200 Reviews people! Thank you so much! And thank you to fireball1012, for being the 200th Reviewer!

So, I will be trying for a double update again this weekend! First one tonight, second one tomorrow after MERLIN, and then, if I'm really in the mood, I might even get a third chapter done Monday night! But that might be pushing it...

Lots of angst, bromance, and a bit of Merlin/Iyla in this chapter. I need a combination of their two names... Like Arwen and Freylin... So any suggestions would be good!

Enough rambling now... Enjoy!

XxX

Broken Trust

The two men stood, staring at each other with wide eyes. Merlin's mind had gone blank.

How could Gwaine be here? Was he alone, or had there been other Knights captured at the same time?

Was Arthur here too?

'Gods Merlin...' the Warlock was snapped back to reality and refocused his gaze on Gwaine. The Knight had broken eye contact; instead, he was looking Merlin up and down, taking in all of his wounds, both fresh and healed. 'What the hell did they do to you?'

Merlin blinked and, suddenly, felt a great rush of anger and annoyance towards to older man.

What right did he have to enquire about Merlin's well-being? He hadn't cared before; hadn't been there before. Not when Merlin had desperately needed a friend and they had all left him. When he'd needed someone to be there for him.

And, suddenly, Merlin felt no desire to explain the last six months to the man he'd once called friend.

'What are you doing here, Gwaine?' Merlin asked, his tone bitter.

Gwaine looked surprised. 'I was captured by these... whoever they are. Same as you, I guess.'

'Are you alone?'

'Yes.'

'Why weren't you with the others?'

'Damn it, Merlin!' Gwaine snapped. 'What does it matter? I'm here, they're not. Now tell me what they did to you!'

Merlin's eyes narrowed. 'You'll be glad to know that you and Camelot aren't the only ones that hate me.'

'Hate you?' All the fight suddenly left the older man, his shoulders slumping. 'Merlin... we don't hate you.'

'Oh really?' Merlin gave a harsh laugh. 'That's not the impression I got the day I was driven from my home!'

'You were gone by the time I...'

'What?' Merlin snarled, cutting Gwaine off. 'By the time you what?'

Gwaine swallowed heavily, and Merlin noticed a slight glisten on the other man's forehead. 'Came to say goodbye.'

Merlin froze, shock replacing the roaring anger he'd previously experienced. 'Good bye? You mean... you came? The morning I was supposed to leave?'

Gwaine nodded. 'Yeah. Me, Gwen, Percival and Elyan. Gaius broke down when he realised why we were there; he was so upset that you thought we didn't care enough to even come see you. Gwen wasn't much better. Took a whole day to convince her to come out of her room, and Arthur...'

'Don't.'

Gwaine stopped, frowning at the Warlock in front of him. 'What?'

'Don't talk about Arthur. I don't want to hear it.'

'But...'

'No!'

'You really need to hear this...'

'I don't care, Gwaine!' Merlin yelled. Behind him, Iyla jumped to her feet, gesturing for Felicia to keep Hayley away. 'Arthur took everything from me! Do you want to know how long I've been here? Do you?' Gwaine gulped. 'They caught me on the fourth day.'

'The fourth...' Gwaine's eyes shimmered, but Merlin was too furious to care about the tears sliding down the Knight's face. 'You've been here six months?'

'Yep!' Merlin waved his hands up in a uncaring gesture. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and relaxed slightly under Iyla's touch. 'I've been here the whole time. I just... I can't find it in me to care anymore. I have more important things on my mind.'

He turned away, shrugging Iyla's hand off his shoulder so that he could wrap his arm around hers, taking her hand in his. She gave him a small smile, which he tried to return, but he could tell she didn't believe him by the look in her eyes.

'I'll half mine with Gwaine tonight,' he muttered. 'We can divide it more evenly tomorrow.'

'Are you sure?' Iyla whispered back, her eyes full of concern. He nodded, and Iyla sighed, leading him back to their spot.

'I was looking for you!' Merlin turned, his eyes meeting Gwaine's, so open and desperate, wanting to be heard. 'Your question; why I was out there alone. I was out looking for you; I was three days too late to save you, mate, and I haven't stopped looking since. I never stopped looking.'

Merlin felt his anger subside, and his gaze softened. 'Get some rest, Gwaine. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.'

XxX

Gwaine sat alone, half hidden by the shadows of their cell. He watched as his fellow prisoners moved around the space, interacting with each other and sharing food and water. A young girl, no older than 13 years old, had brought him his share, and he'd thanked her before he began to eat. She hadn't stayed and the Knight had noticed her stop in front of Merlin and his companion before returning to the woman who was sorting out the remaining food and blankets.

Merlin, himself, was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, whilst the girl appeared to be treating the knife wounds across his chest. The only time he stirred was to give the girl a smile, whilst his friend talked to her in a low voice.

Not including himself, there had to be at least 12 other prisoners in this cell. And, from what Merlin had said earlier, he had to guess that there were other cells with other prisoners around here somewhere.

And, to Gwaine, that could only mean one kind of captor.

Slave traders.

Merlin had been left in the hands of slave traders, alone and afraid for six months.

Well, Gwaine thought with a slight grin as the girl gave Merlin a gentle kiss, not that alone.

Only Merlin could be banished, kidnapped, enslaved, and tortured, and still manage to fall in love.

XxX

The Warlock felt tired. Tired and sore.

Iyla had helped him as much as she could, and the cold water had done wonders in numbing his pain, but not as much as it had in the beginning. He was growing too accustomed to the pain. Hayley had brought him some food that he had forced himself to eat. Not for the first time, Merlin was glad to share his food with others. It would probably have gone to waste, otherwise.

The other slaves were beginning to settle now, and Hayley came over with a blanket, curling up next to Iyla, who, in turn, was next to Merlin. The comfort of having them both there was almost enough to soothe the ache he felt in his chest. But it was an ache he hadn't even realised he had until Gwaine re-opened those old wounds.

Merlin hadn't thought about Arthur and the Knights for a very long time. He couldn't afford too. There was too much at stake, and too many people relying on him for him to think about his past life. They needed him, and, in a way, he needed them.

Most people said that becoming a slave gave you a reason to give up.

But not for me, Merlin thought with a smile as Iyla shifted beneath the blanket, settling her head against his shoulder.

He glanced up and saw Gwaine watching him from across the cell. Merlin sighed, and gently slid his arm out from underneath Iyla's head. She sighed in her sleep, but barely moved as he lowered her to the ground, before limping over to where Gwaine was sat. The adrenalin from their earlier fight had worn off.

'I'm sorry about earlier,' Merlin whispered as he slid to the floor with a slight grimace. Gwaine gave him a sympathetic look.

'I won't mention Camelot again, if you tell me what happened to you.'

The Warlock shrugged. 'This is a slave traders hide out. Their leader, Malum, specialises in... training people like me. He enjoys causing people pain, and testing his sorcerers, seeing how long they last. So far, I top the leader board at six months. The longest period before me was three. The rest of them are trained until they are ready for sale, then moved on. Except a few special cases.'

'Like your friend over there.' Gwaine grinned slightly as he gestured to where Iyla and Hayley were sleeping, and Merlin couldn't help but smile back.

'Yeah. Iyla and Hayley have become my whole world here. I don't care about anything else, except their safety. Them and the other slaves. So they kept those two to keep me in line. Then they keep Felicia, who Hayley's also close with, and Jerestin, who nobody particularly likes.'

Gwaine snorted at that, and the two shared the moment before the Knight's eyes turned serious again. 'Have they hurt them?'

'Only when they do something wrong,' Merlin whispered, staring at the ground. 'I try and stop it whenever I can, but the rotas we've set up mean we aren't together as much as I would like; I can't protect her as much as I should be able to.'

'Hey,' Merlin felt a hand on his shoulder, and jumped slightly at the contact. He turned to Gwaine, who was staring at him. 'They're alive, and pretty well off considering their slaves. You've done a terrific job.'

Merlin shook his head. 'We're still here, Gwaine. I promised I would save them, but we're still here.'

'I'm a Knight of the Realm,' Gwaine leant back, looking pleased. 'Arthur... The King,' he corrected, seeing the stony look in Merlin's eyes, 'will want his favourite Knight back.'

'I though Leon was the favourite.'

'Oi!' Merlin ducked, and felt his heart warm at the easy banter between them. Something else he'd missed without realising it. 'Come on, sooner or later we're going to be found, we're going to be rescued, and you can claim all the credit with your lady friend over there.'

He rolled his eyes, and the two fell into a comfortable silence. On the other side of the room, Iyla moved, her eyes flickering open as she looked around. Merlin smiled slightly.

'I know this is hell, and the last place you'd ever want to be, but, Gwaine...' He paused, making sure he had his friend's attention. 'I'm glad you're here.'

Gwaine smiled. 'I told you, mate. I've been looking for you for the past six months. Now I've found you, and I don't plan on letting you out of my sight for a very long time.'

Merlin laughed, as he stood. 'Get some rest. I'm sure our hosts will have some lovely errands for you to run tomorrow.'

'I look forward to it.'

And with one last smile, Merlin returned to his place beside Iyla, curling up beside her.

He was still angry with Gwaine. It would take more than five minutes of heart to heart to forgive the Knight, but it was a start.

And Gwaine being here meant search parties. And search parties meant hope.

And, for the first time in several months, Merlin felt the warmth in his chest that allowed him to believe, even for a moment, that he would, one day, be free.

XxX

Please, please, please leave a review before you go! I'm on half term now, so, whilst I am working a few days, and have lots of holiday homework, I should have more time to write! And I'd love to know what you'd love to see in coming chapters! After all, that's how Gwaine ended up being captured too!

TTFN
Valkyriexx