A/N: Is ANYBODY actually reading this??? EXCEPT for my little true Verteri Lunum (did I get that right?) ?? 'sighs and falls on the floor with a loud thump' I'm screwed, aren't I?
Chapter Three: Lorna Meets Lucan
It was dark and the sky was filled with stars. Soft snowflakes were falling from the sky and the wind was non-existent for the thick woods suffocated it. A truly peaceful and magical sight. Our gang had camped for the night after a long day's ride. The knights sat around their fire and the Scots had two fires of their own for there were more of them.
Most of the Scots had turned in for the night, sleeping with their backs against the moss-covered tree trunks, a pallet under and a warm blanket over them. Finlay was still up with Lorna and a few others, casually making jokes and throwing little sticks into the fire. He would look at Lorna when they talked. She looked a bit mysterious as the warm light from the fire reflected from her. Lorna only had a very close circle of friends she trusted, others she would not let near her. He was one of the lucky one's she did let near. Although he had had romantic feelings towards her for some time now, the feeling of friendship was stronger and he knew that if there would be something between them, it would have happened a long time ago. He was just happy being close to her, looking after her and Dilly. Someday he would meet a girl and fall truly in love, that much he knew.
They both noticed as some of the knights turned to sleep as well, leaving only Galahad and Lancelot to talk. Lorna's eyes searched for Dagonet. She saw him sleeping a little further from the others. Feeling restless all of a sudden, she stood up. "You goin' to sleep?" Finlay asked. "No. Can't sleep right now," she walked to her horse and heard Finlay yawn by the fire. He already knew what she was going to do - Lorna's cure for boredom was shooting arrows. She took three arrows from her quiver and her bow. Walking away from the others, she found a good spot to practise. A/N: yeah I know it was dark but she was supposed to be very good at this =P Getting into her position, she shot the first arrow. It flew into the tree trunk but not as straight as she had planned. She was ready to fire the second arrow when she heard a male voice whisper into her ear from behind, "You've done this before, haven't you?"
The startled girl spun around and held the bow so that the arrow was aiming at the man's neck. "You scared me," she lowered the bow, seeing that the sentence had come from Lancelot's lips. He just smirked and leaned against a nearby tree. She felt uncomfortable as he was watching her aim. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to," quoth he. "Need any help with that?" Before she could huff at him that she probably was a better marksman than he, Lancelot was by her side. He put his arm around her waist and held the bow with his other. "Good peace of work," he smiled at Lorna. "I know! I made it!" She was beginning to get testy. She did not like the way he was watching her, the lust obvious in his eyes. She definitely did not like the way he was holding his arm around her. Lancelot might have been charming and handsome but he was not her type. Only Dominic was her type, only him. But Dagonet? She winced at the thought. Did she have feeling for the tall knight? If she didn't, then why did his name come to her mind?
A twig snapped behind the two and they both looked at Finlay who appeared from the trees. "So, we're shooting arrows at midnight now, are we? Good thing I brought mine along," he took his quiver from his back and blinked an eye at Lorna. Thank the Heavens, she sighed in relief. Her best friend had saved her from her plight. She grinned as she felt Lancelot's arm slide off of her waist and saw a disturbed look on his face. "I never was very good with a bow. Swords are more my scene," he murmured as an excuse and walked away. Lorna's and Finlay's faces widened with a smile and she hugged him. "Thank you. If you had not come sooner, the poor man would have never had children." Finlay loosened his grip and looking in her eyes he chuckled. "Go to bed now, I'll get the arrows." He ran his hand thru her hair and turned to get the arrows. She bid him good night and went back to camp.
Lorna pulled a blanket out of her sack that was attached to the saddle. The weather wasn't that cold so she thought she would be alright with just one. Making her way to her pallet that lay near the fire she had previously sat by, she heard a voice call her name. She saw that Dagonet was awake and wanted her to come to him so she made her way to his side.
"You must have really pissed off Lancelot," the man said and gave a sneering look to his mate's sleeping figure some distance away. "He was coming on to me," she smiled wickedly at him, "and Finlay intruded – thankfully." "What was it that you needed?" Lorna asked, sitting opposite him and crossing her legs. "My wounds are aching a bit. I would kindly ask you if you could change them." He wasn't demanding but pleading. The girl nodded and stood up. She was back in a flash with new bandages. He took of his shirt and noticed that Lorna who was purposely not trying to look at his bare chest. She started replacing the bandage on his shoulder. His breath touched her hand as she did so.
He was curious. A woman had never refused Lancelot's advances. He asked her about that. Lorna looked at him for a moment with a deadpan look and didn't know how to answer. "I am not into womanizers," was all she could come up with, without letting Dagonet know she had feelings for him. "What is it to you?" "Nothing. I apologize." There was a few minutes of silence. She had finished with the bandage on his shoulder and was tending the wound in his lower abdomen. He could occasionally feel her hands touch his stomach as she started wrapping the fresh bandage. It made his blood rush and he felt a shiver go down his spine every time.
Lorna noticed Dagonet's light shivers. "Don't fret, I'll be done soon," she said, thinking the man was cold. Dagonet seemed to understand what she had thought and was relieved – she hadn't noticed the effect she had over him. Lorna backed away and let him pull his shirt back on. They both turned to look at Finlay who passed by them, biding them both good night and heading to his corner. She sighed out loud. "Good night then," she smiled to Dagonet and felt fidgety. There was a small tension between them and she decided to break it. She nodded as a farewell and picked up her blanket. "Good night," Dagonet smiled to her, as she made her way to where Finlay had laid down moments before. He would have wanted her to sleep next to him. Lucky bastard, he sneered mentally at Finlay's sleeping silhouette and closed his eyes.
At Hadrian's Wall, next evening
The huge gates were opened and the travelers rode into the fort. Lorna was amazed but not in a good way. The Wall seemed so large and majestic from the outside but from the inside it was much smaller. The sky was slowly darkening and it seemed that not much had been going on until their arrival. The group dismounted and gave their horses in the care of stable servants. Galahad kindly offered his hand to help Lorna off her horse. She smirked, took the offer and thanked him once on the ground. She found Arthur amongst the crowd. Taking in her surroundings, she walked to him.
The dark haired man smiled as she approached. "Where do my men sleep?" "I will have the empty rooms made ready for them." "Thank you," she nodded. Her gaze went to the courtyard. Two or three soldiers were sitting around one of the tables and drinking and a woman, quite beautiful, the thought, was walking back and forth, holding a baby to her chest and cooing it to sleep. Must be Vanora. Dagonet had told her about the knights, so she knew about Vanora and Bors' eleven children. Everyone seemed to call them bastards but she could never say that. Not to her own child or anyone else's. Dagonet appeared to her side and offered to show her where she would be spending the night.
Oh.. this feels good, she thought, sitting in a wooden bath tub filled with hot water. She hadn't bathed for some days now and was thankful to whoever was the genius that had read her mind and put the tub in her room. Lorna decided that she had been bathing some time now and finished. Drying herself with a flaxen sheet, she made her way to the closet. Disappointed to see that there were no other clothes than two dresses in there, she took them both out and examined them. One was different shades of pink and revealed the shoulders a lot. The other revealed a lot of back and was somewhat more regal than the pink one. She chose the first dress and slipped it on. After that, she dried her hair but let it hang loose for she wanted to cover her shoulders more. They smelled of lilacs for she had used lilac oils washing her hair. It was her favourite scent, reminding her of her village in spring time.. And her little Dilly.
Finlay was currently telling an old Scottish tale to Bors' children when Lorna entered the courtyard. He had to admit that it was the first time he saw her in a dress, apart from her wedding dress when she wedded Dominic. And she looked sweet, more girly than usual but very pretty. "It was the only thing they had," Lorna sat next to Finlay and he realized he must have been glaring at her with his jaw dropped. He quickly continued his story to the children. Lorna noticed that Arthur and Dagonet were not among the knights listening to Finaly's tale and she wondered where they might have been. Vanora walked to the table and handed her a plate of roasted rabbit meat and some salad and a mug of cider. She kindly accepted the food and began to devour it greedily. Finlay stopped the story for a moment and glared at the young girl next to him. She noticed the silence and glanced at Finlay. "What?" she asked, her mouth full of meat. "I'm hungry!" She gulped and half-yelled at the other knights looking at her direction. They turned to eating their own food again and Finlay continued his story the the children. They enjoyed every word.
She noticed that Vanora's second youngest child was pestering his mother to take him in her arms but she had her hands full already with the youngest. So she walked to them and picked up the little boy of perhaps three years of age. Vanora thanked him and she walked back to the table with the toddler close to her chest and holding his arms around her neck. Lorna felt eyes on her back and turning her head she saw two nasty-looking soldiers watching and sneering at her. She already knew what was in their thoughts and felt a shiver make it's way down her spine. She back to her seat and tried not to think about the soldiers anymore. The little boy in her lap grabbed a piece of meat from her plate and started chewing it. She smiled, she loved children.
"What's his name?" Lorna asked Bors as he came back to the table with four mugs of ale. "That's number ten," he gave her a look and all the knights grinned. "What.. what do you mean?" she was confused. "They haven't got names, only Gilly there," Tristan spoke from behind her. A/N: Wow! He can talk?? =D The men snickered but Lorna was shocked. Not trying to say anything mean to Bors, she just shrugged. "Ooi, Dag!" Bors' attention turned to Dagonet who entered the courtyard and Lorna turned her eyes on him as well. She was stunned to see a little boy with brown locks sit on the man's shoulders. Damn it, should have known, she cursed inside. He's married and has a kid.
"Mate, if we didn't know better, we'd say you're a family man!" Galahad smiled at Dagonet. She noticed all the knights snickering and was confused once again. "Isn't this your son?" she asked the man as he sat down next to him and slid the little boy from his shoulders to his lap. The knights went into guffaws and she felt slightly embarrest. "No," Dagonet chuckled, noticing her flush. The curly haired boy looked shyly at her. "We found Lucan from Marius Honorius' dungeon. Remember, I told you – Guinivere was there as well. I've taken care of him since then." She nodded and smiled at the sweet boy. "Nice to meet you, Lucan. I'm Lorna." The boy looked at her and was now a little more comfortable around the new woman. "So you're not married or anything?" She tried to sound casual but failed miserably as she saw the knights snicker again. Dagonet was amused himself, maybe she had some feelings for him after all. "No, I have to say I'm not. Haven't found anyone yet," he said.
Then the usual conversation continued as the knights started their banter. Lorna found that she felt good amongst them. They were nice to talk to and had a great sense of humor, although sometimes lewd, she always laughed along. Number ten, as the boy who had been sitting on her lap, had left her and she wanted another mug of cider. "Would you like anything from the kitchen?" she asked Dagonet. He turned to her. "A plate of meat would be nice, thank you," he gratefully smiled. "Lucan, you must be hungry?" The boy on his lap nodded. "Care to share my plate?" The boy nodded again and smiled. Lorna chuckled and stood from the table. "Hey, Lorna dear!" she heard Gawain call her. "A mug of ale for me as well, if you may?" She turned her head, showed the man her tongue and chuckling, made her way to the kitchen area. On her way she felt eyes on her again and noticed from the corner of her eye that the soldiers that had lustily ogled at her before where at it again.
Vanora put a plate of meat on the counter. Lorna stood on the other side and waited for her to return with the mug of ale as well. She suddenly felt a dark figure next to her, putting his hand around her hips and whisper into her ear, the breath killing her, "If you were looking for a good time tonight, doll, you should have just asked me." She gasped in disgust A/N: did I mention the killer breath the soldier had? =D and took a step away. She wished Vanora would hurry up. The man slid his arm back on her hip and caressed her neckline with his other. "Why so stubborn?" She glared at him angrily. He had shoulder length greasy raven hair and brown eyes, that were bloodshot by now – he had been drinking in the courtyard when she and her Rogues had first arrived to the Wall. He bent forward and licked her jaw line. Lorna felt she was going to vomit. "Get off of me, you bastard!" she yelled so loud she even amazed herself.
Vanora returned with the mug of ale and placed it on the counter. "Don't bother her, Ranneck!" He just smiled at Vanora and tightened his grip on Lorna. "Mind your own business, woman," he hissed and turned to Lorna. "The girl wants to please a man. I can't refuse now, can I?" Lorna felt his hand feel her ass and his awful lips on her neck. That's it! She pushed him away with as much force as she could and grabbed the mug of ale, emptying it on the disgusting excuse for a man. She was so pissed off that she forgot the meat and started to walk away when a strong hand grabbed her forearm. Lorna was pulled back by the now very angry Ranneck and hissed to her, their faces almost touching, "Tantalizing whore!" Ranneck slapped her hard across the face and she almost fell but the counter stopped her from it. She looked scared and saw the man raise his hand again for another hit. It didn't come for Dagonet stood behind the man. Ranneck screamed in pain as the furious knight dislocated his arm that had just hit her face.
A/N: Ewwwwww!!! She got her face licked by an old hobo-looking man!! I may be quite sadistic sometimes.. Sorry(A)