Iraina sat waiting for Lancelot to shout the alarm and raise the romans against her. A moment of tense silence passed between them. After a while, Iraina grew disconcerted at the knight's unwavering gaze. Immediately Iraina's defenses went up. He wasn't reacting like she had expected him to. That alone made her wary of his intentions. Narrowing her eyes with slight confusion woven in her eyes, she glared.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked coldly, holding out her arms mockingly, as if waiting for him to put chains on her wrists. Lancelot just shook his head sadly.

"Nay milady. You were a captive of Rome, just like I am now. In that sense we are alike. I will not hand you or Guinevere over to the bishop if I can help it. And I daresay that neither will Arthur." Iraina lowered her arms in relief.

"You aren't going to make Gwen and I go back to the romans?"

Lancelot smiled gently, and shook his head. Tears of relief rose to Iraina's eyes. Blinking furiously, she tried to stop the tears, but one lone pearl drop escaped and fell slowly down her face. Closing her eyes, Iraina took a deep breath. "Thank you." she said softly. "I do not think that I would have had the strength to face that again."

The sounds of someone walking towards her reached her ears. She was aware of Lancelot coming towards her and sitting down on the log next to her. Two rough fingers slipped under her chin and gently turned her face. Iraina opened her eyes in surprise. She found herself staring into Lancelot's deep brown eyes.

"I do not believe that is true." The sincerity shone in his eyes. Iraina was confused. This knight, her enemy, was trying to comfort her. A warning barrier clanged into place. She pulled away from the knight, a guarded expression on her face.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked, the cautious, cold edge back in her voice. "You have been serving Rome for the past fifteen years. You and your fellows have killed my people, my brothers and sisters. Rome is my enemy, because you serve under the command of a Roman, I have no reason to show you trust. But trust I have given you. I gave you my name. So tell me now, was I wise in my trusting of you? Can I hold you to your word that you will allow Guinevere and I to go free? Decide now and speak!"

Lancelot stood quickly and moved in front of the woad woman. "I tell you now, Iraina of the woads, trust you gave me and I will not forget it. As you know, I have been under the service of Rome, but we did not have a choice. It was either go with the Romans, or watch as they slaughtered your family and burned your village. Do not judge us by our service to Rome, for we were forced into it. I tell you now, no Sarmation has a real quarrel with the woads. We simply follow the orders given to our commander, and in turn, given to us. We do not choose who we fight, or even to fight, but fight we must, for our families, for home." He fell silent and stared openly at the woman. A silence fell over the camp; the last of the dieing embers cast an eerie glow over the knight's face. Finally Iraina broke the silence with a wearied sigh.

"I am sorry. Again I have allowed the demons of the past to cloud my judgement." Lancelot was confused by this comment. He was about to ask about it when Iraina let out a hiss of pain. She had reached up to more tightly wrap the cloak about her, but had forgotten about her unset fingers. Lancelot's eyes quickly filled with concern.

"Your fingers have been broken for far too long. I need to set them for you, or you will never be able to grip a bow or sword in your left hand again." Iraina let out a shaky breath, and then nodded, giving her consent to the knight to fix her fingers. Lancelot knelt down in front of her, and took her left hand into his own. Iraina bit her lip and looked away. She felt his hand tighten around her fingers, then immense pain took over her senses. She gasped from the amount of agony that her fingers were sending to her brain. One finally loud snap signified that Lancelot was done. Running over to one of the horses, he reached inside the pack saddle and grabbed a roll of bandages. Moving swiftly back to Iraina, he again knelt down and gently wrapped her hand in the cloth, making sure that they wouldn't move while they healed.

Suddenly, Iraina's vision swam. She all of a sudden felt very dizzy and nauseous. Unable to stop herself, Iraina pitched forward, forcing Lancelot to catch her. She rested for a moment, lying on his chest. When she finally caught her breath, her vision cleared and she pushed herself back up into a sitting position.

"Ow..." she breathed softly, grimacing. Lancelot smiled slightly.

"I am sorry, I know that it hurt. Come, let me help you stand." The knight rose to his feet and offered his hand to the woad woman. Gently, he helped her stand. When she got to her feet, she let go of his hand, testing to see if she could stand on her own. When she didn't fall, she smiled.

Opening her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by the sounds of hoof beats in the distance. Lancelot turned towards the sounds, and frowned slightly when the scout, Tristan came galloping into camp. Taking a step towards where Tristan had stopped, Lancelot spoke.

"Tristan, you are back early. What news do you have?" The mysterious dark haired knight shook his head.

"No time. I need to speak with Arthur. Where is he?"

"He is-"

"He is here." A deep voice interrupted. Iraina looked up as a man stepped out from behind the wagon. He was dressed as though he hadn't slept at all. Clothed in his full armor, the silver breast plate glinted in the faint light from the fire. His red cape billowed out from behind him. Iraina was immediately intimidated by this man. His presence demanded respect. But there was something else there as well. It was a kind of gentle power that seemed to draw people to him.

"What is it Tristan?" he asked quietly. Tristan quickly dismounted and came over the the roman commander.

"The Saxons. They did not stop and make camp as we thought they would. They have been traveling through the night. Even now they are gaining on us. What have to move now." Arthur nodded gravely.

"Very well. Lancelot, Tristan, get everyone up. We need to leave in ten minutes." With that he disappeared again behind the wagon. Lancelot and Tristan immediately started carrying out his orders. Iraina made her way back towards the wagon that held Guinevere.

After her meal of bread and ale, Iraina had felt strength flowing back into her body. She felt more energetic than she had in a long time. Climbing back into the wagon, Iraina gently shook Guinevere awake.

"Gwen, Gwen!" she called trying to wake the sleeping woad. She smiled as Guinevere's green eyes fluttered open. When the other woman was finally awake enough, Iraina explained. "The knights are rousing everyone." Guinevere's eyes clouded slightly in confusion.

"Why?" Iraina quickly continued with her explanation.

"The scout, Tristan, I believe his name is, came back a few moments ago saying that the Saxon's did not camp as they believed they would. You do know about the Saxon's right?" Iraina didn't know exactly when Guinevere had been captured, and didn't know how much she knew. When she received the affirmative, she continued. "So, now, Arthur Castes has decided to move out immediately. We leave in few minutes." With those words, Iraina unfolded her long legs and went to sit on the edge of the wagon.

On a thought, she stopped, and turned back to Guinevere. "Have you met Arthur?" she asked. Guinevere nodded with a slightly dreamy look on her face.

"Indeed I have. He was the one who put my fingers back into place. Iraina nodded, the wheels in her head turning as an idea formed slowly in her mind. Thoughtfully, she said, "Do you think..." she paused, looking at Guinevere. The other woad woman smiled, liking the fact that their minds worked the same way.

"Yes, he wants to meet Arthur, and he wants you to be there as well, as your father will be present."

Iraina nodded. She had much to report back to the leaders of the woads. Her attentions was interrupted, when the wagon gave a creak and lurched forward. "That was quick." she commented. Guinevere laughed, then shivered and pulled the furs closer around her shoulders. As soon as the wagon started moving, a cold wind had started to slip in between the cracks in the wagon walls. Iraina shivered as well, and pulled the cloak she had around her shoulders tighter.

Cloak.

Iraina stopped dead. She didn't have a cloak. This was Lancelot's! Grabbing a fistful of the material, Iraina inspected the fabric. It was a dark blue, with small neat stitching. It was dirty, but not overly so. The edges were worn and frayed, but the cloak still fulfilled it's purpose. It was warm.

"Where did you get that cloak Rain?"

Iraina looked up from her inspection. "One of the knights gave it to me while I was outside. I spent some time talking with him, and I gave them the chance that you wanted me to." she paused, "I...I gave them my name. I hope that I haven't done ill by this, but I do not think that I have. I did what you asked. I gave them a chance. Now they will have to decide how to use it." Guinevere nodded. She knew what it meant giving out one's name. She also knew that she had deserved the lecture she had gotten because what she had done had been very unwise. She herself was someone of great importance. Merlin was her father, and if Arthur had been a normal power hungry Roman, they both most likely would be dead.

Guinevere watched as Iraina moved to the edge of the wagon. She seemed to relish in the feel of the wind against her face. The white bandage around her left hand caught Guinevere's attention. "When did you get your hand fixed?" she asked. Iraina glanced down at her hand, then back at Guinevere.

"Lancelot fixed it for me." Holding her hand up closer to her face, Iraina stared at it. "It hurt like hell though."

Guinevere laughed. Iraina often got in trouble for the curse words that came out of her mouth. It happened many times during important meetings, and during speeches. It was just one of the little quirks about her personality.

Iraina turned back towards the outside, leaning her head comfortably against the side of the wagon. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the cold mountain air, filling her lungs with the crisp breeze.

Yes. It was good to be free.

Well... There was that chapter! I hoped you liked it!

Dances King Arthur comes out tomorrow! King Arthur comes out tomorrow! I can't wait! I need to watch it again anyway to get the lines right for the next chapter!

Now for the Reviewer Responses!

um... actually, I can't do them right now.. I have like, ZERO time to do these. You all are actually REALLY lucky that I got this chapter up at all. I didn't think that would have the time to do it in the chaos that the holidays starts. Sheesh... everything seems to happen at once over christmas break! But, the good news is that I have a whole two weeks off to write the next few chapters, so the updates should have a few of them over the course of three or so weeks! I hope you all enjoyed it!

And to those that celebrate Christmas,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

and to everyone else

HAPPY HOLLIDAYS!

Elvenstar5