Douxie had been taken in by Merlin a few weeks ago, and he still felt like an outsider in the castle. The only place he felt completely comfortable was in Merlin's workshop. He knew exactly what was expected from him there. He cleaned, organized, and did what Merlin said. Outside the tower, Douxie was completely lost, and not just when it came to navigation.
Merlin had been trying to force Douxie out of his shell. The wizard said that Douxie would never feel at home there, and the other inhabitants of the castle would never get used to the idea of having an amateur wizard there, unless Douxie put himself out there. Getting out and exploring the castle hadn't worked so well when Douxie had first tried it, so he wasn't eager to do it again.
Since Douxie didn't want to go out on his own, Merlin took it upon himself to force Douxie out. Before, Merlin would leave Douxie in the tower while he went out to do his work for Arthur. Now, Merlin took Douxie with him everywhere. He claimed it was because he needed an assistant in his work. However, Douxie spent most of his time standing in the corner, not doing anything except holding some of Merlin's books, which he rarely ever used. Douxie wasn't doing vital work, he was just being forced out of his comfort zone, and he didn't really appreciate it.
Even though Douxie was almost always around others, he rarely actually interacted with them. Merlin spent most of his time around King Arthur himself. The king was incredibly busy, and probably the last person that Douxie wanted to try to make small talk with. He was just glad that Arthur mostly ignored him, other than the occasional distrustful glare.
Knights frequently came in and out of the throne room. Douxie got nervous and tense whenever any knight came in, and he found it a little hard to breathe when that knight happened to be Galahad. He wasn't able to relax until the knights left.
Douxie had thought that of all the people in the castle, he would have an easier time getting along with the servants than anybody else. These weren't noble folk, and though many of them lived in the castle, they weren't considered part of the castle, much like Douxie. A lot of the servants also knew for themselves just how hard it was to adjust to living in the castle when they were used to living in much poorer circumstances.
Unfortunately, as soon as Douxie started spending so much time in the throne room, the servants started to treat him differently. They were kind enough, but also somewhat closed off and distant. Douxie didn't see himself as part of the household, but apparently the servants did. As far as the servants were concerned, Douxie was their superior, and they treated him like it.
Douxie hated that he was constantly surrounded by other people, but he'd never felt more separated from them.
On the streets, Douxie would always be around people, because that was just the nature of marketplaces. Where the food was, that was where the people were too. Douxie wouldn't get too close to the townsfolk, but this was different. In the town, even though Douxie was always around people, it would be different people every day. Now, Douxie saw the same people often enough that he knew them by name and recognized them when he passed them in the halls, and yet he didn't know them, and they didn't know him at all.
It made Douxie almost miss living in town. He was always struggling to find food and safety, but he could always tell just by looking at a person if they were in a similar situation as him. Douxie had been able to find a small kinship with people, and he just didn't have that in the castle. Douxie hadn't realized just how much he needed that small connection. It was exhausting to be surrounded by strangers who saw him as nothing more than a nuisance. It was getting harder and harder for Douxie to drag himself out of bed in the mornings.
Other than Merlin and Archie, the only people who went out of their way to talk to Douxie were Lancelot and Arthur's sister, Morgana. Whenever Lancelot went into the throne room, he would give Douxie a grin before turning to address the king. Most days, Lancelot would have to return to work immediately. When Lancelot had time to spare, he would come over to Douxie and just start talking to him about whatever was going through his head.
Douxie never knew what to say to Lancelot. The knight may be nice, but he was still a knight, and he was just a little too brash for Douxie to feel completely comfortable around him. Lancelot could probably tell how nervous Douxie was around him, but that didn't seem to discourage him. Lancelot just continued talking to Douxie, giving him some space when the boy got just a little too uncomfortable.
Morgana apparently used to be Merlin's old apprentice. She wasn't exactly the easiest person to talk to, as Douxie thought she was a little bit intense, but she treated him gently. Whenever Merlin forgot something in his workshop or needed Douxie to run a small errand for him, Morgana offered to walk with him to retrieve it. She would tell Douxie about what it was like for her to be Merlin's apprentice. Douxie didn't believe most of what she said, because she made it sound like Merlin had been even harder on her than he was on him, and yet Douxie could tell that Merlin and Morgana were practically friends now...or, at least, as close to friends as people like Merlin and Morgana could have.
It was nice, though, to listen to her talk. Even if her stories weren't true, they were pretty fun. Douxie doubted that Merlin had actually used his magic to rig a simple bet he'd made with Arthur, but the thought of it made him laugh. Merlin was supposed to be this incredible, flawless court magician, and yet here was Morgana, telling Douxie that he used to do the very things that Douxie had almost gotten killed over. Maybe Douxie should be upset about the unfairness, but he just found it funny.
Morgana also told Douxie about her childhood with Arthur, before the ban on magic had ever been set into place. She seemed really torn up about it, and Douxie knew that it was difficult and painful for Morgana to talk about. He tried to tell her that she didn't have to tell him if she didn't want to, but Morgana insisted. She said that as a young wizard in training, Douxie had every right to know exactly why there was such a harsh punishment for magic.
Douxie had heard a lot of tragic stories in his time. Most people he had met who resorted to thievery and breaking the rules did so with some kind tragic motivation. He'd heard countless sad pasts, and Douxie was almost positive that he could recount every single story just as easily as he could have the day he'd first heard them. He wasn't desensitized to heartbreaking stories though. Each person's hurt hit him just as much as the first story he'd heard did.
Morgana encouraged Douxie to take any opportunity he could to use magic. She told him it was a part of his heritage, a dying culture that he shouldn't be ashamed of, no matter what anybody else told him. Douxie liked the idea of what she said, but he wasn't as bold with his magic as she wanted him to be. Merlin kept on telling him that magic wasn't something to flaunt around, especially when people were so afraid of it and still didn't trust him. Merlin was Douxie's Master, so he was the one that Douxie had to listen to.
Douxie had a small support system in the castle. He knew that Merlin would keep him safe, Morgana would encourage him to explore his magic, and Lancelot would be there to talk about things if Douxie didn't feel like talking about magic. And then there was Archie, who Douxie knew had his back and always would. Douxie had plenty of people he could talk to, and yet he felt like this was overshadowed by how many people he had to hide who he was from.
It was incredibly overwhelming, and very lonely.
One day, about a week after Douxie started spending all his time around Merlin, a minstrel came to the castle. Douxie had been drawn in immediately. He'd seen street performers, both professionals and people who were just down on their luck and trying to make a living in any way they could, and he always enjoyed watching them. If Douxie ever had food or money to spare, which rarely ever happened, he would either give some of it to small children or to a performer.
When the minstrel started performing Douxie left his little corner and stepped a little closer to get a better look. Maybe most people didn't think that listening to a lute was a visual experience, but it was for Douxie. He was fascinated by the way that the minstrel's fingers moved across the lute, and how he could play so many notes on only fifteen strings.
Douxie might have gone right up to the minstrel and watched him up close, but Merlin put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back to his side. Douxie was forced to watch from a distance. He didn't mind it so much. While Douxie couldn't watch exactly how the minstrel made his music, he was more than happy to just listen to the notes. He didn't understand most of the words that were being sung, but the lute was beautiful. It brought life to what otherwise would have been a long, boring monologue.
The minstrel's single song was a lot longer than the entire street shows that Douxie had seen, but he enjoyed every moment of it. When it finally ended, Douxie applauded along with everybody else, though Merlin gave him a stern look for applauding so enthusiastically and loudly when everybody else was more polite. Douxie wasn't ashamed of his excitement. He thought the minstrel had done a good job, and Douxie knew that when he did a good job, he wanted to be acknowledged with more than polite, possibly insincere applause.
King Arthur stood up from his throne. He didn't exactly look happy, but at the very least he was amused, and Douxie thought that was the closest thing to a miracle that he'd ever seen.
"Your song has been a gift to us," Arthur said. "Allow us to return the favor. Please, join us for our evening meal." Douxie was even more impressed. Arthur didn't seem very trusting of strangers. Douxie had been living in the castle for weeks, and he didn't think that Arthur would ever invite him to join him for a meal, even though Merlin, Morgana, and the knights joined him all the time.
"It would be my honor, your majesty." The minstrel bowed. Douxie would love to join this particular meal, not just because it was a royal meal, but because if they were lucky, the minstrel might play them another song. Merlin dashed his loose hopes when he thrust his magical potion vials into Douxie's hands.
"Return to the tower," Merlin said. "I'll have food sent up."
"Can't I join you and the others just this once?" Douxie asked. Merlin looked at him like he had suggested he steal the crown and claim that he was the new king of Camelot.
"With your table manners? Absolutely not," Merlin said.
Douxie scowled and stood up straighter. He may not be the most refined person in the world when it came to eating, but he thought he'd come a long way since he had first arrived. "I've improved a lot."
"Yes, you have." Merlin said, and Douxie was taken aback. He wasn't expecting Merlin to actually agree with him. Merlin didn't often offer compliments or acknowledgement. Douxie almost didn't know how to handle hearing it. "However, the royal meals last for several hours, especially if there's a guest. Do you believe you'd have the restraint to sit still and eat one meal at a time over the course of several hours?"
Douxie sighed and glared slightly at the wall. "...No, probably not," Douxie might be able to fake table manners for a short period of time, but definitely not for that long. He hated when Merlin was right.
Merlin's eyes softened slightly. "I can have the servants bring you some sweet pie and candied fruit."
Douxie's mood lifted ever so slightly. Merlin gave him all the food he could want, but he restricted how much sweets Douxie could have. Merlin said it was because he didn't want to spoil him. Douxie enjoyed sweets, and having them only every once and awhile made it feel more special. Besides, whenever Merlin got Douxie a treat, it was for a reason, usually because he wanted to make things up to Douxie, or because he wanted to reward him. Douxie had learned that when Merlin gave him a sweet, it was his way of telling him something that he didn't want to say out loud.
"Yeah, that sounds great," Douxie said. Merlin gave him a small smile and followed King Arthur and the rest of the royal court out of the throne room as they made their way to the dining hall. Douxie lingered behind to grab the last of Merlin's things that the wizard had forgotten he'd brought down in the first place. Sometimes Douxie wondered how Merlin managed things when he didn't have an apprentice to pick up his slack for him.
Merlin had been standing in one place nearly all day, and yet Douxie found jasper shards hiding behind tapestries. Douxie had to spend far too much time making sure he found all of Merlin's things. If Arthur found a single magical speck of dust lingering in his throne room, Douxie would be punished for it, no matter that it would have been Merlin's fault in the first place.
By the time Douxie was satisfied that he had grabbed all of Merlin's lingering things, everybody, even the servants, had left the throne room, leaving Douxie there by himself. He put the magical tidbits into his pockets, just so that he wouldn't drop anything in the hallways. Douxie was about to rush back to the tower, ready to dig into the meal that was probably up there waiting for him, but he paused when he saw the minstrel's lute leaning up against the wall, just sitting there.
Douxie stared at the lute in awe and slight disbelief for a moment. He'd thought that a musician's instrument would be their everything, and yet the lute had been left out on its own. Whenever Douxie had a valuable belonging, he either kept it on his person at all times, or he found a great hiding place for it. Almost everybody he knew did something similar, and not just the poor commoners either. Douxie knew for a fact that Merlin took his staff with him everywhere, not just because he relied on it for his magic, but because a wizard's staff was their most valuable possession. Even Arthur kept Excalibur at his side, and kept the rest of his treasures locked away in a hidden place that nobody else knew about.
Douxie couldn't imagine that somebody would leave something precious to them out and about. If the minstrel had left the lute here, resting carelessly against the wall, maybe it wasn't so valuable to him in the first place.
Archie nudged Douxie's leg. "Are you just going to stand there looking at it? Pick it up, give it a try."
"Wha-Archie!" Douxie hissed as he looked around anxiously. "I can't just steal the lute."
"I would hardly call this stealing." Archie said. As a dragon, Archie had an even looser sense of morality when it came to claiming things that may not necessary belong to him. As far as Archie was concerned, if you really wanted something, and you had the ability to take it, it was rightfully yours. It was in a dragon's nature to think about themselves. Actually, same with cats.
That was not to say that Archie didn't consider how others felt at all. He would only claim things if he thought that he wanted or needed it more than the original owner. Archie wasn't about to steal Merlin's staff, or food from a starving child.
"The minstrel left it out for anybody to take," Archie said the very words that Douxie had been trying to keep off his mind. He knew that Merlin didn't approve of him stealing food, and that was something he felt like he needed. There was no way that Merlin would think it was okay for him to take something that wasn't his just because he wanted it.
"And I saw the way you were looking at the lute," Archie walked up to the lute and used his paw to strum the strings. "He looked up at Douxie. "Just answer a simple question, do you want to play the lute?"
"...Yes," Douxie said.
"So what's stopping you?" Archie asked. Douxie slowly picked up the lute, and it felt pretty incredible to just be holding it in his hands. "Come on, let's hear a song."
"I don't know any songs," Douxie grinned. Still, he pulled his finger lightly across the strings and played the most basic of notes. It took a lot more force than Douxie had expected to get a clear sound out. Douxie experimentally used his left hand to hold down some of the strings the way he had seen the minstrel do. The resulting sound wasn't very pretty, but he was just experimenting.
"Why don't we do that back at the tower?" Archie asked. "I'm hungry."
"Right," Douxie was fascinated by the lute, but he wasn't about to abandon his meal. He may be more used to food than before, but he wasn't so comfortable with it that he would just abandon his food. Douxie didn't want to leave the lute behind either, not when he hadn't figured out how to even play a simple tune with it.
Douxie adjusted his grip on the lute and lowered his arm for Archie to jump onto his shoulder. He hurried back to the workshop faster than he had ever done before. He was just relieved that by now he knew how to travel between the throne room and Merlin's tower. And from the throne room, it was a lot easier to find his way to the kitchens and stables. Douxie still felt lost in the castle, but he thought he had a basic idea of how to get around.
In the tower, Douxie found two plates of hot food on the table waiting for them, as well as a small dish with candied fruit, and a platter with two small pieces of pie on it. Douxie set the lute down and grabbed the larger of the two plates. He was tempted to eat the sweets first, but his meal was hot, so that was what he ate first.
These past few weeks Douxie had learned how to pace himself when eating, but he ate this meal really quickly. The lute in the corner was taunting him, and he wanted to get back to it. Douxie ate so quickly that by the time he was finished, he actually felt full, which wasn't a feeling that he was used to. It was a nice feeling, though, to know that he'd eaten so much food that his body was actually telling him he didn't need any more.
Douxie decided to leave his sweets for later. He trusted Archie to not take his share. With no Merlin around to scold him, Douxie licked the crumbs and juices from his fingers, and then wiped his hands clean on his tunics. He quickly put all of the jasper shards and herbs where they belonged. Douxie grabbed the lute and returned to the table, which was one of the few places to sit in this workshop. Douxie sat cross-legged on the surface of the table and started strumming the lute strings one at a time.
Douxie tested what each of the strings sounded like on their own, and how they sounded with one or two other strings. It took Douxie several minutes to figure out how to position his fingers in a way that felt natural. Douxie played the notes over and over until he felt familiar with them. After a while, Douxie started to experiment with playing the notes while holding down the strings with his left hand. He spent another long while playing around with those notes.
Archie took his time eating. Unlike Douxie, Archie liked to savor his food when he could afford to. By the time Archie was finished, Douxie had gotten comfortable enough with the lute that he was able to play simple folk songs. They were very rudimentary, and barely recognizable, but Douxie was proud, and he was gradually getting better.
Archie yawned and stretched. He laid down and watched Douxie as he played. "You're getting rather good at this."
"I'm rubbish," Douxie laughed.
"You won't be if you start singing," Archie suggested, a hopeful look in his eyes. Douxie pet Archie behind his ears.
"I'm not that good at singing," Douxie said.
"Don't be ridiculous," Archie said. "Trust an old dragon who has been alive longer than you, you're great. Just humor me."
Douxie rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. He couldn't say no to Archie. He ended up playing and singing along to an old sea shanty that Douxie had learned from his grandfather. It wasn't in English, and Douxie only had a vague idea of exactly what he was singing. He was probably butchering the pronunciation, and Douxie was sure that if anybody from Kievan Rus' heard him, they wouldn't recognize it at all. It was a fun song though, and whenever Douxie sang it, he at least felt like he was honoring his paternal ancestors. He may not live near the Caspian sea, but he was still a Casperan.
As Douxie stumbled through the music of his grandfather's people, Archie started to doze off. He really was such a lazy dragon sometimes. Douxie played for a few more minutes before he switched to an old Irish lullaby that he remembered even less than the Kievan Rus' shanties. Douxie didn't remember a lot about his mother, but he remembered her singing to him.
Suddenly the door was thrown open. Archie woke up with a start, hissing and arching his back. Douxie was so startled that he clung tightly to the lute like his life depended on it. Douxie looked with wide eyes towards the door, and who he saw didn't make him feel any more relaxed.
"My lute!" the minstrel glared darkly at Douxie. Standing just behind him were the only two people that Douxie wanted to see even less than the minstrel.
"I told you the boy was eyeing the instrument," King Arthur looked like he wanted to draw his sword, but the sword at his side was Excalibur, and Arthur didn't want to waste the legendary sword on someone like Douxie.
Merlin frowned at Douxie. He didn't look angry or shocked, just incredibly disappointed, which made Douxie feel even worse.
"Hisirdoux, we've talked about this," Merlin said. "You can't just steal things." Merlin walked towards Douxie, reaching out to take the lute back. Douxie leaned away from him. His own consciousness may have been telling him to not steal the lute, but he really didn't appreciate anybody else calling it that. Archie seemed to think the same thing.
"Wait just a minute," Archie shifted into his dragon form and flew between Douxie and Merlin. "Douxie didn't steal anything. That lute was fair game."
"No, it wasn't!" The minstrel shouted.
"Think about who you're talking to," Morgana came up behind the three men. She was the only one who wasn't looking at Douxie like he was a dirty thief. "Whose idea was it to take the lute?"
Douxie didn't want to sell out his familiar, but Archie wasn't about to let him take the fall. "It was mine," Douxie said. "Douxie liked the lute, the minstrel clearly didn't care about it, so it was only fair."
''That's not how it works," Arthur said.
"It is if you're a dragon," Morgana said. "Or if you're a boy whose moral compass is a dragon."
"It's not his fault," Douxie set aside the lute and grabbed Archie. He held his familiar close.
"No, of course it's not," Merlin sighed. He looked tired. "It's in his nature."
"You're going to just let them get away with this?" The minstrel looked furious.
Arthur stormed to the table and grabbed the lute. He offered it back to the minstrel. "The boy and his pet will be punished,"
"But they will also be taught," Merlin said. The look he gave Douxie told the boy that he wouldn't enjoy the lesson very much. "When a student fails, it's the teacher's failure. I continue to underestimate how much the boy doesn't know."
Well, that made Douxie feel wonderful about himself. He'd just wanted to play the lute, and now Merlin seemed to think that he had failed as a Master. No matter what Douxie did, it never seemed good enough for Merlin.
The minstrel gave Douxie a furious and stern look, but as soon as he was given back his lute, he seemed much more content. It was obvious that the minstrel really did care about his lute. Now Douxie was just confused as to why the minstrel would leave something so important to him out in the open.
"Now that I have my property back, I really must be going." The minstrel said. Douxie didn't like his tone. It was like the minstrel thought that he was better than him. Douxie loved the lute and the music it made, but he could do without the musician.
"Of course," King Arthur led the minstrel out. Morgana gave Douxie a searching look before she turned and followed her brother. As soon as the others were gone, Merlin closed the door and gave Douxie his full attention.
"Master, I'm sorry," Douxie said sincerely. He hadn't truly meant to steal this time, and he definitely hadn't tried to disappoint his master.
"A lute, Hisirdoux?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you even know how to play a lute?"
"Not exactly," Douxie admitted. He hung his head shamefully. He didn't know if he was ashamed because he'd taken something that he shouldn't have, or because he wasn't very good at playing a lute. "But Master-"
"Don't 'but Master' me, Hisirdoux," Merlin said sternly.
"He was learning," Archie said in Douxie's defense. "You should have heard how good he got." Douxie didn't think that playing simple folk songs was considered good, but Merlin paused and looked somewhat impressed.
"I could only play a few songs." Douxie said quietly.
"You taught yourself how to play songs?" Merlin looked shocked. "In just a few hours?"
"He worked at it non-stop," Archie said proudly. "He's a natural." Douxie nudged Archie to try to get him to stop. Douxie didn't think that now was the best time to build him up like this. It didn't matter how good at playing the lute Douxie was, the instrument wasn't his to play.
Merlin eyed Douxie with a look in his eyes that the boy didn't understand at all. "That's a lot of dedication you put into it."
Douxie shrugged. "I just wanted to figure out how to play it," Douxie said. "The music that the minstrel made, it was...it was absolutely magical." Maybe not in the literal sense, but Douxie thought that this was almost more impressive.
Merlin sighed and brought a hand to his head. "How many times do I have to tell you, Hisirdoux, that if you want or need something, you should come to me, since you're clearly incapable of handling such situations on your own."
Douxie sat up straight. He didn't think that was very fair. Merlin may think that he was a mess who just kept on ending up in trouble, but Douxie had survived just fine before he'd met Merlin. He hadn't thrived, but Douxie thought he'd done a decent job at looking out for himself.
"What could you have done?" Douxie asked defensively. Merlin didn't seem to appreciate the attitude in his tone, and he crossed his arms.
"I could have stopped you from doing something as foolish as stealing from Arthur's guest, for one thing," Merlin said. "If we'd asked the minstrel politely-"
"What, you think he might have let me even hold his lute?" Douxie wished that Merlin would get off his high horse, because just this once he wasn't right. "Would you let a total stranger hold your wizard's staff just because they said please?" Of all the musicians that Douxie had encountered on the streets, he'd never seen any of them casually share their instruments. They were precious belongings, not just useful tools to them.
Douxie pushed himself off the table and started to pace around the workshop. "Besides, I didn't just want to hold or play the lute. I wanted it to be mine." Douxie didn't have many belongings that he could call his own, and the thought of owning something, anything, for himself made Douxie feel powerful.
"Why?" Merlin put his hands on Douxie's shoulders and stopped him from his pacing. "Why the lute?"
"Because...because…" Douxie sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor. "Because when I was listening to the lute, I felt normal for the first time since coming here. I didn't have to think about my work, or my magic, or behaving myself. I didn't have to worry about the knights trying to kill me, or King Arthur deciding to banish me. I was just...me."
Douxie closed his eyes as he remembered how it felt to listen to the music, how it felt to play the lute for himself. "This is really, really hard, and it feels like too much sometimes. I just wanted a way to escape from all of it."
Archie hopped off the table and nuzzled against Douxie's legs. Archie was purring, but Douxie knew it wasn't because Archie felt good, but because he wanted to comfort Douxie. Merlin sighed and loosened his grip on Douxie's shoulders.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Merlin asked.
"I didn't think you'd care," Douxie said. He rubbed the palm of his hand against his eye, which was a little wet and was starting to itch. "It's not a big deal. I'm just being stupid."
"How you feel may not be rational," Merlin admitted. "But that doesn't make them stupid." He let his hands slide off of Douxie's shoulders, and the boy knelt down next to Archie and held him close.
"I just don't feel like I truly belong here." Douxie said. "The music distracted me from that."
"Don't be ridiculous," Merlin said. "You have just as much right to be here as anybody else." Douxie didn't completely believe him. He was just Merlin's new assistant. There was no way this castle was just as much his home as it was Morgana's or Arthur's.
When Douxie didn't acknowledge his words, Merlin sighed and walked towards the windows. He looked at it for a long moment before he addressed Douxie again. "Archie mentioned you were playing songs. What kind of songs were they?"
Douxie didn't answer. Even if he told Merlin the song names, he doubted that they were tunes that Merlin was familiar with. Even if Merlin did know the songs, what difference would it make?
Archie perked up slightly. "He sang an Irish lullaby and Kievan Rus' folk tunes."
"Kievan Rus'?" Merlin turned his head to look at Douxie. That look that Douxie didn't understand was back in his eyes. "I would like to hear one of those songs."
Archie looked up at Douxie with wide eyes. Douxie knew what he wanted without him having to say anything. "I'm not going to sing." It was one thing for him to sing along to a lute when it was just for Archie. Douxie didn't really want to butcher the Kievan Rus' songs in front of Merlin.
Archie smirked and started humming. It took Douxie a moment to recognize the tune, but when he did he started humming along as well. It wasn't a Kievan Rus' song, or an Irish one, but a tune that Douxie had heard from both his mother and his grandfather.
Douxie hummed for a few minutes before he started mumbling some of the lyrics. Douxie started to become more and more confident until he was singing a song that he actually knew most of the words to. He almost forgot that Merlin was in the room at all, so he was a little startled when he heard Merlin clear his throat after he finished the song.
"What language was that?" Merlin asked.
"Uh, Old Norse," Douxie said somewhat shyly. "The language of my ancestors." On both sides of his family. "My mother's father was norse, and so was my grandfather's grandmother." It was because Douxie had Norse blood from both his father's side and his mother's side that his grandfather had insisted on teaching him about the old ways. Even though Douxie had grown up in Kievan Rus', he knew Old Norse more than he knew the language of Kievan Rus'.
"You're Nordic?" Merlin raised an eyebrow. "You never told me that."
"It never really came up," Douxie said. There was a lot of British pride in Camelot, but on the streets, and especially on the roads that connected towns to each other, nobody really cared who came from where. Norse, British, Indian, Chinese, Romani, it didn't matter, they were all considered outsiders.
"It might be for the best if it didn't come up again outside this room," Merlin said. Douxie nodded. A lot of people saw the Norse as thieves and invaders. The people of the castle already thought those things about Douxie, it wouldn't do any good to give them any more reason to not trust him.
"I won't tell anybody." Morgana said as she entered the room. She was holding an old lute in her hands. She handed it to Douxie, who accepted it almost reverently.
"Morgana, what are you doing here?" Merlin asked in a tone that was just shy of scolding. "And what is that?"
"A lute," Morgana said simply. Merlin gave her an unimpressed glare. Morgana gave Douxie a small smile. "One of the old servants had a lute. He was more than happy to part with it when I offered him some gold."
"You bought him a lute?" Merlin looked like he couldn't decide to be angry, amused, or grateful.
"I may not know Douxie well, but I know he's not a thief," Morgana said. Douxie didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that she seemed to trust Douxie more than Merlin did. "If he took the lute, it must've been important to him, so I thought I'd give him one of his own."
Douxie felt a little awkward to accept a gift that had been bought with gold, especially since he hadn't done anything to deserve it, but he wanted the lute too much to reject the gift. There were a few chips in the wood, and the strings weren't as clear sounding as the minstrel's lute, but Douxie didn't care. This lute was his, and that made it the best instrument in the world.
"Thank you," Douxie said. He grinned as he strummed out the Irish lullaby he had played earlier.
Merlin crossed his arms. He didn't look very happy, but he didn't take Douxie's lute away from him, so Douxie thought it was safe to think that this was really and truly his now.
"You shouldn't encourage him like this." Merlin said.
"Why not?" Morgana asked. She crossed her arms. "Someone has to."
"You know what I mean," Merlin scowled. "You can't reward bad behavior like this." Douxie looked between Merlin and Morgana, but they completely ignored him. He wished they wouldn't act like he wasn't in the room.
"I'm doing no such thing." Morgana looked very proud of herself. "I gave him a lute to discourage him from trying to steal another one." Well, maybe Morgana didn't have nearly as much confidence in Douxie as he'd thought she did.
"Well…" Merlin looked like he really wanted to scold both of them, but after a long moment he sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't want either of you to make a habit of this."
"I'll try," Douxie said. He really was trying to break his instinctive habit of stealing, but it was surprisingly confusing at just what was considered theft.
"Now, I thought I heard singing in here," Morgana sat down on a stack of books, looking as graceful as though she was sitting on a throne. "Why don't you show us what you've learned? I would love to hear some of your Nordic roots that you mentioned."
Douxie grinned, strummed a few experimental chords, and began to play one of his favorite songs. It was probably fortunate that Merlin and Morgana couldn't actually understand the Old Norse that he was singing. Douxie had already gotten in trouble for stealing that day, he didn't want to get himself scolded for singing cheerfully about pillaging.
A/N: This chapter started as just a little bit of Douxie being angsty and lonely at the castle, and starting to lean towards music. I spent way longer than I originally planned talking about Douxie's ancestry. I was just so excited about my little theory.
Here's my thought process. Casperan sounds a whole lot like Caspian, as in the Caspian sea, so I thought that his father's side of the family might have come from there. There are only five countries that border the Caspian sea, I can't even pronounce three of them, so I went with Russia.
However, in the 1100s, Russia was part of a territory known as Kievan Rus'. As for Douxie's mother's side of the family, he had to be at least part Irish because, well, Colin O'Donoghue. And do you know what Ireland and Kievan Rus' had in common in the 1100s? Vikings!
Another reason for Douxie to be a viking is because he uses runes to use magic, even though no other magic user that we've seen does the same thing. Why Douxie? Well, runes (at least, the traditional ones) come from Nordic culture. It just feels right.
Besides, Douxie being a viking and having a familiar who is a dragon, and this series was created by Dreamworks, it's just fun.
On another note, I've decided to start putting a Merlin tv show reference in each of these chapters. I haven't technically watched the show yet, but my sisters have, so they're helping me with this. There wasn't any reference in the first chapter, but there has been one in the second chapter and this latest one, and should be at least one in every coming chapter.