Chapter 7

Merlin saw two men take Arthur out of the rotten cell, his eyes were blank and there was no expression on his face. Earlier, Merlin had called Grant and agreed to his offer, Merlin was to be with him for the rest of his days and Arthur was to be set free. Lancelot just stood behind the warlock.

"Merlin…" Arthur mouthed. He then turned his head away and walked on. After the prince left the cell, Merlin's eyes wet and he choked on his saliva. Lancelot placed a comforting hand on shoulder.

o.o.o.o.o

It was hard for Merlin to do any physical activity; his lack of magic made him weak and fragile. It was about three days before the warlock could open his mouth to talk to Lancelot.

"Why are you here?"

"I… I can't say," The friend rubbed the back of his head and stood from his spot; he then glanced at Merlin and say a lifeless body sitting around. "How long has it been since they gave you food?"

"Food?" the warlock stopped at lifted his eyes to think about it, "They never really gave us anything to eat… no wait.. they gave us two meals in the past two weeks." Now that he thought about it, he was hungry. Really hungry.

They two men heard sophisticated footsteps coming their way; they stood up to see who it was. It was the well hated Grant.

"I came back to collect my harvest. I need a lot to take over Camelot don't I?" He smirked and then got a guard to open the cell.

"You said you would leave Arthur alone." Spat the dragonlord.

"Yes… I will leave him alone, but I never said anything about Uther, or the rest of Camelot, I guess he will just become insane from losing everything he has."

"You bastard!" Merlin became very frustrated, he left Arthur to save the kingdom, but he failed at that and he is alone… Arthur would not be by his side bickering and snickering away.

"I know I am, but I prefer the term… Master."

Merlin gagged. "Ew."

The sorcerer chuckled. He motioned his source of food to come out. "You have gotten more skinny haven't you?" He placed a hand on Merlin's now boney back and led him out of the cell.

o.o.o.o.o

When Arthur arrived back to Camelot, a cry of joy ran through the kingdom, but all he could do was bury himself in blankets and think about what Merlin has said to him. "I'd rather be with Grant… I'd rather be with Grant." The blond rolled to his side and closed his eyes. "I don't want to see your face… I hate you… I hate you…" and right before the prince could fall asleep he heard "You cause me pain… ever since I met you.. I have been waiting for the moment to leave you" over and over and over again.

*Merlin was in front of Arthur, he was pale. His ex-manservant's face was one of a dead man, white skin, dark eyes, hollow cheeks. It was painful to look at how much Merlin's cheek bones stood out. Arthur then raised his hands and placed it on the back of Merlin, it was cold and boney. The manservant shot a look of disgust and hatred at Arthur. He then saw that he was in a room, a grey room filled with potions, books, and unidentified organs in jars. Merlin was tied up, arms high in the air, toes barely reaching the stone floor. The prince felt disgusted. In his hands was a dagger; it was long golden and covered in gems. He lifted the knife and ran it down Merlin's bare chest, blood flowed shortly after. Arthur looked at his victim's face; merlin was biting his bottom lip and furrowing his brow, tears in the corner of his eyes.

Arthur could then see himself… he was smiling… every cut he gave Merlin, the smirk augmented. *

Arthur woke up with a jolt. Beads of sweat rolled down his brows. It's just a dream. He thought, he then placed a hand on his forehead and panted, trying to calm his aching heart.

o.o.o.o.o

In the dead of night, Lancelot and Merlin were lying down on the hay, both unable to sleep, and both worried...

"Lancelot…" Merlin whispered through his teeth, the dark circles under his eyes were deep set, "I don't think I can do this anymore." He choked on his own words, "and it hasn't even been seven days." His lips trembled and his arm was over his eyes… "I can't"

"Merlin. Please don't say that…" Lancelot hesitated. "I.. I…" He paused. "Can I tell you a story?"

There was no answer.

The friend thought of it as a cue to go. "Well… there was this boy, not really a boy, but a boy. He was very good at handling weapons, and so he travelled everywhere to find the perfect place to use his skills for good. He went high and low until he found a kingdom. He found…" Lancelot searched for a special word. "He found the kingdom of joy. But the joy came with a price. The boy had to cheat to get it, instead of doing wrong, he became angry, then… He was lifeless and heartbroken. So he set out into the woods to think whether he should do evil to do good or just leave."

Merlin shivered.

"After debating for a few days, he finally decided to cheat, so while he was walking back to the kingdom his heart felt heavy and he felt hopeless, but on the way he found a young man, that man was younger than him, but he was already a man." Lancelot sat up and leaned against the wall, "The man taught the boy how to hide some information to bring good throughout the land, in the end the boy followed him and killed many dangers from penetrating the kingdom; however, he was caught, with the mercy of a noble, he was able to avoid execution."

"I don't think that's fair." muttered Merlin.

"No. It's not. He fled the kingdom and searched for a chance to do good, but all he thought about was how close he got with the man. The friendship that formed was… unforgettable." There was a long pause.

"Are you done?"

Another pause. "No, he later overheard two… sorcerers talking about taking over the Kingdom of Joy, he was about to run to the man to warn him, but he was caught…"

"..."

"Instead of lying, the boy withheld information and earned the two sorcerers' trust, he was then taken to the head of the organization and he was placed underground as a cell janitor." Lancelot's voice became unsteady. "He thought he would be able to stop the organization from attacking the kingdom of Joy, but he couldn't, instead he saw… he saw his friend, the man, to crumble into pieces… he saw the man go into isolation." The ex-knight began dropping tears. "The boy could not stand to see the man suffer; that man was his mentor, his idol… his friend."

Merlin sat up. "Lancelot…"

"Please… Merlin… please don't say anything like that… please don't say you can't do it anymore… The boy…" he paused. "I still need to learn how to become a man."

Okay guys :) I think everyone deserves another chapter of this fanfic :))))

So I think I like this chapter... there's more thinking you have to do but, meh.

Anyway here are some questions I want you to think about! Or review topics (I just want to see your responses, you know... something fun-like)

1. What is the significance of Arthur's dream? What is he going to do about Merlin?

2. What's up with Lancelot? When will he become a man?

3. Do you think Merlin and Lancelot will every escape the cave?

Thanks guys once again :) please leave me a review and hope that I get motivated to write the next chapter!