hello all. thank you all soooo much for the reviews! i'm pleasantly surprised at the reponsesthis storyhas had. thanks again.
well here's the next chapter...hope i've not left anything out. i'm kind of sick at the moment (sneeze)(cough), so i hope everything flows well and isn't too abrupt or too random (tried to throw some surprises...but we'll see...). enjoy!
same disclaimers and notes from before apply.
Chapter 4: Night unexpectedly turns to day
"Mirran! Where'd you run off to?" Galahad called out gladly, at seeing Mirran return to the pub.
"Our mugs're empty an' we're thirsty!" Bors slurred, already having had several rounds and the night still young.
"Where were you Mirran…you look somewhat upset." Gawain asked, his eyes filling with a caring curiosity.
"I'm fine." She answered a bit quicker than she'd wanted to, for now it sounded untrue. And from the doubtful, still questioning look on Gawain's face, she knew he knew her words were false. She smiled as reassuringly as possible and moved towards the bar to get a pitcher. Almost dancing her way through the full crowd, she made her way back towards the knights.
"And there's Svent…surrounded by Woads, no sword within reach and his pants around his ankles!" Everyone exploded in laughter as Grenham's tale drew to a close, and Svent's cheeks flushed a bright red as Mirran began refilling mugs.
"Watch it, ya scum!" An obviously drunk man yelled across from the room as shattering pottery filled the air. She turned her head around, trying to find where the spill occurred, but no luck. Suddenly, an arm hooked around her waist and pulled her gently alongside a warm body.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Gawain asked her quietly, not satisfied by her earlier answer. She met his light eyes and saw a kind of genuine concern that she couldn't recall ever seeing before. She wrapped her free arm about his shoulders and leaned her head down atop his, kissing his brow softly.
"Thank you for your concern…it means a lot," she said distantly, finding him to be like a brother, "but for now I am fine." She finished quickly tearing her eyes and smile from him. Two piercing, virtually hidden eyes fell on hers. 'Tristan! When did he get here?' Her gaze turned just as penetrating and surveying as his, sending waves of unnoticeable surprise and admiration through him. She possessed a strength he had never seen the like of in a woman before. Almost any other woman would have shied away under such an intense, searching gaze, yet she held his, daring him to search farther as that only meant she was sizing him up in return. She blinked and turned back to Gawain, whose arm still lingered comfortingly about her waist.
"Thanks Gawain." She said softly as she moved from him and continued her way around the table, filling mugs and laughingly smiling at stray comments. She looked up from the table, involuntarily towards Tristan. The same searching, curious, almost soul-reading gaze was still directed at her. As if he didn't already know the biggest secret of her life, he seemed to want to know more! She moved around the table, closer towards him.
"Don't think I don't see your watching eyes." She said sharply.
"I don't." She blanched at his pointblank remark—'he wasn't supposed to admit it!' He locked his dark eyes with hers once more. Was it admiration, curiosity, annoyance, captivation…a mixture of all four she saw swirling in his eyes? She couldn't honestly say what she saw, but she felt herself being drawn even more in by this quiet, handsome (the more she looked at him, the more she saw it through his long braids, which she felt only added to the look) knight, who seemed to know her without trying too hard, yet regarded her unaffectedly by it. Tristan himself wasn't honestly sure what to make of the woman before him—his heart was increasingly going to her for her strength and captivating determination, yet every sense in his mind screamed at him to stay away from her.
"Why then do you watch if you know I see?" She asked softly, a challenging edge to her voice yet a hidden softer emotion was evident as she leaned down on the table across from him.
"I watch trying to see." He simply quietly answered, smiling ever so slightly. Her eyes fell to the table as confusion filled her mind—'what does that mean?' She pushed it aside, determined not to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had her puzzled, and let a hopeful smile with a seductive edge cross her fair face.
"Well, I hope you find what you are looking for." She said airily before suddenly rising from the table and walking away, not even caring to gauge his reaction. She made it to the backroom and pulled out a new jug of ale when she suddenly realized it. She wanted him to. She wanted him to see her, and only her. She wanted him to…love her. She crept to the doorframe and carefully looked out, making sure not to be seen. He now sat nonchalantly eating an apple, yet it looked as though he was deep in thought. She sighed softly, a smile forming on her face as she watched him. She felt so vulnerable and open to his eyes, yet at the same time those eyes seemed to make her believe she was the only other person in the world. And every time they had spoken, despite whatever ran through her mind and escaped her tongue, she had been aware of the hardness around her heart slowly melting away.
But it couldn't be love… 'how could it!' She thought bitterly, suddenly emerging from the backroom, disgusted with herself. 'A man shows an ounce of interest, and a pennyweight of care, and I'm ready to give my heart away to him…I don't even know him!' She glanced over, noticing Arthur had now joined them, and watched Gawain and Galahad engaged in a knife throwing contest. Without warning, Tristan rose, letting loose his own knife and she watched as it landed squarely in the middle of the target. Her eyes widened and her smile returned. 'Then again…he's not the type of guy who shows emotions…' she thought, noticing the indifferent, humble look on his face as he sat back down, amidst the compliments from his fellow knights. 'So maybe he is in my heart…the question is…how deep?' She sighed, knowing she couldn't find her answer right now.
Armed with a full tray, she started across the pub towards another table. In the blink of an eye, her balance was gone and her footing lost on a slick puddle of spilled ale. The tray crashed to the floor and a silence fell immediately about the pub as her scream filled the air, instantly silenced as her head banged against the edge of a wooden table before falling motionlessly to the floor. Gawain reached her side first, instantly followed suite by Galahad, Lancelot and the rest of the knights as other customers crowded curiously around.
"Oh gods…." Grenham muttered worriedly, his eyes fixed on the long gash that ran across Mirran's forehead.
"A rag! A cloth…something!" Galahad cried out, watching as Gawain examined her cut and Lancelot checked for a heartbeat. Magda burst through the crowd, holding out a small rag.
"Thanks. …it looks deep, may require stitching." Gawain muttered distractedly as he gratefully accepted the cloth and pressed it against Mirran's cut. Her eyes were shut tight and she lay deathly still, trails of blood all along her face.
"We need to get her out of here and Dagonet needs to see her." Lancelot quickly, quietly said.
"But to where that is the closest?" Gawain said thoughtfully, turning his eyes from Mirran.
"My chambers are the closest." Every knight turned in shock at hearing Arthur's voice.
"Right." Gawain said, nodding in Arthur's direction before turning to Lancelot as they prepared to move her unconscious body.
"Svent—go find Dagonet and tell him to meet us at my chambers." Arthur said commandingly before making a path through the crowd of onlookers as the knights left with Mirran. Svent took off across the fort as Arthur lead Lancelot, who held Mirran in his arms and Gawain who held the rag pressed tightly against her head.
"Poor lass…" Bors remarked, shaking his head, watching as Lancelot gently laid her on the bed and Dagonet walked over, examining the wound for himself.
"What did she hit?" He asked, his words clipped.
"The edge of a table…the ones in the pub." Galahad filled in, his voice lacking its usual lightness. Dagonet pulled the rag away and wiped at the still flowing blood, watching it trickle down her face.
"It's not too deep, fortunately, but it will require stitching." He said reaching for the small needle with thread already in it. Gawain grimaced, as well as did several other knights, at the sight of the needle passing swiftly in and out of her skin.
"Some one will need to sit with her tonight, in case a fever comes." Dagonet said to whoever was listening. A silence fell as the knights all looked between themselves, wondering who it would be to lose a night's worth of sleep and care for Mirran.
"I will stay." Tristan's soft voice broke the silence, surprising everyone in the room, including Arthur.
"Very well," Dagonet said as he tied and broke the thread that now bound Mirran's wound together, "keep this cloth loosely covering the wound…and pray no fever befalls her." Tristan nodded as he moved towards her side.
"Arthur, my quarters are yours for the evening." Tristan said, turning to face his friend and commander. Arthur nodded thankfully.
"Come knights," he suddenly said, "we have council as usual. Tristan, we'll brief you in the morning, once you have had time to rest." Arthur finished as the knights slowly filed out of the rooms, turning their thoughts from Mirran towards bigger issues.
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Tristan had sat alone at her side, with a wet cloth in hand, washing away the trails of blood from her face, worry swirling in his eyes. Just when he was beginning to let her deeply in, just on the verge of admitting there was a heartfelt connection, she was reduced to a near death status. And now here it was, sometime later, and she still lay motionless, showing no signs of a fever.
He couldn't be sure how late in the night it was. Thick clouds had rolled in obscuring the stars and moon some time ago, and now a falling rain with earth-shattering thunder filled the night. The only light that was to be seen, save for the bursts of lightening, came from a small fire that filled the room with relaxing warmth on this cold night. Tristan sat near the bed, stretched in a chair, hoping to sleep, but between watching the bewitching shadows dance across her face and the startling, raging thunder, sleep had not yet come. For what seemed like the hundredth time, his eyes wandered lazily back to her. She looked so peaceful, as though free of all earthly claims and problems. His eyelids, heavy with exhaustion, dropped shut, despite the earth-shattering thunder that shook everything to its core.
Two sapphire eyes shot open. She raised her head up on the pillow and cast her eyes towards the window. Lightning lit the world for an instant before thunder roared deafeningly. She closed her eyes, heaving a sigh. 'Not tonight….not tonight,' she thought, silently annoyed. She raised her hand gently off the mattress and summoned all the energy and strength she could muster.
The thunder faded…or was Tristan just dreaming. 'Probably dreaming,' his groggy mind told him, 'this storm would not disappear so soon.' A silence began to fall…a faint crack of thunder, and then a mere whisper of thunder. His eyes opened in shocked curiosity. Immediately his eyes fell upon Mirran—her hand fell silently back onto the mattress and she snuggled more soundly into the pillow, reveling in the newfound silence. A wind still blew across the fort…but now a mere hint of what it once was. A faint, mystical voice seemed to blow with the wind, a kind of lullaby almost. He shook his head, knowing perfectly well that the wind didn't have a voice. And Mirran's falling hand…had she done something? His eyes fixed on her as he thought over that idea…but that would mean Mirran could do…magic? It didn't seem to fit…but she was after all Merlin's daughter. The more he thought on such things, however, the drowsier he grew and still he claimed to hear the airy song until his mind slipped into oblivion and sleep finally overcame him.
sorry a bit shorter than the rest, but there ya go. hope not too weird or "fantasy"-ish. oh well...review if'n ya want! next chapter should be up later this week.
