Arthur led them all to an unused room adjoining the Great Hall.
"Will you tell us at last what happened?" Morgana urged. Both her and Gwen were looking at him expectantly.
He took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. "As you know, Gaius' attempts at healing you, Guinevere, were unsuccessful. The disease kept spreading. Soon there was very little time left and we were out of solutions. So we..." Arthur stopped abruptly. No, that wasn't right. "I decided to ask for external help."
"External help? Who are you talking about?" Morgana insisted.
Arthur hesitated, but their was only one way to say it. "The witch that was captured the other day. I helped her escape from the dungeons."
Both women instantly understood what that implied.
"You used magic..." Morgana whispered.
Arthur observed Gwen's reaction: she remained silent, staring into the distance, probably still chocked by the news.
"You, Arthur, chose to use magic!" Morgana continued as she began smiling.
"We even helped a little," Merlin chimed in.
"Merlin!" Arthur scolded.
His manservant shrugged. "I just thought it was worth mentioning..."
Morgana's smile widened. "You mean you actually practised magic yourself? This is quite astonishing. I would never have believed you'd ever do such a thing."
But Gwen still hadn't said a word and Arthur was anxious to know her thoughts. "Guinevere?" She looked up at him at last. "Don't you want to say something about this?"
"Well, I'm grateful for the help, naturally, but... Why would you do this? Why would you use magic, of all things?"
Arthur was taken aback by the underlying reproaches in her tone. "Like I said, there was no other choice. You're cured, that's all that matters."
"Did you even think of the consequences?"
"Gwen, why are you so upset?" Merlin intervened.
"I didn't know you felt so strongly against magic," Morgana added, sounding slightly unsure.
But Arthur had an inkling as to what was bothering her. "Guinevere. I won't let any harm come to you because of how you were cured, I promise. The matter is already handled, you heard the King drop the subject earlier. You won't be held responsible for any of this."
"I'm not worried about me," Gwen clarified. "There was no need for you to break the law over me. What will the King do if he ever learns you did? Was it really necessary to go that far?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Merlin replied, "all of us here would have done the exact same to save you, as would you if the situation had been reversed."
"Of course we would," Morgana confirmed.
"I'm just a maid. I'm not worth risking a throne."
Arthur remained silent while Merlin and Morgana continued denying Gwen's statements. What would happen if his father found out he had used magic was rather easy to guess. He couldn't let even his son – especially not his son - defy his authority so openly. He probably wouldn't go as far as having him killed but the least to be expected were disownment and banishment. Arthur was aware of his own popularity among the people of Camelot, and the latter might feel compelled to take sides between their King and their cast out Prince. That could even lead to civil war. In conclusion, worst case scenario: his one single act could endanger decades of pacification efforts all over the Kingdom.
Gwen probably hadn't thought any farther than the direct consequences for himself, but she definitely had a point. However, he couldn't help feeling flattered she would worry about him.
Arthur interrupted her current argument by placing his hands on her shoulders. "We're friends, right? And that's what friends do," he spoke softly. He knew Gwen would get the reference to their conversation from the previous night while the others wouldn't. "Please worry no more about this."
Gwen nodded. "All right," she agreed with an imperceptible smile he knew was meant for him only.
Arthur removed his hands. "This has to stay between the four of us. You shall not speak of this to anyone. Is that clear?" he asked with insistence. They all agreed silently. "Good. Now I need to organise a rigged witch hunt that looks convincing enough to fool the King..."
"Is that what Uther was asking you to do?" Morgana asked. "Search for the witch, while you're actually the one who had her escape?"
Arthur nodded quickly.
"Don't you already know where she is?" Gwen asked.
"She's hiding in my room," Merlin supplied.
"I hope you don't intend to hand her over!" Morgana worried. "If she healed Gwen, she can probably heal the villagers as well. But Uther is too stubborn and he'll have her burn at the stake no matter what."
"Could you all please shut up?" Arthur requested with a heavy sigh. "I need to think..." Then he started pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself. "What would I do if I really were looking for that witch?... The whole city is already covered by dozens of guards, she wouldn't be able to take a single step without being spotted... So I would concentrate my searches on the castle itself... Yes, I'd do a thorough search of the castle..." He turned to his manservant. "Merlin, you have to get her out of the castle."
"Can't you just avoid Gaius' laboratory during the search?" Merlin suggested.
"My father will be following this closely. He'll notice if I deliberately skip some area," Arthur pointed out.
"But where else could I take her?"
"Take her to my house," Gwen offered. "And don't try to convince me otherwise," she warned when Arthur started to object. "She healed me, it's the least I can do."
"Your house is on the other side of the city near the gates," Merlin remarked. "We'd have to get past all the guards to reach it, they're at every corner. We'll never make it all the way there."
There was a way, Arthur thought. A way that could take them past nearly all the guards, close to Gwen's house. A way he wasn't supposed to mention to any living soul. Oh well. He had broken so many laws over the last hours, why not add the violation of a solemn oath sworn to his father over ten years before?
"There's a secret passage leading from the west wing to the western wall, under the city," Arthur began. "The entrance is not very far from the laboratory, and the tunnel will take you close to Guinevere's house. Once there, you should be able to get past the last guards."
"I never heard of this secret passage," Morgana intervened.
"It was built during the construction of the castle. Its existence is known to the Royal family only, my father told me about it years before you came to live with us," Arthur explained, but he could tell Morgana was slightly hurt that, even as the King's ward, she hadn't been told about it before. "It's normally meant to be used as an emergency exit in case of a siege, it continues beyond the wall towards the forest."
"So how do we access it?" Merlin asked.
"In the secondary corridor in the west wing, there's a statue of my great-grandfather. There's a lever behind the hanging on its left, activate it and the passage will open."
Merlin seemed thoughtful for a second. "The statue of the bearded man with a sword?"
Arthur nodded.
"He's your great-grandfather?"
Arthur sighed, slightly exasperated. "Could we discuss genealogy some other day?"
"All right. Behind the hanging left of the statue in the west wing, I've got it," Merlin summed up.
"Guinevere, you should get back to your house, and you, Morgana, have to stay here in the castle like the King instructed," Arthur resumed.
"No way," Morgana replied immediately. "I'm not staying here while there are hundreds of people outside that need help."
"The King ordered that you -"
"Arthur," Morgana interrupted. "You know you won't manage to talk me out of this, so let's save time and go directly to the part where you let me do whatever I please."
"And I won't sit quietly at my house just waiting for someone to do something either," Gwen added. "Surely there must be some way we can help."
Arthur really didn't have the patience today to argue endlessly with two strong-willed women like Morgana and Gwen. "You're right. We need all the help we can get," he abdicated, "and there is indeed something you could do. It will probably be hours before I can meet with all of you again. In the meantime, you can try to find the source of this epidemic. Make enquiries, find what's common to all those who got sick. But don't take any action before I'm back. Do you all agree to this?"
Arthur was glad to see all three of them agreed with no further complain.
"I'll see you all at Guinevere's house as soon as I can," he concluded. "Merlin, one last thing," he called back while they were all heading out. His manservant walked back towards him. "About the witch..."
"Livia," Merlin supplied.
"Yes, so... The witch," Arthur repeated. "While you take her out of the castle, I want you to talk to her. Try and see if there is any chance she could be in fact the one responsible for this curse. She has a political commitment, it wouldn't be the first time someone undertook harsh actions just to impose one's opinions."
"She was with us the whole night, I doubt she had anything to do with all of this. And I'd hardly call her beliefs a political commitment."
"You have to admit the coincidence is troubling," Arthur argued. "So unless you know anyone else in the castle capable of casting those curses, let's investigate all options."
Merlin nodded his agreement silently.
"Good. Let's get going then."
As Merlin walked down the corridor, he gave a quick look above his shoulder to make sure he was out of Arthur's sight. Then instead of taking a turn right to get back to the laboratory, he took a turn left. If anyone would be able to tell him who was responsible for the curse, it was the dragon. He had called him the previous night – had he tried to warn Merlin?
He entered the dragon's cave, a lit torch in his hand. The dragon was sitting at his usual spot, on top of the rocky peak.
"I gather you came here to ask me about the curse that has befallen Camelot," the dragon immediately said without any greeting.
"You know about it?"
"I felt it. I'm surprised you didn't, it was a very strong curse."
"That's why you called me last night, right? So you know what caused it?"
"I do, indeed."
Merlin waited for the dragon to tell him more. But he didn't. "Why did you call me?"
"I wanted to warn you. Don't try to stop this epidemic."
"What?" Merlin exclaimed.
"You have to let it pass."
"You mean I should let all these people die without doing anything?"
"I'm afraid this is a necessary sacrifice."
"No, I can't do that," Merlin refused. "Tell me what caused the epidemic and I'll find a way to fix things."
"Oh I'm sure you would. That's precisely why I won't answer your question."
"Why not?"
"Because stopping this epidemic will only reinforce the evil at its source. Better hundreds now than thousands or more later."
Merlin shook his head. "I don't understand."
"And I don't expect you to. All I am asking of you is to follow my advice."
"I can't, and I won't," Merlin concluded and turned around.
He heard the dragon call as he left the cave: "Heed my words, Merlin! Just let it pass!"