Merlin One-Shots

Merlin's Talents

*This request is from blaze-santiago !*

"Arthur?"

Merlin peeked his head into Arthur's room, his arm full of the Prince's clothes. He huffed a little when he saw that Arthur wasn't there. Struggling with opening the door with arms full, Merlin entered the room and carelessly threw the folded clothes onto Arthur's bed. He wiped some sweat that was forming on his brow, and as he turned to leave, something caught the corner of his eye. He made his way over to Arthur's desk to see piles of papers scattered all over. Some were blank, while others either had writing on it or were crumpled or torn up into oblivion. Merlin began to read the ones that had writing on it before chuckling to himself and sitting down in the fur covered chair. Arthur had been trying to write a speech for the upcoming visit from the nobles, and by the looks of it, he wasn't doing a good job. Seeing as Arthur wasn't there and Merlin finished all of his chores, he decided to see if he can write a speech to ease the stress his friend had. Merlin soon picked up the quill and began to write.

A few hours had passed and Arthur still had not shown up. Merlin was still writing the speech, already on his second page. A knock soon sounded at the door, but Merlin paid no mind to it. After another knock, the door soon opened. Uther was expecting to see his son writing the speech, not his son's manservant. However, when he entered Arthur's room, he saw Merlin furiously writing the speech, paying no attention to the new person in the room. Trying to get the boy's attention, Uther cleared his throat. This startled Merlin, who hastily put the quill down and looked up. His face paled when he saw who was standing there, and he quickly stood up and bowed.

"Sire," Merlin greeted.

"Where is Arthur?" Uther asked, nodding at Merlin to rise up.

"He's still training with the knights last I checked," Merlin replied, trying not to let the man intimidate him. 

Uther nodded once again before speaking up.

"May I ask what you are writing?"

Merlin felt his face flush in embarrassment as he handed his mostly written speech to Uther. Uther began reading it, his face turning into mild surprise. Merlin shuffled his feet and looked down as Uther finished reading, and stared at the boy.

"...Impressive..."

This startled Merlin so much Uther swore he heard the boy's neck crack when he looked up extremely fast.

"R-Really?" Merlin stuttered as Uther handed the speech back. 

Uther nodded. "You can finish it for Arthur, but don't worry. I won't tell anyone that you wrote it."

Merlin seemed to visibly relax at this as he retook his position in Arthur's chair.

"How?"

"How what?" 

"How did you learn to read and write?"

Merlin shuffled nervously in the chair before deciding to tell Uther the half truth of how he learned.

"Well, back at my home village, I only had one friend," Merlin began, internally wincing at the memory of Will's funeral. "My mother was always busy, and my father was never in my life. So when my friend couldn't play with me, I'd keep myself entertained by teaching myself how to read and write. I guess that since I was alone a lot I became good at both things."

Merlin smiled at the King, but it was a small and hollow smile. Uther felt a little pang in his heart as he imagined his own son in Merlin's shoes. 

"How come you never played with the other children?" Uther pressed on.

Why are you asking me these things? Merlin wanted to reply, but he bit back that response and instead answered with "They didn't like me for...reasons." 

Uther silently nodded, Merlin surprised that he hadn't broken his neck from all of the nodding he did, and didn't press further.

"I will leave you to the speech, Merlin," Uther said as he turned on his heels. "Make sure to get enough sleep for tomorrow's feast."

"Y-Yes sire," Merlin stuttered, surprised that the King had remembered his name.

Uther soon left Arthur's chambers, and Merlin visibly relaxed with a sigh as the sound of the King's footsteps faded away.

***

"Father."

Arthur was a little surprised that on his way back to his chambers he came across his father who was walking away from them.

"Ah, Arthur, there you are," Uther smiled. "I was looking for you."

"I was training with the knights," came Arthur's reply. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Uther answered. "I just wanted to see how you were doing on writing your speech, but I don't have to worry about that. Your manservant did a great job for you."

The King chuckled at his son's shocked face, and soon the boy was running off to his chambers.

Arthur slammed open the door, causing Merlin to jump. He had just finished writing the speech and was about to leave when Arthur ran in. 

"Oh, hello Arthur!" Merlin greeted with a cheerful wave. "How was training?"

"Did you write my entire speech?" Arthur asked, ignoring the question.

Merlin held out the speech and Arthur took it, read it, and looked at Merlin with surprise.

"You wrote this?"

"I told you, I have many talents you have failed to see. Now, I must retire to bed. Your father told me to get enough sleep for the feast tomorrow."

With that, Merlin shouldered his way past his still surprised friend and towards Gaius' chambers with a large grin on his face. He was going to remember this day for the rest of his life.

*Hey look at that! Nice Uther for once! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one!*