Out of Time
AvalonReeseFanFics
AN: Here's chapter 16. Sorry it took me so long things are getting hectic. Spring is always my busiest season. I actually contemplated putting out a short chapter on April fools that had Addison dying or something but I figured that was too mean plus I was too lazy to write it. HAHA See. Aren't I nice? Would any of you have believed it?
I have working on some bonus stuff for you guys. For this story in particular. I was thinking of something special for the 6 year Anniversary of this story being published but I'm not sure what you guys would like to read. So that's what I want you guys to do for me! Please tell me any bonus stories you want to read about. In fact let's do a poll. Tell me which one you'd want to see.
1. Merlin Poisoned instead of Arthur
2. Addison and Arthur's first kiss
3. How Arthur saved Addison from his father when she first came to Camelot
4. How Addison exploded a Turkey
5. Addison's yuletide fire
I'm sorry in advance if it takes me longer to get the next installment out. I know what I want to write, but with everything being so busy I don't know if I'll be able to get anything to you guys soon. Send me lots of review to get me going though or I might forget all together to update!
Thanks to kirsi548 for being my 150th follower!
Shoutouts: Cordapia, Sarah, kirsi548, poe-pilot, Water Angel, Riverrainlaufeyson, AxidentlGoddess, cheshirekadi, shannywhammy, witchbaby300, Heart of Sorrow, yellowroseofthenw, AmalieNico, MTonks, geeklady14, princessofdarkandcrime and AleksYana
Chapter 16: Out of Punishment
Uther walked into the Gaius' chambers unannounced. He surprised the handmaiden that usually attended to Morgana. She stared up at him with her doe like brown eyes large like with fear like he was just about to club her and serve her to the castle in a feast. He stared at her with a disapproving glare watching as she squirmed and went between lowering her eyes politely to staring back at him as if waiting for him to say something to her or to just check whether or not he was in fact still glaring at her.
"Gwen, can you get me some more wolfbane?" Gaius asked and the girl gratefully jumped to her feet and dashed away making sure to leave a wide space as she ran around Uther to get to the door.
Uther turned back to Gaius and watched him with appraising eyes. "Is there something you wish to tell me Gaius?" he asked.
Gaius had never lied to him, never withheld information, or well he hadn't even been caught. Uther also firmly believed that if Gaius hadn't told him something it was for the good of his health or his kingdom. But he also knew that if pressed his most loyal of servants, he would tell him what he wanted to know. So he waited to hear what he already knew along with an explanation for why he hadn't been told sooner.
Gaius, instead, shrugged his shoulders and said: "No Sire, I have nothing of interest to report at the moment."
Addison chose that moment to lurch onto her side and hurl into a bucket that Gaius must have put purposely in that position for this exact moment. What came out of her mouth was not normal, not food of any kind and as black as the night sky.
When she rolled over she mumbled something like: "Tequila's a bitch," before falling back into a sweaty slumber.
Uther turned back to Gaius whose mouth hung open in surprise. He took in Uther's expectant glare before comping himself and saying very quickly: "It seems she has developed an unexpected side effect to the poison."
Uther nodded and found himself moving to Addison's side. While she looked pasty white and like she had recently been out in the rain she looked merely like she might be asleep. Albeit having a very bad and sweaty nightmare, but asleep none the less.
"And why didn't you tell me of this unexpected side effect?" Uther asked, not sure why Gaius hadn't just offered this information up in the first place.
"Several reasons sire," he said with a casual sweep of his hands. "You are known to not favour Addison, and after the stunt Arthur pulled last night I assumed that any care for her would be suspended as punishment for him."
Though Uther didn't show this, it hurt him to think that everyone thought him that callous a king. That he would condemn this girl to die as uncomfortable as she could have been, alone in some cell, just to punish his son. It shamed him more to remember that he had in fact mulled over doing just that.
"On top of that, Addison's reaction helped me confirm who it was who tried to poison Arthur," Gaius said. He seemingly had continued talking even though Uther had been lost in thought.
"We know who tried, Gaius, I have him sitting in my dungeon and have his men marching towards our city," he snapped.
Gaius shook his head. "No, it wasn't Bayard. The poison was magical."
Uther turned back to Addison before turning his face towards Gaius. A sort of understanding dawning over him. "Is that what that sludge is? Is she throwing up pure magic?"
Gaius shrugged once more. "Unfortunately I cannot say. But she spoke of starting a purge before the sickness started. I think her body is trying to cleanse itself of the poison, some cìobs do have the ability to do that, hence why some kings kept them as food testers. Granted the process is very long and painful and those who were not strong enough wouldn't survive it, but if Arthur brings back the cure I'm sure I could bring her to full health."
Uther frowned. Now would be the time to mention to Gaius that he had no intention of allowing the cure to be administered. To teach his son a lesson, the one where he learned to obey his father and not ride off on every foolish quest for every girl his heart took fancy to. This lesson was going to end in the death of his ward. Arthur had to learn that as King he would have to suffer through watching the people under him die, it was the curse of being King. Sometimes your servants die, even when you want to protect them. Which was why it was better not to get attached to them.
Uther didn't want to tell Gaius this, knowing how the older man would be upset, would give him that disappointed look, the one with the arched eyebrow and the severe frown. Uther hated that look. Instead he asked: "So who do you think tried to poison Arthur then?"
"As I said the poison was magical, and I'd recognize the hand that made it anywhere..." Gaius whispered. He glanced back to Addison who was moaning and shifting in her sleep. When he turned back to Uther he leaned in and whispered: "Nimueh."
Uther eyed Gaius with surprise, uncertain what would bring him to mention the name of that woman in his presence. "Dat fucking rank skank!" Addison suddenly cried out and Uther couldn't help but start laughing, even Gaius joined. He wasn't sure what that was, or if it was related to the mention of that dreaded woman's name. But yes. Yes that is exactly what that woman was.
Uther sobered up quick enough to tell Gaius: "You must be mistaken."
Gaius sighed, as if he expected that reaction from Uther. "I wish I was."
"It can't have been, we'd know her," he reminded Gaius. And it was true. That woman haunted his nightmares, he'd know if that bitch set foot in his castle, he would have recognized her immediately. "That witch's face is not easily forgotten."
"She's a powerful sorceress," Gaius reminded him in a careful coddling tone. God Uther hated that tone. "She can enchant the eye that beholds her. We never knew it was her."
Uther was shivering just thinking about it. But he didn't understand what that meant, why would Bayard conspire with a known witch? Why now when everything was going well for them, was he really that bitter an old man?
"So you're saying she conspired with Bayard to poison Arthur?"
"No, Bayard is innocent," Gaius answered quickly. Oh of course he said no, nothing could be straightforward could it?
"Then what is it that she wants? Why do this?"
Gaius' shoulders sagged. "Sire I hadn't thought of that yet," he replied. Of course he hadn't. The yet hung in the air, because of course Gaius would have a theory by morning.
Uther would think of it too. He nodded to Gaius and took his leave of him. He wondered when exactly he became the cruel King that everyone had expected him to be. If his wife was here this wouldn't have been happening, he would have done something more to help the girl, would find a different way to punish Arthur. Too bad his heart was set, his mind made up. This was the best way to show his son that he would no longer tolerate his disobedience.
Don't trust the bitch.
Addison's voice hovered in the back of Arthur's mind. He felt the lingering feel of her hand on his chest as this guiding warmth. It was telling him to turn away, that every step he took deeper into the caverns was a mistake but he wasn't listening to her. He would do anything to save her, even against her wishes, even if she wanted him to be safe and come home. He wouldn't go back to Camelot only to watch her die. He couldn't.
Kara was leading him pretty deep down into that cavern. They made literally no conversation, because Arthur was too busy worrying about Addison. Wondering if she were okay. Was she wishing that he was the one who was dabbing her burning forehead with a cool cloth? He was lost in the soft stolen moments of the past. That would be all he had to hold onto if he failed this quest and she died. The first time he had ever held her, those moments where she would take her slim fingers and push his stubborn long hair out of his eyes, that smile she had that was just a for him and their first kiss.
Right after he had fallen off his horse in practice. He had been hit hard by a lance, the blow had knocked him from his horse, he hit the barrier on the way down, and he hadn't gotten back up right away. Addison had been the first to his side, the one to have taken his helmet off. She had been talking to him, asking him questions.
What hurts? Can you move your toes? Can you hear me? Arthur? Please open your eyes.
He had opened his eyes to find the sun behind her, highlighting her head like a halo, in that moment she had been an angel. In that moment she had pressed the first of what would be many more soft kisses to his lips. After that no one had been able to unhorse him.
"There they are," Kara said, breaking their silence and tearing Arthur from his precious memories. They had turned a corner and sure enough there they were.
They were across a great chasm, this little bunch of raggedy looking flowers, the only way across to get to them was to go out on this precipice. A narrow little strip of rock jutting straight out over the distance. It didn't look stable and Arthur didn't trust it, but from what he could see it was the only way to get to those flowers that didn't involve a leap of faith.
Arthur looked over the edge, yeah that was deep. He put just one foot onto the precipice to test his weight on it and heard rocks crumbling and falling down into the chasm below. Arthur looked to his side and found Kara right beside him, having her this close had his hair standing on edge. Damn he did not trust this girl, he would have sent her on her way long before now if she hadn't been the only one around who knew where the flowers were.
"Stay away from the edge," he ordered, because it was more polite then: Get the hell away from me. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon."
He handed her his torch noting that she didn't look the least bit worried. What the hell was wrong with this girl? He left her there, at the mouth of the cave and started out onto the ledge, he was only out on the ledge a few minutes when he heard a whispering. He ignored it as bats up ahead or the wind whistling through the caverns but when it suddenly grew louder and the ground beneath him began to shake he understood.
He shot a glance over to Kara who chanting louder now and shouted: "What are you doing?" She didn't heed him though and kept on chanting. He could feel the ledge beginning to break so he took that leap of faith. He launched himself at the other side, luckily catching a bit of another ledge on his way down.
The precipice he had just been standing on crumbled and disappeared in the darkness below and Kara threw the extra torch away with it. She smiled down at Arthur smugly. "I expected so much more."
"Who are you?" Arthur shouted, though really this did not matter to him anymore. He was hanging by his fingernails in full armor, that shit was heavy. He should have listened to the voice of Addison in his head, this wasn't the first time she had projected some sort of feeling onto him, and it wasn't the first time that projected feeling was right. He no longer questioned how she did it, but he would definitely start listening to it from now on.
Above him Kara removed the hood of her light blue cloak so he could see her features better. As if that would help or scare him. "This will be the last face you'll ever see," she taunted.
Arthur grunted at her because he didn't want to waste precious air on throwing insults at her when he was busy dangling for his life. There was a hissing to his left and when he glanced over he saw a spider the size of a large cat on the ledge. If he had to guess, it was drawn to him by the commotion. Probably figured Arthur to be an easy meal.
"It seems we have a visitor," Kara said in a mocking tone. Obviously, Kara wasn't her real name, obviously this was a trap. He'd even go as far as to say she was probably only interested in Merlin so she could use him to get to Arthur. Oh Merlin was going to hear about this when he got out of the cave. Actually where was Merlin? Arthur couldn't quite remember where he left the boy.
But Arthur couldn't worry about Merlin now, he was too busy trying to get away from the fucking spider. He had tried to climb along the edge but that nearly as fast enough to outrun that stupid little spider, so he forced himself to put all his weight onto one arm so he could draw his sword. The spider was right beside him now, more intent on going for his face then his fingers gratefully. Arthur slashed at it once or twice to back it away, but that just seemed to make it more excited. It jumped for Arthur's face and Arthur got it good with his sword, one strong swipe and the creature was sent screaming down into the darkness.
Just in time too, Arthur threw his sword up on the ledge and renewed his grasp on the ledge before his other arm gave out.
"Very good," Kara said. "But he won't be the last. I'll let his friends finish you off, Arthur Penndragon. It's not your destiny to die at my hand, but your servant on the other hand..."
She left it hanging there, both her sentence and him and then disappeared taking the light with her. Great, now she was going to go kill Merlin and Arthur couldn't see a bloody thing. In the back of his head he heard Addison's sing-song-ie voice chiming: I told you so. It would be so like her to gloat.
"That's not helping, Addison," he snarled to himself before turning back to the problem at hand. How the hell was he going to save himself?
Merlin had been wandering the forest for hours now. Where the hell had Arthur and Kara gone? How the hell had he gotten himself this lost? God, with all the magic at his finger tips one would think Merlin would have found a way to find Arthur. Maybe he could make some sort of Arthur Compass that pointed him in the right way.
Obviously trusting Kara was a mistake. Walking alone int hat great silent forest with nothing but two horses gave him time to think about it. It was very suspicious that Kara had just up and appeared in this forest right after vanishing from the poisoning attempt. Now that had the time to think long and hard about it, it was plain as day that Kara had planned this from the get go. Maybe not this exact plan, Merlin didn't think that Kara expected Addison to crash the party, but she had definitely wanted to poison Arthur or maybe even him. And she was no doubt alone with Arthur.
Merlin was really bad at taking care of Arthur.
"Merlin."
Merlin jerked out of his trance and immediately began to look around. Right across from him, wearing the dress he first met her in, was Addison. Merlin stared at her, something in his bones told him that she wasn't really there, that this was some trick of magic.
"Addison?" he whispered. He wanted to ask what she was doing there, what message she wanted to get across. But suddenly she just turned and ran away from him.
Merlin didn't think twice but followed her flickering image as it ran through the trees, the horses didn't even fight him on this. They ran together, or the horse trotted behind him and together they tried to keep Addison's image in sight. For a while Merlin lost sight of her and he came to a halt looking for where she had gone.
There was a flash of light blue in the corner of his eye and he turned. Addison was standing with a back to a giant tree, at her feet a giant hole, like it went straight down into the belly of the earth. She smiled at him but before Merlin could ask her what the hell it was all about she had jumped straight down into the hole, vanishing from sight.
Fake Addison or not Merlin couldn't keep his cry of horror inside, it came out of him louder then he wanted it to. He tied the horses to a near-by tree and then ran over to the hole. He looked down it but all he could see is darkness. Merlin didn't know what it was that Addison wanted him to do, but he knew it was too dark to see anything.
So Merlin went about conjuring up a light, a light that might just be the same color as Addison's eyes and just as bright.
Arthur couldn't hold on like this for much longer. Literally, he could not hold onto the ledge for much longer, his fingers were killing him and his arms, while they were literally quite large and he was very much in shape, were starting to ache. Now he missed Addison again, for every time he spoke of the muscles in his arms she'd start calling them his "Guns", something she had sworn was a compliment, and would start asking people if they wanted to see Arthur's "Gun Show" then she'd make him flex for a crowd of people who would just blush sheepishly at them all. After every failed show Addison would once again remind him that he needed to take his shirt off to make the crowd happy and that was not going to happen in the town square.
He was never going to have to endure one of Addison's stupid Gun Shows ever again.
From beneath him came a glowing orb, like a soap bubble except it was filled with a swirling kind of light. It was about the size of his head, the color of Addison's eyes when the sun hit them just right, and it was floating right beside him.
Oh great he was going be felled by a fucking bubble.
It just hovered beside him a bit, drifting a little closer to him. Arthur finally got frustrated. "Come on then! What are you waiting for? Finish me off." he cried to it. Just take him now, he didn't want to live if Addison was going to die, it would be too painful.
It hovered right above him now, illuminating his fingers and the ledge, it stayed there as if waiting for something, but it never made a move to attack. Addison's voice came to him again: Trust it. This is the only time I'm going to tell you this... follow the light.
He could finally see, and if Addison felt like he should trust it, he would. He roared loudly as he threw himself up with what was last of his strength. He swung up onto his stomach and then swung his legs up. He lay there breathless for a bit before forcing himself to get up. He took his sword and sheathed it, knowing he'd need it later. The bubble was moving upwards, but Arthur was just a few arm lengths away from those stupid flowers. He could get them easily before he climbed back up if he could get the bubble to stay down there with him. Beneath him there was a hissing and thanks to the light he could see a whole swarm of spiders all a lot larger than the one he had killed before coming for him. Maybe that one had just been a baby and these were the adults ready to avenge it's fallen child. Okay, maybe he'd have to be quicker than expected.
Leave them Arthur! It's not worth it!
He had literally just said he was going to listen to Addison's voice from now on, but he was just going to have to ignore it if she was going to say stupid things like that.
Without a second thought, Arthur started climbing, going a little bit off the path the Light was creating to grab a flower. He got a hold two, just in case something happened to the first and put them in his travel pouch. He looked down and saw the spiders gaining on him and he quickly went about trying to climb up faster but he couldn't grip the rock with his leather gloves. He quickly took them off and threw them away and then he began his ascent up the cliff face moving as fast as he could, and trying to ignore the clicking of the spider's legs following him.
The light was leading him father up and soon he could see he was being led up to an opening. An opening that lead to light, a light that seemed to have someone looming in it. Was Arthur climbing up into another trap?
"Arthur?" a voice asked and Arthur let out a sigh of relief, he had never been so happy to see Merlin in his life.
"Move back," he ordered as he continued his climb, now scrambling to get to the top faster than his tiring legs and arms could take him.
Merlin moved back only a bit but when Arthur put his hands on the edge of the opening that he was meant to crawl out of Merlin had a hold of his arms and was fairly tugging him out. Arthur was suddenly grateful for his servant, glad he was there and that Kara hadn't found him like she had alluded. As soon as he was out he ordered Merlin to run and together they went for the horses to get the hell out of this goddamn forest before that witch could come back and find them.
Arthur and Merlin rode at a breakneck speed, urging their horses on through the night to get back to Camelot. They didn't discuss why they were going so fast, it was an unspoken understanding between them that they needed to go as fast as they could to get to Addison in time.
When Arthur returned to the castle alone, he was immediately stopped by the palace guard and arrested. Arthur was taken to cells, put in one that was across the way from Addison's. Arthur had checked, not only was she not in there, but her stuff hadn't been cleared out. She must have still been with Gaius and she must have still been alive. That alone gave him hope.
He was stripped of his armour and his sword and thrown into his cell and there he waited for his father, praying to god that his back-up plan had worked. Uther was in the cell with him at least an hour after Arthur had been caught.
"You disobeyed me!" It wasn't a question it was an accusation.
Arthur stared at his boots. He knew there was a way to go about this, he could either grovel or stand up to his father. It was a gamble on which would work.
"Of course I did," he shot back. "A woman's life is at stake. My ward's life is at stake! Do not let Addison die because of something I did."
"Why do you care so much for her?" Uther spat out and Arthur frowned.
"If you're looking for me to say I love her you're not going to hear it." The truth was he wouldn't have said that to anyone, let alone his father, and he would never admit it to her. That and he didn't quite think he was fully in love with Addison, he was just really, really fond of her... and her kisses.
"When you let her stay here you said she would be my ward, that it would be up to me to take care of her as you wouldn't," he reminded his father. "I'm doing my duty by her, and besides, she has saved me many times over, it's about time that I saved her for a change don't you think?"
Uther turned away from him. "Your duty is to Camelot not some girl that used magic to come from her time to ours," he hissed.
Arthur frowned at him. "There's more," he snarled. "There was a woman up in the mountains, she knew I was there for the flower. I don't think it was Bayard who tried to poison me."
Now that had certainly got his father's attention, he seemed surprised by the mentioning of a woman but he shoved it aside and snarled: "Of course it was," to Arthur in a less than convincing tone.
Arthur frowned at his father, the man never listened to him, but maybe, just once he'd be kind enough to help out. Arthur went into his pouch and pulled out the one flower he had. He just had to let Uther think that this was the only flower, to keep him there before he realized that Arthur was alone. He held it out to his father saying: "Gaius knows what to do with it. Put me in the stocks for a week – a month even, I don't care. Just make sure it gets to him."
Arthur even added in "I'm begging you." Just so his father would know just how much this meant to him. Uther took a hold of the flower almost gingerly, as if he were afraid it would break in his grasp. He walked out of the cell, just as the guards brought in another prisoner. Arthur stared at Merlin in surprised as he was thrown into the cell with him. He couldn't flat out ask if Merlin had gotten the second flower to Gaius in time, not in front of his father, but there was something in the way that Merlin refused to look him in the eye that made his gut twist with worry.
The door to the cell was shut and one of the guards handed Uther the second flower. Arthur watched with wide eyes of horror as his father crossed to the torch hanging from the wall across his cell.
"I knew immediately when you rode up alone that you had sent that boy with the Antidote to Gaius. We caught him a few hallways over," Uther said, casually watching as Merlin got up and came to Arthur's side. He waited until they were both watching to lift the flowers to the blaze.
"Father please don't do this!" Arthur cried, reaching a hand through the bars to him, pleading with his eyes for his father to just stop what he was doing, to think about Addison and how she didn't deserve to die like this and give the flower back to him or to Gaius.
"You have to learn there's a right and a wrong way of doing things," he said and then put them into the fire. Arthur and Merlin both cried out as they watched the fire catch to the flower, causing them to wither and blacken in front of their eyes. Uther dropped them both to the floor and stepped on them with the heel of his boot.
"I'll see you let out in a week. If you behave well I may even let you out so you can watch her body burn," he snarled and then left them there.
Both boys watched what was left of Addison's cure withered and died before each slumping off to a corner of a cell to sit down and mourn. Neither of them noticed that there was only one flower on the ground and not two.
Gwen had run off to try and intercept Arthur as soon as she heard he was back. Gaius was waiting for either the appearance of Merlin or Arthur since he heard the news but neither had arrived and Addison didn't look like she was getting much better. Her body was too tired to purge her anymore, there was nothing else that could be done without the cure. It didn't help that at some point in the night she had used magic to conjure something, Gaius didn't know what it was she had done, just that she had pulled up an image of herself before sending it somewhere. That alone had exhausted her reserve of magic and now there was nothing left to help her.
Gwen returned to the room breathless and looking disappointed. "She hasn't got much longer. Has Arthur got the flower? And where is Merlin? Does he have the flower?" Gaius asked her.
Gwen frowned and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Uther won't allow anyone to see them. He has them both locked in the dungeons. In the same cell and everything," she said. Addison groaned and coughed a bit, her raspy breathing returning. "Is there nothing we can do to help?"
"I'm afraid that only the leaf of the Mortaeus flower can save her now," Gaius said with a sad sigh.
Gwen began to pace. "Then we have to find out if either of them have it," she whispered. "I could sneak into the dungeon."
"That would be very dangerous," Gaius warned her.
Gwen shrugged that off. "I've got to," she said quickly. "Addison will die if I don't. And we both know she'd do even more for either of us."
Gaius nodded as Addison began gasping as if she couldn't breathe. "Be careful," he told her and then watched as she hurried right back out of his door.
He was alone with Addison and her gasps for air for only a minute before someone else came into the room. And boy was Gaius surprised to see him.
Arthur had a plan for when they returned and he slowed their pace only to tell Merlin the plan. So they split up before making it to Camelot. Arthur rode right to the front gate, allowing Merlin a distraction so he could go in after. Merlin had rode around to a different gate, a lower gate used mainly for the Servants. He left the horse tethered at a watering hole, promising to come back for him when he was done. Not that the horse seemed to care. Merlin stole into the castle, stealthily going through the hallways avoiding all the soldiers, making it almost to Gaius' before walking right into a wall of guards who were waiting for him and the flower.
Now he had failed Arthur and Addison. Addison was going to die because he hadn't been smart enough to see a trap before he walked into it.
Merlin was sitting with his knees up and his head in his hands when Arthur suddenly decided to sit down beside him. Merlin hadn't been able to look at him since he had been thrown into the cell, since Uther had set fire to the only thing that could save Addison. He felt horrible for failing them both, and he knew this guilt would live with him for the rest of time.
"I'd like to thank you for coming with me," Arthur said quietly. Merlin couldn't see how that was true. Arthur had trusted him as the backup plan, he knew his father wouldn't allow him to get the cure to Addison, Merlin was supposed to have gotten that cure to Addison. He had been the most important stage.
"But... I failed you," Merlin said, trying very hard not to cry. Any moment now Addison would be taking her last breaths and it was all Merlin's fault.
"No, you tried. You did more than anyone else would have. And I thank you for that."
He sighed and Merlin found himself sighing with him. After a moment's silence Arthur started talking again. "You asked me if I knew she could cast magic," he said. "And, yes, I did know."
"Is that why she's locked away in here?" Merlin wondered. Their voices had dropped and Merlin wondered if this would be when Arthur told him the truth about Addison and who she was.
Arthur nodded. "That's part of it," he replied. "Addison's not from around here. She's from somewhere very far away and magic was used to get her here and we don't know how. That spell that sent her to me left an effect on her it made her into a..."
"Cìob, yes I knew about that," Merlin replied.
Arthur nodded carefully before continuing. "She saved my life the day she met me and it took a while to convince my father that she meant no harm, that the magic that sent her here wasn't of her doing, that she had no magic what-so-ever. That everything had been an accident and not her fault. When he finally relented, he gave her to me as my ward, my responsibility and I swore to take care of her until I could return her home. I knew before all others that she was expelling magic, not because she wanted to but in high stress situations, without really thinking about it. I knew right away that it was a side-effect of the magic that had sent her here and I encouraged her to keep it hidden, to not try and master this effect because I thought it would be safe for her that way. Now it seems she's going to die even though I had the cure right there. Even though I did everything I could to protect her."
Merlin hung his head. "I really am sorry," he whispered.
It looked like Arthur might tell him more, like what this far away place Addison came from was named but he was interrupted by a familiar voice saying: "Food for the prisoners."
Merlin recognized that voice. That was Gwen. Gwen had been taking care of Addison with Gaius, did she have new or was she just looking for Addison's cure? After a few moments Gwen was there and both boys were standing. She handed both of them plates with expectant eyes waiting to see what they'd say.
"We don't have it," Merlin whispered to her.
"Please, find a way to bring her to me," Arthur added. "I need to see her one last time."
Gwen's face had paled with shock and disappointment. She glanced between both of them almost confused, as if she hoped that they were joking, that there was some way to fix this after all. She couldn't say anything to them but nodded.
"She's fading fast, but I'll try," she whispered and then ran off. Arthur and Merlin sat down with their plates and not two seconds later they heard someone else announce that they had food for the prisoners.
Well, at least they'd be getting two meals. Well Arthur was going to get two meals, turned out they completely forgot about feeding Merlin.
When Gwen returned to Gaius she was out of breath she had run all the way there after the guards had figured out she wasn't really there to feed the two boys.
"They don't have it Gaius!" she cried. "What are we going to do?"
Gaius had been standing over Addison. "I have something, it should help," he said. He looked flustered and out of sorts. Gwen was half suspicious of his actions but she just assumed he was upset because Addison was about to die and was about to try something quite drastic to save her. "Come here, hold her nose."
Gwen did as she was told and Gaius poured the liquid down. Together they urged her to swallow and even though she did, it had no change... except for one.
"She's stopped breathing," Gwen whispered. "What's happening?"
Gaius put his head to her chest and listened for a brief second. "Her heart has stopped."
"She's dead?" she whispered. "Arthur wanted to see her..."
"Arthur... who will tell Arthur it had happened? He will be distraught," Gaius agreed.
Gwen had started crying. "She was so kind," she sobbed. "She didn't deserve this."
Pitying her Gaius pulled her into his arms and held her. "We did everything we could," he whispered to her. "Addison would have known that."
A sudden groan echoed through the chambers and when Gaius and Gwen turned Addison had groggily opened her eyes and was staring at them. They stared at each other, Gaius and Gwen in shock and Addison in glaring indifference.
"I don't want to know," she moaned out and then rolled over.
Gwen cried out happily and forced her to roll back over. She hugged her friend tightly as Addison pat her back. "Thanks, but I'm going to go back to sleep now," she said. "I feel like I've eaten bad fish."
Gwen was crying still, this time with great happiness. "He'll be so happy you're alive."
It was then that Addison sat up a little straighter and said: "Wait I was dead? I thought I just had food poisoning. All I remember is wine and throwing up."
She didn't understand when both Gaius and Gwen broke out in laughter.
Arthur had fallen asleep with his back to the wall. It was a surprisingly deep sleep where he dreamt Addison came to him in the cell singing and had kissed him while Merlin slept along on the other side of the cell with the blankets and the hay. Gwen had never come back with Addison, but Arthur knew that there was no way that Addison could survive without the cure. He could only hope that he could see her body, to adorn it with the jewels befitting a queen before the burned her. A waste of jewels, he knew, but it was only fitting the person who had brought such joy to his life be adorned with gold and jewels to rival her own beauty.
When he woke the next morning something was heavy in his lap. His eyes opened to an alabaster face, Addison's alabaster face, her body wrapped in what he assumed was a shroud, her head in his lap. Arthur felt his body shaking. Was this what Gwen had done for him, put Addison's dying body in his lap so she could take her last breaths close to him? Or had she merely put the body in his cell so he could see her one last time.
His hands were trembling as they went to her face, to feel her smooth and creamy skin. She felt warm to the touch which surprised him, just as much as when he felt a soft exhale come from her lips. Addison was still breathing. Arthur gathered her up then, immediately pulling her up into his arms and crushing her to him. He pressed the tinniest of kisses to her corner of her mouth and then spilled his guts.
"You were the loveliest person I had ever met and I admired you greatly. I wanted nothing more than to woo you the way you deserved, I would have made you my queen without a second though. Addison, I fell for you the first time you punched me and I will not be able to live without you," he whispered to her.
And then Addison moaned. Her hands came out of the blankets and stretched out above her, her whole body elongating at she stretched. She yawned next and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before blinking them at Arthur sleepily.
"What are you prattling on about?" she asked him quietly. "I didn't quite get that I was still asleep."
Arthur stared at her as Addison sat up and stretched out all the kinks in her back. She was alive. And she hadn't heard his confession. Oh thank god.
"I thought you were dead," he whispered. "Dying, sorry, I thought you were dying."
"Oh, were you confessing an undying love to me then?" she asked and Arthur flamed. He had always thought that his emotions for her didn't run that deep but this… this had proven him wrong.
"Addison!" Merlin suddenly cried launching himself at her. Arthur hadn't even been aware that he was awake. Had he heard everything Arthur had said? Arthur would have to ask him about that later.
Addison pulled out of his hug and grasped Merlin's chin in her hand. "You have horrible taste in women!" she cried as she pinched his skin leaving big red marks from her fingers.
Arthur narrowed his eyes at her. "How did you know Kara was involved?"
Addison lay back down in his lap, a hand came up to rest on his cheek, moving down and trailing along his jaw as she stared up at him sleepily. He had a goofy grin on his face, he was just so happy she was alive. "I dreamed I was in a forest. There was Kara leading you into a trap, and Merlin got lost. I kept trying to warn you about her, I kept telling you to not trust her but you didn't listen. And Merlin, Merlin wandered around for ages before I finally got him to follow me."
Both boys exchanged glances. She was describing their experiences. Granted neither Merlin nor Arthur knew of the other's experiences, it still shocked them to hear her describe what they had witnessed as if it had all been some dream. Both wondered what she would say if she knew that she had in fact helped them while they were in the forest.
Their happy reunion was interrupted when Uther appeared at the cell door, the sound of the guards unlocking it for him jolting them all. Addison hadn't moved but Arthur put a protective arm over her as if to shield her from his father. Addison looked up at Uther, not bothering to get up but instead to stare at him from her position making him look upside down.
"While I'm surprised to see you have recovered I am not surprised to find you here with my son, acting improper once more," Uther drawled.
"But I'm in a cell. You can't be too mad at me if I'm contained right?" When Uther just glared at her she added: "I just thought he'd like to know I was okay, but he was asleep and I'm still sick right, so after a while I fell asleep too."
"Wrong. I can be plenty mad at you," Uther said, reaching down and grabbing her arm. Both he and Arthur helped her up and to get her to walk to the door.
From there Uther took her, holding her arm through the blanket she had draped around her like a long flowing cape and helped her hobble back to her cell. He was careful to go slow with her and when he got her to her cell, not only did he helped her to lie down and he even helped her get tucked in.
As he went to straighten Addison got a hold of his royal crest and held him there. "I heard you, you know," she whispered. "Tell no one I was here. Do what you have to do."
She was quoting him. Word for word. She really had heard him. Did she also know that he had dreamed of his wife and that she had screamed and cried and raged in his dream? That he was so afraid of disappointing her ghost that he had taken the cure to Gaius himself?
"I won't tell anyone," she whispered to him before settling down in her pillows.
Uther left her to sleep. He had already decided to tell his men to release Bayard. He planned to ask Arthur what the woman in the mountains had said to him. He was prepared to tell him the truth about everything, even planned to tell Arthur that he was proud of him even though he disobeyed him. He planned to lead it all with a lecture about magic. About how people who use magic only use it for ever. That they despise and seek to destroy goodness wherever they find it.
But whenever he looked at Addison he was reminded that maybe... just maybe... he might be wrong.