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Arthur was not very observant.
As Merlin often pointed out, he was quite oblivious to the happenings around him. His biggest slip was not noticing that Merlin was a sorcerer. He didn’t have a clue until Merlin had himself shown him his magic when Arthur was at the doors of death in Camlann. (Thank God Arthur had survived that battle...)
But even Arthur was not daft enough to let merlin’s strange behaviour go unnoticed. Merlin had been acting weird for months now...
One day, Arthur saw that the hem of Merlin’s neckerchief was burnt. When the King asked him about it, his manservant ever-so-clumsily stuttered and dodged the question.
The other day, Merlin was late to serve Arthur breakfast. Again. (Why was Arthur even surprised?) When the King stormed to the physician’s chambers and towards the sorcerer’s bedroom, he stopped short at the door when he heard a screeching noise from inside. Panic setting in, Arthur threw open the door to see Merlin alone.
“What the hell was that noise?”, Arthur had asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”, Marlon had replied.
Brushing it off at the moment, but not failing to store the incident in a corner of his head, Arthur dragged his useless manservant to the royal chambers to help him dress up.
Then there was the odd habit Merlin had developed: He stole more and more food from Arthur’s plate during every meal! It was not uncommon for the idiot to steal an occasional sausage or a toast. But now Merlin was regularly thieving half of author’s meals!
Arthur finally decided to find the reason for Merlin’s ’s eccentric behaviour. He devised a plan...
“A day off?” Merlin asked, eyes wide, “Sire, I think I miss heard you.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “Get lost before I change my mind.” Merlin beamed, did an exaggerated bow and scurried away.
Arthur waited an hour before he executed his plan.
After making sure that Gaius was away and busy, Arthur slept inside the old man’s house and sneaked to Merlin’s bedroom. He pressed his ear against the door.
Arthur felt a little embarrassed to eavesdrop on his manservant like this, being the King of Camelot. But he was worried about Merlin's safety. Burns, screeching, an excessive hunger for meat... Arthur was worried that Merlin might be possessed or something.
He heard nothing.
Soon, Arthur got impatient and decided to go in. When he opened the door, his heart almost stopped. Merlin on was sleeping soundly in his bed and snuggled warmly on his chest was a white baby dragon.
“MERLIN!”, Arthur yelled in horror. The sorcerer jolted awake and looked around in bewilderment. When his eyes fell on Arthur, he went pale.
“Uh-oh...”, he whispered.
“What the hell is that thing, Merlin??”, Arthur asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, about that...”, Merlin said, grinning goofily. “This is Aithusa. My pet dragon.”
Arthur was supposed to be furious. Merlin had lied to him about the last dragon egg being destroyed. He had hidden this huge secret from Arthur for months. He had been feeding this creature by stealing from Arthur’s own plate! Arthur should be downright livid!
But Aithusa was the most adorable animal the King had ever laid eyes on. He just couldn’t get angry at Merlin for nurturing her. Eventually, he completely gave in and asked Merlin if they could both adopt her together. Merlin was delighted.
And thus began the shenanigans of Daddy Arthur and Papa Merlin.
The first time Arthur held Aithusa was a very memorable moment.
“Go ahead, Arthur.”, Merlin said, smiling, “She’s light as a feather.”
Hesitantly, the blonde picked up the white dragon. Immediately she made a chittering noise and snuggled into Arthur’s arms.Arthur couldn't help the fond smile that spread on his face. He cradled the animal and rocked it gently.
“My sweet, sweet baby...”, Arthur whispered “Don't worry. We will take care of you.”
The story of Aithusa’s first words is a hilarious one...
Merlin and Arthur were playing with her and not for the first time, they began bickering about something petty and trivial.
“I’ve been working hard all day, Arthur, and if you weren’t such a clotpole, you’d see that!”
“The only clotpole here is you, Merlin!”
And just like that, the little white dragon muttered her first word.
“Clotpole.”
For three minutes straight, Merlin and Arthur just gaped, and then turned to each other angrily.
“She said that word because of you!”, Merlin said.
“Hey! You're the one that used it first!”
“But you said it more loudly!”
This went on for another 23 minutes. Aithusa’s second word was ‘dollophead’.
When Aithusa learnt to fly, Arthur totally teared up.
She had been trying to lift herself off the ground for a few weeks, and eventually she soared up and stayed in the air for a few seconds, flapping her wings and screeching in joy. Merlin was on cloud nine. As soon as Aithusa landed, Arthur picked her up and cuddled with her for hours.
Once Aithusa set Arthur’s favourite tunic on fire.
But the King couldn't bring himself to scold her. So he just pet her and said, “Don't do that next time, Sweetie.”, and smiled affectionately when she said something close to "Okay, Daddy.”
Time flew, like sand slips between fingers.
Soon Aithusa was a graceful and well-developed white dragon, who was often seen soaring across the skies of Camelot.
And every villager who looked up and smiled, could think of only thing:
‘There goes the King's daughter.’