After leaving the two knights, Iraina walked away from the camp, until thered andyellowsof Galahad's fire were justpinpricks of light in the distance. She stopped and stood silently in the night. The cold air around Iraina suddenly stilled, and she turned around sharply to see Merlin standing close behind her. Immediately she dropped into a low bow, her head nearly touching the ground.

"Rise child" he intoned her, "there is no need for that." Merlin's voice was rough, but kind. The woad rose swiftly to her feet, and faced the leader of the woads. Merlin smiled slightly at her, his eyes taking in the barely noticeable bruises on her face. "You are well?" he asked. Iraina nodded.

"The knight's rescued Guinevere and I from the dungeons of Marius Onarious. They have cared for our wounds and have not treated us ill." she paused for a moment, concern etched across her features. "My father?" she asked, slightly worried for his well being, as Guinevere had said that he was supposed to be present with Merlin. The woad leader nodded at her.

"The reason he is not here is my fault. I needed him to start organizing our people for battle against the Saxons. He sends his love, and gives you his blessing for a safe journey back." Smiling, Iraina allowed herself a small amount of relief, before getting back to the task at hand.

"I assume that you are here to meet with Arthur?" she asked, guessing his reasons for being here. Merlin nodded.

"I will meet with Arthur tonight. There is not much time. Tell Guinevere to bring him to me. I will be in the clearing by the river." Iraina nodded, bowed her head to her leader, then slipped quietly back into the night. As she was making her way back to the camp, she passed a shape leaning against a tree. Pausing for a moment, Iraina stared, then realized that it was Lancelot's still form gazing over the water of the river. Hesitating, Iraina thought about stopping to talk to the knight, but then decided that Merlin's order was more important at the moment. She moved on, passing behind him silently, leaving him to his thoughts.

Coming up on the wagon, the woad climbed in, and nodded to Guinevere. "I just met Merlin in the woods." she whispered, trying not to be overheard. "He told me that you are to bring Arthur to him now, by the river." Guinevere nodded. The woad princess was silent for a moment while a plan formed in her mind. Their eyes met for a moment, and then Guinevere left the wagon, with Iraina following close behind. Once out of the wagon, the two friends gripped each other's forearms, then Guinevere walked away from her, towards where Arthur lay sleeping, leaving Iraina alone in the dark.

Turning back to where she had last seen Lancelot, Iraina made her way towards the river. She walked slowly in front of the knight, stopping close to him. Tilting her head to the side, she pondered the man, then decided to speak.

"What was it like, your home?"

Lancelot's head snapped up, as if surprised to see her there in front of him. Then he looked away, a small grin spreading across his features.

"We sacrificed goats, drank their blood. Danced naked around fires." He chuckled, laughing at his own words. Looking back up at Iraina, he saw that she was truly interested. He paused growing solemn, his eyes taking a far away look, and rose to his feet.

"What I do remember, home... Oceans of grass. From horizon to horizon, further than you could ride. The sky, bigger than you could imagine. No boundaries."

Iraina cocked her head. "Some people would call that freedom. That's what we fight for. Our land, our people. The right to choose our own destiny. So you see Lancelot, we are much alike, you and I." She stopped, and moved closer to him, staring at him intently. "And when you return home, will you take a wife, have sons?"

Lancelot sighed and glanced at the ground before bringing his eyes back up to meet hers. "I've killed too many sons. What right to I have to my own?"

The woad stared sadly at him, "No family, no religion. Do you believe in anything at all?" The curly haired knight sighed dejectedly. His eyes took on a cold edge, the warmth completely disappearing. He stared at her.

"I would have left Guinevere and the boy there to die. And if it hadn't been for Arthur asking for someone to look for the woad woman that Guinevere had mentioned, I never would have gone back." He shook his head, gave one last glance at Iraina, then left, leaving Iraina staring after him in the dark.

After he had disappeared from her sight, Iraina let out the breath that she didn't know she had been holding. This darker side of Lancelot disturbed her, what she had seen of him had been the cocky charming man that tales had told about him. But now, after her conversation with him, she realized that this man was full of deeper secrets and riddles. She had half a mind to follow him, but stopped when she saw Arthur walking away from the camp, his sword held loosely at his side. She surmised that Guinevere had done what Merlin had asked, and now Arthur was pondering everything that had been told to him.

The sound of a twig cracking in the woods next to her made her swing her head around and stare intently into the dark. Soon, a tall, slim figure stepped out. Iraina smiled at the figure.

"How did it go?" she asked Guinevere. The smile Guinevere gave her in return was small.

"It went." she replied tiredly.

Iraina's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, 'it went'?"

"Arthur thought that I had betrayed him."

Iraina's eyebrows rose into her forehead. "Because of Merlin?"

Guinevere nodded. "Arthur was furious. Apparently, when he was young, the woads attacked his village and they killed his mother. My father was in charge of the attack. That was how Arthur got his sword. He pulled it out of his father's grave, with every intention of killing my father. But, my father spoke with him, and possibly convinced him to stay. We can only hope it worked." She paused and looked sadly at Iraina. "Otherwise, Britain is no more."

The sevearity of the entire situation came crashing down on Iraina in that moment. If they had failed to convince Arthur to remain, then they were doomed by the coming Saxons. It was hard to imagaine. She had been fighting for her country's freedom for almost all of her life, and now, when Rome was finally pulling out, the Saxon had come. Just as their freedom was handed to them, they were threatened again by people even more brutal. If the Saxon went undefeated, then there would be no one left alive.

Together, Iraina and Guinevere made their way silently back into the wagon, each immersed with their own thoughts. Determined to wake at dawn, Iraina settled down into a light sleep.

I know, I know, short and now action, but i promise there will be action and a longer chapter with in a few days. No more than a week. And yes, i do know that Iraina stole Guinevere's lines from the director's cut, but i wanted her to have them

I don't have time for reviewer responses right now, because i am hard pressed for time. I only have enough time to finish typing it and updating it.

Please review!

If you do, you get a knight of your choice strapped onto a horse, and ridden to where ever you please.

Elvenstar5