"This is obviously the work of magic," Gaius told Arthur in a low voice in a corner of Gwen's house. Merlin was close by, listening to them.
"Is there anything that can be done?" Arthur questioned.
Gaius shrugged, powerless. "I've never seen such a thing, I need to do some research."
"What will happen if we can't find a cure?" Merlin asked with concern. "Will it keep spreading?"
"Yes," Gaius confirmed. "I believe the... disease, for lack of better word, will keep spreading. For the moment it seems to be mostly external and affect only her skin, but if it changes and reaches vital parts of her body like her head..." He let the sentence hang.
She would die, Merlin completed mentally, revolted by that thought. He wouldn't let that happen, no matter what it took. And as he glanced at Arthur, he knew he wouldn't either. The prince may hide it well, but it upset him at least as much as it upset Merlin.
Merlin decided to return to Gwen's side by her bed where she was sitting, and to let Gaius and Arthur discuss together. She looked rather pale and tired. The disease progressed quickly on her right hand and arm, but hopefully the wooden patch on her neck seemed relatively stable and didn't advance towards the head.
"Merlin, tell me what's going on," Gwen urged.
"Don't worry, it's going to be all right," Merlin lied.
"No it's not. You all keep whispering so that I won't hear, but I'm not a child. Why do you look so worried? What's wrong with me?"
Merlin shook his head. "We don't know. Gaius think it's magic."
"But how did it happen? I didn't do anything out of the -" Gwen suddenly winced.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, I'm fine," Gwen obviously lied. She stared at her right arm. "I can't feel my hand any more..."
Merlin looked down at it too. Her hand looked like the wooden one of a puppet. Her fingers were extremely still, she probably couldn't move them any more than she could turn her wrist.
"Ow!" Gwen suddenly exclaimed. "Oh gods, OW!" Her left hand flew to the back of her neck as she kept crying out with pain.
"Gaius!" Merlin called.
The physician hurried to Gwen's side, followed closely by Arthur. "Gwen?"
"It's on and off, but it hurts..." she explained, panting and on the verge of tears. "Gods it hurts so much..."
Gaius lifted her hair to look at the wooden patch on her neck. "It's spreading to the spine..." he observed with concern. Then he rummaged in his pouch and took a small vial out of it. "There's nothing much I can do about this sort of pain, I'm afraid, but I can give you this drug that can induce sleep."
"A drug?"
"Gwen, it will hurt more and more as it keeps spreading," Gaius warned.
"You should take it," Arthur advised. "We'll figure out something, we'll find a cure, but at least in the meantime you won't be in pain any more."
"I don't want to sleep through it!" Gwen contested. "I want to remain conscious of what -" She shouted with pain again. Once it was over, her cheeks were wet with tears.
"Guinevere," Arthur pleaded softly.
Merlin knew that if someone was going to be able to convince her, it might just be Arthur. It was obvious that seeing her in pain greatly distressed the prince. Gwen might have noticed it as well, for she finally nodded and allowed Gaius to pour a drop of the translucent liquid in her mouth.
After a few seconds only, Gwen rested limply on her bed.
"Give her a drop of this every two hours," Gaius instructed as he gave his vial to Merlin. "It will keep her unconscious. I need to return to my laboratory to investigate this ailment further," he told Arthur.
"I expect you to do your best to find a cure quickly, Gaius," Arthur ordered.
"As always, Sire."
With Gaius gone, Merlin and Arthur were left together next to Gwen, stuck in an uncomfortable silence. Arthur looked shaken, but Merlin knew he himself probably didn't look too good either.
"It must be that group of sorcerers," Arthur suddenly said. "They want to get back at us for killing and capturing their own," he accused.
"Arthur, to them Gwen's no more than Morgana's maid," Merlin reminded. "Don't you think they'd curse someone else if they really wanted to get back at anyone?"
Arthur observed Gwen thoughtfully. He seemed torn. "I have to go," he finally said reluctantly. "Knights training. I'll go warn Morgana, she'll probably come here immediately. Once she does, I want you to go help Gaius find a cure. But in the meantime, do not leave Guinevere alone."
"Of course not," Merlin assured.
Arthur nodded. "I'll be back tonight," he announced and left.
Merlin adjusted the blanket around Gwen and let go a sigh. Even though she was asleep, she didn't seem very peaceful.
Merlin entered Gaius' laboratory in haste. Before even saying a word, he retrieved his magic book from his room and got back to the laboratory's main table with it to join Gaius in his research.
"I didn't expect you so soon," Gaius remarked.
"Morgana stayed with Gwen, I told her about giving her the drug every two hours," Merlin clarified dismissively. "Did you find anything yet? Do you have any idea what sort of spell provoked that?"
"No, but I'm sure about something: this isn't human magic. And the curse must be extremely powerful in order to manage to change the nature of a living being. I've never heard of something quite like it before."
"There's got to be something about it somewhere," Merlin said, browsing though his book hurriedly. "There's got to be some spell I could use..."
During the next hours, they went over all the magic books they had at their disposal in the hope that they'd find any information about what was ailing Gwen, but to no avail.
Merlin threw a book away out of frustration. "How is it possible that we can't find anything that remotely resembles what's happening to her?"
"This isn't the right way to proceed," Gaius commented. "We first need to identify what kind of creature cast that spell. Then we'll know where to look."
"We don't have time for this, Gwen is dying by the minute!" Merlin exclaimed angrily.
"I know Merlin, I know." Gaius observed him for a second. "Merlin... You need to realise that there might not be anything that we can do. That you can do."
Merlin shook his head, picked up his magic book and stuffed it in his bag. "I'll go and try a few of these. One is bound to work," he declared stubbornly.
"Merlin," Gaius called before he was gone. "There's already a witch locked up in the dungeons. There's no need for you to go and share her fate. I know Gwen is your friend and you want to help her, but please promise me you'll be careful."
Merlin nodded briskly and left. With the recent events, he had completely forgotten about the witch in the dungeons and about his promise to Elias and Dunstan to help her out. He felt a little guilty about it, but he put the thought aside. First things first. Gwen was the priority.
When he entered Gwen's house, Morgana didn't seem to have moved since he left and was still sitting by her side. "How is she doing?"
Morgana shrugged. "She woke up briefly an hour ago. She didn't recognise me. I think she was hallucinating. Are you sure this drug is any good for her?"
"Gaius prescribed it for the pain," Merlin answered. "Morgana, it will be night soon, you should get back to the castle and get some rest."
"I'll be absolutely unable to sleep as long as she's like this," Morgana stated. She paused. "Do you think there's something I could do? I mean, you know... with magic...?"
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "Probably not. You look tired, you've been here all day, you should really go. I'll be here with her, and Arthur should be back soon. We'll take good care of her."
Morgana nodded. "All right," she capitulated. "I'll come back first thing in the morning. Let me know if anything happens in the meantime, one way or the other."
As soon as she was gone, Merlin took his magic book out of his bag and opened it to one of the pages he'd marked a few hours earlier. Then, he lifted a hand above Gwen and read out loud the magical words on the page.
"Ahuni shern joola!" No result. He flipped a few pages. "Liyesh valaam!" Still nothing.
One after the other, he cast the spells with all his will, all his heart, and all his power, until all he could do was admit his failure.
Merlin dropped his book, buried his face in his hands and let go a long and heavy sigh. Knowing he had all this magic in him but being unable to use it to save his friend was making him crazy.
Arthur came back a little after nightfall.
"Anything new? Did Gaius find a cure?" he immediately asked.
Merlin just shook his head.
Arthur seemed disappointed. "Couldn't think of anything else all day," he confided. "I was so distracted I very nearly got my head chopped off by my own knights at least half a dozen times."
Arthur took a chair and sat next to Merlin, close to Gwen's bed, and looked at the maid's sleeping form. The disease had clearly progressed. Her arm was now entirely wooden, and considering her uneasy breathing, he could venture that her chest was now already affected as well. Her sleep seemed rather troubled, like she was having some sort of nightmare. Seeing her like this broke his heart.
"We don't have much time left, do we?" Arthur asked grimly.
Merlin shook his head again. "Gaius didn't mention anything about it but... I'd say until morning. Maybe midday."
They both fell silent again, both sharing the same dark thoughts, both feeling powerless. It only took another look at Gwen for Arthur to finally make up his mind.
"I came up with an idea today," he said softly.
"What sort of idea?" Merlin asked. "Tell me your plan, whatever it is, count me in!"
Arthur shook his head. "No. I don't want to drag you or anyone into this. It's my decision, my responsibility."
Merlin frowned. "What is it you plan on doing exactly?"
"Just stay here with her and wait for me," Arthur instructed. "I should be back in a couple of hours," he finished, stood up and turned round.
"Arthur, don't -" Merlin began but it was already too late. "- do anything stupid," he finished to the empty room.