"M'Lady." She felt someone gently shaking her arm.

"M'Lady?"

Another gentle tug. She opened one eye and peered directly into a pair of blue eyes. "We need to get going."

Delaney stretched and immediately winced. "Oh that wasn't such a smart idea." She grasped the hand the dark blonde haired man held out to her. Taking a deep breath she got up. "I'll be ready as soon as I go refresh myself." She stiffly walked away from the knights and towards a group of trees.

She was just tucking in her shirt when she felt movement over the toe of her shoe. Instinctively she let out a scream. The snake turned and looked at her. She stood holding her breath frozen in place. The slender grayish snake continued to stare at her.

Tristan was suddenly next to her and she pointed down at the snake. He then chuckled.

"What is so damn funny! Get that THING away from me!" To this, the man reached down and picked up the foot long horror and began to let it crawl from one hand to the other.

"It's harmless. See." He held it out to her which caused her to take a step back. With a sigh he kneeled down and let it scurry away. "It's not a snake, it's a lizard. Lack of a forked tongue is how you tell the difference."

"If you think I am going to get close enough to find out if it had a forked tongue or not you are DAFT!"

"There, all gone." He started walking in the direction of the knights.

Delaney quickly finished tucking in her shirt and buttoning her jeans. She hurried quickly after Tristan's retreating back disregarding her aches and pains. The medicine had helped. When she got to the small campsite everything had been packed up and most of the men were upon their horses. There were two horses that didn't have a passenger, one a tall black stallion who was neighing impatiently. The other was a black a couple hands smaller than the other with a trail of white between its eyes. It stood stock still as if it were right where it wanted to be.

"I will help you up onto Lancelot's horse," Dagonet remarked as she got closer.

"Excuse me?" She stood, with hands on her hips staring up at the arrogant creature with the equally arrogant knight atop it.

"I have the bigger horse with less weight. If you ride with Dag you may hurt his horse because it's smaller and is already carrying him." Lancelot explained a touch impatiently. She had a slight pinched expression which made him grin, wanting to push just enough to get her annoyed, but not enough to piss her off.

"You don't understand. I don't know a thing about riding. The couple of times I've been on a horse, I've fallen off."

"You don't have to know anything about riding, you'll just be in front of me."

"Oh yeah right. So I can just fall over the horses head."

"I'll hold on."

Delaney stared at the smug man and rolled her eyes. "Fine." Lancelot soothed his horse while Dagonet picked her up, his hands on her hips causing the least amount of pain as possible and set her atop the horse as if she were nothing more than a rag doll. Once she was settled, Lancelot immediately snaked his arm around her waist and they were off at a trot to catch up with the others. Delaney sat board straight and clenched her thighs against the horse trying to keep herself from falling back against Lancelot.

"I don't bite."

"Let me guess, unless asked?"She smirked, cocking an eyebrow as she turned and glanced at him.

He chuckled. "Perhaps. If you don't relax you are going to be more sore than you already and are and you'll give my horse a complex."

"If I relax I'll end up leaning against you."

"You make this sound as if it is unpleasant."

"It just might be." She retorted, her body rebelling against the stiff stance. Suddenly the horse broke into a dead run and she was forced back against the knight with a loud 'oooft'. Just as suddenly the horse slowed down and she was still held securely against the armor plating.

"See, not so bad now is it?" His accent lilted into her ear. She took a deep breath and wished she hadn't. He smelled. It was a mixture of earth, sweat and the smell of the trees and rain but mostly sweat. She started coughing. He let go a bit. It was enough for her to get away from the worst of it.

"You've been on the road awhile." She remarked, wrinkling her nose.

"A week. We've been escorting Roman caravans down south to meet the ships that will take them back to Rome." He looked down at her, "Why do you ask?"

"Let us just say, that I know I have no room to talk, however, I've only been without a bath for a day or two, you have been without one for quite sometime."

"Are you saying I smell?" He asked smirking.

"You could say that."

Lancelot leaned forward and inhaled deeply, "So do you, very nice I might add." He inhaled deeply again, "I detect the smells of the forest and of the earth. Reminds me of home."

"Where is home?"

"It was Sarmatia. However, I've learned that this is turning into my home."

"This?"

"Britain."

"I see." He sounded as if he didn't want to talk about it and frankly, she wasn't in the mood for listening. They rode in a comfortable silence. The horses gait; even though it jostled the broken ribs a bit was relaxing. She found herself drifting off. Feeling safe against the armor of the knight.

Lancelot looked down at her in his arms, eye's closed, snoring softly. Her face was just turning deep purple from her bruises and the cut above her eye resembled a jagged edge, while her lip though cut still held a perfect pout. He wondered what had happened to the woman. She was small, but not petite. Her nails were ragged and she had those perfect circular scars about her wrists. Her manner of dress although not much different than their's, was also puzzling. The materials of her clothes were unique. Her boots, though practical only came up to her ankles

with thick rubber soles. He glanced back again to the tunic that she wore as a jacket of sorts. The color was of the likes he'd never seen; it was a blue bordering a green. He wondered what she used to dye it. He would very much like a tunic of that color. She attempted to shift and then she was awake, her eyes staring back into his. Their dark blue depths reminding him of a storm upon the ocean.

"Sleep well?" He asked with a smile.

"Uh yeah." Delaney tried to sit up as best she could with his strong arm pressing her against him. Her body ached in places she hadn't ached before. "Sorry for using you as a headrest."

"I'm not."

She smirked, shaking her head, "Where are we?"

"Going towards the wall."

"The wall?"

"Hadrian's wall."

"Hadrian's wall? Oh my God." Delaney felt the scholar in her perk up. "Are we almost there? How long has it been standing?" She gushed without thought.

"We shall be there tomorrow and it's been standing a few years now." Lancelot regarded her; puzzled.

"The Hadrian's wall. I can't wait!" She felt her fingers tingle at the thought of seeing it in it's hay day; touching the mortar and the stones before it became a symbol of ancient Rome. "Hold on, we're camping again?" She felt dread creep in. She considered roughing it staying in a hotel without a swimming pool. Outside, under the stars without a tent, Hell even WITH a tent was something she did NOT do.

"Yes."

"Great." She commented with a sigh.

"Do you have a problem with that?" He asked, eyebrows raising.

"Even if I did there isn't much that can be done now is there? I'll deal with it." Lancelot answered her with a grin and they sat in silence once again.

"Is he giving you problems M'Lady?" Gawain asked as he rode up beside Lancelot's horse.

"No he's been a perfect gentleman."

Gawain eyed Lancelot with a smirk, "Are you feeling ill? You haven't tried wooing her yet? Have you lost your touch Lancelot?"

"I like my women healthy. When she's healed I'll start wooing her, until then I'll be the perfect gentleman."

"You can try, Lancelot." Delaney spoke as she met Gawain's smirk with one of her own.

"But, Lady Delaney, you have never been with me." Lancelot said with a flourish.

"Oh please, get over yourself the rest of us have." Delaney commented. Gawain rode on, chuckling to himself.

Later on, Dagonet came by and announced that they were stopping for lunch.

Once Lancelot had his horse tied up he reached to help Delaney down. She smiled and slid past his outstretched arms to stand next to him. Standing stiffly she commented, "Once I can feel my ass and legs again I'll go sit on the log over there and see if I can be helpful."

"I told you not to be so tense." Lancelot chided as she attempted to stretch the numb muscles.

"Yes, and you also told me you were going to make a pass for me and gave me no choice but to lean against you." She stabbed him in the chest with her finger.

"Yes, and you also fell asleep and seemed perfectly content to lie dreaming in my arms." He grinned, as he grabbed her finger and stopped her from stabbing him again.

"I'm exhausted, I'd have felt perfectly content lying in a mud puddle as long as I could sleep." Laney replied hotly.

"I'm no better than a mud puddle?" He looked like a puppy who'd just had his bone taken away.

"You took it that way, not me." With that she left.

Lancelot watched her walk stiffly over to where Galahad was unloading some supplies.

Arthur walked up to the dark haired knight, "How is she?"

"She hasn't really said. Actually she said that she can't feel her ass or legs, but other than that she hasn't complained. She winces every once in awhile but that's the only sign I have seen that she is in any pain."

"She hasn't said anything about how she got here?"

"Nothing."

"Give her time."

"I believe she has nothing but time."

Delaney was looking at some blossoms from a bush beside one of the gnarled trees when Tristan materialized out of them. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"No mind. What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out what these blossoms are."

"Saskatoon berries. Or June berries as we call them. The berries have a hint of an apple flavor."

"The blossoms are beautiful."

"The berries are a dark red or purple in color."

"We have these in-- where I'm from."

"Where are you from?"

"A long way away." She muttered. "I'd best be going back to see if I can be of any use. Which I doubt." With that she quickly turned away and went back to their makeshift camp. Tristan watched her saunter off, her head down, watching the plants at her feet; muttering to herself.