Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehee, some more obvious tweeking in this one, as well as some added scenes. Time for one of my more obscure OCs from Whom History to make his debut... Poor sod has only got a couple of mentions and one scene so far in that fic XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

~(-)~

Chapter 2: The Dragon's Call ~Part 2~

Blue eyes flitted about, taking in the sights as their owner meandered through the castle passages.

Merlin continued to explore, having given into temptation after delivering the two remedies... Even if he'd been a bit to slow on the instructions to prevent Sir Olwin from taking his medicine 'all at once'. Still, it should be fine, right? Well at least he hoped so, or Gaius was probably going to scalp him.

He winced at that thought, deciding that pretending he got lost, which he had admittedly for a while, in order to avoid being sent on another errand was the best thing to do. Besides, he wanted the chance to look around, get the 'lay of the land'... Ok fine, he was just being nosey.

He continued to walk around, the servants in general just ignoring him, until eventually he found his way to small side-courtyard with an arch leading through the castle wall to a large grassy area surrounded by a lower, outer part of the castle defences.

It was as he began to follow the cobbled path that sided that area, that Merlin heard a taunting male voice echo across it from nearby.

"Where's the target?"

"Over there, Sir."

Merlin stopped in his tracks, frowning when he spotted the sources. It was some blond-haired man, a nobleman most likely, dressed in a red shirt and wearing an arm and neck guard. He was speaking to a servant who carried a shield piled with throwing knives, that servant being as ordinary-looking as ordinary could be. Brown hair, brown eyes, and the kind of hesitant manner that screamed 'walk all over me!'

The nobleman seemed to agree, because he was smirking like he found something amusing about this, glancing to the target the servant had indicated.

"It's into the sun."

"It's not that bright..."

"A bit like you, then." The man pointed in the opposite direction. "Put it at the other end, Bern."

The nobleman turned to his friends, laughing as Bern put down the shield and did as he was ordered. There were mutters of 'teach him a lesson', to which the noble responded by picking up a knife from the pile on the shield and throwing it into the target even as the servant was carrying it to where he'd been told to.

Bern flinched when it hit, lowering the target to look over it at his master, his expression one of almost terror.

"H-hey!"

Again the amused smirk, the nobleman and his friend's laughing.

"Don't stop! We want some moving target practice!"

Bern, still terrified, lifted the target up to cover his head again and started weaving back and forth, cringing every time a blade thudded into it. He was heading towards Merlin when he stumbled, dropping the heavy wooden circle, which then rolled to a stop at Merlin's feet.

He set a well-worn boot on top of it, looking over at Arthur and ignoring the started look Bern was giving him.

"Come on, that's enough...

"What?"

"You've had your fun, my friend."

The noble was frowning, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he looked more than a little irritated as well.

"Do I know you?"

Merlin watched as he walked over, holding out a hand in greeting. He might as well be polite.

"Ah, I'm Merlin."

"So I don't know you."

Merlin raised his eyebrows... So much for being polite.

"No."

The noble folded his arms across his chest.

"Yet you called me friend?"

The nearby Bern staring at the both of them... Nervous with the noble, and pitying for Merlin. Merlin, oblivious to the danger signs this reaction was, did what was natural to him... He opened his mouth and said the first sarcastic thing that came to mind.

"That was my mistake..."

"Yes, I think so."

"I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass."

Merlin turned to walk away and continue his exploration of the castle, but the nobleman's voice made him stop.

"Or I one that could be so stupid... Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?"

Merlin turned, looking him eye-to-eye when he came close.

"No."

"Would you like me to help you?"

Merlin smiled slightly, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

The noble seemed to find this hilarious, spreading his arms an indicating Merlin take a free shot at him.

"What are you going to do? Go on, just try it! What are you waiting for?"

It was now that Merlin noticed the way everyone in view, servant and noble alike, were all staring at him, but pride got the better of common sense and he attempted to punch the noble right in that arrogant face...

"You asked for it..."

...And it didn't go too well. Three seconds later Merlin had his arm pinned up behind his back in rather painful arm lock, the noble muttering at him.

"I could have you thrown in jail for that?"

Merlin tried to glare at him, unable to without twisting his arm even more.

"Well who do you think you are, the king?"

"...No, I'm his son... Arthur."

With a strong push he forced Merlin to his knees, holding him there until the guards who came over at his nod took charge of him. They manhandled Merlin into the castle and down an open stairway to the lower levels, turning down a passage which as it happened led to the dungeons... And he found himself thrown into the first empty cell they came to.

Merlin pushed himself to his feet as the door slammed closed, wincing at his aching arm before brushing off the layer of straw that clung to his clothing from landing on the mass of it that covered the floor... Gaius was not going to be happy about this...

~(-)~.

It was an extremely worried and anxious Gaius who stood in the Great Hall that evening, there with the king and the other highest-regarded members of the court to greet the Lady Helen upon her arrival. He hadn't seen Merlin since he left this morning, it was like he'd vanished, and with all the work he'd had to to he'd been unable to go look for him.

The physician remained distracted, barely listening to Uther's greetings and the lady's replies. Uther seemed to notice this, frowning slightly as she was escorted away to her guest room by a servant. His tone was slightly concerned.

"Is something the matter, Gaius."

The physician looked at him, hesitating a moment before nodding.

"It's my new ward, Sire. I sent him on an errand this morning and he didn't come back. I've looked for him while I was on my rounds, but saw no sign of him. I fear he's managed to get himself lost."

Uther straightened a little, surprised.

"You have a ward?"

Gaius nodded.

"Yes, Sire, his mother has entrusted him to me. He only arrived yesterday, and in hindsight I should have taken the time to show him around first. Perhaps, if it not an imposition, I could ask for some assistance in locating him?"

Uther nodded, more than amenable to assist an old and trusted acquaintance in such a small manner.

"Of course. Tell me his name and what he looks like, and Arthur can see to it the guards are told to keep an eye out for him and direct him back to your chambers."

Gaius bowed, grateful.

"Thank you, Sire. His name is Merlin, and he has short dark ha..."

He was cut off by Arthur letting out a small choking noise, all eyes turning to the prince. Realising he was being stared at, Arthur composed himself and explained.

"He has short dark hair, blue eyes, and a lack of certain manners and courtesies..."

Uther started to frown.

"Arthur? You know of him?"

The prince took a deep breath, a little embarrassed to admit what he'd done to Gaius' 'ward'.

"I had him put in the dungeon, for blatantly disrespecting me in public and attempting to strike me with a fist."

Gaius stiffened, before starting to shake his head.

"That boy, getting himself into trouble in less than a day!" He looked over to Arthur. "Might I ask if he knew who you were before the incident?"

Arthur seemed to think about it, before he sighed.

"He didn't."

Gaius turned to Uther.

"Then might I ask leniency, Sire? In return, I will ensure that he knows what is expected of him in future."

The king regarded him after glancing at his son, considering it for several moments before nodding.

"Fine, I will excuse his behaviour this once. But... I will not let him off with no punishment at all. He is to spend the night in the dungeon to teach him some respect, and tomorrow morning..."

Gaius looked a little concerned.

"Yes, Sire?"

Uther's tone was firm.

"He will learn some humility as well."

~(-)~

...Merlin... Merlin... ...Merlin!

The strange voice woke him as it had the day before, now seeming even louder and closer. Merlin lurched to his feet from where he'd been sleeping on the cell floor, backing away from the single ragged blanket he'd been laid on. He was all set to press his ear to the floor and see if it really were coming from below, when a familiar voice calling his name distracted him.

"Merlin!" He straightened up, turning to see the cell door being opened and Gaius entering. But before he could speak, the physician began to pace in frustration. "You never cease to amaze me! The one thing that someone like you should do is keep your head down. And what do you do? You behave like an idiot."

Merlin grimaced in apology, he truly hadn't wanted to worry his new guardian.

"I'm sorry."

Gaius sighed.

"You're lucky... I managed to pull a few strings and get you released."

Merlin broke into a grin.

"Oh, thank you, thank you! I won't forget this."

"Well..." The physician indicated the guard that was waiting outside the cell. "There is a small price to pay. A night in the dungeon to teach you respect... And a morning in the stocks to teach you humility."

Merlin's smile vanished into a semi sort of horror, before he regarded his guardian with an expression that pleaded to be told he was joking.

"You're not serious?"

Gaius jerked his head.

"Get moving... Unless you want to stay in here."

~(-)~

Humility humility humility... How was being forced to stand, with your head and hands locked through holes in a frame, supposed to teach you humility... Ah wait, maybe it was the fact that random people would stop by with their baskets of rotten and inedible vegetables and throw them at you.

Merlin kept his eyes squeezed shut, gritting his teeth as a group of children pelted him with rancid produce. His head and hands were splattered with stinking mush, and his hair was starting to build up a layer of ooze, and all this just because he'd taken one swing at Prince Arthur.

This really wasn't fair.

The rain of vegetables stopped, the children racing away as soon as they ran out of things to throw. Watching them leave, Merlin spat out the few disgusting bits that had managed to get into his mouth, not noticing when a particularly pretty young woman came up to the stocks until she spoke to him.

"Hi there. I'm Guinevere, but most people call me Gwen. I'm the Lady Morgana's maid."

Merlin managed a smile, despite the uncomfortable position he was in, offering the cleanest of his two hands as best he could with it stuck though a hole between two boards.

"I'm Merlin... Although most people just call me 'idiot'."

She shook the offered hand, shaking her head a little.

"No no, I saw what you did. It was so brave..."

Merlin began to look bemused.

"It was stupid."

"Well I'm glad you walked away, you weren't going to beat him."

Merlin paused, mouth slightly open, before looking at her.

"What... Well I could beat him."

Gwen didn't look convinced.

"You think? Because you don't look like one of these big muscle'y kind of fellows."

Merlin was still staring at her oddly.

"Thanks..."

She startled, realising what she'd just said.

"No no, I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just um... Arthur's one of these real rough, tough save the world sort of men and... well..."

Merlin could see what was coming.

"And?"

"...You don't look like that..."

He hung his head for a moment, before inspiration struck and he directed a sly smile at her, causing her to lean in closer to hear his murmur.

"I'm in disguise."

She started to laugh, both of the smiling at the joke.

"Well it's good you stood up to him. Arthur's a bully, and everyone thought you were a real hero."

"Tell that to my back, right now." There was a sudden arrival of giggling children, and at the sight of baskets laden with mildewed veg, Merlin started to wince. "Ah, excuse me, Guinevere... My fans are waiting."

Starting to smile, she hurried past the stand and left him to his fate... a renewed pummelling that added another layer to the slime and pulp already splattering him. It seemed almost an eternity before someone came to release him from the stocks, that someone being a man in armour, who held himself with a certain degree of authority.

Undoing the shackles on Merlin's wrists, now that the young man could stand up straight again, he spoke with a note of warning.

"I'm Captain Georg, second in command of the castle guard, and I've been told to warn you that if you get caught poking so much as a toe out of line again, you might get worse than a morning in the stocks. You're lucky it seems you're Gaius' ward. That's the only reason you've gotten off this lightly."

Merlin examined where at his wrists and around his collar, his shirt didn't look its normal blue.

"If you can call this light..." He looked up, wincing at the disapproving frown the captain was directing at him. "That is, I'll be sure to be more careful from now on."

There was a long pause, the guardsman taking him by the arm.

"Come on, I'll show you where you can get cleaned up, since I'm sure the Court Physician hasn't had the chance to show you around yet. You didn't exactly give him a chance, not when you were too busy calling Prince Arthur an 'ass'."

Merlin might have winced again, had he not seen a slight smile on Georg's face. So Gwen had been right, there were at least a few people who thought Arthur was a bully.

True to his word, Georg showed Merlin a pair of rooms next to the entrance of the laundry chambers, one for men and one for women, where some of the used soapy water from next-door was tipped into an odd assortment of tubs for the servants to use. Merlin, a little self-conscious to be in the presence of two other servants using some of their scarce free time to bathe, scrubbed the slime out of his hair and off his skin, and rinsed the thick of it off his shirt before beating a hasty retreat to Gaius' chambers.

Once there, he changed into his only spare shirt and joined the physician at the table, where a simple meal had been laid out.

Watching Merlin settle himself, Gaius smiled wryly and indicated one of the bowls.

"Would you like some vegetables with that?"

Merlin stared at him for a moment, before grinning and laughing a little at the joke.

"I know you're still angry at me."

"You mother asked me to look after you."

Merlin sighed, suddenly subdued.

"Yes..."

Gaius noted the change, contemplating the boy before him and what he'd witnessed yesterday morning.

"What did your mother tell you about you 'gifts'?"

Merlin poked at his food with a spoon, eventually looking up to meet Gaius' gaze.

"That I was 'special'."

The physician nodded, still contemplative.

"You are special, of the likes I've never seen or heard of before."

"What do you mean?"

Merlin's interest was instant, the thought that Gaius might know something, anything, to explain his powers. Gaius frowned in thought, knowing that hope wasn't going to be answered.

"Well, magic requires incantations, spells, it takes years of study. The exception's are the elemental affinities, but they're exceedingly rare and what you do is certainly not the summoning and control of an element... What you do is almost elemental in nature itself. Instinctive."

Merlin snorted, shaking his head.

"What's the point if it can't be used?"

Gaius gave him a long look.

"That is something I do not know... You are a question that's never been posed before, Merlin."

"Did you ever study magic?"

There was another pause, Gaius seeming to think before speaking.

"Uther banned all such work twenty years ago. People used magic for the wrong ends back then, and it threw the natural order into chaos. Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then... even the dragons."

Merlin stared in stunned disbelief. Uther had wiped out an entire race of creatures?

"What? All of them?"

Gaius sighed.

"There was one dragon he chose not to kill. He kept it as an example... He imprisoned it in a cave deep beneath the castle, where no one can free it." He dug his spoon into his bowl of food, changing the subject before it moved to topics more awkward than those already discussed. "Now eat up. As soon as you're done, I need you to take a preparation to Lady Helen. She needs it for her voice."

~(-)~

There was something not quite right here, something edging at his nerves.

Merlin hurried away from Lady Helen's guest room, suppressing the strange urge to shudder that had just come over him. He'd delivered the potion as asked, but the cold way she'd reacted to finding him in her room had unnerved him... Or was it the strange straw doll, and an equally strange book tied closed with twine that lay on her dressing table?

He shook his head, ending up shuddering despite his efforts. It was probably nothing, just his imagination. She was Uther's welcome guest, after all. The doll was probably just some strange fad among noblewomen, and the book was probably a diary.

Merlin decided he needed some fresh air, to get outside the castle and clear his head before he started making himself paranoid. That was probably all this was. He was from a small village, this was a crowded city, so why wouldn't being around so many people make him jumpy?

He set off through the halls, making a beeline for one of the side-doors into the main courtyard. Most of the servants ignored him, but there was one young man who seemed to take an exception when he spotted him.

"You're lucky Gaius got you off like that... Picking a fight with Prince Arthur was beyond stupid."

Merlin stopped in his tracks, turning to look back and recognising the speaker as being the servant from the day before... Bern.

"And letting him throw knives at you while laughing his head off isn't?"

Bern pulled himself up straight, looking a little offended.

"He's the prince, and I'm his personal manservant. I have to obey everything he tells me to do."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, looking both amused and wry.

"So if he told you to go jump off the castle walls, would you do it?" Bern gaped at him, Merlin's smile widening. "You know, maybe if you stood up for yourself more, and didn't let him walk all over you, he'd be less of an ass."

He turned to continue on his way, Bern calling out after him.

"You can't call him that!"

Merlin laughed, glancing up and down the otherwise empty hallway.

"Really? Because I don't see anyone stopping me."

Bern once again fell silent, staring incredulous at this young man's gall. Merlin quite frankly couldn't give a damn what Arthur's manservant thought of him. He just wanted to get outside the castle for a while, and take a break from speaking to all these idiots who seemed to think the sun shone out of their dear prince's rear.

It was probably then one of the world's greatest ironies, that no sooner than Merlin had reached the marketplace than the aforementioned Prince had come into view along with a group of his fellow noblemen acquaintances. It was also unfortunate that once again he, Merlin, forego the option of listening to common sense as he decided to listen to his own advice when Arthur taunted him for ignoring his presence.

"How's your knee-walking coming along? Come on, don't run away."

Merlin stopped, frowning in annoyance. Why couldn't these people just leave him alone?

"From you?"

Arthur started to smirk, walking towards him.

"Thank god, I was beginning to think you were deaf as well as dumb."

Merlin began to smile, turning to face him.

"Look, I've told you. You're an ass... I just didn't realise you were a royal one." He noted the presence of two guards escorting the group of nobles, his tone turning sarcastic. "Ohh, do you need your daddy's men to protect you?"

Arthur laughed scornfully.

"I could take you apart with one blow."

"I could take you apart with less than that."

"Really?"

The two of them stared at each other, one taunting and the other irritated... and Merlin still really wanted to wipe the smirk off of Arthur's face.

When he removed his jacket it was greeted with laughter, Arthur tossing a mace to him which he promptly dropped and had to pick up. The prince then advanced towards him, swinging another mace overhead a few times in threat before lowering it to taunt Merlin again.

"You know, I've been trained to kill since birth."

"Wow, and how long have you been training to be a prat?"

The retort was instant, Merlin's sharp tongue almost as instinctive as his magic... and it seemed to get him into just as many awkward situations. How many times had he had to make excuses back in Ealdor?

He wasn't going to get a chance to answer that, not with Arthur still regarding him like he thought he was an idiot.

"You can't address me like that."

Merlin mock bowed.

"Oh, I'm sorry... How long have you been training to be a prat, My Lord?"

Two seconds later, after one last smile, Arthur proceeded start trying to hit him with the mace...

Merlin saw it coming, a split-second flicker of gold in his eyes causing everything around him to seem to slow for just as short a moment, but it was enough for him to duck under the swing as if it were no effort at all. Again the prince attacked, striking out again and again, with none of them coming even close to Merlin... In fact it was starting to look like Arthur was suffering a bad bout of rather appalling aim.

The prince began to scowl, as if aware of that fact, before his expression hardened and his next swing came faster than any of the previous... That's when Merlin realised that, at first, this had just been a game and Arthur had been going easy on him. Now that Merlin had just made him look like he had the aim of drunkard, Arthur was annoyed enough to take this seriously. He was now literally aiming to maim Merlin in some fashion with that mace...

Blue eyes widened, Merlin throwing himself backwards over a vegetable stall to avoid the blow that reduced a cabbage to pulp and shreds. He ducked around several more stalls, the repeated use of magic to let him dodge wearing away at him. No number of sparring games with his friend Will, using this trick, could have prepared him for going up against a combat expert. He was going to have to get out of this quick before he fainted from the strain and got his head mashed in.

Distracted by those thoughts, he accidentally tangled his mace in a basket before tripping over his own feet, Arthur standing over him looking smug.

"Oh you're in trouble now."

A moment later it was his turn to look surprised, as the chain of his mace got tangled on a pair of meat-hooks Merlin kindly moved into its path.

The warlock lunged to his feet, giving up on his speed trick and using the easier option of moving various of the plethora of market objects so they would impede the prince's progress towards him. Arthur stumbled on loose hemp sacks, barked his shins on corners of crates, and lastly tripped over the rope Merlin pulled tight across his path at ankle height, all of which were done with simple glances and a momentary glimmer of unnoticed gold in Merlin's eyes. When Arthur fell, he finally lost his grip on his mace, and Merlin swiftly picked it up and whirled it awkwardly as it became his turn to back his opponent up.

"Do you want to give up?"

Arthur was staring at him incredulously.

"To you?"

"Do you want to give up?"

Merlin didn't get an answer, because he spotted Gaius frowning at him in serious disapproval from among the crowd. The moment of distraction was all Arthur needed to grab a broom and sent Merlin to the floor with it.

The two guards that had been with the prince picked him up with the intent of arresting him, but Arthur stopped them. He had a rather odd expression on his face, like he wasn't sure about what he was saying himself.

"Wait... Let him go. He may be an idiot, but he's a brave one." He frowned ever so slightly. "There's something about you, Merlin. I just can't quite put my finger on it."

He walked away, leaving Merlin to nurse the bruises he'd picked up during all his dodging. Within moments of that Gaius had the young sorcerer by the collar of his shirt, and dragged him back to the castle completely ignoring any and all of his ward's protests at the treatment. But he uttered no word about what he knew had been going on, not until they were back in his chambers and assured of the privacy that he could berate him.

He let go of Merlin's shirt, sending him through the door before closing behind both of them.

"How could you be so foolish?"

Merlin replied, unrepentant.

"He needed to be taught a lesson."

That wasn't the answer Gaius was looking for, as he irately stormed to where Merlin stood.

"Magic must be studied, mastered, and used for good. Not for idiotic pranks!"

Merlin turned angrily to face him.

"What is there to master? I could move objects like that since before I could talk."

"Then by now you should know how to control yourself!"

"I don't want to!" Merlin was upset, a feeling of helpless frustration welling up inside him. "If I can't use magic, then what have I got? I'm a nobody, and I always will be... If I can't use magic... I might as well die."

He turned and stormed up the steps into his room, his bleak tone having frozen Gaius to the spot. The physician closed his eyes, not wanting to have heard that but understanding it all the same.

Gaius picked up his bag of medicines he used for his rounds, taking it and following Merlin into his room. The young sorcerer was slumped face-down on his bed, staring at the floor beside it, looking for all the world as lost as he had sounded.

"Merlin, sit up straight and take your shirt off. I'll need to treat those bruises you seem to have gotten."

Merlin silently did as he was told, responding to the kinder tone his guardian was using. His back was already mottled with scrapes and purpling marks from where he'd fallen over or backed into things, and Gaius carefully wiped them over to make sure none of the scrapes would become infected.

Sitting through the treatment, Merlin glanced at him.

"You don't know why I was born like this, do you? I'm not a monster, am I?"

Still cleaning the last of the scrapes, Gaius replied quite sharply.

"Don't ever think that."

Merlin now faced him fully, his tone desperate for answers.

"Then why am I like this? Please, I need to know. Why?"

Gaius sighed.

"Maybe there's someone with more knowledge than me."

"If you can't tell me, then no one can... Uther drove away everyone with magic, so I've no one else to ask." He took a deep breath, looking off as if into the distance. "I met a sorcerer, a long time ago when I was just a kid. He made me feel so confident, that I had nothing to be afraid of, but now that I've come here everything seems so messed up."

Gaius had reacted in surprise to his ward's statement, frowning a little in concern.

"Who was he? What did he tell you?"

Merlin snorted.

"If you're worrying he told me something bad, there's no need to. He was a kid too, just a few years older than me, but he was already learning to use his magic. He just waved his hand and made the wind lift some leaves into the air, and then told me so long as I never used my power for wrong, to deliberately hurt people out of malice, then I have nothing to be ashamed of... I didn't use it to hurt Arthur, I just used it to try make him realise that all people aren't just there for him to push around. I stood up to him to see if I could make him think about what a prat he's being... Although that didn't seem to work. His skull is as thick as a rock. I'm not even sure now why I really decided to do it."

Gaius sighed, not wanting to encourage Merlin but at the same time realising he agreed with his reasoning.

"That's all and well, but you still have to be careful. Think about how your mother and I would feel if you get caught and killed. Don't take such risks. Noble intentions will mean nothing to Uther should he discover your magic."

He picked up his bag of medicines and headed for the door, Merlin remaining where he was in silence. Both of them had a lot of new things to think about.

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, tweaked scenes, added scenes, OCs from Whom History shown or hinted at... FUN!

Oh, and for those wondering which of the 3 OCs was the one I was talking about up top, it was Bern. He's only been seen in Whom History once, and Arthur was treating him like a proverbial floor rug XD