Short nothings 2by celosia
Disclaimer (which i forgot before): I make no claims to other's intellectual property...
A/N - So sorry about all this. The original version was plain old 'short nothings' butfor some odd reason I was unable to update/add more chapters.From now on anymore stories will be added in bulk under a new or slightly different title. More apologies and thanks very much to any reviewers! Lots of love to you all!
Chapter 1: BabiesI think we may have a small problem.
What kind of small problem?
Well, one that starts out small and grows bigger and bigger for about nine months and then…
What! You mean a baby! You're with child!
I think that might be it.
Are you sure?
Well, how the hell am I meant to know, do you want me to rip open my stomach and have a look? Bloody men! Just don't understand…
(Silence)
Are you happy?
With the baby, you mean?
Not in the sense that I'm going to have something the size of a pumpkin squeezing out from me in nine months! (Small voice) But yeah, I am happy, excited… bloody terrified as well.
Nevermind, I'll be here to protect you. I'm happy too. You will be alright, won't you? I mean you're such a scrawny little creature; I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. Maybe you should start eating more…. I'll have a talk to Bors. He'll know what to do.
Don't you even think about it! It's mine, not Bors'! Nobody! Understand?
You know you won't be able to keep it a secret forever. Tristan has sharp eyes and when your belly swells and you start to throw up in the morning, well…
You seem to know a lot about this. Any prior experience I should know about, my love? (dangerously)
What a question! No! No hands on experience, that is, only bits and pieces from Bors and the others.
Good!
Jealous?
(No reply)
Well, you have nothing to worry about. Your ankles will swell up, you will probably have terrible cravings, nausea in the mornings, your belly will grow and your back will hurt and you will become moody and irritable…
Was there a point to all that rambling apart from scaring me out of my wits?
Yes, I'll be there for you.
Galahad?
Yes?
You're a fool, but I do love you so.
Chapter 2: DagDagonet was smitten. It was wonderful to watch. Arthur studied him with amused and happy eyes. He had sometimes wondered about the large man who never casually took women to his bed (like most of the other knights). Dagonet just seemed to go through life in his placid way, finding little pleasures on the way; his silent delight in Bors' children and his friend's relationship with Vanora, and the time he had raised a litter of kittens in the hayloft after their mother had an unfortunate interaction with the desperate cook. Every morning for weeks he had appeared with bits of straw stuck to him.
And now Dag was in love. It wasn't that he looked terribly different but he had a glow. Arthur felt sure that Bors knew, but under threat from Vanora was refraining from taunting and teasing his large friend. He wasn't sure if any of the others realised.
Now, wait a moment, maybe they did. Lancelot knew just about everything that went on, and being Lancelot would be sure to tell someone. If Gawain knew, he would have told Galahad and vice versa. Tristan had the sharpest eyes of all.
Arthur now considered things in a new light. So, they all had realised that Dag had fallen in love but hadn't made any of the usual jokes. There had been no drunken discussions or anything likely to get back to Dagonet and make him pause in his slow, deliberate courtship.
Arthus turned his thoughts to the woman in question. She was, luckily, a large woman. He chuckled softly at the thought of Dagonet with a woman of the size of Galahad's current bird-like interest. (That is, of course another story.) She was tall, strong and with a peculiar grace.
The day they had first seen her, she had been racing a large camp dog across the practise yard, sprinting back and forth and tagging the large beast on his rump at each turn. The animal, delighted at having someone friendly to play with jumped and darted, carefully trying to keep his eyes on his playmate to avoid the triumphant tap. He failed every time and she laughed at his good-natured defeat. Upon seeing the knights (never looking their best in the mornings) she had tapped her companion one last time before turning and running in the opposite direction, yelling "Sorry", as she left. Unexpectedly Dagonet had chuckled softly to himself before noticing the other's startled faces. He turned his back and started setting up for the morning's drills.
The early seeds of love had been sown.
Chapter 3: Night interludes"What!" She spun round at the steel grip that enclosed her upper arm. Concealing the move she had made unconsciously towards the knife in her boot as a drunken stumble. Straightening when she saw who it was.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily.
She looked clearly at him, her drunken behaviour fading. He realised that she wasn't very drunk at all – only enough to give her the nerve to carry out her mad plan.
"Just testing the waters, dear. Nothing much to worry about." She mocked him, realising the worry that had made him break their agreement.
In response he simply looked even more annoyed. His eyes became black pools, reflecting the muted light around them. He stared at her silently while she waited for a response. Both of them could play the silent waiting game.
"Look, you know I would never do anything foolish, ill-considered…"
"Yes I know but I still don't like it."
"There's nothing much we can do about that." In a small voice, "Can you tell the others, 'I'm fine'?"
"Don't worry about it." Relief had not yet cracked his features. "Where are you going?"
In reply, she shook her head slowly, her face closing over into the look they all hated so much. Uncommitted blankness. Nothing could touch her when she looked like that.
They stood there a few moments longer, unwilling to go their separate ways.
Suddenly, in a move that made her head jerk painfully, she was hauled up against him in a kiss that shattered any remaining control that she had over her nerves. She could feel every sharp inch of his pain and longing.
Then, as soon as it started, he was gone, disappearing into the night.
Chapter 4: Unexpected
She was caught in a clinch. "Damn". Bloody Gawain was more skilful than she thought.
"Yield?" he asked with relish, obviously expecting her to give in. She glanced up at his face, seeing concentration, a slight grin and as yet no hint of triumph. She silently congratulated him – it was wrong to assume a fight was over until your opponent was either dead or disarmed, and even then…
He waited for the word, thinking that it was lucky he had caught her at all. Suddenly her face looked up and before he knew what she was about, she kissed him hard and moulded her body suggestively to his. "Gods, this woman is something," he thought as her tongue flicked at his lips. Shocked, he relaxed slightly and leaned into the kiss. The other knights clapped and cheered.
It was the moment she had waited for and she wrenched herself from his hold, laughing softly, mockingly. As she backed away from an angry and still slightly confused Gawain, she heard an exclamation and turned in surprise.
A man stood at the edge of practice yard. He was tall and young but with almost white hair and a dark tan. His eyes were a piercing grey-blue.
"And just what the hell was that?", he asked, his voice dangerously calm.
The other knights looked on with interest, expecting the man to be an irate husband seeking revenge on Gawain. Bors looked with glee on the new development, "10 on the stranger."
Dagonet shook his head silently. Lancelot and Galahad both said, "Deal".
Tristan said, "Bet you it's her brother." They all looked at him strangely and then back to the yard.
To their surprise it was Grette who blanched. She turned to face him fully with a low growl.
"Well?", he said menacingly.
"You have been gone for three months and you expect me to answer to you for one little kiss! Whatever happened to 'love, honour and protect' thy family? You've probably lain with half the whores in the Roman army and you object to a chaste kiss on the battlefield? Bah!"
He lifted up his hand commandingly, "I didn't get a message telling me to come to Hadrian's Wall, where I never expected to see you, I might add, to find you kissing any Sarmatian knight. Little sister, are you mad?"
Then, as he realised exactly what she had said to him, "Roman whores? I would never! And your taste is hardly all that good. Not even a Centurion? A captain, at least? It's a long step down to cavalry however luscious his hair may be. I do applaud you that he isn't a lowly Roman horseman. At least he's exotic."
"Did you hear that Gawain? Your're exotic!" Bors cried.
A/N - Nice to think of readers getting this far. Thanks! There will be more if you want it...