Merlin's body was stiff as a pair of guards dragged Merlin deeper and deeper into the dungeons, a furious Uther trailing behind. Merlin knew he was going to be severely punished, he was lucky that he wasn't being dragged to the chopping block if he was honest with himself, anything Uther had planned had to be better than death, right? Despite all of the reassurances, the dark look in Uther's eyes made Merlin flinch slightly. The guards flung Merlin onto the floor, Uther looming over him.
"I take no pleasure in this" Uther growled, "but you directly disobeyed me, and for that you must be punished."
"Please" Merlin begged, "I haven't done…"
"SILENCE!" Uther snarled. Uther nodded his head stiffly to the guards and they grabbed Merlin and dragged him to the wall so his back was to Uther. They shoved him to his knees and chained his arms above his head, scrapping at the newly healed cuts on his wrists from the last time he'd been chained. Deep down Merlin knew what Uther was planning on doing, but Merlin tried to tell himself Uther wouldn't do something like that with such little evidence… Merlin let out a scream of pain as he felt something hit his back.
"You know the law Merlin" Uther informed Merlin stiffly and Merlin felt the whip hit his back again, tearing his shirt, Merlin was only able to just muffle the scream of pain that was begging to slip between his lips, "And I spare you only because of my promise to your father, but you will be punished for this." Uther continued, the whip hit Merlin's unprotected back twice more, but Merlin didn't utter a sound, he refused to let Uther see him as weak.
"You will stay here until you've learned you lesson" Uther growled before leaving Merlin with his torturer.
Arthur sighed when he saw the castle come into view. Arthur hoped profusely that no one asked why he hadn't managed to catch anything, or why he'd decided to go alone. Arthur spurred his horse onward and let his mind wander to the boy, Mordred. Arthur was surprised by his reluctance to tell Arthur his name, it's not like it would make a difference, Uther wanted him dead, name or no name. As he neared the gates, Arthur tried to act surprise as a pair of guards informed Arthur about the boys escape. Arthur threw the reigns at a servant and hurried to the throne room to see his father. When he walked in Uther demanded,
"Where have you been?"
"I went hunting earlier today and just got back" Arthur lied. For a moment, Arthur was sure he saw Uther stiffen slightly, but the moment left when Uther growled,
"The boy has escaped; someone inside the castle has been helping him."
"I'll send out a patrol immediately" Arthur replied, hoping to avoid any suspicion, and it worked.
"No, the boy is long gone" Uther sighed. Arthur bowed his head and left the throne room sighing in relief. Arthur decided to find Merlin, he felt bad about forcing him to go along with Arthur ridiculous plan and felt he ought to apologize to him at least. Arthur automatically walked to Merlin's room and knocked on the door tentatively. Arthur waited a minute for a reply, and when none came he knocked again and said,
"Merlin, its Arthur. I know you're mad but I came to apologize…"
"He's not there" A voice informed him. Arthur jumped and whipped around and saw Evan balancing a basket with Merlin's laundry in it.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked worriedly.
"He left a few hours ago and I haven't seen him since" Evan explained, worry evident in his voice, "I tried to tell Uther, but he insisted Merlin was fine..." Arthur, if anything, grew even more worried for Merlin, horrible possibilities filled his mind of what could have happened to him what if he's been caught? What if he was killed by a guard or what if Uther is torturing him now…? Arthur forced himself to calm down, Uther would never let any harm come to Merlin, he always did everything he could to protect him.
"I'm going to go talk to Uther, just stay here ok?" Arthur asked.
"Of course" Evan replied, worry evident in his voice. Arthur nodded and ran back to the throne room. Uther burst in and demanded,
"Where's Merlin?" Uther stiffened and asked icily,
"Why should I know?"
"A servant informed me that you claimed to know where he was when the servant mentioned he was missing" Arthur growled.
"Don't worry about it" Uther growled glaring hotly at Arthur. Arthur glared at Uther as he turned on his heel and stormed out of the throne room. Arthur walked to his chambers, glaring at any servant who dared get too close to him. Arthur flung the door open then froze when he heard someone shout,
"Arthur!" Arthur whipped around just as Morgana burst in breathless.
"What's wrong?" Arthur asked.
"Arthur you have to come!" Morgana gasped, "Its Merlin!" Arthur felt his blood run cold when she said this, Arthur was about to ask what happened but she didn't give him a chance to. She immediately turned on her heel and ran out the door, Arthur hot on her heels. Morgana raced through the halls frantically, Arthur only able to just keep up with her. As they rounded the corner to Merlin's chambers Arthur wanted to tell her that Merlin wasn't there and stopped outside his door as she rushed in. Arthur stopped, his mind whirling. Morgana stepped outside again and ushered him in,
"Come on Arthur." Arthur tentatively followed her in. Arthur wasn't sure what he expected to find when he walked in, but the site that greeted him definitely wasn't on the list of things he thought he'd find. Gaius was bent over a figure lying on Merlin's bed, and was whipping several deep cuts that Arthur knew come from a whip. Evan was next to the bed helping Gaius as he whipped some strange liquid over the injuries. Arthur walked over to the bed slowly, dread filling up inside him. The figure slowly looked up at Arthur and whispered weakly,
"Arthur…" It was Merlin.
End Notes
Oh I'm mean... well I hope you guys enjoyed that :)