Chapter Text
The particulars of what happened, Arthur decided, were not important at the time. What was important was why Lancelot stood in the doorway to his room holding a child—no, toddler?—who thrashed and kicked until he ended up being held upside down. The child, even more importantly, looked suspiciously like Merlin.
“What is going on…?” Arthur asked.
“We have a tiny problem.” Lancelot almost looked proud of himself for the joke.
Merlin clung to Lancelot’s front when all the round table knights entered Arthur’s chambers. The poor thing was so small; his clothes hadn’t shrunk apparently, so Merlin could only wear his tunic and socks that kept slipping down. His arms and legs were so scrawny as well, and his big eyes were filled with so many emotions—the main ones Arthur could see were fear and sadness, but there was some amount of curiosity behind everything.
Gaius and Gwen joined them a few moments later, and Merlin gave a tiny, nervous wave to Gaius. He hid his face in Lancelot’s shoulder when Gaius waved back.
“Care to explain what happened, Lancelot?” Arthur asked once everyone was settled.
“I was helping Merlin gather herbs for Gaius this morning, as we usually do on Sundays, and everything seemed perfectly normal. But, before either of us knew what was going on, someone appeared and cast a spell on Merlin. She disappeared before I could do anything, and when the dust cleared, Merlin was crying and, well…like this,” Lancelot explained.
“Well, shit…” Gwaine said under his breath, and Merlin immediately jerked his head in his direction.
“That’s a bad word!” he fussed, catching everyone off guard.
“You’re right, yes, I’m sorry,” Gwaine said, hoping not to get on tiny Merlin’s bad side.
“Mommy says bad words get you soap in your mouth!” Merlin continued to fuss, nearly squirming his way out of Lancelot’s hold. The other knights could hardly keep their laughter contained while Lancelot struggled to keep Merlin in his arms.
“I’ll make sure he gets some soap, Merlin, I promise,” Elyan said, which seemed to satisfy the boy.
“Is he just…younger and knows who we are, or…?” Percival asked.
“He knew who I am, and he knew who Arthur and Gaius were when I asked. I think he’s just younger Merlin, not completely the same as when he was this little,” Lancelot said. Then, just to make sure he was correct, he lightly pinched Merlin’s chin to get his attention. “Can you tell me who that is you’ve been fussing at?” he asked, pointing to Gwaine.
“Gwaine…” Merlin said, but he sounded almost unsure. He looked back up at Lancelot for confirmation and beamed when he nodded. “And…and Elyan’s getting soap, and Percy’s the reallyyyy tall one, and Leon’s got the curly hair…!” Still, his answers remained uncertain, but he was right.
“And who’s that?” Lancelot asked as he pointed to Gwen. She gave him a tiny wave, and Merlin giggled before covering his face with his hands.
“Gwen!” he squeaked out before finally slipping out of Lancelot’s hold and darting over to her. “Up, up, up!” he practically demanded with his arms stuck straight up in the air.
“Awww, you’re darling,” Gwen cooed as she lifted him up. Merlin settled easily on her hip and fit his head on her shoulder. “Why would someone turn him into a child?” she asked, which was the big question no one seemed certain of.
“I’m not sure…” Lancelot said. “The sorceress that attacked him seemed to know exactly what she was doing and to who she was doing it to. But, why Merlin, I have no idea.”
“Can you fix this, Gaius?” Arthur asked.
“It will take some time, sire, but I’m sure I can find a way to get him back to his right age,” Gaius said. “Do you remember anything the sorceress did to cast this spell?” he asked Lancelot.
“She said a few words, but I have no idea what they were. It was some other language. Then she blew some smoke toward him, it exploded, and then she was gone.”
“Interesting…” Gaius said, though it was mostly to himself. “Well, the fact that he knows who everyone is to some extent does help narrow it down, but I’ll have to research that particular spell.” As Gaius headed for the door, Merlin squeaked and reached out his hand for Gaius to take. “Yes, Merlin?”
“I’m sorry…” Merlin said in such a tiny, pitiful voice. It made every heart in the room ache.
“It’s alright, Merlin. We’ll fix this, and you’ll be good as new in no time,” Gaius said. He mussed the boy’s hair and took his leave when he saw Merlin smile.
With Gaius gone, the room fell into silence for an uncomfortably long time. Then, everyone heard a sniffle.
“Merlin?” Lancelot called. He got to his feet quickly when he heard a tiny hiccup. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay, bug, I promise!” Lancelot took Merlin from Gwen and bounced him in his arms, hugged him tight, did every soothing thing he could think of. But, no matter how hard Lancelot tried, Merlin continued to cry. “What’s wrong, bug, what’s wrong?”
Merlin tried to find his voice, hiccups and gasps covering it as he tried to heave a breath and right himself. Then, Lance noticed something warm growing on his side.
“Ah. That’s what’s wrong…” Lancelot managed out as he looked down, and then back up at Merlin, who only cried harder. He shot a glare at Gwaine when he snorted.
“Lancelot, let us get him cleaned up, and you…go change,” Arthur said. He patted Lance on the shoulder and held his hands out for Merlin. However, Merlin made no move to leave Lance’s arms. Arthur closed and opened his hands repeatedly, hoping Merlin would go to him. “Um…”
“Merlin, sweetheart, can I hold you?” Gwen asked, and Merlin nodded as he stretched his arms out for her to take him. “I have a chest of old clothes at home, some are Elyan’s childhood clothes. Surely something will fit him,” Gwen said, petting the sniffling boy’s hair.
“I’ll come with you, Gwen,” Elyan said, and Gwen just gave him a small nod. “If someone’s after Merlin, having a knight around at all times might be for the best anyway.”
“Then I suppose we’ll all meet up on the training grounds in half an hour,” Arthur said. “We’ll sort out what to do with him while we wait for Gaius to find a reversal.”
Everyone nodded, and Lance, Gwen, and Elyan left without a moment’s hesitation.
“Here we are, this should work,” Gwen said as she shut a trunk and held up some clothes. The little pair of black breeches had patched knees, but otherwise looked in good condition, and a pretty plum colored tunic had only a few minor repairs to it. Clearly, they were clothes at Elyan didn’t abuse too badly, and Gwen was glad for it. “Let’s get you cleaned up and changed, Merlin.”
“I’m sorry…” Merlin said quietly, and both Gwen and Elyan felt their hearts break once again.
“You have nothing to feel sorry for, sweetheart,” Gwen said. She took off his old tunic and tossed it in a basket of dirty laundry. “We just want you to feel clean and comfortable.”
“But I’m a big kid…”
“Accidents happen, Merlin,” Gwen tried to reassure.
“Do you know how old you are, Merlin?” Elyan ended up asking as he wrung out a rag for Gwen.
“Three…” Merlin said. He couldn’t help giggling as Gwen cleaned him off, and she grinned at him.
“You’re a ticklish little thing, aren’t you?” she asked, grinning.
“Noooo!” Merlin insisted, giggling more when she scribbled over his tummy.
Gwen finished getting him dressed, and Elyan picked him up. “Let’s get going and find Arthur, alright?”
“And Lancelot?” Merlin asked.
Elyan snickered, but he still nodded for him. “And Lancelot. You’re quite fond of him, aren’t you, little man?”
“Mhm!”
Arthur quickly learned once they were all gathered on the training grounds that he took for granted Merlin’s calmness earlier. No one had been entirely ready for the day when they had their talk earlier, which meant no one was quite identifiable as a knight. So, when the little Merlin saw the chainmail and armor, saw the cloaks with the Pendragon crest…he did not react as well as one might have hoped.
He screamed. And ran.
“Merlin!” Gwen shouted, darting off after him. The rest of the knights weren’t too far behind, shouting for him themselves. “Where did you go?”
Lancelot heard a little sniffle from behind a bush, and he felt relief wash over him. He shushed the others and raised a hand to keep them from bombarding the boy. As he leaned over the bush, Lance gave a small smile to Merlin. “Hi, bug. Can you come out from back there?”
“Y-you’re not gonna let them hurt me?” Merlin asked in such a small voice.
“No one will hurt you, I promise,” Lancelot said. He crouched closer and spoke in a whisper to keep the other nosy knights from hearing. “No one knows you have magic, so you don’t need to worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
That seemed to do the trick, and Merlin crawled out from the bush. He clung to Lancelot’s front and wrapped his feet around his waist. Lancelot slowly stood up, hands braced against Merlin’s back and bottom to keep him from falling.
“What scared him, Lance?” Gwaine asked. He sounded so hurt, which Lancelot supposed made sense. He and Merlin were very close, so scaring him like that had to feel awful.
“He’s scared of knights,” Lancelot said, quickly trying to cover up Merlin’s reaction. He didn’t have a good reason to be afraid of knights in general, but Lancelot was able to think of a cover. “When he was a child, his village was very poor. He saw many knights come for taxes, and saw many people get hurt…”
“Ohhh…” came everyone’s immediate response.
“Poor little guy…” Percival said sadly.
“Why did he trust you so easily, then?” Arthur asked.
Lancelot just shrugged, but he knew exactly why Merlin trusted him. “Maybe because I was with him when all this happened, so I’m just the least threatening?”
“Right…” If the situation weren’t terrifying with a child sorcerer in his arms, Lancelot might have taken a moment to consider Arthur’s clear jealousy of the situation. “Well, I think we should head out to the area where Merlin was gathering herbs and look for anything that the sorcerer possibly left behind, and maybe we can catch her.”
“Sounds like a good idea. If Gaius can’t find a reversal, then the sorceress who did this could be forced to undo it,” Leon added.
“Then it’s settled,” Arthur said. “Let’s gather the horses and head out. Gwen, do you think you can watch Merlin while we’re gone?”
“Of course, Arthur,” Gwen said. She held her hands out for Merlin, but the little boy’s eyes watered, and he clung tighter to Lancelot.
“No!” Merlin shouted. “I wanna stay with Lance!”
“Merlin, it’s dangerous where we’re going,” Lancelot said, hoping to reason with the boy. “You’ll be safer and happier here with Gwen, I promise.”
It seemed safety was not a matter of importance to young Merlin, so that was just a personality trait he always had. Arthur didn’t like it one bit.
“I’m not leavin’!” Merlin insisted.
“Merlin, you need to stay here,” Arthur said a bit more sternly. “We have big swords, and there are people out there who might try to hurt you, and we can’t risk that.”
“I gotta come with you!” Merlin cried.
“And why is that?” Leon asked.
“Gotta pa’tect Arthur…”
Well. That shot an arrow right through Arthur’s heart. He looked up at Lancelot, whose face looked strained with Merlin’s words. It hurt him just as much, it seemed.
“Let’s just take him, then…” Arthur said, waving a hand in the air dismissively.
“What? Arthur, you can’t be serious,” Elyan said. “He’s just a little thing. If anything happens-”
“Nothing will happen to him,” Arthur interrupted before Elyan could even try to finish. “We’ll keep him glued to us, and we’ll be hyper vigilant. As soon as we’re done surveying the scene, we are leaving.”
“Yes, sire…”
The horses waited for them in the main square, all the usual ones except Merlin’s. He was far too small to ride a horse on his own, so Lancelot plopped him down on his and mounted the horse right behind him. He couldn’t help but smile at the excited way Merlin giggled.
“Horsey, horsey, horsey!” Merlin cheered, bouncing up and down on the saddle.
“What does the horsey say, Merlin?” Gwaine asked beside them, and Merlin beamed a big smile at him.
“They go neighhhh! And ppppr!” Merlin answered excitedly. Gwaine just laughed and gave him a nod.
“You’re very smart, little man!”
“Let’s get going, come on!” Arthur shouted from over his shoulder. “I want to be done with this as quickly as possible!”
“He’s very grumpy…” Merlin said to Gwaine, which made both he and Lancelot burst out laughing.
“He’s always grumpy, isn’t it?” Gwaine asked, relishing the glare he got from Arthur and giggle he got from Merlin.
“I wouldn’t be grumpy if people didn’t turn my manservant into a toddler.”