❝ The future was yet to be written, uncertain in every way except one: there will be fire.
When the dawn closed her eyes, she awoke in flames-a hellfire inferno burning as leaves on briar-thicket trees. A forest of thorns alight. A vision of the fut...
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a plague in the water
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IN A CRUEL TWIST of irony, the kingdom had fallen graveyard silent. The angel of death had come, spreading its wings to cover all in lethal shadow. Victims of eternal rest shrouded in white cloth were lined up in the citadel's otherwise vacant courtyard—a sorrowful reminder of all the kingdom had lost and a chilling omen of all that was yet to be taken. With every passing hour, more provincials had fallen to the malignant illness and more deaths inevitably followed, and the court physician was but one step closer to finding salvation for the suffering.
Most recently, a woman who couldn't have been a day over thirty became another among the ever-growing collection of bones. To the untrained eye, she appeared no different than any other victim that had come and gone through the physician's chambers, but there was a difference of the utmost importance that Gaius had been able to fathom out immediately. With that discovery came a hypothesis on how the disease was spreading with such frightening rapidity.
"What's different about this victim?" He asked of the two youth before him, one of which would likely catch on quicker due to her years under his tutelage, but he hoped his nephew would learn a thing or two during his time there.
While Aurora took her time in examining the body, the brunet spoke the first observation that came to mind, which happened to be the most obvious. "Uh, she's a woman."
"Sometimes I wonder whether your magical talents were given to the right person." The answer given was most disappointing, but Gaius was certain that Merlin's knowledge in this particular craft would evolve over time. "Anything else?"
Instead of following the same trail of thought as before, Merlin took a moment to observe the woman further. The fine satin of her attire and the ornamental jewelry, far too luxurious to possibly belong to a commoner, were quick to catch his wandering eye. "She's a courtier," he noted and Gaius urged him to keep going. "But how does that help us?"
"Courtiers seldom go down to the lower town, so what does that mean?"
"Er..." Merlin trailed off as he pondered the question. "That—that she hasn't spoken to any townspeople."
