Chapter 3 Searching
A/N- Thanks to all those who reviewed, faved, and alerted! This is a bit later seeing as my mother has currently kept me very busy with work and whatnot. I'm very excited with where this is going! I'm sorry the characters seem a little OOC. Beware- Has many twists yet to come.
"Gaius!"
The door to the physician's rooms was flung open hard enough to smack the wall it was joined to.
The poor man jumped, causing the vial in his hand to fall and shatter. "Sire! I-"
"There's no time Gaius! I have to search for him! He's in trouble!" Arthur cried desperately.
The old man saw panic, fear, and surprisingly, worries. "Sire! Sire!" he yelled, trying to get the now pacing princes attention. He vaguely noticed Arthur was wringing his hand anxiously.
"What?" Arthur snapped.
"You need to sit!" He obliged. "Now, Sire, tell me what happened."
The prince told him everything. When he got to the part about the blood, he paused.
"Gaius… I- t-there was this… this big spot. A stain." Arthur began to tremble. "He- it was blood, Gaius. Blood." He shook his head before whispering, "Merlin's blood."
Arthur's breath rattled as he inhaled. "I can't let him… Let him…"
Gaius got up and patted his shoulder. "I understand. You don't have to say more. But you do have to get some sleep. I'll cover for you so you can ride out tomorrow."
Arthur nodded, then got up to leave. When he was at the door he stopped as Gaius called out to him.
"And Sire?"
"Yes?"
"You'll find him. And he will be alive."
IDIOTTOIDI
When Merlin woke up, all he was aware of was the pain radiating from his body. He tried to open his eyes, but that immediately sent a wave of nausea to crash over him. Merlin tried to put a hand to his head. He found he couldn't move his arms. Or his legs. Or his whole being for that matter.
The warlock reopened his eyes, pushing down the sick feeling as it reached its peak. He was in a castle, a dungeon really, bound by chains that surrounded all of him.
Merlin called out, only to find his mouth gagged. No matter- he could both snap the chains and remove the fabric even without words.
His eyes turned gold… and the chains tightened. Merlin aspired and the blue turned to gold again. The bonds only hugged his body more.
The warlock started to panic as he remembered the last time in this type of metal. He had been stung by a Serket and had almost died. He couldn't imagine what would happen to him now.
Wearily, Merlin lifted his head at the sound of metal scraping against stone. The door was made of iron, except for a latch in the middle top for talking with and looking at the prisoner.
In walked a muscley guard. He seemed bored, a look of indifference on his face. He yanked on Merlin's chains, causing him to stumble as he was pulled to his feet. "Come on," he growled. "Someone wants to see you." The warlock had a pretty good idea why they gagged him when they knew he couldn't break free: to stop him from back talking.
He was dragged in an undignified manner out the cell door. Merlin refused to be treated like this, so he dug his heels into the floor and fixed the man with a deadly stare. The guard sighed, then settled for holding the back of Merlin's neck and guiding him to their destination. His grip wasn't too tight, just enough to keep the servant in line. If his mouth had been free, he would have been grumbling the entire way about how 'no one seemed to know how to handle him like a human.'
They entered a large room with a table near the front. At the two heads sat Mordred and Nimueh. They stood as Merlin and the burly man approached. He was forced to his knees, hand still clutching his collar.
Nimueh stared down at him in distaste, like she had tasted something foul. Mordred, however, regarded him with cold and dead eyes. Merlin just glared.
"Hello again, Emrys," his voice ran through the warlock's mind. Merlin growled.
Nimueh chuckled darkly. "What's the matter?" she taunted. "Don't enjoy telepathy? That's too bad." He tried to look down, but a sudden force pulled his head up when she muttered a spell. "Now, now, Merlin," she scolded. "We like to see your face. Isn't that right, Mordred?" She asked it like she didn't expect an answer. It was just as well- she didn't receive one.
Mordred nodded to the man behind Merlin. The gag was ripped out and off of his mouth, and dropped onto his neck. He realized they had muffled him with his own handkerchief. For a minute Merlin sat there, licking his lips and trying in vain to wet his dry mouth. He wasn't able to talk it was so arid.
Mordred spoke aloud. "Halyn, get him some water. He must speak." The brute let go, though not before allowing Nimueh to put a spell on Merlin so he couldn't move, and retrieved the liquid.
It was dribbled into his mouth, Halyn making sure not a drop escaped. Once the dented silver goblet was emptied, he merely tossed it away.
Though grateful for the drink, Merlin was still very angry. "What are you going to do to me?" he spat.
"It's not what we want to do to you, it's what we want to do with you," was Mordred's reply. (Which of course was said in Merlin's head.)
"Whatever," he snapped. "I'm still trapped. It doesn't matter."
Nimueh stepped forward. "Oh, you'll soon know how much that difference does matter." She grinned coldly.
"Halyn," Mordred spoke. "Take him to our holding chamber." The warlock's escort nodded, yanking him up.
He could imagine Nimueh's smirk (having seen it much too often for his liking) as he was forced through the door.
PRATTARP
Arthur opened the door to the tavern, fully expecting the sight that confronted him. Gwaine was there, fighting a giant of a man, people cheering them on from all sides of the room. Arthur didn't know whether to be angry or impressed, seeing as Gwaine was winning.
Arthur whistled sharply. No one except the knight heard, and as he turned to face the door he almost received a blow to the head. Fortunately he ducked in the nick of time. "Hey hey, Princess Artie," he bellowed. "Come help an old friend out, will ya?"
Arthur was too anxious to respond with an insult of his own. Instead, he settled with distracting the brute long enough to get Gwaine and himself out the door and running for the stables. That was the knight's favorite hiding spot. Nobody ever looked for him there.
They stayed there in the stable for a minute, listening for any sounds of pursuit. Finally, Arthur stepped forward and started readying his horse. At the same time he talked to Gwaine. "Come on. Get your horse. We need to leave soon."
Gwaine laughed. "What's the matter? Is Merlin not up for one of your petty hunting trips?"
Arthur turned around, shaken up more than before. "Gwaine. Merlin-Merlin's missing. And I found something that shows he is injured. Badly. We need to find in case that's true. Though I pray to God it's not." He said the latter more to himself than anything else.
The knight immediately stopped chuckling when he he heard that his best friend could possibly be... No. He couldn't even think that. He didn't want that to be right, so he wouldn't think it, much less say it.
Gwaine joined Arthur by the animals, hands slightly shaking. Still, he was faster than the prince. It was quite possible the prospect of Merlin in danger could sober him up after any amount of alcohol.
"Let's get going," the knight quipped. Arthur nodded his head in agreement.
The prince moved aside a pile of hay to reveal a pack filled with food and anything they would need if Merlin was wounded. He had left it there before searching for Gwaine, wanting to get going as soon as possible.
They led their steeds out, and passed through Camelot towards the gates as quickly as was allowed.
PRATTARP
They stopped at Freya's lake, Gwaine demanding to see why Arthur thought his manservant was hurt.
Arthur walked over, albeit hesitating a bit the last couple of feet. Gwaine followed, but only after admiring the place's beauty. He noticed Arthur crouching on the balls of his feet. Around and between his legs the knight caught sight of a peculiarly coloured patch of ground.
"What's that?" he asked, coming closer. Arthur just shook his head, willing his panic level not to rise more than it already was.
There was the spilt blood on the ground and as he froze, common sense and the ability to think clearly flying away, Gwaine felt scorching anger rising inside him. After part of that had passed, he couldn't help but imagine Merlin laying there, thousands of wound possibilities running through his mind. It made him want to retch, and he almost did just that. As it was, his face turned a ghastly shade of green.
"Gwaine? Are you ok?" asked Arthur. He got up and gently guided him to a nearby tree. The knight slumped to the ground. He couldn't believe someone would want to hurt Merlin. He had a good heart and a kind soul. Hell, he couldn't watch Arthur kill even the smallest animal without being sick.
Suddenly regaining his rage, he stood up and growled, "Whoever did this will pay! I'll do what they did to Merlin and worse!" And with that, he further expressed his feelings by punching the tree he had just recently trusted his weight to.
"Gwaine!" Arthur suddenly roared. "That's enough! Getting your frustration out on a plant won't help us find Merlin!" Gwaine, seeing the sense in this, just nodded and headed for their horses.
Arthur saw footsteps leading away from the spot. "Hey! Come look at this!" he said hopefully.
The knight led both their steeds over to the prince. He pointed out the tracks to Gwaine. They shared a glance. "Let's get going," Arthur said quietly. He then mounted his horse, Jackie, and set off at a canter.
Gwaine followed. "Right behind you, mate."
As they left the clearing, a bloodcurdling scream echoed in Arthur's mind that sounded just too familiar.
A/N Ah, another cliffie. Please review!
Sorry again about being so late! I totally apologize!
Uther: Princesses do not apologize!
Me: Um... I'm not a princess
Uther: You're not?
Me: No.
Uther: Oh. I would say I was sorry but KINGS DO NOT APOLOGIZE!
Me: Whatever you say.
Uther: That's right! Now begone peasant! You must write or I will have your head!
Me: Okaaay... *backs away slowly*