Over The Years | Merlin

iii |The Mark of Nimueh

"Aren't you scared?" Merlin asked Gaius who knelt down on the ground next to a teenage boy from Camelot's lower town. The boy lay face down on the dirt as local townsfolk passed him by.

"Of what?" Gaius responded, looking up at Merlin, his forehead creased in confusion.

"That you might catch whatever it is."

"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 admitted, as he turned the boy over.

Elara flinched in alarm as the three of them glanced at the poor boy's face. His skin as pale as a sheet and his eyes as white as snow, many of the boy's cold blue veins on his face had now become visible, stemming like roots of a hundred year old tree.

The three of them shared a concerned glance, none of them had ever seen anything like this.

"People mustn't see this, they'll panic," Gaius instructed, as Merlin grabbed one of the blankets hanging on a nearby clothes line and covered the boy from head to toe.

As Merlin and Elara wheeled several bodies into the castle for Gaius to inspect, Gwen caught up with them.

"What are you doing?" she questioned curiously. In her hand she held a bundle of purple flowers.

Merlin hurried over to stand in front of her and the wagon, so she would not see the array of bodies on the cart.

"Oh, uh, just moving some things," Elara stuttered, glancing at Merlin.

"Looks heavy," Gwen speculated, standing on her toes to try and get a better look.

"It's nothing really," Merlin chuckled anxiously. Seeing an opportunity to change the topic, his eyes fell to the flowers in her hand, "someone got you flowers?"

"Oh, no," Gwen smiled, Elara detected a hint of sadness in her voice, "would you both like one?" Gwen's eyes moved between Merlin and Elara. She handed both of them a single purple flower.

"Purple suits you," Gwen blushed, looking at Merlin, who shuffled his feet nervously, "not that I'm saying red doesn't suit you."

Merlin smiled awkwardly as he twisted the flower back and forth between his fingers, "thanks, well uh ..." he stuttered, searching for a place to put Gwen's token of affection. Finally, he settled for the safety of his ocean blue neckerchief.

Gwen beamed as she admired his choice.

"See you," he flashed her a smile before returning to the front of the cart.

"See you soon, Gwen!" Elara waved before turning back around to face the castle.

"You know Merlin, I think Gwen likes you," Elara chuckled, as the pair continued to pull the cart.

"Don't be ridiculous El," Merlin denied quickly. But Elara wasn't fully convinced, as his cheeks shone a furious red.

Back in Gaius' chambers, the three of them huddled over the table which held the body of the boy from the street, as Gaius examined his skin with a magnifying lens.

"I've never seen anything like this before," he concluded.

"Do you think it could be some type of plague?" Merlin questioned, but Gaius only shook his head.

"No, I fear something like this could never come from nature, but who has this type of power?"

"Do you think that magic might be behind this?" Elara inquired, but before Gaius could give his opinion, a knock was heard at the door.