Disclaimer: I own nothing from King Arthur the movie or the legends.
Chapter Eleven: Her Arrival
Special Thanks:
Woad
Thought
Memory
Author's Note
It was a four day ride before they had reached the coast and when they arrived the lady was not yet in Britian. This did not make the knights happy at all.
"Why is she not here?" growled Lancelot. "It's bad enough that we have to do this for him, but now having to wait for her."
"Calm down, we didn't know when she was going to arrive. The channel could easily been to dangerous for her to cross yet." Arthur stated.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I am just glad that we didn't run into trouble on the way here." Bors said.
"Merlin has never travlled this far south before. It would be unlikely that he do so now," Gawain said.
"Merlin is full of many surprises. Do not treat his so lightly," Dagonet warned.
"I almost fill sorry for this girl," Galahad stated changing the subject.
"I don't understand how you just marry off your women. Why do they not get to choose for themselves?" asked Dainera.
"Ah but with your people why is it the line of Queens?" asked Lancelot with a smirk.
"Women are the forebarers of life itself."
"I don't think that is just women,"
"True men do play a part, but women are the ones who nuture and carry life within their bodies until it is ready to embrace to world."
"Don't you also worship a goddess?" asked Galahad.
"We do worship a goddess for those reasons. She is giving and careing, yet wrathful and forgiving. Your god, Arthur, wants you to pay penance for sins that no human can change. Your priests and woman live a life of containment for your god. If he is so merciful then why do you live the way you do?" The knights looked at her in shock at what she said. No one had ever questioned Arthur's belief before.
"The ways of people are each their own." was his answer.
"Don't your people have festivals where they consumate the binding to the goddess and her lover the sun god?" asked Gawian.
"We have the Beltain Festival. That is its name and yes."
"Have you ever participated?" he asked suggestivly.
"I have not. Because I am the next to sit on the Throne my maidenhood is to be kept until I chose who the father of my heir will be. After I provide an heir I can participate in the festival if I so choose."
"So you know no man?" asked Lancelot.
"If I had an heir then I would have to worry about my brother so much." she retorted. Talking about such things made her uncomfortable.
The night passed quickley when a bell rang out. Instantly Dainera and the knights were awake. As they looking into the coming dawn they saw a ship approaching port.
"And so the Lady Isolde arrives," Gawain said. They dismembered the campsite and headed for the port. It did not take long for the ship to dock. What took a long time was for the lady and her enturoge to come ashore. Roman Knights were the first to touch the land followed by a Lady dressed in pure green. Her hair was a flaming red that put fire to shame and her eyes where glowing sapphires.
"Lady Isolde, I am Arthur Castus. We are here to escort you to Hadrian's Wall." The only thing she did was nod. With a wave of her hand the Knights reboarded the ship. A horse was provided for her and she mounted. Dainera rode up along side her.
"My name is Dainera my lady." She only nodded in acknoledgement.
"Tristan ride ahead to see if the road is clear," Arthur comanded the silent knight. Again Dainera lookedat Isolde and saw that her gaze followed Tristan as he rode off into the distance. The journey began in silence due to the fact of the Lady was not riding in a carriage. This caused the air to be quite uncomfortable. Until Isolde spoke.
"So you are a knight?" she asked Dainera.
"Dainera is a fighting woman from north of the wall. We allowed her to join our group under special circumstances," Gawain answered.
"You are a woad?" she wondered in awe.
"In a manner of speaking," Dainera replied.
"Is that why you ride without a saddle and bridle?"
"You ask a lot of questions don't you?" Galahad sarcastically asked. Isolde rolled her eyes and waited for Dainera to respond.
"There are many things that I have learned Rome does not approve of ." was the answer.
"You seem to be more then just a fighting woman. You act ..."
"I am was I was raised to be. Nothing more nothing less."
"And what were you raised to be?" The knights gave Dainera an uneasy look.
"I can tell you, but if I do then I will have to kill you, and if I did that then Rome would come after me and poor Lucius will have not bride." The knights began to laugh. Dainera gave a look of pure guilty innocence. Isolde gave a look of insult.
The escort travlled until they reached a small grove just before sunset. Though Isolde seemed to be raise in fortune she made no complaints about sleeping outside on the ground. In fact she made no complaints at all. She made her bed roll next to Dainera's and laid on it. Dainera could feel her stare looking her up and down. Soon after the sunset Tristan returned with his report of the road a head.
"Arthur, Dagonet was right. Merlin has travel this far south of the wall. By sometime tomorrow we will be attacked. We must make ready." The knights armed themselves to the teeth before they made ready for the night. Lancelot came over and laid his roll five feet from the Lady Isolde's. Then he walked over to Dainera.
"Mo...Dainera can I speak with you for a moment?" he asked reaching for her hand. Together they walked away from the group to speak in private. "I know things have been a little awkward since the incident with Lucius," he began. "It is our orders, yours and mine, to protect the Lady until we reach the wall," he gave a pause, "I want you to take this," he placed a bow in her hands. On top of it was an amulet of a dragon. The bow was beautifully crafted from oak and the sinew was that of a deer.
"Thank you," was all she could manage to say. She still felt strange in his presence.
(Other side of camp with the other knights)
"I think that they're falling in love," stated Bors as he watched Morianna and Lancelot.
"You have seen little in a large sky," said Tristan.
"He speaks!" Gawain exasperated. The knights all burst out laughing at Tristan. And so the night contiued in its normal fashion until the watch was posted and the others rested. Isolde slept between the bodies of Lancelot and Dainera.
Wow! That took a long time. I will try to update asap. What will happen next? Please Review. Dainera's hope is beginning to fade. Bye Bye