Chapter 4: Exploring Habitat Limitations
Merlin had always been at odds about whether he truly liked the city of Cardiff or not.
On the one hand, it was a little overwhelming. At a glance, it was vastly different to the sedate little town he'd grown up in, that he's spent most of his life in. There was an absence of greenery – naturally given it was a sizeable city. Not like Aberystwyth either, which was the closest he usually came to a city at all. There was constant noise, whirring and buzzing and chatter ringing through the sound of footsteps and overriding it all was the thrum of passing vehicles that seemed an unending cycle of motor travellers. Even the air smelled different to the humid cleanliness of the estate, and not in an altogether good way.
Yet at the same time, he loved it. Merlin couldn't describe the reasoning behind liking such juxtaposing settings of city and countryside, only that it was exciting. There was always something happening, always something to see, to do, to listen to, and while at first when coming to a larger city it was a little overwhelming – something that Merlin had discovered he'd happened across more often than not when he'd travelled to the higher density regions – he loved it.
Merlin loved the constant buzz of noise that told of agendas he wasn't party to, of a world he had no part in but for a brief glimmer of observation. The barks of laughter and enthusiastic chatter were a different kind of music to the gentle, humming silence of the estate. Merlin loved the mismatched buildings, those that resembled the more antique architecture of his university between and alongside stately terraces to those that had been updated with the times and breathed modernity.
He loved that he could get lost in the winding streets of the inner city, that even getting lost at all was an experience and an excitement, and that at any time he could peer around a corner and encounter a region he hadn't happened across before.
The unfamiliar houses.
The unfamiliar shops that held peculiar and unfamiliar oddments.
The faces that bore vaguely familiar characteristics but only vaguely so, expressions the only recognisable aspects and deluding his curious eyes.
Merlin's mother had always said he had an unquenchable desire to explore, to relieve the itch of twitching feet, to seek a respite from the boredom of monotony that was the placid and consistent life of many a resident in the sparsely spread estates of his hometown. Such was the reasoning behind Merlin' cohort of animal friends when Merlin was a boy, she'd always said, that he was inquisitive to his own detriment at times and would natter away and pepper with questions anyone who spared him an ear. Hunith claimed that he was like his father in that regard, always curious and seeking, and that love the farm and the horses though he did it didn't suit him. It wasn't enough for him.
Merlin always ignored those words. He knew they were true but he ignored them nonetheless, just as he ignored Hunith's suggestions to get out and see the world, to breathe in the sights and taste the smells and relieve some of that unshakeable jitteriness that flooded through his veins. It was easier to ignore than to recognise, for to recognise would be to accept and struggle with suppressing that urge all the more.
And he had to. Merlin always would. He wasn't going anywhere.
That didn't mean that, when he was afforded the opportunity, he wouldn't savour every last second of it. His mother's suggestion that he take himself to Cardiff to see her old friend Gaius wasn't one he resisted too greatly. Gwaine and Will's encouragement – Will more than Gwaine even, with the urge to leave their quiet town always pronounced within him – hadn't been necessary. They'd left that afternoon, clambering into Merlin's Astra after Gwaine and Will had it out for who would sit in the front seat. Neither had won for they were far too evenly matched and practiced in such competitions, but at Merlin's declaration that he'd leave them behind if they didn't haul arse and get in the car they'd reached the unanimous decision that they'd switch halfway through the trip.
Merlin personally didn't think they needed a stop for a distance of less than three hours, but it would be faster than waiting for them to have it out.
Arthur hadn't complained. He'd barely spoken a word since Merlin had hesitantly agreed to go and see his 'Dr Gaius'. It was strange, uncharacteristic of him even, and at first Merlin had suspected he'd panicked, that Arthur hadn't anticipated they would actually act upon his words and chase up his crazed claims at royalty. It wouldn't be the first time that Merlin had outed a frog for just that reason; especially the males were all huff and bluster until reality was drawn into the open and their falsehoods laid bare. Even with Hunith's abrupt speculations Merlin had half expected Arthur to confess his untruths and slink back to whence he'd come.
He hadn't. The frog who called himself Prince Arthur wasn't subdued for panic and nervousness at his farce unveiled but seemed instead deflated. As though the fight had abruptly seeped from him and he sagged into exhaustion. He'd been so silent when Merlin was packing the bare minimum of supplies for what would most likely be nothing more than a day trip that he'd questioned the frog about it.
Arthur only gave his little jerking twist of his head that was the best he could manage of a shake without a neck. "I'm fucking exhausted, Merlin," he said, for the first time without any real heat. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to have apparently the only person in the world who can understand you finally at least partially accept that what you're saying is true? No, of course not. Because this is a fucked up situation and I'm exhausted."
Merlin was silenced by his words. He didn't know what to say. Did he believe Arthur when he claimed he really was who he said he was? Even given the impossibility of magic, that a person could be transformed into an animal? It was beyond impossible. How did that even work? The physics of it, the conversion of mass, the fact that amphibians weren't even in the same class as mammalian humans, made it all entirely impossible.
But then, Arthur did seem strange in a way that Merlin hadn't encountered in an animal before. Even old Kilgharrah hadn't known immediately how to converse with Merlin so succinctly, had been momentarily inhibited by the language barrier that, though rapidly smoothed and eased with whatever drive Merlin's gift afforded him, was never instantaneous. Arthur certainly held the record for the richest vocabulary of any animal Merlin had ever happened across, not to mention the fact that a significant proportion of the words he uttered were curses.
And that was aside from Arthur's persistence with his claims, his unyielding demands of what in anyone with less arrogance and profound superiority complex Merlin would have called begging. He never wavered even slightly in the claims of his royal status, not even when Merlin attempted to point out that, by and large, Prince Arthur wasn't exactly a very good example of his title. Arthur the frog seemed to know a great deal about that, hardly seemed to care, even, but acknowledged the faults in the prince as though they were his own.
He knew a lot about the prince. A lot about humans in general. It was uncanny.
But even that Merlin would have been able to overlook in the face of logic if not for his mother's words as she'd drawn him aside moments before he'd climbed in the car to head down to Cardiff. Gwaine and Will were still going at it, arguing about who would be seated in prime position for the first half of the trip like bickering ten year olds.
Hunith's tone was hushed, her expression hard and serious enough that any consideration Merlin had for his friends was shunted aside to give her his full attention. "What is it?" He asked worriedly. "What's wrong? Is something -?"
"Nothing," Hunith said with a shake of his head. "Nothing's wrong, exactly, but… Merlin, I have a feeling."
Merlin frowned. Hunith rarely spoke her thoughts without due consideration, something that Merlin had never quite been capable of. "A feeling about what?"
"That the frog, that Arthur – I think he might be telling the truth."
Merlin stared at his mother. He stared for a long moment, a silent pause, and was only half aware that his mouth had dropped open in stupefaction. Slowly he shook his head, more in disbelief that denial because his mother was never one capable of hiding her jesting; Merlin would know if she teased him and she was certainly sincere in that moment. "You've got to be kidding me," he said anyway.
Hunith shook her head shortly. "No. I think that somehow that frog is really the prince."
"How is that even possible?"
Hunith shrugged, clearly at a bit of a loss. "Magic, I suppose. If it's possible."
Merlin shook his head more firmly this time. "It's not, Mum. Magic's not –"
"I know," Hunith interrupted him, her voice quiet yet stifling his own nonetheless. "I know it's impossible, unbelievable even –"
"It's more than that. It's fucking insane." It was a testament to Hunith's agreement with Merlin that she didn't even blink when he swore. "Not only the how of a person turning into an animal but everything else too. What about the actual prince, the one that keeps cropping up in the news?"
"I don't know," Hunith sighed.
"This witch that Arthur keeps talking about?" Merlin persisted. "Nimueh? She was the old queen's best friend and royal advisor. Why would she do that?"
"I don't know, Merlin."
"It doesn't make any sense." Merlin could feel his jaw tighten almost painfully in a momentary flush of frustration. None of it made sense and what had previously been amusement at the antics of a strange amphibian had quickly become a confusing mess of the impossible. "None of it makes any sense. Magic doesn't make sense."
Hunith pressed her lips together, glancing over Merlin's shoulder towards where Gwaine and Will were still audibly arguing. Or perhaps towards Arthur, who Merlin had seen hopping from the greenhouse and a last dip in the pond before they left. Something in her expression was contemplative, almost concerned, and resounded in her voice when she spoke. "You're right. It doesn't. But then what is magic but a word to describe what we have no explanation for."
Merlin stared at her in silence for a moment until she slowly drew her gaze back towards him. "I'm pretty sure scientists are onto most of that."
Hunith's lips twitched slightly but she didn't quite smile. "Probably. But some things haven't been explained. Like you and your father talking to animals –"
"That's not magic," Merlin interrupted.
His mother immediately raised a hand to silence him. "Or the fact that Gaius and his wife Alice had a strange, almost surreal ability to heal people."
Merlin blinked. "W…what?"
Hunith nodded. "I never said anything about it but yes, they were strange. Nothing obvious, and more pronounced in Alice than in Gaius but… yes, some illnesses and injuries they seemed to fix to a degree and with a speed that shouldn't have been possible."
Merlin blinked once more before raising a hand to touch the side of his head, running his fingers through his hair. It was grounding to grasp something tangible and his fingers tugged sharply. "That's impossible," he muttered, even as he began to doubt his own words. He would never think his mother would speak so sincerely in anything but the truth.
"It shouldn't be possible, no," Hunith replied in an equally quiet tone. "But it is. Or it might be. Just like how I came to understand that there was something not quite explainable about Gaius and Alice. Or that when I considered it, the boy who used to go to primary school with me had an odd habit of abruptly vanishing as though into thin air –"
"That's can't be," Merlin began.
"- or that the young woman who jumped from that building in town four years ago – what was her name? Sarah Herd?"
"Yeah," Merlin mumbled his agreement.
"She fell from a building five storeys high in full view of everyone and climb to her feet almost immediately afterwards to disappear," Hunith continued. She shook her head. "I can't explain some things, Merlin, no better than the scientists can. And they can't prove anything because people like Sarah Herd vanish when some anomaly crops up and are lost to oblivion." A frown settled onto her forehead, though she appeared more thoughtful than concerned this time.
"So you think," Merlin said slowly, "that maybe this Nimueh person might actually have some sort of… some sort of magic?" It felt strange even voicing as much.
Hunith shook her head. "I don't know, Merlin. Maybe, maybe not. We won't know until you can see Gaius and hopefully get his help in meeting with her." She shrugged. "But either way, I don't think we should rule out the possibility of Arthur's words being the truth."
Merlin still couldn't believe it entirely, not nearly three hours drive later in which he'd done little but contemplate as much. In many ways it was more his mother's revelation than anything that struck him, that she could think as much possible. True, Merlin knew that many people would consider what he could do to be magic – which it wasn't. It definitely wasn't. Maybe it wasn't so farfetched to believe that a frog could be a human under his skin?
Still, though. Transformation? That was… surely that was impossible.
Merlin glanced sidelong at Arthur where he sat in a wad of damp towels in the passenger seat, elevated enough that he'd be able to peer out the windows to glean a glimpse of their surroundings. Merlin had forcibly ejected a grumbling Will from said seat as they'd slipped into the thinly congested streets of Cardiff, claiming that if anyone would be able to give them directions to Gaius' house it would be Arthur. He pointedly ignored Gwaine's complaint that "That's what I picked up your a new phone for! So that you could use the bloody GPS". Arthur didn't complain either but actually appeared somewhat grateful for the seat. Or at least as grateful as he apparently could feel; if anything would convince Merlin that Arthur was a spoilt royal brat it would be his sense of entitlement.
Given that he'd been affording Merlin prompt directions until that moment, Arthur apparently did know the way. Merlin had been openly and momentarily sceptical of his ability to discern their location but Arthur's grumbling mutters to the matter had silenced him on that. Instead, Merlin fell silent to the directions, ignoring those his phone voiced to him in favour of the ones Arthur worded. If nothing else it would be just one more test.
Really, even with Merlin's rising belief, his unfurling consideration that the impossible was now possible, it still stunned him. He glanced sidelong at Arthur, at the little common frog that wasn't even as big as his palm yet had the ego to make up for it. An ego that Merlin had interpreted as being something of the combined effects of his character and his distress. For he was distressed, that much Merlin could discern. Arthur was vocal, entitled, pompous and demanding, but he was distressed too. Merlin had always had a sort of sixth sense for perceiving that sort of thing in animals; he put it down to the fact that their physical expressions were less pronounced so something in his subconsciousness just seemed to know. Arthur might be arrogant and assuming, but Merlin perceived that at least some of it was a result of his concern. A concern that bordered on panic.
It had taken a little while for Merlin to work out that panic was what it was but… yes. Yes, Arthur was almost panicking. He'd realised as much on the drive over at least.
"What?" Arthur said flatly, barely audible over the humming tunes rippling from the radio, to say nothing of Gwaine's overly loud conversation that was more likely with himself than Will in the back of the car.
Merlin glanced at him sidelong. Arthur hadn't turned towards him exactly but he didn't need to; frog's eyes were just like that. "What what?"
"You're looking at me strangely." Arthur shifted on his towels in a way that was almost discomforted. "Again."
Without looking, Merlin picked up the spray bottle from the cup holder and fired a cool mist of water at Arthur to his startled grunt. "You look uncomfortable," he said.
"I do not," Arthur replied indignantly. His front hands rose automatically, as though unconsciously, to spread the water dotting in droplets across his skin.
"Arthur, I've spent enough time around animals to be able to realise when one isn't comfortable. Your skin was drying out; just ask me next time if you need to be sprayed."
Arthur didn't reply but to grumble to himself once more. He'd been less verbose with his words since they'd started their trip, as though his need to push his humanity upon Merlin at every opportunity had eased with the dubious acceptance Merlin and Hunith had adopted. It was an acceptance that Will resolutely refused to consider, calling it "Absolutely impossible" and professing that "It's a frog, Merlin. A frog. That sort of thing doesn't happen", while Gwaine seemed to consider it simply a hilarious joke and had broken out into spontaneous laughter at their situation as a whole on more than one instance throughout the trip.
After the first time, at which Arthur had shot a glare towards him from his then-seat in the back of the car, those sudden bursts of laughter had elicited little enough response from the frog. He'd hardly complained at all, not even when Merlin had explained the necessity of either sitting him in a water bath or frequently showering him from the spray bottle. He'd been visibly humiliated at least the first few times Merlin had sprayed him but after that seemed to accept it as necessary.
"It's just down this road here," Arthur said, turning slightly at the next approaching corner and making an attempt at an admittedly human gesture with one awkwardly raised front leg. Merlin slowed at the stop sign before pulling around the bend, turning into the quiet street of narrow terraces. They'd retreated into the quieter and less populated residential areas some minutes before, old-fashioned houses lining the road of identical yet somehow different façades. Little, elaborate iron gates barred off tame gardens and short trees draping their limbs over the pavement, stepping stone paths leading up to short stairwells and narrow verandas in front of tall, plain doors. Merlin leaned forwards slightly, peering through the windscreen at each house they passed. There really wasn't all that much distinctive enough to tell them apart but the golden numbers adorning each ornate letterbox.
"They all look exactly the same," Gwaine murmured from the seat behind him, voicing Merlin's thoughts. "What was the number again?"
"Thirty-two," Arthur replied before Merlin could. "It's at the end of the road, two houses before the turn off." He made another awkward gesture to his side of the road before settling himself back into his towels. Merlin was silent. He wasn't going to comment that each time Arthur spoke as such, each time he gave exact directions, it only enforced the disbelieving understanding that somehow, impossibly, he might be telling the truth.
Merlin pulled to a stop at the curb beside the unremarkable terrace Arthur indicated. The number atop the letterbox was just visible from the street-side. Merlin found himself peering up at the house with sudden concern. His mother had given Gaius a call, had explained that Merlin was coming to see him, but hadn't told him why. Merlin had never met the man before, hadn't even heard of him, and now he was supposed to go and explain to him that the frog he brought with him was Prince Arthur of Cardiff? If anything would make him seem crazy it would be that.
Abruptly, Merlin sorely hoped that Hunith and her supposition as to Gaius' 'magical-ness' was accurate.
"What are you waiting for?" Arthur asked, a little shortly.
Merlin spared him a glance. The frog had turned towards him, peering unblinkingly up at him from his nest of towels. Merlin swallowed. "Oh, I don't know. Just preparing myself to be chased out of this guy's house with a broom for sounding like a crazy person."
"Don't worry, Merlin, you don't sound like a crazy person," Gwaine said, leaning forwards in his seat to pat Merlin on the shoulder affectionately. "Or at least no more than you usually do."
"Thanks, Gwaine, that's so comforting."
"We'll be there right with you," Will said quietly. He met Merlin's gaze as Merlin spared him a glance over his shoulder.
Merlin offered a small, grateful smile. Really, what the hell was he doing? He'd come all the way to Cardiff with a frog who claimed to be a prince to convince a stranger of what he hardly believed himself. It really did sound crazy, but "Thanks, Will."
"And thanks, Gwaine," Gwaine added with a crooked smirk. "You're the best person in the world for coming on this absolutely random mission with me to convince some old man that your pet frog is a prince in disguise." He shot Merlin a wink. "Real classic fairy tale you've got yourself there, Merls."
Merlin rolled his eyes though he couldn't help but smile. "Yes, thank you, Gwaine."
"Even though you didn't have to come along in the first place," Will muttered, opening the door to climb from the car.
"Of course I did," Gwaine replied, clambering after him. "Leave Merlin with only you as his back up? What kind of a friend would I be if I did that?"
Merlin turned his attention back to Arthur as he unclipped himself from his seat. Arthur was still staring up at him. "You ready to go?" He asked.
If a frog could purse his lips, Arthur would be doing so now. "Merlin, I've been ready for nearly two months for any sort of progress. Can we get a move on already?"
"Jeez, demand, demand," Merlin muttered to himself, but he held out a hand to Arthur and allowed him to hop onto his palm before climbing from the car.
The terrace really was next to identical to those on either side of it. Brick façade, unadorned door shaded by an awning, an immaculate garden that Merlin recognised as character of those with a true hobby for tending; it really wasn't anything to comment on. Ascending the short path, he knocked on the door with a sharp rap of knuckles to Gwaine's faux-indignant words of "There's a doorbell there for a reason, you uncultured swine."
"Oh, and you'd be the first to educate people on proper decorum," Merlin said with a glance over his shoulder at his friend. Gwaine only grinned in reply.
The sound of locks unclasping sounded barely a moment later, so shortly after that Merlin suspected Gaius had likely been waiting for them practically in the room just beyond. The door opened sharply to reveal the man himself framed by the narrow hallway beyond.
Gaius was an older man, though not as old as Merlin had anticipated. His white-blond hair could have hidden any early signs of greying, his face lined by thin and shallow wrinkled and his back just a little bowed as though his shoulders were heaped with a heavy weight, but all in all Merlin didn't think he could have been older than fifty. He had sharp eyes that spoke of a studious keenness and the sweeping glance he ran over Merlin, over his shoulders to Gwaine and Will and then dropped down to Arthur that perched in Merlin's hand, was visibly intelligent. Except that at the sight of Arthur, one thick eyebrow rose in surprise. He didn't comment, however, and instead silently settled his attention back upon Merlin.
There was a pause, an awkward pause that Merlin immediately sought to alleviate. Swallowing, he drew a bright smile across his face. "Um. Hi. My name's Merlin. You're Gaius? My mum, Hunith, she called you."
Gaius stared for a long moment that was distinctly uncomfortable for his complete lack of expression. Merlin heard Gwaine shift behind him from foot to foot, heard Will mutter something beneath his breath, but an instant later Gaius' face was splitting into a smile and he ignored them both.
"Merlin," he said, nodding his head as though in sudden understanding. "Yes, I've heard about you from Hunith. Not for years, mind, but I would be able to recognise you in an instant."
"Recognise me?" Merlin asked curiously. "Have we met before? Sorry, I don't –"
Gaius waved his apology aside. "No, no, we haven't met. But you look so like Hunith that I wouldn't be able to mistake you for anyone else."
Gwaine nudged Merlin from behind. "Hey, look at that. Family resemblance does run ridiculously strong in your family."
"Between your mum and your Mamó, you're all basically clones," Will said, and Merlin could see his smug smirk even without turning towards him. He chose to ignore him.
Gaius, however, chuckled and nodded his head. "Your grandmother, yes? Dr MacMaloney." He nodded again, smile widening. "Yes, you do have that resemblance about you."
"Thank, guys," Merlin muttered, shooting both of his friends a half-hearted glare over his shoulder.
Gaius was beckoning them inside with a sweep of his arm, however, and the directive pat of Arthur's damp fingers on Merlin's hand urged him to follow right behind. Leading the way, Merlin followed Gaius through the narrow hallway, passing into a cluttered living room richly adorned with plump couches, a desk wedged in one corner and nearly buried beneath books of all sorts, and a television that looked old enough to have been made when Gaius himself was born. From the look of it, it hadn't seen much after that either.
Following Gaius' directions, Merlin seated himself upon one of the couches, quickly wedged between an abruptly seated Will and Gwaine who apparently hadn't the forethought to consider that all three of them upon the one couch might be a tight squeeze. Gaius spared them all a vaguely masked smirk of amusement before adopting a casual expression. "Can I offer anyone tea? Biscuits?"
"No thank you," Merlin replied, just as Will and Gwaine both blurted out identical "Yes please"s. Merlin shot them each a glance that they responded to with varying degrees of sheepishness. Or next to none in Gwaine's case.
"What?" He said. "We haven't had lunch yet. I told you we should have stopped off when me and Will swapped seats. I'm starving."
"Tea would be great," Will said to Gaius, as though minimising his request would lessen the presumptuousness of their speedy reply.
Gaius only seemed to find it all the more amusing. "I'll see what I can rustle up," he said, and disappeared through a doorway into an adjoining room that Merlin could make out as being the dining room.
"Well, that was presumptuous," Arthur said, speaking Merlin's thoughts. "It's common courtesy to offer but they didn't have to jump so quickly to agree."
"Oh, and you'd know all about common courtesy, would you?" Merlin asked, sparing Arthur a raised eyebrow.
"What?" Will asked.
"I'm talking to Arthur."
"Ah, yes, Arthur, the frog lacking in any capacity for gratitude and respect," Gwaine said with a solemn nod. "What's he whinging about?"
"I am not whinging," Arthur said. It could have been Merlin's imagination but he thought he sounded slightly less heated than he had previously. "Gaius is simply my friend. I would that you treat him with respect."
Merlin didn't reply to Gwaine's question or to Arthur's words. Instead, he fell silent as, thoughtful. Arthur was a confusing mixture of hypocrisy. All stories on the media, in the papers and online, spoke of him being an arrogant, entitled and carefree spirit. That he held his position in his father's business was likely more to do with his name and position as King Uther's son than any particular worthiness. Though many claimed he'd been intelligent in his youth, had aced his classes in school and would have likely soared in the military had he been better at following orders, it was common knowledge that Prince Arthur didn't abide by anyone's rules but his own. That he didn't try unless he expressly wanted to. That he took what he wanted when he wanted, acted as he would, and vastly more often than not spared little 'common courtesy' for anyone.
Merlin had seen evidence of that, if the frog-Arthur's status as a transformed prince was to be believed. Ever since he'd met him Merlin had been little more than a pair of ears to listen to Arthur's profuse proclamations, his attempts to convince Merlin of his humanity and demands for consideration and attendance that Merlin largely ignored. It was funny most of the time, an amusement pointless and easily disregarded for the rest, and Merlin had no more difficulty simply accepting the sense of entitlement that Arthur presented than he did in most every other animal. Animals that spoke to Merlin were usually like that; they demanded at first, as though caught up with the surplus of possibilities that talking to a human could provide, but slowly those demands weaned off to a wary then genuine respect, to camaraderie more often than not for as long as said animals chose to stick around. Merlin had it in Kilgharrah, in Mordred, in his mother's cat and the stable hands' dogs. He'd expected it to happen with Arthur to eventually.
Things had changed. In the scant few hours that Arthur had 'convinced' Hunith of his humanity and at least partially Merlin, he'd changed. His demands all but ceased, and thought the air of entitlement still hung around him like a suspended cloud, he didn't voice them as often. He hadn't spoken much at all over the past few hours, actually, and Merlin had to attribute that to the fact that yes, perhaps he really was exhausted. More than that, however, was the thing with Gaius. Was Arthur really accusing Gwaine and Will of impropriety after his behaviour of the last few weeks? Didn't he see his own actions as wanting in politeness? Maybe his opinion was just biased when it came to someone he knew?
And now I'm already accepting that the frog knows Gaius, Merlin thought with a mental shake of his head. He was. He really was. Unbelievably, extraordinarily, he was accepting it. The directions, the information provided of Prince Arthur himself that a frog really shouldn't know, even the casual familiarity that he viewed the living room in which they now sat gaze drifting idly. Merlin didn't know what to do about it, not really, and could only hope that Gaius might provide some instruction. If, of course, Gaius believed them in the first place.
Gaius returned promptly with the promised tea and biscuits, and Merlin accepted his own cup out of politeness, even if Gwaine and a still-sheepish Will did so with more readiness. Gaius seated himself upon the couch across from them as the biscuits were rapidly demolished, his own cup and saucer propped in his lap. "You've travelled quite a ways just for a day trip," he said.
Merlin shrugged, propping his own cup on his knee after ensuring that Arthur, perched on his other leg, was an adequate distance away. "It wasn't really so far."
"How is your mother, Merlin?" Gaius asked, a small smile touching his lips. "I confess I've not seen her for many years, and we've only exchanged phone calls on a slightly more frequent basis."
Merlin smiled in reply. "She's doing great, actually. She's got the run of the farm and basically handles it single-handedly."
"Still the horses?" Gaius asked.
"Still horses."
Gaius chuckled to himself. "She always was more comfortable in a saddle than on her own two feet."
"That sounds familiar," Will muttered into his tea, glancing at Merlin sidelong.
"Don't be ridiculous, Will," Gwaine countered. "Merlin hardly ever rides in a saddle."
Merlin rolled his eyes as Gaius gave another chuckle and lowered his cup. "I take it you've taken after your mother in that regard too, then?"
"You could say that again," Gwaine said, snagging another biscuit. "Horses love him. You should hear it when he steps into the stable in the morning. You'd think he was fucking royalty or something."
Merlin winced slightly at Gwaine's words, as much for the swearing that induced a pointedly raised eyebrow from Gaius at each as for the comment itself. "Shut up, Gwaine."
Gwaine shrugged. "It's true. Animals just love him for some reason." He nudged Merlin with an elbow. Really, if he'd been anymore obvious with his suggestion Merlin would have expected Gaius to guess the direction of their intended conversation without his input at all.
Gaius tilted his head slightly, frowning, and drew his gaze down to where Arthur was sitting with surprising silence in his lap. "Yes, I can see that. Might I ask to the nature of your amphibious friend? Not that I have an particular problem with having one in my house but such does invoke curiosity."
Merlin shifted his cup to the coffee table before him, scooping up Arthur in one hand. How to start this… "Um," he began eloquently, to which Arthur muttered a muffled, croaking snort. "So. Yeah, I have a thing with animals. A really kind of strange thing. And…" He paused, glanced down at Arthur who peered up at him before turning towards Gaius once more. "I think it might be a little bit like you have with your, ah… doctoring."
A frown settled on Gaius' forehead. "My doctoring?"
"You've got magic fingers or something, haven't you, Doc?" Gwaine butted in.
"Magic fingers, Gwaine?" Will sighed. "Really?"
"What? I thought that was a pretty accurate description."
"Could you be any less subtle if you tried?"
"I don't know," Gwaine said with a shrug. "Maybe." Then he turned to Gaius and Merlin knew exactly what would spill from his mouth next. Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to stem the flow before it blurted forth. "You have a healing magic thing going, isn't that right, Doc?"
Merlin winced just as Will dropped his face into his palm. Even Arthur seemed to roll his eyes in exasperation. Really, Merlin would have much preferred to go about the situation with more delicacy, but delicate wasn't exactly a word that he would attribute to Gwaine.
Gaius was staring at Gwaine with a deepening frown. It wasn't quite indignant but it wasn't far off. "I beg your pardon?"
"Don't worry, we don't think it's loony or anything." Gwaine slung an arm casually around Merlin's shoulders, jostling him slightly. "See, Merlin here's got his own particular brand of magic. He talks to animals."
Merlin winced once more, feeling his shoulders hunch slightly as Gaius turned his gaze towards him, eyebrows shooting towards his hairline. He stared at Merlin for a long moment to the sound of Will's incomprehensible muttering, blinking slowly. Then, "You can talk to animals?"
Merlin could have smacked Gwaine over the head in that moment. Great, now he thinks we're all insane. "That's one way of putting it, yeah."
"That's the only way of putting it," Will murmured at his side. At least he had the decency to mute it enough that Merlin didn't think Gaius could hear him.
There was another pause. Another silence. Then, face still blank in surprise and incredulity – in disbelief – Gaius slowly nodded. "Well, I suppose that would explain the presence of the frog to a degree."
Merlin blinked. He was rendered stunned. Wait, did he just…? Did Gaius just accept…? At his side, Gwaine raised both hands in the air as if in self-acclimation. "Thank you, ladies and gents, we managed to get to the crux of the matter without dancing around the bush for eternity."
"Shut up, Gwaine," Merlin said distractedly. Will slapped his forehead into his hand once more.
"Well, you have to admit it's more convenient than all this hesitancy bollocks and all that jazz."
"I would have to agree," Gaius murmured to Merlin's surprise, nodding slowly.
"Thanks, Doc," Gwaine said, flashing his wide, easy grin. "You know, I like you."
"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not," Gaius said.
"No one ever is," Will said, rolling his eyes at Gwaine. "Personally, I rue the day Gwaine took a liking to me."
"No you don't," Gwaine replied.
"I do."
"You love me."
"I really, really don't."
"I'm assuming this meeting has something to do with your particular brand of… magic?" Gaius said, effectively cutting off Gwaine and Will's arising banter. Merlin wondered how he managed that so effectively; he'd have to ask him sometime in the future for his own sake. "For want of a better word, of course. I hardly think that my own skills are anything of the magical kind."
"Is this a thing with magical people?" Will asked, glancing towards Gaius then to Merlin. "None of you accept that what you do is magic?"
"None of us?" Merlin said, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "How many supposedly 'magical' people do you think exist, Will?"
"Well, as of this morning, a sight more than I did yesterday."
Merlin turned back to Gaius, ignoring Will's pointed stare. "Yeah, I guess you could say it's about my… magic. Or at least has something to do with it."
"Meaning what precisely?" Gaius asked.
Merlin shifted in his seat awkwardly. Seriously, how does anyone go about a situation like this? At his side, Gwaine looped an arm around his shoulders, jostling him slightly. "Probably better to just come out and say it, Merls."
Merlin sighed but had to agree with Gwaine's suggestion. He'd already dropped one bombshell; what was another thrown into the mix? Raising Arthur in the palm of his hand, he held him out towards Gaius indicatively. "This is Arthur. He's apparently been turned from a human into a frog by someone who has that sort of ma…magic." Merlin could hardly get the words out. Magic was so fucking unbelievable. Really. "Or so he tells me."
"Tells you correctly," Arthur muttered, speaking up for the first time since Gaius' return. Merlin ignored him.
Gaius was frowning. "Arthur? His name is Arthur?"
"Just how it sounds," Will said, nodding almost wearily. "Yeah, he reckons he's the Prince of Wales."
Gaius stared at Will. Then he stared at Merlin. Then he drew his gaze towards Arthur. "I beg your pardon?"
"I know, it sounds crazy," Merlin hastened to say. "Seriously, I've spent weesk telling Arthur just as much, but he keeps at it. And… and he's told us some things that I don't think would be possible if he, you know, wasn't the prince."
Gaius' eyebrow rose once more. It really was quite an intimidating expression he pulled. "Oh?"
Merlin bit his lip. He didn't particularly want to speak of what Arthur had told him, of Gaius and his late wife, of their unborn son. But then Arthur was speaking and he was distracted from his thoughts. "Tell him about Nimueh. Tell him exactly what I've told you."
Merlin didn't' exactly like being ordered what to do, but in this instance he'd take any possibility of not having to breach the decidedly uncomfortable conversation with Gaius. He grasped Arthur's suggestion with both hands. "Arthur told me that it was someone called Nimueh who changed him into a frog. That she used to be his mother's advisor?" At the recognition in Gaius' expression, tightening his brow into a frown, he continued. "Apparently it was something about straightening him out, or whatever."
"Though I do not need straightening out," Arthur objected.
"Hey, I'm not the one saying it," Merlin replied, shifting his gaze to where Arthur had turned towards him indignantly. "But to me it kind of sounds like that was what Nimueh was trying to do."
"You're making assumptions."
"I'm paraphrasing. Summarising."
"Assuming."
"Well, how else would you describe it? Telling you to go and get a kiss from some princess or whatever to try and 'settle you down' sounds like straightening out to me. And given that you're kind of a…" Merlin trailed off indicatively, leaving his words hanging. Arthur glared up at him but apparently couldn't think of an adequate reply to that. He harrumphed and turned back towards Gaius.
Gaius, who was flicking his gaze between Merlin and Arthur with a return of his thinly veiled incredulity. "You were speaking to one another?"
"It's weird, isn't it?" Will said. "You get used to it but yeah."
"Still weird," Gwaine agreed.
"Incredible," Gaius muttered. Then he shook his head, his frown reaffirming itself. "But you said it is Nimueh who transformed him?"
Merlin nodded. "Apparently. Does that mean something?"
Gaius' frown deepened. "I cannot be certain, but if it is Nimueh… and some circles do speak of this capability of what many would call magic. I wouldn't put it outside of the realms of possibility that such a transformation could occur."
"You wouldn't?" Will asked sceptically.
Gaius shook his head. "And even less so that it could be Nimueh who conducted such."
"I knew it," Arthur abruptly exclaimed with a load croak. "She was always weird and sketchy. Always went on about her stories of reading the signs and feeling the waters. When I was ten she gave me a necklace that was supposed to make me a 'good child'. I never even considered it could be something more than that, but maybe she is magical." He seemed to shudder in Merlin's hand. "Thank fuck I got rid of that necklace."
In spite of himself and his own scepticism, Merlin repeated Arthur's words for everyone to hear. Gaius stared piercingly at Arthur afterwards, unblinking. "I remember that necklace," he murmured. Then he nodded. "Yes, perhaps it is for the best that it was gotten rid of."
"So you believe us?" Gwaine asked. "Him?" The unspoken "just like that?" was still audible and Merlin realised then that Gwaine hadn't been anywhere near as confident in his abrupt acceptance as he'd appeared. He'd even abandoned half of his biscuit, so caught up in their conversation he'd become.
Gaius nodded slowly. "I think it possible."
"Just like that?" Will said, echoing Gwaine's unspoken words.
"There is no simply 'just like that'," Gaius said sagely. "But merely several contributing factors that would independently cause little comment but combined build a bigger picture." He gestured towards Arthur. "Mention of that necklace, for one. And Nimueh. And my understanding of this possibility of… magic." He seemed to speak as much tongue in cheek, something Merlin could entirely relate to. "That, and the fact that Prince Arthur at present is something of an anomaly."
"The doppelganger!" Arthur exclaimed with a particularly loud croak. He stamped a foot in Merlin's hand in indignation. "I almost forgot about it."
"What is it?" Merlin asked instead of repeating Arthur's words. "As far as I'm aware he's been acting as much of a prat as he usually is."
"Excuse you?" Arthur asked, glancing towards him. Merlin fathomed he could see his eyebrows rise indignantly.
"It's true and you know it," Merlin replied, and surprisingly Arthur didn't reply. His glare didn't' lessen any but he didn't offer refute.
Gaius' frown had deepened thoughtfully, all but ignoring Merlin and Arthur's exchange. "Behaviourally, there is nothing particularly exceptional about him, nothing outstanding. But he did come to see me for his semi-annual check-up not two weeks ago."
"He has semi-annual check-ups?" Gwaine said with an amused scoff.
Gaius ignored him too. "He was not unwell, but his readings were… somewhat skewed."
Merlin found himself frowning. "Skewed how?"
Gaius shook his head. "Nothing outstanding on their own but simply little things. An abnormal heart rate reading, blood pressure, weight range."
"Has our royal prat gained a few kilos?" Will asked with a snicker.
"Quite the contrary, he had substantially lost substantially," Gaius said mildly, ignoring the jest for what it was. "Unrealistically, even, given that physically he hasn't noticeably changed."
"So what does that mean?" Merlin asked, confused. He didn't think himself stupid or slow, regardless of how often over the past weeks Arthur had called him an idiot, but he hadn't the foggiest of where Gaius was heading with his observations.
Gaius, however, only shook his head once more. "I do not know. I can only hazard a guess." He didn't continue with that line of thought, however, instead rising to his feet with cup and saucer in hand. "But I think it would perhaps be best to see the source of this supposed abnormality."
"The doppleganger?" Arthur asked. He sounded slightly unnerved by the notion.
When Merlin repeated his words, Gaius shook his head. "I think Nimueh would be the better to discuss this with." He started from the room towards the kitchen. "I believe she should be at the castle today," he called over his shoulder.
"Wait, so we're going to the castle?" Gwaine asked, sitting up in his seat with a grin spreading across his face. "Hell yeah. I've never been before." He squeezed Merlin once more around the shoulders. "I knew there was a reason I was your friend."
"I feel so used," Merlin sighed to himself with a faint smile. Gwaine only laughed.
"Could it really be that easy?" Will asked, drawing their mutual attention. Even Arthur shifted in his seat to glance towards him. "I mean, this Gaius bloke, he just took it all. I wouldn't believe such a cock-and-bull story from complete strangers if they came with a million pounds in tow."
"Actually, that million would probably make it more suspicious," Gwaine pointed out.
"Shut up, Gwaine. You're missing my point."
Merlin could only nod at Will's sentiment. It did seem fantastical, impossible, that Gaius would believe such a story so readily. Could he? Did he really? Why? Was it really just the story of Nimueh's necklace, of his own personal observations of Arthur's self-proclaimed doppelganger? Or maybe, just maybe…
"Do you ever get the feeling that a whole word exists that you never even considered possible?" Merlin said detachedly. "Magic is utter bullshit, but maybe… I mean, maybe…"
Will clapped a hand on Merlin's shoulder, adopting a frank expression. "Honestly, Merlin, I've thought that since the day I first saw you having a conversation with a fucking snake."
Merlin had to laugh at that. It was that or check himself into the nearest institution because surely he was going some sort of crazy.
Merlin had never been to Baenwyn Castle.
Of course he hadn't, given that he wasn't royalty or of the royal entourage by any stretch of the imagination, but he hadn't even visited it to look from the outside. His few trips into Cardiff had been to see family when he was younger, and what kind of a kid wanted to go and see the imposing exterior and iron-wrought gates of a castle they could never enter?
It truly was a castle, in every sense of the word. Unlike Buckingham Palace – that Merlin had in fact seen from the outside the last time he'd visited London and Lance – it looked to be more of a scene stepped straight out of medieval Britain. When Gaius had obtained them entry with a word to the guards at the gates, Merlin urged his car into what looked to be a holding bay that wasn't actually within any kind of distance of the castle itself. It did afford a somewhat better view of it, however, of the extensive lengths of white-grey walls, of curling towers and pointed steeples atop them. It was certainly a lot bigger than it appeared from any of the pictures Merlin had seen online.
They filed out of the car at Gaius' direction to Gwaine's murmured appreciation and Will's silent echoing, the both of them more than a little overawed. Gwaine was always profuse with his exclamations of such, but even Will didn't hold his tongue. He'd always had a taste for the novel, for the exciting, an aspect of his character that would have perhaps been unexpected to anyone who wasn't aware of the eternal itchiness of his feet. Merlin couldn't help but agree with both of their sentiments, was paused in the conversation he'd been having with Gaius to stare up at the distant expanse of castle. Even Arthur, cupped in his spray-bottle dampened hands, was silent, watching, as though taking in the scene. Merlin didn't detect any such awe from him but there was a certain nostalgia to his unblinking stare. Or at least Merlin thought he felt as much.
That fact was only one more thing to add to the rapidly growing list of attributes more likely of a prince than a frog.
"This way, boys," Gaius said, rounding the car and gesturing from the loading bay parking lot in the only direction that realistically could be taken. A wide, gravelled walkway that could have fit three lorries abreast stretched in the direction of the castle. "We'll have to pass through security when we reach the doors but I'm sure you're not as threatening as you appear."
"Hey, speak for yourself," Will said indignantly, never one to accept derision of his capacities.
"On the contrary, Gaius is actually far more formidable than he appears," Arthur muttered distractedly as they set off after the elderly doctor. Merlin didn't comment, didn't repeat Arthur's words, but for some reason he couldn't help but suspect he spoke the truth. Gaius might appear harmless but he similarly carried an aura of solidity and forbiddance about him.
The castle only grew larger the closer they drew, looming with every step they took. Gwaine's appreciative murmurs were a nearly constant accompaniment, but Merlin barely heard him, torn between his own staring and Gaius' continuation of their conversation. "It's always a tentative approach one must take to such discussions and revelations. As you've no doubt discovered, the majority of the world isn't quite as receptive to believing in such unique gifts."
Merlin nodded, falling into step alongside Gaius and sparing him a glance. "Understandably. I don't think I'd believe it myself if someone told me they could do something that was practically magic."
"Yes, we've seen evidence of that," Arthur muttered, though surprisingly his words were devoid of rebuke. He appeared too distracted by their situation, or perhaps more focused upon the approaching confrontation, to put any heat into them.
"Well, would you if someone up and told you they'd been transformed into an animal by a witch?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow down at Arthur in his hand.
Arthur tipped his head up at him. "Would you believe someone if they up and told you they could speak to animals?"
"Clearly I would, given that I've known it's possible my whole life."
"But realistically," Arthur countered. "It's just as unbelievable."
"Not hardly. It's not even on the same plain as a transformation."
"They're both magic in my opinion."
"Yeah, your ignorant opinion," Merlin muttered.
"I take it," Gaius interrupted slowly, "that you are talking with… Arthur again?" Giving him his due, he barely hesitated over Arthur's name, dropping his gaze to the frog.
Merlin winced slightly, sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. That happens. I'm more than happy to translate if you'd like."
"It's fucking weird, am I right?" Gwaine said, leaning around Merlin to peer at Gaius. "He sounds nutters before you know what he's doing."
"Yes, thank you, Gwaine, we've heard your opinion on the matter," Will grunted from his other side.
"Hey, you just admitted not an hour ago that you thought the same the first time."
"Not anymore, though. Not since I've properly understood what's going on when I was a kid. It's no different to listening in on a phone call."
Gwaine shot Will an exasperated glance. "Yeah, except he's talking to a frog. It's kind of weird only hearing half a conversation answered by burps."
"I believe the correct term is 'croak'," Merlin said. Gwaine only grinned at him, much to Arthur's grumble of "I do not burp".
"It's truly not the strangest of things I've seen," Gaius said, drawing their attention back towards him. He was smiling in a way that was barely noticeable but for the quiver of his lips. "When you've an eye sharpened for it, there are more frequent occurrences than you would expect."
"Like what?" Gwaine asked. "Other than your magic fingers and Merlin's talky-thingy?"
"Talky-thingy?" Merlin said with a smirk.
Gaius gave a small chuckle before replying. "I've met a young woman who could glimpse figments of the future. An elderly man who could spark a flame with a snap of his fingers. One of the most incredible I've seen another woman who could quite literally change her face."
"Her what?" Will said in a deceptively flat tone.
Gaius nodded. "Yes, she used to adjust her features marginally, not enough to notice immediately, but over the course of several days her face would be completely, unrecognisably altered."
Gwaine cringed slightly, embodying Merlin's thoughts. "That's kind of creepy."
"And similar to a transformation," Arthur said pointedly.
Merlin nodded his agreement before speaking as much to Gaius. "Do you think Nimueh's powers might be similar to that? But maybe towards other people?"
Gaius was silent for a moment before he slowly shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps." There was serious contemplation in his tone, not even a hint of disbelief for the possibility. Merlin had to wonder just how much he'd seen that he didn't think such a possibility unrealistic even for a second. Just how much had Merlin missed of this strange world? He felt as though his own had been tipped on its axis.
Passing through security took longer than Merlin expected. Not that it was altogether unexpected, really, given that it was the residence of the royal family and numerous other people of importance in temporary abode, but it was still a little exasperating. They were subjected to a thorough once over that Gwaine declared in overloud words was more than he'd dare on a first date, thank you very much, before waiting, undergoing another scan for electronics, explosives – or as far as Merlin could tell – and an identification check. Gaius sorted out the latter, offering a vague explanation for Merlin's apparent pet frog and the spray bottle hooked into the back of his jeans. Merlin could only roll his eyes as Gwaine and Will both dissolved into snickers at the scepticism on the security guards' faces.
They did manage to pass through eventually, though, and Gaius set a brisk pace through the halls of the castle. Merlin followed close behind, Arthur in hand, and couldn't help but stare around like an awestruck tourist. It had clearly been outfitted for modernity, though not any kind of styling that Merlin accepted as the norm. Polished floors of rich, fine-grained timber stretched impeccably before them, walls alternating between elaborate paintings and smoothed wallpaper, patterned and plain. Arched doorways stretched into high ceilings of intricate cornices, light fittings dangling from on high that looked more likely to be constructed of crystal that glass.
From what Merlin glimpsed of inside the rooms they passed, of those that weren't shuttered behind carved doors and golden locks, were rich, vibrant carpets, expensive furnishings from extensive tables draped in white cloth as though waiting for diners to glistening ornaments, sprawling desks and pristine sofas that Merlin wouldn't have dared to sit on for fear of dirtying it with his inferiority. In such grandeur, Merlin considered than anyone less than royalty would feel as such. He almost felt hesitant to step upon the floor at all for fear of somehow leaving muddy tracks behind him.
"Where are we heading?" Merlin asked Gaius, unconsciously dropping his voice to avoid an echo. Even Gwaine had ceased his muttering, as though he, like Merlin, was questioning just what the fuck they were doing inside a castle. They weren't even simply visiting and it felt… it felt just strange. Out of place.
Gaius spared Merlin a glance over his shoulder before gesturing with a tilt of his head in the direction before him. "Should Nimueh be in attendance today, she would most likely be in her own rooms."
"She has her own rooms?" Gwaine asked. He whistled lowly. "Fuck, what've I got to do to get me one of those?"
"Befriend the crown prince," Arthur said flatly, and Merlin couldn't help but snort in amusement. His tone very clearly indicated that such wasn't going to happen.
They mounted a flight of stairs that looked more suited to a ballroom than that of a medieval castle, all draped in red carpet with bannisters glowing in white and gold leaf. Gaius led them down an adjacent corridor, passing portraits that followed their passage and polished runner tables boasting ornate vases of pale flowers alongside antique candlesticks, only for him to pause in step as the sound of voices trickled down the hall. "Hm," he murmured, frowning slightly with a lowering of bushy eyebrows. "This could be problematic."
Before Merlin could even ask what he was referring to, Gaius was starting forwards once more, curving around a T-junction and hanging a left to the sight of two men that couldn't be all that much older than Merlin standing across from one another either side of the hallway. They were both tall, broad-shouldered and imposing in the sleek black and red-trimmed suits of Welsh royal attendants, breathing the air of bodyguards as though they wore badges declaring as much. Given their positioning outside of a single closed door, Merlin could only suppose that they were the security for whoever was inside.
"Leon," Arthur said abruptly from Merlin's hands, sounding almost startled.
"What?" Merlin asked slowing in step as Gaius continued towards them.
Arthur was staring at one of the young men, the one with the curly red-blonde hair and an admittedly approachable countenance in spite of his size. "Leon's my – my bodyguard," Arthur said shortly, though Merlin suspected there was something more to his role for his almost-stutter. "He and Percival both are my primary attendants." He tilted his head towards the even larger man with a crew cut and arms the width of small tree trunks folded across his chest.
Merlin paused in step. His primary attendants… did that mean that whoever was inside the room they were stationed outside of was Arthur's supposed doppelganger? Even the thought of it made Merlin uneasy. Gaius hadn't slowed despite Merlin falling behind, hadn't seemed to notice, and was already nodding and raising his voice in greeting towards the two men in what was clearly familiarity. Would it lead to something further? Would he stick his head into the room with Arthur's doppelganger and draw him out?
At the thought, Merlin couldn't help but cringe. With Gaius' ready acceptance of what he'd previously considered utterly impossible, the transformation seemed to be growing more and more of a possibility in Merlin's mind. How would it feel for Arthur to see his own clone – doppelganger, whatever – when he was in such a state? Merlin wasn't sure but he couldn't imagine it would be a particularly pleasant experience for him.
"What do you want me to do?" He murmured quietly, bowing his head slightly over Arthur as he slowed to a stop.
Arthur seemed to struggle to draw his gaze away from his bodyguards, slowing turning to glance up at him. "What?"
"If it would be uncomfortable for you to go near them in case you… you know." Merlin shrugged, hoping that his translation was understandable enough. Arthur only blinked up at him.
"What's this?" Gwaine said from his shoulder. He and Will had both paused alongside him.
"They're his bodyguards," Merlin explained. "Which would mean that –"
"They're probably technically guarding the prince right now, huh?" Gwaine said promptly.
"You know, you always surprise me with your outbursts of random perceptiveness," Will said.
"Why thank you, Willy."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"So what, we need a distraction of sorts to get past them?" Gwaine said, ignoring Will in favour of turning back towards Merlin. "Good ol' diversionary tactics so you can slip past without being noticed?"
Merlin frowned at him, confused. "What?"
Gwaine clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I've got this covered. It would be my pleasure." Then he was striding after Gaius, to where Gaius had paused alongside Leon and Percival to exchange short, quiet words. His step was all swagger and Merlin could only utter a muffled groan as he recognised that all too well.
"He's going to –" Will began, before uttering a long-suffering groan of his own. "Oh, please tell me he's not going to try and flirt with them."
"This is Gwaine we're talking about, Will," Merlin sighed.
"What the -? Diversion my arse. This is self-serving behaviour at it's worst." Will took a lunging step then quickly several more as he hastened after Gwaine with a hiss of "Gwaine, get your arse back here!"
"Is he always like that?" Arthur murmured.
"Which one?" Merlin replied. "Gwaine or Will?"
"Both."
"Definitely. All the time."
Arthur was half turned in Merlin's palm to face him, staring up at him sceptically. "Gwaine's a shameless flirt?"
"You couldn't have picked that?" Merlin asked. "I would have thought that like minds recognised one another."
"We're not like minds."
"Well, your chronic philandering seems to suggest otherwise."
"I'm not –" Arthur began, before abruptly he croaked in a sharp burp of what Merlin took to be surprise. Or anger. "Nimueh!"
Merlin barely even had time to glance over his shoulder before Arthur had flung himself from his palm and bounded around him in the direction they'd come. He twisted just in time to catch a glimpse of a short woman, back towards him and disappearing around the corner, before Arthur, croaking in rapidly rising fury, vanished after her.
"Hey, wait!" Merlin called, before he decided such was useless. With barely a glance in his friends' direction, a moment for Gaius still talking to the bodyguards Leon and Percival, he tore after Arthur.
It was a game of cat and mouse, with two successive cats chasing two fleeing mice. Merlin barely managed to swing around a corner before he caught a glimpse of Arthur disappearing around another, springing across the smooth, polished floors and practically rebounding off walls as he did. Merlin barely even saw the splendour around him in his flight, somehow managing to avoid tripping over the narrow runner tables and only having to slow twice when he nearly knocked several vases from their seats atop said tables. Thank fuck neither of them broken; they'd likely cost him more than he could make in his entire life.
Down passageways, through a door and passing through what looked to be a dining room that had never in fact been used for its pristine, perfectly clean perfection, Merlin chased Arthur as he in turn chased Nimueh. She must have been running, for there was no way the woman would otherwise be able to outpace them. Which meant she knew exactly what she was doing.
Merlin only caught up to them at the top a flight of stairs just as grand as those he'd followed Gaius up before. It could have very easily been the same one, in fact; Merlin would admit to being just a little star-struck by his surroundings and he'd never had much of a talent for directionality. He skidded to a stop on the strip of carpet at the top of the stairs and it was nothing short of a miracle that he didn't squash Arthur in his stumble.
The first thing he noticed was that Arthur was trembling, shaking as though he was about to keel over. Without thought, Merlin unhooked the spray bottle from the back of his jeans and shot a series of squirts right at him.
Arthur squawked indignantly, but he only spared Merlin a brief glance, a brief glare, as he wiped at the showered droplets coating his head with his hands in rapid swipes. He turned back to the woman before him a moment later. Merlin followed the line of his gaze.
Nimueh was a small woman. Short and slender, she was dressed in a pressed pantsuit with thick, dark auburn hair curling across her shoulders as though she hadn't just run halfway across Baenwyn Castle. Her stature suggested her unimposing, except for the fact that she somehow managed to appear as such. Merlin couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that made her seem so; was it her expression, the slight, knowing smirk that touched her lips and quirked one eyebrow just slightly? The almost-agelessness of her face that left Merlin unsure if she was barely older than he or old enough to be his mother? The casualness of her stance that suggested she was more than capable of holding her own against someone the size of one of Arthur's bodyguards? Merlin wasn't sure, but all of it together, that and the fact that she had shifted her gaze from Arthur towards him, sent a shiver down his spine.
Whoever Nimueh was, Merlin didn't think it would be a good idea to get on her wrong side, not to prod despite the questions he wanted to blurt out to her. He thought even less so when a slow smile spread across her lips. She looked like a cat who'd spotted a blissfully ignorant rat.
"You would be Emrys." The statement wasn't a question.
Merlin shifted uncomfortably in step, fiddling with the spray bottle in his hands. "I guess you're the person who's been telling people I am, then?"
Nimueh's smile widened. "Not people. Just the one person."
Merlin found himself frowning. "Why would you do that? I'm not –"
"You're a descendant of Emrys, yes," Nimueh cut him off, nodding her head knowingly. "Few enough people possess the gift of tongues in this world."
"So naturally you send me on a fucking wild goose chase to find one of those 'few enough'," Arthur snapped in a particularly sharp croak.
Nimueh ignored him. "Well, I suppose he's managed to achieve that much, in finding you. Arthur may not be as incompetent as I give him credit for."
"Incompetent," Arthur practically spat, stamping a foot onto the carpet. It didn't make the slightest sound. "I'm far from incompetent, you stuck up, self-entitled bitch! I've done what you told me to do, now fucking fix me."
Merlin was suddenly very glad no one but he was able to understand Arthur. He didn't think that cursing Nimueh was the way to go about getting on her good side. "You know, he can understand you, right?" He said.
Nimueh's eyebrow arched further. "Can he really? How curious."
"You didn't know that?" Merlin asked in surprise. "Weren't you the one who turned him into a frog?"
"Of course I was," Nimueh said so promptly that Merlin was surprised all over again. It seemed so commonplace, as though such a thing were acceptable, was believable. Which, until that morning, it most certainly hadn't been. Merlin found his world rocked on its axis all over again. "But that hardly means I fully comprehend the extend of my creation's capabilities."
"Creations?" Arthur seethed. "I am not your bloody creation, you fucking bitch, sodding mutton dressed up as –"
"Then how did you know you wouldn't hurt him when you did it?" Merlin asked, more to stem the flow of Arthur's curses than anything else. The frog's frustration might have died slightly since that morning but apparently it was only to catch a breather before renewing. Or maybe it was simply Nimueh's presence that provoked as much. Yes, it was probably Nimueh.
Merlin found that he couldn't really blame Arthur for that. He'd probably be pretty pissed off if someone turned him into a frog too.
Nimueh only shrugged in reply. "I didn't, really. I've done so before, of course, but each individual case is different. I simply deduced that the benefits of doing so would outweigh the potential costs."
Arthur's fluent cursing stuttered to a halt at that. Merlin found himself similarly temporarily rendered mute. Only briefly, however, before he managed to speak once more. "You… you didn't know if you'd hurt him, the Prince of Wales, so you turned him into a –"
"A frog, yes," Nimueh finished for him mildly, as though such were hardly worthy of comment. "To teach him a lesson. One that he has apparently not yet learned."
Arthur was suddenly seething one more. Merlin could feel the anger radiating from him even before he spoke and hastened to cut him off. He found himself more than a little horrified but his indignation was better than Arthur's fury. "What lesson exactly? How do we turn him back? Can you -?"
"He hasn't told you?" Nimueh interrupted him once more. She turned her faintly smiling gaze down to where Arthur was fidgeting in frustration once more, a dark, mottled smudge on the scarlet carpet. "Arthur, you should know better than that. In such an incompetent state as you are, I would think even you could attempt to bend your spine and seek help."
At her words, Merlin abruptly found himself annoyed. No, he was angry, even. Nimueh was almost treating the entire situation like a joke. Admittedly, Merlin didn't think all that much of Arthur; he'd been nothing if not presumptuous, assuming and demanding since they'd met, even if his behaviour had been amusing. But he could similarly see how such an approach might be driven by near hysteria, by veritable panic for the situation he'd found himself in. Merlin could only imagine what it would be like to experience such. Thankfully – hopefully – he would never have to. The fact that he had to consider it a possibility was daunting enough.
"He has, actually," Merlin said, tone clipped. "He said you told him to come and find me 'cause I was the only one who could help him. And he said that you told him to kiss a princess of something to change him back into a human."
"Did he, now?" Nimueh said, a smirk replacing her smile as though something Merlin had said amused her. Slowly she turned her gaze down towards Arthur, amusement turning her eyes a faintly sparkling glassiness. "Is that how you interpreted my words?"
"What do you mean 'interpreted'?" Arthur asked, Merlin repeating his words for Nimueh's ears almost before he'd said them.
Nimueh very deliberately ignored the question. She didn't even glance towards Merlin as she spoke in continuation. "Have you found yourself a princess who you deem your equal and received her favour, then?"
"Favour?" Merlin asked before Arthur could speak.
"Her kiss," Nimueh supplied, still without sparing him a glance.
Arthur's mouth actually opened and closed for a moment. The angry waves radiating from him were tangible once more, like a physical heat. "You said I had to find Emrys," he croaked, Merlin repeating his words for Nimueh's ears.
Nimueh's smirk deepened. "I said you needed to find Emrys as he was the one who could help you. Then receive a kiss from the equal of a one Prince Arthur."
"That's ridiculous," Arthur snapped. "A kiss? What kind of a princess would kiss a fucking frog? And where the hell am I going to find one? The only princess in any proximity is –"
"This is all a little stupidly similar to the fairy tale," Merlin said, speaking through Arthur's rambling tirade. It wasn't like Nimueh would understand more than a handful of grumbling croaks anyway.
Nimueh finally lifted her gaze towards him, eyes still flashing with amusement. She appeared nothing if not self-satisfied. "It is, isn't it? I thought it somewhat poetic, given that Arthur is something of an anomaly when it comes to royalty."
"Anomaly how?" Merlin asked, speaking over Arthur's increasingly loud ranting. His croaks were actually echoing down the stairwell.
Nimueh tilted her head slightly, peering up at Merlin as though he were simple. "Surely you haven't overlooked that Prince Arthur is a right man-whore who shirks his responsibilities where he can and maintains his status as businessman and prince as much through luck as any particular skill?"
Merlin blinked, startled. Could she be anymore blunt? That was… that was almost cruel, especially to say as much when Arthur stood – squatted – right before her. Arthur himself even stuttered to a halt in his tirade. Only for a second however. "What the fuck did you just say?"
Nimueh seemed to hear his words even without Merlin's translation. "You know I speak the truth, Arthur. You have taken your own mother's words of so long ago too far to heart. Grow up a little, hm?" Before Merlin could ask what she meant by that, she turned and started down the scarlet-draped steps, effectively ending their conversation.
Merlin started forwards, unconsciously raising a hand in a gesture of wait. The spray bottle he held aloft alongside it was nothing if not comical, but he barely noticed. He had so much he wanted to ask – what did Nimueh know about this 'magic'? Could she really do something like it too? Could other people do it? How was any of it even possible? But that which tripped from his tongue was something other entirely. "Wait! You can't just leave. What do we do? How can we turn him back?"
Nimueh paused halfway down the stairwell, turning to glance over her shoulder as Merlin peered after her. "I believe we've just discussed this."
"You can't do this," Arthur exclaimed, and there was more desperation, almost a pleading note in his tone rather than demand. "How am I going to get a kiss from a princess? How will I even meet a princess when I'm a frog?"
"And what about – what about his duties?" Merlin added, continuing from Arthur despite knowing that Nimueh hadn't understood him. "You've made a doppelganger or whatever, but surely someone will notice, won't they? Whoever you've transformed into his body surely can't be as believable as the real thing." He knew he sounded a little desperate himself, though for the life of him couldn't fathom why. Nothing except that he suddenly felt really bad for Arthur and unexpectedly affronted on his behalf.
Nimueh waved a hand in their direction as though brushing aside their words. "Arthur's understudy will do a fine job, I'm sure. The frog I've transformed into his body in his stead has done a remarkable job under my guidance."
"You – you've seriously transformed a frog into the temporary prince?" Merlin stuttered, just as Arthur said as much in a far more cuss-studded manner.
Nimueh's smirk renewed itself. "An appropriate exchange, don't you think?" Then she turned and continued down the stairs, elegant steps making her seem as though she was gliding rather than walking. "Good luck, Arthur. I sincerely hope for your sake if not as much for anyone else's that you manage to find your kiss. If not…" She trailed off as she reached the bottom of the stairwell and paused once more in step. The glance she spared them over her shoulder was nothing if not taunting, lasting only for a moment before she continued from the room. In seconds she'd disappeared with only the echo of her words in her wake.
Merlin stared after her. He was at a loss. What…? What the…? What did they do now? True, Merlin had heard from Arthur of Nimueh's words, how she'd declared he had to 'kiss a princess' like the fairy tale of old to turn him back into a prince, but he'd thought that perhaps if they'd talked to her she might have eased the sentence just a little. Even put a time span on it or something instead. Surely that would be enough, wouldn't it?
But no, apparently not. And drawing his gaze down to where Arthur perched at the head of the stairs staring after Nimueh, frozen as if in horror – which he very possibly was – Merlin couldn't help but feel sorry for him. True, he was a prat, and a royal pain in the arse at that, but no one should be subjected to what he was being afflicted with. The worst part of it was that there was nothing they could do about it other than follow Nimueh's instructions. It wasn't like they could really tell anyone to convince them, not like they could Gaius who was clearly already in the know on that particular subject. Who would believe them? No, their only option was to actually find a princess, somehow convince her to kiss Arthur, and turn him back.
Merlin didn't know why Nimueh had done it – sure, Arthur was reputedly a sorry excuse for a prince but even so – and he didn't understand any of the 'taking his mother's words' part, but he abruptly decided: he would help Arthur. It wasn't fair what had happened to him, so Merlin would help fix him. As Nimueh had said, he was probably about the only person who could.
"Arthur," he said, dropping to a crouch beside the immobilised frog-prince. In that moment Merlin was about as convinced as he could be of the validity of his identity claims, as entirely, completely, incomprehensibly irrational and stupid as it might seem. "Hey, Arthur?"
Slowly, Arthur turned towards him and, there was very real horror in his expression that Merlin could detect. He didn't speak, however, but to utter a slight, warbling croak that could have very much been a strangled utterance from a human.
Merlin struggled to offer him a smile. "So… I know this sounds shit, and kind of stupid and impossible but… I'm going to help you, alright?" He paused, biting his lip with a frown as a thought occurred to him. "And I think I might have an idea."
Arthur stared up at him for a long moment more before he seemed capable of replying. "What's that?" He said, and there was only the barest touch of demand in his words. He sounded utterly woebegone.
Merlin held out his hand for Arthur to climb on board and rose to standing once more. Before he could reply, however, the rapid sound of approaching footsteps drew up behind them. Merlin turned just in time to see Gwaine and Will skid into view.
"Thank fuck!" Will gasped, panting heavily as though he'd run a marathon.
"We just marathoned, like, this entire fucking castle looking for you," Gwaine panted in turn, leaning his hands heavily onto his knees.
"Where the hell've you been?"
"A little heads up before you up and bugger off next time, Merls."
"You know they've got security in this place. Really fucking good security."
"I half expected to find you on the executors block for trespassing or something."
Merlin glanced between his two friends as they exchanged rapid-fire exclamations, settling on Gwaine with a raised eyebrow at his final words. Will had similarly turned towards him with a derisive expression. "Gwaine, I hardly think I'd be executed," Merlin said practically. "At least not immediately."
"And how fucking archaic are you?" Will added. Shaking his head, he turned back to Merlin. "Where've you been, anyways? Seriously, you couldn't have told us before taking off like that?"
"Sorry," Merlin muttered, dropping his gaze down to Arthur resting in his palm. "We, um… we found Nimueh."
Gwaine and Will were silenced for a moment before Gwaine spoke with a gushing sigh. "Well, that's convenient. Did she tell you how to fix him or whatever?"
Merlin nodded resignedly. "Yeah. He's still got to get a kiss from a princess. That's it."
Gwaine and Will stared in silence for another long pause before both snorted simultaneously. "That's really the only solution?" Will said, shaking his head. "Well, that's not going to happen,."
Gwaine nodded. "I think our frog-prince here is about as close to royalty as we're ever likely to get." Merlin could only agree with his words, at least in general sentiment.
"So what do we do?" Will continued, adopting a slight frown. He actually folded his arms across his chest; Merlin could see the objections rising on his tongue even before he voiced them. "You finally going to ditch the toad?"
Merlin frowned in turn, actually annoyed at his friend for the first time in a long time. He rarely felt inclined to getting annoyed at anyone; maybe he was just tense that day. "No, I'm not going to 'ditch him'," he said. "And he's a frog, not a toad."
"Yeah, Will, he's a toad," Gwaine echoed tauntingly. He sobered slightly almost immediately, however, as he glanced between the two of them. "So what, we've got to find a princess to kiss him? Do we go and look for Princess Morgana now? Cause personally I wouldn't mind –"
"Fuck, Gwaine, no," Will said with a disgusted cringe. "They're brother and sister."
"So?"
"So, haven't you heard the fairy tale? I don't think that sibling affection is really the kind of relationship the prince and princess had."
Gwaine shrugged. "Yeah, and that's a fairy tale. This is reality. How do we know how similar they're supposed to be?"
"More than you'd guess, I'm thinking," Merlin sighed, remembering Nimueh's words. It would be just like what little he'd seen of her to render Princess Morgana's assistance moot.
"What?" Will asked, glancing towards him.
Merlin shrugged aside his question. "I've got an idea. It might work but... It'll probably take a while, so I can drop you guys off anywhere if you don't want to come."
He knew even before he'd asked that neither of his friends would even consider leaving him at that moment and was confirmed in his knowledge a moment later as they replied simultaneously. "You kidding me? Leave me behind?" Gwaine said as Will muttered a muted, "You'd probably end up tripping down a flight of stairs and breaking your neck if I left you alone".
Merlin couldn't help but smile as he nodded. "Alright, then," he said, turning his gaze down to Arthur who peered up at him dubiously, the horror only just fading from his perceived expression. In that moment he made a promise to himself at least, if not out loud. He'd damn-well help Arthur because… well, because it was the right thing to do. He glanced back up towards his friends. "How do you guys feel about a trip to London?"
