Gwen's eyes fluttered open and she groaned, the familiar pain of post-alcoholism rearing its ugly head. Beside her the steady rise and fall of Kevin's chest brought back flashes of the previous nights antics and prompted another groan, this time for very different reasons. Pushing his oversized, not to mention more than a little uncomfortably hot, arm off of her torso where it was brazenly draped, she quickly fled the cursed bed that seemed all too intent in keeping her in its plushy clutches. Kevin stirred at her sudden heaving of his arm coupled with her not so graceful rise to her feet.

"Might as well stay in bed lass." He groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms as the harsh lighting blinded him. "You've no where else to be."

Gwen inhaled, desperately trying to remain calm in the face of his not so subtle assertion of dominance – something made harder by her overwhelming desire punch his head through a wall.

"That's where you're wrong." She growled angrily, throwing on any clothes she could find on the cold floor. "I have a life. It may not be perfect but its something I really do need to get back to. So much as I'd love to stay here in this tiny room with your hellish bed I'm going back to where I'm from before I do anything else I'll regret."

He arched his brow, clearly not missing the sarcasm lacing her so-called desire to stay.

"Regret is for the weak willed." He chuckled, finally sitting up in bed.

"No regret is the special brand of hell at the bottom of every tequila bottle – or in this case whiskey glass." She shot back, ignoring the fact that the only thing covering him at present was a flimsy sheet that hid absolutely nothing.

She cursed under her breath as she noticed the rips in the skirt of her dress from the previous day, clearly the delicate fabric did not appreciate its stay on the rough and unforgiving floor.

Kevin peered at her with a mixture of confusion and amusement, watching as she began to rummage through the trunk at the foot of the bed for something to wear.

"You have regrets lass?" he pried, surveying her intensely as he waited for her answer.

"I have many." She replied not even bothering to look at him as she emerged from the trunk with one of his winter shirts in hand. "Don't get me wrong, the sex was great, but that's all it was – sex."

"In these parts, sex is generally considered a display of affection not some casual greeting as you seem to think of it." Kevin growled back, clearly becoming more irritated with each passing moment.

Gwen sighed in exasperation, pulling the oversized shirt on and rolling her eyes. The sleeves were much too long and the garment itself fell just above her knees.

"Don't be ridiculous." She shot back, quickly finger-brushing her hair. "You don't love me. All we've done since I got here is fight! What we did was nothing more than the result of alcohol – the cupid of bad choices. Not to mention, I'm sure you've been with many other women before me, is this the standard speech you give to all of them? Because with all your posturing about sex not being casual, I don't see any of your other partners having survived the long haul."

Kevin was silent for a long moment, his jaw clenched and his mouth set into a hard line as her words lingered in the silence between them.

"I may have been with others but I wouldn't simply lay with you without feeling. I'm not that spiteful despite what you may think of me." His words were laced with a cold bitterness and she had to physically stop herself from flinching away in guilt.

Realizing she'd insulted him but deciding it best not to care as she was leaving regardless, she shrugged and practically ran out of his room.

As she made her way through the castle she played it smart, opting for stealth over brash and obvious fleeing – after all she was a sort of thief back in her own time. Staying to the shadows she crept along long corridors, periodically ducking behind tapestries and other décor to stay out of sight. She was actually surprised how quickly she made it outside without being detected.

She still had no idea how she got here but she knew that the strange rock in the clearing had something to do with it, so that's where she would go. It had been a long ride when Cooper had picked her up and she knew walking back would take much longer than she wanted so she stealthily made her way to the stables in search of a horse.

Gwen swore under her breath and ducked behind a pillar as Cooper walked through the stable, leading a horse through the space with a smile. If he wasn't so infuriatingly loyal to Kevin she guessed he would be a halfway decent person. The horse whinnied as he ran a brush through its mane and Gwen frowned, wondering how long it would take him to discover her less than ideal hiding place. There was no way for her leave without him either hearing her footsteps in the crunch of the hay that coated the floor or seeing her run out the stable doors in plain sight. Still, the wood of the pillar she was pressed against bit into her skin, speckling her with tiny splinters that guaranteed she couldn't remain where she was for long.

"Quite the problem." An unfamiliar voice chirped, making Gwen jump in surprise and whirl around defensively.

Seemingly having appeared out of thin air was an old woman, her short grey hair and soft smile covered by a deep blue cloak, which she pulled back once Gwen was facing her.

"Oh come now you must've seen stranger things than I since arriving." The woman smiled with a chuckle as Gwen opened and closed her mouth without sound, unsure what to say.

"Where did you?" She began, glancing behind the woman at the solid wall of the stable, impossible to pass through.

"Your escape will fail." The woman returned, ignoring Gwen's question altogether.

Gwen narrowed her eyes at the stranger and opened her mouth to rebut, only to have the woman's hand clamp over her mouth. On the other side of the pillar Gwen could hear Cooper walking towards them and internally began to panic. The second she was caught was the second she would be dragged back to the castle and to Kevin – frankly the last place she wanted to be.

"In just a few moments that man will be close enough to see us and you'll be caught." The woman whispered, keeping her hand firmly over Gwen's mouth. "Do you want my help?"

The woman looked innocent enough, but Gwen knew from experience that looks could be deceiving. Still, the heavy crunch of Cooper's footsteps promised a future imprisoned in a castle, in a time that wasn't her own, with a man around whom her judgment seemed to slip away. Desperately, Gwen nodded her head, clinging to any chance of freedom the old woman offered.

In a blinding flash of pink light the stable was gone and Gwen felt the familiar sensation of an eternity and an instant passing all at once before she fell into unconsciousness.