Hello again. This is a remarkably swift update for me so be very grateful. I'm expecting lots of thanks in the reviews :D ;) lol

Thank you for the reviews! The few of you that are left reading this story thank you for the support. I doubt there are many chapters left in the story. :/ So I hope you enjoy them. Just so you know in advance I won't be killing Uther and I doubt I'll reveal Merlin's magic but we'll see. Hmm...

Really really should be revising for Latin, French and Maths now as I have all of them tomorrow and my mum would kill me if she knew I wasn't revising. Its just so boring and I don't know what to revise for any of them. I mean, what do you revise for a Latin unseen paper? I mean, its unseen therefore shouldnt you not revise? (sorry double negative) :D

Anyhoo, REVIEW! PLEASE!

Peter barrelled down the corridor. His eyes were wide and fearful. Dreadful thoughts swirled through his mind like bad storm. Then he caught sight of Prince Arthur standing in the passage, his back against the rough stone wall, with an expression of concentration on his handsome face. Peter ran faster.

"Sire!" he cried as he skidded to an inelegant halt beside the Prince. He was met with a startled pair of blue eyes. "Sire, I think I did something terrible." Arthur looked instantly concerned.

"Tell me, Peter."

"Well, he told me not to tell you but..." Peter began and then seemed to realise what he was saying and what trouble he would get into with the King. It was too late now, idiot, he mentally berated himself, Arthur knew he had done something.

"Who told you what?"

"Uther, King Uther," the boy burst out, "He came to your chambers when you weren't they. He asked where you were. I said you had left but I didn't know where you were. Then he looked really happy and told me not to tell you he had come. I'm sorry for not finding you sooner but I was scared."

Arthur stared for a few seconds, struggling to channel the information he had just been given into coherent ideas. Uther had been searching for him last night but why? And then he seemed happy he was gone? Why would that be? Was there something that Uther could only do if Arthur was not present, nowhere close by to stop him? Then the most vulgar thought crossed the Prince's mind and his throat constricted with absolute fear. Merlin. Uther had been making sure Arthur was asleep or away so he could have a go at Merlin in peace. And where had Arthur just sent Merlin? Back to his chambers where the King would be waiting.

With this revelation, the Prince shouted a quick thank you to Peter and shot of down the corridor faster than a speeding arrow. The boy watched him go with a bewildered expression on his young face. All he could think now was that he'd done his duty to his master and there was nothing more he could do. Feeling utterly drained, the youth headed for the servant's quarters.

Would he get there in time? Would Uther have already attacked Merlin and had his dirty way? Images of Uther leaping on the manservant as he entered his chambers plagued Arthur as he cannoned through the castle. He imagined the King's vile hands violating the defenceless Merlin. It made him want to vomit. He could not let that happen again. He had to get there in time.

The door was in sight and Arthur charged through, not caring about knocking at all. There was no time for manners in an emergency. Wasn't that what Merlin had always told him when he failed to rap on his door? Finding the main room deserted, the Prince heard terrible noises coming from Merlin's own bedroom. They sounded distinctly like moans of pleasure. Was he too late?

Leaping up the steps, Arthur braced himself for anything he might see as he stepped through the door. He spotted the two of them, a larger figure swamping a smaller one, against the far wall. The blonde man could not even see Merlin behind Uther's broad back. He could hear the small protest of his manservant's however. "Get off me!" After hearing this, the Prince sprang across the room and grabbed his father's shoulders, yanking him backwards. What he had thought was a strong tug that would pry the King away seemed to gain explosive energy as the two of them flew across the room. Arthur was stunned by their flight. How on earth had that happened? He thought nothing more of it however.

He sat up, shoving his father's heavy weight off him with ferocious force, and climbed to his feet. His eyes sought Merlin and he saw the young man leaning against the wall, his chest heaving with desperately needed breaths, his entire body drenched in sweat and his face pale and smattered with blood. Taking in the state of his friend, Arthur missed the subtle transition of his eyes as they shifted from glimmering golden to sky-blue.

"Merlin," the Prince murmured, hurrying over to the weak man's side and offering his arm in support. The raven haired boy leant gratefully on him, lungs still battling to draw in air through his damaged throat. Each breath shuddered through Merlin's body and Arthur felt it with disturbing clarity. He didn't miss the purpling skin on his manservant's neck either which suggested the reason for Merlin's frantic inhalation pattern. That just served to anger him even more – his blood was already at boiling point. "You all right?"

"What do you think?" Merlin whispered, his voice rasping. The warlock looked completely spent.

"Sorry, stupid question," Arthur said before reaching up to touch Merlin's neck, wiping away a dribble of blood. For once, the man did not shy away. "He hurt you." At that statement he received a nod. "Did he…?" Trailing off, Arthur did not know how to phrase his question. Fortunately, Merlin seemed to understand and he shook his head wearily, closing his eyes. "Good."

Seeing that Merlin was in a state of shock, Arthur decided to turn his attention on his father who was still sprawled on the floor. His older body had not borne the brunt of the fall – Arthur's had – but his was more fragile and stiff. Therefore he was finding it harder to find his feet. There was no way that the Prince was going to give him a hand up though, let him suffer, besides it made the conversation he wanted to have much easier.

With the upper hand, Arthur addressed his father. Suddenly all the things he wanted to say to his father had formed in his mind.

"You are a worm," he started, his face full of contempt, "A maggot on the face of this earth. I always looked up to you, you know that. You were my father, the King, and I revered you. You never reciprocated my feelings, barely ever showed an ounce of pride or emotion at all. I decided that you were just not a very good father but you were a good King so that was all that mattered. However, when I discovered you had begun to take young men to your bed, my view of you as a good King slowly faded. And that night, when I found that you had taken my manservant, Merlin, my most loyal and trusted friend to bed and forced him to do things he didn't want to, that altered my opinion completely. Thanks to you, I almost lost my bond with him because you had hurt him so much – beyond belief."

Arthur paused in his speech, offering his father a glare as sharp as his sword, before continuing.

"I thought that was the end of it. I believed Merlin was safe. I didn't even think that you would continue taking men to your bed. No, not men, boys. Peter, a boy who came to this castle because he wanted to make good of himself and believed this was the place to do it, was mercilessly raped by you. He's twelve years old! Does that not mean anything to you?"

Merlin's ears had perked up at the mention of Peter and he gazed at Arthur for a few moments before closing his eyes once more.

"And then I find you here, once again trying to violate my friend in the worst possible way! Are you an insatiable beast?! An animal in rut? No, you are just a sick old man who longs for the bodies of young men. That is wrong. Now, I want you to know that if you ever hurt Merlin or Peter again or any other child for that matter then I will tell the entire kingdom of your sordid affairs."

"You wouldn't dare!" Uther finally found his tongue to speak. His voice a disbelieving hiss. Arthur stared back, his eyes granite-like.

"Oh wouldn't I?"

Merlin listened his friend confront his father with such intensity and ferocity, it shocked him. He didn't think he'd ever heard Arthur so livid before and it was all over him. That was really amazing. The Prince of Camelot, heir to the throne, was willing to fight his own father on behalf of Merlin – a mere servant boy. A mere servant boy that he loved, Merlin reminded himself. That fact still stunned him even now. This speech by Arthur showed just how deep that love ran.

Uther stared at his son, obviously taken aback by his rage and declarations. Suddenly his eyes darkened with malice and a small smile spread across his face.

"You're just angry because I'm on your turf," the King smirked, "You want that boy for yourself. All you had to do was ask, my son, I would be only too happy to concede him. It is nice we share some of the same interests."

If it was possible, Arthur looked even angrier than he had before: the tendons stood out like taut bow-strings on his neck and his blue eyes became stormy seas of raging waves.

"Merlin means nothing of the same things to me as he does to you," the blonde man growled.

"How so? Don't lie to me, Arthur; I can see it in your eyes. You want him just as much as I do." Uther was revelling in his new-found power over his son. He could tell he'd struck a nerve.

"Merlin means much more to me than he could ever to you. I don't wish to use his body. I love him for who he is; he is my friend, my ally and my lover. I love him. You got that? Not because I want to have sex with him but because I like his personality, I like to spend time with him and I couldn't stand it if he got hurt. I couldn't imagine being without him."

Uther smiled sadistically and turned towards

"You hear that, Merlin, my son is in love with you? How long do you reckon that will last? As Prince he expected to marry and provide an heir for the kingdom. Soon he will be casting you away for some pretty girl."

There was no reply. Merlin's eyes remained firmly closed, his frame sagging against the stone.

"You'll just be a bit on the side, to be used when he wants quick casual sex. Do you really think he'll love you forever?" Uther was obviously trying to provoke a reaction and Arthur was worried that he would succeed – what if Merlin believed his horrid words? Arthur knew he would never do such things but did his friend?

There was silence in the room as both father and son waited for the manservant to react. The warlock was aware of two pairs of eyes on him.

"He may not love me forever but I will love him," the raven haired boy suddenly spoke – his voice strong and unwavering – and still his eyes were shut, "I will love him until the day I die." The youth shrugged as if everyone should already know that fact without needing to ask.

Sorry, its a bit soppy...