Disclaimer: I own nothing...

A/N: The concept for this fic came up during a discussion between a friend and myself last night, and I couldn't kick it out of my head until it was typed out...

A Spider's Love

Soon as he heard the doors to his chamber close, the Prince let out a weary sigh. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he made a bee line for the jug of red wine in on his table. Helping himself to the alcohol, the blonde walked to the chair beside the room's fire place and allowed himself to collapse ungracefully into the warmed furniture.

Watching the flames dance on the burning embers and listening to the happy crackling, the Prince allowed himself to become introspective once again. While sipping the alcoholic beverage, Arthur thought back on his behaviour especially that towards a certain raven haired manservant.

Not wanting to deal with it just yet, the blonde haired prince permitted his thoughts to wander aimlessly, he wasn't surprised when they sauntered back to the issue at hand. The Prince knew that the raven was a warlock, and quite a powerful one at that. It wasn't that difficult to see once you knew what to look for, but the blue eyed manservant wasn't very careful about it either. This frustrated the blonde haired man even further.

Arthur knew that the village born man was terrified of being found out and executed. The raven wasn't anti acclimatized to prospect of being killed, unlike the prince. However considering the fact that the sorcerer had always used his powers for the good of Camelot and for the Prince's own protection, Arthur was willing to forgive the raven for his lying and simply wait for the sorcerer to gather up the trust to tell him. Contrary to popular belief, the blonde was a very patient man; otherwise he would have been dead by now.

Although taking into account the fact that he belittles said manservant and always subjects the raven haired man to undeserving treatment, meant that the blonde wouldn't receive the confession he was looking for anytime soon.

Taking a long drink of wine and refilling the goblet, the Prince hoped for the mind numbing effect that alcohol brought on to arrive shortly.

X

Those words were a double edged sword and they cut through him just as deep as they did to their recipient, Merlin. Nevertheless, the hurt look that the warlock displayed soon as the words left his mouth was like having salt and glass shavings grounded into the open wound.

Arthur believed, everything came into this world with good intentions, such as his father's infamous purge. The King had wanted no family to feel or suffer the consequences he had experienced, so the ruler had rid his kingdom of the threat. Although the Prince believed there was a good intent in every action, he also believed no matter how god the intentions were, what mattered the most was how it was displayed; and killing all magic users was not a method the blonde agreed with, but unfortunately he had no control over the situation, yet.

Similarly, so were the Prince's manners towards the warlock. The blonde couldn't help it, but every time he saw Merlin, he saw a sheltered, naive, young, village man. A man who wore his heart on his sleeve, and placed his trust in the hands of others' too quickly. In addition to that, the warlock also thought with his heart more often than he did with his head.

A perfect combination for a death warrant.

Arthur knew and hated the reality that he wasn't a God, and therefore could not protect the blue eyed sorcerer at all times; especially regarding his own father.

The King was quite observant and had already made a few comments along with a small number of hints on Arthur's attachment towards the manservant. The aging leader had smoothly remarked during one of the personal meeting between them, on the raven haired servant's lack of formality and incompetence for his occupation. The blonde subtly replied without hesitance, that the mentioned manservant was an idiot but possessed a loyalty of a knight and was slowly learning the workings of a castle. This seemed to satisfy his father, but the Prince knew it was only a matter of time before the subject would surface again.

Due to this tricky situation the blonde had to treat his manservant in such a manner. He couldn't be gentle about it, for the castle was made up of walls with ears, and if anything suspicious reached the ears of his father, Merlin's safety would be jeopardised. It wasn't that the leader would have him executed; Arthur did not want to place the warlock in a situation where the raven might be. The Prince would not and could not take the risk.

Arthur cared for his loyal aid too much and given the circumstances there was no other way to desensitise the inexperienced young man to the harsh working of the world, furthermore training him to not place his heart along with his trust so easily. The Prince wasn't aiming to turn the manservant into a battle-hardened knight; he was only aiming to toughen his favoured servant's exterior, to spare the man the pain. Also there was something about his aid, which made the blonde want to keep the sorcerer's hands untouched by bloodshed.

The loyal selfless raven had to learn to protect himself and Arthur loved the warlock enough to be hated by him, to teach him.

"Spider's love." The Prince mused out loud.

Spider's Love is based on the concept, that once a spider is born it flees the nest because its first predator is its own mother. The female spider would eat the offspring who were not strong enough to face the laws of Mother Nature, to prevent their suffering.

"Noble, yet tragic." The blonde commented, swirling the remaining red liquid a couple of time in his goblet before downing it in one shot. The Prince was willing to be detested by the object of his affections, if it meant that it would provide the protection he was looking for.

He was worth it.

Merlin's life was worth it.

"One day Merlin, I'll let you in on how much you mean to me." Arthur promised gazing at the glowing embers wistfully before allowing the alcohol to guide him to a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Well this is in a way is a reveal fic... I always believed that our favourite royal prat already knew, because mentally no one could be that dense...

This came up with the discussion that Arthur, at times was a little too mean towards his manservant and since I have a soft spot for the arrogant prince, I justified his behaviour in this fic... Just another note... This is a slash fic, don't misunderstand it into thinking that Arthur had some maternal or paternal feelings for Merlin... I simply twisted arachnology to suite my needs.

Now since that is sorted, Please review I would like some feedback on taking this angle... Anything is welcome, and if it's criticism, please be constructive. Other than that, please drop in a word (or words), questions, suggestions, opinions, comments, corrections etc.

30th June 2012: 'An Eagles' Sight' is the companion and sequel of this fic.