Out of Time
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Well this has been a wild ride. Sorry for the long wait. I had writer's block. I didn't like a single thing that I wrote. I just kept deleting it. Hey guys, almost to 150 reviews and that special reward for the one who writes it! So keep up the reviews! Also, only 10 (roughly) more chapters and we hit a cross roads… and you may be very mad at me. Guys… we're almost half way through my story arc! This is so exciting. Honestly I'm surprised I got this far! Thanks for sticking with me so long.
Thanks to: Jalayia2001 for being my 280th Follower; ForeverTeamEdward13 for being my 210th Favourite; Caution Highly Flammable for being my 290th Follower; rls66 for being my 220th Favourite.
Shoutouts: LittleJazzy37115, Jalayia2001, gingers for life, ForeverTeamEdward13, Aqua7Night, , Missymissy87, LadyAnnikki, Isabelnecessaryonabicycle, Padfootette, Kara Bennett, Caution Highly Flammable, Faithej, Lauren. , Azrael de Angelo, Midnightwofl15, BitterSweet256, Nicole Beverley234, Althea40, Hinaluv3r109, BrazilianGirl21, khamilton16, rls66, BornABurra, lily weasly potter, ameliemallete1, yoshimoriXsenXgen, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, and macwag5.
Chapter 30: Out of Protection
"I can explain," Addison declared in a very confident tone.
Arthur groaned inwardly. God, why couldn't she just shut up?
Uther glared down at Addison from where he was standing by his throne. She was definitely looking handsome in her deep green velvet dress, even though it was the same one she had been wearing when she had retired last night and it was covered in mud around the hem and hay all up the back. It had only been two weeks since Uther had moved her out of the dungeons and given her a place in his castle and so far she had done nothing but make him regret it.
Uther put his hands on his hips and snapped: "Oh, can you?"
Addison nodded gravely and then launched into her explanation as to how she ended up asleep in the stables when she should have been in her goddamn room where Arthur left her. The story was cockamamie and clearly a lie, Arthur didn't buy it at all, but he hoped his father did.
"You think I'm going to believe that you sleep-walked out of the castle without any of my guards noticing?" Uther growled.
Addison sighed. "Ugh, fine, I went out drinking and couldn't sneak back in," she admitted. Arthur knew that was a lie too because Addison didn't like to drink but Uther seemed to take her confession as truth. She lowered her eyes. "I won't do it again, I promise."
"There's been a lot of promising in this Great Hall," Uther growled crossing to his throne and easing himself into it. "I have yet to see you keep your word."
Addison gasped in outrage. "I take offence to that sir!"
"I am King, Addison, I don't care if I cause offence!" he shot back, but Addison had already swept up her skirts so she could stomp towards him without any hindrance. Arthur trailed after her, trying to get a hold of her before she did anything stupid, but he wasn't quick enough.
"Well I care! I do to keep my promises. I haven't had any magical life-saving outbursts in pure ages. And I stopped singing so early in the morning so you could get more sleep. AND I've been working really hard to be a real lady, words and all!" she bellowed. "So I do take offence to the not keeping your word jab, because I very much try to keep all my promises. Not my fault you make me promise things I can't keep."
Uther glared at her. "Are you done?" he snarled.
"Yes," she said quickly.
"Good, no more unchaperoned nights out," Uther said. It was odd that he was being this lenient but when Addison agreed Arthur learned why.
"Now that that's settled, I have a hankering for cookies. Can you make some?" he asked.
Addison tried to stifle her smile. She lowered her eyes and shook her head instead. "Yes, of course sire, I'll make you cookies."
"Oh good, we just got a shipment of chocolate, it's downstairs being chipped for you," Uther said and then waved her off. Addison dutifully curtsied to him before turning on heel and exiting the hall. Arthur trailed after her, as he was her chaperon after all.
"Where were you really?" he asked her as soon as they were out of the castle. Addison was already heading towards the kitchen she seemed confused by the question.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I know you weren't really out at the tavern drinking," he told her. "So where were you really?"
Addison paused briefly as she walked. "That's where I really was," she whispered. "I wasn't drinking though, I was singing… for money."
The problem was, when she told him that, she avoided his eyes and Arthur found himself frowning. He knew she didn't need an extra wage, now that she had her own money she had been trying to keep Uther and Arthur for paying for her necessities. Both men had been adamant to cover any costs, such as wardrobe and books. Though she did like singing, and it was entirely plausible that she just went to sing out of hours, he still felt like she was still lying to him. That she hadn't been to the tavern at all. But why was she still lying, why was she keeping secrets from him? And if she was, these secrets better not involve Merlin.
"Arthur!"
Well speak of the devil, there was Merlin now. Arthur turned to see Merlin rushing towards him with a stout looking woman beside him.
Arthur cocked an eyebrow and tried not to seethe. Because he had stopped, Addison had stopped walking as well. As soon as she saw Merlin she was smiling, as if he had called her instead of Arthur. As if she were happier to see him. When Merlin and his companion came closer he could see that the woman accompanying him was probably a peasant from an outer village, and she was sporting a nice blackened eye.
"Arthur, you have to help me get my mother an audience with the king," he pleaded. Arthur appraised the woman beside Merlin with new eyes. She had normal looking ears, plain brown hair and looked to be a hard worker. So evidently Merlin took after his father, whom, if he had to guess, wasn't around? Obviously not, seeing as the mother had come alone, what self-respecting man would let his wife travel alone?
"Oh, I can do that," Addison said, pushing past Arthur and offering the woman a hand to shake. "I'm Addison, Court Singer, I'm one of Merlin's friends."
"That's not your title," Arthur muttered but was ignored. As Addison led her away, he heard Merlin's mother introduce herself as Hunith. Arthur and Merlin merely followed after her.
Addison threw open the doors the Great Hall and pulled Hunith up to Uther. His father had only just managed to sit down on the throne and had been getting briefed on the affairs of the outer villages when she interrupted him.
"What is the meaning of this?" Uther snarled.
Hunith dropped into a deep curtsy while Addison just put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "This lady urgently needs to see you, and I would like you to do that now."
"You don't tell me who to see and who not to see! This is against every protocol…" Uther started, but Addison interrupted.
"I won't make cookies if you don't see her right this instant."
Uther glared at her. "I better have cookies by the time this meeting is done," Uther growled.
"I can't promise cookies but I can promise cookie dough!" Addison bargained.
Uther waved her away and then waved Arthur in. Arthur turned to watch Addison go, when she was certain Uther wasn't paying attention to her anymore, she blew him a quick kiss. Arthur subdued the smirk that was creeping up onto his face as he took his place standing beside Uther's throne. He then turned his undivided attention to Merlin's mother, ready to hear what it was she wanted his father to do.
It wasn't a completely unreasonable request. Hunith's village was being terrorized by some bandit. But Hunith's village—Ealdor—was on someone else's territory and Uther couldn't send his armies to deal with those bandits on someone else's land, it would be an act of war. Too bad her lord wouldn't do anything about it.
It was a horrible mess of affairs but there wasn't much Arthur could do about it.
Still he wasn't surprised when Merlin told him he was leaving indefinitely to help his mother deal with the bandit. Arthur was under the impression that Merlin would probably die standing up to him, so this was good-bye for good.
Arthur stood on the parapet watching Merlin and his mother ride off on horses Arthur let them have being followed by two merchants he didn't recognize. He felt bad. He wanted to help, but he had duties he could not ignore. A hand gripped his arm tightly and Arthur turned to the person who was hanging on to him.
The wind sweeping through Addison's long black hair made her look even more lovely than usual. If they hadn't been out in the open Arthur might have swept her up into a kiss. She handed him a cloth that was suspiciously warm and then turned to the view, she raised a hand to wave in case Merlin turned to see her, but he didn't and soon he and his mother had vanished on the forest path.
"Shame we couldn't go with him," she whispered. "He's gonna get his ass handed to him."
Arthur silently agreed. He unwrapped the bundle of cloth and found that she had wrapped up at least 5 freshly baked cookies for him. Arthur immediately put one into his mouth savoring the gooey sweetness.
"That's all that's left so don't inhale them," she told him and Arthur turned to her with a glare on his face. She usually saved the most for him. She didn't even bother to look perturbed. She simply went about explaining what she had done. "Most went to your father. I saved small batches for other people like Gaius and Morgana and then rest went to Merlin and his Mother for the trip back."
"You should have given them bread and cheese, not cookies," he grumbled, but Addison didn't care. She linked her arm with his and dropped her head on his shoulder. It was a soft moment but anyone could have spied them up there on the parapet.
"He's not coming back, is he?" she asked sorrowfully.
"Probably not, Addison," Arthur replied, not really wanting to think about it. He slowly jostled Addison's head. "Before someone sees," he hissed and she lifted her head from his person. And almost immediately his body mourned the absence.
"Well, at least they won't be lonely. Morgana and Gwen will keep them company," she said after a long sorrowful sigh. She let him go, only to head back to the safety of the castle, and as she went her hand stayed firmly planted on the stone fencing before her.
Arthur nodded in agreement, going to follow after her. Concern crossed his face as he digested her words. "Wait… what?"
Merlin sat by the fire, his mother crouched beside him, Morgana and Gwen were already tucked into the bed rolls fast asleep. Hunith was scowling at her son.
"They shouldn't be here, especially the Lady Morgana. Isn't she the king's ward?" she scolded.
"Not that you'd know it, she's the only one that isn't frightened of him," Merlin whispered. But that wasn't true, for the most part Addison was pretty fearless in regards to most things, Uther included, but he didn't want to talk about Addison now. Not when he didn't know how to explain Addison's strangeness to his mother.
His mother thought about this a minute before saying: "It won't make any difference to Kanen that they're women."
"I know, but I couldn't talk them out of coming."
And that was true. He had merely stopped by at Gwen's to say goodbye and to "borrow" another sword from her. She had happily obliged and then Morgana burst in and stated she and Gwen were coming and that was that. Even though Merlin did argue and try to put a foot down both girls wouldn't take no for an answer. Morgana was Royal and head strong, there would be no dissuading her, and Gwen went wherever Morgana went, so really, what was there to do?
Merlin raised a single hesitant finger to his mother's bruised eye. "I'll make him pay for what he did to you," he swore.
"Promise you'll be careful! No one can find out about you," his mother urged.
"They won't, they never do."
Merlin went into his bag and pulled out the bundle of cookies Addison had shoved into his arms when he came to the kitchen to tell her he was leaving. He began munching on one which earned him a smack from his mother.
"You've eaten too many sweets today," she chided.
Merlin smiled. "Can't help it, everything Addison makes is so good!"
She smiled back at him and pressed a soft kiss to his temple. "Get some rest," she whispered to him. She went to her own bed roll and watched him with a loving smile on her face as he bewitched the embers to look like a dragon. She closed her eyes and went to sleep. Her mind full of worry.
Later that night when the fire had died down and Merlin was fitfully attempting to sleep on the hard forest floor when the sound of hoof beats echoed through the night. Luckily Merlin was still awake, only because he was so used to the pallet he had as a bed that he could no longer rough it outdoors. He sprang into action, taking time to disentangle himself from his blankets and pulling out the sword that had been leant to him by Gwen. He rushed off away from the camp to draw away the enemy, or to head them off.
He stumbled through the leaves and the mist, certain someone was out there but he couldn't find them. Suddenly he felt the tip of a blade touch his back. He held his breath gathering up his magic to attack, until….
"I'd ask you for money, but I know you don't have any."
Merlin immediately smiled. "Arthur!" he cried whirling around, completely forgetting that he had a sword in one hand. If Arthur hadn't ducked, and forced Addison to duck with him they both would have been decapitated.
Arthur was in full battle gear, while Addison was wearing a deep blue dress with her simple brown cloak wrapped around her. Unfortunately, Arthur had pushed Addison down so hard that she literally just collapsed to the floor.
"Oh, Oh, Addison," he said bending down to pick her up. "God, see, this is why I told you to stay back."
Addison popped up from the ground and immediately went in to hug Merlin. "I'm super glad to see you," she said but when she withdrew from the hug, she punched his shoulder. "Be more careful with the sword, that's the second time you nearly got me with one of those."
Arthur shook his head. "Just put it away, you look ridiculous," he snapped and then straightened and glared at Addison. "Wait, when was the first time?"
Addison gave him a wide eyes stare for all of three seconds before she started to blink rapidly. "First time what?" Addison asked walking around Merlin in the direction of the camp.
"The first time he nearly got you with a sword," Arthur asked following after her.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Addison cried picking up her pace. Merlin smiled as the two continued to bicker through the dark, he was just grateful they were there.
They reached Ealdor by mid-morning to find that Kanen had returned with his men and were basically going around looting the village. The Villagers had tried to hide their grain and stores so they'd have something to live on in the upcoming winter months but Kanen's men had found the hidden store and was in the process of lecturing the people around him.
Arthur had their group crouched by one of the outer huts planning a move when Addison gripped Merlin's jacket.
"I've got a plan, keep Arthur here," she whispered into his hear
"Wait, what?" Merlin whispered back except Addison was already around the back of the hut and gone.
Arthur was watching the scene unfold, one poor villager looked like he was about to get, as Addison would put it, his ass handed to him. He'd have to intervene soon.
The man in charge, covered scars, with a weird side beard braid, wielding a battle axe was obviously Kanen. And he was about to chop this poor villager in two. Except something had distracted him. A woman in a deep blue dress was walking towards the commotion, calmly, almost with a skip in her step. Arthur recognized her immediately. He whirled around to where he had left her, safely at the rear of the group only to find that she was in fact gone, which mean that the bloody idiot was happily skipping to her death.
Arthur whirled around, ready to go after her, but Merlin tugged him down. "Wait, she has a plan."
Arthur didn't want to know what plan, but she was also so far out of reach that he wouldn't be able to block any attack that came at her so he was going to have to hope that whatever plan she had was a good one.
Addison had made it to the leader by the time Arthur had been made aware of what she had done. She had a smile on her face and her hands clasped politely behind her back and she rocked back and forth on her toes.
"Oh Hello," she said to him, watching as he carefully lowered the axe. "I'm just a lowly songstress travelling on a pilgrimage to… York?... yeah York. I seem to have gotten myself a tad bit lost. Do you know where I am?"
Kanen dropped the axe entirely to stare at her as Addison obliviously stared up at him. He was appraising her, his eyes traveling up and down the length of her body. The smirk on his face told Arthur all he needed to know about what Kanen was thinking of doing to her.
When he had been silent for too long, in fact the whole village was silent just staring at her, Addison continued. "Well, it would help if I knew where I was. Grandmother always said you can't tell where you've been or where you're going if you don't know where you are. So if you could just tell me where I am, or point me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated."
Kanen lifted his battle axe up and pointed it to her face. Addison immediately took a half step back and put her hands up in surrender. "Whoa. Easy there buddy. Clearly there's been a miscommunication here. Do you sprekken ze English?"
Kanen blinked his eyes at her. "What language was that?"
"Oh great, you do speak English. For a minute there I thought I ended up in Sweden again," she said with a laugh. "Let me try this again. DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE?!"
Addison had screamed that last sentence at him and miraculously Kanen dropped his axe again. He laughed at her and Addison awkwardly laughed along, which got his men laughing too. "You, I think I'll take back to camp. Have some fun with you."
Addison blinked her eyes. "Uh, yeah, no. Sorry. I'm on a tight schedule, and really, I'm not that much fun, so I think I'm going to just continue on my pilgrimage to Yo… Lon… oh wherever the hell I'm going," she said turning around.
Kanen grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. Merlin was practically on top of Arthur trying to keep him from rushing to Addison's aid. "No, you won't be going anywhere, pretty little songstress. We're going to see how loud we can make you scream."
Addison's smile had changed. It was a dangerous toothy smile, a dark smirk dancing across her features. "I wouldn't suggest doing that," she warned him. "I'll be forced to take drastic measures and then you'll be sorely embarrassed."
Kanen just laughed at her. Addison shrugged. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."
She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and danced out of reach. As she did so she sang out three notes and suddenly all of his men, the four of them that were with him at that moment went rigid. And then Addison was singing.
Don't think about it. Just move your body. Listen to the music, sing: Oh, eh, oh. Just move those left feet go ahead get crazy anyone can do it. Sing: oh, eh, oh!
As she sang his four men began to dance, all coordinated moves as if they had been practicing for months. Kanen was eyeing her in horror as she pointed to each man to get them to sing with her in discordant off key notes. Addison was twirling around, the hay beginning to swirl around her feet, a wind rattling doors and windows around the area where they were.
But I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah. Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah. And we can do this together, I be you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah!"
They were all released from the dancing, after ending in a big finish all striking a pose. And once they were free they all stared at her in horror.
Addison smiled brightly at them. "Shall we go for the next chorus?" she asked them and they all scrambled to get away from her.
Addison turned her back on Kanen to wave them off. "Well, alright! Thanks for all your help and hope to see you at one of my concerts soon!"
She failed to notice Kanen coming toward her, axe wielded above his head ready to strike what would be a death blow to her. Arthur finally threw off Merlin and ran forward, his sword unsheathed and raised. With a mighty clang he blocked the axe from finding purchase in her back and Addison whirled around. She took in the scene and frowned putting her hands on her hips.
"Now that isn't very nice!" she cried.
Gwen, Morgana and Merlin came out from their hiding places to back Arthur. The village people enclosed around him and Kanen, seeing that he was outnumber fled.
As soon as he was gone the village people began to whisper. Words just as witch and magic stuck out, which was what Arthur had wanted to avoid. Well wasn't this just starting out lovely.
Arthur turned to Merlin and immediately went about ordering him around. "I need you to gather all villagers so I can talk to them."
As he looked around, he realized that maybe Arthur was a little bit out of his league here. For really, what was he going to do with three girls a useless servant and a bunch of farming villagers half-starved and already terrified? Well Arthur was just going to have to work them hard.