A/N It's been a bit since I have updated xD which is strange considering I'm up till like 4 am.

Disclaimer: Kilgharrah loses track on Aithusa sometime after they were in the Sarrum's Castle, which was her last known location. After finding out about this from Kilgharrah, Merlin heads out to find her and is captured before reaching there. Once the knights find out he's missing, they go after him. Prompt by Guest.

Characters: Kilgharrah, Arthur, Gwaine, Lancelot, Gauis, and Merlin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.


"Young Warlock, we must speak immediately." Kilgharrah's voice echoes in Merlin's head as he goes about cleaning Arthur's chambers. Merlin sighs, closing his eyes momentarily before continuing his work.

"Wait until night, I will call to you when I am able." Merlin responds in his mind as he drops all the dirty garments littering the King's floor into a basket to bring to the laundry. Kilgharrah responds with a reluctant agreement quickly, his voice marked with worry and Merlin is instantly frightened, wondering what could have happened to make Kilgharrah worried. Working as fast as he can, Merlin's quietness doesn't go unnoticed by Arthur or the Knights. Lancelot was the first to notice, the servant was oddly quiet when Lancelot found him in the armory around noon. As normal, Merlin was polishing Arthur's armor as soon as they had finished training and Lancelot joins him, as he does almost everyday but the servant doesn't speak that often, working faster and more efficiently than normal. When Lancelot asked what was going on, the servant just shrugs before hurrying off towards the castle to finish tending to Arthur. Gwaine and Arthur only noticed the servant's strange silence when Lancelot points it out, asking both the King and knight if they had known what had happened but neither knew, which made Lancelot a bit more worried. As the day wore on, all three of them kept watch on Merlin as he went about his normal duties, trying to finish them as quickly as possible while still doing a good job. After being dismissed, Merlin rushes back to Gauis's chambers.

"Hey Gauis! I'm going our, Kilgharrah needs my help with something, it sounded urgent so I don't know when I'll be back. Cover for me please? And don't tell Arthur I'm at the Tavern! He's starting to think I'm becoming an even worse drinker than Gwaine!" Merlin calls as he rushes into his room, grabbing his cloak before running back out, towards the stables to burrow a horse. Neither Arthur, Gwaine, or Lancelot were watching the servant at the moment, all thinking another was watching him as the servant rode out towards a large clearing in the forest. Calling the Great Dragon, the servant leans back against the tree next to his horse and waiting.

"Young Warlock, I have made a rather grave mistake. While at Sarrum's Castle, I seemed to have lost track of Aithusa and can't find her." Kilgharrah informs the warlock, who was looking more and more worried as he kept talking.

"You lost Aithusa!?" Merlin states, glaring somewhat at the dragon who seemed to shrink back from the dragon lord's glare.

"As a dragon lord, it is your duty to find her!" Kilgharrah roars and Merlin sighs, giving the dragon a nod as he mounts his horse once more, "Head North to Sarrum's Castle and find her young Warlock, she is one of us now."

"Fine but when I call on you, you will come or else." Merlin threatens and Kilgharrah agrees, seeing as he doesn't have much of a choice, and the warlock rides off quickly, riding as fast as he can towards Sarrum's Castle. It was going to take a day and a half to reach the castle. Stopping just before the sun had risen, the servant stops to rest for a bit and falls asleep almost instantly. The man creeps up to the tree that the warlock was resting against quietly, a rag in hand. The man recognized the sleeping servant almost immediately as he had seen the sleeping man standing beside Arthur on many occasions. Shoving the rag into the sleeping warlocks face, causing his eyes to fly open for a few seconds before he went limp and his eyes slide shut once more. Laughing, the man picks up the cloaked servant, tossing him quiet harshly over his shoulder before returning to where he came from.

"Great job Adrein, he is exactly who I wanted. He is the servant of King Arthur himself, so he must hold some valuable information on either Camelot or her King." Richmond, a well known slave trader, praises with a smug smirk on his face as he bounds the servant and tosses him into a cell. Adrein nods before leaving Richmond to his thoughts and desires, the slave trader standing menacingly over the drugged servant.

The first thing Merlin was aware of when he came to was the man above him. The next thing he noticed was that he was in a cell, bound with ropes and his head was pounding. Finally, when he finally opens his eyes, the man above him smirks before slamming a fist into the servant's cheek.

"Morning servant, now wouldn't you love to spill everything about your lovely master and his kingdom?" Richmond asks, tying the servant by the wrists to the ceiling of the damp cell.

"Never." Merlin hisses out as Richmond slams a fist into the servant's stomach. Richmond smirks when Merlin once again shakes his head and moves off to the right to grab a sword, drawing it across the servant's chest, causing blood to stream down his chest. Merlin whimpers and tries to curl in on himself but Richmond slams the hilt of the sword into Merlin's stomach, resulting in the a cracking sound. Merlin cries out in pain, trying to pull himself up, unable to get any more than a quick, small breath in. Fractured or broken ribs? You have to be kidding me, all I was suppose to do was find Aithusa! Merlin thinks as Richmond slams the hilt into his stomach once more, another cracking sound echoing through the cell.

"Spill servant!" Richmond shouts in Merlin's face and the servant tries to pull away from him. Instead of responding, Merlin spits blood at the man, who draws his sword across Merlin's chest once again, drawing more blood.

"You're going to regret that." Richmond growls as he slams the hilt of the sword into Merlin's head, causing him to go limp once more. Richmond growls, tossing the sword to the side of the cell before stomping out, slamming the cell door shut.

*back in Camelot*

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOT HERE?!" Arthur shouts at the court physician the following morning. Gwaine and Lancelot both step back in shock from the livid King.

"He rode out to visit a friend not far from here, but never returned. Last I heard, he was heading for Sarrum's Castle to help someone out." Gauis informs him, taking a step back as well. Arthur stands, glaring at the physician and both Gwaine and Lancelot stepped forward.

"Men, we ride out immediately, come." Arthur orders, motioning for them to follow as he grabs an already packed hunting bag. Both Gwaine and Lancelot follow close behind, mounting their horses as soon as they were in sight. The three knights rode out furiously, heading north on the lead from Gauis. Just before reaching the cross over to Sarrum's Castle, Merlin's mare comes flying out of a clearing as if it was spooked. Lancleot managed to calm it before having it lead them to where it had come from. As the horse slows to a trot, all three of them slide off their horses while drawing their swords, this was where slave traders tended to hang around, to see if they could find anyone special. Quickly scanning their surroundings, Gwaine finds a small manor that looked as if it were ready to fall over. Upon studying the manor, the knights easily take out the guards as they enter, heading straight for the dungeons. None of them really expected to find Merlin there so they were shocked to find the servant, struggling to breathe and bound by his wrists to the ceiling of a cell.

"Slave traders?" Lancelot whispers, and Gwaine nods while bending down to pick the lock with his knife.

"Ahhh, I was wonderin' if you'd show up King Arthur, never would've thought you'd bring knights though." A voice behind them laughs, and upon turning around they are met with the sight of a slightly pudgy man with yellow teeth and overall bad hygiene. Arthur grimaces in disgust before drawing his sword once more.

"Who are you?" Arthur growls, holding his sword in a defensive position as Gwaine returns to picking the lock on Merlin's cell.

"My name's Richmond, not that it'll matter to you. Your servant doesn't like to speak apparently, you can see how well that went for him." Richmond taunts and Arthur growls, driving his sword towards the man who backs away instantly. Once again, as the man stumbles back, Arthur's sword is brought down into the man's chest, blood sputtering out as he dies. Arthur steps back, glaring at the dead body as Gwaine pops the lock to the cell. Lancelot rushes in, untying the servant instantly and he gently guides the servant to the ground, checking over him.

"His ribs are in bad shape, I don't think it'd be safe to ride out all too fast, we need to bind them, at least well enough so that he doesn't run the risk of puncturing a lung." Lancelot mutters, "We need to bandage his chest as well, he's lost enough blood for it to be bad." With that, Lancelot gently lays the servant on the floor, motioning for the bag of medical supplies. Gwaine hands it over and Lancelot gently moves the ribs into a good place, having learned how from Gauis, before binding them. He then bandages the rest of Merlin's bloody chest before picking him up.

"We need to go now, he needs proper care." Lancelot mutters as they leave the ruined manor.

"Give him here, he'll ride with me." Arthur orders, holding out his arms so he can hold the servant in a comfortable position. They ride back slowly and Merlin woke briefly, looking around dazed before passing out again. When they returned, they were met with the rest of the Round Table, Gwen, and Gauis in the court yard but none of them stopped long enough to say anything, hurrying towards the physician's chambers with Gauis following close behind.

"Out, all of you out." Gauis orders as soon as the physician's ward was laid down on the cot. All three of them left reluctantly and even then, they sat outside the chambers, their worry overpowering their exhaustion. After a few hours, in which Gwen had brought them something to eat, Gauis exits his chambers to find them all sitting out there, looking up at him expectantly.

"He'll be fine-" Gauis begins, managing just that before they all start shouting questions at him

"Is he awake?" Lancelot asks and Gauis looks over at him, giving a quick nod.

"He'll need you in there Lancelot, go on." Gauis motions to the door and both Gwaine and Arthur glare at him in jealousy as he hurries inside.

"Why does he get to go in? I'm the King!" Arthur whisper shouts in outrage and Gwaine nods his agreement.

"Merlin asked for Lancelot specifically, so pardon me for following his wishes." Gauis replies easily before turning and returning to his chambers. Both the King and one of his close knights sigh, sliding back down the wall to wait to see their friend.

Inside, Merlin was propped up against the back of the cot and can't help the smile that covers his face when Lancelot enters quietly.

"Hey Lancelot." Merlin waves when his friend enters and Lancelot quickly returns that smile as he takes a seat next to Merlin's bed.

"How're you feeling?" Lancelot asks, getting straight to the point and Merlin laughs a bit.

"I'm fine, pretty banged up but I'll live." Merlin answers with a smile and Lancelot nods his approval.

"Now, care to explain why you were caught by slave traders?" Lancelot questions with a small glare and Merlin looks up with a sheepish smile.

"Umm...no? Fine, Kilgharrah lost Aithusa so I had to go find her and long story short, on the way to find her, I was captured and drugged then beaten." Merlin explains with another small, sheepish smile and Lancelot shakes his head, laughing some.

"You need to be more careful!" Lancelot orders.

"Yeah yeah, I know, I try! Danger follows me!" Merlin exclaims with a laugh and with that said, the two of them easily fall back into the friendly talking that usually takes place between the two friends. Yes Aithusa was still missing but neither of them could bring themselves to worry too much about it, content with just talking. Besides, there was no way Merlin was leaving Camelot, or even his own room, until he was fully healed or Arthur would have him in the stocks.

A/N There were some parts in this chapter that I had no idea how to write, you'll all probably catch that xD anyway, I love prompts!