"Merlin! Where are you?" Merlin heard the Prince call. Merlin rolled his eyes in frustration as he tried to pull the horse down the cliff like hill they had fallen down the previous day. It seemed it was easier to fall down than it was for a horse to walk down. Merlin called out over his shoulder as he gave the panicking horses' rope another tug and struggled to hold it as it tried to rear backwards. "I'm coming sire!"
The horses finally gave way and half dragged Merlin down the rest of the hill. They slowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill and Merlin, who had barely been able to keep his feet, fell flat onto the ground. Arthur turned around annoyed, "What took you so long? You'd think you could control a horse once in a while."
Merlin pushed himself up with a red face, "What do you mean that-"
Arthur waved a hand in dismissal of Merlins arguments, "Whatever. What is it, Merlin?"
Merlin came over to view the decapitated corps of the man who attacked him the night before. His face screwed up in disgust as he saw the beast, hairy and brutish looking with a pig like nose and sharp, menacing horns. Between its coarse and matted hair, its greenish flesh was visible where Arthur had maimed it. Arthur and Merlin stood, side by side, transfixed. Arthur turned, "well Merlin. What is it?"
Merlin spoke in a hushed voice, "I have no idea…" he turned and caught Arthurs eye, "Wait a second! Just because I know Magic doesn't mean I know what every single non-human beast is!"
Arthur looked slightly taken back, but shrugged, "then we find out. That beast attacked me, and there could be more of them around. Bag it's head, Merlin."
He turned and walked away as Merlin suspiciously nudged its head with his foot. He tried to hold his face away from the foul thing as he put it in a bag, gaging as he caught whiffs of its potent odour. Arthur stood back by the horses, for once in his life, patiently waiting, relishing the time to ponder on the mystery of Merlin.
They found their way to the road soon after and followed it till the walls of Camelot shone over the treetops in the sunset. The guard at the gate stood at attention as they rode through and the people parted like a wave before them The inner gates opened and the surprisingly homely sound of the horse hooves on the stone greeted them. Arthur waited for Merlin to dismount and take the reins before he dropped off. Out of the main doors came Uther and Morgan, with an escort of guards to greet them.
The Kings proud gaze met his sons and they locked arms strongly in greeting. In the same way he turned and gave a small formal bow to Morgana who acknowledged it before Arthur took her arm and they walked back inside as a party. Before the doors shut behind the royal family Arthur turned his head back and nodded, silently telling Merlin to follow them.
Merlin sighed and grabbed the head, still in its bag, thinking about hot showers and sleep. The hallways were cool and regel as ever, but Merlin had been there long enough to be used to it. He stood behind the Prince, in the open court room as Arthur accounted their trip. Uther listened politely, as did Morgana, seated beside his throne. Arthur ended with the story of the night time attack, conveniently leaving out the magic bit, although Merlin still held his breath till it was over. Uther looked thoughtful at the news, almost brooding, and Morgana had her eyebrows slanted in worry. Arthur finished the Narrative with the events of that morning and motioned for Merlin to give him the bag. He dropped the head out, with a sickening thud. Uther recoiled from the sight and Morgana gave a gasp of horror, her hand covering her mouth.
It landed right way up, at a slight tilt, glaring demonically at the king with unseeing eyes. Uther turned to the small crowd that stood behind the Prince, namely to the court physician, Gaius. The old man took this as an invitation to hobble forward and examine the beast. He had his ever present quizzical look, caused by his permanently raised eyebrow, but he still had a troubled demeanour about him. He looked up to the king, "I'm not sure what it is, you're Majesty, but it seems vaguely familiar. Maybe I have some sort of records that could hint to its species. May I request the head be sent to my rooms? I may also need an assistant, Merlin?"
He bowed as low as his frame would allow, and walked out with Merlin in tow. The duo searched Gaius' personal library into the night till Merlin fell asleep reading an specifically boring book, dedicated to the classification of pixies, although why Gaius thought it could be a pixie was beyond Merlin. He woke with a start, to see Gaius standing over the ugly specimen with measuring tools across the width of it's head, looking back and forwards between the measurement and a book. It was almost comical, seeing the lug's head on the dinner table, but the thought was dashed as Gaius looked up and saw him, "Oh! Merlin, good! You're awake. I was about to wake you to go get Arthur's breakfast. By the story he told us yesterday, it seemed you had quite the close call. By the way, Merlin how was that? I never got to ask you with all the excitement."
Merlin rubbed his eyes and ignored thoughts of breakfast as he realised the inconvenience of the head being on the table. Anyway, He was probably going to be late for Arthur's breakfast, and Arthur was always grumpy when he was hungry. He grabbed a bread roll as he headed for the door with a sarcastic grin on his face, "Fine! Great! By the way, Arthur knows my secret now! Bye!"