The disadvantages of being an illegal warlock
Merlin felt incredibly stupid for not having thought of it sooner - he was a warlock - he didn't have to be in this situation, he could escape these thugs with just a few flashes of golden eyes and a few spells. He could hear a rather patronizing voice in his head telling him what an idiot he was being, and although it sounded suspiciously like Arthur's voice - he had to agree with it anyway. Merlin guessed that he was just so used to hiding his magic by now that he just didn't use it as much as he probably should.
"Abricaþ benda" muttered the boy, he felt the ropes around his wrists snap and he pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his sore skin and quickly going over to the cell door. "Abanne átí" The door swung open with a few clicks and Merlin slipped outside into the stone corridor. He started down the corridor to his left, letting his shaky feet carry him as fast and as quietly as he could but -
"STOP!" yelled a voice from behind him. Merlin broke into a limping sprint, his leg wound and his broken ankle searing with blinding pain with every single step.
Merlin heard the guards pursuing him and knew that he wouldn't be able to outrun them, so he turned a shouted a spell into the faces of the very surprised men. "Ic þé wiþdrífe," The men flew backwards - crashing into walls and each other, Merlin gave a small apologetic smile to the unconscious men "Sorry." Although they were probably trying to kill him, he still felt kind of bad about it, he didn't like violence really.
Merlin turned just as something hard hit him in the side of the head, he staggered with a yell of pain, blinking to try to get rid of the black and red spots forming in his vision. He looked up to see Cenred striding towards him, and realised that what had hit him had been the well aimed pommel of one of Cenred`s daggers. "So you're a sorcerer then Merlin?" said Cenred with a slight frown crossing his darkly handsome features. "Why live in Camelot then? Why serve the Pendragons? They should be your enemies not your masters. You're obviously quite powerful, why don't you come and serve me instead?"
Merlin coughed harshly and spat at Cenred
"I lived in your kingdom for most of my life and you know what? When my village was attacked, you did nothing. It was Arthur who came to help Ealdor - not you. So no, I don't think I will join you - and you can find someone else to over polish your leathers." Merlin was sweating with the effort of staying upright - his head wound was making him feel dizzy and he could feel something hot and wet trickling down the side of his face.
Cenred growled with irritation and said in a very quiet and rather dangerous voice. "You'll regret that, serving boy." Before Merlin even had the chance to try a spell, Cenred had stepped forward and struck Merlin once more, he felt the blow come into contact with his chest and felt something crack with a rather sickening snapping sound. The boy collapsed onto the cobblestones in pain and only vaguely heard Cenred order his men to take Merlin back to his cell. The pain made it nearly impossible to focus enough to try another spell as he was dragged back down the corridor, but he managed to choke out one last insult.
"You're awfully sensitive about your appearance aren't you?"
That was the last straw for Cenred, he roared with anger and grabbed Merlin by the throat, slamming him into the wall. Merlin choked as the king's fingers closed around his neck, squeezing just enough to make him gasp for air, but instead of strangling him - Cenred drew his knife and cut off the boy's neckerchief. Merlin stared at him in confusion and pain, as the leather clad king balled up the sky blue material in his free hand and wiped it across Merlin's head, eliciting a hiss of pain from the raven haired boy. The material came off with a dark red smear, that Merlin realized was his own blood.
Cenred released Merlin who collapsed, gasping and coughing for air to the floor once more, the guards picked his limp form up roughly and continued dragging him back to his cell. The king smiled savagely - he had a letter to write.