Diviner Captive

Good On His Threats

…

Merlin woke up when his bed hangings were ripped open.

He ended up crashing into bed in exhaustion after he attempted to make a nice dent into the feast left for him yesterday. If he kept this routine up of just sleeping and eating he was going to get fat. He naturally had a slim figure but that couldn't fight having no physical activity and massive amounts of food for long.

-The warlock looked up to see a servant boy. He vaguely remembered the king mentioning sending a servant to wake him at a descent hour. The young man didn't say anything to him but just left without a word once he believed wasn't going to fall asleep again, just a bow before exiting.

The perfect servant; seen but not heard. Something he had never managed to be. Always talking Arthur's ear off before he was even properly awake yet.

Merlin threw the covers off and made his way to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face to wake up. He shouldn't have been surprised that there was another hot bath waiting for him but he was.

Being a servant himself he was not used to this treatment. Sponge baths and wearing the same outfit three days in a row were more his thing.

-Since it was there he might as well use it. When he stepped behind the dressing screen he noticed there was another outfit waiting for him. He hadn't really thought about last night but he had slept in the sorcerer robe given to him. The rich fabric was creased horribly.

Merlin picked up the new outfit in curiosity just expecting another robe but this was completely different. Realizing that he was holding the jerkins and the shirt had dropped to the floor. The bottoms were a rich dark brown while the top was of course that same Dyfred blue. Reaching down he picked up the other piece, feeling the soft velvet in his hand he knew that this too was the best quality you could buy.

He could smell that breakfast had been served already was ready to be consumed once he finished his bath.

The warlock was confused why he was being treated so well. Wasn't he supposed to be a prisoner? He wouldn't feel that way at all except for the fact he wasn't aloud to leave the room and the door was locked and heavily guarded. Arthur wasn't even treated this well.

…

Altoris closed the balcony doors behind his lord who had just finished addressing the masses.

Of course all the people of the kingdom had been panicked about the dragon attack. Gwrthfyr had assured them that he had taken precautions to protect them against the beast. Informing them that he had just acquired a new court sorcerer.

Which had soothed their worries and answered their question about the barrier.

"I'm going to need you to get someone to organize to hire some workers to fix the damage to the wall and surrounding houses." Gwrthfyr informed him as he went and sat behind his writing desk and pulled a blank piece of parchment toward him. Dipping the nib of a large feather pen into a jar of ink he started to write.

"What are you doing?' Altoris asked curiously. His lord was using the paper used for messenger hawks. The king had already dismissed him with his orders but he had to know.

"I threatened Uther I would inform his enemies that he is now vulnerable and I am always good on my threats." Gwrthfyr spoke as his neat hand scrawled across the sheet.

"Which one's?" Altoris attempted to get more information on the situation. It was never good to be left in the dark. He hated surprises.

"Any one who attacked and lived or just people who posses magic and want revenge, but my main target is Morgause and the Lady Morgana. If I manage to peak the right person's interest I may not even have to lift a finger and Camelot will be destroyed." The king spoke with relish. He rolled up the scroll and grabbed another piece of parchment.

"So what happens if someone actually managed to take over Camelot, wouldn't they become a new threat to you?" Altoris questioned the solidity of this part of the plan.

"There is a reason for the boy." The king rolled his eyes and looked at his informant like he was stupid. " I'll give them the option to either align themselves with me or risk my wrath, if they refuse I will use the boys full power against them."

"How can you be so certain that this Merlin boy has enough power to defeat anyone who comes up against him? Just because he's a dragon lord doesn't mean he's all-powerful. Uther found it easy enough during the purge to almost completely wipe them out." Altoris knew that the king thought he was brilliant but sometimes his lord just needed to have his plans questioned.

Gwrthfyr looked annoyed. "That boy was powerful before he inherited his dragon lord powers unlike the ones who came before him. Since I've gained control of him I can sense his power reserve, which is immense." The king spoke like he was trying to teach an idiot something. "Most sorcerers get tired after performing too many small spells in a row but with the power the boy holds we'll be able to hold out longer than anyone else. Which is the key to defeat all who impose." Turning his attention back to the letter in front of him.

"The boy tired after you got him to perform that barrier yesterday." Altoris crossed his arms and leaned against a desk in stubbornness. He didn't want to risk his safety on a whim.

"What the boy performed yesterday and is still keeping up shouldn't be physically possible to perform just like he said. Covering a whole castle is a lot of ground to spread yourself over which if he didn't hold the power I thought he did would've ripped his body apart but he came out just fine." Gwrthfyr gave the other man a look that said he knew what he was talking about because he had done his research into the matter.

"So you were testing him?" Altoris said surprised that he would risk something that had seemed so precious to him. Thinking of the fact that the collar could only be used once. If the boy had died from his injuries it would have been completely wasted.

"I was right wasn't I?" Gwrthfyr spoke with confidence. " I need you to take these to be sent out as soon as possible."

The king pushed his missives towards Altoris who took them grudgingly. He knew when his presence was no longer desired.

…

Altoris was grumbling to himself as he was making his way back from where the messenger hawks were kept.

He was surprised when he was suddenly dragged into an alcove. His first instinct was to fight his way out of the hold of who ever decided to accost him but then he realized the hands were feminine.

Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness since there were no candles he looked down into the face of Matilda, who didn't look very pleased.

"Princess, what can I do for you?" Altoris asked curiously not trying to escape her grip.

"I want to know what's going on with Merlin. I know father includes you in everything." Matilda glared. She had been furious when she was just brushed off as soon as they arrived back.

"You know I'm not allowed to disclose that information." Altoris tried to reason with the girl.

Matilda un-gripped his tunic and put her arms around his neck. " You can break the rules for once, for me?" She spoke in a sultry tone as she glanced up at him under her eyelashes.

Altoris knew the princess' methods for getting what she wanted often included seduction and the thing she wanted wasn't him but information. He removed her arms from his person. "I'm not going to fall for that, if I'm going to give you information you'll have to offer me something more concrete."

Matilda dropped her seductress act. She knew it was a long shot to work on her father's informant but she thought she'd try any way. It was killing her to know what was really going on around here and this man was her best, if only, chance. "What do you want in return?"

Altoris had to think about it. There was no way he could accept sexual favors from the princess since if her father ever found out he would kill him. The king knew about his daughter's exploits but I was someone he trusted and it would be seen as betrayal.

"I want you to put a good word in for me to your lady in waiting." He saw no reason why he couldn't get sexual favors from someone else out of this but was hoping for an actual relationship.

"You're interested in Dye." Matilda stopped to think about this. The women in question were her best friends so she also had her best interest in mind. Dye always disagreed with her exploits and followed the rules, which was what Altoris did too. He was actually good looking and had a high station. "Deal."

"You better keep your end of the bargain." Altoris threatened. Sighing in indignation that he was actual going to do this.

"Yeah yeah, tell me everything." Matilda demanded.

...

Merlin was dieing…of boredom.

He was so used to hardly having time to sleep since he was so busy trying to do Arthur's chores or saving his life. The standstill he was at right now was making him very jumpy. In Camelot he was always on his feet, running somewhere or other.

Merlin was passing from one end of the room to the other. Starring at the only exit.

He'd been up for hours now but no one had made an appearance yet except the servant who had woken him close to dawn. It felt close to dinnertime now. There was no way for him to actually tell though unless he could ask someone the time but since there was none here that was quit impossible.

Merlin was a very social person and he needed human contact to survive, or at least a dragon. Something he could talk to and banter with. Just the sight of a guard would be nice. He'd be talking to himself before long if someone didn't come through that door soon.

The lack of windows was very disconcerting. Feeling so cut off from the world. He had no idea what was happening in the king's mind or what he was planning to do with him. He'd give all this luxury away if he could just see some sunlight. Merlin would rather be in an actual prison cell. At least they had a view of the outside more often than not.

The suspense of not knowing the next time the king was going to walk through the door was killing him, or if he'd even come at all this day. Would his visits only be sporadic and not routinely done every day? Only come when he needed something. Was this how he was going to live out the rest of his life? Trapped in a box with no escape.

The warlock was starting to wonder if he'd been forgotten about. They'd kidnapped him to use his powers and they'd already used it to create a magical barrier for protection. Is that all they wanted him for? Was his purpose already spent? Would they soon completely forget about him and stop bringing food.

Merlin knew he was being over dramatic but he was a prisoner so he thought he was allowed that.

He left his guard at the door to see if he could find a book to entertain his mind. He'd discovered earlier that the king had ordered a whole wall worth of magic books to be brought in. When the warlock went back through the dinning room on his way back to the front door he was greeted with his dinner.

The servant had already come and gone without making any noise and within the ten minutes he had been gone. He'd had a small hope that he could convince the boy to stay and talk to him. The only guaranteed human contact for the rest of the day and he'd missed it.

No one else visited him that day.

...TBC