One Prison is much like another - part 34
Author: 
archaeologist_d
Title: One Prison is much like another - part 34
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Merlin, Leon, Gaius
Summary: Dragons are a handful, whether they be days old or centuries. Arthur wasn’t having any of it.
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1200
Camelot Drabble Prompt #610: Reckless
Author’s notes: Arthur is regent in all but name. AU and all.
-------------
Merlin waited a little while until the bats settled down again. He thought maybe Arthur would send Leon back with competent men this time, but after a while, when no one came, he whispered a good-bye to the dragonets and admonished them to stay hidden and then started up the stairs.
There were clusters of garlic and wolfsbane hanging from the upper doorway, obstructing the entry. Merlin tried not to snicker. The superstitious clods must have ignored anything that Gaius would have to say about it. Mixing up vampires and werewolves with dragons, mixing up reality with myth and legends, as if the herbs would keep the dragons from coming up and blasting everyone into cinders. Unless, of course, they thought the bats were vampires? He wouldn’t put it past whoever had hung the herbs there.
But then, he couldn’t exactly blame them for doing anything to keep ‘evil’ at bay. Vampiric bats were bad enough but dragons, well, dragons were fearsome things when out of control. Kilgharrah made sure that everyone who survived his attack knew that. And that made Merlin’s task so much harder.
But first he needed to see Gaius and get his nose put to rights.
---------------
“You were reckless, Merlin,” Gaius growled, glaring down at Merlin while he poked and prodded at Merlin’s poor nose. At least Gaius’s hands were gentle, even if the tongue-lashing Merlin endured was not. “I told you not to hatch them and you did it anyway.”
He couldn’t keep the petulance out of his voice. “Yes, Gaius, I know, Gaius. I was an idiot, Gaius. Someone who believed in the goodness of men and especially Arthur and he broke my nose.”
“Don’t get smart with me, young man,” Gaius said, annoyance there and a bit of end-of-his-rope exasperation.
Merlin was about to open his mouth again to object when Gaius pushed his nose back into place. It hurt like hell. There were bones grinding and cartilage moving around and bits of dried blood flaking out as Gaius packed the inside. When he put a bandage over the top to keep things in place, Merlin tried not to yelp at the pain but he did whimper a little.
Tutting, Gaius stared down at him, then gave Merlin’s cheek a final pat, and stood back. “That should work. As long as you don’t break it again. I shall be quite cross with you if you do.”
His head feeling ten times its size, his nose throbbing as if a bunch of wilderen had taken refuge up inside his brain and were running around in there, Merlin said, “I need to leave for a day or so. Get the dragonets resettled away from here. Do you think they are old enough?”
That worried him almost as much as Arthur finding them again. Did they need Merlin to help with feeding and protection and keeping them from doing anything foolish? Or was his role to step back and let them fend for themselves? He’d done that with Aithusa and the result had been catastrophic.
“It doesn’t matter if they are not. They cannot remain where Arthur can find them.” Gaius gave a little unhappy grunt. “Arthur was not pleased with what you’ve done.”
“Yeah, I know. He sacked me,” Merlin replied. “The cabbagehead.”
“I am surprised he didn’t run you through. He would have done that to any other fool in his way.” Gaius started putting his things away, shaking his head as he said, “When he came to interrogate me, he was livid.”
“He was here?”
Merlin was surprised at that. He’d have thought that Arthur would have been organizing an army to go back into the cave and destroy the little ones or else brick it all up until the dragons were entombed for all time-not that it would have helped. The cave had lots of exits, some large, some tiny enough that no one would notice, some buried beneath sod and soil but could be easily opened again.
Gaius sent him another look, then heaved a great sigh as if he were talking with the greatest idiot in the entire kingdom.
“Merlin, of course he was. I have more experience with dragons than most. But he was more interested in you and what you knew. I think he suspects you of knowing a great deal more than you are saying. I just hope he doesn’t put two and two together and figure out that you are a dragonlord. That would be disastrous.”
Sometimes Arthur could be so oblivious but not always and sometimes even smart. Talking to Gaius about Merlin was not a good sign but Merlin should have expected it. “What did he want?”
“If you had some mental affliction that would have you speaking in tongues. Or was it just you babbling nonsense like usual?” Gaius stared at him, his eyebrow rising up while Merlin stood there gaping at him.
Finally, Merlin mumbled, “Tongues? I… umm, well, about that.”
He tried not to look guilty but Gaius could see right through him. “You used dragon tongue? In front of Arthur? You foolish, foolish boy.”
“I had to tell the little ones to stop. They were attacking him with fire and smoke. They could have killed him,” Merlin protested. “I didn’t think he’d notice, what with him getting burned and all.”
Gaius gaped at him. “Reckless is the least of it.” He looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit, what with the scowl and the blazing eyes. Finally, still breathing hard as if trying to keep from beating Merlin to death, he said, “I told Arthur that it was just nonsense words, that they had no meaning but… I don’t think he believed me.”
“So where is he now? Maybe I can talk to him,” Merlin said, not really thinking that it would do any good but at least he could see if Arthur was still mad at him.
Gaius didn’t have time to tell him no.
A moment later, the door slammed open and Leon, backed with half a dozen knights, stormed into the room.
“Merlin of Ealdor,” Leon began, looking at Merlin as if seeing him for the first time. “You are under arrest. On suspicion of being a dragonlord. Do not resist or it will go badly for you.”
Standing there, his mouth open, a million scenarios going around in his head, Merlin stared at Leon. He didn’t know whether to run or fly out the window and hope he didn’t crack his head open on the stones below.
“What reason do you have for this preposterous claim, Sir Leon?” Gaius said.
“Dragons under the castle, Gaius, and Merlin helping them.” Leon replied. “Prince Arthur has confirmed that Merlin was using dragon tongue. Only a dragonlord would know that.” At that, Leon lifted his sword, pointing it straight at Merlin. “Come with me or face the consequences. I will not tell you again.”
There wasn’t anything to do but agree. He couldn’t let Gaius be hurt for his actions. “Gaius didn’t know anything about it. I’ve been lying to him for a while. It’s just me. It’s just me.”
Leon nodded, then pointed towards the door as the knights surrounded Merlin.
He guessed he wouldn’t be seeing the dragonets tonight. Or any other night.
What a disaster.
archaeologist_d
Title: One Prison is much like another - part 34
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Merlin, Leon, Gaius
Summary: Dragons are a handful, whether they be days old or centuries. Arthur wasn’t having any of it.
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1200
Camelot Drabble Prompt #610: Reckless
Author’s notes: Arthur is regent in all but name. AU and all.
-------------
Merlin waited a little while until the bats settled down again. He thought maybe Arthur would send Leon back with competent men this time, but after a while, when no one came, he whispered a good-bye to the dragonets and admonished them to stay hidden and then started up the stairs.
There were clusters of garlic and wolfsbane hanging from the upper doorway, obstructing the entry. Merlin tried not to snicker. The superstitious clods must have ignored anything that Gaius would have to say about it. Mixing up vampires and werewolves with dragons, mixing up reality with myth and legends, as if the herbs would keep the dragons from coming up and blasting everyone into cinders. Unless, of course, they thought the bats were vampires? He wouldn’t put it past whoever had hung the herbs there.
But then, he couldn’t exactly blame them for doing anything to keep ‘evil’ at bay. Vampiric bats were bad enough but dragons, well, dragons were fearsome things when out of control. Kilgharrah made sure that everyone who survived his attack knew that. And that made Merlin’s task so much harder.
But first he needed to see Gaius and get his nose put to rights.
---------------
“You were reckless, Merlin,” Gaius growled, glaring down at Merlin while he poked and prodded at Merlin’s poor nose. At least Gaius’s hands were gentle, even if the tongue-lashing Merlin endured was not. “I told you not to hatch them and you did it anyway.”
He couldn’t keep the petulance out of his voice. “Yes, Gaius, I know, Gaius. I was an idiot, Gaius. Someone who believed in the goodness of men and especially Arthur and he broke my nose.”
“Don’t get smart with me, young man,” Gaius said, annoyance there and a bit of end-of-his-rope exasperation.
Merlin was about to open his mouth again to object when Gaius pushed his nose back into place. It hurt like hell. There were bones grinding and cartilage moving around and bits of dried blood flaking out as Gaius packed the inside. When he put a bandage over the top to keep things in place, Merlin tried not to yelp at the pain but he did whimper a little.
Tutting, Gaius stared down at him, then gave Merlin’s cheek a final pat, and stood back. “That should work. As long as you don’t break it again. I shall be quite cross with you if you do.”
His head feeling ten times its size, his nose throbbing as if a bunch of wilderen had taken refuge up inside his brain and were running around in there, Merlin said, “I need to leave for a day or so. Get the dragonets resettled away from here. Do you think they are old enough?”
That worried him almost as much as Arthur finding them again. Did they need Merlin to help with feeding and protection and keeping them from doing anything foolish? Or was his role to step back and let them fend for themselves? He’d done that with Aithusa and the result had been catastrophic.
“It doesn’t matter if they are not. They cannot remain where Arthur can find them.” Gaius gave a little unhappy grunt. “Arthur was not pleased with what you’ve done.”
“Yeah, I know. He sacked me,” Merlin replied. “The cabbagehead.”
“I am surprised he didn’t run you through. He would have done that to any other fool in his way.” Gaius started putting his things away, shaking his head as he said, “When he came to interrogate me, he was livid.”
“He was here?”
Merlin was surprised at that. He’d have thought that Arthur would have been organizing an army to go back into the cave and destroy the little ones or else brick it all up until the dragons were entombed for all time-not that it would have helped. The cave had lots of exits, some large, some tiny enough that no one would notice, some buried beneath sod and soil but could be easily opened again.
Gaius sent him another look, then heaved a great sigh as if he were talking with the greatest idiot in the entire kingdom.
“Merlin, of course he was. I have more experience with dragons than most. But he was more interested in you and what you knew. I think he suspects you of knowing a great deal more than you are saying. I just hope he doesn’t put two and two together and figure out that you are a dragonlord. That would be disastrous.”
Sometimes Arthur could be so oblivious but not always and sometimes even smart. Talking to Gaius about Merlin was not a good sign but Merlin should have expected it. “What did he want?”
“If you had some mental affliction that would have you speaking in tongues. Or was it just you babbling nonsense like usual?” Gaius stared at him, his eyebrow rising up while Merlin stood there gaping at him.
Finally, Merlin mumbled, “Tongues? I… umm, well, about that.”
He tried not to look guilty but Gaius could see right through him. “You used dragon tongue? In front of Arthur? You foolish, foolish boy.”
“I had to tell the little ones to stop. They were attacking him with fire and smoke. They could have killed him,” Merlin protested. “I didn’t think he’d notice, what with him getting burned and all.”
Gaius gaped at him. “Reckless is the least of it.” He looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit, what with the scowl and the blazing eyes. Finally, still breathing hard as if trying to keep from beating Merlin to death, he said, “I told Arthur that it was just nonsense words, that they had no meaning but… I don’t think he believed me.”
“So where is he now? Maybe I can talk to him,” Merlin said, not really thinking that it would do any good but at least he could see if Arthur was still mad at him.
Gaius didn’t have time to tell him no.
A moment later, the door slammed open and Leon, backed with half a dozen knights, stormed into the room.
“Merlin of Ealdor,” Leon began, looking at Merlin as if seeing him for the first time. “You are under arrest. On suspicion of being a dragonlord. Do not resist or it will go badly for you.”
Standing there, his mouth open, a million scenarios going around in his head, Merlin stared at Leon. He didn’t know whether to run or fly out the window and hope he didn’t crack his head open on the stones below.
“What reason do you have for this preposterous claim, Sir Leon?” Gaius said.
“Dragons under the castle, Gaius, and Merlin helping them.” Leon replied. “Prince Arthur has confirmed that Merlin was using dragon tongue. Only a dragonlord would know that.” At that, Leon lifted his sword, pointing it straight at Merlin. “Come with me or face the consequences. I will not tell you again.”
There wasn’t anything to do but agree. He couldn’t let Gaius be hurt for his actions. “Gaius didn’t know anything about it. I’ve been lying to him for a while. It’s just me. It’s just me.”
Leon nodded, then pointed towards the door as the knights surrounded Merlin.
He guessed he wouldn’t be seeing the dragonets tonight. Or any other night.
What a disaster.