Chapter 7

Coming around a corner, Merlin had to halt abruptly, for Arthur's uncle Agravaine was standing in his path with a dark scowl.

The middle-aged lord shot Aithusa a look of distaste before focusing on the servant. "You aren't planning on taking thing into the king's presence, I hope."

"Um..."

"It's only a matter of time before he orders it to be killed, anyway."

"That's not true!" Merlin protested, before adding a hasty, "My lord."

"Hm." Agravaine continued to eye the both of them with a calculating glint that Merlin did not like in the slightest. "If I come to suspect you plan on having the beast attack Arthur-"

"You won't, because I'm not."

"Mind your tone, boy. And mind how you handle your pet monster, too." With that, the man spun on his heel and departed, leaving a fuming Merlin just barely restraining Aithusa from leaping forward to attack.

"Don't mind him," a quiet voice said at his elbow, causing the young man to jump in surprise. The maid who'd stepped close smiled sadly. "We might not know what to make of your dragon just yet, Merlin, but everyone knows you'd never betray Arthur."

"...Thanks, Laurel," Merlin offered the woman a tired grin, before setting off again on his way to Arthur's chambers.

Finally reaching his destination, the young man nodded towards his king's snoozing form, giving Aithusa a little mental nudge as he did so. She took the hint, shifted in place on his shoulder for a minute, then finally leapt off as Merlin started setting out the prat's breakfast.

Apparently, the weight of a small dragon suddenly landing on one's midsection serves as a good wake-up call, as Arthur instantly bolted upright with a startled yelp.

The following conversation/one-sided shouting match was greatly enjoyed by the hatchling, as she trotted back and forth on the floor or flapped through the air between them. Neither man paid her too much mind, focusing instead on their usual morning routine, at least up until Arthur was dressed, eating his food, and slipping Aithusa one of his sausages when Merlin wasn't looking.

"So," the king said slowly. "What sort of reactions have you been getting this morning?"

"Lots of nervous looks, though at least a few of the cooks and kitchen maids asked questions about her eating habits. Oh, and your uncle seems to be under the impression I might be preparing to have Aithusa attack and kill you-"

"He what?"

Briefly, Merlin summarized the unpleasant encounter with Agravaine, which had Aithusa hunkering down sadly on the table and Arthur scowling.

"I'll talk to him, then. Make it clear that even with a young dragon and Dragonlord powers, I know you'd never betray me."

The younger man shot him a beaming smile. "Damn right I wouldn't."

-BA-

Over the course of the following week, people in the castle gradually began warming up to Aithusa's presence. She won the cooks over with her table manners of all things, and the other servants were delighted when a story made the rounds about her trying to assist in cleaning up a spilled basket of laundry one day. It also helped that the baby dragon never went anywhere without Merlin, who continued to be his usual cheerful self, working hard to put people at ease.

More than a few nobles voiced their concerns over whether a mere manservant would be able to properly train the beast, and with Merlin's reluctant permission Arthur let out the secret that his manservant was the last Dragonlord who'd really been the one to drive away the Great Dragon from Camelot.

That information caused at least a few members of the council to distrust him even more, but others, and one in particular, did the opposite. Geoffrey of Monmouth cornered him one afternoon, wanting to know if Merlin would be available to assist him with something in the library. Once there, the old historian headed straight for a bookcase with a false back, out of which he pulled a thick tome decorated with three dragons on the front: one blue, one red, one gold. He handed it to Merlin, who started to flip through and was rather astounded to find detailed records of dragons and dragonlords, stretching back for centuries: marriages, mate ties, births, hatching dates, battles, deaths, house crests, clan names, lineages, political alliances and disagreements, and all sorts of other information.

"I thought this was only done for nobles!"

"Ah, but before the Purge, the Dragonlords were nobles, and of course we could not document them without their dragons, could we." Geoffrey smiled at Merlin's obvious delight, as well as the way Aithusa leaned down from the young man's shoulder in order to sniff delicately at the dusty book. "Now, if you'll turn your attention to this page in particular, I think we need to add another piece to the Ambrosius family line."

Looking at the lineage chart Geoffrey indicated, Merlin felt his grin grow a bit wistful, seeing his father's name inscribed on the paper. Setting the tome down on a nearby table, he accepted a quill and inkpot from the old historian, but hesitated before actually marking the page.

"My parents, they weren't- I mean, they never- he had to leave before they could-"

"I can recall," Geoffrey gently interrupted, "That the use of marriage ceremonies by the Dragonlords was a custom only adopted when they began to become truly a part of the royal courts with which they worked. Originally, though, they loved and lived like their dragons, choosing a mate to remain loyal to, who counted as their spouse even without use of terms like 'husband' and 'wife'. I daresay that can count with Balinor and your mother as well."

Smile returning, Merlin went ahead and wrote down Hunith, connected to Balinor with a horizontal line. And beneath them, at the bottom of a different line, went his own name.

"Excellent! Now, of course we must add a new entry about Aithusa's hatching, there are some blank pages towards the back..."

-BA-

Those within the castle slowly came to accept Aithusa's presence at Merlin's side and Arthur's firm orders to leave the both of them be. The stories about them spread to lower town, naturally, and also put the fears of some there to rest as well.

Others, though... Well, the first time Merlin made a trip down to the market with Aithusa riding on his shoulders, some others decided to take matters into their own hands.

Arthur was on his way back from taking a stroll around the training field with Guinevere when Elyan came sprinting up to them, wearing an expression of panic that the king did not like one bit. "What's wrong?" He demanded as soon as the knight reached them.

"Merlin, in town, attacked," Elyan gasped out, doubled over with his hands on his knees as he struggled to get his breath back. "Aithusa-"

"Where in town, Elyan?"

"Market, back alley- Percival's there-"

Gwen shot Arthur a concerned look. "I'll go fetch the others, you get to Merlin."

"Right." Without another word, the king hurried off, not bothering to ask Elyan exactly where his manservant was. People quickly cleared a path as he ran for the market, eyes and ears both searching intently for any sign of the attack. Spotting a small crowd at the entrance to an alleyway between houses, Arthur altered his path towards them.

"Step aside!" He barked. Quite a few of the townspeople jumped, and those who turned and saw him hurried to obey the order, tugging on the shirts of those around them to encourage further movement. Over the sounds of their murmurs and mutterings, Aithusa's upset cries could just barely be heard, spurring the king onward. Pushing through the remaining cluster of people, Arthur finally reached a spot where he could see Percival crouched protectively over Merlin's prone form.

The dark-haired man was unconscious, his face and hands marred with blood and already-developing bruises. Aithusa huddled in between him and Percival's feet, the finger bones of one of her wings obviously broken. Fury mounting by the moment, Arthur knelt beside the three of them, one hand reaching to gather up Aithusa while the other hovered over a lump on the back of Merlin's skull. "What happened?"

"They did," Percival growled, jerking his head in the direction of four men lying in a heap further down the alley. Arthur couldn't tell if they were dead or merely knocked out, but at that particular moment in time he did not care.

"As soon as more knights arrive, I want you to take charge of seeing to it that those four are taken to the dungeons and questioned," he ordered. "I'll join you there once Merlin and Aithusa are safe with Gaius."

Percival nodded, right as Gwaine, Elyan, and five of the castle guards arrived on the scene. Standing with Aithusa held carefully in his arms, Arthur had the two knights support Merlin between them, and set three of the guards to help arrest the attackers while the remaining pair acted as front- and rear-guard for the king and his men. The crowd, which had grown even larger in the few minutes since Arthur's arrival, swiftly parted to allow them access to leave. Ignoring the stares and hushed words, the king marched along carrying his servant's dragon and making plans to ensure nothing else happened to his friend.

He'd known from the outset that allowing Aithusa into their lives would increase the size of the target on Merlin's back, but hoped that in Camelot, at least, the young man would be able to go about his business in peace.

Obviously, Arthur's hope had been in vain.

-BA-

"That monster needs to be put to death," the man spat, glaring at Arthur, Leon, and Percival. "The big one almost destroyed us all, and when this little one grows up, it'll do the same!"

The king's eyes narrowed. "And you four decided you were the ones best suited to the job."

"Well you and your men clearly aren't, Sire, seein' as the beast's already corrupted everyone in this castle!" Each of the arrested men had said the same thing, with varying amounts of fear and disgust. The first had tried appealing to Arthur, claiming that they'd only had the desire to protect their home, while the other two cited revenge for loved ones lost during the Great Dragon's attack as their reason for ambushing Merlin and Aithusa. This last man, though, seemed too furious to give any excusable answer for his actions.

Deciding that they'd gotten all pertinent information, Arthur started to turn to go. Before stepped all the way out of the cell, though, he paused just long enough to inform the prisoner of one final thing.

"That infant dragon, and the man raising her, are under my protection, just as they intend to protect Camelot in future. If you or anyone else attempt to hurt or kill them again, the consequences will be much more severe than a year-long imprisonment." With that, he strode away, the two knights close on his heels.

Coming out of the dungeons, Arthur nearly groaned when he spotted his decidedly unhappy looking uncle approaching. "Agravaine. Is something the matter?"

"I wish to speak with you Sire, concerning the matter of the punishment for the men who went after the dragon."

Folding his arms, Arthur took up a relaxed stance. "Speak, then."

Frowning, Agravaine glanced at Percival, then Leon, then the hall around them, and raised his eyebrows significantly at the king. "In private, perhaps?"

"Uncle, please speak your piece now, as I intend to check on Merlin and Aithusa as soon as possible and taking the time to return to my quarters for us to talk will not help with that."

"Of course, Sire," the older man sighed. "I have heard you intend to keep the men locked up in the dungeons for a year's time, as well as to force them to leave the city when that time is up?"

"Correct."

"But surely, Sire, that is unnecessarily excessive, especially when these four peasants were simply acting in what they thought to be their kingdom's best interests! Protecting Camelot from a dangerous magical creature is, after all, a noble endeavor..."

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Magical or not, Aithusa is a baby, incapable of properly defending herself. And attacking Merlin at the same time is inexcusable. The only reason I've not outright banished the men, Uncle, is because I don't want any of them to return in secret to try and finish what they started."

"Banishment! Honestly, Arthur, why so much fuss over a servant and the creature he may very well order to attack us someday? Sentimentality does not make for a strong king-"

"Enough. I won't hear anymore of this, Uncle, and I won't tolerate any attacks upon Merlin nor Aithusa either. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

-BA-

Groaning as he drifted back to awareness, Merlin tried to recall just why he had a pounding pain threatening to split his head in half. He didn't bother opening his eyes just yet, instead lying still and just listening while memories sorted themselves out.

Aithusa chirping excitedly as she looked all around the market, nearly falling off his shoulders and she turned and wriggled in an effort to absorb absolutely everything.

Aithusa screeching in alarm when two men bumped into him, knocking him towards a gap between two houses were a couple other strangers were waiting.

Pain when a fist slammed into his jaw, pain when Aithusa's wing was roughly grabbed and stomped on, pain when he wrapped himself around her and took the brunt of the kicks, pain even when the attacks stopped and furious shouts rang out-

"Mer?" A small, warm snout nudged his ear. "Mer-mer?"

"Merlin?" He felt Gaius run a hand over his hair, and Merlin finally forced his eyelids open.

"Well," the young man sighed. "That wasn't how I thought my morning would go."

"I told you it was foolish to take Aithusa along, but you've never listened to me before, so why start now? Honestly, you're exceptionally lucky you only sustained bruises and cuts before the knights arrived to save your skin..." Merlin sighed as Gaius continued to berate him, his eyes slowly sliding shut again.

"Mer-mer." Aithusa nudged him again, and it was then that he realized she was making a different noise than her usual chirp. Sucking in a startled breath, Merlin turned his head in order to stare at the little dragon, who was watching him expectantly.

"Aithusa, did you just...?"

"Mer-mer!"

Gaius jumped when Merlin suddenly whooped.

A/N: Eh. Still not entirely happy with this chapter, but I'll post it anyway.

So, a bit of news! In an attempt to retain some measure of sanity as we get closer and closer to Final Exams week, I've actually started watching the full episodes of Merlin on Netflix! Huzzah!

...Sadly, there are portions just as painfully embarrassing to watch as I'd been expecting, so rather than binge (as my friend and neighbor who is an all around Utter Geek suggests) I find myself watching one episode at a time every other night or so. Such a pattern is not conducive for bulldozing my way through to Season Four, which is what I kinda need to see in order to properly write this particular story going forward.

In light of that, I decided to skip ahead, and started watching His Father's Son - and promptly wondered, what in God's name made Arthur willing to risk Merlin's life as bait? As far as canon goes, I expect it boils down to Merlin being a persistent little bugger who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, probably with Aggravating Agravaine agreeing with the idea in the background.

As far as this tale, on the other hand... Well, you'll just have to wait and see what I came up with, won't you? 'Til next time,

-Triscribe