Aislinn's heart sank when her eyes landed on the blue eyed boy that was kneeling next to her bloodied and bruised. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was damp with sweat sending sirens off in the back of her mind, what made it worse was she wasn't sure of whether to hug him or be angry with him. Mordred smiles at her but all Aislinn can manage to do is shoot him a look that pretty much asks him why he is there. Morgana's eyes dart from Mordred to Aislinn and then back again to Mordred "I will leave you two alone" she says walking between them and leaving the room. Almost as soon as the door closes Aislinn speaks "why did you come?" she asks a sharp displeasure in her tone.
There is a pain in Mordred's chest when the sentence registers with his brain and he becomes angry "oh hi, Mordred are you okay? Yeah I'm brilliant thanks" he says sarcastically. "I was getting to that" Aislinn hisses glaring at him and for a few minutes they sit there staring at each other "why did you come?" she asks again her voice breaking a little. Mordred shrugs seating himself back on his legs moving his knees until he gets comfortable "couldn't live without you I guess" he says simply as if breaking into Morgana's palace was nothing.
Aislinn nods "so you decide to risk your life coming here?" she asks looking down at her wrists where her blood has begun to clot due to the rope burn. "Life's no fun without a little danger" he says smirking Aislinn frowns trying to suppress a smile, she said the exact same thing to him when they were younger she was surprised he remembered. "You're mad" Aislinn tells him and he scoffs "I used to think the exact same thing of you when you were younger" she smiles again but her smile fades. "Morgana wants you dead, Mordred" she says her voice barely about a whisper his face drops and he slides himself closer to her.
"Yeah I know" he says plainly "what do you mean yeah I know? Mordred you-" he grabs her cupping her mouth to stop her from talking and once she has calmed down he lets her go. "I'm going to get us out of here" he whispers his breath against her neck "that's suicide" she says her voice again low Mordred lifts his head so their faces are inches from each other's and he smirks "could you think of any other way to die?"
***
Morgana had made the mistake of placing both Aislinn and Mordred in the same cell, maybe it wasn't a mistake maybe this was what she had planned on doing leaving them in the same cell as she tortured and executed them each at a time. "So what is this master plan of yours?" Aislinn asks grunting as she positions herself next to him Mordred throws the stick in his hand a few feet in front of him. "I don't have one" he says and the expression on Aislinn's face looks like she is going to murder him "you...what?" she growls "I don't have one" he says stuttering.
"We could be dead in a matter of hours and you tell me you don't have a plan!" Mordred purses his lips "Aislinn how can I make an escape plan in a place I've only been to once!?" he asks bringing his knees to his chest. I've only been here once those are the words that stick in her mind "what do you mean you've been here before?" Aislinn asks her eyes narrowing. Mordred stutters a little failing to get the words out "Mordred" she warns "spill it before I force it out of you!" she growls and he licks his lips nervously "before I became knight I worked for Morgana-" he pauses "not directly anyway".
"She was looking for men to dig for some key, so the people I found refuge with would bring her men" he whispers "I betrayed her" he adds glancing over at her. "So that is why she wants to kill you" she says bitterly "well I kind of stabbed her" he mutters, to his reply Aislinn chuckles causing a smile to form on his lips. For a long time there is silence between the pair but Aislinn interrupts "the guards should change soon" she says resting her head back against the stone wall" Mordred wipes some blood off his fingers and onto his cloak. "What are you talking.." he trails off then comprehends why she said what she did "I have a plan" he whispers "can you still pick a lock?"
Aislinn laughs "I'm quite insulted" she says smirking up at him "of course I can pick a lock" she replies and Mordred nods "good" he says his eyes locking on the guard standing just to the right of the cell door. You can't see much of him, all you can actually see is his shoulder and the side of his helmet "but why?" Aislinn asks sitting forward as Mordred hurriedly undoes the latch on his cloak. "This" he says pointing to the metal slither in the latch "could you pick a lock with that?" Aislinn frowns a little taking his hand and holding it up in the light so she can examine what he is talking about.
"No way in hell" she says still examining the metal object and his face sinks "fuck" he curses throwing his cloak down "there was a spell" Aislinn whispers "that could unlock a door" at that Mordred's ears pick up. "Do you remember it?" he asks inching towards her Aislinn at first doesn't answer she sits there with a look of deep thought on her face "yes I am pretty sure I do" she says after a while. Mordred jumps to his feet and pulls her to hers "alright here is the idea" he begins "I'll put the guard to sleep and you open the door" he whispers they were inches away from each other again his breath tickling her face.
"And then what?" she asks glancing at his lips and then back up to his eyes. For some reason right now all she wanted to do was kiss him but now wasn't the time, maybe it was nerves or maybe it was what she wanted – the third option was because even though he was bleeding and covered in dirt and sweat he still looked gorgeous. Mordred exhales "believe it or not I didn't get that far" he confesses and goes to walk off but her hand latches onto his chainmail. "If you get us killed Mordred I swear to god I will kill you" she pauses "again" he takes a few steps back when she doesn't let go then turns to face her "you're cute when you're scared" he whispers.
Aislinn screws up her face and lets go of his shirt "I'm not scared" she informs him crossing her arms and he gives one of his 'yeah right' laughs "that's not what your eyes are telling me" she glares at him. "I have never been scared of anything in my life" Mordred smirks "do you remember the time we climbed that oak tree-" he begins but is cut off by her hand over his mouth. "If Morgana doesn't kill you I will" she whispers "got it?" Mordred nods then she removes her hand from his mouth wiping his saliva on his shoulder "you can have that" she says frowning.
"We are wasting time" he says glancing over at the guard who has just swapped with the other man "I'll go first" Mordred whispers "I really hope you can remember the spell" Aislinn teases and he shoots her a look. Crouching down he scuttles along the wall Aislinn follows behind him and when he stops she places her hand on his shoulder. Mordred hadn't used his magic in quite a long time and he was worried that he would forget something or not pronounce a word right and fail miserably.
Aislinn had everything to do with magic pretty much down pat and her presence made him all the more nervous, she had always been more talented than him at well – everything. She was a brilliant healer, a fantastic witch and a great fighter, to him she had always been good at everything although at times admittedly her skills failed her. Mordred inhales, praying his would not do the same "macian hine gefeallan on slaepe" he whispers holding his hand out and his eyes flash from its regular blue to gold.
The guard collapses back against the wall and to Aislinn's surprise he doesn't make that much noise, as soon as the guard is asleep Aislinn moves up to the door "sign argis" she whispers and her eyes flash gold then fade back to green. The lock in the door clips and she pulls the cell door back "let's go."
***
"Not yet" Mordred whispers holding his hand out in front of Aislinn while he glances around the corner. Aislinn's hand tightens around the sword she had stolen from one of the guards "turns out your girlfriend was useful for something" she teases and he rolls his eyes "she's not my- oh shut up" he snaps. "Come on" he says suddenly grabbing her wrist and pulling her around the corner, surprisingly it's been too easy the halls had been all but clear and there has been not warning bell sounded and to Aislinn something wasn't right. Mordred stops at a window and looks outside they are on the third floor and right under the window is a massive pile of hay which could soften their landing.
With the butt of his sword he smashes the window "ladies first" he says brushing some glass away from the base of the window "you've got to be kidding me I'm not jumping" she says backing away from him. "Well think about it this way Morgana could have all her guards on the doors leading outside the castle" he points out "don't you think it's been a bit too easy?" she asks and he rolls his eyes. "If you don't jump I'll throw you out" he threatens going to pick her up, Mordred gets about as far as wrapping his arm under her leg before she pushes him away.
"oh alright – but you have to go first" Aislinn says glancing at the window and Mordred groans "you're such a girl" he complains lifting himself up on the ledge. "Is that such a bad thing?" she asks looking down the hallway Mordred chuckles as Aislinn's heart moves up to a point in her throat worried that he is going to die on the way down. Mordred pushes himself lightly from the window and Aislinn almost throws herself out the window trying to look for him.
Mordred has moved to a crouching position beside the haystack and he waves her down, Aislinn bites her lip and positions herself on the window. Mordred is looking up at her the expression on her face urging her to jump, her stomach has turned to mush and she feels like she wants to vomit "come on Aislinn" he hisses waving her down and she gulps.
She lied when she said there was nothing she was scared of, she was in fact terrified of heights well not reasonable heights but when it came to jumping out of a third story window she wanted to run. Aislinn closes her eyes and pushes herself forward her stomach dropping before she does and seconds later Mordred is calling her name "I told you that you would be fine" he mocks helping her up from the hay. "Ever make me do anything like that again and I'm going to gut you" she tells him before he pulls her into the shadows.
"Now where -it-all?" she asks slightly dizzy Mordred looks around the only way out through the main gate, the same way he came in "so what was that about Morgana and the door?" he asks sarcastically but she ignores him. Mordred pulls her along the walls staying in the shadows the moonlight up above them working against them to reveal their position to whoever may be looking. But Aislinn is right, there is no one around it's like the entire place is deserted just before the main gate Aislinn stops him "what's wrong?" he asks as she grips his arm "I have a bad feeling" she says.
"About?" he asks but already knows what she will say "this entire thing...Morgana should...she wouldn't make something like this effortless" she says panicking a little and within those few seconds the turmoils of the last few days are shown. Mordred grabs her shoulders "Aislinn, listen to me if we make it past here you'll be home and you don't have to worry about Morgana again..I promise." If he's not mistaken her eyes are glassy and a tear forms at the corner of her eye "it's just too easy" she whispers "are you ever satisfied?" he asks and she smiles "me? Never."
Mordred grabs her hand and leads her through the gate as they sprint towards the tree line however that nagging feeling is still gnawing at Aislinn as they dodge trees as fast as they can go. She isn't exactly sure how long they've been running but it's been somewhere between ten and five minutes all of a sudden Aislinn's chest is on fire and she can't run another step. "Mordred!" she gasps collapsing on the ground Mordred pulls up short "Aislinn" he breathes falling to his knees beside her "what's the problem?" she lifts her hand to her chest gasping for air. "I...I...ca..n't brea" she stops her face turning red then the colour fades and her breathing continues.
She grabs hold of Mordred's shoulder steadying herself "a-all of a sudden my chest..it was on fire" she pauses glancing around in the darkness "I don't know what happened." Mordred goes to brush some hair from her face but stops when he is alerted to torches and well over 20 men standing a few meters away from them. His heart drops and his blood freezes "follow my lead" he whispers bringing her to her feet as he gets to his own. Aislinn's eyes land on Morgana who is almost perfectly illuminated in the moon light that has crept up on them.
"Well, well, well" Morgana says the corners of her lips curling up into a smile "you should have listened to her" she pauses walking towards them and he draws his sword which in turn causes her to laugh. "I expected better from you Mordred I really did, I am a high priestess no mortal blade can kill me" she hisses Mordred pulls Aislinn behind him trying to act as a shield in between her and Aislinn. Aislinn too draws her sword "how cute" Morgana sneers "but I'm not going to fight you I will leave it to them".
While Morgana was speaking the group of men had closed in on them forming a tight circle around them "Aislinn" Mordred cautions grabbing her hand and positioning her in a way so they are back to back. Seconds later they are swamped by men slashing to get at both of them Mordred can't see anything but the black cloaks of the men in the moon light and he's lost sight of Aislinn. He switches constantly between defending himself and searching for Aislinn in the darkness but the moon disappears behind the clouds and they are met with total darkness.
"Mordred" she calls thrusting her sword into the body of one of the guards before she stumbles fatigue setting in "god damn it answer me, Mordred!" Aislinn draws herself up scanning for more men but with the moon disappearing behind the clouds she can't see far. "Over here" Mordred's voice answers and she looks over in the direction of where she last saw him expecting him to be there "where is over here?" Aislinn asks walking forwards expecting to meet him but she doesn't. "Fuck you Mordred come to me" she snaps frustrated with not being able to find him there is the sound of a snapping twig and she flings around.
The tip of the blade is pointed at his stomach any further and she quite possibly could have broken the skin "I've got the mind to run you through Mordred" she hisses as he lowers his hand. "You'd be doing Morgana a favour" he whispers back daintily pushing the sword away from him "are there anymore?" he asks looking around at the tree line but he can see nothing. "From what I can see, which is nothing no" she whispers "great" Mordred mutters and makes grab for her free hand "let's get go-" Aislinn hears him gasp and then the pressure of his hand around hers is gone.