A/N

Hey guys, so I know updates have been a little scattered but winter break is finally here so I will have more time to write. That said, enjoy and give a shout out to my beta Hatstand who's been doing an awesome job betaing!

Merlin looked slightly pathetic as he weakly reached out to Arthur.

"Merlin?" Arthur whispered. He heard his voice crack but he didn't care. He walked slowly over to the bed and kneeled down next to Merlin.

"What happened?" Arthur breathed.

Merlin's arm fell back onto the bed and Arthur gripped his friend's hand tightly in his own.

"Who did this?" Arthur asked, his whole body tense from the effort of trying not to kill whoever dared harm Merlin.

Merlin winced as Gaius cleaned a particularly deep gash. His back was red from all of the deep welts that marred his skin, blood still dripped out of the gashes. When Merlin still didn't answer Gaius spoke reluctantly.

"One of the Guards. On Uther's orders."

"What," Arthur exclaimed, hate and anger filling up inside him. How could Uther do this?

"He found Merlin heading back to his chambers shortly after the boy escaped and decided that he must have been involved in the boys escape," Gaius explained.

"How dare he," Arthur growled.

"Arthur… please don't do anything stupid," Merlin whispered weakly.

Arthur ruffled Merlin's hair affectionately. "Don't worry. I'm just going to talk to him," he said reassuringly.

"Arthur…." Merlin groaned, trying to lift himself up.

"Merlin, you need to rest," Gaius scolded.

"Don't worry, Merlin, we'll fix this," Morgana promised.

"Uther's really angry," Merlin protested.

"This is unforgivable," Morgana hissed.

"But I did help the boy escape," Merlin argued.

"Uther couldn't know that for sure," Morgana replied darkly.

"You were helping him?" Evan whispered.

Arthur looked up, surprised. He had forgotten momentarily that Evan was in the room.

"I'm sorry," Merlin whispered, looking Evan in the eye. "I didn't want people finding out." He looked at Evan hopefully. Evan sighed.

"Well… I kind of suspected you had something to do with his escape." Evan shook his head.

"Can you forgive me for lying to you?" Merlin asked.

"Of course," Evan replied, smiling weakly. "It's impossible to stay mad at an injured person."

Merlin's smile faltered slightly. "Would you be mad if I wasn't injured?"

"No," Evan replied after a moment's silence.

The smile returned and Arthur couldn't help but wonder why Merlin cared so much about what a servant thought about him, but then realized that Evan was probably one of Merlin's few friends. Evan had always been there for Merlin when Arthur couldn't be.

Wordlessly, Arthur turned and left, Morgana hot on his heels.

"Arthur, wait!" Merlin shouted, but Arthur ignored him. Nothing Merlin said could convince him that Uther had been right doing this. The deep gashes that marred Merlin's back were permanently ingrained in Arthur's mind. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to forgive Uther for what he'd done. For a moment, Arthur thought about the humor of how many times he'd burst into the throne room, but he pushed the thought away. He had more important things to worry about.

Arthur approached the throne, glaring at Uther.

"Why did you do that to Merlin?" Arthur growled.

"Do what?" Uther asked dryly, but Arthur could see the fear in his eyes.

"You know what," Morgana snapped. "How could you be so cruel?"

"I showed him mercy," Uther replied icily.

"For a crime he didn't even commit!" Morgana shouted.

"He betrayed me and my trust" Uther persisted.

"No. You betrayed him," Arthur snapped. "You've punished him based on extremely circumstantial evidence. How is that fair?"

"The law does not yield to any man," Uther replied stiffly.

"There was once a time when the King would have hesitated to harm someone like this," Morgana hissed. "What happened to that man?"

"I cannot risk the lives of the people of Camelot to protect-" Uther began, but Morgana wouldn't hear it.

"How could you think for even a second that Merlin would ever do anything to hurt the people of Camelot?"

"He broke the law," Uther growled.

Arthur's blood was boiling by that point. How could Uther do this in good conscience?

"You're letting hate and anger control you," Arthur snarled before turning and walking away, not once looking back at Uther.

By the time Arthur returned to Merlin's chambers, Gaius had bandaged Merlin up and was preparing to leave.

"We need to keep an eye on his injuries to make sure they don't get infected," Gaius said quietly.

"Will he be ok?" Arthur asked, looking over at Merlin who had fallen asleep.

"Yes. He'll need a few nights rest but he will recover," Gaius explained.

Arthur sighed in relief, but his anger at Uther was still present despite the good news. He sat silently in the chair next to Merlin's bed and watched his chest rise and fall slowly.

"He doesn't care," Arthur whispered. "Merlin doesn't matter to him-"

"Arthur, you know that's not true," Gaius said sternly. "Your father cares about Merlin more than you know."

"Then why did he do this?" Arthur demanded, furious. He glared at Gaius, who didn't reply.

Arthur wasn't sure what to think anymore. Sure, they had helped the boy escape but Uther didn't know for sure they'd helped. Was whipping someone half to death really a proper punishment? And the boy's execution was wrong to. What had the boy done?

Arthur felt something touch his hand.

"Arthur?"

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at Merlin.

"Did I wake you?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head. "I wasn't really asleep," he admitted.

"How are you feeling?" Arthur whispered gently.

Merlin shrugged slightly, wincing at the movement.

"Definitely been better," he whispered, a weak smile on his face.

"But you've definitely been worse," Arthur teased.

"Yeah" Merlin agreed, laughing weakly.

Arthur was always amazed by how Merlin was always able to find the good in a bad situation; he was always smiling and trying to keep the mood light. He ruffled Merlin's hair, grinning at him. Merlin's smile faltered slightly.

"What happened with Uther?" he asked.

Arthur sighed, not wanted to tell Merlin what happened, but knowing he had to.

"He's… being very stubborn," Arthur explained.

"When isn't he?" Merlin teased, grinning slightly.

Arthur couldn't help but laugh at Merlin's statement. When wasn't Uther stubborn? Merlin had once joked that if Uther and a mule got into a fight, the mule would go running for the hills. Arthur's smile faltered as he studied Merlin's back. The wrongness of it all infuriated him. What he didn't understand was why Merlin wasn't mad; he was the one in pain.

"Are you mad at him?" Arthur asked, needing to know.

"Yes," Merlin admitted. "But I've forgiven him…"

"Even though he hasn't apologized?" Arthur demanded.

"Well… he is the King," Merlin said uncertainly. "He's just doing what he thinks is best…" Arthur could tell Merlin was just trying to convince himself as much as he was Arthur.

"If you're still upset then why have you forgiven him?" Arthur asked.

"Just because I've forgiven him, doesn't mean I trust him," Merlin whispered. "Forgiveness doesn't mean trust… it just means I won't hold it against him."

Arthur hardly ever understood Merlin, and this time was no exception.

"Well… try and get some rest. I'll see you in the morning," Arthur said, standing up.

"Good night, Arthur" Merlin whispered as Arthur left the room.

"Sleep well," Arthur replied before shutting the door.

Just because Merlin had forgiven Uther, that didn't mean Arthur had forgiven him. Arthur doubted he'd ever be able to forgive Uther for this, and he was sure Morgana felt the same.

End Notes

So next chapter will have Uther's POV, what is he really thinking throughout all of this?