A Prince's best friend
Chapter 4: In which the knights aren't insignificant background characters anymore
Merlin awoke to voices and something stroking his back and scratching his ears. Was it time to leave already? Or was Arthur attempting to annoy him or something? Because it definitely didn't annoy him, on the contrary it was really ... really nice. He opened his eyes, purring – it was pleasant to wake this way – then he startled as he at first couldn't register where he was and, more importantly, it wasn't actually Arthur who was scratching his ears. He could recognize sir Leon and sir Bors pretty well, but was so unprepared at seeing them that he fell off the table.
Which, in turn, was incredibly embarrassing. Cats don't just fall off tables like that. He hated being so clumsy.
"Hey, do any of you recognize that cat?" sir Bors asked the other knights.
"I think it's the prince's. I saw the two yesterday evening walking down the halls, and then the kitchen staff mentioned it shared dinner with the prince and the king yesterday…and lunch this morning," one of them, a brown haired man, answered.
"Been hanging around the kitchen girls again, Gareth?" snickered a third.
"You're no one to talk, Gwaine."
Sir Leon rolled his eyes. "If the prince could hear you two…! Flirting away with some innocent girls when you should have better things to do."
"Well right now he's probably too busy yelling at his manservant to scold us for that. I wonder where he is, by the way, that boy; haven't seen him all morning. Usually the prince always gives him lots of errands to run all across town."
Merlin rolled onto his feet, curious. The knights were talking about him? He wondered if they used to talk about him before, and blushed. They probably made fun of him, yeah... He was after all a servant. He hadn't thought they paid him any heed at all though!
"Poor sod. Can't imagine what it's like having to work for Arthur all the time, constantly being there at his beck and call. It'd drive me insane for sure. That man's temper and stubbornness. Training with him a couple of hours each day is hard enough!" sir Gareth exclaimed, making some other knights laugh, and sir Leon scowl.
Leon was one of the oldest knights, one of the best fighters, incredibly loyal and also Arthur's step-in commander. The knight wholly respected the prince and though he seemed kind, at least what Merlin had seen of him, he also was sensitive when the other knights offended the prince or said anything the slightest inappropriate.
"Oh loosen up, Leon," sir Gareth said and slapped the other man's arm. "We're just feeling sorry for the boy."
Merlin immediately liked this man. He seemed very kind and not at all like he looked like (he was tall, muscled and over-all had a very rough look which in the past always unsettled Merlin a bit, he looked like he had a short fuse). Now however he dared to inch closer to the group of knights. They all appeared much, much nicer now than he'd imagined them to be. As a servant, he didn't have the chance to mingle with them.
"Oh, hey there," Gareth said to the cat (Does he usually address animals like that? Merlin wondered) and patted his head. "That was quite a fall." The man examined the cat for some marking or collar, but there was only a read piece of cloth around the cat's neck. "Not hurt are you, clumsy little one?"
I wonder when Arthur will decide to drag me out of here, Merlin thought as he – without being able to help it – leaned into the man's hand, rubbing an ear against the warm palm. ('Clumsy little one?' How fortunate the knights had no idea who he was. Facing them after this would be incredibly embarrassing if they kept calling him that.)
"What's your name?" the knight asked kindly.
"You know, talking to animals is not considered healthy by the general population and can make you incredibly misunderstood," sir Gwaine – who looked a bit like sir Gareth, maybe they were siblings – pointed out.
"Ignore him," sir Gareth advised and continued to the pet the cat, which crawled up to settle in the grass between him and sir Bors.
"Wonder who its owner is?" said knight mused aloud.
"I have a feeling…" sir Leon muttered, and Merlin looked up, confused, as a voice came nearer and a shadow began to creep closer. Arthur was stalking across the field. He'd removed his chainmail, wearing a simple tunic, but his hair still needed to be combed.
"Sire," sir Leon greeted. "Do you recognize this animal, maybe?"
The prince's eyes narrowed, hadn't he told Merlin to stay away from the knights? Well, if he hadn't he should have – he realized that if Merlin socialized too much with outsiders, if the spell on him suddenly just lifted, the servant was at risk. Gaius had mentioned that there were spells that would eventually just wear off, and if this was the case, Merlin could turn into a full (naked) human and Arthur did not fancy that happening anywhere around the knights.
"In fact I do," he said. "It has a tendency of…running off."
'Do not! What are you implying anyway?' Merlin defended himself and rolled partly onto his back so he could see Arthur better, though the angle was odd. Sir Gareth immediately began to scratch his belly. Oh, that was nice!
"Have you named it yet or can I do it, sire?" sir Gareth asked, almost hopefully.
Arthur rolled his eyes at the man's childishness. Who could believe such a giant had a trait like that? "Just call him Idiot and he'll come running," he said teasingly, testing how the cat would react.
Merlin was too occupied when Gareth began to wave his index finger in front of the cat's nose to care, suddenly his whole animal mind set on hunting the offending digit – much to Arthur's disappointment. He hated being ignored, but especially by Merlin. The boy should always have his full attention on him! He was the prince, his master, damn it! Merlin shouldn't just ignore him and enjoy a knight's company more than him. No! Merlin should definitely not just lie there, playing like that, with a knight, cat or not! Hadn't the idiot understood yet that he was to stay with Arthur and nobody else, now he was a cat?
The cat's happy expression…The knight's finger. Merlin's bloody disrespectful ignoring of him. The prince.
It wasn't acceptable.
"Oh, lay that off, Merlin, you look ridiculous."
He hadn't meant to slip like that: irritation simply formed his words, something nagging at the bottom of his stomach at seeing his servant like that, and when he spoke it was too late, the words rolled naturally off his tongue.
"Merlin?" asked Gwaine, frowning. His gaze found the cat which stirred at the name, suddenly losing attention of the finger (it must be hunting instincts or something: it was addictive!). Sir Gareth was doing the waving motion with his finger unconsciously, looking at the prince strangely.
"That's…your servant's name isn't it?" sir Bors asked.
Arthur had named his cat after his servant?
The knight looked at the prince and then at the cat and then the non-existent servant and came to a conclusion pretty quickly. It was a strange, unbelievable conclusion of course.
The other knights did too. "Your servant…" sir Gwaine said slowly, "…that cat…?"
Merlin nudged the prince's ankle. 'I think they're onto me, Arthur.'
Of course he wasn't expecting an answer. Understandably, he was astounded when he was given one.
The knights and Arthur blanched visibly, unable to hide the shock. Merlin looked at the knights a bit confused, and they looked back at him wide-eyed.
"You talk!" Arthur exclaimed, gaping at him like a fish.
'You…you understand me!' the warlock said, shocked. How? he wondered. Was the spell beginning to wear off? Or was there another reason? He better talk with Gaius as soon as possible…
"Gah!" Gareth jumped. "The—the cat talked!"
'How can you understand me?' How embarrassing that the knights were looking at him like that, especially Gareth, after having seen him in such a cat-mode just a couple of moments ago…(But it were instincts! Yes. Instincts. Not his fault… or anything like that.) They'd look at him oddly forever. Yes, awkward was the word.
"Sire? Is that … your servant?" Gwaine asked, apparently forcing himself to talk slowly: he had a tendency to babble when startled.
The knights realized that the prince mustn't have been able to communicate with the cat – err, servant – until now either. And even more shocked as realization dawned on them: the cat was really Arthur's servant, formerly a human being, and vice versa. It wasn't a ploy, it was for real.
Arthur exhaled, inhaled. He felt rather sane – he wasn't hearing things. Merlin had really talked. Well, there went the plan of hiding the servant's condition. "Yes. Unfortunately. And I'm telling you, all of you, if a single word of this slips and reaches my father…" The threat was left hanging in the air.
Merlin tried to make himself invisible, or at least insignificant, behind the prince's left boot. The look Gareth was giving him was unsettling.
"But why!" Leon exclaimed, raising his voice a bit. "It's obvious he must've been enchanted, if what you are saying is true! A sorcerer in the city! We must warn-"
"I am looking into it myself. But, I doubt we are actually under a magical attack. If we were, why has there been two days now and still nothing more happening? Why has only a servant been affected and no one else?" Arthur said. "There has been no disturbances whatsoever except for this."
Gwaine thought over the words, and nodded. "You do have a point, sire. But things like this just don't happen on accident."
Arthur's face darkened. "I know."
"Are we simply going to hide him?" Gareth asked, genuinely concerned about the servant's well-being. And, in his mind at least, unwillingly being a cat wasn't being especially well. "What if he stays like this forever?"
'Umm…how is it that you understand me?' Merlin wondered out loud. He just didn't feel like he was talking any normal human language, if that made any sense.
"I can sort of hear you in my head," Arthur said, kneeling down next to the cat. Usually he wouldn't do such a thing, but now he was simply overcome with surprise and a bit of relief, a wonderful tingle spreading through his veins. Now he could finally ask if Merlin was all right and find out who did this, what happened. "How did this happen? Did someone use a spell on you?"
'I, uh, ah…' Shit! He wasn't good at this lying stuff! 'I just fell asleep as normal. When I woke up last morning I just felt different and lo and behold! I found I had a tail.' He had freaked out quite a bit, but there was no need to tell that. He didn't want to be laughed at.
"So you didn't notice anything wrong before that? No one stalking you or anything?" Arthur asked concernedly. This sorcerer was really good and hiding both themselves and their motives. A strange kind of ire rose within him too: using magic an innocent man, a boy! Who'd dare to attack his servant like this? When Arthur found out and got them arrested, he'd…he'd…
'Nope. Nothing unordinary,' Merlin said. 'I just went about my business as usual and served Ar- prince Arthur, then helped out Gaius who needed some stuff from the market … Nothing strange or unexpected happened.'
The prince sighed, rubbing his neck, while the knights filled the silence. "I can hear you too," sir Gareth reported. "It looks like you're yowling or something, but I hear words in my mind." He didn't say anything about the fact that the servant had just a few minutes earlier played, like the animal he was, with his finger. It was too odd, really, to mention without embarrassing the poor servant. Plus he'd called him clumsy little one. But, it was a catchy nickname come think of it … (and Merlin was rather clumsy. Even knights who didn't see the servant that much knew that. Arthur complained sometimes a lot.)
Gareth, like his brother and the rest of the gathered knights, noticed how tended the prince acted, how worried he seemed. He really was caring much more about that servant than he let on.
Gareth had open eyes and ears: he'd noticed it months before, the prince and servant's relationship which was true friendship. They bickered a lot and Arthur rarely spoke fondly of Merlin, but Merlin was incredibly loyal and brave, standing up against Arthur and always coming with him even when there were fights. A bit stupid maybe, but Arthur always protected him.
Plus, there was an odd…convenience how lucky the servant was. During that first time he met the prince and they fought at the market, the boy had lasted well over a minute (had he been royal, Arthur would have accepted him to knights' training on the spot) and so stubborn, getting away with just a couple of bruises. And that was a lot better than some knights did against Arthur. Then later on, there had been those arrows flown astray, falling branches right on bandits or on their path, and the stumbles – Arthur never stumbled before Merlin stepped into the picture!
So, sir Gareth had long since figured there was something more, something special about this boy. He also liked the boy immensely; his soul seemed so pure, selfless and loyal. Bravery and kindness like that was hard to find. With no doubt, sir Gareth could say that the boy would serve and help Arthur always, do anything to keep the prince out of danger. As a servant following his master on dangerous missions not even armed was just stupid, but Merlin always did it anyway and survived without a single scrape. He was very lucky, yes. (Or, the knight suspected, there might be more than just luck.)
There was indeed something extraordinary about the boy.
"Without knowing who or what placed this spell on him, how can we know how to reverse it?" sir Bors asked the prince.
"I have been trying to find a solution in the old library – there must be something there – but every time I came upon something, it looked like another spell which would require a sorcerer."
"And any magical man or woman would be mad to enter Camelot at free will," sir Gareth murmured.
For some reason, Merlin winced.
"How many others know of this…transformation, if I may ask, sire?" That was sir Leon. He was a practical man and would, rather than speculating uselessly, analyze a problem and try finding sensible solutions (difficult when dealing with magic, of course – how were they to reverse this?). And if they did not want the king to find out, they must hide this well.
"The four of you, the court physician – he is Merlin's guardian, so I could simply not hide it from him – and I suspect Morgana knows…She has this cunning look of hers. I ought to seek her out and question her. She always sees more than she should."
"A dangerous lady, I agree," sir Gwaine said heartily to which a couple of knights nodded (sir Leon glared again, like wanting 'defend the lady's honour' or the like) and Merlin agreed quietly. Not that he disliked Morgana or anything – the opposite, he liked her a lot, but she could scary at the same time with that cunning look.
"Do you think the enchantment might, you know, fade in time?" sir Gareth asked curiously.
"I don't know. I hope so, if we cannot find a solution ourselves. Merlin, you hang around Gaius a lot, perhaps he's ever said anything about magic fading?"
'Uhm, yeah, I think it's possible.' Though he'd read about it in his magic book, not heard from Gaius. Not that he could tell Arthur that though. 'Maybe we just might wait and see.'
"I can't have my servant being a bloody cat!" Arthur muttered. "Any idea how long it might take then?"
'No idea.'
"At least you're not unable to speak anymore…it could mean that whatever magic has been used on you, it's starting to wear off. Good. Just make sure you don't speak by mistake. I don't want any commoners running to my father in frenzy about having seen a talking cat."
'No problem. I'll be silent as a mouse.'
Bors stifled a laugh. The air didn't seem as tense anymore.
"Oh, if I'll live to see the day when you acquire the skill of such stealth," Arthur said mockingly.
'Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I can be silent when I want to. I can. Honest!'
"Just like you are a natural hunter. You've been outwitted by a rat," the prince reminded him smugly.
Merlin would've pouted if he could, but his facial muscles just didn't obey him correctly. 'It…it was a smart rat!'
"Sure it was," Arthur said, but his face had softened, especially around the eyes and he was amusedly smiling down at the affronted cat. The knights saw how he looked at the creature rather fondly without noticing it himself. Ah, what a sign, such obliviousness: they were still a step ahead of the prince when it came to his feelings.
Gwaine grinned, exchanging a knowing look with his brother. Wonder if Merlin's noticed yet?
()()()
"I was beginning to wonder if you ever were going to tell me," Morgana sidled in later that afternoon, conveniently appearing in the doorway when Arthur had hoped she'd be busy elsewhere. "I am after all like a sister to you, Arthur dear."
"Tell you what, Morgana?" Arthur asked rather tiredly. His knights had had endless questions. It had been bothersome having to ward them off of Merlin. The men had suddenly become so…grabby. It was a bit odd, to be honest, but Arthur was aware that the knights used to talk about his manservant after training. It was almost like an obsession, kind of, but it'd not really bothered him until now. Until now, when Merlin had such soft fur and a tendency to let the men scratch behind his ears when only Arthur should be allowed to do that.
"Gwen was really worried when hearing that Merlin has this terrible contagious disease," the lady continues. "Have you been overworking the poor boy again, Arthur? Why, I am disappointed with you."
That look in her eyes. On her face.
It made Arthur's neck burn uncomfortably.
"I've not overworked him!" he exclaimed hotly. "Not any of the sort! What do you want anyway? Leave me alone – go comb your hair or whatever you usually do."
Conveniently enough, as a cat rolling around on the floor playing with an old pair of boots which weren't used anymore (they were the only items Arthur allowed him to claw at), Merlin could listen to everything the pair said without being paid heed to. Though his play faltered when hearing Gwen was concerned for him, he didn't want one of his friends to worry and he knew that Gwen was a bit overprotective. Well, he'd fix this tonight wouldn't he? He'd wake up as a human, come up with some lie as to how it happened and everything would be back to normal.
"As long as you're not abusing your position, I'm happy. Although there are some people who would need to be given a clue, now and then." Morgana gave that small dangerous smile to the prince. "But Merlin's illness isn't that bad is it? I wished I'd be able to visit him, to soothe Gwen's heart."
"He'll recover, but Gaius forbids anyone to see him," Arthur replied curtly.
"Oh really. What then is he doing on your floor?"
"…What? He—he's not in this room and clearly not on my floor!"
"Do not think of me as stupid, Arthur," the woman snickered. She knelt next to the cat, which didn't try and run away. "I'm here to help, you know. So, what happened? How did you gain four legs, Merlin?"
'I dunno,' Merlin said feebly, a bit uncomfortable with the lady so up close. She must have heard him just like the knights and Arthur; the look on her usually guarded face revealed surprise.
"I'll help you solve this," Morgana promised.
All since the Ealdor incident – no, all since the Mordred incident – the lady had been strangely kind to him. Merlin didn't really mind, especially not now. He was sure she wouldn't turn him to the king for magic, at least not when it came to cats. Maybe he could one day reveal his magic to her? And Arthur. He didn't want to hide it too much longer…But first things first. First, he'd turn back into a human. Then he'd think about good ways to reveal secrets without having people overreacting (though, with Arthur it'd be difficult to do so).
"I guess we could use an extra pair of hands," Arthur admitted, begrudgingly.
'Thanks, milady, I really appreciate it,' Merlin said. He wanted to be out of this fur as soon as possible.
Morgana hid a smile. She would help them solve this magical malady: but also another, more deeply rooted bother which she was positive the both males suffered. They were just too stubborn (at least Arthur was) to admitting such a thing, burying themselves in denial. But she would bring their feelings to light. This was a golden opportunity (especially since she had both Gwen and the knights on her side). Now she needed to make a real plan and set it into action.
Merlin was still looking up at her but couldn't guess what was running through her cunning mind.
"I better get going," she said and stood. "We mustn't make Uther suspicious. Remember, you can't hide anything from me, Arthur Pendragon!"
With the beautiful layers of her dress swishing soundly, she was out of the door. Merlin shifted his gaze to the prince.
'What did she mean by that last bit?' he asked curiously.
Arthur looked like he was lying when he said, "I've no idea."
()()()
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell the king?" Bors asked Gareth as they headed toward the inn. After having seen a talking cat he felt like he needed something refreshing.
"I'll follow the prince's lead. And if he says we hide it, we hide it."
"Are you not just saying that because you like scratching Merlin's ears?"
"Stop bothering me about it. I just happen to like the boy, that's all."
"Yes," Gwaine chimed in, "he is very endearing. I understand your tastes completely, brother. Clumsy little one – did he really understand you when you said that? He must be positively terrified of you by now. You were rather…grabby, craving for his attention, you know."
"It-it's not like that! I'd never-!" Gareth stuttered ashamed at having Gwaine even suggest that he'd try and force the boy into anything like that. He'd never take advantage of his status in such a manner, especially not with a naïve youngster (who clearly had eyes for someone else). Gwaine and his dirty mind…!
"Of course not, not when our dear prince has got his eyes set on him," Gwaine grinned. "Honestly, have any of you ever seen a more oblivious couple?"
"Gwaine!" Bors admonished (they hadn't even begun drinking yet!).
"Well it's true, isn't it?" the other man smirks, teeth glinting. "The boy is always more than loyal and constantly overstepping his bounds, but the prince never abandon him or punishes him more than putting him in the stocks now and then. And the prince is so ignorant - I can't believe they haven't spoken about it! I mean, honestly. Look at them. And the glares the prince sent when he saw you with CLO, Gareth." He nudged his brother's side with an elbow. "He looked ready to eat you alive and throw you in a pit of burning oil. Jealousy personified."
"And what do you mean, CLO?"
"From now on I shall only refer to Merlin the cat as CLO - clumsy little one (oh don't be embarrassed, it's your idea of a nickname, brother!). Otherwise it's too confusing."
"You are sidling with lady Morgana," Gareth realized.
"Naturally." The man was grinning like a child in glee.
His brother squinted at him, suspicious. "What are you up to?"
Gwaine made a zipping motion over his lips. "Not telling yet. You'll see soon enough!"
"Why did I agree to accompany you two to the tavern?" Bors moaned half a step behind them. He should have gone straight to bed.
