A/N: this might be a long note and i am sorry for that! firstly i would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone reading this, it means so much to me to know that people are enjoying it and enjoy this crossover (so i'm not insane you say? heh heh!) secondly the reason for my failure to update in a while has been a number of things, in october i had a surgery that pretty much left me unable to do much for weeks and was a long recovery process. i've been working on this though (it's got thousands and thousands of words more to it that i haven't updated yet). this particular chapter has been written FIVE TIMES! each one longer than the last, i wanted it to be good and when i realized i could never end it the way i had i decided to keep going, with hopefully more frequent updates. also! i love all my reviews, i truly truly do it's awesome! but one person in particular has made my whole year by her amazing reviews, and that would be caitlin! i meant to thank you so much longer ago but i couldn't do it until now so i hope you are still reading because i dedicate this chapter to you 3 well, that was long! but without further delay, chapter 10!
The cell was a dark and foreign place to her, she hesitated to move too far and paced the cell, worried and stealing glances out her small barred window. The only fresh air curled in and chilled her, but she felt an unease in the air. It was her last night being alive though, that would make anyone feel nervous. Still it nipped at her and she tried to breath into her hands as she sat back down and leaned her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and thought of all she hadn't had a chance to do yet, to say goodbye, to think of her life before Camelot.
As the minutes dragged on she heard a noise of metal clanking and stood, pressing herself against the gate caging her and saw the leg of a guard laying there, had he really fallen asleep? Not a moment later a face turned the corner and she smiled brightly, feeling relief, "Arthur!" she said quietly, reaching her hand out and he grabbed onto hers.
He smiled at her, although it was brief they were a matching pair for a moment, the relief in both their eyes as Merlin came around the corner with a set of keys in his hand and jogged over to the doors, unlocking them and Arthur went inside first, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly and she lay her cheek against the suit of armor he wore to come find her. He brought a hand behind her and held the back of her neck and kissed the top of her head.
Neither of them could speak as they pulled apart from each other, Merlin looked out the halls and seemed skittish as he waved them closer, "We need to leave, I think he's starting to wake up," he whispered.
Quinn took Arthur's hand and began to run in the opposite direction while Merlin followed behind them, they all looked back surreptitiously making sure no one was following them and taking momentary breaks between halls to listen for footsteps. No one spoke, their hearts all racing and beating faster than ever as they finally made it outside of the basement and into the night air.
She'd never been so relieved to be outdoors and only now fully realized how afraid she had been to be in there. "Why did you come?" she asked them both, looking between them.
"I tried but he wouldn't listen to me, he was going to have you executed in the morning, if I didn't come for you now it would be too late," Arthur said.
She nodded and felt her throat tighten. "You two should leave now, while they haven't realized I'm gone yet, go back and-"
Arthur reached out for her hand, holding onto it and clinging to her tightly, looking down at her, "No, I'm not leaving you," he said solemnly.
"And I'm not going either, Quinn, it's our fault you're here and we aren't going to let you die for that," Merlin said, with a small smile and she could only feel grateful for them both then.
"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath, "What do we need to do?"
A half mile away there were 3 horses waiting for them being watched by someone, when they approached she almost felt sick with surprise seeing Gwen handing the reigns to them. Gwen noticed though, an apologetic look flooded her face as she handed Quinn the horse, "I'm so, so sorry for this Quinn, Arthur explained everything too me and... I would never have told Uther if I had known," she said speaking quietly.
Arthur and Merlin were within earshot but dutifully pretending not to notice the conversation taking place. Quinn pursed her lips together for a moment, wanting the anger to come back to her, to remember why she hated Gwen and that she was responsible for them having to leave. But she couldn't, because after all it wasn't Gwen's fault she was here. Before Quinn had arrived this had been her world that she had known better than anything and she was in love with Arthur too, people are willing to do almost anything for love. "It's alright Gwen, I understand why you did it," Quinn said quietly.
Gwen looked up and braved a smile, mouthing the word 'thank you' and Quinn nodded a little, stepping to the side and petting the side of her horse. "We'll need to go deep into the woods, as far west as possible before the guards come search for us." Arthur said, gliding onto his horse and turning him the other direction. Merlin quickly got up as well and Gwen helped to lift Quinn on and adjusted the straps for her.
"I'll hide the trails you leave for as long as I can," Gwen said to Arthur, who nodded at her for a moment.
There was a long bellow from the castle and all of them looked back as flames came to life and the noise grew, "Well now we've really got to go," Merlin said, as they all turned their horses away. Quinn began to move forward and pulled back to make her horse stop, Arthur couldn't turn his head away from the castle and hadn't moved yet.
"You can still stay Arthur, this is your home, you should be here, you should stay," Quinn said to him softly.
Arthur finally did look away though, but he looked straight at Quinn like there was nothing else around him, "No, I'm staying with you, you are where I belong now," he said.
Quinn smiled and nodded in understanding, how could she not? She felt the same way.
Camelot had grown on her these past weeks but it was somewhere else that felt like a new home, and she rode along beside him now.
With the sounds drifting off behind them they rode as fast as they could, having to slow down every now and then to wait for her. She was getting better at riding but still not nearly half as comfortable as Arthur or Merlin, she didn't know these woods and if she fell to far behind she couldn't see where she needed to go. They'd gone on for miles and began to slow down, they had a few hours until sunrise at least and if Gwen had done as she said she would it would give them at least a day before they'd find their trails.
Still though, they were all afraid, this was not just another prisoner escaping that might have been able to be written off after a few days of searching. The prince was with them and that would only bring trouble. The king might suspect her of tricking him into coming with her or be even more vengeful that he'd left, if she was ever found she knew the consequences for them all would be great.
Her hands shook in the cold and she kept her head bent low against the growling winds nipping at her face, they'd slowed enough that she was no longer struggling to keep up with them both as they plotted their path carefully. Arthur knew these woods best and sometimes led them in circles or through streams to help disguise their path carefully. He made them each check that their things were secure to leave no trace of them behind, a fallen piece of cloth or piece of food could be enough to set them on their trails again.
It was a terrifying rush to be on the run, not from the police but guards, real guards with swords that likely wouldn't hesitate too much about killing her off if the king could convince himself she was enough of a threat. She knew full and well how suspicious he was of magic, would he think she'd bewitched them into leave with her? The most magic she knew was how to make a coin vanish, and even that wasn't real. You just slid the coin down your sleeve and it was really only believable to small children.
The sun peaked over the skyline and the western mountains, reaching through the brambles of tree's and lighting the way that she was no longer in need of being extra vigilant about every branch or stone that might hurt her horse. They were no longer blind and in need of each other to survive and she thought what a beautiful horse she must have had as she gently pet his mane.
Nothing seemed so bad in the light of day, night could bring out terrors but now she saw things weren't so awful, they'd managed to escape after all. If they hadn't come for her she could very well have been dead right now when the sun rose.
It was a night and day of riding, breaking to feed the horses and themselves only a few times, by sunset they were all exhausted and in need of rest. "We should make a fire for tonight," Merlin said looking around, "It's dangerous to be without one here."
"Why is it dangerous, are there people around?" Quinn asked.
"No, it's not the people we need to be worried about- it's the animals," Arthur said.
She looked around at the silent woods, a few birds but nothing more, silent and still. She sensed that neither of them really felt like talking too much about whatever it was that could possibly be out there that was more threatening than the guards out looking for them and Uther's wrath. She led her horse next to Arthurs and tied him against a tree, reaching into her bag and grabbing some of the food that was being kept just for the horses. He hungrily ate it from her hands and she brought out two more to feed the other horses, petting them all and trying to remember a time she didn't need a horse to go somewhere.
They started the fire and Arthur took off some of the heavy armour and rested for a while, closing his eyes as Quinn and Merlin sat by warming themselves up. "Do you want to try and make something to eat, I'm not really an expert at cooking in the wild but we could probably try to figure it out," she said with a small smile.
"Ah, luckily for you all I am," Merlin said laughing, he stood and went back to their things with the horses, leaving her and Arthur alone.
Quinn hugged her knee's closer to herself and laid her head to her lap, turning towards Arthur and seeing the troubling look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked, with already some idea of what was wrong with him, with this entire situation that was entirely her fault.
Arthur shook his head slowly, "Nothing, everything is fine," he said a little gruffly.
Quinn relaxed her shoulders a bit and stood, taking a couple steps towards him and sitting beside him, resting her head against his shoulder and placing an arm assuringly across his chest. "I know this has to be hard for you Arthur, leaving your home like that. I just want you to know that I- that I appreciate it. What you and Merlin are doing for me. I promise that we'll figure out a way to fix this and show your father the truth so you can go back," she said.
He raised his arm around hers and pulled her closer to him, kissing her cheek and smiling a little looking down at her. "Yes, we will. But it's not your fault Quinn, it's... it's mine," he said.
"No Arthur, it's not your fault, none of us know why this happened it just-"
"No, Quinn, it's not. It's my fault," he said, looking down and shaking his head a little.
Quinn turned to look at him, searching his eyes for a moment, "What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.
"I brought you here," he said.
Quinn looked at him, he didn't look like he was trying to make her feel better by taking the blame for this, not like she was hoping he'd look. He looked pained and torn as he watched her reaction. "I don't understand, how did you bring me here?"
"Quinn, I'm so sorry," he said with a shake of his head. "I didn't know what it would do, when I found that necklace I should have just put it away but I couldn't."
She broke apart from him and wrapped her arms around herself, furrowing her brow and trying to make sense of what he was saying. "So you used a spell to bring me here? But you didn't even know me..." she said.
"There was a spell already on it, when I found it belonged to my mother I heard her voice, telling me to use it. That the person who was wearing it would be my destiny."
Quinn bit her lip, she reached out and grabbed Arthur's hand, holding it gently against her own and feeling the slight race in his pulse and the warmth of his hand. She closed her eyes and thought of the time she'd spent here, in Camelot. Meeting Merlin and Arthur in the woods and being brought back, Gaius stepping into her life and becoming like a dear friend, falling in love in Camelot. It did feel right, it wasn't what she was used to but she felt at home here more than any other place. "Maybe it was Arthur, maybe I was meant to be here with you."
Arthur reached over and brushed her cheek gently with the tips of his fingers, she leaned forward and closed her eyes as he bent his head to the side and brushed his lips against hers. It felt sweet and dizzying and she gripped onto his wrist and drew him in closer, parting her lips and welcoming him to her. His mouth was sweet and warm and feeling his lips brushing against hers seemed so easy and natural. Arthur felt wonderful and passionate as he slide his tounge along her lips and Quinn smiled as she returned the welcome advance. They turned slightly and their noses brushed against each others and she smiled and felt amazingly warm and calm as she kissed him, his hands brushing through her hair and only the sound of their quicks breaths breaking the air.
The was, of course, until Merlin quietly cleared his throat, causing them to both break apart and Quinn smiled and blushed while Arthur stifled a groan. "What is it, Merlin?" he asked with his usual annoyance.
"I just thought the two of you might like to know dinner's ready, but I can come back if you need a moment," he said, trying not to laugh.
"No it's fine, we're ready!" Quinn said, getting up quickly and shaking her head a bit as she laughed walking past Merlin, "He's going to be mad at you," she said quietly.
"I can handle it," Merlin laughed.
The three of them filled their bowls with some warm stew while more was heating just over the fire. They sat around in the circle and ate it, the first warm meal they'd had in two days and could hear only the stillness of the woods and chirping of the birds, with the horses occasionally snapping a twig and rustling fallen leaves on the ground. "This is very good, Merlin," Quinn said, poking at her stew.
"Camelot's finest preserves," he said laughing.
Arthur ate quickly and set his bowl aside, standing up and attaching his belt and sword back around his waist. "I need to go find some more wood before this fire dies out, we'll take turns tonight sleep and leave first thing in the morning."
He turned and left into the woods, Quinn watched him slip away until she could no longer distinguish his shadow from the rest of the dark woods. It made her uneasy, him being so far away, but she knew he'd be able to look after for himself out there.
Merlin watched the fire and Quinn picked up a nearby stick and began to scratch at the dirt, drawing circles and lines, wondering if Merlin would know how to play tic tac toe or if that hadn't been invented yet. She poked the fire a few times until a log rolled away, still on fire and towards her feet, causing Merlin to jump up and step on it a few times until it went out.
"So sorry!" she said laughing.
"Yes, well, I'm going to remember that," Merlin laughed.
"Oh you know I didn't mean it, I'm not really used to this camping thing you know," she said.
Merlin smiled, "Well most first time campers don't nearly set things on fire, a princess might though."
"Oh no," Quinn groaned, "He's not still calling me that, is he? I thought I've proved by now I'm not a princess."
"You have, but he still calls you it, actually I don't think he means it in such a bad way anymore," Merlin said, catching her eye for a moment.
Quinn thought about that for a moment and smiled down at her lap, blushing slightly. "Well if that's the case then, but I still think the idea of me ever becoming a princess is about as likely as... pigs flying."
"Well I could make that happen, if I wanted to," Merlin laughed as Quinn rolled he eyes.
He sat back down and turned some of the wood around to get it to burn more and Quinn felt comfortable and relaxed just watching the fire there. "Merlin, what's it like to have magic and live in Camelot? To have to keep it a secret all the time..." she said looking over at him.
"It's not easy," Merlin said, a little more seriously. "It's quite difficult, actually. But it won't always be this way, when Arthur becomes king I believe he'll change things for those of us with magic," he said, with all the confidence in the world.
"If he becomes king," Quinn said, looking back to the woods where she'd last seen Arthur go. "What if I've ruined it for him? What if he can't go back and become the king he's supposed to, because- because of me?" she said, feeling guilt-ridden and looking to her lap.
She was no longer the old Quinn Fabrary, she couldn't pretend she was a normal teenager or a cheerleader or any of the things she was in the past. That life seemed distant and this was all she knew, and she'd already done such a bad job of it and hurt so many people. Because of her Arthur might never become king, Merlin might never get the world he planned, she couldn't stand the guilt it was causing.
"That isn't going to happen, Quinn, we'll figure out a way to go back once we know what's happened, everything will be fine," Merlin said.
She smiled appreciatively and looked towards the ground, throwing her stick into the fire and watching it get swallowed up by the flames.
She heard the footsteps coming from the woods and turned with a smile as she saw Arthur return, arms full of wood and setting them down on the ground near the fire. "You two should sleep first," Quinn said, "I'll stay up for the first shift."
"No you should sleep Quinn," Arthur said, sitting beside her.
"You guys have done a lot more, I promise if I hear anything I'll wake you up, okay?" she asked, seeing Arthurs heavy eyelids as he nodded and Merlin looked much the same. "It'll be fine, relax, I won't set us on fire," she laughed.
They got ready, Arthur and Merlin rolled out their beds near the fire to keep warm and Arthur handed Quinn small blade and large stick to keep nearby, just in case. "I promise it'll be okay, just sleep," she said, and instead of listening to another protest she kissed him softly on the lips. Arthur grinned as she pulled away and lay down on his bed, him and Merlin looked so much more peaceful when they weren't wide awake bickering with each other.
Quinn stoked the fire and carefully added more wood, afraid it would go out if she kept it too small. They needed enough fire to be warm and keep any animals from coming to close, but too much smoke could tip someone off that they were there, a very tricky balance.
As the fire burned and crackled away she yawned, rubbing her eyes and counting stones around the fire to keep herself from falling asleep. The wind had died down a lot but she heard it whistle once through the air, then again and another time, a slow chime through the air that didn't seem like much at first. But she heard it again and again and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she got a chill through her spine the more she listened. It sounded less like the howl of the wind and more of an actual howl, growing louder.
Her heart raced and she no longer strained to hear it, the sound grew louder and... was it closer? What was making that noise was growing closer to her by the second, she reached out and found the stick Arthur had offered her, she stuck it into the fire and it lit up and she stood, holding it out into the blinding night and waiting, barely breathing and waiting for the next howl.
It growled behind her.