Arthur followed his knights out of the room they'd just finished to search and then to the next one. Those were unoccupied chambers for guests, the last rooms on the floor. He let the guards examine every corner, and while supervising their work, he resumed his recurring activity of the last hours: try to think of some way to have the witch heal every sick villager without being noticed.
No matter how he turned it in his head, he always ended up stuck, one way or the other.
The most obvious solution would be to have her heal all of them one by one. The major issues would be that first, it would take way too much time to perform – probably several days - and second, that would considerably increase her chances to be spotted and arrested by one of the guards roaming the streets. Right now she was the only person they knew capable of doing anything against that curse, so they couldn't take that risk.
Another rather obvious solution would be to resort to some kind of global healing, by having her cure all of those people in one shot. Of Arthur's own admittance, his knowledge of magic was extremely limited. He wasn't sure this sort of thing was possible. But even if it were, Arthur was concerned about the witch's ability to perform it. Healing Gwen the previous night had already seemed very draining, and if magic had any logic, the feat of healing an entire city should require a lot more power.
He would have to talk about this directly with her.
Once the knights were done with the current room, Arthur followed them outside and noticed his father walking down the corridor towards him.
"Arthur," Uther immediately called, "have you seen Morgana?"
Arthur shrugged. "She was resting in her chambers when we searched it earlier today," he lied.
"She's not there any more," the King stated.
"She can't be far," Arthur asserted. "I'll let her know you're looking for her when I see her."
Uther nodded absent-mindedly, but Arthur knew that Morgana's stubbornness to leave the castle may cause his father to understand something was off.
"How about the witch hunt? Any progress?"
"We just finished searching the East and South wings," Arthur informed him. "We're about to continue with the West wing, we should be done with the castle in a couple of hours."
"Good. Find her quickly, Arthur. I want that witch on the stake tomorrow at dawn."
"I will find her, Sire, though I believe tomorrow morning might be too high an expectation," Arthur tempered. "By the time we finish searching the castle, it will be nearly night already, and we'll still have the whole city to -"
"Tomorrow at dawn, Arthur," Uther repeated with insistence.
Arthur eventually nodded obediently. "I will do my best, Sire."
"And please give orders to the knights to better handle the access to the castle. It will turn into a riot soon if nothing is done."
Arthur gave a quick look through a window and immediately saw a crowd of villagers, gathered at the castle's gates. "Right away, Sire."
While Uther continued on his way, Arthur turned to his men: "Start searching the West wing, I'll catch up with you there soon."
By now Merlin should have had more than enough time to get the witch out of the castle, it should be safe to send his men there. Arthur parted ways with his knights to head for the gates.
On his way, he couldn't help but think there was something wrong about his father. He couldn't quite pinpoint what was bothering him exactly, but the King's overall attitude regarding the situation was a little unsettling. Over the last years, Uther had begun to delegate more and more tasks to Arthur, which was of course absolutely natural. But he was apparently very keen on finding the witch quickly, so Arthur was somewhat surprised he wasn't participating actively in the search himself.
All the while asking for better results, Uther had looked distracted and even a little tense, as if he was preoccupied by something else. Even earlier that day, he had believed Merlin's lie so easily...
What could possibly be on his mind?
Arthur soon reached the castle's entrance and joined the guards there. The portcullis had been lowered in order to prevent anyone from getting within the castle itself. The guards were forming a chain, their arms wide open, trying to keep the numerous villagers gathered and pushing from being crushed against the gate.
"What's going on? What is all this commotion?" Arthur asked to the soldier in charge.
"Sire, these people all seek refuge and help. They think they'll be safe from the epidemic in the castle, or at least safer, but the King specifically ordered that they should remain outside in case it's contagious."
The people at the front of the crowd quickly saw and recognised Arthur. Immediately, some tried to reach him or talked to him directly. In the middle of the global hubbub, Arthur could only understand very few words, but most were saying the same things:
"Help me!"
"Let us in!"
"My baby! Please save my baby!" a woman was even crying, holding a newborn child above her head.
"Sire, what are your orders?" the knight in charge asked Arthur.
"Has the King made any public declaration regarding the situation?"
"I don't believe so, my Lord."
Arthur nodded. Those people were angry. They were in danger and expected their King to support them and to provide them with a solution, or at least to appear concerned. But instead of that the King seemed missing and contenting himself with keeping them away from the castle.
However, his father was right: letting the people in wouldn't change anything. It may appease their ire for a short time, but they would understand soon they had no solution to offer – not yet anyway.
Arthur climbed on a stone to make sure everyone could see him.
"People of Camelot," he called. "I know you are all worried about this strange disease. The court physician is trying to find a cure as we speak. But as of now, there is nothing for you to gain by entering the castle. There are sick people there too. We're doing everything we can to stop the sickness. I'm personally investigating this and I promise we'll find a solution soon."
Arthur could tell the people's discontentment was calming down.
"Please break up," he continued. "Get back to your homes, tend to the sick ones. We'll bring help soon, you have my word."
Slowly, the people finally began to disperse. The knights relaxed and lowered their guard. That was probably why a young man managed to rush past them. But thanks to sharp reflexes, Arthur instantly drew his sword and blocked his way with its blade. The man raised his arms to show he surrendered while the guards backed up Arthur by drawing their swords too.
"Sir, you heard me. We have no cure yet. Please leave," Arthur insisted. For a second, he thought he recognised that man. Had they met before?
"I'm not here because of the disease. I came to see my fiancée, she's held prisoner in the dungeons," the man explained.
"The access to the castle is strictly forbidden. You have to move back, now."
"Her name is Livia, I know she's in the dungeons and I demand to see her."
Arthur really didn't like that man's tone.
"There is no woman by that name in the dungeons," he stated, though he knew he had heard that name recently, but where? "For the last time, move back."
"I will not leave until I've seen her," the man answered categorically.
Arthur's patience finally reached its end. "All right. Let's take you to the dungeons then. And maybe after a few hours locked up there you'll have learned a little respect." At a wave of his hand, the guards seized the man.
While they escorted him away, Arthur went on his own way, back to the castle, to continue the search. He joined the guards in the West wing, where they had already reached Gaius' laboratory.
"Nothing here, Sire," one declared and proceeded to Merlin's room with the others.
Arthur followed them there.
He stepped around idly, his arms crossed over his chest, while his knights searched the room. He suddenly came to a stop and, frowning, looked down to his feet. He tapped the floor again with his heel: it did sound hollow. And two of the floor's boards were loose.
So, Merlin had a secret hideout, Arthur thought, the hint of a grin forming on his lips.
"Nothing here either, Sire," one of the knights announced.
Arthur nodded. When the knights headed outside, he began to follow them, only to stop after a few steps.
This was really none of his business, he reasoned. But still, he had to admit he was curious... What could Merlin think needed hiding? Secret love letters maybe? he wondered with a smirk.
"I'll be with you in a minute," Arthur finally told the last knight to leave the room.
Once he was alone, Arthur returned to the loose boards and removed them. Beneath, in a barely big enough gap, was... a book.
A book?
Arthur picked it up cautiously. It was worn out and seemed ancient. When he took a closer look at its cover, he suddenly had a really bad feeling about it. With a little dread, he finally opened it and flipped the pages slowly.
Monsters. Creatures of magic. Spells. Potions.
As Arthur slammed the book shut, several pieces of the puzzle that Merlin was suddenly fell into place in his mind.