Title: Protector Of The Weak
Author: Jmaria
Rating: PG-13 to R (for language and some mild naughtiness)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss owns all things BtVS, and somebody else owns K.A.
Spoilers: Season 7, and the movie King Arthur
Summary: Overheard conversations, mixed signals, and bedtime. And on the home front .
A/N: Happy Valentine's day! What better way to celebrate a massacre than with a new chapter? I have a thing about hands, as I mentioned in the previous chapter. I like guys with nice hands, and Dawn has picked up my quirky trait.
Thank you for all of the very helpful reviews. As to the pairing, well, it's still D/D. I'm not sure if it'll change yet.
4. Into the Woods We Go
2005
Rupert Giles combed the area twice more. Where could she have gone? Dawn knew by now not look for trouble, but she seemed to find it anyway. He cleaned his glasses and turned to the young dispatcher.
"She was here last?"
"Yes sir, said this quadrant was cleared and that it would take her a half an hour to return."
"And she didn't?" He said slowly.
"No, sir. Miss Summers called in, asking for Miss Dawn. We assumed she had just gone to her quarters." Anthony St. Clair replied.
"Without checking in?"
"We - we're new, sir." The young man stuttered.
"Search the area twice over, see if you can find her." Giles flipped the cell phone open. Buffy wasn't going to be pleased. But right now he needed Willow here. She was the only one of them who could find Dawn. He prayed that it was not too late for his young charge.
467
Dagonet watched her from the corner of his eye. She pushed the hood of her shirt down and brushed the strands of hair from her eyes. Nimble fingers undid the sword belt at her hip, and she laid it to the side. She scooted towards the Woad woman, who visibly flinched from her.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you. I'm not like those - " Dawn felt her throat fill with bile. "I am not evil."
"She won't let you touch her." Fulcinia replied. "She is skittish."
"Yeah, well torture chambers tend to do that to people." Dawn snapped. It wasn't the nicest thing to say, but she was angry. "If I could have - grr." She finished angrily, turning back to coax the Woad woman out of her shell.
"You call her lady. Why does she not dress like a lady?" Fulcinia asked Dagonet quietly.
"It's freezing here, I'm not wearing any toga dress." Dawn replied, cutting off whatever Dagonet's reply might have been. "Her hand - she's keeping it close to her. It's probably broken, like the boy's."
"His name is Lucan." Fulcinia replied.
"Why would someone do this to another human being?" Dawn demanded, her eyes glazing over with tears. "Why? What did they ever do to deserve this?"
"Marius -" Fulcinia tried to speak.
"Is a bastard! He deserves to be castrated and - and hung on a rack." Bitterness seeped through her voice. "He -"
"That is enough." Dagonet boomed, startling Dawn out of her rant. "You are upsetting not only yourself, but those around you."
Tears streamed down her cheek as she looked back at the girl. Her large eyes watched her cautiously, almost in a calculating way. A warrior's eyes. Dawn gave her a teary smile.
"Men are a pain in the ass." She muttered. The girl gave her a knowing smile. "You should let me look at that hand - it, it could be a bad break -" The smile was gone, and the had pulled more firmly to her chest. "Let someone look at it." Dawn urged.
"Lady, we need your assistance." Dagonet called.
"Coming. And quit with all the lady business. It's Dawn." Dawn jerked her head toward Fulcinia, "Besides, she's the real lady around here."
Gawain and Galahad rode near the head of the train of people. Tristan led, as he knew the path. The two youngest knights spoke quietly.
"How did she get down there?" Galahad demanded.
"Followed me down, I suppose." Gawain pondered something for a moment. "She has fairly decent punch."
"Are we sure she is not a Woad?" Galahad cast a glance back at the wagon she rode in. "She quickly played the hero for them."
"No, she hasn't the markings, like the other one." Gawain replied.
"She is odd. I don't trust her." Galahad said viciously, riding farther ahead.
"Who do you trust?" Gawain snorted, turning his horse back.
Dawn looked down at the woman behind her. Fulcinia and Dagonet tended to Lucan. She'd already helped set a split for his arm. She'd had to look away when Dagonet had popped the bone back into place. She'd always hated when Buffy or one of the other slayers had done that around her. Luckily, it hadn't happened too often. With the supplies they had, she figured that they would know how to use them better than her. She was used to sterile bandages and modern medicine.
It struck her then. How the hell was she going to get back home? She couldn't stay stuck in the past. This wasn't Kate Leopold. She wasn't Meg Ryan, and Dagonet wasn't Hugh Jackman. She gulped down the lump in her throat. He was pretty good looking. He was brave, handsome, extremely gentle and protective. She'd only met one other man like that before, and she'd had a crush on him for a long time. He reminded her of Xander, but without the jokes. She watched his hands as he checked Lucan over for any other injuries. Those very nice, big, strong hands that she could -Stop it, Dawn. She mentally yelled at herself.
"When we stop, we should bathe them." Fulcinia said, startling Dawn out of her thoughts. Unfortunately, they only gave her even worse visualizations. Ones involving a big bubble bath and a bare-chested Dagonet. "And dress them properly."
"She's right. These rags won't keep them very warm." Dawn replied, shaking her head. "Someone needs to set her arm." She nodded down to the girl. "She won't let me see it. I don't think she trusts me."
"She will let no one look at it." Fulcinia sighed. "Nor tell us where it hurts."
"Talk with her. Perhaps she will open up." Dagonet suggested. "Look for other injuries."
"Sure." Dawn rolled her eyes, but sat beside her once more. "Hi. I know you won't let me see your hand, because you don't trust me too yet. My name is Dawn Summers. I don't know much about your people, but I know what they did to you was wrong. No one deserves that kind of -" She shook her head. "I guess I could tell you about myself."
Her voice seemed to fill the cart as she spoke. She talked about her mother's death, her father leaving. Dagonet found his ears tuned to every word she spoke.
"They may not be blood kin, but they're pretty damn close." She whispered. "We've lost too many." She thought of Spike, Anya, Tara, her mother. They had been her family.
Outside, snow trickled down. Arthur sat atop his horse, looking down at the snow filled valley. Behind him, the carts and villagers moved onward along the path. He turned to find the cart carrying the Woad girl and child. He could hear Dawn's voice speaking, but could not make out the words. The girl watched him silently, but closed her eyes the moment they caught his. He didn't have very long to think on this, as he saw Lancelot approach him.
"We're moving too slow. The girl's not going to make it, and neither is the boy. The family we can protect, but we're wasting our time with all these people." He hissed.
"We're not leaving them." Arthur simply stated. Lancelot's approach was not working.
"If the Saxons find us, we will have to fight."
"Then save your anger for them." Arthur replied.
"Is this Rome's quest or Arthur's?" Lancelot demanded. Arthur held his gaze for a moment before looking away. He would not give an answer.
Lancelot made his way back to his section of the train. This quest would get them all killed. First the girl in the woods, who didn't seem to know her place, and then villagers, and now this Woad girl and boy. Arthur's heart was far too large. Lancelot sincerely hoped it didn't get them killed at the end of the day.
Dawn felt the cart shake. She jumped a little bit. She hadn't remembered falling asleep. She'd been talking about home. And then Fulcinia had started humming. It had been very relaxing. The girl beside her seemed to be asleep as well. Dawn couldn't remember if that was a good or bad thing to do.
"Give her some water when she wakes." Dagonet said quietly.
"Yeah." The cart seemed emptier than she remembered. "Where's the lady?"
"She's up by the horses, calling Arthur."
"Oh." That meant, with the exception of the two sleeping victims in the cart, they were pretty much alone.
"Your home sounds very peaceful."
"Sunnydale?" She cocked her head to the side. "It had it's moments."
"Will you return there after we reach the Wall?"
"I can't." Dawn lowered her head. "It doesn't exist anymore."
"What happened?"
"There were - caves beneath the entire - village. There was an earthquake, and the caves collapsed." She replied.
"Arthur comes." Fulcinia said, making her way back to Lucan's side. The girl stirred beside Dawn, opening her eyes and sitting up.
"Arthur." Dagonet acknowledged the other man.
"How is he?"
"He burns." Dagonet didn't take his eyes from the child. "Brave boy." He moved so Arthur could pass.
Arthur nodded at Dawn. She expected him to ask her the same question, so she answered before he even spoke.
"Her left arm's hurt. She wouldn't let me see it though." She scooted closer to Fulcinia, but her eyes were drawn to the pair. There was something there.
Arthur knelt beside her, but the girl scooted away from him, mimicking Dawn's movement. He gently pulled her hand away from her chest, she resisted at first. Dawn hoped she would just let him look at it already. He unwrapped the cloth around her hand. Her fingers were bent at odd angles, and Dawn felt her stomach roll again. He was going to set it, she just knew it.
"Some of your fingers are out of place." Arthur said in a low voice. "I have to push them back. " He took her hand in both of his, and continued. "If I don't do this, there's a chance you may never use them again."
She sat up higher as he cupped her hand. Dawn looked away, not wanted to see this. Hearing it would be bad enough. Dagonet caught her eyes, and urged her to keep quiet. It would only make the girl suffer more. Dawn pursed her lips together and focused on Dagonet's face. The cracking and pained cries only sounded louder. Focus on Dagonet. She urged herself. Arthur's only doing what needs to be done.
Arthur held her for a second as the pain washed over her. When he made to leave, she grabbed onto him with her uninjured hand. She stared up at him.
"They tortured me." She whimpered. "With machines."
When Arthur said nothing, she leaned heavily against him, and continued.
"To make me ell them things that . . . that I didn't know to begin with. And then I heard your voice in the dark." She looked up at him, pushing herself up. "I am Guinevere. You are Arthur . . .of the Knights of the Great Wall."
"I am." He replied.
"The famous Briton who kills his own people." Neither said anything more, and weak from the pain, Guinevere closed her eyes.
"Watch over her, lady." Arthur said, after setting her down on the skins. He turned to Dawn. "Make sure she has water and carefully wrap her hand again."
"Yes." Dawn nodded, dumbstruck by fact that Guinevere sat huddled in a ball of pain. So much for that legend. Then something occurred to her. "You can talk!" She hissed at Guinevere. "You had me all tra-la-la-ing in babbleville while you understood everything I was saying. Don't you know the cardinal rule of being a girl? We stick together and trust one another. Otherwise, Fulcinia would have let you die. It makes it easier to gang up on pig headed guys that way." Dawn huffed. "Just fabulous."
Guinevere didn't know what to make of the young babbling woman. She stared at her for a second. Dawn realized what the other girl probably hadn't followed half of what she was saying. She let out an aggravated grunt. First the legendary knights, who turn out to be just regular soldiers, then Guinevere as a prisoner, what was next? Merlin as Arthur's prized cook? She bolted upright. Merlin the Magician.
"Guinevere, I know you're in agonizing pain, but I have one tiny little question."
"What is it?" She asked weakly.
"Is there a man by the name of Merlin here?"
"Why do you ask?" Guinevere asked guardedly.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes." Dawn rolled her eyes. "Is he truly a magician?"
"He is the leader of the Woads." Dagonet replied instead. "He has no power but that of his men."
"Oh." Dawn sighed. Damn. There goes that shot.
"Do not tax her." Dagonet said.
"I'm not taxing her. I asked one question. One that she said a total of seven words about." Hurt welled up in her chest. He was treating her like a baby. "I'm going up to sit by the horses."
It was childish, she knew this. But she really didn't give two flying fucks about it. She'd was fed up with 400 A.D. It was diving her nuts. She wanted more than anything to be safe at the slayer resort or even in the Sex-o-palooza that was Buffy's apartment. She wrapped the cloak around her and let the angry puff of breath out.
Jeans were not meant to be worn in the extreme cold, even if they were made with heavy material. She shivered, but welcomed the fresh air. She pulled the hood over her head and watched the snow fall. She was angry and had no way to vent that anger. Normally, she would work out, practicing the drills Giles' said all of the watchers must know. Other times, she'd blared old Bon Jovi CD's and sang at the top of her lungs. And other times she'd write down all of her frustration in her journals. She doubted anyone would take out the time to spar with her, CD's didn't work, and she didn't have anything to write on. She started humming, saying lyrics under her breath. She bopped her head along to the tune.
"These excuses how they've served me so well. They've kept me safe they've kept me stuck. They've kept me locked in my own cell. These excuses how they're so familiar. They've kept me blocked they've kept me small. They've kept me safe inside my shell."
"What is that you sing?" Gawain asked, bringing his horse beside her, scaring her. She jabbed her fist out, catching him in the chest. "Oof."
"God, warn a girl before you sneak up on her like that, Goldilocks." She gasped.
"I merely asked a question, I didn't try to bed you!" Gawain snapped, urging his horse onward.
"Well, excuse me." She stuck her tongue out at his back.
"What was the song you sing?" A voice said from behind her. She instinctively popped her elbow back, catching Dagonet in the stomach.
"Oh, god, Dagonet! I'm so sorry!" She turned around to face him. "What is it with you knights and that stealthy thing you do? And you really should have expected it, I mean I did just hit him."
"It's all right, little one. I am fine." Dagonet gave her a small smile. "What was it?"
"A song about bad choices." She blushed a little at that smile. "In my country, there is a famous - bard, who sings this." She didn't really know if that was the right term for it. "She is paid a lot of coin to sing her songs."
"She?"
"Yeah. Men and women are equals in my land. Women work the same types of jobs men do."
"Do they go to war as well?"
"Of course. Some are even great warriors. My sister is a great warrior." She looked out at the mountains.
"And you?"
"I'm - I can fight, if that's what you're asking." Dawn peered up at him. He had the nicest eyes. She blinked. "I can shoot a bow, handle a sword, throw a stiletto dagger and handle a stake." She absently patted the dagger strapped to her thigh. She'd forgotten it was there. It had been Xander's birthday gift to her. It had been blessed by a shaman in Africa. She smiled. "Plus I can stop an attacker about twenty ways without using a weapon."
"So you are a warrior?"
"No, I'm a scholar. I dig into the secrets of the pasts, learn different languages, and find answers to riddles." She sighed again. "Kicking ass is just a perk."
"I am sure you are quiet capable." He peered up at the sky, then back at her paling lips. "You should come in."
"Yeah." He gave her a funny look, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. "I - I better go check on Guinevere. She needs water." Dawn coughed, standing to walk around him. The cart must have hit another rough patch, because her step faltered. His hands went around her waist, supporting her.
"Are you -"
"Th-thanks, I'm good." She could hardly breathe, but she was good.
"Don't forget -" He handed her the water skin.
"Wouldn't want her to get dehydrated." Dawn said, taking it from his hands.
Guinevere watched the two speak. It was odd. She had not expected to see the gentle exchange between the pair. She was odd, this girl. Her style was pounded into her, forged into her. She looked as if a strong wind would knock her over.
"Water. To hydrate you." Dawn muttered.
"Thank you."
"What?"
"Thank you." Guinevere smirked at her. "Did you expect me to be ungrateful?"
"I expected you to say nothing." Dawn snorted.
"Is he your man?" Guinevere nodded toward Dagonet.
"My what?" Dawn snapped, staring at her, pulling her gaze from the slope of Dagonet's back. "No, I've only known him for two days."
"You act as if you are lovers." Guinevere tipped her head to the side, taking a long sip. "You asked after Merlin."
"We do not. What?"
"You asked after Merlin." She said in a quiet voice. "Why did you?"
"I heard he was a magician. I thought he could send me to my home."
"What do you need magic for? Can you not take a boat or a horse?"
"No. It's hundreds of years from here." Dawn said bitterly. "No horse can make that trip."
"He knows only the healing arts, and the arts of war." Guinevere looked her in the eye. "He cannot help you."
"I was afraid you'd say that." Dawn smiled sadly, her eyes drawn back to Dagonet.
The Saxon leader, Cerdic gave the order to wall the monks back up into the torture chamber. He would find this Roman family, and he would kill the knight.
"Burn it." He ordered.
"Come on, stinky." Dawn said to Guinevere, an hour later.
"Excuse me?"
"You smell." Dawn said slowly. "Go sit up at the front of the cart, blow the stink off of you. I'll come with, and you can gossip or listen to me gossip, whichever works for you."
"Will you prattle on about Dagonet?" Guinevere whispered.
"No." Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Where are you going?" Dagonet asked.
"Front of the cart so stinky here can be exposed to the fresh air. Don't worry, she'll be given plenty of water and wrapped in the skin." Dawn sighed. She looked down at the sleeping boy. "How's he doing?"
"Better, the fever has broken." Dagonet smiled down at the child and Dawn felt her heart do that thing again.
Two knights rode in front of the carriage. Dawn recognized one of them as Arthur. The other was curly haired, so that left Lancelot or Galahad.
"You've not ridden with them long?" Guinevere asked, staring ahead of her.
"Two days. They were attacked by Woads, and I fell into the middle of it." She replied.
"There are many tales of these knights."
"You don't know the half of it." Dawn sighed.
Arthur looked back at them then, and Guinevere stared him down. The other knight followed his actions, and revealed himself as Lancelot. Dawn frowned as he spurred his horse forward. She wondered if they were already headed to love triangle central. Arthur pulled himself onto the other side of the train to speak to Guinevere.
"My father told me great tales of you." She said to Arthur's back.
"Really? And what did you hear?"
"Fairy tales. The kind you hear about people so brave, so selfless, that they can't be real. Arthur and his knights. A leader both Briton and Roman. And yet you choose your allegiance to Rome. To those who take what does not belong to them. That same Rome that took your men from their homeland."
"Uh-oh." Dawn murmured. Guinevere's voice was getting an acidy streak to it. That couldn't be good.
"Listen, lady, do not pretend you know anything about me or my men." Arthur replied.
"How many Britons have you killed?"
"As many as tried to kill me. It's the natural state of any man to want to live."
"Animals live! It's a natural state of any man to want to live free in their own country." She paused, lowering her voice. "I belong to this land. Where do you belong, Arthur?"
Arthur didn't reply. Dawn looked back between the two of them. She sighed. Sexual tension you could cut with a knife. He looked back at Guinevere, but still did not answer her question.
"How's your hand?"
"I'll live, I promise you." She smirked at him. "Is there nothing about my land that appeals to your heart? Your own father married a Briton. Even he must have found something to his liking."
Arthur did not look back at her again. He merely kicked his horse into a gallop. Dawn poked Guinevere hard on the shoulder.
"What?"
"You're sick and twisted, girlie." Dawn sighed.
"Tell me something about you, Dawn." Guinevere said.
"What?"
"Why would you whisper all your thoughts and fears to a person you weren't even sure could understand you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You spoke of your home to a stranger, why?"
"To keep you from going into shock from your wounds."
"You didn't even know if I would really hear you."
"It didn't matter." Dawn paused. "Let me ask you something."
"What?"
"Why do you goad Arthur? I mean, do you like him?"
"He pulled me from that hole."
"Then why goad him?" Guinevere didn't answer her.
Dead bodies lined the path they took. Dawn and Guinevere stared out in silence at the seer number of them. Dawn had to turn away. Guinevere stared on. Dagonet motioned for Dawn to stay with Lucan, as he slipped from the cart.
"Saxons." Arthur said flatly to Lancelot.
They called the train to a halt, and the knights gathered around Arthur at the center of the train. Once they were together, Arthur spoke.
"We'll sleep here. Take shelter in those trees. Tristan."
"You wanna go out again? Yeah." Tristan spoke to his hawk, sending her out into the sky.
"Looks like we're sleeping here. On the ground." Dawn muttered.
"Where'd you sleep the night before?" Guinevere retorted.
"On Dagonet's horse." She replied without thinking. "I mean, in his arms - no, wait that makes me sound like a skanky ho."
Guinevere peered out of the cart. One rider remained in front of it. Lancelot.
"'Tis a beautiful country, is it not?" He glanced over his shoulder.
"If you say so."
"Guinevere!" Dawn hissed.
"And where do you come from that compares? The Black Sea?" She questioned. "This is heaven for me."
"I don't believe in heaven. I've been living in this hell." Lancelot cocked his head. "But if you represent what heaven is, then take me there."
"Are you kidding me?" Dawn muttered to herself. Was he even for real? This - this was the big love triangle that people had been writing about? Clever innuendos?
"Rain and snow at once." Lancelot leaned forward. "A bad omen."
All but one of the knights bedded down for the evening. Tristan was out. Dagonet had been abruptly removed from the cart, by Fulcinia's strong arm. Lucan was scrubbed clean of the muck with hot water. When he was sufficiently dried and dressed in warm clothing, he was handed out to Dagonet.
Dagonet had not spent all his time puttering about. He built a small fire and made a covering on the ground for himself and the boy. He set the child on his saddle and covered him in his heavy cloth outer wear. Dag set his sword in a place that was easily accessible. To his side, Dagonet heard the low mutterings of Marius and his guards. He would keep his eye on them.
Dawn was not having such an easy time inside the cart. Fulcinia insisted she clean up as well. She relented and washed her face and arms while the Roman woman washed Guinevere.
"Put this on, Dawn." Fulcinia handed her a crimson red dress. "It is the smallest I have. She will wear the blue."
"You've actually been outside, haven't you?" Dawn demanded.
"Dress. Now. You cannot be mistaken for a man."
"You're joking, right?"
"No. We will keep your other clothing safe, but you freeze in that as it is. And it smells." Fulcinia replied, using Dawn's own remark to get her.
"You're an evil woman, Fulcinia."
Dawn was already out of her shirt and sweater, pulling the dress on to conceal her bra. What would the woman think of it? She didn't really want to find out. It would be hard enough explaining the zippers. She pulled the loose red dress on.
"When I am done with Guinevere's hair I will set yours." Fulcinia clucked her tongue at Dawn's tangled mane of hair.
"We had a watcher." Guinevere said quietly to Dawn, while Fulcinia fetched her dress.
"A what?"
"The knight. Lancelot." Guinevere stared at the lump on her leg. "What is that?"
"Lancelot was watching you bathe? Huh?" Dawn stared down at her leg, glancing about her cautiously, she hiked up the hemline. "Dagger. A birthday gift." She dropped the skirt.
"Here it is." She held the dress for Guinevere.
As soon as bath time was over, Fulcinia asked Dagonet to empty the basin of water. He motioned to Lucan, and Dawn sat beside the little boy. It was strange how quickly she'd fallen into this pattern of life. Three days. She'd been there for three days. Movement caught her eye and she watched Guinevere sneak away. Dawn was torn between following the girl or staying with Lucan. Dagonet returned then, so she didn't have to choose.
"Where are you going?"
"Guinevere went down that way. I don't want her to get lost." Dawn said honestly.
After a short search, she found Guinevere standing near a large tree. She wasn't alone. At first she thought she had gone over to Arthur. She was wrong. Not wanting to be seen, but wanting to hear, Dawn ducked behind a tree trunk before Lancelot looked up.
"What was it like, your home?" She asked him.
"We sacrificed goats, drank their blood, danced naked round fires." Lancelot replied.
Dawn got a very naughty visual. She shuddered. Naked Dagonet. Lancelot laughed. Guinevere gave him a searching look, and his laugh faded. He stood to face her.
"What I do remember. . .Home. . ." He couldn't seem to find the right words to describe it. "Oceans of grass from horizon to horizon, further than you can ride. The sky, bigger than you can imagine. No boundaries."
"Some people would call that freedom. That's what we fight for - our land, our people. The right to choose our own destiny." Guinevere paused for a beat. "So you see, Lancelot, we are much alike, you and I."
He looked at her, silently. Trying to understand what was passing between them. She strode forward.
"And when you return home, will you take a wife, have sons?"
"I have killed to many sons. What right do I have to my own?"
"No family, no religion. Do you believe in anything at all?" Lancelot said nothing for a moment, but sighed deeply.
"I would have left you and the boy there to die." He turned and walked away from her.
"Guinevere!" Dawn hissed at her. The other woman turned around to face her. "What was that?"
"I needed an answer."
"Well? Did you get what you wanted to hear?" Dawn demanded. Guinevere looked over at Arthur.
"Yes."
"What are you doing?" A male voice demanded, coming up behind Dawn.
She reacted, grabbing the man's hand as it clamped on her shoulder. She yanked him forward into her elbow, slamming her balled fist up into his face. She finished by sweeping the legs.
Whoever he was, groaned painfully. Dagonet rushed over to their side.
"What happened?"
"This jerk put his hands on me."
"I just asked you what you were doing!" Galahad yelled from the ground.
"That's three knights you've managed to attack, Dawn." Guinevere smirked. "That leaves four."
"I'd like to see you try Tristan or Bors." Galahad grumbled, pushing himself up.
"Sleep. All of you." Dagonet commanded. He led Dawn and Guinevere back to the cart.
Guinevere crept back into the cart where she would sleep. Dawn paused. She found that she was restless. She'd spent a whole day on a horse, then on a cart recovering from the horse and playing nursemaid. She was loathe to get back in the blasted thing. It smelled funky and she would most likely spend all of tomorrow in it.
"Dagonet." She whispered.
"Dawn, go to bed."
"Can I sleep out here? With you and Lucan?"
"Go to the cart."
"It smells in the cart. I won't hog the blankets. And I promise I won't drool on you." Dawn gave him a pout. "Please?"
"Quickly." He held her cloak out. She bypassed that and quickly burrowed into his arms.
"Brr. It's chilly." She whispered.
"Which is why you should be in the cart."
"It. Smells."
"And I don't?" He'd never been self-conscious about his odor before he met this girl.
"Yeah, but you smell nice. Like leather and man sweat."
"Man sweat smells nice?"
"On certain people, yeah." She rested her head on his arm, grinning up at him.
"People will talk if you sleep out here." He said quietly.
"Let 'em talk. What do I care? We're just two new friends, keeping each other warm and out of the smelly cart. Besides, you gave Lucan all your warm stuff. It's my duty to keep you from freezing. Can't go around having a seventh knight-sicle." She was breathing faster. He looked away from her. She wished she could just close her eyes and go to sleep, but something was nagging at the corner of her mind.
"Dagonet?"
"Hm?"
"Will you do me one more favor?" She whispered.
"What, lady?"
"Will you kiss me?"
"What?" Dagonet turned to face her.
Dawn didn't wait for an answer. She trace the scar beneath his eye with her thumb, using it to anchor her hand as she leaned up and kissed him. Softly, closed mouthed. Gently. She sighed, kissing a little harder. She felt his lips, chapped from the wind, open beneath hers. She opened her own, and their tongues engage in a slow, teasing dance. When they finally broke, Dawn let out a shaky breath.
"Shiver me timbers." She grinned up at him.
"Hm?" His large hand tracing over the exposed skin of her back.
"Something a very old friend of mine once told me." She whispered, going in to kiss him again. But instead of on his mouth, she pressed her lips to the top of his scar, planting small kisses down the entire length of it. "Put your hands on me, please?" She whispered in his ear. He couldn't refuse.
Dagonet was not one to jump into bed with the first tavern girl he saw, unlike some of his brothers in arms. This girl was different. He'd never felt something so intense and unexplainable as this before. Their joining was in near silence, only tiny grunts escaping their mouths. One of the reasons for this was the fact that he couldn't stop kissing her. When they were done, he placed her between himself and Lucan. She sighed contentedly as she leaned against his arm and drifted off to sleep.
Neither was awake when Guinevere, with a small smile on her lips, snuck out into the forest. Arthur was.
2005
Willow furrowed her brow as she stared down at the cell phone. Dawn would never willingly drop her phone. She loved that little thing. She looked up at Giles.
"I don't know how good I am at this." She sighed.
"Just try, Willow."
"Getting this kind of reading - it isn't easy."
Willow crossed her legs and sat down on the grass and watched as the shadows of the day before rolled back.
A/N2: Sigh. Another chapter down.
As a personal sidenote, I have a quote stuck in my head. It's along the lines of someone (male) saying: "Bed him. Bed him well, Lady." I cannot for the life of me remember what it's from and who says it. If anyone knows this quote and can tell me, I'll write a 500 word King Arthur crossover drabble with your knight of choice and BtVS character of choice.