36 – All At Once – The Fray

Lancelot was sitting up when she entered and his face lit up slightly when he saw her. To Cara, the knight looked bored sitting there alone and Cara couldn't blame him. "Feeling better?" she asked lightly, coming to sit on the edge. He chuckled.

"Much better now that you're here," he remarked, stroking her cheek. Cara smiled slightly. He twisted a strand of her hair playfully.

"I'm not that special," she responded. Again he chuckled, but did not say anything in return. Now that he was well and not near death, Cara found it hard not to stare at his chest. He had muscle in all the right places and she could see a small part of his heavily muscled abs that peeked out from underneath the blood stained bandage.

Cara sighed and grabbed the roll of bandages and salve that Dagonet had left. She grabbed a cloth and dipped in the basin of lukewarm water that sat on the desk. She could feel Lancelot's eyes on her and she felt a nervous feeling travel down her spine.

He never took his eyes off her. She resumed her position on the bed and began to unwrap the old bandage. He watched her skilled hands move quickly and efficiently. "You don't have to do this you know," he said, softly. He didn't like Cara fussing over him. She had done that enough the past few days.

She looked up as she threw the dirty bandage aside. "It needs tending," she replied simply, wiping away the dried blood. Lancelot was surprised at her tenderness. Her hands were calloused, just as his, but they were gentle.

"Do you kill your enemies with this gentle touch," he asked, curiously. Cara smiled and laughed softly.

"Maybe, you'll never know," she joked, letting him wonder. "Lean back," she ordered firmly, pressing him against the bed. Lancelot obeyed. She touched the gash gently and Lancelot winced. "Sorry," she apologized. Lancelot waved it off. She took a small amount of the salve on her fingertips and pressed it to the wound. This time Lancelot groaned and let out a curse under his breath. "I'm sorry," Cara apologized once more.

"Stop apologizing, Cara. It's not your fault," Lancelot chided. Cara bit her lip as she held her tongue. Lancelot lifted her chin gently, so that he could meet her gaze. She gave him a small smile and continued to rewrap his wound. Once she was satisfied that he wasn't going to bleed all over the place she cleaned up her mess and headed for the door.

"Cara," Lancelot's voice stopped her as soon as she was about ready to step outside. Cara took a deep breath and turned around to face him. He wasn't looking at her and Cara got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, a very bad feeling.

"Yes?" she responded, her voice shaking slightly, but thankfully Lancelot didn't seem to notice. He turned to face her and Cara knew in that instant what was coming.

"When were you planning on telling me about you and the others running off to find the rouges?" Cara closed the door and walked slowly over to him.

"You know?" she asked. Lancelot nodded.

"Aye, Arthur told me this morning. You ride out in four days." Cara bit her lips. Apparently, Arthur had spoken with him before he had spoken with Cara. The young woman shook her head.

"I spoke with Arthur a moment ago," she replied. "I convinced him to leave tomorrow." Lancelot's emotions ranged. First he was confused. Then he was angry. And finally, everything turned to worry. He shot up from where he had reclined and Cara steadied him. "Don't be doing that," she scolded, but Lancelot didn't listen to her.

"Are you stupid, Cara?" he asked. He had reach in order to grab her fair face and force her to look him in the eyes.

"No," she answered angrily. Lancelot was just as furious. The whole point of leaving in four days was so that she would have time to rest. She still looked exhausted. Lancelot didn't want her going out like that and he couldn't believe that Arthur would agree to such a thing.

"Then tell me you're logic behind leaving tomorrow. Do you want to get yourself killed? Do you want to die?" he asked. His voice was raised, but not yet to the point of shouting.

"I'm not going to die, Lancelot," she snapped. "Do you have such little faith in me?"

"No I have little faith in your common sense," he retorted. Cara huffed angrily. "You look exhausted, Cara. You can't honestly believe you could win a fight in your state." Cara glared at him. Her furious blue eyes bore into his very soul and tore him apart.

"My 'state' is perfectly fine," she answered sharply. There was no point in hiding the venom that spiked her voice. Lancelot wasn't going to win this one. He had only dug himself deeper. The only way out was through Cara's heart and it was easier to get to than he originally thought.

He gave a deep, annoyed sigh. "I'm sorry," he apologized quietly. Cara lowered her head and looked away from him for a moment. "I'm just worried about you. I don't like you going off by yourself." Cara turned her gaze back to him. Surprisingly, it had softened considerably.

"I won't be by myself," she reminded. "The other knights and Arthur will be with me. Besides, now you know how I felt when you left me behind." Lancelot nodded, but then began shaking his head.

"I still don't like it." Cara placed a hand behind his head, drawing him closer to her.

"I'll be fine," she reassured. Lancelot gave her a small kiss and leaned closer to her despite the throbbing pain it caused.

"You promise me one thing, Cara," he ordered. The young woman nodded. "I want you to promise me you won't do anything stupid or rash, that you will look out for yourself first and the others second and most importantly that you will come home safe and all in one piece."

Cara nodded, solemnly, but didn't move to say anything. She was thinking. How could she promise him all those things? First of all she never thought she did anything foolish or rash. She always thought she was doing the right thing. It was hard to promise something like that.

Another thing was looking out for herself before the other knights. That was something she couldn't do. She was a scout and it was her job to put others first. She couldn't let any harm come to them and she knew that Lancelot knew that as well. She figured he also knew that Cara couldn't agree to a term such as that.

Lastly, was her coming home safe and in one piece. She would try and really hoped to fulfill at least one of the promises. However, when you go into battle, it's hard to tell who will come out on top and at what cost. "Cara, promise me," Lancelot ordered, reminding the young woman that he was still waiting for her promise.

Cara took a deep breath. She didn't know if she could do this. Would he even believe her? She didn't know. Lancelot was very observant these days. She had to be convincing. She closed her eyes and when she opened them about half a second later she found it easier to promise him something that she would never be able to keep.

She looked deep into his eyes. "I promise." Cara lied to him. Lancelot seemed to accept her words and for that Cara was grateful. It must have been a rather convincing lie, because Lancelot gave her one last kiss, before Cara decided it was time for her to take her leave. Cara arose from where she sat, and gave Lancelot's hand one last squeeze before heading towards the door. She turned around to see Lancelot's eyes still one her. The young woman gave him one last smile, before closing the door gently behind her.