Lancelot stood up and walked the parapet at the top of the wall. He was thinking about what Dag had told him. How easy it would be to forget all the things he had done, what he had become in the fifteen years he had been in service to Rome, but to forget the sins of the past only causes one to make the same mistakes time and again and he was damned if he'd make these mistakes again!
He stopped for a moment and looked out over the small grassy plain on the north side of Hadrian's Wall. He strained his eyes trying to see what was moving about along the tree line. He assumed it was a group of Woads keeping an eye out for Guinnevere, but there seemed to be too much movement for Woads. They usually traveled in groups of a dozen or so and no more and the movement he saw appeared to be a large colony of ants milling around the mound they made in the earth.
After several moments he saw small flickering lights appear all around the plain and he realized the Saxons had finally made it to the wall. Arthur and the others had hoped the group of peasants and the Bishop's caravan would be far from the wall before the first sign of Saxons appeared. It seemed they had been dreaming a fool's dream. Lancelot took off for the Knight's quarters to wake the others. Unless they were ready to travel south before the sun rose over the horizon they would never be able to get away before the battle started. Then it struck him, this was no battle, but a war, to be fought by a few who would most likely die trying to protect the land that he hated to the depths of his heart.
The first door he came to was the door to Jol's rooms. He knocked loudly and yelled, "Jols, wake Arthur while I wake the rest of the men. The Saxons have arrived and it looks like they brought all the men old enough to carry a weapon. We must prepare to leave as soon as possible." Having said this he did as he said he would and went to the next door and pounded with his fist.
"Gawain, wake up, come to the wall now." And he immediately headed for the next until he had pounded on all of them. After he was certain they were all awake, he ran back to the wall followed closely by the others. When they saw the flickering lights across the top of the wall, he could feel the tension rising in the others. He looked at each one in turn and then turned back to the wall to stare at the sight below.
When he heard someone running, Lancelot turned to see Arthur coming up the steps followed by Guinnevere. Arthur, then Guinnevere looked across the plain and then Arthur looked at Lancelot. He turned his back to the men he called friends and looked at the frightened peasants at the foot of the stairs. When he turned back to his men, Lancelot saw something in his features that made his heart drop. At that moment he knew that Arthur was going to stay and fight the army waiting to kill anyone who stood in their path to conquering Britain.
"Men, my time with you is ended." After that Lancelot tuned him out and began think of an argument to change his friend's mind. When he felt Arthur turn around and head down the stairs Lancelot looked at Guinnevere and took off after him.
He tried every argument he could think of. He begged, he pleaded but nothing would change his mind. When Arthur finally told him to be his friend and not try to dissuade him he stopped arguing. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and let him go. It tore at his heart to see his friend walk away, but he realized it was not his duty to change the mind of the man who had become his best friend since he had been ripped from his home so many years before. He looked up and saw Guinnevere watching him. He gave her a look that he hoped conveyed his feelings that this was her fault. She had seduced Arthur and persuaded him to help her people regain their control of their lands. Having done that, he stormed off determined to get away before his sense of duty to his commander caused him to do something he might not live to regret.
By the time the sun had lightened the sky to the east they were all packed up and ready to head south. The men from Sarmatia would turn back north as soon as they were away from the Saxon army. The caravan slowly made its way along the road leading away from Hadrian's Wall. Each of Arthur's knights looked to the hill to the right of the road to see Arthur sitting on his warhorse. He was an impressive sight even to them. He wore his best battle armor and had his dragon banner flying from the standard. Lancelot could hear the wind whistling through the banner making the sound of a dragon roaring. He knew it was only an illusion intended to frighten the enemy but the sound called to him all the same.
Suddenly Bors pulled away from the rest and rode a short way toward Arthur. He drew his sword, held it high in the air and gave the battle cry that they had all learned to expect when the man rode into battle. "Rah-h-h-h-h-h" he shouted at the top of his lungs. After what seemed forever, they heard Arthur give the answering call. The memories of many battles played across Lancelot's eyes and he quickly closed them to keep him from seeing anymore of the hateful scenes. It would not take much to make them all turn and follow Arthur once more into battle.
The six men silently rode a little further down the path, each in his own thoughts, when suddenly the horses began to dance around. Each man tried to quiet his mount the best he could. Suddenly they all stopped and looked at each other. The first to make a move was Tristan. He looked at his hawk, flicked its beak and gave it a push to fly. "You're free." Was all he said and the bird took off in a flutter of wings. They all watched as the bird flew overhead away from their group and then each man dismounted and headed for the wagon carrying their battle gear.
Dagonet looked at the wagon carrying Fulcinia and Alecto. He knew if he stayed he might never get to know what life with her would be like. But he could not desert the man who had taken them all in and showed them how to fight for themselves as well as for Rome. He raised his hand in a salute and he watched her raise her hand in a small wave. She looked frightened but not once did he see her hesitate as if she wanted to stop him doing what she knew he had to do. He flashed her a smile of reassurance and was glad to see her return the gesture. He knew if he lived through this he would search for her if he had to go all the way to Rome to find her.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. I'm running into problems with this battle scene from the movie. But most of my writing comes from dreaming… so I decided to go to bed and dream up the rest of it. Hope you're not too disappointed in this one. The next one will be better I think.