"Merlin!"
The warlock woke up with a start. It was Gaius' voice, calling him as he apparently just got back in his laboratory.
"Livia, wake up! Quick, you've got to hide!" Merlin urged, pushing hastily his makeshift bed under his actual one.
"What? What's going on?" she asked sleepily.
"Gaius can't find you here. Come on!"
"But where am I supposed to -"
Merlin didn't let her finish and grabbed her arm to drag her out of the bed. Barely a second and a half later, when Gaius opened his room's door, Merlin turned round to face him, looking as innocent and guiltless as possible.
"Good morning Gaius," he greeted.
"I heard you speak. Who were you talking to?" his tutor asked suspiciously.
"To no one in particular. Only to myself."
Gaius observed him silently. Merlin knew he didn't believe him for a second.
"I was called by the King at dawn. Apparently the witch has escaped last night. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, by any chance?" Gaius asked while looking all around the room.
"No, I didn't help her out of the dungeons." At least he wasn't lying about that. But his tutor kept looking around and walking slowly forward, getting dangerously close to where Livia was hiding. "Gaius, come on, if I had anything to do with that, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to hide her in here?"
Judging from Gaius' expression, it was obvious he thought that yes, Merlin would be that stupid. But he apparently decided to drop the subject for the time being.
"Well. Needless to say, Uther is furious. But the reason he had me called is because there's an epidemic throughout the city. Hundreds of villagers, all ailed with the same strange disease that stroke Gwen yesterday - a disease from which she seems to have made a miraculous recovery, as I found out when I visited her."
"Really, she did? That's great news! I'm thrilled to hear that!"
"Thrilled but not much surprised, I'm sure..."
"Gaius, I swear, none of the spells I cast last night managed to heal her." And he wasn't even lying about that either!
"Hmm," Gaius mumbled doubtfully. "Well that's quite unfortunate, I was hoping you'd be able to enlighten me as to how to cure all these poor people."
Merlin shrugged. "If Gwen recovered, I'm sure we'll be able to heal all of them too."
Gaius stared at him with this scrutinizing look of his. "Uther is convinced the witch is responsible for this epidemic. He thinks she cast this curse over Camelot for vengeance. He's determined to find her and anyone who helped her escape."
"Really? Curse villagers? I don't think she'd do that."
"Maybe not. But the guards and knights have instructions. They'll kill her and anyone accompanying her on sight."
"Why are you so sure someone helped her out?" Merlin asked. "She's a witch. She could have used magic to escape."
"The guards said a lone man broke into the dungeons."
"Oh," Merlin said in fake surprise. "Then it could be one of her friends. Like that other sorcerer who had been captured with her."
"Merlin..."
"Gaius, seriously, I didn't break into the dungeons!" Why did he keep feeling like he was lying even when he wasn't?
"I sincerely hope you didn't, Merlin," Gaius said. "In any case, everyone will be extremely vigilant about any sign of magic usage, so -"
"Let me guess, I have to be careful?"
Gaius sighed. "I know that no matter what I say, you'll keep doing whatever you want. But I don't think you realise how angry Uther really is. When this witch is found, and trust me she will be considering the means used, she'll bring down with her anyone who was even remotely connected to her escape, whoever that is. Do you understand?"
Merlin nodded silently. That meant himself, Gwen, and Arthur. And probably Gaius as well if Livia was found there in the laboratory.
"The King is looking for Arthur, apparently he's not in his chambers. You should go and warn Arthur, I'm sure you'llknow where to find him."
Merlin nodded again while Gaius turned to leave. He waited a few seconds after Gaius closed his room's door to walk back towards his bed. "It's ok, you can come out, he's gone."
Livia crawled out from under the bed. "I have nothing to do with this," she immediately claimed. "I didn't curse these people!"
"I know," Merlin agreed.
"How am I going to get out of Camelot if all the guards are looking for me?" she asked while dusting herself off.
"We'll figure something out," Merlin assured. "In the meantime, you should remain here while I go tell Arthur his father is looking for him."
"What if guards come? What if they search the room?" Livia asked with worry.
"Arthur will certainly be in charge of the searches, he'll make sure they don't come here. And I'll try to get back soon."
"But what if they do come anyway? They'll find me and they'll know you helped."
"Trust me, they won't. If anyone comes around, it can only be Gaius. And when he does, you can always hide under the bed again."
Livia stared at him silently for a second. "First, I will not get back under there. It's dirty and it smells."
"What? It doesn't!" Merlin protested.
"Second," she continued, "what about that man Gaius, then? Why do we have to hide my presence to him? He obviously knows you're a warlock."
"He's -" Merlin began and then sighed. "Just do as I say and stay here, all right?"
Livia smiled. "Yes sir..."
"What? What's so funny?"
"Not the leading kind of guy, uh?" she teased. As he made to protest, she went on: "Just saying... By the way, the cursed villagers, won't you need my help to cure them?"
"Probably, at least because of your knowledge of dryad magic."
"But all these people, if there truly are hundreds... Even if we used your power like last night, we won't be able to heal all of them, the spell is too draining for me. I could manage one or two a day, but that won't be enough."
"We'll see about that when the time comes. For the moment, I need to go warn Arthur. And you have to stay here, it's too dangerous for you outside to move to another hiding place. I'll come back as soon as I can." Merlin headed for the door, but froze on the doorstep. "You will stay here, right?"
"Certainly, sir," she joked again.
Once outside, Merlin immediately headed for Gwen's house. Gaius hadn't been joking about the importance of the means put in place by the King. There were guards at every corner, keeping watch on all passers-by. Anyone with a hood had to remove it to allow the guards to examine them.
There were also many villagers afflicted with the same curse as Gwen, all walking down the streets with obvious pain, trying to make their way past the guards. But the latter were keeping them at bay, preventing them from heading for the castle.
Someone grabbed Merlin's arm brusquely. It was an old man, limping and with half his face turned into wood. "Help! Please help!" he begged.
"I can't, I'm sorry," Merlin apologised while he freed up his arm. He looked over his shoulder as he continued his way, and saw the old man hail the next passer-by.
When Merlin finally reached Gwen's house, he knocked softly on the door. No answer. He decided to get in anyway. A wide smile spread on his lips when he entered the house and looked inside.
Arthur was still sitting by Gwen's bedside but had fallen asleep. His head was resting on his forearm near the bed's edge. His hand was holding Gwen's and their fingers were intertwined.
Truly sorry to have to interrupt their peacefulness, Merlin coughed to signal his presence.