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It took all of Merlin's self control not to immediately rush over to Arthur. But he knew from the way the prince had reacted before and from what he could remember Gaius once telling him, he knew it would be a mistake. He had to give Arthur time, wait until the man was feeling comfortable with Merlin's presence. He knew it might be helping his friend, but it was killing the warlock. Instead, he did the one thing he knew Arthur wouldn't have seen much of over the last eight months. He smiled gently at him.

"Hey." He shuffled a little closer, making sure the fire stayed between them, but he wanted to be able to judge Arthur's reactions. He wanted to see how much of his prince was still left. Arthur's eyes followed Merlin's movement, and for a moment, he did tense, but when it was clear there was no threat, he relaxed again. The tears were spilling over now, his shoulders trembling slightly, but still not a sound came from him. Merlin suddenly couldn't wait for Gaius to get here.

"It's okay, Arthur. You're going to be okay, I promise. You are safe now. See, just clumsy old me here now. Just like the old days, remember? When you dragged me hunting, moaning the whole time about your armour not being clean enough or the crossbow not oiled to your satisfaction? Remember? We'll be doing it again soon most likely." Keeping his voice low and reassuring, Merlin had no idea if it was doing anything to calm down the silently sobbing prince. He knew that it was going to be at least four days until Gaius arrived, given their distance and the fact they would be relying on Rand to remember where they were.

It took what felt like an age to the warlock, but finally, Arthur's tears slowed. He went back to staring into the fire, and Merlin wished he could do something, anything, to get rid of the haunted look in his eye. He would use whatever magic he could, regardless of whether Arthur would see him or not, but he didn't know what would help. Something told him that this was a situation needing normal solutions to solve it rather than turning to magic.

He was also aware that he desperately needed to do something about Arthur's back. But Gaius hadn't expected Merlin to actually find the prince, especially not in this state, and Merlin was already running low on supplies. He had cleaned it up the best he could, but didn't know how to dress it with what he had left. Instead, he just knew he had to keep it as clean as possible until the physician arrived.

That was precisely what Merlin did. He spent the next two and a half days desperately trying to patch Arthur up the best he could. He slept in odd fits when his body gave up, but never let himself sleep for long, knowing that Arthur wasn't able to escape reality in the same way and he hated leaving him like that. His magic was being used in every way he could. Anything from cleaning out the bandages, shielding himself from Arthur's gaze by simply turning his back so the prince couldn't see. There was a magical shield around their small camp, intending to warn him of any intruders or anything that might possibly be a threat. He even used it for hunting more than once, but no matter how much he tried to tempt Arthur, the prince wouldn't eat anything. Nor would he accept the water Merlin offered him, and not wanting to force him, Merlin didn't push. He knew the burn would keep Arthur alive. They had wanted him alive for a reason, and Merlin –whilst not trusting the men - did trust the power of the magic to carry on doing that. Let Gaius be the one to force Arthur, Merlin would not.

He was limited to when the prince would allow him to approach. On some occasions, Arthur's mind almost seemed to just blank out, and Merlin would take his chance, getting as much done. Even if it was something as simple as just using his magic to protect their clearing a little more whilst Arthur was paying no attention to his surroundings. But when Arthur's blue eyes snapped onto his, Merlin knew to back off. That was when Arthur would flinch away, and on the morning of the third day, he even pushed himself backwards away from Merlin. Whilst it hurt to see the look of fear in the once confident eyes, Merlin was pleased. It meant something in the prince was obviously feeling better enough to warrant trying to escape. But it also meant he had yet to truly accept that he was safe.

Every time Merlin contemplated the burn, he found he truly had no idea what to do about it. He simply didn't know how to remove it, knowing he could be making things worse rather than better. Hating that he couldn't rid Arthur of the magic, he knew that was one thing that was going to have to wait for Gaius. It felt like a very long few days, but finally, Merlin caught the sound his ears had been straining for over the last few hours. Hooves.

A grin immediately split over Merlin's tired face. He could easily distinguish five different sets, and he knew there was more mingled in that he just couldn't pick out. He had been attempting to clean Arthur's back again, knowing the prince had been in one of his zoned out moods. So when Arthur flinched violently, shrinking back into Merlin, the warlock knew he too had heard the hooves.

"It's alright. It's just the Knights. And Gaius. They're here to take you home." Even so, Merlin knew it showed how far Arthur had come. He hadn't tried to shy away from contact, only the new-comers. In fact, he had done the opposite, seeking out Merlin. The warlock couldn't stop the smile on his face growing. There was hope yet.

Gwaine and Lancelot arrived first, drawing their mounts up the second they caught sight of the pair by the fire. Gwaine swung down from his saddle, took two steps towards them and stopped. The colour drained from his face and he seemed to almost visibly sway.

"Fuck."

Merlin never thought a word had been so appropriate as it did right then, and he couldn't help but smile tightly at his friends, bringing his hand to rest on the back of Arthur's head in an attempt to comfort the man. Arthur had gone rigid at the new-comers, and Merlin could see his feet were scrabbling slightly, clearly trying to get a foothold so that he could back away.

"Its okay, Arthur. They won't hurt you, I promise." Merlin turned apologetic eyes on the pair. "Mind not coming any closer?"

"Merlin, what happened?" Lancelot's voice was soft and full of concern when he took in the state of the prince. Merlin shook his head, not wanting to go into it yet. If this was the reaction now, he didn't want to know how they were going to react when they discovered Arthur had been flogged, let alone what Dunran had done.

"Sire!" Leon's soft exclamation of horror announced his arrival as he, Percival and Elyan trotted into the area, Gaius and Rand right behind them. Merlin caught Rand's eye and smiled his gratitude. The rest of the Knights dismounted, but seemed to realise Gwaine and Lancelot were moving no closer and followed their lead, for which Merlin was eternally grateful.

"Rand? He knows you, do you think..?" Merlin couldn't look at the Knights as Rand slipped forward. It was their duty to protect the prince, and yet Merlin wasn't letting them near, instead handing him over to a complete stranger. The warlock knew that if anyone was going to be able to approach Arthur though, it would be Rand.

He wasn't in luck though. As Rand approached, Arthur flinched back again, and immediately his eyes rolled in his sockets as his back came into connection with Merlin.

"Magic!" Leon spat, and Merlin knew the burn would be flaring into life, dragging the prince back into reality. Merlin quickly pulled away, making sure none of the wounds stuck to his shirt, and rolled Arthur onto his stomach. He left one hand against the back of the blond's head, making sure Arthur knew he was still there, and reached for the cloth he had been using before with the other.

"What have they done?" Elyan's whisper broke through the stunned silence, and Merlin looked up with pain filled eyes of his own when he took in the expression of the Knights, of his friends. They were all staring at Arthur's mangled back in sheer disgust and horror. Luckily, even with all the movement, the blanket had remained draped over Arthur. Merlin had no desire for them to witness how far the abuse had gone.

"Give me the wineskin." Gwaine suddenly demanded, breaking out of the almost trance he seemed to have slipped into when he caught sight of Arthur's back.

"I really don't think..." Lancelot began, but Gwaine strode past him, snatching the item from Lancelot's saddle. Without waiting to see what the reaction was going to be, he strode forward. Merlin increased the pressure on Arthur's head, not only restricting his movement, but offering him a comforting force to focus on. He knew what Gwaine was about to do. In all credit to the Knight, he paused before he did it, eyes seeking out Gaius. The physician squinted across the clearing at the shaking prince, and nodded.

Gwaine immediately upended the wineskin. The red liquid sloshed over the wounds on Arthur's back, and he immediately arched, writhing away. Although the set of Gwaine's jaw showed he didn't want to be doing this, he didn't let up until he had washed down the prince's back. Merlin nodded his thanks as the Knight finally stepped away again. He had been wishing from the very beginning he had something more than water to treat Arthur's wounds, but as Arthur continued to writhe under his hand, he was glad he hadn't. He would have never been able to wash down the wounds like that knowing how much it would hurt the prince, even if he knew how much cleaner they would have been.

"Blimey, how the hell did he not scream at that, I would have." Gwaine couldn't help muttering as he walked back to the horses, tossing the now empty skin back over to Lancelot. The Knight caught it without even blinking before offering him a slightly sheepish and apologetic grin, which Gwaine returned, clapping the man on the shoulder as he passed. Merlin caught Rand's eye.

"He doesn't scream at anything, Gwaine."

"Merlin, I know you believe in the guy, but seriously? Even Arthur has to feel..."

"He doesn't make a sound." Rand interrupted, studying the floor as the Knights turned to look at him, his head bowed. Merlin felt a flash of anger shoot through him. The man was clearly so used to submission he couldn't even face the one group Merlin knew he was more than a servant around. He was one of them, regardless of status, and suddenly swore to himself that he would make Rand feel the same. It was the least he could do for the man.

"What do you mean?" Merlin didn't think he had ever heard Sir Leon sound so uncertain, so scared as he did right then.

"It doesn't seem to matter what's going on around him, he won't make a sound." Merlin sought out Gaius's eyes as he spoke, and the physician stepped forward, a look of extreme sadness crossing his face.

"A reaction of someone who has undergone something traumatic. It's a way of protecting his mind."

"Will he speak again?" Gwaine asked bluntly, eyes also fixed on the physician. Gaius sighed, suddenly sounding incredibly old.

"That's up to him. Merlin, I need to talk to you. I need to know what his injuries are."

"I can't leave..."

"Merlin." Gaius's firm tone caught Merlin's attention, and he suddenly realised quite how understanding the physician's gaze was. Gaius had seen enough of Arthur's injuries and behaviour to know there was something much deeper going on than what his ward was going to admit to in front of the Knights. Merlin felt his eyes fill with tears once more at the look Gaius was giving him. He knew.

"Arthur?" Merlin crouched down so that he could see eye-to-eye with the broken man. "I just need to move to one side. Your friends are here though. Gwaine and Lancelot. Leon, Elyan and Percival. They are going to help. And Rand. You know Rand, you helped him..."

Gaius gently moved forward, taking Merlin's arm and pulling him away from the prince. He knew that given the choice, the boy still wouldn't leave him. Gaius manoeuvred the pair of them over to the far side of the clearing. "Merlin, what happened?"

Merlin looked at the ground. He couldn't bring himself to look his mentor in the eye. "I think I killed a load of them." He muttered quietly, feeling ashamed of letting his magic lash out like that. "They were all paying...for eight months they've been paying to have a chance to beat him. I should have found him in time, I should have done something. I was just so angry..."

"Merlin, your powers are great, you must be careful." Gaius chided gently, but he couldn't bring himself to mean it. He hadn't even begun an examination of the prince to know they were going to be lucky to ever be able to heal the once proud Pendragon. Whoever had done this deserved nothing less than what Merlin had thrown at them, and the physician just wished he had been there to see it when the warlock unleashed his power. There were times when even he was not above revenge.

"I know..." Merlin mumbled miserably, sitting heavily down on a small log at the edge of the clearing and staring back over at Arthur. Rand was managing to get in his eye line without Arthur turning away, but the rest of the Knights were keeping well back. It was almost as if they were scared of going closer, scared of having to see quite what state their prince was in. If he was honest, Merlin couldn't believe how used to Arthur's condition he had become in the few days he had been on his own with the prince. He had had no choice but to get used to it.

"Merlin? I need to know. What can you tell me about what they have done to him?"

"They had these whips," Merlin whispered, his hands clenching when he remembered how it felt to hold it in his hand, knowing precisely what they expected him to do with it. He felt Gaius tense beside him. "The room was in complete darkness, I only knew he was there because I could sense him. No one was allowed to talk to him, and definitely not say his name. But they were allowed to vent their frustrations." He didn't realise he was beginning to tremble, images of finding the state the prince was in playing across his mind. Vividly, the position of Dunran when he had first blasted the man away sprung to mind, and before he could react, Merlin found himself retching violently.

Gaius moved next to him, rubbing his back soothingly, but keeping the Knights away with just a mere wave of his hand. They respected his judgement to know when not to interfere. Finally, Merlin regained a little control, sitting up with streaming eyes. His tremors were more visibly now, and Gaius reached out a gnarled hand, closing it with surprising strength over Merlin's, steadying him.

"It's alright, my boy." His voice was soft and gentle, yet firmly reassuring at the same time. If he was honest, he was just as worried about his ward as he was about the prince. Merlin didn't seem to realise how little he had eaten and slept over the last few days, especially considering the amount of magic he had been using.

"No, Gaius, it's not." Even Merlin's voice was shaking now, tears sliding thick and fast when he considered what Arthur must have gone through whilst Merlin was scouring the countryside looking for him. "There was this one man... he..."

"Merlin, what is it?"

"Gaius, they raped him." As if he had suddenly realised what he had said, Merlin gasped, locking eyes with Gaius and seeing the horror, shock and outrage spring into the old man's eyes.

Merlin couldn't hold back the anguish he had gone through over the last eight months, if not longer. Before he knew what was happening, his body was pitching forward. Despite it only being a very short distance towards the ground, he was out cold before he hit it. Gaius had dived forward the second he realised what was happening, but his old body wasn't quick enough.

Instead, he just had to watch as his ward hit the floor, knowing there was nothing he could do for the boy. Arthur was the only one with the power to heal Merlin now.