AN: Hello! I'm back! With my long story! WOOOOT!

Anyhoo, lots of stuff to say in this an, so I better get started.

Sorry if the summary for this was awkward, I'm having a really hard time explaining what is happening without giving stuff away.

Helen is editing again! YAY! And thanks!

Umm, about this prologue, it technically takes place in the middle-ish of the story. So there will be a lot of going back and explaining how this situation came to be. If you are confused, your questions will probably be answered.

WARNINGS! Angst, Merthur (Although it will be in disguise for the first couple of chapters, don't worry though. Arthur could never love anyone but Merlin), some torture, and possibly a death. I'm hoping not, but it might have to happen. Sorry.

I don't own Merlin. Well, maybe in my dreams...

Thanks for reading, and enjoy! I will try to get the first chapter written soon, it shouldn't take too long (it will probably be a little short, sorry)

One last note, this fic will probably have about 12 more chapters, but at this point I am still a little unsure about how the ending will go, so I'm not exactly sure.

Alons-y!

Prologue

When Oswald entered Camelot for the first time, his jaw dropped. He had been preparing to travel to the city ever since the ban on magic had been lifted by the new queen. It was so beautiful, although it was said that it had been even lovelier while the tyrant king had ruled, but his fear had prevented him from getting a chance to see the city in its prime. Oswald's powers were weak, but their existence would have been enough to lead him to his doom back in the time of Uther if the rumors were true. Now that Morgana had taken over, magic was praised and he was finally able to enter the kingdom without fear.

As Oswald walked towards the castle, he was amazed by the number of peasants reaching out for his help. He had little to give, so he had to turn them away. The only well-dressed people kept their eyes down and scurried through the streets, trying to ignore the poor at the edges of their vision. Oswald knew taxes had been higher since the rule shifted, that had been one of the reasons he left his home. He had been in correspondence with the court physician, Gaius, and had been given a position as his assistant. This way he could send some of his earnings back to his family and they would have one less mouth to feed. He had never expected this level of poverty, though. He had expected everyone in Camelot to be wealthy; the city was supposed to be the greatest in the kingdom.

As he neared the castle, Oswald noticed the number of poor decreasing and the number of guards increasing dramatically. The guards were large, and all of them wore the same black outfits. Every once and a while one of the guards would kick a peasant for reaching for them, or tripping them, or who knows what. This seemed unlikely, as all the peasants retreated when they noticed the men dressed in the black uniforms.

With the help of one of the guards, Oswald found the physician's quarters. Unfortunately, getting in was going to be more difficult than he expected. Two more guards stood outside the door, and barred his entrance.

"Excuse m-m-me" Oswald stuttered, "I've b-b-been talking to G-gaius, I'm t-t-to be his n-n-new assis-assistant. C-could you l-l-let me in?"

"Really?" One of the guards sneered, "You don't look like a physician."

"I h-h-have a l-l-letter." Oswald choked out, handing a folded piece of paper up to the guard, who handed it to his partner. After reading the letter and checking the seal, the guard nodded, and opened the door for the nervous boy.

Oswald scurried into the cluttered chambers, eager to get away from the guards outside the door. As the door was slammed closed behind him, Oswald caught his first glance of the man he would be studying under. He looked very weary as he peered up at the boy who had just been allowed into his room.

"Gaius? I'm Oswald. I sent you letters about b-being your new assistant?"

"Yes, of course. Welcome to Camelot." The old man replied.

"Thank you, sir."

"Please, call me Gaius. Your room is through that door. Your duties will include gathering herbs and taking some of my potions out to the people who can't make it to visit me. I might also ask you to assist me with other small tasks from time to time. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course s- Gaius."

"Alright, well, I'll let you get settled in for now, and I will call-"

Before Gaius could finish the doors to the chamber banged open, allowing two guards dragging a dark-haired boy into the room. The boy's back was littered with dripping wounds that appeared to have been caused by a whip. After tossing him to the floor one of the guards said "The Queen wants him ready for work by breakfast tomorrow."

The two guards departed, leaving the beaten boy to bleed on the floor of the physician's chambers. Once the door was closed, Gaius moved to the boy's side at a speed Oswald had thought impossible for a man his age. Oswald couldn't help but notice the anger in Gaius' eyes. He had been distracted by the guards, so he hadn't noticed how Gaius had gone quite pale when the boy was towed inside, and had missed the flashes of emotion that crossed behind his eyes as he tried to remain stoic in front of the guards.

"Oswald, help me get him onto the bed." Gaius called, one hand caressing the top of the boy's head. When Oswald moved over to help Gaius haul the boy up onto the small cot he couldn't help but notice the collar that was secured around the boy's neck. He wondered who this was and what had resulted in such harsh treatment. Gaius seemed to be wondering the same thing as he began to treat the boy's wounds and asked "What did you do this time, Merlin?"

The boy, who had remained silent up to this point, let out a sigh and said, "You know you're not supposed to call me that, Gaius. I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Your mother named you Merlin, so that is what I will call you. I don't care what Morgana has decreed, you will always be Merlin to me. Now, you still haven't told me. What happened to cause them to do this to you?"

"You think they need a reason to beat me? They just like showing their dominance over the 'mighty Emrys.' I think it was Mordred's idea though, so that makes it a little different."

"Merlin, you need to get out of here. Don't worry about us, if you stay much longer there won't be much of you to rescue." Gaius said, and Oswald couldn't help to notice that there were tears on his face. Whoever this "Merlin" was, Oswald figured he must be pretty important to the Gaius.

"I can't leave, Gaius. I won't let them hurt you, or Guinevere, or the knights. And I can't leave Arthur, no matter what state he is in. Plus, even if I do try to leave this thing will start to choke me," Merlin hissed, indicating the collar "I will be fine. Don't worry about me. But, Gaius, who is this? You haven't introduced me, are you forgetting your manners in your old age?"

"Merlin" was smiling at him. Oswald found this pretty impressive with the state of his back. Gaius gave him a light nock to the head, which he responded to with a fake display of pain before the grin returned to his face.

"Oswald," Gaius said, addressing him, "this is Merlin. Merlin, this is my new assistant, Oswald."

"Pleased to meet you." Merlin said, holding out a hand awkwardly from his current position on the cot. "But you should call me Emrys. The Queen doesn't like it when people use the M word. Take care of Gaius for me."

Oswald took the proffered hand, still quite astounded by the strange boy, and replied, "I will try."

Merlin, or Emrys, or whoever he was, smiled and nodded before turning back to Gaius. "Can I try to heal myself? If they want me back up by tomorrow, they shouldn't mind if I heal the wounds, right?"

Gaius nodded, before replying, "Do you need the book?"

"Nah, I think I've got a handle on this spell by now." Merlin said before he started chanting. His eyes glowed gold as the wounds on his back began to slowly heal over, leaving only a series of red scabs that could have been days old.

Just as he finished chanting the door was opened, and the two guards stormed back into the room. One of them grabbed Merlin off the cot, as the other explained "Emrys is to return to his room"

While he was being guided out of the room, Merlin turned back to say, "Thank you, Gaius, and nice to meet you Oswald!" As he turned back away from the physician, Oswald was able to see through his façade of cheerfulness, but only for just a second. It seemed he must have been trying to hide his suffering from Gaius. When the door was closed and Oswald heard the sound of a lock clicking, he turned back to the physician, hoping to get a better explanation to what he had just seen.

Gaius was slumped in a chair near the fire, his head in his hands. Oswald coughed softly before asking, "I'm sorry to bother you, but what was that all about? Why would the queen want to do that to Merlin?"

Gaius sighed as he replied "You might want to sit down, Oswald, this is going to be quite a long story."