Born of Magic

Concerns of the Father

Uther Pendragon stood and watched with a frown as Arthur and his hunting party rode into the courtyard. It looked as though they had only caught a handful of rabbits. The king expected that his son would complain about his manservant scaring away all of the game with his clumsiness over dinner. Uther would never understand why Arthur insisted on bringing the boy with them every time. Hunting was for knights and nobility, not serving boys.

But he had long since stopped questioning his son's weird behaviour when it came to the physician's ward.

For all the boy's faults, he was loyal to the prince and a true ally in Camelot's fight against magic. Not to mention that Merlin was in fact capable of putting up the crown prince's moods, which was something that had been an issue with earlier manservants, and also someone Arthur saw as a friend. No matter how vehemently he would deny the claim.

Not that anyone believed him on that, especially now as Uther could see that the servant was dressed in his son's clothes and sharing a horse with Morgana's maidservant's brother. Merlin's horse was tied to Arthur's and carried the result of the hunt.

Even from his place on the balcony Uther could see the unmistakable colour of dried blood staining the men's armour. The king assumed that the hunting party had run into bandits, the servant had most likely gotten injured, which would explain the state of the boy.

"You had sent for me, sire?" Uther's servant, Walter, spoke from behind the king.

"Yes. Make sure that my son and my ward knows I expect them for dinner." Uther glanced down to see Sir Leon help Merlin down the horse. He also saw Gaius approaching the group. "And find someone to clean his armour, it does not look like the court physician will allow the prince's manservant to return to work for the day." He then turned away from the balcony and began walking towards the throne room.

This was exactly the reason Uther did not approve of Arthur bringing his servant everywhere. Did his son not repeatedly complain about the fact that his servant could not properly wield a sword to save his life? The knights may not need to set up their own camp when a servant was present, but that did not make up for the fact that the boy was but a liability in a fight.

It was a wonder that he was the only one to be injured. Uther was not stupid, he saw that his son's knights cared for Merlin almost as much as Arthur himself. They were just in a better position to outwardly show it.

As a matter of fact, everyone seemed to like the boy. Even his own ward.

He had been worried at first, thinking that Morgana might have harboured feelings for the boy. As time went on however he had come to the realization that Morgana treated Merlin almost the same way she treated her own maidservant. And hadn't Arthur mentioned that his servant had taken a liking to his ward's serving girl?

So yes, the knights would risk their own safety for that of a servant.

Uther sighed as he continued walking through the corridors of the castle, two guards following behind.

"How was your hunting trip, Arthur?" Morgana was the one to initiate a conversation, as neither the king nor the prince were particularly good at it.

"It could have been better," he replied. "Merlin's clumsiness scared most of the animals away and then the bandits attacked as we were setting up camp."

"And how is Merlin? Gwen told me he had been injured in the attack. Are the rest of you alright?" And there it was again, Morgana's voice held a softness as she spoke the name of Arthur's servant, a softness that was usually reserved for her own maid.

"Merlin is fine. Gaius says that he will be able to return to work in about a week, but that he will only be allowed to do non-strenuous chores for another week after that. The rest of us only have a few bruises."

"I will see to it that you get a replacement servant in the meantime, Arthur." Came Uther's short reply.

"Well I for one am glad Merlin will make a full recovery. You have been more bearable ever since he became your manservant." Morgana teased the prince. "It is surprising though, how all of you are always fine, given the amount of bandits that keep finding you. Luck seems to be on your side dear Arthur."

Luck seems to be on your side. For some reason Morgana's words stuck with Camelot's king. Because it did, didn't it?

Luck was always on Arthur's side.

He had survived the bite of a questing beast. He had beaten Valiant and his shield. Arthur had led the charge against Cornelius Sigan when he rose from the grave. All of those bandits, Odin's men, Cenred's men. That rogue druid who infiltrated the castle and stole the Crystal of Neahtid. He had even defeated the last dragon.

No matter what had been thrown at his son, the prince managed to emerge victorious in the end.

Arthur had faced many challenges, even before his birth-

His birth. The one thing Uther had always made sure to not think about in too much detail. The event that had given the king his heir, but claimed the life of his beloved Ygraine. It had been the day that magic showed it's true colours.

Uther had been so caught up in his own mind, that he barely noticed finishing dinner and retiring to his chambers for the evening. The king's heir and ward had come to the agreement that they would leave him be during these moments years ago. Not long after Morgana had moved to the castle.

No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't chase the thoughts away.

Magic had given his son life. Was it possible that the evil had left its mark on the prince?

The bite of the questing beast had no cure, yet his son prevailed. Could magic have had a hand in Arthur's miraculous survival?

Arthur Pendragon was born of magic. Would it really be that far-fetched to believe that some part of him, no matter how small, had kept a hold of the very thing that gave him life?

Could the crown prince of Camelot have magic and not even know it?

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I'm really sorry for taking a month and a half to update but I've been working during the summer and when I've gotten home I have basically just fallen asleep straight away. I've still got another week of work, then I get three days of before school starts back up. Yay.