#hurt merlin

[futurepastme]

Au where Uther notices how close Arthur is to Merlin, how much he trusts him, and decides to test Merlin's loyalty by hiring a group to kidnap and torture him for information.

They beat him, cut him and burn him. They offer him money and freedom. They try anything and everything to steal any bit of information about Camelot or the prince from the skinny boy, but all they manage to get from him apart from occasional screams are sarcastic comments, bad jokes, and plenty of "fuck offs" and "go to hells"

When Uther goes to see how much information the boy has given away – because he's certain he has by now – he is shocked to hear that not only the boy has not said anything, he's also been complaining about the lack of efficiency with which he's being tortured.

"I mean, cutting off the top bit of my pinky was just stupid, you should have gone for all the nails first, now you have one less. Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Uther hears from behind the wall.

Uther stays for a little while and listens to what is going on, he hears them burning Merlin and the boy's hiss turning to laughter "I've had worse from baking cakes," he hears them offer him an offensive amount of money "you're kidding, right? Or are you just this stupid?" and he hears them threaten to kill him "That's a very kind offer, actually, I could use the day off"

Uther is impressed and convinced, that boy has thicker skin than a lot of their knights and he hasn't seen this amount of loyalty to someone since ... well... ever.

He enters the room and lets Merlin know about the whole situation and congratulates him for passing the test. Seeing the boy's state makes Uther even more impressed, Merlin's covered in bloody wounds and burned skin, his pinky finger is missing the top and his wrist seems broken.

After Merlin is seen by the physician Uther hired from a village, and is properly dressed and fed, Uther informs him that he will receive a raise of 200% and that he should not inform anyone – especially not Arthur – about what has happened there.

"Have you learned nothing?" Merlin asks the king, staring him dead in the eye. "You can't buy me."

Merlin leaves alone, walking past the extra horse the king has brought for him and making his way to Camelot by foot.

He doesn't tell Arthur or at least Uther doesn't think he did, for his son hasn't said anything, but he also didn't keep the money, the steward informes him he has refused the extra money and demanded his usual pay.

After that Merlin becomes the only servant to have as much of Uther's respect as a knight does, in some cases more. So much so, that if a noble wants to accuse Merlin of anything they better have proof.

And if one day he walks in to find the boy naked in Arthur's bed, oh well, it is not like Merlin's going to say anything to anyone anyway.

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Arthur: who hurt you?

Merlin, snorting: what, you want a list?

Arthur: …yes actually.

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

"Merlin."

"Don't. Please don't. You're not real, you can't be."

"I'm here love, I've returned."

"No you're not, because you, because Arthur has never called me love."

[Merlin knows it isn't real. He knows that. But god does he wish it were so, that it was actually Arthur in front of him. Yet he knew it wasn't. His magic didn't sing in his veins as it did for his king. This wasn't Arthur.]

[creator-of-calm-queer-chaos]

Ollie's Favourite Fics pt 3: Merthur whump to fluff

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32248429/chapters/79926007#main

Title: through storm and hellfire

Author: @prattery

Site: Ao3

Rating: Teen and up

Relationships: Arthur/Merlin

Tags: Worried Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Torture, Kidnapped Merlin (Merlin), Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Angst, Pining Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Uther Pendragon's A+ Parenting (Merlin), Arthur Finds Out About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Angst with a Happy Ending, Guilty Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Merlin's Scars Revealed (Merlin), Slow Burn, Separation Anxiety

Word count: 86,000 (exactly - very satisfying)

Chapters: 30/30

Summary:

Three years into King Arthur’s reign, magic users across Camelot are growing restless. Though no more executions have taken place since Arthur made peace with the Druids, sorcery is still punishable by death. Frustrated and increasingly impatient, a group of rogue sorcerers decides to take matters into their own hand, kidnapping Merlin right from under Arthur's nose.

Thus begins a long journey, one where Arthur unearths some hidden truths about everything he thought he knew and Merlin's loyalty is put to the test.

Review: OH MY GOD. This is a beautiful work of art. I love it so much I cannot even put it into words. It snatches you up and does not let you go until the very end. The characterization is perfect in my eyes and the writing is of extraordinarily high quality. Arthur's reactions are nuanced and all the characters are beautifully three dimensional. If you like slow burn, kidnappings, torture, realisations of love, reveals of secrets, complex emotions, and screaming at your screen for everything to be okay, this is the perfect fic for you.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

In The Next Life, My Love

A quick little bitter drabble that I didn’t have time to develop fully but needed to write.

TW: The ending is not open. Everyone’s dead yo. Angst.

It’s dark and cold, where they are, The King and his servant, and the end is coming. They know it’s coming, no point denying it, or fighting it; they’ve been locked up for so long that their wrists, once strong and thick and soft, rattle in their chains. The mould is getting to them, making their heads ache and their skin crawl, but they have each other, and in the darkness they each have a light in the form of the other’s exponentially bony fingers intertwined with their own:

“Merlin,-”

The King coughs, and this one word—this name that now means everything to him, and perhaps always had—quiet and rasping and so very very pained, saps almost all his remaining energy. His companion comforts him the only way he can, a cold, damp-wrinkled thumb scraping the back of his hand, and waits patiently until The King’s chest calms enough to allow him to continue:

“-in the next life,-”

Merlin interrupts him, his voice more quiet, more rasping, more pained, but far, far more determined:

“I’ll serve you. Always, Arthur.”

“No.-”

His dismissal, his order, is the loudest noise either of them have heard in days, and Merlin flinches, moaning quietly as the pounding in his head, which he had managed to forget about, magnifies significantly:

“-no, Merlin, no.-”

Arthur’s continuation is so quiet, so soft, Merlin has to think for a few seconds before he can process what he’s said:

“-In the next life, Merlin, I... I...-”

He sighs, or sighs as well as he can when every breath he takes in is as shallow as a puddle on cobblestones and painful as a knife to the chest; his eyes close, though he couldn’t really tell they were open before, his vision having become so blurred he couldn’t tell his thinning legs from the rotten floor. There’s a long pause, and the only evidence Merlin has that his King hasn’t passed on between one word and the next is the rattling breaths he hears from beside him. 

Breathing is what he focuses on, what he holds on to. It had been a cacophony before; an orchestra of inhalations and exhalations had surrounded them, before the candles they’d been left with had burned to nothing and the others had stopped breathing, one by one.

Merlin has always known his King well, so when he stops speaking—stutters, stutters, stops—he doesn’t worry, Merlin knows Arthur is just searching for the right words. Always, always searching for the right words, and never quite finding them. Always searching, always being too afraid of settling for something subpar, so never saying anything at all. Every time it happens, it breaks his heart a little, but every time Arthur tries again... it mends him.

He lets him think.

Think.

Think.

Think.

Another stroke along the back of his hand prompts Arthur to continue. He’s not sure he’s found the right words, but he thinks they’ll have to do:

“-In the next life, Merlin, you will not serve me for a second. Not for a second. In the next life, I’ll find you, you won’t have to find me, I’ll find you, and I’ll tell you that I... that I love you, and we’ll spend our lives together again, but... but better. I promise, Merlin, next time it will be better.”

His voice cracks and crumbles and falls apart as he whispers his secrets to the darkness. He wonders, for a moment, if Merlin were really alive. If perhaps he’d died days ago like the others and he was just imagining the squeezes, the strokes. The hand he’s holding is cold enough and stiff enough to be from a corpse. He thinks maybe the breathing and coughing were just echoes of his own, that maybe he is alone in the depths of the earth. The silence—other than the rasping rasping rasping breaths so similar to his own—stretches long enough that Arthur is halfway further to being mad when Merlin finally, really, replies:

“Ok. I... Ok. Just... promise me one thing?-”

Arthur hums, and the choking noise is something terrible, but it gets the point across, and he figures the clicking sound coming from his right is Merlin twisting his head, so he can at least pretend that they’re able to look at each other; Arthur follows his lead, and he likes to think that, when he opens his tired, dry eyes, and squints through the pitch blackness, that he can see something blue peering back at him:

“-Have better timing, next time?”

Arthur can hear the smirk in his voice, and he thinks, if he’d had enough energy, he could cry and wail and scream at the prospect of the next life not being promised, and even if it where, their meeting in it not being guaranteed. He can’t conceive of a world, or an unworld, whatever comes after he stops hurting so much, in which he doesn’t have Merlin’s smirk. As it is, the only reaction his starving mind can manage is a single, small tear slipping down his cheek as he tactically twitches his pinkie finger in Merlin’s grip, and mumbles back:

“Promise.”

The silence descends once more, and when Merlin speaks, or, more accurately, when Merlin forces his last breath to take the form of words, he realises, in his last spark of thought as his tongue collapses over the very last syllable, that his last remaining companion may not have remained long enough to hear him:

“I love you too, Arthur.”

~

The End.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH.

Anyway.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Hope you enjoyed😅

[inconsistentracoon]

I couldn't wait till Friday, so here's the Lamia Merthur Fic! -----

It was over. Arthur was here. The Lamia was slain. Gwen was alright. The knights would be back to normal. It was over. Able to relax for the first time in days, he let his knees buckle and his back slide down the wall. He hit the ground, and his vision turned to mist.

Merlin didn't make it out of his encounter with the Lamia unscathed, or so Arthur thinks when he slays the beast and finds Merlin slumped against the wall and bleeding. When he learns the true source of Merlin's injuries he is furious. He does his best to push that anger away though, because being there for Merlin matters far more right now.

If you would like to support me check out my ko-fi ❤️

[uniasus]

fic rec! 7K Merthur fic that ticks the whumptober and kinktober boxes.

Summary: Merlin dresses up to help Arthur deal with a visiting lord, then gets into some dangerous waters (expcet it's fine, because then they end up fucking about it)

Comments: There's a lot packed into this. Merlin crossdressing for a mission, assault, protective!Arthur, and then damn they don't even fully take their clothes off once Arthur is certain Merlin's unharmed. Smut ahoy, but if you just want the whump there's a clear line you can stop at.

[camelots-daffodil]

That Which Binds Us

Merlin/Arthur, Arthur&Gwen, Merlin&Gwen

Summary:

Camelot is at war, and in a final attempt to claim their victory, Camelot's enemies fire a deadly arrow, one meant for a golden king. As if Merlin would ever let him take it.

With Merlin near dead, Arthur can't think, can't breathe, and there is only one way they might get him back, if he can find the strength to do it.

Written for the 2023 Merlin Finale Anniversary

Ratings: T, chose not to use archive warnings

4/4 chapters published, 7100 words

[ificouldwrite]

My Fic List!

this post has a link of the bbc merlin fics that i’ve written on ao3,  if you’d like to give them a read, that would be lovely! thank you so much :) i’ll also take requests if you want to send one in! 

i don’t write reader inserts, sorry! 

💚 = completed

💛 = in progress

here’s the list in no particular order: 

- To the Brows Laid in Thorn and Weapons Made of Words 💚: arthur finds out about merlin's magic prior to the events of season 5 and post-season 4. he goes into sullen silence to punish merlin for lying to him, leaving merlin in the interim of "does he want me dead or does he just need time?" Major TW: su!cide attempt, su!cidal thoughts, struggling with mental health, graphic depictions of violence, injuries, and death. (there will be a happy ending!)

- Arthur Pendragon Loves Flowers 💚: ~3,000 words, inspired by that one scene in one of the earlier episodes where Arthur asked Merlin where his flowers were, and Merlin proceeds to get Arthur bouquets of flowers from there on out. Very angsty fic, but there is a happy ending! (Love confessions, language of flowers, fluff and then heavy angst, Merlin/Arthur, TW: temporary character death, descriptions of violence, eventual happy ending).

- The Way Things Fall 💚: ~25,000 words (my longest fic!) Modern Crime AU where Merlin and Arthur are detectives trying to solve a serial killer case, but Arthur is emotionally repressed and the mystery may be closer to the heart than they think. TW: graphic descriptions of violence, death, and injuries. (Eventually happy ending, relationships: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot, Percival/Gwaine, Morgana/Leon). 

- Love Me Not 💚: ~3,000 words, post-magic reveal. Merlin/Arthur, past Gwen/Arthur. Arthur is repressed as always. He treats Merlin very differently than he had treated Gwen, and Merlin begins to wonder whether or not he's worth being loved in the same way. Whether Arthur even loves him at all. (Emotional hurt/comfort 4+1 with a happy ending!)

- The Cost of Magic and What a King Values 💚: ~9,000 words, Merlin’s magic revealed. Arthur reacts badly and ignores Merlin’s injuries, and they have a massive falling out. Set just after "The Sword in the Stone" (part 1 and 2). Aithusa doesn't go to Morgana because Aithusa being emaciated breaks my heart, and Gwen doesn't marry Arthur. (Eventual Merlin/Arthur love confession; hurt Merlin, TW: graphic descriptions of violence + temporary character death; guilty Arthur; eventual happy ending!)

- Tell Me You Love Me 💚: ~5,000 words, Arthur Returns fic in modern era, Merlin/Arthur relationship where Arthur is emotionally repressed (as always) and can’t bring himself to say the words “I love you” to Merlin. Angst with a happy ending, character injury. 

- I’m Forever Missing Him 💚: ~8,000 words, upon the magic reveal, Arthur has Merlin hanged. (Major TW: graphic descriptions of violence, implied/referenced suicide, major character death, HEAVY angst, happy ending in chapter 2, guilty Arthur, hurt Merlin). 

- breathing memories 💚: ~6,000 words, Arthur breaks up with Merlin for having magic and relives some of his old memories through a watch. (Modern era, angst with a happy ending, emotional hurt/comfort, breaking up/making up.)

- Oh, the Scars I’ve Left  💚: ~3,000 words. Merlin makes one too many excuses to Uther on Arthur’s orders, and has to pay the price. (hurt Merlin, angst, guilty Arthur, hurt/comfort, eventual Merlin/Arthur, first kiss, TW: graphic descriptions of injuries, happy ending). 

thank you so much for reading if you choose to! this list will be updated whenever i post a new fic. have a lovely day, lovely people :D

[aerodynamicentity]

❗ANGST❗

'Would they even notice if I just left?' Merlin asks himself, fearing that he already knows the answer.

It was bound to happen, bit by bit they stopped talking, only speaking when they had to work. They only saw each other when they had to work.

To be more specific, it was only Merlin who didn't speak or see them unless it's for work.

Merlin knew this would happen, they would continue on with Merlin. Heading head-first into the bright future ahead of them, while Merlin will stay in the shadows that grow darker everyday.

He knew this would happen, but it still hurt.

It hurt not understanding the new jabs and jokes. It hurt seeing them hanging out without him. It hurt walking past them and not hearing a tired or happy hello.

Merlin looked around his frien-...

The knights. Merlin looked around the knights.

Gwaine was telling a story, a new one.

Merlin perked up.

"We were all there, we saw what happened!" Elyan groaned.

Merlin sank back down. He wasn't. He didn't know.

This went on for four minutes, Gwaine trying to tell a story, that was new to Merlin, only to be shut down. Until Merlin stood up and walked away. No goodbye, no noise to notify the others that he was leaving, nothing.

He just got up and left. Right after paying for his own drinks, which were only water.

When he reached the castle he went straight to his and Gaius's chambers.

He didn't want to be alone.

Merlin opened the heavy, wooden door and shut it gently.

Gaius, having heard the door, pocked his head out of a corner. When he saw Merlin's face he knew what happened.

Gaius walked to the table and sat down on the bench, opening his arm. His face looked sad, his aura was comforting and his eyes were trying to hide his anger.

Merlin walked over, sat down and leaned into the hug. Basically turning into puddy.

One of Gaius's hands rubbed circles on his back and the other held him.

Merlin's eyes began to sting. It didn't take a while for Merlin to start crying. He didn't make a sound, except the small hicks and raspy breaths.

There Merlin stayed for hours, crying into Gaius, at some point he hugged back, but he couldn't remember when.

When it was definitely something past midnight, Merlin thanked Gaius and went to bed.

Gaius went to bed a couple minutes later, after figuring out what he will do tomorrow regarding the knights.

Let's just say, no one hurts his nephew and gets away with it scot free, even if they are the king...

[brisingr-sword]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gaius & Merlin (Merlin), Gaius & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Leon & Merlin (Merlin) Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin), Leon (Merlin) Additional Tags: Pre-Slash, Pre-Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Worried Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), but i hurt merlin more, set vaguely in the middle of the show, Needles, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Pining, Pining Merlin (Merlin), Title from a Hamilton Song, i'm sorry the theater kid in my soul got to me, no beta we die like arthur, Dogs, Aggressive Dogs, Cynophobia Warning, Animal Attack, Animal Death, not actually a dog but a dog-like monster, Knights of Camelot (Merlin) - Freeform, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gentle Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Merlin (Merlin), Magic, Arthur Pendragon Suspects Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Merlin Acting as Bait, Whump, Whumpuary 2024, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt, Soft Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Medieval Medicine, Banter, Arthur Pendragon and Merlin Bantering Series: Part 3 of Whumpuary 2024 Summary:

After no luck in hunting a large hound responsible for killing and maiming inhabitants of a village called Sarton, a days' ride from Camelot, Arthur suggests that Merlin acts as bait to lure out the monster. At first, it seems like Arthur's plan is falling through, but the night's not through, and Merlin has a bad feeling about it.

Whumpuary 2024 Days 5-6 Used as bait | Stumbling | "This is gonna hurt"

Content warnings in notes!

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

60+ drafts, you say? That you want another plot bunny occupying your mind, you say?

Arthur, the knights and Merlin find themselves in a less than ideal situation, which leads to Merlin resorting to a quite dangerous but very powerful spell to secretly save everyone's ass again.

The spell works wonders, but it leaves a very painful, pretty big magical wound spread on Merlin's chest, Gaius says it's nothing lethal and it will heal; Merlin should ideally stay in bed and not use magic and it'd be gone in a week or two, but, of course, he doesn't, he keeps doing chores for Arthur and saving his life, which extends the healing of the wound one —if not two or three— months.

And it's only so far that he can hide the pain from literally everyone, so is hiding a giant wound that does not look like any natural wound ever, only covered by his shirt.

This could take many paths, my favourite idea is Gwaine finding out first, because he's just as close to Merlin as Arthur is, but only half as dumb and twice as funny, and laughing with a giant fucking wound all across your chest probably hurts. He becomes, as a result, closer to Merlin as he now carries his secret with him, and Arthur is not happy with all the friendly secrecy and sudden increase on inside jokes and bonding time Gwaine and Merlin have going on.

So hurt/comfort, best friends Gwaine & Merlin, jealous Arthur, protective knights, hurt Merlin, magic reveal, etc, etc.

Hope you like this little idea, kind of just wanted to share it with you 'cause I like you, you're very a cool fellow.

This is so good!! I love this so much

The whump and hurt/comfort potential! And jealous Arthur is the best Arthur too :D

Gwaine being a good friend for Merlin is always amazing, we need more of them in the fandom

This is going to be going around in my head for a while and I’m really not mad about it. Thank you for sharing! :)

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

Arthur: Merlin, why are you fidgeting so much?

Merlin: Nothing! I'm just trying to uh *whines slightly*

Arthur: *concerned* Hey what's wrong—

Merlin: *suddenly collapses against Arthur's chest, panting heavily*

Merlin: Shit, the potion, it wore off...

Arthur: Potion? For what—

Merlin: My side, it hurts—

Arthur: *quickly pulls up Merlin's tunic, sees the bloody bandages*

Arthur: *swears before lifting Merlin into his arms and carrying his love friend to the infirmary*

[sherlockruiningmylife]

New fic that I wrote last night randomly. 

Its called Bleeding Gold (https://archiveofourown.org/works/48246517)

Merlin bleeds gold. Every time he is injured he has to hide it from any prying eyes.

Small excerpt: It's a simple cut that wouldn’t require more than a few stitches. If it were on one of the knights it would be no big deal. But on Merlin… The problem is, Merlin isn’t quite human in the way the others are. He’d been aware of this for a long time and it always irked him. But now it was especially apparent. As blood dripped from his arm in the shallow cut. It dripped gold.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Hello!! I'm not sure if you help people find lost fics, but if you do, please could you help me find this fic im look for? It's basically were a sorcerer de-ages all the knights + merlin (i think it was a fem! merlin fic, but im not completely sure, sorry!) to the age they lost their v's. And i remember lancelot was in it, and he was only like a few years younger than he normal is lol. But merlin was like really young and so they like sit around the fire and merlin tells his/her story- i think it was something about cenred's men/bandits? maybe? I'm pretty sure the place i read it was on tumblr but, again, im not completely sure! Thank you so much for reading this! And if you don't help find lost fics, sorry for wasting your time!! :)

I am F R U S T R A T E D because I've read this fic. I remember reading this fic. But I can't find it :(((( All I know is that it was definitely on AO3 because that's basically the only place I read fic.

If anybody knows it, please link in the comments or reblogs for anon and I!!

[inconsistentracoon]

Chapter 2 of A Servant of No Master is up!

----  "He doesn't remember a thing after we were separated." 

"Interesting..." His uncle's shoulders sagged every so slightly at Arthur's words and a smile ghosted across his face. A smile that looked somewhat relieved. Arthur frowned.

"You seem pleased by this uncle?" Agravaine had been staring up the castle steps the same way Arthur had before, towards the door Merlin had been carried away through. He turned back to Arthur now though. 

"Well, the past few days have probably been quite an ordeal for the boy. I expect it is a blessing he doesn't have to remember it." ----