Arthur followed Gwen into her house. He noticed Merlin and the witch instantly fell silent as soon as they entered, but he decided not to give it any more importance than it probably had.
"So," he began. "Did any of you manage to find any clue today while I – who is this?" he suddenly asked, pointing at an old man lying in Gwen's bed. Had he been there the whole time?
"Oh, it's one of my neighbours," Gwen explained. "He has been affected by the disease and has no family to look after him, so I decided to take him in."
Arthur smiled. Her good heart never ceased to amaze him. If she could she would probably take in the whole city. "And what about letting... Livia heal him?" he asked, hoping he had gotten the name right.
"We thought about that too, but she can't," Gwen answered for the witch. "She's not powerful enough."
"Really?" Arthur questioned doubtfully, but chose to drop the subject. Whether she could heal that one man or not was completely irrelevant to him. "So, like I was saying," he continued, "any new information about what caused the current situation?"
"Morgana and I found out the southern area of the city has been distinctively the most affected," Gwen answered. "And right before you arrived, Merlin made a suggestion."
"What was that suggestion? Merlin?"
Arthur observed that his manservant remained rather silent and barely looked at him in the eyes. It would probably take a long time until his accusations were forgotten...
"Shops," Merlin finally said. "In the southern area. Selling cursed items."
Arthur nodded. "That's a very good idea," he concurred. "We should go over there and investigate. And even if it turns out it's not cursed items, I'm sure we'll find some sort of lead."
"I should stay here to look after him," Gwen said while indicating her neighbour. "I'm sure you'll do just as well without me."
"As you wish," Arthur agreed. "And that will allow you to keep an eye on... Livia. So, Merlin, with me?"
"Yes, Sire..."
Arthur checked but he couldn't see any hint of irony in Merlin's eyes. Had he really used the title to be formal, for once? "Let's go then."
With those last words, he left the house and headed for the south of the city, Merlin in tow. The farther they went, the emptier the streets got, until it looked almost like a ghost city. Soon, there was barely anyone around. The few people they met watched them walk by with an intense look, as if they wondered what they were doing there.
"Are you going to stay silent all evening?" Arthur suddenly asked Merlin, even though he himself wasn't being very talkative.
"As long as I don't have anything interesting to say, yes..." his manservant replied.
Arthur sighed. Well. If Merlin wanted to sulk, then so be it. He had already apologised for his mistake.
They had now nearly reached the castle's south wing's wall. The overall atmosphere was quite disturbing. They could hear people, mostly moaning in pain, hiding in their homes, but there wasn't a single living soul in the street.
From the corner of his eyes, Arthur noticed something in motion. And when he turned to check what that was, he was surprised to find... hens.
"Arthur..."
"Just a minute."
He took a closer look. There were five hens, and all five had either a wooden leg, a wooden wing, or some other part of their body turned into wood. This was getting stranger and stranger. Shouldn't this curse affect only humans?
"Arthur, I think you should really take a look at this..."
When Arthur turned at last to see what Merlin wanted to show him, he involuntarily took a step backwards as he discovered an horrifying sight. Close to the castle's wall were two wooden statues, dressed with Camelot's uniforms.
They both slowly walked closer.
"It's not cursed items," Arthur stated.
"How can you be so sure?" Merlin questioned.
"Because these are guards from the night watch, they're not allowed to leave their scheduled track. And I also doubt any of the sick animals over there did any shopping today," he added while pointing at the chicken he'd seen earlier.
Arthur took another step towards one of the statues. It was so incredibly life-like... Well, of course it was, but... it was really bone-chilling. It almost seemed like their eyes were moving and following them, but Arthur knew it was just an impression. Or at least he hoped, the other option was too unsettling.
"Do you think it's too late for them? Do you think they're... dead beneath?" Merlin asked.
Arthur shrugged. "Who knows... It's like they were stroke right there and the disease spread almost instantly... Look at their faces..."
The expressions on both their faces was the same: one of terror. They were staring down at their own hands and arms, probably as they watched with horror their skin turn into wood. Both faces were contorted and their mouths were open as if yelling in pain.
"It's the first time we find someone at the last stage of this disease," Arthur remarked. "Apparently it spreads at different speeds for different people, but in the area south of the castle, and especially around here, it seems to have spread the quickest..." He paused to look at the guards turned statues again. "I knew them... Seeing them like this is really distur-"
Arthur never finished his sentence. As if in slow motion, he saw one of the statues topple backwards, head first towards the castle's wall. It was thanks to quick reflexes only that he managed to catch it split seconds before it crashed onto the stones.
"Merlin!" Arthur scolded while he returned the statue into its standing position.
"Sorry, I just tried... I thought..." his manservant apologised.
"Well don't touch anything! Do you realise how much damage that could have done? Maybe we can still save them, so why don't you stop attempting to behead one of them and instead just leave them be?"
"Sorry..." Merlin repeated.
Arthur sighed, cursing inwardly at his manservant's clumsiness, until a detail in their surroundings suddenly hit him. On the castle's wall, close to the ground, those familiar openings blocked with metal bars. And then it all clicked.
"The cells... It's her... It's been her all along..." he whispered.
"Who?"
"The witch! We're right next to the dungeons! Look around, that's where this plague is the most intense, that's where it all started! She must have cast the curse last night right before I helped her escape!"
"It's impossible," Merlin countered.
"Why would it be?" Arthur insisted. "I told you, she has a political commitment! She keeps deceiving us to prove her point, to show us how useful magic can be! And it works! Why do you think she deliberately left her magic book in your room?"
"I have no idea..." Merlin replied hesitantly.
"Because she wants to mislead and confuse us!" Arthur argued. "Just like when she said she wasn't powerful enough to heal Gwen, then all of a sudden she is, and now she isn't any more and can't heal her neighbour! This is all absolute nonsense!"
Arthur's face dropped when he suddenly realised something.
"Gwen... She's alone with Gwen..."
Overcome with worry, he immediately headed back towards Gwen's house.
Merlin stepped in front of him to stop him. "Arthur, you need to calm down. I know you're upset, we've all been through a lot today."
"Merlin, get out of my way," he ordered.
"It can't be her! Come on, think about it!"
Arthur sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Give me one good reason to believe she's not the one responsible for this curse."
"All right," Merlin agreed. "If she really wanted to prove that point you're talking about, wouldn't she heal everyone instead of saying she can't? And what about Gwen? How did she get cursed one day earlier than everybody? They haven't been in contact until you brought Livia to Gwen to heal her!"
Arthur hated to admit it, but he understood what Merlin meant.
"There's no need to rush anything," his manservant continued. "Night is falling, and we all need a good night of sleep. I can go check on Gwen if you want, but you should go and rest. Tomorrow will be another long day."
Arthur let go another long sigh. "I suppose you're right. This can probably wait until tomorrow morning. But I still want you to go check on Gwen, and if anything -"
"I'll warn you immediately, I promise."
Arthur nodded. "Come wake me at dawn tomorrow," he ordered and, reluctantly, headed back towards the castle.
Merlin reached Gwen's street just as the sun was setting. And while he headed for her house, he saw a man walk out of it. He couldn't be sure from the distance, but it looked like it was that old man, Gwen's neighbour. And seeing how easily he walked, he was apparently entirely healed...
How was that possible? What had happened? Had Livia...
Merlin suddenly wondered if maybe there could be a hint of truth in Arthur's suspicions...