#But I also like the angst of Leon losing him twice so.

[anininas]

Great heavens above they are gay

[wordsablaze]

27~ Ransom

Magic and Misery Merlin might use magic to help Arthur but he rarely uses it to help himself, which leads to an awful lot of misery… written for whumptober, enjoy!

A/N: my friend got me in a wholesome mood so this is more fluff than angst, blame (or thank) them ^.^

-

Arthur has a reputation.

Everybody had always known that he was brave, skilled, stubborn, and genuinely good at heart. But slowly, they also came to know that he was fiercely protective, protective of his people, his knights, and most importantly, of Merlin.

It was never explicitly questioned - probably because challenging the whims of the crown prince was a risk nobody wanted to take - but rather, observed and learned.

Very quickly, the people of Camelot, no matter what status they were, knew to leave Merlin to his own devices. It definitely helped that Merlin was maybe the kindest, most loyal, and ridiculously helpful person that most people had ever met.

Most people were more than happy to see the boy from Ealdor grow closer to the Crown Prince, especially since their interactions were often a source of amusement, admiration, and awe.

But there would always be some that acted with a selfish combination of malice and greed.

Unfortunately, those people tend to act in the dead of night.

Merlin has no chance to fight back as someone materialises from the darkness and roughly places a hand over his mouth, a dangerous scent filling his senses as his limbs weaken and his eyes flutter shut.

He dimly wonders what it is this time - whether this is a result of his life as Merlin or Emrys - before he drops the basket he was carrying and falls unconscious.

The forgotten object clatters quietly to the ground as Merlin is harshly manoeuvred away, the ones responsible dragging him into the cover of the night as they retreat, sharing smug smirks and taking their time manhandling their target.

"Has anyone seen Merlin?" Arthur asks the next day, joining Lancelot and Gwaine where they're stood to one side of the training field.

Lancelot glances up sharply, concern filling his eyes within seconds. "What do you mean?"

"I haven't seen him all morning," Arthur explains, frowning; he'd thought Merlin had simply woken up late and chosen to join the knights instead of meeting him in his chambers.

At that, Gwaine raises an eyebrow. "Merlin would never miss training."

The three of them share an uneasy look before Leon jogs up to them. "Sire, there's someone who wants to speak to you."

Knowing that Leon wouldn't suggest leaving their training session unless it was something urgent and absolutely unavoidable - in other words, to do with Merlin - Arthur follows without missing a beat.

As do the other Knights.

There's a young girl waiting for them near the gates.

As Arthur approaches, she seems to relax, giving him a small, hopeful smile. "I knew I was right! I knew you'd help!"

Arthur glances at Leon before nodding at the girl. "Of course. What is it?"

The girl's smile falters as she pulls out a basket Arthur hadn't seen from behind her back and offers it to him. "It's Merlin's."

Elyan inhales sharply and takes it from her, well aware that Merlin wouldn't just leave it lying around, then glancing up in confusion when he finds only herbs inside, nothing to indicate why the girl has the basket in her possession.

"Do you know where he is?" Percival asks softly, ever the gentle giant.

The girl nods, then promptly shakes her head. "I don't know who it was, it was so dark and I was about to go over and say hello to Merlin but they came out of nowhere and-"

Leon steps forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, slow down, there's no rush. Tell us what you know."

"They just- they put something over his mouth and took him… they said they'd send a message and then they went south and I didn't know what to do, I'm sorry!" The girl looks ready to cry.

Arthur nods at her gratefully. "Thank you for your help. Really, I appreciate that you came forward."

Lancelot smiles at the kindness in Arthur's voice before winking at the girl. "Don't worry, we'll have Merlin back in no time."

The girl nods, smiling again before mumbling something about telling everyone else and disappearing. Choosing not to think too much about who she's going to tell, Arthur turns to the others.

"Well, looks like training will have to be relocated for today."

Without Merlin, though, it takes then twice the amount of time to organise horses and set off, the six of them not exactly knowing where they're going, their destination being only Merlin.

It turns out whoever had taken Merlin isn't the smartest.

Their camp isn't even slightly difficult to locate and Arthur just about rolls his eyes at their stupidity as he spots the smoke. But his amusement is taken over by anger when he hears loud laughing; how dare they laugh when they've hurt Merlin?

"We'll be quieter on foot," Elyan murmurs as they get closer.

The six of them tie their horses to a few trees and approach where the group had stupidly taken camp to assess the situation, all of them equally as outraged when they see Merlin tied to a tree, a woman with a knife pressed to his neck crouched in front of him.

He looks alright, Arthur notes, aside from the bruises.

Of course, the rope securing his gangly frame to the tree practically boils Arthur's blood, but he's glad he can't see any serious injuries; at least it isn't like other times where he's found Merlin halfway through death's doorway.

As Arthur and the knights watch, Merlin makes an incredulous face before glaring up at her, clearly disagreeing with whatever she's saying but not wanting to move due to her weapons.

Arthur moves to help him without realising it but Leon grabs his arm, holding him back as Merlin winces and jerks his foot away from the woman. Apparently she'd been hiding another knife.

There's something odd about Merlin's expression as his eyes follow her second knife but Arthur can't place it. The other knights have clearly noticed the same thing because Lancelot's frown is deep enough to make him look five years older.

"Something's wrong with Merlin," Gwaine comments, voicing the concern they all share.

The woman moves away but not before pressing the knife harder into Merlin's neck and leaving a thin red line in its wake. Merlin only bites his lip and lets his head fall back onto the tree, his posture relaxing slightly.

Only then does Arthur figure it out.

This must remind Merlin of the witchfinder.

He curses quietly but strongly, finally pulling away from Leon and making his way around the camp so that he's behind Merlin, the other knights guessing his plan and spreading out so they can jump in at a moment's notice.

Arthur waits until he thinks it's safe before quietly moving so he's beside Merlin.

"I let you out of my sight for one evening, Merlin…" Arthur whispers.

Merlin freezes, letting out a slow exhale. "What are you doing here?"

It takes Arthur a second to realise he'd even said anything, he's so subtle.

"What does it look like, idiot? Rescuing you!" Arthur hisses, torn between appreciating that Merlin is unharmed enough to question him or just being annoyed at his reaction.

He can almost feel Merlin roll his eyes. "They only want gold, they don't care for Camelot's secrets."

Arthur pauses.

"Gold?" he echoes.

He must echo it too loud because one of the men turns around and he barely has enough time to duck behind the tree before someone's walking their way.

Merlin coughs loudly to cover it up, sticking his leg out to make it look as if he were trying to trip the man up, trying his best to annoy him into forgetting what he'd intended to do.

It works.

The man growls and crouches so he can grab Merlin's jaw, squeezing until Merlin can't help but wince, still refusing to make a sound.

"Do you think me to be stupid?" The man all but snarls.

Merlin just shrugs awkwardly, unable to speak with the man stopping his jaw from moving, and it takes all of Arthur's willpower not to reveal himself and punch the man until he truly feels stupid.

"Play games with me again and I might forget I'm meant to keep you in good condition," he warns before pushing Merlin's head to one side as he leaves, bringing his foot down on Merlin's injured ankle as he does so.

Merlin bites back a gasp, letting his eyes close as he breathes heavily for a moment, focusing on slowly moving his jaw to try and lessen the dull throbbing.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Don't be a cabbage-head, Arthur," Merlin mumbles, keeping his head ducked so anyone watching can't tell he's talking.

Arthur exhales, trying to think of a plan, pleasantly surprised when he hears Merlin chuckle.

"I can feel the effort it's taking you to think of a plan. Just wait until they're all asleep," Merlin tells him.

Pulling a face at Merlin even though he can't see it, Arthur shakes his head. "What if they try something?"

"They've been ordered to leave me in good condition, remember?" Merlin reminds him.

Arthur sighs somewhat dramatically. "If they hurt you…"

Merlin clears his throat to cut him off. "I know, you can play the knight in shining armour."

They lapse into silence once they've stopped quietly laughing, Arthur briefly sneaking around to tell the other Knights the plan before returning to his spot behind Merlin's tree.

He forces himself to still as someone else, clearly a little drunk, approaches Merlin.

"Can I help you?" Merlin asks, sounding perfectly bored.

A girl who seems rather young for the bandit sort of life sits in front of him and buries one hand in his hair, almost playing with it as she frowns. "So, what is it about you?"

Merlin shrugs, more worried about Arthur being able to avoid losing his cool and revealing himself.

"I mean, you are pretty…" the girl continues, a wistful tone in her voice, "but you're also just a servant so that can't be it."

Merlin bristles, clenching his jaw.

Arthur also bristles, wishing he could stop those words from having been said at all; Merlin is far more than just a servant.

"I know people that would pay a lot for eyes as lovely as yours," the girl adds, staring at him with an uncomfortable intensity.

When Merlin says nothing, she prods his stomach, smiling in satisfaction when he gasps and curls into himself a little. "And you're not a mute. Nobody wants them back when we take them."

Arthur's frown deepens as he listens to her, wondering if this whole ransom thing is a business that's running right under his nose. He makes a mental note to look into it when they get back to Camelot.

The girl giggles as Merlin yelps and Arthur wishes he could see better.

"Do you think your prince will pay for you?" The girl asks and, if Arthur didn't know better, he might have called her tone innocent.

Merlin glares at her, pulling his head away. "You clearly don't know much about him."

"Then tell me!" the girl laughs, placing her hands on either side of Merlin's face. "Tell me what makes you so special!"

"Get your hands off me!" Merlin mutters instead.

"Not unless your ransom is paid," the girl all but chides, laughing again.

Unless?

Arthur glares daggers into the tree. As if there were any chance that he would let Merlin be taken from him without doing everything in his ability to get him back, whether that involved swords, gold, or anything else.

"Shouldn't you go and rest?" Merlin asks bitterly, trying his best not to meet her gaze.

The girl just giggles, shifting. "What if I'd rather spend time with you?"

Merlin huffs in irritation, clearly giving up on staying silent. "Don't get attached, I'll be gone soon."

"What makes you so sure?" The girl drawls.

Arthur had managed to control his rage so far but hearing Merlin hiss in pain after she asks that is too much and he steps out from behind the tree, his sword coming to a stop on her neck as he smirks.

"I do."

Merlin grins up at him.

Pushing the shocked girl away, Arthur cuts through the ropes and pulls Merlin up, stepping in front of him protectively.

The other knights take this as their cue to emerge, holding the leaders at swordpoint so nobody dares to move or attack them. A group of angry knights is not something most people want to face.

As the others successfully intimidate the bandits, Arthur turns to Merlin with a fierce smile. "You're not just a servant."

Merlin nods, rubbing his arms.

And he'd been right in the end, the others had all started to drink as night had drawn closer and, all things considered, the rescue mission goes incredibly smoothly.

"I could have handled that," Merlin grumbles as they get back to the horse, limping slightly and contradicting his own statement.

Lancelot gives him a funny look and nudges him lightly. "We don't doubt you for a second."

"But someone has to be the damsel once in a while," Gwaine laughs, releasing their horses.

Merlin just rolls his eyes but Arthur coughs pointedly, not quite happy with that. "Merlin, you may be the most incompetent servant I've ever had but I need you to know… I would have paid anything they'd demanded if it had come to that."

The smile that blooms on Merlin's face is, in Arthur's opinion, simply priceless.

"Thank you," Merlin says softly, glancing around their group gratefully.

"Anytime, Merlin," Elyan replies on behalf of everyone.

They hadn't been smart enough to bring a separate horse for Merlin so he ends up sharing with Arthur, which neither of them particularly want to complain about.

"Does this mean you care about me?" Merlin teases as they set off.

"Perhaps more than I should," Arthur murmurs, surprising both Merlin and himself with the confession.

Merlin just wraps his arms around Arthur in response.

If the other knights notice their matching blushes and poorly hidden smiles, they don't comment on it.

- 

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