Merlin was not sure that taking Arthur to meet Kilgharrah had been such a good idea. Yes, Arthur had seemed to be taking the discovery of Merlin's magic in his stride, but perhaps introducing him to the supposedly dead Great Dragon in the same day wasn't as wholly appropriate as it had originally seemed.
Arthur now stood face-to-face with said Great Dragon, shouting at him for attacking Camelot, consorting with and influencing Merlin, eating sheep and generally still being alive. Thankfully, Kilgharrah appeared to be taking this with good humour.
Arthur, however, seemed determined to provoke the dragon by any means possible.
"I, Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Camelot, find you guilty of practising the art of sorcery."
"Arthur, what are you doing?" Merlin whispered frantically.
"This is regarded as an act of high treason, the punishment for which is death." Arthur drew his sword and levelled it at the Great Dragon.
Merlin sighed. It was going to be one of those days.
Kilgharrah snorted, then, realising that Arthur was serious, raised a mighty forepaw and slapped the Once and Future King before taking to the skies.
Merlin had a feeling that he was in Big Trouble.
"Ow," Arthur moaned from the floor. Merlin rolled his eyes.
"Aww, did the nasty dwagon hurt you?"
"Of course not, Merlin."
"Well, it's just that all the evidence would suggest that, actually, getting slapped by the Great Dragon would cause pain in anyone with half a brain cell. And the whole moaning thing –"
"Merlin."
"Arthur?"
"Shut up."
"Yes, sire."
"What did he do that for, anyway?" Arthur rubbed his jaw, shooting a dark look at the sky.
"Uh, I would guess that it might have been something to do with the fact that you just accused the Great Dragon of sorcery, which, by the way, isn't actually outlawed anymore, and sentenced him to death."
Arthur waved a hand in annoyance.
"Details, Merlin."