Fic: Percy and the Midnight Quest (Merlin/Arthur)
Title: Percy and the Midnight Quest
Characters: Merlin/Arthur (pre-slash) and Percy
Wordcount: 8,900
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Summary: In which there is a quest, a mysterious creature and some revelations.
A/N: This features an OC of mine, Sir Percy, who was in a previous series The Route To Advancement : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 - although that series doesn’t need to be read to understand this one.
This one is dedicated entirely to Vensre - without whom I would never have finished it. I told her about this at the end of last May and it was only through her encouragement and repeated requests to know what happened that I kept coming back to it and finally, FINALLY, finished it off. Nine months later. WHEW. And she beta’d it too, with her usual thoroughness and removal of my unnecessary punctuation. :)
Percy and the Midnight Quest
Percy was in the middle of a rather horrible dream involving Sir Rhys, Brutus and the castle's famed rose garden when he heard someone calling his name. He blinked his eyes open into darkness, disoriented.
"Percy!"
Sitting up he squinted at his half open chamber door, making out a dark haired figure. "Merlin?" The figure nodded and resolved itself into the Prince's manservant, still wearing his nightshirt over his breeches and looking somewhat dishevelled, "What are you-?"
"I need your help." Merlin cast a nervous glance over his shoulder before whispering, "Meet me outside," and then the door shut once more, leaving Percy in darkness.
It took a few seconds more for Percy to decide that he was obviously still dreaming, because otherwise this would all be extremely odd. Satisfied with his skills of deduction Percy had just settled back down into his blankets when the door creaked open once more.
"We'll need a net."
Percy sighed.
At least this was better than Brutus and the roses.
A few minutes, some clothes and a stubbed toe later Percy made it into the corridor where Merlin was apparently trying to hide himself behind a suit of armour.
"What are you doing?" whispered Percy - because the last thing he wanted was for the other Knights to wake up and find him half dressed and holding a fishing net in the middle of the night whilst Merlin skulked in an alcove.
"I didn't want anyone to find me here," Merlin whispered back (which really, Percy could have worked out for himself). Merlin wriggled back out, nearly dislodging several (probably very loud) parts of the famed Sir Ethelbert's battle armour in the process, then frowned, "What kind of net is that?"
"It's for training," He replied, because fishing probably counted as training. Possibly. Anyway, it was a net.
"Oh," said Merlin, he looked it up and down, "Well it should be the right size, come on."
"The right size for what?" Percy hissed as they crept down the Knight's corridor and towards the east wing of the castle.
"The... er... thing."
Percy began to get a bad feeling about this. They passed out of a side corridor and into the moonlit entrance hall. "What thing?" Percy tried again, able to see Merlin properly at last, "And why are..." he stopped, "Has something burnt your sleeve?"
Merlin glanced at the singed material with what Percy thought was an entirely unconvincing start of surprise. "Oh that's just... I mean, I must have caught it on a candle or something,"
When Percy just continued to stare at his sleeve Merlin evidently came to a decision. "Right, the thing is..." he began, looking somewhere around Percy's left shoulder - which Percy thought could not be a good sign, "The thing is that I was working on... something... for Gaius and I had a bit of an accident and it got affected and then it kind of... hopped off somewhere and..." Merlin took a deep breath, "it might be a good idea to find it."
"With a net?" Percy heard himself asking, trying not to think about how his fishing net was made of string and how the 'thing' had apparently set fire to Merlin's tunic.
"Well," said Merlin, somewhat doubtfully, "I thought it was worth a try."
The last time Merlin had thought something was 'worth a try' Prince Arthur had made him wear a rather hideous feathered hat every evening for a whole week as punishment - but Percy felt it would be a little churlish to bring that up now.
"Aren't you at least going to tell me what it is?" Percy tried.
"All you need to know is that it's very rare," said Merlin. Percy sighed as he shifted the net more comfortably. "And blue." Merlin added.
"Wait... what?"
But Merlin was already ducking past and disappearing away down the dark corridor.
By the time they were jammed under a table in the Great Hall Percy had begun to suspect that this was not an adventure he would be remembered for in the Annals of Camelot. The search for the 'thing' (Merlin was still being ominously reticent about just what the 'thing' was) was not going well. Of course it didn't help that they had to keep hiding in alcoves, cupboards and storerooms to avoid the palace guards. Percy thought he should find it a little disheartening that Camelot's finest troops could be so easily evaded in the dark by two people in white shirts carrying a fishing net but for once he decided to be grateful for small mercies.
They were currently enjoying the thrilling view of several pairs of booted feet congregated in the middle of the hall. One pair belonged to Sir Ellis, who was taking the patrol that night, the other two to the guards he was instructing (in what Percy was starting to think was really quite unnecessary depth). Percy supposed he should be paying a little more attention - after all it was only a matter of weeks until he would be in charge of his first night patrol - but between his right leg going to sleep and nearly stabbing Merlin for the fourth time with the pole of his fishing net he was finding it rather hard to concentrate.
It was at that point that the feet started shuffling around and Sir Ellis cleared his throat loudly. Merlin looked hopeful. Percy shifted carefully and managed, for once, to keep the net still.
"The second thing I want to mention is..." Sir Ellis began.
"Oh for the love of-" Merlin's exasperated whisper was cut off when Percy sighed, wobbled, and nearly stabbed him for a fifth time.
This was getting ridiculous.
"Merlin," Percy whispered as he twisted around slightly, nearly losing an eye to a particularly sharp edge of the table leg, "Are you sure this wouldn't be easier if we just fetched Prince-"
"Don't be silly Percy," Merlin said firmly, "There's no need to draw extra attention to ourselves."
There was a sudden flurry of activity as a guard hurried into the hall and quickly located Sir Ellis, who had just moved on to point three of his list.
"Sir, we've just put out a small fire in the east tower!"
"A fire?" Sir Ellis sounded shocked. Percy wondered if he would have to rewrite his entire list. "We must search the east wing at once."
There was some confusion, then Sir Ellis and the remaining troops strode quickly from the hall.
There followed a short silence. Percy looked at Merlin.
"I have decided we should consult Arthur." Merlin whispered at last.
The passage leading to the Prince's chambers was mercifully empty. Merlin ascribed this to their luck finally turning. Percy ascribed it to the slight smell of burning still emanating from the east wing. They paused outside for a moment as Merlin retrieved his key and unlocked the heavy door, pushing it open to reveal a room dimly lit by the red glow of the fire. Percy took a deep breath. Whilst he was fairly certain that this was the most sensible course of action if they were ever to find the creature Merlin had apparently unleashed upon the castle, it still didn't make waking the Crown Prince in the middle of the night any less of an awful prospect.
Apparently Merlin suffered from no such qualms. Percy had barely managed a tentative 'your highness?' before Merlin strode across to the bed, yanked the covers back and hissed "Arthur! Get up!" in tones reminiscent of Percy's Great Aunt Ethelberta.
"Merlin!" Percy suspected he sounded rather scandalised, an impressive feat given how long he had been in Camelot. "You cannot just-"
"He doesn't mind," said Merlin, as the Prince mumbled something incoherent and reached blearily for his blankets, now sadly out of reach, "sometimes I have to practically push him out of bed to wake him up."
Percy began to feel a little sorry for Prince Arthur. That feeling only intensified when Merlin, upon discovering that the Prince was not, in fact, about to leap from his bed, stole one of his pillows as well - causing Prince Arthur to finally jerk awake and drag himself, blinking and confused, to a sitting position.
"What's..." The Prince managed, his gaze travelling from the window, through which the moon was plainly visible, to Merlin - who was busy collecting his boots - and then, with more concern, to Percy. He frowned, looking suddenly much more awake. "Has something happened?"
"Yes," announced Merlin impressively. The Prince made to get out of bed. "Well, kind of." The Prince sat back down again.
"Merlin, do you remember that conversation we had about waking me up in the middle of the night?"
"That it was all right if I thought it was important?" Merlin said in a hopeful tone.
The Prince's expression suggested this was not the conversation to which he was referring. "I believe my exact words were under no circumstances short of imminent death or Morgana plotting a coup."
"Oh," said Merlin.
Percy felt he ought to stop hovering uselessly by the door and actually say something. "It's partly my fault Sire." As the Prince's gaze shifted towards him Percy stood up straighter and tried to pretend it had nothing to do with the fishing net he was trying to hide behind his back. "I suggested to Merlin that we come and find you because... er... because..." he looked rather helplessly at Merlin who nobly rose to the occasion.
"Because we're on a quest!"
Those weren't quite the words Percy would have chosen.
"A what?" said the Prince.
"A quest," repeated Merlin grandly.
"I see." said the Prince after a short pause. "Would this be anything like the 'quest' we went on when you lost Gaius's keys?"
Merlin scowled. "I don't think you're taking this seriously at all!"
The Prince leant back against the headboard and raised an eyebrow, looking in no hurry to leave his bed. "Very well, Merlin. What is this oh-so-important quest that requires me, your Prince, to traipse after you through the castle in the middle of the night?"
Merlin looked decidedly shifty. "It's... complicated."
"Yes, I thought it might be," agreed the Prince.
"Can't you just take my word for it, as your trusted and loyal manservant?" Merlin said, hopefully.
The Prince just looked at him. Percy guessed that was a 'no'.
Merlin heaved a sigh and, without so much as a by-your-leave, plonked himself and the Prince's boots down onto the (now rather messy) bed. In response, the Prince very pointedly pushed the boots off the bed, giving the blankets a good hard yank and nearly depositing Merlin onto the floor. When even this failed to shift his manservant (who only tutted at him, shifted enough to free the blankets and settled more comfortably against the bedpost), he settled for huffing, loudly and irritably, and snapping, "Well?"
"There's a thing," said Merlin, reluctant.
"A thing?" said Prince Arthur, flatly.
"It's blue," put in Percy, helpfully, in case that might speed matters along.
The Prince rubbed wearily at his face. "There's a thing, and it's blue. I suggest one of you start telling me something a little more concrete soon, or I will summon Sir Ellis and the guard and you can tell them instead."
"Fine," said Merlin sulkily, folding his arms. "I was doing something for Gaius and it went wrong - it wasn't my fault!" he added, wounded, as the Prince rolled his eyes. "It wasn't! Well," he said, as if wishing to be fair, "perhaps a little. But anyway, the point is that something may, possibly, have escaped - by accident! Also, it might look a bit... unusual - which wasn't technically my fault either! But now we can't find it at all and I wouldn't want anyone to think Gaius had been experimenting with-"
The Prince cut him off, resigned. "Is it dangerous?"
Merlin looked everywhere but Prince Arthur and Percy noticed him shift his arm back, as if to hide his singed sleeve. "No?"
"Merlin," said the Prince, warningly.
"Possibly," said Merlin, "A little. But I don't think it means to be!"
"A bit like you then," replied the Prince.
Merlin glared at him, before seeming to remember that he was trying to persuade him to help and adjusting his face into a more servile expression.
The Prince gave him a sardonic look, apparently not taken in in the slightest, before he yawned hugely and commented, casually, "Well, I really fail to see where I come into this."
Merlin mumbled something, but Percy didn't quite catch it.
"What was that, Merlin?" asked the Prince politely.
Merlin pulled a face and stared somewhere around Prince Arthur's left elbow as he said grudgingly, "I said, we can't search around the castle without looking suspicious."
"Ah, I see," said Prince Arthur, as if suddenly enlightened. "So really, you're here to beg for my help?"
"I think 'beg' is a strong word" Merlin muttered.
The Prince began piling his pillows behind him once more, plumping them once or twice for good measure. Percy looked despairingly at Merlin who kicked his legs against the bedstead a couple of times, his expression mulish, and determinedly not looking at the Prince.
"If that's all?" Prince Arthur said cheerfully, rearranging his blankets.
Merlin pressed his lips together, fidgeted a little with the blackened sleeve and then finally burst out, "All right. Please will you help us."
"There," said the Prince, pushing the blankets back once more and smirking, "that wasn't so hard, now was it?"
Merlin threw the Prince's boots in the direction of his head.
"Temper, temper," said Prince Arthur, smirking as he reached for his breeches (Percy looked politely out of the window).
"I didn't want to fetch you anyway," snapped Merlin, getting up to scoop a tunic up from the floor, where it seemed to have been left, and thrusting it at the Prince with a martyred air.
The Prince scoffed, "As if you'd find anyone else to help you with your hare-brained schemes. Percy excepted of course." Percy was relieved to see that the look the Prince threw him was amused, rather than disapproving.
Merlin sniffed, "I bet Sir Edwin would have helped."
The Prince pulled his first boot on, snorting, "Feel free to try it."
"Or Geraint," said Merlin, "I bet he-"
Prince Arthur yanked the other boot on with rather unnecessary force. "I absolutely forbid you to bother any more of my Knights with your ridiculous exploits."
"I only said-"
"That's the end of the matter Merlin," said the Prince, scowling and standing up. "Now, fetch me my sword. Unless you've managed to lose that too?"
Merlin pulled a face (where the Prince couldn't see it) before replying, "You don't need your sword. We've got a net."
Prince Arthur stopped scowling and stared. "A what?"
"A net," said Merlin, completely failing to notice Percy's rather desperate head shake and accompanying 'no, no, no' gestures.
"Where on earth did you get a net?"
Merlin looked confused, "It's Percy's training net."
"His what?"
"Er... perhaps we should go?" put in Percy hastily, gesturing at the door.
Fortunately the Prince seemed prepared to overlook the net in favour of an immediate departure and the three of them were soon in the wide corridor leading from the Royal chambers to the main staircase. It was a relief to be moving normally through the castle again - with no sudden ducking into alcoves and under tables and no accidental near-stabbings whatsoever. As they moved down the staircase to the entrance hall, Merlin had whispered that they should start with the east wing - since he had 'deduced' that the creature might be travelling in that direction. Percy had then dared to mouth the word 'fire' at him, questioning, but Merlin had just widened his eyes - before adopting a look of extreme innocence when the Prince turned to look at them both, suspicious.
As they passed through the dimly lit corridors leading to the east wing, the Prince in front, Merlin half a pace behind and Percy bringing up the rear, Percy listened carefully for any movement, however slight. He noticed the Prince too seemed deep in thought - doubtless formulating some kind of plan for when they did eventually encounter the creature. He had brought his sword, despite Merlin's words, and was gripping it tightly (Percy was gripping his net pretty tightly too - but it was unlikely this had quite the same effect). They were just crossing the chapel passage towards the east staircase when the Prince came to a sudden halt, Merlin nearly walking into the back of him as Percy braced himself, instantly alert.
"What is it?" Merlin whispered after a tense moment.
"Geraint would be useless at this sort of thing," the Prince hissed, sounding highly indignant.
"What?" said Merlin, confused.
"Useless, Merlin. He has absolutely no experience at this sort of delicate indoor tracking work."
Merlin stared at him. Percy lowered his net slightly - looking from one to the other, just as confused as Merlin it seemed. "What are you talking about?" whispered Merlin after a moment.
"You are my manservant Merlin," went on the Prince, "and I don't think it appropriate for you to bother other members of the Court."
Merlin rolled his eyes, "Didn't we just have this conversation in your chambers? Because it didn't make any sense there either." The Prince glared but Merlin just pushed past him, peering into the darkness ahead where they could now hear the distant sounds of Sir Ellis's patrol. "And anyway," Merlin added vaguely, as he began moving forward, "Geraint is good at tracking, he came first in your silly exercise last week and as I see it tracking is tracking, indoors or no."
"I suppose he told you that himself, did he?" said the Prince at once, stalking forward to reclaim his former position, well in front of Percy and Merlin.
"What?" said Merlin, "Oh, no - I saw him. In the woods." The Prince looked outraged. "I wasn't shirking!" protested Merlin immediately. "I was picking herbs for Gaius and he was searching for the sacred saddlebags or whatever it was you'd hidden."
"It was a missing horse carrying secret papers," said Prince Arthur stiffly.
"Yes, that," said Merlin, unrepentant. "Anyway, he stopped to talk to me, found me some fever-few and still found your horse - so he can't be that bad can he?"
Percy looked at the Prince, who seemed to be searching for an appropriate reply. Not that there was anything to dispute, really, since Sir Geraint was very good at tracking. Percy himself had come second from last in the same exercise after an unfortunate mishap involving a wild boar and half an hour up a tree - a mishap he hadn't mentioned, since Sir Rhys had been waiting back at the training grounds, and Percy hadn't seen him looking that smug since Brutus had eaten Lady Gertrude's hat at the Midsummer fair.
So he was rather surprised when, after a short pause, Prince Arthur announced, "There is more to tracking than finding things Merlin."
"There is?" said Merlin, sounding surprised. Percy couldn't blame him, clearly he had misunderstood some very key points in basic training himself.
"Of course," said the Prince, firmly. "And I cannot approve of my Knights wasting their time helping you pick flowers."
"They were herbs. And anyway, what about that time you came with me?"
"That was different," said the Prince at once. "I was scouting for bandits."
"Whilst lying down?" said Merlin.
"It was a very warm day!" snapped the Prince.
"Sire?" said Sir Ellis - who had, apparently, managed to sneak up on all three of them despite carrying a lit torch in one hand and a sheaf of crackling parchment in the other.
Merlin and the Prince came to a sudden stop. Percy came to a not-quite-so-sudden stop and nearly tripped over Merlin.
Sir Ellis merely gaped at them, looking most disconcerted. "Is... Is everything all right, sire?"
The Prince recovered quickly, "Ah, Ellis. Just the man. I need to conduct a... search, of the east wing-"
"A secret search," put in Merlin helpfully.
The Prince closed his eyes briefly, before continuing as if Merlin hadn't spoken, "If you could please direct your men elsewhere, it shouldn't take long. Then you can continue with your usual patrols."
"Of course, sire," said Sir Ellis, still sounding bewildered as his gaze moved from Percy's fishing net, to Merlin's nightshirt over his breeches and the Prince's dishevelled appearance and naked blade. "Are you sure you don't need..." he trailed off, uncertainly.
"No, no," said the Prince, genially. "It is only a small matter."
Sir Ellis hesitated a moment longer before he bowed. "Yes, sire. I will withdraw my men immediately." He turned smartly and disappeared back along the corridor. The Knight was barely out of earshot before Merlin grinned at Percy and, in what Percy thought was a somewhat dubious recollection of their earlier conversations, said, "I told you Arthur would be useful for something."
"I am still here," said the Prince, pointedly.
"I think you ought to go first, Percy, since you have the net," continued Merlin decisively, apparently impervious to the Prince's glare.
"Yes, thank you Merlin," the Prince interrupted with a quelling look, "Fortunately for all of us, I'll be the one making the plans."
Merlin subsided with a small mutter, which Prince Arthur ignored, and they waited in silence for a minute or two, until Sir Ellis once more came into view, followed by a line of guards.
"Sire." Sir Ellis saluted smartly. "All my men are accounted for, so i'll await further orders."
"Very well, Ellis," said the Prince moving aside.
Sir Ellis made to move past before he paused, "I should mention, your highness, that my men recently put out a small fire in one of the upper chambers."
"A fire?" said the Prince. Percy looked at Merlin, who was examining a tapestry with great interest.
"Yes, sire," said Sir Ellis. "It was only small, and quickly dealt with. Probably a spark from the fireplace - but I thought you should now, if you are searching the wing."
The Prince had relaxed at the mention of the fireplace - which Percy couldn't help but feel was a mistake - and was nodding. "Very well, I will bear it in mind. Carry on."
Sir Ellis bowed (again) and marched away, the bright glow of his torch fading to leave only the dimly glowing braziers that lined the corridor walls and silence.
"Well," said Merlin brightly, starting forward, "let's get going then."
He had managed only two steps before the Prince took a firm hold of his shoulder, yanking him back. "Not so fast, Merlin. Before we go any further I think I need a few more details about what exactly I am looking for. And no," he said, as Merlin opened his mouth, "telling me it's blue does not count as sufficient detail."
Merlin huffed impatiently. "Honestly Arthur, you didn't worry this much about the Afanc."
"Would this be the Afanc that nearly killed us?"
"See? This is nothing like that," Merlin said as if the Prince had just proved his point. The Prince was still looking bemused when Merlin ducked out of his hold and darted ahead, quickly disappearing around the corner.
"Merlin!" hissed the Prince, "I insist you-"
Whatever he was about to say was abruptly cut off when a strange high-pitched sound came from Merlin's direction.
Percy exchanged one alarmed look with the Prince before they both rushed forward, turning the corner at a near run - only to find Merlin alone and, despite the sound he was emitting, apparently not undergoing torture.
"What the hell are you doing?" barked the Prince, lowering his sword and sounding furious. Behind him, Percy lowered his net and tried not to look like he'd been brandishing it like a distinctly unthreatening mace.
"I'm trying to summon it!" said Merlin, as if that should have been obvious.
"By squeaking?"
"It's a mating call," said Merlin with great dignity.
The Prince raised an eyebrow and Merlin's sudden blush was evident - even in the dim light. "And there was me thinking we were just trying to catch it," said the Prince.
"I am trying to catch it, you ass!" snapped Merlin.
"Maybe we should all try it?" suggested Percy quickly, before the Prince could do more than look annoyed. The Prince turned and gave him a Look instead. "Or... not," said Percy.
Merlin cupped his hands around his mouth and made the noise again.
The Prince yanked his hands away. "Will you stop that?"
"We have to find it!"
"And it would be what exactly?"
"Your highness?" whispered Percy, suddenly.
"This would be a lot easier if you would just-"
"Your highness!" said Percy, louder.
Merlin and the Prince stopped arguing and stared at him. Percy swallowed and hefted his net a little as he whispered, nervous, "I think I heard something moving. Ahead."
As one, they turned to peer in the direction Percy had nodded toward, where they could make out a dim expanse of corridor and the more distant outline of the stairs leading down to the cellars. In the sudden silence they could all hear it, a soft slapping sound and a loud rustle from the dry rushes strewn on the flagstones.
"It's probably just a rat," said the Prince, after a long moment, "but stay behind me, both of you."
Merlin looked about to argue but the Prince pulled him backward, pushing him toward Percy as he set off towards the noise, sword held high, moving as quietly as possible. Merlin grabbed a guttering rush light from a wall sconce and hurried a little to keep up as Percy moved into position, just behind the Prince and to the left, ready to block any escape route should the creature attempt to run.
As they drew nearer the rustling grew louder, accompanied by strange, wet sounds that made the rat theory increasingly unlikely. It seemed to be coming from the narrow passage leading left from the cellar stairs and as they reached the turn of the corridor, Prince Arthur halted, signalling them back and down as he himself half crouched into a familiar defensive stance.
"Be ready on my signal," he said, his voice low. The rustling sounded again - surely the creature must be only yards away now - and then stopped, suddenly, as if it knew they were there. Percy held his breath. The Prince raised one hand, and Merlin shifted slightly, his rush light flickering madly in the draft from the cellar.
Then, "Now!" hissed the Prince, rising up and taking the corner in two strides, sword up and ready to strike, Percy and Merlin fast on his heels.
Which was unfortunate because it meant they both smacked into him all the harder, when he came to a sudden halt not two feet into the passageway.
There was a moment of confusion as Percy bounced off the Prince and nearly brained himself on the passage wall and Merlin staggered, seized the Prince's nightshirt and only succeeded in nearly ripping it off one shoulder. Then there was silence and a bit of shuffling, as Merlin managed to let go of Prince Arthur's nightwear (fortunately for everyone, the Prince was still decent) and keep a firm hold on the rush light with the other hand, and Percy righted himself and took two shaky steps forwards, tense as a bowstring, his eyes scouring the shadowy floor until they adjusted enough to the low light to see...
"Merlin," the Prince said, in what Percy had come to recognise as his very reasonable and very dangerous voice, "What is that?"
There was a pause as Merlin peered over the Prince's shoulder. "It's a rare, and, er, valuable creature from the distant swamplands of-"
"It's a toad, Merlin, is what it is."
And indeed it was: a very large, very blue, very startled looking toad.
"It's true it might resemble the, uh, common-" Merlin began.
The Prince rolled his eyes. Merlin stopped talking.
The toad blinked.
"Well?" said the Prince, looking pointedly at Merlin.
"Oh, right," said Merlin. He looked a little hesitantly at the toad, then back at the Prince, "Shall I try the mating thing again?"
"Oh for-" Prince Arthur shoved the sword into Merlin's arms and pushed past him, his glare now turned on the creature sitting in the rushes.
It seemed the glare was a little too much for the toad (not that Percy could blame it) - as it promptly scrambled backwards, gave an alarmed croak and set fire to the wall hangings.
To say the Prince appeared shocked by this turn of events would have been something of an understatement. But it seemed that even he wasn't as shocked as the toad who gave another croak (nearly setting fire to the Prince's boots) and disappeared under a rickety side table with an impressive burst of speed while Percy was still salvaging the tapestry.
"Did it just-" gasped the Prince, after a rather action-filled moment.
"I believe so, Sire," Percy managed, still breathing hard.
They both turned to look at Merlin.
"Oh my god!" said Merlin, rather belatedly. "I can't believe it just-"
The Prince took a brief moment to cuff his manservant around the head.
"Right," said Prince Arthur, after an assessing look at the underneath of the table, which was still emitting the occasional nervous puff of smoke. "Clearly, we need a plan."
"Oh, I know," said Merlin, immediately, showing his usual lack of self-preservation, "Why don't we-"
"A different plan," said Prince Arthur at once.
"Hey!" said Merlin indignantly, "you haven't even heard my plan yet!"
"Merlin," said the Prince, evenly, "We are hunting a blue toad in the middle of the night, a toad which, I might add, you apparently made fire breathing due to your unique ability to be utterly rubbish at everything. I do not want to hear your plan."
Merlin subsided with a small mutter of "it probably had an allergy."
The Prince favoured him with a very long look. "One of these days, you and I are going to have a talk about exactly how stupid you think I am."
In the sudden silence that followed this cryptic pronouncement, Percy looked from Prince Arthur to Merlin - only to find him staring at the Prince in a way that reminded Percy rather forcibly of the memorable occasion he'd caught Brutus in the grain store.
"What?" said Merlin, in a voice Percy had never heard him use before, "I don't know what you're-"
The Prince rolled his eyes. "Oh don't be an idiot, Merlin - if I was going to report you, I'd have done it when you melted my hauberk."
"That was an accident," said Merlin, weakly, "I told you, I tripped and dropped it in the-"
The Prince raised his eyebrows and Merlin stopped talking. "Honestly Merlin," the Prince sounded exasperated, "do you think we're blind?" Percy had barely a second to wonder who else he might be referring to, when both Merlin and the Prince turned to look at him and he came to the distressing conclusion that it probably wasn't Sir Edwin. The Prince was clearly waiting for some kind of reaction so Percy decided he'd best look wise and knowing. In all events, he reasoned, you couldn't go wrong by looking wise and knowing.
It must have worked because Merlin looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, looking a bit shocked, then a bit wondering, then a bit like he might be about to Say Something. Evidently the Prince thought so too because he hurriedly interrupted with, "We'd best get started then!" - thus ruining Percy's chance of finding out what he was supposed to know but didn't.
Determinedly ignoring the somewhat tremulous smile Merlin was now bestowing on him, the Prince looked up and down the passage before clearing his throat and announcing, "We will have to try the Braddon Field Manoeuvre."
Percy nodded and tried to remember what the Braddon Field Manoeuvre was. He risked a glance at Merlin but Merlin just beamed at him unhelpfully.
"Oh for goodness sake," Prince Arthur huffed irritably, frowning at the pair of them, "Someone needs to chase it out here so I can catch it!"
"I'll do it!" said Merlin at once, nearly falling over himself (and the Prince's sword) in his eagerness.
The Prince threw him a rather dubious look. "Actually, maybe you should wait by the stairs."
"But I want to help!" protested Merlin, before he swallowed a few times and added, in a somewhat wobbly tone. "Arthur, you have no idea what it means that-"
"Oh god, all right," said the Prince, giving Merlin a push in the direction of the table. "You can help, just... wait for my signal, don't do anything until I say and please stop talking."
Merlin gave them both a terrifyingly grateful smile before he bounded off down the corridor to take up his position, leaving Percy to begin clearing the rushes out of the corridor as the Prince yanked what was left of the hanging from the wall and positioned himself just in front of the cellar stairs.
Once Percy was in position too, the Prince made a series of complex hand signals to Merlin to signal phase one of The Plan. Merlin looked a bit confused but gave an enthusiastic thumbs up in reply. The Prince sighed the sigh of the long-suffering (Percy was very familiar with it by now).
"All right Percy," Prince Arthur whispered, turning away, "When I tell Merlin to-"
Percy never found out what the Prince was about to say, although at a guess, it probably wasn't 'hit the table leg really hard with the sword before we're even looking in the right direction, breaking the leg in half and causing the fire-breathing toad to bolt.' Unfortunately, that was what happened.
Terrified by the table leg it had inadvertently set on fire, the toad burst out from underneath, moving fast as it hopped straight towards the Prince who, taken rather by surprise, lunged forward, throwing the hanging in the right direction and only succeeding in nearly knocking Merlin to the floor as he rushed forward in pursuit. By the time Merlin had managed to pull the tapestry off his head and immediately start beating out the table fire with the only bit of it not already burned, the Prince was looking wildly around for the escaping creature, which, to Percy's horror, appeared to be making straight for him and his fishing net, belching out long plumes of flame as it went.
Since coming to Camelot, Percy had been trained for many things. Shockingly, this was not one of them.
Throwing caution to the wind, he tossed the net aside and dashed back down the corridor, the creature in pursuit (probably due, not a little, to the noise the Prince and Merlin were making). As he skidded to a halt in the wide entrance hall, he looked around, spying what he was looking for after a nerve-wracking moment and grabbing it quickly. He spun round to find the toad, poised at the end of the corridor in front of what looked like a rather large spread of dry rushes. Percy gulped. The toad blinked at him, looking remarkably small and unthreatening for something that might be about to fry him to a crisp. Then, before Percy's eyes, it seemed to expand, eyes bulging as it drew in air, opened its wide mouth and...
Was promptly doused in the contents of the vase Percy was holding, water, flowers and all.
For a moment Percy didn't dare move. Distantly he was aware of the Prince and Merlin approaching at a jog, before they too came to a halt, gazes fixed on the floor, both breathing hard.
The toad closed its mouth. It made a series of strange wet gurgling sounds as it swallowed rather a lot of the dirty water Percy had thrown at it (and possibly a flower too, judging by the stalk still sticking out of its mouth). Then it expanded once more, even bigger than before - until Percy began to feel a little bit worried that it really was allergic and also possibly about to explode. Before, with another gurgle and a loud and rather surprised sounding croak, the toad suddenly deflated, emitting a cloud of steam that seemed to fill the entrance hall with the faint scent of geraniums.
There was a silence, broken by an exhausted sounding Prince Arthur. "Excellent work, Percy." Percy tried to look appropriately honoured and not like the fear of a potentially explosive toad had caused him to crack the handle of the antique vase still clutched tightly in his hand (it had). Fortunately the toad provided him with enough of a distraction to shove the vase, complete with wobbly handle, onto the nearby window ledge where he hoped no-one would ever find it again.
"Yes," said Merlin, beaming at him a moment later, "I don't know what we would have done without you! And Arthur too of course," he added quickly. The Prince looked taken aback by this praise, before Merlin finished with an encouraging, "Your plan nearly worked," - at which point the Prince stopped looking taken aback and started looking outraged.
"Excuse me? Perhaps if you had waited for my signal."
"I did!" said Merlin, indignant, "You told me to go," he flapped his hand up and down as if to demonstrate.
"That means 'wait'," snapped the Prince.
"I thought the pointy finger meant wait?"
"First of all, it is not a pointy finger, second, it means 'duck' - which you would know if you paid the slightest bit of attention to-"
"Sire!" interrupted Percy hastily, "I think the creature is escaping!"
'Escaping' was rather a strong word for the toad's ponderous walk back down the corridor, accompanied by a trail of steam, but it did at least have the desired effect of halting another argument, as the Prince turned to look and Merlin went loping off down the corridor to retrieve it, carrying it back half wrapped in the bottom of his nightshirt.
"Right," said the Prince, obviously putting the signal discussion aside for another day and casting an unfavourable look at where the toad sat ensconced in Merlin's arms, its throat working as Merlin stroked its head with one sooty finger. "I think the best thing to do would be to get rid of the creature somewhere far from the castle, just in case something goes wrong."
"Of course Sire," said Percy.
"I think I'll call him Alfred," said Merlin.
"Agreed then," said the Prince, "If we leave now we can get far enough away for..." he stopped as a few things belatedly caught up with him, "Pardon?"
"Alfred," Merlin repeated, "I think he looks like an Alfred." Percy rather thought he looked like a blue, fire breathing toad. Evidently the Prince agreed.
"Merlin you are not keeping the toad."
When Merlin just looked hopefully from the Prince to the toad and back again, the Prince snatched his sword up from where Merlin had apparently dropped it in his haste to rescue the creature and said, irritably, "Absolutely not, Merlin. And you needn't look like that - you're lucky not to be facing the guards!"
At his words Merlin's hopeful look froze and then, to Percy's surprise, disappeared completely, leaving Merlin staring white faced at the Prince and gripping Alfred so hard the creature was moved to give a croak of protest. Percy had just opened his mouth to speak (because even if the guards were there, they could hardly overrule the Prince after all) when Merlin swallowed, and then, sounding like he was choking over the words, said, "All right," in a small voice.
"No, I'm sorry," said the Prince, firmly, wiping soot off his blade, "that's my final... what?" He stopped what he was doing and stared at Merlin.
"I said all right," said Merlin, still in that strange voice.
"Well," said the Prince after a moment, "Good!" Then he looked at Merlin again, seemingly confused as he added, "I'm glad to see you finally developing some respect for my authority."
Merlin nodded. Prince Arthur blinked, and looked like he was fighting the urge to check for fever. "Right, well, I suppose we should go then - to release the toad." He darted another quick glance at Merlin as he said it but Merlin only dropped his gaze. Then he looked at Percy, his expression as close to bewildered as Percy had ever seen it. "Percy," he pulled himself together, "I believe you're missing a net?"
"Oh yes, of course Sire," said Percy, directing one last look at Merlin before he hurried down the corridor to retrieve his (sadly charred) fishing net.
When he got back, it was to find a rather awkward silence had fallen over the hall as Prince Arthur kept sneaking looks at Merlin and Merlin clutched Alfred the Toad like he was his only friend in the world.
Percy cleared his throat. "I think that's everything, Sire."
"Excellent," said the Prince, a little too heartily, "We'd best get moving then, before the servants are up." He stared at Merlin a moment longer before he turned, falling in alongside Percy and evidently trying to ignore the way Merlin was trailing along behind them both like the spectre at the feast.
The Prince maintained an admirably stoic front all along the corridor. He maintained it through the brief, and somewhat dubious account of events he gave Sir Ellis (who had abandoned his list entirely by that point). He even maintained it as they slipped past the Great Hall and towards the outer door by the kitchens. But it seemed even he could not maintain it when he addressed his third comment to Merlin and received a subdued, "yes, sire," in response. Not that Percy could blame him, he thought he'd rather have Merlin the Perfect Manservant than this strange, passive Merlin any day.
"All right," the Prince snapped as he came to a sudden halt, five doors and a short staircase later, "You can keep the damn toad, just stop it!"
Merlin stared at him, gaping for a moment. "Stop what?"
The Prince gestured wildly, "This! This silence! This trying to make me feel bad. Just stop it."
Merlin's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, before he managed, "I wasn't."
The Prince glared. "I know you find it hard to remember events from more than ten minutes ago, but when I said I wasn't stupid, I meant in general, not just when it suits you."
Merlin gulped, and shook his head. Alfred the Toad breathed out another cloud of steam, looking bored.
The Prince frowned at him, apparently thrown by the absence of some sort of victory grin. Then as he looked, his face slowly changed, his frown cleared and he looked horrified, and also, Percy thought, strangely hurt. "Is this about the..." he waved his hand around (which, in Percy's admittedly modest knowledge of hand signals, meant he was telling Merlin to climb a tree and duck). When Merlin still didn't say anything, the Prince's eyes widened, "It is, isn't it! When I said you were lucky not to be facing the guards, you actually thought I meant..." He seemed lost for words.
"You said-" Merlin finally began, but Prince Arthur cut him off.
"I told you if I was going to do it, I would have done it a long time ago. I can't believe you thought-" It was at this point he seemed to recall Percy standing there, fishing net in hand and doing his best to blend into the wall at what seemed to have turned into rather a private conversation. Prince Arthur looked away, fiddled with the hilt of his sword for a moment and then said, somewhat gruffly, "I meant you were lucky not to be trying to explain this whole mess to them, not-" Merlin seemed to be regaining some colour as the Prince continued, "not... that."
"Oh," said Merlin at last, his voice small again. He tried to catch the Prince's eye but the Prince appeared fascinated by the window frame behind Percy. He wiped a bit more soot from his sword hilt and Percy wondered if he should say something. Through the window he could see the sky lightening in the distance, signalling the coming of the dawn and he didn't know how any of them were going to explain being found loitering by the kitchens covered in soot and carrying a blue toad, even if they were accompanied by the Crown Prince. Then Merlin spoke again, earnest, "Arthur, I didn't mean to- I should never have thought-"
"It is of no matter," said the Prince stiffly. He looked at Percy, who tried to stand a little straighter, "It seems we won't be needing to leave the castle after all, Percy. I suggest we all return to our chambers - training won't wait for either of us."
"Yes, Sire," said Percy, unsettled by the strange tension in the corridor. Even Alfred the toad seemed to have been affected now, letting out little nervous croaks and trying to clamber out of Merlin's grip (although that could have been Merlin holding him little too tightly again, it was hard to tell). The Prince pushed past them both and started off down the corridor, and, with a helpless look at Merlin, Percy fell into step behind him, Merlin taking a moment longer to catch up, toad still clutched in the bottom of his now filthy shirt.
"Arthur, please don't-"
"Just because I am letting you keep it," interrupted the Prince, still strangely stiff in his speech, "that doesn't mean I ever want to hear of him escaping again."
"Of course not," said Merlin, hurrying to keep pace with the Prince's long strides, "Alfred will be an exemplary toad, I promise - but I wanted to-"
"And if it ever sets fire to anything again..." the Prince left the threat unspoken.
Merlin shook his head so quickly it looked in danger of coming off. "Never, I swear. Arthur, please-"
"We'd better go up the back stairs," said the Prince.
"Arthur!" said Merlin, and the Prince finally stopped, looking at Merlin's right knee. Percy found himself holding his breath. "I'm sorry," said Merlin, eyes fixed on the Prince like he was willing him to meet his gaze, "I should never have thought that was what you meant. I just... I didn't think, I mean, you knew and I didn't know that you knew, or that Percy knew, or that you didn't know I didn't know that you..." he stopped, evidently having confused himself (and Percy for that matter), before he shook his head and tried again, "But I should have known better," he looked at Percy then, "after you both kept my secret so long."
Percy was really wishing now that he'd bypassed looking wise and knowing for just asking. He could imagine this was going to get extremely awkward before long.
"And thank you," said Merlin, attempting another wobbly smile as he looked back at the Prince, "for letting me keep Alfred."
The Prince frowned at Merlin's right knee for several long seconds before he, finally, raised his gaze to see Merlin looking impossibly sincere, eyes wide and pleading. Percy didn't dare move. Then, "Alfred's a silly name," the Prince muttered, and Percy let out a long breath as Merlin seemed to sag with relief and, for one terrifying moment, appeared to teeter on the edge of actually hugging the heir to the throne, toad and all. A warning clearing of the throat from said heir halted him in his tracks, and he settled for merely beaming at him once more.
"What would you call him then?" he said, looking like he was keeping himself still with a supreme effort.
Prince Arthur gave him a look of disbelief, "I wouldn't call it anything, it's a toad, Merlin. A blue toad, I should add."
Merlin held the toad up to his face as if he was having some kind of silent conversation with it. "I think he's more of a bluish grey."
"Blue," said the Prince firmly. The toad emitted a disdainful puff of steam in the Prince's direction; Merlin gave it a soothing pat. "And anyway," Prince Arthur went on, resolutely ignoring this small exchange. "I don't even know what you're going to do with it."
"Toads have many uses." Merlin said loftily, "They eat spiders," Prince Arthur failed to look impressed by this, "and they, er... ward off evil spirits!"
"Really?" the Prince sounded sceptical, "What do they do? Stare them into submission?"
Merlin looked at the Prince. The toad seemed to be looking at him too - in what Percy thought was a rather creepy way (perhaps there was something to the whole 'warding off evil spirits' idea after all).
"I think he likes you," Merlin offered, encouraging.
Percy thought this rather optimistic.
"Oh, well I'm glad the toad likes me Merlin," said the Prince, attempting a haughty tone and failing, "I should hate to disappoint the blue, fire-breathing monster."
"Don't listen to him Alfred," said Merlin, firmly, shifting the toad more comfortably in his arms.
The Prince cast it a dark look before he resumed his purposeful walk to the back stairs, Percy and Merlin in tow. "If you two are quite finished?"
Merlin smiled happily at the Prince, then at Percy, as though all was right with the world once more, and Percy decided that whatever this secret was, it probably wasn't of the 'secret fishing habit' variety (not that anyone needed to know about that yet - as far as the Court was concerned, Percy enjoyed long walks).
They crossed the hall and climbed the stairs in comfortable silence, broken only by Alfred's soft croaks and Merlin apparently cooing at it.
"Is that absolutely necessary?" said the Prince, after Merlin has cooed his way half way across the central wing.
"He likes it," said Merlin stoutly.
In Percy's admittedly inexpert opinion, Alfred looked indifferent at best - and possibly a little grumpy. But then, if Percy had spent his evening breathing fire and being chased across the castle, he supposed he would look a little grumpy too.
"I hope Gaius can find a use for him," went on Merlin, dusting another tiny soot smudge from Alfred's back.
"Is he out of candles?" said the Prince tartly.
Merlin stuck his tongue out and Percy found himself biting back a smile of relief when the Prince merely rolled his eyes in response. The night had been rather eventful, all things considered, and Percy was just happy it was nearly over and things back to normal, or as normal as they ever were.
The three of them parted at the top of the stairs, as the Prince turned towards the Royal chambers with a final warning of the very long talk he and "certain idiotic" manservants would be having later that morning (Merlin would have attended him there and then, but apparently Alfred was exhausted and needed quiet), leaving Merlin and Percy to take a more inconspicuous route to the Knight's Quarters and the physician's rooms, walking together part of the way. As the shadowy entrance to the Knight's quarters came into sight, Percy stopped - it felt like several days since he had emerged to find Merlin hiding in an alcove and he was looking forward to at least a few hours sleep.
"Well, goodnight then!" said Merlin, looking sleepy but happy. "And thank you - we could never have done it without you."
"Oh no," said Percy, feeling awkward, "I'm sure I didn't do-"
"Don't be modest Percy," said Merlin firmly, "You saved Alfred." (Alfred failed to look suitably grateful.) "And, thank you for..." Merlin hesitated long enough for Percy to let himself feel hopeful, "...you know, as well." Percy gave up. Quite clearly he was going to spend the rest of his life completely clueless and laughing at jokes he didn't understand.
"You're welcome," he said, a trifle gloomily. He hoisted up what was left of his valiant fishing net and went to lift a hand in farewell.
"Oh no!" said Merlin, sounding horrified, "What's happened to your training net?"
"My...? Oh, yes," Percy felt his face flush, "It got... um... a little singed. But I'm sure the Prince will, er, lend me a new one when we need it," he finished, as Merlin tried to take it out of his hands.
Then Merlin grinned at him and said, "Or I could just fix it for you?"
"Really, you don't have to," Percy protested, holding on to it, "I can just repair it with some string and some-"
Which was the point at which Merlin's eyes went gold, the net glowed all over, rippled and fixed itself - and also the point at which Percy staggered backwards in shock and nearly plunged down the stairs to an early grave.
"There," said Merlin, proudly. "Good as new." He hoisted Alfred a little in his arms with the air of a man who'd just seen a job well done. "See you in a few hours, Percy!" And then Merlin was trotting away down the stairs, leaving Percy clutching his net and the stair rail in a death-grip from which he might never be able to prise his fingers.
No, he thought faintly, as he stared at his net - which seemed still to be faintly glowing (and had acquired a rather elaborately carved handle in teak - which was certainly a change), that was definitely not a 'secret fishing habit' kind of secret.
The End
And here he is! As drawn by Vensre
There is also bonus!Percy in Percy the Legend
Characters: Merlin/Arthur (pre-slash) and Percy
Wordcount: 8,900
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Summary: In which there is a quest, a mysterious creature and some revelations.
A/N: This features an OC of mine, Sir Percy, who was in a previous series The Route To Advancement : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 - although that series doesn’t need to be read to understand this one.
This one is dedicated entirely to Vensre - without whom I would never have finished it. I told her about this at the end of last May and it was only through her encouragement and repeated requests to know what happened that I kept coming back to it and finally, FINALLY, finished it off. Nine months later. WHEW. And she beta’d it too, with her usual thoroughness and removal of my unnecessary punctuation. :)
Percy and the Midnight Quest
Percy was in the middle of a rather horrible dream involving Sir Rhys, Brutus and the castle's famed rose garden when he heard someone calling his name. He blinked his eyes open into darkness, disoriented.
"Percy!"
Sitting up he squinted at his half open chamber door, making out a dark haired figure. "Merlin?" The figure nodded and resolved itself into the Prince's manservant, still wearing his nightshirt over his breeches and looking somewhat dishevelled, "What are you-?"
"I need your help." Merlin cast a nervous glance over his shoulder before whispering, "Meet me outside," and then the door shut once more, leaving Percy in darkness.
It took a few seconds more for Percy to decide that he was obviously still dreaming, because otherwise this would all be extremely odd. Satisfied with his skills of deduction Percy had just settled back down into his blankets when the door creaked open once more.
"We'll need a net."
Percy sighed.
At least this was better than Brutus and the roses.
A few minutes, some clothes and a stubbed toe later Percy made it into the corridor where Merlin was apparently trying to hide himself behind a suit of armour.
"What are you doing?" whispered Percy - because the last thing he wanted was for the other Knights to wake up and find him half dressed and holding a fishing net in the middle of the night whilst Merlin skulked in an alcove.
"I didn't want anyone to find me here," Merlin whispered back (which really, Percy could have worked out for himself). Merlin wriggled back out, nearly dislodging several (probably very loud) parts of the famed Sir Ethelbert's battle armour in the process, then frowned, "What kind of net is that?"
"It's for training," He replied, because fishing probably counted as training. Possibly. Anyway, it was a net.
"Oh," said Merlin, he looked it up and down, "Well it should be the right size, come on."
"The right size for what?" Percy hissed as they crept down the Knight's corridor and towards the east wing of the castle.
"The... er... thing."
Percy began to get a bad feeling about this. They passed out of a side corridor and into the moonlit entrance hall. "What thing?" Percy tried again, able to see Merlin properly at last, "And why are..." he stopped, "Has something burnt your sleeve?"
Merlin glanced at the singed material with what Percy thought was an entirely unconvincing start of surprise. "Oh that's just... I mean, I must have caught it on a candle or something,"
When Percy just continued to stare at his sleeve Merlin evidently came to a decision. "Right, the thing is..." he began, looking somewhere around Percy's left shoulder - which Percy thought could not be a good sign, "The thing is that I was working on... something... for Gaius and I had a bit of an accident and it got affected and then it kind of... hopped off somewhere and..." Merlin took a deep breath, "it might be a good idea to find it."
"With a net?" Percy heard himself asking, trying not to think about how his fishing net was made of string and how the 'thing' had apparently set fire to Merlin's tunic.
"Well," said Merlin, somewhat doubtfully, "I thought it was worth a try."
The last time Merlin had thought something was 'worth a try' Prince Arthur had made him wear a rather hideous feathered hat every evening for a whole week as punishment - but Percy felt it would be a little churlish to bring that up now.
"Aren't you at least going to tell me what it is?" Percy tried.
"All you need to know is that it's very rare," said Merlin. Percy sighed as he shifted the net more comfortably. "And blue." Merlin added.
"Wait... what?"
But Merlin was already ducking past and disappearing away down the dark corridor.
By the time they were jammed under a table in the Great Hall Percy had begun to suspect that this was not an adventure he would be remembered for in the Annals of Camelot. The search for the 'thing' (Merlin was still being ominously reticent about just what the 'thing' was) was not going well. Of course it didn't help that they had to keep hiding in alcoves, cupboards and storerooms to avoid the palace guards. Percy thought he should find it a little disheartening that Camelot's finest troops could be so easily evaded in the dark by two people in white shirts carrying a fishing net but for once he decided to be grateful for small mercies.
They were currently enjoying the thrilling view of several pairs of booted feet congregated in the middle of the hall. One pair belonged to Sir Ellis, who was taking the patrol that night, the other two to the guards he was instructing (in what Percy was starting to think was really quite unnecessary depth). Percy supposed he should be paying a little more attention - after all it was only a matter of weeks until he would be in charge of his first night patrol - but between his right leg going to sleep and nearly stabbing Merlin for the fourth time with the pole of his fishing net he was finding it rather hard to concentrate.
It was at that point that the feet started shuffling around and Sir Ellis cleared his throat loudly. Merlin looked hopeful. Percy shifted carefully and managed, for once, to keep the net still.
"The second thing I want to mention is..." Sir Ellis began.
"Oh for the love of-" Merlin's exasperated whisper was cut off when Percy sighed, wobbled, and nearly stabbed him for a fifth time.
This was getting ridiculous.
"Merlin," Percy whispered as he twisted around slightly, nearly losing an eye to a particularly sharp edge of the table leg, "Are you sure this wouldn't be easier if we just fetched Prince-"
"Don't be silly Percy," Merlin said firmly, "There's no need to draw extra attention to ourselves."
There was a sudden flurry of activity as a guard hurried into the hall and quickly located Sir Ellis, who had just moved on to point three of his list.
"Sir, we've just put out a small fire in the east tower!"
"A fire?" Sir Ellis sounded shocked. Percy wondered if he would have to rewrite his entire list. "We must search the east wing at once."
There was some confusion, then Sir Ellis and the remaining troops strode quickly from the hall.
There followed a short silence. Percy looked at Merlin.
"I have decided we should consult Arthur." Merlin whispered at last.
The passage leading to the Prince's chambers was mercifully empty. Merlin ascribed this to their luck finally turning. Percy ascribed it to the slight smell of burning still emanating from the east wing. They paused outside for a moment as Merlin retrieved his key and unlocked the heavy door, pushing it open to reveal a room dimly lit by the red glow of the fire. Percy took a deep breath. Whilst he was fairly certain that this was the most sensible course of action if they were ever to find the creature Merlin had apparently unleashed upon the castle, it still didn't make waking the Crown Prince in the middle of the night any less of an awful prospect.
Apparently Merlin suffered from no such qualms. Percy had barely managed a tentative 'your highness?' before Merlin strode across to the bed, yanked the covers back and hissed "Arthur! Get up!" in tones reminiscent of Percy's Great Aunt Ethelberta.
"Merlin!" Percy suspected he sounded rather scandalised, an impressive feat given how long he had been in Camelot. "You cannot just-"
"He doesn't mind," said Merlin, as the Prince mumbled something incoherent and reached blearily for his blankets, now sadly out of reach, "sometimes I have to practically push him out of bed to wake him up."
Percy began to feel a little sorry for Prince Arthur. That feeling only intensified when Merlin, upon discovering that the Prince was not, in fact, about to leap from his bed, stole one of his pillows as well - causing Prince Arthur to finally jerk awake and drag himself, blinking and confused, to a sitting position.
"What's..." The Prince managed, his gaze travelling from the window, through which the moon was plainly visible, to Merlin - who was busy collecting his boots - and then, with more concern, to Percy. He frowned, looking suddenly much more awake. "Has something happened?"
"Yes," announced Merlin impressively. The Prince made to get out of bed. "Well, kind of." The Prince sat back down again.
"Merlin, do you remember that conversation we had about waking me up in the middle of the night?"
"That it was all right if I thought it was important?" Merlin said in a hopeful tone.
The Prince's expression suggested this was not the conversation to which he was referring. "I believe my exact words were under no circumstances short of imminent death or Morgana plotting a coup."
"Oh," said Merlin.
Percy felt he ought to stop hovering uselessly by the door and actually say something. "It's partly my fault Sire." As the Prince's gaze shifted towards him Percy stood up straighter and tried to pretend it had nothing to do with the fishing net he was trying to hide behind his back. "I suggested to Merlin that we come and find you because... er... because..." he looked rather helplessly at Merlin who nobly rose to the occasion.
"Because we're on a quest!"
Those weren't quite the words Percy would have chosen.
"A what?" said the Prince.
"A quest," repeated Merlin grandly.
"I see." said the Prince after a short pause. "Would this be anything like the 'quest' we went on when you lost Gaius's keys?"
Merlin scowled. "I don't think you're taking this seriously at all!"
The Prince leant back against the headboard and raised an eyebrow, looking in no hurry to leave his bed. "Very well, Merlin. What is this oh-so-important quest that requires me, your Prince, to traipse after you through the castle in the middle of the night?"
Merlin looked decidedly shifty. "It's... complicated."
"Yes, I thought it might be," agreed the Prince.
"Can't you just take my word for it, as your trusted and loyal manservant?" Merlin said, hopefully.
The Prince just looked at him. Percy guessed that was a 'no'.
Merlin heaved a sigh and, without so much as a by-your-leave, plonked himself and the Prince's boots down onto the (now rather messy) bed. In response, the Prince very pointedly pushed the boots off the bed, giving the blankets a good hard yank and nearly depositing Merlin onto the floor. When even this failed to shift his manservant (who only tutted at him, shifted enough to free the blankets and settled more comfortably against the bedpost), he settled for huffing, loudly and irritably, and snapping, "Well?"
"There's a thing," said Merlin, reluctant.
"A thing?" said Prince Arthur, flatly.
"It's blue," put in Percy, helpfully, in case that might speed matters along.
The Prince rubbed wearily at his face. "There's a thing, and it's blue. I suggest one of you start telling me something a little more concrete soon, or I will summon Sir Ellis and the guard and you can tell them instead."
"Fine," said Merlin sulkily, folding his arms. "I was doing something for Gaius and it went wrong - it wasn't my fault!" he added, wounded, as the Prince rolled his eyes. "It wasn't! Well," he said, as if wishing to be fair, "perhaps a little. But anyway, the point is that something may, possibly, have escaped - by accident! Also, it might look a bit... unusual - which wasn't technically my fault either! But now we can't find it at all and I wouldn't want anyone to think Gaius had been experimenting with-"
The Prince cut him off, resigned. "Is it dangerous?"
Merlin looked everywhere but Prince Arthur and Percy noticed him shift his arm back, as if to hide his singed sleeve. "No?"
"Merlin," said the Prince, warningly.
"Possibly," said Merlin, "A little. But I don't think it means to be!"
"A bit like you then," replied the Prince.
Merlin glared at him, before seeming to remember that he was trying to persuade him to help and adjusting his face into a more servile expression.
The Prince gave him a sardonic look, apparently not taken in in the slightest, before he yawned hugely and commented, casually, "Well, I really fail to see where I come into this."
Merlin mumbled something, but Percy didn't quite catch it.
"What was that, Merlin?" asked the Prince politely.
Merlin pulled a face and stared somewhere around Prince Arthur's left elbow as he said grudgingly, "I said, we can't search around the castle without looking suspicious."
"Ah, I see," said Prince Arthur, as if suddenly enlightened. "So really, you're here to beg for my help?"
"I think 'beg' is a strong word" Merlin muttered.
The Prince began piling his pillows behind him once more, plumping them once or twice for good measure. Percy looked despairingly at Merlin who kicked his legs against the bedstead a couple of times, his expression mulish, and determinedly not looking at the Prince.
"If that's all?" Prince Arthur said cheerfully, rearranging his blankets.
Merlin pressed his lips together, fidgeted a little with the blackened sleeve and then finally burst out, "All right. Please will you help us."
"There," said the Prince, pushing the blankets back once more and smirking, "that wasn't so hard, now was it?"
Merlin threw the Prince's boots in the direction of his head.
"Temper, temper," said Prince Arthur, smirking as he reached for his breeches (Percy looked politely out of the window).
"I didn't want to fetch you anyway," snapped Merlin, getting up to scoop a tunic up from the floor, where it seemed to have been left, and thrusting it at the Prince with a martyred air.
The Prince scoffed, "As if you'd find anyone else to help you with your hare-brained schemes. Percy excepted of course." Percy was relieved to see that the look the Prince threw him was amused, rather than disapproving.
Merlin sniffed, "I bet Sir Edwin would have helped."
The Prince pulled his first boot on, snorting, "Feel free to try it."
"Or Geraint," said Merlin, "I bet he-"
Prince Arthur yanked the other boot on with rather unnecessary force. "I absolutely forbid you to bother any more of my Knights with your ridiculous exploits."
"I only said-"
"That's the end of the matter Merlin," said the Prince, scowling and standing up. "Now, fetch me my sword. Unless you've managed to lose that too?"
Merlin pulled a face (where the Prince couldn't see it) before replying, "You don't need your sword. We've got a net."
Prince Arthur stopped scowling and stared. "A what?"
"A net," said Merlin, completely failing to notice Percy's rather desperate head shake and accompanying 'no, no, no' gestures.
"Where on earth did you get a net?"
Merlin looked confused, "It's Percy's training net."
"His what?"
"Er... perhaps we should go?" put in Percy hastily, gesturing at the door.
Fortunately the Prince seemed prepared to overlook the net in favour of an immediate departure and the three of them were soon in the wide corridor leading from the Royal chambers to the main staircase. It was a relief to be moving normally through the castle again - with no sudden ducking into alcoves and under tables and no accidental near-stabbings whatsoever. As they moved down the staircase to the entrance hall, Merlin had whispered that they should start with the east wing - since he had 'deduced' that the creature might be travelling in that direction. Percy had then dared to mouth the word 'fire' at him, questioning, but Merlin had just widened his eyes - before adopting a look of extreme innocence when the Prince turned to look at them both, suspicious.
As they passed through the dimly lit corridors leading to the east wing, the Prince in front, Merlin half a pace behind and Percy bringing up the rear, Percy listened carefully for any movement, however slight. He noticed the Prince too seemed deep in thought - doubtless formulating some kind of plan for when they did eventually encounter the creature. He had brought his sword, despite Merlin's words, and was gripping it tightly (Percy was gripping his net pretty tightly too - but it was unlikely this had quite the same effect). They were just crossing the chapel passage towards the east staircase when the Prince came to a sudden halt, Merlin nearly walking into the back of him as Percy braced himself, instantly alert.
"What is it?" Merlin whispered after a tense moment.
"Geraint would be useless at this sort of thing," the Prince hissed, sounding highly indignant.
"What?" said Merlin, confused.
"Useless, Merlin. He has absolutely no experience at this sort of delicate indoor tracking work."
Merlin stared at him. Percy lowered his net slightly - looking from one to the other, just as confused as Merlin it seemed. "What are you talking about?" whispered Merlin after a moment.
"You are my manservant Merlin," went on the Prince, "and I don't think it appropriate for you to bother other members of the Court."
Merlin rolled his eyes, "Didn't we just have this conversation in your chambers? Because it didn't make any sense there either." The Prince glared but Merlin just pushed past him, peering into the darkness ahead where they could now hear the distant sounds of Sir Ellis's patrol. "And anyway," Merlin added vaguely, as he began moving forward, "Geraint is good at tracking, he came first in your silly exercise last week and as I see it tracking is tracking, indoors or no."
"I suppose he told you that himself, did he?" said the Prince at once, stalking forward to reclaim his former position, well in front of Percy and Merlin.
"What?" said Merlin, "Oh, no - I saw him. In the woods." The Prince looked outraged. "I wasn't shirking!" protested Merlin immediately. "I was picking herbs for Gaius and he was searching for the sacred saddlebags or whatever it was you'd hidden."
"It was a missing horse carrying secret papers," said Prince Arthur stiffly.
"Yes, that," said Merlin, unrepentant. "Anyway, he stopped to talk to me, found me some fever-few and still found your horse - so he can't be that bad can he?"
Percy looked at the Prince, who seemed to be searching for an appropriate reply. Not that there was anything to dispute, really, since Sir Geraint was very good at tracking. Percy himself had come second from last in the same exercise after an unfortunate mishap involving a wild boar and half an hour up a tree - a mishap he hadn't mentioned, since Sir Rhys had been waiting back at the training grounds, and Percy hadn't seen him looking that smug since Brutus had eaten Lady Gertrude's hat at the Midsummer fair.
So he was rather surprised when, after a short pause, Prince Arthur announced, "There is more to tracking than finding things Merlin."
"There is?" said Merlin, sounding surprised. Percy couldn't blame him, clearly he had misunderstood some very key points in basic training himself.
"Of course," said the Prince, firmly. "And I cannot approve of my Knights wasting their time helping you pick flowers."
"They were herbs. And anyway, what about that time you came with me?"
"That was different," said the Prince at once. "I was scouting for bandits."
"Whilst lying down?" said Merlin.
"It was a very warm day!" snapped the Prince.
"Sire?" said Sir Ellis - who had, apparently, managed to sneak up on all three of them despite carrying a lit torch in one hand and a sheaf of crackling parchment in the other.
Merlin and the Prince came to a sudden stop. Percy came to a not-quite-so-sudden stop and nearly tripped over Merlin.
Sir Ellis merely gaped at them, looking most disconcerted. "Is... Is everything all right, sire?"
The Prince recovered quickly, "Ah, Ellis. Just the man. I need to conduct a... search, of the east wing-"
"A secret search," put in Merlin helpfully.
The Prince closed his eyes briefly, before continuing as if Merlin hadn't spoken, "If you could please direct your men elsewhere, it shouldn't take long. Then you can continue with your usual patrols."
"Of course, sire," said Sir Ellis, still sounding bewildered as his gaze moved from Percy's fishing net, to Merlin's nightshirt over his breeches and the Prince's dishevelled appearance and naked blade. "Are you sure you don't need..." he trailed off, uncertainly.
"No, no," said the Prince, genially. "It is only a small matter."
Sir Ellis hesitated a moment longer before he bowed. "Yes, sire. I will withdraw my men immediately." He turned smartly and disappeared back along the corridor. The Knight was barely out of earshot before Merlin grinned at Percy and, in what Percy thought was a somewhat dubious recollection of their earlier conversations, said, "I told you Arthur would be useful for something."
"I am still here," said the Prince, pointedly.
"I think you ought to go first, Percy, since you have the net," continued Merlin decisively, apparently impervious to the Prince's glare.
"Yes, thank you Merlin," the Prince interrupted with a quelling look, "Fortunately for all of us, I'll be the one making the plans."
Merlin subsided with a small mutter, which Prince Arthur ignored, and they waited in silence for a minute or two, until Sir Ellis once more came into view, followed by a line of guards.
"Sire." Sir Ellis saluted smartly. "All my men are accounted for, so i'll await further orders."
"Very well, Ellis," said the Prince moving aside.
Sir Ellis made to move past before he paused, "I should mention, your highness, that my men recently put out a small fire in one of the upper chambers."
"A fire?" said the Prince. Percy looked at Merlin, who was examining a tapestry with great interest.
"Yes, sire," said Sir Ellis. "It was only small, and quickly dealt with. Probably a spark from the fireplace - but I thought you should now, if you are searching the wing."
The Prince had relaxed at the mention of the fireplace - which Percy couldn't help but feel was a mistake - and was nodding. "Very well, I will bear it in mind. Carry on."
Sir Ellis bowed (again) and marched away, the bright glow of his torch fading to leave only the dimly glowing braziers that lined the corridor walls and silence.
"Well," said Merlin brightly, starting forward, "let's get going then."
He had managed only two steps before the Prince took a firm hold of his shoulder, yanking him back. "Not so fast, Merlin. Before we go any further I think I need a few more details about what exactly I am looking for. And no," he said, as Merlin opened his mouth, "telling me it's blue does not count as sufficient detail."
Merlin huffed impatiently. "Honestly Arthur, you didn't worry this much about the Afanc."
"Would this be the Afanc that nearly killed us?"
"See? This is nothing like that," Merlin said as if the Prince had just proved his point. The Prince was still looking bemused when Merlin ducked out of his hold and darted ahead, quickly disappearing around the corner.
"Merlin!" hissed the Prince, "I insist you-"
Whatever he was about to say was abruptly cut off when a strange high-pitched sound came from Merlin's direction.
Percy exchanged one alarmed look with the Prince before they both rushed forward, turning the corner at a near run - only to find Merlin alone and, despite the sound he was emitting, apparently not undergoing torture.
"What the hell are you doing?" barked the Prince, lowering his sword and sounding furious. Behind him, Percy lowered his net and tried not to look like he'd been brandishing it like a distinctly unthreatening mace.
"I'm trying to summon it!" said Merlin, as if that should have been obvious.
"By squeaking?"
"It's a mating call," said Merlin with great dignity.
The Prince raised an eyebrow and Merlin's sudden blush was evident - even in the dim light. "And there was me thinking we were just trying to catch it," said the Prince.
"I am trying to catch it, you ass!" snapped Merlin.
"Maybe we should all try it?" suggested Percy quickly, before the Prince could do more than look annoyed. The Prince turned and gave him a Look instead. "Or... not," said Percy.
Merlin cupped his hands around his mouth and made the noise again.
The Prince yanked his hands away. "Will you stop that?"
"We have to find it!"
"And it would be what exactly?"
"Your highness?" whispered Percy, suddenly.
"This would be a lot easier if you would just-"
"Your highness!" said Percy, louder.
Merlin and the Prince stopped arguing and stared at him. Percy swallowed and hefted his net a little as he whispered, nervous, "I think I heard something moving. Ahead."
As one, they turned to peer in the direction Percy had nodded toward, where they could make out a dim expanse of corridor and the more distant outline of the stairs leading down to the cellars. In the sudden silence they could all hear it, a soft slapping sound and a loud rustle from the dry rushes strewn on the flagstones.
"It's probably just a rat," said the Prince, after a long moment, "but stay behind me, both of you."
Merlin looked about to argue but the Prince pulled him backward, pushing him toward Percy as he set off towards the noise, sword held high, moving as quietly as possible. Merlin grabbed a guttering rush light from a wall sconce and hurried a little to keep up as Percy moved into position, just behind the Prince and to the left, ready to block any escape route should the creature attempt to run.
As they drew nearer the rustling grew louder, accompanied by strange, wet sounds that made the rat theory increasingly unlikely. It seemed to be coming from the narrow passage leading left from the cellar stairs and as they reached the turn of the corridor, Prince Arthur halted, signalling them back and down as he himself half crouched into a familiar defensive stance.
"Be ready on my signal," he said, his voice low. The rustling sounded again - surely the creature must be only yards away now - and then stopped, suddenly, as if it knew they were there. Percy held his breath. The Prince raised one hand, and Merlin shifted slightly, his rush light flickering madly in the draft from the cellar.
Then, "Now!" hissed the Prince, rising up and taking the corner in two strides, sword up and ready to strike, Percy and Merlin fast on his heels.
Which was unfortunate because it meant they both smacked into him all the harder, when he came to a sudden halt not two feet into the passageway.
There was a moment of confusion as Percy bounced off the Prince and nearly brained himself on the passage wall and Merlin staggered, seized the Prince's nightshirt and only succeeded in nearly ripping it off one shoulder. Then there was silence and a bit of shuffling, as Merlin managed to let go of Prince Arthur's nightwear (fortunately for everyone, the Prince was still decent) and keep a firm hold on the rush light with the other hand, and Percy righted himself and took two shaky steps forwards, tense as a bowstring, his eyes scouring the shadowy floor until they adjusted enough to the low light to see...
"Merlin," the Prince said, in what Percy had come to recognise as his very reasonable and very dangerous voice, "What is that?"
There was a pause as Merlin peered over the Prince's shoulder. "It's a rare, and, er, valuable creature from the distant swamplands of-"
"It's a toad, Merlin, is what it is."
And indeed it was: a very large, very blue, very startled looking toad.
"It's true it might resemble the, uh, common-" Merlin began.
The Prince rolled his eyes. Merlin stopped talking.
The toad blinked.
"Well?" said the Prince, looking pointedly at Merlin.
"Oh, right," said Merlin. He looked a little hesitantly at the toad, then back at the Prince, "Shall I try the mating thing again?"
"Oh for-" Prince Arthur shoved the sword into Merlin's arms and pushed past him, his glare now turned on the creature sitting in the rushes.
It seemed the glare was a little too much for the toad (not that Percy could blame it) - as it promptly scrambled backwards, gave an alarmed croak and set fire to the wall hangings.
To say the Prince appeared shocked by this turn of events would have been something of an understatement. But it seemed that even he wasn't as shocked as the toad who gave another croak (nearly setting fire to the Prince's boots) and disappeared under a rickety side table with an impressive burst of speed while Percy was still salvaging the tapestry.
"Did it just-" gasped the Prince, after a rather action-filled moment.
"I believe so, Sire," Percy managed, still breathing hard.
They both turned to look at Merlin.
"Oh my god!" said Merlin, rather belatedly. "I can't believe it just-"
The Prince took a brief moment to cuff his manservant around the head.
"Right," said Prince Arthur, after an assessing look at the underneath of the table, which was still emitting the occasional nervous puff of smoke. "Clearly, we need a plan."
"Oh, I know," said Merlin, immediately, showing his usual lack of self-preservation, "Why don't we-"
"A different plan," said Prince Arthur at once.
"Hey!" said Merlin indignantly, "you haven't even heard my plan yet!"
"Merlin," said the Prince, evenly, "We are hunting a blue toad in the middle of the night, a toad which, I might add, you apparently made fire breathing due to your unique ability to be utterly rubbish at everything. I do not want to hear your plan."
Merlin subsided with a small mutter of "it probably had an allergy."
The Prince favoured him with a very long look. "One of these days, you and I are going to have a talk about exactly how stupid you think I am."
In the sudden silence that followed this cryptic pronouncement, Percy looked from Prince Arthur to Merlin - only to find him staring at the Prince in a way that reminded Percy rather forcibly of the memorable occasion he'd caught Brutus in the grain store.
"What?" said Merlin, in a voice Percy had never heard him use before, "I don't know what you're-"
The Prince rolled his eyes. "Oh don't be an idiot, Merlin - if I was going to report you, I'd have done it when you melted my hauberk."
"That was an accident," said Merlin, weakly, "I told you, I tripped and dropped it in the-"
The Prince raised his eyebrows and Merlin stopped talking. "Honestly Merlin," the Prince sounded exasperated, "do you think we're blind?" Percy had barely a second to wonder who else he might be referring to, when both Merlin and the Prince turned to look at him and he came to the distressing conclusion that it probably wasn't Sir Edwin. The Prince was clearly waiting for some kind of reaction so Percy decided he'd best look wise and knowing. In all events, he reasoned, you couldn't go wrong by looking wise and knowing.
It must have worked because Merlin looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, looking a bit shocked, then a bit wondering, then a bit like he might be about to Say Something. Evidently the Prince thought so too because he hurriedly interrupted with, "We'd best get started then!" - thus ruining Percy's chance of finding out what he was supposed to know but didn't.
Determinedly ignoring the somewhat tremulous smile Merlin was now bestowing on him, the Prince looked up and down the passage before clearing his throat and announcing, "We will have to try the Braddon Field Manoeuvre."
Percy nodded and tried to remember what the Braddon Field Manoeuvre was. He risked a glance at Merlin but Merlin just beamed at him unhelpfully.
"Oh for goodness sake," Prince Arthur huffed irritably, frowning at the pair of them, "Someone needs to chase it out here so I can catch it!"
"I'll do it!" said Merlin at once, nearly falling over himself (and the Prince's sword) in his eagerness.
The Prince threw him a rather dubious look. "Actually, maybe you should wait by the stairs."
"But I want to help!" protested Merlin, before he swallowed a few times and added, in a somewhat wobbly tone. "Arthur, you have no idea what it means that-"
"Oh god, all right," said the Prince, giving Merlin a push in the direction of the table. "You can help, just... wait for my signal, don't do anything until I say and please stop talking."
Merlin gave them both a terrifyingly grateful smile before he bounded off down the corridor to take up his position, leaving Percy to begin clearing the rushes out of the corridor as the Prince yanked what was left of the hanging from the wall and positioned himself just in front of the cellar stairs.
Once Percy was in position too, the Prince made a series of complex hand signals to Merlin to signal phase one of The Plan. Merlin looked a bit confused but gave an enthusiastic thumbs up in reply. The Prince sighed the sigh of the long-suffering (Percy was very familiar with it by now).
"All right Percy," Prince Arthur whispered, turning away, "When I tell Merlin to-"
Percy never found out what the Prince was about to say, although at a guess, it probably wasn't 'hit the table leg really hard with the sword before we're even looking in the right direction, breaking the leg in half and causing the fire-breathing toad to bolt.' Unfortunately, that was what happened.
Terrified by the table leg it had inadvertently set on fire, the toad burst out from underneath, moving fast as it hopped straight towards the Prince who, taken rather by surprise, lunged forward, throwing the hanging in the right direction and only succeeding in nearly knocking Merlin to the floor as he rushed forward in pursuit. By the time Merlin had managed to pull the tapestry off his head and immediately start beating out the table fire with the only bit of it not already burned, the Prince was looking wildly around for the escaping creature, which, to Percy's horror, appeared to be making straight for him and his fishing net, belching out long plumes of flame as it went.
Since coming to Camelot, Percy had been trained for many things. Shockingly, this was not one of them.
Throwing caution to the wind, he tossed the net aside and dashed back down the corridor, the creature in pursuit (probably due, not a little, to the noise the Prince and Merlin were making). As he skidded to a halt in the wide entrance hall, he looked around, spying what he was looking for after a nerve-wracking moment and grabbing it quickly. He spun round to find the toad, poised at the end of the corridor in front of what looked like a rather large spread of dry rushes. Percy gulped. The toad blinked at him, looking remarkably small and unthreatening for something that might be about to fry him to a crisp. Then, before Percy's eyes, it seemed to expand, eyes bulging as it drew in air, opened its wide mouth and...
Was promptly doused in the contents of the vase Percy was holding, water, flowers and all.
For a moment Percy didn't dare move. Distantly he was aware of the Prince and Merlin approaching at a jog, before they too came to a halt, gazes fixed on the floor, both breathing hard.
The toad closed its mouth. It made a series of strange wet gurgling sounds as it swallowed rather a lot of the dirty water Percy had thrown at it (and possibly a flower too, judging by the stalk still sticking out of its mouth). Then it expanded once more, even bigger than before - until Percy began to feel a little bit worried that it really was allergic and also possibly about to explode. Before, with another gurgle and a loud and rather surprised sounding croak, the toad suddenly deflated, emitting a cloud of steam that seemed to fill the entrance hall with the faint scent of geraniums.
There was a silence, broken by an exhausted sounding Prince Arthur. "Excellent work, Percy." Percy tried to look appropriately honoured and not like the fear of a potentially explosive toad had caused him to crack the handle of the antique vase still clutched tightly in his hand (it had). Fortunately the toad provided him with enough of a distraction to shove the vase, complete with wobbly handle, onto the nearby window ledge where he hoped no-one would ever find it again.
"Yes," said Merlin, beaming at him a moment later, "I don't know what we would have done without you! And Arthur too of course," he added quickly. The Prince looked taken aback by this praise, before Merlin finished with an encouraging, "Your plan nearly worked," - at which point the Prince stopped looking taken aback and started looking outraged.
"Excuse me? Perhaps if you had waited for my signal."
"I did!" said Merlin, indignant, "You told me to go," he flapped his hand up and down as if to demonstrate.
"That means 'wait'," snapped the Prince.
"I thought the pointy finger meant wait?"
"First of all, it is not a pointy finger, second, it means 'duck' - which you would know if you paid the slightest bit of attention to-"
"Sire!" interrupted Percy hastily, "I think the creature is escaping!"
'Escaping' was rather a strong word for the toad's ponderous walk back down the corridor, accompanied by a trail of steam, but it did at least have the desired effect of halting another argument, as the Prince turned to look and Merlin went loping off down the corridor to retrieve it, carrying it back half wrapped in the bottom of his nightshirt.
"Right," said the Prince, obviously putting the signal discussion aside for another day and casting an unfavourable look at where the toad sat ensconced in Merlin's arms, its throat working as Merlin stroked its head with one sooty finger. "I think the best thing to do would be to get rid of the creature somewhere far from the castle, just in case something goes wrong."
"Of course Sire," said Percy.
"I think I'll call him Alfred," said Merlin.
"Agreed then," said the Prince, "If we leave now we can get far enough away for..." he stopped as a few things belatedly caught up with him, "Pardon?"
"Alfred," Merlin repeated, "I think he looks like an Alfred." Percy rather thought he looked like a blue, fire breathing toad. Evidently the Prince agreed.
"Merlin you are not keeping the toad."
When Merlin just looked hopefully from the Prince to the toad and back again, the Prince snatched his sword up from where Merlin had apparently dropped it in his haste to rescue the creature and said, irritably, "Absolutely not, Merlin. And you needn't look like that - you're lucky not to be facing the guards!"
At his words Merlin's hopeful look froze and then, to Percy's surprise, disappeared completely, leaving Merlin staring white faced at the Prince and gripping Alfred so hard the creature was moved to give a croak of protest. Percy had just opened his mouth to speak (because even if the guards were there, they could hardly overrule the Prince after all) when Merlin swallowed, and then, sounding like he was choking over the words, said, "All right," in a small voice.
"No, I'm sorry," said the Prince, firmly, wiping soot off his blade, "that's my final... what?" He stopped what he was doing and stared at Merlin.
"I said all right," said Merlin, still in that strange voice.
"Well," said the Prince after a moment, "Good!" Then he looked at Merlin again, seemingly confused as he added, "I'm glad to see you finally developing some respect for my authority."
Merlin nodded. Prince Arthur blinked, and looked like he was fighting the urge to check for fever. "Right, well, I suppose we should go then - to release the toad." He darted another quick glance at Merlin as he said it but Merlin only dropped his gaze. Then he looked at Percy, his expression as close to bewildered as Percy had ever seen it. "Percy," he pulled himself together, "I believe you're missing a net?"
"Oh yes, of course Sire," said Percy, directing one last look at Merlin before he hurried down the corridor to retrieve his (sadly charred) fishing net.
When he got back, it was to find a rather awkward silence had fallen over the hall as Prince Arthur kept sneaking looks at Merlin and Merlin clutched Alfred the Toad like he was his only friend in the world.
Percy cleared his throat. "I think that's everything, Sire."
"Excellent," said the Prince, a little too heartily, "We'd best get moving then, before the servants are up." He stared at Merlin a moment longer before he turned, falling in alongside Percy and evidently trying to ignore the way Merlin was trailing along behind them both like the spectre at the feast.
The Prince maintained an admirably stoic front all along the corridor. He maintained it through the brief, and somewhat dubious account of events he gave Sir Ellis (who had abandoned his list entirely by that point). He even maintained it as they slipped past the Great Hall and towards the outer door by the kitchens. But it seemed even he could not maintain it when he addressed his third comment to Merlin and received a subdued, "yes, sire," in response. Not that Percy could blame him, he thought he'd rather have Merlin the Perfect Manservant than this strange, passive Merlin any day.
"All right," the Prince snapped as he came to a sudden halt, five doors and a short staircase later, "You can keep the damn toad, just stop it!"
Merlin stared at him, gaping for a moment. "Stop what?"
The Prince gestured wildly, "This! This silence! This trying to make me feel bad. Just stop it."
Merlin's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, before he managed, "I wasn't."
The Prince glared. "I know you find it hard to remember events from more than ten minutes ago, but when I said I wasn't stupid, I meant in general, not just when it suits you."
Merlin gulped, and shook his head. Alfred the Toad breathed out another cloud of steam, looking bored.
The Prince frowned at him, apparently thrown by the absence of some sort of victory grin. Then as he looked, his face slowly changed, his frown cleared and he looked horrified, and also, Percy thought, strangely hurt. "Is this about the..." he waved his hand around (which, in Percy's admittedly modest knowledge of hand signals, meant he was telling Merlin to climb a tree and duck). When Merlin still didn't say anything, the Prince's eyes widened, "It is, isn't it! When I said you were lucky not to be facing the guards, you actually thought I meant..." He seemed lost for words.
"You said-" Merlin finally began, but Prince Arthur cut him off.
"I told you if I was going to do it, I would have done it a long time ago. I can't believe you thought-" It was at this point he seemed to recall Percy standing there, fishing net in hand and doing his best to blend into the wall at what seemed to have turned into rather a private conversation. Prince Arthur looked away, fiddled with the hilt of his sword for a moment and then said, somewhat gruffly, "I meant you were lucky not to be trying to explain this whole mess to them, not-" Merlin seemed to be regaining some colour as the Prince continued, "not... that."
"Oh," said Merlin at last, his voice small again. He tried to catch the Prince's eye but the Prince appeared fascinated by the window frame behind Percy. He wiped a bit more soot from his sword hilt and Percy wondered if he should say something. Through the window he could see the sky lightening in the distance, signalling the coming of the dawn and he didn't know how any of them were going to explain being found loitering by the kitchens covered in soot and carrying a blue toad, even if they were accompanied by the Crown Prince. Then Merlin spoke again, earnest, "Arthur, I didn't mean to- I should never have thought-"
"It is of no matter," said the Prince stiffly. He looked at Percy, who tried to stand a little straighter, "It seems we won't be needing to leave the castle after all, Percy. I suggest we all return to our chambers - training won't wait for either of us."
"Yes, Sire," said Percy, unsettled by the strange tension in the corridor. Even Alfred the toad seemed to have been affected now, letting out little nervous croaks and trying to clamber out of Merlin's grip (although that could have been Merlin holding him little too tightly again, it was hard to tell). The Prince pushed past them both and started off down the corridor, and, with a helpless look at Merlin, Percy fell into step behind him, Merlin taking a moment longer to catch up, toad still clutched in the bottom of his now filthy shirt.
"Arthur, please don't-"
"Just because I am letting you keep it," interrupted the Prince, still strangely stiff in his speech, "that doesn't mean I ever want to hear of him escaping again."
"Of course not," said Merlin, hurrying to keep pace with the Prince's long strides, "Alfred will be an exemplary toad, I promise - but I wanted to-"
"And if it ever sets fire to anything again..." the Prince left the threat unspoken.
Merlin shook his head so quickly it looked in danger of coming off. "Never, I swear. Arthur, please-"
"We'd better go up the back stairs," said the Prince.
"Arthur!" said Merlin, and the Prince finally stopped, looking at Merlin's right knee. Percy found himself holding his breath. "I'm sorry," said Merlin, eyes fixed on the Prince like he was willing him to meet his gaze, "I should never have thought that was what you meant. I just... I didn't think, I mean, you knew and I didn't know that you knew, or that Percy knew, or that you didn't know I didn't know that you..." he stopped, evidently having confused himself (and Percy for that matter), before he shook his head and tried again, "But I should have known better," he looked at Percy then, "after you both kept my secret so long."
Percy was really wishing now that he'd bypassed looking wise and knowing for just asking. He could imagine this was going to get extremely awkward before long.
"And thank you," said Merlin, attempting another wobbly smile as he looked back at the Prince, "for letting me keep Alfred."
The Prince frowned at Merlin's right knee for several long seconds before he, finally, raised his gaze to see Merlin looking impossibly sincere, eyes wide and pleading. Percy didn't dare move. Then, "Alfred's a silly name," the Prince muttered, and Percy let out a long breath as Merlin seemed to sag with relief and, for one terrifying moment, appeared to teeter on the edge of actually hugging the heir to the throne, toad and all. A warning clearing of the throat from said heir halted him in his tracks, and he settled for merely beaming at him once more.
"What would you call him then?" he said, looking like he was keeping himself still with a supreme effort.
Prince Arthur gave him a look of disbelief, "I wouldn't call it anything, it's a toad, Merlin. A blue toad, I should add."
Merlin held the toad up to his face as if he was having some kind of silent conversation with it. "I think he's more of a bluish grey."
"Blue," said the Prince firmly. The toad emitted a disdainful puff of steam in the Prince's direction; Merlin gave it a soothing pat. "And anyway," Prince Arthur went on, resolutely ignoring this small exchange. "I don't even know what you're going to do with it."
"Toads have many uses." Merlin said loftily, "They eat spiders," Prince Arthur failed to look impressed by this, "and they, er... ward off evil spirits!"
"Really?" the Prince sounded sceptical, "What do they do? Stare them into submission?"
Merlin looked at the Prince. The toad seemed to be looking at him too - in what Percy thought was a rather creepy way (perhaps there was something to the whole 'warding off evil spirits' idea after all).
"I think he likes you," Merlin offered, encouraging.
Percy thought this rather optimistic.
"Oh, well I'm glad the toad likes me Merlin," said the Prince, attempting a haughty tone and failing, "I should hate to disappoint the blue, fire-breathing monster."
"Don't listen to him Alfred," said Merlin, firmly, shifting the toad more comfortably in his arms.
The Prince cast it a dark look before he resumed his purposeful walk to the back stairs, Percy and Merlin in tow. "If you two are quite finished?"
Merlin smiled happily at the Prince, then at Percy, as though all was right with the world once more, and Percy decided that whatever this secret was, it probably wasn't of the 'secret fishing habit' variety (not that anyone needed to know about that yet - as far as the Court was concerned, Percy enjoyed long walks).
They crossed the hall and climbed the stairs in comfortable silence, broken only by Alfred's soft croaks and Merlin apparently cooing at it.
"Is that absolutely necessary?" said the Prince, after Merlin has cooed his way half way across the central wing.
"He likes it," said Merlin stoutly.
In Percy's admittedly inexpert opinion, Alfred looked indifferent at best - and possibly a little grumpy. But then, if Percy had spent his evening breathing fire and being chased across the castle, he supposed he would look a little grumpy too.
"I hope Gaius can find a use for him," went on Merlin, dusting another tiny soot smudge from Alfred's back.
"Is he out of candles?" said the Prince tartly.
Merlin stuck his tongue out and Percy found himself biting back a smile of relief when the Prince merely rolled his eyes in response. The night had been rather eventful, all things considered, and Percy was just happy it was nearly over and things back to normal, or as normal as they ever were.
The three of them parted at the top of the stairs, as the Prince turned towards the Royal chambers with a final warning of the very long talk he and "certain idiotic" manservants would be having later that morning (Merlin would have attended him there and then, but apparently Alfred was exhausted and needed quiet), leaving Merlin and Percy to take a more inconspicuous route to the Knight's Quarters and the physician's rooms, walking together part of the way. As the shadowy entrance to the Knight's quarters came into sight, Percy stopped - it felt like several days since he had emerged to find Merlin hiding in an alcove and he was looking forward to at least a few hours sleep.
"Well, goodnight then!" said Merlin, looking sleepy but happy. "And thank you - we could never have done it without you."
"Oh no," said Percy, feeling awkward, "I'm sure I didn't do-"
"Don't be modest Percy," said Merlin firmly, "You saved Alfred." (Alfred failed to look suitably grateful.) "And, thank you for..." Merlin hesitated long enough for Percy to let himself feel hopeful, "...you know, as well." Percy gave up. Quite clearly he was going to spend the rest of his life completely clueless and laughing at jokes he didn't understand.
"You're welcome," he said, a trifle gloomily. He hoisted up what was left of his valiant fishing net and went to lift a hand in farewell.
"Oh no!" said Merlin, sounding horrified, "What's happened to your training net?"
"My...? Oh, yes," Percy felt his face flush, "It got... um... a little singed. But I'm sure the Prince will, er, lend me a new one when we need it," he finished, as Merlin tried to take it out of his hands.
Then Merlin grinned at him and said, "Or I could just fix it for you?"
"Really, you don't have to," Percy protested, holding on to it, "I can just repair it with some string and some-"
Which was the point at which Merlin's eyes went gold, the net glowed all over, rippled and fixed itself - and also the point at which Percy staggered backwards in shock and nearly plunged down the stairs to an early grave.
"There," said Merlin, proudly. "Good as new." He hoisted Alfred a little in his arms with the air of a man who'd just seen a job well done. "See you in a few hours, Percy!" And then Merlin was trotting away down the stairs, leaving Percy clutching his net and the stair rail in a death-grip from which he might never be able to prise his fingers.
No, he thought faintly, as he stared at his net - which seemed still to be faintly glowing (and had acquired a rather elaborately carved handle in teak - which was certainly a change), that was definitely not a 'secret fishing habit' kind of secret.
The End
And here he is! As drawn by Vensre
There is also bonus!Percy in Percy the Legend