When Arthur awoke it took him a few seconds to remember the events of the previous day, but when he did his eyes snapped open, looking down at the still form of his friend.

"Merlin!" Arthur hoarsely choked out.

"Wasit?" Merlin muttered, jerking his head up off Arthur's shoulder and looking confusedly around.

"You fell asleep." Arthur uttered through his sigh of relief, but still managing to sound greatly annoyed. He failed to mention he had drifted off also.

"Yeah, well, you let me." Merlin replied, wiping off the frost which had settled on his shoulders. This rattled Arthur, Merlin had a point.

"Can you still feel all of your little fingers and toes?" Arthur mockingly asked Merlin with a voice like a child; trying to remember at which point he had allowed Merlin to fall asleep.

Merlin stretched experimentally, leaving Arthur to surreptitiously do so as well. They both felt pain shoot through their fingers and toes, like extreme pins and needles, as the blood and feeling returned to them.

"Looks like it". Merlin muttered, ignoring the pain. He was distracted when he saw that all of the Bandits looked like they had been awake for a while and were ready to take off.

Arthur followed Merlin's eye line and took note of their imminent departure.

"Listen, Merlin, we can't let them find out who I am. You can't call me Arthur or sire or anything that could give them a hint."

"Sure, Dollophead" Merlin grinned cheekily at Arthur.

"Merlin, I'm serious. We don't have much time; they'll be over to get us in a minute. Just call me whatever comes to mind and not anything you have made up." Arthur gave Merlin a stern look, making Merlin's smile fade. Merlin gave Arthur a nod to show he understood and the next moment Aiden had approached them with a few of his men.

"Good morning. I hope you slept well." He taunted, giving their tree and the ice crystals which had settled on their clothes a quick look over.

"Thought I might wake to find you both frozen to death, might have lost some money but I would soon find another miserable fool to sell." He spoke as though to himself while Merlin hoped no one found it too suspicious that they were okay. They didn't even have any frostbite. Merlin had been using his instinctual magic as often as he could while Arthur wasn't looking. He couldn't do anything too spectacular without saying a spell, but he kept them alive.

Four men were hovering around, untying the two boys. When they were pulled to their feet they almost fell over, their legs were so stiff. They were guided forwards, two guards on each man. As they started to shuffle their feet like a pair of zombies, the feeling slowly started to return and, along with it, those extreme pins and needles.

After the pain had subsided, Arthur, having more of his wits about him today, was observing the group of men trying to think of anything which could get them out of this. Of course, it was a lot harder with Merlin to look after. Arthur eyed Merlin who was right in front of him and couldn't help at that moment wishing he had been captured alone.

Meanwhile, Merlin was desperately wishing Arthur wasn't right behind him observing his every move. It made it much harder to perform any worthwhile magic if he couldn't use spells. If it weren't for Arthur, Merlin would have these men unconscious and be on his way back home to Camelot with a flash of his eyes and a few well-chosen words.

Merlin glanced back at Arthur. He was looking around at the bandits as though assessing them. He was still too close for Merlin to say any spells but Merlin took the opportunity. He looked ahead and found Aiden. Looking up, his eyes shone gold and a branch the size of Percival's arm fell from above Aiden's head. Aiden jumped backwards just in time as the branch crashed to the ground, missing his toes by mere inches.

Aiden swung around faster than Merlin had ever seen any man do so, it was almost comical. Almost. He marched towards Merlin and Arthur, fuming.

"This is your fault!" he spat, glaring at them as though waiting for an admission.

"Our fault?" Arthur replied disbelievingly. "How could a branch falling up there have anything to do with us back here?"

"Don't be smart with me." Aiden hissed. He turned and punched Merlin in the gut. Merlin doubled over, coughing.

Merlin glanced up and saw the agitation in Arthur's eyes, he so desperately wanted to be able to say something but it would only get Merlin injured even more.

"It's okay Ar… Bradley. I'm fine." Merlin reassured Arthur as Aiden stormed back to the front of the group, obviously realising that they couldn't have actually had anything to do with the falling branch.

Arthur gave Merlin a look that clearly showed what he thought of the ridiculous name he had come up with before they were marched forwards yet again.

A few hours passed, with both boys puzzling over the fact that if it weren't for the other they could have escaped by now, before they reached a dilapidated old castle. It was small and was probably never a grand place. They marched straight in, past the guards. Aiden was obviously well known to these people. Aiden led Arthur, Merlin and their guards towards a big oak door. Aiden stopped and turned to the two boys.

"You", Aiden whispered to Arthur, obviously not wanting the guards standing outside the door to hear him. "I know you have problems with keeping your mouth shut, but Barabbas does not. I am going to get a lot more money for good slaves, so keep your mouth shut. If you don't I'll convince him that your skinny little friend here is useless and that he should be killed."

Arthur seemed sceptical of Aiden's ability to do such a thing, especially as he would lose any profit from selling Merlin if he did, but he thought it best to do what he was told for now. Once he was sold it would probably be much easier to escape. He just hoped Merlin was sold with him, even though that was almost impossible. He shuddered to think what would happen if they were separated, he would probably never find Merlin again and Merlin was rubbish at looking after himself.

Merlin was thinking along the same lines about Arthur as they were shown through the big oak doors. Behind them was what looked like a poor excuse for a throne room, with a raised area at the front and a seat positioned right in the middle of said area. Sat on the seat was a huge bald man, who looked like a walrus, who must have been Barabbas.

As they entered, Barabbas' eyes lingered on Arthur, making both boys uncomfortable. What if he recognised him? Barabbas, however, stayed quiet. Around the room were no less than five guards, giving the boys some idea of how heavily protected this place must be.

"Aiden. What have you brought me today? I hope they're in better condition than the last boy you brought me, missing half of his fingers with frostbite". Barabbas' voice was huge, echoing around the room. He was quite an intimidating figure.

"Yes sir, these two would make fantastic slaves" Aiden gushed, obviously nervous. He stepped towards Arthur first. "This one is in fantastic health and is very strong. He has a good temperament and would sell to practically anyone."

Arthur felt like a horse being sold, but didn't let his pride get in the way, he had to bide his time. Barabbas eyed Arthur with suspicion, but remained silent as Aiden continued with his sales pitch.

"This one," Aiden had moved onto Merlin and was speaking with much less fervour, "well, he's not as strong as that one but I think he could sell to the right buyer for a pretty penny". He looked up at Barabbas expectantly, visibly very proud of himself.

"I'll give you five gold pieces". Barabbas said unemotionally.

"Five… but sir, they, um" He failed under Barabbas' glare. "Five each is very generous, thank you". He finished with obvious bitterness in his tone.

"Each? You misunderstand. I meant for both of them" Barabbas clarified. Aiden looked like a child who had just lost his favourite toy. Barabbas held out a pouch with the money and Aiden grabbed it and skulked out of the room. Barabbas sat patiently, watching Aiden until the oak doors slammed shut behind him.

"Now" Barabbas stood and walked with authority over to Arthur and Merlin "Let me look at what I've really got" He stopped in front of Arthur, staring directly into his eyes. "The king of Camelot" It wasn't a question, he knew. Merlin felt a weight drop in his stomach.

"If you knew who I was, why didn't you say anything before?" Arthur queried.

"Ha. Then I would have had to have given that whimpering fool a lot more than five gold pieces!" Barabbas' brief tone of humour was gone in an instant while he and Arthur continued to glare at each other, sizing the other up, Merlin all but forgotten about.

"If you let me go I will not come back here with my knights to punish you for trading slaves" Arthur decreed in his most kingly voice.

"But then how will I make up my five gold pieces? Oh no, I think I know the perfect person to sell you to. I am going to be a very rich man". His vision became unfocused as he licked his lips in anticipation of his imminent riches.

Arthur saw no point in taking his negotiating any further, so he remained quiet. However it was not lost on either of the two young men that if Barabbas was content to let Arthur's offer go, he was fairly confident of Arthur never returning to Camelot. Barabbas moved onto Merlin, with much less enthusiasm.

"You, of course, are not royalty nor do you look particularly strong but I pride myself as a man who can sell anything. I'm guessing I could get more than double what I spent on you if I use the right angle" His head, like Aiden's the previous day, was tilted to the side, assessing Merlin like a piece of meat.

The worry which had been growing inside Merlin since the previous day had reached an agonising point. Unable to openly use his magic he was almost useless and now Arthur was in real danger from a man who seemed a lot more threatening than Aiden. The reality of what was happening was beginning to overwhelm him. He had to stay with Arthur, to protect him in any way he could.

"You won't sell me!" Merlin yelled at Barabbas' retreating back. Barabbas turned with an amused look on his face while Arthur gave Merlin that all too familiar look as though Merlin had gone mad.

"And why is that?" Barabbas asked with humour in his voice.

"I'm only loyal to the King. I will refuse to serve anyone else. I will be bad tempered and disobedient. I'll talk back and be impossible to handle." Merlin sprouted, desperate not to be sold away from Arthur.

"No different than usual then" Arthur muttered.

"We'll see" Barabbas answered Merlin's threat in a light tone before yelling to the men in the room, "Contact Liam, tell him who we've got" and then he stormed from the room.

A group of men descended on Merlin and Arthur as though from nowhere. They were much more efficient than Aiden's men, marching Merlin and Arthur through the castle with expertise. Arthur didn't even know you could be good at marching people around.

They were unceremoniously thrown into a large cell with at least ten other people. It smelt like faeces and urine and some of the inhabitants looked as though they had lived there for years.

"Turn around" one of the guards ordered. They then proceeded to cut the ropes from their wrists through the bars before leaving them to their new surroundings.

"What on earth were you thinking back there?" Arthur berated Merlin after they had finished checking the extent of the damage done to their raw wrists.

"I don't know. I don't want to separated from you. Besides, I meant it."

"What? That you're a useless servant?" Arthur joked.

"No, I'll never serve anyone other than you Arthur" Merlin looked at Arthur with his wise face which always put Arthur off guard.

"You're a good friend Merlin, the most loyal friend I've ever had" and Arthur meant every word he said too. Arthur gave Merlin's hair a rough tousle as they turned to take in their new surroundings. It was then that they realised how lucky they were to have been captured together and wouldn't have it any other way, even if they were both likely to die.

I know the name I had Merlin call Arthur isn't very inventive but I thought it was funny, so there you go. :P

Thank you everyone for all of your amazing feedback to the first chapter. The people who favourited, followed and reviewed. If it wasn't for all of you I definitely wouldn't have this chapter up so quickly! I hope you enjoyed this one too.

And yes, Lost fan here for those of you who recognise the chapter title's spin on a Lost quote.