Author Notes

Spoilers: 5.01 and 5.02 (Arthur's Bane, Part 1 and Part 2), mention of 1.03 (The Mark of Nimueh)

Rated M for violence and Pre-Merthur.

Disclaimer: No money is being made from this story, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I don't own the boys (sure wish I did). I just take them out to play with now and again.

This story was written in response to this prompt from rocknvaughn on the Arthur_Whumping community on Live Journal:

AU set in 5.02. After catching Merlin and Arthur talking, Ragnor gives Arthur a much more serious beating than shown in the show. (Arthur in serious pain but *not* a concussion, but like some sort of broken bones...like in his sword arm perhaps so he cannot help fight his way free?) Now Merlin must figure out how to rescue them both from Morgana's (and Ragnor's) clutches and help heal his friend, knowing full well he may not be able to do it without revealing his magic to Arthur. Appreciative!Arthur giving some respect where it is due and hopefully some BAMF!Merlin if it is a reveal fic. :)

Well, I haven't made this a reveal!fic, and I've spent much more time on hurt/comfort than having a BAMF!Merlin resolve how to defeat Morgana. I hope this is still a satisfying fill for the prompt. This is my first fan fiction of any kind. I am obsessed over the Merlin show and writing fan fiction seems a good way to get these additional stories out of my head. I have not done any creative writing in over (mumble, mumble...twenty) years. I have rediscovered that I am still pretty hopeless punctuating quotations correctly. I have tried to restrain my normal tendency to use ellipses obsessively, but the em dash has made frequent appearances as compensation, no doubt.

All that is to say, please be kind, and if anyone would like to beta for me or Brit-pick, I would be most appreciative. Constructive criticism is welcome via PM or email, please. Mordred is not evil in this story just because I can't bear the thought that Arthur's future will be ended too soon by Mordred. I'm hoping the show's producers are going to give us a happy ending, and not come to a sad conclusion at Mordred's hands as called for in the Arthurian Legend.

I made use of the web site . / for help with the Old English spells. Since my understanding of language tenses is quite sketchy, I can only say what I think these phrases mean or were meant to convey. If you can correct me, please do PM me or email me. The ASCII art used as a chapter separator was generated at the website . .

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Chapter 1

His fingers were stiffening in the cold. He could barely bend them to clutch at the leather bindings tying him to the rope behind the wagon. The wagon relentlessly rolled on, dragging him behind, even though he could hardly keep on his feet. He glanced sideways at Merlin. So far, the clumsy oaf had not tripped nor fallen, amazingly enough, but Arthur could tell he was tiring and his bright red cheeks showed he was feeling the cold as much as Arthur.

With the rapid pace Ragnor was setting, and nothing to eat for two days, he'd need to come up with an escape plan quickly, or they would lose the strength to make the attempt. Not that Merlin had much strength to lose, of course-such a weakling.

Once Arthur had cobbled together a rough escape plan, he whispered it into Merlin's ear, closing with "Just go along with it."

"I don't know, Arthur. Is this the best option we've got?" he whined back.

Gritting his teeth, Arthur spat out, "This is NOT up for discussion, Merlin!" And to squash any further debate, he put the plan into action, yanking the stacked supplies off the wagon bed, using his lead rope. Merlin copied his actions, without any further argument.

As expected, Ragnor stopped the wagon, and guided his horse back to the first handful of prisoners, and dismounted. He focused his scowl on Arthur and Merlin.

"What the 'ell have you done, ya worthless scum?! I've 'alf a mind to kill the mighty King o' Camelot for making such trouble." With that, he unleashed a fierce punch directly into Arthur's gut, knocking all the air out of his lungs in one big "oof."

Breathe, just pull in some air, Arthur pleaded with his body. Before he could steady himself, Ragnor's knee to his groin turned his world even whiter than the surrounding snow, with more explosions of pain. He crumpled to the ground. So far, this escape wasn't going to plan.

Merlin threw himself at Ragnor's back, trying to bowl him over, even as Ragnor's boot stomped on Arthur's forearm. A horrifying crunch was heard, quickly followed by a sharp grunt from Arthur. With a roar, Ragnor threw Merlin off his back; the slight manservant was no match for sturdier slaver. Merlin fell back into the arms of one of Ragnor's men, who quickly hit Merlin's head sharply with the pommel of his sword, felling him to the snow, unconscious.

By this point, the rest of Ragnor's underlings had gathered closer to their leader. His lieutenant joined in the king-bashing by kicking Arthur in the back several times, while Arthur tried to curl his body around his no-doubt broken arm.

He then hauled Arthur up to his knees in front of the smirking Ragnor. "Well, how does the pretty king like being on his knees in front of our 'Lord' Ragnor?" the lieutenant mocked.

A casual voice intoned, "Is this really necessary?" Mordred had stepped to the rear of the wagon. "I'm sure the Lady Morgana won't take kindly to damaged merchandise. She's got her own plans for Arthur," he sneered.

Ragnor, not happy with the Druid interfering in his fun, narrowed his eyes as he looked Mordred over. He stepped closer to Arthur, speaking lowly. "Just so you don't forget, 'Your Majesty', who's in charge here," mocking Arthur's honorific. He landed a forceful blow to Arthur's face. The king fell back, blood pouring out of his nose. Arthur unsuccessfully tried to staunch the flow without moving his injured arm. All he could really do was to tip his head back to slow the flow of blood somewhat. Gods, now his nose was broken in addition to his arm. This really was not going as planned, not at all.

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