Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter and i hope you enjoy reading it:)
Arthur wasn't really sure what to do, he knew his farther would want to talk to him about his trip but in all honestly he just wanted to talk to Gaius. Arthur had been back for two days now and had been reluctant to leave Merlin's side even for a second; however Merlin had drew the line when the prince wanted to go into the town to quickly check with the outposts about rumours of a beast in the forest. Merlin held no desire to be drug through a crowded town to have to hide somewhere. Unfortunately the plan of getting Arthur to let go of him hadn't had the desired effect as the prince had quickly decided that the promise of adventure wasn't worth the loss of two minutes with his warlock.
Merlin had finally, after some bribery, got Arthur to leave the room to check in with his father long enough to ensure that Uther wouldn't break down the door in the middle of the night to find his son entwined with a very male brunette. The thought of his father's rage at finding out, rather abruptly, that his son was gay and how all of that anger would be directed at the nobody that corrupted his perfect son was enough to make Arthur scramble out of his chambers incredibly quickly.
Arthur weighed up the benefits of meeting with his farther and meeting with Gaius and quickly decided that considering Merlin's generic its fine and I'm fine, talking to Gaius was the best possible idea. His Merlin was acting slightly off and he wanted to know why.
As he strode down the corridor leading to the old physician's chambers he found himself consistently worried as to what man might reveal. He paused before Gaius' door and remembered Merlin's previous reprimand on manners.
"Just because you're the prince doesn't give you the right to be so condescending and supercilious." Merlin ranted in response to Arthur's slightly unfair treatment of a serving girl. But in the prince's defence the longer that girl spent in his chambers the longer he had to let go of Merlin.
"Big words Merlin, are you sure you know what they mean?" Arthur goaded, feeling slightly hard done by at Merlin's reprimand.
"You never knock before you enter a room, you never say please or thank you and you act so superior to everyone and everything." Merlin continued, not admitting to even himself that the only real reason that he was so wound up was because the stupid, blonde serf had been flirting with his Arthur. "And of course I know what they mean." He snapped before flopping heavily down on the bed.
"I'm sorry, Merlin, truly." Arthur whispered into the brunette's hair as he pulled the warlock into his chest. "I don't mean to be, I just… my father expects me to behave like I'm better than everyone and if I don't… well… he makes a point of behaving worse to them until I get the point."
Merlin sighed, suddenly feeling terrible. He was being so harsh to Arthur about something that he couldn't help, if anything, encouraging the prince to break this habit could be more detrimental to the serfs than if he was kinder. They hung to each other for a second longer than friends normally would but as neither of them had ever really had a friend they didn't notice the difference.
Gaius opened the door slightly out of breath and Arthur suddenly worried his father- figure's health. "Arthur my boy, what brings you here?" The physician asked stepping aside so that the boy could enter his quarters. After the old man had closed the door firmly behind the blonde, he moved to briefly embrace the boy he loved like a son, sending a silent thank you to whatever gods existed for bringing him back safely.
"I missed you Gaius." The prince explained feeling suddenly choked up, he gripped the old man to him tightly and allowed a few tears to fall down his cheeks and soak into the man's tunic. Gaius frowned as he felt the material over his shoulder grow damp.
"Arthur?" Gaius enquired, unsure as to what caused the blonde's upset. The prince pulled away; suddenly embarrassed he sniffed harshly and wiped his eyes before turning away from Gaius and regaining his composure.
"I came to enquire as to how Merlin was when I was away; he has been acting rather strangely." Gaius sighed, now resigned to the fact that there was no way the prince would share what upset him so.
"I know that the boy has magic." The old man said honestly, fearing that this was the cause of the discomfort that the boy was now in, he feared for his future. Of course he would, Gaius thought, the unofficial adviser to the king discovering that the prince's new friend was an avid user of magic. Even the best of men would be terrified.
Arthur sighed and sank into his chair, he knew that he wouldn't have been able to keep Merlin's gifts a secret forever and truth be told he hadn't wanted to, he was going to lift the ban the second he became king and he had relied on the fact that he could make sure no one found out until then. He placed his head in his hands and let the tears roll down his cheeks; the thought of loosing Merlin was so painful that the prince didn't think that he would last if he ever really lost the brunette, his warlock. The resent addition of possession that Arthur added before Merlin's name every time he spoke had gone completely unnoticed by the prince.
"I can't Gaius, I can't loose him. The thought alone fills me with so much pain that I don't know how I would go on. Please don't tell Uther." The prince pleaded, begging Gaius had noticed the bumbling idiocy and kind hearted nature of the warlock and had thought of what would become of him if he was left to Uther and the council.
"My boy…" Gaius started, pausing as he waited for the prince's blue eyes to find his. "Magic is banned in this kingdom and I am a faithful friend to your father… however, I have never truly supported or believed in his ruthless pursuit of those who practice magic. You are clearly in love with the boy and I would never intentionally hurt you, and so I believe it would be safe to deduce that I won't be turning anyone in to Uther anytime soon."
Arthur sprang up, a new sense of pride for the frail old man stood in front of him.
"Thank you Gaius." He muttered once again embracing the physician. "And I do, by the way… love him, that is." He stepped back suddenly unsure of how Gaius would take his declaration of love for the brunette.
"Well then I am beyond pleased for you, Merlin seems like a delightful boy and you may tell him that he can rest assured that I will not be informing Uther of his… situation."
Arthur had left Gaius' chambers unnaturally joyful and jogged to his own rooms, itching to embrace his friend and tell him the news. But as he rounded the corner leading to his room his jog disintegrated as he tried to make out the shouted words.
"What are… my son's chambe… execute…"
"Please… not what it looks… I swear…"
"Silence… insolence… punished…"
"Please… no… please…"
Arthur gasped as he entered his room, before raising his voice and commanding the attention of every man in the room. "What is going on here?" Uther's hand froze halfway in its path with Merlin's cheek as his son's voice bellowed through the room. Merlin froze more in the guard's arms; unsure as to whom Arthur's anger was directed at.
"Son…" Uther started but Arthur cut him off.
"What is going on here?" he said punctuating each word. He didn't allow himself to look over at Merlin, he had to feign indifference, he couldn't let Uther discover his feelings for the boy. Merlin whimpered at Arthur's apparent dismissal of him.
"I came to find you as you failed to join me for the evening meal last night and breakfast this morning and I found this intruder in your chambers, rifling through your things." Uther explained, glaring at Merlin as if he was no more than dirt.
"Arthur I wasn't I swear, I was just…" Merlin was cut off as Uther's fist connected with his ribs and the young warlock heard a crunch. Merlin watched as Uther's fist swung towards him again, bracing himself for another impact. But it never came.
When Merlin had gained enough courage to look to see what was happening he was surprised to find Arthur's had wrapped tightly around his father's wrist, preventing the king from striking him again.
Arthur twisted his father's arm up his back, restraining him and causing him to grunt in pain. "This may be how you deal with your servants but I will not deal with mine in the same way, do you understand?" he hissed in his father's ear. Arthur waited until his father's nod confirmed that he had understood his words.
The prince, suddenly looking more like a king than he ever had turned to the guards and hissed at them to get out before he saw fit to deal with them like his father would. He then walked over to Merlin and placed a hand on his shoulder. Merlin looked at him surprised that Arthur had stood up for him so fiercely and nodded confirmation at his well being.
Eventually, after searching Merlin's eyes for lies the blonde turned his attention to his father and snarled at him.
"Merlin is my manservant and he didn't deserve to be treated like this for doing his job, get out." Arthur stood chest heaving as he stared at his father. Uther perhaps sensing his son's palpable anger or maybe believing it wiser to regroup before punishing his son left with his tail between his legs an Arthur had never been so pleased to see the back of someone before.
After the prince was sure his father had left he called for a bath and undressed the warlock before settling him in the steamy water. Arthur sat next to the tub holding Merlin's hand until the water cooled and when he tried to get the brunette out of the now cold water Merlin muttered a small enchantment and Arthur watched in awe as steam once again, rose from the water.
Once the warlock was clean Arthur tended to his wounds, he cleaned the cuts on the boy's face and wrapped his ribs the way Gaius had shown him to before. After a while of sitting with Merlin on the bed and soothing him as he cried, recalling memories of past abuse, Arthur got up and retrieved a small back from his cupboard. The blonde pulled some of his shirts and breeches into the bag, along with his pillow off the bed, hoping that the smell of him on the pillow would comfort the warlock for the next couple of nights. He also after careful deliberation added a thick woollen blanket to the bag in the hopes that it would keep Merlin warm.
Merlin sat silently on the bed watching the prince place his belongings into a bag, it had finally happened. The prince had realised that he wasn't worth the trouble and had decided to get rid of him.
Merlin walked over to Arthur and took the bag from him before placing it on his shoulders. "Bye Arthur, thank you." He said hugging him. As he turned to leave the blonde caught his arm and pulled him back to his chest in a bone crushing hug.
"Silly boy, I'm not getting rid of you. Uther isn't going to be happy at the scene I made and is going to punish me with a good week in the dungeons. If you are here when the guards come for me then he will lock you up to just because he can't bear to be wrong. So you have to go stay with Gaius for a few days… but Merlin, do not leave him until I come for you, okay? Please if only to keep my mind at rest, keep yourself safe and don't leave his rooms? Okay?" Arthur explained, desperation leaking into his voice on his last couple of sentences.
"Of course Arthur." Merlin replied and Arthur nodded, happy with the warlock's response.
They walked hand in hand to Gaius' rooms, Merlin's bag slung over Arthur's shoulder as the prince had insisted on carrying it. Arthur walked into Gaius' room unannounced, which eared him a look from Merlin, but he didn't want to be seen lurking outside of Gaius' rooms when his father's men were most likely already looking for him.
The prince had explained the situation to Gaius and the physician was now under strict instructions to tend to and keep and eye in the warlock. After all of the explanations were done Gaius left the two boys alone so that they could say goodbye.
"It's not fair, you've only been back one day and already you have to leave again." Merlin sniffed looking down at the floor and biting his lip.
"I'll be back soon and now that Uther knows you exist you can come everywhere with me everyday." He reminded the boy hoping that it would cheer him up and he would stop biting his lip; Arthur had never seen something as delicious as Merlin biting his lower lip.
"Can't I come with you to the dungeons?" Merlin pleaded, gripping at straws.
"Sorry love, not going to happen." Arthur said laughing, he may not have noticed the endearment that he used but the warlock certainly did. Merlin flushed red, wondering if the prince had meant that or if it was just a slip of the tongue.
"I'll see you soon, Arthur." Merlin sniffed tears once again falling down his cheeks.
"I refuse to say goodbye as I will see you again soon, love." Arthur explained and Merlin flushed again at the nickname. Plucking up his courage Arthur reasoned with himself, if you do it now he has an entire week to decide what he wants and you don't have to face immediate rejection. Deciding that his reasoning was sound Arthur ran his hands up Merlin's neck and tilted his head up. He leaned in close, so that there was only about two centre meters between their lips, giving the warlock a chance to pull away and him a chance to mutter "My Merlin." And then he placed his lips ever so gently against Merlin's.
The kiss was beautiful, a strange warmth that Arthur had never felt before settled in the pit of his stomach and blossomed throughout his entire chest. His entire body was tingling, but the sensation was more intense where their lips were connected. The prince pulled away for breath and both he and Merlin gulped it in, resting their foreheads together. Arthur sighed deeply before connecting their lips for a second, third and fourth time.
"I have to go." He murmured before kissing the boy for the final time and taking his leave.
Arthur was sat on his bed ten minutes later waiting for the impotent guards to come and collect him, suddenly angry at the situation his father had put him in. he willed the guards to come so that he could beat them down. He was angry. He could be with Merlin now, declaring his love and kissing him but instead he was sat there waiting for some unintelligent brutes to heave him of to jail.
He was soon rewarded by the sound of heavy foot falls from behind his doors and he stood and stretched so that he could greet his father's minions in the correct way.
The first three went down easily as did the second two. There was a small time gap between the next set of guards which allowed the prince time to pause and breathe. The next guard posed a bigger problem; he was taller and heavier than the prince but lacked one vital advantage. Right now the prince was running on adrenaline and anger and Merlin, and that mix of emotions gave him the edge he needed to take down another three guards before he was restrained and he had to physically restrain himself from spitting at the brute that had held Merlin as his father beat him.
He was thrown rather ungracefully into his accommodation for the next week, spitting blood out from his mouth and trying to shield himself as the guards lay blow after blow onto his tired and wounded body.
Eventually they stopped and Arthur was tempted to sob in relief, he managed to restrain himself though and settled for sputtering out a "Have you had enough?" however the only response came in a set of very unwelcome foot falls.
"Piss off." Arthur greeted his father and he rolled onto his side, groaning and trying to prop himself up against the wall.
"Where is he?" his father asked.
"Don't know who you mean." Arthur responded.
"WHERE IS HE?" Uther bellowed, his carefully placed mask finally slipping.
"Piss off." Arthur smirked at his father. "I'm ashamed of you, ashamed to call you my father. It's your fault mother is dead and it is your fault that Morgana followed in her footsteps." He hissed as his fathers boot connected with his chin; he hadn't been expecting that.
"I will hunt down that boy and then I will make you watch as I pick him to pieces." Uther spat before locking his son in the cell and briskly informing the guard to release his insolent son once he had learnt that his actions have consequences.
Arthur didn't sleep that night, or the next, his mind to busy with thoughts of Merlin and all of the terrible things that his father and his friends could do to him. Arthur woke in the night crying out for his mother and his sister and
Merlin, the sounds of his own cries not drowning out the jeers of the other inmates as they teased him mercilessly about anything they could think of. Arthur eventually gave up and settled for sitting awake plotting the most violent way he could dispose of his father.
But above all else the wished for Merlin, and he wanted the boy's comforting body next to his own more than anything.
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