Out of Time
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Hello my wonderful readers! So we have something new going on for this episode. I don't actually have a reason to change around the second last episode, and since I don't, I was going to skip it, but then you guys would be short changed a chapter or two, and that made me feel bad. So, because I won't be writing anything for the next episode, I will be putting these little bonus chapters up instead. The next two chapters are a rewritten version of the Poisoned Chalice episode (AKA chapters 14-16) where instead of Addison being poisoned, it's Merlin. So basically, it's what would have happened if I went with the other version of events. For this chapter, I have the end of Chapter 14 where things actually start to change and the rest of chapter 15. I wrote these a very long time ago, so they're all ready to go. This little break will give me time to perfect what's coming up in the next couple of chapters, and I hope you guys can forgive me for the major event that's coming up because it will not be a good thing. I'm always interested in what you guys have to say, so don't forget to review and I'll see you guys next Thursday.
Shoutouts: ForeverTeamEdward13, Nicole Beverley234, Guest, Like-a-Slasher-Film, Padfootette, Emily7269, Mercidexister, Yessi-love1619, and Rochiii37.
Out of Order: Rewritten #1
God this was boring. Arthur had been standing for at least ten minutes now waiting for the toasts to be done so he could drink from his brand-new shiny goblet and sit down to eat. A goblet he couldn't care less about. A goblet he would probably end up giving to Addison so she could hold more trinkets in it, like rings or something. This had been going on forever.
And just when he was about to drink and end his misery Merlin came sprinting in shouting about poison and snatched the goblet right out of his hand.
"Merlin, what are you doing?" Arthur cried.
"Bayard has laced Arthur's goblet with poison!" Merlin announced to the whole room. A gasp of shock and outrage erupted from the party goers on both sides.
Bayard shouted: "This is an outrage!" and drew his sword and then everyone was doing so.
Uther held firm control over this situation though. "Order your men to put down their swords. You're outnumbered." And yes they were, as a group of soldiers came rushing into the room.
Though Bayard didn't issue that order or put his own sword down he said: "I will not allow this insult go unchallenged!"
Arthur's lip curled, goddamn it he was going to have to fight a duel for Merlin. God if Addison were here to see this she'd be laughing so hard and demanded that the fight to mix up the color purple to start then and there and then Arthur would no doubt have to run Bayard through before he could get to Merlin. Damn Merlin was lucky that Addison was so fond of him otherwise Arthur would just let the idiot die.
"On what grounds do you base this accusation?" Uther asked. Good question, where did Merlin get his information? Unless he was drunk again. Goddamn it! Was that idiot drunk?
"I'll handle this," Arthur said before Merlin could say anything. He rounded the table and stalked towards the stupid boy. "Merlin, you idiot, we've been at the sloe gin again?"
He was trying to drag the idiot to the safety of a hallway to let him loose to be drunk and merry. Maybe he'd even send him down to Addison, see if she was feeling well and then bloody well lock him in her cell. Okay, not her cell, no he didn't want Merlin spending the night with Addison, but he would be going into a cell, a cell far away from Addison's. Very far away. You know what, Arthur would just put him in the stocks over night, that would solve this problem and sober the idiot up.
Uther had other plans. He halted them before Arthur could get them to safety. "Unless you want to be strung up, you'll tell me why you think it's poisoned now," he ordered.
Merlin nodded. "He was seen lacing it."
"By whom?" Uther asked.
"I can't say," Merlin whispered after some hesitation. Oh great, either Merlin was being an idiot or he was protecting someone. If it wasn't an extremely beautiful girl Arthur was going to whip him.
Bayard was far from pleased. "I won't listen to this anymore!"
Now Uther was on the move. He strolled leisurely around the table. "Pass me the goblet," he ordered and Arthur took it from Merlin and handed it to his father.
His father then took the goblet to Bayard. "If you're telling the truth..."
"I am!" Bayard interrupted. A brave feat seeing as the only one who ever interrupted Uther was Arthur... and well Addison did sometimes too but only because she hadn't gotten used to the whole never-interrupt-the-King rule.
"Then you have nothing to fear, do you?" Uther taunted. Bayard knew immediately what that meant. He sheathed his sword and put his hand out for the goblet but Uther suddenly had second thoughts.
"No, if this does prove to be poisoned, I want the pleasure of killing you myself," he said which caused Bayard to scoff. He was trying to remain brave but it was obvious that he was afraid. Uther turned back to Merlin and held out the cup. "He'll drink it!"
Arthur was suddenly flabbergasted. What the hell? Yeah he didn't like the kid, yeah he wanted him away from Addison, yeah he joked about killing him but he wasn't serious about it. He was just getting Merlin trained, it would take a while to find someone as entertaining as Merlin to be his servant. He didn't want the kid to die over him either that was just... unfair.
"But if it is poisoned, he'll die!" he argued. Oh god this couldn't happen, he couldn't tell Addison that Merlin died because Arthur's cup was poisoned. She'd never let it go.
Uther didn't seem to care about that though. "Then we'll know he was telling the truth," he snapped.
"And what if he lives?" Bayard asked.
"Then you have my apologies, and you can do with him as you will," Uther said casually as if Merlin's life meant nothing to him.
Arthur rolled his eyes. Oh... good... god... god damn it either way Merlin was going to die! What the hell was he going to do?
Gaius was the one to speak up this time. "Uther please, he's just a boy, he doesn't know what he's saying," he argued. Oh good! Yes! Gaius was his father's most trusted EVERYTHING he'd listen to Gaius surely!
"Then you should have schooled him better," Uther growled. Okay, so Gaius had struck out, his father was just in too much of a mood to see reason. So, what was Arthur going to do now?
Arthur was about to fucking lose it. "Merlin apologize! This is all just a mistake!" he cried. He turned, ready to say that he'd drink it and try to snatch the cup out of Merlin's hand only to spot Addison standing beside Uther and then paused because he hadn't been expecting that.
Uther spotted Arthur's bewildered stare and turned to where Addison was standing, arms folded over her chest staring at Merlin with an appraising glare. Uther nearly jumped out of his skin. "What? When did you get here?"
"Couple of minutes ago," she said softly. Ah so that was why the guards had come rushing into the banquet hall, they had been chasing after Addison. She then pointed to Merlin. "So is the cup poisoned?"
"We don't know we're going to have Merlin check," Uther snapped. Arthur gave Addison a pained look to say that he didn't actually want this to happen; that he had been trying to avoid this but Addison merely turned away and raised her hand.
Long ago she had taught Uther and Arthur that a raised hand meant someone wished to ask a question and it was a polite way of making that known. Uther rolled his eyes and turned to her. "What is it?"
"Well, instead of endangering lives, why don't we just dump the drink into a vase of flowers? If it's poison, they'll die or burst into flames or something," she offered.
Arthur nodded happily. "Yes, that's a good plan, I like that plan!"
Uther opened his mouth tell them that they wouldn't be doing that, even if it meant that they'd be saving Merlin's life. And to Arthur's horror, Merlin hadn't even waited for the King to tell him that he didn't agree to the plan, he put the cup to his lips and began to drink. Everyone watched expectantly, waiting for him to finish. And when he did finish, they all stood there waiting for a reaction but after a while Merlin was left with a sheepish look on his face.
"It's fine," he mumbled and Arthur and Addison let out a collative sigh of relief.
Uther waved his hand dismissively. "Take him," he said. He then turned to Addison no doubt to say something about how she was to go straight back to her cell and he'd deal with the Merlin situation but Merlin was suddenly gasping.
They all watched as his hands went to his throat, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. It took less than four seconds for him to collapse. Uther ordered Bayard and his men to be arrested as Addison, Arthur, Gaius and Gwen all crowded around Merlin to see if he was alright.
Not long after he collapsed, Gaius ordered Merlin to be taken down to his chambers. Arthur had swung him over his shoulder, Addison was making sure he was still breathing, Gaius was mentally going over all the poisons in his mind that he knew cures to hoping that it was one of those and he could save Merlin while Gwen trailed after, the poisoned goblet in her hand.
The trail of people burst into Gaius' chambers with Arthur in the lead. Gaius was barking orders at them—lay him on the bed, get water and towels, for the love of God Addison stop doing whatever it is you're doing. Addison had been hovering over Merlin's face, she had her fingers under her chin and her hand on the crown of his head forcing the poor boy's head back.
Addison shot a glare at Gaius. "I may not be a health care professional but I know enough about CPR to know that he needs his airway open if he's having trouble breathing," she snapped.
Silence fell on the small room as they turned to look at her mainly because she was using words none of them had ever heard before and she wasn't sassing, she was being unnecessarily angry which was unusual for her. Arthur appraised Gaius who was just staring at her with a raised eyebrow. He didn't want to admit it but it very much looked like Gaius had realized that Addison was right.
Arthur, from his place kneeling beside Merlin, asked: "He's going to be alright?" to change the subject.
Luckily Gwen backed him up by asking: "You can heal him can't you, Gaius?"
All Gaius had managed to mumble before this was: "He's burning up," and now that he was put on the spot, he looked less than happy to have the whole of saving Merlin dumped on his shoulders. "I won't know until I can identify the poison," he told them with as much a polite tone he could muster, but that polite tone all but vanished as he snapped out an order of: "Pass me the goblet."
He had it all of two seconds before…. "Ahh, there's something stuck on the inside," Gaius said.
"Well that's convenient," Addison said just as Arthur got up to leave Merlin's side asking: "What is it?"
"Look like a flower petal of some kind," Gaius said.
"Really a flower petal? How seriously convenient. Don't poisons work better if they're in liquid format? Because then your victim doesn't ask for another goblet of wine because this one has chunks floating in it," Addison cried.
Arthur turned to her exasperated. "Seriously Addison," he snapped. Really, there wasn't time for this.
"No! You seriously Arthur! Were you going to drink from that thing with a UFO floating in it?" she snapped. Arthur didn't know what at UFO was and he wasn't about to ask her seeing how unreasonably touchy she was being. And, of course, he hadn't seen anything floating in his goblet, though sometimes chunks of food did get in there. He wasn't about to admit that he wasn't one to throw away a good goblet of wine just because some of his food got it in. As far as he was concerned the wine-soaked tidbits were usually the best part.
Gaius used tweezers to get the flower petal out and then look at it in the light. It seemed a simple light pink flower petal, like those little purple flowers that Addison was so keen on except in a different shape.
"His brow is on fire," Gwen moaned, the fear in her voice apparent. She had a cool cloth on Merlin's forehead but it wasn't very efficient.
Addison pushed it aside and put the back of her hand to Merlin's brow and immediately he became less twitchy and moany. Gaius looked like he might have been about to say: "Keep him cool" but with Addison taking charge like that he didn't need to so he went back to scouring his massive book off poisons.
It didn't take him long to figure out where the petal was from. "Ah," he said interrupting Arthur's staring at the goblet that nearly killed him and very might as well kill Merlin. "The petal comes from the Mortaeus flower. It says here that someone poisoned by the Mortaeus flower can only be saved by a potion made from the leaf of the very same flower. It can only be found in the caves deep beneath the Forest of Baloch."
There was a pause as Gaius flipped the page and Arthur leaned in to look at the pictures illustrated there. "The flower grows on the roots of the Mortaeus tree," Gaius continued.
Arthur pointed to an illustration of an interesting looking winged lizard. "That doesn't look particularly friendly," he pointed out rather sarcastically because since when are giant winged lizards ever friendly?
"That's a cockatrice, it guards the forest. Its venom is potent. A single drop would mean a certain death," Gaius told him and then began to quote the book. "Few who have crossed the mountains of Isgard in search of the Mortaeus flower have made it back alive."
"I thought if you stare into the eyes of a cockatrice it turns you to stone... like Medusa," Addison asked which launched Gaius into a long lecture about the creature.
As he did that Arthur stared. He watched thoughtfully as Addison and Gwen doted on Merlin and how sweaty the boy had become. He thought about how Merlin, who clearly didn't like him as much as Arthur didn't like him back, had been ready to die for him. That sense of loyalty was surprising, as if Arthur was worth such a noble sacrifice. He'd very much like to live up to that belief.
"Sounds like fun," Arthur said interrupting Gaius.
It took a moment for Gaius to catch up with where Arthur's mind had gone. But once he had he was quick to his feet. "Arthur, it's too dangerous," he said.
Arthur moved towards the door. "If I don't get the antidote, what happens to Merlin?" he asked.
Gaius sighed. He shot Arthur a side glance before answering. "The Mortaeus induces a slow and painful death. He may hold out for four, maybe five days, but not for much longer. Eventually he will die."
Arthur shot one last look at Merlin, who seemed to be in so much pain he had squeezed his eyes shut. He saw the fear on Gwen's face as she continued to towel him off and the expectant stare of Addison who must have already known exactly what it was that Arthur was going to do. He nodded to both of them before storming out of the room and not long after he left, Addison placed the smallest of kissed to Merlin's cheek.
"Don't you dare die on me yet," she whispered to him and then she too scampered out of the room. She had a trip to plan after all.
Arthur trailed after his father unsure why he was being so difficult about this.
"What's the point of having people to taste for you if you're going to get yourself killed anyway?" Uther snapped.
Arthur was confused. He could have sworn his father wanted some questing knight, to boast of his son's feast at all the banquets and yet here's what would probably be the greatest quest of all and he was refusing to let Arthur go. "I won't fail no matter what you think," he argued.
"Arthur, you are my only son and heir. I can't risk losing you for the sake of some serving boy," Uther said.
"Oh? Because his life's worthless?" Arthur shot back.
"No, because it's worth less than yours," Uther replied with such quickness that Arthur had to guess that that particular comment was something he had either had on sleeve just for this particular moment or had been said to him before. At least Uther had stopped and turned to face Arthur at this point, not only could Arthur catch his breath as running after his father in chainmail had kind of tired him but now his father could see the look of disgust on his face.
"I can save him!" Arthur pleaded. "Let me take some men. We'll find the antidote and bring it back!"
"No!" Uther snapped.
Arthur couldn't see why his father didn't have faith in him. Why his father was being so stubborn, it wasn't like it was Addison Arthur was running off to save, he had no reason to dislike Merlin. "Why not?" Arthur cried.
"Because one day I will be dead, and Camelot will need a king," Uther said. Arthur stared at him, wow that got morbid fast, way for his dad to throw that guilt trip on him. "I'm not going to let you jeopardize the future of this kingdom over some fool's errand."
Arthur didn't think this was a fool's errand. "It is not a fool's errand!" Arthur argued rather childishly. "Gaius says…."
"Gaius says?" Uther echoed. "That's exactly what makes it so!"
"Please, father!" Arthur whispered going back to pleading as his last resort. "He saved my life. I can't stand by and watch him die."
Uther was silent for a moment before saying: "Then don't look." Arthur, so disgusted by that response actually had to turn away to keep from saying something completely disrespectful. Uther continued. "This boy won't be the last to die on your behalf. You're going to be King, it's something you'll have to get used to."
Arthur shook his head. "I can't accept that," he said.
Uther was done with his line of reasoning. "You're not going!" he ordered more sternly.
"You can't stop me," Arthur taunted.
"Damnit! Arthur! That's the end of it! You're not leaving this castle tonight!" he ordered and then walked away as if that were the last word. Which, of course, as king, it was.
Arthur stormed back to his room. He threw his doors open, threw his sword down on the table and then went to the fireplace where a great crackling fire was roaring. He braced himself on the mantel as he leant over the fire glaring down at it wondering how he had ever become such a failure and how he'd tell Addison that he wasn't going to save her… well... whatever Merlin was to her. There came a sudden clatter and Arthur whirled around in time to see Addison fall right out of his wardrobe.
He wanted to ask her what she was doing in there but the last time she had fallen out of his wardrobe she had been drunk and her excuse was that she was attempting to get to some place called Narnia. Addison stood up with an armful of his clothes. "I'm packing," she said, answering his unasked question and dropping his clothes on the table by his sword. "My stuff's done I'm getting yours now."
Arthur watched her go, knowing now would be the time that he lost favour in her eyes. He opened his mouth to tell her but she was coming back with an armful of random armour pieces and what seemed to be castle junk. "I assume you'll need all this metal stuff," she said as she dropped it all in the growing pile.
"Addison… you have a candlestick and a goblet, how am I to wear that?" he asked her.
"Well, if you don't wear it, I can use it as a weapon. Throw it at a cockatrice or something," she said.
Arthur frowned at her. "Addison… I… I'm not going..." he whispered avoiding her eyes as he said this. "And even if I was going you wouldn't be coming with me."
Addison paused, she had picked up a pair of Arthur's boots and a pillow which she dropped promptly to walk up to him. "Crazy tin-can-looking Prince say what?" she hissed her hands on her hips.
Arthur didn't get to answer her, for Morgana had arrived at his door. She took in the sight of Arthur and Addison glaring at one another and she straightened. "I was unaware you had company," she said.
Addison tore her glare away from Arthur and turned to Morgana. "I'm going back to packing maybe you can talk some sense into him," she snarled.
Addison deliberately put a salt shaker and a fork into the pile of things to pack being sure to send him a dirty glare as she did so and Arthur tried very hard not to groan in aggravation. Morgana came to stand by his table, a soft smile on her face.
"Say what you'd like about the food, but you can't beat our feast for entertainment," Morgana said making her presence known at the door.
Arthur, hoping he didn't look too worn or depressed, turned away just in case she saw it in him anyway. "Morgana, I'm sorry. I should have made sure you were all right," he said, trying to ignore Addison who was muttering angrily to herself.
He took a few steps away from the table and turned back to the fire, even if it was getting hot in his chainmail. He would have wanted Merlin here to help strip him of the armour but with Merlin ill, he would have taken Addison's help. Even though Addison looked to be too busy and angry with him to help at that moment. He could have asked Morgana to lend him Gwen, but Gwen had been given the night off to care for Merlin.
Morgana took a few steps into his room to make up for the distance he had put between them. "Disappointed, actually. I was looking forward to clumping a couple brigands around the head with a ladle."
Arthur tried not to smile at the image that popped into his head. It merely made him frown again as it only served to remind him that Addison would have been right there beside her, clumping people with a pot or a plate and he didn't want her in any necessary danger.
"I'm sure the guards could have handled Bayard and his men," he told her.
Morgana fake pouted a bit. "Yeah. But why let the boys have all the fun?"
"True that! True that! A-D-D-Y!" Addison sang from across the room. Both Morgana and Arthur had turned to her, Arthur frowned but Morgana shook her head playfully at her before turning back to Arthur.
Arthur pinned Morgana with a dry glare hoping to chide her. "Morgana you shouldn't get involved. It's dangerous," he complained. Because that's all he needed, Morgana getting injured too.
This just made Morgana cross. "Spare me the lecture, I've already had it from Uther. And if it's good enough for Addison then I'd like to be allowed to have some fun too."
Arthur hardened immediately. Ah, so that must have contributed to his father's sour mood. "Addison would know better, she just chooses to act unreasonably," he grumbled.
"Damn straight. Girls just wanna have fun!" Addison called out. Still across the room choosing things to pack. Both Arthur and Morgana ignored her.
After a short pause he softened to her though, for Uther was a very stern lecturer. "If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one," he told her.
"Not that I listened to him," she said quickly. She paused to take a deep breath, knowing that if her words hit the right mark—and she knew they would—she may be sending Arthur into danger. But at the same time, she could be saving a friend. "Sometimes you've got to do what you think is right, and damn the consequences."
Arthur took a moment to think about this. About what this meant. "You think I should go," he said to her plainly. It wasn't a question it was a statement.
"Yes! That is exactly what she thinks!" Addison called.
Still ignoring her, Morgana shook her head. "It doesn't matter what I think," she said.
Arthur turned, ready to hurl his father's own arguments back at Morgana and see what her stubborn pride had to say about that. "If I don't make it back, who will be the next King of Camelot?" he asked her. "There's more than just my life at stake."
"Your Prince fucking Arthur. You will be the next King of Camelot. It's written in every version of the stars," Addison grumbled finally coming back to table her arms once more filled useless things Arthur would never need, including two pillows, a bunch of parchment, and only one boot.
Morgana narrowed her eyes the way she did when Uther issued her a demand that she didn't agree with. "And what kind of King would Camelot want?" she shot back. She picked up his sword before continuing. "One that would risk his life to save the life of a servant, or one who does what his father tells him to?"
Arthur stared at her. His eyes went from Morgana to Addison who were both leaning against the table now. He knew what he was going to do, he looked at the two girls and knew that one of them would not be taking no for an answer.
"Alright," Arthur said. "But I'm going to have to repack whatever disaster that bag is."
Addison pumped her fist in the air. "YES! Let's ride off into that dangerous sunset!" she cried.
"Addison… it's night time," Arthur reminded her.
"Fine," she shot back with a mischievous grin on her face. "Then let's go on an adventure."
Arthur couldn't help but smile with her, even though now he'd have even more to worry about on this quest. It would all be worth it to save Merlin and keep that smile on Addison's face.
And watching it all in her pensive water alter, having escaped Camelot earlier that night to the safety of her remote island cave, was Nimueh. While it was good Arthur was falling into her trap and Merlin had drank the potion like intended, the woman was coming along for the ride was not good.
Nimueh had seen her face when she broke into the banquet hall that evening. Her eyes, wide with fear, scanning for Arthur, and then finding Merlin. She knew that something was wrong before she even got to the room, she just didn't know what sort of trouble it was. She was stronger than she thought she was, then she knew she was and now she was on the way to the Forest of Baloch with Arthur.
That wouldn't do, the woman would recognize if they were to meet again. She would know that she had spoken to Merlin. Had lied to him and was the reason he rushed off to save Arthur from a poisoned goblet. And since Nimueh knew that the woman wasn't dumb, she'd reason out that Nimueh had done something. That she was behind the poison. She couldn't lie to this girl like she could to Merlin, the girl would see through her, would tell Arthur not to trust her.
Nimueh chuckled to herself. That little time-traveller thought she was so smart, well, she hadn't been able to stop her plan and she wouldn't be able to stop her from taking out both Merlin and Arthur with one fell swoop. She'd just have to stop the girl from recognizing her.
[-]
It hadn't taken much to escape the castle. Guards had tried to stop them, but they all fell back when Addison came through singing about how they needed to let it go and the cold didn't bother her anyway, her voice echoing through the stone parapets stunning everyone into stillness. Arthur didn't ask her how it happened, afraid that if he asked her the answer would be magic. He knew she held some magic, but he had explained that away as a side effect of the curse that had brought her to him. He didn't know what he'd do if he found out that she actually did have magic, but he knew he wouldn't let his father kill her over it.
As they travelled Addison sung songs from her time. Songs of travelling, one about a man who walked more than a thousand miles to drop down at his loved one's door. One about waking on an empty road with just her shadow and broken dreams of sorts. Another about being a wanted criminal, with her bounty being high and to be taken dead or alive. The last she sung was a song about how Arthur was to let his heart be his compass as it would always lead him home. If only she knew that she was his home, and that his heart would always lead him back to her.
As they met people on the road, they nodded to them, thanking Addison for her happy tunes. As he watched this, he knew that he and Addison could make a fortune if they were to ever run from Camelot, he as a travelling knight, she as a wandering bard. They would, of course, being doing their travelling and wandering together.
By the time they were close to the Forest of Baloch they were the only ones on the road and Addison's voice was faltering. She was tired and weary, they had been riding the whole day and they had very little water to spare, therefore she had stopped taking gulps when her voice grew too tired to sing. So, she stopped singing, and offered a hand to Arthur who took it, realizing quite quickly that she was scared and just wanted a little bit of comfort.
He wouldn't have wanted her singing in the forest anyway, she would probably attract every cockatrice in the area.
Still Arthur held her hand as they entered the forest, his grip just as tight as hers. He wouldn't say it out loud but he was glad for her company on this mission.
"You must really like him," Arthur whispered as they made their way through the eerily silent trees.
Addison turned to Arthur with a confused look on her face. "Do you mean Merlin?" she asked. Arthur nodded. "Seriously, Arthur, he's just a friend."
Arthur was having a hard time believing that. "You just seemed so distraught to see him lying there," he whispered, trying really hard to keep the jealousy out of his voice, judging by Addison's smirk it hadn't worked.
"Come now, Arthur. I was about as upset as you would have been if it had been me in that sick bed," she said.
Arthur found himself frowning. "That is a completely different matter all together."
Of course, it was because on a good day he was in love with her, not that he'd ever admit it her, he had hard enough time admitting it to himself. He didn't know what would have happened if she had been the one in that sick bed, poisoned to save him. He probably wouldn't have needed Morgana to tell him to go off and save her for one.
"And how is that?" she asked. "We are friends are we not?"
"You and I both know that whatever is between us extends beyond the realm of friendship," Arthur said through grit teeth.
"We don't ever talk about whatever is between us," Addison mumbled back. Arthur avoided her eyes and Addison sighed. "Fine, I will change my hypothetical situation. I was as upset as you would be if it were your horse in the sick bed."
Arthur glared at her and Addison smirked. "I couldn't think of anyone else you could consider your best friend," she explained.
"I see," Arthur said. "So, if it had been me that was poisoned you would have been thoroughly distraught?"
"The thourough-est," she said with a big cheesy grin. "I would have been a complete mess. Would have charged out after the Mortaeus flower without a second consideration. Probably would have dragged Merlin with me, probably would have had Morgana and Gwen following after me, and Uther all in a rage as well."
Arthur couldn't help but laugh. He leant over, practically off his horse to grab her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles. She knew just what to say to make him happy, she knew the right words to stroke his pride and he wished that he was as good at that as she.
He was saved from having to think of something to say to her—something charming and witty and complimentary, maybe he'd tell her what lengths he'd go to save her, but he had a feeling she already knew—by the sound of someone weeping in the distance.
Arthur shot her a surprised look, he wasn't expecting someone else in this forest. Specially someone that sounded like a woman. But what if this was a trap? He wouldn't be surprised should he chance it?
"I don't know Arthur," she said, reading his mind. "It might be a trap."
"Might be someone in trouble, too," he said.
Addison rolled her eyes. "You princes and your damsels in distress. Go on, I'll be right behind you."
She smiled as Arthur galloped off to the rescue and she followed after him at a slow trot. He had found a woman, one that was wearing a deep red cloak and hiding her face. Addison couldn't really get a good look at them as they exchanged words. He was probably being all sorts of charming, telling her he'd get her out of here safely once he got what he came for.
Addison tied her horse to a tree, and went to get Arthur's only to hear a hiss and have a giant finned lizard appear in front of them. Well it didn't so much as appear as it did climb over the hill and present itself to them.
She thought about going to help Arthur by chucking a candlestick at it, but it looked so fierce that she was suddenly too nervous to move. Arthur swept the woman behind him and drew out his sword. Addison dashed forward, only to grab the stupid woman who hadn't thought to put more distance between her and the fight, as he went to face the cockatrice.
The woman turned and Addison recognized her immediately. The one who had been talking to Merlin, the one who made the magic come flashing at her to smother her. Why was she here? Smirking at her in such a smug way. Addison realized, as the pressure built up in her chest and that high-pitched whistling came back in her ears, that this woman was probably behind it all, the poison, the luring of Arthur out here most likely to his death, all of it was her fault. But there wasn't much for Addison to do, she couldn't breathe and within seconds she had passed out once again.
It hadn't taken much to take out the cockatrice, surprising as it was supposed to be the guardian of the forest. But when he turned, his new friend Kara was standing patiently by his horse and Addison was lying unconscious beside hers.
Arthur rushed over to her, He checked her, she was still breathing, but he couldn't rouse her. "Goddamn it! I knew I shouldn't have brought you out here," he muttered to himself. It was true had she not just been in Gaius' chambers being told she needed to rest? And he had actually thought it was a good idea to bring her out here? He had just stressed her further and caused another attack.
"She clapped eyes with that great lizard and just passed out," Kara said pertly.
Arthur didn't believe that for a minute. A lot of things would have happened before Addison got to the passing out stage if she were frightened. Things like, screaming, running, climbing up a tree, and crying like a baby. Point was, Arthur would have heard if she were scared. And last he checked she only passed out if snakes were involved. No, this was because she was sick. The problem was what was he to do with her until then?
"Can you take me away from this place?" Kara asked when Arthur didn't answer her.
He glanced up to her, he tied his horse to the same tree that Addison's was tied to. He picked Addison up in his arms. "No, not yet. There's something I have to do first."
He, with Addison in his arms, because he wasn't about to leave the unconscious girl on her own in the forest, walked towards the mouth of the caves. They were conveniently only a few paces away from the mouth of them.
Kara followed after him. "Why have you come to the caves?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a flower, it's very rare and it only grows inside the caves here," he replied.
"Ah, the Mortaeus flower," Kara said softly. "I know that flower. I know where they are. My Master had a map to them. I could show you where they are."
Addison groaned in her sleep, her breathing shallow and softly like wheezing. It was awfully suspicious of this woman to be here and know exactly what it was he was looking for and where it was. But with Addison so sick, and Merlin's life depending on it, it looked like he didn't have a choice.
"Alright, that would be appreciated," he said. And together, with Addison murmuring in her sleep, her fingers desperately clutching the edge of his armour, they walked into the caves.