Note: Sorry it has taken so long to update… just having a hard time getting back into the real world after our trip. Wanted to stay forever! Hope you like this chapter. Please read and review.

Nope, still don't own anyone or anything to do with King Arthur, the movie or the legend! Damn it!

Here you go…

When they rode into the stable, Tristan was standing there waiting for them. Lancelot saw the look that passed between him and Laney, but didn't speak of it. He knew Tristan loved her, but he also knew she loved him. Her loyalty never came into question. He did feel the pain his friend was going through. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel if he loved her the way he did and she did not return that love. These thoughts made him hold her a little closer before releasing her so that Tristan could help her down. He saw the way Tristan was reluctant to release his hold on her and how she looked at him with a sadness he had not seen before when she looked at the scout.

Lancelot dismounted and walked over to stand beside his love and his friend. Tristan looked at Lancelot and turned to walk away. Lancelot saw Laney put her hand on his arm to stop him. Then she turned to Lancelot. "I need to tell you both what I saw earlier. Please, lets go somewhere quiet and private so we can talk." Lancelot nodded and looked to Tristan. He saw the scout nod to Laney, then he turned to Lancelot. If it had been any other man, he would have felt jealousy at the way he looked at Laney. But with Tristan, he felt compassion for the pain he was bearing.

He knew that Tristan had never really felt the heat of 'true love' like he felt with Laney. To feel that heat and have to cool it down was beyond his comprehension. As a man who had actively pursued the pleasures of the flesh, he didn't think it possible to remain so composed in the face of rejection. Even rejection as unintentional as Tristan felt with Laney. He shook his head in wonder at the self control Tristan possessed. He had known it throughout the time they had been together, but he had not realized the effort it took to maintain until he saw it on his friend's face.

The trio walked through the fortress, headed for the round table. Lancelot knew that would be the only place in the fortress that would be private, as well as quiet. Whatever Laney had to tell them had sent her in tears to speak with the wizard, Merlin. He wanted to make sure she had the setting she needed. No one said a word until they had entered the room and closed the door.

Laney stood just inside the doorway, reluctant to enter the realm of the knights. This was the third time she had been here and each time she was afraid of the magnitude of her visit. Finally, taking a deep breath, she walked over to the table and sat down. The two men with her took opposite sides of her and waited without speaking while she gathered her thoughts. Finally, she looked from one man to the other. First, she spoke to Lancelot, "What I saw did not include you, but I promised to tell you what was wrong." Then she turned to Tristan, "First I will tell you what I saw, and then I will tell you what Merlin told me about my vision. I only hope the latter is the truth." Lancelot heard the emotion in her voice, but he did not see what Tristan saw.

Tristan saw the tears begin to form as she spoke. Her voice had a tremble that he recognized as fear. He knew that she had seen his death for he too had seen it. Her reaction to it was what upset him, not the death. He had always known he would face a bloody end. A painful end. His life had guaranteed that. What he didn't expect was for his death to bring so much pain to someone he loved. He loved her, but he didn't realize that in her way, she loved him too. Not in the way she loved Lancelot, but in a more basic way. He was important to her. He had never felt important to anyone since his conscription into the Roman military. Before he remembered that Lancelot was sitting on the other side of her, he reached out and took her into his arms, holding her close. He spoke sweet words as he gently stroked her hair. Realizing that Lancelot was watching, he released her.

Lancelot made no move when he saw Tristan take Laney into his arms. He felt proud that his friend could bring himself to disregard his own feelings for Laney to comfort her in her terror and grief. He didn't know exactly what she had seen regarding Tristan, but he was sure it included his death, for only death could bring such sadness. It took several minutes for Laney to regain her composure. Lancelot poured her a goblet of water and Tristan sat with his head hung low. Suddenly, he stood up and started pacing back and forth. Lancelot couldn't remember ever seeing him so incensed.

Finally, Tristan stopped pacing and stopped behind the two sitting at the table. He stood between them and spoke softly, "Laney, do not grieve so. I too saw my body lying on the battlefield, covered in blood, gasping for breath. But it is what I've always seen when I think of my death." He turned to Lancelot and his friend saw the pain in his eyes. "But this time, the pain on my face was not for me. It was for the woman I love, the woman who gave her love to my friend. One of the men I have vowed to protect with my own life. How can I live with the knowledge that I would have betrayed that man if given the chance." He stood there waiting for some kind of response from the man sitting there, listening to him proclaim his love for the woman he wanted to marry. When Lancelot made no move to speak, Tristan again became agitated.

"How can you sit there and hear these things without once making any kind of expression of either disbelief or disgust?" He waited and Lancelot watched him. When he could stand it no longer he told him, "Tristan, I know how you feel about Laney. You know that. But I also know that Laney loves me. I see the devotion and loyalty in her every move. I also know that as tempted as you might be, you would never follow through in the end. Your honor, your loyalty, your friendship, and your love would prevent any such betrayal. Why do you think I never tried to stop the meetings you arranged?" He saw the surprise on Tristan's face when he asked the question. "Yes, I saw you follow Laney into the woods, I saw you leave just before she did when you met on the wall, I know you went to her room on several occasions. Betrayal was never an option in my heart. The only worry I had was that you were the one she had to stop from dying and I prayed to the gods that the two of you would come up with a plan to prevent it happening."

Laney sat in silence as the two men came to terms with their feelings for her and each other. Her one fear was dissipated and she knew that these men were more brothers than blood could have made them. She stood up and took Lancelot's hand in one hand and Tristan's in the other. "Now I will tell you what Merlin said. Although Tristan has already done so without knowing it." She held tightly onto the two hands as she repeated Merlin's words. 'What you saw was what he perceived his life or death to be. It is not necessarily what will happen.' I did not see your death, no matter how real it seemed, I saw how you see your death. Nothing is written in the heavens. You can change that fate. You can choose to live. All you have to do is find a reason to do so." She brought Tristan's hand up to her lips and gently kissed it. Then she released it and took Lancelot's hand and placed it on her abdomen. "Merlin also told me I am with child. I know it to be true in my heart."