Merthur One-Shots

Abusive Noble // Merlin & Arthur

It'd started off small, originally seeming so insignificant, so harmless, until it'd blossomed into something bigger. Something that suddenly wasn't so harmless.

What had arisen out of this issue wasn't anything good. Abuse is what Arthur would eventually call it, in Arthur's well-formulated opinion, what Merlin has undergone was abuse. He himself didn't see it as that.

Admittedly, Merlin hadn't exactly caught onto that being what it was at first. More often than not noblemen weren't the fairest people, not to servants at least. So much in fact, that If he thought real hard into it Merlin thinks he'd met maybe three memorable noblemen that'd been kind to him among the thousands that hadn't been. And those three noblemen had been outliers from the rest, outliers that he cherishes regardless.

That's right, noblemen weren't kind, that's why when Lord Creon had come to Camelot, full of a scalding attitude and a heapful of insults, Merlin hadn't thought anything of it. Other's hostility wasn't ever anything to dwell upon, it was normal, just something he'd grown used to like eating his vegetables because his mother had told him to.

And then things picked up, gradually things worsened. It was something that could be excused though, for a man like Creon who still stuck to old ways and traditional values.

So Merlin hadn't let it bother him, not even when he figured out that most of Creon's outdated values weren't in his favor. The man was against servants, wanting to command them, to break their will.

Merlin wasn't willing to break. Wouldn't give that man, or any man or even any sorcerer for that matter, the satisfaction of being the one to break him.

Creon's treatment was nothing, because it had to be nothing. It rivaled the annoyance felt when a thorn was felt prodding into one's side, a bee sting, or a tack pricking and drawing blood. Exasperating but not anything that was intolerable.

In royals eyes, Merlin was sure this could all be classified as harmless teasing. What Creon was doing to him was all in good fun, it was nothing that he needed to reasonably go and complain about. And nothing that he couldn't foresee being able to handle.

Until it wasn't.

_______

The first incident had hardly started off any different from what Merlin routinely did. He'd been walking beside Arthur, as he always was. Footing in sync with the Prince's as they walked throughout the hallways of the castle. There weren't many people gracing the halls, no one around to weave through, yet somehow even at the lack of people around, Merlin still felt strangely disconnected from his friend.

Arthur hadn't voiced that anything was the matter. But Merlin knew, could feel it. Clearing his throat, Merlin's fingers prodded at his neckerchief. Hiking it up further as his line of sight trailed over to Arthur, taking in the elder's side profile. The strong nose bridge, stone-cut jaw, and... those full lips twisted in contemplation.

Yes, while it was true Arthur hadn't said anything, hadn't told Merlin that there was anything to contemplate, it was clear as day, as dark as night - that something was wrong. Yet again, Merlin recapped himself of that as he unabashedly stared. There was something abnormal about the other, he wanted to place what the cause of it was. Merlin's eyes fled from Arthur's face, tracking their movement instead. He couldn't tell if it was the fact that there was a cautionary step in Arthur's steps that had never been present before. Or if it was the level of tenseness at Arthur's broad shoulders.

Merlin couldn't not speak on it,

''Are you okay?'' He questioned sincerely, Arthur's steps stuttered before him. Merlin mimicked the movement himself and stopped. Then, Arthur's steps didn't just pause but they ultimately fell short entirely.