"I should find him," Cass said, speaking her thoughts aloud.
She turned to the Knights and asked, "You don't, by any chance, happen to know where Tristan is?"
Almost every Knight shook their head, and Cass frowned.
"Of course you don't," she muttered, loud enough for no one but herself to hear.
"He said he had to sort something out about those Roman soldiers," Dagonet said.
An image of the previous night found its way back into the foreground of her mind; Tristan's knives in the brains of the Romans who'd attacked her. She didn't see him pick them up. He must have gone back for them.
"If I know him as well as I think I do-" began Bors.
"Which is not very well-" interrupted Lancelot, his trademark smirk reappearing on his face.
Cass was glad to see it. It was nice to see something happy after so much that made her brain ache for something pleasant- even if it was just the Knights jibing at each other.
After shooting a sideways glare at Lancelot, Bors finished, "-Then he's probably out scouting by now."
Cass nodded. That did make sense. And if Tristan was out scouting, then Cass had no chance of finding him. Last time she'd tried, he'd been the one to find her; and she wasn't particularly eager to climb another tree in blind hope that she may or may not find the scout. Though, she reasoned, it can't hurt to just take a quick look.
"I really need to talk to him... I'll just go and have a look," Cass said, smiling at the Knights.
Her smile faded as she saw the faces of the Knights. They flashed glances at each other; worried glances. Cass looked at them confusedly. It was up to Arthur, it seemed, to elaborate.
"In the meeting this morning, and in light of even more recent events, we decided that you should probably stay with at least one of the Knights for the foreseeable future."
Cass blinked. Do they really think I'm in that much danger? Though when she thought about it, she knew that they were right to believe as such. In the last twenty-four hours she'd been attacked and almost carted away to be punished for a crime that she didn't commit. Cass couldn't think what to say to the commander and future leader of Britain, so she simply nodded to Arthur. Some measure of relief seemed to cross the Knights' faces and Cass was inwardly touched that they even cared that much to think of that. No one said anything for a while.
"You know," Galahad said, breaking the awkward silence that had started to develop.
"I was just about to go out and train. Why don't you join me? You might find Tristan when we're out there."
Cass didn't really need to think about her answer and she nodded to the Knight. He returned it with a smile, and stood, leaving the tavern with Cass. They went first, to Galahad's room. Cass had never seen where Galahad and Gawain lived before, and she was surprised to see that theirs were two rooms off a corridor to a smaller building, much like the rooms she and the other Knights stayed in. There was a third door leading from the corridor, and Cass wondered about it.
Galahad answered her query when he said, "That's Bors room. He's only ever in there when Vanora kicks him out though."
Cass smiled. Yeah, that sounds like Bors and Vanora, she thought. Galahad opened the door to his room and stepped inside. Cass stood in the doorway and waited for the Knight to emerge again. She noticed Galahad's room was much the same as her own, like Lancelot's had been. Are all of the Knights' rooms like this? Cass wondered, her mind leading her to vaguely wonder what Tristan's was like. Galahad came back out into the corridor carrying two bows and a quiver full of arrows.
"You have two bows?" Cass asked as they started to walk outside.
Galahad nodded and said, "I've always had my own and a spare. Just in case."
They left the Fort through the gates that they always left through. Cass couldn't help but feel uneasy though, when she saw the Romans on top of the wall and guarding the gates. After the previous night, and even earlier that morning, Cass wasn't sure what could make her not uneasy around Roman soldiers. She shivered, not looking at the soldiers' faces in case any of them had been in the tavern earlier. It didn't go unnoticed by Galahad, who sped up the pace at which they walked.
They didn't see Tristan on their way to the training hill, though Cass was sure she was looking far harder than Galahad was; she had far more reason to be looking for him. Tristan wasn't even where he usually sat, at the base of his tree. Cass sighed. She knew that she'd just have to find him later.
Cass made the most of her time with Galahad though, working on her skills with a bow. After some time, Cass' hit rate had increased dramatically. She hit the tree- not necessarily her target point- every time but once. She's better, a lot better, Galahad thought. Cass grinned inwardly that she'd managed to hit the tree she was aiming at; she did put most of her hits, however, down to dumb luck.
"That was actually very good-" Galahad said, half-amazed at how much better she'd become.
"Thanks for the tone of surprise in your voice," Cass answered sarcastically.
"Well, I mean; it was good... for you," he finished, winking at her.
Cass stared at him, unable to stop her cheeks from turning a light shade of red, but also unable to stop herself from smiling at the Knight's joke- even if it was at her expense. She threw her arm out at him, attempting to hit him jokingly on the arm, but Galahad dodged her easily, laughing as he did.
"Come on," he said, when he'd calmed his laughter.
"We should go back. I'm supposed to be meeting Gawain..."
Cass nodded to the Knight, but didn't enquire as to why he was meeting Gawain. If it was any of my business, he would have told me, Cass reasoned as they made their way back to the Fort.
"The only problem now is that I'll have to find someone else to dump you with," Galahad joked as they passed through the gates.
Cass blushed; understanding that his words were meant as a joke, but blushing because her own feelings on taking up the Knights' time were almost overwhelming. She hadn't really thought about how much she would put the Knights out by this arrangement. She didn't want to be a burden to them, and this new situation made Cass feel extremely uncomfortable. Noticing her blush, and the way she turned from him slightly, Galahad frowned.
"You know I was just joking, don't you?"
Cass looked back at him for a moment and gave a small nod, a tiny, fake smile appearing on her lips. She'd have to find some way to just not be such a bother to the Knights, or at least make them worry a little less so that they wouldn't think they'd have to look after her all the time. Cass sighed. You're just being stupid, she thought to herself, though she couldn't convince herself that she was.
The Knights always seemed to be doing things for her; saving her. And what had she done for them? Drawn a few pictures. Cass felt a wave of guilt rush through her. She made up her mind; she'd have to try and do something for the Knights. But what, she couldn't fathom.
Galahad said nothing as they walked through the Fort, Cass seemed totally lost in thought and he didn't think that he should interrupt. She snapped out of it as they approached a building with a thatched roof. Cass blinked. Why are we going to the stable? Her insecurities around horses came flashing back to her in that instant, but before she could say anything, Galahad had already walked through the open, wooden door.
Cass heard him speaking with someone and reluctantly followed him inside. She was surprised to see Tristan standing beside his horse in one of the stalls, his face half-hidden in the shadows. The Knights nodded to each other and Galahad turned back to Cass.
"Right, so that's alright then."
"What is?" Cass asked confusedly.
"You'll stay here with Tristan while I meet Gawain... You did say that you wanted to speak with him," Galahad answered.
Galahad gave Cass a mischievous smile as he left the stable; and Cass wondered aloud what that was about. Tristan looked for a moment at the girl, and gave her a shrug of his shoulders before turning back to brush his dappled grey horse. Cass stared at his back for a moment, her earlier determination to talk to Tristan fading fast.
Instead, she turned her gaze to the interior of the stable. She'd never actually been inside before, so everything was new to her. The yellowy light pooled into the room in strips through the small windows near the building's roof. Thick, wooden columns held up wooden beams to support the structure, and a few unlit candles rested on tiny ledges.
But even with all that surrounding her, Cass could really only focus on the man in the fifth stall on the right. She took a deep breath and walked slowly over to where the Knight stood. She stopped just short of where Tristan's horse was, not sure enough of the animal to venture any closer. Tristan must have heard her move over to him, because he turned and held out a hand for Cass.
She looked at his hand for a moment and then placed hers inside his upturned palm. Tristan softly pulled her a step closer to both he and his horse. Her face was flourishing with an unintended blush; his face was unreadable, whether shadowed, as it was now, or not. Cass had no idea what he was doing, but as he started to move her hand towards his horse's muzzle, she got the gist. Cass pulled her hand back slightly and the Knight paused.
"Oh no. Tristan; I'm not really a... horse kind of person. They don't like me. An-and I've always been kind of scared of them-"
Cass knew she was rambling, but she couldn't stop herself. She had an inkling already that Tristan's horse didn't like her; she didn't want her suspicions confirmed by it biting her or something.
"I can tell," Tristan's deep voice responded quietly.
"So can she," he added, gesturing to the dappled grey horse before them.
Cass frowned slightly. Tristan wasn't going to let go of her hand; that much was already clear. She let him guide her hand forward, cursing herself for letting him do it. She was sure that it would end badly. He pressed her hand gently to his horse's muzzle, his hand covering hers as he had done when introducing her to the hawk.
The horse half-nuzzled into Cass' hand, making her flinch backward slightly, but Tristan's hand kept hers in place. There was silence for a while, only the sound of breathing and the distant hum of the world outside the stable. It was peaceful; and the time in the quiet had, for Cass, warmed any friction that she had felt toward the horse.
It took Cass a long while to look up from the horse and see that Tristan's eyes were trained on her. She blushed a deeper shade of red. Why blush when he's just looking at me? Cass thought as she stared into the eyes of the man next to her. When she finally broke free of the silent spell his eyes held her in, Cass spoke; her voice almost a whisper.
"I know I seem to say this almost daily, but... thank you."
Tristan's head tilted to the left slightly, his deep, brown eyes glinting with their hidden spark.
"Thank you so much," she continued, her words taking on a slow pace.
His hand released hers, and hers dropped to her side. His, however, moved under her chin; a soft touch, a gesture that Cass had never allowed anyone before to make. She inhaled slowly, feeling her heart start to beat faster. She forced herself to look down, away from his eyes, lest her cheeks turn a vibrant mix of red and purple.
"Everything you've done... Everything..."
Her words were lost even before they formed on her tongue. Cass saw him move closer, felt him move closer. She looked at him, her eyes meeting his once more. It was almost as if there was a question in his glinting brown eyes. And Cass understood exactly what it was.
Tristan's head bowed and his lips met hers in a gentle embrace. It felt like only seconds to Cass before he pulled back. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest, her breathing wanting only to come out half-ragged. Cass could only try not to let him see how much one little touch from him had done to her. But his lips were touching hers again before she could control her breath. Their lips moved against each other, first softly, but with an increasingly building fire; until-
A nudge and a neigh interrupted them; broke their kiss.
Both Tristan and Cass moved as the horse nudged Tristan's arm. A smile found its way to Cass' lips as immediately as Tristan's had left them. She didn't know if it hadn't anything to do with the horse's timing or not; but it was definitely present because of that kiss. Silence spread through the stable again, and, once more, Cass was the one to break it.
"I told you she didn't like me."
Tristan looked at her quizzically. Cass blushed once more, her face seemingly permanently red now.
"If she liked me... She wouldn't have interrupted."
Tristan's lips curled upward into the first true smile she'd seen him give since she'd known him. Cass was mesmerised by it. And by the fact that something so small as a smile, could make her so happy. She and Tristan stayed in the fifth stall down for a long time afterwards; with Cass just standing by, whilst Tristan brushed and fed his horse.
They went to the tavern, as usual, and neither gave any indication that anything had happened between them. Neither were the type to flaunt such a thing. It was no one's business but their own. And their secret was well-kept. But Tristan's every little glance toward Cass, with that special glint in his eye, had her heart pounding in her chest and a blush blooming on her cheeks.
She wouldn't wonder until later, when she was lying in bed that night, what this all meant. Or why she'd forgotten to ask Tristan what this made them. Or... She closed her eyes, letting confusion and forgetfulness become the topic of another day.
Author's Note: Okay so, firstly, I finished my picture of Bors, so erm, here it is: http:/ princesspomegranate. deviantart. com/#/d34k28q (just remove the spaces :) )
Secondly, I am sorry to say, I am soon to go on hiatus. I have two exams that require SERIOUS amounts of revising, so I have to focus on that until January 30th. *dies* I think though, I may be able to do a couple more chapters before then, because (if I have to leave it for a while) there is a place I want to leave it. (Don't worry, it's no cliffhanger. :P) Ye have been warned! :/
Kit xx