Thank you so much for the lovely reviews and support once again. A big thank you to those I can't respond to, they are so very much appreciated. This chapter was soooo hard to write, I wasn't sure whether you would get it today or not. But here we are, so please let me know what you think.

It was mid-morning when Merlin felt his eyes peel open again. He still felt tired, exhausted in fact, but his leg was throbbing at him and his wrists burning from where the rope had spent so long chaffing on the wounds. Letting out a soft groan as reality claimed him back again, the warlock shifted, glancing about him as he did so. He was quite surprised that Arianna managed to sleep through his attempts to sit himself up, but the girl was still peaceful even when he managed to get himself leaning back on the cage. Merlin frowned, glancing at her again. As peaceful as she was ever going to look whilst being terrified for her life, anyway. There was still a deep frown on her face even as she slept, and that did it for Merlin.

No more waiting around, no more being cautious in case they caught him. So many times he had been told that he was the strongest warlock alive, even Nimueh had seemed impressed when he had used magic through her drug. Why should he just sit here and wait for more people to be hurt because he was afraid of being caught? He would just have to deal with those consequences if and when they arrived. After all, he might be known as Arthur's clumsy servant, but he had managed to last months in a city where people like him were executed and not be caught, even if he was under the prince's very nose.

Despite his confidence, Merlin still glanced around him carefully before doing anything. He was sure that he would be able to keep anyone back from him if they even so much of thought of getting a collar, but he would rather not waste the time in fighting them off. The camp seemed quiet, Arianna's words about them resting now and waiting for night seeming to be true. The few slavers he could actually see were sprawled around the camp, all fast asleep.

"Unbinde pe teage." Keeping his voice nothing more than a whisper, Merlin lowered his eyes as the golden flash flooded his eyes, betraying the power leaking from him. The rope unravelled itself, allowing him to pull his wrists free and finally bring his arms back around to the front of his body, biting back a moan as he tried to get the blood circulating properly. The dressings Leon had helped him with were all but tatters, and Merlin winced as he slowly unwrapped the wounds, knowing that he was going to have to do something about them, and soon. The whole situation wasn't helped by the way blood was still trickling from the wound in his leg. If he was going to have any chance of getting out of here, he had to do something. But he had never truly mastered healing spells, and didn't think now was quite the best time, not when he was in a race against time as it was. Instead, he gripped the bottom of his shirt with slightly trembling hands and tore a strip off.

He managed to bind his leg reasonably well, but when it came to dressing his own wrists, Merlin realised that he had a slight problem. He was just debating whether to use his teeth as a way of holding the end when a hand entered his vision.

"Let me." Arianna said softly, taking the strips of fabric and swiftly tying them off. She didn't look surprised that Merlin had untied himself. "You're going, aren't you?"

"I have to. Arthur is out there, in danger. He needs me. And to be honest, I can't deal with being a servant half the time, don't really think I'm slave material somehow." His attempt to lighten the situation wasn't lost on the girl and a shadow of a smile graced her lips as she sat back again, Merlin as bandaged as they could manage. The warlock rose himself into a crouch, holding onto the bars with one hand and inching towards the door, keeping a careful eye out for anyone that would be a threat to him.

"Aliese," he whispered softly under his breath, his palm next to the lock on the cage. There was a satisfying click as the door swung open and Merlin jumped out. He didn't go anywhere though, but turned back to the cage.

"Come with me? I can get you back to the Druids, I can help." He made sure that he kept his voice soft and quiet, but the plea was more than obvious. He couldn't leave her here, knowing what could happen if they found out she had lied about his powers. Arianna looked like she was going to refuse, but was inching forward all the same. Her eyes fell on some of their captors and she nodded, taking his outstretched hand and allowing Merlin to help her down from the cage.

"Unbinde pe teage." This time, the spell was done with a lot more magnitude. His eyes flashed dangerously in the morning sun, and even though his voice was nothing more than a hiss, the magic almost erupted from him. Every single knot in the whole camp untied itself. For a moment, it was as if nothing had happened. But then the tents started collapsing as the ropes fluttered uselessly in the breeze. One of the horses spooked at the movement, and then it was as if all the animals realised that they were free. Within seconds, there was absolute chaos, men and animals running everywhere. The slavers were trying to establish some sort of order, but considering they were struggling to even grab hold of the horses, they were not getting very far.

One of the slaves glanced over to where the two stood and caught Merlin's eye even as the gold faded from his vision. Merlin nodded in encouragement and the boy pulled at the rope that had been keeping him bound. Sure enough, it simply slithered free in his hand, and within seconds, he was up and running. Seeing that one of their own was also free, the rest of the slaves quickly caught on to what had happened. As people ran everywhere, the slavers shouting orders and the captives yelling profanities as they raced away into the cover of the trees, Merlin grabbed Arianna's hand and quickly began to pull her away.

If he was honest, he wasn't sure how many of the slaves would be able to get away. But despite wanting to be able to ensure they were all safe, he knew that he didn't have time. His magic didn't know how to protect that many people. He had to think of Arthur, make himself believe that once he saved the prince, he would be able to put a stop to this lawfully. He might have taken a life in self defence or to protect the future King of Camelot, but Merlin would not let his magic simply kill every one of those men, despite how much he might want to. He just had to hope the people got away and the knights would deal with the men.

He had only just reached the cover of the trees when he felt Arianna stumble behind him. Turning, he saw that her hand was resting on the collar around her neck as she gasped, going pale as she did so. It seemed that it didn't just keep her magic within her, it repelled any other magic. Merlin's step had unlocked everything in that camp, apart from the collar. Frowning in concern, he walked forward, letting his hand rest against the catch.

"Aliese." Merlin knew that the spell had worked because he could feel the magic leaving him. But the only thing that happened was sharp shock ran up his arm and Arianna smiled softly.

"Only the key can get it off."

"Then we have to go back and get it..." Arianna stuck out her hand and caught Merlin's arm as he made to move past her back into the camp. Merlin blinked at her, not understanding why she wasn't jumping at the chance to be free. Instead, she slowly shook her head.

"Can't you hear that it is quieter? They are back in control, if you go back, they'll collar or kill you before you know what hit you. I will not stand between destiny, your prince needs you more than I do."

"But..." There was no way Merlin was about to leave her with her magic restrained, not when his own magic was reacting so violently to the collar and it wasn't even his neck that it was on.

"Well, well, well, what's this? Two lovebirds flying the nest?" Merlin spun around sharply, pushing Arianna behind him as he glared. It was the same man who Eric had handed him over to, the man that seemed to be in charge of this whole operation. He had a wicked looking dagger in one hand and a length of rope in the other, leering at them.

"Stay back." Merlin warned, his hand rising as he made to use magic again. The man would be easy to hold back like this. Merlin knew collars were only a problem if they got close enough. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for the man to flick his rope. It coiled through the air and wrapped around Merlin's wrist, just as the man pulled. Merlin was wrenched forward, but just about managed to regain his footing enough to dig his heels in. Unfortunately, the rope had just pulled on the exact spot where Nimueh had burnt him, and Merlin felt his vision going white for a brief moment. His hand curled against his chest, his other hand cradling it as he attempted to force himself to focus on the pain. He didn't even know when he ended up on his knees, but through hazy vision, could see the man beginning to approach.

"No, stay back..." Merlin gasped, scrambling backwards whilst trying not to put any weight on his wrist. He couldn't afford to pass out now, for he knew there would be no escape if he did so.

"Why? Another little freak are you? Did the witch lie to me?"

"Stay away from her. You aren't going to hurt anyone again. You are going to pay for your crimes." Merlin didn't realise how much being around Arthur had rubbed off on him until he forced himself upright, trying to find his feet to get inbetween the man and Arianna. She had backed away, shaking her head in fright, but now had a tree pressed against her back. There was no where left for her to run, and the man stalked closer, grabbing her collar and wrenching her forward.

Merlin didn't even use words. He had had enough of being ignored and everyone overlooking what he was truly capable of. His heated glare caused his eyes to flare and the magic tore out of him, instinctive and protective. It seemed to grab hold of the man, prise his hand lose and simply threw him backwards. He went sailing through the air, the force behind the magic so strong that he didn't even get the chance to yell for help. Even so, Merlin couldn't help but wince as his magic threw the man into another tree behind them, a sickening crunch sounding through the air before he was dropped to the ground. One glance was all it took to tell Merlin that he wouldn't be hurting anyone ever again, for his neck had been broken on the impact.

The warlock, however, barely even spared him a second glance, instead hurrying over to where Arianna had still yet to move from the tree.

"It's okay, he's gone, you're safe. Arianna..." All the colour drained from Merlin's face as the druid smiled at him, her eyes lifting from her bloodied palm. Merlin mutely shook his head, eyes moving from the hand onto the source. The man's dagger was still in her stomach.

"No!" Running forward, Merlin caught her just as she collapsed. Lowering the girl to the ground, Merlin pulled the knife out, shrugged off his jacket and quickly pressed it over the wound, attempting to stem the flow of blood.

"No..time... You have to...go."

"I'm not leaving you. It's going to be okay, you'll be fine." Merlin barely even realised that he was shaking, racking his brains for anything that Gaius might have told him about healing magic, or even anything scientific that would buy him enough time to save Arianna. He was no fool, he knew what this kind of wound did, but before he could say anything, angry shouts came from the camp.

"They know he is gone, they'll come looking...they'll kill you. Or worse, collar you. You have to go, Merlin." The warlock couldn't quite believe that Arianna was pushing at his hands, trying to force him to leave. He stubbornly shook his head. He had brought this upon her, the very least he could do was stay with her.

"I swore I would free you."

"But you did." One of Arianna's hands moved until it was cupping his cheek, her eyes smiling even as her face contorted with pain. "You did, Emrys. But your destiny needs you. For all of our sakes, you must go."

"But..."

"Go!" The voices were beginning to come closer now, and Merlin knew he was out of time. Blinking back tears, he pressed the jacket closer to her and leant forward. Kissing her forehead, he pulled back just enough to stare into her eyes.

"I will make them pay for this. And I will create Albion, I promise you."

"I know." She whispered, another smile making its way onto her face. Merlin could only watch as she seemed to gather her strength before giving him a mighty shove away, pushing him back into the dirt. As she did so, voices could be heard coming through the trees.

"Now go and make our dreams come true, Merlin Emrys." There was such a note in her voice that he had no choice but to jump to his feet. His eyes blurred by tears, Merlin ran, swearing to anything and everything that he was not going to stop until he had mastered healing spells and would be able to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Hearing noises behind him, he ducked behind a tree, leaning against it as he gasped for breath, but listening hard. The high scream was a sound that he would never be able to forget.

Once again, his magic acted on its own accord. He knew no spell that could do this, yet the magic made it happen. His hand shot towards the sky and a burst of light, obvious even in the bright sky erupted from his hand. There were shouts of surprise and alarm as the light moved, and Merlin's eyes simply glowed, reinforcing what he knew was happening.

The light had locked onto the camp. But it was more than that. Merlin knew that if the camp moved, so would the light. They would never be able to escape from it. And the Knights of Camelot were in this very forest, looking for anything magical that might lead them to their missing prince. There was no way they could ignore something like this, even if Eric and Jorah did protest. Eric was the only one who could name Merlin ever being there, and the warlock had a feeling the man wouldn't be giving up that piece of information any time soon due to his own involvement. No one would know about his magic. But he could at least make sure the knights found the slavers, and they made them pay for what they had done to Arianna and the others. He might be refusing to let his magic take revenge, but he could at least use his magic to make sure revenge was had.

Tears falling from his eyes at the failure he had caused, Merlin slowly turned. Repeating the first spell he had used to try and locate Arthur, he let the magic roll off his tongue. Distracted by a beacon in the sky, he could only hope they didn't notice the light dancing through the trees and leading in the opposite direction. Convinced that he was heading in the right direction once again in order to find Arthur, Merlin slowly walked off, feeling the pain in both his leg and his heart with each passing step.

MMM

Arthur woke up to the sounds of sobbing. Blearily, the prince opened his eyes, trying to stop his stomach lurching too much from wanting another lot of whatever it was. The woman – Nimueh was her name – had managed to unchain him from the wall, but had made him swear that he wouldn't leave. Apparently there was dark magic outside, and she didn't want to see him get hurt. Arthur had promised, although not quite sure why. There was a deep feeling within him that he had to be getting out of here, but when he had told her that, she had just smiled and patted his face in a patronising manner, and told him that was what their captor wanted him to think so that he would succumb to the dark magic. It hadn't felt right, but Arthur trusted her. After all, she had unchained him, and gave him the drug whenever he couldn't stand the cravings any more.

She had told him that they had been taken by a man who wanted them both dead, but that she would try and protect Arthur. Apparently he reminded her of a son she could never have, which in a way disturbed him more than he could say since she didn't look old enough to have a child his age. But she certainly looked after him. Before falling asleep a few hours ago, he had been shaking and sweating, desperate for more of the drug but she had said that she couldn't get any more, it was too dangerous. Instead, Nimueh had rested his head against her leg and stroked his hair softly, holding him down when the shakes got too much and murmuring softly to him. It had felt nice, safe, and Arthur had fallen asleep. Curled up on a cave floor, he had let all his defences down in front of the same witch that wanted to destroy him, having no idea what he was doing.

Awake again, Arthur pushed himself up off the floor and decided to try and find where she was by following the sounds of the sobbing. He had no idea why he would let himself be taken with no boots and no shirt, but didn't ask. Her face always clouded over when he asked about their captor, and one time she had eve slapped him when the questions didn't stop. Arthur may not have remembered much of who he was, but he did get the feeling that no one normally dared raise a hand against him. His shock must have shown for she had instantly soothed him again, but it had made him wonder what was truly going on. But those thoughts had been banished from his mind with the next dose.

"Nimueh?"

"Through here." Her tone was kind, like it always had been, and Arthur turned, heading the way the voice had come from. She was huddled in a smaller cave, crying openly. The tears only increased when they saw Arthur.

"I'm sorry, so sorry..."

"What is it?" Dropping to one knee beside her, Arthur didn't quite know what to do. He had never been any good at comforting people, more used to making threats against whatever had upset them rather than soothing them. Nimueh sniffed, clearly trying to smile as she turned to face him. One hand rose and stroked his hair back from his face.

"Such a handsome boy." She murmured, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the way Arthur stiffened at her words. But then he was distracted by something she revealed in her hand, bringing it slowly into his sight. This time, she smiled at the way Arthur jerked back, staring at it with need in his eyes. He couldn't stop the slight whimper that slipped past his lips, but found that he didn't really care. If she truly wanted to help him, to keep him safe the way she said she did, then she wouldn't mind, nor repeat, anything that came out of his mouth. But there was something troubling him. She had said before there wasn't any, of that he was certain. Yet he couldn't be completely sure. Things were so jumbled in his head... he could remember things from when he was nothing more than a boy, and had a vague recollection of where he was, but everything in between that was blank. He was sure she had refused to grant him the one thing that he had been craving though, and found himself frowning.

"How did you get it? You told me you couldn't, that he..."

"I promised you, did I not?" Arthur could only nod, barely able to stop his own hand from rising to take the bottle. Nimueh smiled, pressing it into his hand. "Drink, my king."

"Your what?" Arthur had just lifted the bottle, preparing to put the restless feeling that he knew was growing to ease when her words made him stop. He knew that he was a prince, there were still things that he could remember. But it was the way she had said it. Not that she would follow him, more that he belonged to her.

"You are a prince one day to be king, are you not?"

"Yes, but..."

"Shh. Hush now, just drink." Arthur was sure there was something in her face that hadn't been there before, something of annoyance that he had questioned her, and he didn't like the feeling.

"No."

"Are you arguing against me, little prince? Are you resisting me?"

Arthur frowned. The friendliness from before had all but vanished and her expression turned icy. Before he could say anything else, however, her eyes flashed at him in the dimness of the cave. The longing gave an almighty throb and Arthur was drinking before he knew what he was doing. He let out a long groan as he did so, his eyes rolling slightly as the drug took effective. It was as if the whole cave almost spun out of existence for a long moment. Images flashed before his eyes in the few seconds that he wasn't aware for, places and names, faces and smiles that he was sure hadn't been in his head before all swam into view. It was almost as if they were trying to get him to remember who they were, get him to fight against something. Fight against...

Against what? The faces disappeared as swiftly as they had come, a welcoming blackness wiping them from his mind. The blackness didn't hurt, the blackness didn't confuse him in the way the faces did. Blinking, Arthur had no idea how he had ended up on the floor in a cave, or why there was a woman leaning over him, cupping his face and calling his name.

"Arthur?"

"Wha-?"

"Nimueh, remember. I'm your friend, I'm looking after you." Her voice was soft and reassuring, and Arthur carefully pushed himself upright.

"I'm sorry, I don't..."

"Shh, it's okay. I don't know what he has done to you, but I will make it better, I swear."

"He?" Arthur blinked. There was something about this place that was vaguely familiar, something about this woman that made him feel... Well, if he was honest, Arthur wasn't quite sure how this woman made him feel and that was unnerving him. There was something on the surface, something that seemed to scream that she was his safety net, his protection. Considering her soft and reassuring words, Arthur decided to go with that, ignoring the small niggle that was telling him to be careful.

"The man who took us, don't you remember?"

The man who...what? No, Arthur did not remember, he quite frankly had no idea what she was talking about, and found himself voicing that thought, even if it was in a softer tone that what was going through his head. Nimueh sighed, looking so sorrowful that Arthur found himself believing her.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I don't remember..."

"Please, don't blame yourself." That small, sad smile was back on her face now. "It's not your fault he made you kill so many people, that you did..."

"What? What did I do?"

"Terrible things, my prince. But I will keep you safe from him, I will give you the chance to seek your revenge, I swear." Arthur nodded wildly, his mind in pieces. What was she talking about? How could he have done horrible things and not even know it, that wasn't right! Surely he would be able to remember... but maybe it would explain why he had such a sense of restlessness, why he felt the need to run?

"I can show him to you if you like?" Not giving Arthur a chance to answer, Nimueh waved her hand and a small cloud appeared in the cave. Arthur's breath hitched as he moved closer and she knew it would be a long time before he would trust magic. But every time he forgot who she was, she used a little. The prince was such a noble man that he was too apologetic about not knowing who she was to really comment on it. After all, he could only remember his father's early teachings now, not any of the decisions that he had made himself regarding magic.

"I know him, don't I?"

"Yes and no. He is the one who keeps us here. He is the one with the bad magic that I was telling you about." Nimueh could only smirk in satisfaction as Arthur's hand drifted to his belt. If he had had his sword, his hand would have just closed around it. There was a tension running across his shoulders and his hands were clenching.

"He doesn't look like much. And he's limping, can't we just take him?"

"You could. I am not strong enough, I have been here too long." Nimueh was glad that Arthur's back was turned to her, for she wasn't sure if she would be able to have kept her expression neutral this time. She couldn't believe that Arthur was still fighting her, that his memories were still strong enough to make him doubt. It seemed Gaius had been right when he said that Arthur would be loved in Camelot, that love now was making him resist her even if he didn't know why he was doing it. But he was too far gone now, all it took was one small drop of the drug and he was instantly hers again. The prince was far stronger than she had given him credit for, but she was convinced that it would work to her advantage very soon.

Arthur's gasp made her glance towards the cloud again, her smile only widening as they watched the figure use magic. That made things so much easier than her trying to convince Arthur herself. He may not be trusting magic, but instinct was already telling him that he should be fighting against it, it wasn't like he was going to stand there and wait for a demonstration.

"Will you protect me, Arthur?" Nimueh asked softly, her eyes glinting as she watched the muscles in his neck tense.

"I will. I will make him pay for what he has done, have no fear."

Nimueh's smile was genuine as Arthur made his promise before turning angrily away from the cloud. The young man was breathing heavily and Nimueh knew the man's arrival couldn't come soon enough judging by the odd tremors Arthur was displaying as he tried to keep himself in check. She glanced at the cloud one more time before dismissing it with a wave of her hand.

She had no desire to watch Merlin limp through the forest any longer than necessary.