It was early morning, and the sun was barely up. Merlin sighed as he followed Arthur and his knights, yet again, through the woods surrounding Camelot in pursuit of some poor, innocent animal.

"Come on, Merlin. It's not that difficult to keep up with the group." Arthur's voice came floating back to him.

"Well, forgive me, sire, if I don't see the point of me even coming along on these hunting trips, seeing as all you do is complain about how I do everything," Merlin replied with a small huff. Gwaine gave a small laugh and turned to Merlin, giving him a thumbs up.

Not only did the group have to traipse through the woods to hunt animals, but they also had to go on foot, as they had left the horses tied up at their campsite. Arthur had said he didn't want to make a lot of noise and scare their prey off…Merlin was currently cursing Arthur's choice, as he was the one who had to carry most of their baggage.

Of course, something always goes wrong on hunting trips…always. This time, they were attacked by raiders who had, of course, seen their bright red Camelot attire. Merlin sighed and, not for the first time, wondered just exactly who thought up such a conspicuous color for Camelot.

Being knights and the Crown Prince of Camelot, the men held their own for a while against the raiders. However, they continued to flow out from between the trees from some unknown source, and eventually, Leon, Percival, Gwaine, Elyan, Arthur, and Merlin were surrounded with swords and arrows pointing right at them. With great reluctance, the men dropped their swords and surrendered—except for Merlin, who had no weapon—knowing there was no use to try fighting their way out of this one. One by one, the knights, the Prince, and Merlin were tied up, blindfolded, and rushed off to the rebels' hideout in a nearby village.

When their prisoners were locked up in the holding cells of their large hideout, the raiders quickly went to find their leader and tell him the great news. Knights of Camelot came from wealthy, noble families who, more often than not, were willing to pay large ransoms for their lost family members. Not only that, but they had heard one of the group called 'sire,' which meant that one of the men locked in their holding cell was royalty.

As the raiders walked away, the knights huddled together to come up with a plan of escape, although they knew they had pretty low chances. Before they could get far with their planning, a man who seemed to be the leader came to the cell and stepped inside.

"So, which of you is royalty? And don't bother lying. We know one of you is a prince—of Camelot, judging by the colors you wear," he sneered.

"And who are you?" asked Arthur.

"I am Ceyarn, and I'm in charge of band of raiders and this town. Now, which of you is the Prince?"

The group glanced around at each other quickly before Arthur turned to confess. "I am," interrupted Merlin, causing the knights to start.

"You?" shouted Ceyarn. "But you are dressed as a peasant!"

"Yes, well, it's the perfect disguise, isn't it?" Merlin replied cheekily before Ceyarn backhanded him across the face.

"Don't you dare speak to me in that way!" Ceyarn shouted as Merlin gently wiped blood from his split lip.

"No, you have it wrong! He's not really the Prince," Gwaine defended as the other knights and Arthur agreed, all looking confounded.

"Yes, I am," Merlin argued. "Seriously, that's enough, men. He already knows the truth, so there's no point trying to deny it anymore," Merlin gave his best attempt at sounding authoritative and covertly glared at his friends.

"You will come with me," Said Ceyarn, wrapping a hand tightly around Merlin's arm, surely leaving a bruise.

As Merlin was being dragged away Arthur started to open his mouth to protest and tell the truth, but suddenly he could not speak—nothing would come out of his mouth! Merlin's face was turned the other way, so no one saw his eyes flash gold shortly before the real Prince's predicament. He knew the only way to keep Arthur safe was to keep him silent. He could not allow himself to reveal his secret, though, not even to save himself. If Arthur found out and hated him for it, Merlin would not be able to cope with the emotional pain that would cause him, so he kept silent, knowing the others would be safe until he could think of an escape plan.

Merlin was thrown roughly into a room down the hallway from the cell his friends were currently being held in.

"No need to be so rough. I can walk, you know," Merlin smarted off, causing Ceyarn to punch him in the face. Merlin lightly touched his cheek, knowing it would bruise badly in a few minutes.

"You, Princeling," Ceyarn spat, "are really beginning to get on my nerves."

"My apologies." Merlin couldn't resist. Ceyarn punched Merlin in the stomach, making him double over.

"You had better learn to control that smart mouth of yours, your highness," Ceyarn sneered down at Merlin mockingly, "before it gets you into even more trouble."

"What do you want from me?" Merlin asked as politely as he could manage.

"Want from you?" repeated Ceyarn venomously. "We don't want anything except revenge for your kingdom's slaughter of my innocent people!"

"What people?" asked a seriously confused Merlin.

Ceyarn looked sharply at Merlin before jumping at him, wrapping his hands around Merlin's throat, and squeezing. "The so-called evil sorcerers your father had executed in accordance with the laws of Camelot! My people never harmed anyone! They were rounded up like common murderers and executed one by one! Just because they practiced magic does not mean they were evil! They only helped people!" the man screamed at Merlin before finally releasing the fake Prince's neck and shoving him to the floor; Merlin took this opportunity to refill his lungs with much needed air. A split second later, he was roughly gripped around the waist and slung into the nearest wall, hitting his head and causing black spots to float into his field of vision.

"It just shows how heartless you are that you cannot even remember the entire village of innocents you and your father sent to their deaths!" screamed Ceyarn, continuing to abuse Merlin by slamming him into walls and kicking him when he fell. "You cannot even imagine the kind of pain your father has brought upon us! This pain is nothing compared to what we felt!"

Merlin knew he had to help the others escape, as there was no way that Ceyarn would simply let them go if he held this much hatred for those of Camelot. Just as Ceyarn called for the guards to chain Merlin up, Merlin took his chance. Using his magic, Merlin quickly slammed Ceyarn into the wall behind the man, knocking him out; then he turned toward the guards and knocked their heads together, making sure they were both incapacitated. Merlin searched Ceyarn for the keys to the cell his friends were in before carefully opening the room to the door, glad there were none of Ceyarn's raiders in the passageway. He hurried down the stone hallway and peaked around the corner at the end: two raiders. He made quick work of them before running toward the cell that held the knights and Arthur. They all started at the injuries to Merlin's face and neck.

"Merlin! Are you alright? How did you get away?" asked Arthur.

Lancelot just gave Merlin a knowing look and distracted Arthur, "Yes, well, I think that's a story for another time." He turned to Merlin. "Do you have the keys?"

He just pulled them out when six guards came running around the corner, shouting and brandishing weapons at Merlin. The warlock, knowing there was no other way out of the situation, glanced back and Arthur and the other knights and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For what—," Arthur started to ask, but Merlin turned back toward the guards and used his magic to fight them off, only knocking the men out, not killing them.

More guards simply came running around the corner, and Merlin could not keep up with them. One guard found his way toward Merlin, and Lancelot shouted to warn the warlock—the others still too much in shock to be much help—but it was too late. The raider, knowing his leader would want the now-known sorcerer alive, quickly slammed the pommel of his sword into Merlin's stomach, winding him and effectively stopping Merlin's magic long enough to bind his wrists. Immediately Merlin sagged against the man, the chains around his wrists doing the job they were meant to: blocking a sorcerer's magic.

Ceyarn came strolling around the corner then, smiling when he saw how weak Merlin had become due to the magic blocking chains around his wrists. "Well, now I know you were lying, boy. No Prince of Camelot would possess magic!"

"What did you do to him?" shouted Gwaine, the other knights seeming just as anxious about Merlin's sudden downfall in health. The young warlock's face was much paler than his normal skin tone, sweat was beading on his brow, and it seemed like a struggle for him to breathe naturally.

"I simply blocked his magic." He looked at Merlin. "You must be pretty powerful if it has made you this weak." Ceyarn lowered his voice and gripped Merlin's face roughly, bringing the warlock closer in order to whisper, "Now, tell me, which one of them is really the Prince? I know it isn't you, so you might as well tell us…No? Well that's too bad! I have ways of making you talk."

Merlin, severely weakened from the chains, glanced up at Ceyarn with a look of defiance in his paler than normal face. In response, the leader simply grabbed onto Merlin's chained arms and dragged him across the floor, back toward the room he was in just minutes before.

"What are you doing?" asked Leon, easily pushing aside his surprise about Merlin having magic to concentrate on his concern for the young man's wellbeing. Ceyarn simply ignored the knight, while Merlin looked back into the cell, seeking out Arthur's expression, but Arthur was facing the other way.

The one and only Prince of Camelot could do nothing but stare into the corner of his shared cell, not believing what he had just witnessed. His thoughts were interrupted by Gwaine's voice, "Well, I, for one, think we should probably resume trying to find a way to get out of here and rescue Merlin." The other knights agreed before turning to Arthur.

"Did any of you know?" asked Arthur, looking them all in the eyes, one by one.

"I knew," spoke Lancelot after a moment. "I found out by accident…But that is not the most pressing issue at this point. I think, as soon as we get out of here, we can discuss this with Merlin. I'm sure he will tell you everything you want to know."

"Why did he never tell me?" asked Arthur, slightly angry.

"Well, why do you think?" asked Gwaine before lowering his voice so that any guards nearby wouldn't hear him. "Your father is the bloody King of Camelot. Would you have been so open about that kind of thing if you were Merlin? I don't think so."

Arthur thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose we had better start on some type of escape plan then."

Merlin could do nothing as his arms were pulled above his head and the chain connecting the manacles on his wrists was looped over a hook hanging from the ceiling. His feet barely touched the floor now, and his arms were already sore from supporting his entire weight. One of the guards he had knocked out earlier came forward and cut off Merlin's jacket and thin shirt, carelessly nicking the warlock in several spots.

"You have one last chance to tell me what I want to know before we begin," Ceyarn told him harshly. "Which of the knights out in that cell is really the Prince?"

Merlin stayed silent, not willing to give up Arthur's life for his own.

"So be it." Ceyarn circled around Merlin with something held behind his back. Once the man walked behind Merlin, he struck; the whip slammed into Merlin's unprotected back, creating long bleeding welts on the once pale skin. The surprise of the attack caused Merlin to let out a loud gasp of pain before the man struck again. Ceyarn was clearly enjoying causing Merlin pain, as he rapidly continued slicing the skin on Merlin's back with his whip. Merlin's already troubled breathing became even more labored with each strike. Merlin knew he wouldn't last much longer, and as soon as he couldn't withstand any more torture, Ceyarn would just start on one of the knights.

"Okay!" the warlock finally gasped out, sounding much weaker than he had earlier. "Alright…I'll tell you the truth."

Ceyarn stopped his whipping to walk around and face Merlin. "So," he prompted, "which one is the Prince of Camelot?"

"None of them," whispered Merlin.

Ceyarn swiftly backhanded him across the face and began to go back to his position behind the young warlock.

"I swear! I'm telling the truth!" Merlin declared as loudly as he could. "We were sent out as a decoy," he explained quickly, coming up with the story as he went.

Ceyarn returned to his spot in front of Merlin. "Go on."

"The real Prince," Merlin began, taking a deep breath, "is on a secret quest to the Forest of Ascetir. We were sent out in the opposite direction to divert any attention from him."

Ceyarn thought on it for a second. "Well then. It seems as if the Prince will not be joining us any time soon, so we'll just have to make do with who we have here," he said with a smirk in Merlin's direction.

"What? No! You—," Merlin's outburst was cut off by yet another hit to the face, followed by the hard punch to his chest that, after all the damage done by Ceyarn's kicking earlier, finally cracked a rib. The sharp pain caused Merlin to scream out, which the knights and Arthur heard in their cell. Ceyarn decided then to take a break, telling the two guards at the door that he would be back later.

Merlin hung there limply, trying to breathe through the pain in his back and chest without injuring himself further. Already, a bad headache was forming from being separated from his magic for so long, adding to the pain from his beating and his sick feeling from the magic blocking chains. He didn't think he would be able to hold out much longer if Ceyarn decided to come back and finish his torture.

The guards at the door were supposed to be keeping their eyes on the prisoner lest he try to escape. However, it was obvious the warlock wasn't going anywhere; he barely looked like he was able to keep his eyes open at that point. After Ceyarn left, the guards turned toward each other and began talking—maybe that was why it was so easy for them to be overcome.

Hey guys! There are only going to be two chapters to this fic, but they are longer chapters than I normally do. :) If you have time or want to, review, but if you can't or just don't want to, I'm still going to post the next chapter. I'm not going to hold chapters ransom for reviews, so don't worry about it! If you're still reading this, then thank you for reading this. :D I'll post the next chapter within the next couple of days! Ta ta!