Krysia had already decided she was going to kill Merlin, but as Cathryn, a woman from the town, told Uther all about what she had witnessed in the woods, Krysia was trying to determine precisely how she should kill Merlin.

"It was sorcery you saw," Uther said, "you're certain of it?"

"Yes, sire," Cathryn said.

"And you swear this, before your king?"

"I swear it."

"Perhaps your eyes deceived you," Arthur said. "A trick of the light."

"The smoke was alive, I tell you," she said. "I feared for my life."

Krysia bit her lip to keep from laughing. An image in smoke was not something to cause fear for one's life. It was a trick of a child, not a threat of any kind.

"I thank you for bringing this to my attention," Uther said. "Your loyalty will not go unrewarded."

Leon leaned in to Krysia, and she whispered, "Deliver the reward discretely, Leon. We wouldn't want others to dream up sorcerers for a reward."

He hummed his agreement as Cathryn thanked the king and left the hall.

As soon as she was gone, Uther rounded to Arthur, not pleased.

"It cannot continue," Uther said.

"I will hunt down those responsible, father," Arthur said. "I promise they will not escape unpunished."

"No," Uther said. "Stronger methods are called for. Send for the witchfinder."

Krysia's breath stuck in her throat, and she looked to Gaius. She couldn't feel her arms, and she could hear Leon shifting beside her, but it sounded as if he was across the room.

"Sire," Gaius said, "is it necessary to resort to such measures?"

She was going to kill him, Krysia thought again. She was going to murder Merlin in his sleep. Knives felt like a good bet. Or perhaps poison.

"The witchfinder is a trusted ally, Gaius," Uther said. His help will be invaluable."

"Of course," Gaius said.

Krysia tried not to show her distress, but she could feel it in every part of her body.

/-/

Merlin, Gaius, and Krysia regrouped in Gaius's chambers, and as soon as the door was closed, Gaius rounded on Merlin.

"How many times, Merlin?" he snapped. "How many times must I drive it into that thick skull of yours? Your magic is a secret to be guarded with your life? What were you thinking?"

"I…I wasn't thinking."

"That much was obvious," Krysia said.

"It was just a bit of fun," Merlin said.

"It was magic and it was seen," Gaius said.

"You're right…. I'm sorry."

"You must hide your books," Gaius said. "Anything that can connect you to sorcery in anyway."

Krysia smacked the back of Merlin's head as she hurried to their room to make a hiding space under the floorboards. Best to seal the floorboards with magic while the witchfinder was in town, just in case.

"The man that Uther has sent for," Gaius was saying to Merlin, "I know him."

"The witchfinder?"

"Some know him by that name. I know him as Aredian. He is a force to be reckoned with."

"But I'm not a witch," Merlin said, clearly not taking this seriously enough. "Look, no dress or anything—"

"But I am," Krysia snarled after she'd hidden the books under the floor. "And Morgana is. It isn't just your life on the line here, Merlin. You could get a lot of people killed here."

His face fell serious, and for the first time since she heard what he'd done, she had the feeling that he understood the weight of what he'd brought down on them all.

/-/

As soon as the witchfinder was arrived in the town, Leon paced his chambers, unsleeping. He saw the cage that the man rode in with, and he thought of Krysia in the cage. Whoever had done this magic, Leon had a horrible feeling it would bring danger on Krysia, who had never hurt anyone.

But how did he help her without exposing her? And how could he work to shield her without her realizing that he knew? And how could he possibly explain?

He had to bite his tongue and hope that she remained concealed, but would it be enough? And what would he do should the worst be decided?

/-/

Krysia stood by as Uther and Arthur gathered to greet the witchfinder.

"So where has he been all this time?" Arthur asked his father.

"In foreign lands," Uther said. "Wherever the pursuit of sorcery takes him."

"He does all this in your name?"

"The witchfinder serves no one. He is a law unto himself."

The witchfinder swept it, and it was not Krysia's imagination that his eyes fell on her almost at once. He paused at the sight of her, and his lips curled slightly. She tried to look as neutral as possible as he began to speak.

"Do you smell it?" he said. "Do you smell it, Uther?"

Sorcery was many things, but there was certainly no smell to it. Krysia nibbled the inside of her lip to keep from reacting.

"Aredian…" Uther said, uncertainly trying to greet a man who clearly wanted no formal greeting.

"It's all around us," the witchfinder said. "The foul stench of sorcery. It's infected your great city like a contagion."

"I welcome you to Camelot, Aredian. Thank you for making such—"

"Well, let's hope I am not too late, hmm? For every hour counts in the war against sorcery. Unchecked, it spreads like a disease. It seeks out the young and the old, the weak and the able, the fair and the foul of heart alike. You have grown lazy, Uther. You have grown idle. Your once-noble Camelot is rotten to the core. You stand on the brink of dark oblivion."

Uther was clearly troubled by this, so Arthur stepped forward and said, "I am at your disposal, Aredian. The knights will aid you in any way they can."

Aredian turned his attention onto Arthur, away from Uther, which was mercifully not at all in the direction of Krysia. It was a relief to be sure he was not looking at her, if only for a little while.

"You must be Arthur," Aredian said.

"I must be," Arthur said.

Krysia was uncomfortable when he turned to look at her. He was mildly amused by Aredian, and no doubt he was hoping she commiserated. She would, if not for the man's reputation. Aredian looked at her briefly, then turned his attention back to Arthur.

"You are a great warrior," he said. "The finest this kingdom has ever known."

"Thank you…" Arthur said, surprised.

"So you won't be offended when I say that I shall have no need of you or your knights. The subtle craft of sorcery can only be fought by yet subtler means. Methods honed over decades of study. Methods known only to myself."

"We are grateful for your help," Uther said.

"Gratitude alone can't keep a man alive," Aredian said. "You must put food in his belly."

"I will pay your price, Aredian, whatever it may be."

"I will bed you good night," Aredian said, already sweeping back out of the room.

"Aredian?" Uther said. "When do you begin?"

Aredian paused, and he looked directly at Krysia, who again was careful not to react.

"I have already begun," he said, smirking, before he billowed out of the room.

/-/

As Uther had felt inclined of late, he lingered the next day while Krysia prepared his room for sleep. While she typically was done with her duties for the night, she had not complained when she had asked her to shift her schedule. He found it soothing to have her serve him before bed. She had a way about her that was comforting and calming, and there was no denying that she was beautiful. It was more pleasant to watch a beautiful woman work than anything else.

She was nearly done with the bed when there was a knock at the door.

"Enter," he said.

The door opened, and in stepped Aredian. Uther sat a bit straighter, surprised to see the witchfinder this time of night, but Krysia kept working.

"I hope I do not disturb you," Aredian said, staring at Krysia as he spoke.

"Not at all, Aredian," Uther said. "You never act without reason. There is something urgent?"

"Something delicate more than urgent, I hope," Aredian said. "I would prefer we discussed without the presence of your maid."

Uther hesitated. He trusted Krysia completely, not only in her capacity as his most discrete servant, but also as a giver of counsel. Living with Gaius as her guardian had given her a great deal of insight. But Aredian was a prickly man, and Uther could not afford to offend him for the sake of a servant, however valued.

"Very well," Uther said. "Krysia, that is all for tonight."

"Of course, sire," Krysia said, bowing her head to both of them before leaving.

Uther was half-aware that he watched her go before he turned his full attention back to Aredian."

"I will waste no time," Aredian said. "My investigation goes well, but I must interrogate your maid."

"Krysia?" Uther said. "She was in the castle at the time."

"Surely you recognize her, Uther," Aredian said.

To hear someone say it out loud, it was at once affirming and startling. Someone else saw it, the resemblance. Surely it had to be real if someone else could see it.

"She looks very like her mother," Aredian continued. "I'm surprised you let her serve in your castle."

Uther hesitated, then said, "Krysia is an orphan, found in a forest far nearer than makes it possible for her to be the child of Lady Zosia. I grant you there is a similarity, but—"

"Sorcery is treacherous, Uther," Aredian said sternly. "There is no telling the lengths that family would have done to put a spy in your kingdom, even as you destroyed them. Do not forget that it was I who drove the Lady Marzena to her suicide."

"I do not forget," Uther whispered.

He could never forget that day. He would never erase from his mind the vitriol with which Zosia told him she and her family would never return to Camelot as long as he was king. She did not linger for the morning but rode out at once to be with her children. She had not even been present for a day, arriving only to plead for her sister's life, and leaving as soon as the goal was lost. She had never looked at him like that before, and he had considered a hundred times after she left going to her fortress, begging her to reconsider. He'd even thought of asking forgiveness.

Before he could whittle away his pride enough, the reports of sorcery came in, and his heart hardened, and they were gone. A lifetime of friendship, of….

Gone. Never to return.

"She has been my best maid," Uther whispered. "She has my complete confidence."

"Complete confidence can be a dangerous thing," Aredian said. "I believe the Lady Zosia had that distinction at one time."

"She has shown no signs of magic," Uther said.

"Nor did the Lady Zosia," Aredian said more sternly, "until she did. Sorcery is seductive, Uther. I believe the Lady Zosia turned to it out of spite for the loss of her sister. That has always been my belief, as you know." Uther nodded. "If my suspicions are correct, your maid was seduced into magic not of her own will or wishes, at least at first."

Uther relaxed slightly. He could believe a young person, even one as reliable and sensible as Krysia, being coerced by those they trusted into something dangerous, especially if they were unaware what it was they were doing. It was possible.

"Very well," Uther said. "An interview. That is all."

"Of course, sire," Aredian said. "We shall wait until morning. It will keep until then."

/-/

Krysia's pulse was distracting in her throat and ears as the guards led her to Aredian's chambers for an interview, approved by the king. Leon stood near the door of Aredian's chambers, and he seemed to want to say something to her, but she forced a smile and knocked.

"Enter," the voice of the witchfinder said.

She pushed open the door with her head held high. He motioned for her to sit, and she did.

"Would you care for something to drink?" he said.

"No, thank you, sir," she said. "I've only recently broken my fast."

He hummed and looked up from something he was writing.

"With Gaius and…Merlin, isn't it?"

"Yes."

She knew Merlin was nervous after the meeting he'd had with the witchfinder, where he had to admit that he couldn't prove it wasn't him.

"You all live together in Gaius's chambers?"

"Yes."

"How long have you had that arrangement?"

"The three of us?" Krysia said. "It's been a few years, since Merlin came to Camelot."

"And you?"

"Gaius has been my guardian since I was found."

Aredian was fully alert and listening now, excited.

"Where precisely were you found?"

"In the Forest of Ascetir, I'm told."

"Do you remember meeting anyone? Druids, perhaps?"

"No, I don't," Krysia said. "I don't recall more than a few days of being in the forest."

"Hmm." He stood and began to pace. "Are you aware that I killed your aunt?"

A strange burning gathered at the base of Krysia's throat, and she said, "I'm not aware of having an aunt, sir. You have me at a disadvantage." She paused. "Although, I suspect that is the point."

He paused and grinned, then said, "There, that was just like your mother. Do you remember her?"

"No," Krysia said.

"No memories at all before the forest?"

"None."

He was still grinning. He leaned over the desk toward her and said, "You do not ask about your mother, which is most strange for one without memories."

"I am always suspicious of claims," Krysia whispered, "of persons who profess to know me better than I know myself, particularly strangers."

"Indeed," Aredian said, sitting again, still leaning toward her. "You consider me a liar, then?"

"I consider you an opportunist, sir," she said. "That is not a judgment, but rather a conclusion based on the facts. You leap to the opportunity of suggestions of unusual events. You said yourself, this is how you make your living. You are paid handsomely for finding evidence of sorcery, which I have seen from your bill to the king. You claim to wish to see all sorcery wiped out, but you are highly secretive of your methods and take no apprentice, which suggests a kind of greediness at best."

"Oh, yes, very much like your mother indeed," he said, grinning now. "What a pity. Uther will be so disappointed."

Krysia drew herself to her full height and said, "I give no credence to half-statements and whispers, Aredian. The king has never been dissatisfied with my work. If you mean to suggest somehow that I have magic, you'll find that there has never been a whisper of suspicion around me, and I wouldn't begin to know how one completes such work. The only knowledge of magic I have is what Gaius has taught me of mitigating and undoing the work of sorcerers, as it has become relevant in my work with him. As for consorting with sorcerers, to my knowledge, I have never done so."

"Never?" Aredian said, goading.

"To my knowledge," Krysia said.

"To the incident in question," Aredian said, pulling out his notes. "Your friend, Merlin, was present at the time."

"Yes, he said so himself," Krysia said.

"Did he tell you his testimony?"

"He didn't see anything more than smoke," Krysia said. "He certainly did not see or hear anyone who might have conjured something in the smoke."

"So he calls our other witness a liar," Aredian said.

"No," Krysia said. "Not at all. He merely says that he did not see what she saw."

Aredian laughed and said, "He said this as well. Go on, then, you seem the brighter of the two. Perhaps you can tell me how two can see different things."

"Have you ever looked at a cloud, Aredian?" Krysia said.

"Pardon?"

"Have you ever looked at a cloud?" she repeated, slowly as she saw him frown. "Perhaps as a child."

He stayed silent, so Krysia pressed on with her point.

"It is a not uncommon game for children," Krysia said, "to look at the same clouds and describe the shapes they see in them. The same cloud for different children might be a dragon, a jouster on horseback, a full turkey dressed for a feast. Tell me, then, how it is not possible for these children to see different things in the same cloud?"

Aredian's eyes were narrowed, and he finally said, "The witness was quite clear that this shape taken by the smoke was unnatural."

"Provided that she was correct," Krysia said, "there are other ways that people might see things differently. A difference in strength of eyesight, perhaps. A medication that has caused someone to hallucinate, or perhaps the early stages of a fever. I have seen a great deal while watching Gaius work, Aredian. The human body is a marvelous thing, capable of great variation and powerful mysteries, and that is without any sorcery involved at all."

Aredian's nostrils flared, and she knew he was frustrated. She wasn't sure she'd done the right thing, riling him, but he had asked, and she had produced her answers.

"Was there anything else?" she said. "I am due to serve the king's breakfast, and it seems silly to make him wait for us to have this…stimulating conversation."

"Indeed," Aredian said softly. "There may be more later, but for now you are dismissed."

She bowed her head lightly, and she swept out of the room with her head held high, aware that he was watching her until the door closed behind her.

"Are you alright?" Leon said.

His eyes were so wide and earnest, she wondered what kind of fears he'd had, standing there, waiting.

"Of course I am," she said, forcing a smile. "I think he was looking for someone to corroborate that Merlin's testimony had been his testimony from the beginning."

Leon again looked like he wanted to say something, but she reminded him she was due elsewhere, and he bowed his head lightly, as he'd taken to doing, unnervingly, and she hurried away, willing her hands not to shake.

A/N:

To the guest reviewer:

Yeah, we none of us like suspicious Uther. This current arc is going to be a massive test of Krysia's nerve and her lying capacity.

-C