The not so great escape
Getting into the castle of Fyrien was the easy part, it was getting out that Leon said would be the tricky part. They weren't going to use the tunnel again, Arthur already knew that he was walking into what was probably going to be a trap - he wasn't going to make the mistake of going through the tunnel again. So instead, they were going to climb the walls.
Arthur remembered when he and Merlin had scaled the walls of Hengist`s castle in order to rescue Gwen, the poor boy had been terrified and the king could now understand why. Now that he wasn't consumed by the fear that Gwen might be dead, Arthur could really appreciate that wall climbing was not fun - especially if you weren't very good at physical activity - which Merlin certainly wasn't.
As Arthur pulled himself up and placed his foot against yet another of the stones in order to reach the top of the watch tower, he realized that he had a similar passion this time as well. He was rushing into a trap in order to save a friend in trouble, although this time it was far more obvious that it was indeed a trap. Arthur still knew that he owed it to his best friend that he had to try.
Arthur gasped in relief once he had finally reached the top, pulling himself over the parapet to collapse onto the tower floor. The nights sky twinkled with stars of purest light above him, and Arthur found himself admiring them for a moment as he regained his breath. He pushed himself hurriedly to his feet however, as first Lancelot then Leon and finally a slightly unstable Gwaine grappled their way after him. Once all of the knights were on their feet, Arthur motioned to them and they all hurried through a door that led into the main castle.
They quickly ran, swords drawn, down the darkly lit corridor until they reached what the king remembered as being the great hall. To his surprise however, the doors were open. Not a good sign. . . Arthur advanced and jumped around the corner so that he was now in the great hall.
And there, kneeling at the feet of the ebony throne, in which languished the bastard excuse for a king, at the far end of the dimly lit room…was Merlin. Most of boy's face was in shadow, but from what Arthur could see at this distance made his stomach clench. He could see that Merlin's face was very pale, paler then usual, glowing in the lunar light and he could see the bright red slashes that crisscrossed the boy's face. Cenred sat casually on his throne, legs crossed over one arm and his ringed hand stroking through Merlin's filthy raven hair, as if the boy were a dog, an animal.
The room seemed to be deserted apart from the Cenred and Merlin, and although Arthur was almost certain that this was a trap, he started forward, quickly jogging towards his manservant, but still Merlin didn't move. Even at this closer distance Arthur couldn't see his face clearly and Arthur didn't slow until he heard a muffled cry that sounded suspiciously like "run". Arthur took one last step towards the boy and heard a soft chuckle come from Cenred. He felt a shiver go up his spine. "You disappoint me Arthur, your pretty little servant boy was so sure that you wouldn't come for him, clearly he merits you with more intelligence then you possess."
Cenred waved a hand, and around a dozen or more men stepped forward out of the shadows, pushing the Camelot knights closer together, at the same time, two of the guards lit torches, illuminating the scene before them. Now Arthur knew where the muffled cry had come from, Merlin had a bloody cloth gag tied around his mouth - he had been trying to warn Arthur, typically, stupidly loyal Merlin. "Cenred, let him go." said Arthur slowly and with such a forced calm that the other king chuckled again nastily.
"Now why would I want to do that, little Pendragon?"
Arthur heard more footsteps behind him and saw that Leon, Lancelot and Gwaine had been surrounded by Cenred`s men - they had all walked into a trap. "Drop your sword Arthur." ordered Cenred with a sly smile playing on his darkly handsome features. Arthur's eyes flicked to Merlin, who shook his head vigorously, looking terrified - but not for himself - for Arthur. Half of the boy's face was still in shadow, but he had a feeling that Merlin was keeping it hidden on purpose.
"Drop it Arthur." Cenred`s tone now had an edge to it and he flicked his legs off of his throne, drawing a knife at the same time, resting it against Merlin's throat, using his grip of the boy's hair to expose his neck further, his visible eye widened in panic. Arthur slowly knelt and placed the sword on the floor, shaking with pent up anger and tension. He wanted so badly to go over to the leather clad king and skewer him, spill his guts all over the cobblestones.
"Good boy." Cenred almost purred - he was obviously enjoying this, Arthur's jaw clenched. "You two are so easy to train aren't you?" It was at that moment that Merlin decided to slam his foot into Cenred`s shin and he leapt to his feet, still bound, but fighting like hell.