And another chapter…

Laney saw Lancelot's face light up. She also heard the gasp that Tristan let slip out before his usual mask took over his features. She saw Lancelot look at Tristan and she saw him return the look. "Laney, how can you and Merlin be so sure?" Laney looked at Lancelot and smiled. "It was foretold. It seems my destiny is almost ready to be fulfilled." At her words she saw Lancelot frown. "Then you will not be left alone." He looked to Tristan and she saw him nod his agreement.

"When are you two going to realize that you cannot stop the hand of Fate? Whatever I am supposed to do will be done no matter what you think you are doing to stop it." She took a deep breath and told Lancelot, "I'm tired. It has been an emotional day and I want some sleep. Are you coming with me or do you wish to stay with Tristan and plot your strategies?" She hadn't meant to let her tone get so sarcastic, but she was tired.

Lancelot looked at Tristan and then back to Laney, "I'm coming with you. I told you I would not let you out of my sight now and I meant what I said." She sighed and headed for the door. Lancelot gave Tristan a silent signal and Tristan nodded. Whenever she left Lancelot's side, Tristan would take over and watch her. Lancelot felt badly that he would resort to subterfuge to keep her safe. But keep her safe he would. As soon as possible he would arrange to talk to Arthur and the others. They needed to know what had been discussed. If Laney wouldn't agree to tell them, then he would.

Laney stepped into the bedroom and walked over to the bed. She didn't bother to undress, she just lay down on her back and stared at the ceiling. Lancelot stepped into the room right behind her. He watched her lie down and stare at the ceiling. He walked over and sat down beside her. "Laney, sweetheart, are you feeling alright?" She heard the concern in his voice and turned to look at him. "Lancelot, I'm not pregnant enough yet to feel any sickness. After all I only got pregnant yesterday." She saw his confusion and raised up on her elbow to talk to him.

"Yesterday in the barn. After we made love I felt the child inside me. Lancelot, there is so much I need to tell you, but I don't know where to begin." She sounded so sad, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Start wherever you like, if I get lost I'll let you know." She saw him smile and marveled at the life she had here. She told him about the tingle she and Tristan had felt.

He interrupted her, "You went alone to see him?" She put her hand on his and told him, "I do not feel fear when I am there. They will not harm me." She waited for him to nod. "Merlin told me some things of my life that I did not know and do not understand." She stopped talking and he thought she would not continue. "Laney, what did he tell you that has you so upset or confused?" "Oh, Lancelot, I'm afraid to tell you. I'm afraid you'll react the same way Tristan did at first." She didn't catch the quick intake of breath when she mentioned Tristan's name. But his next words let her know she had to be careful. "You could tell Tristan but you can't tell me?"

She looked up quickly and said, "I didn't tell Tristan, he followed me and listened. I wish he didn't know." "Well, at least he had the sense to keep an eye on you." She held up her hand. "Okay, Lancelot, I know you want someone to keep an eye on me, but when I tell you what Merlin said, you may change your mind." He closed his mouth instead of saying he doubted that would be the case. "Lance, Merlin said I am only half human, my other half is spirit." When Lancelot didn't say anything, she took a deep breath and told him the story of her mother and father, as it was told to her. She stopped talking and he saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Laney, do you remember your mother?" She nodded, "I remember that she always talked of the love she had for my father and that no matter what the obstacle if love is meant to be, it will be. She never told me any of the things that Merlin told me. I wish she had talked to me of it. Then maybe I could understand better who or what I am." She sighed, then looking into his eyes she continued, "Merlin said that she took me to the time I thought was mine because no one believes in the spirit world of our earth. There my spirit side remained hidden, keeping me safe from evil. Only when I was returned here did it surface. I was born of pure love and therefore I am the spirit of love, as the gods intended." She waited for him to comment. He looked at her and then he reached out and took her into his arms.

"I knew there was a reason that I fell for you so quickly. I had never known love before you and your spirit bewitched me with the knowledge that with you I could find happiness that I never dreamed was waiting for me. Laney, why did you think I would feel differently about you? What did Tristan say that made you afraid to tell me?"

She smiled sadly, "He wanted to know if I had placed everyone else under a spell like I did him." Lancelot listened to her and shook his head. "I don't think I'm under a 'spell'. I just think you wakened the love I had been keeping hidden deep in my heart. The love I tried to deny was there until I saw you lying on the grass that day." He kissed her gently then urged her to continue. "What else did Merlin have to say?" She closed her eyes and told him, "That I should guard my secret because evil forces were still out there and once they realized I had returned they would come for me and anyone close to me. Lancelot, I don't want to be the reason something happens to any of the knights, but especially you. I love you as much as I believe my mother loved my father. Enough to be human so I can feel the love I have for you."

They held each other for a while before Lancelot wanted to break the silence to ask. "Will you become spirit again one day? Will I lose what I have found with you?" He held her tighter with each question, then he said through the tears in his throat. "Laney, I can't lose you. If I do I will lose the reason I breathe. Promise you will never leave me." "Lancelot, if I can find the power to prevent it, I will. You are the reason I am here, I know that in my heart. I came here to find the love you offer." The kiss they shared was one that promised a lifetime of happiness. Then Lancelot asked her, "If I die, will you take our child somewhere safe as your mother did you?" She let the tears slip from her eyes without trying to stop them. "Lancelot, I will protect our child with my own life if need be. But I will try to stop your dying too. I will not let them take anything else from me. I never knew my father. My child will know his."

"You seem sure it is a son." He teased her as he lightly kissed her nose. "I think I would rather have a daughter." She laughed at him then, "and why is that my lover?" She saw him become serious before he answered. "I would not wish my son to spend fifteen years serving the master that is Rome." Laney looked at him and realized that was his one great fear. He did not fear for himself, he feared that his child, his son, would be enslaved. "Then, my brave knight, I suggest we stop the tyranny that Rome has over your people. You will be free in a few months. Then we can go to your home and stop the Romans from taking another young boy." She kissed him gently. "Besides, I would not like to see my son become a womanizer like his father." She reached up to kiss him again and he nipped her on the lip with his teeth. She yelped and he grinned. "You are the only woman I wish to take to my bed now. If I had my way, you'd never leave it."

She smiled and leaned down to whisper into his ear. Instead she gently blew her warm breath into it and saw him shudder. "I told you earlier, I can't take much of that. You drive me insane when you do things like that." "Well, lets just see how much it will take before you give me what I ask for." She blew suggestively in his ear and when she heard him growl, she rolled out of his reach. "I would have thought it would take much more torture than that to break one of the great knights of Hadrian's Wall."

Lancelot lunged to her side of the bed and grabbed her around the waist. "Maybe the enemy should learn that sweet torture works much quicker than any other." He then kissed her neck, paying special attention to the vein he could feel throbbing beneath the surface. When he heard her moan softly, he lowered his attention to her collar bone. He put more pressure on the nerve just behind the soft skin and felt her arch toward him. Raising his head, he looked at her face and saw the desire in her eyes. "Oh, Lancelot, how can I do anything when you make me feel so weak with your kisses?" He moved up to kiss her lips. As they kissed, she ran her hands over his back and shoulders. He raised up and pulled his shirt over his head and flung it onto the floor. He wanted to feel her skin against his. He reached over and began to unfasten her shirt.

Laney lay back and watched Lancelot work the laces of her shirt occasionally reaching up to touch the skin on his chest with her fingertips. Her touches were sending trails of heat across his chest and he closed his eyes and felt his body respond to her touches. "Oh, Laney, you set fire to my body. Help me get this shirt off, my fingers won't work when you touch me so." She smiled and pushed his hands away and untied the laces herself. She raised up and he pulled it over her head. He looked at the breasts she presented to him and licked his lips in anticipation. She lay back down and he moved on top of her. "Laney, our lovemaking won't cause you any pain, will it? I don't think I can control myself enough to be gentle. I want to ravage your body and take all that you have to offer."

"Lancelot, I would be in pain if you didn't ravage me right now. I want you more than I ever have before." She told him breathlessly as she arched her body to his. "Tomorrow we wed, then I can ravage you whenever I feel the need. With a growl low in his throat, he unfastened her skirt and pulled it down. Their lovemaking began as it usually did, slowly and gently. Then as their passion grew so did their rhythm. Afterwards they lay side by side, holding each other until they both fell asleep. They slept wrapped in each others arms until she woke up screaming.