Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Got my wisdom teeth out on Aug 16th and have taken a long time to recover. I actually just got an infection on that for some reason has made me want to write. Spent yesterday in the emergency room because nothing else is open on the weekends. Got some pills now that have worked like magic. I was started to get a fever when my mom went to pick them up and then with in half an hour of taking them I felt better. I have my first real day off school tomorrow but I'm hoping I can fit the dentist in. Dam them for not being open on weekends or friday.

I started writing this about a month ago around midnight when I was at my friends house and wasn't tired so I decided to start writing this just on my account. I noticed on friday when I was adding a new chapter to different story the time it was on my document list was almost up so it almost got deleted. I decided to finish it. I'll add more instalments eventually. There isn't really any set story line. I just started writing this on a whim.

The Sorcerer's Toad

part 4

The prince tracked mud all the way through the castle on the path to his room. He had his manservant help remove his armor. "Merlin, draw me a bath before you leave, and when you do, take this with you. I expect it to be cleaned by morning."

Merlin looked on in dread at the muddy armor his master was indicating too. "But it's already sundown?" The warlock started to think about how little sleep he would get that night. He still had to run the princes bath before he could even think about how long it would take to return the armor to it's former glory.

"Then you better start moving." Arthur replied as he disappeared behind his dressing screen.

"Why can't it wait till morning? You have that council meeting so you won't be needing it till later." Merlin asked.

"You can't let that mud stay on it all night, it'll rust." The prince stated."...And don't forget to wake me up on time tomorrow!" Merlin could here just as the doors closed behind him.

…

Merlin grumbled to himself as he placed the dirty armor on the desk in his room. Looking disgruntled as he realized the state it would leave his table in. He sighed as he sat and pulled his chair closer so that he could get to work.

Picking up the first piece of armor, he started to rub it with a dry rag. It looked like he was just spreading the dirt around, making it even dirtier.

He dipped the rag into a bucket of water he'd gotten from the prince's bath. Too tired to walk all the way back down to the pump to get fresh water. The water was clean enough considering how dirty it was going to get in such a short time anyway.

The circular motion of the rag going over the surface of the armor repeatedly was slowly putting him in a daze until before he knew it he was a sleep.

…

The young warlock woke up with at start and when he heard movement in the other room. He just managed to stop himself from falling off the edge of his chair. He winced when he tried to stand up, his back still in pain from the angle he ended up falling asleep in, slumped over his desk. It took a minute for him to remember why he woke up there instead of his bed in the first place.

Wait, the room was light, the sun was already up.

"Dam." He didn't even remember falling a sleep but he remembered he never got very far on his task. Arthur would kill him if his armor were ruined. The warlock put his head in his hands to afraid to look at whatever damage there might be.

There came a knock at the door. "Merlin, you only have a few minutes before your suppose to wake the prince, get up!" Could be heard from the other side.

Double dam. He wouldn't even have enough time to fix it with magic.

Merlin looked at the table, dropping his hands from his head in surprise. The armor was, clean. He didn't remember finishing last night. 'It was more than clean, it looked almost brand new.' The warlock thought to himself. He could even see his reflection in it.

"Merlin!" Gaius snapped when his ward didn't appear and hearing no movement from within the room.

"I'm going!" Merlin yelled so that his mentor could hear him on the other side of the door. He gathered all the armor in his arms before leaving.

Still in a daze he didn't notice the croaking noise coming from under the table.

…

"You're late." Merlin heard as soon as he walked into his master's chambers. He looked towards where the sound came from to see the prince already sitting up in his bed. Judging by how alert his eyes were he'd been awake for a while. He'd not just woken up when he heard his manservant coming down the hallway; noisily clinking his armor together.

"Well if you're already up, it shouldn't really matter. I'm sure if I never showed up you'd be able to dress yourself and get to the king's meeting, on time." Merlin replied cheekily as he dumped the armor on the table.

"That isn't the point. Part of your job is to make sure I get up on time everyday, and you very rarely managed to perform this task for yourself. You'd never show up till noon if it wasn't for Gaius nagging you." The prince glared at his manservant.

Merlin rolled his eyes. " Are you going to get up and get dressed, or are you just going to stay in bed all day. I finished cleaning your armor."

"Did you now." Arthur said rhetorically as he through the cover off his body and got out of the bed. " Let me expect your work to see if it's up to my high standards."

The prince rolled out of bed and strutted over to stand beside the other man. He was surprised by what he observed. Looking from the amazingly clean armor to his well-rested manservant, he didn't believe it.

"Who'd you get to help you?" Arthur accused. "Was it Genevieve?"

"I didn't ask anyone to." Merlin said in his defense, what he said was true but that didn't mean that somebody hadn't of their own accord.

The prince could hear a note of doubt in his voice.

"This is the cleanest I've seen my armor since you started working for me. I doubt you'd be able to get it this clean from its dirty condition from yesterday even if you did stay up all night, if ever. Judging from your well rested expression that wasn't the case…" Arthur left his accusation trail off. He was waiting for his manservant to confess.

"What does it matter if it was me or if someone else did it, as long as it was done, who cares." Merlin sprouted out under his master's stare. They both just looked at each other. "Aren't you suppose to meet your father in ten minutes?" He said to throw the prince off his trail.

"Dam, I don't have time for this, that doesn't mean that this conversation is dropped. We'll talk about this later." Arthur told him before rushing to get dressed.

…

When they arrived late at the council chambers they were surprised to see everyone standing and talking, with the king nowhere in sight.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked one of his father's advisors.

"King Uther has locked himself in his room and refuses to come out. Maybe you should go and try and talk to him." The advisor looked pleadingly at his prince, not knowing what else to do.

Arthur looked confused at this turn of events. 'What reason would his father have to not want to see anybody?' He asked himself. The prince turned and started walking in the direction of his father's chambers, his manservant following behind him.

…

Arthur banged on the grand wooden door. "Father, we are supposed to be having a meeting with the court." He received no verbal response but could hear movement within. "Father, would you open the door!"

"I do not wish to see anyone today, go away." Came the muffled reply through the door.

"Is the reason physical?" Arthur asked through the door. He could hear a grumble, which he took as a confirmative. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Would you at least let Gaius come in and examine you? Maybe he could figure out what's wrong and a way to fix it."

"No one is aloud to see me like this!" Uther yelled through the door.

Arthur looked at Merlin and mouthed 'That he should get Gaius'. His manservant nodded in agreement before turning to head in the direction of the physician's chamber. The prince turned back to the door to see if he could talk his father around to reason.

…

It was safe to say that he had no luck in his endeavor with his father. He was so glad to see Gaius return with Merlin. "I can't get him to open the door." Arthur told the physician.

Gaius rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket. They could hear a jingling noise of metal hitting each other. "Luckily I have a key for such events. When your father was newly crowned he used to throw hissy fits all the time like this." He pulled the ring of keys out. Selecting the most ornate one before placing it in the lock and turning it to the right.

They could hear a click of the door unbolting before the old man opened the door to the kings indignation. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see anybody!" Uther's yell could be heard from with in, followed by the physician's loud laughter.

The prince and warlock locked eyes in question before curiosity got the best of them. They both rush the door, bursting through it and quickly looking around for the king's person. When they rested their eyes upon him they both stopped in surprise.

Arthur thought that maybe his father had woken to find that his hairline had receded further. Hair loss was a very touchy subject with him since he hit middle age, but this was the complete opposite.

The king was covered head to toe in thick gray fur. You could just see his eyes glaring at his old time friend who was laughing at his plight. "Are you going to help me or just continue to mock my pain?" The king demanded more than asked, spitting out the fur that had gotten into his mouth as he talked.

"Ok sir, how did this happen?" Gaius asked with a giant smile on his face, still out of breath from laughing so hard.

"There's only one possibility, it was magic." The king jerked in indignation causing his long- only word to describe it- fur swing forward at his motion. "I just woke up like this."

Merlin started to chuckle to himself. Arthur tried to cover his manservant's mouth to muffle the noise so his father wouldn't hear; or his friend may just be spending the day in the dungeon judging from his father's mood.

"The noise turned the kings attention to the other two unknown occupants of the room. "You boy need to get out. Get out, and don't tell anyone about what you've seen!" Merlin struggled out of the prince's arms and immediately started to run to the door at the king yelling at him, the prince watched him go but stood frozen in place. "You too Arthur." Uther yelled again.

Arthur put his hands up and turned on his heel and left at a fast pace. He met his manservant in the hall. "I wonder who would want to put such a harmless curse on my father? It isn't life threatening in the slightest, usually people with magic are out to kill."

Merlin shrugged. " I don't know, maybe someone wanted revenge for something minor."

"But who?" Arthur asked trying to think of the people his father had come in contact with lately.

A croak was heard down the hall surprising the both so they whipped their head in the direction.

"Milo." Merlin said in surprise when his toad that they left in a swamp just yesterday appeared once more. Just like magic.

...TBC

Uther growing fur was inspired by when Uther goes bald in the goblin episode, I decided to go the opposite way.