Author's note: Sorry for the late update. Thanks to Teekalin, mersan123, Signal27, CamJ, Greenday-girl (Guest) and Charles Chuku for their awesome reviews. I am a little depressed right now which is perfect for writing this super-angsty chapter. Rating is T for description of severe torture.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Chapter 5

The Inquisition

When Aren landed softly on the ground, Merlin ran towards the prince and took him in his arms. The prince was still sleeping . He must have been enchanted by a strong spell. Merlin thought. At least he was now safe. Merlin placed a soft kiss on Aren's forehead. Then , he heard the king's voice.

"Get away from my son," Arthur's voice boomed .

A sudden impact hit Merlin. He realized what he had done. He had used magic in front of the king, in front of at least 200 soldiers who were all petrified. All of their eyes were fixed on Merlin and the king. They were waiting nervously to see what happened next.

Merlin knew that Arthur would find out his secret one day. But never in his wildest dreams , he imagined that the revelation of his greatest secret would be this public. But he needed to explain himself. Arthur would be furious, he knew. But he was sure that Arthur would understand. No matter how many times he called him 'Just a servant', he believed deep inside his heart that Arthur counted him as his best friend. Arthur would understand. He would surely understand. Merlin told himself in his mind over and over again. He stood up from his croutching position , Aren in his arms. He came forward and gave Aren to Arthur. Arthur took his son but his eyes never left Merlin. Merlin then spoke. His voice was shaking. "Arthur. I can explain."

Arthur was glaring dagger at Merlin. He said, " I don't need any explination. I can understand everything perfectly. You're a bloody sorceror. You're a criminal."

Merlin's heart sank. No. No. No. Arthur couldn't say that to him. He was his king. He was his friend. He couldn't. Merlin fell to his knee. He spoke again. This time his voice was pleading. " Please, Arthur. I can explain. Just give me a chance." Tear ran down Merlin's face.

Arthur shouted at the top his voice, " I will not play into your hand, you traitor. You have fooled me all the time. But I will hear you. You will stand trail in front of all of Camelot for your crime."

Merlin's face lit up with hope. At least he would have a chance. And that was enough. He would be able to make at least Arthur understand that he was not a monster.

Then Arthur spoke again," But you're too dangerous to be conscious and unrestrained. Mordred, knock him out."

Gwaine then shouted," Have you gone mad, princess? You can't do that to Merlin. Just let him explain. He has served you for eight bloody years loyally. And this is how you repay him? You can not do that."

"YES, I CAN. AND I WILL. Sir Galahad, knock Sir Gwaine out." Arthur shouted back.

Sir Galahad was standing behind Gwaine. He quickly hit and knocked Gwaine out before he could do anything rash.

"Restrain Sir Gwaine and put him in the prison carraige with other saxon prisoners ," Arthur commanded after Gwaine fell unconscious.

A soldier shackled Gwaine and another two took him away to put him in a prisoner carraige as Arthur said.

Merlin was horrified seeing what was happening before him. He shouted, " What are you doing? You are hurting your own friends. "

" First of all, Merlin , you are a fraud. So, you are not my friend. And second, Gwaine tried to protect you which means he's a traitor too. He's got what he deserved. And after your trail , I am sure you will get what you deserve too." Arthur said.

Merlin flinched hearing Arthur's voice. This was not Arthur speaking. It was Uther's voice he heard. He felt useless. But he was determined to face Arthur's trail and make him understand that all magic was not evil. So, he abstained from using magic to help Gwaine. ' No matter what happens, I will not let Arthur become a second Uther,' he promised to himself.

"Mordred, why are you standing there and doing nothing? Knock out the sorceror. " Arthur said.

Mordred was standing still. His facial expression was a mixture of sadness and fear. Merlin couldn't understand why he was sad. He should be happy seeing his hater defeated and helpless. Then why Mordred was sad ? Merlin thought.

Arthur also saw Mordred's expression. He was confused. Merlin never liked Mordred. So, why was he hesitating to follow the order ? This was confusing to Arthur. Then, Mordred moved towards Merlin and knocked him out by hitting his head with the pommel of his sword. But before Merlin was knocked out, his eyes grew wider for a second which confused Arthur furthermore. 'I must talk to Mordred first, after I reach Camelot.' Arthur took a mental note. After that, Arthur looked towards his soldiers and ordered them to get ready to return to Camelot.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

When the army returned, Gwen was waitnig at the courtyard anxiously. But all her worries were gone, when she saw Aren riding back with his father. She ran towards Arthur's horse and took Aren in her lap and kissed her son.

" I was so worried, Aren. Where have you been?" Gwen asked.

" Uncle Merl took me to battle," Aren replied.

Everyone was shocked hearin Aren. Arthur's anger rose instantly. He said to Aren with a dangerous tone, " What did he do?"

Aren gulped down and stuttered, " H-he t-tt-old me to come with h-him. Sa-aid it will be fun. S-so I went."

Arthur's anger rose to high heaven. He told Aren to go back to his room. Then he turned to Mordred and said, " Come with me in the council chamber. I need some answers from you." He turned to Gwen and said, " Make sure nobody disturbs us."

Gwen was at a loss what to say. She never saw Arthur this much angry before. Not even on that night before their wedding. So, she just nodded and walked away with Aren in her lap.

Arthur signaled Mordred to follow him and Mordred obeyed leaving an astonished crowd of soldiers in the castle courtyard. Everyone was so mesmerized by the short drama between the royals that nobody noticed the golden eyes of the Druid boy when Aren was speaking to the king.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Arthur and Mordred reached the council room a few minutes later. Arthur told the guards to close the door and leave them. Arthur told Mordred to take a seat. After Mordred sat, Arthur asked him directly , " Why were you hesitating to obey my order? I saw fear and sadness in your eyes . Why? Merlin never liked you. You two were never friends . So, why did you hesitate?"

Mordred took a deep breath and said, " May I speak freely, sire?"

Now Arthur knew something was definately wrong . He needed to know everything. So he said, " Of course. Please go on."

Mordred began, " Before I left for Camelot , Morgana told me that there was an accomplice of her inside Camelot. She told me that he would help me to assassinate you. I didn't tell you because I didn't know who the traitor was. Morgana didn't tell me. She didn't trust me fully. She told me to kill you to gain her trust. I also didn't tell you because I was afraid that if he knew that his cover was blown, he would take some drastic actions. When I saw Merlin performing magic , I knew he was the traitor. But it confused me. Why would he try to save Aren, if he betrayed you? Now I think that he realized that he and Morgana would lose after my defection. Morgana told me that he was a very bad assassin. She said that he tried to kill you even before she turned against Camelot. But he failed so many times. After Morgana turned evil, he met her at the forest of Ascetir and forged an alliance. He tried to kill you all at the first retaking of Camelot by ringing the warning bell. But Lancelot spilled the blood from the cup of life and his plan failed. That was just one of his many foiled attempts to kill you. Morgana just told me this one and said that I would be a much better assassin than him. She told me that if I went to the lake of Avalon after the day of my arrival at night , he would meet me there and help me. But you know what I did. I believe he used magic to save Aren whom he kidnapped himself so that youu could trust him with his magic. And when you let your guard down, he would kill you using magic. I hesitated because I was afraid sire. Morgana told me that he was a powerful magician. I was afraid that he might hurt me if I tried to arrest him. I also felt sad thinking about you that you would be heart-broken. I still can't believe that it was Merlin who betrayed you. But you must be strong. I believe he sent a message to Morgana before our attack. That's why we couldn't find her. It is my belief that if you interrogate him, you might be able to know of Morgana's whereabouts. But you must hurry to succeed"

Arthur was fuming with rage. He was shocked. But everything Mordred said about made sense. He was sad at first knowing that Merlin had betrayed him. But now he was furious. Mordred was right. He must be strong and he couldn't waste any time. He rose from his throne and said," Thank you, Mordred. You have opened my eyes. I will never forget your loyalty. I am indebted to you. You're right. We must not waste time if wewant to win against Morgana. Go and bring Sirs Galahad, Mirwin and Randolph to me . I have a task for them."

Mordred nodded and hurriedly went out. A few moments later, the said knights entered with Mordred. They bowed and said, " You called for us, your highness ? "

Arthur said, " Yes. You are my father's most trusted knights. You used to interrogate and torture sorcerors at the most vicious way as possible. You are the remnant of ' The Inquisition' after I disbanded it last year deeming your methods very cruel. But I am afraid I am in your need of assistance. I want you to take my ex-servant to the cell of the dragonlords, block his magic and interrogate him about the hideout of Morgana. Use any means necessary to wring out the truth out of him. I want result in three days. From this day on, I reinistate ' The Inquisition '. Off you go now. I need some time alone."

The knights listened to his orders and said, " We will break the sorceror. Don't worry, your majesty. "

They all left giving the king a short bow. After that, Mordred left also with a smirk on his face which almost looked like Morgana's ' The Trademark Smirk ' .

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Merlin woke up the first time, he was sitting at the prison carraige. He was given a meagre amount of food to sustain himself. After a week, they reached Camelot. He thought that he would stand trail soon. But when he was dragged out of the carraige , two guards approached him and knocked him out again. When he regained his consciousness, he couldn't understand where he was. He was shackled to the wall in a standing position. His entire body was in pain. He blinked and his vision became clearer. After looking around, he recognized the place and fear gripped him. He only heard about this place from Gaius' mouth but he knew that his assumption was correct. He was at the cell of the dragonlords. He tried to free himself from the shackles using magic. But he couldn't feel his magic inside him. When he tried to reach out for his magic, he felt a sharp pain burning around his neck. He realized that he was collered . And the coller was runed which restrained his magic. He tried to use magic again but again he was hit by agonizing pain. He gasped and began to take heavy breath. He couldn't help but thinking about how the dragonlords had felt when they had been shackled just like him on that fateful night twenty years ago. Nobody knew how did the mighty dragonlords become Uther's prisoners. Merlin asked Gaius but his answer raised more questions in Merlin's mind.

Flashback

After defeating Killgharrah, Merlin asked Gaius how Uther destroyed entire dragon race when he couldn't defend his city against a single dragon. Gaius answered, " Something unexplainable happened . Before the great purge, The Isle of Men was the base of the dragonlords just as The Isle of the Blessed was the base of the High Priestess. Uther tried to ambush the dragonlords at night when they were all sleeping. He was confident that he would defeat the dragons and their lords. He said that he had a powerful ally who would help him. But the ambush didn't go as planned. Your father was flying with The Great Dragon that night at the ouskirt of the Dragon Fortress. He saw Uther's army approaching and alerted his kins. When Uther came, the dragonlords were prepared and even with the might of the entire army on Uther's back, he began to lose. But suddenly , a black fog covered the isle. After the fog vanished, it left the dragonlords without their magic and the dragons immobalized. Your father and Killgharrah was the only one who were not caught in the fog as they were fighting at the outer part of the isle. They fled when when the began to consume the isle. With dragons immobalized and the dragonlords magicless, Uther's army was soon victorious. He and his soldiers killed every single dragons, destroyed every dragon eggs and imprisoned every dragonlords and thrown them into a special anti-magic cells which is now called 'The Cell of the Dragonlods'. Then Uther sent a message to your father that he wanted to negociate and threatened if your father hadn't come, then he would have killed all the dragonlords . Your father came and what happened next you know. But even today, I still don't know what actually happened. What I told you now was heard from Uther's mouth. And he didn't tell me who was the myterious ally that helped him conquering the dragons. " And from that Merlin always wondered who was truly responsible for the downfall of the dragonlords.

Flashback ends

Bang.

A loud sound disrupted Merlin's reminiscence. He looked up and saw three knights entering the cell. He knew them. Sir Galahad, Sir Mirwin and Sir Randolph. They were infamous for their torturing skills.

'No. No. No. This can't be happening. Arthur promised me a trail. He can't betray me like that. He is my friend. There's surely been a mistake. ' Merlin thought.

So, he mustered his courage and said, " When I will face the trail?"

" There's not going to be a trail, you sorceror scum. His majesty knows all about you. You'll now tell us where your mistress Morgana is or we'll do it the hard way. " Mirwin spat at him.

" What ? Morgana is not my mistress. I don't know where she is. Please just let me talk to Arthur."

The answer he got was a punch in the gut. And then it began. Merlin's three days of hell on earth.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

They tortured Merlin continuously . He was asked the same question again and again. " Where is Morgana?" The answer was always the same. "I don't know." The only time he was not tortured was during the meal time. The knights retired themselves for approximately thirty minutes three times a day to have their meals. Otherwise, he was tortured all the day. None of his friends came to see him. The only one who showed him kindness was the one whom he never expected, Mordred. The young knight came and told him that how sorry he was and that he was trying his best to knock some sense into Arthur and told him that everything was going to be okay. At first, Merlin was sceptical about Mordred's honesty. But soon his suspicion began to dissipate. He began to become greatful for the boy's kindness. The knight brought him food and fed him, helped him to relieve himself. The short times with the knight were the only times when Merlin was spared the cruelty of the knights.

On the first day, he was beaten for two hours by an iron rod without a break. Then all twenty nails of his hands and feet were ripped out. After that, he was whipped one hundred times. He was also kicked on the groin several times. Merlin yelped in agony, begged them to stop, told them that he didn't know where Morgana was and that he was not the traitor. But they didn't stop. And beside the agonizing pain, there was only one thought that whirled inside his mind.

He betrayed me.

He betrayed me.

He betrayed me.

The torture didn't stop until midnight. Then the knights left the cell threating that they would break him tomorrow for sure. Merlin was utterly exhausted and his whole body was in pain. His back was ripped apart, bloods trickling down from his hands and feet and from several places. He soon lost consciousness and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

The second day was worse. The knights were getting desperate. They began to cut Merlin's face with a jagged stone knife and asked the same question. The answer was nothing but a whimper. Then a red hot iron rod which bore the Pendragon insignia was pressed on his chest which left a huge burn mark resembling the dragon of the Camelot flag. Merlin lost all sense of pain by the midday. He didn't know what kind of torture was practised on him after that. He knew if he didn't have magic , he would have been dead by now. His magic was the only thing that kept him alive. And for the first time in many years, he wished he didn't have magic. When he was left alone for that day, he soon fell asleep with only one heartbreaking thought in his mind.

He betrayed me.

The third day was the worst. When he was awoken by the knight, he was told that he would be broken today no matter what. But the knights didn't know that Merlin was already broken. Still, he was tortured. The knights covered his face and pressed him down into a bucket. Merlin felt like drowning, dying. But he was not given the pleasure. He was pulled out and asked the same question. He didn't have the strength to answer. So, then the desperate inquisitorial knights took desperate measures. They brought the Nathair from the vault which was left by Morgana after second reconquest. They used it on Merlin. Merlin thought he knew what pain was. But after the biting of the snake, he understood how Elyan felt. His brain was on fire. He screamed at the top of his voice , begged them to stop. Every part of his body was screaming in pain. But there was only one thought that resided in his mind.

He betrayed me.

I will never forgive him.

I will never forgive .

Again when he was questioned that where Morgana was. He remained sobbing and muttering to stop. The knights left furiously and told that they would return and wring out the truth out of him after midnight.

But when the sun went down, destiny took a new turn. As the day came to an end, a person appeared out of wind inside the cell of the dragonlrds. She looked upon the pitiful form of Merlin and couldn't help but smirk. ' Excellent. My plan is working perfectly.' She lowered herself on the ground and began to mutter healing spell. She thought that after tonight, she would be invincible. But she didn't know that there was another one who had other plans. Someone who was even more powerful than the High Priestess of the Triple Goddess.

OOOOOOOOOO

Sorry for any grammatical mistakes. Sorry if this chapter seems rushed and the torture seems less detailed. I am not a specialist in angst . Sorry. Please review. They make me happy. Tell me what do you think about my story about the fall of the dragonlords. Next chapter : Morgana and Merlin : face to face. See you later , Ladies and gentleman.