This chapter is dedicated to Ananyaverma19 who wanted to see Merlin advocating for the townspeople and protesting Arthur's decision to cordon off the lower town

X

Not long after Merlin managed to escape out his bedroom window, he found himself slowly peeking out from his hiding spot. Which was right behind one of the large columns holding up the drawbridge. His head had barely gone around the corner before he was jerking back to hide himself again. He plastered himself on the column, squeezing his eyes shut, his own mouth going thin lipped as he heard random chattering coming down the bridge towards his direction.

He waited until they were gone, disappearing somewhere odd down the walkway that was leading away from the bridge and up towards the castle. The two chattering knights who was supposed to be on guard duty, staking out the streets as they patrolled to make sure no 'evil sorcerers' popped up in the middle of the kingdom, didn't even notice him as they passed by. Merlin looked after them, muscles relaxing, lifting a disbelieving eyebrow. It was not like he was in that great a hiding spot to begin with, but it was the first place that he'd dove behind. And he cursed himself for the move because he was so sure he was about to get caught any minute, and then what was going to happen to him?

Would he get tossed in a cell, meant to await for Uther to decide what to do with him? Or if not that, then dragged straight to Arthur only after the knights realized who he was so that the spoiled prince could decide to discipline his husband in whatever manner he wanted to…yeah, Merlin was so not going there. That jackarse may have said he 'might have to get creative with his punishments' but Merlin was also pretty sure he was just talking out of his arse to throw him off.

…and these were the knights tasked with keeping their streets safe?

Merlin waited until they were out of sight before he raced down the drawbridge and towards the lower town, keeping his head as ducked down as lowly as he could get it for the fear that 'somebody' might see a hint of his shadow and come investigating. But with creeping through the dark and empty streets came of the residential district of the lower town came it's own set of problems. Like he was getting too comfortable walking-streets as bare if not worse than when they had been when he was fetching water-and therefore he almost got himself caught by a group of five knights patrolling this side of town.

Merlin heard them at first, a group chattering just as much as the other two knights had been. Only they seemed to be taking things a bit more seriously because they were actually talking about what was going on. Or what the next thing on their list to do was before they were able to past their duties on to the next shift of knights meant to take over. And then he saw the flickering torchlights just around the corner, down another side street of these random houses.

Once again, he had to throw himself off to the side to evade being caught. Merlin hissed under his breath as his hand came in contact with the wooden hut he was hiding behind, crouching low to minimize them seeing him there. Merlin pulled his hand away from the hut and winced as he saw the little stream of blood beading out. It was nothing serious at all, he'd just cut it on the edge of his window when he had been climbing out of it. But the cut-no larger than a paper cut-stung in the night air.

"What about over there!" He heard one of the knights calling out as the group of them was entering the street Merlin was on. Merlin then dropped his hand in a heartbeat, deciding the cut was not worthy of his attention over their sudden appearance. Merlin-while feeling this single drop of anxiety induced sweat slowly going down the line of his spine-slowly and cautiously peeled out from around the house he was hiding behind.

"Certainly, sir." That was Knight Bryon, talking in a gruff voice. And Merlin watched as Bryon and another knight-Christian-lifted up their pitchforks and started stabbing it into a thing of hay sitting on the back of somebody's wagon parked outside their hut. Merlin could not stop the wince from forming, because what if somebody was actually hiding away in it. Like a kid because they were scared when they saw the knights coming and didn't want to be caught out so late. Especially since he had been informed by Gregory just before he went to bed that a curfew had been issues. It was bad enough that they were abandoning these people by cordoning off the town, but now they were deciding what the lower town was allowed to do even when left to their own devices…it was just weird.

…and any kid that would have happened to be hiding away in the haystack would now be dead, from the way Bryon and Christian were stabbing at it.

Merlin panicked and crouched down lower as he saw a third knight coming closer towards his hiding spot. It was Markus-Arthur's best friend and apparently the ringleader for this little search party-and he was getting far too close for Merlin's comfort.

Merlin thought fast, trying to keep just out of sight before his eyes landed on what he knew was an abandoned hut. The old couple living there had been some of the first to succumb to the sickness. He knew this because Merlin made it a point to know who was passing on because of this sickness. He tried to make it a point to remember each and every person who came through Gaius'. So that they were not just a number passing through after they had died among the many other people who had already passed on. Which meant that the house would be empty, nobody to disturb as Merlin did his work.

"Onstyrian onbregdan." Merlin whispered under his breath, so softly that it couldn't be heard even on the soft wind that blew past the night. The door to the abandoned house let loose an eerie creak that shattered their quiet night as it eased open an inch. Merlin watched as Markus turned to the door with a look of startled surprised. He watched when Markus brought a hand to the sword on his belt and started creeping forward as if the knight truly thought he was about to find the evil sorcerer hiding away. And then being so careless during a search for them that they did nothing to stop the door from opening on it's own. Clearly these knights weren't all that smart, Merlin might have to mention that to Arthur at some point…nah. It might be bad in the long run but wouldn't it be easier for him to sneak around if the knights weren't actually competent at their jobs?

Merlin waited until Markus got close enough to the door, creeping nice and slow along the way, before he said the same spell again. His eyes turned this vibrant gold, lightning up the shadowed area he was hiding in-you could'veonly seen his eyes because of how dark his little corner was, and somebody might have mistaken those glowing eyes in the night for a demon-and then the door flung open with much more harshness and suddenness than it had the first time. The edge of the door hit Markus straight in the face, causing him to go crying out in startled surprise as he was flung off his feet, landing in the dirt off somewhere right in front of the hut.

Merlin had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing and revealing his position to the other knights that came close to running to get to Markus and check to see what happened at his shouting. He had never really liked Markus anyway, he had a habit of saying strange things or making weirdly odd suggestions that Merlin had no idea what he was talking about. Even during the very few brief interactions he's had with him. It wasn't like a single knock to the face was going to hurt him anyway, other than bruise his male ego…

He took this opportunity while the knights wer distracted with helping Markus off the ground to sneak past them, aided by all the shadows and his own quick footwork. They literally never even knew that he had been there at all.

It took a little bit more of skulking through the night, keeping him tucked against buildings to keep up an illusion of 'invisibility' on the off chance he would run into anymore knights, or people that were still alive and happened to be peeking out their shutters at the exact one moment he was passing by. He was taking no chances at being caught here. At least not before he managed to finish his work.

It didn't take him all that long to reach Gwen's home, and Merlin creeped up to the window to get a peek inside. The candles were all still lit up inside so Merlin was able to see-Gwen had most likely fallen asleep before she could set them out. Because that's exactly what he saw when he perked inside. Gwen was sitting on the floor at her father's cot, her head was resting in an awkward position over her arms, it was clear she most likely hadn't left Tom's side since she had left him and Gaius.

She had managed to dress herself for bed as she wore her long white nightdress. And her hair was just one big mess, completely flat on the side she was laying on. Her face stained still with the tears she had been shedding on earlier that day. No doubt there had been so much more crying after she had ran off to tend to her ailing father. Tom himself looked as if he was death warmed up, his skin pale like snow despite his natural dark skin tone. It was frightening to see him laying out on his cot, looking as if he had already died during the night. In fact, for one terrifying moment, Merlin thought he actually 'had' died. There was no way he could wake Gwen up and tell her that her father was dead, and not could he leave her there to discover it herself when she woke up the next morning.

Luckily, Merlin saw the very subtle raggedly breath Tom was struggling to take in before he had to make that kind of decision. So Tom was still alive…for now at least.

It was far too easy for Merlin to break into Gwen's house. Especially since the door was not even locked. Apparently it was one more thing Gwen had forgotten to do as she tried to take care of her father. And it made Merlin frown with concern. But it was just one small matter compared to the larger one. As long as he kept quiet, not even the residents had to know Merlin had ever been there in the first place.

He ignored the piece of parchment he saw attached to the door with a pin, as he shut the door behind him. The room smelled bad, Merlin's eyes watering from the pungency of it. It was clear Gwen had made some kind of poor effort to clean the place up, but it was also impossible since the scent came directly from her father. As if he was already dead, so he had been baking in the sun for days if not more. How Gwen could stand to be sleeping so close was a mystery to him, but that was also what people did for family. Especially if one was on their sickbed.

Merlin ignored it and quickly moved across the length of the room, wanting to get this over with before he was caught. Which was exactly why he froze in mid-step when he saw Gwen start moving. But all she did was re-adjust herself, mumbling something that he couldn't quite hear under her breath. And then she was out again, her facial muscles relaxing, her dreams no doubt filled with the time she had with her father before he'd got sick.

Merlin carefully stepped around her long legs slung out beside her, making sure not to go stepping on her. Once he got to the head of the bed where Tom's head was resting, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the lump he had been carrying. It looked like it was nothing but a sock ball, only the white of the cloth was clearly some kind of fabric he'd ripped off from his nightshirt. It was all tightly tied up, the inside of it filled to the brim with all kinds of herbs and crushed up plants. All things he had found easily enough around his uncle's chambers.

It had taken him most of the night after he'd left his uncle to do experimenting on the flower he had given him, to find a proper spell geared towards healing. It wasn't that strong of a spell but it was the only one he felt as if he could do a good enough job at doing. And the only one that had ingredients he wouldn't have to go stomping through the entirety of the kingdom just to track down. He still was not entirely sure if he did it right, considering this was his first healing spell attempt. But it was better to try and screw up instead of asking himself 'what if he'd tried' only after Gwen was in mourning for her dead father.

Merlin tucked the poultice, just as his book had instructed, right under Tom's pillow. With any luck, nobody would ever know that it was there until the magic had worn away and left nothing more than the husked shell wrapped around it. He backed away from the bed, not wanting to be too close just in case the spell backfired on him…maybe he shouldn't try to do this if he didn't know if his first attempt at this spell was going to be volatile. Especially with Gwen and her father so close into the possible explosion zone…no, he was being ridiculous. How could a healing spell go so crazily wrong?

Merlin held up his hand and felt the stirrings of his magic warming up, like a second heart inside of him, "bu fornimist ask fram guman." He recited from memory. Merlin didn't want to risk carting his book throughout the city, if he got caught that was the last thing that he should have on him. So he had made sure to memorize before leaving, reciting if over and over again under his breath until he had the punctuation just right.

And clearly he had done something right, if the low golden light illuminating from under Tom's pillow was any indication. The golden light seemed to shimmer over Tom for just a second, and Gwen stirred restlessly with her face lit up from the light from her closeness to it. Merlin started to grin to himself, he just knew that he had made the right choice. Now he could only hope that the simple healing spell he had chosen to go with was strong enough to combat the sorcerer's evil.

Merlin felt another edge of panic again as he saw Tom finally starting to move, moaning a bit restlessly as he moves. Merlin could not be found here, how would he even go about explaining his presence.

Merlin left quickly, sneaking back out of the hut as fast as he had snuck in. But he didn't leave quite yet. He stayed, hidden in the dark, so that he could peek in through the window shutters, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

At first nothing seemed to happen, and even though he had seen the light before it faded, Merlin almost wondered if his spell had really worked at all. But then he saw Tom's eyes as they fluttered. He was clearly still too weak to move much, but when he saw his little Gwen at his side, he still made the effort move his hand just high enough for him to drop it back on her head.

The movement caused Gwen to wake, her own eyes fluttering open. She seemed to be beady eyed, blinking the sleepiness out of her eyes. It took her minute to remember why she was sleeping on the floor, but before the tears could fill her eyes all over again, she felt the heavy hand on her head. The same hand that had always affectionally rubbed through her curls when she was little. Something she feared she would never feel again. But it was there.

"Father…?" Gwen asked wearily, blinking her eyes rapidly. She didn't know if she wanted to believe her eyes. Was her father really in front of her, awake and alive when he had been in a near death state when she'd cried herself to sleep earlier. She was almost too scared to hope and thought this must be some kind of odd fever dream. She had developed her own touch of the sickness herself and was just as close to death as her father was. But if that was true, then she definitely didn't want to wake back up to the nightmare she had been living.

And then her father actually spoke, "Gweny?" And her a second, she could actually see the stars as if they were lighting her way. There was no way this was a fever dream, not from the pure euphorbia shooting through every one of her nerve endings. Sure, maybe she really had gotten the sickness and then died in her sleep before she had even realized she had been infected. And now she was in her own little heaven, reuniting with her dad that had already passed on as she had been in a deep, restless sleep herself. The heavy hand on her head convinced her otherwise.

Gwen climbed to her knees so fast that her head almost swum, and she all but regretted it as her father's hand fell off her head only to land on the bed. Too weak to move it all over again. But she didn't care. Her father was still alive. Better than alive, he looked as if he was getting better. Healing. His skin was still pale but it was starting to darken, as if his natural skin tone was starting to seep in through all of the sick. The blue veins that had darkened as the eyes past were so light that they might as well not even be there anymore.

"What happened" Gwen asked as she climb to her knees to get a better look, climbing as close as she could so that she was all but sitting on him. Her hands clutched tightly on to his shoulders, almost fearful that if she'd dared to let go, he would disappear. And she would be left to fall back into the black void of mystery that had been about to overtake her from this traumatic experience. "Oh, I can not believe it!"

But she had no choice to. The evidence was literally breathing right in front of her face. It was everything she wished and prayed and hoped for, and she had absolutely no idea how it came to be. But Gwen decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and threw her arms around her father, crying tears of pure joy and happiness into her father's shoulder.

She wasn't going to be alone.

Her father was going to survive this.

Their little family would stay stronger than ever.

Gwen was so enraptured by her father and his sudden recovery, that she never once saw Merlin standing outside her window. Nor did he see the amazed grin-a soft, subconscious smile-as he watched the scene he had just created. This warmth forming in his heart was something else entirely, something that he'd not been expecting. He hadn't done this just to show that he could do 'something'. He had not done this because while he might be this horrible consort, he was a good sorcerer over doing a simple healing charm. Merlin hadn't even done this to show Gaius was wrong, to show that magic was the answer to this very magical problem that they were fading.

Maybe he had been at first.

But seeing this family being reunited like they were, knowing that not even something that was as powerful as the sickness was able to tear them apart…he felt humbled. He'd been the one to do this. He'd been the one to save Tom's life, and even though nobody was ever going to know that it was him, he was okay with not getting the recognition. Gwen large smile was all that he needed.

Magic, he was coming to learn, could do bad and terrible things. For great evil. Like letting a sorceress turn herself into another person so that she could get close enough towards the king to kill his son. He could not really go blaming Mary Collins because Uther was the one to kill her son. But he could blame her as she went after Arthur that night in some kind of sick game of revenge. Magic could also be used to turn an innocent object-like a kind of shield-into a deadly weapon. Could cause it to hide a secret so that everyone would be completely clueless as to how you kept on defeating your opponents. Now, he could go blaming that on Valiant, because he'd gone through such extreme lengths just to win a damn contest. And kill Arthur in the process…

But magic could also be used for great good as well. To help people instead of destroying them for your own satisfaction. It could have been used to slow down time just enough to drag a prince out of the way of a dagger that was thrown at him in desperation. It could be used to yank a rope out of place so that the chandelier could fall and trap her under the heavy metal weight. It could be used to turn an ordinary statue into flesh and bone, was able to turn smooth marble into a bleeding, breathing, living creature. To give it a life that wasn't meant to be. It could use that same power to reveal the truth of a wicked man to hundreds and hundreds of people. It could give the prince the chance to defend himself and protect his people from somebody trying to worm their way inside their ranks.

And it could be used to stop a deadly, terrible sickness from spreading any further. It could save a life and give a father and his daughter a second chance to do things right and stay together. What could be more beautiful than that?

But this scene was clearly supposed to be an intimate moment between the father and his child, and Merlin felt as if he was starting to intrude. He backed away from the window, he was ready to go back to his uncle's and see if he can scavenge a few more hours of sleep before the sun rose. But before he'd got more than two steps away, the paper pinned to the door of Gwen's house, as well as an identical paper pinned to every other house down this street, caught his eye.

His hand was shaking, not in fear or in a dose of panic but in growing rage and anger as he took in the words. He ripped the parchment off the door, his teeth grinding together as he was forced to confirm was Morris had said as the truth. Morris hadn't been just fucking around with him to rile him up. The words on the parchment practically swum before his eyes as he grew red hot with his anger, and the parchment crunches between his fingers as he tightened his grip on the edges of hard that it almost tore in two:

Citizens of Camelot

Starting tomorrow morning at approximately sunrise, a lockdown will be going into effect. Camelot Inner City will disconnect itself from the Lower Town and no further travel will be allowed between the two districts until further notice.

Thank you

Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot

X

Miles and miles away from the catastrophe that was happening in Camelot, Nimueh was standing at her crystal bowl again. The habit has became near obsessive to her, she rarely left it nowadays. Too fascinating with being able to watch her great work unfolding before her eyes. Watching as Uther grew more and more panicked as more and more of his own people dying with no clue that it was her who was behind it all.

Nimueh grinned wickedly, knowing that they were no closer to figuring out how to stop her plague then they had been yesterday. It was a marvelous feeling, knowing that she would finally be able to get her revenge on Uther, a plan that she had in the makings for over two decades while Uther relaxed and convinced himself years ago that all the threats she had made during the last time they met would be nothing more than empty words and false promises of revenge.

He would die soon enough, knowing that he shouldn't have brushed her aside.

And Nimueh watched with a sick sense of satisfaction as her water bowl created an image in it's liquid. There had been twenty bodies covered by white sheets in the middle of the courtyard just the day beforen. But this was a whole new day. And today, the death toll had gone up to fifty.

X

The morning sun had risen and nobody had seemed the wiser about Merlin or his after dark activities. In fact, Merlin was sounded asleep and completely dead to the world, all curled up into a little ball on top of his bed as he tried to cling to just a few more minutes of precious sleep before he was forced to face the day.

That plan went out the window as Gaius was bursting into his room, slamming the door so hard that it banged right into his wardrobe as it was situated right next to it. Merlin jolted up in his bed, eyes blinking rapidly and in a brief panic because he could have sworn that he'd been about to be attacked. Why else would someone go bursting into his rooms like that other than the guards. Clearly they knew he'd snuck out his window and performed magic on somebody…

"Get up!" Gaius said with great urgency as he strode further into the room, looking at his panicking nephew on the bed. "Get yourself dressed, we've got an audience with the king this morning!" One of the guards had brought him a notice-hand delivered by Gregory who refused the other knight entrance until he'd been able to check over the letter itself just to make sure that it was authentic. So it was not a trap where they were going to end up being ambushed. And making sure there was no poisonous powder onto it that could have caused death to the young consort that was in his ward. Clearly, Gregory took his job very seriously as he did all of that before allowing Gaius to handle the letter.

"W-what? Why would the king want us?" The boy he was talking to blubbered. Merlin had almost forgotten that there was other things going on. Other reasons as for why the king may want their presence for obvious reasons and such. Gaius was the physician and with a crisis going on, it was only practical that he be involved with every step of the matter, or informed of every possible shift or change in case it effected his researching for the cure in some way. Merlin was consort, should he say anymore? He had every right to be there as the prince was, but considering the letter was from Uther, it was merely a formality or last minute thought that he included Merlin in it at all.

Gaius looked at him-with an arched eyebrow-as if it should have been obvious, "The king wants to know if I've made any headway on the tests I've been running. The flower we put in the water last night, I was right. I checked it this morning and the plant is dead. The water 'is' the cause of the disease."

Well that woke Merlin right up, and he nearly fell over in his pursuit to clamber onto his flat knees on top of the bed, "Really? It's been in the drinking water this whole time? Then it's no wonder everybody's been getting sick so fast!" He could only imagine just how many people had been using the water pumps all day long, not a clue that they were drinking straight poison. Even now with everything that was going on, people still needed their drinking water. News like this was going to practically shut the entire city down.

"I will leave you to dress, but do hurry. We cannot sit on news like this for long without informing the king." Gaius told his nephew, and then he was gone. Leaving the room and closing the door right on behind him so that Merlin could get a bit of privacy to go getting himself dressed for the day. "And hide that blasted book!" Gaius called through the door after he left, indicating the magic book that Merlin had set on his bedside table.

Merlin wasted no time trying to roll right out of his bed. The key word: tried. He had just one single sheet on his bed that somehow twisted itself around his ankles during his sleeping. And with his legs caught up in them so messily, Merlin went down-hard and with a yelp-on the floor beside his bed. Taking what was pretty much everything on the bedside table down with him, landing with a clatter around his head plastered to the cold wood floor.

Merlin groaned, squinting through his eyes as his position was perfect for looking under his bed. Right at the length of sheets still knotted together that he had used to climb in and out his window the night before. Merlin had only managed to untangle one of the sheets when he had returned for his bedding but it was so late that he hadn't bothered doing any of the others. He'd stuffed it under his bed to work on later, and it was a really good thing none of the edges stuck out. His uncle would not like any of the answers Merlin gave him, and would see through a lie in a heartbeat.

…It had been a lot harder going up the sheets then it had been going down them for damn sure.

Merlin grumbled curses under his breath as he climbed up to his knees. He had every bit of intention to snatch up the first clean pair of clothes he could find off his floor and start getting dressed. They couldn't allow a 'king' to wait for too long, after all. But he had only made it as far as his knees when he stopped, an odd creaking sound going off somewhere branch him. Now obviously, Merlin wasn't any stranger to the odd creaks, everywhere in the place seemed to creak. But this was different sort of, a more hollow sounding creak. Merlin moved his knee again and heard it, a clicking of the floorboard beneath him. Like there was something out of place or something that did not fit quite well. Like this specific board was not cut how it should have been and now it fit in the hole oddly.

Merlin scooted off of the block of wood and started playing around with it. Moving that piece of floorboard, and it clearly wobbled unattached in it's hole. He ended up having to dig his fingernails up under the wood-and forgotten that he had somewhere to be-and started to pry it up. It took a minute of playing around with it, and harsh yanking, before he heard the cracking of wood as something gave away. And he nearly fell back on his ass when it came up, leaving the plank of wood in his hands and a large empty space under the floor where it had been a moment ago.

He winced, knowing that if it wasn't already broken before he had gotten his hooks onto it, then it definitely was now. But Merlin set aside the blank of wood so that he could be able to better explore the hole that had been left behind. It wasn't enormous or anything like that, just a little cubby hole area formed between the floorboards and the floor under neath that. It actually looked big enough for… all at once, he remembered his uncle yelling at him to hide his magic book.

Well, that was exactly what he did.

Snatching up his magic book from beside him, one of the few things that he'd managed to knock off his bedside table, he got to work on fitting it in. It took some angling about to work it in, the nook under the floor wasn't the largest thing in the world. But it did seem to fit his book in. Merlin blinked amazed, looking down at the book nestled inside of the hole right under his feet. It that little cranny had been just a bit smaller, there was no way the book could have fit.

It actually looked a lot like the cranny he had back home. His mother had crafted out this space beneath their floors-almost like this bit he had found on his own-so that she had this place to hide his stuff when he was a kid. But that had been when she was so terrified that she hid him whenever a stranger was passing through, scared that just a single glimpse at him would be their undoing. As if they could see the magic brimming in his soul, forming under his skin, and making itself at home in every one of his nerve endings. Merlin would hide away in a decoy barrel in their hut until he outgrew it, and his stuff would go finding their place under their floors until it was safe for him to come out again.

But the true test for this new cranny was him getting the wooden plank to fit back over it. It would also be nice to know he had a nice and proper spot for his book now, like the headboard in his Royal suite had been like a safety net.

It was surprisingly easy to click the plank of wood back into place. It didn't seem to fit it quite as good as it had, but that was probably because Merlin 'had' broken something when he took it up. Oh well, at least it sat neatly on top of it and unless somebody stepped right on top of it-which would be odd since half of this plank trailed straight under his bed-his nook could go completely undetected.

"Merlin!" He heard coming from somewhere down the stairs. Merlin's head popped up in a panic as he remembered what he was doing, or was supposed to be doing. In a mad kind of scramble, Merlin ran threw throughout his room trying to get dressed. He got his head caught in his shirt for a brief moment before he was able to jerk it out, and then yanked on his burnt orange shirt, tying his wornout blue neckerchief around his neck. He found a pair of brown pants half hidden behind his wardrobe but don't ask him how it got there in the first place.

Merlin was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off as he bounced up and down, trying to force his boots on. He had just got the last one on when he heard a bit of sound like crinkling under his other foot. He looked down and spotted a balled up piece of paper, parchment, Merlin knew what it was in half an instant. Even as he bent down and picked it up, the second item he had knocked off his bed side table when he'd rolled out of bed a moment ago.

The paper was crumbled and ripped up in places, creased and the words on it smudged since Merlin kept going back and reading the page throughout the night. Arthur's stupid announcement…Merlin could feel something inside of him rearing it's ugly head all over again as he read it once, twice, and another time for good measure.

Thank you? That idiot prince had the sheer audacity to say 'thank you' to citizens who he was cutting off. The lower town wouldn't even be able to contact Gaius and get some potions he'd been passing out to those who were sick. Nothing that would help heal them but it at least numbed the pain as the bodily systems started to shut down.

Fucking Arthur Pendragon, just wait until he got down there. He was going to bloody well kill him and take sheer pleasure in doing it.

X

Arthur Pendragon was currently in a state of stress, although one would have never been able to tell it from just looking at him. He was cool and indifferent on the outside, while the prince waited patiently for his consort to start arriving so that he could escort him into the grand hall where his father was waiting to be enthralled with Gaius' report. Like a proper husband should. It wasn't right for somebody of his standard to get started without having his consort be present…or at least that was what he told himself. On the inside, he was a jittering mess as his mind roared, whispering to him all of the things his father had warned him about during their last discussion.

He needed to play nice with Merlin, needed to become something more than what they were so Merlin would be less inclined to take their kingdom should he ever discover the truth. His father even wanted him to pretend he had 'feelings' for Merlin. Just the thought of it sent this funny swooping feeling in his stomach, he felt a bit like he did when he'd got his hands on the wrong thing and ended up with food poisoning when he was twelve. And what did 'that' even entail? Would he be expected to bow as soon as Merlin entered the room, the way he was raised to do when his intended arrived? Did his father want him to open the door and hold out his arm so that Merlin could take it? So that Arthur would go leading him into the chambers where the king was waiting for them?

Merlin would never go for it. Not after the last fight they had, Arthur could still hear the very loud smashing sound echoing in his ears at the box hitting the door after Merlin had gone throwing it at him.

But Arthur was prepared for him, that was why he still wore his ring. To show his father that he was trying and if he failed, then that would clearly be Merlin's fault. But this was also the first time he had seen Merlin since the incident with the box, so he had to make some kind of impression. If only to appease his father when he saw Arthur making the effort.

But like he'd grudgingly admitted last time, despite how awful Arthur called Merlin an idiot, or moron, or stupid. The boy was much smarter than he was willing to admit. He'd be able to see any false attempts Arthur would try making to be kinder. Or at least enough to be suspicious. Their relationship couldn't go from volatile to whatever it was that the king wanted him to do…

"Arthur Pendragon!" A voice roared from down the hallway, making Arthur snap out of his thoughts startled. He had this whole sort of game plan worked out in his mind of how he was going to approach Merlin. But that all went right out the window when he saw said consort storming down the long length of the hall towards him. Fuck, had he woken up that angry at Arthur? And clearly Gaius had sense to walk several steps behind Merlin to not get caught in the crossfire about to occur. Even Gregory was half a step behind Merlin, giving the boy an odd look every now and then. And Merlin was barely too him when he started up his screaming again, "Just what do you think you are playing a-"

Arthur didn't know exactly what Merlin's deal was, but he couldn't allow his voice to carry through the doors and let his father hear how Merlin was talking to him. If it had been Uther then he would've shut this down flat. But for Arthur…maybe he just didn't have it in him to stop it. There was a reason Arthur hadn't just gone and slapped Merlin whenever he'd got smart with him. Or had the guards 'literally' go and put him on house arrest like he'd been briefly considering at one point or the other…

Either way, Arthur reacted quickly when that consort of his-arms flying wildly over the top of his head as he screamed at him-got within arm's reach. Then Arthur grabbed him right under his arm, cutting him off in mid-scream and started frog marching him back down the hall he had came from. "Stay here, we'll be back in a moment." Arthur barked at Gaius and Gregory as he passed them by, his harsh grip on Merlin refusing to relax as he tried to jerk himself free.

Arthur didn't let go until they were far down the hallway and stepping into a side hallway so that they were just out of sight. Privacy was key if Merlin was going to start yelling at him again. Especially since they were closer to his father than they had been doing any of their other arguments. And the chances of them being overheard was much higher than it had been any other time.

"Will you stop dragging me around!" Merlin shouted, shoving Arthur away from him, but it made him all that much madder since Arthur barely moved an inch back. "You utter, utter arse! What the hell are you thinking doing all of this!"

Because hell hath no fury like a Merlin who was pissed at the world. Or a Merlin who was pissed at Arthur specifically. Was he not the prince? Whose sole duty should be to take care of his people, get them the help that they needed no matter the cost. Forget all of their fighting, forget everything they'd done to the other since Merlin had arrived. Forget that Arthur ruined the 'one' and only thing he had to remind him of home. This had to be the worse thing Arthur had done. Just leaving all of those people to their fates, washing his hands of them as if it was inconvenient to do his damn duty and give them the relief they clearly needed. Even if Arthur couldn't cure the disease, he could at least pass out food or something to people who couldn't work at the moment. Give relief funds to families who had lost their breadwinner because they had caught the sickness. Something!

And just when Merlin had been thinking Arthur couldn't do anything else to make him think lower of him.

Arthur who was looking at him impassively, as if he didn't know what Merlin was talking about. This was prove true when Arthur was crossing his arms over his chest, his voice sounding strangely calm and void of any and all emotion as if said, "If this is about Gregory watching you…"

Arthur had to keep himself strict like this, as he felt like he had no choice. Arthur had been trained from birth how to react to certain kind of situations, how to keep calm even when he had everything going wrong. But there was just something about Merlin that had always made him lose his temper. Maybe it seemed like Merlin 'never' tried to placate Arthur if he was in a mood. Merlin 'never' calmed himself down during their fights-Arthur had never actually 'argued' with somebody because they had always backed down since he had the crown behind him-and his mere existence was enough to rile Arthur up. But that was also something Arthur couldn't afford doing anymore. His father had been talking crazy-yes, about the 'dates' and the 'pretending' and whatever else he had said-but he also wasn't wrong.

Arthur needed to straighten himself out just a little. And he hated that Merlin held this kind of power over him and didn't even know it.

"Gregory?" Merlin demanded, looking at the prince hotly, his flashing dangerously. "You think I'm pissed about Gregory! Don't get me wrong, I am plenty of pissed about him, but that's not what I'm talking about! But I will ask you, what in the world did you think you were doing putting a guard on me! Yelling at me is not enough, you have to stick a guard on me to watch my every move! You sick stalker!"

Merlin hadn't intended to make a fuss about Gregory. Oh, who was he kidding, he had all the intention in the world to make a fuss over Gregory. Or at least he did before he saw the parchment announcement pinned to every house he had seen. And the other thing that he had seen this morning on his way down here…if he wasn't already full of fire, then seeing the town actually being cordoned off was enough to set him aflame.

"I'm not-" Arthur started to raise his voice as he felt the familiar stirring inside his gut and through his arms and legs that he always had felt when Merlin started yelling at him. Some kind of thumping inside of him that made him want to burst because it was too much for him to handle. But he was Arthur Pendragon and like his father had practically said, he had to do things a bit more…delicately…then he'd been doing. Arthur forced himself to take this deep breath to not raise his own voice over Merlin's yelling. "I am not stalking you."

Even though, Arthur supposed quietly inside his own mind as he tried to think of this from Merlin's point of view, it probably would look as if he was stalking Merlin. Stalking from a distance at least. And he wasn't entirely all that wrong either. Arthur had hired Gregory to keep an eye on Merlin, and to report any misgiving's the boy might be doing. So in a nutshell…maybe it could be considered doing a bit of stalking. But was it not his right to do what he needed to keep a close eye on him? Was it really so wrong that Arthur needed to protect his reputation, which Merlin was just making so hard for him to do.

Merlin scoffed at him, fists clenched tightly at his sides, "And what would you call having a guard on me twenty four seven? I bet he has already reported to you everything I do, tell me he hasn't."

Arthur couldn't say that he hadn't. While it was true that Gregory hadn't been able to approach him and give him a proper report on the matter-that would be leaving his post and leaving Merlin unattended to-the knight had slipped a parchment to one of the many guards to delivery to him just that morning. It was to tell him about Gregory's first day on guard duty. Which was how he knew Merlin had run an errand for Gaius that involved a water bucket-Gregory had been sure to illiterate that the only interaction Merlin had with anybody would be his own manservant Morris and the handmaiden, Gwen-before returning to the physician and his chambers. He'd had a sandwich for his dinner-no drink for whatever reason and a sandwich was very 'subpar' for a consort but Arthur wasn't going to start something over it-before retiring to his room. Merlin also poked his head out at some point in the knight but then returned back when he saw Gregory was still out there. Now why he'd done that would be a mystery to Arthur, but it seemed very little since Merlin had at least stayed put.

Merlin seemed to read his fact so easily as he scoffed again, "See, he's doing nothing but being a spy for you. Don't think for a second I didn't know as soon as I saw him!" This made Arthur realize he was showing a bit too much on his face and quickly corrected himself by putting on an impeccable mask of hardness on his features.

"Gregory isn't just there to report back to me of your going on's. His sole purpose there is to keep you safe. What if something were to happen and I'm not there to defend you-" he started, self-importantly. Because wasn't that something that girl's liked to here? That they had a knight that would swoop in and come to save them and their honor if they needed him to. Granted, Merlin wasn't a girl but the only experience Arthur had was with girls. It wasn't like Merlin was one of his male friends that he could go toe to toe in a swords fight with. Like his father said, delicate would be the way to go. And what was more delicate than a girl…

Merlin hated being treated like a girl, as the prince soon found out.

"Defend me?" Merlin demanded in a hot tone as fire practically came out his eyes. And his shoulders were tensing and loosening, as if he was playing around with rather or not he'd be able to land a hit this time to Arthur and his jawline. "Since when have you 'ever'-ever! Cared about my safety! I don't need anybody, least of all you of all people, to defend me at all!" And he threw his arms out beside him as he took a step closer to Arthur.

Arthur blinked, not entirely sure where he'd gone wrong now. Merlin should be grateful that Arthur was trying to take his safety into account. And not just because he felt this intense need in the pit of his gut when he had realized he needed to know where Merlin was at all hours of the day. Especially since Arthur had lost him for over twenty four hours-and didn't know it-only to find him getting settled into Gaius'. And then, in his baffled state, he said something very, very stupid. "But you'd needed my help when Valiant was around."

So what was so wrong with Arthur having his own knight keep up with Merlin. It was for his protection, to make sure nothing like that had happened again. Honestly, he should've done it the very first moment Merlin had told him what was going on. But he'd been too caught up with seeking his own revenge that it'd got shoved to the side until now. Until Arthur had realized Merlin could disappear so quickly on his own, and Arthur couldn't worry about him with everything else that was going on right now.

Merlin looked at him as if Arthur had gave a sharp slap to his face. As if Arthur had just thrown what happened to Valiant-and how stupid he was to not go to Arthur sooner-in his face. But before Arthur could work out what was wrong with stating the truth, Merlin had his face harden, his voice going sharper than ice as he said, "You are going to take Gregory back. I don't need a guard, certainly not one that reports to you at least."

Arthur dismissed this demand as nothing but ridiculous, and waved his hand at Merlin as to indicate just how stupid that was, "Gregory is non-negotiable." He had already trusted him without a guard for far too long and looked at how that turned out. Merlin almost assaulted in his own home. Merlin able to go looking for a job hours before word had even reached him. Merlin able to leave their suites for over a day before Arthur had even discovered he was gone, and only quite by chance. "You will just have to bare with his presence until this sickness has been contained and under our control."

Arthur thought it may cool Merlin's temper to know that it wasn't a permanent thing-well at least right now, Arthur may have to revisit the permanence of it later on-since he couldn't very well have Merlin's temper getting the best of him while they were in a meeting with his father. Merlin's temper needed to go and be trained out of him, and Arthur keeping this calm demeanor would hopefully make Merlin see that he was being childish and throwing a fit over nothing.

But Merlin's face went almost red with anger over Arthur's decision, "I'm not going to just wait around until 'you' decide that he needs to take a step back! I'm not one of your little guards you can order about! I don't want him around!" And not just because his life was on the line if Gregory saw something that he most definitely shouldn't. It had been a risk he had to take but what if Gregory had seen or noticed him sneaking out the night before and decided to follow him? Merlin would be on a pyre right now. But it was also a matter of respect and privacy. Merlin deserved to be able to go someplace and do whatever it was he wanted without word of it getting back to Arthur. Even the stupid mundane things like getting his own bucket of water was probably being reported to him. It made Merlin feel as if he was itchy, claustrophobic, everybody's eyes on him was bad enough without Arthur being privy to it as well. What was next? Was he going to tell Arthur whenever he went to the loo as well?

Arthur raised an impassive eyebrow-and that was just another reason for Merlin to feel so infuriated-who was Arthur to act so calm in the face of Merlin's ire? "Did he do something to you?" Arthur asked casually. "Did Gregory hurt you in anyway? Insult you? Upset you for some reason?"

Obviously, if Gregory 'had' done something to hurt him, he would have to go. He'd have to be properly punished as well, stripped of his rank and sent to live the next several months rotting in the dungeons before it was decided what to do with him next. But since Merlin didn't seem to be shying away from the knight, or looking at him fearfully when he was coming down the hall with him, Arthur would assume that wasn't the reason. But it was entirely possible that Gregory may have said something to upset him…that seemed to be the case since Arthur couldn't even give him an armed guard for protection without him throwing a fit.

Case in point when Merlin glared at him not seconds later, "You're the one that upsets me arsehole!" He shouted, pointing a finger right at Arthur's face, inches from his nose. Trust Merlin, he would have 'plenty' more to say if Gregory had been one of the many knights that liked to 'play' with him if they caught him out alone. And if Arthur was going to just go throwing in his face about what happened with Valiant, then there was no way in hell he was going to bring up what else was going on in the background. Not if it would only give the prince more anmo to use against him.

Merlin felt as if he was having this argument on his own. An argument that he didn't have any intentions of getting into when he'd first approached the prince. The knight was just a small scope of reasons that he was hating on Arthur. Just his mere presence was enough to make Merlin start feeling ill. Especially as he had a habit of making everything about him. As if he thought Merlin spent every one of his waking moment's wasting his time by thinking about him. He only thought about him when he had no choice, like when Arthur was right in front of him like he was now.

Arthur was still calm, cool, and collected as he forced his face into an expressionless mask. Not sure how to handle this situation at all. His father wanted him to do one thing but showing 'concern' like a true husband was just seemed to make Merlin more agitated at him. So nothing was going according to the plan he'd whipped up in a moment's notice, it was very difficult. His tutors had taught him how one should treat their intended, with the respect and chivalry they deserved. He had never been taught what to do if his intended did nothing but shout at him, which was most likely why he forgot what he was supposed to be doing and allowed his mouth to get away from him.

"I upset you just by breathing." Which, Arthur decided annoyingly, was probably not what he was supposed to say to somebody whose good side he was trying to get on per request by his father. He was supposed to listen with an open ear to whatever concern Merlin may have about Gregory and then comfort him by saying something stupid like-it was going to be okay. God, why did he have to suck like he did at this whole-be nice to him-play he was trying to do.

Arthur was surprised when Merlin snorted, still looking pissed at him but…lesser pissed, if that made any kind of sense. Merlin spoke up in that sassy tone of his that always got under Arthur's skin, "That's a good point, so maybe you should just stop doing that."

Arthur blinked at him, not entirely sure what was more outrageous. The fact that Merlin had stopped his pissed off assault on him for Arthur's poor remark, or that he apparently expected Arthur to stop breathing upon his command. "…There is something seriously wrong with you, isn't there?" Because there had to be. There was no way there was any person out there that was this incredibly dim and very moronic…Merlin probably actually hadn't been serious about that breathing thing, was he?

"…You're one to talk." Merlin snarled with his face dropping into stone. As if he forget who he was talking to for a second there and just now remembered that he didn't like Arthur in the least. Arthur could feel the headache that liked to form in his temples every time he got to talking with Merlin. The boy just 'confused' him on the worse kind of levels imaginable.

Arthur brought a hand up to punch at the bridge of his nose, wondering what on earth he had done now. His father had obviously underestimated just 'how' hard it was for him to get Merlin to like him. Absolutely nothing was going right, and he was pretty sure with every breath he took, he was giving Merlin a reason to take their kingdom right out from underneath them at the first chance he got. It was so difficult to not start yelling again to try and demand some kind of clarity from Merlin as to why he made 'everything' so 'fucking' difficult. Yelling would not 'endure' Merlin on to his 'good side' or whatever it was he was trying to do right about now, and feeling like an utter failure while he did it. Nobody had quite prepared Arthur for a marriage life with problems like this…

Arthur got his questioning back on track-as he was pretty sure Merlin was still pissed off about the guard situation, and heaven forbid they go see his father while he still had this attitude of his, "If Gregory didn't do anything to you, then I hardly see what you are going off complaining for." Most people would have seen the guard as a sign of wealth and power bestowed upon them. Something to show off as they stormed through the marketplace or somewhere else as equally peasant. To show that they were so important that it was their right to have their very own armed escort to keep the 'savages' away from them. It was so odd to see that this was yet another hill that Merlin seemed willing to die on.

Merlin chewed on the inside of his cheek, not sure how he had gone pissed from the town being blocked off to the Gregory situation. It was Arthur that had that kind of effect on him by always dancing off the topic he was going for. But how do you get an idiotic prince to understand that some people didn't like to be spied on. God, did he have to fucking spell it out for him. Actually…he might have to do just that, "I." He started slowly, forcing his eyes to keep firm contact with Arthur's to get him to see just how serious he was. "Like. Having. My. Privacy." And that was as far as Merlin was going with the matter. Fuck Arthur if he thought Merlin was going to start waxing on with poetry about how much having a guard sucked. It had only been a day and already he was having issues. Couldn't fetch water on his own. Couldn't be mocked by that stupid arse Morris without a guard standing over his shoulder. Couldn't even sneak out of his own quarters without Gregory giving him that-try it again, look.

But Arthur-whose every move and decision in life had been made for him by his father, his tutors, his nanny's, his trainer's-had very little concept when it came to privacy. Something like that was hard to come by and completely insignificant when it came to preparing him for a far off future where it would be him who made the choices. Still, with no privacy when all eyes rested on him, so Merlin's very feeble excuse of wanting privacy only made Arthur blink slowly at him. "…If you're not doing any thing I shouldn't know of, then why do you care so much?"

It was a trap, Merlin thought as his eyes were bulging in rage. He knew it had to be a kind of trap. Just Arthur fishing for information or something, trying to trip Merlin up and get him to spill any secrets he might not want to be known. Like his magic…or what he was doing last night when he snuck out…oh, wait, Arthur didn't know about any of that. But he 'was' trying to find something. Merlin's fists clenched at his side and he was practically shouting just so he could be heard over that dreadful prince and whatever false accusations he was trying to make, "It's called privacy for a reason, you numbskull!"

Arthur slow blinked again, that had to be the first time he'd ever been called a-what was it Merlin had said?-a…numb-skull? Maybe he should stop taking his father's advice on how to handle Merlin. Since obviously nothing was 'enduring' the boy to him. But then again, the prince thought slowly, mulling it around in the back of his mind. Merlin had claimed that he wasn't mad about the guard-although he had also obviously carried some deep resentment over it considering they had fallen into this latest spat over it-and Arthur could only think of one other reason as for why Merlin would be mad at him. An apology might work. His father always said that as royals, they never had anything to apologize for. Everything was supposed to be done deliberately so there was no reason to apologize for something he had done on purpose. Well, he hadn't meant to break the stupid box but…his father had also said to endear himself in tne boy's eyes by any means necessary so surely he would not fault him for what Arthur was about to do.

"If you are acting out like this because of what happened with the box, then-" Arthur started, trying to remember how he'd done this back when he'd been apologizing to him during the dance. It had been a tough thing to do then, but now it felt a bit easier. That was probably because he was trying to do the smart thing now and placate Merlin, more than actually wanting to apologize. But it was also made easier because Arthur didn't feel as if he had done anything wrong. It was just an old box, something to be tossed away for having it so long. Merlin had overreacted by throwing it at him, but Arthur would do this if it got Merlin to behave in front of his father. It would make things so much easier to handle if he didn't constantly have Uther breathing down his neck in regards to both his own and Merlin's behavior.

"Don't." Merlin's voice interrupted before the prince was able to get to the actual apology part of where he was going. That brought the blonde up short, his mouth shutting with this audible clink, looking at Merlin with the hint of annoyance over his grand apology being interrupted. Merlin was looking at him, eyes cold like ice was starting to creep into those irises. His jaw clenched so tightly that Arthur was almost surprised that he didn't hear the boy's teeth breaking from the force. "Do not dare bring that up again."

Merlin didn't want to talk about his chest, did not want to remember the pain or hear the phantom sounds of his chest breaking into pieces before his eyes. Hear the sound of the prince's huff as he looked on with annoyance and disturbed disgust, as if Merlin somehow was bothering him for being upset over the destruction of his property. The destruction of his Ealdor. What Arthur had done then was unforgivable, but he didn't want to look weak or upset all over again, not in front of Arthur who apparently had no trouble with throwing things in his face. If Arthur was going to be this hated towards him, Merlin wasn't going to be the one helping him by literally handing him what hurt Merlin the most on a silver platter. Arthur might be used to getting what he wanted on said platter, but Merlin was determined that it wouldn't be him as well.

He would not become a decorative jewel who was meant to sit back and look pretty, to do what he was told when he was told it. Merlin wasn't going to be weak in front of 'him' ever again. Not if he could help it.

Arthur's eye twitched at being ordered about but it was no skin off his back. It was like he'd wanted to apologize. The apology had been only a means to an end. Something that had to be done for the sake of peace but he was more than willing to let the matter go and die off between them. "Alright then," Arthur said, feeling impatient all of a sudden. He knew his father was waiting on them, and they should have already been in the grand hall. Since it was Arthur who was taking charge and was the one seeing to everything personally, the meeting wasn't going to start without being there himself. Hopefully whatever Merlin's problem with him had fizzled off and maybe he could behave now in front of the proper company…he hoped. "Well, if that is all you are upset about, maybe we can get through this meeting and then go back out separate ways."

"Upset?" Merlin demanded angrily, and he was apparently far more upset than Arthur had given him credit for. "You think that I'm upset because of Gregory or the-" he didn't even want to say 'his chest' out loud. Not if Arthur was just going to play the whole thing off like it was no big deal. "Forget the damn meeting, I'm not going anywhere until you've explained yourself!"

Arthur lifted a delicate-no, a many because he definitely had 'manly' eyebrows to lift-so that he could give Merlin a look. "Excuse me, what did you just say?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest in a display of manly power. Merlin didn't get to decide what he was or wasn't going to do. That was Arthur's job. And what he needed was for Merlin to go in there and put on a show for his father as a obedient pet. So his father that Arthur could at least keep Merlin tamed so that he would not do something drastic in the future, no matter his dislike for Arthur himself.

Merlin ignored him, apparently disregarding Arthur's need for a more 'proper attitude' to be given to him from his consort. "And I am more than 'upset', Arthur. I'm not going to go cry about it. I'm bloody pissed that you think something like this is okay!" He exclaimed as he dug around in his pocket. And before the prince could ask 'what' exactly was it that got Merlin's panties in a bunch, Merlin slapped a piece of parchment right against the center of his chest.

Arthur let out a surprised huff, having not been expecting the sudden contact. Nor the warmth that hand brought to his skin even through the parchment and his tunic. But just as fast was it gone and Arthur had to grab the parchment before it fell to the floor. He stopped to glance at it, prepared to tell the consort that this piece of parchment meant nothing to him, but he stopped and looked at it again.

"You're…you're mad about this?" Arthur said in a slow tone, looking at one of the copies of the proclamation he had written up just the night before. Brows furrowed together, the blonde looked up at Merlin confused. "I-…" he hated to admit this part, and it took a bit of his dignity with him. "I'm afraid that I don't understand. Why are you so upset about this of all things?"

Most people would have been grateful that they were blocking off the disease from any attempt at entering the inner kingdom. They were grateful that they could relax because they would live through this. They didn't go throwing tantrums and having fits because Arthur was doing what he had to do to save the rest of them.

"Why wouldn't I be upset about this!" Merlin was bellowing at him, lifting his fists into the air to jerk about over his head. "You cannot just look at me and then act like doing this is okay! You are condemning those people to their deaths!"

Merlin could have been one of those people dying if he wasn't the consort. So very close to being on the side of unlucky, although he also wasn't entirely sure he was 'lucky' to be trapped on this side of the line with Arthur of all people. The knights were taking their duty very seriously, acting as if the peasants were criminals. Why, while he had been storming across the castle to get to Arthur, all he had to do was look out the windows to see what was going on in the kingdom below. Guards were stretched a mile wide in the archway that separated the lower town from the inner kingdom. The drawbridge had been pulled up to stop anybody from being able to cross and peasants lined the other side. They no longer hid in their homes, looking riled up and cross as they decided to make up came. They did not try to cross over, they wouldn't have even made it if they tried do to the fences set up on either side of the gate, because all those guards were armed to the teeth. And looked ready to attack anybody that might try to do something outrageous, like breaking down the bridge which as peasants, they wouldn't have been able to accomplish anyway. But the point stood, they were ready to kill any person, rather they were sick or not.

Arthur shifted his face into something that was a bit impassive. Merlin's words had rung with truth, rather he liked to hear that or not. While the wording may be a little different-it was pretty much the same thing he had told his father. And he currently felt the churning sensation of guilt-how could he just go and abandon his people?-that he had felt when he'd protested against his father. Before the king had cut that out with one overly harsh word. And he had to remind himself 'he was the king, he knew better than Arthur, this was what had to be done.' Even if Merlin clearly disapproved of it just like Arthur did. Only the prince was able to keep his emotions at bay far better than Merlin obviously could.

And it didn't help that Merlin just kept on and on, prattling away as he pointed towards one of the nearby windows they stood by, where one could see the array of knights standing on duty, "I mean, do you people really think one of those people are going to scale the wall or something and try to jump over! They don't have that kind of muscle strength, so is the guards really necessary! Against not even well bodied people but sick people, the dying people are having crossbows pointing right at them! Do you see nothing wrong with that!"

Arthur shook his head, trying to push away the thought in the back of his mind that told him to 'listen, Merlin wasn't nearly as stupid as he liked to think he was, maybe he had a point, did crossbows really need to be pointed directly at unarmed civilians'. He tried to be strict, to emulate some of his father's stern energy that allowed him to never be questioned when he made the hard call, "The wall is up to protect us. To protect all of us so that at least some of us will make it through all of this."

It was the same lie that his father had told him when Arthur had protested choosing this plan. But it had worked with Arthur, or maybe it had only worked because it was his father telling him to do it. But maybe Merlin would be willing to listen to his husband in the same way, maybe he would trust that Arthur, bad as it was, was only doing this to save as many people as he could. The good of the many outweighed the good of the few, or however that saying goes.

Merlin didn't trust him in the least though, so he had no problem voicing his displeasure over the situation, "And you are killing all of them in the process! The people who are to show loyalty to this kingdom…how can they be loyal when they know they will be tossed aside the moment their presence poses any kind of problem!"

Fifty people have already died because of the sickness. Fifty innocent men, women, and yes god forbid, even children, have perished due to it. And Merlin remembered each and every one as they came through Gaius and his chambers, so that their death could be declared through the proper channels. And it made his heart ache each and every time as he 'knew' that he could do something to stop anybody from losing a loved one again. Just like how he had stopped Tom's death.

Merlin stopped his yelling only king enough to jab a long-and very slim, Arthur vaguely noticed, finger-at the piece of parchment still held in his hands. "Oh, and real smart pinning one of these to every door in town. Half those people can't even read this! So they are most likely only at the gates now to figure out what is going on. Only they can't because they will be shot if they get too close!"

Arthur…hadn't thought about that. He knew obviously that peasants didn't have any bit of formal education. What little they did know was stuff they picked up through life or was taught to them by grandparents or other odd family members. Some of the castle servants knew a little bit more than the average run of the mill peasant would, but even then it was subpar at best. "…Surely someone down will be able to read it out, and then spread the word on what it says." He said, not wanting to admit that he hadn't seen this fatal flaw when he was writing out the proclamation. It wasn't fair that Merlin was able to see what Arthur had missed so clearly. But Merlin obviously had more experience on the average peasant lifestyle than Arthur did.

"And then what, Arthur?" Merlin asked him, the prince's name spilling off his lips with a tone of indifference. As if whatever 'impression' Arthur had been trying to make on him had only failed miserably. "Even if in the entire town, one person knew enough to be able to riddle it out, are they all supposed to just go home happy? Act as if their king, as if their prince, aren't just telling them 'good luck' and 'see ya in the next life'."

Arthur scowled, not liking that his judgement was being questioned, his 'father's very own judgement and experience was being told was wrong. Even if Arthur was having those exact thoughts in the very back of his mind, the mindset that told him to ask questions but also told him he was a bad son for doing so, it put him on the defensive to have Merlin doing what he only wished he could be brave enough to do.

"How did you even get your hands on one of these anyway?" Arthur demanded in a rough tone, shaking the parchment in question at Merlin, if only to distract himself from asking the hard questions, like how was Merlin able to question his father when Arthur couldn't even put up a fight against him. And rather or not that was brave or stupid. The piece of parchment he held had only been passed out among the lower town. There would've been no reason for Merlin to get his hands onto the copy. Nobody who actually lived inside of the castle would need one as word of mouth got spread pretty quickly around these parts. As well as the guards on display, stopping any of the servants or nobles from leaving the castle grounds, was a pretty good indicator of what was going on.

And Merlin blinked, feeling his mouth dry up a little. Okay, he did not think that though to begin with. What was he supposed to tell him about the parchment? 'Oh, don't mind that at all. I only stole it from my best friend's-yes, I do consider Gwen my best friend and no, you are not going to throw a fit about that just because she gave me a flower dats ago-while I was also sneaking out past the guard that you assigned me so that I can participate in doing a very illegal magical healing spell on her father so that he wouldn't perish'. Yeah, somehow Merlin didn't see that going nearly as well as it would in his head.

"…If you were ever around me, instead of having a guard watch my every move, then maybe you would know!" Merlin said in this snooty false tone, snatching the parchment right out of Arthur's hand. As if he thought he was the one in charge instead of Arthur. And speaking of the one in charge, Arthur needed to find out the root to this problem before he dared to take Merlin in the grand hall and get him to stand in front of his father. Besides, he could probably figure out how Merlin got his hands on the parchment later-since he most definitely shouldn't have a copy unless he'd actually gone into the town at between the papers being spread and the drawbridge being closed off, which he wouldn't because surely he wasn't stupid enough to wonder off down there during this sickness-from Gregory. But Arthur deemed it unimportant at the moment.

"Why do you even care so much?" Arthur demanded, feeling as if his nerves were fried at this moment. His father was going to show up eventually when he got tired of waiting for them. He kept expecting Uther to just come storming down the hall, pissed as all hell that they were wasting time when the sickness was still spreading. But Arthur also couldn't bring himself to allow Merlin anywhere near his father if he had this attitude going on. "You're no this side of the wall, you're being safe and protected. Why do you care so much about those on the outside? It doesn't effect you!"

"Doesn-doesn't effect me?" Merlin stuttered in disbelief. Of course it effected him! Arthur could try and shove him into the lift box he had in his head of what a consort should be like, how one should behave. But he wasn't a consort, despite the ring on his finger telling otherwise. He was a bloody peasant! Those were his roots, and that was where he came from long before Arthur had ever came into the picture. While Arthur had been busy and learning how to fight with a sword, Merlin was busy doing the planting. While Arthur was off eating his big, fancy, five course meal-Merlin was seriously surprised nobody was bigger than they were with how much food all those nobles got to eat-Merlin was grateful when he got a loaf of bread that wasn't too stale to the taste. While Arthur was being dressed or prepared in the softest fabrics, a different outfit every day of the month, Merlin had to wear hand-me-down's. And had to sew close any holes that formed himself. Merlin was no different than those people in the village who had to do the same things he did. Even if the people in Camelot were better off than those people in Ealdor. "I'm a peasant!"

And just like Arthur always did, he got things totally wrong. When Merlin claimed he was a peasant, Arthur got this look on his face. The same patronizing one he got when he clearly thought Merlin had no idea what he was talking about. "I see what this is." Arthur said in that irritatingly calm tone of his, the tone that always made Merlin wish he could just smack him to shut him up. "You still see yourself as one of them. So it's making you sympathize with their plight. But Merlin, you don't have to worry about anything, your not going to be shoved out to die with them. You are a consort now, so your going to remain in the palace until this whole thing is over."

Merlin took a slow steady breath, trying to stop this insane urge to laugh hysterically. In each new encounter with Arthur, Merlin was able to feel himself slowing going insane. He listened to absolutely nothing! Came up with his own conclusions for why Merlin did all of the things he did, and was always-always-in the wrong. Even now he was wrong, and he was so pig headed that he couldn't even see the truth right in front of him. Not if it bit him on the nose and shouted 'look at me!'

"You know what Arthur," Merlin said harshly, lifting his chin a bit in a defiant movement, as he stared the prince down, clutching his hand into a fist around the piece of parchment that he still held. "I think I finally know what your problem is."

Merlin didn't even want to get started on how Arthur was calling him 'consort'. Just the one word sent an unpleasant shiver down his spine, and he knew that he could probably rage and shout at Arthur to stop calling him that. That he didn't want it and could take it back. Take back his ring, his title, the stupid fancy room that Merlin had already left but knew was still there waiting for him. Take his guard and his manservant and just fuck off for all he cared. But he also knew that was something that would go in one ear and right out the other. It was pointless.

And Arthur, at Merlin's declaration, forgot that he was supposed to be getting on Merlin and his good side. Forgot that his father was going to be showing disappointment in him if there was still there fiery tension shooting off in every direction between himself and Merlin at once. Clearly his father would interpret this as Arthur putting absolutely no effort in trying to win Merlin's favorite, "Oh, great." he spoke to Merlin, narrowing his eyes at him before he was able to get on with it. "This ought to be good."

But he said it sarcastically, scoffing. As if the mere idea that Merlin may actually be able to say something insightful was laughable.

Merlin ignored him, turning his head as he refused to look at him. Not for fear that the prince may be offended by what he had to say. But more like, Arthur wasn't worth any of the effort it would take to look at him. Merlin strode past him until he was standing at the window, and could look out over the court yard. At the fifty bodies covered in the white sheets, and at the five hundred or so people standing just outside the closed off gates.

"You see peasants, all those people that are down there, begging for 'you' to somehow be able to save them, to help them get through this. And you think, what can those people do to help make my life easier."

Arthur frowned, standing up beside Merlin so that he can look out and see what he was seeing. The same exact view met his eyes, of the bodies-his citizens-carelessly strung out across the courtyard because the city was on high alert and nobody had the time to get rid of the bodies, the fifty or so guards standing at attention with their crossbows poised at the gates just in case. And hundreds of his other people milling about on the other side as they tried to figure out what exactly was going on.

Merlin continued taking, voice strangely calm and rational, as if he didn't feel the press of Arthur's warm body far too near his own. He didn't even think to shove Arthur away from him, to caught up in wondering how many more people was going to die. And just how many of them were going to die knowing that their own king-their prince-had left them out to dry. "What you should be thinking is, what can I do for them."

Maybe things back in Ealdor wouldn't have been so bad if they had a king who cared for the outer lying villages. There wouldn't be a food shortage every other year, not having enough to grow so that all the mouths in the village could be properly fed. And despite the hostility he got from most of the peasants in the lower town, it was clear that somebody had to speak up on his behalf. Might as well be him to try and drill some sense into Arthur and his head. Arthur hated him anyway so it was not like he could say anything to make him hate him more.

Merlin almost expected for Arthur to yell at him some more, to shout that Merlin had no idea what he was talking about and shouldn't get himself involved in these 'royal decisions' being made. Or maybe Arthur would decide he was tired of him and just go ahead and try to shove him out the window so that he could land twenty yards down with a spat right into the middle of the courtyard. Body fifty one to add to their growing collection.

Which was why he was so surprised when he saw Arthur bringing a hand up and scratching it roughly through his hair. "Do you think I do not know that?" Arthur asked, his voice had came out rough and pained, his eyes were squeezing shut in his own misery as he let loose what he was feeling, the tight grip he had on his emotions breaking. "Do you think I wanted to do it?"

It might have been that Arthur forget he was talking to Merlin of all people. Or maybe this was 'because' he was talking to Merlin that he found it so easy to just burst it out. But all he could think was…fifty people are dead and all because 'he' wasn't good enough to find the sorcerer. Wasn't good enough to stop the sickness before it had developed so far. The prince felt raw, knowing that if he wasn't able to stop this one attack on his home…then how was he to be expected to lead them all in to a future of peace and prosperity.

"…then why did you order this done?" Merlin asked him, his eyebrows furrowing together as he clenched and unclenched his fists over and over again. This was probably the first time Merlin had seen Arthur well, vulnerable didn't sound like the right word but it was also the only word he could think of. And this was not a good look on Arthur. Vulnerable might be a nice change compared to the jerk, to the cocky and arrogant prince that he was used to. But now this ashamed version of him…Merlin was honestly surprised that the prince had a heart at all if he was ashamed of his actions. Not that it changed anything. He still hated Arthur with a fiery passion, it was the kind that just kept growing and growing in his gut and he just knew that it was going to burst into an all out inferno one of these days.

Arthur chewed on the inside of his cheek as he leaned forward, putting his hands on the window will so that his forehead was just a few inches from the window glass, mulling over whether or not he should say it. But in the end, he muttered out a soft, "My father was the one that wanted it done. I was only following his orders."

Merlin couldn't say that he was surprised. He would be the first one to say that the king had no soul. Even if they were working on the belief that this kind of move was necessary, it was something that Merlin couldn't find it in himself to get behind. But there was this little niggling in the back of his mind, and pointed something out to him. Something he doubted even Arthur would have agreed with.

"You know," Merlin spoke up, keeping eyes on Arthur from behind, looking for any minute bit of movement that might say Arthur was going to deck him in the face. "I couldn't help but notice that it's 'your' name on the paper." He unfolded the parchment in question to look at the 'Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot' so carefully written on the bottom with the bold strokes of a quill. "Meaning you are going to get all the flank if-heaven forbid but I would not blame them in the least-the people in the town decided to rise up. At the very least, the word will get around as people talk all about the time you abandoned them."

Arthur's head whipped around, baring his teeth in Merlin's direction as he caught on to exactly what he was trying to do, "Don't you say that! My father is a busy man, he doesn't have the time to write the missive reports! So of course my name is on it, I was the one who had to write it out for him!"

From Merlin's word choice, it was pretty easy to see what he was indicating. He was able to connect the dots within seconds. Merlin was thinking Arthur's father was playing him on this. Was setting Arthur up to fail in front of everybody if things went wrong, so that there would be no backlash to fall on him. After all, it was Arthur going out there every moment of every day as he had done his rounds. He was the one leading the raids and the charge against the townspeople, tearing their own homes apart in search for anything that was able to pass as something magic. He was the one whose name was on every piece of little parchment passed around. It was Arthur who the kingdom would see as a disgrace if there was no way for him to fix this. Not his father who refused to leave the castle, commanding things to Arthur as he stayed in his safe little bubble.

"A great man?" Merlin wanted to scoff at that so badly. Did a great man go on a raging killer and execute a good third of his people in less than a year, did a good man continue to do so ever today? Did a good man act first only to question things never. Back when Merlin had been in front of the council talking about that awful Valiant, Uther was more worried about sucking up to the knight than hearing claims against his character. Was that what a good man did? But Merlin figured, just like earlier, everything would go in Arthur's ear and out the other. So he went for something that was a bit more lighter but not any less meaningful than it was, "A great man forces his son to go marrying a total stranger? Someone he has no chance in getting along with? Is that what you call a great man?"

Hell, old man Jenkins back home was a better man than Uther. And all that guy did was sit in the middle of harvest season and trying wowing the kids with 'adventures' of his youth. Most of which Merlin was sure was greatly exaggerated or outright lies to make himself seem cooler in the eyes of the next generation.

Arthur raged at him, eyes flashing as he was pushing himself away from the window, "You don't know anything about the complexities of a noble's life! My father's hands were tied off completely! You're just still pissed that I don't want you!" As if he was some great gift that people were begging to marry. If Arthur was some kind of gift to him, Merlin started to wonder quite seriously how much he was able to get if he returned him.

"Yeah, you caught me." Merlin said with a roll of his eyes so deep, crossing his arms over his chest, that he almost thought they were going to fall right out of his head. "I am 'so' very upset that my spoiled, jackarse, prince of a husband who has done nothing more to make my life as miserable as he can make it, doesn't want me. Please, arrest me now for my sins against the crown because heaven forbid that somebody doesn't want you."

Merlin even held out his hands, his wrists put together as if he was offering himself right to Arthur. Like he was giving Arthur the chance to slap a pair of iron cuffs on him and have him tossed in jail for 'daring' to talk back to the prince. As if Arthur hadn't already done that before.

It still made Arthur flush, feeling his face going hot. And he was pretty sure it wasn't his anger stirring up the flames in the pit of his stomach. But he liked to think it was, as he was forced to shove his earlier thoughts of leather collars and such. The belt Arthur was wearing now might look quite fetching on the boy's pale skin…or at least shut him up while Arthur forcibly carts him all over the city and shows people how 'obedient' his pet is that he doesn't even protest his treatment.

Arthur opened his mouth to tell Merlin where exactly he could shove his sarcasm, and was preparing to shove those arms down and out of his way. If only to stop the burning image of his leather belt wrapped snuggly around the boy's slim, pale wrists. But they were then interrupted before he could get more than a syllable out.

"Prince Arthur!" His name came first from down the hall, which was only right as he had the higher status. But it was also no surprise when a second name followed. "Consort Merlin!" Because that was their lives now, to be forever intertwined, not only their names but each other. Forever linked in a way that not either of them wanted to be.

It turned out to be Gregory calling for them, standing at the end of the hallway. The knight bowed his head when he saw he had gotten their attention. And it made both boys start to wonder just how long he had been there. Had he been listening to them argue-because the two of them could agree on only this one thing-they could get sucked into one of their arguments. The two of them could go at it for hours with no relief if the real world wasn't calling out to them to act and do their duty. It seemed they really only stopped when they'd realized there was more pressing matters at hand.

Gregory called out to them, "I apologize, but I fear that the king has grown impatient and is now looking for you both. He wishes to hear what the physician has discovered about the sickness."

Arthur cleared his throat, straightening up and putting on the perfect princely mask he sometimes needed to wear, "Of course, my father shouldn't have to wait for the report. I am coming." He steadfastly kept his eyes off the boy at his side. Arthur knew if he looked back at him, he'd probably fly back into this rage that had been building up. The nerve of Merlin, trying to blame his father. Thinking he's so smart just because he came up with some wild theory that his father would have done something like that. To purposely have Arthur write down that missive just so he'd have his name on something if things would get even worse. It was almost enough for him to see red, and the only reason he hadn't just thrown Merlin into the wall and punched him in the face for the sheer audacity was because they now had a witness.

Gregory straightened up, his heels coming together as he nodded his head once more to him prince and the consort. Then Gregory was gone, disappearing around the corner he had just came from and leaving Merlin and Arthur alone in the hallways.

Arthur couldn't resist, his head whipping around to face Merlin, his face contorted into something ugly and near feral. He grabbed onto Merlin's forearm, ignored the resulting snarl Merlin gave to him, baring his teeth as if he was some kind of wild animal and not the 'civilized' man that Arthur was. Ignoring the way Merlin was trying to jerk his arm out of his hold-he had to tighten his grip before the boy was able to break free-and started to drag him down the hall where Gregory had gone.

Jerking Merlin close, Arthur hissed harshly in his ear, "Don't ever make those kinds of outrageous accusations again. Your job isn't to sit there and think of the stupidest thing you can probably say." He didn't even care at this point if Merlin tried anything. Arthur was at his wit's end with Merlin, and he actually felt on the brink. Ready to throw Merlin right at his father's feet and allow the king to take over 'properly' training Merlin into being the decent consort he needed to be. It would go saving him all the headaches Merlin's mere presence gave him on a constant basis.

"You're the stupid one, unable to see what is right in front of you. Just open your damn eyes already!" Merlin snarled at him, trying in vain to jerk his arm out of Arthur's tight grip around his forearm. But Arthur seemed to be relentless, his fingers not even twitching as to show Merlin's constant tanking was doing anything. Merlin snarled at him again, digging his feet into the ground as he and Arthur was rounding the corner and heading down the hall where Gaius and Gregory were waiting for them in front of the grand hall.

Apparently tired of Merlin's clear defiance or from the way he was practically having to go dragging Merlin down the hall, Arthur jerked him closer enough. So that Merlin had his shoulder pressed snugly against the prince's chest, his breath coming out hotly over the lobe of Merlin's ear, making Merlin shiver in distaste, wrinkling his nose. "All you have to do," Arthur hissed dangerously into his ear as they reeked down the length of the hall. "Is keep your mouth shut and look pretty. Play your part as my consort."

Merlin was pretty sure Arthur had just-in his own odd and twisted way-called him pretty. It was just in his mind, he was doing that over thinking thing he usually did. Something like that, even with Arthur's very odd delivery of it, probably would have sent a rabid blush to his cheeks. Would have made him feel as if he was about to die because of how fast his heart tried to throw itself out of his chest. But this was a different time, Merlin was already so different than he was when he arrived in the city. Now it just sent a vile curl of what had to be repulsion, his lip curling up with his disgust. Merlin wasn't so easily swayed by Arthur's little 'hiccup.'

"Fuck. Off." Merlin growled like some kind of untamed feral wildcat. Jerking his arm with so much harshness that Arthur had to really dig his fingers into his forearm to stop him from being able to escape. Arthur had already allowed far too many allowances with Merlin. His father was right, Arthur had to do something to get this to stop. Had to rein in that temper of Merlin, and that could almost rival his own.

Arthur didn't say anything in response, but he did tighten his fingers around Merlin's arm the once-did the boy ever eat? Arthur could probably wrap his entire hand around his arm twice-before letting go. And only because he had arrived at the grand doors, Gregory was standing there with his normally impassive expression on his face. And Gaius was also standing there, even though he had a strange expression on his face. He was frowning and looking at Merlin's arm-the arm that Arthur had let go of already-and Merlin was rubbing at it.

Arthur rolled his eyes, forcing back a scoff trying to work it's way out his throat. Merlin was so over dramatic, he hadn't even been holding him that tightly. Just another reason that Merlin annoyed him so much. He acted like such a girl!

"Gregory," Arthur announced as he took the lead charge of the situation. "I need you to man the doors." He turned back to Gaius and ignored Merlin standing off to the side. "And Gaius, accompany myself and my consort in the chambers. My father will be most anxious to hear what you have discovered."

Arthur was quite interested in hearing what Gaius had to say. Or maybe he just thought the familiar tone of his physician was a much better voice then the whining, grating, make up stories on the spot, that Merlin was prone to having. And speaking of said whining and grating and making up stories, Merlin spoke up behind him. A low grumble underneath his breath that Arthur probably wasn't meant to hear, "You're prisoner, you mean."

Arthur resisted to urge to rear back and show Merlin what being a true prisoner could mean for him. He could grab that boy underneath his arms and drag him kicking and screaming up to his room-the one in the Royal suite and not the one with Gaius-before locking him in there. One word from him and Gregory would be stationed right outside, leaving Merlin with no chance of escape. He should be grateful that Arthur allowed him as much freedom as he had as of yet. Not every kingdom would allow their consort's to run wild. But Arthur liked to think that he was more gracious than Merlin gave him credit for. So he didn't even bother to dignify the boy with a glance before he was striding forward, shoving the grand doors open in his haste to get this over with.

Fixing their problem so that they could stop cordoning off the town as soon as possible was far more important than wasting any of his time with Merlin. Brainless Merlin who had far too much time on his hand if he was able to stand around and think his father was ever capable of doing something like that to his only son and heir.

And speaking of father, Uther was standing right off to the side of the long thirty foot table situation right in front of the grand hall. Uther's head had snapped up when he heard there entering, "Arthur. What have you been doing? I've been waiting for you." Paying no attention to the men that had followed in right behind him.

Uther made it sound as if he had been waiting an entire day just for him to show up but Arthur knew it couldn't have been more than an hour. And even that wasn't exactly unexpected if one considered Gaius needed to get his recordings in order before he came to present them to the king. Arthur didn't try to say any of that, knowing they would just be seen as nothing more than excuses in the eye of his father.

Arthur bowed his head, just a tilt to show his respect to his kingly father, "I apologize for the wait, sire. But some of us had a sleepier start than others." The excuse slipping off of his tongue much easier that it should have done. It was most obviously a dig, because none of them would have been late if Merlin hadn't shown up out of nowhere and started to yell at him.

Uther seemed to look behind him, a deeply irritated scowl dropping across his face as he clearly made eye contact with Merlin, the boy to bold or to stupid to bow his head before the king. Arthur almost felt sorry for pretty much throwing Merlin under the carriage so to speak. But what was done was done. And he felt sorry no longer when he felt the stir up behind him, a sound of protest coming from Merlin as he attempted to defend himself of this fraud. But Gaius must have quelled him quickly, because Arthur could just barely hear him hissing something inaudible to his ears.

Uther seemed to dismiss it because he then turned to Gaius and barked, "Well, have you brought me any answers?" And despite the hardness in his voice, there was this clear fear starting to ebb its way into his eyes. And that was all Arthur needed to see to know the truth. Merlin was wrong. His father was doing everything he could to hold it together, which was why Arthur had to step up. There was no 'conspiracy' or whatever it was Merlin had been trying to conjure up. Merlin had been only trying to drive a wedge between him and his father.

Well Arthur would just have to show him that his plan failed. But first, Arthur watched with rapt attention as Gaius pulled out a small vial of water. An innocent-but dead-flower was drifting on the surface of it. And then Gaius set it down on the table so that they could all get a good look at it.