Disclaimers: All BBCs
A/N: Thank you, thank you, all reviewers! You are the BEST! I have done my best to live up to your expectations, so please tell me if this chapters doesn't meet with them. :) Constructive criticism is always welcome. I'm a big girl, so I can take it.
One thing: In this story, apart from the egg surviving, Gaius doesn't know about Kilgharrah and Aithusa for the simple reason that we haven't seen Merlin taking him into his confidence on this particular issue.
CHAPTER 1
Clueless
A week earlier
It was usually during night time that he heard from the great dragon and this time was no exception. Waking abruptly from a dreamless sleep by the distinct feeling of an ancient call in the very core of his soul, he knew exactly whose voice to expect in his mind shortly and was not disappointed.
MERLIN
Kilgharrah, his mind thought back, without hesitating, like second nature.
MERLIN – COME, QUICK
The warlock gasped; the pain was so tangible that it felt like an iron fist had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart to the last drop of blood. Undiluted fear and grief gripped his being and left an imprint of trauma. Something was terribly wrong! So wrong that he stumbled out of bed, panting and gasping for breath. He would have to go to Kilgharrah. Now!
Not wasting any time on changing clothes, but simply grabbing a cape to protect him from the chill of the night, Merlin stood rigid and concentrated hard. It was a technique he had perfected within the last six months, yet rarely used as the performance would increase the risk of being discovered as a sorcerer in Camelot. With King Arthur's newly fuelled hatred towards magic, this was a very real threat. However, this was Kilgharrah, and he was a dragonlord. He had obligations and responsibilities that he did not intend to ignore. He would have to chance it.
Merlin's shape dissolved into the night.
… and reappeared in the dragon's lair. The second that Merlin could focus with his eyes, he knew that his old friend was dying. "No," he breathed, his heart skipping a beat, and lunged forward.
Kilgharrah's cave was situated high above ground in the mountains. The air was thin and cold and the stars were blinking their cold indifference and together with the moon just barely providing illumination enough for Merlin to see the entrance of the cave. Merlin entered the lair and stooped by the huge face that lay quivering with weakness in the deepest end of the cave where no light penetrated the thick stone wall. He whispered into his palm and produced a small flame, just enough for him to look into his old friend's eyes. He put his hand on the scaly, golden surface of the creature's jaw.
"Kilgharrah," he whispered in dragon tongue. "What has happened to you, old friend?"
The great dragon's breath was laboured and Merlin sensed that talking was draining his energy, which made him project the question.
I am dying, Kilgharrah projected back to him, his great amber eyes barely open.
How? Why?
It would seem, from an illness.
Why didn't you call me?
It went so fast, young warlock. There was no time. I sent Aithusa away so that she should not catch whatever I had got.
The dragon's breathing was getting increasingly uneven. Desperate to save his friend, Merlin reached out both his hands, mumbled a healing spell and flashed his eyes.
You cannot heal me, Merlin. Or I would have healed myself. It is how it must be. It is my time.
No, Merlin cried, his eye wide with shock and grief, I do not accept that.
I go with peace. I am no longer the last dragon. Aithusa will carry the torch and help you unite Albion. It is her – and yours – destiny.
We need you!
No, young warlock, Kilgharrah expressed a little more firmly, you do not. You do, however, need each other. Aithusa has not yet learned the human ways, but she is an adolescent dragon and I have taught her the ways of her kin. She can project thoughts in human languages, but she cannot speak it with her mouth. This – and human social skills, you must teach her, Merlin.
Tears were flowing freely down the sorcerer's cheeks now, his chest felt as if it was about to explode.
I cannot take her in, he argued, if she comes anywhere near Camelot, she will be killed.
You are the last dragonlord, Kilgharrah reminded him, it is your sacred duty. You do not have to concern yourself of her safety. No one in Camelot will see her true identity.
Merlin tried to dry his eyes – in vain. What do you mean?
The dragon's chest heaved and fell in one big breath. Aithusa will go to you. She has a string to her bow that no dragon before her has ever had ...
Kilgharrah died later that night and Merlin was not with him. The great dragon insisted on going to the ancient gods alone as was the dragon way. Yet the young warlock felt him die inside of him as the last breath of the dragon's filled his entire being from his fingertips to the smallest sinew in his toes. Merlin gasped with the pain that rippled through his lanky form.
Kilgharrah was dead.
A week, it took before Aithusa stood at the door. A week, in which Merlin mourned openly to the great confusion and puzzlement of his friends who understood and knew nothing. A week, in which he reminiscenced the old times, good as well as bad, with his friend, the Great Dragon. The loss was like a sharp blow to his heart. How could he ever recover? Kilgharrah and he had been kin, both magical beings, the dragon had been the only one really to understand what it was like to have magic.
It wasn't until he felt her there, by the door, the very essence of her soul and mind, tapping into his own and in so many ways more complete than Kilgharrah, that he realised that this was not the end – this was the beginning. And then he opened the door and saw her. The most beautiful being he had ever seen and felt.
Aithusa!
x
He led her into his own room, anxious that Gaius, who could be back any minute, should not spot her before he had had a chance to speak to her. Kilgharrah had warned him that she had a skill unlike no other dragon, yet is was not until he actually saw her that he understood which one. Aithusa was obviously a changeling – a shapeshifter! She could change from the form of a dragon into the form of a human. And other forms? Merlin didn't even realise that he had projected the question to her, and for the first time he heard her crystal clear voice in his mind like silver rain on his skin: Yes, and other forms as well.
The warlock turned from the door that he had closed carefully and locked his eyes with hers. Gods, they were completely water blue – almost transparent. Somewhat like her voice that had been crisp and musical like a crystal bell.
Aithusa. We must communicate like this until you learn to speak. She blinked placidly. I prefer this, she projected. That might be, but I am the only one who can hear you.
Is that not enough? she asked, her eyes wide and big with wonder and innocence.
Merlin shook his head; he understood now what Kilgharrah had meant by learning the human ways. This beautiful dragon just had no idea.
We must get you some other clothes. Where did you get these in the first place?
She didn't beat an eyelash when telling him: From a man who attacked me in the forest.
"What?" Merlin yelled, forgetting to project. He saw her wince, her newborn human hearing boosting his loud voice into her mind. He instantly lowered the volume. "What do you mean? What happened?"
Without the merest sign of regret, fear or trauma, the young girl told her new mentor about the assault and the outcome – and her presumption that this was what humans wore.
Merlin wiped his damp brow. OhMyGod – she'd barely been in Camelot for two hours and already she had been on the brink of both being violated, killed and revealed. A young girl spewing torches out of her mouth was not a daily occurrence and would not have gone unnoticed had someone seen it. On the other hand, the sorcerer also felt a chill down his spine that Aithusa had actually been in danger of being both raped and killed. He would have to protect her from such risks in the future. Preferably without anyone being roasted as a result – though secretly he felt with a certain glee that they had had it coming.
Take my hand. We're going to the best seamstress in town to get you a dress. In the meantime, please don't use your dragon powers. You are in a human form, so behave humanly.
I do not know how to do that.
Oh. Of course not, since she was there to learn exactly that.
Then … concentrate on NOT performing magic for now, at least.
Aithusa cocked her head like a bird and obediently followed the gentle but insistent tug in her hand as Merlin led her out of his room and Gaius' chambers.
x
On their way to Gwen's house, Merlin frantically concocted a believable cover story for his dragon's presence at Camelot, and he was still working out the kinks when he knocked on his friend's door. She would still be in at this time of day.
A radiant Gwen opened the door and merely with a short glance on his companion bid Merlin welcome to her home.
"Gwen, this is Aithusa – a … distant relative of mine whose parents have died [not entirely untrue] in a fire. The shock has rendered her mute and she has been sent here to learn to talk again. All Authusa's clothes were burned in the fire. Can I commission a couple of dresses for her?"
Merlin tried to suppress his obvious relief when he saw Gwen's display of sympathy. So far, so good.
"Oh, of course, Merlin. I am so sorry to hear this," she reached for the young girl's hand, but didn't receive it.
"It's all right, Aithusa," Merlin said gently, "you can take her hand."
Tentatively, the young girl took Gwen's hand. "Where ever did you get these clothes?" Gwen murmured with both her eyebrows crawling up her forehead. For once, the warlock was grateful that the dragon couldn't speak. "Her father's – about the only thing that didn't burn," he explained, the latter being quite true.
In the privacy of Gwen's bedroom, she undressed the frail looking girl and put a model dress on her as dummy to take measures from. Aithusa kept getting mute instructions from a very worried dragonlord who had been left outside by a strict index finger and its owner, Gwen.
Just keep perfectly still, Aithusa. Let Gwen do to you what she want. It won't hurt you. You can trust her.
The dragon-in-disguise listened to her mentor with one ear and to Gwen's soothing sounds with another; she found that at this very moment, Gwen had the most calming effect on her psyche. She liked the sound of her voice and her beautiful soft and dark eyes and the nut brown shade of her skin. The seamstress' skilled and experienced hands quickly and gently tightened and loosened the dummy dress where appropriate and soon took a step back with satisfaction in her face.
"There," she stated, "perfect! I'll take the measurements and have one of the dresses ready for you later today."
Aithusa stared back at her, not offering any reply, naturally. Gwen took out the needles and helped her out of the dummy, saying: "You know, you are completely safe with Merlin. He's the kindest soul there is. He will help you recover and regain your voice and he will never let you down."
The young girl with the uncanny eyes blinked. She knew that, of course. She had known so from the very moment she had heard him calling her by her rightful name. Merlin was the other part of her soul. Kilgharrah had been her tutor, her foster parent.
Kilgharrah was dead. She had felt his heartbeat abate and sensed the pain when it stopped, and that is when she recalled his last instructions. To go find Merlin in the event of his death.
Kilgharrah was dead.
Suddenly she saw a startled expression on Gwen's face and that's when she felt something on her cheeks. Wet. Trickling. She raised her hand to her face and felt how the wet and trickling sensation came from her eyes. She whirred her head gently; reptilians had tear ducts for lubrication of the eyes. Apparently, too much lubrication had caused them to brim? She slowly wiped her face in her arm.
"It's all right, sweetie," Gwen said softly, putting her hand on the girl's arm, "it's okay to cry. Crying heals the soul."
Aithusa was confused and called out to her other half, her voice fearful and anxious.
"What's going on?" Merlin demanded to know, bursting through Gwen's bedroom door. The seamstress looked up, a little surprised at her friend's vehemence and then laughed silently.
"Nothing much," she smiled, "Aithusa is shedding some tears for her family, quite understandably."
Merlin looked at her dragon with puzzlement. She was, indeed, crying. Why did that elicit such a reaction in her?
My tear ducts are ill.
And that's when it dawned on him. As tears of sorrow or joy are uniquely human, Aithusa had never been crying before.
x
When Merlin and his new protégée returned to the castle, he stopped by the guards to introduce his guest, vouching for the now very sad young girl and explaining the nature of her taciturn demeanour. Now, that the conscientious guards knew her by sight, she would have no problem going in and out without having to voice (?) her identity. Merlin quickly shoved her lithe form through the door and immediately went for his room where they …
… met Gaius.
"Gaius!"
"Merlin!"
The young sorcerer stood frozen on the spot whereas the elderly physician crossed his arms and looked at the pair in front of him with his usual cocked eyebrow. He indicated Aithusa's presence with a stern nod.
"Taking your dates home with you, Merlin?"
"Errmm," Merlin said inarticulately while his facial hue went from ghostly white to deep red in a nano-second.
Gaius smirked. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
"Well … what are you doing in my room?" Merlin said accusatorily, attempting to take the defence.
"Looking for you!"
"Well … here I am," he said feebly. The defence strategy hadn't worked.
"I see that – in the company with a very beautiful, albeit sad young woman."
"Oh … yes. Sorry. Gaius, this is Aithusa, a relative of mine who needs a place to stay … Aithusa, this is Gaius, the Court Physician."
Being completely clueless as to social introductions, Aithusa remained immovable. Merlin nudged her a little, saying through the corner of his mouth:
"This is where you smile and nod as greeting."
Aithusa nodded obligingly in a very stiff and military fashion complete with a just as stiff and somewhat unsettling smile that never reached her eyes. Gaius' infamous eyebrow crept further up his forehead. Then he smiled falsely at his assistant.
"Merlin, can I speak to you?"
"Well, actually, I was ..."
"Now, Merlin?"
With a last, projected Stay here and wait for me – don't move a finger instruction for Aithusa, Merlin, chagrined, followed Gaius out of his room and into the laboratory.
"Right. Out with it!"
Gaius watched as Merlin's typical tell-tale squinting told him everything he wanted to know: That this girl most definitely was not his relative.
"Okay, so she's not my relative."
"Hah!"
"... but she is my kin, and she needs help!"
Gaius' face was unfathomable.
"I need more information."
"Look … her entire family is dead. She's in deep shock and has lost the ability to speak. How can I turn her away?"
"Merlin, she's reeking of magic! I can smell it!"
The young sorcerer winced; obviously, Gaius would sense it. He may not be a warlock, but ages of magical experience had taught him how to spot magical beings.
"Look … just trust me, right?"
"No!"
"But ..."
"Get it into your thick skull, Merlin. King Arthur is upholding the ban on magic. Until he sees things differently, meddling with magic is punishable by death. Every second that young girl is here, her life is in grave danger."
The warlock completely agreed, of course, it was just that …
"... I have no choice. She's clueless, Gaius. Turning her away now would be like throwing her to the wolves (which she would totally fry, but better not mention that, Merlin thought). If we turn her away, where would she go?"
"The druids!" came the prompt reply.
"She will not take orders from anyone but me," Merlin said, frustrated and running out of arguments.
"Nonsense! Why wouldn't she?"
And that's when Merlin finally decided that Gaius had better be his ally than his opponent.
"... because she's a dragon, Gaius," Arthur's manservant blurted out, his shoulders falling in a mixture of relief and surrender.
That made the old physician's jaw drop to the floor with a resounding thud. Uncharacteristically, it took him over a minutes to collect himself, but he finally leaned forward, pinning Merlin with his eyes and uttering just one prominent question:
"Do you want to take it .. from the top?"
It took Merlin the better half of an hour to recount the entire story from the moment he spared Kilgharrah's life till the Great Dragon's last breath. Gaius felt slightly miffed that his young protégée had kept all this from him, but found it in his heart to forgive him when he saw how all this affected his dragonlord identity.
"It is a heavy responsibility, Merlin," he acquiesced, "I now understand why you feel you must undertake this gargantuan enterprise."
Merlin was shaking his head, his lean features drawn in anxiety. "She will be subjected to a massive threat here, I agree with you in that."
Gaius smirked. "Taking her first encounter with ruffians into consideration, I'm not sure that it is she who runs the risk, Merlin."
The young boy nodded, mirroring the older man's smirk. "I know – and I have asked her not to do that again."
Gaius sighed and got up, his old legs creaking with arthritis as he unfolded the joints.
"We will have to find a way. If Kilgharrah says she needs to learn human ways, we can't very well pack her off to the country where she meets no one."
"But I can't keep an eye on her all the time, Gaius," Merlin said, handing the physician his bag as he recognised the tell-tale signs that the doctor was leaving to continue his rounds.
"Perhaps you don't have to. You have the bond, after all and you can stay in touch even as you do your chores for the King."
And with those promises of more labour than Merlin had ever dreamt would be loaded on his shoulders, Gaius left with an evil snigger, leaving his apprentice with an unpleasant sense of dread.
And that's when the young warlock remembered that he hadn't sensed Aithusa for an hour.
Oh, my god, what has she been doing, he thought and rushed to his room, flinging the door open.
And gasped!
xxx
So? Whattaya think?