A/N: Wow, thank you all so much for the reviews! I feel like I keep repeating myself, but I just can't express enough how much your reviews, favorites, and alerts – not to mention just the fact that you are taking the time to read my work in the first place – means to me. So THANK YOU! Here's the chapter you've all been looking forward to, the Merlin and Arthur reunion. WARNING: There IS torture near the end of the chapter. It's not too terrible or graphic, but it is torture, so I just wanted to give y'all a heads up. Enjoy! Please review!

A Game Well Played

Chapter Ten: Questions

Arthur struggled fiercely as he and Morgana were dragged through the tunnel and into the Castle of Fyrien. At least he knew for sure that this was where Cenred's hideout was. But how had they known about the secret entrance? Morgana had claimed that they must have heard her scream, but if the tunnel was so secret, Cenred's men should have been nowhere near it. The only possibility was that the pathetic excuse for a king had already known about the tunnel – perhaps he had run across it while exploring or something.

Either way, Arthur knew that he was in a hell of a mess. He knew he should have never let Morgana come – now she had been caught as well, and the enemy had used her to their advantage – as leverage against him, just like Gwen had said the kidnappers had done to make Merlin comply. Still, Arthur found himself wondering what the idiot could have done to protect Gwen, let alone himself, in the first place. He wasn't exactly an intimidating figure.

Merlin. That was the only assurance Arthur felt at his current predicament. At least he would get to see Merlin, if the servant wasn't dead already. No. He couldn't think like that. They had used Merlin as bait to get Arthur to come rescue him, there's no way they would kill their insurance; they'd probably use Merlin to ensure Arthur didn't try to escape, provided that Cenred wasn't just planning on killing him on the spot. Somehow, he had the feeling that the king had more plans for Arthur – he probably planned on torturing the prince for information. A spike of fear shot through him at the thought but he pushed it away. He could cope with torture. He would tell them nothing if it came to it.

His musings – but not his strugglings, much to the dismay of the unfortunate guards who had been given the job of restraining their royal "guest" – were brought to a halt as the guards and their prisoners reached the throne room. As the leading man opened the doors, Arthur wondered, heart pounding in fear and anticipation, if Merlin would be behind them. Then the throne room door opened all the way and Arthur saw, worry biting at him every step he was forced to take into Cenred's hideout, that Merlin was nowhere to be seen. His blood boiled… if they had killed him…

"Prince Arthur. How kind of you to pay me a visit." The voice was low, dark, and the speaker seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this moment of triumph against the crown prince of Camelot. Arthur kept his head up high, still struggling, as he and Morgana were forced onto their knees in front of the throne where a leather clad, long haired man – Cenred, Arthur assumed – reclined lazily. With a squeak of leather against the seat of the throne, King Cenred stood and began to pace in front to Arthur and Morgana, his eyes gleaming excitedly.

Arthur growled and tried to surge forward, still kneeling, but was restrained by the men holding him. Morgana was being surprisingly docile, that is, until Cenred gave a dervish grin and said, "And look, you brought a friend… the Lady Morgana, no less."

Arthur let out a feral snarl as the king reached out a hand as if to touch Morgana's face. Before he could say anything, however, Morgana's eyes grew cold and she hissed, "Don't touch me, you pig!" Arthur held his breath as Cenred stared at Morgana for a moment before chuckling humorlessly and turning away, back to Arthur.

"Where's my servant?" Arthur asked in a force calm voice. "What have you done with him?"

"Oh, don't worry," Cenred said coldly. "He's here and he's alive… for now."

Arthur's eyes narrowed and he spat, "I won't let you hurt him, or Morgana! They're innocent! Let them go!"

Cenred smirked. "That would be fair," he mused and Arthur could almost feel the sarcasm in the man's voice. Snickering, the king continued, "But fair is for fools." He nodded at the guards restraining Arthur and Morgana. "Take them away."

Arthur bucked, snarled, and squirmed futilely as he was dragged out of the room and to the dungeons. They had descended several flights of stairs before he realized that Morgana was no longer with him. "Where's Morgana?" he asked, voice tense.

There was no answer but a few minutes later, the prince was thrown into an empty cell, his hands finally untied.. As he was struggling to get to his feet with little help from the pins-and-needles sensation running through his previously bound hands,, he heard the cell door slam shut. By the time he was in a sitting position, his captors were nowhere in sight and it was dark.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when the door to his cell was unlocked and with a clatter of chains and a few groans of pain, another figure was thrown into the cell with Arthur, not moving when it hit the dungeon floor. There was a cackle from the guard who had brought Arthur his new cellmate and then a clang as the door was slammed shut. Arthur instantly scrambled to the small figure's side, gasping as he recognized the familiar form of his manservant. "Merlin!" he whispered, dropping to his knees beside the prone boy, whose hands were bound with thick chains in front of him. Merlin grunted and shifted before a muffled grunt came from behind the cloth blocking his mouth. "Merlin, are you alright?"

Gently, Arthur pulled the gag out of Merlin's mouth, realizing that it was actually his servant's neckerchief. "Merlin?" Arthur said again.

Merlin's eyes drifted open from their half-closed position, widening as he realized that his master was kneeling over him. He shot into a sitting position, which was probably not the best idea considering the little spasm of pain that flashed across his face at the quick movement. Arthur instantly steadied his servant, who, Arthur realized in the dim light of the cell they were now sharing, had a rather sizeable lump on the back of his head and his dark hair was caked with dried blood. Blood running cold as the prince saw for himself that his servant – damn it all, his friend – was hurt. Merlin's eyes seemed out of focus and Arthur suspected a concussion.

"Arthur?" Merlin muttered sleepily, the chains around his wrists clinking as he struggled to sit up straighter. "What… what are you doing here?"

Arthur kept a steadying hand on his servant's shoulder and responded, "Rescuing you, idiot."

Merlin glanced at Arthur, then the locked door of the cell they were both trapped in, and chuckled weakly. "Yeah… I'm not sure you've got the whole concept of 'rescuing' down, Arthur."

Arthur laughed softly despite himself. "Idiot." He looked Merlin up and down. "Are you alright, Merlin? I know your head is hurt, but did they do anything else to you?"

Merlin looked at Arthur, opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but before he could, a strange, almost panicked look flickered in his eyes and his face momentarily transformed into a mask of unbearable pain. Arthur watched, on the verge of panicking, as Merlin squeezed his eyes shut. Finally, he opened them again, the excruciating pain gone but the steady, dull pain from the head wound still present.

"Merlin? What happened?" Arthur asked, concerned. He had a feeling that something else had happened to Merlin but he couldn't figure out what. The only sign of physical injury was the wound on his head and the boy's bloody wrists beneath he manacles.

"N-nothing," Merlin lied – it was so obvious that he wasn't telling the truth but Arthur didn't press the matter seeing as Merlin looked like he was about to pass out again anyway. "One of Cenred's men brained me from behind."

Arthur gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry this happened, Merlin."

Merlin gave his master a grim smile. "Wasn't your fault." His eyes shot all the way open, worried. "Gwen," he said, sounding like he was beating himself up for not asking until now. "Is she okay? Did she make it back to Camelot unhurt?" He paled. "What…" He cleared his throat. "What did she tell you?"

Arthur knit his brow. Why was Merlin acting so nervous all of a sudden, like he was afraid of what Gwen had said? Briefly, Arthur wondered if his servant had something to hide about what had happened but he shook the thought away before it was even fully formed. His tone slightly confused, Arthur answered, "She told me what you did—" Merlin's face paled. "And I wanted to thank you."

Merlin cocked his head, wincing as he did so. "Th-thank me?"

"Yes," Arthur said seriously. "For doing so much to protect Gwen, for not letting them hurt her. She told me how they used her for leverage and how you handled the situation well. It… must have been scary."

Relief flooded Merlin's pained expression before he said, "Yeah, a bit. But… I'd do the same for anyone."

Arthur scowled. "They used the same dirty trick to capture me."

"You brought Gwen back with you?"

"What? Oh, no. Of course not. Why would I do that? No, they used Morgana against me."

"Morgana?" Merlin's voice was tense.

Arthur scowled. "Cenred's men took her somewhere else. I hope she's okay."

"Don't worry," Merlin said, and Arthur thought he heard a bit of bitterness in the young man's voice. "I'm sure she's fine."

Arthur was about to respond when the sound of a key being put into a lock sounded. Merlin and Arthur exchanged wary glances before Arthur, casting one more glance at his servant, rose to his feet, not letting a still woozy Merlin follow his motions. "Merlin, you need to prepare yourself," Arthur hissed quietly. "They're going to torture me, try to get information from me. I'm not going to tell them anything. But I don't want you to get upset. I'll be fine."

"Are you afraid?" Merlin responded as the clanking of the key continued.

"No." That may have been a lie. Even though Arthur felt he could cope with torture, he was not fond of the idea.

"I don't understand," Merlin said. "How can you not be afraid of pain?"

Before Arthur could answer the question, the door was finally swung open, revealing King Cenred, flanked by four of his guards. "Restrain the prince," Cenred ordered. Arthur gritted his teeth. He had known it – they were after answers before they killed him.

Arthur fought but was soon restrained to the wall, hands chained in manacles. The guards were now advancing on Merlin, pulling the servant to his feet, causing Arthur to hiss, "Leave him out of this!"

Grinning sadistically, King Cenred shook his head. "We can't do that, Prince Arthur," he said with a mocking bow. Arthur watched, helpless and angry beyond comprehension, as Merlin's wrists were attached to a set of chains connected to the ceiling, which were pulled up using a wheel attached to the wall. Groaning in pain, Merlin winced, glancing down at his feet which were an inch off the ground. All the servant's weight was on his wrists. Arthur blanched at the sight. How could someone string Merlin up like that? Merlin was innocent, a stupid servant!

A terrible feeling formed in Arthur's gut but the prince shoved it out of his mind. Cenred probably just wanted to get Merlin out of the way while he worked on Arthur. Cenred nodded at one of his men, who proceeded to tear Merlin's tattered shirt off with his bare hands. Merlin gasped, flinched, and tried to pull away, but to no avail. His bare chest glistened with sweat despite the chilly air of the cell. Arthur surged against his restraints, mind telling him that he was denying the inevitable. No, even Cenred wasn't this cruel, was he?

Smirking, the king advanced on Merlin, who was struggling in his bonds uselessly. With a smile, Cenred unsheathed a dagger at his hip with one hand, grabbed Merlin's dark hair with the other, yanked the boy's head back, and pressed the knife at the base of the boy's neck, right above his collar bone. "Are you ready to give me some answers, Prince Arthur?" Cenred asked before sinking the blade marginally into Merlin's bare flesh, causing him to gasp in pain and drawing a small pool of blood.

Arthur's chest ached with Merlin's as he watched. His mind was screaming at him, demanding that he tell the enemy everything he needed to know, just not to hurt Merlin. He couldn't stand the sight of Merlin, his good for nothing servant, his friend, restrained and with a knife pressed to his bare skin. It wasn't right! Merlin shouldn't be the one bleeding, it should be Arthur! The prince had fully expected to be tortured for information, not for Merlin to be hurt in his stead in an attempt to get him to talk.

No, no, no, Arthur thought wildly, hot tears pressing at the back of his eyes although he refused to acknowledge them. This isn't happening. This can't be happening. Merlin isn't going to be… to be tortured… it's all a nightmare…

A ragged gasp of pain cut through the silence and Arthur's eyes snapped open to the knife being slowly dragged over Merlin's collarbone, the wound still shallow, toward his chest. "STOP!" Arthur roared.

"That wasn't an agreement on your part," Cenred chastised.

"D-d-don't tell him an-anyth-thing, Arthur," Merlin stuttered, pain lacing every word. Arthur knew he was right. He couldn't betray Camelot for Merlin. But how could he betray Merlin? As bad as it was right now, he knew Merlin's pain was only going to get worse. "I un-understand," Merlin continued. "C-Camelot is m-more important – AGH!" he broke off as Cenred drove the knife another centimeter deeper, a clear signal to shut up.

Arthur blinked the tears from his eyes, closing them. Maybe if he couldn't see Merlin's torment, he'd get through this without betraying his kingdom. He took a deep breath, swallowed, and refused to talk.

And so the interrogation began.

A/N: Yikes! It's going to be a bit bloody, but not too terribly bad. This is definitely going to be angsty and whumpy, in case you couldn't, you know, tell or something! LOL! But like I said, nothing explicitly graphic or violent. Just mid-graphic/violent, like that, lol. More to come, what will Arthur do? And why can't Merlin seem to tell him about Morgause? Find out on Monday, no? :) Please review!

~Emachinescat ^..^