Merlin One-Shots

Scars

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin!

So, this is like most scar-reveal fics, but it's also not. You see, it's about Merlin's scars, but it is not Arthur/Gwen/the knights that the scars are getting revealed to. It's dum dum dum dummmmmmm - UTHER. THAT'S RIGHT! MERLIN SCAR REVEAL TO UTHER. If you had read my Halloween chapter, you would have seen my little sneak-peek, so if you want to spoil yourself just a tad, go check it out! I've always loved scar reveal fics and all of the ways they played out. That being said, I decided to write one, but I didn't want it to be a replica with insignificant changes. So, I let my imagination dance in my subconscious mist, and it found its new partner. Uther. I mean, think about it. What if Uther saw Merlin's scars? You have Arthur's, Gwen's, the knights, heck, even Freya's reactions! But what about the magic-is-the-bane-of-my-existence king? 

Merlin was having a rough day. He had simply doing chores for Prince Arthur, and then bam! A guard started harassing one of the servant staff, and Merlin intervened. Let's just say...things got ugly. Merlin came out as the victorious but did not leave unscathed. Merlin had been slashed by the guard's sword, and so now he was on the guest table sitting up as Guias was cleaning his wound. It stung, but it wasn't nearly as worse as some other...past injuries he'd had. The wound was on his chest, and so all of his scars were on display. He didn't mind though, after all, he was alone with Guias and he didn't expect the cabbage head of a prince to show up soon. But then, someone walked in.

"Guias, when you have the time, I need you to do some..."

The man froze and stared at Merlin's scars. Merlin didn't know what to do. Guias was darting around the room to distract the unannounced man. The man just stared. Merlin gulped.

"My lord? Do you need something of Guias?"

For it wasn't Gwen who walked in.

It wasn't one of the knights.

And it was certainly not Arthur.

For it was the King of Camalot, Uther Pendragon, that was staring at a manservant with more scars than a seasoned knight.

And there was no way that Merlin could weasel his way out of his king's questions.

After the agonizing long silence, Uther spoke up. "You, servant. You're the boy whom I assigned to my son, Prince Arthur, correct?"

Merlin gulped. "Yes, Milord?"

"Tell me how a servant could obtain battle wounds more plentiful than an experienced knight, as well as have a body fit for a standard roman soldier. Has my son been training you in secret?"

"No, sire certainly not!" Merlin took a big breath of air before facing his king and answering fully. 

"I've gained these scars throughout my life, and they started when I was just a boy. I grew up malnourished and weak, but I learned to be swift and cheat on fights. I learned techniques to take down bullies, but never harm, even when they were four times my size. As for my figure, it only started developing after I came to Camalot, thanks to Guias for being able to feed me more. Mother always tried her best, but there was never enough in Ealdor."

"Eldor...that's in Cendred's kingdom, isn't it? The one my son ran off to help?"

"Yes, sire."

"Why did you start getting these lashes at such a young age, boy?"

Merlin felt really uncomfortable. He didn't like talking about his past, but he couldn't ignore a king's question, nor his mentor's blazing stare in the background. "Well, your highness, before I was born, my father left my mom because a dangerous man was hunting him, even when he did nothing wrong. He didn't even know my mom was pregnant at the time, and he wouldn't learn, for he wouldn't return. So, with that being said, sire, I grew up as the bastard child in a small village. They didn't like me. To them, I was a strange skinny bastard boy with big ears who didn't like to hunt or kill things like the others. They started blaming me, accusing me, calling me 'bastard, freak, monster, sorcerer!' "