Chapter Four:Now We're Getting Somewhere!
Darwin awoke the next morning with very cold feet and a warm back. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and detaching the string of drool running from her mouth to her forearm, she sat up, stretched and looked around.
Hmm, I hope I wasn't snoring she thought absentmindedly. Damn, still here.
Her face felt stiff and she had a very strong urge to brush her teeth. She was no longer far off by herself, but instead, was right, smack in the middle of the encampment. A little cooking fire was burning a few feet in front of her, hence the warm back. Not only was she now surrounded by the peasants who didn't trust, she had somehow ended up sharing a fire with several of the Sarmatian knights. As her sleepiness wore off, she looked at them and they looked back at her, albeit, quite disinterestedly. She gave them an awkward, sheepish little grin and wondered why she was there, and not safely off by herself.
She presumed Lancelot had something to do with it, but of course, wouldn't be sure until she asked. Very convenient, him not being there. It felt a little like he might have planned it that way.
Bors was cooking something over the fire, Tristan was quite consumed with sharpening one of his daggers, and Gawain spoke to another one of the knights, who Darwin did not know, in hushed tones.
It was colder now then it had been the day before, and Darwin couldn't concentrate on much else but being cold. She tried moving closer to the fire, but the second she edged forward, all four of the knight's heads shot up, and she found herself on the receiving end of four watchful glares.
She gave an unfortunate laugh and another sheepish grin.
"Okay." She reassured them. "I'll stay right here."
"You better." Gawain said, not looking at her. He sounded angry.
"Look, if this is about the horse-" Darwin began, but was silenced by Bors.
He gave a long laugh and continued to stir whatever it was that was in the pot.
"What are you laughing at?" She asked, quite perplexed. It was a fault in her character that, at times, she could be quite socially inept.
"Nothing really. It's just Gawain isn't worth his salt as a knight. Letting a little girl steal your horse!"As he finished, he gave another long laugh, and Darwin saw the other knight sitting next to Gawain crack a smile.
"She looked deceptively incapable of such a thing."He replied, giving Darwin a look, as if to reassure himself that yes, she really did look like a little wimp. "Besides, I didn't let her steal it."
"Only put her in the saddle, and handed her the reins. But you are correct, you didn't tell her to leave." The dark haired knight said.
Darwin could hardly get offended, as they were quite right. She was well aware of what she looked like, and if she were a skilled knight she wouldn't feel threatened by a skinny girl who had just been pulled out of a dungeon. However, it was utterly infuriating to be talked about in third person while she was sitting right there.
"Ah, right you are, Galahad." Bors replied. Gawain gave no reply, only looked to the pot on the fire. If she guessed right, and she liked to think that she was, she bet he was waiting for the conversation to move on to something else.
"Well, as absolutely stimulating as this conversation has been, I think I'll just go for a little walk, you know, stretch my legs." The watchful glares returned immediately, but not so harsh this time. "If it's alright with you, of course." She tried to give her most charming smile, but had the plunging feeling that it came off quite sickly sweet.
"Aye, but stay where I can see you. Arthur won't take well to us losing track of you again." Bors said, not altogether unkindly.
Darwin couldn't help but roll her eyes at this. It wasn't as if she was exactly being held against her will anymore, added to the fact that she really didn't have anywhere else to go. She stood up too quickly, got a head rush, her knees popped and she stumbled away. Just as she was taking her first steps, she heard one of the knights speak.
"And neither will Lancelot." Gawain chuckled. Darwin peeked over her shoulder, and all four of them, even Tristan, had the most smart ass, knowing smiles on their faces.
Ugh, men. Can't live with, but you could definitely try living without them.
Darwin shuffled along aimlessly. Her stomach growled and there was a rock in her shoe. She paid very little attention to either though. She kept her head down and didn't look at anyone. She merely stared at her shoes, which were caked in dirt, and hoped she went unnoticed. She kept her hands in her pockets and slowly ran her fingers down her wand. It, obviously, made her fell a little more secure in her situation.
Again, her thoughts went to her home, her own time. Not knowing how she got there, she was not sure of the dynamics of the situation. Had she suddenly gone missing from Hogwarts and no one knew where she was, or had time stopped there? Was she in danger of changing the future, or had this always happened and perhaps she was meant to be there? The whole idea of time travel made her head hurt, and so she very quickly gave up trying to figure it out.
This place was decidedly cold and unfriendly, and she missed here own home terribly. She missed the warm atmosphere of Hogwarts. It was a place of learning and a place of safety. She missed writing to her parents and reading the letters they would send back. She missed going to her classes, and she dearly missed her friends. They were good friends, which she had had for quite some time, and they made up so much of who she was that without them, she felt quite empty.
The sad reality was that she was here now, and apparently there was nothing she could do about it. Turning into a sobbing, depressed, little sap wasn't going to help anyone, especially her. She decided she might as well try being brave or just give up now. There was an innate glimmer of hope, and she grasped it, and prayed she wouldn't let go.
Besides being depressed, lonely and hungry, she felt dirty. Very, very dirty. She hadn't been able to bathe for quite some time now, and smelt awful. No one else really seemed to mind though, as smelling terrible appeared to be the norm around here. Her hands were caked in dirt and her fingernails were black. Her scalp itched and when she tried to run her fingers through her hair, she found several knots. Her clothes were dirty, and she just felt grossly unclean.
Just as she was having a sniff under her armpit to survey the damage, Lancelot was suddenly standing in front of her, holding a small jar filled with water, a crooked smile on his face.
"I stink." She explained.
"I see, my lady." He said as he quirked his head to the side. "Are you overly concerned with hygiene?" He asked.
"Not obsessively so, but yes, I like to be clean. Why do you ask?" She inquired.
"It seems such a trivial thing." He said off-handedly.
"Trivial? Do you want to smell this?" She asked, raising her armpit toward him.
He backed away in a good natured way.
"Perhaps another time. However, if you are so concerned with the way you smell, perhaps you would like to visit the small stream in that direction." He pointed to his right. "The water is quite cold, but it has not frozen over."
Hmm, freezing cold water or stink like a pig? Number one please!
She looked in the direction in which he had pointed. "....where?" She asked.
"Come. I will show you."
With that he turned, and began walking swiftly. Darwin lagged behind, stumbling over things that she shouldn't have and squinting her eyes as the bright sunlight reflected off the snow. In her humble opinion, it was just way too early to be walking around in the freezing cold. As a matter of fact, it was just way too early to even be awake.
She, of course, didn't know exactly what time it was, but everyone seems to posses to ability to tell when it's too early to be awake and they should still be in bed.
She could've taken the opportunity to whine, but didn't. She was trying to endear herself to Lancelot, after all. She trotted quickly up behind him, her legs feeling stiff, her arms wrapped about her.
She glanced up at him and gave him a toothy grin. "Good morning Sunshine!" She exclaimed.
He gave her a quizzical look. "Why do you address the sun?"
"I was talking to you." Darwin replied. She again reminded herself of the language barrier.
"I see. I remind you of the sun then?" He asked, a laugh creeping into his voice.
"Yes....No.....I mean, a little bit." Darwin could feel herself blush under his gaze. His smile was at her expense.
They continued to walk, Lancelot still moving a lot swifter then her. The snow crunched under their feet as they neared where the stream would be.
He led her through a group of small trees and bushes, past a long, rotting, fallen log and lo and behold, there was the stream. The snow on either bank had been washed away , but there were still patches of ice here and there. The water was flowing fairly quickly, and it gurgled and splashed when it hit upon the rocks.
"I hope the water's clean." She mumbled. She knew she really had nothing to fear, but in her time, in her life, she would never have even considered doing something like this, what with all the water borne bacteria and such.
She trotted down to the edge of the water, rolled up her sleeves, knelt down and then paused for a moment. There was dirt, or something of that sort, floating around in the water. There were also a few leaves and branches and she could have sworn she saw some bugs swimming around in there.
"Go ahead." She heard Lancelot say behind her. "The water isn't that cold."
Darwin gave a little laugh. That wasn't what she was worried about. She had given up hope of having an actual bath a long time ago. Maybe she would just quickly wash her face and hands. At least that would refresh her.
The muddy bank squelched under her feet as she leaned forward to cup some water in her hands. It was freezing! Her already cold hands shivered and shook and she brought the water toward her face. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then splashed the water onto her face. Her forehead pounded like she had brain freeze. She wiped at her eyes and blinked a few times. She turned to see Lancelot gazing at her like she was nothing but incompetent.
"Shut up." She said as she splashed some water in his general direction. It fell quite short and he didn't even move.
She turned her attention back to the stream and splashed her face a few times. Then she moved onto her hands and washed those. She couldn't quite get rid of all the dirt under her fingernails, but she tried her best. After she felt satisfied with her attempt to clean herself she stood, wiped her hands on her robes and turned to go back.
"Finished." She told Lancelot with a smile. He said nothing, only smirked in reply.
They began to walk back, their pace slower then it had been when they first arrived.
"Do I sleep walk?" She asked suddenly.
"I beg your pardon, Lady." He answered.
"I mean, do I walk while I'm asleep?"She asked.
"I'm not sure." He paused for a moment. "Shouldn't you know?"
"How? If I walk in my sleep then I'm asleep while I'm doing it." She had momentarily confused herself. She tried to stop thinking for a moment, but it didn't work, so she just shrugged it off and tried to organize her thoughts.
There was an awkward pause that she knew could've been avoided.
"What I meant to ask was, how, if I went to sleep under that tree, did I wake up next to a fire?" She asked finally. For a moment she thought he was going to try and convince her that there had never been a tree and that the fire had always been there. "I brought you there." He said simply.
"......why?" It had been a quite unexpected act, and she wasn't quite sure how she should react to it.
"You looked as though you needed the warmth and the companionship." At this he gave her a sidelong glance that she wasn't supposed to see.
"I suppose you arranged it so that you would be gone when I woke up?" She asked dubiously.
"No, that was merely a happy accident." He said with a chuckle. She wanted to punch him in the side, but wasn't sure how he would take it, so she restrained herself.
"I bet." She said. There was another silence, but this one wasn't awkward. "Where are we going today?" She asked. She still wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"We continue our trek back to Hadrian's Wall." He said simply.
"Who to the what now?" She asked, furrowing her brow.
"Hadrian's Wall is where were are stationed."
"Why are you here than?" She was now thoroughly confused. She supposed this should've have occurred a long time ago, but shit happens. She was only now, a day and a half after the fact, trying to figure who, why, what, where, and when.
"We were ordered to retrieve Alecto and bring him back to the wall." He said this rather harshly. Apparently, someone didn't like his job all that much.
"What for?"
"For his own protection."
"Who's Alecto?"
"The Pope's favorite nephew."
"Oh, you mean the skinny kid with the shaggy hair?"
"Yes, I suppose." He answered hesitantly.
"How long did it take you to get here?" She asked.
"Many days and it will take many days to return." "What about the Saxons?" She asked.
"They will be upon us soon." He replied. His voice was like steel. Two minutes ago he had been jovial and now he was the epitome of doom. What a moody guy.
"This seems like an awful lot of work all for one kid." She said sympathetically.
"It is. It only serves to strengthen the irony that we were meant to be freed the day we received our orders for this quest." He told her grimly. She suddenly felt very sorry for him and wanted to give him a hug.
Instead though, she placed her hand on his upper arm for a few moments. He looked over at her, gave a slight nod of his head and small smile. She returned the smile and they continued to walk.
They returned to the others shortly. There was a great energy in the camp.
Lancelot turned to her. "Do you have your belongings?"
"You're looking at 'em." She said, indicating the clothes on her back.
"Right. Come with me. We must hurry."
He led her away and all around them, people packing things and loading carts. A few of the smaller children were crying and the odd sheep or goat ran by.
He led her right to Hamilcar, stepped aside, and waited.
She quirked an eyebrow. "I'm going with you again?" She asked.
"Yes, m'lady. Please hurry. We shall depart any moment."He said quickly.
"I suppose I can't argue with that." She simply. She stepped up to the horse and then stopped.
"Uhh....hmmm....." She mumbled, trying to think of the best way to do this.
"We haven't the time." She heard Lancelot say behind her. Without a word, he wrapped an arm around her waist and in one swift motion picked her up placed her in the saddle. He quickly mounted behind her and in a few moments they were off at a fairly quick pace.
From that point on, it was a very long day. The pace started off quite fast, then it slowed down, and then it sped up again. The sun rose in the sky, made it's way across, and eventually began to sink. The day was filled with just riding, riding away from the evil Saxons. Darwin spoke with Lancelot a few times, mostly about his home. She also, inadvertently of course, asked him several questions for which he could not possibly come up with an answer. Several times throughout the day, she slipped her hand in her pocket to make sure that her wand was still there. It was quite a source of comfort and relief.
All in all, except for when one of the peasants decided to start singing a song that no one else knew in a very loud, out of key sort of way, the day was quite boring and passed by uneventfully. There still seemed to be no reason for Darwin to be there, and overall she was just getting quite bored with the whole, as I suspect everyone else is. That night though, something would happen, something that would her a reason for being there and for this story to exist. Something that would change Darwin's life, save someone else's and ruin another's. It all began when Guinevere shook Darwin awake that night, and simply said "Follow me."
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the huge delay in updates, but I've recently moved into my university dorm room and the past few weeks of my life have been quite hectic. Anyway, I got some time off and decided I'd finish this chapter. Hope you all like it! That's it for now. P.S. Reviews really do make me write faster :-D
Darwin awoke the next morning with very cold feet and a warm back. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and detaching the string of drool running from her mouth to her forearm, she sat up, stretched and looked around.
Hmm, I hope I wasn't snoring she thought absentmindedly. Damn, still here.
Her face felt stiff and she had a very strong urge to brush her teeth. She was no longer far off by herself, but instead, was right, smack in the middle of the encampment. A little cooking fire was burning a few feet in front of her, hence the warm back. Not only was she now surrounded by the peasants who didn't trust, she had somehow ended up sharing a fire with several of the Sarmatian knights. As her sleepiness wore off, she looked at them and they looked back at her, albeit, quite disinterestedly. She gave them an awkward, sheepish little grin and wondered why she was there, and not safely off by herself.
She presumed Lancelot had something to do with it, but of course, wouldn't be sure until she asked. Very convenient, him not being there. It felt a little like he might have planned it that way.
Bors was cooking something over the fire, Tristan was quite consumed with sharpening one of his daggers, and Gawain spoke to another one of the knights, who Darwin did not know, in hushed tones.
It was colder now then it had been the day before, and Darwin couldn't concentrate on much else but being cold. She tried moving closer to the fire, but the second she edged forward, all four of the knight's heads shot up, and she found herself on the receiving end of four watchful glares.
She gave an unfortunate laugh and another sheepish grin.
"Okay." She reassured them. "I'll stay right here."
"You better." Gawain said, not looking at her. He sounded angry.
"Look, if this is about the horse-" Darwin began, but was silenced by Bors.
He gave a long laugh and continued to stir whatever it was that was in the pot.
"What are you laughing at?" She asked, quite perplexed. It was a fault in her character that, at times, she could be quite socially inept.
"Nothing really. It's just Gawain isn't worth his salt as a knight. Letting a little girl steal your horse!"As he finished, he gave another long laugh, and Darwin saw the other knight sitting next to Gawain crack a smile.
"She looked deceptively incapable of such a thing."He replied, giving Darwin a look, as if to reassure himself that yes, she really did look like a little wimp. "Besides, I didn't let her steal it."
"Only put her in the saddle, and handed her the reins. But you are correct, you didn't tell her to leave." The dark haired knight said.
Darwin could hardly get offended, as they were quite right. She was well aware of what she looked like, and if she were a skilled knight she wouldn't feel threatened by a skinny girl who had just been pulled out of a dungeon. However, it was utterly infuriating to be talked about in third person while she was sitting right there.
"Ah, right you are, Galahad." Bors replied. Gawain gave no reply, only looked to the pot on the fire. If she guessed right, and she liked to think that she was, she bet he was waiting for the conversation to move on to something else.
"Well, as absolutely stimulating as this conversation has been, I think I'll just go for a little walk, you know, stretch my legs." The watchful glares returned immediately, but not so harsh this time. "If it's alright with you, of course." She tried to give her most charming smile, but had the plunging feeling that it came off quite sickly sweet.
"Aye, but stay where I can see you. Arthur won't take well to us losing track of you again." Bors said, not altogether unkindly.
Darwin couldn't help but roll her eyes at this. It wasn't as if she was exactly being held against her will anymore, added to the fact that she really didn't have anywhere else to go. She stood up too quickly, got a head rush, her knees popped and she stumbled away. Just as she was taking her first steps, she heard one of the knights speak.
"And neither will Lancelot." Gawain chuckled. Darwin peeked over her shoulder, and all four of them, even Tristan, had the most smart ass, knowing smiles on their faces.
Ugh, men. Can't live with, but you could definitely try living without them.
Darwin shuffled along aimlessly. Her stomach growled and there was a rock in her shoe. She paid very little attention to either though. She kept her head down and didn't look at anyone. She merely stared at her shoes, which were caked in dirt, and hoped she went unnoticed. She kept her hands in her pockets and slowly ran her fingers down her wand. It, obviously, made her fell a little more secure in her situation.
Again, her thoughts went to her home, her own time. Not knowing how she got there, she was not sure of the dynamics of the situation. Had she suddenly gone missing from Hogwarts and no one knew where she was, or had time stopped there? Was she in danger of changing the future, or had this always happened and perhaps she was meant to be there? The whole idea of time travel made her head hurt, and so she very quickly gave up trying to figure it out.
This place was decidedly cold and unfriendly, and she missed here own home terribly. She missed the warm atmosphere of Hogwarts. It was a place of learning and a place of safety. She missed writing to her parents and reading the letters they would send back. She missed going to her classes, and she dearly missed her friends. They were good friends, which she had had for quite some time, and they made up so much of who she was that without them, she felt quite empty.
The sad reality was that she was here now, and apparently there was nothing she could do about it. Turning into a sobbing, depressed, little sap wasn't going to help anyone, especially her. She decided she might as well try being brave or just give up now. There was an innate glimmer of hope, and she grasped it, and prayed she wouldn't let go.
Besides being depressed, lonely and hungry, she felt dirty. Very, very dirty. She hadn't been able to bathe for quite some time now, and smelt awful. No one else really seemed to mind though, as smelling terrible appeared to be the norm around here. Her hands were caked in dirt and her fingernails were black. Her scalp itched and when she tried to run her fingers through her hair, she found several knots. Her clothes were dirty, and she just felt grossly unclean.
Just as she was having a sniff under her armpit to survey the damage, Lancelot was suddenly standing in front of her, holding a small jar filled with water, a crooked smile on his face.
"I stink." She explained.
"I see, my lady." He said as he quirked his head to the side. "Are you overly concerned with hygiene?" He asked.
"Not obsessively so, but yes, I like to be clean. Why do you ask?" She inquired.
"It seems such a trivial thing." He said off-handedly.
"Trivial? Do you want to smell this?" She asked, raising her armpit toward him.
He backed away in a good natured way.
"Perhaps another time. However, if you are so concerned with the way you smell, perhaps you would like to visit the small stream in that direction." He pointed to his right. "The water is quite cold, but it has not frozen over."
Hmm, freezing cold water or stink like a pig? Number one please!
She looked in the direction in which he had pointed. "....where?" She asked.
"Come. I will show you."
With that he turned, and began walking swiftly. Darwin lagged behind, stumbling over things that she shouldn't have and squinting her eyes as the bright sunlight reflected off the snow. In her humble opinion, it was just way too early to be walking around in the freezing cold. As a matter of fact, it was just way too early to even be awake.
She, of course, didn't know exactly what time it was, but everyone seems to posses to ability to tell when it's too early to be awake and they should still be in bed.
She could've taken the opportunity to whine, but didn't. She was trying to endear herself to Lancelot, after all. She trotted quickly up behind him, her legs feeling stiff, her arms wrapped about her.
She glanced up at him and gave him a toothy grin. "Good morning Sunshine!" She exclaimed.
He gave her a quizzical look. "Why do you address the sun?"
"I was talking to you." Darwin replied. She again reminded herself of the language barrier.
"I see. I remind you of the sun then?" He asked, a laugh creeping into his voice.
"Yes....No.....I mean, a little bit." Darwin could feel herself blush under his gaze. His smile was at her expense.
They continued to walk, Lancelot still moving a lot swifter then her. The snow crunched under their feet as they neared where the stream would be.
He led her through a group of small trees and bushes, past a long, rotting, fallen log and lo and behold, there was the stream. The snow on either bank had been washed away , but there were still patches of ice here and there. The water was flowing fairly quickly, and it gurgled and splashed when it hit upon the rocks.
"I hope the water's clean." She mumbled. She knew she really had nothing to fear, but in her time, in her life, she would never have even considered doing something like this, what with all the water borne bacteria and such.
She trotted down to the edge of the water, rolled up her sleeves, knelt down and then paused for a moment. There was dirt, or something of that sort, floating around in the water. There were also a few leaves and branches and she could have sworn she saw some bugs swimming around in there.
"Go ahead." She heard Lancelot say behind her. "The water isn't that cold."
Darwin gave a little laugh. That wasn't what she was worried about. She had given up hope of having an actual bath a long time ago. Maybe she would just quickly wash her face and hands. At least that would refresh her.
The muddy bank squelched under her feet as she leaned forward to cup some water in her hands. It was freezing! Her already cold hands shivered and shook and she brought the water toward her face. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then splashed the water onto her face. Her forehead pounded like she had brain freeze. She wiped at her eyes and blinked a few times. She turned to see Lancelot gazing at her like she was nothing but incompetent.
"Shut up." She said as she splashed some water in his general direction. It fell quite short and he didn't even move.
She turned her attention back to the stream and splashed her face a few times. Then she moved onto her hands and washed those. She couldn't quite get rid of all the dirt under her fingernails, but she tried her best. After she felt satisfied with her attempt to clean herself she stood, wiped her hands on her robes and turned to go back.
"Finished." She told Lancelot with a smile. He said nothing, only smirked in reply.
They began to walk back, their pace slower then it had been when they first arrived.
"Do I sleep walk?" She asked suddenly.
"I beg your pardon, Lady." He answered.
"I mean, do I walk while I'm asleep?"She asked.
"I'm not sure." He paused for a moment. "Shouldn't you know?"
"How? If I walk in my sleep then I'm asleep while I'm doing it." She had momentarily confused herself. She tried to stop thinking for a moment, but it didn't work, so she just shrugged it off and tried to organize her thoughts.
There was an awkward pause that she knew could've been avoided.
"What I meant to ask was, how, if I went to sleep under that tree, did I wake up next to a fire?" She asked finally. For a moment she thought he was going to try and convince her that there had never been a tree and that the fire had always been there. "I brought you there." He said simply.
"......why?" It had been a quite unexpected act, and she wasn't quite sure how she should react to it.
"You looked as though you needed the warmth and the companionship." At this he gave her a sidelong glance that she wasn't supposed to see.
"I suppose you arranged it so that you would be gone when I woke up?" She asked dubiously.
"No, that was merely a happy accident." He said with a chuckle. She wanted to punch him in the side, but wasn't sure how he would take it, so she restrained herself.
"I bet." She said. There was another silence, but this one wasn't awkward. "Where are we going today?" She asked. She still wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"We continue our trek back to Hadrian's Wall." He said simply.
"Who to the what now?" She asked, furrowing her brow.
"Hadrian's Wall is where were are stationed."
"Why are you here than?" She was now thoroughly confused. She supposed this should've have occurred a long time ago, but shit happens. She was only now, a day and a half after the fact, trying to figure who, why, what, where, and when.
"We were ordered to retrieve Alecto and bring him back to the wall." He said this rather harshly. Apparently, someone didn't like his job all that much.
"What for?"
"For his own protection."
"Who's Alecto?"
"The Pope's favorite nephew."
"Oh, you mean the skinny kid with the shaggy hair?"
"Yes, I suppose." He answered hesitantly.
"How long did it take you to get here?" She asked.
"Many days and it will take many days to return." "What about the Saxons?" She asked.
"They will be upon us soon." He replied. His voice was like steel. Two minutes ago he had been jovial and now he was the epitome of doom. What a moody guy.
"This seems like an awful lot of work all for one kid." She said sympathetically.
"It is. It only serves to strengthen the irony that we were meant to be freed the day we received our orders for this quest." He told her grimly. She suddenly felt very sorry for him and wanted to give him a hug.
Instead though, she placed her hand on his upper arm for a few moments. He looked over at her, gave a slight nod of his head and small smile. She returned the smile and they continued to walk.
They returned to the others shortly. There was a great energy in the camp.
Lancelot turned to her. "Do you have your belongings?"
"You're looking at 'em." She said, indicating the clothes on her back.
"Right. Come with me. We must hurry."
He led her away and all around them, people packing things and loading carts. A few of the smaller children were crying and the odd sheep or goat ran by.
He led her right to Hamilcar, stepped aside, and waited.
She quirked an eyebrow. "I'm going with you again?" She asked.
"Yes, m'lady. Please hurry. We shall depart any moment."He said quickly.
"I suppose I can't argue with that." She simply. She stepped up to the horse and then stopped.
"Uhh....hmmm....." She mumbled, trying to think of the best way to do this.
"We haven't the time." She heard Lancelot say behind her. Without a word, he wrapped an arm around her waist and in one swift motion picked her up placed her in the saddle. He quickly mounted behind her and in a few moments they were off at a fairly quick pace.
From that point on, it was a very long day. The pace started off quite fast, then it slowed down, and then it sped up again. The sun rose in the sky, made it's way across, and eventually began to sink. The day was filled with just riding, riding away from the evil Saxons. Darwin spoke with Lancelot a few times, mostly about his home. She also, inadvertently of course, asked him several questions for which he could not possibly come up with an answer. Several times throughout the day, she slipped her hand in her pocket to make sure that her wand was still there. It was quite a source of comfort and relief.
All in all, except for when one of the peasants decided to start singing a song that no one else knew in a very loud, out of key sort of way, the day was quite boring and passed by uneventfully. There still seemed to be no reason for Darwin to be there, and overall she was just getting quite bored with the whole, as I suspect everyone else is. That night though, something would happen, something that would her a reason for being there and for this story to exist. Something that would change Darwin's life, save someone else's and ruin another's. It all began when Guinevere shook Darwin awake that night, and simply said "Follow me."
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the huge delay in updates, but I've recently moved into my university dorm room and the past few weeks of my life have been quite hectic. Anyway, I got some time off and decided I'd finish this chapter. Hope you all like it! That's it for now. P.S. Reviews really do make me write faster :-D