Chapter 11

"MERLIN!" Everyone looked up as Arthur entered the hall, a furious expression on his face as Aithusa chirped and clung to his shoulder.

"Erm, yes?" The younger man answered, looking distinctly nervous. "What's wrong?"

"Your dragon," Arthur spat out. "Seems to keep insisting on calling me 'prat'!"

"Prat-prat!" Aithusa agreed, flapping her wings.

"Well," Merlin said slowly with a grin. "Maybe that's because you are one?"

Arthur growled, and started marching around the table to get to his manservant, who hurriedly backed away in the opposite direction while the rest of their friends and the council watched with amusement.

"This is all your fault, I know it is!"

"Oh come off it, Arthur, she's got little pet-names for everyone!"

"'Prat' is not a name, it's an insult!"

Jumping off of Arthur's shoulder, Aithusa flapped her way over to the nearest calm person. "Gise?"

"Yes, little one?" Gaius asked.

"Prat-prat mad'a Mermer?"

"I'm afraid so, but he'll get over it in due time."

The dragonling hunched in on herself, tail wrapping around her feet. "M'fult."

"No, not your fault Aithusa. It's just that the king's been under a great deal of pressure lately, and Merlin goes out of his way to make him upset. Stress relief, I believe he calls it. Do you understand?" Gaius smiled as the baby bobbed her head up and down. Meanwhile, Arthur had sped up to the point he was practically running after Merlin, who continued to circle the table and let out one mild insult after another.

Abruptly, Aithusa leapt up and flew back to Arthur. "King Prat!" She happily announced. The blonde man nearly stopped out of shock, whereas Merlin did come to a halt in order to double over laughing.

"Well, at least she got one thing right," the king grumbled. Stalking up to his servant, he swatted the younger man on the back of his head, and then called the council meeting to order.

-BA-

"I know you can do it, little one."

"Per-per!"

"That's right, now come on, just add that 'ss' sound to the end."

"Per... Pers-pers?"

"Better, Aithusa. Can you add the 'vv' sound next?"

"Pers- pers-vl!"

"That's good! You got the el in too!"

"Pers-vl! Pers-vl!"

(Everyone was astounded the next day when the little dragon arrived at the training fields, saw her large friend, and shouted a perfectly pronounced "Percival!")

-BA-

"Come on now, you did it with Percival. Come on, say 'Gwaine'."

"Win?"

"No, Gw-aine."

"Win."

"Don't be like that, I know you can say it properly! Gwaine. Gw-aine. Guh-wuh-ayn. Gwaine."

"...Gwin?"

The man sighed in defeat. "Close enough."

-BA-

"Lin!"

"I do believe that's a female name, little one."

"Lin?"

"Two syllables. I'm sure you can figure them out - you did with Percival."

"Percival!"

"Yes, him."

"Le-en!"

"Yes, that's right. Two sounds. Lee, on."

"Leon?"

The Head Knight blinked. And then smiled. "Perfect, Aithusa."

"Th'nks, Leen!"

"...You do that on purpose, don't you?"

"Mm."

"Do you actually know how to say Gwaine's name, then?"

"Gwaine, Gwin, Gwinny."

The smile turned into a smirk. "I don't mind you still calling me 'Leen' if you keep calling him 'Gwinny'."

-BA-

"Now, I know you know this is a sword."

"Sw'rd!"

"Uh-huh, and this is a warhammer."

"Wer-himm'r?"

"Very good, and that's a normal hammer."

"Himmer!"

"Mm-hm, better. Here's my forge-"

"Elyeen's forge?"

"That's right, you said forge perfectly! Excellent!"

"Elyan's forge!"

Quite a few people passing by the smithy paused in confusion when the dual, happy shouts of 'Elyan's forge! Elyan's forge!' rang out from the building for nearly a whole hour.

-BA-

"Do you want me to tell you a story, Aithusa?" Merlin asked as he walked through the forest, herb pouch by his side and dragonling on his shoulder.

"St'ry, st'ry!"

"Alright then, anything in particular you'd like to hear about?"

Aithusa settled into in a considerate pose, thinking over her options. "...Lins-lot?"

"Y- yes, I'll tell you a story about Lancelot. How about the first time I met him? I was out picking mushrooms one night, when all of a sudden this huge griffin came out of nowhere..."

-BA-

"Arthur."

"Prat."

"Arthur."

"Prat."

"Arthur."

"King Prat?"

"Argh...

"Arthur, are you still trying to get her to say your name?"

The king looked up guiltily. "No. Of course not."

"Well," Gwen smiled, bending over to scoop the baby dragon into her arms. "If you were, I'd say you should go the same route that Percival did. Aithusa, what's my short-name?"

"Gwen!"

"Very good, aren't you such a smart girl? Now, what gets added after that part?"

"Gwen-iv?"

"Perfect! And one more sound at the end..."

"Eer! Gwen-iv-eer! Guinevere!"

"That's right, you did it! Good job, Aithusa."

"Alright, fine, I get it, take small steps," Arthur grumbled from his seat. "But I swear to you, Merlin's trained her to never say my name, no matter what!"

"Arthur."

Both humans snapped their heads around to stare at Aithusa, who looked rather smug. A moment later, the king jumped up with a whoop. "HA! She said it! She did! She said Arthur before Gwaine! Ha-ha!"

Gwen shook her head as the ridiculous man dashed from the room, eager to go rub the victory in his most irresponsible knight's face. She then sent a suspicious glance down at Aithusa. "You're never going to say it when anyone more than he or I are around, will you?"

The smug look increased. "King Prat."

-BA-

"Gaius," Aithusa murmured as she curled up beside a snoring Merlin to go to sleep that night. "Percival. Gwaine. Leon. Elyan. Guinevere. Arthur. Merlin. Mine. My Gise, my Per-per, my Gwin, my Leen, my Elee, my Gwenny, my Prat, my Mer-mer. My flock."