Merlin spent a restless night as a result of his guilt. Arthur was more than likely going to be tortured as a result of his secrecy and Merlin didn't want to think about what would happen to him once they realised he really didn't know anything. Merlin was so worried about Arthur he never once stopped to wonder what plans Liam had in mind for him.
The next morning found Merlin and Arthur awaken stiff and sore from their many nights sleeping in uncomfortable situations. In their cell was nothing but a bucket to relieve themselves and some chains on the walls, nothing to make a comfortable bed. When it was clear that they were awake, one of the men who was watching them left the room. They were different men than when they had fallen asleep, they must have been taking shifts.
Not long after, Liam walked into the room with a skip in his step, like a child on Christmas morning. The man who had gone to alert him to his prisoners' wakefulness followed him back in holding a crossbow. He carefully trained it on Merlin as Liam began to talk.
"Little king, stay up against the back wall or Merlin will be shot down where he stands," Arthur shot Liam a filthy look but did as he was told. "Good puppy. Now Merlin, this man here is going to escort you up to the house. I would like you to do everything he says, okay?" He was so patronising Merlin hardly knew how to respond so he just nodded his head dumbly as the other man who had been in the room held onto the rope which was still tied around his hands from the previous day and led him out of the building.
"Where are you taking him?" Arthur demanded as soon as the last of bit of Merlin disappeared from sight.
"I hardly think that's any of your business. Now, why don't you come on over to this nice little table and have a drink with me." He motioned to the table near the fire where the guards had been keeping watch. The man with the crossbow now had it trained on Arthur unwaveringly. Arthur cautiously moved over to the table and sat down slowly, waiting for whatever Liam was going to throw at him next.
"You're right to be cautious," Liam confirmed, watching how Arthur was conducting himself. "I wouldn't trust me either." Silence filled the room for a moment as the two men glared at each other.
"I thought we were going to have a drink?" Arthur finally broke the thick air of tension.
"Quite right. Where are my manners?" Liam stood up and moved over to a table which was covered in a cloth. He swept the cloth off the table in the most overdramatised motion to reveal what was underneath. Mountains of fruit of every colour, which made Arthur's mouth begin to water instantly. He didn't even notice that there was a flagon of water at the side of the table from which Liam was filling two glasses to the brim. He sat one of the glasses in front of Arthur and started to casually sip from his own. Looking up, Liam pretended to look shocked and cried,
"I'm so sorry! I didn't realise that you might be hungry. Pity." He kept his eyes locked on Arthur's clearly enjoying the struggle he could see going on in their depths. Arthur was so incredibly hungry. Instead of focusing on his hunger, Arthur settled on politely drinking his water as though that was all he desired. However, with his hands tied he could no sooner drink from his glass as eat the mountains of fruit on the table. Arthur couldn't help but let out a huff of frustration at this.
"Okay, this is ridiculous. Just get on with whatever it is you are trying to do," Arthur demanded. Liam raised an eyebrow but didn't reprimand Arthur.
"You know what I want. The same thing I wanted from you yesterday. Where is Emrys?" Arthur stayed quiet for a while, not knowing how to answer the question without making things worse.
"Well?" Liam asked impatiently.
"I've already told you I don't know," Arthur decided to stick to his story, only to realise it wasn't one, it was the truth. A strange growl like noise started from within Liam's chest as part of his upper lip raised in frustration. He looked like a wolf.
"Do you care to rethink your answer? I'll allow you to feast on the delicious food behind me and I will ensure that you are escorted back to your kingdom in a manner that befits a king such as yourself. And to prove you can trust me," He rounded the table and cut Arthur's restraints, handing him the glass which had been sat in front of him. "There."
That was a critical mistake.
Arthur seized the opportunity, grabbing hold of Liam's head and bringing it smashing down onto the table. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the door, he had to get to Merlin before Liam woke up. He flung open the door as he felt a sting in his calf. He looked down confusedly as he continued to limp from the building. He managed to spot an arrow protruding from his leg before he fell unconscious onto the grass.
The man who had been escorting Merlin led him through a door at the back of the house into a dark hallway and then immediately down some stairs. Under the house was, to put it nicely, a mess. Piles of chairs, tables and all kinds of odd things were covered in cobwebs, hardly leaving enough room to move beyond the entrance.
"Clean it," said the man, thrusting a broom into Merlin's bound hands. Merlin looked around at the chaos in disbelief and said,
"That's why he bought be? To clean?"
"No. Liam saw you back at Barabbas'. How disobedient and lively you were. He wants to, how shall I put this, tame you," the guard said this with some kind of perverse pleasure; Liam sure knew how to pick his men.
"Tame me? By making me clean a room?" Merlin said somewhat sarcastically, making the guards eyes glitter.
"For starters," he threatened. Merlin looked around the room as he contemplated his options. This would no doubt take weeks to clean; he would be constantly separated from Arthur during the day while Liam did who knew what to him. No, Merlin decided. He would never serve these animals.
"Never," Merlin said softly, face strong with resolve.
"What did you say to me?" the guard said menacingly. Merlin turned to face the guard full in the eyes as he clarified,
"I will never serve anyone other than the king,"
"Oh really?" The guard snatched the broom out of Merlin's hands and raised it over his head before bringing it down with a crack over Merlin's head. Merlin was forced to the floor by the blow while the broom lay in two on the floor amidst splinters of wood. Merlin saw the man's feet near him yet again when the door to the basement flew open. Liam stood in the doorway fuming. He looked just as mad as he did the previous night when he had lost control.
"Neil!" the guard stopped in mid stride, frozen like a mildly amusing statue.
"Yes Liam?" He replied with reverence as he slowly lowered his other foot to the floor to gain a more respectable position.
"Stop. I need to vent my anger," Neil bowed his head and walked over to stand near the door as Liam stormed over to where Merlin lay on his stomach, with his head raised off the floor.
Without so much as a taunt Liam's foot moved with force towards Merlin's face, shattering his nose. The awful crack was swallowed by the dusty surrounds as blood spurted all over the floor and Liam's leather boot. Merlin's neck snapped backwards with the force, forcing him onto his back. Liam never faltered, not stopping to admire his handiwork or to feel remorse. He was running on pure pent up anger.
Liam next sent his foot flying into Merlin ribs, causing another crack to fill the room as more bones were broken. An unintentional cry of pain was forced from Merlin's lips as the air was forced from his lungs. Merlin could barely register what was happening; the pain was barely more than a vague feeling of pressure as the shock took over his body.
Liam, seemingly growing tired of beating a punching bag which wasn't complaining or fighting back, stepped back releasing a roar of frustration.
"Why must one purchase be off limits and the other an obliging victim?" He screamed, pulling at his hair like a madman. He turned away from both Merlin and Neil, breathing violently. When he turned around he had regained some composure.
"Neil, bring him back to his cage." Neil stepped forwards immediately, yanking Merlin up roughly, causing a huff to escape from his winded lungs and the pressure of his injuries to grow stronger. "If I can't hurt them directly then perhaps it's time to move to plan b."
Liam stalked ahead while Neil practically dragged Merlin back up the stairs and along the path back to Arthur.
When Arthur awoke his brain was moving so slowly he couldn't make sense of any of his thoughts. Mingled in there somewhere was a thought of pain and also a vague inkling of Merlin. He slowly realised that his eyes were closed, so with what seemed like an immense amount of effort he wrenched them open. The light stabbed at his eyes as he snapped them back shut, immediately regretting making the effort to open them.
His thoughts were starting to become more coherent and he suddenly remembered his escape attempt. His eyes snapped open yet again and this time Arthur put up with the pain the light caused his eyes. He blinked rapidly to clear the blurriness in his vision and slowly the shape of bars became clearer. He was back in the cage, he should have guessed. It was then that the thought of pain which had been circling on the edges of his mind came into focus and he gasped. His right calf was radiating with pain. He tried to look down at the injury, only to begin to wonder why he was standing up if had just been unconscious.
Looking around Arthur realised both his wrists were chained to the wall above his head. He couldn't feel them; obviously they had been up there quite a while, though that was probably a good thing. His feet were comfortably planted on the floor. He wouldn't be able to sit down but at least he wasn't dangling from his chains. His attention again returned to his leg where Arthur realised an arrow was protruding. Arthur instinctively flinched away from the sight but looked back again to assess the damage.
He had barely taken a second glimpse when the door to the building flew open, banging off the wall and swinging back closed with just as much force. Someone caught the door as they barged through. It was Liam. Arthur started to prepare himself for the abuse he was sure to endure for knocking the man unconscious when another figure followed Liam into the building. It was the other guard, the one who had left with Merlin. Arthur grew worried, wondering what they had done with his friend, when he realised Merlin was draped over the guards shoulder, unconscious.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Arthur shouted, taking in Merlin's bruised and bloodied face.
"He was disobedient and after what you did, I needed to take out my anger on someone," Liam explained as Merlin was unceremoniously hauled into the cell. Arthur wanted so much to get over to Merlin, to make sure he was alright. He pulled at his chains in desperation.
"Oh yeah," Liam piped up. "Can't leave you there now can I, not a king like you." He held up a key to show Arthur and tossed it over near Merlin's unconscious form. "When your friend awakes he can free you." Liam smiled at his own cruelty.
"I just wanted to alert you to the fact that I have changed strategies. Another reason I purchased your friend, other than the fun of breaking him, was that I thought he might be good leverage if you were uncooperative. Starting tomorrow I'll be killing two birds with one stone. I'll make you talk and break him at the same time. Sounds like fun to me!" Liam then swept from the room, having now satisfied his anger, leaving Arthur chained to the wall and Merlin sprawled unconscious on the cold stone floor.
I wanted to give a special thanks to everyone who has favourited, followed or reviewed. This chapter proved very difficult to put together and you gave me the motivation to stick to it. I hope the difficulty I had in writing the chapter doesn't show in the reading of it! :)