I've finally gotten around to working on this again and decided to start posting the chapters in chronological order instead. I've reposted the chapters for the first five episodes since they were already done. You don't need to reread the first three since I only made a few grammatical edits to them, though I would recommend checking out "The Poisoned Chalice" and "Lancelot" since they got a few new scenes and extended scenes since I wanted to make them actually chapter length. This chapter is the first brand new one and I'll make sure that when I repost the other old chapters, they'll be posted alongside new ones as well.

"How is she?" Arthur asked when Merlin met up with him.

Merlin smiled, then shook his head and started pacing. "It's gonna be alright. It is. I know it is. She's gonna be absolutely…"

"Merlin."

"What?"

"You're making me anxious."

"But I'm not worried."

"Then stop pacing."

Merlin sat down and Arthur got one second of peace before he started tapping his fingers.

Arthur stood up and started pacing.

"There must be something Gaius can do?"

Merlin stopped tapping. "Gaius is going to keep trying. He made me get him rosemary to stimulate cerebral circulation and yarrow to reduce any bleeding, but…"

"But?"

"He… said she's all but dead."

Arthur slammed his fists against the table. "We cannot let her die!"

"I was wondering…"

The prince looked up at Merlin. "No."

"I can help."

"Like you helped Guinevere's father."

Merlin flinched.

Arthur started pacing again. "There's a man, he came to the castle today. He claims he can cure her."

"How? He hasn't even seen her."

"He says he has a remedy that can cure all ills."

Merlin snorted. "Gaius says stuff like that is just fake - it's just a charlatan looking for easy money - and even with magic, there isn't one spell that can heal everything. The body is too complex and wounds, infections, and diseases all affect it differently. Something that might help with one illness could actually make another worse."

"I don't care! If she's about to die, what harm can it do?"

"He could kill her just before Gaius finds something to help," Merlin said softly and Arthur froze. "He could cause her unnecessary pain."

"And how do you plan to help her if magic isn't a cure-all?"

"Gaius knows there's something wrong with her mind, so I can use a mental detection spell to figure out exactly what's wrong and then I'll know how to heal her from there."

Arthur closed his eyes and leaned against the wall.

"… okay. We need to be careful though."

"Are you sure this will work?" Gwen whispered as she let Merlin and Arthur into Morgana's room.

"It has to," Arthur said, staying back as Merlin rushed to the bed.

The warlock pulled his book and some vials out of the bag he had brought with him. After flipping to a certain page, he tipped a few of the potions into her mouth and helped her swallow.

As Merlin climbed onto the bed, Arthur stepped closer to the door.

Realizing what he was doing, Gwen went over to the other door to keep an ear out.

Merlin knelt next to Morgana and placed his hands on her temples. He leaned over and whispered something Gwen couldn't hear.

She figured it was a spell because he jerked upwards a second later, his hands still on her head and his eyes glowing gold.

"What's wrong?" Arthur called out quietly, but Merlin didn't answer.

The warlock was staring off in space, looking shocked while his head was tilted to the side as if someone was whispering in his ear.

"Merlin!" the prince hissed. "Stop ignoring me!"

Merlin moved his hands so they covered her ears and closed his still gold eyes. "Bebiede þe arisan ealdu. Áblinnan."

"What's happening?" Gwen asked, but Merlin didn't answer her either

He stayed frozen over Morgana for a few more seconds, then pulled away.

Arthur came to his side as he got off the bed. "What did you do?"

Merlin held out his hand and Arthur's face screwed up. Gwen came closer to see a black beetle sitting in his hand.

"What is that?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but it's what's been causing her to be sick and… I sensed magic in it."

"It wasn't an illness, it was an attack," Arthur growled.

"We don't know that for sure," Merlin said, sticking the beetle into one of the used bottles. "The beetle might just have crawled into her on its own. I need to figure out what it is first."

Gwen put her hand on Morgana's forehead, flinching back when the woman rolled over.

Merlin quickly grabbed his things and he and Arthur left before Morgana could wake.

Arthur was leaning against the wall watching Morgana and his father talk on her bed when he noticed Merlin slip into his room.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," he said, straightening up. "I should go check on the knights."

Morgana nodded and Uther waved him off so he left the room.

"What did you find out?" Arthur asked.

Merlin held up a book. "I found the beetle in here. It's one of the bestiaries Gaius has me get him when magical creatures attack." He opened the book up to a page marked by a scrap of cloth. "It says it's an Elanthia Beetle. They're -"

Arthur hushed him as they passed a pair of guards. They slipped into an empty room and the prince gestured for him to continue.

"It says the beetles are conjured by dark magic and are used to affect the brain."

"So someone did attack her," Arthur growled.

Merlin nodded. "They go into hibernation when not enchanted. It couldn't have crawled into her on its own."

"Is there a way to track them?"

"I don't know. I'll need to do more research. I think I know a book that should have more information, but I'd have to sneak it out of Gaius's library."

"Get Guinevere to help if you need to. We need to capture whoever is doing this."

"Alright, but if Gaius catches me and makes me clean the leech tank or something, you're getting leeches in your soup," Merlin muttered, heading for the door.

"You can't threaten me!"

"Gwen!"

The maid looked up at her name and smiled. "Hello, Merlin."

"Afternoon. Nice flowers."

She blushed and tucked the basket of lilies further under her arm. "Oh, yes, aren't they. Morgana gave them to me. I mean, she didn't get them for me, someone got them for her, but the smell has been making her headache worse and she was going to get rid of them, but they're so pretty I asked to take them. It seemed like a waste to get rid of them when they're still fresh."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It's a lot of flowers too. Who would get Morgana so many? Does she have a suitor?"

"No, I'm pretty sure she purposefully scares off most anyone who tries. I'm not sure who they were from. I thought it might have been Arthur."

"Arthur?" Merlin snorted. "I don't think he'd even be able to come up with the idea of giving a girl flowers, and he certainly wouldn't have done it himself. He'd have sent me and I would have gone with wildflowers in a color she'd like. Lilies seem too formal."

"And heaven forbid you ever be formal," she giggled and he shrugged. "So, did you need something?"

"Yes, right, I need your help sneaking a book from Gaius's library. I think it might have information on the beetle I found in Morgana, but if I try to just take it, Gaius will ask questions. Do you think you'd be able to distract him for me?"

"Of course, how would I distract him?" They considered it for a moment before Gwen looked down at her basket. "Maybe I could offer him some flowers? Do lilies have medicinal properties?"

"No clue, but tell him you heard they did though you can't remember what for. If they don't, you'll get a lecture about the danger of believing rumors about medicine. If they do, you'll get a lecture on what exactly they're for. That will give me more than enough time to grab the book."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," she teased and he pouted.

Merlin was lying on Arthur's bed, Cavall on his back, when Arthur returned from having dinner with his father and Morgana in her chambers.

Arthur cleared his throat, but Merlin barely looked up.

"Hey, I got the book from Gaius, but it doesn't have much more infor-"

"What are you doing on my bed?" Arthur interrupted, crossing his arms.

"Reading," he deadpanned, gesturing both to the book he was holding and the three others stacked next to him.

"On my bed."

"It's more comfortable."

"Get off."

"I can't. The last time I tried to move, your cat threatened to claw my back to shreds."

Cavall gave a short chirp and rolled over in his sleep.

Arthur marched over to pick the beast up and set it on the ground. "Stop being such a girl, Merlin."

As he got up, he glared first at Arthur, then at the cat who was now purring and rubbing itself all over Arthur's boots. "Speaking of girls, Gwen's annoyed with both of us now."

"Why?"

"In order to distract Gaius so I could get the book, I told her to offer him lilies for his medicine and he ended up giving her an hour-long lecture."

"That explains why she's mad at you, but why me?"

"I told her it was your idea for her to be the distraction."

Arthur swatted him on the back of the head. "Did you at least get anything useful out of it?"

"Well, I think I know how the bug got in her room." Merlin waved the book. "According to this, Elanthia Beetles can't travel long distances because they can't stay active for long without a food source - meaning a person's head - so the beetle would have had to be in her room already when it was woken up."

"The sorcerer planted it there?"

"I think he snuck it in with some flowers. Gwen said they were given to Morgana anonymously and she got them right before she fell ill. No messenger would have thought twice about a bug in some flowers."

"How far could the sorcerer be from the beetle to still be able to activate it?"

Merlin frowned and looked down at the book. "I'm not sure, the books all have differing opinions. Definitely within the city at most, but more likely within the citadel. I'd bet they were in the square. It's not far from her room and depending on how early in the night they activated it, the guards wouldn't have bothered them."

Arthur glanced towards the window consideringly. "I suppose that makes sense. I'll question the on-duty guards to see if they saw anyone hanging around the square that night."

"Won't your father wonder why you're asking questions?"

Arthur waved the servant off. "I'll just tell him I'm making sure Morgana's illness was just that instead of an attack."

"Sure, he's paranoid enough to fall for that," Merlin hummed, nodding.

Arthur turned back to him with a scowl, which narrowed as he realized the boy was still on his bed!

"How would you like to spend the night in the stocks?"

"But then who would tuck you in and read you a bedti-OW!"

Edwin scowled into his drink as he heard the people discussing the Lady Morgana's illness and miraculous recovery.

It was impossible. No simple medicine could have removed his beetle. Gaius shouldn't have even been able to tell the beetle was there. And yet here everyone was, singing the murder's praises for saving their beloved lady.

He was using magic, that was the only explanation. After all the lying and treachery, Gaius was still using magic. He'd turned his back on all his friends to save his own skin, and hadn't even given up the craft. Was he hiding it, or was hypocrisy just another fault of Uther's?

Edwin could believe either. Gaius was the kind of snake to play both sides, but Uther was monster enough to vilify magic while keeping a sorcerer in his pocket.

Unfortunately, this was a massive wrench in his plans. Without his help being needed for the Lady Morgana, he had no way of entering the castle. Uther was out of reach.

At least he'd be able to take his revenge on one of his enemies.

Arthur was beginning to think this whole thing was the worst idea he's ever had, even if his father had praised him for his vigilance. If he had to listen to one more guard drone on idiotically about farmers or servants or birds or "this one odd mouse that I swear has a spot on its back that changes color depending on the weather" then he was going to go insane.

He was starting to miss Merlin's idiotic chatter, it was so bad.

"- shoo them away, but I think Beli let them back in. Oh, and there was that one odd-looking fellow in the robes. And these three cats -"

Arthur's head shot up. "What?"

"Yeah, their all black and -"

"No, go back to the man in robes," Arthur hissed. Honestly, who thought cats were more interesting than a stranger in robes? He needed to remember to have a talk with Leon about putting together some new training for the guards.

"Oh yeah, he came around early in the night to have a look around, didn't stay long. I didn't think much of it. Figured he probably just realized he came too late to get an audience since he came back the next day and talked with you?"

Arthur frowned. "I talked to him?" His eyes widened. "You mean the physician? Red hair, slight hunch, had a big scar on his face?"

"That's him."

Of course, what had Merlin said again about cure-alls being fakes looking for quick shillings? Maybe it wasn't about money, but a way into the castle?

"Thank you, you can go."

The guard nodded and left while Arthur considered how to move forward.

"Take these back to the castle, I'll be along shortly."

Merlin frowned as he put the herbs Gaius had just bought into his satchel with the rest of the supplies they'd gotten at the market. "Are you sure? If you have another errand -"

"No, no, it's alright. There's just a man ill at the inn. A traveling physician has already seen to him and said he'd be fine, but he hoped I could give a second opinion. It should only take a moment. You drop those off and get back to Arthur."

"Alright. I'll see you later."

Gaius patted his shoulder and they split up.

Merlin was halfway back to the castle when he spotted Arthur coming towards him. "Where are you going?" he asked, walking up to the prince.

"Not that it's any of your business," Arthur huffed before lowering his voice. "I've got a lead. One of the guards saw that physician I told you about, the one with the cure-all, in the square that night. He might have used the beetle as a means to get into the castle. I'm going to the inn to question him."

"That makes sense. I should -" Merlin cut off. Physician… Inn… "Gaius."

"What?"

Merlin turned and started running towards the inn, Arthur following.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Gaius said a man at the inn got sick and a traveling physician treated him before asking Gaius for a second opinion. If it's the same physician…"

"It could be a trap."

"Help."

Gaius paused at the alley next to the inn and turned to see a young man sitting a ways in, holding his ankle. "Hello?"

"Please, my ankle, it hurts."

Gaius approached cautiously, but the man wore simple robes and was unarmed. "What happened?"

"I had stepped out to fetch some herbs for my patient and thought I could cut through this alley, but tripped over a box."

Gaius knelt at his side. "Ah, you are the physician I was meant to meet. Edwin Muirden, right?"

The man finally faced him and Gaius took in the scar that covered most of the left half his face.

The next thing he knew, he was slamming into the wall opposite the man.

He crumpled to the ground as the man stood up and walked over, untroubled by his supposedly injured ankle.

"You can call me that, though the last time we met I was still Edwin Lloyd."

Gaius turned over the semi-familiar name. "Y-you used your mother's maiden name. You are Gregor and Jaden's son," he said sadly.

The man grew angry at the sound of the names. "They were friends of yours."

"They were sorcerers."

"They practiced magic. And so did a lot of people back then, Gaius. Like yourself."

Gaius shook his head and pushed himself up. "You cannot be here."

Edwin knelt next to him. "No, you should not be here. Here, in Camelot, alive and well, in the very city where all the people you turned your back on died. Where the king you placed before your friends rules and prospers. Especially as you still practice that which he hates. You deserve the fate you let them face."

Gaius shook his head. "I have not practiced since magic was outlawed."

"You can spit your lies all you want, I know the truth." Edwin pulled a box out of his robes and opened it to show Gaius the contents. "You recognize them, don't you?" He pulled out one of the hibernating beetles and held it up. "I had planned this fate for Uther, had merely wanted to oust you and have you watch as Uther cast you aside only to die a horrible fate, but plans change."

Gaius swatted his hand away.

"Wáce ierlic!."

The old man's head cracked against the wall and darkness spotted his gaze.

"Goodbye, Gaius," Edwin said and pressed something to his ear.

The last thing Gaius took in was Edwin whispering something and a pair of shadows appearing at the opening of the alley.

"Gaius!" Merlin shouted and Arthur turned to see a familiar robed figure kneeling next to an even more familiar slumped form.

He drew his sword and stepped into the alley. "Step back from him, now."

The sorcerer rose, holding up his hands as he gave a shallow bow and backed away. "I was only trying to see to his wounds. I found him here while heading out to fetch herbs."

Merlin rushed ahead of Arthur before the prince could react, knocking his shoulder into the physician's as he rushed to his uncle's side. Arthur assumed he must have put some magic into the act, as Edwin stumbled under the hit and a box fell out of his robes. The box opened as it fell, spilling small black beetles across the ground.

"Your remedy to cure all ills, I'm guessing?" Arthur snorted, following Merlin into the alley, but keeping his eyes on the older sorcerer. "You are under arrest."

"My Lord, I -" he cut off as Gaius gave a groan and turned to the elderly man with shocked eyes.

Arthur glanced over to see Merlin with one hand fisted at his side and the other running over the back of Gaius's head as the man gave another groan.

"That's impossible. You…" Arthur focused back on his enemy as the man's eyes widened. "You have magic."

He looked at Arthur and the prince scowled. "If you think falsely accusing someone will save you, you are mistaken.

The man glared back at him and raised his hand. "Forbærne yfel!"

Fire raced towards Arthur, but a sudden gust of wind shot down the alley, blowing the fire back towards the sorcerer. He jumped back from the flames and Arthur struck out, swiping across his chest. Another blow and the sorcerer was dead.

Arthur checked on Merlin to see the boy fussing over Gaius, the beetle he'd been holding left on the ground at his hip. Arthur grabbed the box and swept the few bugs that had been missed by the fire into it.

"Sire!"

Arthur stood up as a trio of guards rushed into the alley.

"We saw the fire," one of them stated.

"A sorcerer attacked Gaius," he said, gesturing towards the nearby corpse. "I believe he is the cause of Lady Morgana's illness. You, send for a gurney for Gaius and inform my father of what has happened. You two, take up spots on either end of the alley. Keep the people away and calm until this can be taken care of."

"I'm grateful you could reach me before he finished his spell, Your Highness," Gaius sighed as he finished relaying what he could remember of the attack.

"I only wish I could have gotten there sooner," Arthur said. "If I'd been quicker with my investigation…"

"If it hadn't been for your investigation, you wouldn't have been near the inn, to begin with." His father clapped him on the back. "You did well."

"Thank you, Father," he said, a warm feeling settling in his stomach.

Uther nodded and stepped away. "Rest up, Gaius. Anything you need, you shall have."

"Thank you, Sire."

I tried looking up if lilies actually do have medicinal properties and found out that some do, but it seemed like it was discovered in China and I wasn't sure if it would have reached Britain by that point so I left it vague if Gaius thought they did or not.