Thank you for the nice reviews guys! They made me feel loved :3

Chapter 3

Arthur slowed down only when the castle came into view. He stopped so others could catch up and rest a bit after the long ride. Clutching the reins of Merlin's horse in his fist, he tried denying the growing feeling of worry for his frie- manservant.

"Sire," Sir Gareth moved next to him "We can return and look for him."

The hold on the reins grew tighter "No. We need to rest and gather new supplies. I also need to report to the Council."

"There's still a chance we might have missed him on the way," said Gwaine quietly as he moved a large branch from his path to follow them "He might have just taken a different route."

"Or the coward ran away," Sir Berreck huffed annoyed from behind.

The black horse Gwaine was hauling with them snorted and stomped his legs. Gwaine let go of the branch he was holding and didn't even bother looking surprised as it thwacked Berreck right in the face, he continued addressing Arthur "Lancelot and Percival will want to ride out and look for him, as do I. We can be ready before nightfall."

"I volunteer too," added Elyan helpfully.

Arthur nodded in understanding "You can start preparing as soon as we get back, take whatever you need but at least wait till tomorrow before riding off. Elyan, I want Gaius's approval before you leave. If you get an infection from that shoulder wound you won't do Merlin and the other knights much good."

"It's just a flesh wound, Sire," argued Elyan.

"Rise your arm above the head," commanded Arthur. When Elyan remained still he added "Have Gaius check you out, you can join the others as soon as he gives you his clearance." It was obvious Elyan did not agree with the prince's decision, but Arthur left no room for argument.

They rode back to the castle in silence.

xxx

In the courtyard, the horses were handed to guards and from them to stable grooms. Gwaine walked with them as he felt obliged to make sure the new horse was accepted.

"Who's he?" asked Godric the stable master as Gwaine's groom herded the new horse in the stables.

"Found him on the way, probably belong to the sorceress we went to hunt down."

"A witch's horse," Godric clucked his tongue in disapproval. "You sure he's not cursed or something?"

"Nah," Gwaine shook his head "He seems smart. Followed without a rope," he then cooed and patted Merlin's head lovingly. "You wanted to go with us, didn't you boy?"

Merlin was slightly disturbed. He pulled his head away from Gwaine's grasp and nudged him firmly away.

"Hmm," Godric walked around Merlin assessing him. He pinched his coal black coat around his ribs and brushed his hand over his back. "A bit thin, but nice posture." He also lifted and checked each of his legs, which made Merlin feel like me might fall over again. "He'll need shoes."

He also checked his teeth while mumbling he appeared young, but seems to be old enough. He then brushed Merlin's dark mane away to check his eyes and that's when he noticed the head wound Merlin got earlier courtesy from nature's wooden wonder "What's he got here?"

"Oh right, he ran into a tree this morning," explained Gwaine peeking from around Merlin "He's not blind or something is he?"

Godric, despite being a big and beefy man, brushed a gentle hand over Merlin's eyes and wound. Merlin blinked but otherwise remained still.

"No, his eyes are clear; he might have just run into it by accident."

"Dunno, he seemed pretty confused as we took him."

Godric waved his hand dismissively "Bah, there's no telling how the witch handled him. He might just need some time to get used to us, otherwise he seems good. I'll have one of my experienced grooms take him for a ride tomorrow to see how he goes." He patted Merlin's rear in approval.

Merlin, meanwhile, couldn't decide which was more wrong: the notion that someone might actually 'ride' him or Godric's persistent hand on his rear.

Gwaine nodded at the old stable master "I'll leave him to you then. We're heading out again tomorrow, so fill me in on his progress when I get back."

Godric agreed, and with one final loving brush at Merlin's ears, Gwaine left.

Merlin was now highly disturbed with all the touching and petting. Gwaine seemed to develop a liking for his ears and the stable had a thing for Merlin's behind. Now those were haunting thoughts.

Godric looked at him again as Merlin sidestepped away from his persistent touch "Now what should we name you, boy? I wonder what the witch called you…"

'Merlin,' he neighed softly.

"Don't worry, we'll find you a fitting name," Godric patted Merlin's flank, and Merlin stepped away from him again.

Godric then handed Melin's rope to a waiting groom "Put him next to Sion and be wary how they behave. Give him a good rub, clean the wound and if they get along, he can stay there."

The groom, Fred as Merlin remembered his name, nodded and dutifully led him to his tie stall. Merlin had by now resigned to the rope and being pulled in any general direction, he had an awful bad feeling this will hardly be the last time.

Fred led him down a familiar hall and stopped at one of many tie stalls where Merlin recognized his own horse, Sion, already resting. The groom led him forward and tied him next to Sion in a respectful distance.

"Behave until I get back," said Fred as he left to find some brushes.

Merlin looked back to see him go and then at Sion who was looking at him curiously. The other horse stretched its neck to take a sniff at Merlin. Sion's rope was longer than Merlin's so Merlin really couldn't do much to move out of his way as the other horse came sniffing at him. Sion appeared to be confused for a while, and then he reached out again and, much to Merlin's surprise, gently nibbled at his ear.

Merlin stared and let his horse have a take at him. It looked like Sion recognized him! His horse was fond of his ears and always took an affectionate nibble at them when Merlin's head was close enough. It was his standard greeting that Merlin never bothered to correct, and now was glad he also never tried. This small revelation filled Merlin's heart with hope. If his horse could recognize him, so could someone else, right?

Fred returned with a bucket of water in one hand and a variety of brushes in other. He first offered the bucket to Merlin to drink and only then Merlin realized how thirsty he was. Much to his surprise he finished it in one go and still felt like he could drink more. "I'll bring you more later," Fred promised before picking up a brush.

What followed was officially one of the weirdest experiences in Merlin's life. Fred was firm and sure with the brush, where his left hand smoothed his fur, his right one followed with the brush. Merlin could hardly remember his mother's touch when he was still too young or ill to take care of himself, and he never had anyone to attend him in such a way like a certain pampered prince was. It felt good and uncomfortable on certain parts, but most of the time he was unnerved by it.

Fred talked to him the entire time and for that Merlin was grateful, he neighed and snorted whenever Fred asked something and it made Merlin feel like he was finally having a genuine conversation.

Fred began calling Merlin 'Rabbit' due to his long ears. The groom joked that if he brushed his mane back or forth, left or right, Merlin's ears would always stick out in a funny manner. Merlin emphasized his disagreement with that by pulling his ears back.

"Easy Rabbit," soothed Fred looking confused at what might cause Merlin's sudden discomfort.

He then finished up with him by cleaning the wound above his eye. He tried not to probe it too much but when he noticed Merlin staying calm, he cleaned it thoroughly and applied some paste they normally used for bruised horses. He left after he brought Merlin dry straw for bedding and another bucket with water.

Godric came to check on him much later when it was time for the horses to get their grain and oats. He filled Merlin's bowl and checked his head wound. The stable master gently brushed his head and grunted in approval at Fred's handwork. After that Merlin was finally left alone.

He looked at his bowl of grain and stubbornly shook his head. He was hungry, yes, but not that hungry. Ignoring his food, Merlin looked around and listened to the sounds and noises going around him. The horses were eating quietly while two more grooms brought in two more horses.

Merlin waited until everyone left, the stables were closed and darkness settled in. One of the few nice surprises by being a horse was that he saw better in the dark and his hearing improved greatly. He hoped this would come in handy with his escape plan.

It was hours after the last groom left when Merlin began gnawing on his rope. It was hard without hands, but he knew how to untie this knot since he often used the same one.

Sion neighed worried when Merlin finally backed out from his stall and moved to the exit. The large stable door was closed and bolted from the outside, but Merlin knew there was also a way to unlock it from the inside. He had to reach high with his head and to first unbolt the iron lever and then nudge his nose to the wooden one that was at his chest level and a bit heavier to unlock.

He listened carefully with his new super horse-hearing and waited to see if anyone heard him. Happy with the silence he nudged the door open and poked his head outside. No one is sight.

He nudged the door further open and stepped outside carefully. He barely made five steps when he stepped on the rope still connected to his halter, tripped and made a spectacular somersault with his big and long body. For a moment he just lay there on his back, feet in the air and wondered if it was even possible for a horse to survive this many face-first falls in less than 24 hours.

Huffing and annoyed, Merlin clumsily collected himself and this time picked the imposing rope with his mouth. He stood still and listened for a minute if anyone had heard (or god forbid, saw) his epic fail.

All was quiet.

He proceeded around the stables and calculated which path to Gaius's chambers was quicker and hopefully without guards. He tried to be quick as he moved, but the sound of his hooves against the stone tiles was loud and Merlin tried not to cringe with every step he made.

At least he counted himself lucky for having a black coat that made him harder to spot in the shadows. He managed to avid two sets of guards this way, but as he neared the narrow corridor of the court physician's chambers he knew he wouldn't be so lucky anymore.

xxx

Scratch that last thought, opening Gaius's door was a whole other matter. Merlin's muzzle was too big to get a firm grip on the latch. When he heard the guards making their rounds down the corridor he panicked.

He considered just waking up Gaius, but knowing the old physician and his mutual love for animals, he'd probably just hand him to the guards before Merlin could even begin to demonstrate any signs of intelligence.

'Oh god, this is disgusting, I can't believe I'm about to do this…' Merlin stuck his tongue out and wrapped it around the latch. He tried very hard not to think what kind of dirty hands have been touching that, he might as well lick the floor while he was at it, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The door successfully opened and he bolted in. He quickly pushed the door closed and then went still. Behind the closed door he heard the steps of guards passing the corridor and hurrying on while Gaius's even breathing was strong and completely oblivious to the ruckus going around.

Releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding, Merlin carefully and as quietly as possible moved further into the room where Gaius was sleeping. He looked around for a quill and parchment hoping he might be able to write Gaius a message before he woke him up.

Merlin snuffled around a bit and finally found some on his desk. He pulled the parchment closer with his nose and grabbed for the quill with his teeth. He broke the first one.

And the second one.

The third one was ever so carefully picked up by just his muzzle. Ignoring the vial he knocked over as he dipped it in ink (spilling the ink in the process) he began scribbling wobbly lines across the paper.

He managed to draw something that resembled an 'M' and maybe an 'E' when something hit him over the head.

Startled, he looked up just in time to see Gaius swung his broom for a second blow. Merlin barely ducked as the broom just narrowly missed his head.

"You beast! How did you get in here?" Gaius screech was accomplished by another swung of his battle broom. This time he hit Merlin's rear as the boy-now-horse tried getting away from him. 'Try' being the key word here.

'Gaius wait, it's me!' Merlin whined in vain as he ducked another attack. He could duck his head, but he couldn't move the rest of his body fast enough in the small chamber so most of Gaius's blows landed on his rear, back or sides.

"Out! Out! Out with you!" kept shouting Gaius with his broom high over his head like a sword. Who knew the old man still had this much stamina.

Trying to avoid a particular painful looking hit, Merlin jumped sideways and knocked into a table. 'Oh no,' was Merlin's last thought as the table was knocked over. It wasn't just any table either, it was The Table with all of Gaius's precious potions, brews, draughts and most probably a month's worth of medicine.

As the last vial broke, chilly silence settled in the room. A shiver was sent down Merlin's spine as he sniffed and looked at Gaius guiltily.

He looked up just in time to notice Gaius picking up a chair.

Merlin didn't waste a second. He bolted to the door just in time as the chair crashed on the spot where he had stood only a second ago. He would have ran head first through the closed door if not at that moment the guards hadn't burst in to check what all the commotion was about.

Merlin was pretty sure he stomped on one guard's foot and knocked the wind out of the second one in his haste, but he didn't bother to check. His first and foremost thought was to get away from the berserk Gaius.

Merlin had no wish to go back to the stables, but when the guards closed in on him he had no other choice. Half an hour later he was handed over to a still sleep-tousled groom and ordered to be 'tied down by chains'.

The groom obviously confused how Merlin even made it through the shut stable doors, brought him back to his stall next to Sion.

As he retreated, he left Merlin to stare at his new thick rope and never-before-seen knot. If he could even call it that. The groom appeared to just use a series of knots in no particular order or technique.

Dejected, but not defeated, Merlin began gnawing on the rope directly this time. He still had a long night ahead of him.

A/N: Ah, this is just getting interesting. I hope you like it thus far :)

Ideas, critics and questions are all opened! Review what ever you like, just know you I will love you forever and ever from then on.