and I love the idea of Merlin getting caught visiting the Dragon; surely, it's only a matter of time - the guards can't be distracted by mysteriously moving dice more than a few times, no matter how stupid they are!

Very true. And the way Uther explodes over everything even remotely connected to magic, I can't believe he wouldn't be furious over someone going to see that dragon.

I also liked the brief moment of Arthur insulting/questioning Uther in public; at the rate he's developing in the series, it really wouldn't surprise me.

He's already come a long way from the first episode and we're only 5 in. Whee.

Thank you muchly, I'm glad you liked it.