Pinterest inspired. Merlin's past slightly altered. I feel like this is horrible, I go from scene to scene too fast, but I don't knowhow to fix it. Gets good when Arthur and Merlin are about to have supper. I think the story idea is pretty good though.

Merlin vaguely remembered a time when there wasn't a collar chafing on his neck. That was the happiest time of his life.

At five summers, Merlin's mother had married. Their marriage day had made her ecstatic, and Merlin loved having a father.

So far Jerry had done many fun things with Merlin. Like teaching him how to fish, the ways of farming, and games that made the chores more fun.

Hunith was grateful. She could get far more work done without a boy hanging on her leg the whole day. Some jobs went to Jerry, which also helped her productivity. There would be no shortage of winter jackets or clothes this year. Maybe they could even have a small feast. Jerry's job had really gotten them a more stable home life.

Although, there was still one problem. Jerry knew not of Merlin's magic. The boy had promised to try his best to not use it, or at least not around Jerry. By some miracle Jerry still didn't know. Hunith was just looking for a good time to tell him. It seemed telling was not what destiny had in store for Jerry.

The day of their small feast, was for the most part filled with joy. Waking early, they had gotten some decorations out. Chores had been quick, and fun. The day was filled with laughter. Games were constantly played. Jerry loved Merlin as he would his own son. Merlin's giggling could make even the worst of his days better.

Jerry believed he'd finally escaped his past. Unfortunately that was not the case.

Merlin was cracking up from his step dad's goofyness. He wanted to be just like him one day. Goofy, kind and bold. Jerry had smudged some gravy across his left cheek. When Merlin noticed and pointed, Jerry would purposely miss it to make him laugh.

"Bang!" The door had been kicked down. There stood a tall scarred man.

The man had a dagger in his hand and threw it at Jerry. Regret was written all over Jerry's face. He watched as the dagger came towards him at top speed, then stopped right in front of him. Jerry didn't question it, he grabbed the knife and threw it at the man.

"Go to your room Merlin," Hunith demanded. He of course complied. What had just happened was beyond Merlin. He'd used magic to save Jerry, and then Jerry had killed the man.

Merlin was sitting on his bed when Hunith entered. "Jerry has gone to the tavern for tonight," Hunith whispered. She obviously sounded distressed, but Merlin knew better then to ask. "He knows of your magic now, and we'll see what happens, but for now. Sleep." Kissing him on the cheek, and flashing Merlin a smile, she left. Leaving Merlin to his dreams, and eventually to sleep.

He was awoken by whispering, and a hand covering his mouth with a funny smelling cloth. They quickly placed a metal collar on him and dragged him out of bed. A few seconds of blurryness from the nauseating smell and he'd lost consciousness.

When he regained consciousness he was in a concrete cell. There were two separate straw piles. One for the other prisoner, and another for himself. It smelt of feces and mould. Merlin propped himself into a sitting position. The collar was still on. Only now he realized it was rather large.

"Those stop you from using magic," a course voice commented.

Meanwhile, Hunith was panicking. Merlin was gone. Where was he? Then she remembered the men that drugged her and left her there. Had Jerry caused that? Merlin saved his life, and he goes and tells people? Where is that son of a.... Let's just say profanities were her best friend at the moment.

Deciding to look for him, she looked in the tavern first. He wasn't there. She looked on the streets. No sign of Jerry.  Finally she found him. Crying in Merlin's room. He must have came in while Hunith was away.

"What did you do to him?" Hunith shrieked.

Jerry's sobbing became louder, "I... I was... Was drunk... Then I started blabbering and I... Couldn't stop... Because I'm that... That stupid... Then a few... Few men heard about... About Merlin's ma... Magic, and IT'S ALL MY FAULT I'M SORRY!"

Those had been the worst words Hunith had ever heard in her life. Her precious Merlin... Missing. What happened caused Hunith to become depressed, while she hadn't seen Jerry for months. He'd claimed that he would find Merlin, but with each day that passed left her with less hope.

Of course Hunith had done everything in her power to find her son. She'd asked for people to help her find her son. They refused because he was a bastard child, and due to the rumors of him being a sorcerer. Eventually there had been a small search party that Hunith organized, but they found nothing. Every time a person came to Ealdor Hunith would race to them, and ask if they'd seen a raven haired, blue eyed, scrawny boy that that seemed to be about five summers. The answer was always the same. "No I haven't, now get out of my way lady!" People now called Hunith the village crazy lady, but she didn't care.

After searching for her son everyday, she would come home, make sure there was enough to get her and her son through the winter. Hunith always cleaned everything, kept everything in good shape, made extra clothing for Merlin, anything to keep her mind occupied.

Then she would walk into Merlin's room, and stop whatever she was doing. She'd look around a bit until she remembered. Merlin was gone. The next morning she'd always have tear stained cheeks, and an achy back from sleeping on the floor. At this point she'd lost hope. Jerry on the other hand, he was so close!

Jerry was working for some bandits. He'd located his step son, and he needed a plan to get him out. First he'd need the key for that monstrosity around Merlin's neck, and the key to his cell. Somehow, he found the Cell key, and forged one exactly like it. Now, Jerry needed to get the other from the Cell manager. Jerry knew where it was, and he knew how to get to it.

He was just waiting for the right time. Although he hadn't expected that the right time would be when a dragon attacked. The beast was a sky blue. Jerry had been the one to warn the others. Now everyone who could fight was out attempting to kill it.

Seemingly Jerry was now in the dungeons. He'd opened the gate and found a frightened Merlin.

"Merlin, it's me! Jerry! I'm here to get you out," Jerry spoke softly so he wouldn't scare his step son.

Merlin seemed frightened, Jerry had learned about his magic, and the same night he had been taken away. "I have the key for your collar." That was all the encouragement Merlin needed. The horrid thing had been itchy and painful. The man in his cell called Carl had said it nearly got infected.

"Click." It had finally come off, he was ecstatic. Then he heard his step father gasp.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked.

"You're going to have a bit of scarring from the shackles, but it's nothing this can't hide." Jerry tied a blue Neckerchief loosely around his neck. "Keep this on until you've found your mother," Jerry explained while running towards where Merlin remembered he came in. They had left the Cell open, so his cell mate that had been left without shackles could also escape.

They were running at a speed Merlin could not keep up with. Nearly a year in that cell had made him lose lots of his muscle. So Jerry carried him. When they got to the entrance, they stopped. When Merlin's step father looked out, his face drained of colour. Most of the men had died. The rest had escaped back into the castle. The Dragon wasn't around at the moment, but Jerry had a feeling it hadn't left yet.

Jerry put Merlin back on the ground, "Merlin, take this bag, and run north, you'll find Ealdor. I've showed you how to check polarity. If I don't meet you on the way back, then tell your mother I love her. Now, I want you to count to fifty, and do as I've said. Good luck Merlin." Then Jerry ran off.

Fifty seconds later Merlin ran as fast as his weakened legs could take him. When he looked back, he saw his step father being scorched by a large blue Dragon.

On his trek back, he met up with his cell mate Carl. They helped each other get back to Ealdor. Merlin had the supplies, while Carl was a great hunter, had medical skills to help with Merlin's neck and taught Merlin a few spells on the way back. They'd been traveling for two weeks.

"Merlin, thank you for giving me company and happiness again. If I ever get the chance, I'll find a way to repay you."

Merlin scoffed, "Who are you and what have you done with Carl?" Carl was the sassiest, rudest person he'd ever known, but over the last year they'd become friends. For a six year old, Carl had found him extremely knowledgeable, and amusing.

"Very funny Merlin, but I wish you luck. From here, You have about a days walk to Ealdor. I'm going west to my old home." He paused, "I'm going to miss you Merlin." They hugged and separated. The days walk was a long one. For Merlin it was anyways. He was all alone, and he had to bring his mother the bad news about her husband.

When he got back, Hunith was beyond excited, and immediately found him some clothing that weren't wrecked. They'd continued on in their lives.

Merlin had never shown anyone the scar surrounding his neck. The only person who saw it was Gaius when he needed to heal Merlin. If Gaius asked about it Merlin would change the subject to something that needed to be discussed.

Now:

"Merlin."

"Yes?"

"We're going on a trip to another kingdom. I'd want to go alone, but I'm sure you'll follow anyway. So have horses ready for us by sunrise,"Arthur demanded. "We're going to a possible ally kingdom on the other side of Centred's Kingdom."

Merlin nodded and went on his way. Do this Merlin, do that Merlin. Did I say you could stop? Here's all your chores. Oh you're done? Well here's more! Merlin thought to himself, Although he did his jobs anyway.

Soon he was out of Camelot and waiting behind a nearby hill with supplies, as he watched Arthur canter over.

They went about their usual banter, and insulted each other most of the day. Merlin complained a lot, and surprisingly, they were not attacked by bandits.

"We're setting up camp here," Arthur told as he got off his horse. He was looking forward to Merlin's rabbit stew.

As they set up, Arthur started talking about the kingdom they were going to.

"Their kingdom used to not allow magic, but then a Dragon Lord warned the current leader that if they didn't allow magic a Dragon would attack. They laughed at him not knowing he was a dragon Lord, and left. Later he did as he threatened. The Dragon Lord then took over the kingdom and freed all the magical prisoners." Merlin had gone silent, and that didn't happen often so Arthur continued. "Now their land has peace. We wish to become allies with them because they're powerful. Also to see how a kingdom could function with magic. If it goes well, we may ask for assistance in allowing magic back into Camelot." This information stunned Merlin.

Merlin handed Arthur some soup, and sat quietly. This was not common, so Arthur knew something was up. "Are you okay Merlin?"

"Dandy," was his short reply.

They sat in silence for a while. Until Arthur remembered a question he always thought of at times it wouldn't be appropriate to ask. Now was a better time then any other. "Why do you always wear a Neckerchief?" Merlin hadn't grabbed any soup yet, and if he had he would've spilled it.

Merlin suddenly got a horrified look in his eye. "Style?"

"Can I see it?"

"No!"

"And why not Merlin?"

"Because I feel naked without it?"

Arthur obviously didn't believe him. So he put down his soup, grabbed Merlin by the arms, and untied his Neckerchief. He looked over the Neckerchief when he'd moved a out if Merlin's reach. There was nothing special about it.

Then he looked at Merlin and gasped. Around Merlin's neck was an ugly red ring of scar tissue. Merlin slumped down with a defeated look.

"Ho-" Arthur was interrupted.

"I don't want to talk about it." He sighed. "Can I have my Neckerchief back now?"

Arthur looked down remembering what he was holding. "No." Looking Merlin in the eye, "not until you tell me."

"Fine." Another sigh.  "Remember how I told you about my magic last month?" Arthur nodded. "Well, when my mother married, the man was bound to find out at some point. When Jerry had found out after I saved his life with it, he went to the tavern. The drinks apparently made him talk, and the wrong people heard. So they kidnapped me, and brought me to a far away kingdom. When I woke, I had a ring of metal around my neck that stopped me from using my magic."

Arthur was following this far, so Merlin continued. "I was in a prison cell for three seasons. The rough metal of the ring often rubbed my neck raw. There was another man in the Cell, we kept each other company, and he helped me to prevent my neck getting infected. We became good friends. Some of the people on guard would take us out of our cells and beat us. I became a favorite because I couldn't fight back."

By now Arthur's fists were clenched, and his face was turning red. "Want me to continue?" Arthur nodded and tried to calm himself.

"Well one day my father found me and gave us a chance to escape. He had the key for the metal around my neck, and the Cell. He's the one who gave me that blue Neckerchief to hide the scar. Unfortunately  he was killed by a dragon while he made sure I was safe. My cell mate and I made it back to Ealdor but he left. I wonder what happened to him."

Arthur handed back Merlin's Neckerchief, and now he was silenced for a while. "Why don't you tell me these things?" Arthur finally murmured.

"It's my pain to bare. Not yours."

If you like the idea, I could continue this, and try to make it go from scene to scene less.