A hand touched her shoulder. "Anna? Time to get up," a voice said.
"Mm?" Anna opened her eyes to see Sir Sagramor kneeling over her. "We need to get the people moving. Leon says there's a village not far from here; we're going to get the people there and try to find some food."
"What we need is some blankets," Anna answered blearily as she sat up and shook Sifa's shoulder. "I'm wet through."
It was only early afternoon, but it had begun to drizzle. Luckily it was a pretty warm May day, but if it rained on them overnight, they were going to have illness on their hands.
The townspeople and the soldiers all looked pretty draggled when they reached the village. Anna could hear the livestock grunting and lowing, and expected to see the people out in the fields, sowing their summer crops. But the place was eerily silent of human noises.
It was soon obvious why. They reached the first of the bodies on the outskirts of the town. It seemed that most of them had been rounded up and killed together, but a few had tried to run and had been shot down. Some of the soldiers who had gone on ahead returned to report that there were no survivors still in the village; that the Southrons hadn't bothered to steal any of the food or supplies in the village: they hadn't stopped to do anything but kill.
Leon organized the soldiers into companies: some would bury the dead, some would gather supplies, and the rest would guard the village perimeter. Meanwhile, Bors and another knight would help Sifa and Anna to gather bandages and other supplies for a makeshift medical kit.
Anna set up in one of the larges houses and set Sifa and the two knights to washing and binding wounds. By the time she had finished it was nightfall, the dead had been buried in one large trench, and the houses had been stuffed with refugees and soldiers.
Leon, Percival, and the other few knights who were with them met in the large house as Anna and Sifa were cleaning things up.
"We can stay here one night and move on to Ascetir in the morning," Leon decided. "Sagramor, how much do we have by way of supplies?"
"We have enough blankets if everyone shares, and enough food to last us a couple of weeks."
"Percival, what are the scouts saying about the citadel?"
Percival shook his head, looking grim. "We're outnumbered three to one. We can't take them on."
"We can't give up hope," Leon said. "Merlin is wily; I'm sure he and Arthur are safe somewhere."
Percival snapped his fingers. "Ealdor!" Leon frowned at him in confusion. "That's the village Merlin's from. It's just over the border, in Lot's kingdom. Perhaps they've gone there?"
"We can't be sure—and anyway, it's too far to take all these people. We'd be too slow and too obvious." Leon shook his head. "No, if Arthur is coming back to meet us, he'll look for us in the Forest of Ascetir. Anna, is everyone fit to travel?"
Anna nodded. "We've been lucky that the injuries from the battle were so few."
Leon looked grim. "It wasn't luck: those who weren't well enough to travel weren't well enough to escape the city. Sagramor, make sure that the supplies are gathered and ready to go. Let's set up the night watches and get some sleep. I'm sure Arthur will meet us in the Forest of Ascetir soon."
000
Despite Leon's avowed optimism, there was no sign of Arthur or Merlin day after day. The refugees created makeshift shelters in the forest and established a routine, punctuated occasionally by the return of scouts with news of goings-on at the citadel. They could only observe from a distance, so there was no way for them to discover what had become of Elyan, Gaius or Gwaine.
Anna tried to keep her mind off of her worries for her friends by staying busy. She and Sifa helped Sagramor to make sure everyone was receiving the supplies they needed, and ended up acting as spokespeople, facilitating communication between the refugees and the knights. The rest of the time she spent calming fears and reassuring people. The continued absence of Arthur was making them nervous; she began to hear quiet talk about what they should do if he didn't return.
"He will," she found herself saying repeatedly. "He'll come to us when it's safe. He is the true King of Camelot; he won't abandon his people." She didn't allow herself to wonder if she was right.
Four nights after they left the village, Anna was woken from sleep by the sound of hushed but excited voices.
Anna glanced around. The sound was coming from the direction of Leon and Percival's campfire. Sifa, with whom she shared a blanket, was still asleep. Slowly and gently, Anna slipped out from under the blanket and walked in the direction of Leon's fire. There were a few men standing around it—and one of them wasn't a knight.
"Merlin!" she exclaimed, almost forgetting to whisper, and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Anna!" He hugged her back with a big smile.
Anna looked up to realize that she had interrupted an important conversation. She felt herself blush. "Sorry," she said quickly, and stepped back.
Leon was smiling. "It's alright. Merlin has just been telling us some good news."
"Arthur's coming!"
"Yes." Merlin was smiling. "Arthur, and Gwen, and two more good fighters—their names are Tristan and Isolde. They'll be helpful when we take back the citadel."
"You're sure we can do it?"
"If Arthur says we can, would you follow him?"
A smile spread across Leon's face. "Yes. Every man here would."
"There's just one thing he has to do first. He needs a sword."
"Well, we have—"
"No. A special sword. He's going to retrieve it tomorrow, and I want representatives from the townspeople, the soldiers, and the knights to see him do so."
000
Anna and Sifa were among those who left the camp as the sun was rising the next morning and followed Leon and Percival to the place Merlin had directed them to. Sure enough, there was a sword, gleaming silver and gold, in a shaft of golden light. And beyond it—Arthur.
He looked up in surprise as they came forward, stood respectfully silent. He turned to speak with Merlin.
"He looks nervous," Sifa whispered, wrapping her hand nervously around Anna's arm. "Do you think he can't pull it out?"
"Do you?"
Sifa smiled, much as Leon had the night before. "He'll do it," she said, and turned her eyes back to her king.
Arthur stalked forward, wrapped his hands around the hilt, and pulled. His arms shook with the effort. The refugees waited in breathless silence. Finally Arthur stopped, stepped backward, wrapped one hand about the hilt, closed his eyes, and in one smooth motion pulled the sword from the stone as smoothly as a knife from butter.
Sifa gave a gasp and squeezed Anna's arm. "LONG LIVE THE KING!" Leon shouted, and Anna was shouting along with him, along with them all.
000
All the able-bodied men and women who were capable of fighting and were not needed to watch the children took up the makeshift weapons Sagramor had gathered in the village. Anna took up a pitchfork—but Leon took it out of her hands.
"No matter what happens in the battle today, we will need you," he told her. "A healer is more valuable to us safe in the forest than dead or injured from fighting in the city."
So Anna and Sifa, who was good with children, were stuck waiting again as the attack commenced on the castle. Anna strained her ears for what seemed like an eternity to hear any noise of battle. Then when she did, and the alarm bell was rung, it seemed like an eternity again.
"Won't they ever finish?" Sifa asked, half under her breath.
"It will take some time," Bors answered. He had been assigned to remain in the forest and guard them. "See?" He pointed to the one gate of the town that was visible from their vantage point. "Some of the Southrons are fleeing!"
At long last, Anna spotted a flash of crimson on the top of the highest tower. A soldier of Camelot was waving the flag.
"The signal! We've won!" Anna and Sifa hugged each other, and Sir Bors, and the children.
"Go on—you'll be needed!" Bors said, and Anna took off for the town at a run.
TBC
AN: Since this chapter followed the show so closely, it's a bit bare-bones. But the next chapter should be more interesting, so stay tuned. :)
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed—you've no idea what a pick-me-up it was to start my week with an inbox full of reviews! Please review!
