Work Text:
Thomas blinked at the firm knock on the door and looked at his Uncle who sighed but nodded. It was late, if it was a messenger they would have announced themselves by now. He opened the door and Merlin barged in.
“Apologies my lord.” And Merlin had never apologised for barging in before. Thomas decided to close the door. This seemed like a closed door conversation. He also firmly closed the door to the squires rooms in case his cousin and brother decided to listen in. Leon gave him an amused glance but also nodded for him to stay. “Lady Catrina is a troll.”
That was the last thing either Thomas or his uncle expected Merlin to say. Leon sighed, put his pen down and stood to face Merlin.
“A troll?”
“Yeah – smelly, ugly, not human troll.”
“A troll.”
“And her attendant has a tail!” Thomas blinked as Merlin blurted that out. How would one hide a tail? Pin it up? Tuck it down ones breeches? It didn't sound very comfortable.
“Merlin, how do you know?”
“I’ve seen her!”
Thomas almost winced at the look his uncle was giving Merlin. “I'm sorry Merlin, I believe you, but I’m going to need more than your word if I’m to take this allegation to the King. What proof do you have?”
Merlin looked a little lost. “I don’t... I have no proof, but Sir Leon!”
“Well,” Thomas didn’t wince, but it was close. Uncle Leon was talking like he did when he thought one of his nephews was being slow. “How did you see her?”
Merlin flushed suddenly, pale skin looking sun kissed, and Thomas knew there was a story there that he’d have to sic Osric onto him to find it out, before Merlin brightened. “I followed her to her nest.”
Oh, that was Uncle’s do not murder the child in front of me who is super proud of doing something so incredibly stupid but thinks it’s an achievement look. Thomas had been on the receiving end of that look before. Merlin seemed immune to it; Merlin also served the prince and Thonas thought that Merlin would need to build up an immunity to such looks.
“Merlin, did you suspect Lady Catrina was a troll before you followed her?”
There was a right answer here. “Yes.” And that was not it.
“Where is this nest?” Leon asked and Merlin gave directions. “Good, Thomas, if we’re not back in an hour alert the Captain of the Guard.”
Thomas nodded and Leon took his sword and told Merlin to lead on.
They walked briskly through the citadel. Leon had long observed that the ability to walk quickly with a scowl on one's face kept others from asking questions. Being a lord of the land, second in command of the army, with the prince's manservant at his heels meant that the guards were hurrying to open doors and clear paths where necessary.
Ah, but sometimes rank had its privileges.
And then Merlin signalled to him that they were nearly there, and he let the boy take the lead. Merlin guided him through old stone halls that were seemingly forgotten about, maybe used for winter storage, and any doubts he had started to drift away as a foul odour started to fill the air.
Merlin paused at a corner and pointed, Leon leaning around the stonework to stare in horror at the beast nested within. There was a troll, a troll wearing a white night gown covered in filth and sleeping peacefully.
He shook himself out of his reverie and looked down at Merlin who was peering at the troll, looking equal parts fascinated and disgusted. Leon motioned for the boy to leave and he nearly fled, coming to a stop in the courtyard and gulping down sweet, clean air.
"Lady Catrina is a troll.”
Merlin very kindly didn’t say I told you so, but he could see that it was an effort. “So, what do we do?”
Firstly, Leon would get Merlin to make a report about a foul odour in the winter stores, and Leon would task Phillip to send a patrol to make sure the area was safe to send the servants in, and then the trolls nest would be discovered and dealt with. He would need to be careful though - make sure Lady Cat... the troll, was outside the city when that happened.
Secondly Leon would talk to the prince about calling a troll hunt; there were methods to revealing a trolls identity that were cruel to any who weren't a troll (usually involved a cage in the sun without food or drink until whatever spell involved in hiding their true form had faded). Though how he would ever get permission to have Lady Catrina undergo the trial was beyond him at this point...
"Do you know anything that could force her to reveal her true form?" Leon asked Merlin who hesitated but then he nodded.
"Well, no, milord. But I can learn!"
They weren't challenged as they walked to the physician's chambers and found Gaius surrounded by books about magical creatures.
Leon watched as the two started talking in half sentences, flipping through books with a speed that Leon didn’t think was entirely human, and then he remembered half forgotten tales of trolls under bridges and in the mountains to the north. “Merlin, can a sorcerer take on a troll?” because trolls had their own magic, and there were tales of knights dealing with them on their own, as their magical companions were ineffective against the beasts.
“I don’t know about sorcerers, but I'm a warlock,” Merlin mumbled as he turned a page then looked up and flashed him a grin. “I’ll be fine.”
Leon looked at Gaius and then back to Merlin. “There’s a difference?”
Merlin blinked. “Sorcerer’s learn, warlocks are born with it.” He shrugged and returned to his book as though he hadn’t just dropped the equivalent of a lit torch in the middle of the stables. People weren’t born with magic. They had to learn it! Some people had more of an aptitude than others, but aptitude wasn’t magic. “Oh this? It’s a revelation spell.”
Leon saw that Gaius looked worried, but Merlin was already walking to his room, taking the book as he worked to memorise the spell.
“Will it work?” Leon asked and Gaius shook his head.
“I hope so, but as you know, trolls are very powerful creatures.”
Leon nodded gravely, said his goodbyes to the physician, and returned to his chambers, sending a tired Thomas to bed. It was risky, having Merlin perform magic in public, but Merlin was good, Leon had seen that for himself over and over again. He was resolved. The plan would work… it had to.
“It didn’t work,” Merlin said softly as he reported to Leon. “I tried to reveal her true form during the announcement, and…”
“Trolls have their own magic,” Leon said. Merlin looked to the side, a frown worrying his brow.
“The king’s enchanted, and I don’t know what to do.”
“We’ll keep trying,” Leon said and Merlin nodded and fled back to his own room.
(The trolls nest was discovered, but the king didn't seem overly concerned, growing angry only at the suggestion of a troll trial being taken up. Leon silently vowed to enlarge the pay of the servants tasked with cleaning up the nest).
Leon wasn't particularly impressed with the kings new wife, setting aside the whole troll debacle, it was clear that she was self serving and greedy. The tax collectors had been sent around with an increased levy. Uther had tried to command the knights attend the collectors every need, but Leon and Arthur had successfully argued against that.
Arthur had accompanied the guards though, and Leon felt pride fill him when he heard from Sally that the prince had overturned the new taxation rules; or at least was standing between the citizens of Camelot and the Crown. If nothing else, it made the people love him even more.
Merlin, though, was looking tired, and Leon listened as the boy vented his frustrations over his plans being foiled, and Arthur thinking that Merlin was being nice when he called Lady Catrina a troll. "Don't take any risks," Leon warned him.
"Uncle?" Osric asked one evening, a rare night when it was just the two of them, Thomas and Benedict having begged off to visit with some other squires. The less Leon knew the better. "Why didn't you kill the troll the first night?"
And Leon bit back a sigh. It would have solved so many problems if he had, but it wasn't done. "The troll was sleeping," he explained. "I am required to give it a fair fight."
Osric frowned. "Even though it's just a troll?"
"Even then?" Leon agreed and made a sound. "Imagine you were walking through a forest in the middle of winter and stumbled on a bear sleeping the winter months away. Would you kill it and take its head and pelt as a trophy?"
"No!" Osric shook his head vehemently. "There is no honour in such a kill. Oh." And then another frown. "But uncle, its a creature of magic, wouldn't the act of killing it make it honourable?"
"Some would definitely agree with that view," Leon nodded. "But I was raised to respect all creatures, even the magical ones." Osric didn't look convinced, but he changed the topic to the antics his sisters and younger brothers were pulling back in Grance.
Morris burst into his chambers before dawn, no apology on his lips, not even looking offended as Leon pulled a blade on him. "Merlin's been declared a thief and to be hunted down and brought before the king." And then there was a flurry as Morris nearly pulled Leon out of bed, allowing him some privacy to tend to his needs before he was being dressed and pushed out of the chambers by the time dawn was painting the sky.
Leon didnt know a lot about Merlin, but he knew the boy wasnt a thief, so he took his time approaching the Captain of the Guard to confirm what actions had been taken to lock the citadel down and whether patrols had made it down to the middle and lower towns.
The Captain made sure to give Leon an extremely thorough report, sparing no details, and Leon left to go find the prince who asked him to check with Gaius as to Merlin's whereabouts. He managed to find detours and other distractions on his way to Gaius’s chambers, knowing very well that Merlin would be in Arthur’s chambers. He stepped into the chambers and met Gaius’s eyes. “Where is Merlin?”
“Where he always is at this time of day!”
He nodded and took his time. Arthur clearly had a plan to warn Merlin, and he would give him as much time as possible. (And Leon really should have been more alarmed at how many people in the citadel were going out of their way to help Merlin either escape or hide, but since he was also one of those people, he decided not to think too deeply on such topics). “Sire?”
“He’s not here,” Arthur said and Leon pretended at disappointment before he loudly declared that the thief would be brought to justice, gave Arthur a look and returned to his chambers.
And he really wanted to ignore the strange, almost guilty look on Thomas's face as he closed the door behind him, he really did, but when did he ever get what he wanted.
“Thomas,” he called and the fifteen year old blinked, trying to look innocent but only looking more guilty, and hurried over.
“Yes my lord?” And that was the tone Thomas used whenever he was trying to butter up his mother. Leon’s sister, thankfully, had raised four boys and was immune to the charming looks they’d all tried on her.
“Is this a knight or a family thing?” at least Leon would know which hat he had to wear then. Playing knight to his nephews was a blessing, but also tricky sometimes.
“I don’t know what you mean, my lord.”
Leon didn’t pinch the bridge of his nose. He didn’t release the sigh he so desperately wished to. He didn’t point out that his nephew was a terrible liar and Osric should have been left behind to catch him.
“Thomas.” There. A warning, nice and simple. The boy caved and turned to the squire cells off Leon’s chambers. Merlin was sitting on the floor between two beds, showing his nephews something. “Merlin?” Leon stared at the boy, the three jumping at his appearance; his nephews glaring at Thomas for his disloyalty.
“Oh! Uh. Sir Leon!” Merlin shot him a beaming grin.
“And why are you here?”
“Figured they were turning Gaius’s rooms over, looking for me, and no one would think to search for me here!”
Leon felt another headache brewing. “Merlin. Why are you here and not heading for the border?”
“Cause Lady Catrina’s a troll and Arthur’s in danger?” he sounded like it was the most obvious and reasonable thing in the world. Leon would not strangle him, good servants were hard to come by, and while Merlin wasn’t exactly a good servant, he didn’t think Arthur would forgive him if he strangled the boy. “Are you going to turn me in?”
Leon just turned away on his heel and firmly closed the door to his bedroom where he took a few deep breaths and then promptly screamed into his pillow.
Why was it so hard to keep one warlock alive when he was so determined to kill himself?
(In the end, one of Merlin's plans worked, and eventually Lady Catrina was no more than a horrifying memory that drew more than a few laughs in the lower town inns).