Thought I'd go ahead and give you three chapters at once since I won't be able to get back to this until around Sunday. Hope you enjoy…
On with the story…
Arthur only stayed a few more minutes before taking his leave. Laney settled down for what she thought was going to be a long evening. As she sat beside the bed she watched Lancelot's face. He was resting peacefully and his breathing was steady and he didn't seem to be having any difficulty. Except for the bandage around his head, he could have been sleeping. She turned at the sound of the door opening and saw Galahad standing there with a tray of food. He smiled and took the tray over to the table. "Arthur thought you might be getting hungry. I'll keep an eye on Lancelot while you eat, if you want." She thanked him, "But actually, I had a large breakfast and I'm not feeling hungry yet." He turned to leave and she stopped him, "I would appreciate the company though."
When she had finished her sentence he turned back around and settled into the chair that Arthur had previously occupied. "You seem to know a lot about healing. Do you think you were a healer in your village?" She looked at him for a moment, then decided to answer as honestly as possible under the circumstances. "No, but I did learn a bit from my grandmother. She tried to teach me more, but when I was younger I wasn't interested. I only became interested after she died and then I learned what I could from other people's writings." He nodded and they returned to the silence only broken by the sound of Lancelot's breathing. She wasn't sure whether he wanted to say more or not, but she could feel him turn and look at her occasionally.
"Galahad, you were there when this happened. Did you hear what they were arguing about?" She thought maybe he could help her get to the bottom of this dilemma before it escalated any more. She waited for him to find the words to answer her question. She knew he must have heard or he would have answered sooner. "Yes, I heard some of it. But what I heard was before they started fighting for real." When he didn't offer any more of an explanation, she prompted him. "And, what did you hear?"
She could tell by his hesitation that he didn't want to tell her, but she would not let him off that easily. "Tristan said they were fighting because of me. I think I have a right to know why and since he won't tell me and Lancelot isn't able…" She let her sentence trail off. Finally, in what seemed to be a tone of exasperation, he told her. "Lancelot asked Tristan why he was badgering you the night before and why he followed you to the wall. Tristan told him he was curious to see just how many of us you were willing to kiss before you decided who you wanted to latch onto." He finished with an embarrassed cough. Then he looked at her and said, "None of the rest of us have those ideas. And it is not usual for Tristan to show such disdain for matters such as this. He hasn't been acting like himself since you arrived." He gave her a questioning look and she knew he thought she had some knowledge of why the scout was behaving strangely.
"I'm not sure I know, Galahad. Tristan has never tried to kiss me so I don't think it is because I kissed Gawain and Lancelot and not him." Pausing, she placed her hand on Galahads arm. "I promise you I am not trying to cause trouble. But since I am, maybe I should go elsewhere to find the answers to my questions." She really didn't want to go and that puzzled her some. Sure it was great to be so close to the legends but not if her presence caused history to change. Suddenly feeling agitated, she stood up and moved about the room. Sensing her troubled state, Galahad also stood up. He watched her shift items around on the table, then put them back where they were to begin with. Walking over to stand beside her, he put his hand on her shoulder, "Laney, no one wishes you to leave, not even Tristan, I think. Just wait, you'll see, everything will get back to normal soon. I'm sure it is not your fault that Tristan behaves the way he does."
She looked back at him and smiled. "Maybe you're right, I won't do anything foolish. But I will tell you, before I let my presence cause anymore trouble, I will ask Arthur to find me somewhere else to stay." It felt good to finally make up her mind. She decided that when Arthur came back that evening she would discuss the possibility with him. He knew her situation and he would be able to better come up with a plan if one was needed. She felt Galahad move away and she turned around to see where he was going. He walked toward the door and when he reached out to open it he paused, "Everything will be alright." Then he opened the door and closed it behind him when he left. Laney sighed and moved back to her position watching Lancelot sleep.
The next visitor surprised her somewhat. When Tristan opened the door and stepped inside she had expected it to be Arthur or maybe even Dagonet, but when she turned around she found Tristan standing hesitantly by the open door. She stood quickly and turned to face him. If this was to be a showdown between the two of them, she didn't want him to have the advantage of towering over her. He stood there looking at the man lying on the bed and only looked up at her when she moved to walk over to him.
When she had come close enough to reach out and touch him he moved further into the room and she had to step sideways to avoid being bumped. He walked over to the bed and looked down at the face of his friend. Laney watched him closely and saw that he was truly worried about his friend's health. She let out a sigh and walked over to where he was standing. "He'll be fine. He will probably wake up with a tremendous headache and may be a little disoriented for a while but other than that I don't think there will be any permanent damage." She looked from Lancelot's face to Tristan's before continuing, "Of course, there will be a scar to remind him of the folly of getting angry while wielding a dangerous weapon." She smiled weakly at Tristan. When he returned her smile she was glad that they had finally come to some kind of terms. At least he wasn't berating her for her sexual habits. Then she turned back to look at Lancelot again.
Tristan watched her smile fade away and wanted to see it return. When she smiled it was as if the sun had suddenly come from behind a black cloud to grace the earth with warmth again. "I think that is a lesson we both learned today." She brought her attention back to the man standing at her side. "Then you both are smarter than you look." She laughed softly and he looked a little embarrassed at her comment. Then suddenly becoming serious, she asked, "Are you here to check on his progress or is there another reason for your visit?"
He was a little taken aback by her astuteness. Then taking the opening she had presented, he said, "I came to apologize for the way I've acted toward you." She cocked her head and looked him directly in the eye. "You owe no apology for acting on what you believed. But you do owe me the opportunity to prove you are wrong about me." He let her words sink in and then nodded his once in agreement. "Then tell me why my observations are in error."
The statement wasn't what she expected. She wasn't prepared to defend her actions so openly and tried to stall him so she would have time to think about it. He watched her emotions cross her face. He doubted she realized how openly her face spoke her thoughts or she would try harder to keep her face more controlled. It was a disadvantage for her but for him it was an advantage, showing whether she was telling the truth or trying to cover it up.
Finally, when he did not say anything, she plopped down on the chair beside her. "Tristan, I don't know what you think you've seen from the sidelines. The only thing that has happened between any of your friends and myself is a single kiss. Some in exploration, others in compassion." She looked at him to gauge his reception to her words. His face gave no sign of whether or not he thought she was speaking the truth. "I'll admit, I found the attention intoxicating. Never before have I had so much attention from such virile men, and I know that I am not the first woman they have ever vied for the attention from." She gave a little laugh before continuing. "I did not take any of it seriously enough to let it go any further than simple kisses."
She had said all she could and grew quiet. She could tell him that she had never let a man get to her so much that she would let him take her to bed. The lies of passion held no sway over her. He stood where he was looking down at her so long she grew restless under his scrutiny. Just when she thought she couldn't stand his stares any longer, he looked away and sat down heavily in the chair next to hers. "Delaney," he started and she was surprised that he used her given name instead of the nickname everyone else had adopted. She looked into his face and waited for the rest of his words. "The first day I saw you, I found you very tempting. I assumed it was the way you were dressed, or rather the way you were not dressed." He gave a grunt that could have been have been a laugh, but she had been looking at his eyes and not his mouth. By the time she looked to see if he were smiling, he was not.
"I fought the feelings you awoke in me and thought maybe I shouldn't have. You seemed to be receptive to the advances of the others but when I kissed you, you wouldn't respond and I saw first anger and then tears in your eyes." His voice sounded so dejected that she wanted to reach out to assure him he was wrong. Instead she opened her mouth to speak and he held up his hand to stop her. "No, don't tell me I'm wrong. I know what I saw." His voice had taken on a stubborn tone and she closed her mouth, refusing to start an argument. She watched his face soften when she didn't say anything and knew she had chosen the right path.
"Laney, why was my kisses so unwanted?" She looked at him and drew in a deep breath. "Tristan, it wasn't your kisses that I fought. It was the rough way you were treating me. If you'll think back, you didn't just take me in your arms you know." He cringed at her words, but said nothing. She finished, "You were angry and were trying to punish me. Then every time I ran into you all you did was make snide comments. I'm not a child to be punished, nor am I your responsibility, so please, if you feel the need to say something to me all you have to do is talk to me." Finally she felt everything was in the open and they could come to terms and move forward.
"I didn't really hurt you, did I?" He seemed to really want to know so she changed from the tone she had planned to use. "No, Tristan, my lips might have been slightly bruised, but I was not hurt." She watched him relax his shoulders in relief. "Can we forget this ever happened and move forward now?" she asked him with a pleading tone. He looked at Lancelot for a minute before he turned back to her. "I'm afraid it may be too late for that." Then before she could ask why, he stood up and moved toward the door. She took the few steps it took to catch up with him and grabbed him by the arm to stop him.
"Why, because Lancelot got hurt? He's a grown man just like you are. But neither of you are saints. You've done things and will continue to do things that in hindsight will not be what you wished you'd done." He never raised his head to look at her but kept looking at the floor. Finally, exasperated, she released his arm and watched him walk out the door without having said anything else.
"Damn him," she said to the open doorway. "Damn who," came from the bed. Lancelot was lying with his eyes open when Laney turned around. She quickly dismissed the argument she had with Tristan and rushed over to the bed. "It was nothing, how are you feeling?" She wanted to know if his head was hurting and honestly, wanted to turn the attention away from her and onto him.
"My head hurts and I feel a little sick. But I'll be okay." Lancelot seemed to be exhausted after only a few words. Laney put her hand on his forehead and found it warm, but covered with a sheen of perspiration. She looked into his eyes and saw that his left pupil was still dilated more than the right. That wasn't unusual with a blow to the head, but it did indicate there might be a severe concussion that could be trouble if he didn't rest enough for it to heal. She was trying to decide whether to give him the willow bark tea or let him have the discomfort of a headache so she could judge how severe it would get when she felt him lay his hand over hers as it lay on his head.
She looked down and found he was smiling. "I'd have let Tristan hit me sooner if I'd known you would care so much." She tried to hide her smile as she retorted, "I see you are better now that you flirt so wantonly again." She hoped he would take it as a chide but she could tell by the way his smile widened that she had given the answer he'd expected. She lightly slapped at his other hand as he tried to reach around to encircle her waste. "You don't think you're really well enough for that, do you?" she admonished.
This time Lancelot laughed out loud, then wincing at the pain his movement caused, he said, "If I'm alive, I'm well enough." She just shook her head and turned toward the door. "I promised Arthur I'd let him know when you woke up, I'll see if I can find someone to send." Just as she went to open the door she decided to remind him, "don't you dare try to get up or move around until I get back!" Then she went through the doorway leaving the door standing open. She hadn't gotten far when she saw one of the ladies Arthur had hired to help with the domestic chores. "Please, find Arthur and tell him Lancelot has awakened and don't trust anyone else to do so. Don't stop until you find him personally." Then turning, she ran back to the room to watch Lancelot until Arthur arrived.