Lancelot was heading toward his quarters when he ran into Fulcinia, literally. He grabbed her by the shoulders, "Hey, hold on now, be careful or you'll get hurt." When she looked up he saw that she looked odd. "Are you okay? Is something wrong? Is Dag worse? I thought he was getting well." Fulcinia realized what he was trying to say, and quickly tried to allay his concerns. "No, Dagonet is fine. I just need to get to my quarters and didn't realize I was going so fast. I'm sorry, please excuse me." Then she stepped around him and went on toward the guest quarters.
Lancelot stood there a moment and tried to figure out what had just happened. Being the pessimist of the group, he figured something terrible was going on and he didn't like being left out one little bit. He turned around and headed toward the guest quarters determined to find out what was going on. When he had almost made it to the room Fulcinia was staying in, he stopped and berated himself. 'What are you doing, Lancelot?' he asked himself. 'Are you crazy just running toward a woman's room without an invitation? What if she screams or something equally stupid?' Shaking his head, he turned and headed back toward the Knight's Quarters. He decided he'd just go see Dagonet and ask him if he knew what was happening.
When he arrived at Dag's door, he raised his hand to knock. Then on an impulse he just opened the door and walked in. Dag wasn't in the room and Lancelot wondered how he had gotten up and dressed and left the room. Things sure were getting weird around here and he was determined to find out why. He turned and left the room heading for the common room. Maybe someone there had seen Dag and knew which way he had gone.
He turned the corners warily expecting to bump into someone. He decided that he'd go see Arthur if he didn't find Dag. He walked into the common room and saw several people milling around or sitting at a table having a late bite to eat. He looked around but didn't see any of his fellow knights. There were lots of people who worked around the fort and he guessed they were either getting off work or getting ready to go to work. He took one last look around the room and then headed for Arthur's quarters.
When he was almost at Arthur's door, he ran into Jols. Not literally this time, but he was glad to see someone who might know something. "Hey Jols, have you seen Dag?" Lancelot asked the squire. "Lancelot, no I haven't. I've been with Arthur the last hour or so. Is he missing?" Jols seemed perplexed at Lancelot's question but being the helpful squire he was willing to help if someone would just tell him what he needed to do.
"I don't know, Jols. I went to seem him and he wasn't in his room. I thought he might be with Arthur." He lied to the squire. He didn't want to raise any suspicions unless he found something else amiss. "I'll just go to my quarters for now and check back on him later. Maybe he just went to get some fresh air or something. You know he's been cooped up in that room for a few days and he probably was getting stir crazy."
Jols nodded his agreement, then told Lancelot, "Maybe, but I heard he was getting pretty cozy with that Roman woman and she's been spending all of her time with him. Maybe he's with her and she took him for a walk. Was he well enough to walk without help?" Jols little bit of gossip caught Lancelot by surprise. Dagonet and Fulcinia? He hadn't heard that little tale yet and he was surprised that Dag could get 'cozy' with anyone since he'd been so stricken with Vanora. Well, maybe the knight had finally given up.
"You're probably right, Jols. I'll catch him later, maybe tomorrow then. See you." He told Jols as he turned to head back to his quarters. He was thinking about Dag and the many years he'd silently waited for Vanora to come around. Then he remembered the look on Fulcinia's face when they collided. She didn't exactly look like a woman who had been cozy with a man. Maybe Dag made a move on her and she reacted opposite of what Dag had expected. Dag was one of the gentlest men Lancelot had ever met among the knights, but he wasn't exactly good at reading other people. He took people at face value and was often shocked when they turned out different that he had thought them to be. Trusting was the word Arthur used to describe Dag, gullible was the one Lancelot used. Not that he ever used it to anyone else. He would never say anything that would wound Dag. Of all the other knights, Dag was the one he admired the most.
Over the past fifteen years the men under Arthur's command had seen a lot of death and suffering. Some turned into hardened warriors, others turned into angry old men. That is, the ones that survived. Dag was the only one who didn't seem to be affected by all he'd seen or done. He still remained the optimist and he always saw the good in people he met. Even the ones that ended up causing him pain either physical or mental. Lancelot shook his head at the dilemma that was Dag as he walked back toward the man's room. He had told Jols he'd go to his own room and catch Dag later, but he had to check one more time before he gave up. He'd probably just find out Dag had gone in search of Fulcinia to apologize for something he'd said or done to upset the woman. Women were so easy to upset. Sometimes you didn't even know what you'd done, but you had to apologize sooner or later just to keep the peace. Sooner was usually the best time. Later might make things worse in the long run.
Lancelot came upon Dag's door as he pondered what made women the way they were. The door was standing open and Dag was sitting on his bed looking down at the floor. Gawain and Gallahad were standing around looking ill at ease over something and seemed to be trying to figure a way out. When they saw Lancelot the look of utter relief was almost comical. Gawain was the first to speak. "Lancelot, it's about time you stopped by to see Dag." Then Gallahad added, "Yeah, Gawain and I have been helping him look for Fulcinia, you know, the Roman woman, Alecto's mother?" Lancelot tried to cipher the look Gallahad was trying to convey, but despite his best effort he was still as lost as he was before he'd arrived.
"Hey, guys, what you been looking for her for?" He hoped his tone didn't let them know he'd been looking for all of them, any of them. "I saw her a while ago. She was heading away from here in a bit of a hurry." When Dag heard that he jerked his head up. "What time was this? Where was she going? Did you talk to her? What did she say?" He was firing off questions faster than Lancelot could keep up. It all came out in one long sentence and it took him a moment to sort through it all.
"She was heading toward the guest's quarters. She seemed to be in a hurry. Oh, about an hour ago I guess. I tried but she just brushed me off and kept going. Let me see, did I answer all your questions or did I leave something out?" He looked from Dag to Gawain and then Gallahad. The other two knights just shrugged but Dag told Lancelot, "She must have been on her way back here after seeing Alecto. I don't understand it. Why was she leaving again without even coming in to tell me? It's not like her to just run off like that." Then he brought his hand down on his knee with a loud slap. "I bet she saw Vanora here and didn't want to interrupt us."
The three knights looked at Dag. Then Gawain exclaimed, "Vanora's been to see you?" When Dag nodded, Lancelot questioned him, "What could she have seen that would have sent her into a tailspin? She didn't look happy when she literally ran me over just down the hall. When I asked her if you were okay all she did was say something that sounded like a yes, then she took off again."
Dag shook his head and thought how ironic it was that it took getting over Vanora before he got into trouble over her. He blew all the air out of his lungs in one huge sigh, then he took a deep breath and told the others what he thought was going on. "I asked Fulcinia if she could learn to have feelings for me. She told me yes then told me I wouldn't be happy living in Rome. She went to see Alecto after that and said she'd be back later. When she left I was sitting here thinking about my life if I did go to Rome when Vanora stopped by to check on me. I was so amazed that I hadn't thought of her even once since we got back, that I didn't really have much to say and she only stayed a couple of minutes. I don't even think she closed the door when she came in the room. When she left I waited for Fulcinia to come back and when she didn't Gawain and Gallahad helped me get dressed so I could go find her. Then you came in and that's all I know. I'm guessing that Fulcinia saw Vanora leave my room and if I've been as easy to read as you all say then she probably knew a little about Vanora and didn't want to interfere." When he had finished, he looked like he'd been hit in the stomach with his own axe.
Lancelot couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend, but then he felt the man had a lot to learn about women. "Hey, Dag, why don't you just go see Fulcinia and see what's going on?" Dag looked up and gave Lancelot a look of utter disbelief. "How can I go to her and tell her that the woman I've loved for the past 10 or so years came to see me as soon as she left this afternoon? Won't that sound like it was planned?"
"Oh, give me a break, Dag! What are you going to do? Just sit here and be miserable like you've been for the past 10 years?" Seeing the look of anger creeping up his friends face, Lancelot decided he'd better try a different strategy. "Look, when I ran into Fulcinia she was noticeably upset about something. Why would she be upset if she didn't have feelings for you?"
Dag had been about to explode when Lancelot changed his tone. He had watched the other knight flit from one woman to another at the fort and he was damned if he'd take advice or criticism from him. Then when he made the last point it kind of knocked the wind out of his sails. "Okay, Lancelot, I'll go. But first I think I need to clean up a little. I don't think I've washed since we left to go find Alecto and I'm sure she's tired of tending a smelly old warrior." He gingerly stood up and headed for the bowl and pitcher sitting on his bedside table. The other knights seemed relieved that they could leave and making excuses headed for the door. Lancelot was the only one who stayed behind in case Dag needed help. He was looking better but he still seemed weaker than normal.
"Dag, I'm sorry I lost my patience earlier." He said as soon as the others were out of earshot. "But you deserve better than sitting back and waiting for some woman to decide you're worth having. Of all of us, you treat the women you know better than anybody else. Sometimes I get angry at you because you sit back and let women treat you badly or not at all because you can't say or do anything to upset them. You're a free man now and it is time you go after what you want. Even if she says no is that worse than not knowing?" He finished and looked to Dag for an answer.
Dag stood with his back to Lancelot for a moment, and then he turned around and faced his friend. "No, it's not any worse. But, sometimes not knowing can give you hope." He looked at Lancelot and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess, I just don't like being rejected, so I keep my feelings to myself. Or at least I thought I did. It seems that I'm easier to read than I thought." He kind of laughed at himself. Lancelot laughed with him. "You know Dag, in a group as small as ours it's not hard to figure out what's going on. I think Tristan might have been the last to figure it out. He's so removed from the rest of us he doesn't always get involved in our day-to-day goings on."
Dag agreed with Lancelot and continued to change his clothes. When he had finished, he turned around. "Well, what do you think?" he asked Lancelot. "Definitely an improvement, do you want me to go as far as her doorway with you, in case you get tired and need assistance?" Dag shook his head and they walked out of the room. "I'm on watch tonight if you need someone to talk to afterwards." Lancelot told Dag as they parted ways at the turn in the hallway. Dag nodded his understanding and went in search of the woman he'd grown to love.