Chapter Text
"Why am I coming with you?" Talia questioned from her horse as she trotted through the forest with Arthur and Merlin.
After everything with Lord Loran, Arthur decided a small trip was in order and the hamlet of Dyrdor needed checking on before winter hit.
"Because the last time I left you alone, two armies invaded Camelot!" Arthur answered, rolling his eyes, not even looking back.
There was no way he was leaving Talia in Camelot alone again. She shrugged, glancing over to Merlin, who grinned back, mentally urging her to carry on winding up Arthur.
"It wasn't my fault! They started it!"
Arthur rolled his eyes, not looking at the two as she pulled a face. "It's only for one night, Talia. Just to Dyrtor and we’ll be back in Camelot by tomorrow."
Talia rolled her eyes, looking around the forest, admiring the peace and quiet, even though she missed her Lancelot and Matthew. "So I need babysitting?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Arthur groaned, looking over to her.
She overemphasised her looks as though thinking for a moment before looking at Merlin, who nodded cheekily, egging her on.
"Yes Arthur, you do," she said grinning, very well knowing the answer.
"Then yes, you do," Arthur snarked, not even looking over to her. She laughed softly, shrugging as Arthur rode ahead.
"I did warn you, Arthur, trouble follows me wherever I am!" She called, listening as he yelled back.
"Don't I know it."
************
Dyrdor came into view sooner than she thought. The small hamlet of nestled houses by the lake and farmers field surrounding it looked magical.
"Arthur.."
He hummed in response, looking over
"....Is it me or is the village a little too...quiet?" She leaned forward on the horse, studying the scene before her, No smoke out the chimneys, no people bustling, no market, no farmers on the field working away.
"Talia's right," Merlin commented from the other side of Arthur.
"I'm sure it's nothing. Come on," Arthur replied while his horse trotted off.
"Seriously? Is he that clueless?" Talia hissed to Merlin as they rode behind him.
"Yes."
"Joy, a future king- a shoe short of a horse!" She muttered to herself, only for her horse, Asif, to nicker in agreement!
The hamlet of Dyrdor was quiet. Too quiet. Not a soul was to be seen.
"How many people are supposed to be here?" Talia questioned softly.
"Twenty," Merlin spoke as Arthur dismounted his horse, the other two quick to follow.
Talia was quick to check her new bow and quiver- a sense of something making her wonder just what was going on.
"I'm sure it's nothing Talia," Arthur said.
"Trouble finds me, Arthur," she grinned cheekily, making Arthur huff. He walked towards the main house that doubled as the village hall.
"What do you think?" Merlin asked as he walked beside Talia, both looking around, as Arthur was ahead.
"No idea, but the hairs on the back of my neck don’t say anything good. " She stopped looking around, the doors closed, window shutters open to greet the day, no sign of attack yet something didn't sit right.
"Merlin, you hear that?" They both stood still, listening closely, watching Arthur following the noise. It was familiar, reminding her of days at the lakes as a child- a honking and hissing sound.
"Er? You see that?" Merlin asked before they stood. Thirty geese coming from around the hall, thirty very angry geese, their feathers ruffled, eyes ablaze hissing and spitting as Arthur began towards the beasts.
"Guard geese" Talia muttered, bringing her bow to hand, getting her arrow ready. "Guard geese?" Arthur questioned, turning to look at her laughing softly. "Talia, they're just geese!"
"Think...spitting, hissing, biting attack arrows with wings," she shrugged easily, but on edge, ready to defend, once again looking at Arthur who didn't even comprehend the danger they were entering.
"They can't be that bad?"
Shaking her head in dismay, Talia and Merlin both watched as Arthur advanced on the beasts, arms out in peace. The geese hissed, standing their ground.
"What's he trying to achieve here?" She asked questionably, looking at Merlin.
"Herding the geese?" He replied
"Thought so," she teased, her bow drawing the arrow taunt. The geese reared, charging the future king, hissing and spitting, taking flight as they charged. Arthur stood still in shock. "OH for crying out... Arthur, run!" Talia yelled as the arrow was let loose.
The nearest goose attacking with retribution fell to the ground in a heap, allowing Talia to plan.
"Merlin grab the clotpole and head for that house!" She yelled, readying a second arrow, letting it fly while taking a second glance up at the sky.
By the third arrow, a door slammed shut and three geese lay upon the floor, the rest taking flight away from their impending failure of the attack, readying for a second.
"Well that was interesting," Talia spoke to no-one before grabbing her prizes by their feet and dragging them towards the house that Merlin and Arthur were shielded in.
***********
"You killed them?" Merlin questioned as Talia leaned upon the door as it shut, throwing three geese on the floor before grabbing her dagger.
"Waste not, want not, plus the cook will thank me. I've seen guard geese do a lot of damage, so yes, the only good guard goose is one on a plate!" She struggled easily before sitting on the floor, getting to work.
"They must be enchanted!" Arthur grouched, looking out the window as the geese landed in various places around the hamlet. Merlin and Talia both looked at one another, rolling their eyes.
"Seriously? Angry geese are enchanted?" Said Merlin rolled his eyes asking himself why him for the umpteenth time.
"Talia, what else would it be?" Arthur asked, glaring at Merlin, making Talia wonder if she was doing the babysitting.
"Vexed-off geese whose eggs were taken by the villagers?" Merlin quickly put in his reasoning.
"How about their guard geese and declared Dyrdor as their home..with the eggs being stolen by the villagers, scrambled or poached?" Talia spoke up as she cleaned off her dagger and discarded the innards out the window.
"Don't be ridiculous," Arthur argued with the two.
Talia huffed as she finished with the geese and hung them from the rafters.
"Well, let's do this the fun way, shall we?" She asked before checking her arrows for damage before placing them in her quiver.
Arthur looked suspiciously at the young archer. "How?"
"A bet," she shrugged.
Merlin grinned, shaking his head in bemusement. "What's the win?"
Talia sat back on the floor, leaning on the wall, thinking as Arthur stared.
"Oh let's see… if Merlin's right, Arthur has to serve him for the day... and I'll bag you a deer merlin?" She watched him nod grinning in agreement before continuing.
"If I'm right, I get arrows from you Merlin.
I'm always running out, and also a practice ground for archery for me to train and teach'' She watched Merlin nod in agreement and Arthur look thoughtful before nodding at the terms.
”If I'm right?" They both shrugged, looking at Arthur who looked smug. "And what does a future king need?" Talia questioned "Good point, I'll just take the, I told you so reward!" Arthur grinned, watching Talia and Merlin roll their eyes.
**********
Two hours had passed slowly as they waited for the guard geese to settle upon their perches. Talia stood, looking out the window, watching the demons of the lake.
"So how are we doing this?" She asked
"Find the villagers?" Merlin queried, looking out the window with her turning as Arthur cleared his throat.
"Good start. Let's split up and look around to see what we can find," Arthur commanded before walking out the door, only to run back in mere moments later, looking dishevelled. "Guard geese, remember?" Talia laughed, shaking her head before climbing out the window, keeping low and out of sight of the murderous flying beasts.
Looking towards the main building in the hamlet that she deemed the village hall, Talia studied the geese, watching the brazen birds protecting the building.
"Huh, child's play," she grinned before plotting her route and making a dash for it.
Getting to the building was easy.
It helped with Arthur being chased across the hamlet, sword in hand as the guard geese swan dived the future king as Talia attempted to not die laughing.
spying Merlin protecting the idiot with magic lobbing stones at the winged pests, from the corner of the building across the hamlet.
Talia found getting in the building was easy enough through the wedged open shutter climbing up and in pulling the shutter closed behind her.
What she found were the villagers all nestled together, looking lost-- if not fearful-- shabby and hard-working from the lack of food. She found pity for them and promised herself to have a few words with the future king.
"Okay, who stole the eggs?" She demanded as her feet landed on the floor a small dust cloud rising around her.
"We thought them like chickens!" A brisk thin man with sallow skin spoke up, his voice sharp.
"Yes, twenty geese descending on your hamlet. Honking, hissing, and diving are just like a chicken!" The sarcasm dripped off Talia’s words as she looked for the village elder.
"Who are you to speak like that?!" The brisk man spoke, challenging her.
Talia grinned sharply, daring the idiot to try something. "A knight of Camelot. Now, where are the eggs?"
"Eaten by these fools," the elder spoke up near the edge of the rabble of villagers.
"I take it you Weren't around at the time?"
"If I was, they wouldn't be in this mess!" She was old and wrinkly with greying thin hair, a look of cold stone but eyes of warmth.
"I’m Talia," she said, holding out her hand.
"Marie." The elder replied, shaking it warmly.
"Nice to meet you, ma’am. Now, to get you out of this mess."
**********
"Ate them?" Arthur declared as he slammed the door shut when Talia entered the abandoned house once again.
"Yep. So the guard geese are...vexed, to say the least."
"I would be too," Merlin spoke up as he joined Talia by the window once again while the sun started setting.
"Don't geese sleep at night?" Arthur spoke up as Talia grinned at him.
"So they do. Good idea, sire. I'll signal when ready. All you gotta do is run towards the village hall...oh, by the way, the field needs to be at least two hundred meters long," she laughed before dragging Merlin out the window, leaving Arthur to huff at the cheek but waited for their signal all the less.
**********
"Can't bag them or drug them...this is going to be interesting, there's twenty-seven left," Talia quipped, leaning on the wall, Merlin beside her, both watching the enemy.
"Ideas?" Merlin asked as she shrugged, looking over to the pesky little dive-bombing twats. "Fake eggs?"
"I could do that," she blinked, looking at the warlock.
"I was joking...but really?" Talia questioned as Merlin nodded, looking around for a pebble.
Within moments, his eyes flashed and there in front of them sat a goose egg.
"Huh, okay then. I take it they’re still as hard as rocks, though?"
"Oh, yes," Merlin answered, picking up the rock-egg, handing it to her. She grinned mischievously at Merlin, who looked slightly worried.
"Perfect. This is going to be fun. Turn some more and join me in the house"
**********
The whistle was loud and the geese looked over feathers ruffling in hostility.
"What am I to do?" Arthur looked over to Talia, questioning as Merlin gave a handful of rock eggs to Arthur.
"As I said, run with the fake eggs of course, whilst I pot shot them and Merlin helps me. Like this," she grinned, launching an egg rock at the first goose, who honked and chased after it. She gave Arthur a quick shove, watching him run towards the hall.
"That was mean."
"No Merlin. This is mean," she laughed, pointing to Arthur as he launched each rock at the geese in a panic. They chased right after him.
"He should have left you at the castle," Merlin chuckled, watching her as she teased her bow, firing. She began her target practice, saving Arthur from the dive-bombing terrors of the sky one by one as she quickly dispatched goose after goose.
"Yep, and plus, it looks like we have a goose for dinner...for the next few weeks."
**********
"Thank you, Talia." The elder Maria stood, patting her hand.
"It was no problem. I quite enjoyed it, really. But please don't let them steal guard geese eggs again."
"Oh, don't you worry about that," Maria reasoned as she watched Arthur, Merlin, and Talia mount their horses.
Talia grinned as the geese were strapped to the spare horse she obtained.
Merlin looked quite happy while a very dishevelled soon-to-be-king did not.
"I'm never taking you on a trip again," he muttered as the hamlet disappeared from view.
"Aw, Arthur I thought you liked babysitting me?!" Talia called as he raced off towards Camelot and a hot bath.
"I think that went quite well. Don't you Talia?" Merlin asked.
"I think so, Merlin. I don't think Arthur agrees, though. No idea why!"
"Me neither."
They laughed before giving chase to the geese laden horse and prince.
**********
"How many?" The cook looked in wonder as Talia, Merlin, and Matthew threw down the geese on the large table.
"Twenty-three. It was thirty-odd, but we left ten to the Dyrdor people."
"Well done, my children!" The cook happily praised before bustling around, getting the kitchen hands ready for plucking.
"My children?" Matthew murmured, looking at Merlin and Talia, curious.
"Yeah. That was weird..."
"But nice," Matthew finished as they left the kitchens, dragging the two with him before they were roped into helping.
"You get that feeling too?" Merlin asked them.
"Yep, but you know what? I'm rolling with it. That’s the best way with Camelot, we've learned." Talia one shoulder shrugged as they walked down the hall.
"Your field will be ready tomorrow. Two hundred meters long and fifty meters wide." Arthur said as he looked out to the blacksmith, who was marking out the ground and beginning to set up her new targets.
"You didn't have to," Talia struggled, yet looking excited, like a child with a new toy.
"Yes, I did" Arthur reasoned before yelping as Talia threw her arms around the man, hugging him before anyone saw. Arthur gulped, not knowing what to do, his arms like unbending twigs hung beside him as she pulled away.
"You could have said no," she reasoned, calming slightly as she leaned on the wall though still grinning like a loon, looking at the view.
"I'm a man of my word, and you were right about the geese," he replied.
Her head cocked as she studied the future king. "You are going to make a great king one day, Arthur."
"Someday, perhaps," he shrugged, looking to the archery field, knowing he had done the right thing and berating himself for not doing it sooner.
"Thank you," Talia said, gesturing to the field.
"Yes well...anytime, just next time...make Merlin be the bait"
"Deal"
**********
"The cook looks happy," Lancelot remarked as Talia leaned back into his stomach as his fingers ran through her red hair while she sorted through goose feathers for fletchings.
"I would be with twenty-three geese to cook. We even ended up leaving ten with Dyrdor's people."
"So what did happen?" He asked, watching her bag the feathers before she shrugged.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet of Camelot as the sun slowly set.
"Oh, made Arthur run away from guard geese while he threw fake eggs at them, courtesy of Merlin.” Lancelot hummed, chuckling softly. He could just imagine the fun she had. "Sounds like you had a good time."
"I did. I think Merlin did, too. Arthur, on the other hand, I don't think so. Though I now have a new field for practice."
"Oh?"
"Archery field and Merlin owes me fifty arrows."
Lancelot chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, kissing her forehead. "And how did that happen?"
"A bet. Arthur said enchanted geese, Merlin said stolen eggs, I said stolen and eaten eggs by the villagers. I won."
"That’s my girl," he murmured, holding her close. She smirked, looking up to him, her eyes softening as she took in his features. "I like that"
"What?"
"Being yours. It feels right."
"I feel the same. It’s as if I've been waiting all my life for you."
Talia laughed softly, sitting up facing her man. Her eyes met his, leaning in.
Just as their lips met, she murmured, "You my love" her eyes trailing his as she leaned in closer, "Have no idea."