Well, here it is, and i'm sorry that there really isn't any whump in this chapter, but it should be in the next chapter. Warning: the villian in this chapter get's really creepy, so if you have a fear of majorly creepy characters or dislike it in cop shows when they have psychopath then you might not want to read this chapter. Also there are quotes from both the tv show Sherlock and Stargate: SG1, or at the very least there are paraphrases. The quote in the previous chapter was also from Prince Caspian, but don't feel bad if you don't get it, I wouldn't have remembered it if I hadn't heard it recently. I got some amazing reviews last time so i want to thank all of you who graced me with your opinion. Well, that's all, enjoy!

When Arthur woke up the first thing that he noticed was that he had a splitting headache. It felt like there was a nail in head. And the second thing that he noticed was that his arms hurt, badly. And the third thing that he noticed just happened to explain that.

He was chained to a wall and, apparently, the entire time he was unconscious he was hanging from the shackles on his wrists. The awkward and unnatural position put a lot of strain on his arms and shoulders. No wonder they're hurting so much.

Arthur pulled his previously limp and rather sluggish legs underneath him and stood up; relieving the unwanted pressure from his aching arms, and that's when realized something. He was missing the annoying sound of someone chattering in his ear, someone important. Merlin! Where was Merlin? And just like that…he found him, he'd just been too preoccupied by his own musings that he hadn't noticed a fourth thing. That fourth thing was the limp form of Merlin.

Merlin was hanging by his arms much in the same way that Arthur had been, only Arthur thought it looked far more painful for the unconscious boy. All of Arthur's usual pride and boasting aside; the prince knew that Merlin simply wasn't as strong as him, you could tell just by looking at his skinny arms. Then again, the boy was ridiculously skinny all over; so maybe those shoulders wouldn't have as much weight to hold up.

He was considering waking Merlin up when he took a better look around the small room the both of them were in, and then he decided that maybe it would be better to let the boy sleep for as long as he could. Not only would the servant most likely wake up with the head-shattering pain that Arthur had, but also he wouldn't really be coming around to a very pleasant sight.

From the looks of things they were both chained up in a dungeon, both without their shirts, though, thankfully they still had their pants. The dungeon was bleak, and dark, and had several shackles on the walls on either side of the, well, prisoners.

He and Merlin were the only ones in the room, which wasn't very big. Arthur couldn't see very well since it was dark, but if he had to guess he would say that Merlin; being on the wall opposite the prince, was probably nine or ten feet away.

He couldn't make out much in the dim light, but it looked like his manservant was okay, other than stiff and painful arms, of course. He let out a sigh of relief; at least there was no visible damage, which probably means that there isn't any at all.

He the first things that Arthur had learned to do when waking up in a strange place was to; A: make sure all his men were there, and since Merlin was the only one that could be considered 'his man' that was pretty easy. B: look around and try to find any means of escaping; something he had done already and had concluded, much to his dismay but not really to his surprise, that escape was currently impossible. And C: make sure his men are fine. This one had been pretty easy to accomplish as well, but it had brought a greater relief than it normally did to see that someone in his responsibility was unharmed, possibly because Merlin seemed far more vulnerable that any of his knights ever did. The boy couldn't even take care of himself properly when all was right with the world, so how on earth is going to make it after having been captured?

But now that he had the most pressing things out of the way, Arthur decided that it was time to give his attention to something that had been bothering him since he woke up. What happened?

Arthur remembered getting up this morning, was it this morning? He remembered deciding to allow Merlin to sleep in, much like now; ironically, he remembered how they both had a great desire to leave. And leave they did. They'd barely talked at all along the way, because both of them had been far too antsy to want to say anything. And then he remembered the beaten man they had come across when they had stopped to water the horses.

It was with some worry and more than a little confusion that thought about how Merlin had looked and reacted when he'd gone to touch him. He hadn't even been touching the man's forearm for even a second when he'd pulled away as if he'd been bitten…or burned.

And that wasn't the only reaction to support that theory; there had even been a look of pain on his face; a look that reminded him of the last time he saw his servant outwardly showing his pain.

It had been the first day Merlin had come back to work for him since the poisoning, midway through the day he had looked as if he was in more pain than he could bear, and that's when Gaius, of course, had taken the boy away to rest. Arthur hadn't known how to react that time to his servant's pain and he still hadn't known how when he'd seen that flash of agony on Merlin's face.

Arthur had even begun to wonder if maybe it had been there at all because the pain had only lasted a second, no, less than a second on the boy's face and then had disappeared entirely.

Then the lazy servant had reached out to touch him again and Arthur had almost told him not to, but he had stopped himself when he'd had the puzzling thought; If trying to examine the man had hurt him, then would he be going back for more?

He wouldn't be, Arthur had decided and had allowed Merlin to continue. Except, once again, Merlin had looked like he was in pain, though, he had touched the hurt man for a little longer than last time. But not by much, in fact it had only been a few seconds when the boy had shot up with a look of fear in his eyes; fear and pain.

Arthur had been so confused; an emotion that seemed his constant companion these days. He'd been confused at the pain in the boy's features. He'd been confused when Merlin had told him that they must leave. But he hadn't been confused with his own answer; they simply were not leaving a helpless and unconscious man without a seriously good reason.

And now, as Arthur looked around the bleak and rather cold dungeon the prince decided, in retrospect, that maybe he should've listened to his servant after all.

All he remembered after Merlin had told him that they needed to leave was leaning over the object of his servant's concern and then…nothing. The next thing he knew was having two aching arms and a throbbing head.

Suddenly the small door to the cell, which was a little too close to Merlin for Arthur's comfort since it was on the same wall, opened.

A man stepped through the door and though he was carrying a torch, the light was reflected in such a way that Arthur couldn't see his face.

"My, my, aren't you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed? Did the prince get his beauty sleep?"

Arthur couldn't suppress the shiver that ran throughout his whole body; something the man smiled at.

This one is going to be much easier to scare, thought the sorcerer.

"What happened? Where am I? Who are you?" Arthur asked, sounding far more disorientated and far less intimidating than he had hoped.

"Well, I'll start with the first question; after all, that's probably why you asked it first, you military types do like to prioritize. 'What happened?' Well, I said a teensy, weensy little spell and you fainted like a little girl!" On the last couple of words the man's voice became high-pitched and, in fact, his voice almost seemed to morph into that of a child's.

This man was so unnerving that Arthur didn't have room inside of him to feel anything but the strong desire to get away from him as fast as he could, not even to feel indignant at the jibe.

"I must say," the man said, his voice returning to its still creepy, but not as creepy tone. "I was more impressed with your servant than I was with you, Prince Arthur. He at least managed to look brave, which in itself proves that there is courage somewhere in his tiny, little body."

On hearing this Arthur perked up, trying to figure out what had happened to his servant after he had, um, passed out.

"And quite loyal too." Yeah, Arthur thought, that sounds like Merlin. "You should be proud; he stood up for you and everything."

"What have you done to him?" Arthur asked, this time managing to sound hostile and demanding.

"I simply knocked him unconscious, my good prince, so no need to worry. He even fought the magic harder than you. It's not him you really need to worry about."

Arthur didn't like the sound of any magic at all being used on Merlin, but for the moment he seemed safe so he guessed he should listen to what the sorcerer said and worry about other things. Like; how on earth were they going to get out of this one?

"And as to where you are," the man continued. "You are in an underground outpost, or facility, or safe-house, whatever you wish to call it. This place was used during the Great Purge as a sort of hideout for those who practiced magic; they used this place and others like it, in the hopes that it might protect them from the wrath of your father, Uther. Of course, most of their wishes were never fulfilled since the king found most of these tiny dens. But over time some of these have been covered up by the natural growth and age of the forest. Some of these outposts were never found. Like this one.

"Sorry to crush your tiny hope of being rescued, because, really, no one but me knows of this place's existence. Actually I'm not sorry, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?

"And as to who I am, well…" The man who had been slowly inching forward very creepily as he talked, occasionally gesturing as to help emphasize one of his points, came to stop in front of Arthur. He angled the torch away so that its glare no longer shielded him, but still lit up the tiny room.

Arthur gasped; even though he looked a whole lot different when not covered in bruises and blood, he could still recognize him; it was the man from the forest. He was the sorcerer. Merlin had been right; he is not who they thought he was.

"Like I told your dosing friend over there," he nodded his head towards Merlin, "my name is Arcturus, and I am the last new face you will ever see."

"What do you want with us; you've obviously been planning this for a while?" Arthur asked, sounding a lot braver this time.

"I only want you, Arthur; I can call that, right? It's just that, down here, titles have no meaning. Anyway, I never planned on capturing your servant; that was just a lucky, perky bonus, perhaps the gods like me."

"Then why not let him go?" Arthur argued. "If you only want me then surely a servant is of no use to you?" Arthur was desperately trying to get Merlin out of this mess; the boy had already suffered enough on account of his master.

"I told you, Artie, titles have no purpose down here. Besides; I may find a use for the boy yet. If nothing else you seem to care about his safety; I could work that to my advantage. You see, I know some people who are willing to pay me a great sum if I can provide them with what they want, which is the closely guarded secrets of Camelot's defenses.

"Of course, like the rest of my kind, I bear a grudge against the whole Pendragon family, so naturally I would want to kill you. But there's no real fun in just killing alone, and I'm not a person who kills just because it's something to do. So instead I plan on making you scream until you give the information that I desire. But how long you scream is entirely up to you. But you will scream, I promise you that. Only then, when you have told me everything that I wish to know will I, finally, give you the gift of death.

"Because it is a gift. Everyone does it; everyone dies, it's natural, no…it's a blessing. Death is the ultimate goal, the ultimate holiday, the final sleep. You may not think so now," he said as he saw the look of disgust on Arthur's features, "but you will. Everyone does...in the end.

"Once I have defiled the mind, body, heart, and soul of a person in the most horrible way possible; with torture, I always give them death. Because to go on living when you have suffered such a great torment, to have to remember for the rest of your life exactly what was done to you; that…that is a fate I would wish upon no man. Not even your father. So you could say that I am a messenger of mercy. I may take everything away from a person, but I always give them their relief in the end. And even you; a Pendragon, I will give it to you as well. And you will thank me.

"Anyone who has suffered; whether at the hands of a torturer, or at the hands of your father, anyone who has suffered a great loss, the only way to heal those people is death." He stepped back a bit and gave Arthur a crazy, insane look as if he was trying to get him to understand a great truth.

"I will never betray Camelot's secrets, and I most certainly won't beg for death. And I don't care what you say; my father's men will find us, and when they do it is you who will wish for death!" Arthur stated defiantly. He stood up straighter; he may be chained to a wall, but he still had control over his own body.

Arcturus sighed; his shoulders slumped as if in defeat. "Well, perhaps you're right."

Before Arthur had a chance to puzzle over what that statement meant there was a stirring somewhere behind his insane captor. Merlin! He'd almost forgotten the boy again! Though, in all fairness he'd had a pretty good distraction. The servant looked like he was waking up, and Arthur was glad that he hadn't before now; no need for him to have to hear this crazy man's speech.

The said crazy man seemed to have noticed Merlin as well, for he turned back to look at the prince with a slightly sadistic gleam in his eyes. "Well, I should leave you two alone for a little while since this will be your last chance to have a proper chat. Bye-bye now!"

He turned around and left the room, leaving the door wide open just to taunt them. He did, however; leave the torch in the room in a bracket on the wall, apparently so that they could see each other as they 'chatted.'

As the sorcerer disappeared from view Arthur released a big sigh; he hadn't been this stressed out during a conversation in his whole life, not even when he talked with his father. Not even during the talk with Merlin last night, was it last night? It felt like ages ago.

Just then Merlin's eyes started to flutter.

"Merlin!" Arthur called, trying to get the idiot's attention. He may be an idiot, but Arthur swore to himself never to underestimate the value of the boy's annoying chatter again; it was a whole lot better than listening to an insane man's prattle.

The servant groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Arthur?"

"Yes, Merlin, I'm here."

The boy still seemed mostly out of it, but said anyway, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." 'And quite loyal too,' the words rang in Arthur's ears.

"Okay…" the manservant paused for a moment, "Can you answer a question for me?"

Weird, Arthur thought, the boy still hadn't raised his head yet and still he was asking questions.

"Um, sure?" It came out as more of a question since Arthur really wasn't sure what his servant would be asking about at a time like this with that particular tone in his voice.

"Why is there a nail in my head?"

Okay, feel free to tell me that Arcturus was creepy and made you pee your pants, though, i seriously hope that he didn't. I do really want feedback on him, though. I also want to state that very few of any of the opinions that any of my villains will ever state will reflect my own. I do not believe that death is the answer, nor have i ever. That was simply the dude's creepiness and villianness. I'm sorry if i freaked anyone out and the next chapter should be more whumpy and less psychopathy. Please Review and tell me what you thought. Bye!