Chapter 11

Thank you for all the people who reviewed, pressed favourite, followed and just plain read this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or the BBC. I do however own my knights sir Richard and Sir Liam, who will be back!

Merlin and Gwaine had a fairly ordinary ride stopping for a quick rest for the horses and a snack break from themselves. No sign of bandits on the road ment that they reached their destination quickly and in high spirits as this was one of the only times that they went out and wasn't attacked by them. Maybe Merlin was right about not wearing the bright red Camelot capes as it seems to attract every enemy to their position. The only downer of the day was that Merlin was really worried about his mother and grew silent when they reached the outskirts of Ealdor which was around the beginning of lunch. Gwaine however in the hopes to lighten the worry and mood the trip had taken went back to telling about a bar owners daughter that he almost had to marry and her father, the tale was meet with a few sniggers from Merlin indicating that he had succeeded in his efforts to get Merlin to laugh.

As they entered the little village Merlin received helloes and hails as they moved towards his childhood house. Gwaine was not surprised at all the well-wishers that said hello to the young warlock sitting on the horse next to his, as he knew about Arthur and Merlins victory from when they faced the bandits that attacked this village a couple of years ago, plus Merlin was a likable person that made friends easily in Camelot so he must have had a huge group back here when he was a young boy. He would have to ask Merlin later as they pulled their horses up to a small looking house. Dismounting his horse he gathered the reigns of his in one and reached for Merlins horses as the warlock grabbed his medical bag from the back of the saddle and rushed into the house full of worry for what he would find in there.

Letting his friend rush into the house Gwaine brought the horses over to the fence next to Merlin's old home and tied them up in range of a patch of grass and followed Merlin inside the house. Upon entering Gwaine spotted Merlin kneeling next to a bed down on the other side of the room pulling bottles and vials from the medical bag reading each one carefully down on the floor beside him till he found the right one. Gwaine could just see the woman's head poking out the top of a bunch of blankets, studying her he could see where Merlin got his looks from as she had the same raven coloured hair and blue eyes. Spotting an empty bucket on the table next to him he grabbed it and went to look for a well to fill it up with clean fresh water that Gwaine knew Merlin might need. Exiting the house Gwaine saw a well on the other side of the village and set off towards it at a brisk pace determined to take as little time as possible getting the water. With the water bucket filled he entered the house once more going to the fire place and filling the metal pot on top to get the water boiling. He could hear Merlin softly talking to his mother as he worked encouraging her to open her eyes for him.

Unsure what to do to help his friend Gwaine sat down close to the table and fireplace to keep an eye on the waters progress. From what Gwaine could see from where he was sitting, Merlin's mother was sweating quiet badly which were exactly the same symptoms of the sweating sickness that hit Camelot earlier this week. Depending on when it was treated then the person could survive this illness; hopefully it was not too late for her. Judging from the way that Merlin wasn't panicking then they must have caught it in time, this made Gwaine smile at the one bit of good luck for his friend. But that didn't mean a thing out in a small village like Ealdor where there was little help in the medicinal available but with a lot of luck Hunith should get better soon, now that Merlin was here to take care of her.

Merlin turned to Gwaine with a strained smile on his face and asked for the clean water that was freshly boiled. Complying with Merlins request he poured half of the water in a nearby bowl and brought it over to the side table next to bed. Seeing that Hunith's eyes were opened he smiled down at her with his dazzling white teeth and introduced himself to her as Merlin used a wet towel to wipe the sweet of her face. Hunith smile at seeing her son sitting beside her and said with a croaky voice. "Merlin it's good to see you my son, I dint know that you were coming or I would have cleaned up, especially since you brought a guest."

"Mother you know that I would come when I know that you're sick. I would always come to take care of you no matter what I have to do to get here. Gwaine here is one of the knights that I have written to you about; he is one of my best friends he's here to help me take care of you till you get better." Merlin said soothingly placing the wet towel on her forehead in the hope to cool her down. It fell off her head when she tried to get up only to be stopped when Merlin placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I need to clean the house to make it presentable for our guest." She said and made to get up again only to be stopped by Merlin a second time.

"No mother, you're sick and you need to rest and recover your strength. You will make yourself sicker by getting up and working anyway the house is fine so stay where you are."

With those words Hunith stayed where she was and didn't try to get up again. Confidant that she would not get up again with Gwaine watching over her, Merlin went over to make some both for her to eat as he was certain that she had not eaten much this past week and she would need to build up her strength again. Preparing a few vegetables on the kitchen table he placed the cut up chunks in a spare pot, once that was done he went out to the well to fetch some water, returning he placed it on the fire to boil. With that boiling away he made his way over to his mother and Gwaine moved over so Merlin could sit down to tend to her fever once more. Noticing that her fever had risen he frowned, grabbing one of the vials on the side table he turned back to his mother and encouraged her to open her mouth and sallow the medicine. Managing to get her to sallow the hole vile he went back to tending her fever, hoping that the medicine will bring it down to normal.

While Merlin tended to his mother Gwaine watched the broth boil and cook away till it was ready, giving Merlin time with his mother he took the pot of the fire and doled it out into bowls. Taking Hunith's bowl over to Merlin he received a thanks and returned to eat his at the table, he watched as Merlin feed his mother thinking that he really hoped that she got better. At least they didn't have to worry about that sorcerer Jace coming back and coursing trouble or worse. Gwaine had to admit that Hunith was one hell of a woman; even though she is very sick she still had the strength to tell Gwaine about how Merlin was when he was little. Of cause when Gwaine let slip that he knew about Merlin's magic she went straight to threatening him with bodily harm until he assured her that he would not tell a single soul about it, luckily Merlin had gone outside to get some water for the broth that he was making, so he didn't see or hear that conversation. Gwaine could see where Merlin got his kindness from.

After lunch was done Gwaine went back to watching over Hunith as Merlin went to get some water to wash the dishes. He was gone a few minutes when he came barrelling back in to the house in a panic, spotting Gwaine sitting there he made a beeline straight form him. Thinking that there was something really wrong Gwaine stood up and made his way over to his friend, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders in the effort to calm him down. Gwaine asked calmly. "What's wrong?"

"Kilgharrah told me that Aithusa ran off somewhere and has been following us since we left the clearing this morning, so she's probably heading this way. What if some villagers spot her and word gets back to Camelot about a dragon in this area, Arthur would want to investigate it meaning that he would come and visit here where I would be trying to hide Aithusa." Merlin said in a panic.

"Merlin, mate you need to calm down, there would be very little chance that Aithusa will be spotted, she's the size of a small cat." Gwaine reassured him.

No sooner that Gwaine had said this there was a loud scream piercing the air outside the house. It looked like he was dead wrong as they rushed out spotting the hysterical woman screeching and pointing to the little white dragon that was inspecting an upturned bucket near the well. She raised her head suddenly and sniffed the air as if there was something she was searching for. Gwaine hoped that she would not come straight at them, but they weren't as lucky as she spotted them and came bounding over. Thinking on his feet Gwaine grabbed a couple of apples on a nearby pile and ran straight at her hoping that he could lead her out of the town so he could smuggle her in later. He would hate to think about the dragon getting hurt because some villager was scared of what they don't know.

The villagers knew that Gwaine was one of the knights of Camelot so they kept out of the way as he ran at the dragon. Gwaine hoped that Aithusa would follow him if she saw the apples that he picked up, he ran up to her taking his sword out of his sheath and pointed it at her trying to trick the villages that he would try to kill the dragon when he was trying to do the exact opposite. As he got closer Aithusa spotted the apples and perked up letting out a series of happy sounding chirps, she would defiantly follow him now that she saw them. On the pretence of leading her in the woods where her flying ability would be hampered by the trees in reality he would try to hide her from harm.

Now the he managed to get her out of the village he had to try to smuggle her back in with the entire village's coming up to him asking if he killed the dragon. Looking down at the dragon at his feet he decided to hide her under his shirt, it would look like he had gained a few ponds but hopefully no one would look too closely. Picking up Aithusa he gave her the apples and explained what he wanted her to do and he assumed that she understood as she jumped down on the ground, clambered up his leg and under his shirt, wrapping herself around his body, where she became still. Looking around Gwaine saw a berry bush and picked a few, rubbing the berries on his sword to make it look like he killed the dragon. Turning back to Ealdor he started walking back hoping that this trick will work, for both the dragon and Merlin sake.

Upon entering the village Gwaine saw the village men armed with a number of sharp looking objects in their hands. Locating the worried looking warlock he saw that Merlin's eyes were locked on the bloody sword in his hands. Gwaine couldn't do anything as his friend looked at him with horror shaking his head in denial and turned to run back into his house. The village's all crowded around Gwaine asking how he killed the beast, was it really a dragon and was he hurt anywhere. All Gwaine wanted to do was run to his best friend and tell him what had happened but it was half an hour till he could excuse himself from the crowd and enter the house.

As soon as he entered he was confronted to an upset Merlin who had tears in his eyes, seeing that Gwaine had entered Merlin rushed at him angrily shouting. "You killed her, she was only a baby, and she was innocent. I thought that I knew you but apparently I don't. Just leave, go back to Camelot before I do something that I regret."

"Listen mate I…" Gwaine started to say but was cut off by Merlin.

"I don't care what you have to say! YOU murdered Aithusa! I don't ever want to see you again. I don't care if you tell Arthur My secret and come with an army to drag me back to Camelot to burn me at the stake, I want you OUT NOW!" He bellowed.

Gwaine stayed where he was stunned at the anger rolling off Merlin, it kind of hurt that Merlin would think that he had kill the little dragon but what hurt the most was that he thought that he was going back to Camelot and tell Arthur the truth about Merlin. Before he was able to say anything else an unhappy chirping began before the lump underneath his shirt moved causing Merlin to take a step back in surprise. Merlin's surprise then morphed into happiness as Aithusa's snout became visible at the bottom of Gwaine shirt followed by the rest of her as she ploughed into Merlin. After a minute of happy chirps and many hugs Merlin turned back to Gwaine with a massive smile on his face. Holding out an apple for Aithusa Merlin said to Gwaine in a soft voice. "I'm so sorry, I kind of snapped when I saw the blood on the blade, I really thought that you had killed her. If there is anything that I can do to make up for it I will."

"I want to say right now that I would never ever harm her, she has an apple fetish like me, plus you're my best friend no matter what happens. I honestly thought that you would have noticed the way that I looked fatter than I was ten minutes prior." Gwaine said chuckling.

"I would never call you fat, unless your names Arthur." Merlin said with a faint smile.

"Just tell me one thing, if you're supposed to be a dragon lord can't you talk to Aithusa in your mind like Kilgharrah?" Gwaine asked.

"She's too young to understand." Merlin sighed scratching her behind her head.

"When do you think she would be old enough to speak because it would make things so much easier to communicate?" Gwaine asked.

"Kilgharrah said that she should develop the ability to speak in the next year or so. Can you hold her while I check on my mother?"

"Sure." Gwaine agreed taking Aithusa into his arms as Merlin went over to the still sleeping Hunith. It seemed that she missed the whole misunderstanding that occurred, maybe that was a good thing and Gwaine would hate to get on her bad side. Hopefully these two weeks could pass without any more trouble, like that was going to happen, now what can we do with this young dragon. Gwaine thought to himself. As long as she can be hidden form the rest of the village then it should be alright in the end.

AN: Hello again. Let me start by saying thank you to those that reviewed on the last chapter. I had the best weekend! I met some of my favourite actors at the comic con in Perth. I had Jason Mamoa's hand on my waist and Richard Dean Anderson's hand on my shoulder. I can honestly say that I have never been tongue tied until that day. I can't wait for supernova when Eoin Macken comes to Perth. YAY! I should have the next chapter out on scheduled so until then, please enjoy and review.

Mushushy.