When Merlin woke up from his sleep, from his nightmare; he sat up in the bed with such speed that he almost startled himself. He was breathing heavily as he felt himself sweating. The voices, the memories from his nightmare were still playing over and over again in his head.

Merlin suddenly felt a hand gently on his shoulder and he quickly turned around to see Arthur lying prepped on his elbow looking up at him with sympathetic eyes.

Merlin closed his eyes and drew a relieved breath, but his chest clenched slightly as Arthur lightly traced his fingers along his back. You could still see the scars very clearly, the marks from the whip visible for the world to see, but only Arthur did. Only Arthur knew the truth.

"It's okay" he whispered as Merlin laid back down, letting Arthur's arm settle around him as he rested his head on the prince's chest, right underneath's his chin.

As Arthur continued whispering soothing words into his hair, telling his manservant, his friend, his lover how much he cared for him, how much he loved him: Merlin let his eyes fall closed.

"I'll never let anyone hurt you again" Arthur said as he kissed the top of his head.

Merlin smiled into his chest "I know"