Out of Time
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: And here we go! Another chapter ready to go. I hope you guys like the Arthur and Addison fluff I put into this chapter. I'm going to try to get another new one up in the next week or so. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I still wanna know what all of you guys are thinking!
Thanks to Bite-me-damn-it for being my 200th follower!
Shoutouts: Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, Cordapia, PrincessOfTheUniverse001, serena83, animexchick, tffnykzks, and Bite-me-damn-it.
Chapter 22: Out of Instinct
Almost immediately after her return Addison contracted an illness that she called a cold. By all her accounts this was nothing but a minor sickness but Arthur was certain that this illness was going to kill her as it killed many of his citizens if they were too weak to hold on. The damp environment she had been subjected too and the stress she had endured forcing herself to reach Camelot, in one day's travel by foot… with little to no money, had been too much for her and so on the morning after her return she was dropped into Gaius' care with a fever, a ragged cough from inhaling smoke and hands that had gotten infected from splinters.
Gauis had healed the infected hands, soothed the smoke charred cough, but the fever had persisted. Arthur visited her frequently, bringing sweets, piles upon piles of blankets and books for Addison to read, ones that were new and Merlin had no idea where Arthur was getting them. On top of that, Merlin found that it was fun having Addison staying with them. They had many a long night chats.
She told him about her world, with giant machines for flying, and huge metal boats for war or luxury. She told him about cars, like a horse and cart but could move without the horse, and phones for talking to someone miles away, and a machine with a net that had the answers to everything, except, much like the dragon, you have to be careful to find the right answer and often had to wade through misinformation to find it. She talked about music most of it garbage but fun to sing and dance to. She showed him a disk, flat, metallic and rectangular, that she called a pod, she had little wires coming out of it, one for each ear and inside it, were songs from her time, nestled in what Merlin thought might be seeds. He had relayed this to her and she just laughed and said sure and then let him listen to a few songs that weren't his thing.
In return Merlin taught her incantations, helped her practice her elemental summoning, in two days she had the fire control issue she had been having was under control, and helped her realize that she had some sway over people's decisions. She called it mind control and Merlin had not found a spell for that, but Addison had the ability to do so... so long as she was singing.
But after a week, Addison was only starting to feel only a marginally bit better. And Arthur had dragged Merlin out hunting for stew, in particularly rabbit stew as it was Addison's favourite.
Arthur had been slinking through the underbrush silently, cross bow in hand, his eye on something moving along slowly through the forest.
Merlin crashed after him, running right into Arthur when he stopped, the catch of the day smacking into the prince and nearly toppling him over. There was a strange noise out in the distance and Merlin wanted to stay close to in case it was something that could gore him.
"What is it?" he whispered while Arthur glared at him.
Arthur had been rather resentful of Merlin, and how he spent so much time with Addison over the last couple of days while Arthur had been busy doing princely things. Plus he hadn't been able to take her out of the castle walls for their own special alone time. Merlin had begun to think that Addison and Arthur had a bit of something going on, but he didn't voice that opinion to anyone lest he get Addison in trouble with Uther.
Arthur, who was on his last nerve with Merlin as the twit had been stealing all of his precious alone time with Addison, rounded on him with a dangerous growl on his face. "You really are a total buffoon, aren't you Merlin?" he snapped.
"I was just asking," Merlin said with a straight face, as if he didn't know why Arthur could possibly be mad at him over that question.
"Who?" Arthur thundered. "Me or the deer? We are supposed to be hunting. It requires speed, stealth and an agile mind."
He had reached over and slapped Merlin on the forehead to prove his point that Merlin had no brain. Merlin, who was tired of Arthur's moodiness with him over something so trivial, especially since it was clear as day that Addison only had eyes for the Prince anyway, shot back with a very snarky reply of: "So you're able to get by on two out of three then?"
That could have been the start of a very violent altercation between the two of them, but a scream stopped Arthur from reacting.
"What was that?" Merlin whispered.
"Quiet," Arthur snapped back.
A cry for help echoed through the forest and Arthur paused only to grab his sword from Merlin before taking off, running to the rescue of what sounded to be a damsel in distress.
And a distressed damsel she was. Arthur found an older man, on the ground, beset by villainous thieves trying to steal their money. The woman was flanked by three men, two trying to hold her still, the other trying to wrestle her purse from her. The one with the sword swinging in the direction of the old man on the ground received an arrow to the back.
Arthur had no time to reload so he threw the weapon to the ground and drew out his sword. He parried with the two men that came at him, elbowing one in the back as he blocked a blow from another. That man got a blow to the nose to knock him down.
The first man got back up and began fighting again, while the second came from behind. Arthur didn't know how it happened but a giant branch broke from above and crushed the man coming from behind and that allowed him to drive his sword through the middle of his last attacker.
Only one thief was left standing but upon seeing his comrades had fallen at Arthur's hand he chose to flee. He glanced up from where the branch broke, noting that while it looked splintered it didn't quite look right, maybe some animal had been sitting on it and knocked it off.
"Stroke of luck," he whispered to himself as he went to help the two people he had just rescued.
From behind him Merlin shouted: "And let that be a lesson to you!" to the retreating back of the man sprinting through the forest to get away from Arthur.
Arthur shot Merlin a cocky grin and the young servant just shrugged and asked: "What?" as if it were completely normal for him to shout Arthur's cat-calls for him. "I was covering your back."
Arthur ignored him and continued towards the pair. The woman was in a silky golden yellow robe, he had a feeling she might be pretty but he hadn't seen her face yet. But when he asked: "Are you all right? They didn't hurt you?" she turned and he could see what she looked like.
She had a fair face, ovaline with creamy smooth skin and dark soulful brown eyes. He could see that she had dark hair, probably curly, probably gloriously long. The kind of hair you could twist around your hand. Hair like Addison's except with more brown.
She smiled flirtatiously at him and while Arthur smiled he was really only think of Addison now. And wondering when he'd get to run his fingers through her hair with abandon. He completely missed her say: "No, thanks to you."
Arthur could only stare at her a bit, in what she probably assumed was a wanton stare at her beauty since she had now lowered her hood. She blushed and averted her gaze from his eyes and he figured he'd let her think he was staring at her, why not, she was beautiful.
"My name is Sophia, this is my father," she whispered by way of introduction.
"Arthur Pendragon," he replied. "At your service."
For added measure he took her hand and kissed it softly, already a plan to give Addison a dose of her own medicine forming in his mind. Arthur didn't notice the weirdly smug look on Sophia's face but Merlin did and it worried him. But Arthur didn't listen to any of Merlin's whispered worryings. Instead her took Sophia and her father to back to Camelot.
Uther allowed Sophia and her father Aulfric to stay with them, break from their journey to join family in Caerleon. Arthur seemed somewhat pleased with this, mainly because it was a new pretty face to flirt with, one that didn't know all the moves in his playbook and because he could definitely implement his plan now.
Once court had been dismissed Arthur returned to his rooms with Merlin following him. "Make sure you put her in a decent room," Arthur insisted.
He didn't notice Merlin's smirk. "The one next door is empty."
"The one next door's fine, excellent in fact," he said as he stripped free of his hunting leather vest. He glanced at Merlin and saw that smirk and he frowned. "Shut up,
Merlin."
"That's not fair," a small voice said from inside the cupboard. The door swung open and Addison, with one of Arthur's shirts on her head, was revealed. She was wearing her sick clothes. A white, but very thick winter dress meant to keep her warm. It was free of any adorning's, was long sleeved and apparently frequently used during the winter months when Addison caught the most illnesses.
"He didn't say anything," she said stepping down from cupboard with one wobbly step. Arthur surged forward to help steady her, but she steadied herself and Arthur found himself stepping back. "Who are you putting into the next room?"
Arthur originally had some comment about how his intentions towards Sophia were honorable and not worthy of the eyebrow wagging Merlin had been giving him but now with Addison in the room he didn't want to mention that he had brought a girl into the castle and wanted her in the room next to his.
"The Lady Sophia, Arthur rescued her this morning, very pretty, very interested in Arthur," Merlin answered and Arthur wished he could smack some sense into the boy.
Addison pinned Arthur with a questioning stare that was tinged with a bit of hurt and Arthur begrudgingly said: "Put her in a room on the other side of the castle."
"Oh, don't move her for my sake," Addison said waving him off, she coughed a little trying to stifle it behind her hand. She moved closer to where Merlin was standing, mainly because she was eyeing a chair to sit down in. "I don't care where you put her."
"I'm not moving her for you," Arthur snapped. "I just don't want her getting the wrong idea. Beside it'll be warmer and more comfortable and I should care about the well-being of our guests."
Addison nodded, flopping down into a chair, a flush on her pale cheeks. "Well, if you're intentions are honorable and you have no interest in her what is the problem with her staying next door?" Addison asked in an innocent manner.
Arthur stared at her, not sure if this was a test or not. He didn't want to hurt her feelings but she was right, he harboured no real interest in the girl other to make Addison jealous and it didn't seem to be working. So much for having a plan
"You're right," Arthur said with a smirk, which caused her face to darken. He then turned to Merlin and ordered: "Put her in the room next to mine."
Merlin bowed and ran off to do just that leaving Arthur and Addison alone in weeks. Addison looked very tired. Arthur moved to her side and put a hand to her head, she was burning up.
"Oh, you idiot, you've made yourself worse," he whispered. "Why ever did you leave Gaius' chambers?"
Addison looked up, her eyes cloudy with fever, but she smiled softly up at him. "I missed you," she whispered and Arthur's heart melted.
Good god why was he trying to make this girl jealous? This poor sick little girl who missed him and wanted to spend time with him alone so badly that she had left the comfort of her sickbed to come see him. She had hidden herself in his cupboard so she wouldn't be found because, sure the guards could come in and search the place, but without his permission they couldn't go through his things.
Arthur squatted down and scooped her up in his arms before she could argue, within seconds she had her legs over one of his arms and his head against the opposite shoulder. He could feel her fever burning through his tunic and that was why her attempts to get away from him were weak and futile.
Though that might have been because she wanted to be in his arms.
Addison merely attempted to get to her feet tugging at her skirt, it took him a while to figure out why. Her feet were bare.
"Addison?! Where are your shoes?" he cried.
Addison flopped back against his shoulder with a groan. "Gaius took my shoes," she replied, already her voice was starting to get thick. Arthur knew that sound, wandering around a drafty castle with no shoes had made her worse. "He thought if he took them I wouldn't run off."
"You left anyway? Without shoes?" He whispered to her. He had walked to his bed, sitting down and cradling her to him. He dropped her feet and used the spare hand he had now to wrap her cold feet up in his blankets and up into her lap to try and warm her up.
Addison nuzzled a bit into his neck as she replied with a soft and airy: "I missed you."
"Oh you stupid girl," he whispered into her hair, he pressed a soft kiss to her temple wanting nothing more than to kiss her fully but she was too ill to do that. If he were to get sick, catch her cold, his father would be suspicious.
He knew he should have been taking her back to Gaius but with her fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt he found he couldn't move. Addison's breathing had leveled out, indicating that she had fallen asleep and he felt as if he couldn't move now, nor did he want to.
He'd give her a few minutes to rest with him, so he could at least get a few minutes of holding her to tide him over until she was well again to go outside the castle walls. He'd bring her to Gaius when he was ready.
Morgana fairly sprinted to Gaius's chambers after spotting that girl. The one from her recent set of nightmares, where she saw Arthur drowning and this girl above him smiling as he sank down into the depths of the water. Except she had never seen someone from her nightmares before, not in the sense of she had dreamt a new face and then next day that face was on a visitor to the castle.
She got to Gaius's chambers and took a few breaths to calm herself down and make her look less like a raving lunatic. She meant to ask him for help, and maybe talk to Addison who had always been a wonderful dream interpreter for her. Neither of them had ever judged her for her dreams or made her feel like a freak for having them
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," she said as she pushed the door open.
Gaius who had been fiddling with a potion turned to her immediately with a warm smile. As she came towards him he enveloped the girl in a hug, as if sensing that she was troubled about something. "Nonsense, my child. My favourite patient is always welcome."
He caught Morgana staring at his work table and he sighed. "Sorry about the mess. Most of it's Merlin's. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have tidied up in here."
Morgana shook her head. "It's not that. It's just your bench… is on fire…" she told him.
Gaius laughed. "My bench is on fire..." he echoed. "What do you mean…?"
He turned and sure enough his bench was on fire. "My bench is on fire!" he cried scrambling to try and put it out before he lost all his notes and equipment.
He used tongs to pick up the source of the flames and Morgana rushed off, returning with a bowl of water. Really it was a dish that Merlin was supposed to have washed but instead had left it to soak.
"Here!" she said and Gaius dropped it in with a satisfying hiss.
Gaius shook his head at her. "You're always getting me into trouble," he said, mostly jokingly of course. With the fire out he turned back to her. "What bring you to this dark corner?"
Morgana thought a bit before saying this. She knew that Addison wasn't here, Addison would have died laughing at this whole fire incident, which meant she had run off probably to find Arthur. She didn't like admitting her dreams, because Gaius was so close with Uther but she didn't know who else to talk to.
"I had another dream," she admitted.
Gaius needed nothing else. "I see," he replied darkly.
Morgana felt the need to elaborate. "I saw Arthur lying underwater, drowning. And there was a woman, standing over him, watching him die. And now she's here. In Camelot."
Gaius took this in then said: "The mind plays tricks. It borrows from everyday life and plays out its own fantasies."
"But I had this dream before she came to Camelot," she tried to explain. Addison would have got this by now. Gaius always tried to dismiss her dreams.
"Then you must be mistaken," Gaius urged.
"No, I know what I saw," Morgana replied. "It was so real. So vivid. He's going to die, Gaius. She's going to kill him."
Gaius put his hands to her shoulder, a motion meant to reassure her. "These are just dreams Morgana, nothing more. Are you taking the sleeping draught I made up for you?"
Morgana shook her head. "No, it doesn't help," she replied. Which was true, she dreamt the same and felt fuzzy in the morning.
"Here," he said, moving off towards another work bench. He picked up a small vile and handed it to her. "It will induce a deeper sleep."
When she only stared at the bottle in her hand for a while Gaius added: "You've nothing to fear."
Even though she felt as if the old man hadn't listened she knew that he had her best interests at heart. "Thank you Gaius," she whispered. Even though she really wished he had done more to soothe her fears.
Before she left Gaius called out for her, pausing her at the door. "Don't bother Uther about this," he requested. "No need to worry him."
She nodded and left leaving Gaius to contemplate what he had just been told. Not long mind you, not ten minutes later Arthur showed up with a sicker Addison then Gaius had had this morning. He assured the prince that taking her shoes had been meant as a precautionary measure and that it never occurred to him that the sick girl would wander around a drafty stone castle barefoot.
Now not only did he have to worry about Morgana's dreams but he had to nurse Addison back to health again. HE was starting to think she was making herself sick so she wouldn't have to return to her cell.
That night, Aulfric made his way to the forest to where a lone man was waiting for him. The same one that had led the pack of men to attack Aulfric and his daughter that morning. The only one of them to survive Arthur.
Aulfric with staff in hand stared at him as the man got up and unsheathed his sword. Auflric scoffed at him. "You can dispense with the pleasantries. Your payment," he snapped holding out a bag of gold for him.
The man glared at him. "I want more. My friend's are dead because of you," he growled.
Aulfric lowered the hand with the gold. "Yes. Such a dreadful waste of a life. If it's any consolation, you'll see them again soon."
The man stared at him perplexed until Aulfric pointed his staff at him and shouted an incantation, then that look turned into fear. Aulfric's eyes went red as stream of blue energy shot from the staff and hit the man. He screamed but there was nothing he could do, in a few minutes all that was left was a pile of ash.
Across the forest, in the Camelot's lower quarters, Addison bolted up in bed screaming "Sidhe!" on the top of her lungs. Gaius and Merlin, who had been sitting with her as the newest swell of fever worked it's course through her body ignored it as the ramblings of a sick girl and by morning had completely forgot it had happened at all.