#also uh would anyone be interested in a TKN taglist??

[thekingofthenameless]

Thought I might as well post a snippet of Chapter One?

This is from Uther’s POV! Chapter One will be just him and Merlin; Chapter Two will open with the best boy Charlie! For those two chapters at least, it’s just going to be character studies :)

Here’s what it originally started as lol; it was 177 words there, and it’s 497 now!

Tws: ableism and false beliefs towards schizophrenia and psychosis; fantasies of murder/murder mentions, and blood mentions

Uther hates him. He barely resists sending the wizard a baleful glare (if he were across the room, it would be easier; however, he’s right beside him). At least he actually seems calm for the moment, but it might only be because that beast is resting its head on his lap. He raises his wine to his lips, glancing around the room. No one else is focused on them, instead talking to the people around them, (surely about his coronation, though; so he’ll ignore their lack of awareness) or eating their food. That, however, makes no sense. How could they eat when there’s a dragon right there? And when Merlin is with it? Merlin is mad, and he’s in his castle, and no one else cares. Why should it matter that he was the advisor of his father? He’s dead now, in the burial vault with his ancestors. And Merlin sees things that aren’t there. He replies to nonexistent voices; sometimes, he’s even convinced that his food has somehow been poisoned, and he makes his dragon eat it first. To him, at least one being is always watching him, is always behind him. But he knows why the wizard is like this, why his mind is cursed: because he’s used his magic for far too long. It ruined him. And despite that, he isn’t mean, and doesn’t use his curse as an excuse for awful behavior (even though he could, whether people believed him or not). Instead, he’s kind, and gentle, and nurturing to everyone he meets when the madness isn’t gripping him, and it’s disgusting. He apologizes too much. He refuses to kill unless he absolutely must, and he always uses his magic to incapacitate instead of his spear. He hardly ever gets angry, even when someone is yelling in his face (or as much as they can, since he’s six feet and eight inches tall). He cries easily. He’s distrustful of authorities until they prove themselves to not be in the position for the power of it, or because of their ancestors; and really do want to make a change. Honestly, he has no idea how his father dealt with someone so mad, rebellious, and soft. He wishes that he could kill him. He wishes that he could enter Merlin’s room when slumber finally takes him, when he isn’t going mad over the voices, and slit his throat. He wouldn’t be sloppy like whoever already attempted to, judging by the long scar there. Maybe beheading would be better, if he already survived that once; but either way, he wants the cursed wizard’s blood to run down his sword. But that damned dragon is always with him, so silent fury is all he can regard him with. Taking a deep breath, he puts that aside for the moment. He has to concentrate on keeping up appearances, being as outwardly kind as his father was, and proving that he can fit into the role of being king.