Arthur walked into the great hall and took in the scene before him. His knights were already seated at the round table, tense looks on their faces. They had seated the Woad that had been taken captive to Arthur's left, one seat away from Lancelot's. His hands were untied, but two Roman guards were standing right behind him. More Roman guards were standing guard next to the door opening where Arthur had paused himself. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and strode forwards to his seat. As soon as he sat down, Jols put a goblet of warm wine in front of him. He nodded gratefully at the squire.
"How is our Lancey?" Bors asked while raising his own goblet.
"Asleep," Arthur answered briefly, feeling the worry, both present as of the past days, for his second in command washing over him again.
Arthur took in another deep breath, before he stood and turned to face the Woad. "What is your name?"
The man stared at Arthur and kept silent.
Arthur stared straight back, his green eyes burning into the Woad warrior. Normally he was the voice of reason, but this time he had trouble keeping his calm. "Why did you steal one of my knights' swords and used it to kill a Roman family?" he asked trying to keep any anger out of his voice.
"Why would I tell you?" the Woad spit out, his fists clenching in front of him.
Before Arthur realized what he was doing, Excalibur was in his hands and the tip of the sword at the Woad's throat. "Because," he said in a dangerous voice, punctuating every word, "one of my knights was accused of murder, and two of them nearly got killed searching for you and the truth." He raised the hilt of Excalibur slightly, forcing the Woad to raise his chin slightly as it was pushed upwards by the blade that it was now resting on. "Your own leader handed you over to my knights. I suggest you start talking right now." Arthur kept Excalibur at the man's throat for a few more seconds. Stepping back, he re-sheathed the big sword, although his hand never left the hilt.
All around the round table, the other knights sat down again, having jumped up from their seats in surprise and support when they saw their commander drawing his weapon.
"Once more, what is your name?" Arthur asked in a reasonable voice.
"Circinn."
"Circinn. Were you the one that stole my knight's sword?" Arthur asked, standing in front of his seat.
"Yes." Circinn's eyes wandered again to Excalibur as Arthur gripped the hilt even more tightly.
"Why?"
"I was ordered to do so."
"By Merlin?" Arthur asked hesitantly.
"No." A scared look was settling on the Woad's face.
"Who then?" Arthur took a step towards the Woad again.
Circinn's eyes went back and forth through the hall, searching for a way to escape.
With Galahad absent, Gawain sat closest to the Woad on his left side. He stood up, and walked around the table until he was only two seats away. The blond knight held his hand on the hilt of his sword as well, a mirror image of his commander.
"Who?" Arthur again, forcefully this time.
"A Roman commander from Haltwhistle Fortress." The words were uttered almost inaudibly, but everyone heard. A shock wave thundered through the great hall.
Arthur blinked in surprise, as the other knights exchanged glances. Too many thoughts, feelings were running through the Roman. It took him a minute before he could gather his thoughts. "Why?" was the question boiling to the surface first.
Circinn visible swallowed before he answered. "I was captured during a battle. He said he would spare my life if I could steal your knight's sword in return." He opened his mouth as though he was going to say more, but he closed it again without a sound.
Arthur and Gawain took a step closer to the Woad at the same time. Circinn continued before they had said anything. "It took me weeks to steal it. Your knight is too good with his swords. It was merely luck that he let go off it when my cousin pulled him off his horse." Again he swallowed heavily, but this time he continued without any more prodding. "When I brought it to Haltwhistle, the commander said that it had taken me too long, that I would have to do something else for him, before I would be certain of my life. He threatened to raid my village, kill everyone, including our women and children, if I didn't oblige or went to Merlin."
Arthur's face reflected the anger inside of him clearly. "This Roman commander ordered you to kill the Roman family?"
Circinn just nodded, looking down at his hands that were still clenched in fists, his knuckles white. "And to kill the knight who the sword belonged to."
Bors couldn't contain himself any longer. He sprung to his feet, slamming his fist down on the table. The goblets of wine shook on their feet. "Framing our Lancelot for murder wasn't enough? You were supposed to kill him as well?"
Arthur raised his hand to silence Bors. With loud mumbling and cursing the burly knight sat down again.
"Why?" Arthur asked again, his voice thick with rage.
The Woad looked up at him in confusion. "I… I just told you why…"
"Why did this Roman commander want you to steal my knight's sword and use it to kill a Roman family? Why did he want to frame Lancelot for murder?" Arthur almost screamed.
"To get rid off you."
Arthur stared at the Woad wordlessly.
Gawain was the first to speak up. "Explain yourself!"
Circinn looked from Arthur to Gawain and back to Arthur once more. "He wanted to blacken you, defame you, to get rid off you completely. At first he ordered me to steal Excalibur, but his second convinced him that no one would ever believe that you would kill another Roman, let alone a helpless family. So they came up with the idea to frame one of your knights, the one closest to you, because it would reflect on you, and make the Roman leaders look upon you differently." He spoke rapidly, as though he was glad to finally be able to tell someone the truth.
Arthur took a step back, and another, and another, until he felt his seat against his calves. He let himself fall back in the chair, numb with shock, anger, betrayal, confusion.
–– 8 ––
Arthur walked through the narrow streets towards the building that housed the quarters of the knights. Deeply in thought, the Roman only noticed Gawain walking towards him when the blond Sarmatian had caught up with him already.
"You talked with Livius?" Gawain asked curiously and concerned.
Arthur simply nodded his answer, trying to shake himself out of the numbness that had not been lifted by his talk with the centurion. The older Roman had a lot of experience in politics and had made a lot of sense while talking with him, but that didn't mean that Arthur liked the end result.
"I'm so sorry."
Gawain's words shook Arthur out of his thoughts. He nodded once more. "So am I. Lancelot and Galahad got hurt because of me," he answered, hurt evident in his voice even though he spoke in a calm tone.
"Arthur, you know that's not true. They got hurt because someone else ordered it. You had nothing to do with it," Gawain reasoned with his commander.
"It doesn't feel like that!" Arthur replied angrily.
Gawain didn't take offense, knowing that the anger was not directed against him. "What will happen now?"
"Nothing." Arthur's voice sounded empty, drained all of a sudden.
"Nothing?" Gawain repeated confused. "What about the Roman at Haltwhistle?"
"It will be his word against the word of a Woad. Who do you think will be believed?" Arthur did not attempt to hide the contempt he was feeling towards the Roman establishment that he was part of himself.
Gawain reeled with shock. "What about Lancelot? Will he still be tried for murder?"
"No."
"Just like that? " Gawain asked confused. "So, they do believe that he was framed?"
"Yes." Arthur sighed deeply.
Gawain cursed loudly. "Will you tell Lancelot?"
Arthur nodded yet again.
–– 8 ––
Arthur had been sitting next to Lancelot's bed for hours on end already, lost in his thoughts, wondering if there was some way he could set everything right. He couldn't come up with the answers.
"You brood too much."
Arthur snapped to awareness at hearing Lancelot's quiet voice.
"It's not your fault, Arthur," Lancelot offered, sensing what his best friend had been brooding about.
The Roman did not respond as he looked closely at Lancelot, studied every line in his face, the pale skin, the dark smudges around his eyes betraying the extent of his fatigue. "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine. Just really tired still," the Sarmatian answered honestly. His dark eyes locked with Arthur's gaze and at once he felt the concern and hurt that his best friend was experiencing. "You don't have to worry about me, Arthur. Truthfully! If you hadn't found us in time, it would be different, but you did."
"We almost didn't." Arthur suppressed a shudder. "After Tristan told us that the two of you had been captured, we went looking for you. We thought that you would still be in the Woad camp, but it soon became clear you weren't there anymore. It took us days to find you."
Lancelot nodded. "We were swerving through the woods to make sure the Woads didn't find us." He struggled to sit up and gratefully excepted Arthur's helping hands.
"We only found you when Tristan found another group of Woads and overheard them talking about two knights tracking through the woods. That's when we found you. Or heard you, really. We heard the sounds of the battle before we saw you, but we knew immediately that you and Galahad would be involved. One minute later and Galahad would be dead now," Arthur explained, the brooding look back on his face.
"But he isn't. You did find us in time, Arthur," the dark Sarmatian replied. He paused for a moment. "Why did you let me go? Why didn't you stop me from leaving?" he asked in soft voice.
Arthur replied in an equally soft voice. "Because the answer was only to be found amongst the Woads, and I knew as well as you did that the Romans would never go so far as to investigate even a murder amongst their enemies."
"Especially not to clear a Sarmatian knight," Lancelot finished Arthur's sentence.
Arthur could only nod in agreement.
"How did you know that I would go after the Woad?"
Arthur looked up in the Sarmatian's face. "You know me better than anyone else, but our friendship goes two ways, dear Lancelot. I knew that your pride would never allow you to just sit there and wait and do nothing to rectify the injustice that was being done to you."
Lancelot rubbed his eyes and temples with his hands. Arthur could see how exhaustion was claiming the Sarmatian's body already once again.
"What's going to happen now?" the dark knight asked.
Arthur remained silent, which was all the answer the Sarmatian needed.
"There won't be any inquiry into what the Roman did, will there? Lancelot asked incredulously.
"No," Arthur answered silently.
Anger flared over Lancelot's features. He cursed in his native tongue as he slowly laid back down on his bed again. He closed his eyes tiredly.
"Are you alright?" Arthur asked concerned.
"Yes, I just need more sleep," Lancelot replied without opening his eyes, his voice strained.
Arthur stood up and walked towards the door. "Go to sleep then. You do look like you need it. I'll be back in the morning."
As soon as he heard the door closing behind his commander, Lancelot's eyes opened, a fire fueled by fury burning in them, and he grabbed the object nearest to his bed, which turned out to be the newly replaced water bowl. With all his might, he hurled it across the room. It shattered against the wall and came crashing down in a thousand pieces.
–– 8 ––
Lancelot opened his eyes, only sluggishly awakening. He took in his surrounding as slowly it dawned on him that he was at the fortress, in his own bed. His eyes fell on Arthur who was sitting behind the only table in his room, working on reports, when all the occurrences of the last days came rushing back to him. He remembered the conversation with Arthur clearly.
"Arthur?"
The mentioning of his name almost startled the Roman, but a smile graced his face as he saw Lancelot awake, watching him closely. "Lancelot." He immediately stood from his chair and walked over to the bed.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't angry with you," Lancelot said sincerely. "I know you can't help or change any of this."
"I know," Arthur replied. "There's no need to apologize."
Lancelot's glance unconsciously drifted to where he threw the water bowl the day before. Surprised he found that there were no traces of shards.
Arthur followed his gaze, and chuckled softly. "I'm not sure how many more water bowls I can get from our supply warehouse before they start wondering what I need so many for…"
Slowly a smile appeared on Lancelot's face. "They make nice throwing objects. Just heavy enough, without being too heavy. Maybe we should take a supply with us when we ride out next time. The Woads will surely be surprised," he laughed.
"How about a drink in the tavern?" Arthur asked, the smile extending into his voice. "If you're up to," he added hesitantly.
"Artorius Castus having a drink in the morning?" Lancelot teased his friend.
The Roman laughed out loud. "It's evening already! You slept for nearly a day since you last woke up."
Arthur extended a hand which Lancelot grabbed gratefully and pulled the Sarmatian up into a sitting position. He watched as Lancelot got out of bed with uncertain movements and was ready to catch him when he wobbled on his feet. Arthur stumbled backwards as Lancelot's weight was suddenly completely in his arms, nearly bringing both of them to the floor. "Maybe this is not such a good idea," Arthur said concerned as he supported the curly haired man.
"Wait a moment…" Lancelot muttered while shaking his head to clear the dizziness. "I've just been lying down for two days. Let me get used to be vertical again." He placed his hands on Arthur's chest and gently pushed himself away, taking his weight on his own legs again. "Much better. Let's go."
Arthur shook his head in amusement as he followed Lancelot out the door.
The moment they walked into the tavern, all faces turned them. Cheers rose from the table where the other knights were seated.
Gawain slapped Lancelot on his back as he sat down next to him. "Good to have you back again," the blond knight said with a big grin on his face. "Even though it means having to share the women!"
Tristan just nodded, a genuine smile on his face.
"Welcome back. You've been missed," Dagonet said from across the table.
"About time that you showed up!" Bors stated, rocking the sleeping baby he was holding in his arms. "The Romans have been taking all of our money, and we need you to win it all back again!"
Lancelot couldn't help but smile at the warm welcome. He could feel the stares of the other visitors, especially the Roman soldiers, of the tavern on him, but not with the cold hatred as he had experienced the last time he had been there.
Vanora came to the table to greet him as well, carrying a plate of food, which she sat in front of him. "You look like you need it," she smiled at him.
Lancelot's stomach growled in response, making his fellow knights laugh loudly. He devoured the food in front of him, feeling his strength return to him with each bite. He listened to the talking and laughing around him contently. Vanora soon came by again, handing jars filled with ale to everyone.
Suddenly Lancelot felt a hand on his shoulder. "Move over!" Galahad commanded cheerfully, a jar of ale in his other hand. As soon as Lancelot had moved to the left, the young knight sat down between the dark knight and Gawain.
"How's your leg?" Lancelot asked.
"Throbbing, but nothing a few more ales won't take care off," Galahad replied laughingly. He turned seriously all of a sudden. "How are you doing? Arthur told you that the Roman was going to walk away with what he did, didn't he?"
"There's not a lot I can do about it, is there?" Lancelot sighed. "But I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Galahad looked at him with hawk's eyes. "I saw how troubled you were when we were out there. Hell, you didn't even sleep!"
Lancelot smiled ruefully. "I made up for it, didn't I?"
The younger knight grinned. "Yes, you certainly did."
"Galahad?" Lancelot said hesitantly.
Galahad looked at him questioningly.
"Thank you for going with me. Thank you for being my friend." Lancelot's dark eyes showed his gratitude clearly as he looked straight into Galahad's blue-grey ones, which reflected the same sentiments.
"I'm glad you're okay, and glad to be able to call you my friend," Galahad answered softly. A mischievous grin appeared on his face. "I wouldn't want to have to fight these two deadly blades of yours!"
Three hours later the huge table in front of the knights was littered with empty ale jars. Lancelot and Galahad sat slumped against each other, the dark knight's head lolled to one side and resting on the younger knight's shoulder. Lancelot's eyes had been closing involuntarily for some time, and he had finally giving up on keeping them open. He soon grew unaware of anything going on him around him as sleep enveloped him. He never noticed how strong arms easily picked him up as Arthur lifted him off of Galahad and carried him towards his room and his bed.
