A/N: I thought I'd take a moment to address a reader concern I've been getting in comments: NO, I will not be covering every episode. I've already got a few in mind I'm almost certainly skipping, and more will likely crop up. In addition, Gwaine will NOT physically pop up earlier than he does in the show, but there will be other ways in which I'll slip in earlier bits of Gwaine. ;) No further hints will be given; you'll know it when you see it. I just really will be focusing heavily on the development of Krysia's other relationships, as they do grow and change a lot from when we first meet Merlin to when Gwaine shows up. Hope that soothes your fears, I'm also hoping to continue timely updates throughout the next few months to assuage some of the 'wait'. Feel free to toss any further questions or concerns my way!
-C
The corpse in the lower town was not a new sight in and of itself to Krysia. She'd seen many corpses in her time living with, being raised by, Gaius. But this was something new, and she felt it.
"Aren't you scared?" Merlin asked, standing further away from the body than Krysia and Gaius did.
"Of what?" Krysia asked, not touching the corpse, but mostly because she would be serving food to the king later and didn't want to contaminate it.
"That you might catch whatever it is," Merlin said dully.
"I am the court physician, Merlin," Gaius said impatiently. "This is part of my job, and Krysia's as my assistant. Most of the time there's nothing really to be scared of."
Gaius turned the body over to revealed the white face and eyes of the corpse. Krysia gasped, taking a step back into Merlin, who grabbed her shoulders steadily.
"You were saying?" he muttered, looking a bit disgusted himself.
"People mustn't see this," Gaius said darkly, turning to the pair of them. "They'll panic."
Krysia got a wheelbarrow and some cloth and Gaius and Merlin moved the body into the wheelbarrow. Krysia covered it, making sure that there was no way that anyone could guess what they were carrying. Best not to excite any sort of controversy about the physician dumping bodies or something of that nature.
They'd reached the drawbridge when they came across Gwen, coming up to the castle with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
"What are you doing?" Gwen asked, curious.
"Oh, just moving something," Krysia replied, nonchalant.
Gwen's brow furrowed.
"Looks heavy," she pointed out.
"Er, it's nothing really," Merlin said weakly, looking to change the subject. "Er... someone got you flowers?"
With a laugh, Gwen said, "Oh! No. Would you like one? A purple one. Purple suits you." She paused. "Not that I'm saying red doesn't suit you," she covered quickly, and Krysia giggled, glancing at Merlin's red uniform.
"Thanks," Merlin said, taking the flower from her. "Well, er..."
He looked around for a moment, then put the flower securely in his scarf.
"Aww," Krysia teased. "So sweet."
Merlin gave her a quick glare, then turned to Gwen and said, "Er... see you."
"Bye," Gwen chirped, heading off for her duties with Morgana that morning.
/-/
When they got the body back to the physician's chambers, Krysia watched as Gaius and Merlin looked the body over with a magnifying glass. She would have gotten closer, if only for the sake of pretense, but the very look of the corpse left her fighting the urge to be sick.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Gaius said ominously. Krysia shuddered.
"Do you think it could be some kind of plague?" Merlin asked.
Gaius shook his head and replied, "No. I fear that something like this could never come from nature. But who has this kind of power?"
Krysia looked over at Gaius sharply.
"Magic?" she whispered. "Someone did this with-?"
"Merlin!" called Arthur's voice sharply from the hall.
Merlin hurried out before Arthur could open the door and see the body, but Krysia got a sheet ready, just in case.
"Erm... I'm on my way," Merlin said. "I'm sorry I'm late."
"Don't worry," Arthur said dryly. "I'm getting used to it."
There was a small pause and Krysia gripped the sheet tightly, ready to throw it over the corpse on a moment's notice.
"Oh," she heard Merlin say, "er... Gwen, she gave it to me."
Krysia held in a giggle.
"Tell Gaius my father wants to see him now," Arthur said sharply.
"Okay," Merlin said.
He closed the door again, turning back to them.
"Gaius," he began.
"We heard," Krysia said, putting the sheet over the body.
"Wait," Merlin said, thinking, "why couldn't he just tell you himself?"
"'Cause that's the way it is," Gaius explained. "You're a servant."
"Wha..." Merlin spluttered. "If he knew who I was, what I've done..."
"You'd be a dead servant," Krysia said coolly. "Go on, then, put these away," she snapped, handing Merlin a tray of things Gaius had gotten out to examine the body.
"Hey, I'm not your servant," Merlin complained.
"Yes, you are," Gaius said, amused. "Krysia's in charge of all the castle servants. That makes you, more or less, her servant!"
/-/
Krysia stood behind Gaius in the council chambers, trying to control her breathing. Thelwinn had been a good servant, one of the strongest and most dedicated, and now he was lying on the floor, magically dead. Krysia felt as though she wanted to vomit, but she could not let herself do so, especially not in front of the king.
"What's happened to him?" Uther demanded.
"I don't know, Sire," Gaius said, calm but to anyone who knew him in a crisis. "It's the second case we've seen today."
"Why didn't you report it to me?"
"We were attempting to find the cause," Gaius explained, not looking at Thelwinn, much in the way that Krysia was determinedly avoiding looking at the eerily white face.
"What did you conclude?" Uther asked sharply.
"I don't think it's time to hurry to conclusions," Gaius said carefully. "A scientific process is a long one."
Uther's eyes narrowed and he looked at Krysia, who jumped slightly.
"What are you concealing from me?" Uther demanded.
"Sire, I have seen nothing like it," Gaius admitted slowly. "The victims are dying in 24 hours, and it's spreading fast."
"What is the cause?" Uther pressed.
"I think you should say the cause," Gaius said, exchanging worried looks with Krysia, "the most likely cause, is sorcery."
Uther pulled Arthur aside, but Krysia's careful ear could hear him say, "We must find who did this."
"I will, father," Arthur assured.
Uther's voice was reduced to little more than a nervous whisper, and yet still with all the power of a king as he said, "Conduct door to door searches. Increase your presence in the town. Double the guards at all the gates. And lend the physician your servant."
Arthur looked at his father, confused.
"Merlin? But..."
"I'm going to need Gaius to find a cure," Uther said urgently. "He needs all the help we can give him, and that includes Merlin and Krysia as often as they can be spared. If Gaius is right, believe me, this city will be wiped out. This is the kind of magic that undermines our authority, challenges all we've done. If we cannot control this plague, people will turn to magic for a cure. We must find this sorceror, and quickly."
"Yes, father," Arthur assured the king.
And Krysia could feel fear freeze hear stomach, wondering just how far they would go on the door to door searches, already thinking of a way to hide Merlin's book of spells.
/-/
Krysia, Merlin, and Gaius walked through the town together, looking for more bodies, watching Arthur and the guards move through the town, searching for the sorceror.
"Gaius?" Merlin said, pointing to a sick person. "Gaius. He's still alive."
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him," Gaius said sadly.
Merlin looked up, confused, and said, "But we haven't even tried."
"No," Krysia said slowly. "But we can't cure something if we don't know what it is, what's causing it."
"Yes we can," Merlin said softly. "With magic."
Krysia shook her head, wincing, looking over at the guards.
"Have a look," Gaius said, gesturing to the guards. "They're suspicious of everyone. This is not the time to be using magic. Science will lead us to the source of the disease."
But Krysia wasn't so sure, looking around at the tightened security and feeling woozy.
They returned with the fresh materials Gaius had gathered to the physician's chamber, setting to work straight away, following Gaius's orders to the letter.
Krysia turned the heat on for Gaius when he asked, then backed away when he began to heat a vial of liquid.
"What are you doing?" Merlin asked.
She wished he wouldn't have asked. When people were this sick, it was always better not to know.
"I'm examining the contents of that man's stomach," Gaius said calmly, and Krysia whimpered slightly, feeling the contents of her own stomach squirm with discontent.
"Will that tell you who did it?" Merlin pressed.
"Unlikely," Krysia said sourly. "But it's more likely to tell us how it spreads."
"Exactly," Gaius muttered, frowning at the vial. "One thing I do know, this is magic of the darkest kind."
"Why would someone use magic like that?" Merlin asked.
"Magic corrupts," Krysia said softly, looking away from the body and the vial. She closed her eyes, remembering her aunt teaching her basic spells as a small child, spells she continued to use after the Purge, spells that caused so much trouble. "It's tempting to use it for the wrong reasons, personal gains, revenge, grudges."
"But not all magic is bad," Merlin insisted. "I know it isn't."
"It's neither good nor bad," Gaius assured him. "It's how you use it."
At that moment, Arthur and some of the guards came into the physician's quarters and Krysia snapped her eyes open again, terrified.
She hadn't dealt with the spellbook yet.
"Sorry, Gaius," Arthur said, motioning the guards in. "We're searching every room in town."
"What for?" Gaius asked indignantly.
"A sorceror," Arthur replied.
"And why would he be here?" Krysia demanded, barely able to keep the wobble out of her voice.
"I'm just doing my job, Krysia," Arthur said patiently. "You saw Thelwinn. This is urgent."
"It's all right," Gaius said to Krysia, then turning back to Arthur. "We've got nothing to hide.
Go on, search."
"All these books and papers?" Arthur asked, gesturing around.
"My life's work, dedicated to the understanding of science," Gaius said firmly. "You are quite welcome to read through them if you wish."
"What's this room up here?" Arthur said, motioning to the one place she was hoping he wouldn't enter.
"That would be where Merlin and I sleep," Krysia said sharply.
"And what do you expect to find in there?" Gaius said dismissively.
"I'm looking for material or evidences suggesting the use of enchantments," Arthur responded wearily.
Gaius turned to Krysia and Merlin, who looked back at him nervously. Krysia shook her head, wringing her hands. Arthur stepped into the room.
"Merlin, come here," Arthur said. "Look what I found."
Krysia and Merlin exchanged horrified looks and followed him into the small room.
"I found a place where you can put things," Arthur said sarcastically. "It's called a cupboard."
With a forced giggle, Krysia glanced around the room, spotting the book under Merlin's bed. With a flick of her finger, she covered the book with a bit of magic adjusting Merlin's bedsheet. Arthur glanced under the bed, but he didn't see the book, because then he straightened up and led everyone back out to the main room.
"How long do you think it may take you to find the cure?" Arthur asked Gaius.
"It depends on how many interruptions I get," Gaius responded curtly.
"Of course," Arthur said, a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry." He turned to the guards. "We're finished here."
They filed out of the room and Krysia shut the door behind them, whipping around and glaring at Merlin.
"You need a better place for that book," she hissed.
"No," Merlin insisted, "We must use it."
"Don't be stupid," Gaius admonished.
"If I have this legacy then what's it for?" Merlin demanded. "You keep telling me it's not for tricks."
"Merlin, don't be a fool," Krysia sighed, her voice strained. "You can't be practicing magic while this witch hunt is going. You'd be killed, or worse, you'd hurt someone else."
"You keep panicking that I'm going to get you in trouble, but-"
"Not necessarily me!" Krysia cried. "Look, when I was a child, my magic drew suspicion and my entire family was murdered by Uther. I was seven. My siblings were all younger than me, all found guilty of using magic I had practiced, and killed. I was the only one who had done anything, and my parents conspired with Gaius to save me." She shivered. "You don't want someone else's life on your shoulders like that, Merlin. It's a terrible, terrible burden."
He swallowed visibly, shook his head slightly, and perhaps was about to say words of pity, but then his eyes hardened slightly and he said, "But if I don't practice, then how will I get to be this great warlock?"
"There will come a time when your skills will be recognized," Gaius told him soothingly.
"When?" Merlin demanded. "How long do I have to wait?"
"Patience is a virtue, Merlin," Gaius said gently.
"Sitting by and doing nothing, that's a virtue?"
"We have to choose our battles carefully, Merlin," Krysia whispered. "Now is not the right time to try something like that."
"I could cure that man we saw," Merlin insisted.
Gaius said, "I know it's tempting to use the way you find easiest, Merlin..."
"It is when it saves a life," Merlin grumbled.
"If you'd saved that man, we'd be no closer to finding a cure for everyone," Krysia sighed. "We need to focus our energy on helping as many as possible."
"Arthur is out there right now looking for the sorcerer!" Merlin cried.
"A sorcerer who is powerful enough to do this will never be found by searching the town," Gaius said sadly.
Merlin sighed and said, "So what can we do?"
"Hope that science can find the answer before it kills us all."
/-/
Krysia shivered as Gaius examined the latest body, one placed on the table.
Shireen.
She'd been a precocious young woman, one who always gave Krysia a bit of her best food whenever Krysia delivered her meal. Shireen always told Krysia that she was the best servant to ever work at Camelot, despite of the relative youth of both of them.
Dead, pale, white eyes...
Krysia turned away when she felt she was about to be sick.
"What's different about this victim?" Gaius asked Merlin promptly.
"Er... she's a woman," Merlin offered.
Krysia could hear Gaius's exasperation as he said, "Sometimes I do whether whether your magical talents were given to the right person. Anything else?"
"She's a courtier," Krysia whispered, looking pointedly at her own hands.
Shireen still had the most graceful hands, even in death.
Krysia looked up at the jars, reciting in her mind all of the contents in order.
"How does that help us?" Merlin asked, confused.
"Courtiers seldom go into the lower town," Gaius explained. "So what does that mean?"
"Erm... that she hasn't spoken to any townspeople," Merlin said slowly.
Krysia snorted.
"Yes, it suggests that the disease is not spread by contact," Gaius said fairly as Krysia sat down on a far bench, watching them pointedly so as not to glance accidentally at Shireen.
"Oh, and they probably ate different food," Merlin said excitedly.
"Good, anything else?" Gaius prompted.
"They don't breathe the same air even," Krysia said lazily. "Shireen doesn't even like going into the parts of the castle where the air is less than fresh, much less the town."
"So what's the only thing they do share?" Gaius pressed, turning to Merlin.
"Water," Merlin said without thinking. Then he frowned slightly. "Water? You think the disease is spread through water?"
Gaius smiled.
"Merlin, you're a prodigy," he said dryly, handing Merlin a bucket. Krysia and Merlin then exchanged nervous looks and made their way down to the well in the lower town.
"Are you okay?" Merlin asked Krysia as they neared the well.
"What do you mean?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
"It's just that you don't seem to be taking all the sick people very well," Merlin said with a shrug. "And you know a lot of the victims..."
"I just deal well with the ill," Krysia admitted. "Let's get this water and get this over with."
They'd just finished filling the bucket when a person ran past them desperately in the night. It took a moment to register, but then both recognized her.
"Gwen," Krysia muttered, running after the girl.
"Gwen? Krysia!" Merlin cried, running after the two girls with the bucket full of water.
Krysia caught up with Gwen as they entered the physician's chambers, where Gaius looked up at them, startled.
"Gwen!" he said, stunned.
"Gaius," she choked out.
"You have the sickness?" he asked urgently.
Gwen shook her head, eyes full of tears, trying to compose herself.
"My father," she cried. "Please, Gaius, he's all I have."
"There isn't a cure yet, Gwen," Krysia whispered. "These things take time."
"I am begging you!" Gwen sobbed.
"I wish there was something, anything," Gaius assured her, "but so far the remedy is beyond what I can achieve."
Krysia put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm so, so, sorry, Gwen," she managed to say, but Gwen ran back out of the room, leaving Krysia's hand out in the air for a moment before Krysia dropped her arm, sad.
"There must be something we can do," Merlin said, heaving the water up onto the table in front of Gaius.
"My best," Gaius said, gesturing to the bucket. "Let's hope that this can provide us with some answers."
"That's too late for Tom, though," Krysia sighed, beginning a fire for Gaius. She had known Gwen's father for years and knew few men as good as the kind blacksmith.
"I fear you may be right," Gaius said sadly.
To the surprise of both Merlin and Krysia, Gaius poured some of the water into a jar, then placed a flower into the jar. Krysia watched, trying to figure out what Gaius was up to.
She barely noticed when Merlin stalked off to their room without a word.