A/N: Thanks to the three people that reviewed: Cat, Naynay1130, and xxBeautiful Redemptionxx. This chapter is for you guys! Also, I owed both Naynay1130 and xxxthe-girl-who-was-on-firexxx a fic: Unexiled (girl-on-fire) and Horses Hate Me (Naynay1130) check those out for PuckXMeghan fluff/funniness (depending on the fic). I'll talk more at the end, so read on!
Over the week proceeding Oberon's departure, the three of us plotted, planned and schemed every waking moment - and even a few sleeping ones. There were times when Puck fell asleep in my chambers due to late-night planning sessions, and I heard him mutter "the plan" or "lots of glamour". Then, one day after Oberon had left, we put the plan into action. The guards changed shifts every twelve hours, so he hoped to be out of Arcadia in ten, giving us a good two hours to escape Arcadia.
Puck arrived at my chambers an hour before the guards changed, then waited a few more minutes before I opened the door to my chambers. I looked at the fifteen guards assembled there. Pointing to a random one, I said "You, there. I require your assistance." With only a look at his captain, he followed me into my chambers, and I shut and locked the door immediately behind him.
The guard spotted Ash, and was too distracted to notice when Puck snuck up behind him and hit him over the head with the flat of his dagger, and the guard was knocked unconscious.
Ash and Puck tied up the guard and dragged him out of the way, into another part of my chambers in which he would not be seen. We waited several more minutes, then I opened my door, chose a random guard and said "You there. I require your assistance." The guard followed me inside, and was promptly unconscious.
And so it continued. We tried to space out the taking-ins so as to not alert the other guards left of foul play, but by the time the last guard entered my chambers, he was clearly suspicious. When the last guard - who was also the captain of the squad - saw Ash, he went for his weapon and stepped away from Puck, who had stepped behind him, ready to do his job. Before any of us could do anything, the guard had engaged in battle with Ash.
It wasn't a particularly fair fight, not with Robin Goodfellow and Mab's son against one guard. Soon enough, the guard was unconscious and tied up, just like the rest of his squad.
"All right, ice-boy." Puck said, putting his daggers away. "Let's get this show on the road."
For the next hour, Puck and I worked our magic. Puck did most of the work, having millennia more experience than me. But I helped and lent my glamour when he needed it, and when we were finished a whole later, Ash looked like the captain of the faery guard instead of a Winter Prince. As long as he didn't use glamour - which included drawing his sword - the illusion would hold.
I sat on my bed after we'd finished, feeling drained. "That used more energy than I thought it would." I murmured, not sure to whom.
Puck yawned and scrubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, let's get you people out of here. After that, I'm taking a nap."
A nap sounded perfect to me. I gave a yawn myself and said, half-asleep "Can we wait on the escape until tomorrow? I feel quite tired…"
Puck snorted. "Nice try, Princess. Get up, we got two hours."
I sighed and struggled to get up. E one doing a
"I'll carry her." Ash said. "It'll make the lie more plausible." Of course, I'd be the one doing the actual lying, since my half-human blood gave me the ability, while their full-fey blood did not. But the lie would only be necessary if we were stopped and questioned. With any luck, we wouldn't be.
Nevertheless, I was all too happy to be carried in Ash's arms through the halls of the Summer palace - even though they didn't look or smell or feel like Ash. We had done well disguising him.
"Princess?" I opened my eyes to see a scare Tansy watching me. "What's wrong?"
"I am just feeling ill." I lied. "But do not worry, Puck and the most kind captain here are taking me to the healer."
She didn't look twice at Ash. "I hope you feel better, Princess," she said, then clopped away. We all breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking.
The next time we were stopped, it was by a higher noble, an advisor to the king. I repeated our lie, but he seemed rather skeptical, and stared at Ash for several long seconds.
"Do I know you?" The noble asked the disguised Ash. "There seems to be something most familiar about you."
I panicked and launched into a coughing fit. Seeing me choke and cough, the noble agreed that we really should be getting to the healer, and let us pass.
We were becoming close to our destination: an unfrequented part of the Hedge. It was through those tunnels we would travel for Ash and I to begin our new life.
"Princess!" A male voice called, when we were merely yards from the Hedge. Ash grudgingly turned around with my body still in his arms, and I did my best to look tired and ill instead of vibrating with excited energy. Every cell in my body shook with it, the promise of being able to escape and live with Ash, to begin anew with an old love. The only thing that was preventing it was this man.
The captain of the guard, the one we had disguised Ash as.
And that wasn't it. The entire guard - the men we had bound, and the others who worked the night shift - thirty faeries all trained in combat in front of us, preventing our escape.
Without a word, Ash put me down, and I drew out the sword Puck had taught me to fight with, seemingly so long ago, from the folds of my skirt. Puck drew his daggers, and Ash unsheathed his sword, that simple action destroying the complicated glamour Puck and I had worked so hard to make.
The fifteen guards that had been bound showed no surprise, having seen the Winter Prince before being knocked unconscious, but to the other fifteen, it was blasphemy for him to be in our court so casually. The captain of the guard said "Kill them." and it dissolved into utter chaos.
Around me, there was the clash of weapons and screech of metal, and the smell of blood. There were voices as well, voices screaming and yelling, and my name. My name being said, by Puck and Ash and the guards. But the only thing I focused on was the opponent in front of me, feinting and dodging and parrying, until I hit their weak spots and kill them.
But as the fight went on, it was clear we were losing. So I did the only thing I could think of: I killed my current opponent, then set my sword down and dug my fingers into the ground. Summoning every bit of glamour I had, I took a deep breath and pulled.
A giant oak tree, the trunk at least twice the size of my waist, shot out of the ground, its branches like arms that grabbed the guards that were still on the side of the tree closest to the Hedge, throwing them to the other side. The branches grew and expanded, and a mass of green leaves appeared on each bough, until a dense wall of foliage surrounded Puck, Ash and I from our adversaries.
After admiring my handiwork for a second, Puck said "Props, Meghan. Major props."
I managed to nod, then fainted.
0Oo0oO0
Cool arms were wrapped around me, strong and comfortable and right. I snuggled into them and felt myself yawn. I was so tired. Sleep would be extremely pleasant right now.
Except there was a little voice in my ear, saying "Meghan? Meghan, you need to wake up."
"I'll carry her." Another voice said, this one deeper and calmer than the first. "They'll be breaking through soon, and we need to be gone by then."
"I know it's just… that was a lot of glamour, and…"
There was a second of silence, and then the deeper voice said "She'll still alive. Her heart is beating and she's breathing."
"Even so…" The first voice said.
One of them - though I couldn't tell which one - sighed, and then there was a gentle pressure being applied to my lips. Like the arms around my body, this felt safe and comfortable and right. I opened my eyes, wanting to see who was kissing me.
Ash. The name came to me as I looked up into his beautiful face. Ash.
Then my memories came back to me and I looked away from the man I loved to see Puck staring at me, concerned, and the giant oak tree I had grown, using so much glamour passed out.
"We should leave now.' I said, yawning. "I am not sure how long the tree will hold them." I tried standing up and walking towards the Hedge, but black dots appeared in my vision, and I stumbled.
Ash caught me and hooked an arm underneath my knees, the other supporting my back. "You're too drained." He murmured. "I'll carry you." I didn't bother protesting.
I slept fitfully in Ash's arms as we traveled through the Hedge. Though I knew what was happening was a significant event - in both our lives and the history of the courts - but I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open, the physical demands and glamour usage of the past few hours catching up with me. However, being carried was not particularly smooth, and I'd wake up when Ash would jump over or duck under things in his path.
I was half-asleep when Ash said "Meghan, open your eyes."
Though I was tired, I managed to, and saw the eternal twilight and looming trees of the wyldwood.
"Put me down, Ash." I murmured, and he set me on my feet. I took it all in. No courts, no rules, no laws. Just Ash and I, finally together, without anything in our way. We were free.
We were free.
A/N: So, the epilogue is already written, and should be coming out in a week or two, depending on the response I get for this chapter.
On my profile, I have three polls. Two are to help make my writing better, and the third is to choose what story I should do next. So, check those out to help me, please!
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Queen of Air and Darkness
