A/N: Welcome back! Thank you all so much for the positive feedback on the last chapter, I hope this one if worth the waste.

There's this new psychological study happening. Yeah, apparently reviewing heightens your ability to retain information. So when you're done reading this, you should review and go study. For something. There's always something you can find, even as an adult, right?

Arthur stood up in his cell, hearing the footsteps that meant someone was coming. "Gwen?" he asked, recognizing her form in between two guards. She nodded. "Release her." He ordered to the guards, but they continued as if they hadn't heard him. "Release her! Obey your king. This is treason."

"Leave it, Arthur." Gwen ordered quietly. He still couldn't see her properly; it was dark in the dungeons. The men threw her into the cell next to Merlin and locked the door before she could even stand.

"Wouldn't mind lighting one of those torches, would you?" Arthur asked crabbily. "It's ever so dark down here." To his surprise, the larger of the two guards lifted one of the unlit torches and lit it with the flames from the outer room lights, going around to light the torch outside each cell.

"What did they do to you?" Elyan said to his sister. "Are you hurt?"

"No." she said shakily, stepping into the light. Arthur gasped.

Gwen, who once had long dark hair past her waist, was now standing before them with uneven tufts of hair lying around her ears in some areas and almost to her shoulders in others. It was almost as if someone had wanted to humiliate her as much as possible. "Morgana." He said quietly.

Gwen nodded, and Arthur realized that she was weeping silently. "She's here Arthur. She's calling herself queen of Camelot."

Arthur could only shake his head. "Did you see Gaius as well?"

"Yes. And Agravaine."

"Agravaine is with her too?" he exclaimed. "No, there must be some kind of mistake. My uncle-"

"Is a creep." Percival finished for him, and Arthur looked over to where the voice had come from. His largest knight was standing, holding a tear stricken boy in front of him. "I'm sorry Arthur, but he's been acting dodgy for months. It makes sense."

"Hello, Ashton." Gwen said kindly, immediately taking notice of the boy in a way that made Arthur's heart flutter lightly. "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh." He could only nod, seemingly incapable of making words.

Arthur was glad Percival was fully functioning again, he needed that strong man. "Do you know how Gwaine is?" he asked, knowing that Percival would have the easiest time reaching the still unconscious knight to check for a pulse or some sign of breath that the others hadn't picked up on. Arthur hoped that there was a sign of breath that they had all missed, because at the moment he wasn't feeling too hopeful.

"The court physician knocked him out with a ceremonial goblet." Ashton said quietly, looking at his hands. "I don't think he's okay."

"We need to care for him, see if there's anything we can do." Arthur decided. "Someone needs to take care of Merlin too."

"Merlin?" Gwen repeated, worried. "What's wrong? What's happened to him?"

Leon looked at her sadly. "Nothing has changed from this morning," he said, and Arthur remembered that Gwen had been in the dungeons earlier, before he had regained consciousness. "He hasn't stopped crying. We can't reach him, Gwen."

Gwen took this as a challenge rather than a setback. "Merlin?" she asked, trying to make her voice calming. There was a slight outline of a dark figure at the far corner of the cell, and Gwen hoped it was Merlin and not just her imagination. "Are you okay?"

A soft gasp answered her, and she nearly cried out at how unnatural it sounded. Leon looked over at Arthur, not sure what he could do.

"We're going to get you out." Gwen was promising Merlin. "We're going to take care of you."

There was no reply this time, not even the sound of breath.

"Hey!" Arthur shouted at the door, hoping there was someone out there who wasn't a mindless lump like the guards seemed to be. "We need some help in here!" There was no response, not even an angry shout to shut up, but Arthur knew Morgana wouldn't afford to leave them unattended. They did, after all, have a bit of a reputation for escaping.

"Fine!" he continued. "I guess I'll just have to keep shouting until someone hears me. Maybe some of my men will join in as well. LA LA LA. LA!" Arthur sang, horribly off pitch. Percival, Elyan, and Leon immediately joined in, telling loud jokes and shouting to one another as if they were on opposite ends of a field. After a moment's hesitation Ashton joined in as well, and Arthur was surprised at how loud such a small boy could be.

Gwen, who was not screaming, heard Merlin whimper at the noise. No one was coming, and they were scaring him. Gwaine was not showing the slightest reaction, looking very peaceful. She couldn't see his chest rise.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" a disgusting looking man screamed, shoving open the door. The boys all stopped their shouting immediately. "I heard you, you can shut up. What do you want?"

"Some of our group is injured," Arthur started, remaining dignified, even though this man was slimy and a good head shorter than him, the very definition of shifty if there ever was one. "We require rudimentary medical supplies and, in the interest of preserving space, it's only logical for you to put two of us in one cell. We're taking up the whole area all spread out like this, and we won't be able to help heal our wounded when we can't even reach each other."

The slimy man shifted from one foot to the other, debating his situation. Leon was worried he would disagree simply because Arthur had used words that were too big for the man to understand, but after a moment he went to get the keys and medical supplies in the guard room.

"Thank goodness that worked." Elyan breathed the moment the man was out of earshot. "I thought he was just going to kill us for being more trouble than we're worth."

Arthur knew that they must be necessary if they were still alive, and he doubted the man would kill them for asking for a few herbs and bandages.

He came back with a guard who was standing behind him, swaying slightly and yet still looked able to break a man's neck with his pinky finger.

"There are 3 more men sitting in that room and even more outside the hallway, just waiting to slit you throats if you try and escape." The man warned. "So no funny business, you got it?" He tossed a box at Arthur through the bars, and the captured king caught it awkwardly.

The slimy man unlocked Arthur's cell door and pulled him out without bothering to be gentle before throwing him into the closest empty cell.

"You and the pretty girl, you're siblings, correct?" he asked Elyan, who nodded. The man turned to Arthur. "And she's his lover?" the question was directed to Elyan, not Arthur, and it was Elyan who answered.

"Yes."

The man pulled out a key and stuck it in the lock on the door to Elyan's cell, twisting until they all heard a loud click. "You move over with your dear KING." He said the word ironically, and Elyan would have hit him if their situation had not been so peril.

"You move in with your king as well." The man directed Leon, unlocking the cell door. "Take the drunk with you."

"He's not a drunk." Leon defended, even though Gwaine kind of was. "He's just unconscious and he hasn't woken up yet." He left the cell keeping his hands raised where the man could see them. Taking Gwaine by the ankles, Leon dragged the unconscious man in with Arthur and Elyan. The door was locked behind him.

"You're rather tough looking, aren't you?" the man asked Percival, who just stared. "And look at the little kiddie. Stop crying, kiddie."

"Leave him alone." Percival ordered, and pulled Ashton against himself in a motherly way. "He's just a boy."

"Move. Don't try anything." Arthur knew that Percival wouldn't run even if they were to give him a clear escape, he was the type of knight that would stay with his king and friends until the end. "Take the boy with you." Percival gripped onto Ashton tightly, shielding him away from the man, and entered the unlocked cell next to Arthur, Elyan, Leon, and Gwaine as directed.

The man was standing in front of the cell where Gwen was standing, looking at him disgustingly. Elyan glanced over at Arthur, who nodded slightly, ready to do anything if the man laid a finger on Guinevere.

"You're rather pretty, aren't you?" he twisted the key into the lock and Gwen exited on shaky feet to sit with Percival and Ashton.

"Wait!" Arthur shouted as the man began to leave. "We need him." he said, with a quick nod in Merlin's direction.

"Ah, yes." The man slowly walked back towards Merlin. "What's with him?"

"Nothing." Leon said before anyone else could answer. "He's just- scared." They all knew that Merlin was not "just scared," they had been in far more threatening situations and Merlin had held himself together just fine. "He's in shock. Please, put him with-"

The man cut him off, sick of the talking. "Alright, alright." He unlocked Merlin's cell and pulled the door open. "Out you come, ugly."

Arthur held his breath, anxious to see his manservant, worried at what was wrong that they hadn't been able to diagnose with him hiding in the corner. A minute passed and no one left the shadows.

"You hear me? Out!" the man ordered, stepping into the cell and pulling Merlin into the light.

Gwen was the first to react. Merlin's face was a mess of snot and tears: he had been crying for hours now. His neckerchief had been stretched and pulled down, revealing a pallet of colorful bruises around his neck, shaped like hands.

"Merlin." Arthur whispered before he could stop himself. He hoped no one heard. Had Gaius done this? Had Gaius tried to strangle his ward?

Merlin was shoved into cell with Percival, Ashton, and Guinevere, toppling over as his feet refused to support him. Percival let go of Ashton and caught Merlin gracefully, settling him onto the ground and ignoring the way the boy flinched away from his touch.

With a click the door was locked shut and the man left, leaving them alone. Arthur cracked open the box of medical equipment he had been supplied with and turned to Gwaine, unsure what to do.

"Check his breathing." Gwen instructed calmly. She had spent enough time helping Gaius care for the injured, and knew the essential steps. "Is he?"

Elyan knelt down beside Gwaine and pressed his ear to Gwaine's chest. He hesitated for just a moment, and Arthur's heart leapt with fear.

"Yes," Elyan said at last, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Feel for a head wound. Check for blood." Leon lifted Gwaine's head while Elyan gently felt for blood. He found it, crusted away on his skin. At the news, Guinevere bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

"Leave it for now." She ordered. "The blood will have to come off at some point, but we don't want the wound to start bleeding again." Arthur pulled a strip of bandages out of the container and tossed them to Leon, who slowly started to make wraps around Gwaine's skull.

"What do I do with Merlin?" Percival asked after he was sure Gwaine was taken care of. "He's not- He's just-" The tallest knight stutter, searching for the proper words to explain Merlin's condition. Ashton knelt down next Percival and set his hand down on Merlin's forehead.

"He's warm." The boy looked up worriedly. "Why is he so warm?"

Gwen pressed her hand where Ashton's had been a moment. "It's just a little fever. He'll be fine." Merlin's eyes were wandering, not resting on their faces, unfocused. He was still crying, and that worried Gwen the most. When she had awoken in the cells, hours earlier, Merlin had been awake before anyone else, and as far as they could tell he hadn't once stopped crying, hadn't once shown any sign of being able to hear them.

"Will he be okay?" Ashton asked softly. Gwen turned behind her and saw the knights staring anxiously. Arthur looked as though he was about to break down right there.

"Yes." Gwen lied. "Yes, I'm sure he'll be fine." Merlin's breath was choppy and disconnected, and she wasn't sure how he was getting enough air to stay conscious. Although, that might explain why he seemed totally oblivious to them all. She pulled down Merlin's shirt to get a better look at the bruises and winced. "Someone definitely tried to choke him."

"Gaius." Merlin croaked softly, and they all looked at him in shock. Gaius couldn't have done this. "I don't want any breakfast- I don't want-" And then he broke down sobbing again. Gwen held him close, despite his thrashing to try and escape her.

All Arthur could do was watch from the other side of the bars.

"My lady." Gaius bowed down, looking at the ground respectfully. Morgana nodded and he returned to full height. "May I inquire your plans for your brother?"

Her face curled into a snarl. "He can rot." She spat.

"And the others with him."

"I need them."

"Why?"

Morgana rose off her throne and moved to inspect the rows of servants on display. "My dear brother is… attached to them. His closest knights. Guinevere." Her voice paused for a moment. "Merlin."

"And what do you plan to do with them?"

"I plan to give my brother hope." Morgana lifted up the chin of a young kitchen maid she recognized, running her fingers across the girl's smooth skin. "I plan to let him think he has the upper hand, think he can escape, and then I will kill his friends one by one. Slowly." The girl turned her head away slightly, and Morgana pulled back and hit her across the face.

Gaius moved up to grasp one of two goblets on a table by the throne. He poured wine into it and offered the drink to Morgana, but she declined, so the physician took a long swallow. "And what of Agravaine?"

"What of him?" she asked, moving onto the next servant, a tall boy who had a stable hand look about him.

"What do you plan to do with him?"

She shrugged. "Do you have any requests?"

"I think he is a liar and can be bought for a price. You shouldn't trust him."

"Obviously." Morgana rolled her eyes. "What should I do with him?"

Gaius turned to refill the goblet. "Kill him." he suggested, taking another swig. "He's worthless."

Morgana was unconscious before she hit the floor.

The kitchen maid stiffened, her face white. "G-Gaius," she stuttered. "You have- you just-"

She didn't finish, for an old man he was very strong, and his backhanded slap sent her reeling. The tall boy next to her pulled her up and let her lean on him. They stepped back, away from where Morgana was lying in a puddle of wine and possibly blood. Gaius's goblet was lying on the floor close to her.

"Fetch Agravaine." he ordered, turning his back to the rows of servants. "One of you. The rest, return to your previous duties. I want Agravaine standing before me within the hour. And someone take the Lady Morgana away." He paused for a moment. "No need to be gentle."

And with that, he sat down in her ornate golden throne.

A/N: So Gwaine is alive. I did think about making it an AU zombie apocalypse Merthur story, so if I accidentally slipped in something about Gwaine moaning for brains or Arthur thinking about how madly in love with Merlin he is, it was purely accidental. (Purely... accidental. *sigh*)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! That means aRangersHorseLovesApples, along with those who are reviewing for not-their-first-time, katierosefun, MamzelleHermy, battlemaiden518, RocknRollagirl, kyleenason, and bubzchoc. Also thank you to my guest reviewers, Merlin's tears, and the wonderful reviewer Audrey. Again a special thank you to staymagical. Seriously guys. I would have written no fanfictions if not for her. It's because of her that you guys now know that reviewing helps you learn stuff. So review and... learn stuff!

Hi mom. I'll see you for breakfast. I love you.