Out of Time
AvalonReeseFanFics
Hey everyone! Like the new name? It makes sense because AvalonReese is my pen name for everything and this is my fanfiction account. HAHA. Anyway, I know this one took a long time and I'm sorry. It's great that I'm getting a lot of favourites and follows but the reviews are totally lacking, I think I only got three this time around. I wanna know if you found it funny, what you think will happen next, even what you want to happen next. I just want to hear from you guys.
Also shout-outs to the people who have been showing me their love: RaeDawnxx, Nilracmiracle, DancingwithAngelsandDemons, purple reigns, Marianne16, TheAdorableNerd, Kateythemoose, GatorGirl2323, gmilenals23, Moored Mermaid, Kmimzy, Ahsilaa, Marvelhawkeye, Arianna Le Fay, Divergen270, Untilweburnout, Friggatriskaidekaphobia, hatedlane2000, MARVELous05, Kara reader, Someone (your English was fine), AmalieNico & Guest.!
Chapter 8: Out of Loyalty
Both Merlin and Arthur were in for a surprise the following morning. For Merlin the surprise was walking into Arthur's room to find Addison having her breakfast there, ignoring Arthur and Merlin completely for a book. For Arthur the surprise was that Merlin managed to finish everything Arthur had tasked him with the night before and had managed to do it well.
As Arthur surveyed his work in utter disbelief Merlin kept his eyes on Addison. She had murmured an absent: "Good Morning," to him when he came in and since he had laid out Arthur's newly buffed and undented armour on the table she had relocated herself to Arthur's bed. She was currently sitting cross legged, her nose in her book completely engrossed in what she was reading. Merlin was just surprised she could read, not many people knew how to read these days, only the nobility and servants whose job was to read and here she wasn't even asking Arthur what the words meant.
Arthur caught Merlin looking and muttered: "She's always like that when a new book comes in," before crossing his arms over his chest and saying: "Now let's see if you can get me into it without forgetting anything."
Merlin went to work and got Arthur into his armour in record time, though anything could have beaten his time from yesterday. All through the process Addison fidgeted. She just could not find a comfortable spot to read in. She tried leaning against the baseboard with her knees up, and legs down, she tried lying on her stomach and was now lying on her back with the book propped up above her. Arthur's eyes had darted to her every time she moved.
"That was much better," Arthur said to him when he handed him his sword. "Not that it could have gotten any worse."
Merlin nodded, knowing that it was true. "I'm a fast learner," he said with a cheeky grin.
"I hope for your sake that's true," Arthur said without cracking a smile. He turned his full attention to Addison at this point and scowled. "You haven't finished your breakfast," he chided.
"I will when I'm done," she replied absently.
Arthur scowled. "You won't finish that book until tonight. You need to eat now," he ordered.
Merlin blinked his eyes, she was going to read that whole thing, that massive book that must have had at least 200 or more pages in it, in a whole day? Addison only grunted in response and Arthur rolled his eyes. He turned back to Merlin, most likely to tell him to make sure she ate while he was competing in the tournament but he was interrupted but a soft knock on his door.
The person who knocked didn't even wait for Arthur to give permission before storming in. Merlin wasn't the least bit surprised that Uther didn't wait, he was King he could go wherever he wanted. Arthur shot a worried glance at Addison who hadn't moved from her spot on his bed except to flip the page and then squared his shoulders to face his father.
As Merlin edged into the shadows Uther stared down his son. "Why is she in your private quarters?" he asked.
"I went—," Arthur started but Uther cut him off.
"Spare me your lies, Valiant has told me what transpired this morning," Uther snapped.
Arthur's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Knight Valiant?" he echoed and then turned to Addison who was flipping yet another page.
"Let me finish the chapter," she answered mutely.
Uther took in her position and said: "New book?" Arthur nodded and the older man shook his head. "According to Knight Valiant he asked Addison if she would escort him this morning in which she said yes, and then she attacked him…"
Suddenly the book snapped shut and Addison was sitting up. She slid off the bed and came to stand beside Arthur. "Now, wait a second there," she said, throwing the book to Arthur's table with a loud thud. "Valiant didn't ask anything, nor did I just up and attack him for no reason."
"Yes, I rather had a feeling that he was omitting some information," Uther muttered.
"Firstly, he woke me up at the crack of dawn… the crack of dawn Uther, and demanded I come with him so I'm already grumpy. He had the keys and everything, let himself right into my cell! He drags me out of my cell, and up into the castle. At this point I'm assuming he's trying to drag me to his room to do horrible things to me so I freaked out, flipped him and ran off. I wandered around a bit at first, but he was looking for me. So I hid with Gwen for a bit, then I went to the kitchens cause I had worked up an appetite by that point when he found me there I went to the library, which is where I got the book. Ended up braining him with the book at one point and then once I figured it was a reasonable time I came to Arthur. And I knocked, I didn't let myself in. I figured the safest place was with him even if it was improper."
Everyone stared at Addison in shock, Arthur had gone sheet white at the tale, Uther looked mildly impressed. "And why didn't you come to me? Or the throne room?" Uther wondered.
Addison lowered her eyes. "I wasn't sure you were awake. You need your rest after all. And… well… I wasn't sure you'd believe me."
Uther took this in before cocking a smug grin and asking: "And you, what is it you called it? 'Brained' him?" Uther echoed.
"Whacked him over the head with the book, yeah," Addison replied.
"I figured that's what you meant. I'm surprised you managed to take down this one," Uther murmured.
Addison shrugged, "He wasn't expecting it."
Arthur was sheet white at this point and completely shaking with anger. "Father this is completely unacceptable. He's a liability to her safety!"
Uther turned his glare to Arthur but nodded to his son. "I think it wise to keep her from the tournament today, but even wiser to send her away."
"Send me away?" Addison thundered, even though it looked like Arthur would do it for her. "Why am I getting punished because you can't control your guests?"
Uther's glare was murderous, but Arthur put up a hand silencing anything else from Addison, half stepped in front of her and very carefully whispered: "I hate to admit it father, but Addison has a point."
"Especially since sending me away means sending me to a convent and I would not be coming back from there and we all know it," she muttered.
Arthur elbowed her in the ribs and Addison fell silent again. "You did invite him here father," Arthur continued. "I'm sure we could come up with some alternative for her."
"I could issue an order to keep her in her cell unless I specifically come to retrieve her," Uther said thoughtfully.
"Not that your word isn't absolute but every order can be ignored for the right price. As was clearly demonstrated this morning when a guard gave Valiant the keys," Addison snarled.
Uther shot her a dry glare, "He could have stolen the keys," he reminded her.
Addison nodded. "True, but what's worse? A guard that was bribed or a guard that was so incompetent he let someone steal the keys?" she shot back.
"If we moved her up here with me Valiant wouldn't dare…" Arthur started.
"What? Into your own private rooms?" Uther interrupted. "That is completely improper. There is enough going around about you and Addison, it will not do to feed the fire."
"We can't leave her where she is," Arthur argued. "If he was gutsy enough to try once, he'll try again and this time he'll be better prepared."
"I could stay with Gaius," Addison offered.
Arthur scowled. "And what do you expect to happen when Valiant comes for you there? Do you expect Merlin to fend him off?" he thundered.
All eyes went to Merlin at this point. Merlin had done so well hiding in the shadows up until then that not even Uther had been aware of him. He had been quite enjoying the whole scene and he was afraid that now he'd be sent away. Addison opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it and closed it.
Uther turned away from Merlin to address Addison. "He's right, we cannot expect either Gaius or Merlin to protect you. Therefore the royal apartments are the safest place for you. You will have to stay with Morgana until Valiant leaves Camelot."
"Yes!" Addison crowed. She threw herself at Uther and hugged him tightly. "Wisest King EVER!" she near shouted.
Arthur reached out and grabbed a fistful of Addison's red dress with gold and yellow trim. In one strong tug he had pulled Addison off of his father who was glaring at her. She whispered a very sheepish: "I'm sorry," and the two men shook their head at him.
Uther took this as his chance to leave, quickly putting as much space as he could between he and Addison lest she try to hug him again. He paused at the door. "Though it is your decision, I suggest your ward stay out of sight until this has all blown over," he said and then left.
Arthur waited for the door to shut, and then waited a good minute before turning to Addison who had picked up her book and began reading again. Arthur snatched it from her cause her to cry out. "Why didn't you tell me what happened?" he asked in a very dangerously low voice.
Addison blinked her eyes and whispered: "Because I knew what you'd do."
"And what would I do?"
"Kick down his door and beat the ever-living-shit out of him," Addison said plainly with a defiant tilt of her chin.
Arthur half chuckled and then paused to just smile at her. "Yeah, you're right. I would have," he said after a while.
He put a hand to her shoulder and Merlin noted that he was still shaking. "I'm fine Arthur. I handled it."
Arthur's smile turned into a frown. "This time. But what if there's a next time? What if no one's there to help you and he gets the upper hand. You should have come to me straight away, or to my father or to a palace guard. This should have been dealt with immediately, he should have been punished or reprimanded or something!"
"I'll be more careful. You heard your father, he wants me with Morgana for the rest of the tournament, so I'll just stay there with her where it's safe. I won't go down to the tournament anymore either so send my regards and apologies to the other knights, except for Valiant, he gets a whole load of nothing from me," she said with a wave of her hand. "Oh! Do you think your father would approve of me taking meals with you? I'd like to get the details of the matches from someone other than Morgana. I know she means well but she's not the most knowledgeable about the whole affair."
"I will discuss it with my father, but if he says no I will most likely allow it any way," Arthur said.
Addison nudged him. "You're going to get me in even more trouble," she whispered with a coy smile on her face. "And you need to apologize for elbowing me, guaranteed that left a bruise."
Arthur took her hand in his gloved one and pressed a single kiss to her knuckles. "Of course I apologize. But you must promise you'll try to remember to not interrupt my father, especially if you're going to be using disrespectful words or tones."
Addison sighed. "I'm trying, really I am," she said.
"You must try harder," Arthur urged.
They lapsed into silence, staring into each other's eyes and Merlin held his breath wondering if they were going to kiss. Instead Addison asked: "Since I will not be attending the tournament shall I give you more luck now or later at dinner?"
Arthur finally turned his attention back to Merlin and he felt his heart sink. "You may leave Merlin, I will be down momentarily," he ordered.
As he left Merlin wondered what sort of luck she was giving Arthur, but easily decided that he wouldn't be asking anyone about that.
While Arthur was battle doing battle against the knight of the day Merlin listened very carefully to the stories that were circulating within the other knights. From this Merlin learned that the knights all knew Addison's absence was due to an incident between her and Valiant that morning. He heard that Valiant had boasted of winning Addison's favour, of having her company in his private rooms and everyone had called him out on his lies. He had not admitted it but almost everyone knew that Addison had not been willing this morning and that the bruise on his jaw and the bump on the back of his head had been her handiwork and not the work of a tumble in the armoury. Valiant had been wise to stop speaking of Addison as all the knights, especially his opponent today—Knight Ewan, were all glaring daggers at him.
Merlin also knew that this morning Valiant had moved his shield into his own room. This was mainly Merlin's fault. Really it was because he heard hissing and he figured if there was a snake around he should get rid of it. He found himself drawn to Valiant's shield and he could have sworn it saw it blink but Valiant caught him and he was really grumpy about it, probably because this was just after what had happened with Addison. But it was just the early morning fatigue playing with him and it was just his imagination honestly it couldn't be a real snake on the shield, magic shield snakes? What would be the point of that?
Arthur won his fight and as Merlin was helping out of his armour he relayed all he heard to Arthur. Knight Valiant and Ewan were engaged in their battle and Ewan looked to be particularly aggressive today, probably for the honor of Addison.
Arthur was particularly unhappy to hear that Valiant had tried to sully Addison's good name, but glad that the knights had not believed a single word he had said. Merlin was just glad that he and Arthur were kind of getting along. He may not have wanted to tell Merlin about Addison's origins but she sure was a good thing to bond on. There was a collective gasp from the crowd that got their attention and when Merlin looked up Valiant was getting off of Ewan and Ewan was not getting up.
Ewan was deemed badly injured and pulled off of the pitch and Arthur gave Merlin a list of things to do longer then list he was given the day before. If Merlin didn't know any better he'd think that Arthur was trying to over work him into quitting. Well he didn't know just how much aggravation Merlin could put up with when he put his stubborn little mind to it.
However, something nagged at his mind while he worked. So after he dropped off all of Arthurs buffed and polished armor back at the armoury he headed straight to Gaius'. Firstly Ewan was there, but it didn't look like he had been bandaged in anyway, secondly Addison was there, holding his hand and wiping away tears.
Gaius was standing by mixing something up so Merlin went to stand beside him. Gaius sighed. "She showed up not long after I got him settled, have you just left Arthur?" he asked. Merlin shook his head. "He'll be looking for her soon."
"How is he?" Merlin asked.
Gaius shrugged. "It's most odd. Look at this," he said beckoning Merlin closer. The two crouched down with Addison in between them. "See these two small wounds. It looks like a snake bite."
"How could he have been bitten by a snake? He was injured in a sword fight," Merlin said even though he had to admit those small purplish marks sure did look like a bite.
Addison suddenly burst into tears again and Gaius put a hand to her shoulder. "I have told you already this is not your doing," he assured her.
"But I was his good luck charm," she said with a sniff. "I should have been there."
Merlin put a hand to her shoulder in what he hoped was an innocent comforting motion and that if Arthur walked in on them he wouldn't immediately try to cut that hand off.. "Ewan would have wanted you somewhere safe where Valiant couldn't try anything on you," he whispered to her. Addison nodded and tried wiping her tears away.
"Yet, his symptoms are consistent with poisoning, slow pulse, fever paralysis," Gaius said.
Merlin frowned and Addison turned to Gaius. "You can heal him can't you?" she asked.
"Well, if it is a snake bite, I'll have to extract venom from the snake that bit him to make an antidote," Gaius said. Addison gestured to the glass works that contained the snakes and Gaius shook his head. "No, none of those will do. I need to know for certain that one of these snakes bit him before giving him an antidote from one of their venoms. The wrong one could kill him you know."
Merlin stood, following Gaius who was moving to his workbench. "What happens if he doesn't get the antidote?" he asked.
Gaius looked to Addison who was looking back at Ewan and whispering words of comfort to him. Gaius dropped his voice to the merest of whispers. "Then I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for him. He's going to die."
Addison gasped a little and turned back to Gaius with a horrified look on her face. Gaius sighed and said to Merlin: "I was hoping she wouldn't hear me."
Suddenly Merlin straightened. He was remembering this morning and how Valiant had Ewan pinned under his shield. Addison caught his queer look and straightened herself. "What are you thinking?" she asked.
"He was fighting Knight Valiant," he said with certainty.
"What's that?" Gaius wondered.
"Nothing," Merlin said absently turning and heading for the door. Suddenly Addison jumped to her feet.
"Oh! I'll come too!" she cried and that momentarily froze Merlin who was ready to argue with her. Luckily for him the door flew open.
"Addison!" Arthur cried appearing at the door. He was in his regal outfit with his circlet on his head. "You're supposed to be with Morganna!"
Addison frowned. "I just wanted to see Ewan!" she said. "Why are you dressed up so fancy? Do you have a banquet? You said you'd eat dinner with me!"
Arthur rolled his eyes and put his hand on his hips. "I was going to have a pre-meal with you but I couldn't find you because you refuse to stay where I put you!" he snapped
Merlin eased passed him while his attention was on Addison. Leaving them to argue as he went in search of what he hoped would save Ewan.
Valiant had magic shield snakes. I mean really. Who would want magic shield snakes? Obviously it had helped him win his fight today, but it also made other people, namely Merlin, suspicious. Merlin wouldn't have believed it himself but it definitely helped that he saw them come off of the shield and eat a poor defenseless mouse.
Merlin ran all the way back to Gaius' rooms. He threw the door open and fairly shouted: "I've just seen one of the snakes on Valiant's shield come alive. He's using magic."
Gaius stared at him confused, probably because not many people had burst in and said that very sentence to him before. "Are you sure?" he asked.
Merlin nodded. "The snake at a mouse, one swallow, straight down. Ewan was fighting Valiant when he collapsed. It must've been one of the snakes from the shield. I have to tell Arthur."
Merlin made a dash for the door but Gaius stood quickly and called after him. "Is there any chance you might be mistaken?"
Merlin turned to him. "I know magic when I see it," he said. Gaius made a strange face that Merlin didn't quite get and decided to ignore it.
"Do you have any proof?" Gaius shot back.
Merlin felt his heart break a little bit at that question. "Don't you believe me?" he wondered trying very hard not to pout.
I fear you'll land yourself in trouble," Gaius explained, he turned back towards the bed as he continued. "How will you explain why you were in Valiant's chambers?"
"What does that matter?" Merlin cried. "He's using magic to cheat in the tournament."
"But you can't go accusing a knight of using magic without any proof!" Gaius explained trying to keep his voice level. Truth was he was so scared Merlin was going to do something to get himself killed that it was messing with his temper in the weirdest way. "The King will never accept the word of a servant over the word of a knight."
Merlin frowned at this. "So what I say doesn't count for anything?"
Gaius paused briefly before saying: "I'm afraid it counts for very little as far as the King's concerned. That's the way it is."
Gaius and Merlin stood in silence briefly before Merlin turned tail and left.
The following day Merlin was still smarting from the comment Gaius had made. He thought it unfair that he knew a knight was cheating and no one would believe him. Arthur was to fight this giant knight a huge bear of a man. As Merlin got Arthur suited up he couldn't help but be a little bit worried.
"You're telling me you've got to fight that?" he asked.
"Yes. And he's strong as a bear but he's slow," Arthur answered stoically. There had been news that Arthur had briefly misplaced Addison that morning only to find that she had gone to the kitchens. Apparently Morganna didn't appreciate the early morning singing rituals Addison had and had kicked her out of her rooms. Apparently Arthur had almost broken down Valiant's door before someone found her.
Merlin chose not the bring that up this morning. "Oh," he said instead. "And you're fast."
"Exactly," Arthur said with just the barest hint of pride in his voice.
Merlin pat his shoulder to signify that he was does and Arthur went off to battle. And he won. He beat the bear, and every other opponent that was put to him. The problem was so did Valiant. So by the end of the day it was dictated that Arthur was going to have to fight Valiant in the final. Merlin knew that could only mean one thing: Valiant was going to have to cheat in order to beat him. Valiant was going to use his shield to kill Arthur.
When Gaius found Merlin again he was in the infirmary where he had stormed to moments ago. Gaius approached him carefully and said: "Merlin about what I said yesterday. Look, Uther really wouldn't listen to you or me. But you're right. We can't let Valiant get away with this."
"But we don't have any proof," Merlin reminded him almost bitterly.
"Well, if we could cure Ewan, he could tell the king that Valiant's using magic. The King would believe another knight. But how we get the antidote, well, that's another matter."
"Leave that to me," Merlin said quickly.
The door to Merlin's room suddenly burst open and Addison was descending the stairs towards them. He stared at Addison dumbfounded terrified of what she possibly could have heard and what conclusions she could have drawn from that conversation. Or worse, what if he had left his tome of magic out in his room, had he hidden it before he left? He was fairly certain he had.
"What? Why are you...? How long have you...?" Merlin stuttered.
"I thought you were Arthur coming to get me again so I hid in your room. But that doesn't matter," she said waving away part of his confusion. "I'm going with you."
Merlin shook his head. "No, no, you should really stay here," he said softly.
"Nuh-uh," she said quickly coming to stand in front of him. "I soak up magic right, so I'll totally be helpful! Besides! I know where his room is!"
She took a hold of his hand and dragged him out of the room. Merlin dug his heels in once they got into the hallway. "Look, Addison, if something happens, if he comes back..."
"Run and leave you behind?" she asked. "I've already thought of that."
Merlin stared at her quizzically. "How thoughtful of you?" he whispered.
Addison took a hold of his hand again. "Come on, Scared-ey Cat, let's go!"
She took him down a series of hallways Merlin didn't know were there, they were dusty and filled with cobwebs and he was more than positive they were secret passage ways. No wonder Addison could escape at any given time, she knew the place better than anyone else.
She was good enough to watch out while Merlin jimmied the door open. It had been nerve-wracking to perform magic with Addison literally two feet away from him but if Addison noticed Merlin muttering the magic spell under his breath she didn't comment on it.
Once Merlin had ushered her into the room and shut the door carefully behind him the two turned to the shield that had been left propped up on a chair. They stared at it in silence before Addison whispered: "So… how does it work?"
Merlin shrugged. "He had a mouse, he told them to come out and eat and then bye-bye mouse," he told her.
"Okay, so, if it is magic, me just touching it should be enough to jump start it," she said to him. "So, I'm going to touch it and then run, sound good?"
Merlin left her side to pick up a sword. "Right, ready!" he said nodding to her.
Addison inched forward, her hand outstretched in front of her, her hand shaking. It was an agonizing process, moving at a slow crawl towards the shield, the tension building up. Merlin was on edge, he even jumped a bit when her fingers touched the edge of the shield. Addison yelped upon contact and practically flew to Merlin's side, but no snakes appeared.
Addison peeked out from behind Merlin and "hmmmed" to herself. She strode forward more quickly this time and then put her hand, palm first to the shield. She held it there for a while but nothing happened.
Merlin felt the sword droop in his hand as Addison came back towards him. "Maybe they only listen to him?" she offered.
Merlin sighed. "Then how do we get our proof?" he wondered.
"Can't you just magic them out?" she asked suddenly and then both her and Merlin froze.
Merlin stared at her in horror wondering just how long she had known he had magic. In his mind ran a million horror scenarios about how she had found out and who she had told. Addison was wide eyed as well, eyeing him for his reaction.
"What did you just say?" Merlin breathed out.
Addison blinked her eyes. "What?" she said quickly.
"What?" Merlin echoed.
"So what are we going to do about the snakes?" she asked completely changing the topic.
Merlin wasn't going to let her though, he couldn't just let her get away with knowing just what it was he was capable of. Not that he thought she'd go around telling people, but she might tell Arthur. At least, he was going to talk to her about it. He caught the sight of something green rising above her and with one strong sweep that moved her aside he saw that a single snake had appeared after all, apparently deciding to get a sneak attack in when the two were distracted.
Merlin swung his sword at the closest snake and decapitated it. The others appeared immediately, but they had their eyes on Addison moving towards her as if they were drawn to her. Addison had gone sheet white staring at them, Merlin had a feeling what was going to happen.
One snake inched just a fraction more closer to her, hissing as it went and Addison opened her mouth and screamed. The shrill outburst echoed through the camber and the adjacent hallways, hell she was loud enough to be heard in the next town over.
The snakes recoiled at the sound and Merlin moved then, throwing his sword to the ground he picked up the discarded head and then grabbed Addison's arm. Merlin let the door bang shut behind him and then tried to run in the opposite direction but Addison had flattened her back to the wall across from Valiant's room apparently in too much shock to move. Merlin had a choice at this point, leave with the evidence or get caught with it. So he turned and left, just as Arthur turned the corner to the hallway.
Arthur knew that scream. Hell everyone in the castle knew that scream. He had been in the main throne room having a feast with his father and the other knights. His father had been doting on Valiant wondering if he thought he could beat Arthur. Arthur knew he couldn't but Valiant seemed certain that he could. Hell, Uther had practically begged Valiant to stay and become one of Arthur's knights. Like that was a good idea, the man couldn't keep away from Addison. Arthur wanted him out of the castle as quickly as possible. And he had wanted out of this dinner just was quickly so he could return to Addison who was awaiting him in Morganna's chamber so they could go for a night walk on the battlements and she could point out stars and constellations she was learning.
So when he heard the scream he was on his feet and running towards the sound the very second he flew into the air. He didn't care that his father was shouting after him, he didn't care that everyone had followed him, all that mattered was that he found her and saved her.
It was very understandable that when he found her across from Valiant's room, staring at his closed door as if it were the entrance to hell itself, Arthur was very angry indeed. He took her shoulders in his hands and shook her until she'd look at him, until her cloudy blue eyes were focused on him instead.
"What happened?" he asked her.
Addison merely blinked her eyes at him, she made a couple of strangled noises but nothing that could count as a coherent words. Arthur knew then and there that whatever had happened to her put her in such a state of shock she was practically in hysterics. Not much put Addison into hysterics so it had to have been bad.
Addison continued to blabber on as if her words made sense and Arthur turned to the crowd behind him. Uther looked dejectedly at the state of Addison while the rest of the knights looked concerned. It was only Valiant that looked angered and that sent Arthur's rage flying.
"What did you do to her?" he snapped approaching Valiant. Or at least trying to. Addison had hooked her fingers into the sleeve of his tunic and was whimpering while she tugged him back to her side.
"I'm more concerned with what she was doing alone in my room!" Valiant snapped.
"I highly doubt she was there of her own accord!" Arthur snarled. The hallway went quiet at the accusation and Uther put up a hand to before the argument could come to blows.
But it was Addison who broke the silence. "I didn't see anything!" she say quiet clearly. "Nothing at all, nothing to be afraid of, nothing to fight over. Nothing in his room."
Arthur turned to her. "Then what is your problem?"
Addison shook her head, and Uther stepped forward. "Answer the question," he ordered.
"I didn't see any snakes!" Addison suddenly screamed. "I didn't see anything magical or snake like or… or… or…" she suddenly broke off and stared directly at Uther, "I saw a mouse and freaked out. I'm sorry."
Arthur took a hold of her arm and tugged her away from the crowd. "I'm going to see her back to her room," he told his father and then pulled her away before he could question or demand that she stay and order her to tell him why she was lying. Addison kept trying to keep pet mice, there was no way a mouse scared her that badly.
He dragged her up to his room hell bent on shaking her until she told him the truth but was shocked to find Merlin waiting for them there.
"Is she okay?" he asked Arthur.
Arthur glared at him. "What? Were you with her?"
"It's not his fault, I wouldn't let him say no," Addison said faintly.
Arthur turned back to her. "Oh, and you're fine now?"
Addison turned her pale face to Merlin and said: "Show him the head."
Arthur sighed and turned once more. He watched Merlin withdraw something from his pocket and found it to be a snake head and put it on the table. Arthur frowned and tried to shield Addison from it. "What the hell is that thing?" he snapped.
"It's a snake. It came from Valiant's shield. He's using it to cheat at the tournament," Merlin explained. Arthur stared at Merlin as if he had two heads. One thing seemed to be bothering him.
"You? You chopped its head off?" Arthur asked him more than a little surprised.
"Arthur, that's not what's important," Addison said.
Merlin scowled at him. "Ewan was bitten by a snake from the shield when he was fighting Valiant. You can talk to Gaius. You can see the puncture wounds on Ewan's neck where the snake bit him. Ewan was beating him. He had to cheat."
Arthur looked from Addison to Merlin and shook his head. Yeah he didn't like the guy but he wasn't about to accuse him of using magic. "Valiant wouldn't dare to use magic in Camelot," he said.
Merlin continued to argue. "Ewan was pinned under Valiant's shield. No one could see the snake bite him."
"I don't like the guy but he doesn't mean he's cheating," Arthur finally sighed.
Merlin found himself getting angrier and angrier. "Gaius is preparing an antidote to the snake venom. When Ewan's conscious, he'll tell you what happened." He snapped. Arthur turned back to him that look of disbelief on his face and Merlin snapped. "If you fight Valiant in the final, he'll use the shield. It's the only way he can beat you."
When Arthur still wasn't convinced Merlin picked up the snake's head. "Look at it!" he said as he handed it to Arthur. "Have you ever seen any snakes like this in Camelot?"
Arthur looked it over for a moment, gingerly taking it out of Merlin's hands. Whatever kind of snake it was it would have been huge and quite ferocious looking. If this was what Addison came up against no wonder she was in hysterics.
He turned to Addison and held it up to her causing her to flinch. "This is what scared you in his room?" he asked her. Addison nodded. He turned to Merlin suddenly furious. "Why the hell did you take her with you?"
"Don't yell at him!" she cried coming to stand beside Merlin. "I wouldn't let him say no. Besides, being a magical sponge and all I figured I could coax them out and oh boy did it work. There were three of them, one for each picture. There's two now though."
"Look, I know I'm just a servant and my word doesn't count for anything," Merlin said and Arthur turned to him. He had always thought himself a fair ruler and it sort of stung that Merlin thought that Arthur didn't believe he only because he was a servant. His station had nothing to do with it, Arthur just thought Merlin was a halfwit and obviously a little bit crazy. Merlin continued. "I wouldn't lie to you."
Arthur thought this over. He remembered what Addison said about trusting him and how Addison was a very good judge of character most of the time. She seemed to trust Merlin, almost blindly and Merlin was his personal servant. Maybe he could trust him. Arthur pinned Merlin was a sturdy glare and said: "I want you to swear to me what you're telling me is true."
Merlin smiled with relief. "I swear it's true," he said without hesitation.
"I swear too!" Addison added and Arthur shook his head.
"Then I believe you," he said with a nod. Arthur sighed he glanced from Addison to Merlin once more. "But you better not be wrong," he warned.
"When have I ever lied to you?" Addison snapped back.
"Always," Arthur replied without thinking. Arthur took a very deep breath before he shot them both a strange look. He said: "I'll talk to my father in the morning, for now, Merlin, you can leave."
Merlin, for a moment, looked hesitant to go. His eyes were on Addison, as if he wished to ask her some very important question. After a few seconds he took off and Arthur turned his attention to Addison.
"This was a foolish thing to do," he murmured as he beckoned her closer.
Addison came to him and he took her hands in his, he tugged her until she was standing between his legs and he was looking up at her. His thumbs caressed the skin of her inner wrist and a small smile found her pink lips. "You're facing Valiant in the morning and he'll cheat to beat you," she whispered. "So I call it more a calculated risk."
"Stop risking yourself for my sake," Arthur demanded. Addison pulled her hands from his and put them to his shoulders as she leaned in closer to him.
She was so close now that he could smell the soap on her, he had been slipping her scented soap for a while now, this one had been lavender. She pressed a small kiss to the tip of his nose and Arthur fought back a groan. "You shouldn't be risking yourself for the pride of your father."
"This is tradition," he whispered.
"A tradition that could kill you," she replied, this time she kissed his cheek. Arthur's hands found her waist, he slid to the edge of his seat, sitting up taller to receive more of her kisses. Another kiss fell on his other cheek. "I want you safe and unharmed as much as you want me safe and unharmed. Only I can't do as much to protect you, but I'll do what I can."
She kissed his forehead and that—with the combination of her words—was all he could take. Arthur pulled Addison into his lap and slammed his lips onto hers. It wasn't often that Arthur indulged himself in that sort of passion with Addison, no matter how his blood heated in demand of it. The last time he had found himself in a passionate embrace with Addison it was Yule Tide under the mistletoe and both of them had been very very drunk.
This time when she yielded her mouth to him Arthur didn't taste mulled wine on her tongue. She tasted of nothing but Addison, pure sweetness and everything Arthur could ever have wished for. One of her hands had found its way to his hand, her fingers playing with his golden locks while the other gripped his tunic tightly. Arthur found one hand rooted at the base of her neck cradling her head gently as his tongue plundered her mouth and she whimpered softly into him. His other hand kept her pressed to him craving all those curves hard against the planes of his chest and finding the position he had her in hard to get all the contact her wanted.
She pulled away from him, her cheeks pink, her eyes sparkling and whispered: "We should stop," and he knew it to be true, but goddamn did he wish he didn't have to.
"I'm sorry," he murmured against her jaw pressing one last kiss there before lifting his head up and allowing her to stand. He kept his hands on her hips and smiled when he found her legs as weak as his probably were.
She kept her fingers in his hair, rubbing the back of his head as she smiled at him fondly. Her fingers came free of his hair and travelled down the length of his jaw in a soft caress. "You said once you'd kill for me," she whispered. It was true he would, over and over if the occasion called for it. "The same could be said for me, but unlike you, I don't have a code of honour to keep me playing fair."
Arthur's grip on her waist tightened. "You should never use magic to help me," he warned. "Even if it could save my life, using magic would condemn yours. I'd rather die than lose you because you used magic to save me."
Addison's smile was a sad one and that set Arthur's heart palpitating in fear. "It's not a decision you get to make. You can't live to watch me die and I can't live knowing I let you die when I could have done something to save you. We're at a stalemate Arthur," she leant in then and pressed one last kiss to his lips before straightening and pulling herself out of his grip.
She strode purposefully over to the door, but turned back once to stare at him. She held his gaze, her mouth open as if to say something to him but she decided against it. Instead she slid out into the darkened hallway and left Arthur sitting in his chair, his heart in his mouth.
A new vow fell from his lips before he realized that he was reciting it to an empty room. Still he felt the words constrict around his heart making the words true and unknowingly giving them the power to destroy him if he were to ever break them.
I won't let you die.