Hey! Thank you to everyone who commented and I was so over the moon with all the alerts I got.

Can I just say I'm sorry that this chapter took this long, it wasn't meant to, but I had a slight writer's block over writing Uther's character... that man is so hard to write! In the end I had to make him a little OOC to make it work, Uther is now much kinder than what he is in the show, but not too much to make him completely different, I still want to use the same character, but he will be more... open-minded?

Also as I have said before, this story takes place after S03-E02, so Arthur would be 23-24 years old, as his 21st birthday was halfway through S01 and there is a one year gap between S02and S03...

Chapter 6 Uther's Dream and His Plan in Action...

Merlin woke up when the first rays of the sun streamed through his tiny window, and splashed across his face. He hadn't slept very well, and the not-yet-bright sunlight had no trouble in waking the young man. Although Merlin hadn't had any nightmares that night, and had slept a dreamless sleep, there was a sort of unease to it. He hadn't fallen into a deep sleep and he didn't feel rested either. However the young warlock had trouble remembering why he had been filling down and un-rested. It took awhile for his fuggy brain to finally remember the events of the day before and it did nothing in lifting the young man's mood. Merlin slowly got up from his bed, dressed for the day, washed his face in the bucket of water that no doubt Gaius had left for him, before making his way out in to the physician's chambers.

Gaius was up already as usual, busy preparing for his morning rounds. He looked up as his young ward came down the stairs, and frowned when he saw the bruise on his cheek. He had of course helped Merlin rub an ointment on his face but it seemed Arthur had hit him very hard for the bruise to still look so raw. Once Gaius had placed Merlin's breakfast in front of him and had silently placed some more of the ointment next to that for his bruised cheek, he sat in front of the young warlock eating his own breakfast.

"You woke up early today" Gaius commented after they had eaten some of their breakfast. Merlin looked up at the old physician before giving a bittersweet smile.

"Arthur should be happy, I'm on time for once" Merlin said looking back down at his breakfast, so he missed the frown that crossed his mentor's face at the princes' name.

"Yes, well, he wouldn't find out for some time" Gaius commented. Merlin's head snapped up.

"What do you mean?" Merlin said sounding panicked.

"You wouldn't be serving Arthur" Gaius said as he looked up at Merlin. Merlin felt his heart sink, am I sacked? Did Arthur not want me as a manservant anymore because I told the king about what Arthur did? Merlin looked at Gaius wanting to ask his questions but scared of the answers he would get. However the look on his mentor's face had him pause. He looked angry, most likely directed at the prince, but there was also a sort of satisfaction there. Did Gaius think that I would stop working for Arthur after this?

"I'm not going to stop working for Arthur after this Gaius" Merlin said firmly. Gaius gave a sigh at that and shook his head.

"I know you wouldn't" Gaius said looking like he wished Merlin would stop working for Arthur, "That's not what I meant"

"Then what did you mean Gaius?" Merlin looked his mentor in the eye waiting.

"The king has sentenced the prince to three days in the cells" Gaius said staring at Merlin as his jaw dropped in shock. "So Arthur does not need any menservants right now"

"He what?" Merlin couldn't believe it! "What has Arthur done now?" Gaius just gave Merlin a look, and waited for the penny to drop. Merlin confused at first then a thoughtful look came across his face which soon turned to shocked disbelief. "He wasn't sentenced for this was he?" Merlin said pointing to his bruised cheek.

"Yes he was" Gaius said simply.

"But he can't do that!" Merlin exclaimed. "Arthur is Uther's son, not to mention the crowned prince! The king can't just sentence him over servant" Gaius frowned at Merlin's words clearly not liking them. "Why did he do that?"

"Well you can ask him yourself" Gaius said and at Merlin's confused face he said "The king wants to see you first thing" Merlin looked startled, and a layer of fear covered his eyes, the same one that had came over Gaius himself when he had heard of this.

"Why?"

"I don't know Merlin, he just sent word for you to go to his chambers first thing" Gaius said looking like he might want to go instead of Merlin, clearly he was worried.

"Well I better get going then" Merlin said sounding braver than he felt, for Gaius's sake. Gaius watched him as he made his way over to the door and then out of it.

On his way to the king's chambers, Merlin let his mind wonder. Why did the king want to see Merlin first thing? And in his chambers no less? Was it to punish him for been the reason he had to sentence his own son? Was he going to tell Merlin to stop working for Arthur? Or something else? Did the king know about his magic? Or suspect? Or has someone complained about Merlin? The possibilities were endless and none of them good.

By the time Merlin had reached the king's chambers he had worked himself in to panic. He couldn't go and see the king like this. He stood outside the door and took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself before he knocked on the door. A quick 'enter' came from the other side and Merlin pushed the door open walking in to the room and closing the door behind himself.

MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA

King Uther had woken up from a very peculiar and unsettling dream that morning. He had dreamt he was out hunting with his son, something he hadn't done since the boy was 12 years old, and they were chasing a deer among the bushes. When they reached the deer however, they found it to be a woman instead, one who was dressed in a golden cloak that covered her head to toe. Both father and son were about to shoot her when she had lowered her hood to reveal herself to be Ygraine, the king's late wife and Arthur's deceased mother. The time were the king had hallucinated about his dead wife was still fresh in his mind and he had briefly wondered if he had started to go mad again. But he dismissed the idea, this felt different.

The woman had opened her arms and Arthur had run to her a delighted shout of 'mother' falling from his lips. The boy was no longer his 23 year old self (almost 24 years old), but he was 12 years of age again the age were Uther had thought him old enough to not need pampering), and looking delighted to be in his mother's arms. Uther's heart constricted painfully when he recalled that part of the dream. The young version of the prince had turned in his mother's arms and had glared firmly at his father.

"You lied!" the young boy accused with the same voice he had done when he had got back from his visit with the sorceress, Morgaues. "You are the reason my mother is dead!"

"No!" was all the king could say in the face of such accusation, faced against his son and dead wife.

"I am disappointed in you Uther" Ygraine said her arms around her son's shoulders, hugging the 12 year old protectively from behind. "you broke all your promises, you failed in all your tasks, and now Arthur will suffer for it" all Uther could have done was shake his head and repeat "No" over and over again.

"Merlin!" was the desperate cry of his son, and Uther had turned to see the servant stood staring disdainfully at Arthur, a look that Uther was familiar with. He had seen many magic users, who he had sentenced to death, look at him with that look. He looked over to his son who was back to his 24 year old self, but looking heartbroken. Uther's heat broke with his son, clearly the disappointment and hatred this servant was giving him was the cause of Arthur's anguish.

"It is your fault Uther" Ygraine said, now standing next to Uther, "You raised him this way, cold hearted. He doesn't know how to love; now he'll lose the one person that could ever make him happy"

"No! No!" Uther said looking at his son as he fell to his knees, looking dead to the world, crumbling and breaking. "What do I do Ygraine? Tell me what to do?"

"Save him! Change him before it's too late, let them be! And remember your son is more important than anything in the world!" then everything had begun to fade, but Ygraine's voice was loud and clear repeating that last sentence over and over again. Then there was his son's heartbreaking voice sobbing, with a last cry of "MERLIN!" from Arthur and Uther had sat up in bed sweating.

The king was lost in the memory of the semi nightmare he had, that he almost missed the knock on his door. He looked down at his untouched breakfast and called out an 'enter', he had lost his appetite.

"You wished to see me sire?" it was Merlin, who Uther had sent for, the moment he had woken up. The boy was looking at the floor, as was proper in the presence of the king and he had his hands behind his back. He looked the perfect picture of an obedient servant. He knew that it was not true however, Arthur had made enough complaints and Uther, himself, had seen the boy in action. Merlin was clumsy and, Uther guessed, no one had taught the boy how to be a servant. The king had told his son that if he had trouble, he could always sack the boy, to whom his son's response was to look panicked and murmur that Merlin was alright really, and never complain to his father again.

"You are late" Uther stated simply just to see what the boy's reaction would be. He wasn't disappointed, Merlin's eyes had rounded in panic and he started to fidget, something a good servant never did.

"I-I'm s-sorry my lord" the boy said sounding panicked too. "I-I was just told you wished to see me" Uther could accept that.

"Very well" Uther said getting up. "As you know Arthur does not need your assistance for a few days, I wish for you to tend to me, in these few days, I saw this opportunity to give Thomas a few days off" Uther looked at Merlin who nodded with a 'Yes Sire'. The boy looked upset, but it wasn't because he had to work for Uther, because that particular expression covered the boy's face at the mention of Arthur's name. "Is something the matter?" Merlin jumped at the soft question and looked at the king with round and innocent blue eyes. Uther could see the boy's soul in them and knew why so many people, his own son included, trusted and liked the boy.

"N-no sire" he was nervous, and Uther didn't want that. He wanted to get to know the boy. He wanted to know why this boy had changed his son so much where others, Uther included, had failed to do so.

"Come join me Merlin" Uther said pulling out the chair next to him. He concluded that if he wanted to make the boy feel at ease he had to drop his king persona. Merlin looked positively astonished. He walked over hesitating slightly and sat on the edge of the seat. "Have you eaten breakfast?" a nod was his answer. "Maybe you should eat more, you look really thin" Uther said pushing his breakfast tray in front of the young servant. He reasoned with himself that he wasn't planning on eating the food anyway.

Merlin had hesitated again but after Uther insisted again, the boy gingerly ate a few fruits of the tray, but the king did not push him more than that. Instead Uther began to talk to the boy about Gaius and Arthur, about the knights and the court, trying to get Merlin talking as the boy did his tasks of been Uther's temporary manservant. At first Merlin was shy and nervous, giving short answers, but by midday, he was babbling away. Uther thought that his knights were right; the boy was too trusting, and he was a very bad servant. But Uther found that he didn't care, he actually found himself listening to everything Merlin babbled. He learned a lot about his servants in the castle that day, and about Morgana's handmaiden Gwen. It seemed Merlin was quite found of her. He saw Gaius in the boy's eyes, as a father figure, although that wasn't hard to accomplish.

But Merlin didn't say anything about Arthur, had Merlin been that upset? Did he want to forget about Arthur? But then Merlin had called Uther, 'Arthur' and Uther knew why. In his fantasy, Merlin had made himself believe he was talking to Arthur! It explained why the boy had suddenly carried on talking. Uther wasn't complaining though, he liked it when Merlin babbled. It was charming for him; anyone else might not have had the same effect, but Uther like Merlin for it. He also understood what his knights had meant when they had said the Merlin's personality demanded that they care for him. Merlin had brightened Uther's day by simply been a charming young man, now he had started to understand the effects he had on his son. But Uther needed more evidence. He wanted to see how Arthur and Merlin interacted with each other. That's why he found himself interrupting Merlin's speech about how awful it was to muck out the stables, by dinner time.

"Merlin?" the boy stopped and stared at Uther as if he had just seen him. Then he flushed realising what exactly he had been doing, and whom he had been talking to. Uther gave him a reassuring smile. "It's almost dinner time, could you go to the kitchens and send someone up with my breakfast, I wouldn't need you tonight, but come back early tomorrow, I plan on going out to picnic with Morgana" Uther saw a shadow cross Merlin's face at Morgana's name but it was too quick for him to read it. "You can then take Arthur his meal; you are still his manservant after all"

Merlin looked stricken, he probably was still feeling upset over what Arthur had done, but never the less he bowed his head and headed out. Uther waited for a few minutes then he also left. Briefly telling the guard by his door to tell who ever brought him his meal to leave it the room for him and then made his way down to the dungeons. He didn't go down but went to the chamber were he could see in to Arthur's cell from a small fenced window like gap, and settled down to wait and watch when Merlin would come, bringing Arthur his meal.

End of Chapter...

R&R please