Thanks to the following for reviews on chapter 6!
Random; Rya3SaberVltar; Uchiha Bara; Tango Dancer


Lord of Dragons and Riders
Chapter 7

The two witches and knight entered the bar and ordered their drinks before settling into a corner so as to be less conspicuous since their presence was already drawing unwanted attention. Whilst they all sipped at their ale, they felt themselves unwind from tensions they had not even noticed. As they relaxed, a rough looking man entered the tavern and everyone fell silent watching his every move. He headed straight for the bar where the same woman who had given them the room upstairs watched his approach warily.

Without meeting his eyes she shakily threw some coins onto the damp surface between them. She bit her lip nervously as he counted it up.

"And the rest?" He sneered.

"That's all there is..." She spoke up, her voice unsteady with nerves.

"Jeez, looks like even way out here all the men have to control the people through fear." Morgana hissed to her sister, who immediately let out a peel of laughter at the seer's sarcasm.

The man turned sharply at the sound.

"Who the hell are you?" He mocked, stalking over to the trio.

"Leave them alone, Jimmy, they're only travelling on through, they don't mean anything by it!" The bar tender called after him, but he just hushed her and continued on over to the travellers' corner.

"Well well well, who do we have here? What are two lovely ladies such as you doing in a place like this?" He leered down at the witches, paying more attention to their 'assets' than their eyes, both pairs of which flashed golden in anger. This, however, was something Lancelot did not fail to notice. Standing abruptly he drew his sword from its sheath and held the point of the blade to the man's throat.

"If you wish to live, I suggest you leave." He said in warning, for he knew if he failed to take care of the man, the women would do the honours as a result of the disrespect shown to their sibling. The man just laughed in his face before letting out a shrill whistle.

"Over here boys!" He called out to the entourage that burst in through the door. As the group made their way over, making sure to look as menacing as possible, Lancelot sighed and put his sword away. "Do you really think you can back out of this now?" Jimmy goaded.

"Look, it seems there was a misunderstanding. If it's a brawl you want, it's a brawl you'll get. You aren't worthy of my sword." The knight said clearly, as though speaking to someone of little brains.

"Why you...!" The man raged, his face going red in colour. "Get the girls, the man's mine!" He yelled, and threw a punch at Lancelot, who swiftly dodged the blow, before he could counter, Jimmy fell forwards unconscious. A drunkard who had been sitting a short distance away from them had hit the thief over the head with his tankard of ale.

"Ahhh... such a waste!" He exclaimed into the sudden silence that followed the action, whilst looking forlornly at the bottom of the now empty mug.

The pause stretched for a moment longer before:

"Get 'em!" And a full out bar fight broke out.

Amongst the chaos that ensued, Lancelot exchanged names with the man, learning the stranger to be named Gwaine. The fight was going surprisingly well in their favour, or not that surprising really when the knight considered the fact two witches using their magic discreetly to trip their assailants and make sure the projectiles hit the brutes with surprising accuracy and force.

When there were only two unlawful men left standing, Lancelot and Gwaine turned at a yell from behind them to find the woman from the bar being held at knife point by Jimmy who must have recovered at some point during the fight. The two other men took the distraction as an opportunity to run out the tavern and escape on horseback.

"Let the woman go, she has no part in this." Lancelot said in hopes of calming the man and the woman going free. However he was then sidetracked by the blur of movement to his left that was Gwaine rushing forwards and tackling Jimmy to the ground. They scuffled and the thug hit his head on the stone flooring, knocking him out. Gwaine sat up only to fall backwards to lie on his side. Reaching down he grasped his thigh where he could feel the hot wetness of his blood seeping through the material of his trousers. As his vision faded and Lancelot, Morgana and Morgause rushed forwards in worry, a young man with dark raven hair and eyes that gleamed golden appeared clearly before him where everything else was blurred.

'Worry not, Sir Gwaine, you will be safe with us.' A voice spoke, and somehow, despite the lack of his mouth moving, he knew it was the person standing before him who had spoken.

With a final grimace, Gwaine lost the battle with the darkness and fell into the shadows that were unconsciousness.

-x-

Slowly Gwaine regained his senses. Before he made any move or opened his eyes he just listened. He could hear people talking close; a man and woman arguing over something.

"We should just ditch him and get out of here. We've already caused a large enough scene that Camelot may become interested on the incident and send people to investigate, and taking this man with us will only slow us down in his current state!" The woman argued.

"However we owe him a debt. He fought alongside us, and he got injured doing so. It is our responsibility to tend to his wound and keep him safe till he is capable of doing so himself once more." The man countered.

Losing interest in the argument that he could sort out later he expanded his senses, listening harder that before and hearing two other sets of breathing, both coming from his left. One was deep and regular, indicating sleep, and the other soft and light suggesting a smaller person, but the irregularity caused him to guess this other person to be awake. So, four people were present.

A door slamming open from the direction of where his feet laid caused him to jump slightly. In the embarrassment of not wanting to appear as though he had been spying, he opened his eyes to look like he had only just awoken in case anyone had seen his movement. The one who entered was the woman with the dark hair who had been among the group that had begun the fight at the bar that had left him injured. She called out urgently to the others in the room.

"We need to leave, now!" The others were quick to question her.

"What is wrong sister?" The blond asked, whilst the man who he remembered to be Lancelot watched her closely waiting for the response.

"A couple of villagers went to get help from Camelot in dealing with their prisoners; the knights will be here by evening!" Lancelot swore softly under his breath and Morgana's eyes roamed the room worriedly only to fall upon Gwaine and take in his conscious state. "He's awake." She informed the others. Immediately the blonde and Lancelot turned to regard him.

"How are you feeling?" The woman asked, coming up to the side of the bed he was laying on. Turning his head so as to look at her in the face, Gwaine informed her he was feeling fine, but found the majority of his attention falling into regarding the two boys on the other bed occupying the room. One of them was young, most probably yet to even make it to his teens. However the other is what truly held his interest; it was the same boy he saw as he passed out, what he guessed to be, the night before.

Seeing Gwaine's gaze, Lancelot moved to block the man's view of Merlin, suspicion clear in his eyes.

"Who is he?" Gwaine asked, prompting the others in the room to become wary also.

"It is of none of your business." The blonde spoke sharply.

"Why do you ask?" The young boy spoke up for the first time.

"I... He spoke to me before I passed out."


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