Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Well, you're a really cute kitten," Morgana commented, amused, looking at the black kitten in front of her feet.

Merlin hissed. He wasn't cute . He was a dangerous sorcerer and wouldn't accept any such insult .

His size didn't matter. Merlin was a predator , dangerous, fast, and lethal and...

Oh, how lovely .

Forgetting his anger, Merlin stretched under Morgana's skilled fingers, which quickly found Merlin's weak spot, right under his ears, starting to cuddle the servant and making him purr.

"What do we tell the king?" Gwen asked, vaguely scared.

"Uther won't realise that Merlin is a cat," Morgana scoffed. "Now that I think about it, in his conditions, it would be an act of compassion to kill him ."

Merlin hissed, opening his eyes to give a stern look at the witch.

"An act of compassion that I have no intention of performing," Morgana muttered, sounding offended and upset.

Was she seriously sulking because Merlin wouldn't let her kill the king?

"You know Arthur isn't ready to be king yet," Gwen commented. "Merlin has his plan."

"I know," Morgana sighed. "I just wish I could speed things up."

Gwen sighed. "You need to turn Merlin back into a person. I don't want to see how the knights will behave without him." After a pause, Gwen added. "Or Arthur ."

"True." Morgana pursed her lips before saying. "But I don't know how ."

Merlin sighed. This was karma for all the times Merlin had attempted something without knowing the consequences.

"Maybe..." Gwen commented. "Can we tell them the truth? Merlin is a cat?"

Merlin hissed, but Morgana smiled. "No, I think that's brilliant."

Merlin growled at her, but Morgana ignored him.

And to think he was once respected.

****

Morgana strode purposefully into Arthur's chambers, where the knights were all gathered gossiping about Merlin.

"Morgana. Knocking isn't a custom anymore?" Arthur asked, raising a tired eyebrow.

"You'd think having Merlin as a servant would get you used to this. Apparently, I was wrong," Morgana muttered. "Now, we have bigger problems."

"Such as?" Arthur asked.

Morgana placed Merlin on the desk.

"It's a beautiful ball of fur," Gwaine said. "Not a problem."

"And not that big," Leon commented under his breath.

"It's Merlin ," Morgana said. "We were in the woods together with Gwen, and there was a flash of light. Merlin turned into a cat."

"A beautiful ball of fur," Gwaine nodded, reaching out and picking Merlin up, stroking him behind the ears and making him melt into extremely noisy purrs.

"Okay..." Arthur muttered. "A witch?"

"No," Morgana shook her head. "I'd ask Merlin, but at the moment his vocabulary is very limited."

As if to demonstrate, Merlin looked up and said. " Meow ."

"Very clear," Morgana muttered in response. "It doesn't help, Merlin!"

" Meow ," Merlin repeated before rubbing his head against Gwaine and asking for more cuddles.

"Can we keep him like this?" Lancelot suddenly asked. "He'd get into much less trouble."

Merlin hissed at him, evidently against the idea.

Arthur considered. "Not a bad idea. It's easier to keep him under control this way."

Merlin hissed at him, puffing up and meowing menacingly.

Leon, Percival, and Gwaine chuckled.

Elyan said. "But he'd never talk again, we can't hug him, kiss him..."

"We can!" Gwaine hugged the little cat and planted a kiss on his head.

"Okay. But he can't do it with us!" Lancelot muttered. "And it would be awkward, in the long run."

"So, ask Gaius what he knows," Arthur decided. "We'll keep Merlin safe."

Merlin glanced at Morgana, clarifying how little he appreciated that plan, but Morgana chuckled, waved her fingers, and left the chambers.

Merlin would get back at her.

***

Life as a cat was... interesting .

Merlin lounged around all day, sprawled everywhere, could use the knights as horses to move around, simply by lying around their shoulders.

Many times, he was petted, cuddled, held in laps, brushed.

The knights and Arthur were spoiling him.

And Merlin was enjoying the peace.

"I've found a solution for Merlin," Morgana announced, ruining Merlin's afternoon. Of course, just as Merlin was enjoying his fate, Morgana got a solution.

Merlin meowed softly.

Morgana chuckled. "I know, it's nice being a cat, but we need you ."

Merlin hissed.

Gwaine stroked him, saying. "Okay, are we ready?"

Morgana nodded. "I'll take him with me."

Without waiting a second, the witch carried Merlin away, petting him and carrying him to her chambers.

***

"I hate all of you," Merlin said, glaring at Arthur fiercely. " Not a word !"

"Merls..." Gwaine attempted.

"Shut it," Merlin indicated menacingly, mentally rejoicing to see him shrink into himself. "Not a word. From any of you."

"Merlin..." Lancelot began to speak, but Merlin gave him a furious look.

"Not. A. Word."

"Okay, now it’s ridiculous," Leon said. "We're sorry for taking advantage, but Merlin, you were an adorable black kitten , all purrs and cuddles. How could we resist?"

"I'm not angry about that," Merlin growled. "But about this !"

The servant pointed at the ball of wool Arthur had placed there to tease Merlin.

"I've been cursed," by Morgana , Merlin added mentally, "while helping her with something important," practising our magic in the castle , "without any guard," who should have arrested and killed us, probably, "and you make fun of me?" Merlin looked at Arthur. "Maybe we should talk about the time when you were a donkey, your highness ?"

"No." Arthur shook his head, "please."

"Sorry." Percival made the ball of wool disappear. "Do you still want the meat, though?"

"Oh, yes." Merlin nodded. "Thank you, Percival."

Without wasting time, Merlin let himself be hugged by the knight and allowed Elyan to feed him.

"Sorry, but... Arthur was a donkey ?" Gwaine asked, confused.

Merlin burst out laughing, Leon sighed, and Arthur shook his head.