Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

The Mark of Nimueh [1]

"Aren't you scared?" Merlin asked from where he stood a little ways away from Gaius and Arwen who were kneeling beside a body that had been found in the middle of the street in the lower town. Merlin was standing nowhere near the body, and even he was worried about catching whatever illness had taken this man's life. And seeing Arwen so close to it didn't sit well with him either.

"Of what?" Gaius questioned as he looked away from the body and to the boy who remained on his feet, not understanding what Merlin could be insinuating.

"That you might catch whatever it is." Merlin stated as he looked down at the body once again. The man lay on his stomach and there was no rise and fall of his chest that would make them believe he could still be saved.

"I'm the court physician, Merlin. This is part of my job. Most of the time there's nothing really to be scared of." Gaius explained before motioning for Arwen to help him turn over the body so they could examine it better. However as they did, they were stunned by the sight of what had happened to the man. His skin and eyes were as white as snow, while the veins spreading through his face had turned a sickly blue colour.

"You were saying?" Merlin questioned. He may not be a court physician, but even he knew that the state this man was in meant nothing good.

"People mustn't see this. They will panic." Gaius mumbled, and Merlin was quick to grab a piece of cloth that had been hanging nearby, helping the physicians cover up the man they decided would be best to take to their chambers for further examination.

On their way through the castle, the group of three was intercepted by Gwen, and Merlin ended up being the one to distract her from the load Gaius and Arwen continued to push in the direction of the physician's chambers. Looking back to the scene, Arwen watched with a smile as Gwen tucked a flower into Merlin's scarf. It was rather obvious how fond Merlin and Guinevere were growing of each other, and Arwen found herself fully supporting the developments.

Their village had always been a small one, and while Arwen managed to find some romance before she had left it, she knew Merlin had never had his eye on such things. He rather focused on his gifts and family.

As they managed to bring the body to the chambers, Arwen and Merlin stepped back, allowing Gaius to have a full view of it and complete focus. While her knowledge had been growing under Gaius' mentorship, Arwen knew she was much underqualified to be able to determine what may have been the cause of this man's illness.

"I've never seen anything like this." Gaius muttered as he examined the eye catching symptoms through a magnifying glass. The statement made Arwen rather anxious about what it may be. She had hoped Gaius would be able to identify the illness and find a way to treat it or stop its spread. But as he spoke now, it seemed like that would take longer than they may have thought.

"Do you think it could be some kind of plague?" Merlin asked in wonder as he looked down to the man's face.

"If a plague was spreading, death wouldn't be so sudden. We would've seen the symptoms long before people started dying; fever, headache, weakness and exhaustion." Arwen stated, knowing that this couldn't be it. The people who had found the man said that he was still alright the day before. This sickness acted much too quickly to be a plague. However, she wasn't sure whether to find relief in that or let it worry her even more.

"No. I fear that something like this could never come from nature. But who has this kind of power?" Gaius shared his suspicion with the two, making Arwen's eyes widen. How has this kingdom stood for so long if it is threatened by magic so often? Since she and Merlin had arrived to the city, there have already been two instances in such a short amount of time during which things could have gone very wrong; all because of magic.