Thank you so much for the reviews and support, it really means the world to know that this is still being enjoyed. Thank you so much. And a very Happy New Year to you all, may you have an amazing 2016 whatever it might bring.

Arthur had no idea how long he knelt on the floor for. His wrists were bruised and sore from where he had been struggling against the cuffs. But there had been no give in them and he knew there wouldn't be. Eventually, he ran out of energy, aware he had never had the lunch he had come to get. Slumped on the floor, Arthur only knew the passing of time when his room was thrown into first shadow, then darkness. The chains didn't have enough length to reach the candles on the other side of the room.

Shivering – both with fear and cold – Arthur tried not to think about what was happening to Merlin. He wondered what the knights would have reported: would they have told the king about him? Probably. Maybe the king had even questioned Merlin. Arthur hoped his friend gave them whatever they wanted. They had seen him use magic and Nimueh had driven it into his head what the King of Camelot was like about sorcerers. He hoped Merlin made it easy on himself. But he knew his friend and he knew how Merlin thought it was his duty to protect Arthur. He wouldn't have given up his location because a king had asked him. Their loyalty to one another was too strong.

Arthur forced his mind away from his friend and instead thought about Nimueh. For the first time in years, he was afraid of her again. The rage in her face when he said who was looking for him – not to mention the fact Arthur had all his memories – was not a look he would forget any time soon.

He took heart from what she had said though. She said they would leave this place but also that he needed Merlin to be by his side. She would rescue him, she had to. But if she took Merlin, what would Hunith do? Who would tell her that her son was alive? Arthur knew he couldn't let it happen. But hating the witch made would make things too easy, too simple. She was the only guardian he had ever known. He didn't hate her. He had no idea how he felt.

By the time the moon had drifted across the sky enough to make patterns on Arthur's floor, he had fallen asleep. Miserable and cold, sleep had crept up on him and Arthur had done nothing to fight it. Instead, he had surrendered to its grip, hoping it would all be some horrible dream and he would awaken, free from his chains with Merlin laughing at the vividness of his imagination. But when a bang jerked him awake again, it was to find he was still on the floor, still shackled to his wall. Blinking sleep from his eyes, Arthur knelt up awkwardly as he strained to hear. He had no idea if it was Nimueh returning or soldiers coming to take him away.

When the door burst open, Arthur let out a small sob of relief. It was Nimueh. But she wasn't alone. She was holding a very pale Merlin up, but there was no gentleness in her actions as she shoved him into the room. Merlin stumbled and Arthur leapt up. The young warlock was just close enough to be in in reach and Arthur took his arm, carefully drawing Merlin closer.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

For a moment, Merlin didn't answer. Arthur looked up to find the door had shut again and there was a haze shimmering over it. He knew Nimueh had not only locked them in, she had cast some sort of spell to keep Merlin in as well. There were also a few blankets on the floor. But then he felt his friend's fingers ghosting over the cuffs on his wrists. Arthur shrugged him off before twisting his own hands and taking hold of Merlin's wrists, stopping him from pulling away.

"Are you alright?" he demanded. He had never seen Merlin so pale. Merlin started to nod, but then the fifteen year old met Arthur's stare and shook his head instead. Tears were pooling in his eyes and Arthur didn't know what to do.

"They had iron cuffs," Merlin whispered. Arthur stared at him, blank. Merlin sensed his expression and continued, sniffing as he did so. "It blocks magic. They put them on me and I couldn't feel any of my power. I know I don't like it strong but…. I've never felt so helpless, Arthur."

"You're safe now though. You can use magic again."

Merlin shook his head. "Nimueh said it takes time to wear off. I still can't feel it."

Arthur stared at the door and the magic shimmering over it.

"I don't think it's going to take you too long," he murmured. He gestured towards their prison door. "She said we had to move. She obviously thinks your magic will come back before we do."

"But I can't…" Merlin stared at him wildly. "This is my home. My mother…"

"I know." Arthur fell silent, sitting back down on the floor. After a moment, Merlin sat down beside him and bumped his shoulder against Arthur's.

"This isn't your fault, Arthur."

"It's me they were looking for." Arthur didn't need to ask how Merlin knew what he was thinking. They had been friends for a long time, after all. "If you hadn't used magic to protect me, they wouldn't have known to use iron."

"But I'm free of it now. You said it yourself; my magic won't take long to come back."

Arthur might have been reassured if Merlin's voice hadn't wavered as he spoke. They both knew they were trapped and there wasn't anything either of them could do about it. Silence fell and Arthur cleared his throat self-consciously.

"You should try and get some sleep." Arthur nodded to the pile of blankets. "You'll be warm at least."

Merlin grabbed his wrist, turning his hand over as he examined the cuff. Disappointment crossed his expression when he saw there was no keyhole. Arthur tried to smile.

"This isn't your fault either," he said. Merlin looked at him steadily.

"You tried to come after me, didn't you?"

Arthur flushed, avoiding Merlin's gaze. He didn't see his friend move and jumped when Merlin's hand landed on his shoulder.

"Thank you."

"I didn't do much." Arthur couldn't stop the bitterness from flooding his voice. He had trained long and hard with the sword. But what good was that when both Merlin and Nimueh could banish him from somewhere regardless of how he felt about it. He knew Merlin had done it to save him, but Nimueh hadn't. She hadn't wanted him to get in the way and that was that.

"You did more than you think. Do you think she would have come after me if it wasn't for you?" Merlin's words might have been attempting to reassure Arthur. But his voice hitched halfway through and when Arthur looked at him, it was to see Merlin was holding back tears. Arthur shifted.

"Did you see him?" He asked quietly. "My father. Did you see the king?"

Merlin nodded. "He's not going to stop until he has found you. They were all talking about some sort of vision the king had been shown – it's how he knows where you are."

"Nimueh was wrong then," Arthur mused. "He can't hate sorcerers if he is working with one."

Merlin flinched, grabbing Arthur's arm. "No. She's right. You didn't see… the look in his eye, Arthur. They already had iron cuffs. Maybe it was for Nimueh, but he didn't hesitate ordering them on me. He hated me just because of what I could do."

"I don't…" Arthur didn't know what he was going to say. He didn't want to believe that of the man who was his father. But he also knew Merlin wouldn't lie about something like this. After all, the stories of Uther's cruelty towards those with magic had to be founded in some element of the truth. Arthur glanced away, self-conscious.

"Well, he won't get near you again," he finished lamely. "We'll be gone before they even realise that you are missing."

It felt like a death sentence hanging over them both. Arthur knew Nimueh had always kept him safe, even if she had her own reasons for doing so. He knew that wouldn't change; she wouldn't give up now. But did she care whether she got Arthur killed as long as it suited her purpose? She couldn't have taken him in the first place because she cared about him.

"Get some sleep, Merlin," Arthur said, shaking off his thoughts. "You're going to need your strength when your magic comes back."

Merlin didn't argue. He moved to the blankets, immediately throwing one across to Arthur as he made himself comfortable in the others. He fell asleep almost immediately.

Even with the blanket around him, Arthur could get neither comfortable nor warm. There was too much playing over and over in his mind and he sat slumped against the wall as the moonlight drifted across his floor.

As the sky started to lighten, the door opened. Merlin didn't stir and Nimueh was quiet as she entered. Feeling exhausted, Arthur stared at her.

"What do you want?" He said, making sure to keep his voice down so as not to disturb Merlin. Nimueh dropped to her knees opposite him, but it didn't escape Arthur's notice that she was staying out of his reach. The thought was a little comforting – she knew he wasn't helpless even if that was how Arthur felt.

"It's time, Arthur."

"Time for what?"

"For you to take your rightful place. I hoped to have until you came of age, but events have moved against us. It's time for you to take the throne and repeal the ban on magic."

Arthur snorted. Just in time, he swallowed down his next laugh, glancing at Merlin but his friend slept on.

"You can't be serious? There already is a king. I can't take the throne until…" Nimueh was nodding and Arthur stared at her. He swallowed hard, drawing the blanket closer around his shoulders.

"You want me to kill the king."

"He would have killed Merlin if I hadn't got there. He cut him off from his magic. How can you want a king like that to reign? You owe it to your people to free them from such tyranny. You won't be alone. I will assist you. As will Merlin."

"He's a child," Arthur hissed. He knew Merlin's magic was stronger than anyone's, but that wasn't the point. "We both are, really. And what you are talking about is murder."

"It's freedom."

"No."

"You think he will stop searching from you? That he won't torture anyone with magic he comes across until someone gives him your whereabouts? What he would do to Hunith for shielding Merlin for all of these years? You can stop this, Arthur."

"This is absurd," Arthur protested. He drew as far back from her as he could, his back pressing uncomfortably hard against the wall. "I'm not killing anyone."

"I see I've always been too soft on you," Nimueh said. Arthur shuddered at how dark her voice sounded and tried to move even further back when she stood. But if Nimueh noticed, she paid no attention to his fear. Instead, she hissed a word and Arthur yelped. The chains detached themselves from the wall, but yanked his arms behind him and twisted the chains up his arms, binding him until his elbows. A wave of her hand had his feet similarly bound. He didn't give her the satisfaction of crying out; his defiance was all he had left.

Nimueh stalked across the room, shaking Merlin roughly awake.

The warlock cried out when he saw Arthur's position. Before he could scramble up, Nimueh wrenched him back. She placed a hand on his forehead and shouted a word. Arthur was flung backwards from the force of her magic washing over him. But the spell had never been intended for him. Merlin screamed before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. He didn't sit up again.

"What have you done?"

"Bound his power until the time is right."

"What? No!" Arthur stared at the collapsed form of his friend. He tried to rise, but the bindings around his feet stopped him. "You can't do this!"

"I can." Nimueh's voice was calm and she hissed another spell. Arthur wasn't sure what it had done until Nimueh grabbed Merlin and pulled him over her shoulder. There was no way she would normally be able to move the fifteen year old and Arthur struggled fruitlessly. Nimueh left the door open, but it made no difference. Arthur couldn't run. And even if he could, where would he go? The only people who could stop Nimueh were the same ones he had promised to keep Merlin safe from.

She came back for him immediately. The bindings around his feet fell away as Nimueh grabbed his arm. Arthur was hauled upright but the biting grip she maintained on his upper arm meant that he didn't even try pulling away. He felt numb with disbelief as she pulled him from the house. This had been the only home he had ever known. The only life. It had all been a lie. He had dreamt of the day he would tell Nimeuh he knew who he was. He never imagined it would be something like this.

Arthur let himself be led along. Until he knew where Merlin was, there was nothing he could do. His feet dragged in the dirt, leaving clear tracks. He had no idea who might follow them, but it made him feel better. At least, it did until he saw where he was being taken.

Nimueh led him to the few trees that lined the bottom of the garden. Arthur had always been forbidden from going in there and the memory of his punishment the one time he had tried was not one she had removed from his mind. But as his eyes adjusted in the early sun, he saw there was a cage waiting in the trees. Arthur dug his heels in but Nimueh let go of his arm anyway.

She moved around until she was behind him, leaving Arthur standing between her and the cage. Nimueh barked a word, her hand raised towards him. Arthur only had time to yell out before he was blasted off his feet, his back hitting the bars of the cage as the door clanged shut behind him. He spun, realising at the same time the chains had been removed from his arms. His hands gripped at the bars desperately as he yanked, but no matter how hard he tried pulling, the door remained shut. He knew Nimueh must have spelled it like this.

Leaving his hand curled around the bars, Arthur locked eyes with Nimueh as she approached. For so long he had been claiming that he wasn't a child, but a man. Only right now, he felt as young as he did when she had first taken him over her knee for misbehaving.

"What are you going to do?"

"Show you what happens when you defy me. Stay quiet, Arthur, or I will remove your voice. Do not test me."

Arthur didn't dare breathe as she walked away. Then he slumped against the bars and let himself sink down to the cage floor. Nimueh was moving back towards the house, but Arthur knew that wasn't her destination. She had gone to get a horse. Maybe she already had one, stolen from the knights when she had freed Merlin. Thinking of his friend made Arthur look around and he felt relieved when he saw the teenager was slumped on the cage floor. While it worried Arthur no end what Nimueh had done to him, at least if Merlin was with him, Arthur had a better chance of protecting him.

"Hey," Arthur murmured. He knew Merlin couldn't hear him. He kept his voice to a low whisper to make sure Nimueh didn't have grounds to make good on her threat. It made him feel better to be saying something and he pulled himself over to Merlin's prone form. Sitting on the floor, he awkwardly navigated the pair of them around until Merlin's head was cushioned on his leg. Arthur draped his jacket over his friend and stared out of the cage, watching for Nimueh. What would Hunith do when she realised her son was missing? She would come to the cottage, only to find they too were gone. Would she risk asking the knights – if indeed they made their presence known? Arthur wasn't sure; Merlin's secret stopped her from seeking help.

"It's going to be alright," Arthur told Merlin. "I'm going to get us out of this, I swear."

He was glad Merlin was unconscious. Arthur didn't believe himself, let alone expect anyone else too. He was silent when Nimueh returned. She was leading a magnificent horse and Arthur knew she must have stolen it from the knights. No one in the village could afford a creature like that. Arthur stayed quiet as she hitched the beast to the cage before pulling herself into the saddle. She coaxed the horse into a walk and Arthur jerked as the cage started to move. As soon as they were clear of the treeline, however, Nimueh stopped. She lifted her hand and directed her palm at the house.

"Forbaerne!" She cried in a high voice. Arthur gave a yell of horror as a fire-ball erupted from her hand and shot towards the house. There was nothing he could do as she sent another, then a third. Within moments, the whole house was ablaze and Nimueh started the horse moving again.

Arthur knew the smoke would bring people running. But the fire was hot and burning fast. Would they believe they had perished in it? They were too far from the river for them to be able to help. There was nothing Arthur could do but clutch the bars as he watched his childhood home burn.

Numbness spread through him after that. He didn't pay attention to where Nimueh was taking them. He didn't think it mattered. They weren't going to be able to get away from her.

The day wore on and Nimueh didn't stop. She was pushing the horse hard and Arthur knew – regardless of what she said – she was worried about pursuit. If Uther had iron cuffs to control sorcerers, then what else did he have at his disposal? If he had eradicated those with magic, he must have ways of neutralising their power. The trouble was, Arthur didn't know if the thought scared or reassured him.

Nimueh threw in some bread and a water skin when Arthur's stomach started rumbling. But as he took a swig, Arthur was sure Merlin stirred. Nimueh had made it apparent that he wouldn't be waking until she deemed fit. But Arthur knew what he had felt. Shifting so that his body shielded his friend, Arthur trickled some water onto Merlin's face. To his delight, Merlin's expression screwed up and he jerked his head away. Arthur did it again, then was quick to clamp his hand over Merlin's mouth as the boy started to wake properly.

Merlin jerked and thrashed in his grip until his eyes opened and he saw who was holding him down. Arthur removed his hand, pressing a finger to his own lips. Merlin's eyes went wide as he took in their surroundings and he shuddered when he saw Nimueh. But he remained quiet. Arthur was glad he hadn't finished the bread and handed the rest over with the water, making sure his body stopped Nimueh from seeing what was going on if she glanced back.

"Arthur?" Merlin's voice was barely more than a breath. Arthur frowned at him.

"I still can't feel my magic." There was panic in Merlin's whisper and Arthur lent over, grasping his wrist reassuringly.

"I need you," Arthur said. "Nimueh knows that. She won't keep it from you for long, she wouldn't dare."

Arthur knew they couldn't risk talking. But Merlin's eyes widened at hearing that it was Nimueh responsible for his loss of power rather than it still being an affect from the cuffs. Arthur gestured for Merlin to close his eyes again. Nimueh didn't believe he would wake up, so the fact that Merlin had meant Arthur felt she wasn't as in control as she thought.

They stayed silent as the afternoon passed. Arthur was stiff and sore and had a headache from where a pothole had caused him to lose his balance and smash his head against the bars. Nimueh didn't intend to drive on through the night though. She reached a small copse of trees and drew the horse to a stop. Arthur watched in silence as she rubbed down the panting beast and set it to graze. If she was looking after the horse, it meant they still had some distance to go.

"Back up," Nimueh said, approaching the cage. Arthur did so. She reached in, grabbed Merlin's arm and pulled him out. Arthur saw him wince and was surprised Nimueh didn't notice. But she once again put her hand on his forehead and with a flash of her eyes, returned his magic to him. Merlin jerked up with a yell, gold burning in his own eyes as he struggled to control his returning power.

"Breathe through it," Nimueh advised, her hand curled around the nape of his neck. Merlin did so, bringing the magic back under his control. Then he shoved himself away from her and moved towards the cage. Nimueh used magic to shut the door before he got there.

"He stays there," she said. Her voice was like ice. "And if you value the lives of anyone you have ever cared about – including his – you won't free him."

"You won't hurt Arthur." Merlin sounded more confident than a skinny fifteen year old. "You need him."

"I do. But I can make things very unpleasant and painful for him if you don't do as you are told, warlock."

Arthur flinched at the detached note in her voice. It was as if she was someone else entirely, not a woman who had watched them grow up. Merlin clearly thought the same thing for he didn't challenge her. He clearly didn't want to risk it.

"Where are we?" Arthur called. He knew no one was around – Nimueh wouldn't have stopped otherwise. But he assumed that meant her earlier threat no longer applied and he hauled himself across the cage until he was as close as he could get.

"Nowhere you know." Nimueh snapped, but then she relented. "In the morning, the boy and I will enter the Valley of the Fallen Kings."

"And that is..?"

"A place where I can show you your destiny," Nimueh said in response to Merlin's question. "I can assure you, once you have seen the future, you will want to help me."

"No." Merlin backed away until his back was pressed against the cage. Arthur stuck his hand through the bar to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. "You always told me seeing the future was dangerous. That it would drive people mad trying to change fate."

"You're strong enough to master the crystals. You cannot deny that gift, boy. Believe me, once you have seen the future, you will have no wish to change it. You are the key to making Arthur king. You are the reason why he will succeed."

"You're forgetting that I refuse," Arthur called. He didn't want all the attention to be on Merlin – he could feel him shaking beneath his hand. "I won't kill the king."

"Once Merlin had seen what he is destined to do, you won't be saying that." Nimueh didn't sound concerned by his refusal. She lit a fire with a wave of her hand and started pulling out supplies. "Once he has seen the future, Merlin is going to be your voice of reason in making you do as you are told."

Arthur didn't know what to say to that. Neither did Merlin. The younger boy twisted and Arthur could see the fear in his eyes. He tried to smile.

"We'll be fine," he said. He had to believe it. For he was not sure what would happen once the sun rose on a new day.