Fenella
By Mustang Gal
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: You should probably have guessed by now, I own nothing except what I make up- and that's hardly going to make me rich now, is it?
Summary: I thought it would be interesting to write a Dagonet/OC romance where his love interest is beautiful. So flame me if you think it sounds Mary sueish. I happen to like my main characters being strong, warrior women. I just wanted to write this. Besides I believe women can fight just as well as men, why should it matter what she looks like?
The knights watched the caravan heading towards them. In their heads was the same thought- More bloody Romans, well all except for their leader Arthur. A rough looking man with black hair hanging in long braids attention was suddenly diverted to the woods surrounding the caravan. He studied them carefully.
"I wonder who this new recruit is." A handsome knight with curly black hair asked the man beside him, Arthur- his best friend and commander- who simply shrugged.
"I can only see Romans." A brown haired, man said.
"More Romans- just what we need eh Bedivere?" A bald man with a sizable girth said, chuckling. The youngest knight looked a bit sick.
"Their not gonna give us a Roman are they?" he asked. The man next to him looked at him, surprised.
"Galahad you're thicker than I thought you were- of course they won't." To this some of the knights nodded.
The wild looking scout still searched the trees.
"What puzzles you, Tristan?" their leader asked. Tristan looked at him.
"There are Woads in the trees." He said.
Fenella sat in the cramped caravan wondering what it would be like to kill the fat greasy man sitting next to her; she wished she could do it. She tried to shake of a sense of danger, she was sure they were being watched. An arrow struck the side of the caravan, startling her. Seeing this the Roman In the caravan jumped to the floor and curled up into a ball. Fenella risked a glance out side and saw dozens of people running out of the woods. People who looked like devils from a nightmare- painted in a ghostly blue colour. She crouched down, drawing her sword and listened as the sounds of battle started. Feeling bored of sitting in a caravan all day; she picked up her bow, and strapped it to herself. Drawing her hood up she opened the carts door and jumped out, narrowly missing an arrow which imbedded itself about an inch away form her head into the wood of the cart. Putting an arrow in her bow she shot down three Woads before discarding it and drawing her sword. Calmly she walked into the fight.
Galloping to the caravan a tall, muscled giant of a knight Dagonet noticed a figure in a black cape, a hood over his face jump out of the main cart. He shot down three Woads with deadly accuracy and then drew his sword. Dagonet noted how calm he was, and skilled too. Then the battle was upon him and he forgot the mysterious man in the cape.
Fenella fell into her familiar battle mode with ease- enjoying wielding her sword with deadly accuracy. She parried and thrust striking down any Woad unfortunate enough to come to close. She noted the knights riding to aid the caravan in the back part of her mind, but forgot them. She heard footsteps behind her and the sound of an axe swinging. She ducked and turned, swiftly beheading the Woad who tried to kill her not noticing her black hood falling back.
Dagonet fought, slicing away with his broadsword and noticed the man in the black cape swerve and behead a Woad that tried to kill him. When the hood fell back he was shocked to see that this man was actually- a woman. He stared for a moment and then was shocked back to reality by a Woad trying to stab him.
The battle was over and Fenella made her way to the car to see if the sniveling Roman- Adelphious was still alive. Hopefully an arrow had felled him. She peered into the cart- no such luck. Adelphious sat up. Fenella turned back around and retrieved her bow and a knife which she had thrown at a Woad. She quite liked this knife and had no intention of losing it. She sighed when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Walking back to the caravan, stepping around or over dead bodies she noticed a lot of the knights watching her. She ignored them and peeked into the cart that contained the Roman Adelphious. Fenella peeked into the cart to see Adelphious rearranging his robes.
"Yes, sir?" she asked.
"I'm coming out." He said. And did just that. Fenella walked behind him acting as a body guard. Adelphious walked over to the Roman commander and started talking to him. Fenella didn't listen, instead she studied the knights. Who studied her. She had pulled the hood over her face again so no one could really tell if she was a female, except for the ones who had seen her fight. She studied the knights while her master talked to the commander and tried to put names on the faces. The one talking to Adelphious was obviously their Roman leader, Artorious- or Arthur. The one next to him with the black hair and twin swords must be Lancelot. The youngest looking one would probably be Galahad. She knew the names of some of the other Knights bit couldn't put a face on them. She was fully aware of a giant of a knight watching her carefully, he was interesting. Not a lady-killer like some of the other knights. But she thought he was good looking. Then, she was walking back to the cart with Adelphious, on her way to Hadrian's Wall.
Dagonet watched the woman closely. You couldn't see her face, what wasn't hidden by the hood was shadowy. She seemed- well he couldn't put a finger on it. There was something different about her. He could just see the glimmer of her eyes holding his, daring him to look away. But he couldn't. He rode to the fort more silent than usual, looking at the cart hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman- but he didn't.
When the caravan stopped in the fort Fenella got out first, hood still over her eyes. She waited until Adelphious got out of the cart and followed him as he was shown to his room. Fenella was glad when she saw the bed was tiny. Very glad. He closed the door and turned to Fenella, pulling down her hood he fingered her cheek. She barely contained a shudder of disgust. He gave her a kiss on the lips then drew back.
"Get freshened up my lovely, and wear that scarlet dress I like. Make sure to dab on some scent." He said then walked out. "I'll be by soon, make yourself look nice."
Fenella sighed, wondering why exactly they were here. Finding the revealing scarlet dress- the colour of a loose woman she laid it down on the bed. She stripped to her undergarments and washed herself, dabbing on scent. She put on the dress and swept her hair into a bun. She selected some knives- she made her own. She chose a small, folding one to go into the straps of her strappy sandals. Finishing this she sat down on the bed to wait for Adelphious. When he came he was dressed in fresh blue robes. Adelphious wasn't a Bishop- merely a high ranking nobleman. She followed him outside a room where he waited to be announced. The knight's squire announced him and they entered, Fenella following him. She ignored some of the knights gasps, whistles, whispers and lewd comments and studied the table they were seated at. It was round- there was no head of the table. Fenella liked it. Standing behind Adelphious at his seat she studied the knights. Some still looked at her lustfully; the dress had the effect that Adelphious wanted it to have. Some didn't have any expressions of lust on their faces- but they looked at her curiously. Their commander was one of them. She also noticed the Knight that held her attention earlier that day. He was big, some would say fierce looking but Fenella thought he looked gentle.
"Ah yes" Adelphious was replying to something Arthur had asked. "Your new recruit. Here we are, this is her: Fenella of Sarmatia." Adelphious stood, gesturing to her. Fenella glanced at him puzzled- was she to become a knight?
"A woman?" Arthur asked surprised. Most of the Knights looked aghast too.
"Yes, you saw her fighting today. She's talented. Strong for a woman. Her eyesight and hearing are good, she makes an excellent scout. She is an ample horsewoman. And I figured you and your men might want something to amuse you- she's good at that. She's served me well for years." Fenella stiffened at this. Adelphious turned and cupped her face in his hands.
"She is beautiful no? Pretty face, wonderful body." He gestured at her body, then her hips. "very strong, she would serve you and your men well as a mother for bastard sons. She would give birth to fine sons no? She's also a feisty young filly, I love a woman with an attitude." He said slapping her behind. Fenella stiffened and glared at Adelphious with hate in her green eyes. "If you wont take her, it'll be a shame. You wont know what your missing out on." He said hands moving towards her breasts. Fenella stepped back, disgusted, upset and thoroughly humiliated. She was ready to kill him. Her hands started moving toward a sword on the wall. Arthur saw this and reacted quickly.
"Thank you for your generosity, Adelphious. Fenella would be a welcome addition to our forces." Arthur said, rising.
"Ah yes a welcome one indeed. Perhaps she will warm your bed tonight Arthur, eh?" Adelphious said smugly. Fenella stiffened again- she didn't want to warm anyone's bed again in her entire life.
"Umm yes perhaps." Arthur said, forcing a smile. Adelphious nodded. "If you please, Sir perhaps the men, Fenella and I can be alone? You know, so introductions can be made." Arthur said. Adelphious nodded.
"Ah, yes a good idea. I'll send someone along now and then to check up on her. Enjoy yourself Knight!" He said the last part to everyone, then before he left he bought his mouth near Fenella's ears and whispered.
"Remember what will happen if you try to run." Then he left the room, and handed her to a bunch of testosterone charged knights. Oh great, she thought. Arthur walked over to her, he noticed her backing away slightly though and didn't come to close. He acknowledged her with a nod.
"Fenella I'm your new commander Arthur. I'll introduce you to my men, Knights if you'll please stand up when I say your name." Fenella and Arthur turned to the men.
"Lancelot." Fenella's guess earlier in the day was correct.
"Bedivere." A handsome brown haired man.
"Galahad." She was also right about him.
"Gawain." A good-looking man with long brown hair in braids.
"Bors." A big, bald man.
"Dagonet." This was the one! The knight that held her attention. She studied him again quickly. Tall, muscled good-looking though not a lady killer. They held each others eyes, and acknowledged each other.
"Tristan." A wild looking, handsome man.
"Kay." A black haired man with an obviously ill healed broken nose.
"And Gareth." Another bald man. "Well I'll leave you with the knights, in Dagonet's care while I see to your room." And with that He left.
Arthur walked out, puzzled. A woman! He should have refuses, but he did see her fighting and she was good. But his men- what a distraction for them. Oh well, they'd just have to live with it. But he hated seeing her being treated so badly by Adelphious. He'd remind the men later not to lay a hand on her. She was safe though in Dagonet's care. Arthur could trust him, Dagonet was obviously disturbed by Fenella's ill treatment. Arthur thought he could trust his men sober- well maybe not Kay. But most were all semi drunk. He just hoped Dagonet would look after her.
Dagonet watched the Romans treatment of this woman with disgust. He had to agree with the Roman though- she was beautiful. And feisty, he could see she was ready to kill the Roman, he wasn't sure whether to be glad or sorry that Arthur stopped her. Dagonet was glad though when Arthur left her in his care- not just because she was a pretty woman. He didn't have much luck with those- they all went for the Knights like Lancelot. He knew the other knights were trustworthy- except for Kay. He'd watch Kay like a hawk. But most of the men were rather drunk and a beautiful woman in a revealing dress was sure to raise a few testosterones. He noticed Fenella stiffen slightly as the knights made their way over, and then she made herself calm. Dagonet stood protectively beside her, shooting looks of warning to the men. They weren't stupid enough to challenge him. The knights started greeting and talking to her and after a while Fenella relaxed. They weren't so bad after all. When Arthur entered he called Dagonet over to have a private word. When Dagonet left her side Kay started making advances towards Fenella. She could have handled him easily, but Tristan took Dagonet's place next to Fenella. Across the other side of the room Arthur whispered to Dagonet.
"Fenella's room is Safir's old one, next to yours. Can you take her there? I'm going to have a talk to the knights, tell them not to touch her. Can I trust you to watch over her?" He asked Dagonet, who nodded.
"Fenella." Arthur called. The woman turned and made her way over.
"Dagonet will show you to your room. Goodnight." Arthur told her when she arrived. Fenella followed the tall man out of the table room.
"Wow, wouldn't mind her warming my bed eh, Lancelot?" Kay said to Lancelot who nodded vigorously.
"What do you say, lads. Shall we warm her bed tonight?" Kay said again. Some of the knights responded with cheers.
"You will do no such thing." Arthur said in a voice that was made not to argue with. "She is one of us, there will be nothing like that unless she wishes it."
Dagonet and Fenella walked to their rooms in silence. They stopped outside Fenella's room.
"Well, here's your room, mines right there if you need anything. I should let you know now that Arthur has appointed me your ah- guardian, so if your in trouble or anything. Come to me." Fenella started to protest "Yes I know your probably capable but when the Knights are drunk… give them time. When their sober their fine. But watch out for Kay, alright?" Dagonet said looking at her sternly.
"Alright." Fenella gave in. Dagonet turned to walk into his room. "Dagonet!" she called, he turned.
"Thank you." She said and Dagonet nodded before walking into his room.
A/N: So what do you think. I just wanted Dagonet to have a romance with a beautiful woman. I'll try not to make it Mary sueish. But as I said before, woman can fight as well as men- why should what they look like make any difference?