically destroyed and what little that was left consisted of the few volumes that Gaius had managed to hide in his chambers or smuggle out of Camelot when Uther was crowned. Merlin wished he'd known his father, now more than ever. He'd have known what to do. In the meantime he made plans to move the treasure, and should Arthur come looking for him Gaius had promised to tell the prince that Merlin had snuck out to go to the tavern.

::

"Come now, Gaius, surely you couldn't think that I was that stupid? At the tavern, really? I know exactly what Merlin's been up to." Arthur paused a moment, noticed that Gaius' eyes widened slightly in fear even though it was clear that the old man tried to control his emotions. Interested Arthur noted that the old physician must had known what Merlin was up to and still hadn't informed him about it, even helped him with the cover story about going to the tavern it seemed. He'd have to think about what to do about that information later but as far as Arthur was concerned, Gaius' loyalty belonged first and foremost with him, no matter that the man considered Merlin the son that he'd never had. But right now he had other priorities, such as finding his wretched manservant and hauling him back home.

"Of course I know that Merlin's been stealing from me…" he continued and watched Gaius heavily sit down at the end of the table, a bit surprised to see the almost palpable relief on Gaius' face when he uttered word 'stealing'. Another thing that he'd have to think about when he'd found Merlin. "… and that he's snuck out to hide his stash someplace safe now that we're on to him, one of the guards saw him sneak out of the citadel just now." Arthur half-expected the old physician to lash out, to defend Merlin or even call Arthur an idiot for believing that his loyal servant could ever be a thief but Gaius was quiet and it only made Arthur's suspicion that he'd known all along even stronger. He passed a hand over his face, feeling betrayed by the old man that he'd known all his life.

"Now I'm going to go out there and find him and drag his sorry arse back here to face his punishment. Is there anything you'd like to tell me Gaius?"

"Sire, all that I can ask is that you try to understand." Arthur looked at the old physician for a few moments, wondering what the bloody hell that was supposed to mean, before turning on his heel and marching out. He had a thieving manservant to bring to justice. That was all he needed to understand.

A short while later he also felt like he needed to understand exactly what the bloody hell Merlin could possibly have stolen that warranted being hidden in the deepest, darkest corner of the entire forest. He felt as if he'd been walking for ages as he kept following Merlin's path through the thick underbrush. A thief he may be but stealthy he was most certainly not and in some places it looked like a herd of boars had marched through the bushes. It made it an easy path to follow however and Arthur just jogged along until he reached a small clearing, where he promptly stopped, froze and tried to stop his wildly beating heart from jumping out of his chest.

In the middle of the clearing was a dragon. Standing beside a pile of clothes with a very familiar neckerchief on top. And Merlin was nowhere to be seen. His temporary paralysis broke as Arthur reacted before he'd had the time to think.

"What have you done to Merlin you beast?" he roared, his sword flashing out of its sheath to point menacingly at the dragon. "Where is he?" He expected the dragon to pounce, to attack him or try to turn him into a roast for the night's dinner, but nothing happened. The dragon didn't attack him at all. If anything it backed away from Arthur, trying to look as small and unassuming as possible. Quite unsuccessfully, in Arthur's opinion, as it was bigger than a horse and had both razor sharp claws and teeth.

"Where is Merlin?" he asked again, steadily advancing on the dragon. "What have you done to my manservant?" The dragon looked between the pile of clothes and Arthur, back and forth several times, and Arthur stopped in confusion. Then the dragon, clearly exasperated, all but dove into the clothes and reemerged with the neckerchief flopping atop its head and that's when Arthur realized what was going on. The dragon hadn't eaten Merlin, the dragon was Merlin. Now that he looked closer it was hard not to see, especially since the dragon's scales where the exact same blue colour as its eyes, the same as Merlin's blue eyes.

"Merlin?" he asked incredulously and the dragon bobbed his head in what looked like a nod. Arthur swallowed and sheathed his sword despite the fact that every rational thought in his head screamed at him not to, despite the fact that his whole body yearned to run in the other direction as fast as possible. Instead he cautiously walked closer and lifted a tentative hand towards the dragon, slightly shaking, and then stopped just before touching. Would it be weird for him to effectively pet his own manservant? Merlin didn't think so apparently, because he huffed out something that Arthur dearly hoped was a laugh and all but shoved his snout into Arthur's hand. The scales were warm to the touch and Arthur even went as far as to stroke his ears and neck. A weird rumbling sound was heard and Arthur was startled to realize that the dragon, that Merlin, was purring. He tried to tell himself that petting his purring manservant in his dragon form was not the strangest thing that had happened today but neither finding out that Merlin was a thief nor finding out that Gaius had been lying to him could quite compare.

Arthur sighed. He had so many questions that he needed answering that he didn't even know where to begin. He'd thought he'd be demanding an explanation as to why Merlin was stealing, expecting some kind of reason for him to be in a desperate need of money. Now he had to wrap his head around the fact that his manservant was not only a thief, although it made more sense now since realizing that he was a dragon, but also a magical being and therefore an enemy of Camelot. All that he'd ever been told about magic users and shifters were that they were evil, using their skills to lie, deceive and bring ruin to others. But the creature in front of him hadn't acted in the least viciously, even when threatened with a sword, and despite Merlin's many faults, hurting innocent people wasn't one of them. He couldn't even stomach to think about what his father would do if he found out about Merlin, yet he couldn't imagine not telling his father either. The crown prince himself, committing high treason? Not upholding the law? It was unthinkable, but the thought of sending Merlin to the pyre? Equally unthinkable. Arthur grimaced as he felt a headache come on strongly. Couldn't Merlin just have been a common thief, served a sentence in the dungeons and then everything would've been over and done with? Did he exist solely to give Arthur headaches?

"I, uh, don't suppose you could talk like that?" he asked, feeling a bit wrong-footed. He wasn't very versed in dragon etiquette after all but he needed answers. He must have done something right anyway because Merlin immediately chirped loudly in response. Arthur sighed. "With actual words, Merlin?" he clarified and got a series of melodic chirps back in return. "That actual humans can understand?" Merlin rolled his eyes and huffed. Then he poked Arthur's shoulder with his snout to get him to turn around and a moment later Arthur heard a familiar voice.

"You're such a clotpole."

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur said affronted, turning around just as Merlin pulled his tunic back on.
"I do apologize. You're such a clotpole, sire." Arthur supposed he should reprimand such behaviour but then again, when had Merlin ever behaved appropriately? And did Arthur honestly want him to?

"How did you find me?" Merlin asked, trying to sound care-free but Arthur could see that his hands were shaking as he re-tied the neckerchief.

"I followed you here to talk about the fact that you've been stealing things" Arthur answered, seeing how Merlin stiffened. "And then I discovered something even more interesting." Merlin, now standing completely still, started to look panicked as if the full implication of his dragon nature being discovered by the crown prince had finally hit him.

"And what happens now?" he asked, tension clearly visible. He looked about ready to bolt, kept looking for possible escape routes and Arthur almost wanted to tell him that if he really wanted to escape Arthur wouldn't really be able to effectively stop him. When he hesitated and didn't answer straight away Merlin's face fell.

"I see" he said, backing away several steps.
"No, Merlin, I couldn't…" Arthur held up his hands, as if to calm a nervous animal down, and realized that in a way he actually was. "Please, just wait. I, uh, I came alone, there are no guards waiting. It' just us here. We could…" Merlin stopped but till kept a distance between them and Arthur exhaled. "I just want to talk. Please." Merlin nodded, warily, but Arthur still took that as permission.

"So, a dragon?" he asked and Merlin smiled wryly.

"Yes, all my life. My dad too, but he's… not around." His voice trailed away.

"And all the shiny things?" Arthur prompted, wanting to chase away the sad look that appeared on Merlin's face.

"I don't really understand it myself " Merlin confessed. "It's like an instinct, like I need to have these things but I don't know why." Arthur didn't know much about dragons but he had learned about their need to collect things valuable to them. "And I swear, I'm not a thief, I always gave it back if someone missed it!" He hunched his shoulders and Arthur was suddenly struck by how young Merlin looked. Like a lost little boy with no one to ask which way to go.

"Why Camelot then?" Arthur asked, even if it pained him. He didn't even want to imagine Merlin gone, and not just because having George for a manservant would bore him to death within a day. "Why don't you go someplace where you can be yourself?" Merlin hesitated, he couldn't tell Arthur about their shared destiny, not yet. But luckily there were other reasons keeping him in Camelot as well, reasons that were believable to Arthur.

"It's not necessarily safer to be somewhere shifters are living openly. Do you have any idea what people would do to get control over a dragon? My mother…" Merlin choked, unable to continue that chain of thought. He didn't want to think of what could happen if anyone tried to get to him through his mother. "And also, Gaius needs the help, he's getting older and… and I like helping people, learning more about cures and different treatments."

"And about magic perhaps?" Arthur guessed.

"Gaius doesn't know!" Merlin immediately cut in. "He had no idea, this was all on me, Arthur, please..." Arthur held up a hand, stopping Merlin's panicked words.

"Honestly, Merlin, how stupid do you think that I am?" he asked, then immediately continued. "Don't answer that, I probably won't like what I hear." A shadow of a smile crossed Merlin's worried face and Arthur felt good about almost making him smile. "Of course I know that Gaius knows, Merlin, don't insult me by telling me otherwise. I could see how worried he was about you when I asked him about the thefts, it was impossible not to realize."

"Will anything happen to him?" Merlin seemed afraid to ask the question and no matter how betrayed Arthur felt he couldn't find it in his heart to do anything else than shaking his head firmly. Merlin chewed on his thumbnail, relieved that Gaius wouldn't suffer any repercussions but still worried about what Arthur would do.

"Do you really believe that I'm evil?" he asked in a small voice and Arthur answered instinctively.

"No! No I don't, not you…" Arthur shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "But my father…"
"But what do you think?" Merlin interrupted, walking forward until they were standing almost nose to nose. "Forget your father, forget the laws. What do you think?" Arthur was taken aback by the intensity in Merlin's eyes.

"I don't think you're evil" he said and Merlin's mouth turned into a relieved smile. "But I don't know what to do either" he continued and Merlin's smile dimmed. "I need to think."

"So think then." Merlin took a few steps back, sank down to sit cross-legged on the ground and then his eyes shimmered golden. Dry branches and pieces of wood assembled themselves in a neat pile before him and then burst into flames. Arthur jumped back from the roaring fire, shocked.

"Dragon and magic user?" he asked faintly and Merlin smirked.

"Dragons are creatures of magic no matter what form we take."

"Now I really need to think" Arthur groaned. It would be a long night.

::

In the end there wasn't a whole lot of thinking to be done after all. Arthur only had to ask himself what would happen to Merlin if his father ever found out that he was a dragon and whether or not Arthur could live with that. The answer was a clear no and before long both of them snuck back towards the castle. Arthur had to admit that it felt weird to hide from his own father's guards but in his heart he knew that he couldn't have acted any differently and still be able to look at himself in the mirror.

Some nights, after making it completely clear to everyone that the prince was not to be disturbed for any reason whatsoever, they locked themselves in Arthur's chambers. After a nifty little spell that prevented anyone to hear anything but an indistinct murmur they talked for hours about shifters and magic and what Camelot would be like if Arthur was king. Then Merlin shifted and dozed in front of the fire in his dragon form, curled around Arthur who leaned back against the dragon's warm flank. They still needed to figure things out, and keep Merlin with a steady supply of shiny things to prevent any unexplainable bouts of kleptomania, but for the most part life in Camelot stayed much the same.

And years later, when Arthur was king and magic users and shifters where once again permitted to live openly in Camelot, they still locked themselves away for a night when they felt like they hadn't seen enough of each other for a while, just talking and enjoying each other's company.