A/N: Hey! Long time, no see, huh? :)
I've actually been toying with this idea for a long time. The other day, I managed to finally sit down and write it out. Hope you enjoy this ridiculousness! :D
Episode: None
Rating: K
Warnings: Crack, lack of real plot
Inspiration: Sometimes, Uther's paranoia reaches unparalleled heights. Just wondered how far it would go... and my sarcasm took over from there.
Be the reason someone smiles today! :D And if you have a sec, I'd love to hear what you thought of this silliness. :)
The first time Uther had confined his son to a dungeon on suspicion of being enchanted, it had made a certain amount of sense. Even Arthur would admit it, despite the concern being entirely unnecessary. He'd been a bit ill, but honestly, it hadn't been like he was dying. Still, he'd been acting oddly enough that someone had mentioned it to his father. Arthur was in the dungeons for just over a day, before being cleared by Gaius and scolded for not telling the physician he'd been feeling ill.
The second time, Arthur was significantly less understanding. He'd only helped an old woman, who was later accused of sorcery. Nothing was ever proven, and not even Uther was willing to put her to death on such flimsy evidence. And yet Arthur still ended up in a dungeon, just in case he'd been brainwashed. Somehow, Uther had gotten the idea that not was Arthur particularly susceptible to enchantment, everyone in the world with (real or imagined) magic was out to enchant him.
It got worse as time went on, until, one day...
"Arthur!" The king's shocked exclamation only made the prince groan. He thought he knew where this was going.
"Yes, Father?" Arthur asked, resigned. Why couldn't they ever just have one normal meal together? Without a crisis of one sort or another?
"You've barely touched your carrots..." Uther's tone, and trailing, questioning last words implied Arthur should find something incredibly significant in this. He didn't.
"I've never cared much for them, Father."
"A-HA!" Uther bellowed. Arthur would have jumped, but it happened so frequently at this point, it would be useless. And this was just once too often. Arthur pushed back his chair, and stood with a sigh.
"I'll just see myself down to the dungeons, shall I?" He asked, almost tiredly. "I've probably been cursed by some terrible witch to hate root vegetables, and any moment, the curse will expand to control my mind, I'm sure."
And he walked out, without another word.
(It later turned out that there had, in fact, been an enchantment, but not on Arthur. Instead, a paranoia spell had been placed on Uther, in an attempt to drive a wedge between him and his heir. Merlin, oddly enough, had been the one to uncover this, but Arthur was certain that had been just a fluke.)