A Warlocks' Disguise {ArthurxFem!Merlin}

Chapter 22 - Merilyn

The smell of death was a suffocating presence in Gaius's chambers, lingering like a thick fog that seemed to seep into every corner of the small room. The usual scent of herbs and tinctures, which always filled the space with a sense of calm, was overpowered by the stench of decay. The flickering candlelight did little to ease the oppressive atmosphere. Shadows danced eerily across the walls, making the room feel even more confined, as if the weight of their failures pressed in on them from all sides.

Merilyn stood beside the table where yet another lifeless body lay, a woman who had succumbed to the mysterious illness ravaging Camelot. Her skin, once vibrant and healthy, was now ghostly pale, her eyes frozen in a glassy, lifeless stare. The disease had claimed her quickly, as it had the others. Her delicate hands, once perhaps used to carrying silks or gently clasping a lover's hand, were now brittle, rigid with death. The transformation was grotesque, leaving her almost unrecognizable from the person she had been mere hours before.

The silence between Merilyn and Gaius was heavy, punctuated only by the faint crackle of the fire and the rustle of Gaius's robes as he leaned closer to examine the woman. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration, the lines on his face etched with both exhaustion and frustration. Every corpse they had examined so far had only led to more questions, no answers. The sickness was spreading fast, and Gaius was running out of time.

Merilyn, usually sharp in thought, felt her mind clouded with the hopelessness of the situation. Every death felt like a personal failure. She could feel the weight of it in her chest, heavy and cold. Her eyes moved over the woman's body again, searching for some small detail they might have missed, something that could provide a clue.

"What's different about this victim?" Gaius's voice broke the stillness, quiet but filled with a tension Merilyn knew all too well by now.

She blinked, trying to shake the fog from her thoughts. "Er... she's a woman," she replied, though the answer felt so painfully obvious it almost embarrassed her.

Gaius gave her a sidelong glance, his lips twitching in something between exasperation and amusement. "Sometimes I do wonder whether your magical talents were given to the right person," he muttered, his tone laced with dry sarcasm. "Anything else?"

Merilyn's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked over the woman again, her mind racing. "Erm... she's a courtier," she said, her voice a little more certain now.

"Ah," Gaius responded, a faint spark of interest flickering in his tired eyes.

Merilyn furrowed her brow, the curiosity rising. "How does that help us?" she asked, leaning in slightly.

Gaius's tone turned more serious, his gaze fixed on the woman's body. "Courtiers seldom go down to the lower town," he explained, the weight of the revelation settling in. "So what does that mean?"

Merilyn bit her lip, the pieces beginning to fall into place in her mind. "That she hasn't spoken to any townspeople?" she ventured, her eyes wide with the realization.

Gaius let out a slow, pained sigh. "Yes, it suggests that the disease is not spread by contact."

The truth of his words hit Merilyn like a splash of cold water. The townspeople had been avoiding each other, quarantined, terrified that the sickness was spreading through touch. But if that wasn't the case...

"Then they probably ate different food," Merilyn added quickly, her mind racing ahead, trying to piece together the puzzle.

"Good," Gaius encouraged, a glimmer of approval in his weary voice. "Anything else?"

Merilyn hesitated for a moment, wracking her brain for other possibilities. "Erm... I doubt they breathe the same air?"

Gaius rolled his eyes slightly, though there was a faint smile on his lips. "So, what's the only thing they do share?"