Chapter 4

By holding off until the dead of night to take Aithusa out the woods (where Kilgharrah was already waiting with a classic 'I told you so' expression on his face), Merlin was only able to get a few hours sleep in between his return and when he had to get up to go fetch Arthur's breakfast. He kept a wary eye on all the windows he passed, but thankfully, there were no flashes of white that caught his attention.

Arriving in the Royal Prat's room, the younger man went through his usual routine of setting out the food, yanking open the curtains, and encouraging Arthur to get up by way of all manner of teasing remarks. The prince, however, didn't respond as per usual. Instead, he seemed to be keeping a close watch on Merlin, which the manservant found more and more unnerving as it went on.

"What were you doing last night, Merlin?" Arthur asked at one point, catching the youth off guard for a moment. "When you were supposedly delivering things for Gaius in town."

"Just that," he replied after a moment. "A few bottles of medicine had to be handed out to some of his patients, that's all. I came back as soon as I was done."

"And were you doing more errands for him all day, as well? When I asked, Gwaine and Leon hadn't known where you were, and Guinevere said she hadn't seen you since morning - when you reportedly forced her to deliver my breakfast in your place."

Merlin smirked. "How'd that go, by the way? Did she wake you up with a kiss or a slap?" Arthur's glower only got him to grin wider.

"Nevermind," the prince muttered, picking up a goblet to toss at his manservant's head. Merlin ducked it easily, and returned to tidying the room up.

The rest of the day passed in relative peace, with no small dragons to interrupt the young warlock's duties around the castle. That evening, unfortunately, he was given a bit of uneasy news.

"Do we really have to go on a hunting trip tomorrow?" He asked half-heartedly, knowing exactly what Arthur's response would be. "It hasn't even been a week since we went to that tomb! Wasn't that enough time out of doors for you to relax for a while?"

"You know as well I as I do, Merlin," Arthur smirked. "That we were on a mission then, and didn't have much in the way of relaxation at all. Besides, the kitchen staff could always use fresh meat, and don't you usually snag some herbs for Gaius when we're out there anyway?"

Grumbling, the younger man knew he wasn't in a position to argue - not without revealing his real concern - but that wasn't about to stop his muttered complaints.

The next morning, he was up even earlier than usual, retrieving Arthur's hunting gear and preparing two horses for them to ride. A couple of the stable boys also got mounts ready for Sirs Gwaine, Leon, Elyan, and Percival, since it was too dangerous for the King of Camelot to travel without his bests knights along for security's sake. Merlin, personally, just thought that Arthur had long since realized that he'd have better luck and more fun on a hunt than if only his manservant accompanied him, inevitably making noise and scaring off the game.

When the six of them set off from the castle, Merlin was happy to chat with his friends, exchanging laughter and new stories. As their group got closer to the treeline, however, the youth started to get quieter. His eyes scanned the foliage and sky alike, wary for a glimpse of white dragonhide. He dearly hoped that Kilgharrah had managed to get Aithusa far enough away she wouldn't be able to return to Camelot any time soon, but a voice in the back of his mind (that sounded suspiciously like Gaius) reminded him how such hopes usually turned out.

From morning until mid-afternoon, things went well. Arthur shot a pheasant, Elyan caught a pair of rabbits with his snares, and Gwaine amused everyone by wasting nearly a dozen arrows trying to shoot a rather plump yet wickedly fast squirrel.

Then Percival gestured for silence, asking if anyone else could hear something he'd noticed. Merlin paled when he picked up the sound: a high-pitched chirping, in the treetops, coming closer.

"What is that?" Arthur wondered aloud, his eyes narrowing. The prince placed another bolt in his crossbow, gazing up at the branches.

Spotting a nearby movement, Merlin chose that moment to trip on a conveniently placed log, dropping gear and dead game, and crashing into the backs of Arthur's shins. It was with an undignified yelp that the blonde collapsed on top of his manservant, causing the knights around them to all burst out laughing. Merlin, despite groaning from the pair of hard landings, was glad that he was the only one to notice the white figure bounding through the branches above them. The brush of Aithusa's mind against his own was surprising, but he quickly took the opportunity to mentally encourage her to stay put.

The dragonling did so, watching curiously as Leon and Elyan helped their fallen comrades up while Percival gathered the items Merlin dropped, each of them all the while reassuring Arthur that he of course did not let out something as un-manly as a yelp when being knocked over by his servant. Even as their king glared, though, they all continued to wear utterly unrepentant grins. Gwaine, off to one side, didn't stop laughing for a good five minutes.

As the sunlight dimmed and the evening air started to get nippier, Arthur made the decision to go ahead and get a campsite set up. (Well, really, he ordered Merlin to go ahead and do so, while he and the knights skinned and stored their game.) As soon as no one was looking, the youth glared up at Aithusa, who'd continued to follow him around by leaping from one tree to another. She squeaked, the tiny mental link between them expressing confusion and dismay, which had Merlin reluctantly toning down his frustration a bit.

He surprised the others by volunteering to take first watch, but passed it off as wanting some time to mend a new rip in his sleeve before bed.

Arthur rolled his eyes at that. "The whole point of being on watch is actually watch your surroundings, idiot."

"Can't I simply listen to my surroundings while mending, clotpole? I mean, anyone foolish enough to try and sneak up on us is bound to make a noise before they become visible, anyway-"

"Merlin?" The young man was distracted by Percival's questioning tone. "Why do you have so many new mends in your shirt and pants?" The rest of the knights squinted at that, and even in the dim lighting were each able to determine that, yes, Merlin's clothes seemed to have a great many more patched tears in them than a few days before.

"...Cats."

"Cats?"

"The other night, when I was delivering those medicines, one of them contained an ingredient that's irresistible to cats, and some of it leaked onto me. I had to fight off a swarm of them in order to finish and get back to the keep." It was a struggle for Merlin to keep his expression as honest as possible.

Slowly, Arthur shook his head, staring at the younger man in disbelief. "Honestly, Merlin, you have to be one of the most pathetic examples of mankind I have ever known. Getting waylaid by a bunch of cats?"

"With very sharp claws! I'm lucky these clothes were still mendable at all by the time I got to safety! And that I was able to wash the scent out!"

Needless to say, the teasing carried on for a long while, with Merlin alternating feeling amused that they'd actually bought his silly lie and frustrated at constantly needing to have little outbursts in order to distract the others when Aithusa chirped or jumped to a new branch overhead.

By the time his friends turned in for the night, he was very, very grateful that none of them had ever looked up during the course of the evening.

After setting up a sort of tripwire spell that would let him know if anyone tried approaching the camp, Merlin called Aithusa down to him and set off to meet with Kilgharrah.

...Again.