Disclaimer; I do not own Merlin or Doctor Who but if owned both would conjoin them every once in a while for some fun adventures.
Also for some cheesecake.
That is all.
Hello lovely humans,
How was your day?
Sorry for the really short and crappy chapters at the moment but here's a massive chapter today on me! :)
Jeez, I feel like I've just bought you dinner or something…
Anyway, don't pay any attention to my weird ramblings and enjoy the chapter!
Serena sighed as she trudged behind the tweed clad man tugging at her sleeve. She pulled at her auburn locks for comfort until the bouncy curls that once graced her head were pulled into a wavy shape from the strain and groaned. This was exactly the last thing she needed to happen. She could tell easily by how clean the castle looked – even from afar – that it was relatively newer than the ones she had seen in her lifetime. A medieval place would have been bad enough to be stranded in, but a seemingly younger one was going to be much, much worse.
The Doctor continued humming a casual tune as he stepped over the wooden roots attempting to trip him on his journey. Completely oblivious to the stressed woman trailing him he gazed in wonder at the lush forests and tree's around them.
Serena stared at the man with discomfort, she still didn't trust the Doctor completely, even if he wasn't proven to be a madman, he certainly acted like it.
"So when exactly will the TARDIS be ready?" Serena called, gasping as she almost tripped over a root in the dirt floor of the forest.
"Days, weeks, months, I don't know." The Doctor replied with nonchalance as he continuously took large steps over the roots as well, "It's difficult to tell and we may be here for a while."
A sigh of anger escaped Serena's lips as she climbed over a particularly large root with caution, "I want to go home." She mumbled, brushing the dirt off her clothes in a frustrated manner.
The Doctor froze for a moment, a seemingly calculating expression on his worn face, "Well you can't." He answered decidedly, choosing to finally turn to face his companion with the same expression.
Serena scoffed at his antics, "What? Are you going to hold me captive now?" She sneered as she stepped past the doctor swiftly, grasping at a tree branch overhead instead to aid her over the roots.
"No," The Doctor replied, his jaw set in frustration, "I just mean that it's impossible."
"Is that what a paradox does?" Serena spun and spoke in an accusing voice to the man, "Take people away from their homes." She paused for a moment before beginning to take slow steps towards the Doctor, a glare in her cloudy eyes, "Or is that what you do, Doctor."
The Doctor returned her seething glare with a calm and calculated expression of his own and mumbled an almost silent, "You can't go home, it's impossible."
Serena turned and released an angered cry towards the clear blue skies before setting herself down on the earthy floor beneath them in an exhausted plunk. She was beginning to feel her sleepiness seeping through her adrenaline rush and Serena was exhausted.
"You know, I still don't know your name." The Doctor requested quietly, his cloudy green eyes boring into the young woman's back.
Laughing slightly, Serena twisted her body so that she could give the man a bitter, subdued glare, "Maybe that's for the best," She muttered, "you still seem pretty insane to me."
"Oh completely," The Doctor jested, a small grin gracing his worn face before it turned serious again, "But if we're going to be travelling together, I need at least some sort of indication. Anything will do, I don't even have to know your name if you wish it."
Serena turned back towards the area in front of her, a thoughtful look in her blue-grey eyes, "Just call me Serena," She replied timidly, "Sere, even."
The Doctor stepped forward and sat next to the woman, gazing at her with a look of fondness in his eyes, "Sere it is then."
Serena barely heard him speak the statement before the lush area began to spin dizzily around her. She grabbed at the wet leaves and roots surrounding her for some sort of stability as she felt a pair of hands trying to keep her upright. Somewhere in the distance she could hear shouting of some sort, as she struggled to focus on the sound Serena blacked out.
The doctor began to panic as he noticed her head fall back in exhaustion and immediately nestled it in the crook of his elbow to hold it steady. He could her yelling in the distance, most likely guards of some sort. Sliding his arms under her knees and back he lifted her delicate body off the ground with ease, walking towards the loud voices with calculated steps.
When Serena came to she noticed the warm scent of roses and pine immediately and curled her exhausted body inwards in comfort. Sighing delicately she silently laid one of her small hands on the material that her head rested on and noticed that it was a soft satin. In the back of her mind a small thought registered that Serena remembered that she had fainted from exhaustion in a forest not on a bed. Immediately the fluttering eye lids covering her cloudy grey-blue eyes flew open in shock, a feeling of panic reeled throughout her body with fury as she pulled herself into a sitting position despite the protest from a pounding headache that had taken root.
Cautiously she began to take in her surroundings. With a deep breath the same smell of the dusty roses filled her airways and Serena immediately found herself coughing heavily as it choked her.
Through her coughing fit she noticed the creak of a door opening on its hinges and winced slightly as she made an attempt to breathe properly enough to stop. A small dark-skinned woman with even darker chocolate hair stepped into the room with a basket in her grasp. The basket was dropped however when the woman finally noticed that Serena had awoken and immediately muttered a quick, "Pardon me" with a curtsey before she dashed off in the direction she had come.
Serena stared after the woman with curiosity as she disappeared in the darkness of the corridor. She was just about to get up to follow the woman however, when she noticed that her body was covered in a sheer white nightgown instead of her white jumper and dark shorts that she had chosen that morning. Peering down at the basket that the woman had dropped Serena noticed a small array of delicate dresses and the like folded neatly into the woven holder and clearly sorted according to colour.
Snorting at the idea of dresses at all Serena noticed the sound of loud footsteps trudging towards her room as well as the excited chatter of a voice that sounded very familiar. Before she could react the Doctor and two men entered the room. One was taller than other with only slightly greying hair that looked to be naturally brown while the other was older and shorter with a seemingly defect on his left eye brow that now covered over his left eye. The woman that she had seen before trailed behind them, her hazelnut eyes trained on the ground as she picked up the washing basket timidly and took it to a mahogany dresser that Serena had only just drawn attention to.
"Sere," The Doctor called, drawing the auburn haired woman's attention immediately, "I would like to introduce you to Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot." He proudly announced gesturing towards the taller of the two strangers with brown hair and laugh lines wearing his face.
The man, King Uther, smiled encouragingly down at the girl as he reached for her hand. Serena gave the Doctor a wary glance before placing her hand in the Kings tentatively and letting a small smile grace her face as she slightly shook it.
When the King released her hand – albeit with a confused expression – the Doctor turned to the slightly older of the two men, his hair already mostly grey or white Serena couldn't tell exactly what his hair colour actually was.
"And this man is Gaius!" The Doctor proclaimed excitedly, "The court physician."
Gaius gave the Doctor a curious side glance before turning to the woman and grasping her hand shortly before letting it go as well.
"And this of course," The Doctor claimed, setting himself down by Serena in the soft bed and placing a rough hand on her shoulder, "is my daughter, the Lady Serena."
Through her shock at the Doctors statement Serena found herself speaking, "It's an honour to meet you both." Before bowing her head with respect and warily staring at the King when he was looking the other way. I'll reprimand the Doctor for his claims later, she amended.
Serena was startled form her thoughts when the King spoke, "It would be an honour Lord Smith if you would join us for the feast we are holding later in the week," Uther requested, a happy smile brightening his face in joy as he explained, "My wife, Queen Igraine is expecting a son very soon and we saw it for cause of celebration!"
Serena stiffened at the mention of the Queen as the Doctor's face brightened exceedingly with a smile of his own before he replied, "Of course, we would be delighted!" grasping Serena's other shoulder and drawing her into his side affectionately, "It's not every day a Prince is born, eh Sere?"
Gaius raised his eyebrows at the display of affection that not many displayed for their children in front of others. Serena noticing this made a point to discreetly pinch the Doctors hand and smile as he retracted his grip with a childish glare towards his 'daughter'.
Finally the physician decided to speak, "Perhaps I should overlook the Lady now?" He enquired, glancing at his King with a look of questioning under his one lowered eyebrow, "Especially since she has been in such an area at this time?"
The King waved his hand casually and let a laugh escape his lips as he replied, "Yes, yes, of course Gaius" before turning to the Doctor to claim that he would see them at the feast and walking out of the wooden door of the chambers.
Gaius immediately turned towards the Lady as Uther left the room, she seemed a little too outgoing to be a Lady of status but he brushed it off. Picking up his brown bag he trudged over to the Lady Serena and set to work on assessing her injuries.
"Well," Gaius sighed, packing the last of his equipment into his bag, "Apart from exhaustion, you have only gained a few scratches and bruises to your injuries. We must count ourselves lucky that it wasn't a bite of sorts. I can only imagine what kind of problems we would have then."
"What do you mean, 'a bite of sorts'?" Serena enquired with a raise of her eyebrow. The Doctor had left a few minutes ago, claiming that he had business to take care of and taking the maid from earlier with him.
Gaius closed his bag slowly as he contemplated his next words, "There are many creatures out in that forest," He claimed, rolling his sleeves down his arms and turning towards the Lady, "Most of them deadly."
Without meaning to Serena found herself perking up with interest, "What kind of creatures?"
A calculating look crossed Gaius's face as he stared at the young Lady in indecision. When he finally decided that she had a right to know of the dangers of the Darkling Woods Gaius told the Lady of the Questing beast that had been seen there a few days before her arrival in Camelot.
Serena stared back at the aged man with an equally calculating gaze, concealing her thoughts entirely from her expression as she replied with a silent, "Oh."
Seemingly taken aback by the young Lady's answer, Gaius raised a brow in questioning also, "Oh?" he repeated, "Do you know what a Questing Beast is my Lady?"
He gave her a sceptical look as she stared back equally, claiming that she did and that she was saddened by its occurrence.
"It's said to bring a time of great upheaval," Serena recalled quietly, playing with the ends of her messy auburn hair, "I hope the upheaval is not too great." She amended quietly, a knowing look in her eyes.
"Indeed." Gaius answered calmly before helping the Lady back into her bed and giving a small smile, "For the sake of us all, let there not be any upheaval at all."
Serena hummed in reply, settling herself into the pillows and sheets of the bed comfortably.
"How is it you know about such things My Lady?" Gaius asked, staring at the Lady with curiosity.
Merely shrugging her shoulders, Serena tried to shake it off by claiming that her mother had told her stories of the old magic to put her to sleep.
Gaius raised his right eyebrow at her efforts – the gesture seeming more comical due to his sunken left eye brow – before letting it go and simply replying, "Get some rest, you will need it for the feast my Lady."
The small woman yawned in reply, shifting in the soft bed sheets quietly as she muttered a "Goodnight Gaius" and fell into a deep sleep.
Ok so I know that actually wasn't that long, I'm still working on it, but I would love some feedback please! :) So review and let me know what you like/dislike about this story and I'll make efforts to use the information to give you better chapters! :)
Anyway Happy New Year everyone, because I didn't say it in my last chapter.
Thank you for reading!
Love Sarah x