A different kind of love

A different kind of love.

I do not own any of these characters, the BBC does. (I think) I do not make any money from this story, it is written for fun.

Little warning, Uther is not a nice man in this story. In the series I quite like Uther (he is Giles, what is not to like ļ) but in this story he is very nasty. I am sorry.

Chapter 1.
Arthur wandered through the palace of Camelot, looking for something to do. There was almost nobody of his own age to play with, and he was bored. Nobody had time for him. The only person that was friendly to him was Gaius, but he had his own work to attend to, so he could not keep Arthur busy all the time.
Arthur walked through the long corridors of the palace and found himself in a part of the castle he did not often go to. He came to the room that was always closed, the one he was forbidden to go into. But he noticed that this time the door was not locked and he hesitated. He really wanted to see what was in there. He had heard from servants this used to be his mother¡¦s room.

Arthur never knew his mother, she died shortly after he was born. He had no memories of her, and no keepsakes. From servants he heard that she was beautiful, but he never saw a painting or something like that.
His father refused to talk about her and the little boy never dared to ask his father about Igraine. Not after that first time that went so horribly wrong. The boy had asked Uther if his mother had blonde hair like he had. Arthur still remembered the way his father had stood up suddenly in anger, his face red and his eyes cold and hard.
He could still feel his father¡¦s hard hands hitting him in the face first and then spanking him. He had to stay in his room for weeks after that, until all the bruises had faded. But longer than the bruises, his father¡¦s face and anger haunted him.

Here was a change to learn a little more about his mother without having to ask his father. He opened the door wider and peaked inside. The room was furnished beautifully with a large four poster bed with draped blue curtains and a lot of pillows. Arthur could not help himself, this looked very nice. He went to the bed and climbed up, leaned back in the soft pillows, smiling to himself. This was very nice. If this was his mothers bed, she must have slept very well.
The little boy looked around and saw a table with a couple of beautiful little boxes on it. Curious he moved over and picked one up. He opened it, admiring the colored glass necklace inside. He put that box aside and picked up another. The glass beads in here were even more beautiful than the one in the first box. The little boy took the necklace out and admired the blue and green colors in the light of the sun that came through the window.

Arthur climbed of the bed and went to a large chest and tried to open it, the lid was heavy, but he managed. Inside were dresses and shawls. He picked up a long blue scarf and brought it to his nose. A faint scent was coming of it, lavender and roses. Was that how his mother had smelled? He loved it. He thought he would very much like a mother who smelled as wonderful as this.
He lost himself in a little fantasy of a beautiful blonde woman smelling of roses and lavender, who picked him up and smiled at him, hugging him close.

¡¥What are you doing there?¡¦ A hard voice suddenly barked and Arthur dropped the shawl. He turned around, frightened.

Uther barged into the room and the child backed away, trying to get away from this father¡¦s anger. But it was no use. Uther reached the boy and grabbed his arm.

¡¥How dare you come in here, how dare you?¡¦ He tossed the boy aside so he fell half on the bed. The boy tried to get away and climbed on the bed. His hand touched one of the bead necklaces that belonged to his mother. He hold on to this.
Uther rammed the lid of the chest down.

¡¥You have no right to be here, and you certainly had no right to go through these things.¡¦

He turned to Arthur, who stayed on the bed, frozen with fear.

¡¥Do you understand this?¡¦

The boy nodded, he could not speak. Uther looked at him with disgust. He saw the trembling lips, the big eyes full of tears and it irritated him even more. Why could his son not be more of a man, instead of acting like such a baby. He was the crown prince of Camelot, and he should not behave like a cry baby.

Uther then saw the little boxes with jewelry open on the bed. His anger intensified. He grabbed the boy by both arms and shook him so hard, the boy¡¦s teeth rattled.

¡¥You complete and utter shit, going through her things, behaving like this. You are a good for nothing piece of dirt.¡¦

He picked up the boxes and forcefully ripped the blue and green necklace from Arthurs hands. The necklace broke and glass beads fell everywhere. This was the last straw for Uther. The boy needed to be taught a lesson.

¡¥Look what you did.¡¦ Uther yelled and Arthur¡¦s tears began to fall.

¡¥I am sorry, I did not mean to.¡¦ The boy said, but his father did not listen.

Uther left the boy on the bed and turned to close the door. Then he came back to Arthur, who was sobbing now, still holding a few beads in his hand.

¡¥Do not behave like such a little wimp. You are not worth anything. And acting like this is not helping. You are disgusting¡¦

He took the leather belt of he wore around his waist and grabbed Arthur painfully by the neck. He shoved the boy back on the bed and turned him over, then quickly pulled this breeches down.

¡¥Stop crying and take this like a man. You were big enough to go into this room, now you must be big enough to take your punishment.¡¦

With these words he began to lash out, hitting the little boy¡¦s bottom with the leather belt. Arthur cried when the first strokes hit his flesh, but his father pushed him into the cushions and this muffled his cries. His father¡¦s hand in his neck also prevented him from getting away. Arthur tried to get some air, but this was difficult since his face was pushed into the pillows. He clenched his fists around the glass beads, his mother¡¦s beads.
Arthur did not know how long the whipping lasted, but when his father stopped, it felt like his backside was on fire.
He tried to move, but that hurt too much. The boy could not cry anymore, but silent tears streamed down his face.

Uther picked Arthur up and carried him to his room. He put him not very gently on the bed, but the boy was too exhausted from pain and crying to protest.
Arthur¡¦s back, bottom and legs were a mess with purple and blue welts, some even bleeding.

Uther did not offer his son any comfort, did nothing to ease his pain. He had his hand in Arthur¡¦s hair and pulled the boy¡¦s face towards him, ignoring that Arthur winced in pain.

¡¥Did you learn your lesson, boy? Did you? Remember, you are not worth shit, and you must do a lot better to be worth something. And a whole lot better to be worth your mother¡¦s death.¡¦