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Chapter Seven

Arthur had given Sir Leon no argument about returning to Camelot to that knight's pleased surprise. He had said very little, in fact, only smiling when Gwaine had taken a couple of whiffs and asked if he had been eating apples. They had arrived back just after nightfall to be met by the king himself.

"Gaius is waiting in your quarters, Arthur. Go there now." The king glanced at his son's horse as he spoke. He didn't recall ever seeing it before.

"I'm fine, Father. I need to speak to you." The prince slid off the stunning cream-colored horse and stood, stroking his mane. Two stable hands hurried over to lead the stallion away.

"Do as I say," the king commanded. "Sir Leon can give me a preliminary report tonight. I'll speak with you in the morning."

"Yes, Father."

The dark-haired servant lowered his eyes to hide what he was thinking. As usual, the king refrained from showing open affection toward his son. Arthur was seldom touched in love. Merlin thought gratefully of his mother, Hunith, who had showered him from birth with hugs, verbal encouragement, and kisses. Not for the first time he reflected that it was the prince in the castle who was impoverished.

Merlin accompanied the prince to his quarters, yawning as he walked. Gaius checked Arthur over and, although a bit puzzled by the apple orchard scent which still clung to him, declared him to be in excellent health. On orders of the king, the physician gave the prince a sleeping draught, telling him only that it would relax him. He sunk drowsily back onto his bed, his blue eyes closing as he fell into a deep sleep. Merlin leaned over the bed and lifted his left wrist. Amazingly the protective gemstones were still on it, intertwined in the woven cords. He decided to leave them there. The warlock mumbled a spell, and a fur coverlet on the foot of the bed spread itself over the sleeping figure.

"You're next, Merlin," the physician said as they both walked to the door. "And then you can tell me what happened."

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King Uther was increasingly feeling that things were out of control. He hated that feeling. Ever since his son had been snatched by King Alined's men and dragged to the Giants' Dance, he had resolved to keep a closer eye on his son's whereabouts and who he was keeping company with. His original orders had been to gather information only. Subsequent events seemed to have spiraled off from there.

Sir Leon had been told to report to the king immediately. To say that he was not looking forward to this meeting was a vast understatement. Leon could think of no part of his report that the king was going to like. He would be lucky if the king didn't have him tossed into the dungeon just on general principle. He told him about the prince's decision to have them split up to cover more ground. He did not mention Gwaine and Lancelot by name, thinking that would further infuriate the royal, but Uther knew very well that the two men frequently accompanied his son whenever he rode out of sight of the citadel. He had so far not had a open confrontation with Arthur over the matter, but that was for another day.

Most of the rest of Leon's report had been attained second hand (largely gathered from Gwaine and Lancelot.) He mentioned the nobleman and his retinue that Arthur fell in with, the attack of the goblin horde during the night and the prince being injured, the fortuitous arrival of Captain Benarik, and much later, the encounter with the impetuous daughter of the goddess of the underworld, (having actually been present for part of the latter.)

The king was aware that much of the information that Sir Leon was conveying to him was third hand. He would very much like to have spoken with Gwaine and Lancelot but that was not feasible under the circumstances. It did not escape the king's notice that there was a large block of unaccounted for time in which his son's servant had vanished with his injured son.

Gaius had ignored Merlin's protestations of being uninjured and had checked him over anyway.

"I was injured, Gaius. I had a deep sword cut here." He pushed the sleeve of his shirt up and showed the physician the unbroken skin. "Brigid spread her mantle over both of us and we were healed."

"Well," Gaius said, as he settled himself into a chair, "I'm listening."

Although drowsy and wanting his bed, Merlin told his guardian of the events of the previous three days, including, with some hesitation, what Eilidh had told him about the goblins' fear of cats.

Gaius sat silent for a moment. "I have heard this before. You'd be wise not to dismiss this out of hand, Merlin. Cats have an interesting history. They were first domesticated by the ancient Egyptians around 2000 BC. The Egyptians noticed that cats hunted the mice and rats that ate their grain and attacked their food supplies. They also preyed upon venomous snakes such as cobras and vipers. The Egyptian cat-goddess, Bast or Bastet, is the daughter of their sun god, Ra."

Gaius stopped. Merlin had his head lying on his arms on the table. He couldn't see his eyes, but he was fairly sure they'd be closed. He reached over to shake his shoulder. "Go to bed, M -"

That was the point at which the king walked through the door.

The king must have come directly from talking with Sir Leon, Gaius thought. But why come here? Well, that was easy. Thanks to the king's short-sighted orders, his own son lay in a drugged sleep. Of course he wanted to talk to Merlin.

The physician was uncomfortably aware that Uther was staring at his ward in the predatory way a hawk might stare at a mouse. He had a brief but decidedly unwise impulse to gather the boy protectively in his arms. "Merlin," Gaius said again, lightly shaking his shoulder. "The king is here. I believe that he wishes to speak to you." He looked questioningly at the king as the boy sat up, blinking sleep from indigo eyes, then both made as if to stand. Uther waved them back down.

Uther nodded curtly at the physician. "You are correct, Gaius." To Merlin: "I have come from listening to Sir Leon's report. It was not entirely satisfactory. There were large - gaps in it, missing blocks of time, if you will."

Uh, oh, Merlin thought. He tried to think. Lancelot would not have told Sir Leon about his using magic to heal Gwaine so he was safe there. What else? Leon would not have known about the fortuitously falling tree branches so, again, safe. He relaxed slightly. He might survive this interview after all. "Yes, Sire," he said, politely. "What do you wish to know?" Innocence shone from guileless blue eyes. Gaius was familiar with that look. Don't overplay your hand, Merlin, he thought.

"Describe my son's movements during the goblin attack and, most particularly, how he managed to escape."

Tension resettled in his neck and shoulders. Arthur had told him later that the goblin grasping his wrist had suddenly shrieked in pain and turned loose. The gemstones had left scorching black marks on the creature's mottled, mud-colored skin. Would Uther consider protective gemstones magic? Probably. He wasn't anxious to find out.

"He's very good with a sword, Sire," Merlin said, in a masterful bit of understatement.

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Uther was not particularly put out by the evasive answer. He had a father's pride in his son's accomplishments. "Continue."

"We were - there were others with us, Sire. A noble and his men, and later, warriors from Somerset."

"I have been told of this," Uther said. Under different circumstance, he might have been angered by King Melwas' men chasing the goblins across kingdom borders.

"Their arrival quite possibly saved all our lives."

"Do you know where these men are now?" the king asked.

"No, Sire." Though he was careful not to show it, Merlin grew suddenly impatient. He had a strong feeling, almost intuitive, that he needed to know where Benarik and his men were. How much longer was this interview going to take?

"You took Arthur somewhere, didn't you? Away from the battle," the king persisted.

"Yes, Sire. I took him some distance away then pulled him over an embankment. There was a recessed area at the base of it, and I pushed him into it." There was a brief pause. "And myself. I crawled in after him."

"Both of the boys were injured, Sire," Gaius said.

Uther stared for a moment at the young man that Arthur was so unaccountably fond of. It came to him in a rare flash of insight that of all the people surrounding his son, the one with the greatest access to and in the best position to harm or help his son was Merlin. And he, Uther, had given the boy this power when he gave him to Arthur as manservant.