A/N: So, I updated on time, yay! I was a tiny bit disappointed to only get 3 reviews last chapter (double thanks to the ones who did review!), but I think I'll get some more response on this chapter, it's pretty cool! Enjoy!

Chapter 14: The Mark of Nimueh

As time went on, more and more people got sick, and the death toll rose. Merlynn had begged her uncle to let her use her magic, after she saw them being lined up in the central courtyard, but he insisted that it was too dangerous. She'd complied with his wishes so far… but then something happened that made Merlynn unable to just stand by anymore.

Arthur was continuing his search in the castle proper now, having worked his way from the furthest houses of the lower town to the centre of the city. So, of course, Merlynn's chambers couldn't be spared.

She'd been alone in her room when the guard came knocking on her door. Without waiting for an answer, Arthur strode in and ordered his men to search every inch of her quarters.

"Excuse me!" Merlynn protested angrily. "You can't just barge in here!"

"King's orders, Merlynn," Arthur said, far too cheerfully. "We're required to search every room."

She glared at him. "And what if I'd been indecent? Or taking a bath? I'm sure my father wouldn't mind the journey if he could have the pleasure of taking off your head!" she snapped.

Merlynn was pleased to see a faint blush creep onto Arthur's face, even though his expression remained resolute. "Well then I suppose it's fortunate you didn't choose today to bathe."

"Well, maybe if you bathed a little bit more often we wouldn't be in this situation." At his dumbfounded look, she smirked. "What, you don't think your smell is as viable a reason as any that people are getting sick?"

Glaring, Arthur turned around and joined his men in the search. Merlynn crossed her arms and watched them. "Oi! Don't you touch that drawer!" she shouted at one of the soldiers.

Arthur looked up. "Got something to hide, Merlynn?"

Oh, now she was really mad. "Those are my underthings, I'm not letting your brutish men go through those!"

Again, that faint blush crept up Arthur's cheeks, and Merlynn decided it was quite an amusing sight. Or, it would be if she wasn't also furious at the moment. "We have to search everything, Merlynn!"

"I don't care! Besides, what do you expect to find? Why would I be poisoning Camelot?"

Arthur glared right back at her. "Well, you are a foreign princess."

She couldn't believe this! "From an allied Kingdom, you dolt! Do you honestly believe I have something to do with this?"

Arthur took a deep breath and managed to calm down somewhat. "No, I don't, but orders are orders. Just because you didn't hide anything in here, doesn't mean someone else couldn't have."

Merlynn grit her teeth, because damn him, he was right. "Fine," she ground out, and turned around. If Arthur was going to go through that particular drawer, she didn't want to see it. Nor did she want him to see her face. As she faced her bed, she noticed her magic book laying half-hidden under her covers. If Arthur saw that…

Merlynn risked a glance over her shoulder, and saw that one soldier was going through her closet, while another was inspecting the cupboard by her dining table. Arthur… she could only see his red ears from where she was standing. She was going to have to risk it. Focussing on her blanket, she let her magic bubble to the surface, just enough to move it to cover the book. Her bed wasn't made, since Gwen was busy tending to Morgana. Arthur wouldn't notice an extra bump.

"Merlynn," Arthur called, and she jumped. Had he seen? But Arthur was at her vanity now, not looking at her. "Don't you ever clean this up?" he asked, gesturing to all her things laying on top of the vanity. "All these drawers are empty."

"Gwen's busy enough as it is. Besides, there's an order to the chaos," Merlynn replied, a little defensively.

As if summoned, the maid in question burst through the door and ran at the princess.

Merlynn caught her and the girl sobbed onto her shoulder. "Gwen, what's happened?" she asked urgently. Arthur's men stopped their search and looked on uncertainly .

"It's Morgana," Gwen managed. "Her skin… it's like paper, her veins turned blue," she sobbed.

"No," Merlynn whispered. It couldn't be true, Morgana couldn't have the sickness, there was no cure! She shook herself, she had to keep a steady head. "Gwen, go to Gaius, perhaps he's made some progress. I'll see to Morgana."

Gwen nodded and ran back out the door. "We're done here, rejoin Sir Leon. I need to inform the King," Arthur said.

Merlynn shot him an apologetic look. Morgana was like a sister to him, and she knew this must be difficult. Arthur nodded and then ordered his men out, following on their heels.

Merlynn went to Morgana's room, which luckily, wasn't too far. Morgana had been coughing since the day before, but Merlynn had thought it was only a cold or something. When she walked in the door, though, it was obvious she'd been wrong.

Morgana lay on her bed, curled onto her side. Like Gwen had said, her skin was pale, and blue veins were clearly visible. She shivered, so Merlynn rushed over to pull the covers over her more securely. "Oh, Morgana. You'll be alright, I promise," Merlynn whispered, but the Lady barely responded.

It was one thing for this illness to strike servants in the castle, but a Lady of the court? Morgana ate completely different things, and drank wine, never ale… except… There was one thing she had in common with all the other victims. "The water supply!" Merlynn muttered to herself.

At that moment, the doors banged open and the King entered, looking grave. Merlynn quickly backed away. For all his faults, the King did love Morgana like a daughter, and no one deserved to see their loved ones suffer like this.

Uther took the seat on the bed, where Merlynn had been, and took one of Morgana's hands in his. At a loss for something to say, Merlynn just bowed and walked out. The King needed a moment, and Merlynn needed to see her uncle.

/*/

"It's the water!" Merlynn shouted as soon as she entered Gaius's chambers. Gaius had been bent over yet another body, holding a small flask with white flowers in it, but he jumped up at her voice.

"Really, Merlynn, must you shout?" he admonished.

"I'm sorry, but, uncle, it's the water, that's how it spread!" she said excitedly. Gaius looked troubled, but not surprised. "You knew?" Merlynn asked, confused.

"I came to the same conclusion only moments ago," he said, gesturing to the body on his table. It was a courtier Merlynn was unfamiliar with. "I've tested the water, but I can't seem to find what's causing it. I need a sample from the source itself."

Merlynn frowned. "The water reserves? Uncle, by the time you've analysed those, Morgana will be dead!"

Gaius looked down. "There's nothing I can do for her now."

"No!" Merlynn shouted. "You have to! You can't just leave her to die! She's my best friend, Gaius, she can't die!" Impatiently, she wiped at the tears that had started to fall. She had to say focussed.

"I'm sorry, Merlynn, I simply don't have a cure. Gwen asked for it earlier, and I gave her the same answer."

Merlynn let out a growl of frustration. "Then let me cure her!"

"Merlynn!" Gaius shouted. "You can't! Besides, curing one person doesn't help stop this plague." He took a deep breath. "I know you want to save your friend, Merlynn, but it is not worth exposing yourself. You would only be exchanging one life for another, and may I remind you that your life matters very much to your family?"

Merlynn sank down onto a chair, and let her tears fall. It wasn't fair. She could barely stand by and watch the townspeople die, but to see a friend go through that…? It was too much to ask. "Gaius, I have to do something," she insisted in a whisper.

"There is nothing to do…"

As Merlynn looked at her uncle, she couldn't help but feel defiant. He wouldn't be happy about it, but there was something she could do…

/*/

Under the cover of night, Merlynn made her way to Morgana's room. It was close to her own chambers, so she didn't encounter any guards, but she was still on edge. A quick spell opened the door noiselessly, and she slipped inside unnoticed.

As she turned around, however, she nearly let out a gasp of surprise. She'd expected the room to be empty, but found Gwen slumped over the edge of the bed instead.

Merlynn pressed a hand to her heart, hoping to slow down its frantic tattoo. Thankfully, the maid slept on, unaware that someone had entered. She could still do this.

Carefully, Merlynn made her way to the other side of the bed, keeping her eyes on Gwen and Morgana at all times. She clenched the poultice that she'd made in her hand, suddenly nervous. What if it didn't work? What if she got caught?

Merlynn steeled her nerves and cautiously slid the poultice underneath Morgana's pillow. It had to work. As she backed away to the door, she whispered the incantation under her breath that she'd spent all evening learning by heart. For a moment, nothing happened, and Merlynn worried that she'd done something wrong, but then the poultice glowed and Morgana's face cleared. Merlynn watched as Morgana sighed deeply and turned around, no longer looking like she was at death's door.

The princess grabbed the other poultices that she'd prepared from a pouch on her belt and grinned. Tonight, things were going to change.

/*/

In the morning, Merlynn awoke with a smile. Morgana would be alright, and no one would be the wiser. She dressed as quickly as she could, and made her way to her friend's room. But before she could raise her hand to knock, two guards exited the room, dragging Gwen between with them.

"Merlynn!" she called out. "I didn't do anything, tell them I didn't do anything!"

"What are you doing?" Merlynn demanded to know. The two guards ignored her, but then Arthur stepped out. "Arthur! What's going on?" Merlynn asked.

"I'm arresting her for the use of magic," he said neutrally.

"That's ridiculous!" Merlynn protested, but on the inside she was panicking. Had she left a trace?

"Gwen was the only one in Morgana's room all night, and we found a poultice under Morgana's pillow this morning," Arthur explained, his voice still carefully neutral. But his eyes gave him away, Merlynn could tell that he was at least somewhat remorseful about having arrested one of her friends.

"She didn't do this, Arthur," Merlynn insisted desperately.

"Who else could have done it, Merlynn? The guards never saw her leave the castle, and she was the one who reported Morgana was healthy again. There is no evidence to suggest anyone else was ever in here," he said, but his voice was softer now, matching the look in his eyes.

Merlynn clenched her fists and fought the tears that threatened to fall. "There's no evidence to suggest she did it either! Anyone could have walked in and cured Morgana!"

"That's assuming that whoever did this meant us no harm," Arthur replied, frowning.

"Exactly. This was an act of kindness, Arthur, not malice. Not every user of magic is evil," she argued.

"Magic is evil, Merlynn, no matter how it's used," he said, in a tone that brooked no dissent. He sighed. "You'd better see to Morgana. She was upset as well." And then he strode off down the corridor, following the guards.

The only thing Merlynn wanted to do was go back to the previous evening and undo what she'd done. No, that wasn't true. She just wished she'd been more careful. Gwen wouldn't be in this situation if it hadn't been for her arrogance and carelessness. And now her friend would die, and there was nothing she could do.

Merlynn forced herself to school her features and walked into Morgana's room. Gwen may have been arrested, but the game wasn't over yet.

A/N: So, what did you think? Did you like the Arthur/Merlynn interaction? I know I said there'd be some more fluff, but that's going to have to wait until the end of this episode.

Anyway, please review, whenever I see an email and read the review, I get inspired to write some more, to get through a difficult scene, you guys really do help, even if it's only with a few words.