Emrys - Arthur x Female Merlin

THE MARK OF NIMUEH

Our legend came with several different ideas and concepts. For the first few months at Arthur's side, I had discovered that protecting Arthur was not always easy, nor was it always from evil bastards who just wanted to kill him. Sometimes I had to save Arthur from himself. However, the first time I had to protect all of Camelot happened a few months after Valiant's demise, and came in the way of a plague that threatened everyone.

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Over the first few months of working for Arthur, I had fallen into a good routine, one which came with a lot of wisdom and knowledge. Alongside being Arthur's maidservant, I was regularly getting to train with Arthur, improving my fighting skills and keeping his sharp. And then there was the work I was doing with Gaius. When I was able, I was often helping him on the side. Then there was the knowledge I was gaining from Kilgharrah; whilst the dragon could be a royal pain, he was ever so fascinating to me. My knowledge had grown in so many areas ever since I had arrived in Camelot and I loved it. Then there was everyone I got to meet and the friends I was making, and the lack of attacks on Camelot was gladly received during this time. I should have known the pleasantness of my life was going to explode with the discovery of a dead body.

It happened sometimes, Gaius was called into the Lower Town to help someone or to recover a dead body, but this time there was a sense of panic that came with it. A guard had come to Gaius in quite a state, muttering about a body of white with dark blue veins protruding from its skin. Upon hearing the circumstances, Gaius had immediately called for me and we had followed the guard. Quickly, we came to a cornered off street – the guard said he had ordered it to avoid panic spreading round the town – and as expected a small group of townspeople had gathered near the guards, trying to see what was going on behind them. I wondered how long they had been trying to figure out what was happening.

With the place eerily quiet, the guard, Gaius, and I, made our way down the street, leaving the chattering of the people behind. It was so eerie to see one of the town's streets empty of any soul. Eventually, we came to a stop as we reached the one thing that was out of place. A body that had been covered by a sheet. The guard stayed back allowing Gaius and I to approach the covered corpse. The guard's cautious and jittery reaction had me keeping my own distance, meanwhile, Gaius was quick to drop to his knees beside the body. Immediately, Gaius went to grab the sheet that covered the cause of great alarm.

"Aren't you scared?" I asked as Gaius halted his actions to look up at me.

"Of what?"

"That you might catch whatever it is the poor man died of," I said, gesturing towards the covered corpse. Gaius merely rolled his eyes getting me to glare at him as he turned his attention back to unveiling the body.

"I'm the court physician, Merlyn. This is part of my job, now please help me," he ordered causing me to groan in annoyance before I too was squatting down beside the sheet. My fingers took a hold of the rough material as we went to pull it back. "Most of the time there's nothing really to be scared of." As we revealed the corpse's nasty secret, I shot back in surprise, a horrified gasp leaving my lips. Gaius had an equally shocked look on his face. The corpse was of a young man who did indeed have a white cast that allowed the man's dark blue veins to stand out even more prominently against his skin, whilst his eyes were covered by a milky white substance. The guards had been right to close off the street.

"Nothing? I don't think that's nothing," I said as Gaius's eyes ran over the body.

"People mustn't see this. They'll panic," Gaius said before he reached for the sheet again. I followed his actions and helped him cover the body once more. Quickly, Gaius was ordering for a cart to be brought to collect the body so that it could be taken back to his chambers. He was going to have to examine the body to find out what on earth had happened to the poor fellow. Both Gaius and I prayed this was the only case ... otherwise we were facing a great unknown.