Chapter 8

Arthur had, unfortunately since his decision regarding Aithusa, come to expect Merlin using her to 'help' him wake the young king up in the mornings. It was not pleasant to have small dragon claws kneading at the skin of his face, though perhaps that was slightly better than being bodily hauled out of his bed and dumped on the cold stone floor by his manservant.

On the fourth morning since he and his men had set out from Camelot to track down a dangerous band of marauders, however, Arthur was woken up by Aithusa alone. It took him a minute to realize this, once the little dragon got over her indignant squawking at being shoved aside, and then a cold knot of fear settled in his guts.

"Aithusa, where's Merlin?" He demanded.

The baby cocked her head to one side. "Mer-mer?"

"Yes, Merlin, my idiot manservant and your- whatever he is to you. Where is he?" Before Aithusa could cobble together some sort of answer from her limited vocabulary, a bit of shouting just outside his tent attracted Arthur's attention. He got to his feet and pulled the entrance flap aside, just as Gwaine raced up. "What's going on?"

"Merlin's gone," the long-haired knight panted, looking frantic. "And Sir Gareth's armor and cape are missing."

Cursing, Arthur ducked back into his tent, but not before ordering Gwaine to get everyone up and ready at the ambush site they'd selected the evening before.

The original plan had been to find the marauders, attack the band and chase them into the ravine's dead end. It wasn't the greatest, Arthur had to admit, but it was a matter of paramount importance to find and capture these men before they overtook anymore of Camelot's villages. Merlin, on the other hand, came up with the idea of presenting himself as a target for the marauders to chase down, then lead them to the ravine. Arthur (and others, such as Gwaine) immediately shot the thought down, the king pointing out that a single scrawny peasant wouldn't be enough to lure an entire band on such a long chase. Leon tentatively mentioned that it could work, if one of the knights volunteered to be the bait instead. Agreeing, Arthur said he himself would do so, and when the expected protests were sounded, turned that statement into an order.

He should have realized Merlin would do something foolish, like steal the armor of the only knight almost as thin as himself, and set off to find the marauders before anyone had even realized he was gone. The sole upside, thankfully, being that he'd left Aithusa behind as well.

Barely half an hour later, the entirety of the group of knights were gathered around the clifftops of the ravine, many keeping their senses peeled for any hint of approaching men while a few others grumbled about foolish manservants who hadn't gained any much-needed common sense along with newly inherited Dragonlord powers.

Well.

Mostly Arthur grumbled.

The nearby men kindly ignored him.

Close to midday, right as he was seriously debating leaving the ambush point with Aithusa in order to make the dragon lead him to Merlin, Arthur picked up the sound of distant war cries. Tensing, he signaled for the men to remain hidden. A few minutes later, Merlin came charging into the dead end, panting heavily in Sir Gareth's stolen armor and for some reason carrying a short-handled axe. A large group of smirking men calmly walked in after him, dark chuckles coming from their ranks that caused Arthur to stiffen and Aithusa to hiss.

"Nowhere to run," said a man who stepped to the front, most likely the leader of the band.

Merlin grinned in reply. "That's the idea."

With that, Arthur stood to become visible, and shouted the order to attack. Those of his men with crossbows opened fire, while the others charged and lept down the slopes to get at the surprised marauders. Arthur himself jumped straight for the leader, who was still closest to Merlin and glaring fiercely at the young man. Aithusa followed the king down, shrieking her tiny imitation of a roar as she helped tackle the marauder to the ground. After that, she propelled herself off of Arthur's shoulder and flew down the small battlefield, breathing spurts of smoke at startled marauders, distracting them and making it easier for the knights to gain an upper hand.

Barely ten minutes later, they'd killed a third of the band and captured the rest, including their leader. It was his bad luck that Agravaine noticed a particular pendant hanging from around the man's neck.

Distracted by the unexpected development of having captured the king of a neighboring kingdom, one that Camelot did not have any particular friendship or hostility with, Arthur didn't think to berate Merlin for pulling his crazy stunt until nightfall. Agravaine left him with some advice the blonde didn't feel comfortable with, and when Merlin tried to speak up his first impulse was to tell the younger man to be quiet or go elsewhere.

Then the events from that morning caught up to him, and Arthur turned a glare onto his manservant instead. Merlin, seeing the look, attempted to back out of range. He didn't quite manage before Arthur picked up a nearby stick and launched it, smacking his friend right across the forehead and causing him to trip and fall backwards to the ground.

Aithusa shrieked from where she'd been curled up on a nearby log, and instantly moved to Merlin's side, nuzzling his head while making noises of distress.

"Oh, come on," Arthur complained to open air. "Don't tell me little dragons don't roughhouse!"

"I wouldn't know now, would I?" Merlin grumbled as he sat up, one hand rubbing at his forehead as the other patted Aithusa reassuringly. Arthur winced at that, painfully reminded of Aithusa's status as the second to last dragon thanks to his father's actions. That thought led him back to Agravaine's advice, and sent the young king into a brooding silence once more.

Aithusa suddenly appeared by his knee, holding the same stick he'd thrown at Merlin. Blinking, Arthur accepted it, unsure of why the piece of wood was being returned.

"Try throwing it," his manservant suggested. "Just, y'know, not at me."

Rolling his eyes, the king nonetheless did so, launching the stick across the campfire. Aithusa leapt after it, hurrying to try and catch the thing before it could strike the ground. In moments, she was back at Arthur's side with it, eyes begging for a repeat. He obliged her with a slight chuckle, reminded of the game 'fetch' he'd once played with some of the royal hunting dogs as a boy.

Time seemed to slip away faster than could be noticed, and the first that Arthur realized he'd been playing with the baby dragon for a couple of hours was when he turned to ask Merlin if he wanted a turn, only to realize the younger man was sound asleep. Shaking his head, Arthur stood and walked to where his friend was lying with his head propped against a log. It was a simple matter to pick Merlin up and move him to his proper bedroll, even with Aithusa trotting at his feet and getting in the way a bit. Once he'd gotten the servant settled, Arthur yawned, and contemplated going to sleep on his own bedding. Aithusa scratching at the blanket before shooting him what had to be a reproving stare decided it.

After shucking off his chainmail and actually laying down, however, Arthur was confronted once more with his uncle's advice of forcing Carleon to sign a demanding treaty or else executing the man. Scowling, he shifted in place, realizing that he wouldn't be able to shut his eyes while still considering what course of action to take.

A weight made its presence known against his side. Startled, Arthur glanced down to see a small white form curled up next to him.

"Oi," he whispered, poking at Aithusa's hide. "Shouldn't you be with Merlin?"

The dragon didn't even bother looking at him to respond - she just pressed herself more firmly into his torso. Letting loose a huff, Arthur rested a hand on top of the warm little body, and soon enough fell asleep.

-BA-

A night of decent rest helped Arthur think more clearly in the morning. He thanked Agravaine for his advice the night before, but decided to send a letter to Carleon's Queen Annis, ransoming her husband in return for a treaty that would see peace between their two kingdoms. The woman's reply demanded a face to face meeting, which Arthur's uncle was quick to point out would be the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. He did not specify from which side.

Nonetheless, the meeting went well, despite Annis apparently having received a surprise visit from Morgana shortly before it began. She bluntly told Arthur that his half-sister was interested in trying to instigate others into warring with Camelot in an effort to get him killed. He replied that it was saddening, but not surprising.

"Morgana has shifted all her hatred of our father onto me," the young king said. "And while I know I'm not entirely undeserving of some of it, I hope to someday convince her I will not be the same man as him."

"No," Annis replied, her gaze straying to Merlin, who stood a few feet back from the proceedings, and the small dragon perched on his shoulders. "I don't believe you'll be the same as Uther at all."