AN: So, the angst has officially started with unlucky chapter thirteen! WOOT!

Hey guys. I need to give a quick shout out to Mirror Mirror people, I am working on chapter nine, it is coming along, just with school and ren faire stuff and working out and actually kind of maybe having a social life, things have gotten a bit crazy. Soon though. It shall come soon. This fic is just already slightly written from summer, so lots easier to update... I have really not been writing at all lately...

Anyhoo, things about this fic. ANGSTY ANGST TIME! Yay! Still loving all the reviews, favorites, alerts, and so on! Have to give a brief shout to an anonymous reviewer, Shadowbending, Your review made me smile a lot. I don't think I have ever gotten a review with so many curse words, it was slightly fantastic. Had to give you a brief thank you! before we started.

Also, there may be an incredibly blatent quote from Pirates of the Caribbean in this chapter. I think I have watched that movie over one hundred times, but I'm not sure.

And I don't own Merlin. So it most definitely is not my fault Lancelot is gone :(

Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky in Love

Even though Arthur ran all the way to the lake, Merlin was already there waiting for him. His face lit up the moment he saw Arthur, which made Arthur forget his worries for a second and run to his love.

"Arthur." Merlin said, pulling Arthur into a hug. Arthur pulled away quickly, remembering his mission and said, "Merlin, you have to get out of Camelot."

Merlin's smile morphed into a confused frown as he said, "Why? What's the matter, Arthur?"

"Uther's hired a man, Aredian, calls himself a witchfinder, to hunt you down. He already suspects me. He's better than my father or any of the knights, Merlin. You have to get out of here He's going to kill you Merlin, and I can't let that happen, I-"

"Arthur," Merlin said, stopping his nervous ramblings, "I'm fine. And whoever this Aredian is, he won't be able to catch me, don't worry. I am stronger than him, no matter what he says. I'm safe."

"Don't you understand! You're not safe!" Arthur shouted, feeling slightly angry at how nonchalantly Merlin was acting about this. "My father will KILL you if you are caught. Your powers won't matter at all if you're dead. Aredian is smart, and he has the entire army of his Camelot at his beck and call. He knows about magic and how to stop it. You need to get out of here, at least for now. I can try to help the people the best I can while you're gone, but I can't let you get caught, I just can't."

Merlin gave him a sad little smile and let Arthur rest his head on his shoulder. His long fingers combed though Arthur's hair for a moment before asking, "What would you do if I was caught?"

Arthur pulled away from Merlin and looked into his beautiful blue eyes and said, "I don't know, Merlin. I will fight with everything I am to keep my father from hurting you. Just, it will be a lot easier if you avoided getting captured at all costs."

"Alright, Arthur," Merlin said with a smile. "We'll move or camp further from the citadel, and I won't attack Uther until you tell me it's safe. Is that acceptable?"

Arthur thought for a moment, then gave a slow nod and said, "I'd rather you left the country, but I suppose that will do."

Merlin chuckled and reached his arms around Arthur's neck, saying, "I'll be fine, Arthur. Although I will miss you. Quite a lot."

"I'll miss you too," Arthur said, stroking Merlin's high cheekbone with his thumb, "but I need to know your safe."

"I love you, Arthur. Whatever you do, don't get hurt while I'm gone, do you understand me? Don't forget, I have to power to turn you into a toad if you do."

Arthur laughed and replied, saying, "Oh the wonders of courting Emrys."

"Hmm… You should talk with Gwaine and Percival; they can tell you all about the benefits of being my lover."

Arthur smiled, before taking a serious expression and saying, "Just because you don't have me, doesn't mean you can start kissing up to anyone else. No drinking with Gwaine, and no cuddling with Percival. And don't think I won't know, Merlin. You're mine."

"Yes." Merlin said with a smile. "All yours." and started to lean in for a kiss. Their lips met in the most brilliant, perfect kiss Arthur had ever experienced. Everything else vanished besides him and Merlin. He felt like he was flying, soaring free from the pressures of being prince, of his worries about Aredian, of everything except his love for Merlin, and Merlin's love for him.

Unfortunately, something so perfect could never last. Arthur plummeted back to earth as he was yanked away from Merlin by a pair of knights. He blinked to regain his senses after that perfect kiss, and when he did what he saw horrified him. Merlin was lying on the ground, his eyes clenched shut in pain, hands pulling at a strange loop of metal encircling his neck. His breath was coming out in pained gasps that were so far apart it sounded as if he was choking. As Arthur began to mumble a litany of no's another chilling voice spoke over him, saying, "You three, take the prince back to the palace. The rest of us will deal with Emrys."

Arthur looked up from Merlin into Aredian's beady eyes, and said, "You can't do this! I order you to let him go, don't you see you're hurting him!"

Aredian smirked at him, meeting his eyes for a moment, and saying, "I have to do no such thing, Prince Arthur. You have disgraced your father, be glad I'm not bringing you back in chains." he then turned away from Arthur and to the knights holding him and said, "Get him out of my sight."

The three knights hesitated slightly, but they were all older, obviously Uther's men, not Arthur's, so they complied and dragged him back towards the castle and away from Merlin, ignoring his orders and pleas.

Merlin had been so lost in the kiss that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him until it was much too late and the cold iron was locked around his neck, separating him from his magic. He had never known pain as great as the feeling the metal pressed against his neck was currently causing. He felt like his blood wanted to burst from his skin, to boil and flow away, leaving only an empty shell, deprived of what was most important to it. His lungs just couldn't fill, as he gasped, trying to regain control over his breathing. He could see nothing, hear nothing, all was blinding white pain. When he finally did recover his breath, a hand gripped his hair, yanking him up from where he had fallen to the ground, and a beak-nosed face was thrust inches from his own. He tried to pull back as putrid breath cascaded over his face and the man said, "So, Emrys, we meet at last."

"Let me go!" Merlin hissed, still reeling from the recent addition to his outfit. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not Emrys."

He knew it was a pretty worthless attempt, but he had to try. After all, very few non-Druids knew what Emrys looked like.

"Don't lie to me, you magic-scum. I heard you and the prince, and I know who you are. You can't hide it from me."

Merlin glared at the man holding him and said, "You must be Aredian, you ugly, evil-"

Merlin was cut off by a slap that sent him crashing to the ground. He was quickly pulled back up by two knights who began to bind his hands with a long silver chain. He tried to struggle but without his powers there was little he could do. He looked around searching of a friendly face in the sea of knights, but found none. Arthur was missing, making him slightly nauseous with worry as he asked, "Where's Arthur?"

This got him another slap, this time from one of the knights holding him who yelled, "You will not address the prince like that!"

Aredian seemed less worried about his lack of respect, pushing the knight aside and saying, "Prince Arthur is back in his castle, where he should be."

"What did you do to him!" Merlin shouted, he was certain Arthur wouldn't leave him voluntarily. As he spoke Aredian started to laugh. It was cold, cruel laugh and it chilled Merlin to the bone. "You really think he cared about you? You think the prince could love scum? He left once we caught you. His job was done, he wouldn't want to spend any more time with you than he had to. Now you're all mine."

Merlin felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces. He didn't want to believe it but if Arthur had really led Aredian here and then left him, was there really any other explanation? "You're lying." Merlin mumbled.

"What good would that do me? Arthur brought me to you, and then abandoned you. Think of it what you will, I'll get paid either way." Aredian said with a shrug. Merlin had to fight to hold back tears. He wouldn't appear week in front of this monster. Apparently Aredian had decided that they were done talking as he grabbed the free end of the chain from one of the knights who had bound him and began yanking him away from the lake. Merlin couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. Arthur was gone, and nothing else mattered. He felt completely numb as Aredian pulled him up, dragging him back towards Camelot. He had to run when Aredian mounted a horse just to keep from tripping and being pulled through the dirt. Nothing seemed real, not the pain around his wrists where the chains bit into his flesh, or the burning where the cold iron met his flesh, all there was was emptiness, because Arthur didn't love him. It had all been a trick, only a game, and Merlin had lost everything. His heart was still aching as they entered Camelot, Aredian announcing to the century posted that he had captured Emrys. The news must have spread incredibly fast, as soon the streets were lined with people. A few disgruntled guards threw small stones and insults at him as he walked past, but Merlin barely noticed. The pain they caused was nothing compared to Arthur's betrayl. The majority were all watching with solemn faces, many of which Merlin recognized from his trips to deliver gold to the people. Aredian had thankfully dismounted, making slightly easier for Merlin to keep up, but he still stumbled occasionally as he was pulled along. Just as they passed the local tavern, they came to an abrupt stop, making Merlin almost run into Aredian. He looked up to see what had stopped them, and saw a huge group of people standing in their way. Gwaine was at the head of the group, Percival's youngest sister who lived in the city right behind him.

"Step aside." Aredian order.

"NO!" Gwaine yelled. "We're not going to let you take him to the king!"

Merlin smiled slightly as the crowd all gave their shouts in support of what Gwaine had just said. Still, it didn't look like many of them were armed and Merlin was surrounded by knights. And from what he had gathered about Aredian, he wouldn't mind slaughtering a few villagers to complete his task. Aredian confirmed this as he shouted, "Move, or you will be charged with aiding a criminal and you will be killed."

"You may as well kill us then, because we won't let you have Emrys!" a man from the crowd shouted. Merlin felt an enormous swell of gratitude to this stranger who was willing to die for him, but he knew he couldn't let that happen. He tried to think of what he could do to stop this as Aredian called out, "Don't throw away your lives for this filth. He is a criminal, and will get what he deserves."

"He's not a criminal, he's a good man!" Percival's sister shouted. Merlin gave her a weak smile as another woman yelled, "He saved my family!" and the crowd broke out in shouts of agreement.

"Fine. You've all made your opinions quite clear." Aredian said, then turning to the knights he ordered, "Kill them."

Luckily the knights seemed slightly more reluctant to massacre the unarmed townspeople, which gave Merlin time to act. He grabbed the chain around his wrist and yanked as hard as he could to get Aredian's attention. "Don't you dare hurt them." Merlin called when Aredian turned to look at him. He met the witchfinder's glare with one of his own, as Aredian pulled on his end of the chain, causing Merlin to stumble forward. "I don't think you're in much of a position to be making demands, Emrys. I can do whatever I want to them, I have the full support of the king."

"Do you really think Uther will appreciate it if you kill his people?" Merlin asked, still holding Aredian's gaze. "They're only peasants." Aredian replied. "I'm sure the king will understand when he learns they were trying to defend you." He then started to turn back to the crowd gathered, but stopped as Merlin yanked again.

"If you do that one more time," Aredian growled before Merlin cut him off, saying "They're not just peasants, they are the kingdom of Camelot. A kingdom is made of people, not gold or kings or land, normal people. Uther will lose taxes and goods if you kill them. Let me speak with them, I can make them move."

Aredian contemplated what he has said for a moment before tugging Merlin forward and saying, "Make it quick. Don't forget, I still have the power to have all of them killed."

Merlin nodded at him before turning to the crowd and saying, "Thank you for showing your support, I cannot tell you how much it means to me. But I also cannot let you all die for me. Go back to your homes, help me by helping yourself."

This statement was met with shouts of dissent. Aredian tried to yank him back, but he refused to move, shouting, "There will be a day to rise up and fight against the injustice in this kingdom, but it is not today. Please, go. I will not die on this night, and neither will you. Don't sacrifice yourselves for nothing. Wait for the opportune moment to act, when things don't need to be settled with unnecessary bloodshed. To do anything else would be to go against my wishes. I will be alright, it is not my fate to die here, and it isn't yours either." Merlin finished, meeting Gwaine's gaze for a moment, hoping he understood that there was nothing he could do now. The people could be saved, he couldn't. After a long period of silence Gwaine nodded, and lead Percival's sister away. They must have been the ringleaders, for the rest of the crowd dispersed as well, leaving their path to the castle clear. As soon as the last people vanished into the night, Aredian sauntered past him, whispering, "Pretty words, for a doomed man. I hope you don't actually believe any of that garbage, but it's a good thing those peasants did."

Merlin just glared in response before following Aredian up the castle steps, towards the man who murdered his parents. The castle was almost completely empty as they made their ways through the halls. The first people he saw who didn't dash away at the sight of him and Aredian were two guards standing in front of a large doorway. Aredian glared at them and they opened the doors, allowing Merlin, Aredian, and the knights into the large hall. Merlin barely got a chance to look around before he was pushed to the ground, his bound arms unable to stop his fall. Two of the knights yanked him to his knees as Uther's voice rang through the hall, saying, "You are sure that this is Emrys?"

Merlin glared at the man who had taken everything from him but didn't reply as Aredian marched over next to him and said, "I know he looks like a pathetic weakling, but I assure you, this is Emrys. The collar around his neck is special; it blocks the magic of sorcerers so they can be restrained. On normal people like us, there would be no affect. To those with powers it causes immense pain, but never have I seen any react as this boy has. He has barely been wearing it for an hour and already there are blisters and scars." Aredian pulled up the collar, exposing the raw skin underneath. Merlin hissed as his long-nailed finger prodded his raw skin, his attempts to move away blocked by a knight standing beside him. "He has powers of the likes I have never encountered before. The people also identified him as Emrys; I am certain it is him."

Uther walked over to stand next to Aredian and inspected Merlin's neck. "So you are the bastard who's been stealing my gold." Uther said, learning at Merlin. Merlin glared back up at him, saying, "It's not your gold, it's the people's."

As Merlin finished speaking, Uther's fist met his jaw, sending him crashing to the floor. Before he could drag himself back to his knees, Uther's booted foot connected with his side, as he yelled "Who's going to pay now, sorcerer? You filthy, horrid creature, you will suffer for all the times you humiliated me!"

Luckily, Uther seemed to have decided he was done kicking Merlin when he stopped speaking, giving Merlin time to pull himself up and take a few deep breaths. His mouth had taken the full force of the punch, and there was a small amount of blood dripping down from his chin onto the pristine floor. His breathing was labored, but not to the extent it would have been if his one of his ribs had been broken. Uther had turned his back to him, so all he could see was the red cloak streaming down to the ground. The hall was silent for a moment as Uther contemplated what to do with his new prisoner. Eventually, he turned with a smile, his gaze still directed at Merlin as he said, "Aredian, you are an expert at extracting information, right?"

"Yes I am, Sire." Aredian said, an evil grin spreading across his face. Merlin tried to scoot backwards, but was stopped by the knights once again.

"I think we will require your services for a while longer, then. You see, Emrys know the location of a group of Druids. If you can tell me where that is, I shall double your pay."

"It would be an honor." Aredian said, as he carded his fingers through Merlin, causing a shiver down his spine. "It looks like we get to spend some more time together, Emrys."

"I won't tell you anything." Merlin hissed. Aredian just smiled back at him, saying, "They all say that. And they all end up squealing like little pigs in the end."

Uther laughed at that and said, "You have ten days to learn all you can from him. I can only put off his execution for so long. The people also need to learn who has the power, so I would like to borrow him from you tomorrow morning; I think a public flogging is in order."

Merlin glared at both of them as they talked about him as if he was a piece of meat, not a fellow human being. Uther then walked forward until he was standing directly in front of Merlin. With a quick gesture of his wrist, the knights behind Merlin hauled him to his feet so he was face to face with the king. Uther's hand shot out and grabbed his chin forcing Merlin to stare into his eyes as he said, "I've won, Emrys. Even with all your magic you couldn't beat me. You're pathetic."

Merlin used his proximity to Uther to pull back all the blood and saliva in his mouth before shooting it out onto the royal's cheek. The king's face went red again before he slapped Merlin and shouted, "Get him out of my sight!" and Merlin was hauled out of the large room and down through the stairs and hallways of the castle till they reached the dank dungeons and he was thrown into an empty cell. Aredian entered after him, instructing the knights to unbind his wrist before re-chaining them to the shackles on the wall. They repeated the process with his ankles, then left him alone, cut off from his friends and powers, his heart shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.