Merlyn had been pouring over Gaius' books for hours, trying to place the peculiar petals. She knew that she'd seen them before, that the physician had warned her of them in one of his many ramblings. Now, she wished that she'd paid more attention.

"This is hopeless." Gwen exclaimed next to her, slumping in defeat as she threw another book into her ever increasing pile of uselessness.

"Keep looking." Merlyn didn't even glance at her defeated friend. She needed to save Gaius, Morgana, perhaps even herself, however selfish the thought may be. Finally, with the last of her strength, she reached for a tome on poisons, flicking through its contents, determined to find the answer within its pages.

"We don't even know that this flower is relevant." Gwen continued, holding a petal up to the light.

Merlyn swept her hair out of her face, staring at her concerned friend beseechingly. "Just trust me, it's all we've got." She turned over a couple more pieces of old parchment, careful not to tear the aged fabric, before noticing an illustration in the top right hand corner of the tome.

"Here." she pointed to it, reading the title of the page. "Belladonna."

"For the alleviation of ulcers, allergies, muscular inflammation... This doesn't help us Merlyn." Gwen cried, one of her hands fiddling nervously with her necklace.

"Wait, listen." The witch continued to read, scanning the parchment with a new glimmer of hope. "Under some conditions the tincture of the flower can produce hallucinations."

Gwen frowned, not quite grasping her friend's sudden realisation. "So?" she asked, startled by Merlyn's sudden humourless laughter.

"Aredian's witnesses didn't see magic, it was visions." The witch discerned, glad when Gwen's eyes lit up in comprehension.

"It makes sense if he's faking the evidence. But how can we prove it? The witchfinder is too clever to have given the tincture to the witnesses directly. They must've got it from somewhere else." Gwen muttered, partially to herself, looking around the room as if the answer would suddenly appear from its shadowy corners.

Merlyn sighed. "They could've been getting it from anyone. Is there anything, anything at all that these people had in common?"

Gwen shrugged. "They were all women?" she suggested, shaking her head in exasperation.

"But that doesn't tell us anything." The witch tapped her fingers on the table, hating her own inadequacy. She had to save Gaius, but the time before sunrise was dwindling.

Then, the blacksmith's daughter grinned. "Yes it does! What's the one thing only women would buy?"

Merlyn gasped in realisation, amazed at her friend's ingenious.

"Things to make them look beautiful." Gwen finished, dragging the witch out of the room by the arm.

∆

If she were honest, Merlyn didn't really buy makeup. She didn't have time in the mornings to put it on, and when she did, she didn't cover her face in the assortments of powders that she'd seen on the Lady Morgana's dressing table, unless, of course, it was a special occasion. Even then, she generally just borrowed her friend's endless supply of eyeshadow and blushers, rarely venturing into the lower town to stock up on the stuff. Hence, when she and Gwen ran through the streets, the vacant stalls quite ominous in the dim candlelight, she let her friend lead the way, following her to a small shop along one of the more prominent roads. Gwen knocked loudly, standing back as an elderly man opened the door, squinting at his visitors, probably disgruntled to have been awoken so late at night. His patchy hair glowed silver in his candlelight, tired eyes staring at them in shock.

"Gwen?" he motioned for them to step inside the doorway, moving a curtain so that there was enough room for them in the small store.

"Do you sell a tincture of belladonna?" Gwen asked, not in the mood for small talk. Time was of the essence.

The man hobbled into the corner of the shop, rifling through the boxes littering the shelves. "What's this all about?" he questioned, blatantly eying Merlyn with a sort of distrust. He didn't know her, so he would be foolish not to be weary of her, especial with the sword attached to her belt.

"Please, it's important." the blacksmith's daughter pleaded, her desperation refocusing the shopkeeper.

He continued to search, shuffling around uneasily. "I think I've got some somewhere, but what you'd be wanting with eye drops in the middle of the night I really don't want to know."

"Eye drops." Gwen whispered, exchanging an astonished look with Merlyn. Everything was falling into place.

"Yes. Women use them to make their eyes more beautiful." The man handed one to Merlyn, his hand trembling slightly as he did so. She took it, her suspicion rising. The man's tremor seemed to give a darker edge to his nonchalant act.

"Where did you get this?" the witch demanded, holding up the small bottle between two fingers.

The shopkeeper's voice shook. "My usual suppliers." he answered vaguely, refusing to meet Merlyn's eyes.

"Are you sure that you didn't get it from someone else?" she knew that she was being a little unfair to the man, but, in that moment, she didn't care.

"Of course I'm sure." he lied badly. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep." he raised his voice in righteousness, standing up a little taller as if his height made him look more dominant, almost trying to intimidate the two women. Unfortunately for him, Merlyn wasn't one to be frightened of old men, and Gwen seemed about as scared of the man as she would be a butterfly.

"It was Aredian who gave you the belladonna, wasn't it." Gwen stated, arching her eyebrow as the shopkeeper glanced between the two women.

He tried to walk around them. "I don't know what you're talking about." he mumbled, heading straight for the curtain separating his shop from his home.

"You do know that Gaius is going to be executed tomorrow don't you?" Merlyn didn't make a move to stop him, but her words brought him to a halt.

"That has nothing to do with me." he argued, swinging around to face the witch.

Merlyn rolled her eyes. "It has everything to do with you. Aredian's witnesses saw visions, visions produced by the belladonna in these eye drops. If we can prove this, we have a chance of saving Gaius."

There was a moment of silence where the witch thought that the shopkeeper would still refuse them.

"He forced me to sell it. He said that he'd kill me if he said anything to anyone." the man confessed, his posture sinking, sluggish from shame.

Merlyn let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "It was him? Aredian?"

"Yes, it was him."

∆

Merlyn rushed around the physician's chambers, sorting out her evidence both physically and cataloguing it into her mind.

"That's it. We've got everything we need." she breathed, running a hand through her hair.

"But is it enough?" Gwen questioned, still worried about their chances. Aredian was very powerful, respected even by Uther. If she had never met Merlyn, she would've said it was impossible for him to be taken down. Even with her, it would take everything they had to even have a shot at saving Gaius.

"We've got a witness. Surely that's enough." Merlyn argued, but she knew Gwen was right. They needed more.

The blacksmith's daughter shook her head. "It's still just our word against Aredian's. We've only got one chance; we need to give Uther something he cannot deny, something not even the witchfinder can talk his way out of."

The witch thought for a moment, a wide smirk spreading across her face. "I'll be as quick as I can." She ran from the room, leaving a despairing Gwen with little more to do than wait.

∆

Aredian was sleeping when Merlyn quietly snuck into his room. It was strange to see him so vulnerable: she hadn't really thought that such a man could sleep. If she had committed the crimes that he had perpetrated, she wasn't sure if she could dream so soundly, being the cause for the ending of so many innocent lives.

She crept quietly over to the cupboard, wincing at Aredian's loud snores, gasping as the witchfinder turned in his sleep. The witch couldn't believe that she was using magic for the second time in the witchfinder's chambers, but she ignored the worries of impending doom, choosing instead to focus on the task in hand.

"Hlyste min níehst bebod."

If Aredian was going to plant evidence in Merlyn's chambers, the least she could do was return the favour. Grinning at the quiet jangling sound which emitted from the cupboard, she turned to leave, but paused, stopping just short of the door.

"We need to give Uther something he cannot deny, something not even the witchfinder can talk his way out of."

Gwen's words echoed through her brain. Approaching Aredian's bed, she tried to quieten her chanting, not wanting to be caught when she was so close to her success.

"Ceolwærc."

Aredian didn't even stir. Merlyn left, rushing out of the guest chambers, cursing at the sight of dawn steadily overcoming the castle.

∆

Arthur had honestly expected Merlyn to have found a way to save Gaius from his death. He was sure that the physician would have warned her not to, that it was too dangerous to fight Aredian, and truthfully, the prince had to agree. He didn't want his servant putting herself in any danger, especially when it could result in a fate not even he could save her from. Still, it wasn't like her to follow anyone's instructions, and quite frankly, it wasn't like her to just give up. As Arthur watched Aredian come into sight, his steed pulling a cage containing a rather disheveled Gaius, the prince could do little more than glare, helpless to save the physician. He had no doubt that Gaius was innocent, but these feelings meant nothing when met with the theatrical display Aredian created. Uther had been sucked in by the monologues, the damning symbolism encompassing the witchfinder's routine. There was no hope to beat Aredian at his own game, but part of Arthur had wished that Merlyn would try.

Out of the corner of his eye, the prince watched his father walk away from his balcony, heading back into the castle, unable to watch the death of one of his oldest friends. It was understandable: the sight of Gaius being thrown from his cage, as if he were nothing more than an animal, made Arthur's stomach turn. He folded his arms over his chest, digging his fingernails into the palm of his hand, trying to stop himself from running up to Aredian, pushing him away from the elderly physician and dragging Gaius back into the castle, into the safety of its stone walls.

"Easy there! Show him some respect." he called out, glaring as the witchfinder ignored him, shoving his victim to the pyre. As Aredian pulled Gaius onto the wood, he became aware of an active presence in the oddly still crowd, a mop of raven hair racing towards him.

"Arthur. Arthur, you have to stop this." Merlyn made it to his side, scowling at his pitiful expression.

He turned away, only to find himself staring at the pyre. Apparently there was no escaping his own lack of effort in helping the man he'd known his entire life. "I can't, Merlyn, you know that." he murmured, barely loud enough for his servant to hear. She didn't look defeated, but then, whilst Gaius still breathed, he doubted she'd throw in the towel. A glint in her eyes told him that this was no last ditch effort to save her father figure, no, there was something else at play.

"I have proof that Gaius is innocent!" she argued, her usual ocean blue irises in turmoil. If he wasn't mistaken, he saw gold flecks around her pupil, stunning, if it wasn't for the despair in her gaze.

"My father has passed sentence. Nothing can be done." Arthur tried, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew his point was ridiculous. He couldn't condemn an innocent man, especially knowing of his potential lack of guilt. He could stop the execution, and he would, for Merlyn. Even if his father didn't approve of their relationship, nobody else could convince him to make such a bold move.

His servant didn't even bother to wipe away the tears falling onto her reddened cheeks. "You could do the right thing Arthur Pendragon. You can show some faith in a loyal friend or stand by and watch him die."

"Merlyn-"

"You did it once to Gwen's father. Are you really going to let it happen again?"

He didn't blame her for the low tactic, targeting his guilt, but he couldn't do anything but stare.

"Stop looking at me like that." she shifted uncomfortably. "I know I'm only a servant, but I thought you were a prince, so start behaving like one."

The witchfinder lit his torch, holding it up high so that the people could see the amber flames licking at the air. As he moved to throw it on the pyre, Arthur managed to tear his gaze away from his servant, awestruck by her fierce courage, putting out a hand to stop Aredian.

"Wait." he commanded, much to the confusion of the crowd, but at the relief on Merlyn's face, he knew that he'd made the right decision.

∆

Merlyn stood in front of the court, her head held high, determined not to appear completely stupid in front of the king and his courtiers. Aredian wouldn't make her look foolish, she was sure of that.

"Sire, the witnesses saw nothing but hallucinations induced by the belladonna in these eye drops." she stated, holding up the bottle for Uther to examine. The witchfinder glared at her, but she did her best to ignore him, instead, concentrating on Morgana's rather relieved expression. Part of her had forgotten the ordeal the ward had been put through at the hands of the witchfinder; this hearing could mean the end of her torment.

The king took the bottle, looking up between the three witnesses and the shopkeeper, who had luckily chosen to testify. Without him, Merlyn wasn't sure what she'd have done.

"And you bought belladonna from this man?" he asked the women, who all nodded glumly, embarrassed at their previous outbursts.

"Where did you get it from?" Uther questioned the shopkeeper, who appeared understandably reluctant to say anything. "Don't be afraid, no harm will come to you here." The king reassured him, his eyes fixed on the new witness.

"The witchfinder." the apothecary uttered, causing mutterings to break out around the room. "He gave them to me." Aredian did not look amused.

"Did he tell you what it was for?" Uther, to give him his due, was treating the matter fairly. Merlyn had half expected him to dismiss her due to status, but clearly he didn't want to see Gaius burn any more than she did.

"No. Only that if I didn't sell it, he'd have me burnt at the stake." the shopkeeper copied her own posture, standing straight as he addressed his king.

Uther nodded once. "How do you answer to these accusations?" he asked the witchfinder, his gaze flickering between Merlyn and the man.

Aredian turned, as if he hadn't been paying attention to the proceedings, glad to have the spotlight returned to his indifference. "They're absurd." he scoffed, his gaze finding Merlyn's fury. "The girl has clearly concocted these lies in an attempt to save her master."

"Then you won't mind if we search your chambers?" Merlyn was fully aware that she was being far to forward to address the witchfinder in such a disrespectful manner, but she couldn't really see any other way of bringing Uther's attention to the proof of her claims.

"Silence! You have no authority here." Uther spat, regarding Merlyn with contempt. She rolled her eyes inwardly, but held the king's gaze, forcing him to turn away first, uncomfortable with her disregard for formality.

"Father," Arthur interjected, walking from the king's side until he was standing next to his servant, making lingering eye contact with her. "Let's settle this once and for all. If what Merlyn says is wrong, she must face the consequences. But if there is some truth in what she says..." he trailed off, waiting for Aredian's answer.

The witchfinder snarled. "I have nothing to hide." he sneered, mirroring Merlyn's earlier words. She couldn't help the small grin playing on her lips, knowing full well that the witchfinder would come to regret them rather quickly.

∆

Morgana, Arthur and Uther had all come to watch the search, along with Merlyn, who stood silently by the door, lazily twirling her hair around her fingers. The prince thought she looked rather relaxed for someone facing, at the very least, a potential flogging, but he didn't think that it was really the time to question her attitudes to impending pain.

"You're wasting your time." Aredian tapped his foot impatiently on the tiles, crossing his arms over his chest. If Merlyn said that he was guilty, then he definitely was, so the prince ignored him, studying the room for spots his knights had missed.

"The cupboard over there." he pointed one of his men, all of whom had volunteered in the hope of ruining the prick, to a large cabinet. As soon as the man opened the doors, hundreds of shining, silver bracelets, all identical to the one found in Merlyn's chambers, fell to the floor.

Aredian strode forward, gesturing to the silver. "These things don't belong to me!" he exclaimed. "This is a trick. That girl plots against me!" Aredian coughed, choking as he leant against his desk for balance. Arthur drew his sword, watching in horror as a toad, as big as his fist, burst from the witchfinder's mouth.

"Sorcerer!" Uther unsheathed his own sword, the action quickly followed by the knights in the room. There was no escape.

Aredian picked up his knife, as if it would help him fight six armed men and a woman, grabbing Morgana as he did so.

"Think carefully about what you're doing." Uther warned, advancing slowly. "You will never escape from Camelot alive."

The witchfinder held his dagger to Morgana's throat. "I will if you value the life of your ward he threatened, backing away from the knights. Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Merlyn open her mouth to say something, but before she could, Morgana, who clearly wasn't really in the mood for being held hostage, took one of her own concealed daggers from the sleeve of her dress and plunged it backwards, the ornate blade slicing straight through Aredian's belly. With a cry of pain, he dropped his knife, stumbling backwards from the force of the blow, and tripped over a box under the window. With a loud scream, he fell through the glass, landing heavily in the courtyard below, very much dead.

∆

Uther had stood outside Gaius' chambers for a rather long time before marching in, reluctant to face the friend he'd almost condemned. He was surprised at the order of the physician's quarters, half expecting his papers to have remained strewn across the floor, but then, it would hardly be a practical work environment for a healer.

"Gaius, I'm glad I found you here." The king started, not quite able to muster the courage to look his friend in the eye.

The physician blinked slowly. "As am I, my lord. I thought that I'd never see these chambers again."

"If anything was damaged in the search, I'll be only too glad to replace it." Uther offered, his eyes flitting around the clean chambers. He felt incredibly uncomfortable, but at least that girl, Merlyn, was nowhere in sight. He probably also owed her an apology, but then, she hadn't been in his service for the same number of decades as Gaius. He should've known better, trusted the physician, seen what Aredian truly was.

"You're very kind, my lord." Gaius replied frostily, understandably not in the mood to forgive and forget.

The king thought it best to change the topic of conversation. "Aredian... I can still scarcely believe that he was a sorcerer."

"Indeed." The physician began to shuffle through his papers, eying Uther with uncertainty. "Is there some reason that you wish to see me?"

"Yes. I..." The king swallowed uneasily, hesitating for a brief moment. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry if you suffered at his hands."

"But I didn't suffer at his hands, Uther. I suffered at yours. He worked for you, my lord, he was merely following your orders." Gaius didn't sneer, but his disgust was obvious. The king had to admit that he had been blind, but he wasn't ready to accept the fact that the witchfinder's actions were anything other than Aredian's fault.

"But I was deceived..." he tried, but the physician shook his head, unable to tolerate the ignorance.

"No. You were deceived long before Aredian, for you deceived yourself. You see foes where there are friends, you see sorcerers where there are but servants. I am not the first to be wrongly accused in your war against magic, and not all have been as lucky as I."

Uther couldn't protest, for he knew what the physician said to be true. "I assure you, Gaius, every measure will be taken to ensure that nothing like this will happen again."

Gaius nodded sullenly. "I hope that is true for all our sakes." The king opened his mouth to say something else, but the physician spoke before he had the chance. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

He turned away from his king, allowing Uther to retreat from the room. He'd hoped to say more, to ask more about Merlyn's heritage. There had been a spark in her, a defiance he had recognised on the face of a man he had long ago condemned to death. Those eyes, though blue, had seemed so familiar, so incredible. Uther had let the matter rest after his son had returned from Ealdor, telling himself that it couldn't be true, that the girl had died, that Merlyn was no more Balinor's daughter than he was. But when Arthur had raised the question of restoring her supposed nobility, even without a family name, the king's worries had returned. Now, he couldn't deny the fact that Merlyn was the daughter of his long dead friend. Balinor had never liked Aredian, even before he became the witchfinder; the king mused that he would be delighted that his daughter was the cause for such a man's downfall. Uther let himself dwell in the past, in his adventures with the Dragonlord, before returning to the present and his current issues. He couldn't kill Merlyn, that much was certain. Arthur would never allow it, Morgana would never allow it, and, judging by her character, she would escape the dungeons before a pyre could be built. Furthermore, he had never actually seen her use magic and, despite the accusations Aredian had pointed her way, a search of her chambers had revealed nothing other than the faked evidence. Besides, he couldn't murder a girl for being the daughter of a sorcerer, not when, as far as he was concerned, her only powers consisted of wielding a sword well enough to strike his own son down and saving his own people. No, he wouldn't confront her. He wouldn't kill her, not unless he was presented with evidence of her magic. He owed Balinor that.

∆

Merlyn had been presented with a rather large portion of stew, a chunk of bread and some cheese when she returned from training with Arthur. Dusk had settled, and she was glad to see Gaius back in his chambers, where, she thought, he would always truly belong.

"What I don't understand is how you knew that he'd concealed the evidence in his chambers?" The physician sat down opposite her, raising his eyebrow. Merlyn did her best to look innocent, focusing intently on her stew.

"Just a hunch really." she shrugged, tearing at a piece of bread.

Gaius narrowed his eyes disbelievingly. "I see. And the toad?"

Merlyn looked up, clearing her throat, trying to keep a straight face. "That I can't explain."

"Hmm, I can hardly explain it myself. Unless, of course, you put it there." Gaius accused the servant, who stopped eating, setting her spoon against the side of the bowl.

"Okay Gaius, fair enough. I promise that I'll never save your life again."

"Promise?"

"Absolutely."

There was a second of silence, before both of them began to laugh, sniggering uncontrollably.

"Honestly, Merlyn, the toad was a step too far." Gaius grinned, pouring himself a glass of water.

The witch wiped some of her hair out of her eyes. "I know, I know, but you should've seen the look on his face." she beamed.

Gaius imitated Aredian spitting out the toad, opening his mouth wide, before bursting into another fit of giggles. Merlyn was glad that he was back, that, for once, no one worth saving had to die.