Werewolf of London: Chapter 6
Romania, January 1st, 1851
Merlin yawned as he sat up, then he stretched and popped his back. Sleeping on the hard ground was not good for his back. He felt around for some fur, but all he encountered was bare skin. Merlin blinked and looked down where his hand rested on Arthur’s back.
“Arthur!” he cried. “You are back to normal!”
Arthur sat up and rubbed his head. “What are you gibbering about?”
“You really are back to normal,” Merlin grinned. “And you are naked. Oh dear.” He took off his long coat and passed it to Arthur, who put it on.
“Thank you. Where are we?”
“A, uh, clearing in Romania. Arthur, what happened? You have been missing for months!”
“I do not know,” Arthur shifted his eyes, looking away from Merlin.
Merlin frowned, but decided not to push Arthur. He had been through a lot the past few months. “All right. Come on, Morgana and Gwen are probably worried about both of us now.” He took Arthur’s hand and pulled him up. Then he led Arthur towards an exit in the clearing.
“Morgana and Gwen are here?”
“Yes. Everyone has been worried about you! They sort of pushed their way into coming along.”
“They usually do,” Arthur chuckled. “I suppose Father does not know about this.”
“He does not. He thought that you were just off gallivanting somewhere.”
“I was.”
“Shut up,” Merlin scowled. He pushed aside some low hanging branches and let Arthur pass. Arthur limped by Merlin and winced as he stepped onto a twig.
“I really need some clothes. How did I end up naked anyway?” Arthur glowered at the forest.
Merlin blushed lightly. “I do not know. It was your gallivanting.”
“Oh, ha, ha. Merlin, please do not ever go into comedy. You would be horrible at it.”
“Oh please,” Merlin rolled his eyes. “Your jokes are even worse than mine.”
“What?” Arthur cried in mock outrage. “My jokes are amazing.”
Merlin rolled his eyes again. “Whatever.” He stared off into the distance and moved forward.
“We are following a strange path,” Arthur remarked.
“Oh. Well. It was the way I went to find you.”
“It must have been dark, if the sun is coming up now.”
Merlin shrugged. “We are almost to Alba.” He turned to look at Arthur. “Um, I do not know how I am going to get you to my hotel.”
“Follow me,” Arthur straightened his back, held his head up high, and marched towards the city. He was Arthur Pendragon and he didn’t care if he was half naked or not.
Merlin slapped his hand on his forehead and followed after Arthur. This is not going to go well. I can tell.
Merlin grimaced as he and Arthur walked down a street in Alba. Merlin was walking behind Arthur watching as people stared and whispered as they passed, mainly because Arthur was dressed only in Merlin’s long coat. It could be because he was supposedly missing, I guess, Merlin thought. Everyone knows what happened to him. I am sure of it.
“Arthur,” Merlin leaned forward and hissed. “Where are we going?”
“To my hotel. Hopefully they have not gotten rid of my things,” Arthur replied steadily. He didn’t seem to be affected by the stares at all.
“What if they did?” Merlin stepped a little closer to Arthur.
“I will just buy some clothes.”
“With what? As far as I know, you do not have any money!”
Arthur stopped and Merlin almost ran into him. Arthur turned to Merlin and sighed, “Honestly, Merlin. Morgana has money and if she does not, I know there is a bank around here.” Arthur started walking again, dodging children playing in the street.
Merlin fumbled for words and was almost left behind. He scrambled to catch up. “Arthur! Wait!” He saw Arthur slow down and wait for him to catch up. “Arthur,” he huffed. “Everyone at that hotel thinks you are dead.”
“So,” Arthur shrugged. “We will not know until we get there.”
Merlin let out a breath. “Fine, we should just get this over with so we can go back to Morgana and Gwen.”
They kept walking down streets until they finally reached the hotel where Arthur had been staying. As soon as they walked in, the people at the front desk began to panic.
“Sirs, please,” said a man behind the desk. “You cannot come in here like that.”
Arthur strode right up to the desk and said, “I am Arthur Pendragon. I was staying here a few months ago. I want my room and my things.”
“I do not think that-” the man replied.
“No, you do not think,” Arthur sneered. “I demand my room and my things or else I will take my business elsewhere.”
Merlin stood quietly behind Arthur. He knew that this was Arthur’s sphere of influence, anything Arthur Pendragon wanted, he got. However, when he heard Arthur growl, “I want to see the manager!” He quickly walked up next to Arthur and put a hand on his arm.
“Calm down. Getting angry will not solve anything.” He glanced down at his coat. “And it definitely will not help you get your clothes any quicker.”
Arthur let out an angry breath. “All right, fine. I still want to see the manager.”
The man behind the front desk nodded and frantically shouted in Romanian to some people standing around. Soon, an officious looking man came into the hotel lobby.
“How may I help you?” he asked.
“I want my room and things,” Arthur sniffed.
“Of course, Mister Pendragon.” The manager clapped his hands and a porter came around from the back. “Please take Mister Pendragon and his...friend to the room Mister Pendragon used before he...left us.”
“Finally,” Arthur said. He banged a hand on the desk and followed the porter. “Come along Merlin. I cannot carry all my things on my own.”
Merlin rolled his eyes, but followed Arthur towards the stairs. “The things I do for you.”
“You do it because you care,” Arthur leered.
“I do,” Merlin whispered. He watched Arthur climb the stairs. I hope he tells me what really happened. I do not want to have to pretend forever.
Merlin peeked his head around the door to the hotel room he shared with Morgana and Gwen, but didn’t see the ladies anywhere. He pushed the door open and walked in. “They might be downstairs in the restaurant,” he told Arthur as they walked in. “That desk clerk looked really surprised to see you. I wonder why?”
Arthur shrugged as he walked over to the couch and flopped back on it. “Who knows? Perhaps he was charmed by my good looks.”
“Well, he certainly would not be charmed by your fashion sense,” Merlin snarked as sat on a chair next to the couch.
“What ever do you mean?”
“Those clothes are not exactly fashion forward.”
“They were all I had!” Arthur cried and sat up. “Everything else was in the hotel laundry.”
“Where did you even get those?” Merlin waved his hand at Arthur’s outfit. “Where do you wear them? I’ve never seen them before.”
Arthur looked down at his clothes and frowned. He had on a white cotton shirt, that was partially unbuttoned and had the sleeves rolled up to about his elbows. He had a pair of suspenders on that were connected to brown, rough cotton trousers that looked like they had been worn mainly for outdoor activities. Arthur’s shoes were black and scuffed up, as if he ran through the woods with them on.
“I wear them when you are not around.”
“When am I not around you? Well, besides the months you were lost somewhere in the forest.”
Arthur flushed slightly. “I am not around you all the time, you know. I wear them at home.”
“Then Pendragon home in London?”
“No, that is not my home. I meant the country house my mother left me.”
“Oh,” Merlin looked away from Arthur and towards the hotel room door. “Where are those damned girls?” he groused.
“Flirting, I am sure,” Arthur replied. He put his head on the back of the couch, closed his eyes and sighed.
Merlin took pity on him and said, “Why do not you take a nap? I am sure Morgana will not mind if you sleep in her bed.”
Arthur chuckled, “She will mind, but I am going to do it anyway.” He got up and cracked his back. “This room?” He pointed to the left.
“Yes.”
“Where is your room?”
Merlin pointed over his shoulder. “There. They did not have very many rooms, so we just shared a suite.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?” he smirked.
“Yes, really. Go to bed already, you look ready to faint.”
“Pendragons’,” Arthur stated imperiously, “do not faint.”
“Sure, sure. Go.”
Arthur glared, but turned on his heel and went into Morgana’s room. As soon as the door shut behind him, Merlin let out a deep sigh. This is going to be hell to explain to people. I have no idea what I am going to tell Morgana. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the chair. Before he knew it, Merlin was asleep.
When he woke up, Merlin heard some muffled shouting. He looked around and saw Gwen smiling down at him.
“Glad you woke up. Morgana is throwing a fit in there,” Gwen said, motioning towards the bedroom door.
“Damn it,” Merlin groaned, he threw his head back and winced when he hit the chair. “I was hoping to avoid that.”
Suddenly, the door opened and Morgana stormed out with a smug looking Arthur following behind her. Gwen gave Merlin a look and went to stand behind Morgana.
“Merlin!” she yelled. “When did you find my brother?”
“Er, last night.”
“Then why is he here now? Why did you not bring him then?”
“It was about nine at night and then we had to find our way back to the city and by then it was almost midnight! So we figured it would better to stay somewhere for the night and then come back here in the morning, which we did,” Merlin lied. He just hoped Arthur’s version was similar to his.
“See?” Arthur said slyly. “Just like I told you.” He pushed Morgana aside and plopped down onto the couch cushion closest to Merlin and put his legs up on the coffee table.
“Oh please,” Morgana scoffed. She pushed Arthur’s legs off the table with her foot. “I do not believe that for a second.” She turned to Merlin and pointed a finger at his face. “I want the truth, Emrys. Or else.”
“That is all you are getting, so accept that fact and let us move on,” Arthur growled. He was no longer relaxed anymore. He had tensed up and leaned forward, almost blocking Merlin from Morgana, as if he was protecting Merlin. His upper lip was raised slightly into a snarl. Merlin even thought he heard a low growl coming from his friend.
Merlin saw Morgana and Gwen’s faces turn from anger and amusement respectively into shock. He put a hand on Arthur’s arm and said, “Arthur, relax. She was just worried about the both of us, were you not Morgana?”
“Y-yes,” she stuttered. She walked backwards and collapsed into another chair opposite of Merlin. Gwen came up behind her and touched her shoulders. Morgana grabbed one of her hands and gripped it tightly. Morgana turned to him with wide eyes, while Gwen gave him a questioning look. He smiled sheepishly and gave a little shrug.
Under his hand, Merlin felt Arthur relax. He took his hand away and Arthur stood up. He shot Merlin a grateful look and said, “I am starving. I assume you two ladies had lunch already, but I would really love some food.”
“We were shopping,” Gwen replied lightly, trying to break the remaining tension. “Morgana saw a dress she just had to have.”
Merlin snorted, “She always sees a dress she has to have.”
“Hey now,” Morgana protested. “It is not my fault all dresses look amazing on me.”
Arthur rolled his eyes, pulled Merlin out of the chair and began to tug him towards the room door. “Come on, you should be hungry as well.”
Morgana stood, smoothed her dress and stated, “Gwen and I shall come along as well. You can tell us of your adventures without us Arthur.”
Arthur winced, but nodded. “Best to get it over with.”
Morgana tilted her head in agreement. “Indeed. Come along Gwen.” She swept around the men, with Gwen following her and shaking her head.
“Sorry about her,” Gwen told them as she passed. “She has been sick with worry.”
“I know,” Arthur said kindly. He turned to Merlin and grinned slightly. “Well, that went well.”
“Yeah about as well as it will go with your father.”
Arthur groaned. “Damn, I forgot about him. Maybe I can put it off?”
“Maybe,” Merlin agreed. He shut the door behind him as he and Arthur stepped out of the room. “We better catch up before they order for us.”
Arthur made a face. “Morgana will order us the weird foods if we wait. Hurry!” He jogged down the hallway.
Merlin laughed and followed him. He couldn’t let his best friend suffer alone.
Chapter 7