Hiding

Chapter 4

 Arthur barely slowed down as he approached the city. He wanted to get to his father—and Gaius—as soon as he could, so he could send a search party out for Merlin as soon as possible. He knew his father wouldn't be happy, but Merlin's well-being was at stake, as well as many of Camelot's secrets, if Merlin couldn't hold up to torture.

"Arthur!" The king's voice rang across the courtyard as Arthur galloped through the gates. "Where is the world have you been? You had duties to attend to, as your poor excuse for a servant should have told you, as is his job—"

"Father—"

"—and where is the fool anyway? I don't believe you wouldn't have taken him with you, you take him everywhere, and you have his horse—"

"Father—"

"—you really should know better than this, Arthur. You will have to be king someday, and kings can't just skip their duties whenever they feel like it—"

"FATHER." Arthur finally managed to get the king to stop talking, although he figured it was only because he was being so insolent in a public setting. He didn't particularly care, as long as it worked. "Merlin was kidnapped while we were on the hunt. We need to send a search party out for him."

"No."

"I know he's only a servant, but he's my personal servant, which means that he's privy to a lot of information about the city and the castle, as well as our personal schedules. If for no other reason than to stop that information from getting out, we need to find him."

Uther considered him for a bit, and then gestured for Arthur to follow him inside, where they could have a sliver more privacy. Arthur was desperately hoping that he was coming across as logical and reasonable, and that his personal feelings weren't coming out in his voice or on his face. Once they were in the safety of the king's chambers, Uther spoke.

"I know you care for the boy, may even be friends with him—against all protocol as a prince, might I add—but we simply cannot spare enough knights for a search party to go looking for a servant."

"I know you only see him as a servant, my Lord," Arthur decided that official titles would be best for the situation. "but he knows a lot of valuable things, and we have no way of knowing if Merlin will cave in if tortured. He lived in Essetir most of his life. He may have saved my life more than once, but he may not be loyal enough to Camelot to keep her secrets. He's a gold mine of information as far as any enemy is concerned. If we don't want that falling into the wrong hands, we must find Merlin."

"Arthur, you can't expect me to just let the knights loose in the forest looking for a servant. If you fear he will give away valuable information, we prepare for an attack. But I will not allow knights out on a fool's errand to rescue a man of little value." Uther turned away, signalling the end of the discussion.

As much as it enraged Arthur to hear his father speak of Merlin like that, he still needed to convince his father to let the knights look for Merlin. As much as he hated the thought— "There's more, my Lord."

Uther turned back, still with that considering look on his face. "Do tell, Arthur."

"I believe Merlin was kidnapped with the help of magic. He wouldn't have gone without a fight, and only magic could have made him go so easily. On top of that, there were no tracks to speak of. There was no sign anyone else was there. And I know Merlin didn't walk out on his own, because I would have seen his footprints, and I didn't. It was magic, my Lord."

Uther only looked at Arthur, studied his face. Arthur fought the urge to squirm under the scrutiny, because he really couldn't afford to give his father one reason not to call a search party for Merlin.

"Alright," the king finally sighed, "I'll lend you the knights you need for one week. One, Arthur, then you don't mention the boy again. And I expect you to apprehend this sorcerer, or I may just kill the boy when you bring him back. Is that clear, Arthur?"

Arthur swallowed. He couldn't fail. "Yes, my Lord."

"God. Your week starts tomorrow. You have things to do."

Arthur bowed his head a bit and then went to see Gaius to inform him that Merlin was missing. Gaius, of course, was very concerned, but that was to be expected. The two were very close. Arthur then made it to his room to sort through the pile of paperwork on his desk, signing when needed and glancing over the rest.

It was nearly sundown by the time he'd finished, and he needed to tell the knights he would be taking that they were leaving tomorrow. Leon, of course, would be coming, and some of his other trustworthy knights—mostly the ones who he knew liked Merlin and would be happy to help Arthur find him. That was the last thing he needed to do for the day, so he headed to bed, where he had a very fitful sleep, too concerned about what could be happening to Merlin to sleep properly.

X

Merlin was really getting tired of people trying to kill the royal family, because it always ended in either a lot of work for him or with him grievously sick. This time, it was both, because not only did he have to find a way out of this dungeon and then stop a regicide, but he had to do so without his magic and suffering the effects of being without his magic for what was starting to feel like a really long time.

Kethra had come back a few times, but the worst of her torture so far had just been the drag of a dagger across his cheek, down his chest, on his shin. Painful, but not the worst thing he'd faced. Close, but not the worst. He wasn't afraid of physical pain. He'd been pushed around enough as a kid to know how to block out most of the pain and bring it to a manageable level. No, he was afraid of the psychological damage Kethra would bring, the kind for which there was no salve or potion to heal.

He really, really didn't want Arthur to find him broken. Because Arthur would find him. He was sure of it. He wouldn't accept any other outcome. Even if what Arthur found was his dead body, he wanted Arthur to find him. Merlin needed Arthur to find him. He hoped Arthur would find him soon, though, because he had a feeling Kethra wouldn't give up, and he wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't die simply from being cut off from his magic.

His whole body ached without the magic, and he could feel himself getting sicker by the hour. If Kethra expected to get anything out of him, she wouldn't get it while he was still in those wretched manacles, because he could hardly think straight. If Merlin was honest, the only thing keeping him conscious was the thought that Arthur was probably coming for him.

Merlin looked up at the sound of keys outside the cell door. Kethra stepped into the small space and smiled a sugar-sweet smile at Merlin.

"Hello Emrys. Have you been enjoying your stay? I do hope so, I wouldn't want to make the most powerful sorcerer ever to live uncomfortable, now would I? How are those magic-dampening manacles, by the way?" She paused. Merlin assumed it was for dramatic effect, because there was no way Merlin would be able to talk, not with his magic being starved out of him like this.

"Well, no matter. You're getting out of them today! Isn't that exciting news? Oh yes, your lovely knight in shining armour has come for you. Much sooner than I expected, If I'm being honest. I thought it would take a lot more to convince the king to come find you. It moves my plan up a bit, but nothing that can't be easily changed.

"The first thing I'm going to do is feed you a little potion. Then, I'm going to take your scarf—" she paused just long enough to remove the scarf from around Merlin's neck "—and I'm going to leave it out for princey to find. He'll find you, we'll be gone, and you'll be free to execute the next part of my plan."

She didn't wait for him to reply before procuring a vial of swirling black liquid from somewhere within her bright yellow robes and tipping it into his mouth. Merlin was too tired and sick to fight back, so he just let it happen. He didn't know what the potion did, but he couldn't ask, because Kethra was already gone, and he felt himself going unconscious. From the potion or the manacles, he wasn't sure, but he had a really bad feeling about what was about to happen.