Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there
worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their
homeland from the Roman Empire.
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.
------
Arthur took the lead with Lancelot, but Arien and Lorain fell to the back to talk in privacy.
"You let him stay, why?" Lorain asked impatiently, obviously annoyed by the set back in there plans.
"This way we are all safer." Arien replied lightly, not wanting details to be overheard.
"Why south? What troubles could possibly await us there?" Lorain asked, looking behind them with shifty eyes as her hands griped her bow tightly. "They are following us." She whispered.
"That's the idea cousin. Now listen to me, these men have no idea what they are getting there kind into, at all costs they must not figure it out. Our lies are our own as well as our secrets." Arien said, narrowing her eyes as she looked behind them and spotted something reflecting the rising sun.
------
The first two days went with out incident. They traveled at a steady pace and did not ask questions of one another.
By the third day Arthur had caught on to the fact that they were being followed, he also became suspicious of Arien always riding in the back, talking in hushed voices with her companions.
He stayed behind with her that day, wondering if she might tell him on her own they were being followed.
She watched him with an expression of dislike, it was almost as if her intentions towards him had morphed overnight. Where she was once cool and forward with her replies, she became hard and cryptic, like telling him any information at all would reveal some sort of secret.
"Where south are we headed?" Arthur asked, looking at her with his eyebrows raised.
"Lyonesse." Arien replied shortly.
"And what is there?" Arthur asked, pressing her for more information.
"Arthur, you are smarter then you would like to admit, I am sure you know we are being followed. But those are not the Scots that came to collect me and my companions."
"Then who are they?" Arthur asked, turning around with a confused expression on his face.
"I'm not to sure I want to find out just yet. But just because were headed in one direction, dose not mean we will reach that certain destination." Arien replied quietly, watching Tristan playing with a few stones in his hand.
"I am not to sure I understand." Arthur said, his eyebrows raised, "But in any case, we can not loose them by riding in the middle of this field all day."
"You see, you are much smarter then you let on." Arien said with a smile, shrugging when he asked her to elaborate her comment.
------
Night came quickly but Arien did not let them stop, instead they continued in silence inching closer and closer to the edge of the forest.
"The dark usually means any scouts sent to listen to our conversations would have retreated to camp with his fellows for the night. They will not know we turned around for quite some time, but we will have to be careful trying to get around them when they are sure to be camping with out a fire and in the middle of this darkness." Arien whispered to Arthur and Lancelot as they dismounted from their horses and walked past the first few trees.
"Then how will we see at all?" Tristan asked from behind them.
She smiled, her teeth reflecting light from the full moon. Lancelot got it immediately and pulled out his swords, using the light reflecting from it to guide him.
"And if they see us?" Arthur asked quietly, pulling out his own sword.
"We will already be prepared to fight them, I'm just hoping we spot them first."
They walked quietly, fanning out so that their weapons would not reflect too much light at one time.
Eventually Arien caught a glimpse of a man sleeping on the ground, his arms tightly crossed over a piece of parchment as he lay on his back.
She looked around for the others; when none were in sight she stopped and kneeled down to see what was so important.
The man snored loudly when she poked him hard in the arm, testing him. Relaxing, she placed one of her swords on the ground and gently pulled the paper from under his grasp.
"Move a muscle and I will slit your throat." Someone said darkly from behind her. She felt cold steel rubbing against the back of her neck, moving forwards towards her jugular.
She let go of the paper as the once sleeping man snapped to life and sat up, looking confused and afraid.
Arien felt hands grab her around the middle and pull her to her feet.
"You must have known we would find you." The voice said again.
She raised her eyebrows, the man once sleeping in the dirt tried to back away from her and her captor, but another few men appeared from behind some bushes and knocked him out cold with a swift kick to the back of his head.
She turned around, "Artimus." She said quietly, rolling her eyes.
"We heard word of three women knights, headed for the one named King Arthur. While he was of no use to us, your kind was. But now we seem to have in our possession some of the most feared and skilled from all over the world. Knights of the round table." He said quietly, his gray eyes reflecting light and making himself look eerie as he motioned with his hand towards a guard behind him.
The guard left them for a second before returning with comrades that pushed Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan, and Bors to their knees before them.
Arien sighed, "What do you want?" she asked angrily, secretly pleased he had indeed followed them away from the castle.
Artimus motioned to a guard holding onto Arien and then Lorain and Diamandra were pushed out into the light.
"I came for you, dear Princess." He paused, taking a step towards Diamandra and running his hand down her cheek. She spit on him, "I see none of you have changed, still as deadly as you are beautiful. But then that got me thinking." He stopped and turned to look at Arthur, "What would Knights of the Round Table be doing with ancestors of the Shadow Warriors?" He smiled; it made him look like a true devil.
"Were going for a midnight stroll." Arien said, shrugging.
"Alecto sent toes fools." Artimus said angrily, spitting on the man who had tried to escape.
"They who could have possibly sent you?" Arien asked sarcastically.
"We come for the Prince." Artimus said, suddenly furious as he glared at Arien.
"You have seen for yourself who my companions are, no young boy is among us." Arien said, smiling slightly.
"And that is what we thought......at first. But you see, we passed a small village not far from the new kingdom, that claimed three women and a young man had just passed. We sent night after night trying to figure out who that boy might be......so it is only natural we have come to assume he is the missing heir. The Pope may have claimed to kill all of your family, but as you still remain, is it not only fair to assume young William might have as well?" Artimus asked quietly, fingering Lancelot's swords.
Lancelot raised his eyebrows and looked at Arien, "Owen?" he mouthed, an expression of surprise clear on his face.
"But dear Arien, you are not the Princess you claim to be, are you?" Artimus asked calmly as he approached her and looked at Arthur.
Arien smiled, "Oh, poor little Artimus, still as dull as when I first met you." She said quietly.
Artimus slapped her, hard on the cheek.
Her face fell to the side, moving her jaw; she could not believe how much it hurt.
"I should have killed you then, I will not make that mistake a second time." He hissed.
By now Lancelot and Arthur were thoroughly angry, this man had no right to hold them here.
"The man you seek, dark hair? Tall, carries a wizards staff?" Lancelot asked suddenly.
Artimus turned suddenly to look at him, "You know of him?" he asked.
"Never heard of him." Lancelot said sarcastically, smiling at him.
Arien rolled her eyes, this was going nowhere. As Artimus yelled and kicked Lancelot she turned her head slightly to whisper to the guard holding her.
"It's so hot, could you loosen you grip......just a little?" she asked innocently. The man shook his head, swallowing hard. Then he tried to readjust his hands to keep a tighter hold of her, but that was all she needed.
Quicker then Artimus could turn around Arien had knocked three of the guards holding her, Lorain, and Diamandra unconscious to the ground.
She grabbed Lancelot's swords from the ground and held them to Artimus's neck just as he turned to face her.
She smiled at him, "Darling, I already spared your life once as well. I will let you go if you promise to help us." She said, raising her eyebrows seriously.
Artimus sighed, "What do you want?" he asked bitterly, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Who sent you this time?" she asked, daring him to lie to her.
"I do not know his name, he only told me to find you and kill you, but spare the boy. He was not associated with the Pope, I do not know how he found out about you or the Prince before anyone else. Just tell me one thing, is he really the Heir they have been searching for?" Artimus asked quietly, sounding interested.
"He is not William, Owen is my twin brother, but more then that I dare not tell you here." Arien said, tossing one of the swords to Lancelot who immediately seized it and started for the guards.
"Well then, how can I help?" Artimus asked as Arien tossed the other sword to Diamandra.
"The Prince is safe, but we still need to find this man who suspects his true identity. I presume he would be headed north, to the Pope in his country estate. He must have sent you to distract us, but I do not know why." Arien said, looking up at the stars.
Lancelot, Arthur, and Bors had now knocked the guards around them to the knees and instructed all of them not to move or speak.
"What now?" Artimus asked, watching Arthur glaring at him.
"Well first, why did you lie to me about that village?" Arien asked, "Did you think this time you would finally kill me?"
"I had hoped......" Artimus said bitterly, following her as she led them out of the forest, towards the horses.
"We have to do this carefully, I have no idea who that old man might have been, its likely were going to see him in our travels. Can you come with us?" Arien asked, putting her own swords back in their sheaths on her back.
"What of Owen?" Artimus asked, "Is he safe?"
"He is with Merlin." Arthur said, pushing Artimus to the side as he made his way to his horse.
"Merlin? The dark wizard?!" Artimus asked, sounding suddenly fearful.
"He is a good man." Arien said, mounting her horse, "Artimus, if you come with us, you will not be given any reward for your good deeds."
Artimus looked down at the ground and sighed, "Well I suppose I do owe you, after all you saved my life in Rome during that gambling incident......but this is only a temporary treaty." He said, nodding at her.
"You can't be serious! This man just tried to kill us!" Tristan snapped angrily, looking at Arien, totally shocked as he mounted his horse.
"Yes, tried and failed, now he's going to help us." Arien said, offering her had to Artimus.
They shook hands firmly and Artimus disappeared back into the forest for his horse and throwing daggers.
"I hope you know what your doing." Lancelot whispered darkly.
Arien turned around to look at him, "No bloody clue actually. But I figure an assassin is better to have with us then against us."
"He's not a very good assassin, now is he?" Arthur asked angrily, obviously upset.
"Never has been." Lorain said laughing with Diamandra.
"Lorain, Diamandra, you know what I ask of you. If this old man is indeed suspecting Owen is alive, then it is left to you for now." Arien said, nodding at them.
Lorain nodded, "He is a good wizard, but we will protect him."
"And warn Guinevere of everything that's happened." Arthur instructed, glaring at Arien.
"An more lies we should be aware of?" Lancelot asked angrily.
"Not at the moment, but we shall see." Arien snapped, urging her horse forward as she spotted Artimus coming back out of the forest.
Lorain and Diamandra bid them fare well, but Arthur asked Bors to accompany them.
"Then we are five." Arien said, smiling at Artimus. "We are headed north, towards Anglesey Island."
"What on Earth do you expect to find there?" Lancelot asked, keeping his swords in his hands, as he watched Artimus.
"The Pope has many secret retreats at this time of year, I suspect he would be headed for the most secluded. I can get us there." Arien replied, watching Lorain head the others back towards Camelot.
"How do you know we can trust this man?" Lancelot asked quietly, as Artimus rode with Tristan and showed him how to juggle.
"Artimus was trained by my father as well, as much as he likes to deny having met me before the incident in Rome, I saved his life twice now, he is an honorable man and will respect his vow to help us." Arien replied with a shrug,
"He promised to help us find the man who told him of Owen, what after that?" Lancelot asked, pressing the subject even further the Arien would have liked.
"He will try to kill me, but if you are nice to him he may spare you life." Arien said, completely serious.
"You keep odd company." Lancelot said bitterly,
"Lancelot, the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm." Arien said, smiling at him.
Lancelot frowned, "That makes no sense." He said angrily, glaring at her as she rode up to join Arthur in the lead. "Who the hell are the Shadow People anyways?"
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.
------
Arthur took the lead with Lancelot, but Arien and Lorain fell to the back to talk in privacy.
"You let him stay, why?" Lorain asked impatiently, obviously annoyed by the set back in there plans.
"This way we are all safer." Arien replied lightly, not wanting details to be overheard.
"Why south? What troubles could possibly await us there?" Lorain asked, looking behind them with shifty eyes as her hands griped her bow tightly. "They are following us." She whispered.
"That's the idea cousin. Now listen to me, these men have no idea what they are getting there kind into, at all costs they must not figure it out. Our lies are our own as well as our secrets." Arien said, narrowing her eyes as she looked behind them and spotted something reflecting the rising sun.
------
The first two days went with out incident. They traveled at a steady pace and did not ask questions of one another.
By the third day Arthur had caught on to the fact that they were being followed, he also became suspicious of Arien always riding in the back, talking in hushed voices with her companions.
He stayed behind with her that day, wondering if she might tell him on her own they were being followed.
She watched him with an expression of dislike, it was almost as if her intentions towards him had morphed overnight. Where she was once cool and forward with her replies, she became hard and cryptic, like telling him any information at all would reveal some sort of secret.
"Where south are we headed?" Arthur asked, looking at her with his eyebrows raised.
"Lyonesse." Arien replied shortly.
"And what is there?" Arthur asked, pressing her for more information.
"Arthur, you are smarter then you would like to admit, I am sure you know we are being followed. But those are not the Scots that came to collect me and my companions."
"Then who are they?" Arthur asked, turning around with a confused expression on his face.
"I'm not to sure I want to find out just yet. But just because were headed in one direction, dose not mean we will reach that certain destination." Arien replied quietly, watching Tristan playing with a few stones in his hand.
"I am not to sure I understand." Arthur said, his eyebrows raised, "But in any case, we can not loose them by riding in the middle of this field all day."
"You see, you are much smarter then you let on." Arien said with a smile, shrugging when he asked her to elaborate her comment.
------
Night came quickly but Arien did not let them stop, instead they continued in silence inching closer and closer to the edge of the forest.
"The dark usually means any scouts sent to listen to our conversations would have retreated to camp with his fellows for the night. They will not know we turned around for quite some time, but we will have to be careful trying to get around them when they are sure to be camping with out a fire and in the middle of this darkness." Arien whispered to Arthur and Lancelot as they dismounted from their horses and walked past the first few trees.
"Then how will we see at all?" Tristan asked from behind them.
She smiled, her teeth reflecting light from the full moon. Lancelot got it immediately and pulled out his swords, using the light reflecting from it to guide him.
"And if they see us?" Arthur asked quietly, pulling out his own sword.
"We will already be prepared to fight them, I'm just hoping we spot them first."
They walked quietly, fanning out so that their weapons would not reflect too much light at one time.
Eventually Arien caught a glimpse of a man sleeping on the ground, his arms tightly crossed over a piece of parchment as he lay on his back.
She looked around for the others; when none were in sight she stopped and kneeled down to see what was so important.
The man snored loudly when she poked him hard in the arm, testing him. Relaxing, she placed one of her swords on the ground and gently pulled the paper from under his grasp.
"Move a muscle and I will slit your throat." Someone said darkly from behind her. She felt cold steel rubbing against the back of her neck, moving forwards towards her jugular.
She let go of the paper as the once sleeping man snapped to life and sat up, looking confused and afraid.
Arien felt hands grab her around the middle and pull her to her feet.
"You must have known we would find you." The voice said again.
She raised her eyebrows, the man once sleeping in the dirt tried to back away from her and her captor, but another few men appeared from behind some bushes and knocked him out cold with a swift kick to the back of his head.
She turned around, "Artimus." She said quietly, rolling her eyes.
"We heard word of three women knights, headed for the one named King Arthur. While he was of no use to us, your kind was. But now we seem to have in our possession some of the most feared and skilled from all over the world. Knights of the round table." He said quietly, his gray eyes reflecting light and making himself look eerie as he motioned with his hand towards a guard behind him.
The guard left them for a second before returning with comrades that pushed Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan, and Bors to their knees before them.
Arien sighed, "What do you want?" she asked angrily, secretly pleased he had indeed followed them away from the castle.
Artimus motioned to a guard holding onto Arien and then Lorain and Diamandra were pushed out into the light.
"I came for you, dear Princess." He paused, taking a step towards Diamandra and running his hand down her cheek. She spit on him, "I see none of you have changed, still as deadly as you are beautiful. But then that got me thinking." He stopped and turned to look at Arthur, "What would Knights of the Round Table be doing with ancestors of the Shadow Warriors?" He smiled; it made him look like a true devil.
"Were going for a midnight stroll." Arien said, shrugging.
"Alecto sent toes fools." Artimus said angrily, spitting on the man who had tried to escape.
"They who could have possibly sent you?" Arien asked sarcastically.
"We come for the Prince." Artimus said, suddenly furious as he glared at Arien.
"You have seen for yourself who my companions are, no young boy is among us." Arien said, smiling slightly.
"And that is what we thought......at first. But you see, we passed a small village not far from the new kingdom, that claimed three women and a young man had just passed. We sent night after night trying to figure out who that boy might be......so it is only natural we have come to assume he is the missing heir. The Pope may have claimed to kill all of your family, but as you still remain, is it not only fair to assume young William might have as well?" Artimus asked quietly, fingering Lancelot's swords.
Lancelot raised his eyebrows and looked at Arien, "Owen?" he mouthed, an expression of surprise clear on his face.
"But dear Arien, you are not the Princess you claim to be, are you?" Artimus asked calmly as he approached her and looked at Arthur.
Arien smiled, "Oh, poor little Artimus, still as dull as when I first met you." She said quietly.
Artimus slapped her, hard on the cheek.
Her face fell to the side, moving her jaw; she could not believe how much it hurt.
"I should have killed you then, I will not make that mistake a second time." He hissed.
By now Lancelot and Arthur were thoroughly angry, this man had no right to hold them here.
"The man you seek, dark hair? Tall, carries a wizards staff?" Lancelot asked suddenly.
Artimus turned suddenly to look at him, "You know of him?" he asked.
"Never heard of him." Lancelot said sarcastically, smiling at him.
Arien rolled her eyes, this was going nowhere. As Artimus yelled and kicked Lancelot she turned her head slightly to whisper to the guard holding her.
"It's so hot, could you loosen you grip......just a little?" she asked innocently. The man shook his head, swallowing hard. Then he tried to readjust his hands to keep a tighter hold of her, but that was all she needed.
Quicker then Artimus could turn around Arien had knocked three of the guards holding her, Lorain, and Diamandra unconscious to the ground.
She grabbed Lancelot's swords from the ground and held them to Artimus's neck just as he turned to face her.
She smiled at him, "Darling, I already spared your life once as well. I will let you go if you promise to help us." She said, raising her eyebrows seriously.
Artimus sighed, "What do you want?" he asked bitterly, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Who sent you this time?" she asked, daring him to lie to her.
"I do not know his name, he only told me to find you and kill you, but spare the boy. He was not associated with the Pope, I do not know how he found out about you or the Prince before anyone else. Just tell me one thing, is he really the Heir they have been searching for?" Artimus asked quietly, sounding interested.
"He is not William, Owen is my twin brother, but more then that I dare not tell you here." Arien said, tossing one of the swords to Lancelot who immediately seized it and started for the guards.
"Well then, how can I help?" Artimus asked as Arien tossed the other sword to Diamandra.
"The Prince is safe, but we still need to find this man who suspects his true identity. I presume he would be headed north, to the Pope in his country estate. He must have sent you to distract us, but I do not know why." Arien said, looking up at the stars.
Lancelot, Arthur, and Bors had now knocked the guards around them to the knees and instructed all of them not to move or speak.
"What now?" Artimus asked, watching Arthur glaring at him.
"Well first, why did you lie to me about that village?" Arien asked, "Did you think this time you would finally kill me?"
"I had hoped......" Artimus said bitterly, following her as she led them out of the forest, towards the horses.
"We have to do this carefully, I have no idea who that old man might have been, its likely were going to see him in our travels. Can you come with us?" Arien asked, putting her own swords back in their sheaths on her back.
"What of Owen?" Artimus asked, "Is he safe?"
"He is with Merlin." Arthur said, pushing Artimus to the side as he made his way to his horse.
"Merlin? The dark wizard?!" Artimus asked, sounding suddenly fearful.
"He is a good man." Arien said, mounting her horse, "Artimus, if you come with us, you will not be given any reward for your good deeds."
Artimus looked down at the ground and sighed, "Well I suppose I do owe you, after all you saved my life in Rome during that gambling incident......but this is only a temporary treaty." He said, nodding at her.
"You can't be serious! This man just tried to kill us!" Tristan snapped angrily, looking at Arien, totally shocked as he mounted his horse.
"Yes, tried and failed, now he's going to help us." Arien said, offering her had to Artimus.
They shook hands firmly and Artimus disappeared back into the forest for his horse and throwing daggers.
"I hope you know what your doing." Lancelot whispered darkly.
Arien turned around to look at him, "No bloody clue actually. But I figure an assassin is better to have with us then against us."
"He's not a very good assassin, now is he?" Arthur asked angrily, obviously upset.
"Never has been." Lorain said laughing with Diamandra.
"Lorain, Diamandra, you know what I ask of you. If this old man is indeed suspecting Owen is alive, then it is left to you for now." Arien said, nodding at them.
Lorain nodded, "He is a good wizard, but we will protect him."
"And warn Guinevere of everything that's happened." Arthur instructed, glaring at Arien.
"An more lies we should be aware of?" Lancelot asked angrily.
"Not at the moment, but we shall see." Arien snapped, urging her horse forward as she spotted Artimus coming back out of the forest.
Lorain and Diamandra bid them fare well, but Arthur asked Bors to accompany them.
"Then we are five." Arien said, smiling at Artimus. "We are headed north, towards Anglesey Island."
"What on Earth do you expect to find there?" Lancelot asked, keeping his swords in his hands, as he watched Artimus.
"The Pope has many secret retreats at this time of year, I suspect he would be headed for the most secluded. I can get us there." Arien replied, watching Lorain head the others back towards Camelot.
"How do you know we can trust this man?" Lancelot asked quietly, as Artimus rode with Tristan and showed him how to juggle.
"Artimus was trained by my father as well, as much as he likes to deny having met me before the incident in Rome, I saved his life twice now, he is an honorable man and will respect his vow to help us." Arien replied with a shrug,
"He promised to help us find the man who told him of Owen, what after that?" Lancelot asked, pressing the subject even further the Arien would have liked.
"He will try to kill me, but if you are nice to him he may spare you life." Arien said, completely serious.
"You keep odd company." Lancelot said bitterly,
"Lancelot, the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm." Arien said, smiling at him.
Lancelot frowned, "That makes no sense." He said angrily, glaring at her as she rode up to join Arthur in the lead. "Who the hell are the Shadow People anyways?"