As Lancelot and Iraina made their way slowly into the meeting room, the rest of the knights passed them, and filed one by one into the room. When the final two arrived, Iraina couldn't help the small gasp of surprise that escaped her mouth as she saw the huge round table. There was room at the table for sixty chairs, yet, only seven were filled. Guinevere was standing off to the side of Arthur, her gaze too, was filled with silent wonder.
Lancelot saw them gazing and explained. "When we knights first arrived here, Arthur had us gather in this room. He made this great speech, and basically said, that, for men to be men, they must first all be equal." Iraina could only nod as she looked out at the table. She stared, until finally, she noticed the amused glances of most of the knights. Lancelot helped her to a chair in between Tristan and Gawain, and then strode around the table to his seat, a spot to the left from Arthur's.
A serving man came in at that time, and passed out a cup of wine to each of the knights, and to the two woad women. When he had left, Arthur stood and waited for silence.
"Knights," he started, looking around at each one of them. "Today, let us not forget our friends, our brothers, who could not be here today to share in your freedom." With that, every knight poured out a splash of wine on the floor, and then drank to their fallen comrades. Iraina glanced at Guinevere who shrugged, and then poured her own wine on the floor, with Iraina following soon after, both of them showing their respect for the fallen knights.
After everyone was done, Arthur spoke again. "Now that you are free men, I want to thank you for the most wonderful and trying years of my life." Each of the Sarmation warriors were looking at their leader with respect, and Bors even had tears in his eyes. "Rest now, for tonight, we celebrate!" With that, he raised his cup in the air as the men burst out into cheers. Iraina and Guinevere smiled at each other, both knowing that this was something special that they were witness to. Soon after that, the knights broke up, and each headed off to their own rooms to freshen up and get some rest. Iraina turned to go when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
Arthur was standing right behind her, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, Lady Iraina." he said quietly. "If it hadn't been for you, we probably would have lost Dagonet, and in my eyes, I am deeply in your debt. Promise me, that if ever you are in need of something, call on me, so that I might be able to help you." Iraina bowed her head in submission.
"I will my lord. And thank you." With that, she turned and limped out of the meeting hall, and headed outside. When she had reached the courtyard, Iraina grabbed a small boy by the shoulder.
"You boy, can you tell me where the stables are?" The little boy nodded and pointed to a long building at the far end of the courtyard. She thanked the boy, and let him go on his way. She followed him with her eyes, and smiled as he ran up to Bors yelling, "Father! Father!"
Making her way slowly through the crowd, Iraina finally made it into the stables. Moving up and down the rows, she searched for her own horse, Dark Wings. Finally tiring of looking for the horse, Iraina whistled three short notes, each at a different pitch. An answering whinny came from one of the furthest stalls. Grinning, Iraina walked as quickly as her injured leg would allow until she reached the big black head that was sticking out of the stall door. Reaching up with her hand, Iraina scratched between his ears, and laughed as Wings lowered his head, urging her to continue scratching. She started talking to him.
"You know Wings, I feel different. I feel... more... alive, I guess." she stopped scratching and paused thoughtfully. "Is different a bad thing?" she asked the horse, laughing as he shook out his mane and butted her hand as though telling her that different was alright as long as she kept scratching.
"You have a beautiful stallion." Iraina whirled around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, sighing in relief as she recognized Tristan, the knight's scout. She smiled slightly.
"Thank you. I also think that your own mare and hawk are beautiful animals." The silent knight dipped his head in thanks and then turned back to his horse, grabbing a brush from the wall. Iraina watched him curry his horse with a tenderness that she would have thought impossible from the stonic knight. He seemed to know that she was watching him, and suddenly looked up.
"They are my only family in the world, along with the knights." he said by way of explanation. Iraina nodded, and turned back to Dark Wings. She saw a brush hanging on the wall next to his stall and grabbed it. Unlatching the door, she slipped inside, and then started brushing him, taking extra time to fully groom him, a strange feeling in her stomach that told her that this might be the last time she ever groomed the horse.
Suddenly, her leg cramped and it gave way underneath her, making her cry out as she crashed to the floor. Wings snorted and pranced nervously in his stall, not sure what to make of his master falling in his stall.
As soon as she hit the ground, Iraina started swearing in every language that she knew how to. Someone cleared their throat above her, and Iraina stopped her tirade of swear words and looked up into the amused eyes of the scout.
"That's quite a vocabulary you have there." he said smirking slightly at her. Iraina resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Well, that's all fine and dandy in your eyes, but could you please help me up?" she snapped, not happy at her body's weakness. Tristan nodded and opened the stall door. Wings lunged at him, trying to protect his mistress, but the scout had fast reflexes. He grabbed the horses head and forced it down, and held his hand under the animal's muzzel, letting him get to know his scent, all the while stroking the horse along his neck. Finally, the stallion settled, and allowed Tristan to help Iraina up. When he set her on her feet, she almost fell again as she placed weight on her leg. In her mind, she silently cursed the Saxon who had shot her. Tristan caught her before she fell, and then just picked her up. Iraina started to protest, but then quieted. There was no point in arguing with this silent knight.
"So, where are you taking me?" she asked.
"To Dagonet's rooms. He's the healer."
"Oh." She was silent the rest of the way there, only glaring at the Romans who had the nerve to leer at her.
When they arrived at the big man's rooms, Iraina had to knock because Tristan had his arms full. When Dagonet opened the door, his eyes widened slightly, and then he moved out of the way to allow them to enter. Tristan wasted no time in walking over to the bed and gently depositing Iraina on it. Before he walked out of the door, Iraina called to him. He stopped and turned around.
"Thank you." Tristan nodded and then turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut, Dagonet rounded on Iraina.
"Now, why am I privy to a visit from you?" he asked, a twinkle in his eye. Iraina smiled at the man, and then pointed to her leg, where blood was beginning to seep through the material of her breeches. Dagonet's brow furrowed.
"I stitched that." he murmured. "It should have held-ah... the roman?" he asked. Iraina nodded. A scowl adorning her features.
"Well, I can fix this up in no time." As he was talking, the big man pulled out a pair of scissors, and a needle and thread. At the sight of the needle, Iraina began to breath slightly faster. Give her a sword or a bow and arrow, and you would have the bravest woman out on the battle field, but when needles were concerned, they were one of her secret fears. One that she couldn't quite figure out. Dagonet noticed that her breathing had quickened and a sweat had started to break out on her forehead. "Are you alright?" he asked concerned. Iraina nodded tight lipped, and looked away, praying that he would be done soon. Dagonet came closer and started to cut away the cloth surrounding her wound. When it was bared to the air, her leg stung and Iraina's gaze swung around just in time to see Dagonet dip the needle into her skin. Her stomach clenched, and she was forced to look away again.
"Oh, gods..." she moaned. Working on her leg, Dagonet smiled. He now knew what was the cause of her trouble. She was afraid of needles, just like one of the knights, pressing his lips together Dagonet kept himself from chuckling. It was ironic that some of the bravest people on the battle field, were afraid of something so small as a needle. Working as swiftly as he could, Dagonet finished sewing up the wound. Grabbing a roll of bandages, he quickly surrounded her leg with it, and tied it off, but not too tightly.
"There." he said, standing from his bent position. "All better, and the needle's put away."
Iraina glared up at the man, silently daring him to tell. Dagonet raised his arms with a chuckle. "Don't fret. I won't tell anyone." Iraina softened her glare, and smiled up at the kind man.
"Thank you. I don't think I could live with the knights teasing me all the time just because I can't handle the sight of a needle going into my skin." Dagonet nodded, and then showed her to the door. She stood there for a moment, looking at the man who was so fierece looking, but so kind inside. Suddenly, he reached forward and grabbed her, pulling her to him to embrace in a hug. Iraina stayed there for a moment, shocked, then slowly, her arms circled the big man, and she hugged him back. After a moment, he pulled away and looked down at her into her eyes.
"Thank you." he said sincerely. "You gave me the chance to taste freedom." With that, he turned and went inside his room, leaving Iraina standing there alone.
A few hours later, the sun had just set, when Iraina was walking through the stone halls, she was grabbed from behind for the second time that day, only this time, it was a happy voice that reached her ears.
"Come dearest Iraina!" exclaimed Gawain as he circled her shoulders with an arm. "It's time to celebrate the Sarmation way!" Iraina rolled her eyes as they came into the tavern.
"And what way is that?" she asked sarcastically. Bors looked up from where he was sitting with a mug of ale in his hands.
"Why, we're all going to drink until we can't piss straight!" he yelled. Iraina laughed and accepted a cup of ale from one of the many barmaids. Taking a large sip, she looked around the tavern. It wasn't a terrible place, in all actuality, it was a rather cozy place when you thought about it. Yes, it was loud, but one could handle that. Letting her eyes slide over everyone there, she picked out each of the knights. Gawain and Galahad were having a knife throwing contest, with their target being a chair that seemed to have been subject to their knives for a long period of time. Dagonet was at the same table as Bors, both of them sharing a drink and talking. Lancelot was easy to find, he was sitting at a round table, with three romans. They seemed to be gambling with dice. Lancelot had a gleeful look on his face, while the three guards each wore a surly look, so she could only guess that he had just won. Walking over to the bar, she was stopped by Lancelot as he pulled her into his lap.
"Ah! There you are! I was about to go and find you, but my luck just has increased so..." he left off and took a large swallow from his drink.
"Come Lancelot!" one of the roman gamblers yelled. "See if you want to test your luck again. If you win, you can keep the prize on your lap, but if you lose, she must come with us and warm our beds!"As the man spoke the words, Iraina tensed in anger. These men were talking about her as though she were some animal to be won. She was about to get up when Lancelot's grip tightened on her waist.
"Begone with you." he snarled. "I tire of your thoughtless blabbing about a person whom I would trust my life with." The romans each glared at the knight, but all three were smart enough not to start a fight with the man. One by one, the pushed back their chairs and walked away. As soon as they left the table, Iraina relaxed.
"And you wonder why we allow our women to partake in the battles as well." Iraina snorted. "These romans need to learn that their women are just as intelligent as the men, or sooner or later, they are going to find themselves with a dagger in their backs." She reached around Lancelot and grabbed his mug, and took a long swallow from it. She finished to find Lancelot staring at her with awe in his features.
"What?" she asked. "Did you think that a woman couldn't drink?" With that, she got up out of the man's lap and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and walked away.
As she was walking away, she was furiously supressing the urge to blush. What was wrong with her? Kissing men on the cheek? Shaking her head slightly, the woad shook it off. As she passed one of the corners, she glimpsed Tristan in the shadows eating an apple. She stopped and looked at the man.
"Why are you hiding in the shadows?" she asked. Tristan shrugged.
"Don't like crowds much."
Iraina nodded. "Well, then, sir knight, would you mind bringing me to the wall so that I may get some fresh air?" The scout nodded and stood, flinging his apple core at the head of a roman who was passed out on the table. Iraina raised an eyebrow at the action, she grinned. These men took every chance they could at causing suffering to romans, with the exception of Arthur, of course. Looking ahead, she noticed that Tristan had disappeared around the corner, so she hurried to catch up with him. As she turned the corner, she ran into a solid wall of flesh. Looking up, she saw the dark brown eyes of the scout through his braids.
"Sorry." she apologized quickly, and backed away, silently berating herself. She really needed to start watching where she was going. She nodded solemnly to the knight and motioned for him to continue leading. As she followed the knight, she let her mind drift to her earlier conversation with Guinevere. They both knew that there was going to be a battle for Britain, but when was the only question. It was going to be soon, but how soon, neither could tell. And then, she remembered how Guinevere had mentioned that she watched Lancelot, and that thought led her to what just had transpired at the tavern. She had to admit that sitting in Lancelot's lap was pleasant... With her thoughts on Lancelot, Iraina didn't notice when the scout stopped again in front of her.
Again, her thoughts were jarred as she ran into the silent man, this time from behind. Iraina metally smacked herself as Tristan turned around. He raised a single eyebrow at her, and this time, Iraina blushed. Again the thought of 'what's wrong with me' came to her mind. She never had been one to blush. Especially over something so small as running into a person. Shaking off the feeling, Iraina followed the man through a door, and up a set of stairs until they came to the top of the wall.
Moving immediately to the edge, Iraina sighed as the wind hit her face. Even though she had been free of that horrible prison for a week now, she still revealed in the feeling of the wind on her face, and she thought that she probably always would. Seeing a way up, Iraina climbed up onto one of the tall watch towers, glad that Dagonet had fixed her leg, noticing that it gave her no trouble.
"Hey you! Get off of there!" Iraina turned to see a roman guard shaking his sword at her. She ignored him and turned back to the dark night. "Hey! I said, get off!" Iraina sighed and turned as the guard called for more guards. Her sharp hearing picked up Tristan quietly talking to the man, and then peace as the romans moved off, leaving her alone.
Tristan walked up next to the watch tower and spoke as though he was talking to the air, his face out to the woods.
"I did not expect that when you asked me to bring you here that you would cause an upstart with the guards."
Iraina snorted. "It's not my fault that the romans have sticks shoved up their asses."
Tristan chuckled, surprising Iraina with the noise. It was the first time that she had actually heard the man laugh. Soon however, her thoughts turned back to the imposing battle. She wondered when the Saxons would be arriving. Suddenly, in the distance, a light flared as a fire was lit. Then another, and another. Suddenly, the entire field above the wall was filled with the soft glow of hundreds of fires.
A deep sense of dread landed in the pit of her stomach. It seemed as though her question had just been answered.
Boom! Eat that! Three chapters up in two days! I am proud of myself. does happy dance So, yeah, now we are up to date with the eve of the big battle. What do you think will happen? Who should I kill? Cause you all know that someone has to die... lol.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I actually REALLY enjoyed this one. Seriously, I just got this little muse, and I haven't left my computer since 5:00, and it's 8:30 now... so, you all have a nice long chapter!
Elvenstar5