Disclaimer: Merlin does not belong to me.

Chapter Four: Friendship and Memories

The next morning, Mordred was woken not by the usual knock on the door, but by the feeling of a small, wet tongue licking his face.

He opened his eyes and pushed Eirlys away, laughing, "That tickles."

The puppy barked happily.

Mordred's nose wrinkled as he smelled something distinctly unpleasant. He sat up in bed and spotted a wet patch where Eirlys had been sleeping.

"Eugh," he muttered. He held his hand over the spot and murmured a spell he had learned from one of the books in the library. To his satisfaction, the spot vanished. He grinned triumphantly, then looked at Eirlys, "I'm going to have to teach you not to go in here."

He got out of bed and got dressed. He had just finished when there was a knock at the door, one of his mother's servants coming to wake him up.

He pulled the door open, "Good morning!"

The servant, a young man named Thomas, blinked, surprised by the usually somber boy's cheerful tone.

"Good morning, young master," he regained his composure, "You're in a good mood today."

Before Mordred could respond, Thomas spotted Eirlys, "Where did-"

"I found her in the garden," Mordred responded, "She's mine now."

"Does your mother know that you have her?" Thomas asked.

Mordred shook his head, his cheerful expression turning momentarily anxious as he wondered if his mother would let him keep the puppy. Then he drew himself up in determination; he would keep Eirlys, no matter what his mother said. If she tried to make him get rid of her, then he really would run away.

He strode determinedly down the hall toward the dining room and Eirlys scampered at his heels.

Morgause looked up when he came in, frowning when she saw the puppy, "What is that?"

"She's a puppy," Mordred said, "And she's mine. I found her in the garden."

He faced his mother with a stony expression, just waiting for her to protest.

But after watching his face for a moment, Morgause only nodded, "Fine. But keep her from making trouble."

Mordred's stony expression vanished and he beamed at his mother for the first time in his life.

"I will!" he promised.

He sat down at the table and Eirlys jumped into his lap.

When the servants brought the food in, there was also a bowl of food and a bowl of water for Eirlys.

Morgause looked at the bowls as the servant set them on the floor, and then at the servant, "How did you know about the dog?"

The girl shrugged, "Mordred brought her into the kitchen last night. Cook told me to bring the bowls."

"I see," Morgause nodded and let the matter drop.

The serving girl looked relieved; perhaps she had been worried she would get in trouble for not informing Morgause of the puppy's appearance last night.

Eirlys jumped out of Mordred's lap and began to eat. He watched her for a minute then turned to his own food.

When he was finished, he stood up from the table, "Come on, Eirlys, let's go outside."

Morgause glanced from her son to the dog, "Eirlys?" she repeated.

Mordred nodded, "For her mark, see?"

He scooped Eirlys up and held her up so his mother could see the little patch of white fur on her chest.

"I see," Morgause replied.

Mordred headed toward the door, still carrying Eirlys.

When they got outside, she wriggled in his arms, full of energy and eager to be put down.

Mordred carried her into the garden before setting her down.

Immediately she began to run in circles, chasing her tail and yapping.

Mordred laughed, sitting down on the ground to watch her.

After a while, she got bored of chasing her tail and bounded over to Mordred, yapping.

She jumped up on his lap and put her little paws on his chest, then jumped off and crouched, wiggling her hindquarters.

Mordred smiled, "You want to play, girl?"

Eirlys barked as if in affirmation.

Mordred pushed himself to his feet. Eirlys bounced around at his feet, barking like mad. He searched the garden until he found a good stick, then leaned down and showed it to Eirlys, then threw it.

The puppy raced after it. When she found it, she pounced on it, picking it up in her sharp little teeth and shaking her head back and forth, growling fiercely.

Mordred approached to take the stick to throw it again, but as soon as he got close, Eirlys suddenly dashed away across the garden.

She skidded to a halt and looked back at him. He approached her again, and again she let him get within a few feet before suddenly dashing away again.

This game continued for several minutes until Eirlys was distracted by a butterfly fluttering past and began to chase it, leaving the stick lying forgotten in the grass.

Mordred sat down in the grass again and watched her as she ran, her little paws skittering rapidly across the grass as she pursued her tiny, brightly colored, target.

He felt happier than he had in a long time. For once, the prophecy and his destiny were far from his mind, driven away, at least for the moment, by the bright sunshine, and the smell of flowers, and the happy barking of his puppy as she chased the butterfly.

When lunchtime came, one of the servants brought a tray out to the garden, containing food and drink for both Mordred and Eirlys.

After lunch, Mordred played chase with Eirlys for a little while before sitting down in the grass to watch her again.

When Eirlys finally grew tired from running back and forth, she trotted over to Mordred and lapped up a few mouthfuls from her water bowl, then flopped down at his side, her little tongue hanging out as she panted.

Mordred lay back in the grass, stroking her soft fur absentmindedly as he gazed up at the sky overhead.

"My father would have loved you, I bet," he told her. For once, the thought of his father did not bring up anger and grief and the memory of his death.

Instead Mordred found himself remembering the good times, the happy times. He began to speak aloud, describing his memories to Eirlys, jumping from topic to topic as the memories came.

"Did you know my name came to him in a dream?" he directed the words at Eirlys while still looking up at the sky, "The first night, when he found me, he didn't know what to name me, but then he fell asleep and he dreamed about me, and in the dream he called me Mordred. So, that's what he named me."

He smiled, "I set our tent on fire, once. With my magic. I didn't mean to of course, but Branwen's oldest son Brin had been teasing me all day and I was really angry. I was so shocked when it happened. My father put the fire out and I thought I was going to get in so much trouble, but he just told me that I would have to be more careful and learn to control my magic when I was upset."

Mordred turned his head to look at the puppy, "I'm better at that now, but I still have trouble sometimes."

He yawned, "I guess I still have some work to do." He continued talking, relaying memories of his father to the puppy until he dozed off, drifting into a light sleep.

He dreamed he was back in his old Druid camp. His father was there, and Aglain, and Branwen, and Brin, and everyone else who he had grown up with.

Eirlys was there too, running back and forth across the camp, getting under everyone's feet.

His father kept his arm around Mordred's shoulders as he watched the puppy with amusement. Every so often, Mordred would look up at his father's face, and Cerdan would look down at his son with a look of love and pride on his face.

After a while, Mordred crouched down and called to Eirlys, laughing, and she ran to him.

Cerdan crouched next to his son, and stroked the puppy's back. She barked happily and licked his hand. He laughed good-naturedly as he stood.

Mordred scooped up Eirlys and stood up too. She instantly began licking his face.

Mordred woke from the dream to find that Eirlys really was licking his face, standing over him with her little paws on his shoulder.

He pushed her away and sat up. Dusk was gathering. Mordred noticed that the tray and the dishes had vanished; one of the servants must have come and gotten them while he was asleep.

"It's getting dark," he said to Eirlys as he stood up, "We better go inside. Supper will probably be ready soon."

Eirlys followed as he left the garden and walked toward the palace.

At supper that night, Mordred was still in an unusually good mood, and his mother noticed.

"You seem happy," she observed, "Did you have a good day today?"

Mordred nodded, "Oh, yes. Eirlys is really wonderful. I've never had a dog before."

Morgause smiled, "Well, I'm glad she makes you happy."

Before he went to bed that night, Mordred took Eirlys out in the garden once more, so she could do her business and hopefully avoid another accident in his bed. He let her sniff around and explore for a few minutes while he lay on his back and watched the stars. They were really beautiful tonight. Mordred's eyes picked out the familiar shapes of constellations, and he remembered the stories his father and the other Druids had told him about them.

After a while, mindful of what had happened the last time he fell asleep in the garden, he sat up and called Eirlys to him and headed inside to his bedroom.

"Hopefully Morgana will visit again soon," he said to Eirlys as he changed into his night clothes, "I can't wait for you to meet her. I'm sure you'll like her. She's really nice. She's my aunt, you know. I didn't know it when we first met though."

After extinguishing the lamp, he climbed into bed and, just as she had the night before, Eirlys curled at his side. Mordred pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I love you, Eirlys. I'm so glad I found you," he whispered to her, "Today was the best day I've had in a long time."

Within a few moments, boy and dog were both fast asleep.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review!