As Lancelot pulled her through the dark, winding streets, Cass' heart was in her throat. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. Something was wrong with Tristan and Lancelot wouldn't tell her what it was. He can't be... Cass didn't even want to think the word. Lancelot would have told me. He would have. But since Cass didn't know where Lancelot was taking her, she could only follow on in terrified ignorance.
The building they entered was relatively large and separated into smaller rooms, one of which Lancelot pulled Cass into. The sight she was met with inside was as if it had leapt free of one of her nightmares; only this was a thousand times worse because it was real.
Lit by the flicker of two candles, Dagonet was sat on a bed in the far corner of the room. He seemed to be in relative health apart from one large gash on his newly-bandaged arm. His eyes met Lancelot's as the two entered the room and they shared a dark look. But it wasn't Dagonet that Cass was looking at. Cass was looking at the unconscious figure of the man that she knew so well; the unconscious figure of the man that she loved so much.
Cass was by Tristan's side before Lancelot could hold her back, tears welling in her eyes. She looked down at the man on the small, rigid bed before her, her tear-filled eyes seeking what his ailment was. It wasn't hard to locate. With no shirt on, Cass could see the bandage wrapped around his chest. And chillingly, it was covering the same place that she'd seen the sword enter his side so many times in her nightmares. Cass had never wanted to see Tristan like this. And she never wanted to see him like this again. But she didn't even know if she'd get the chance now.
Apart from the obvious large bandage, there was another on his shoulder, and a clearly just-stitched wound on his temple. Tristan's breathing was heavy and deep, almost like he was sleeping; but Cass knew that his sleep probably wasn't as peaceful as it seemed. His wounds were probably causing him an awful amount of pain, and if he wasn't unconscious, she was sure that he'd be feeling it. For that, at least, she was glad that Tristan was unconscious.
"What... What happened...?" Cass asked in a pained whisper to Dagonet.
She didn't look up from Tristan as she spoke, but just waited for Dagonet to speak. The quiet Knight let out a long sigh and looked back over to Lancelot, who was now leaning against the closed door. It wasn't long before he started explaining though.
"We were on our way back when Tristan saw some suspicious tracks. He said that they weren't typical Woad tracks, so we followed them into a cluster of trees. We were ambushed. It was odd, because they came from a completely different direction to the tracks though. They overwhelmed us in the beginning, but eventually they ran. I didn't know until after they'd fled that Tristan had even been hurt, he hid it so well and fought on anyway."
Dagonet stopped at the sight of the pain creasing Cass' features. There were tears dripping down her face but she seemed barely to notice them as she stared at the injured Knight. Dagonet noticed the tears though, and he could see in them exactly how much she loved Tristan.
"He's been doing well since we got back here and bandaged his wounds. I'm just here to make sure that his fever stays down."
"He's got a fever?" Cass asked quietly, her frown growing deeper.
Dagonet nodded and added, "A minor one. He just needs to heal."
Cass tilted her head to the side and let out the deep breath that she'd been holding in for a while. She tentatively reached out and pushed a strand of Tristan's lightly sweat-wetted hair from his face, gently brushing his hot skin. There was a long silence in which neither conscious Knight spoke, but simply watched the woman and the man she loved.
They'd seen this before. When Bors had been badly injured in battle, this was how Vanora had reacted. Though, they would later reason, Vanora was a lot bossier when she was trying to get Bors healed as quickly as possible. Cass didn't know what to do though. She knew that she knew nothing about healing- even with supposedly all the modern knowledge she should have known that made her wish she'd paid more attention in her Biology classes.
"How long has he been like this?"
"He was unconscious before we got back to the Fort."
Cass gave a small nod and said nothing more. She just stayed by Tristan's side, her frown remaining on her pale face. Lancelot ran his fingers through his dark curling hair and let out a long and loud sigh.
Dagonet looked over to him and said, "You should get some sleep."
After a second's thought, Lancelot nodded and swiftly left the room. He hated seeing any of the other Knights in such a condition that Tristan was in; even if it was the silent and usually dissociable scout. It was better to get out and know that he was in the right hands.
"You should probably get some sleep too," Cass said as she noticed the tall Knight stifle a yawn.
"I'll stay up with him. I'd not get any sleep now if I tried," she added the end part in a whisper.
Dagonet opened his mouth to reply, but changed his mind, and instead nodded.
"Wake me up if anything changes," Dagonet said as he lay down on the bed next to Tristan's.
Cass nodded and turned back to Tristan. His breathing was no longer as heavy, something that gave Cass some relief from the pressure on her mind. No matter how many times that Dagonet had told her that Tristan would be okay, Cass couldn't get past the fact the Tristan's seemingly biggest wound was in his side. It really bothered her that she didn't know the severity, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. Cass was almost glad that she was staying awake to watch over Tristan- if she slept; she knew exactly what she'd be dreaming about.
Cass pulled a chair from the corner of the room and placed it so that she could sit next to Tristan. Her hand had worked its way to rest over his at some point in the night, though Tristan remained unconscious. Luckily, Tristan's fever didn't take, and Cass was glad to see some of the sweat from his brow lessen. She stayed in that position until someone entered the room later that morning.
Cass turned to see Galahad and Gawain. They came over to her, and looked down a Tristan with frowns that almost rivalled hers from the previous night. Cass put her index finger to her lips and made a shushing gesture and then pointed to Dagonet. The Knights nodded and whispered their next words instead.
"How are they?" Gawain asked.
Quietly, Cass replied, "Dagonet's fine, I think. And he keeps telling me that Tristan will be too..."
She added the last part more to herself as a reminder of the words she'd played over in her mind in the silence of that night. The men nodded.
"You look awful," Galahad observed
"Thanks, that's just what a girl wants to hear," Cass replied, though she didn't really care what she looked like right now.
Galahad blanched and quickly tried to correct his mistake.
"I-I only meant that you look like you haven't slept-"
Cass gave him a weak smile, and answered, "I know what you meant. I must look dreadful right now."
"Did you sleep?" Gawain questioned.
Cass shook her head.
"We can stay with them if you want to get some sleep," Gawain suggested, knowing full well that Cass, like Vanora had, would most likely refuse to leave her Knight's side.
As he'd guessed, Cass again shook her head.
"I'll be okay. I won't sleep if I leave so I might as well stay and worry here," she answered, attempting another weak smile at the two men.
They stayed with Cass and their two injured friends for a while, but eventually decided that they'd be of more use by leaving.
"We'll go and get some breakfast. And bring some food back for the three of you," Gawain said as the two men started to make a move.
Cass nodded and turned back to Tristan as the closed the door behind them.
"I don't think Tristan will be wanting anything. I don't think he'll even be awake by the time we get back," Galahad said with a frown after Cass was clearly out of earshot.
"I know," Gawain conceded.
"But did you want to tell that to Cass?"
Galahad shook his head vehemently.
"You're right. Let's just be thankful that she didn't shout at us like Vanora did when Bors got hurt."
Gawain smiled and added, "That could only be because we got out of there before she started."
The two men laughed and made their way to the tavern where they met the others. Galahad and Gawain took their usual seats, and as Gawain was about to speak, Arthur arrived.
"How are they?" the commander asked, concern rippling his voice.
Anyone who had heard about how much Arthur cared for his Knights could see firsthand now that there was truth in those tales.
"Tristan's still unconscious. Dagonet's sleeping, but Cass says he's fine."
Arthur gave a simple nod.
"We were about to take food for Dagonet and Cass-" Galahad began.
"I'll take it," Arthur interrupted, knowing that that was where he was headed next anyway.
"Vanora'll want to go too as soon as you mention taking food to them. I'd best go with you to make sure she doesn't go too far... again," Bors added with a small, sideways smile.
The others grinned back as they remembered how bossy and loud Vanora had been in making sure the Bors got well again. Her motherly, caring instinct had seemed to have gone into overdrive; and they were all hoping it wouldn't rear its head so much with Tristan and Dagonet hurt.
"Be thankful that you were unconscious for most of that. I wish I had been," Lancelot put in.
"Well you should have behaved yourself- maybe then you'd have escaped being slapped so much," Vanora answered, coming up behind Bors and placing a kiss on his cheek.
Lancelot held up his hands in a mock appeasing gesture whilst Vanora lay down several plates of food that she had been carrying. Before any of the others could say anything about food for Cass and Dagonet, Vanora had already strode off back to the bar top where yet more plates of food awaited her. Surprising them all with her forethought, she came back to the table, bringing the three plates with her.
"I'm going to take them for Dagonet, Cass and Tristan," she explained with a small smile.
"It's like she was listening to our conversation," Bors whispered to the others as he and Arthur stood.
"Who said I wasn't?" Vanora smiled before setting off towards the infirmary.
Author's Note: Not sure if I'm completely happy with this one... But oh well... :)
Kit xx
