Hey guys. I don't own Merlin in any way. Hope you like it.

Arthur noticed that there was something strange about Merlin from the moment he met him. Of course he was too occupied with his own life to try and figure out what I was about him that made him so strange.

He also noticed that Merlin was very kind, sensitive and caring. So it came as no surprise to him that when Merlin became his servant, he was very kind, caring and sensitive with him. However, what did surprise him was that Merlin had a tendency to talk back to him, to challenge him. What surprised him even more was how alive Merlin made him feel.

You see, before he met Merlin, Arthur Pendragon had been falling. He often felt that things were getting out of his control, that's when he was lucid enough to form a coherent thought after one of this father's beatings. Then Merlin came and without being asked to, he helped Arthur carry his burden.

Arthur knew that Merlin had noticed that he sometimes limped or he sat down with a slight wince, he also knew that it would only be a matter of time before Merlin found out that Arthur was beaten regularly. Which meant that it wouldn't be long before Merlin would view him as pathetic.

Arthur was in the middle of another beating, tears streaming down his cheeks, listening to his father abuse him.

"You are pathetic, useless, a freak and weak." Said Uther, as he aimed another kick to Arthur's stomach.

Uther took Arthurs shirt off and took the candle from the stand.

"No no no p please father please!" He begged the man that was supposed to be his father.

"Oho begging now are you, you are no prince, you are nothing," said his father whilst cackling.

Arthur's screams were so loud and full of agony that Merlin, who was 5 corridors away, heard them. He dropped the washing and bolted to the kings chambers. He looked through a gap in the door to find the king burning his son with a lit candle. Merlin's anger grew and he burst through the doors.

"Get away from him!" Merlin said in a dangerously low voice.

"Oh, I'm the king, what will you do if I don't" the king replied, and then held the candle to Arthur's chest for an agonizing amount of time.

"MERLIIN PLEASE HELP ME!" Arthur screamed

Merlin picked up the closest heavy thing and hit Uther over the head with it with a surprising amount of force. Uther was instantly knocked out and Merlin ran to Arthur's side. Arthur sobbed and threw his arms around Merlin's neck.

"Please Merlin, it hurts so much please help me," the prince said in-between sobs.

Merlin took the prince into his arms and told Arthur to sleep. He stroked the sweat soaked hair until the prince fell asleep, gently picking him up he carried him to Gaius' chambers via the most populated areas of Camelot.

People gasped as they saw Merlin carrying their precious prince in his arms.

"The work of our glorious king," was all Merlin said every time he passed a large group of people.

When he reached Gaius' chambers people from all over the city had come to see what the tyrant had done to the kind hearted prince. As soon as Merlin laid him onto a bed and left to get some burn and bruise salve, Arthur started to scream. The people at Gaius' door gasped and many had tears rolling down their cheeks.

"This isn't a show, if you want to do something useful, go and get rid of Uther," Merlin said through gritted teeth.

Merlin turned and his heart broke at the sight of his prince calling out his name, writhing, and crying.

"Shh, Arthur, I'm right here, and I'm not going to leave." Merlin repeated whilst stroking the prince's cheek until he calmed down. Merlin placed a kiss on the prince's damp forehead and began to rub in the salve. He woke Arthur up by gently shaking his shoulder. Arthur looked up at him with large trusting eyes that were filled with fear and pain.

"Arthur I need to take your breeches and underwear off, so I can check for more injuries, is that okay?" Merlin asked soothingly

"Yes, just please make the pain stop," said Arthur in a thick voice

Merlin nodded and proceeded to remove Arthur's breeches and pants. Merlin gasped, which caused Arthur to burst into tears. Merlin stopped what he was doing and pulled Arthur into his arms

"Hey, what's wrong? You're safe Arthur I promise," Merlin whispered.

Arthur clung to Merlin as if his life depended on it.

"You think I'm pathetic, what kind of a king can I be if I can't even stand up to my own f-father" Arthur said brokenly.

Merlin took Arthur's face into his hands and looked him dead on in the eyes.

"You are not pathetic, you are the kindest, bravest man I know, you will make a brilliant king and you will be a king who is kind and loyal to his people, the sort who will give up his free time to do door to door calls, just to check if everything was alright, the king who will spend whole afternoons telling children stories of your adventures and mostly you will be a friend to you people" Merlin said firmly

"You really think that I can do that?" Arthur asked with hope in his voice. Merlin nodded and smiled at his prince. He pushed him back onto the bed and began to rub in the salve to his thighs. Arthur whimpered when he started to rub in the salve to his very bruised penis.

"Hmm, don't stop..." Arthur moaned. Merlin smiled and continued to rub the sensitive flesh as it began to harden.

"AH, Merlin! please faster, touch me... yes... "The prince babbled. Merlin reached down to cup his balls and gently stroked them with one finger.

Arthur felt his orgasm build and began to helplessly buck up. Merlin held his hips down and smiled at him.

"It's to stop you from hurting yourself even more," Merlin explained. Arthur nodded and seconds later his orgasm hit him like a tonne of bricks. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this good.

Merlin began to get up when something gripped his wrist. He looked down to see the frightened eyes of Arthur Pendragon.

"Please don't leave me alone, I can't be alone," he whispered.

Merlin just nodded and undressed. He climbed into the bed with Arthur and wrapped his arms around the prince. Arthur snuggled into the arms of his servant and fell asleep within seconds.

Let me know what you think, reviews would be lovely