They had been captive for just over a day, they were left tied up hands and feet and their hands were released when they were fed. Even if they had only one meal that day and none the previous, although they had been given water. When they wanted to go to the toilet they were taken to a special area one at a time. That was the only time their feet were free. Their details had been taken from their identification tags as soon as they had arrived at the cave.
The leader had arrived and spoke to Merlin alone in surprisingly good English even if it was heavily accented and broken. "We are asking for release of our men held by the coalition in exchange for you. Behave and you will be treated well. You are brave fighters. But to make sure they understand that we are not to be messed with we execute one of your men."
Merlin was appalled "Then make it me" he said "They are my men, my responsibility, I will volunteer"
The leader gave Merlin a toothy grin "You Officer, no we keep you, but you can select your man, you have honour, have hour" with that he pushed Merlin back in with the others.
Merlin was stunned there was no way he would condemn one of his men to death. He didn't answer the questions the others threw at him. In the end Gwaine was asked by the others to talk to Merlin "What's up mate? What did they want?"
Even in the semi darkness of the cave Gwaine could see real anguish in his almost brothers eyes. After some coaxing Merlin winced "They are going to kill one of you! They want me to choose who. I can't do it. I asked them to take me but they wouldn't"
Gwaine grimaced "Then choose me mate. Pellinore has kids, Mordred ain't much more than a kid himself, Galahad's sister relies in him and they have already lost everyone else. As for Terry he's an only child. Me I have no one but you and your mum and I'll probably drink myself to an early grave anyway."
"Gwaine you're my brother I can't, I won't choose any of you, they can't make me. I have to make them take me" Merlin said his voice becoming firmer and more resolute.
"Fuck Merlin don't be daft, you are the one that will get them through this, and I'm damned if I am going back to tell Arthur what happened….or your mum. I promised them both I'd look out for you" Gwaine couldn't bear the thought of Merlin being killed, not like this.
"Gwaine I don't need looking after! And you have no choice, I am the officer here and it's my job to look after all of you. I have already lost to many men I won't lose one more" Merlin said adamantly. Then he fell into silence and Gwaine sat by him offering silent support.
When the leader came again he looked at Merlin "Who"
Merlin stood to his full height wobbling slightly due to his bound wrists, ankles and hunger "Me"
The leader looked at him with respect "You are brave man, but no" he looked at the others as if calculating. Gwaine had got up when Merlin did, he moved forward "Then me"
"No, you second command, no we take him" he pointed to Mordred. Then looked at Mordred "You die soon, make your peace with your god" with that he walked out.
Mordred looked fearfully at Merlin who explained "He asked me to choose someone I said I would go, but he wouldn't let me. I am sorry Mordred I will do my best to make them take me."
Mordred surprised them all, as the others protested and offered themselves, the young man said "I don't want to die, but if I must I will, can you tell my parents I died bravely and quickly, no matter what the truth"
When the leader came back and took Mordred another man grabbed Merlin and snarled "You watch, brave man die See how merciful we are"
The two men were dragged out into the open where they were surrounded by Taliban soldiers. Mordred looked at Merlin "Thank you Sir, it's been an honour to serve with you" then he was pushed roughly to his knees and his head pushed down.
Merlin struggled but knew it was in vain so instead he said to the young man "It I that am honoured. Your bravery will be acknowledged and I will make sure your family are looked after"
Mordred had thought he was going to be shot. He didn't see what Merlin did. A man approached and Merlin realised what he was about to witness. The leader who was at Merlin's side said "Watch your man die a brave death. If you had not come to our country he would have lived to old age with his grandchildren round him. Do not disgrace him by turning away, let him know you stood by him"
The beheading was quick but something that would stay with Merlin and haunt him. He noticed someone filming the execution on a mobile phone and winced. There was much cheering amid the fighters as Mordred's head was held aloft. The others were brought out the cave and loaded onto a truck. Merlin was put with them. All the men saw Mordred's head, which had been put at the side of the road on a piles of stones. They were then driven off to a new hideout. Merlin was sick to the stomach and dreading what the future would bring for his men. Gwaine and his men left him alone to compose himself the best he could, none of them really believing what had just happened. Gwaine knew that Merlin would be blaming himself.
After the family meeting the evening news announced of the capture of the men, and the next day it was in the newspapers, although no names were released. The fatalities of the crash were also revealed it was the largest single amount of British dead since the start of the war in one incident, and Arthur and the other relatives couldn't escape seeing about the details as they were everywhere. It wasn't long before the captured men's mans were leaked to the press. Arthur was asked to speak to the press but refused, he saw no benefit in doing so. Either for himself or the men concerned. It did make his life harder as anyone who knew him seemed to think they had the right to ask him questions. Once it was realised that Merlin was married to one of the country's richest men and also gay the press seemed to concentrate on Arthur and Merlin. This at least gave the others some respite.
Morgana and Leon shielded Arthur as much as they could and he got a separate phone and new number for the army and select friends, and didn't answer his other one. Gwen his PA became extra protective of her boss and stopped unwanted callers to the office. Uther was less sympathetic "You both knew the risks, a soldiers life can be a dangerous one." He had clearly heard of his son's offer "Don't be a fool over any ransom, we can't be seen to be weak. You both knew what he was getting into. However I am less than happy about the publicity your relationship is attracting to the firm. We deal with conservative people and this 'relationship' of yours will not help the image of the company"
Arthur walked away from his father without answering him, even though he wanted to punch the man. He was very close to giving in his notice, but knew this was not a good time to make such an important decision. Anyway he also knew that the clout he had a VP of Camelot was far higher than if he were just an individual, no matter how wealthy.
By the time of Arthur's meeting with the PM another soldier had been executed by the Taliban, this time it was reported on the main news. Pellinore Drew was dead leaving a widow and two children as orphans. Now there were only four prisoners left. There seemed to be an inevitability that this would continue. The PM Bayard Mercia was sympathetic but Arthur saw through the facade the man was a professional politician, Arthur had no doubt that the man wanted the situation dealt with but he had a strong feeling that it wasn't for the same reasons the relatives did. This was clearly something that the government didn't not want dragging out, as there was already a strong public opinion growing against meddling in foreign countries no matter what the reasoning.
Bayard told Arthur that they had received the demands and it was for a prisoner exchange, but that the men in question were in Guantanamo Bay and were near the top of the Taliban's chain of command and high profile prisoners. Both the USA and the UK governments were very reluctant to consider the exchange. Arthur hiding his distress at the news asked if they would consider a cash payment. This was immediately put down "We cannot be seen to be giving in to terrorism in this way" the PM said
Arthur wasn't to be silenced "My Company has a large base in both the USA and UK we play a large part in the economy of both countries I must insist that everything must be done to help these men, who after all were sent to Afghanistan by the two governments, surely you owe them a duty of care!" He hesitated "I can go through a different government and will do if that's what it takes" Arthur hated using his family name and power for personal reasons but he would do anything it took to save Merlin.
The PM looked at Arthur "This may sound harsh and insensitive but we have every reason to believe your husband is safe for now, as the officer he is the Taliban's highest card. The two already dead were Privates. It is highly likely he will be kept alive the longest"
"You have to be joking! So I turn my back on the others! You are unbelievable" Arthur stood up and walked to the window twisting his wedding ring round and round on his finger. "I want something done, or I will, do it myself."
"This is not to go out of this room for obvious reasons but we have a crack team of SAS waiting for the smallest chance and they will launch a rescue attempt. If you start offering money it will only make our job harder." Bayard told Arthur "I understand intelligence is coming in all the time, you have to give us chance to do it our way. It has not even been a week yet. Also you need to consider all the other troops stationed out there who don't have relatives who could fund a multimillion pound ransom, because have no doubt that's what they will demand if you ask them, although I suspect they will turn you down anyway. They want their men back" he looked at Arthur this time with more genuine sympathy "I'm sorry I truly am but your husband knew what the risks were when he signed up, and if he were here I'm sure he would agree paying these people is not the answer. He wouldn't want his rescue to endanger the rest of the army."
"Maybe not but he wouldn't have expected to just be left either, he wouldn't have left any of his men" Arthur felt helpless. The meeting had not gone as he had hoped, but in reality he wasn't sure what else anyone could do. His rational mind accepted the PM's comments even if emotionally he couldn't. After all what was the use of all his millions if he couldn't use any of the money to save the person who meant the most to him. If Merlin got out of this alive Arthur intended to talk him into leaving the army and never leaving his side again.