Thanks for all the reviews for chapter 5 and 6! MamzelleHermy..only when I am done with him ;) TNSarah, thank you! Absentminds, I will add in some knights and games at some point for you when I find a good opportunity, I am a bit stuck on ideas atm so I don't know when that will be though. Rmatri540, don't worry, they will suffer for hurting my Merlin! Mika271170, it will all be ok in the end. Weepingelm, Merlin is 7 in this fic :) MamazelleHermy, thank you again!Absentminds and TNSarah, thanks for the sweet comments! Mika271170, thanks, I am not quite sure where I am going with this but you may be right about Morgana, or might not, I haven't made up my mind yet... I will keep you in suspense and listen to any suggestions as to where people want this to go.

Chapter 7

A few days later Merlin was finally beginning to perk up, Gaius had finally been able to persuade him that no-one was coming to hurt him and that he was safe now, not that Gaius was convinced. Half the time he wondered whether he was saying these things to comfort and assure himself rather than the boy. Merlin's nightmares also seemed to have subsided, although he refused to sleep without at least five lit candles on his bedside table. Despite Gaius' protestations that there was nothing hiding in the shadows, Merlin had not budged and would cry whenever Gaius went to blow them out. His initial reaction was much worse however…

Merlin began to scream when the candlelight suddenly disappeared, he could hear movement and footsteps behind him and knew that the bad men had come for him again. Gaius' voice spoke out but he sounded so far away, probably in a different room where he was unable to help. When Merlin felt a hand on his shoulder he froze, unable to move. Merlin began to tremble and curled himself into the tightest all possible, whimpering all the while. It had taken Gaius three hours of lighting about twenty candles, cuddling, soft reassurances and rubbing circles on the child's back to drag Merlin from his catatonic state.

Gaius now watched sadly whilst Merlin was allowing Gertrude to slither between the splayed fingers of his good hand. He had been sitting perfectly still for a good hour, only shifting to glance around nervously. Gaius hadn't failed to notice how Merlin's eyes flickered around wildly, he was becoming increasingly nervous about Morgana and Arthur and this had not helped the boy's nerves. Merlin, Gaius and Arthur all visited Morgana on a daily basis, bribing the guards with gold coins and mead. Although she was recovering from the poison, most of the side effects having worn off, Morgana seemed on edge. Uther had still not relented and despite Arthur's desperate attempts to make his father come round, the king of Camelot was not being swayed. If anything he was just becoming more furious with Arthur. His actions had become erratic, summoning court meetings to commence within the hour, sending out more patrols in search of magic-users and hiring four witch-hunters. Arthur could see that his father had finally cracked under the stress and knew that it was not only he who sensed it. The knights had all grown nervous, spending longer in training in preparation for an attack. Due to this Arthur too had spent time on the field, and was incredibly relieved when he saw Merlin making his way over to the knights.

"Hey buddy!" Gwaine bent down and scooped Merlin into a tight hug, swinging him around in the air and not noticing Merlin's fleeting, terrified expression.

"Merlin, how are you feeling?"

"I'm o-ok." Of course Arthur knew that this was Merlin-code for I am not ok, but I don't want you to worry. I am actually frightened out of my wits and want to curl up under a blanket and be left alone. The slight tremor in the child's voice gave him away.

"Good." Arthur decided to give the child a break and rolled with it, he could ensure that the boy was happy later. Before Arthur could say anything else Merlin had settled down, a greater distance from the others than normal, and was polishing one of the swords that had just been used. Arthur sighed.

"Be more gentle with him Gwaine, he's still pretty shaken up."

"Oh, yeah. I thought he might of settled a bit by now. Sorry princess." Gwaine bit his lip and shot a worried look over at the child.

"Don't worry about it, just, try to be a bit calm for once!"

"Of course." Gwaine went back to swinging a mace around and Arthur turned his attention back to teaching a few new knights how to a crossbow. Once the knights were so exhausted that they needed a brake from training Gwaine and Percival went over to where Merlin was still sitting and began to talk to him softly about trivialities such as the best way to know if a berry is ripe or where they were going on the next patrol. Well, Gwaine was the one doing most of the talking, Percival remained silent and Merlin chatted along readily enough but did not seem to be really paying attention. His eyes would glaze over and Merlin often had to mentally shake himself to his present situation.

About half an hour after the knights began to train again the heavens opened and it began tipping down with rain, a fact that did not particularly cheer Arthur up. Merlin continued to polish in the rain, with only a spindly tree for shelter. He didn't seem to notice the fact that he was involuntarily shivering with cold. Arthur noted that the child was half-frozen and took off his cloak, wrapping it around the boy and instructing him to go inside and help Gaius. Merlin had not questioned this but hugged Arthur gently before trudging back to his room to change out of his soggy clothes. Gaius looked up when Merlin entered, resembling a drowned rat and re-heated some broth that he had made earlier.

"Thank you Gaius."

"So what were you up to with Arthur then?"

"Polishing, but then he told me to help you. Is there anything I can do?"

"Could you go and fetch some bay-leaves and rosemary when the weather is better?"

"Yes. A-anything now?"

"No, you can relax a bit, Gwen dropped some apples around earlier, maybe you could do something with them?" Merlin nodded smiling, it was rare that Gaius let him cook as it usually ended in mess, but he did greatly enjoy himself. Merlin sat at the table Gaius used for cooking and set about making a simple pastry mix that the cook had taught him. The cook had a soft spot for Merlin, often commenting on how thin he was and giving him leftovers and extra pieces from Arthur's meal.

Merlin had soon made an apple pie, which he baked in Gaius' small wood-burning oven, a real luxury item that Gaius rarely had time to make the most of. Merlin handed him a slice of the pie and they ate together in companionable silence, Merlin glancing out to check whether the rain had stopped.

Half an hour later he set off with a basket and began to collect the herbs that Gaius had asked for and some extra supplies that he happened to come across. That was when he heard a pair of voices. Merlin froze with recognition and stared straight ahead of him into a clearing. Standing there was Lucas and Dean, conversing in broad daylight. Part of Merlin, the part that treasured his mother's last words more than anything, told him to be strong and to confront the men. However the dominant part at that moment told him to flee. Merlin spun around, intending to got and tell Arthur what had happened. He was stopped however when a cracking twig alerted the men of his presence, and by the arrow that pierced his back, just above his shoulder blade. Merlin fell to the ground with a whimper, the basket of flying from his grip, scattering herbs everywhere.

"Well well. You don't give up do you? I thought we taught you a lesson on meddling last time. Clearly not." Lucas strode forward and grabbed Merlin, hoisting him into the air by the scruff of his neck.

"P-please. It was a-an accident. L-leave me alone. I w-won't tell anyone I s-saw you. Let me g-go." Merlin began to wail in fright and kicked out in desperation.

"We will not make that mistake again. You are more trouble than you are worth. Come on Dean, let's go." Lucas threw Merlin to the ground and began to kick him with all his might, his stomach and his lower back were both assaulted and Merlin could do nothing more than curl up with his hands over his head. He couldn't help but whimper and felt tears streaming down his face, he knew what was going to happen, he was going to die. Merlin then felt his battered body be lifted up and felt something wrapping around his wrists and ankles, tying them together so that Merlin was forcibly contorted into a ball. Merlin was in a state of full scale panic now, his breathing was harsh and rapid, yet he didn't seem to be drawing in enough air. His back and stomach were aching and his throat was burning with acid, Merlin was bounced around by the horse but managed to keep quiet, silently accepting his fate. He desperately tried to remember the route that they were taking him, not that he believed he would be able to escape. In fact, if anything the idea that the men had not bothered to blind-fold him confirmed that there would be no way for Merlin to get away, that his fate was sealed no matter what.

About two hours later Merlin was shoved off of the horse, falling and hitting his head hard on the ground, which knocked him out immediately. When Merlin finally came around he felt nausea hit him and vomited all over the floor, he was trembling violently and his body was racked with tremors due to the cold, damp room. Once again he found himself dangling from a wall, this time he was hoisted further in the air and his already painful wrists were grated raw by the rope. He let out a scream of fright and began to cry, sniffling softly when no more tears would fall. His tummy and back hurt but Merlin was unable to do anything about it, dangling uselessly from the wall with all hope gone. It wasn't until the next day that Lucas entered the room. The dark-haired man was grinning lopsidedly and moved towards Merlin.

"Now, we can do this the easy was or the hard way." Lucas brought his hand up to Merlin's face and Merlin flinched, closing his eyes and waiting for the blow. What came was much worse. The man had cupped his cheek and was gently running his calloused fingers along his skin with in a soft caress, then Merlin felt the man lean further in and kiss him gently on the lips. This was worse than the beating, so much worse. Merlin wriggled and tried to snap his face away, but was in no position to fight back.

"Now, I am going to have my way with you, we can play some games, and if you are good, I might just let you go." Merlin shook his head wildly and began to sob with fear when he felt the man move his left hand to Merlin's hips. Merlin began to scream and wriggle wildly. This could not happen to him. He would not let it happen.

From out of nowhere Merlin felt his magic raise up and bubble over with fury and with a bright flash Lucas was thrown across the room and the rope holding Merlin up snapped, causing him to collapse onto the ground. Shock began to sink in and Merlin just stared at what he had done, Lucas was lying limp on the ground in a puddle of blood and Merlin was under to illusion that he wasn't dead. He had killed again. Merlin weakly dragged himself into the corner of the room and threw up a load of foul tasting bile, no longer having any food left within him. His chest was aching and he felt exhausted, dizziness causing the room to lurch around in swirls of black, grey and red. He tried and failed to calm down his shallow breathing and wiped the sweat from his forehead before realising that there was no hope. Dean would come down soon to see what had happened to Lucas, and then Merlin would be killed.

Hope you liked it! Also, as I said earlier I am not quite sure where I am going with this but I will listen to suggestions people make and about what you guys want Morgana to turn out like, good or bad? That is the question! Please review! :)