Merlin: Return of the Monarch

The Herb-Throwing

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"You know," Merlin said with a sigh as he shut another dusty book and put it on top of the growing pile, "You could give me a hand."

Arthur, who was relaxing on the couch with a glass of pineapple juice and with an eye mask on, lifted it up and gave Merlin a sassy stare. "I'll have you know Merlin I'm recovering from traumatic burns to my abdominal area. I'm sorry if following the doctor's orders mean I have to shift all the work to be done into your hands." He said, leaning back against the plump pillows and adjusting his eye mask back over his eyes. Merlin pulled another book towards him and opened it, comparing the pages to his book of spells. "I've told you before, Yahoo! answers don't count as doctors orders." He sighed, quietly, but loud enough for Arthur to hear and harrumph at the comment.

It had been a week since the fire at Buckingham palace, and while they had gained access to the internet, the two men were as close to finding the answer to their problem as NASA was to discovering humans on Pluto.

Arthur sighed, aimlessly waving the remote towards the TV and pressing the on button for a minute until he heard the BBC news theme tune. Merlin pursed his lips for a second, wondering if it would be worth pointing out that he could have lifted the eye mask and taken less time, but decided it wouldn't be worth the petty argument.

"And after a week of hospital care, the toddler Prince Arthur has been released to return home, and I'm pretty sure he'll be happy to be back in his own bed again. But which one? While reports confirm Prince Arthur and his family are not returning to Buckingham Palace, they have not said which home they'll be going to. Buckingham Palace is once again open for official tours and visits and ceremonies, but the wing where the young family live has been sealed off, and a confirmed police investigation is in full swing regarding the circumstances of the fire."

Arthur sat up quickly, his pineapple juice spilling out of his glass all over his hands. "Merlin!" He said, urgency evident in his voice, while his White button down absorbed the yellow liquid. Merlin, however, was staring intently at a page only 4 leafs in to the book in front of him, and comparing it to the open spell book he had sat next to him on the sofa. "Arthur come and look at this." He muttered, twisting the book round and placing it next to the spell book, facing Arthur. The King shifted into a seated position, shifting his eye mask up his forehead.

'The royal couple, who introduced young Arthur to the public life properly just days before the fire, complained of a herb being thrown over them, burning holes in their clothes. Scientists have been given the clothes, but no results have been obtained as of yet. The thrower of the herbs has remained anonymous, but the couple's advisor has released a statement saying the two incidences- the fire and the herb throwing- were completely unrelated.'

Arthur looked at Merlin, squinting as he thought. "Why is that article in your book?" He queried, a confused look becoming him. Merlin shrugged. "I don't know. But maybe this is what we need to look into." He said, picking the sheet of printed paper out of the book. Arthur nodded. "Right, well, that won't be too hard, considering the herb thrower is still anonymous." He said sarcastically, moving back to his relaxed position on the couch, eye mask still sat on his forehead.

Merlin sat quietly, his mind racing over the possibilities he could use to find the herb thrower. "We could always start with looking at what herbs could manage a spell like this." He said slowly, reaching out to the stack of books next to his feet. He picked up three, glancing at the covers, before replacing them on another pile and picking up three more. Arthur yawned, stretching out on his sofa. "Well, it looks like you have that covered," he said, standing up carefully and gently brushing his hand over his burned stomach. "I think I might head to bed. It is nearly dawn, after all." He pointed out, and Merlin glanced out of the window to see the dark sky slowly turning a shade of peach pink.

Arthur waited a moment to see if Merlin would reply, but when he received none, he got up slowly, shaking his head and cradling his still healing stomach, before heading out to the hallway entrance and down to the second bedroom on the left. As soon as he shut the door, Merlin sighed, and tugged on his ear. It had started to develop an achey feeling, but it wasn't too strong, so he wasn't too worried about it.

As the sun slowly crept higher in the sky, Merlin felt his eyes starting to droop and decided that maybe he too should try and get a few hours sleep at least. They would be heading out to Buckingham Palace in the next few days, and Merlin had a sneaking suspicion Arthur in public in a royal home amongst tourists was going to be a pretty interesting combination.

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A/N: hey all!! Thank you all for the wonderful response on my last chapter, and I'm sorry this Is so short and so long coming but as I said in my update if you knew how busy I am plus how ill I am, you'd forgive me for such impudunce. Much love to you all, keep on believing in magic xx