Okay this one goes out to Jules.a. She asked for a story involving someone from Merlin's past. I also think someone asked for a bullying storyline, but I can't remember who asked, so if that was your prompt here ya go. Also, I sorta tried again with the 'protecting Merlin from himself' thing. I hope this one is a bit better.
So, thanks for reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting last chapter. I seriously cannot thank you enough.
Leave me a comment if you can, I still don't own 'em (except for the 2 OCs), and I'll see you in the next chapter.
Bye!
P.S. If I haven't gotten to your prompt yet. Do Not Fret. I am slowly working through 'em. Be patient, I will get to it :)
Merlin spent a majority of his time in Ealdor being bullied by the older kids. He had been too small, too skinny, too weird for their liking, and they had taken their displeasure of him out on him. It was a huge reason for his displeasure with bullies, and his mouth got him into more trouble more often than not because he just couldn't take the teasing lying down.
The worst of the bullies had been a field worker named Nathan. Nathan was vicious, poking fun of every child in the small village, but his favorite target was Merlin. He had choice words to say about Merlin's lack of a father, his lack of muscles, his gawky stature, his clumsiness, his stutter, his ears, and any other nitpicky thing he could come up with; he even had a nickname for Merlin: Malady Merlin or Malady for short.
The worst part, besides Will egging Nathan on every chance he got, was that Merlin could easily put a stop to the bullying, but he was forced to hide his magic for fear of being persecuted for being who he was. So, he sucked it up, ignored it as best as he could, and only got into major trouble when his mouth ran faster than his brain.
When he went away to Camelot, and actually made friends who cared about him (with the exception of Will and his mother he didn't have many friends in Ealdor), Merlin let the memory of Nathan fade to the back of his mind until he all but forgot the bully. That is until Nathan turned up in Camelot.
It started out as any other day. Merlin spent the morning getting berated by Arthur for waking him up late, managed to drop the remnants of Arthur's breakfast all over the kitchens floor, got screamed at by Cook for making a mess, and then spent the rest of the morning holding a shield so Arthur and the knights could take turns hitting him repeatedly.
By mid-afternoon, he was stiff, tired, and aching in places he hated aching in, and all he wanted was to sit down for ten minutes, maybe take a nap, but Arthur needed him to sit through some stupid meeting or whatever, so he spent the majority of an hour leaning against a pillar, head resting against the stone, trying very hard not to fall asleep.
When the meeting ended, and the council collected their papers, Arthur moved towards Merlin and softly asked, "So, what do you think?"
"What?" Merlin shook his head, brought back to reality by Arthur's voice, his daydreams of sleeping floating away. "What did you say?"
"Never mind," Arthur huffed, rolling his eyes. "I need you to polish my sword for tonight."
"What's tonight?" Merlin questioned around a yawn, following Arthur out of the great hall.
"Honestly Merlin, do you not listen to me when I speak?" Arthur rolled his eyes again, shaking his head. With a sigh, he condescendingly responded, "A few of the kingdoms are sending representatives before we start talks on a new treaty."
"Ah." Merlin nodded recalling Arthur mentioning it a few times, but it had been when he had been extremely busy. Seriously, the blond prat should know better than to tell Merlin things when the young warlock had a list of stuff he needed to get done and no way to use his magic. "You could have probably sounded like less of an arse when you reminded me."
"I'm the king, Merlin, I can sound any way I want," Arthur retorted sounding like a petulant child, and Merlin snorted, shaking his head. "Shut it," the king grumbled punching Merlin in the arm. "Or you'll be spending the day in the stocks."
"No I won't," Merlin argued lightly, a smirk on his face. "You'd get bored without me." He then hurried off before Arthur could say anything else, chuckling when he heard the king mutter something about him being an idiot.
Merlin
Merlin had just finished with Arthur's laundry, a basket held tightly in his hand, when he ran into someone on his way out of the kitchens. He muttered an apology, slipping into his 'good servant' routine, but froze when he heard a familiar voice snarl, "Malady, is that you?"
Slowly Merlin dragged his eye upward, meeting a pair of familiar, dark green eyes and dark hair: Nathan the bully. "Hello Nathan," Merlin greeted with a forced smile. "What are you…?" he trailed off, taking in Nathan's attire, and he felt his stomach sink to somewhere below his knees. "You're a knight?"
"I am," Nathan responded with a cruel, dark smile on his face. "And I see you still don't matter. What are you? You're a…" he took in Merlin's appearance and the basket still clutched tightly in his hands, "…a servant? So, you've finally found a career that you excel at? Tell me, did your whore of a mother have to beg that crackpot old uncle of yours to get you a job?"
Had this been Ealdor, and despite his mother's insistence that bullies weren't worth it, Merlin would have thrown the basket down and tackled Nathan to the ground. It was one thing for the man to poke fun of Merlin, but to go after his family was stepping over a line Nathan had never crossed until he seemed to have a sword strapped to his side and a kingdom to back him up.
So, being the bigger person, Merlin took a deep breath and attempted to walk around Nathan. The knight moved with him, blocking his path, and crossed his arms. "Please, Merlin, you couldn't outrun me when we were kids what makes you think you'll succeed now?"
"Just let me go, Nathan," Merlin said softly, very much aware of how empty the hallway was. If he were careful, did one of his nonverbal spells, he could easily feign innocence if Nathan said he had been attacked. 'No, Arthur, I saw him trip. I swear.' Of course, that sounded like a lie even in his head, so he doubted it'd do…
Merlin jolted back a step, his back colliding with the kitchens door, his head hitting the wood with an audible thud and making his ears ring. The basket fell from his hands, landing on the floor, scattering Arthur's clothes.
"I see you're still Malady Merlin," Nathan sneered smirking down at Merlin. "Do you still cry when someone tugs on those big ears of yours?"
"Walk away Nathan," Merlin whispered feeling his magic bubbling up inside of him. "Just walk away."
"Why?" Nathan pushed Merlin into the door again, the younger man's vision going spotty when his head connected with the door a second time. "Can't I catch up with an old friend?" When his head connected a third time, Merlin's vision went white and he forgot all about the spell that had been on the tip of his tongue.
He heard a distant chuckle as the door behind him flew open and a familiar voice snarled, "What are you imbeciles doing…? Cook trailed off when Merlin flailed backwards, straight into her, knocking both himself and her to the floor.
She screeched, pushing Merlin off her, and began yelling loudly at him, making his head ache. He tried to sit up, but moving sent a sharp pain through his head and left his stomach feeling queasy. Cook kept screaming, no doubt attracting everyone in the entire castle (okay, maybe not the entire castle, but a good chunk of it) and soon Merlin heard a familiar voice snap, "What the hell happened here?"
Cook's screeches died on her lips and she quietly said, "Your servant," the way she said it made it sound like a dirty word, "knocked me to the floor, again." Merlin wanted to say that was one time, and it had been she who knocked him down, but his head was still pounding and the room had started to spin a little, plus the urge to vomit was becoming more and more apparent. It was best if he just kept his mouth shut.
"Merlin," Arthur's voice was suddenly in his ear, a hand resting on the side of his neck. "Merlin, open your eyes."
He really didn't feel like it. In fact, going to sleep sounded like the best idea ever, and despite Arthur's demands to him to open his eyes, Merlin felt himself slip into a sea of darkness.
Merlin
"I want you to find out what happened," Arthur said to Leon and Percival. "I don't care what it takes, you get me answers." They nodded and walked off, both going two separate ways. He turned back to Elyan and Gwaine, both sitting at Gaius' table, the latter clenching his hands into tight fists.
"When I find out who did this…" Gwaine snarled, his voice trailing off into dark mutters. Arthur agreed with the knight, but he also knew he couldn't go and flog whoever hurt Merlin. This had to be handled delicately, they really needed the treaty signed, and murdering someone from another kingdom was just in bad taste. Unless they hid the body; he wondered if Gwaine knew how to hide bodies. He seemed like the type, and seriously…
No, this had to be handled delicately, he told himself. No body hiding was to be done at all, no matter if Gwaine knew how to hide a body, but that didn't stop Arthur from storing the idea away for later.
Merlin's door opened and Elyan and Gwaine stood, joining Arthur as they watched Gaius exit the room, closing the door behind him. He slowly walked down the stairs, meeting the worried gazes of the three men.
"He's been giving a concussion," Gaius stated wringing his hands, "so he'll need bed rest for the rest of the day."
"Does he know who did it to him?" Arthur asked curiously very much aware of Elyan and Gwaine straightening up at the question.
"If he does he's not saying," Gaius replied shaking his head.
"Do you think he'll tell me?"
"It's very doubtful, sire."
"I just…" Arthur trailed off when a light knock sounded at the door. Eyebrows furrowed, Gaius moved past the two knights and king, opening the door. "Yes," he answered and Arthur heard a small voice mumble something. "Really?" The voice said something else, and Gaius backed up to let a child inside.
"What did you see?" Gaius asked softly, leading the child over to his table. The boy's eyes were wide when they settled on Arthur, Gwaine, and Elyan, but he managed to whisper, "The knight did it."
"What?" Arthur moved forward, crouching next to the boy, and gently (or as gently as possible) repeated, "What did you see?" His voice must not have been gentle enough, the boy's eyes quickly filling with tears.
"Oh for Godsakes," Gwaine hissed knocking Arthur out of the way. He took the king's original spot and said, "Which knight?"
"He wasn't a very nice man," the boy murmured shaking his head. "He k-knocked me down when he l-left, after you showed up." His eyes settled on Arthur's face for a moment. "I don't like him, and he hurt Merlin."
"Do you know anything else?" Elyan questioned softly, hovering behind Gwaine and Arthur.
The boy nodded, swallowing heavily, and mumbled, "He c-called Merlin, Malady. And Merlin called him Nathan."
Arthur stood and stiffly said, "Find me this Nathan." Gwaine made to move towards the door, but the blond snagged his arm. "Not you." His blue eyes flickered to Elyan and the shorter knight nodded before leaving the room.
"What's your name?" Arthur asked glancing down at the boy.
"S-Seth, sir," the boy stammered, looking down at his feet.
"You did a very good thing today, Seth," Gaius commended the boy, resting a hand on his shoulder. Seth nodded, still not looking up.
"I-I like Merlin," Seth stated quietly, lightly kicking his feet. "He's nice. Why would a-anyone want to hurt him?" That was a very good question. One Arthur wanted to ask this Nathan when he got a hold of him.
Merlin
How Arthur managed to keep the treaty and punish this Nathan man, he did not know, but it happened and he had learned to NEVER look a gift horse in the mouth. After the last of the representatives were seen out of Camelot, and Nathan was sent down to the dungeons to rot (after Gwaine and Percival got a hold of him) for as long as Arthur felt justified his actions, the king found himself outside Merlin's room.
He hesitated for a quarter of a minute before knocking lightly and entering without being invited. Arthur slowly moved across the room, sitting down on the edge of Merlin's bed. The younger man didn't react, but the blond knew he was awake.
"He's been taken care of," Arthur murmured resting his hands, palms down, on either side of him. "He was stripped of his knighthood and resides in our dungeons." Arthur 'neglected' to tell Merlin about the 'extra punishment' Gwaine and Percival doled out. In fact, they'd be lucky if the man survived the night. Arthur knew he should probably do something, but he just couldn't bring himself to give a damn.
"You shouldn't have done that," Merlin responded softly, keeping his back to Arthur. "He wasn't worth it. I'm not worth it."
"Was that the first time? Because I already told you to come to me if anything like that happened. You remember Baron Nicolas, right?" He felt Merlin stiffen at the name, and he regretted bringing the baron up. "Look, Merlin, I don't care what anyone says to you. You do matter. No matter what some son-of-a-bitch bully says to you. You do matter." When Merlin neglected to answer, Arthur nodded and stood up. "Look, you don't have to tell me what happened, or why he did what he did, but if you want to," he gripped Merlin's ankle, "I'll be there.
"And remember," he released Merlin, moving towards the door, "you do matter."