AN: This is my first FanFic EVER so please be kind with your reviews. It has taken me over a year to talk myself into actually publishing a FanFic, so it is taking A LOT of courage to post this. But I am also very excited about it... I hope you enjoy it. :)

Endure

Chapter 1

Merlin was tired. He had withstood days of hellish treatment; whipping, burning, beatings, but this did not even compare.

"Merlin," Arthur was kneeling next to him. Merlin realized at some point he had sat down. He was so tired he didn't even know when he'd sat. His eyes were drooping; exhaustion pulling at him so heavily that he was hardly aware of anything.

"Merlin," Arthur repeated. Merlin slid his eyes up to meet Arthur's. "You have to stay awake." Arthur gently reminded him.

"Tryin' Arthur. I'm just so tr'd" Merlin slurred in response.

"I know you are. But you don't want the pain to come back do you?" Arthur coaxed.

Merlin's eyes snapped up to meet his King's. His eyes filled with moisture and deep sorrow. "I can't do this much longer Arthur."

Arthur almost felt bad for reminding his servant of the pain that would come but it seemed to have done the trick, for Merlin seemed instantly, if only slightly, more lucid at the reminder.

"You will stay awake as long as I tell you to Merlin. I would make it an order but you never follow them anyway," Arthur replied in a kingly voice but Merlin could tell he was almost pleading with him to listen just this one time.

"Prat," Merlin mumbled.

Arthur huffed a laugh. "That's more like it." There was a long pause where the only sounds they could hear was their harsh breathing and the clinking of Merlin's chains against the dungeons stone floor as he tried to stay awake. "There're coming you know; the knights. They will come for us. We only need to hold out 'til then."

Merlin wanted to respond but he was exhausted. He would have nodded his understanding but the device around his neck discouraged any movement. A metal loop with long, sharp spikes resting precariously against his skin only allowed Merlin the barest of movements without intense pain. The device reminded Merlin of the spiked collars the kennel master would sometimes use on the hounds, only it was inside out. Instead of the spikes sticking out away from the neck, the spikes attached to the neck device were cruelly turned in toward the poor victims neck and locked shut. The collar did not allow Merlin any rest; he could not lie down or even lean his head back on the wall, and as soon as his head drooped the spikes dug painfully into his neck. It was dual torture of pain and sleep deprivation. He guessed their captor had grown tired of his lack of progress after neither Merlin nor Arthur had revealed any information after three days of intense physical torment. The only thing their captor seemed to have gleaned from them was that they were incredibly protective of each other. He decided to take a different approach to acquire the knowledge he desired. That was when he had snapped the neck device around Merlin, thrown them enough rations for three days and simply walked out. For some unknown reason he left Arthur free to roam the cell while Merlin's ankle was still chained to the floor. There was enough chain for Merlin to stand, sit or lay down but not much else. Arthur was not chained to the ground but his hands were still manacled behind his back, making it incredibly difficult to help Merlin in any way.

Arthur sighed; not knowing what he could do to help Merlin was eating him alive. He wanted to give their captor something. He would do anything to help Merlin at this point. There was plenty of inconsequential information he could give their captor. Arthur knew this is exactly what their captor had intended. And once Arthur gave him something, the cycle would only continue. Arthur also knew if he told that man anything, Merlin would never forgive him. So he kept his mouth shut.

"Talk to me," Merlin suddenly blurted into the silence of the dungeon.

"About what?" Arthur asked.

"Anything Arthur. Anything to keep me awake," Merlin pleaded.

"Ok… Tell me about Ealdor." It was the first thing that came to Arthur's mind.

"Ealdor?" Merlin repeated.

"Yes Merlin. Ealdor. What was it like growing up there?"

"Well… It's definitely not Camelot. Do you remember much of it from when the time you were there to fight Canan?" Merlin inquired.

"For the most part," Arthur replied.

"Well, we didn't have much. It was always just Mum and I. That was probably the hardest part. I never minded the work of living off the land. Our village was fairly normal by any standards. There were plenty of kids always running about. Old man Simmons always yelling at everyone about something or other. My mother was our resident healer, although she only knows the basics. There was the village bully, Sampson, and his cronies," Merlin paused his reminiscing for a moment with a wry expression on his face.

"Bet you had a few run-ins with him, with your big mouth and all. You end up with his fist in your face time or two?" Arthur watched his friend's face as he spoke.

Merlin smiled, and then chuckled at a memory. "Once," was his reply and then he fell silent.

"Come now Merlin, you can't leave me hanging." The King said; his interest actually piqued.

"Contrary to what you may think Sire, I am quite intelligent and on occasion brave," Merlin began.

"Don't lie Merlin. It's ignoble of you."

"Good thing I'm not noble then, isn't it? But I'm not lying Sire. I do have a propensity for cleverness and gallantry when in a tight spot."

"Oh do you now? Well, whether I think you lying or not, I do have to give you credit for your use of substantial vocabulary in our current conversation," Arthur retorted.

"You mean 'propensity'? That's hardly 'substantial vocabulary' Arthur. Although I am slightly surprised you understood it and good use of the word ignoble, sire. I would have thought that beyond your level of understanding."

"Shut up Merlin."

"I thought you wanted to hear the story," Merlin reminded him.

"I do. I just didn't want to encourage any embellishment," He quipped.

"Uh huh. Should I just skip to the part where it's all physical action that doesn't include any strategic thinking? We wouldn't want to you to strain yourself."

"Merlin," Arthur growled. "Just get on with it."

Merlin smiled to himself, this was proving to be a better distraction than he thought it would be. "Well, you see Sire, Sampson was more than just a bully. He was cruel. I steered clear of him and his friends, as most of us did. At first it was only small things; taking kids baskets of fruits or vegetables they had spent all day gathering and either smashing them into the ground or eating them. Leaving the kid to stare numbly down at their feet until they left. Then it began to escalate into yelling terrible insults, pushing them down and flinging mud on them. Then they got bored of that too. They took it up one more notch. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I'm not sure which," Merlin paused to consider this and then continued.

"I happened to be there when it escalated the last time. Sampson and his followers trailed a boy my age into the woods. The boy had gone to check traps and pick berries and roots. Just the normal stuff. They cornered him next to the tree I was in."

"You were in the tree?" Arthur asked.

"When I have a lot on my mind I like to get up high. In Camelot I go to the battlements. In Ealdor, I climbed trees," Merlin clarified.

"I see. Go on," Arthur prompted.

"Well, it started as it always did. They stole his stuff, began insulting the boy and his family in the vilest way. Pushed him around a bit and threw mud and rocks at him. All the while the boy just stood there, taking it. We all knew to fight back just made it worse. Things got a little out of control and someone started kicking the boy and then they were punching him. And still the boy just took it. At some point I had seen enough. I had never been one of the unfortunate souls that Sampson picked on but I knew all too well what the aftermath was like. I jumped from the tree and landed in the middle of it. Scared the crap out of them," Merlin laughed slightly with at the memory.

"What did you do then?" Arthur asked excitedly, this was a side of Merlin that he rarely saw.

"Well, I got punched." Merlin said matter-of-factly.

"That's it?" Arthur was incredulous.

"Well, no. You see, I used to go on a lot of long walks and would always carry a walking stick. Apparently I still had it in my hand when I jumped. I knew that punching him back would only hurt me more than him and that running would only help me and not the boy on the ground. So I shoved my walking stick right between Sampson's legs as hard as I could. Needless to say he was a bit incapacitated. His friends just stared at me. They didn't really know what to do without Sampson ordering them around and he wasn't getting up anytime soon. So I stalked over to Sampson and knelt down next to him, looked him in the eyes and told him something that he never forgot." Merlin paused.

"And that was…" Arthur urged.

"I said to him, 'I am not a violent person Sampson, but when I see others suffering because of another man's pride and insecurity, expect me to step in. I may look like wisp of a thing, but if you notice, you are the one on the ground and I am the one walking away unscathed. I honestly did not want to hurt you, but you gave me no choice. I know your life is hard Sampson, I know more about you than you think. And I feel sorry for you. But using your grief and self-doubt as a reason to inflict pain on others is repulsive. I wish there was a way I could help you Sampson. But really, I would be happy to never see your face again.' And with that I helped the boy up and we walked away." Merlin concluded.

"What came of it all?" Arthur asked.

"Well he and his friends never bothered us again. They were still a pain in the butt but they stopped terrorizing everyone," replied Merlin.

"And the boy? Were you friends?"

Merlin sighed, a heavy sorrow filled sigh. "We were after that day."

"Are you still friends?"

Merlin didn't respond.

Arthur had a sinking feeling as a thought came to him and so he asked, "What was his name?"

"Will," Merlin whispered.

Arthur felt terrible. What a horrible way to end a perfectly good distraction from Merlin's pain. Arthur looked to his friend again and noticed his eyes were closed and his head was beginning to fall forward.

"Merlin!" Arthur practically yelled.

Merlin snapped his head up but yelped as the movement caused the spikes on the back of the collar to dig painfully into his neck. He felt fresh blood trickle down his neck and moaned.

"Please don't do that again Arthur." Merlin begged.

"Well don't fall asleep, clot-pole!" Arthur shot back.

"That's my word!" Merlin protested.

Arthur quietly explained, "I didn't mean to startle you, I saw you falling asleep and was trying to wake you up."

"I know. I'm so tired Arthur, and it hurts," Merlin moaned.

It was so unlike Merlin to actually complain and speak of his injuries that Arthur just stared for a minute, unsure of what to say.

"Merlin, I know-" but Arthur was cut off as the door to the dungeon flew open unexpectedly. A figure was thrown unceremoniously into the room and the door shut again with a resounding clang.