Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, I'm so overwhelmed, I totally did not expect such a great reaction to this story. Shoutouts to Rogo, urhallucinating, Southernhun, abeldina, Maeghan, i wish i were a cloud, abeldina, jemiul, Evenstar, fro reviewing, thank you so much! As to those who commented on how trustful Corin is, you're very right and I'm glad that was pointed out so I can try and give a bit of an explanation. I'm trying to make Corin come out as a very easy-going, warm, instinctually trustful person, as before she was taken as a slave she rarely left the temple and saw the real world. She's also had about five months to come to term with the fact that she is a prisoner and to work out within herself that not all men are these horrible, abusive, sexist pigs. Besides, I figure Guinevere was rather trusting of Arthur and the knights after she was pulled from the Roman torture chamber, after weeks/slash months of being tortured, beat and quite possibly raped. And as for i wish i were a cloud who asked if perhaps Corin knows Lancey from somewhere, you'll just have to wait and see. Hope you like Chapter Three.

Summary: Years after the battle on Badon Hill, Lancelot has resigned himself to a loveless life, ever watching from the sidelines. But his hope is slowly restored when he meets a young woman, who fills his life with light, like the rising of the moon.

Crescent Moon

By katemary77

Chapter Three: Lustre and Shade

The moon pull'd off her veil of light,

That hides her face by day from sight

(Mysterious veil, of brightness made,

That's both her lustre and her shade),

And in the lantern of the night,

With shining horns hung out her light.
- Samuel Butler Hudibras (pt. II, canto I, l. 905)

Corin emerged the next day, donned in a very ill fitting brown dress that had been given to her by the maid, Grieta. The servant girl was much shorter and frailer than Corin, and thus the dress hung awkwardly off Corin's frame, tight across her hips and breast, and somewhat lacking in length. Nevertheless, the Greek woman entered the stately courtyard, a white ball of fabric clutched tightly in her hands, to find the four knights and their King waiting for her.

"We have a horse for you, Corin," Arthur explained, nodding to a dappled grey mare alongside his own.

Corin bit her lip and cast her eyes to the ground. "That poses a slight problem my… Arthur." She lifted her gaze to his face. "I have never ridden before. There was never any need for it. "

"Ah. Well, you shall ride with one of us until lunchtime, at which point we shall instruct you in the matter."

"Very well," Corin acquiesced.

The youthful knight Corin recognised as Galahad rode forward. "You may ride with me, Lady Corin."

Corin bowed her head and smiled. "It would be a pleasure, Sir Knight."

Nimbly jumping off his white stallion, Galahad easily lifted the woman, mindful of her injured hip, into the saddle, before mounting in front of her. "Nay, Lady, the pleasure is all mine."

"Corin! Corin! Lady Corin!" came a masculine shout from the fortress.

Corin turned her head awkwardly back to see Faustus running toward her. The young lord came to a stop beside Galahad's horse and reached up to take Corin's hand. He placed something cool and hard on her palm and curled her fingers around it with his own. "I found that in my fathers study," he told her, and then held up a small silver ring set with a blue topaz stone. "And this is for you. I know it's not much and doesn't repay what was taken from you, but please take this as a token of my remorse for what my father did to you."

Corin smiled and took the ring, before opening her hand. She let out a startled gasp. "How did you find this?" she breathed. It was the necklace she wore as a priestess, signifying her rank and the deity she was devoted to; an ornate pendant wrought with silver with a beautifully carved crescent moon, a silver arrow passing through it, and set with a white, opaque moonstone.

"I don't know why he kept it," Faustus said with a shrug, "but I thought it should be returned to you." Faustus took her hand in his. "Corin, if you ever need a place to stay, you can always seek refuge here. These walls will ever be open to you."

Corin smiled, tears prickling at her eyes, and slid her hand from his, moving it to cup his face. "You are a good man, Faustus," she said, bending down to kiss his forehead. "I think you and I shall meet again."

With a smile and a wave, Corin left Birdoswald Fort on the back of Galahad's white stallion, and rode ahead into a new life.

----------

"Now, you're sitting in the saddle, and these hear in my hands are called reins."

"Really, Galahad?" Corin said dryly. "I never would have guessed."

Galahad snorted. "Really, Corin, you are a most impatient lady."

"And not the best student, I take it?" she joked.

They had been riding for hours, and Corin was thoroughly sick of it. She had spent the majority of the time fingering her pendant, which she had returned around her neck with the ring Faustus had given her strung beside it, listening to Galahad speak of Camelot, home, his love and loyalty for Arthur and his plans for the future. Corin had taken an instant liking to the young knight. He was the closest in age to her and had retained his boyish innocence; even through the marred and bloodied life he had lived. Galahad had a charming shyness around Corin, which she mused must come with inexperience in dealing with women, and something Corin endeavoured to banish with teasing jokes and playful banter.

"Perhaps the lady would find a change of company agreeable?" a wily voice asked from behind. Galahad and Corin both turned their heads to find Lancelot leaning forward on his horse, a dark eyebrow cocked slyly in question. "Well?"

Corin chuckled before sliding carefully off Galahad's horse, wary not to put too much weight on her injured ankle. "Yes, perhaps a different beast underneath me is precisely what I need. Galahad, it has been a pleasure travelling with you."

"It has indeed," the knight replied. "Until later, then." Swiftly, Galahad turned his horse and was off, riding beside his friend.

"Well, my lady?" Lancelot prodded, extending a hand to Corin.

She grinned slightly, shifting her small bundle of fabric under her arm, and took his hand, letting out a small squeal of surprise when he pulled her off her feet and in front of him on the horse.

"Why do you keep that dress?" Lancelot asked, nodding his head toward the white material in Corin's lap.

"These are my priestess's robes," she told him. "I did not wish to just throw them away."

Lancelot nodded and watched her stroke his horse's neck timidly. "Horses can smell fear, Corin, and there is no need to be afraid."

She nodded, slightly unnerved by Lancelot's close proximity. "And what is your horse's name?"

"Midnight… because he's black."

Corin snorted. "How original."

"And what would you have named him, I wonder?"

She shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. "Something more creative than 'Midnight,' to be sure," Corin said. "But then, I don't understand why men name horses in the first place. Always wanting to own everything, men."

"But if men don't own anything, who does?" Lancelot asked.

Her answer was quick. "The Gods."

"Tell me of your Gods, Corin."

She smiled wryly. "There are many."

"We have all day and it is not yet mid-morning."

"Very well. I will tell you of my Gods. What do you already know?"

"I know of Zeus, the ruler of Mount Olympus."

"Yes, Zeus," she began. "Zeus is lord of the sky and the rain. He hurls his thunderbolt at those who displease him, particularly those that lie and break oaths. Then, there is his brother, Poseidon."

"God of the sea," Lancelot interjected.

"Yes, with his trident and chariot." She smiled ruefully. "Once, Poseidon desired Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and to put him off she asked him to make the most beautiful creature the world had ever seen. Do you know what he made?"

"No. What did he make, Corin?"

"The horse."

Lancelot snickered. "They can't be that bad then, can they?"

"They may be beautiful creatures, but they are certainly uncomfortable," she laughed.

"You're too stiff," Lancelot told her. Gently, for he was aware of Corin's uneasiness around him, and indeed any man, the knight lowered his hands that held the reins to rest on the woman's thighs. If possible, Corin tensed even more, and the dark-haired knight bit back a sigh. "Please, just relax, I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me, Corin." Distraction, Lancelot thought, was perhaps the best strategy. "Tell me more of your Gods."

"Okay," she said, gazing out at the scattered wilderness they were riding through. "Hades is next, King of the Underworld, Tartarus, lord over the dead. He abducted his wife, Peresphone, and that is why we have seasons, because her mother, Demeter, grieves her absence and lays a curse upon the land that causes its plants to wither and die."

"And what of war? Who is the god of war?"

"Ares," Corin answered, "but Athena is often associated with war as well, although truly she is the embodiment of wisdom, purity and reason. Next is Apollo, god of music, god of healing, of light and truth, who cannot speak a lie. He is the Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. He is god of the sun and every morning he harnesses his chariot with four horses to drive the sun across the sky."

"And what of love?"

"Aphrodite and her son, Eros, who is blind because love is also. The goddess and god of love, desire and beauty."

"And your goddess? The one you serve?"

Corin smiled widely. "Artemis. Apollo's twin sister. She is the lady of the wild things. The Huntress of the gods and the protector of the young and the moon. She is a virgin goddess and presides over childbirth. All wild things are sacred to her."

"There are many gods on Mount Olympus," Lancelot commented.

"Aye, and there are many more," Corin agreed quietly. "But I fear they are being forgotten. The old ways are dying and with them will go the gods, with no one left to worship and cherish them. And only the Fates will remain."

"The Fates?"

"The three who decide our destiny. Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos. They are more awesome than any god."

There was a moment of quiet thoughtfulness as the pair surveyed the surrounding land that had smoothed out from the woodland before into rolling, grassy hills.

"Come," Corin spoke, breaking the silence. "You must teach me how to ride this beast."

"Well," Lancelot said with a steely smile, "now that you've relaxed a bit, that might just be a little easier." It was true. As Corin had been speaking, she had unknowingly settled into Lancelot's chest, his hands resting on her legs, and was moving much more easily with the horse's rhythm. "Now, hold the reins in your hands like this," he said, weaving the leather straps through her fingers. "If you want to go right, pull gently to the right, and if – "

"You want to go left, pull left. That part is rather self-explanatory," Corin commented lightly.

"And if you want to stop?" Lancelot asked.

Corin thought for a moment. "You pull back?"

"You do. And going faster?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Corin laughed. "You just go like this." Casually, Corin kicked her legs rather forcefully into Midnight's loins, and the battle horse, sensitive to the slightest touch, let out a loud neigh and shot out into the meadow, eating up the ground with his powerful legs in a manner of seconds.

Corin shrieked and clutched tightly to the reins, before Lancelot's warm hands deftly pulled the straps from her fingers and gently slowed the horse to a stop.

"Are you alright?" he asked urgently as the young woman slipped off Midnight's back and onto the grass. But her legs had turned to jelly and, accompanied by a sprained ankle, this caused her to gently sink to the ground.

"Corin? Corin, are you okay?" Lancelot demanded as Arthur and the others crested athe hill and came into view.

Gazing up at the blue sky, dotted by a few fluffy clouds, Corin drew in a deep breath, and let it out in a great peal of laughter. "Oh! That was brilliant!" she exclaimed, as she used the buckles on Lancelot's breeches to pull herself to her feet. "I don't think I've even been so terrified in my life. I thought my heart would explode." Leaning heavily against the curly-haired knight, Corin carefully wiped tears of mirth from her cheeks with the pad of her thumb. Lancelot scowled and ran a hand agitatedly through his hair.

"Are you two alright?" Arthur called as they rode up to meet the pair.

"Quite," Lancelot answered. "In fact, Corin seems to think her attempt to kill me was quite amusing." From the looks on Galahad and Gawain's faces, they shared the same opinion.

"Kill you, Lancelot?" Corin asked with a confused air. "Why, you're a Sarmation knight! Threatened by a horse and a mere girl? You flatter me. Surely I am not that fearsome."

They couldn't help it, really. Bursting into laughter was the only option.

Lancelot's scowl deepened and Corin let out a clear, bell-like peal of laughter.

Arthur chuckled shortly and surveyed the small cluster of trees before them. "Well, here's a good a place as any for lunch," he said, freeing his saddlebags from his horse and nodding to the others to do the same. The knights acquiesced, tying their horses to nearby trees and plopping onto the floor to eat.

Corin, wincing at the pain in her upper legs and backside, hobbled over to a log, cursing under her breath all the way, and seated herself beside a quiet looking knight whose shoulder-length hair was decorated with many braids.

"I'm Corin," she told him, watching pensively as he tossed bits of his lunch to the hawk perched on his knee.

"I know."

Corin cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?" she asked.

A small smirk crept onto his face. "Perhaps."

She laughed and nodded to the slender bow resting against his pack. "May I?"

"Be my guest, Lady," the mysterious knight said, somewhat grudgingly.

Smiling widely, Corin reached across and took the bow in her hand. Running delicate fingers down the smooth wooden handle, she pulled the string taut and admired the wood's intricate carvings. "This is a beautiful bow," she commented. "Where did you get it?"

"I made it," he grunted.

Somewhat irritated by the knight's aloofness, Corin bit her lip to keep her anger in check and stood. "I'll make you a deal, Sir Knight. If I can hit a target of your choosing, you give me your name."

The knight sat back. "And what would be in it for me, Lady Corin?"

She grinned. "You seem to be a rather reclusive type, Sir Knight, one who does not overly enjoy the conversation of others, and I can be a very talkative person when I want to. Besides, I have quite a fondness for solving mysteries, and you are quite the mysterious person. But, I think for now I shall be quite satisfied with a name."

The knight smirked and looked Corin up and down, something she was not quite comfortable with. "Very well, Lady, that tree there," he said, gesturing to a tree that stood roughly thirty feet away.

Corin snorted. "Come now, this is a Sarmation bow! Give me a bit of a challenge, please!"

The knight chuckled, took the bow, nocked an arrow and gave Corin an amused grin before shooting the arrow some two hundred and fifty feet away, dead centre in an extremely thin tree that quaked and shivered with the impact.

Corin let out a low breath and the other knights chuckled at the expression on her face. "That is an impressive shot," she breathed, taking the bow and nocking another arrow. Taking aim, she let the arrow loose and watched as it sailed in a perfect ark before splintering the knights arrow in half, landing with a loud thud. "For a man."

The knights stared.

Corin grinned. "Surely you did not think the High Priestess in a temple of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, would not know how to use a bow?"

"In my life I have never met a better archer than him," Gawain exclaimed. "That was amazing!"

"Perhaps it was only luck," Galahad mused with a sly grin. "And we do not know that she is better than our scout. We should put their skills to the test!"

"I am injured, Galahad!" Corin cried. "That would hardly be fair!" It was only then that Lancelot noticed her strained face and how she heavily favoured her right leg. "And besides," she said to the scout, "you owe me a name."

He smiled at her a sunk into a bow. "Sir Tristan at your service, my lady."

"A pleasure to meet you," she said, curtseying lightly in turn.

"Now tell us, Lady Corin," Gawain said, handing her an apple, "what exactly does the High Priestess of Artemis do?"

"She serves the Lady of the Moon," Corin answered unfalteringly. "In any way she can. And sometimes," she said softly, her gaze lingering on Arthur, "that means defending her sanctuary from the Roman dogs that seek to destroy it."

A/N: Please drop me a review and tell me what you think.