"What in the world happened to you?!" Arthur exclaimed his shock and question, his tone and words lacking of sympathy, of course, as Merlin figured it would.

"N-nothing." Merlin said meekly, his posture slumped and his head bowed timidly as he fidgeted with the hem of his tunic. Bruises, dark and ugly, colored almost entirely his face, his left eye puffed and black, his right temple blue, the corners of his mouth swollen and purple, his lip split, his cheeks brown. He was indeed a terrible sight.

"That certainly is not nothing! Your face, it's ... it's horrible."

At any other time, Merlin would've shot a sarcastic and witty retort towards him at this point. But with all the pain in his body, coupled with the humiliation he felt at standing in front of Arthur in this pathetic state, and the traumatic memories of last night; all he did was duck his head even further, as if trying to hide himself. The tears of humiliation and shame and hurt that made him want to turn on his heel and run off gathered on the edges of his eyes, falling down his cheeks. And that just made him feel even more weak and pathetic. Great, just another thing for Arthur to make fun of right after he's done with the rainbows of ugliness on his face. He'll call him a baby for sure.

He sniffed, louder than he intended, and stilled, hoping against hope that Arthur did not hear it.

But when does fate ever fulfil his wishes?

"Merlin ... are you ... crying?" Arthur asked, sounding uncertain.

Merlin's nose clogged again, tears filling his eyes, and he sniffed, but still shook his head, hastily wiping his nose against his sleeve as if Arthur wouldn't notice it if he did it quick enough.

"Yes you are, Merlin!" Arthur responded, stepping forward towards him. "You're crying."

"S-so?" Merlin ventured after a short pause, his voice thick and hurt and distressed as he readied himself for a rude remark.

"So ... " Arthur trailed off dumbly, at a loss for words now that he made his point.

"I-if you're g-gonna make fun of me, th-then go ahead." Merlin said, sniffing quietly again.

"What? No! I-I wasn't planning on making of you!" Arthur exclaimed defensively. He was shocked that Merlin would even think that he would. Just how heartless did he expect him to be? And how the heck could he when Merlin was standing there, looking like a kicked pup? "I just ... wanted to ask, how ... I mean ... " He closed his eyes, sighing deeply. "What happened?" He inquired softly, seeming genuinely concerned for the first time since their awkward conversation.

Silence ensued, as long as about five heartbeats, as Merlin stared at him scrutinizingly.

Then, it was broken by a mere whisper. "Why do you care?"

Arthur's lips parted, and stayed that way as he contemplated an answer.

Thankfully, it seemed the younger man took pity on him as he sighed deeply, closing his eyes.

He opened them again, swallowing as he raised his head, giving the prince a clearer and extended view of his bruises than before, though his eyes remained low.

Seeing the wounds made something rise in Arthur's chest; anger.

"L-last night," Merlin began quietly, his voice soft and hesitant. "As I was w-walking down the castle, I ran into Sir Richard. He was d-drunk, probably returning from a tavern. H-he looked a-angry, for ... for s-some r-reason. When I accidently b-bumped into h-him, he got even m-madder. I-I tried to apologize for it, but he ... He st-still won't stop." Half-way throughout his explanation, Merlin's eyes were already in tears again, his face crumpling slightly.

And seeing what that knight did to a boy as innocent and kind as Merlin, made him want to pummel something. Merlin wasn't used to handling such abuse, so he was probably traumatized by this experience.

"I'll kill him," he growled under his breath and began to rush past his servant.

"No, stop!" Merlin exclaimed quickly, coming in front of him as he hastily wiped his cheeks with his hands, in a very child-like manner that made Arthur want to kill the person who hurt him even more.

"Merlin, get out of my way!" he yelled, and then instantly felt horrible when Merlin flinched violently at his raised voice and started stammering uncontrollably to him in fear.

"I-I j-just don't...don't w-want y-you to get in t-trouble," Merlin tried to explain, his breath hitching.

"Merlin, after what he did to you..." he trailed off, his voice unusually gentle.

"I-it's alright. Just forget about it. I'm sure it won't happen again."

"You are really going to just let it go like that?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"I just don't think there's any point in revenge," Merlin replied.

Arthur sighed. "Fine."

Merlin nodded. "Th-thank you."

He began to limp away towards the dirty laundry at the end of Arthur's bed.

"Merlin," Arthur called, his voice stopping his servant in his tracks.

"Yes sire?" Merlin looked at him questioningly.

"Just... uh, take a day off or two. You obviously can't work in that condition," he said awkwardly, undoubtedly not wanting his servant to think he cared about him, even though in the back of his mind, he knew his attempts were in vain after his reaction to his servant's assault.

Merlin grinned at him goofily through his still flushed face, and Arthur couldn't stop himself from ruffling his black hair affectionately with a returned smile.

The next time Merlin returned to work and visited the training field, he didn't see Sir Richard.

Curious to know, he asked a servant with him, a witness, who told him of the way the prince was incredibly harsh and cruel to the man during practices, hitting much more harder whenever he was up against Sir Richard than he normally would with his other knights. Merciless, he said, like he was fighting an enemy instead of training with his own warrior. He broke the wrist of his right hand the first day, his left arm the next day, and also sprained his ankle along the way.

And Merlin felt bad at the warmth that spread inside his chest. As he sat and watched his prince train with his knights, he couldn't help but think with a smile,

Never knew you cared.

Review please! Not sure about the ending, but I hope it was okay. Sorry if my writing is not perfect. English is not my mother language and I just got into the business of fanfiction writing.