Melody (Merlin)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Warning/s: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: I'm on holiday right now in Norfolk and even though I specially selected a place with WiFi it is terrible and it takes about five minutes to even load the home page. I'm so annoyed

Having deduced that the puppy was female, Merlin had called her Catherine, and had decided that she now had a dog. She just hoped that Percival wasn't allergic to hair – Catherine seemed to malt quite a lot, but she couldn't bear to give her up now.

She had given some of her rations to Catherine, eating by the window so she could make sure that nobody got into Camelot. The tides seemed to turn after a day or so, with a large number of the Saxons dead, and Camelot becoming more likely to win with each passing hour.

By the second day, Merlin was exhausted and confident that Camelot was going to win. She couldn't afford to fall asleep though, in case Percival was injured at the last moment and she wasn't able to help him. She was covered in sweat and grime, her hair was becoming greasy and unkempt, and she had a pounding headache.

She couldn't fall asleep though. Every time her head began nodding, Merlin forced her neck to stay upright and splashed a little cold water on her face. Occasionally, she would take a break to teach Catherine her name or play fetch with her.

She was having one of those breaks when the door opened and a very surprised guard was met with a hard, leather ball that Merlin had found lying around. "Oh!" Merlin said in surprise. "I'm sorry."

"Quite alright, m'lady," the guard said, giving the ball to Catherine, who scampered back to Merlin immediately. "I have come to inform you that the Saxons have surrendered."

Merlin perked up despite her lack of sleep. "Wonderful!" she gasped. "Are the knights returning?"

The guard nodded his confirmation. "I believe Sir Percival is headed here right now." He bowed to her and left. Merlin slumped back against the bed. Percival was returning, after the constant worry she had faced for those forty-eight hours.

"He's coming back!" she exclaimed to Catherine, who cocked her head to the side with her ears pricked up. Merlin had used the small remainder of her magic left to heal Catherine completely, and she looked as healthy as anything now.

Merlin staggered to her feet and picked Catherine up, and laid down on the bed. She wished she could greet Percival properly, but she wouldn't be of any use whatsoever if she had collapsed or fallen asleep. Catherine sniffed at Percival's pillow in interest before settling down on it, curling her long tail underneath her body.

A few minutes passed before the door swung open, and a very dishevelled and tired Percival entered their chambers. His armour was splattered with other people's blood and he seemed just as exhausted as Merlin but his face lit up when he saw his wife.

"Percival!" Merlin cried happily, trying and failing to sit up. Her arms had stopped working now that she had finally settled down to sleep.

"I missed you," Percival murmured, sitting down on the edge of the bed and scooping Merlin up gently. "I thought you might have done something stupid."

"Of course I wouldn't," Merlin protested, leaning her cheek against Percival's. "Unless...does adopting a puppy count as something stupid?"

Percival blinked at her. "What?" Then he caught sight of Catherine, sleeping peacefully on his pillow. He sighed and pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead. "He or she?"

"She. Catherine."

"Not stupid," Percival said finally. "Very Merlin, though."

"Well," Merlin murmured, and then forgot what she was going to say as she burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Percival asked in alarm, sitting her up in his lap and stroking her hair.

"I was worried you might be dead or hurt and I'm so tired and I love you," Merlin sobbed, confused as to why she was crying in the first place.

Percival kissed her forehead again, chuckling a little. "I think you're so tired that you're hysterical," he said gently. "Maybe you should go to sleep for a bit."

Merlin shook her head with a valiant effort. "Not yet. Is Arthur okay?" She unsuccessfully attempted to stifle the yawn at the end of her sentence.

"He's fine, got a couple of broken ribs but nothing else," Percival reassured. "It took a while but we got rid of the Saxons in the end."

Merlin nodded thoughtfully. "I was watching out of the window," she admitted. "I was worried at first. But I made sure you were alright."

"I know," Percival said, setting Merlin back down on the bed. "How about you introduce me to Catherine, then?"

Merlin grinned eagerly and picked up the puppy, waking her up. "Catherine, this is Percival," she whispered, kissing the puppy's head. "Here." She handed Catherine over to her husband, who cupped her in his hands easily and carefully, smiling at her.

"She's lovely," he said, stroking her delicately.

"So we can keep her?" Merlin asked hopefully, smiling. She had grown very attached to Catherine in a very short space of time.

"Of course," Percival said without hesitation. "Now, I think you should get some sleep."

Merlin shook her head again. "A bath," she said stoutly. "I need you, you need one, so let's have one and then go to sleep."

Percival sighed, knowing that his wife had dug her heels in firmly and there was no use arguing with her now. "Fine," he agreed reluctantly, setting Catherine down on the bed again and helping Merlin to her feet.