Saved
Gemini Shadow
A/N: I do not own King Arthur in any way. The plot however is mine, along with Elizabeth. Please Read and review! Also, this story starts right after Arthur and Guinevere are married and Lancelot lives through the battle. He is saved by a stray arrow of the knights and he manages to get up right before Arthur kills Cerdic. He heals completely after a few months and that is where our story begins...
Chapter 1: Mission and Rescue
Lancelot walked above the gate of Hadrian's Wall. He had his hands behind his back and he stared out at the woods beyond. The trees moved every once in a while as Woads rushed past. The knights and the Woads had made peace ever since the wedding of Arthur and Guinevere, and Lancelot saw them differently. He also understood them better. They were people who wanted to protect their homeland and they would do anything to keep it. Lancelot felt that way of Sarmatia and he still did. However, he had chosen of his own will to stay here with Arthur and Bors, Gawain, and Galahad. A slight breeze blew through Lancelot's hair as he stood a top the wall. A guard called from below.
"We're in for a nasty change of weather, Sir Lancelot," he said while noticing Lancelot's fixed stare at the forest.
"Yes, more rain. I wish the sun would manage to stay out for more than one day at a time," Lancelot said.
"Aye. Them Woads, you stare at their forest. I still have no respect for 'em. I heard that one man is selling his own daughter as a slave to the Romans. He feels she is useless because she has not obtained a husband. Maybe you could see a little action by rescuing her. You seem to want a little action," the guard said with a wink," and who knows, maybe she'll be another Guinevere."
With that, the guard walked away, not knowing of the piercing stare Lancelot threw at him. But maybe the guard was right. Also, why should an innocent girl get taken advantage of by the Romans? With that thought in mind, he rushed to his room and grabbed money from the pouch behind his door. He grabbed a cloak, then rushed to the stables and quickly tacked up his black charger. He walked him out to the gate, which two guards opened for him, and he jumped on his horse. Within a few minutes he was almost at the edge of the forest. His horse galloped under the trees and Lancelot slowed to a walk. A young Woad warrior stepped into his path.
"You are a Sarmatian Knight. What dealings do you have in this forest?"
"I came to look for a young maiden who is being sold as a slave," Lancelot said," Can you please take me to her father?"
The Woad agreed and Lancelot followed him through the winding path in the forest. Finally they reached a clearing and there were several medium sized huts. The Woad called out a name in his own language and a stooped man who appeared to be in his late 60s walked out of a nearby hut. He had a bald head and a grizzled white beard. His pale green eyes studied Lancelot from head to toe. He wore pants made out of deerskin and he had beads in his beard. A quiver was on his back.
"What do ye want?" the man asked.
"I've come to buy your daughter," Lancelot said.
"Aye. She isn't cheap. What exactly does a knight like you need an ugly Woad like my daughter for when you have hundreds of pretty maids behind that stone wall of yours?"
"I come because I need a personal servant when I travel and I wanted someone with battle experience. You daughter being a Woad has had that experience."
The man looked at him one more time before grunting and turning around. He walked into the hut and Lancelot ran and stood in front of him.
"Excuse me," Lancelot said.
"You damn Sarmatian knights are always trying to do good. You don't really need me daughter. You're just on one of your famed rescue missions. Me daughter has no purpose in this world except to be a slave. She has failed in me eyes of getting a husband by the time the other girls were. She is a terrible cook and tracker as well. All I see her fit for is for the Romans to enjoy. She is worthless."
"Then why can I not buy her? If she is indeed worthless, then she is of no use to you," Lancelot said.
"We need the Romans' Allegiance and by selling and trading with them it will help. Most of the Woads may see you knights as friends and Allies, but I see you as scum from Sarmatia that is just on this soil because you were told to. You have no love for the land. You only fight and destroy it.," the man said and he whipped out a sword he had at his belt and swung at Lancelot, who ducked and pulled out his own sword.
The man lunged at him, and Lancelot turned away. He struck at the man, who clearly had no more strength because of his age, and brought him to the ground. Their blades remained crossed and the man thrust upward with a force Lancelot was not expecting and the man jumped to his feet. Lancelot swung and blocked, with the man matching some of his moves. But after a while, the skilled Lancelot was over powering the old man. Lancelot swung his blade in a huge arc and the tip of the sword was at the man's neck. The man dropped his sword and fell to his knees. Lancelot gave him a piercing stare.
"Where is your daughter?"
"In the hut," the man answered.
Lancelot turned away and walked into the hut. There was a blonde girl laying on a bed, her eyes closed. Ugly? What did this man mean by ugly? This young woman was as beautiful as Guinevere. Lancelot was so caught up in his thoughts he did not hear the flap of the hut open. The man walked quietly in and brought his word above Lancelot's head. He brought the blade down and at the last possible second Lancelot rolled away and stuck a dagger in the man's back. The man dropped the blade and fell on his face, never to move again.
The girl sat upright in bed and stared wide-eyed at the floor. Then she glanced at Lancelot.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Lancelot picked her up and ran out of the hut. He put the girl onto his horse and then he threw himself up onto the saddle. With one last glance back, he pushed the horse forward and they galloped to Hadrian's wall.
The Woads walked into the hut one by one and picked up the man. Many of them were muttering. Several old men were conversing as they stared at the man's rigid frame and opened eyes.
"Serves him right for selling his daughter to the Romans," one said.
A woman came out of the clearing and looked at the man.
"Thank you, God!" she said with folded hands, her head looking up at the sky.
It was his wife.