The first several days after being brought on to be Merlin's apprentice, Douxie was confined to the workshop. Apparently Merlin wanted to be sure that Douxie wouldn't cause any more trouble before giving him free reign of the castle. Douxie hadn't minded these limits at first. He was too relieved to have a warm place to sleep and a hot meal whenever he wanted it to complain too much. Merlin also kept him really busy, so Douxie didn't exactly have a lot of time to himself to think about things to complain about.
When Merlin got more comfortable with Douxie being in his workshop unsupervised, he began to return to his own work. He left Douxie a list of things he needed to do around the workshop while he was gone. At first, Douxie had been overwhelmed by the sheer length of the list, but then he'd bothered reading exactly what was written down.
Merlin had tasked him to organize the ingredients, tidy up the workshop, , organize all of Merlin's potions, and other such tasks. Those were the exact kinds of things that Douxie did under Merlin's supervision. Douxie was willing to do the work that Merlin needed from him, but he knew for a fact that the workshop didn't need to be tidied, and the ingredients had been organized just the day before. This wasn't work, this was busy work. Merlin was just trying to keep him busy and out of the way, and Douxie didn't appreciate it.
Douxie did as he was told, thinking it would be better to talk to Merlin afterwards than to disobey him just because he was bored. Besides, even doing boring work was better than doing no work at all. Douxie intended to wait for Merlin to return, but the old wizard stayed out so late that by the time he came back, Douxie was already fast asleep.
Douxie didn't normally consider himself a heavy sleeper, but his new bed was so soft, and all the work he did and all the food he ate left him feeling more exhausted than normal. While before, Douxie would wake up at the sound of a light footstep in an alley, now it took Merlin several minutes to wake him up. It seemed that Merlin didn't have the patience for that this morning, because Douxie was rudely awoken when Merlin used his magic to lift him into the air and hand him upside down.
"Wha-hey!" Douxie cried out in shock and slight fear. He never liked it when he woke up without having any control of himself. Merlin let him down a little harsher than he probably intended.
"Come along, Hisirdoux, up and at 'em." Merlin said far too cheerfully. He grabbed Douxie's hand and pulled him up to his feet. "I've got a meeting with King Arthur in a few minutes, and you have a busy day in front of you."
"I do?" Douxie rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, already feeling more awake. Was Merlin going to address his complaint before it was even made?
"Of course," Merlin said. "You've got a whole workshop to tidy."
Douxie felt his small amount of hope fade. "What, again? I cleaned it yesterday...and the day before that...and the day before that."
"Don't get smart with me, boy," Merlin raised an eyebrow at him. "A dirty workshop is a dangerous thing." Merlin led Douxie into the workshop, and Douxie was annoyed to see that it wasn't as spotless as he'd left it yesterday. It wasn't exactly a disaster, but there was lingering ingredient residue lying around, and a lot of the books were out of place. Douxie didn't know why Merlin scolded him for not keeping the workshop clean when the current mess was because Merlin had likely been too tired to clean up after himself when he returned last night, and he was in too much of a hurry to put away the books that he'd gotten out but didn't need.
"I know, but isn't there something else I could do?" Douxie asked. "Like...anything else?" Merlin didn't look completely convinced. "Come on, Master, please? I swear I'll clean later, I just need a break."
Merlin sighed in exasperation. He glanced towards the door impatiently. "I suppose it's time for you to familiarize yourself with the rest of the castle."
"Yes!" Douxie was far too eager to get out of the tower to be anxious about everybody else in the castle.
"Hang on, we need to establish some rules," Merlin said. "You may not want to work in the tower, but you should still at least try to make yourself useful. Go to the stables or something and see if they need any help in there. Don't get in anyone's way."
"Of course, Master," Douxie agreed eagerly. He would agree to anything to get out of the tower. "I'll stay out of trouble."
"Yes, well, we'll see about that," Merlin said. "If you need me, I'll be in the council room. Please, don't need me." Douxie didn't know what kind of work Merlin was doing with Douxie, but he knew it had to be important.
"I'll do my best," Douxie picked up Archie, who was napping near the window. "Come on," Archie was an even heavier sleeper than Douxie was, but Archie was able to nap on Douxie's shoulder. "I'll see you later, Master," Douxie said as he ran out of the tower. He went down the steps, walked down a somewhat familiar looking hallway, and then got lost when he got to the first fork in the hallway. He had no idea how to get to the stables. He knew that the kitchens were to the right, but he didn't know his way past there. How was he supposed to get to the stables when he didn't know where they were?
Douxie looked both left and right before he decided to just take his chances and go left. His reasoning was he didn't think the stables were anywhere near the kitchens, and the kitchens were to the right.
When Douxie came to another fork, he went right, because he knew that if he kept going in the same direction, he might just end up going in a circle. From that point on, Douxie alternated between going left and going right, except when there was the option to go straight, in which case he would do so, just because the chance didn't come up as often.
After about thirty minutes of wandering around, Douxie came upon a set of stairs going up, and he knew he'd messed up at some point. He needed to get down to the stables. Douxie may not be the best at directions, but he knew that you couldn't go down by going up. Douxie reluctantly turned around and tried to retrace his steps, but he hadn't been keeping proper track of which way he'd come from, so in trying to turn around Douxie found himself even more lost than before.
"Oh, come on," Douxie groaned. Archie opened an eye and peeked at him.
"Are we lost?" Archie asked.
"Give me a break," Douxie said as he went straight. He was pretty sure he hadn't gone this way before. "Forgive me for not memorizing the layout of a whole blasted castle!" Douxie shouted this last part out in frustration. He'd thought that the hallway was empty and nobody could hear him, but the hall wasn't as isolated as he thought it was.
"Well, look who it is," A voice said behind him. Douxie jumped and turned to see a very familiar looking knight behind him. "The little wizard."
"S-sir Galahad," Douxie chuckled nervously and took a step back. Archie tensed and dug his claws into Douxie's shoulder. "What-what are you doing here?" Douxie couldn't remember the names of most of the knights, but he had dedicated Galahad's name into his memory. Since he'd first set foot into the castle, Douxie had promised himself to not be anywhere near the knight that had tried to kill him for doing something that he hadn't even known was a crime.
"I could hear curses and swears from down the hall, and I came to investigate." Galahad gave Douxie a look that he couldn't understood. Was the knight amused or suspicious? "What are you doing here?"
"I'm, uh, trying to get to the stables," Douxie said. "I needed a break from the tower, and Merlin suggested that I see if I can assist someone." Douxie fought to keep his tone even and free of the nerves he was feeling. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and he didn't want to do anything to make Galahad think that he was.
"If that's the case, you're going the wrong way," Galahad said.
"He got us lost," Archie said.
"Yes, I thought that was the case," Galahad chuckled. "I would offer to give you the grand tour, but I'm late for training as it is." Douxie didn't understand why Galahad was speaking so calmly and casually to him. Had Galahad forgotten that he'd tried to kill Douxie just a few days ago? Was being apprenticed to Merlin really all it took for Douxie to be given a clean slate in the knight's eyes?
"That's okay," Douxie said quickly. "I think we can manage." Even if they didn't get to the stables, at least they were getting a little more used to the castle. At this rate, Douxie might know this castle like the back of his hand in another fifty years.
Galahad continued to watch Douxie for a long moment. "Actually, if you're looking for something to do, we've been looking for sparring partners for our young squires."
Douxie frowned slightly. "Sparring? Like, pretend fighting?"
"Not exactly," Galahad said. "It's less pretend and more like practice. The fighting is real, but the threat isn't."
"Oh," Douxie thought he understood. Whenever he came across other street people who resorted to trickier, more morally questionable methods of getting by, he would find them practicing their pocket-picking and conning skills on each other. Douxie used to practice his own cons with them. It was thanks to these people that Douxie knew that he wasn't good at traditional stealing, but he could be really good at misdirection.
"Well, I don't know how good at sparring I'll be," Douxie admitted. "But I'm willing to try." If it got him into Galahad's good graces and allowed Douxie to know exactly where he stood with the knights, he'd be willing to try just about anything.
"Good lad," Galahad laughed. He came up right next to Douxie and slapped him hard on the back, making Douxie stumble slightly. Archie hissed and jumped off of Douxie's shoulders. Archie watched protectively as Galahad began to lead Douxie down a hall and towards the knights' training grounds.
Despite the size of the castle, Galahad was able to find the way to the courtyard in just a matter of minutes. Douxie had just started to feel a little less nervous about sparring with squires when he caught sight of who his sparring partners would be. The squires were easy to pick out, as they weren't wearing armor as extensive as the knights', and they were all Douxie's age or younger, but in reality it wasn't nearly as reassuring as it had been in Douxie's head.
He was taller than most of the knights, but Douxie knew that wouldn't be to his advantage. Even the youngest and smallest of the squires looked like he could snap Douxie like a twig. Then there was the fact that all of the squires were holding swords. They weren't as refined as the knights' swords, but Douxie was sure that they would pierce and cut just as easily. Douxie, on the other hand, had never held a sword in his life. How was he supposed to spar when he didn't know how to use the weapon?
"Uh, on second thought, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Douxie tried to walk back, but Galahad still had a hand on his back and he gave him a light shove forward.
"Come now, boy, it'll do you some good to learn how to fight like a man." Galahad said. He grabbed a wooden practice sword and shoved it into Douxie's hands. "You won't always have your magic to rely on in a fight."
"I'd rather not fight at all." Douxie said. He understood why fighting was necessary, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. More often than not it seemed as though people, especially the knights and guards, fought just to throw their power around and bully others into doing what they wanted.
"It's not that bad," A tall, blond knight with surprisingly kind eyes said. He helped Douxie to adjust his grip on the wooden sword. "Just try to hit the other guy, and try to not get hit yourself."
"Yeah, I got that much," Douxie couldn't tell if the blond knight was teasing him or was genuinely trying to offer him advice. The blond knight spent a minute showing Douxie basic stances and gave him a few more tips. When he was satisfied that Douxie wouldn't accidentally stab himself, he looked towards the line of squires.
"Young Hasen, why don't you come give it a shot?" The blond said.
"Yes Lancelot," The youngest and smallest knight came forward. He didn't look too happy about sparring with Douxie, but he didn't say a word of complaint. Douxie was alarmed for a moment to see that Hasen had a real sword, but then he noticed that it was in its sheath. Douxie knew he wouldn't walk away from this without a few bruises, but at least he hopefully wouldn't be cut.
"Face your opponent," Lancelot said. "Ready?" Douxie clutched tightly at his sword, but no sooner had he done this did Hasen dash towards him and use his sword to knock Douxie's right out of his hands. Douxie stared at Hasen in shock. Had he lost already? He hadn't even known that they'd started yet!
Hasen smirked and swung his sword again. Douxie yelped and ducked out of the way. Apparently he hadn't lost, he was just expected to fight at even more of a disadvantage than before. Douxie couldn't fight bare-handed, and Hasen knew this. Hasen shifted until he was standing between Douxie and the wooden sword. That was fine, Douxie hadn't wanted that weapon anyways.
Hasen lunged towards Douxie, who jumped back and started to run. He looked around anxiously for a long stick, or even something like a lance or shovel. Anything that could be wielded similarly to a staff, which was the one kind of weapon that Douxie actually knew how to wield. For a castle barracks, it was frustratingly bare.
Douxie's long legs allowed him to keep ahead of Hasen, but the squire wasn't so willing to give up. Douxie cried out in pain and tripped when he felt something that felt like a switch being whipped against his back. Douxie fell and hit his head on the ground. Everything went black for a long moment.
"-xie. Douxie!" Archie cried out. The familiar was hissing and growling like crazy. Douxie groaned and blinked rapidly. He turned towards Archie's voice and frowned when he saw his familiar being held by Lancelot. Archie was struggling to get away. Douxie frowned. His familiar may look like a cat, but he wasn't someone's pet. He was a dragon, he didn't deserve to be held against his will.
"Archie," Douxie tried to get up, but he was pushed back down by Hasen's boot. He wasn't exactly stepping on his back, he was actually applying very little pressure, but even the smallest amount of pressure felt like dragon fire.
"Do you yield?" Hasen asked. The kid looked far too smug and proud for a squire who had just defeated a complete amateur who had no idea what he was doing.
Douxie would normally say something to appease the kid, or if he was feeling particularly irritated he might say something sarcastic. His head was still pounding though, Archie was still growling desperately, and Douxie had a sword pointed at his back. It didn't matter if the sword was sheathed, it was a threat.
His back hurt, and his ears were ringing. He needed to make sure Archie was safe. He needed to get away from these knights. He just needed everything to stop.
Not thinking, Douxie reached a hand out towards Archie and twisted to swing a hand behind him to knock the sword away from him. It was pure instinct, and part of Douxie's instinctive nature was his magic. Without meaning to, Douxie sent blasts of magic from both hands, hitting Hasen and Lancelot.
Hasen cried out, possibly from pain, possibly just from shock, but he dropped his sword and stumbled off of Douxie's back, so he considered that a victory. Lancelot's shout was definitely one of surprise, but Douxie's magic had been enough of a distraction for Archie to struggle out of his grip and fly to Douxie's side.
"Witchcraft," Galahad said quietly, with just a touch of anger and fear in his voice. Douxie pushed himself up just enough to grab onto Archie and curl up over him. He wanted to run away and never look back. He wanted to go to Merlin's side and seek refuge again. He wasn't sure if he was even able to get up at this point though, and he was too scared to try. What if the knights just knocked him down again?
Douxie heard footsteps approaching him, and he panicked. "Get away!" Douxie shouted. A wave of magic came from him. It didn't actually do anything, but it seemed to be enough to dissuade the approaching knight from coming any closer.
"Someone get Merlin," Lancelot commanded. He sounded a lot closer now, so he must have been the one approaching. Douxie tightened his grip on Archie. Was Lancelot going to try to take his familiar away from him again? "We're not going to hurt you." Lancelot said in what sounded like a forced gentle voice. Of course, Douxie didn't believe him. Why should he? He'd already been hurt by the knights.
The next several minutes were spent like this. Douxie would hear the squires and knights mutter to themselves in fear and anger. Lancelot would try to approach Douxie, only for him to send off an unintentional wave of magic to push him back again. Douxie curled up against Archie and just wished that everything would stop.
"What is going on out here?" The king shouted. Douxie cringed and he felt Archie's fur stand on end. The knights were bad enough, and now he had to deal with the person who had commanded the ban on magic in the first place? This was it. He was going to die out here, curled up and quivering like a coward.
"Hisirdoux," Someone else was approaching now, but that was Merlin's voice, so Douxie found himself relaxing slightly. If Merlin hadn't kicked him out for stealing from him, he probably wouldn't punish him too badly for this. Douxie lifted his head to see Merlin, who already looked tired of this whole ordeal. "What is this I hear about you using your magic to attack a knight and a squire?"
"It was an accident!" Douxie said just a little too loudly and quickly.
"They attacked him first." Archie said furiously. Merlin hummed to himself and knelt in front of Douxie. Merlin brought a hand to Douxie's forehead, where he'd hit it against the ground. Douxie flinched as Merlin touched the bump, which was apparently more than that because when Merlin pulled away Douxie could see blood on his hand.
"Yes, I can see that," Merlin frowned and looked at Lancelot. "What exactly happened here?"
"The boys were just sparring," Lancelot said.
"Is it normal during spars to throw your opponents own weapon at them?" Archie said.
"Is that what hit me?" Douxie asked. He brought a hand up to his back, which wasn't exactly burning anymore, but it still hurt. Merlin sighed and gripped Douxie's arm. He pulled him to his feet.
"I shall have words with my apprentice," Merlin said to King Arthur, who looked unimpressed. "Please, excuse him. He's just a boy. It is normal for young wizards to lack control of their powers, especially when they're stressed."
"I do not want untamed magic running around the castle." Arthur said stiffly. A young woman put a hand on the kings arm.
"Merlin will help him learn control," The young woman said. "Just as he helped me."
Arthur's eyes softened ever so slightly. He still scowled at Douxie, but he no longer looked like he wanted to order for him to be killed on the spot. "I expect you to control your apprentice, Merlin,"
"Of course, your majesty." Merlin pulled Douxie away from the barracks. As they passed the young woman, she gave Douxie a reassuring smile. It was a nice change of pace from all the scowls and glares he got from the knights and king.
Merlin was a little harsh in his pulling, and Douxie had to walk really quickly to keep up with him and not get his arm yanked. Douxie didn't ask Merlin to slow down or let go. He was too relieved about being saved from the knights again.
Merlin didn't say anything until they were back in the tower. Merlin pushed Douxie inside. "Sit there, don't move." Merlin gestured to the large table in the middle of his workshop. Douxie made his way over as Merlin used his magic to close and seal the doors.
"What were you thinking, sparring with the knights?" Merlin scolded. He went to one of the cupboards where he kept his potions and pulled out a small vial filled with a thick green liquid. "Do you even know how to fight?"
"No." Douxie said quietly. Archie curled up close to him and nudged him with his head comfortingly. "I don't know what I was thinking." Getting humiliated by and attacking a squire definitely wasn't the best way to get into the knights good graces.
Merlin came towards Douxie and opened the vial. He poured some of the liquid onto his hand, and then gently spread the liquid over the cut on Douxie's head. Douxie hissed as it stung for a moment, but then the pain started to fade as the wound healed over. Even the pounding in Douxie's head went away. Douxie brought a hand to his forehead. He couldn't feel anything there.
"Better?" Merlin asked. Douxie nodded. "Where else does it hurt.
"My back," Douxie said.
"That child threw a sword at it," Archie said.
"A wooden sword," Douxie clarified.
"If used right, wood can be just as harmful as steel." Merlin said. "Take your tunic off, let me have a look." Douxie obeyed, or at least he tried to. Stretching his arms up irritated his back, and he needed Merlin's help to get the tunic off completely. Merlin stiffened slightly when he saw Douxie's back.
"That's quite a welt," Merlin said. He touched the injury. Douxie flinched away from his touch, and Merlin had to put a hand on his shoulder to keep him still. Merlin put some more of the liquid onto his hand and gently spread it over Douxie's whole back, not just where the injury was. The flare of pain lasted a little longer this time, but it wasn't anywhere near as strong as it had been when Merlin had healed Douxie's head. Eventually the pain died down and if it weren't for his nerves and the horrible feeling in his gut, Douxie wouldn't feel any different than he had when he'd woken up.
The injury from the sparring practice had been healed, but Merlin's hand was still on Douxie's back. Douxie looked over his shoulder and was a little alarmed to see a mix between pain and fury in Merlin's eyes.
"These are old wounds," Merlin said. He brushed his hand gently against Douxie's back, as though he was afraid of hurting him. "I didn't know you had so many scars."
"I didn't know either," Douxie admitted. He knew about the scars on his hands, chest, and feet, but it wasn't often that he was able to find a clear enough reflection to get a good view of his back. Douxie wasn't surprised that he had scars though. He had lost track of the number of times he'd been chased away by an angry creature who didn't like him in its territory, or been whipped because he'd been careless and gotten caught. With how often Douxie's back was to his enemies, it wasn't surprising that some of the injurries lingered.
"I'm afraid I can't heal wounds this old," Merlin said.
"That's okay," Douxie grabbed his tunic and slipped it back on. He didn't care if he had scars. They had hurt a lot when he'd first gotten them, but they didn't feel any different now. And Douxie had gotten hurt loads more times that didn't show through scars. "I'm used to it."
Merlin scowled. "Well, you shouldn't be," Merlin put the stopped back onto the vial, which was nearly empty. Merlin walked back to the cupboards and put the vial away. "When I told you to make yourself useful and familiarize yourself with the rest of the castle, training with the knights wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
"It won't happen again," Douxie said. He didn't want to go anywhere near the knights or their squires. He'd been cautious after they'd tried to kill him, but he'd known that they were just following orders. This sparring session was supposed to have just been practice for them, with no real threats. Douxie getting hurt hadn't been the result of the knights following orders, it had been because they had found it funny.
"No, I suppose it won't." Merlin used his staff to levitate up a broom and push it into Douxie's hands. "Now, I believe you said you would tidy up the workshop?"
Archie growled slightly, but Douxie wasn't anywhere near as irritated. He had said he would do that, and after Merlin had helped him again it was the least he could do. "Yes, Master." Cleaning up may be tedious and boring, but it was relatively safe, and at that moment that was enough for Douxie.
Maybe he should spend a few more days in the tower before giving the rest of the castle another chance.