"Merlin is receiving all the things he would if he was in prison, crap food, in a small room 24 hours a day, the odd beating and unwanted buggering hope you're proud of your job." There was an attached a photo showing a naked Merlin chained up all his ribs showing and covered in bruises. He had obviously lost weight and looked appalling.
Arthur threw up and then phoned the police. Unfortunately the photo offered no clues as to where he was being kept but it did show he hadn't been killed when it was taken. The message had been sent from the London area but that was no help as it didn't mean he was being kept in London or even Britain.
Arthur went out that night and got drunk and it took all of his friends and family to get him home. His health was suffering and although he was managing to work he had lost his previous drive.
Gwaine came back for a visit and he spent several days with Arthur planning what to do next before he set off once more this time to Taiwan.
Merlin was on the move, he thought it was a few weeks since his capture but time meant nothing to him. He had been stripped at some stage and was washed down with a hosepipe on several occasions. On arrival at the next stop he was taken into a building and this time metal cuffs were put round his wrists and his blind fold taken off. He looked round as much as he could but the light, although not bright, hurt his eyes. The chains were attached to a wall and he had enough slack to move around the small room. It had a concrete floor and no windows. There was a toilet in the far corner otherwise the room was empty. Two men stood in front of him.
"This is your new home you will be here for the duration of you sentence which will last as long as our boss's, if you last that long, so get used to it you have Pendragon to blame for this. Now that's the easy bit is over. You need to get used to your new regime" the man sneered and looked Merlin up and down.
"Skinny bugger but never mind at least your pretty enough for now." With that he grabbed Merlin and forced him down on his knees leering at him. The two men then took turns to brutally rape him. Merlin screamed and tried to get away but to no avail. After they had finished his was in a great deal of pain and bleeding. One of the men put two dog bowls on the floor with water in one and some unidentifiable food in the other.
"That's today's ration get used to it and if we hear any noise from this room you will get a beating understood." With that they left shutting the door behind them. There was a small strip of light from around the door otherwise the room as dark. It took a while but his gradually got used to the dim light. Merlin cried himself to sleep he hurt and cold with nothing to cover himself. Each day the men would come into the room and he would either be raped again or beaten or both. It was always the same two men. He learnt from listening to them outside the door that their names were Cendred and Valiant, whether that was their proper names or not he never knew.
One day the beating was so bad that Cendred broke his right leg with the metal bars he was using. Cendred laughed as Merlin tried to move away from him kicking him in the ribs as he tried to move away.
"Don't kill him or the fun will over, anyway Morgause wants him to alive for now" Valiant snarled at Cendred. "I'll get Edwin in to sort it"
With that the two men left him on his own once. Merlin tried to make his self more comfortable by supporting his leg but it didn't matter what he did the pain was too much and he passed out.
Sometime later a different man came to him he said his name was Edwin and that he was a doctor but Merlin had his doubts. Edwin put his leg in some sort of splint to hold it in place as the leg was moved Merlin passed out once more.
Later when he woke Merlin found he still couldn't move as the splint didn't hold the leg very well. It helped a bit with the pain but not much. The beating still continued but with fists and kicks rather than the metal bar. They even tried to rape him but as he passed out with the pain they stopped as it was no fun for them unless he reacted.
After several weeks Edwin removed the splint but Merlin's leg was bent at a strange angle and he couldn't put weight on it. Despite the continuing pain he never received anything to help with it. His life was becoming one lot of pain after another. Sometimes the beating were so bad they split his skin badly Edwin would stitch him up but again with no analgesia or local anaesthetic to dull the pain. He also learnt that if he kept still and silent when he was being raped it was over with quicker. If he was lucky he would be left alone for several days except for when his food and water was delivered.
The only other person he saw was a woman called Morgause who seemed to be in charge. When she visited Merlin she would tell him that Arthur had found someone new and had forgotten about him, and how it was Arthur's fault he was there. He tried hard not to listen to her telling himself that Arthur would never stop looking. She also liked to use a knife to make shallow cuts into his back and chest which she then put vinegar on to increase the pain. Her eyes seemed too light up and if she got a real kick out of his pain.