Merlin did not like dogs. At all. He didn't care what size they were, he didn't care if they were on the other side of the street fast asleep, and he definitely didn't care if they were wagging their tails, were obviously friendly and only wanted to play.

In his defense, he'd been mauled by a dog when he was nine, giving him horrendous scars on his right leg, and chased up a tree by that same dog when he was twelve, leaving him with a bite mark on the other leg.

So no, Merlin was not very fond of dogs. He stayed out of their way when they were hunting, bribed other servants to walk them and was eternally grateful that some kitchen boys actually liked the dogs and would take any excuse to go down to the kennels, so feeding them wasn't an issue. Unfortunately, Merlin did have to walk by the kennels on the way to the stables, something he did as fast as he possibly could without running, not being able to stand the barking and the scratching and the howling the damn mutts started as soon as anyone passed them. It was torturous.

So there he was, on his way to meet Lancelot in the stables, which the knight-in-training was currently mucking out. He was really enjoying having Lancelot here. He was eight years older than the sixteen-year-old Merlin and it was like having an (doting) older brother around, though when he'd voiced that to Arthur, the Prince had gotten rather sullen and ordered Merlin to go clean his chainmail. Merlin really hoped that Arthur would knight Lancelot soon. He couldn't think of anyone more deserving.

Although, the two knights who came up behind Merlin, unlocked the door to the kennels, and roughly pushed him inside, were perhaps not so deserving.

Merlin started pleading. Begging for them to open the door as the dogs bounded up to him, barking, and jumping, all six of them, causing Merlin to fall to the ground, shouting for help as the dogs pawed at him and started playfighting with him, while the two who pushed him inside just laughed. Even if Merlin had been alone to cast a spell to unlock the door, he wasn't sure he could remember any.

Merlin continued crying out for help, beginning to genuinely cry, until finally, finally, someone unlocked the door, barking at the dogs to get back. Someone grabbed Merlin under the arms and hoisted him up, dragging him out of the kennels at the same time. As soon as Merlin realised that Arthur was his savior, he launched himself at Arthur, wrapping his arms around his neck, and burying his face in Arthur's shoulder. Arthur was startled, but quickly regained composure, rubbing Merlin's back with one hand, and cradling the back of his head with the other. Lancelot, who'd heard the commotion from the stables, had locked the door as soon as Merlin was clear. Leon had come running with Arthur, and was currently glaring at the two responsible.

The hug was too brief for Merlin. His breathing hadn't even returned to something resembling normal and was still coming in great shuddering gasps as Arthur gently pried Merlin off of him and passed him over to Lancelot, with instructions to take him to Gaius for something to calm his nerves. He heard Arthur turn on the two who'd locked Merlin in and ignored his pleas to be let out as Lancelot led him away with an arm around shoulders.