Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: NOTE: The beginning of this chapter starts directly after the last, so if you forget what happened I suggesterino that you go back and have a squiz. Wasn't going to update today, but my Dad is getting married tomorrow and I probably won't have time to update till Tuesday. So here we are. THANK YOU thank you thank you for all the lovely dubbly reviews, you guys really light my fire. Hope you all enjoy this chapterino! Sorry. Been watching the Simps.

WARNING! There are some sexual bits in this one. You might get offended. Or something. Not too hot and heavy, but hot and heavy enough to make me squeal and blush. Enjoy!

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 world with light, like the rising of the moon.

Crescent Moon

By katemary77

Chapter Eleven: Whitelight

Your whitelight flashes the frost to-night

Moon of the purple and silent west.

Remember me one of your lovers of dreams

Whitelight by Carl Sandburg

With the sound of the party folk gradually diminishing in his ears, Lancelot's firm strides carried him further away from the hall and toward the encroaching darkness of his rooms. But before Lancelot could turn into his room, a slim hand wound around his eyes, another slithering across his mouth.

"Do not move, Sir Knight, for I am kidnapping you," a voice whispered sultrily into his ear.

"Kidnapping me, Corin?" he murmured, and in an instant had her pressed against the wall, her hands pinned above her head in his tight grasp. "Nap away."

She laughed softly. "Point taken. Now, unhand me, Sir."

His grip tightened, and Lancelot pushed his body closer to hers. "Aren't you supposed to be kidnapping me?"

With a mighty wrench, Corin pulled her wrists from his hold, rubbing them gently. Standing on her tiptoes to gain some height over the knight, the Greek smirked at Lancelot. "Yes, I am. Abducting you, that is. Now, come with me."

Entwining her fingers with his, Corin pulled Lancelot in the opposite direction that he was headed before and soon they were out of the castle, into the cool, placid night.

"And what are you going to do with me, Corin? Tie me up and have your way with me?"

"You wish," she said shortly.

"I do," he affirmed, his hands circling her hips as he pulled her into him, burying his face in her hair.

"Lancelot, stop it," Corin cried, slapping his hands away playfully. "I knew I should have brought a blindfold…"

"Oh, are you into that, are you?"

Corin growled.

"Okay, okay, I'll be quiet. Now, where are we going?"

Corin chose not to answer, and instead lead Lancelot into the stables, where Midnight was saddled and waiting for them.

"My, my, you certainly were confident I would join you," he mocked, his eyes raised in jest.

"Ah, but I didn't give you a choice, did I Sir Knight?" Corin retorted. "Besides," she carried on with a teasing wink, "if you had have objected ardently, I would've just taken Galahad."

Lancelot's eyes narrowed as he lifted Corin onto Midnight's back. "Yeah, yeah, you know I am the only one for you."

She smiled demurely as he settled in behind her, his arm wrapped easily across her stomach. "Yes, I'm beginning to see the truth of that."


"Stop right here."

They had snuck out of the city, Midnight slipping smoothly in and out of shadows. Once beyond the gates, Corin had directed the horse down into the sloping valley and now they had reached its base, where the river gleamed in the moonlight.

Dismounting, Lancelot helped Corin out of the saddle. "Now, what exactly are we doing here?"

Pulling a thick blanket out of the saddlebag, Corin tugged on Lancelot to lead him away from the horse and then proceeded to spread the blanket across the grassy ground.

"We're having a picnic. Now lie down."

"A picnic?" he asked incredulously. "Corin, it's almost midnight."

She nodded. "I know. But I could see you weren't enjoying the celebrations and I was not going to spoil my night watching you mope around so… I thought I might divert your attention from what it was so enraptured with."

Thinking it was wise to discontinue that particular course of conversation, Lancelot nodded silently and lay on the ground, pulling Corin down beside him. Together, they gazed up at the cloudless, inky sky.

"All the stars have come out tonight," she said quietly. "Do you know many?"

He nodded, and pointed towards a bright stream of lights, contrasted against the inky black night. "The Milky Way." He then pointed to a strange, winding shape. "And the Dragon."

"Any more?"

Lancelot shook his head. "I am afraid that is the extent of my knowledge of the stars. And you, Corin?"

She shrugged. "I know some." Shuffling over until her head was partially supported on Lancelot's chest, Corin raised her slender arm and pointed into the sky. "There is Callisto and her son, Arcas, great bear and little bear." Her hand swept through the air, and pointed to a constellation in the far south. "Apollo's son, Opuichus, a great healer, made immortal after he was struck down by Zeus for returning the dead to life."

Tracing her fingers through the air, Corin pointed out another set of stars. "That is Orion, Artemis's beloved companion, who was a great hunter, Orion was mistakenly killed by a single arrow shot from the Goddess. In her sorrow she asked that Zeus place him in the sky where he could remain for eternity."

Lancelot nodded, his hands twining through Corin's golden hair.

"And the last one I know is Lrya, the lyre placed in the night sky as a tribute to the God Orpheus's lost love."

Shifting, Corin lay so she was on her stomach, her chin on Lancelot's shoulder.

His callused fingertips caressed her cheek, pushing strands of gold behind her ear. "I love you."

She twisted her face away. "Do you?"

The knight frowned. "What do you mean?"

Corin's reply was one word, but it was all that was needed. Whispered into the night was a name, a name that made Corin press her eyes closed tightly against tears. "Guinevere." It tasted like ash on her tongue.

Lancelot sat up, bringing Corin with him. "I love you, Corin, not her. I am here with you."

She shook her head. "Really? How can you just… stop loving someone?"

Lancelot bent forward and put his lips to hers, his hands deepening in her hair. When he pulled back, her eyes were closed and a soft wind was playing about her face.

"I love you.."

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay…"

She couldn't doubt him.


The sun was sinking below the horizon, and the air was painted in red and gold.

Corin, her arms full of soft, springy cloth, huffed her way into Lancelot's room, swinging the door shut with her foot. "You really should be more careful," she muttered irritably under her breath. "It's not the most difficult thing to block a blade, is it?"

The knight scowled at her and offered out his forearm, which had a long gash running across it. "When that blade is coming from Tristan, yes. And you were distracting me."

Corin glanced up at him under lowered eyelashes. "Distracting you, was I? And just how did I manage that?"

The cool, overly confident knight suddenly became flustered as Corin gently washed out his wound with warm water. "Well, maybe you didn't distract me per say but…"

"Admit it, Lancelot," Corin snorted. "You were trying to be brave and manly by challenging Tristan and ultimately got yourself hurt."

He shrugged and fought to fight a blush. "Maybe. Will I live?"

Corin mock-pouted and wiped fake tears from her cheeks. "Alas, Sir Knight, you are gravely wounded! This may be your last night upon the Earth before you descend into the Underworld!"

Edging closer, Lancelot murmured seductively into Corin's ear, "If it is my last night, shall we not make it a night to remember? Don't you think I deserve some tender loving care?"

Tilting her eyebrows, Corin scrambled away from the knight. "Uh-uh. Don't even try that on me. It's your own fault!"

Backed against the door, Corin watched warily as Lancelot prowled toward her. His strong, capable hands enveloped her waist and, in spite of herself, Corin felt tingles crawl up her spine.

"Don't," she murmured, feeling her resolve falter with every breath she took.

"Stop me," he retorted gently, continuing to lean toward her.

She turned agilely in the circle of his arms and opened the door, but his hand pushed it back. She gasped in surprise when his mouth slid across her collarbone, warm and delicious.

"Don't go away. Stay," he breathed brokenly into her skin.

Suddenly, Corin felt herself being turned around, and Lancelot's lips were crushing onto hers, demanding and powerful, sending spirals of dizzying heat through her. Her breath mingling with his, Corin clutched at his shoulders, painfully aware of every inch of him that covered her. Her jaw slackened, and Corin gave in. His tongue, warm and soft, traced her tingling lips as though memorizing the shape of her mouth. Abruptly, she was hoisted up against him, and her legs impulsively wrapped themselves around Lancelot's hips. Pressed against the door and him, Corin's head rolled back as he began a slow, soft assault against her neck. Her skin quivering with his touch, Corin gasped aloud when she felt his teeth nip tenderly at her flesh. Hazily, she was aware of being carried across to the bed, but then there was only the soft mattress under her, Lancelot's safe, assuring weight atop her and his lips, tongue, fingers, drifting idly across her skin.

Hastily, Corin pushed the loose, flimsy shirt Lancelot was wearing over his head, and attached her mouth to his clearly defined muscles. His hands travelled over her, caressing her, stealing her breath and making her whimper against him, heat springing to life in her blood. Arching her back, Corin pressed wantonly against him, needing to be close, needing to touch him, wanting to be consumed by the warmth pooling inside her, the passion behind her eyes. Dizzyingly, she listened to his fervent whispers against her skin.

"Corin, I…"

Corin…

"…love you so much, Corin…"

Corin…

"…you're so beautiful…"

This is wrong, Corin, this isn't how it should be… the Lady…

"Stop, Lancelot," Corin mumbled dejectedly, pushing him gently off of her. "Stop."

The knight, wary of the last time he and Corin had been in his bed, quickly manoeuvred away from her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, placing a small kiss on his brow. "Nothing is wrong, my love," she whispered, entwining her hand with his to assure him. "There is just something I need to do. Tomorrow night, when I come back…"

With one last long, intimate, and deep kiss, heavy with promise, Corin drew away and slipped silently out of the room.


She rode for a good hour in the enveloping darkness before she stopped. Jumping from Callisto's back, she threw her pale hood off and surveyed the clearing around her. The forest was silent and thick with lingering anticipation as it waited for night to fall and Corin felt suffocated by it, her senses frantic and edgy with the sticky air.

Quickly lighting a fire, Corin set the nine candles she had brought with her in a semi-circle, their flames dancing in the shadows. Shedding her sky blue cloak, she kneeled on the ground in her pristinely repaired priestess robes. Her eyes were bright, glimmering with the silver pendant at her neck.

After scavenging in her bag for a moment, Corin tossed moonwise oil, amaranth seeds and crushed myrtle into the flames of her small fire, the scent of the herbs immediately filling the air. She had no alter, no temple, no priestesses for this to be as it should be. She would just have to make do.

Through the clearing, the pale moon reached out and embraced Corin; it's soft light washing over her golden skin. In a slow, trembling murmur, Corin began to chant, her voice echoing eerily through the glade.

There was a loud caw from a crow somewhere in the night, and the woodland came to life.

Corin began to feel a pulsing beat vibrating in her blood, and her senses dulled then heightened in an acute sharpness.

"Thou huntress of the night

Divine Protectoress

Lady of the Wild,

I answer thee.

For I have seen thee beneath the cool dark night

And answer thee.

Silvery Huntress of the Night,

I am your child..."

Taking a deep breath, pausing in her chanting only momentarily, Corin added the first sacrifice to the flames; a pure white ermine shot through its heart. Next came a beautiful china doll with a sweet ivory face and azure eyes, not unlike her own. Following this, a lock of brilliant gold hair, tied with a white silk ribbon, was tossed into the fire.

"Pale Lady of the Moon,

I sing thy praises.

From thy woodlands great

I call unto thee

In the dark of night.

Thy hands have fed me,

And I am full."

Then, came a white rose, breathtaking in its beauty, and Corin was loath to sully its perfection in the hot blaze. But, her purpose overruled her desire and with a small wrist-flick, the rose's velure petals were being caressed by the flickering flames.

But the next sacrifice would be the hardest, Corin knew. With shaking hands she unfastened the thin leather rope around her neck and removed the moonstone pendant. A pearly tear escaping from the corner of her eye, she kissed the silver amulet and dropped it into the fire.

"Huntress of the Gods,

Protector of the Young,

Let thy light flood me with wisdom

And thy presence fill me.

I answer thee

In the early morn.

Thy song has comforted me

And I am strong."

One more to go. Corin's hand fell upon the smooth, soft surface of the last sacrifice to Artemis.

A pomegranate.

Bringing it to her mouth, Corin bit into the fruit, the sweet nectar making a trail down her chin before it too was thrown into the flames.

Taking a small dagger from the suede bag, Corin held her left hand over the fire and cut into her palm. She gave a sharp gasp of pain as the blade cut into her skin, but persisted until there was a shallow slash across her hand. Dropping the knife into the flames, she drew her hand into a fist and watched as her dark red blood, the nectar of life, dripped into the fire.

"Great Goddess of Moon and Magic

Mistress of wolf and deer

You have taught me thy mysteries

And led me in thy ways

And I have answered thee.

I am no longer a creature of the wild.

I leave thy great domain.

And I am free."


He was waiting for her. The moon was rising, but he could not see it. She was cloaked in a veil of shadow.

His hands rested idly in his lap as his liquid black eyes searched the room for any trace, any warning, as if it could give him some heed as to where she was.

But then the door opened.

She stood there in the doorway, her golden hair a mantle on her shoulders. She was pristine in her robes, but Lancelot could see that in some places soot had marred the soft, wrinkled cotton.

Gracefully, almost hesitantly, she walked over to him and stood by the bed where he was seated.

"I'm ready," was all she said, murmured in a muted whisper.

His hands went to her waist and he pulled her close, burying his face in her stomach and inhaling the intoxicating, sweet scent that was just her.

"Are you sure?" he asked with uncertainty, gazing back up at her face.

She said nothing, but tucked an errant curl behind his ear. Brushing her own hair off her shoulders, she slowly pushed her robes from her and they fell to the floor in a heap. Gently, she eased herself onto him and placed a stray kiss at the corner of his eye. Undoing the strings of his shirt, she smoothly pulled it off him, and he sucked in a breath at the feel of her skin against his.

Like light with no shadows she surrounded him, and, for a night, he forgot all about the moon.

A/N: Ta da! Hope you liked this one. Bits of the chant/poem thing to Artemis are taken from 'Invocation to Artemis' by Andrea E. Feeser. I just appropriated it and added bits in. Anywho, please review and tell me what your are thinking about this chapter. It's so much fun writing all the smutty bits. Hehehehe. I'm such a pervert. Lol. Ouch. Laughing hurts Katie's stomach. Spent waaaaay to much time at the gym last night. Alas, it had to be done, as I must look skinny for bridesmaid chores tomorrow!

Happy Easter everybody! Instead of sending me and egg, send me a review!

Kate.