The King Of Spades

Freyja

Merlin:

It was Morgana who had found the poor girl. She told Merlin, once he had found her crying rather hysterically in the corner of a corridor.

He had followed the sounds of her surprised gasps and sobs until he found her sitting quite away from Freyja, like a frightened child after a scary story.

Upon approach, the area around the dead girl felt somewhat cold. Like a hand touching his back. Dark magic.

Merlin, who was the physicians apprentice, had of course checked the recently deceased over for any glimmer of life. And then her cause of death.

Her skin was not broken. There were no cuts or bruises that marred her. There was no blood either.

On his way back to the scene with Isobel and Anna, Merlin thought perhaps she had succumbed to an unknown ailment but Isobel swore she was always in great health.

"We should take her to Gaius, he'll know what to do." Merlin decided, looking from Isobel to Anna and back to Morgana. She had resulted to standing by the stairwell, a good distance but not so far as to draw any attention.

Isobel did not move. She had gone a few shades paler, and thrown up upon seeing Freyja's body. This should have been expected, until Merlin felt rather guilty that he hadn't considered it.

He was used to seeing death after hunting for his meals with Will whilst growing up. It was different seeing a human being, all glassy-eyed and cold. But it was somewhat bearable, he guessed he had Gaius to thank after all his training from treating injured guards and starved peasants. And in addition, corpses too.

Anna kept glancing around nervously, despite being in an alcove, away from any guard or guest. The ground floor was mostly servants domain, especially by the back entrances to the castle where they stood now.

"Is? Isobel." Merlin pleaded her attention.

"She's dead. We should find a guard. T- Tell someone. . ." She echoed, staring dully at her maid.

"That's exactly what we shouldn't do." Anna interrupted. "If anyone sees this, it's going to be bad. We have a whole hall full of already shaken allies, we certainly don't need anymore reason for them to become our enemies."

"She's right, Is. We have to keep this between us. At least until everyone's gone home." He agreed, placing a comforting hand on her arm. She flinched slightly at the disturbance.

"Come on, we can't leave her here. She doesn't deserve to be left on the ground. We can take her to Gaius, place her on a bed until we can send her for burial." Morgana whispered, eyes red from crying. He turned as Isobel nodded.

~<<♤>>~

Carrying a body seemed rather more difficult than Merlin had anticipated, even with three other people helping. He wished numerous times Will was there. He was strong, with broad shoulders and had always helped Merlin carry his game back to the village when they were growing up.

Several times they had to duck into a room to avoid being seen by patrols or wandering guests who'd had enough of the party light and come for a gander about the wrong side of the Castle.

When they finally reached the physicians Chambers, Merlins limbs were aching. "What the heavens happened?!" The old man bellowed. He had opted to skip Mithian's ball. He wasn't at all one to enjoy such events, and much preferred to stay in the confounds of his room, reading or brewing up new remedies.

"Morgana found her, I checked for abrasions, a struggle; nothing." Merlin cleared a way for the girl on their spare bed. "She's dead."

"I can see that, thank you. But how? The castle is crawling with patrols." Gaius rushed to her side. He examined her carefully and for the benefit of the others present, drew up the same conclusion as Merlin had, and claimed she had died of an ailment.

Anna stood by Merlin, shaking her head. "This makes no sense. What was the girl doing so far from the guests anyway?" She wondered aloud.

"Her name is Freyja. . . I've known her for years." Isobel choked, gasping for air through her tears.

Anna bristled at her tone but said nothing. "Anna, why don't you take Morgana and Isobel into the back for a little while. I'll bring you water in a short while." Gaius suggested.

She nodded, and lead Isobel into small room at the back of the chamber, Morgana trailing behind.

"I don't think Freyja's death was an accident." Merlin spoke once the back door shut softly and all was quiet again.

"I agree."

"I think it was magic."

He nodded. "I think it's entirely possible. Brittany is known for it's healers. Are you sure it was magic?"

"The place we found her, it felt off. I could feel it."

"Then we must be cautious. If there is a sorcerer present, and they have taken a life this night, then we must keep watch on the King and Arthur. Especially the guests. Lord knows what could happen to us if a neighbouring Kingdom is targeted." Gaius ushered.

"You think they plan to kill Mithian?"

"I hope I'm wrong. Take Anna and head back to the ballroom. They'll be missing her now, and she's good at keeping a level head- Don't look at me like that, you know I'm right." He said when Merlin rolled his eyes at the mention of working with Anna. "I will see to Isobel and Morgana."

"Shouldn't we tell Uther?"

Gaius tilted his head in contemplation, "No. He is too arrogant. He'd shut the entire party down and I don't know about you, Merlin, but I don't feel like standing in a hall full of armed men, especially armed men that have been trained to kill since birth." He shook his head once more for surety "No, I think not. Just do as I say."

~<<♡>>~

Arthur was, as far as Merlin could gather, safe. He was dancing with Mithian, her cheeks red from too much wine and a sweet smile on her face.

"You're handling this surprisingly calmly." Merlin stated leaning against the far wall from the dias. Uther had began to wonder where his daughters had gone. Anna told him Morgana was unwell so they left to check on her and that should he find the time to visit her later, he'd make his way straight to her room, and not to disturb the physician at all. They'd let Uther know when the time was right.

"Yes. I am. So are you. Suppose your kind are used to stepping over dead bodies on the daily."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded, pulling his eyes from the crowed of people he had been observing.

"I don't often visit the outlining villages and for good reason. It's filthy, full of death and diseases. You grew up in one of these boarder hamlets, didn't you?" She inquired, swilling a goblet of red liquor.

He sighed, exasperated. It wasn't the first time Anna was condescending to a servant, and certainly wouldn't be the last. "Yes. Ealdor, if you must know. And actually it was a beautiful place. And we 'peasants' are actually the reason why you have so much wealth. So I'd show a little more decency, if you wouldn't mind, Anna." He snapped, seeing red. Anna and Arthur had a special knack for getting under his skin.

"Well, it's good to know not every servant is as spineless as they seem." She smirked, looking back out at the crowed. "I'm going to ask around, see if anyone left. I suggest you keep a close eye on my idiot brother and Mithian. Uther too, if you like, but don't feel obligated." She added.

Merlin couldn't quite decide who Anna disliked most, her father, or the poor.

~<<♤>>~

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