Gaius thought it was too quite. Having some knowledge of women, especially angry ones at that, he expected more: kicking, shouting, smashing and all around general noises of rage to be coming from the room Annabeth had been cooped up in. Women, Gaius had learned very early on in his prolonged life, do not like to be holed up, nor do they like being bossed about and Annabeth did not seem like the type of young lady who did as she was told without putting up a good fight first (which was made evident when she knocked Merlin out in an attempt to escape).
Nevertheless, when there hadn't been a single sound from Annabeth's room for 2 solid hours, Gaius began to worry. Consequentially, he decided that it would be… wise to go and check on the condition of his patient.
Holding a chair as a make shift shield (in case she tried to attack him as she had done with Merlin and Arthur) shakily in his left hand, Gaius slowly made his way up the steps to what was usually Merlin's bedroom.
"Annabeth?" Gaius asked cautiously, creaking open the door to her room.
There was no answer.
"Annabeth?" Gaius asked louder, pushing the door all the way open.
Annabeth wasn't in there.
Gaius stepped inside the room and checked behind the door: nothing.
He checked in the small closet: nothing.
He even checked under the bed: nothing.
It was then that he noticed the covers were off of the bed and the window was open.
Fearing the worst Gaius hurried over to the window and peered out of it. It was one of those moments in his life where he did not know where to let out a sigh of relief or to start worrying so he decided to do both in that order.
Relief that Annabeth had not done the most drastic thing and hung herself out of the window flooded through Gaius for no more than a minute before the worry sunk in that his patient had… well, not escaped as that would imply that she was being kept a prisoner in the castle and by law, Camelot only imprisoned those guilty of crime or those who possessed magic (and as far as the law was aware, Annabeth was not guilty of either of those) but she has run away and as Gaius feared that the girl was slightly mad, this was not a good thing.
"Gaius? Gaius, are you here?" Arthur called from the main room.
"In here my lord," Gaius called back, now leaning out the window and scanning the street below.
"Gaius, where's Annabeth?" Arthur asked slowly, entering the room and searching for the object of his thoughts.
"I was hoping you could tell me sire." Gaius did a lopsided frown, stepping backwards to let Arthur look out the window.
"She escaped?" Arthur asked half in amazement and half stunned.
"Escaped is probably too strong a word sire but yes, in essence she has escaped," Gaius confirmed. "What would you like us to do about it?"
Arthur stood there frozen for a second as his mind tried to find a solution.
"We'll go to her house first and if she isn't there the guards will do a sweep of the city for her. If she isn't found, the knights and I will ride out and search for her." Arthur decided.
"Isn't that a bit excessive?" Merlin asked weakly, wandering up the stairs, clutching the spot where Annabeth had hit him.
"Merlin, are you alright?" Gaius asked quickly before an argument broke out.
"Yes Gaius, I'm fine, just a little dizzy." Merlin nodded, his eyes closing.
"Well I already checked you for concussion and you're fine." Gaius said reassuringly.
Arthur tried to hold back a snigger, causing Merlin to throw him a dirty look.
"Don't laugh. You don't know how strong she is." Merlin snapped.
"After she knocked you out I had to keep her pinned to the floor while she calmed down. Believe me, I know how strong she is." Arthur smirked.
"Isn't your plan to get her back a bit over the top?" Merlin asked, quickly changing the subject.
"No it's not actually Merlin. I have a theory that Miss Potter mentally ill and if I'm right then she needs to be found before she puts herself or others in danger." Gaius backed up Arthur.
"WHAT?" Merlin asked, obviously outraged.
"I have to agree with Merlin there. She's not crazy." Arthur frowned.
"I said that she is ill, not crazy and I suggest you find her quickly sire. Every moment we stand here she gets farther away." Gaius reminded them.
Arthur looked at Gaius for a moment before walking quickly out of the room to alert the guards, too concerned about Annabeth's safety to talk to anyone but the guards anymore.
Arthur paced around in his bedroom like a lion locked in a cage. Already dressed in his armour, he was waiting for the report that she wasn't in the towns. He knew she wouldn't be, his Annabeth was far too clever to stick around if she knew that someone (be in Arthur's or Peter's men) was going to try and bring her back to Camelot.
The door to his room creaked open and Arthur paused in his pacing and looked expectantly as Merlin slipped inside.
"Any news?" Arthur demanded.
"She's definitely not in the castle or the upper town. They've almost finished checking the lower towns but it doesn't look as if she's here." Merlin reported.
"Of course she won't be! She's running away! She's not likely to hang about is she?" Arthur retorted angrily, pacing again.
"Should we really bring her back? Lord Orion will have heard she's missing by now and if we bring her back she'll just get into trouble." Merlin asked tentatively, picking up the silver platter on Arthur's table to use as a shield if need be.
"Annabeth is ill Merlin. She needs help." Arthur had already thought about that and he told Merlin the single thought he'd been repeating over and over again in his head to justify the actions that he knew Annabeth wouldn't want but satisfied his fascination with her.
"But you know she's not ill Arthur!" Merlin protested. She just has magic and is scared! He finished off in his head.
"Well I have to defend my actions somehow!" Arthur roared, angry at himself. He kicked a chair for emphasis causing Merlin to flinch. Despite the fact she'd knocked him unconscious he was just as worried for Annabeth's safety as Arthur, possibly even more so as he knew what would happen to her if she was caught using her magi to aid her escape. Merlin was too interested in Annabeth's abilities to allow her to die. To a certain extent he understood Arthur's agitation as they waited for confirmation as they waited for confirmation of what they already knew and therefore kept his mouth shut. What with the decreasing health (and possibly sanity) of his father, the stress of running the kingdom practically on his own and now the latest object of his fascination running off, Merlin wasn't the least bit surprised to see Arthur cracking before his very eyes.
"Excuse me sire?" A guard clone (clone meaning that even by hi voice he was undistinguishable from all the other guards in Camelot) asked gruffly, knocking on the open door. Arthur nodded for him to enter. "We've searched the towns and the entire castle and she's nowhere to be found"-Arthur's face fell-"However two of the guards on the city gates did recall seeing a woman of her description flee the city on foot a while back."
"How long ago?" Arthur asked urgently, trying to keep any nastiness out of his voice.
"Unfortunately they cannot give an exact time but less than an hour ago. They are certain of this." The guard managed to answer Arthur's next question before he asked it.
"Thank you. Take the next hour off as a reward for your hard work," Arthur said as he walked over to his bed to retrieve his sword. "You are dismissed."
The guard bowed and retreated out of the room at the same time as Arthur's most faithful knights entered the room, looking stone-faced.
"What is it?" Arthur asked the second he looked at their faces.
"Lord Orion has heard about the missing girl and wants to help. He's assembled some of his men in the courtyard already and are going to help us find her." Sir Leon informed his prince with half-hidden displeasure.
Arthur swore under his breath, something which didn't go unnoticed by his men.
"I'm sure we'll think of something but every moment we stand here Annabeth gets farther away." Merlin interrupted, reminding Arthur of what was important.
"Merlin, for once you're completely right," Arthur nodded, shocking everyone in the room. "Let's go."
Annabeth ran.
As fast as she could she attempted to fly through the trees, all the while willing herself to go faster. She had no clue to where she was going or what direction she was heading, all she knew was that her life depended on her escape. She couldn't bear to face her punishment from Orion. It would kill her, she was sure of it. She'd learnt long ago not to put anything past that monster and if he was angry enough he would kill her without a second thought and she needed to be alive – she wanted to be alive.
Annabeth was scared that her small backpack of food and her twin samurai fighting blades (Katana swords, a gift from her uncle on her 15th birthday- the last gift he'd ever given her) were slowing her down. The bag didn't feel heavy e but maybe she could be faster without it…
CRASH!
The sound of trees breaking and horses galloping through the forest behind her jerked Annabeth from her speculations and caused her to fight the urge to scream in terror.
He'd found her and he was going to kill her. It was all over.
She ran faster, turning the water from her sweat into energy. She could do this; she could out run the horses.
"There she is!" An unfamiliar voice bellowed.
Annabeth risked looking over her shoulder for a moment and saw a flash of red: the colour of Camelot.
If she had the breath she would have let out a sigh of relief. Unlike with Orion's men she would be able to charm, cry or outsmart being captured by them as Arthur's knights were more prone to emotion that Orion's men. She could get herself out of this situation, no doubt about it.
Hearing her pursuers getting dangerously closer, Annabeth suddenly threw herself to the left, rolling onto the floor and back up into a crouch, withdrawing her swords from the harness on her back as she went.
Ducking behind a think bush, she kept low, waiting for them to ride past her. They seemed to notice she wasn't ahead of them anymore however as Annabeth heard the horses slow down to a stop a little was from her concealed hiding place.
"Where did she go?" Merlin asked, panting slightly.
"There no way she could have run off. She must be hiding somewhere." Another unfamiliar voice reasoned.
"Then we dismount and search for her on foot. Remember, Annabeth isn't- well she's ill. There's something wrong with her head, like she isn't in her right mind. She may act out of fear so be prepared to have to fight her but please don't hurt her. She's scared." Arthur ordered.
Not in her right mind? Something wrong with her head? What a load of rubbish! There was nothing wrong with her so how dare he make those accusations? But then… with Arthur there she had no chance of escape. She could run but he could catch her and if he did, she knew too well that he'd not let her go.
Taking a deep breath, Annabeth gripped her swords tighter and prepared herself for a fight.
"Hello beautiful," a voice smirked from her right.
Reviews please! I know I haven't updated in a while but I've been busy with Christmas and New Year and school work and all that jazz. Reviews only take 1 minute of your time and they actually help me write so please? As a late Christmas present?