Merlin looked from the despicable piece of flesh that dared to be called a man and back to Gwen, feverish and hours from death's greedy grasp. Merlin and Arthur had been interrogating the man for hours and he still mocked them and spat at their feet. He was responsible for the deadly sickness that had been ravaging Camelot for weeks, and only he knew the cure. Needless to say, Gwen had been infected and unless they somehow managed to squeeze the cure from the slime-ball's treacherous lips she would die.
"I order you as your king to give me the cure!" Arthur raged, to which the slime-ball replied by chuckling. Merlin's ears seemed to stop working then, for he saw Arthur's mouth move but he heard no words. As Gaius' apprentice he had been right next to the physician as dozens of people succumbed to the sickness, which resisted both his magic and Gaius' herbs. He had been there as families mourned and his patients drew their last painful breath. Now Gwen was sick, and he refused to let this disgusting piece of humanity kill Gwen too.
"You're pathetic!" The culprit cackled, tied to a chair, "You're all pathetic, you and your little lives-insignificant pitiful meaningless lives! This has been coming for a very long time and if you think you can do anything to stop this, you're- "
The man's maniacal speech was cut off as Merlin jabbed a bloody needle into his shoulder. The madman and Arthur gaped speechlessly at the king's servant as he bent down to meet the man's eyes face to face. "In case it has eluded you, now you've been infected as well. Perhaps now you'll be more willing to tell us the cure?"
The man hesitated, pupils darting around the room as though he might find a way out of the situation in the random artifacts and remedies scattered about the physician's chambers. Evidently finding nothing, he nodded and began blabbering about ingredients and instructions while Gaius scribbled them down on a piece of parchment.
Arthur, meanwhile, continued to stare at Merlin as though he'd grown an extra head, who finally turned to meet his gaze.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Arthur asked with tiniest hint of fear.
Merlin considered, then, "Yes, I think I enjoyed that very much."
"Too much, maybe?"
"...Nah."