A/N: I may have lied about the companion piece featuring Hunith, Jon, and the Camelot gang.
Maybe I'll still start it this week, but every time I sit down to write it I just lose all motivation. Meh.
Reviewers: Just for you I tried my hardest and ended this chapter without a cliffhanger.
I hope you appreciate this nearly painful effort on my part ;)
Now for the anticlimactic resolution for last chapter's semi-cliffhanger.
"I can't leave, Arthur."
"I heard you the first time."
"Well you were just sitting there looking like someone had smacked you with a fish so I thought perhaps you hadn't."
The prince gave him a disgruntled look.
"Care to explain your sudden attachment to this cage?"
"Well, I suppose technically we could still escape. You'd either have to escape alone or carry me, of course, and I'd be mostly useless until we found some way to get this collar off. Also, they just happen to be taking us somewhere I have to be so-"
"What do you mean? How do you even know where they're going?"
"Ah, another captive told me about it before the first escape."
The royal waited expectantly but no more information was forthcoming so he asked.
"Care to share?"
"Hm? Oh, yes. Have you heard of the Key and Sword Tournament?"
Arthur's gaze took on a thoughtful cast.
"That's the one that happens in Cenred's land every five years, correct? I have heard that it attracts skilled warriors from across the five kingdoms. I once asked my father if I could participate but he outright refused. He was very firm on the matter."
"I imagine he would be. Magic is legal there, you know. It may not only be swords you'd have to face."
Blond eyebrows rose.
"Interesting. So, why is this tournament relevant?"
"It seems we're to serve as entertainment for those with too much gold in their purses."
He gave a brief explanation of the Gauntlet and the practice of capturing and selling people to compete.
"That explains why Jazar is going there, but why are we?"
"Ah."
He took a moment to appreciate that 'I' had automatically become 'we'.
"While I was... sleeping... someone contacted me. It seems that a powerful magic item has been stolen and will be awarded to the victor of the Gauntlet. I need to win and keep anyone else from acquiring it."
"How do you know you can trust this person?"
"I don't think it's possible to lie to someone when your minds are linked like that."
Merlin looked uncertain, but had answered confidently enough to satisfy the prince.
(And frankly the idea of having someone else in his head was something he did not want to contemplate, let alone being inside Merlin's head.)
"Why does it have to be you who retrieves it?" Arthur was honestly curious.
"I dunno, probably has to do with my destiny as the most powerful warlock to ever live or something of that sort."
Merlin was still rather uncomfortable with that idea, but it was worth announcing it just to make Arthur equally uncomfortable.
"Now you're just making things up." He responded, clearly not believing a word of it.
"Whatever helps you maintain your dignity, Sire."
The servant answered with a grin.
Arthur stood and began pacing the length of the cage.
"It's hardly fair, taunting me while you're lying there helpless- well, more helpless than usual."
Should he stop making that particular sort of jibe now that he knew the truth?
Nah.
"I'm not especially pleased about it myself."
The prince stopped by Merlin's head and stared down at him, worry and annoyance warring for dominance.
"Just because I'm taller than you doesn't mean you have to loom over me while you have the chance."
"Now you're doing it on purpose."
"Doing what, My Lord?"
Arthur considered kicking him then; invalid or not he was still a cheeky git.
Instead he sighed, rubbing his face with both hands.
"Alright. I think we can safely assume this has something to do with the new binding he put on you. Does it hurt?"
He asked, settling back down on the cold metal floor.
"Not exactly... it's more... it's like I can't breathe, but it's not air I'm missing. I can't seem to gather any strength either."
The prince's eyes betrayed his alarm.
"So what, you're suffocating for lack of magic?"
"No. I've got more magic than Camelot has clueless guards."
Arthur frowned at this comparison.
"You know they're not exactly the best or the brightest. I sneak past them at least once a week."
Eyebrows raised once again, the prince silently conceded the point. Sneaking was not Merlin's strong point.
Amusing clumsiness, maybe, but not stealth.
Though perhaps that wasn't as true as he had thought?
Merlin continued.
"My magic may just be accustomed to... I'm not sure how to explain it- flowing? I think my body likes to mix the magic it makes with some from outside sources. It's really restless right now, like it's just swirling around inside me trying to get out."
"So you're paralyzed and your magic is making a giant whirlpool because it has cabin fever."
Great, now he was making water metaphors.
"Basically. I should be able to move again once everything settles down. Hopefully."
"Let me get this straight- we've been captured by slavers and are about to be sold to persons unknown to fight in an unusually deadly competition, we have no weapons, you can't even move let alone properly use magic, and you're trusting to good luck?"
"Well it's got to get better eventually, right?"
He tried for a winning smile, but it came out closer to desperate.
"At this rate we may die first."
He put his hand over his face, waving his other toward Merlin's side.
"How's your wound? I know it didn't heal completely."
"Good enough to keep my insides from becoming outsides. Now am I going to be able to convince you to escape alone or should I just save the effort?"
Arthur looked at him incredulously.
"You really are an idiot."
His voice was too fond to have any sting.
"That's what I thought. You always were a stubborn prat."
Said prat puffed himself up a bit.
"And how would you win without me? Who could you possibly partner with who would be better?"
"No one."
Merlin responded with a sincerity and warmth that surprised Arthur- who had been expecting a witty retort- into silence.
"I've dreamed of the day when I could fight openly by your side."
The emotion and faith in the familiar voice was such that Arthur found himself feeling a bit choked up so he simply grasped Merlin's shoulder, giving a single nod and meeting his friend's eyes with his own.
There were tears in both pairs of blue orbs, but neither felt the need to mention it.