Merlin was cold. No, scratch that. He was freezing. But the side of his face that pressed against the apparent slab of ice he was lying on felt much better than he thought it should.

Merlin cracked one eye open. One eye only, because the other one was puffy and swollen mostly shut and it hurt more to try and force it than it did to just leave it shut. When he saw his surroundings, he gave serious thought to going back to unconsciousness.

They were in a dungeon. No windows, a barely flickering torch in the corner outside the cell for light, and the smell of dark and dank that was going to take several good scrubbings to get out of his clothing.

At least he and Arthur were in the same cell.

Merlin pushed himself to a sitting position, his entire body protesting the movement. He must've been out for a while if he'd gotten stiff enough lying in the floor to reconsider any and all future movement. No windows meant no way to judge time.

Merlin went to stand before getting about halfway up and deciding that was the worst decision he'd made in his entire life. The whole world decided it didn't want to be horizontal anymore and stubbornly turned completely vertical, making Merlin stumble sideways until he crashed back to the ground.

"Note to self – no standing for the forseeable future," he muttered, waiting for the extreme vertigo to go away and leave him before he threw up anything he might've eaten in the last year. Head injuries were horrible, he decided. Next time he was kidnapped or held prisoner, he would aim for a sprained ankle…or maybe something more masculine, like a stabbing.

It occurred to him his mind was rambling the way his mouth usually did and promptly stopped all thinking. Well, most thinking.

If he couldn't walk to Arthur's side, then he most certainly could drag himself over without ever needing to stand.

And most fortunately, the cell was small.

Merlin leaned over the still unconscious prince and bit his lip in concern. Arthur didn't look good at all. Normally flushed from activity, Arthur's face was bloodless and drawn, a few bruises from the accidental cave in having shown up across his cheek and one hell of one on his neck. The cold wasn't doing him any good, and neither was his armor and chain mail.

It took a few minutes, but Merlin managed to prop the prince up well enough to start peeling off the layers of armor until he just had his heavy shirt he normally wore underneath. As he worked, Merlin checked the blonde for any injuries the metal might have concealed, but fortunately, other than the head wound Merlin himself had given him (whoops), Arthur seemed relatively unhurt.

"Just had to go and be the the hero, didn't you, you prat?" Merlin grumbled. He tapped Arthur's face gently, but the prince remained oblivious. Naturally.

"Of course you're going to be hard to wake up. When are you ever not? And now you have me talking to myself. Out loud. Now I look like I'm crazy, all thanks you to," Merlin grumbled, allowing himself to sit against the wall he propped Arthur on, shoulders touching just in case he started to slide.

"Oh, I think you managed that all on your own, Merlin," a familiar, sultry voice said, echoing in the gloom.

Merlin almost hit his head against the stone, but thought better of it. One concussion a day, that was his motto.

"Yes, you would know all about madness, wouldn't you, Morgause?" Merlin said.

The sorceress rounded the corner of the cells, dressed in more familiar armor such as Morgana normally wore, instead of opulent gowns and jewels. "You have a rather insolent tongue for someone who works for the royal family," Morgause said.

"Where do you think I learned it?" Merlin asked. Prudence said he should mind his tongue.

Too bad he was never prudent.

"How's the prince doing?" Morgause asked, switching topics as one delicate eyebrow raised disdainfully.

"Alive," Merlin said, not about to give any more information. "Which, if you were smart, you would like to keep it that way."

"Dictating to your captors now?" the sorceress said. Her tone took on a rather amused note to it.

"Not dictating. Suggesting. I know you want to see your sister Morgana on the throne, but I'd really prefer it if you didn't kill Arthur to assure it."

That caught Morgause by surprise. "You know of our relation?" she asked. "How?"

"I know a lot of things that would surprise you," Merlin replied, unable to hide the slight smirk at the words.

At the sudden smile that graced the woman's face, Merlin realized he should've kept his mouth shut. The one time he should play dumb, he decides to be smart. Just brilliant.

"Yes, that you do. How is that, Merlin? A humble household servant who seems to know something about everything. You seem to be everywhere at once, and yet no one seems to know half of what you do. Or where you go. No one is even all that sure of where your true loyalty lies."

"I'm not that mysterious. Really. People talk around servants. And look at my ears. Hard to miss a thing with these, really," Merlin said, smiling through his nervousness.

"Hmm," was all Morgause said.

"Where's your sister?" Merlin asked, hoping to change the subject.

"She's recovering from the collapse. How exactly did that happen, anyway? It seems like the prince is remarkably lucky when it comes to narrow escapes. And you're never to far away."

"I'm his servant. Of course I'm never to far away. You know how royalty is. Can barely find their arse with both hands."

"Yet you're the clumsiest person I've ever met. You can hardly walk in a straight line without tripping over something."

"Part of the charm."

"We'll see about that." Morgause nodded her head to someone out of Merlin's line of sight. "Get him out of there."

"But I like it in here!" Merlin protested. "It's so toasty and accomodating!"

Two guards entered the cell, grabbing an unprotesting Merlin by the arms and hauling him to his feet, none too gently. The sudden movement of the body propping him up finally seemed to prompt Arthur to waking.

With a miserable groan, the prince's eyes fluttered open just as his servant was dragged out of the cell, the iron bars slammed shut behind them.

"What the hell is going on?" Arthur slurred, trying to rub the blurriness from his eyes.

"Oh, now you wake up. Two minutes earlier to fight off the guards was apparently too much to ask for, was it?" Merlin quipped. The two guards slammed him unceremoniously into a chair, promtly tying down his arms and legs to those of the chair.

"Seriously, is there like a bad guy guide to how to stock a lair? What furniture and whatnot to keep? You all seem to have the same stuff."

Morgause raised her hand to backhand, but as he flinched, his eyes squeezed shut in anticipation of the blow.

Instead, the sorceress slowly dropped her hand to caress the side of Merlin's face. "You know, boy, I would tell you to be quiet, but that's the last thing on my mind. I want you to talk. And I want you to tell me everything."

Merlin had a split second to process what she meant when she suddenly dug her fingers into the side of his jaw, prying his mouth open as her nails dug painfully into his flesh hard enough to draw blood.

"Leave him alone!" Arthur commanded, pushing against the wall in an effort to stand. He had just about as much luck as Merlin, but at least Arthur had enough motor coordination to be able to grab onto the wall for support instead of collapsing on his face.

Morgause ignored the prince, and pulled a small vial from her pocket. Without hestitation she tabbed off the lid and jammed it between Merlin's teeth, forcing the warlock to down the whole concoction.

Merlin coughed at the vile taste, sticking out his tongue at the flavor. "Oh my god, what was that? It tastes awful!"

"Remember I said I wanted you to talk?" Morgause purred. "This little potion will make sure it's the truth. And you will tell me…" Morgause's gaze slid to Arthur still in his cell. "And your precious prince…" The sorceress leaned down to Merlin's ear. "Everything."

Ok, not sure how this reads to other people. I was typing with some broken fingers and a fair amount of painkillers, so it might make no sense at all. Hopefully it doesn't suck. I do like when people favorite stories and put them on alert…but reviews are so much more helpful when I know how you fell about something. Please read and review!