Thanks to the never-ending fussing of Gaius and Hunith, Ethan had managed to beat Merlin (and everyone else for that matter) to the council chambers and was already seated when he arrived.

Upon seeing Merlin enter, Ethan hastily got to his feet and bowed low to Merlin, much to Merlin's annoyance.

Honestly Ethan, he thought as he sat opposite the young man, there is absolutely no need for all this bowing!

'My Lord, I humbly beg to differ, you are a King. Bowing is merely a part of what is due to someone of your station.' Ethan returned telepathically as he sat back down, causing Merlin to jump out of his skin. He hadn't realised that he'd been projecting his thoughts. However, Ethan's reply left no room for doubt on that particular issue.

With a small smile, Merlin sat as well, continuing their little game. 'It would seem there is a fine line between thinking and speaking, at least the sort of speaking that involves using the mind. As for bowing, yesterday morning I was a servant! So forgive me if the entire practice seems somewhat ridiculous when directed at me.

Ethan let out a soft chuckle. 'Well I suggest you find some way to make peace with your qualms for I am not the only one of your subjects that tends to stand on ceremony. Besides, you've never been just a servant.'

'Actually the whole 'Arthur's servant' thing was a bit of an accident. Uther happened to be watching when I pulled Arthur out of the way of a dagger and decided that a suitable reward would be to make me Arthur's servant.'

'My, my how generous of him!' Ethan exclaimed amidst bursts of raucous laughter. Merlin couldn't help but marvel at the ability the two of them had to speak and laugh at the same time.

'Yes it's a good thing nobody's noticed the countless times I've saved their backsides since then, I shudder to think what other chores I may have been rewarded with!'

'A toast to Pendragon charity, long may it prevail!'

'To Pendragon charity!' Merlin returned enthusiastically, curving the fingers of his right hand to mime holding a tankard and raising it in an imaginary toast.

Grinning, Ethan returned the gesture and they clunked their tankards together before both leaning back to take a long drawn-out sip, simultaneously letting out a satisfied sigh as they did so.

'So' Merlin began, now that that avenue of conversation had been exhausted, Aeris arrives at noon tomorrow?'

'That's the plan' Ethan returned nonchalantly, shrugging as he did so.

Merlin simply nodded, a faraway look in his eyes, as he imagined the events that would be set in motion at noon the next day. Out of nowhere, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

'Do Dragons wear saddles? I've never travelled great distances on Kilgarrah's back. Well the distance was great but it never took very long to get there. At this point Merlin felt the need to return Ethan's amused look (presumably brought about by his rambling) with a withering glare of his own.

'You get the idea! Anyway, my point is that whilst I've never spent particularly long on Kilgarrah's back, I have noticed his scales are quite a bit harder than a horse's hide and saddles are definitely necessary when spending an entire day on horseback, so am I going to have to come up with an enchantment to numb our backsides or do Dragons wear saddles? Somehow I can't see Kilgarrah going for the idea. He already thinks I treat him like a horse!'

Ethan grinned outright at this and with a sparkle in his eye began to answer Merlin's plethora of questions concerning Dragons and saddles.

'No Dragon I have ever met has enjoyed the indignity of wearing a saddle. However, they do recognise the necessity of such measures in certain circumstances, such as aerial battles or flying from Albion to Elfrael.'

'So Niall wore saddle on your journey here? Why did I not see it when I met him?' Merlin asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

'Out of respect I remove the saddle along with any baggage whenever possible. At the moment it's all been stashed in the Darkling Woods and I've placed a whole lot of enchantments around the immediate vicinity to deter trespassers.'

Merlin nodded thoughtfully at this. 'Fair enough, at least I won't have to listen to Kilgarrah harping on about saddles. Not seeing as his only passenger will be Aithusa!'

Ethan allowed himself a small shudder at this. 'Yes, in hindsight, I'm rather glad he volunteered himself for that role.'

'Perhaps the image of a saddle had already entered his mind's eye.' Merlin chuckled.

Ethan's laughing fit was so severe that he was quite unable to say anything, as Merlin noted with some exasperation that the laughter was telepathic as well as physical.

A loud bang caused Merlin to jump a foot in his seat. 'What the bloody hell was that?' Snapping his head to the left to discover the source of the noise he let out an undignified yelp and gasped "Arthur!" For there was Arthur seated in his usual seat, looking far from tranquil.

'When did Arthur come in? I didn't even see him come in, did you?'

Ethan's tone was both shaken and penitent. 'No My Lord I did not and for that I cry your pardon, I should have been paying better attention.'

If Merlin heard Ethan's reply, he gave no indication of it. He was too busy glancing around the table, taking in the fact that every single Round Table member as well as his mother (who was seated on his left) were already present and seated. To top it off, lunch had also been served. How could he not have noticed any of this? Why did Arthur look so angry? What made that loud noise? By the gods Morgana herself could have come in here and taken Camelot and he wouldn't have so much as noticed! And to think he had the gall to call Arthur unobservant!

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Merlin was aware that he was having a full blown panic attack, complete with hyperventilation. But he couldn't focus on that right now. To be perfectly honest, he couldn't focus on anything at all. His gaze was still moving erratically around the room and he was no longer entirely aware of its occupants, let alone what they were now saying or doing. A fine state to be in should Camelot prove to be under attack he thought in self-disgust. Arthur truly was completely justified in calling him a girl!

In his panicked state Merlin slowly began to register his mother's voice. "Hush child, all is well. Be still my son for the lion sleeps soundly in his den."

Merlin smiled at his mother's use of their code phrases. To anyone else, what she'd said would sound nonsensical. To Merlin it was anything but, for she had effectively just told him that no one (no one being mainly Arthur Prat-Dragon) in the room suspected his magic and more importantly that there was no immediate threat to anyone's safety.

He smiled as he visibly relaxed and replied with "the fox is vigilant in his stealth. He eludes even the dragons themselves." He turned to his mother and smiled at her. "I'm alright Mother, honestly, Arthur just gave me a bit of a fright, that's all."

"It was Arthur that caused that loud bang, wasn't it?" He asked, suddenly worried that his mother may have underestimated any potential threats that he'd failed to notice.

So I'm back. Not to sure about this chapter, but I hope that it lives up to everyone's expectations. As always, please review! I love hearing from you.