Chapter 3

It was the third day since their return from the tomb, and as Merlin was carrying Arthur's breakfast tray down a hall he spotted a flash of white through the window. The warlock very nearly turned around then and there to go outside and check for sure, but Gwen pulled up alongside him and de-railed that plan.

"Good morning, Merlin!" She said cheerfully.

"Mm, oh, morning, Gwen," he replied, checking out the next window as they walked past. Gwen studied him for a moment, brow furrowing.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked him.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine, just, ah, have a lot on my mind today."

"Such as?"

Merlin scrambled for a decent cover. "Ah, Gaius needs me to clean the leach tank for him."

"Oh." Gwen scrunched up her nose in an expression of distaste. "Well, I'd offer to help, but I don't think I'd like doing that chore any more than you do."

"Thanks." Merlin rolled his eyes, but followed the gesture up with a grin. "What about you, any big plans for the day?"

"Elyan and I are going to spend some time in lower town this afternoon, but I thought I'd come see how Arthur was doing this morning first."

"In that case, I should warn you, wait until I take this food in first, or instead of his usual royal pratness you'll be encountering an entirely different animal." He gave an exaggerated shudder. "Arthur's always a terrible grouch before breakfast. Although..." Gwen glanced at him when the manservant trailed off.

"Although what?" She prompted.

"He might not be such a grouch if you were the one to walk in with his tray." The woman laughed, only to pause when she realized that Merlin was being serious.

"Really? Are you in that much of a hurry to go clean the leach tank?"

"No, but I would like to get a few other things done before that torture, which I won't be able to do if I'm stuck with waiting for Arthur to polish off his food. Please, Gwen?"

She lasted almost ten seconds against Merlin's pitiful expression. "Oh, alright, give it here." The instant the tray had been passed from his hands to hers, the youth gave his friend a blinding smile and then took off down the hall, heading for the nearest exit onto the castle ramparts.

"Please don't have been seen, please don't have been seen, please don't have-" Merlin burst out of the door onto the walkway, only to be nearly thrown back through when a familiar weight plowed into his chest. "Aithusa-!"

The little dragon chirped and preened, immensely pleased with herself. Not even the strength of her lord's glare was enough to deter the hatchling's good mood.

"You are going to be the death of me, I just know it." Merlin grumbled, pulling off his jacket and wrapping it about the wriggling baby as well as he could. "Now hold still!" Something in his tone must have gotten through to Aithusa, because she soon quieted down within the bundle. Once he was certain no trace of white could been seen between the folds of leather, Merlin quickly descended back into the castle, hurrying as quickly as he could without arousing suspicion - which, admittedly, for him was pretty fast. Most servants around Camelot had become accustomed to the youth's rapid pace whenever he was running late for something, and so moved out of his path without too much trouble.

Gaius jumped with a start when his ward burst in through the door. The man tried to ask what was wrong, but didn't have time before Merlin was up the steps and in his room.

"Alright," he panted, dropping his jacket and Aithusa onto the bed. "You, are going, to stay here, out, of trouble. Got it?" His answer was a small squeak as a tiny white snout poked out from within the garment. "Good."

When he tried to walk back out, however, the baby dragon launched out of the jacket and grasped onto the back of Merlin's shirt, her small claws poking holes through the cloth.

"No! Off!"

"Merlin? What's going on in there?" Gaius opened the door just in time to see Merlin reach around to grab Aithusa, spinning and twisting in place as she evaded him. "Oh dear."

As soon as the hatchling spotted the elderly man, she hissed in alarm, startling both humans as she squirmed around to hide in Merlin's arms.

"Oh sure, now you're willing to hide. Gaius, what am I supposed to do?! I can't go around with a baby dragon clinging to me!"

"I don't know what to tell you, my boy. No one saw her on your way here?"

"No."

"Do you have any assignments from Arthur?"

"No, he didn't get the chance to give me any - I spotted Aithusa through a window, and managed to get Gwen to take the prat's breakfast up to him so I could go deal with- this-" Getting over her fear, Aithusa had resumed her game of clambering all about Merlin's form, something the warlock was quickly becoming fed up with.

"In that case, you will remain here with your dragon. We can bring up things for you to work on in case anyone arrives unexpectedly, and as soon as nightfall comes you'll take her back to the forest."

"What about dinner? I mean, the one I'll be expected to take to Arthur." Merlin finally managed to get both his hands around Aithusa's belly, and held her firmly away from his thoroughly disheveled shirt.

"I'll send word down to the kitchens to let them know you're too busy working for me to handle it."

"Well, if you say so... I just hope none of the others stop by..."

Not ten seconds after Merlin said those damning words, there came a knock at the main door. Both he and Gaius stared at each other, even Aithusa quieting down. She let out a surprised squeak, though, when Merlin suddenly whirled around and dropped the hatchling onto his bed, throwing both the blanket and his jacket over her. The youth then sat down on the edge, summoned a needle and spool of thread to him from across the room, and pulled off his shirt to start mending it.

Gaius swiftly went out the door, closing it behind him. Just he'd gotten back to the floor of the main room, there came another, louder knock.

"Yes! Come in!" Gaius forced himself to calm down a bit, especially as the door was opened by Sir Leon.

"Good morning, Gaius," the curly haired man smiled, stepping inside. "I hate to bother you, but a couple of the squires down on the training field managed managed to knock their heads together hard enough to collapse, and I wasn't sure it would be prudent to have them walk all the way here."

"Ah, I see. Well, just give me a moment and I'll be right down." He shooed the knight back out the door before hurrying to grab his bag of essentials. The door to Merlin's room opened a crack, and the youth stuck his head out with a questioning expression. "Stay put, Merlin, I'll be back shortly."

'Shortly' wound up being several hours later, as someone else found Gaius at the training field and asked him to come check on one of his patients in town, whose illness had taken a turn for the worst. Not that Merlin knew about that, of course. He had to stay stuck in his room, alternating between a few tasks his mentor actually needed done and repairing all the items that attracted Aithusa's curiosity and were inevitably damaged when she got too rough or excited.

By afternoon, Gaius had still not returned, leaving Merlin more worried by the minute. A few different times, he'd heard the voices out in the main room, as visitors came by to check and see if anyone was there. Gwen's voice had been most noticeable, as was Gwaine's. Fortunately, none of them came up to Merlin's room, assuming that if he didn't respond then he wasn't there. The youth would feel a tad guilty whenever they left, but one look at Aithusa replaced that emotion with a mixture of relief and exasperation.

Finally, around the time it was getting dark, Gaius shuffled back in and set his things down with a weary sigh. "Merlin? I'm back."

The door to the upper room opened almost immediately, revealing a very frazzled looking young man. "I don't know where you went or what took so long, but I'm betting you had a better day than me." Taking in the small scratches marking his skin and patterns of little rips and holes all along the youth's clothes, his mentor was inclined to agree.

"Well, fortunately, it's nearly time for you to take her back-"

"Did you notify the kitchen?" Gaius winced, and that was all the answer Merlin needed. "Well, then I'd better get out of here before Ar-"

The sound of approaching boots outside the main door caused him to vanish again, and just in time. Arthur burst into the room, annoyed and wearing his shirt inside out (not that Gaius cared to mention it too him).

"Where is he?" The prince demanded.

"Not here, sire." Gaius answered him dutifully, keeping his expression carefully blank. "I needed him to work for me today, I'm afraid, and he's still not back from the last delivery in town."

"Probably stopped off at the tavern on his way back," Arthur muttered, turning to go. He paused when a noise came from Merlin's room. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That, Gaius, that sound I just heard." Frowning at the rear staircase and the door it led up to, the prince was clearly debating whether he should go investigate or not.

"I'm afraid I didn't hear anything, sire. Perhaps you simply need to have your evening meal - shall I send for someone to fetch it for you from the kitchen?"

"I- yes, alright. Thank you, Gaius."

"Of course, Arthur." With that, Camelot's prince and ruling regent headed out, missing the Court Physician's obvious relief.