Merthur

Uther sighed as once again his son had sneaked out of his lessons and has ditched his guards. He didn't worry though, he knew exactly where he went... well... to who he went. The laughter heard from the court yard proved him right. There he saw his son and the boy, Merlin. It seems they were messing with the knights again.

He's never liked how close the two were. Ygraine had convinced Uther it was good for Arthur to have friends his age so he allowed it when she set "play dates" for Arthur. Although Arthur met many of the nobles children, he only seemed fond of the Wilt child. His father, Lord Balinor was an acquaintance of his, if he didn't agree with the king he never showed it but his son was another story, the boy showed no proper respect for the royals. Almost every time he saw them he heard the boy call his son a "Clotpole", whatever that meant.

He must have zoned out because he didn't notice his wife enter until she spoke. "What's troubling you my love?" Ygraine asked while looking out the window as well. "Nothings wrong". She knew him better and didn't believe him. She noticed her son play down below. "Is it about Arthur?" The king sighed, of course she knew. "It's that...BOY" His Queen laughed, "Oh. You mean your son-in-law?" Uther let out an even bigger sigh while his wife laughed.

You see, back when Arthur was six he revealed something Uther only hoped was a phase. One day Arthur had been crying but a river, since Uther was never good with emotions, Ygraine comforted him.

"Arthur? What's wrong, sweetie?" Ygraine kneeled down and hugged her child. Arthur cried for a new minutes until he calmed down. Although the king wasn't one for emotions he was still worried and stood just beside the door out of sight and listening in.
Uther remembers his wife ask the boy what was wrong once again making the prince tear up. Eventually he mumbled out, "Merlin hit me". The king remembered being surprised, after all Merlin was never one for violence. "And what did you do that made him hit you?" Arthur had looked down at the floor by then, "I asked if he was a girl". Ygraine had frowned and lifted her child's chin so she could look him in the eye. "Well it sounds like you were the mean one".
Arthur had shook his head rapidly denying it. "No! I wasn't being mean!"  "Then why did you ask Merlin if he was a girl?" The child shrunk back and started to mumble. "Arthur, you're mumbling". "Father said I need to marry a girl when I'm king" the prince eventually whispered so lowly that Uther almost missed it. "But what does that have to do with Merlin?" She asked although she already had an idea why. "I want to marry Merlin!" Arthur had replied with a smile and that's all Uther heard since he left right afterwards.

He had tried to forbid the boys from seeing each other but Ygraine just wouldn't let him. He was still upset. Much more that after that scene the boys made up and Arthur had changed the way he introduced himself. Uther found it insulting that Arthur no longer said "Hello, I'm the future king of Camelot" and instead said "Hello, I'm Merlin's future husband" for a year, his wife found it adorable.

What made Uther more upset was the fact that whenever the boy was involved in something, Arthur was tagging along or supporting him instead of his father. And he was 15 right now! What's to happen to this kingdom if Arthur's STILL attached to the hip to that boy. He wanted to be in charge of who his son socialized with but thanks to that free-minded boy his son had made his on group. He talked to commoners like they were in equal standing. Apart from Morgana and a young knight of his, Leon, he mostly talked to Morgana's maidservant and the blacksmith's son who were not worthy of his time. He was gonna be crown prince for crying out loud!

"You know how I feel about that" he told his wife. "You can't set him in an arranged marriage, Uther. He's your son, you should know how stubborn he is. He'll follow his heart". The king sight for what seemed like 100th time that day. He knew she was right. Arthur would fight tooth and nail so he wouldn't 'marry someone he doesn't love'.

Later that day he ran into the two boys but they didn't notice his presence. "Merlin! You idiot, it's blue!" Arthur had shouted while hitting the dark haired boy on the head. Although Arthur was more open on expressing his affection for Merlin as a child, the older he got the more... nervous? Shy? Emotionally constipated? He got and resulted to insults and hits. The king got closer and noticed a blue apple. "Hold on clotpole! You made me mess up the spell!" Ah yes, another thing that upset Uther about the boy. He has magic. Although he didn't exactly hate it... he sure wasn't in love with it. It made him a bit frightened to think what a person could do with such power.

"What are you even making this for? You could just ask me for apples" Arthur said sounding a bit annoyed, Uther guessed Merlin had probably said no to training. Merlin might be a noble but he isn't a knight, he much preferred fighting the magical way. "Gwaine's birthday is coming up! I wanted to give an almost endless supply of apples" Arthur's mood visibly changed. "Gwaine this! Gwaine that! All you ever talk about is Gwaine!" Said Arthur dramatically. Ah yes, Arthur had mentioned the boy to Uther before. He always had a sour face when he mentioned all the time he spent with Merlin since he moved to the kingdom. "What's wrong with you?" Said Merlin also getting irritated. Arthur was about to open his mouth again when Uther decided to step in.

"Arthur, go join the knights in training". The pair turned to the king in surprise as they didn't hear him come in. "But fa—" "NOW, Arthur". The prince nodded and left quietly. Once he was gone Uther turned to Merlin who was looking back at him. Uther stared a bit longer until he approached the boy and put his hand on his shoulder. "Take care of my son" he said and walked out. Son-in-law huh?

Hi! Idk if I'll add more of Uther's memories of the boys but we'll see.
Thank you for reading!