Title: Keep Your Secrets
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Categories: Action/Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, AU
Length: Long (~16,000 words)
Warnings: Rape of a major character, torture, Arthur is kind of a douchebag.

Author(s) on LJ: n/a
Websites: LolaFeist and new_kate on AO3

Summary: Arthur Pendragon is captured by the bandits. While he waits to be ransomed, he slowly gets to know Merlin, the prisoner being held in the next cell.

Review:
I loved this AU. It's gritty, realistic and hurts in all the right places. The premise is intriguing- what if Arthur met Merlin the wizard, and not Merlin the bumbling servant? As much as the torture and evil machinations of the bandits was disturbing (in a good way!), what I found was the most chilling was Arthur's characterization. Arthur is a lot more of a bastard here, and you can see how indoctrinated he is into Uther's anti-magic credo. A lot of Arthur's actions made me flinch (again, in a good way!), but it was because I can really see Arthur doing these things, as much as I wish he wouldn't. As dark as it is, this is an engaging and emotionally-charged read, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Keep Your Secrets