Merlyn's Only Hope

The Mark of Nimueh P2

Merlyn was pissed off. She had magic that could save so many people, magic which could improve thousands of lives, magic which would kill her if anyone found out about it. If only the physician would let her do something, anything rather than dismissing her natural gift, casting it away as if it really could do nothing but harm. In some ways, it truly hurt her to feel so very useless, especially when the cure was at her very fingertips. She'd never felt so powerless, knowing that the only thing stopping her was an old king on his dusty throne. Perhaps, by letting her powers stand idle, it was she who was the true monster after all.

Gaius was still trying to find the source, desperately relying on science, clutching at the hope that he wouldn't have to resort to what could save the lives of so many.

"I could help." she suggested, bored of watching her mentor swirl unknown liquids, observing what seemed to be little more than fuck all.

"Don't be stupid." was the only reply she got, Gaius still focusing on the corpse in front of him.

"If I have this legacy, then what is it for? You keep telling me it's not for playing tricks." Merlyn argued, anger heating her skin.

"You want to practice magic when the king is hunting for sorcerers? Are you mad?" Gaius just stared at her, as if she'd said something insanely stupid, as if wanting to save people was the wrong solution. "Merlyn, your life is destined for more important things."

"But if I don't practice, then how will I become this great witch? And besides, saving people is important, it's part of my destiny." she spoke incredulously, unable to believe what the physician was telling her.

"There will come a time when your skills will be recognised." he answered, feeding Merlyn's building desperation.

"I don't need recognition, I just want to help the people dying in the square without fearing my own doom." she replied quietly. Gaius fell silent for a long time, contemplating his next words.

"Patience is a virtue Merlyn."

"What? Sitting back and doing nothing is a virtue?" she raised an eyebrow, sneering at the foolish thought.

"Your time will come." he continued as if she hadn't spoken. It infuriated her that he couldn't see, couldn't even pity her position. He was telling her to do the impossible.

She slammed her hands on the table separating herself from Gaius, "I could cure that man we saw." she glared at him dangerously, daring the physician to get in her way.

"I know it's tempting to use the way you find easiest." he frowned, flicking through the pages of some old tome.

"It is when it will save a life." she argued, but she could see the stubborness in Gaius' eyes. She wouldn't convince him.

"It's no good just saving one person. We have to discover how the illness is spreading." He spoke as if he'd forgotten of the power of the witch's magic, her certainty that she could save everyone.

Merlyn knew that Gaius was, at least partially, right. She had no guarantee that she could cure every single person put in front of her and the act would be pointless if they were reinfected. She needed to stop the plague before it spread any further. A sorcerer powerful enough to conjure a plague wouldn't be found by Arthur; Gaius was the only hope. Still, Merlyn knew that magic would allow the investigation to go much smoother.

"So we must wait for science to find the answer before it kills us all?" Merlyn sighed. She didn't appreciate being patronised, but there would be no use arguing if they would be dead in a couple of days.

∆

Unsurprisingly, Arthur's search was unsuccessful. His father had announced a curfew, how that was going to prevent the spread of a plague, no-one seemed to know, and cornered off the lower town in an attempt to save the rest of the city. Gaius had called Merlyn into his quarters early in the morning, a different body lying on his table.