"All the evidence suggest that the king has been poisoned and the princess stabbed through the stomach with the dagger found by her side" Gaius informed everyone else in the room as he finished examining Arthur and Aria who both lay motionless on Arthur's bed.
Arthur looked sickly, sweaty and pale while Aria, who was still in her nightgown, had bandaged wrapped around her stomach to cover up the stitches on her stomach. There was still a patch of dried blood on Aria's nightgown from where she was stabbed.
"Certain, Gaius?" Gwen asked with fake worry.
Merlin stood off to the side glaring at Gwen as he knew this was her doing. The knights stood behind Gwen all looking worried for the royal siblings. Violet was crying softly into Leon's chest as he gently held her. She blamed herself for what had happened to Aria.
Mordred could not look away from Aria's motionless form, from where he stood behind Gwen and Gwaine. He was scared for Aria's life. When he had entered her room and saw her lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, his heart stopped. Ruby lay by Mordred's feet whimpering as she too stared at her injured owner.
"Quite certain. The sweating, the corruption of the skin, the traces of tincture around the ear--" Gaius explained gesturing to Arthur's unconscious sweaty form" They all point to the use of henbane."
" Is there no hope?"
" The poison is a deadly one, milady. There may be a way to arrest its course, but I cannot guarantee it" Gaius replied to the Queen.
" And Arianna? Will she live?" Gwen questioned with false hope.
" Thankfully whoever attacked her missed all of her vital organs. We were lucky we got to her when we did or she would have bled out. But yes milady, I'm glad to say that with that right care, the princess will live." Gaius answered
Gwen looked disappointed with Gaius' answer but quickly hid it. Everyone else looked relieved that at least one of the royal siblings would survive.
"That's.. good news" Gwen forces herself to say. " but one thing I know for certain-- whoever did this lives among us."
Gwen turned to face the others with fake worry and concern. The others looked at her confused.
" Whoever did this had betrayed us all. Someone free to roam the Citadel as they please. Someone who had access to the king's stables, the king's prison, even the king's food. There is only one I know of..." Gwen turned her gaze to Merlin with fake tears in her eyes. "...Merlin..."
Merlin froze from where he was standing and stared at Gwen wide-eyed. Everyone else turned to look at Merlin with mixed looks of confusion, betrayal and sadness.
"No! That's not true. I would never do anything to hurt them. Either of them!" Merlin quickly denied. " She's lying!" Merlin exclaimed pointing accusingly at Gwen.
" I walked into Arianna's chambers to tell her about what had happened to Arthur and I saw him standing over her with a dagger in his hand. That's when I ran to get help" Gwen lied with fake tears threatening to fall.
Mordred looked confused. Why would Emrys attack Nerys? Emrys would never do that. Something wasn't right.
" No! She's lying! I never touched that dagger! I ran off to check on Aria after Arthur was poisoned and I saw Gwen standing there, Aria on the floor bleeding with a dagger by her side and Ruby growling at Gwen!" Merlin exclaimed.
" My lady maybe you were simply mistaken?" Mordred tells Gwen
" Maybe you were in such a panic that the person you saw just looked like Merlin"
Mordred did not want to believe that Merlin was the one responsible for attempting to kill the King and Princess.
Merlin looked at Mordred surprised that he was defending him.
YOU ARE READING
Defying Destiny - A Merlin Fanfic
Fanfiction. "Sometimes I wonder if you've missed me as much as I've missed you." ~Arianna Pendragon Warning- If you have not yet watched season 5 then there are...
