Arthur, the knights, and Merlin were on their way home from a rather successful hunting trip, despite Merlin's best efforts. When they were riding they found a gorgeous lake to stop at. They tied their horses to the trees that surrounded the lake, and Merlin set up camp. When Merlin lit the fire with his magic, he cooked one of the smaller animals they had caught that day. Everyone ate the delicious meal the court sorcerer prepared. Merlin had refused to stop serving Arthur, but had been given the position of court sorcerer.
"Bet you're no longer upset about us hunting, eh Merlin?" Gwaine joked when he saw Merlin enjoying his meal.
Merlin rolled his eyes and took another bite from his food.
The king and his knights laughed at the response and continued to eat their food as they had idle conversation.
"Well I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go for a swim." Gwaine said as he finished his food.
He then proceeded to take off everything except his underpants, and hop in the lake. Soon enough the other knights and even the king joined him.
"Aren't you coming Merlin?" Asked Percival.
"No I think I'll just wait here." Merlin answered.
"Oh come on, quit being such a girl." Arthur commanded.
"Ten shillings says you can't get him to come in here." Leon quietly proposed to Gwaine.
"Deal." He said, and swam to an edge of the lake that was covered in bushes. Gwaine crept towards Merlin carefully as he watched the flames dance. Once he got close enough Gwaine practically threw Merlin into the water.
When Merlin rose from the water he found everyone laughing. He quickly got out and went back to the fire. He didn't seem angry, it was just clear he didn't want to be in the water.
Gwaine walked up to the man to explain to him that it was all in good fun, but froze when he saw something he hadn't noticed before. Merlin's shirt, which was now heavy with water, hung lower on his back, and Gwaine could see part of what looked like a nasty scar on the back of his left shoulder.
"What's that?" He asked quietly.
"Nothing." Merlin lied once he realized what the knight was referring to.
"You said there would be no more secrets." Gwaine reminded him.
Merlin sighed and lifted off his shirt. He placed the article of clothing next to the fire so it would dry quicker. He was not surprised to hear the gasp the escaped the knight's lips. Merlin was covered in scars. He had a few on his front that Gwaine had yet to see, but some of his worst scars were on his back. There were quite a few small scars just from the servant being clumsy, but there were also some fairly horrible ones. There were a few scratches and scrapes that looked pretty bad, but there were only three that caught Gwaine's attention. One was what looked like a shot from an arrow that had to have been healed by magic, because otherwise Merlin would be dead. Another one that had to have been healed been healed by magic, caught his eye. It was what looked like a stab wound from some magical creature. The wound was disgusting, and that was after it was healed. The last one was smaller and not as lethal as the others, but so much worse in every way imaginable. This scar was the one that Gwaine had mentioned earlier. On Merlin's left shoulder was a word that someone had decided to carve on the boy.
By now the others had joined and noticed the scars as well. A few more quiet gasp were heard while Merlin just sat in silence. "W-Who did t-that to you?" Gwaine stuttered.
"He's long gone," was all that Merlin said.
"Merlin," Arthur said quietly, "that's an old scar. You must've been a child."
Once this was said everyone else suddenly had the same horrible thought.
"I was eight."
If ever asked most would deny it, but a few tears suddenly found themselves falling down the knights cheeks.
"W-What happened?" One of them gained the bravery to ask.
Merlin stayed silent for a moment, deciding whether or not he should tell the story. Eventually, he decided to tell them.
"I accidentally preformed magic in front of an old man in ealdor. He didn't like magic, in fact a lot of people didn't, but since magic wasn't outlawed there, they couldn't do anything about it. So when I accidentally shattered his vase with my magic, he wasn't to happy. He held me down and... carved this into my back. When he did I was in so much pain and so scared that my magic just sort of lost any control I had before. The man was thrown off of me, and... k-killed by the blow." Merlin explained. "That was the day I realized why mother always told me to keep my power a secret."
A few more gasps were heard, and everyone was either sad or angry about what happened to their friend.
They all looked back to the word, and thought of it in disgust. How could anyone do that to a child? How could anyone think that Merlin, their funny, and kind Merlin, was a monster?