Author notes: Thank you so much for the reviews!!!
OO
"WHAT?!" Lancelot roared his whole frame shaking with anger. Arthur refused to react and remained calm.
"You will not be going."
"Like hell I won't. You can't stop me!" Lancelot challenged.
"Don't tell me I have to explain the workings of the command structure again? I am in command and you will do as I say and stay here. If necessary I will get the doctor to sedate you again."
"You wouldn't dare!" Lancelot snarled.
"Try me. You are injured and you need to rest. You are in no fit state to fight and I don't want anyone to have to keep an eye on you in battle." Arthur argued. Lancelot scowled.
"I do not need anyone to look after me."
"If you go into battle others may be distracted, worried for your safety and that could prove fatal. In addition you will tire quickly and I do not wish for you to be injured further or even die." Arthur knew it was a low blow but he needed Lancelot to understand that all Arthur wanted to do was to protect him. Unfortunately Lancelot made it so difficult that he had to resort to threats.
"Fine." The knight said subdued. "If I am that much of a liability."
"You know that is not what I meant." Arthur stated wearily.
Lancelot led back down and turned to face the wall.
"Throw a tantrum all you want." The Roman said standing up. "But acting like a five year old is unbecoming of a knight."
Lancelot rolled over to face him, his face scrunched in a painful grimace.
"I am not acting like a five year old. I am a knight and I do not 'rest' well. I do not like being left behind while you go into battle. Being a knight is all I am good at and now being stuck in here makes me feel as if I have no purpose, that I am useless."
Arthur sighed and he knelt next to the bed.
"You are not useless. There is no fault in being wounded. Just focus on getting better so you can bring your own unique bland of mayhem to future proceedings."
Lancelot smiled and a yawn enveloped him.
"Now get some sleep and we will be back before you know it."
"Don't do anything stupid." Lancelot stated.
"Seeing as you are not going to be there I think the chances of that are pretty good." Arthur joked. Lancelot glared and the Roman laughed as he exited.
As soon as he was gone Lancelot pushed himself into a sitting position. With a groan he moved to stand up. A wave of dizziness hit him and he wavered, grabbing hold of the chair to stop himself falling to the ground. Cursing he clutched the wall and took a tentative step forward, as soon as his weight landed on his left leg it buckled.
"Shit." He muttered as he tried to regain his footing. Inching forward he approached the small window in the opposite wall. The first rays of winter's sun were peaking out from the horizon heralding the arrival of the dawn. Smiling in triumph as he reached the window he looked out to see the courtyard in which the knights and legionaries were getting prepared.
As he watched them getting ready his thoughts turned to Arthur. Apparently Arthur had come to talk to him last night but the doctor had followed through on his threat and sedated him. He still felt groggy now! Apparently the doctor wasn't fond of being yelled at and having his parentage questioned…who knew? Lancelot thought with a smile. All this incident had taught him was not to eat or drink anything supplied by the doctor and to watch his eyes for evil glints. Turning his attention back to the window he heard Arthur command the knights to mount and with a clatter of hooves they left.
"What are you doing out of bed?" a familiar voice snapped.
"Planning an escape out of the window." Lancelot stated folding his arms across his chest.
"I don't know why I bother." The doctor grumbled.
"Because without us you would be bored stiff. We bring a little excitement to your otherwise dull life."
"I don't know why I just don't slip a poison into your food instead of a sedative."
"Who else would you trade insults with?" Lancelot questioned grinning.
"I think I will survive. Now are you going to return to the bed willingly or not?"
"I think not!" Lancelot replied.
"Why Arthur won't let me tie you to the bed is beyond me." The doctor muttered as he turned and left. Lancelot smiled smugly until he heard the lock click.
Crap! He should have remembered the door locked from the outside. With a roll of his eyes he staggered back to his bed.
OO – 2 Days Later – OO
The trip to the fort was uneventful, not a woad in sight. It had been a slow journey, much slower than usual due to the legionaries tagging along. Bors was in a foul mood, itching to hit some unfortunate Roman over the head, so much so that Dagonet had steered him away from the main group and they were a couple of paces adrift from the others.
"So what's the plan?" Galahad questioned, loud enough for Arthur to hear, but so that the legionaries couldn't. Arthur slowed his horse and drew alongside Galahad.
"Firstly to establish what exactly has gone on. Then we set out to find them. They are still in this area so it shouldn't be too hard."
"I don't know woads are very good at hiding." Gawain stated. Arthur nodded.
"True."
After a beat Galahad spoke again.
"Do we have to work with the Romans?" he said with a kind of forlorn voice.
"The Romans will not let us work alone. We deal with our own. To a Roman nothing is worse than betrayal. If it comes down to it we may have to act as a pacifying force."
Gawain rolled his eyes.
"I can see that this mission is going to have a really positive outcome." He muttered sarcastically.
"If it was too easy it would be no fun." Tristan commented.
"Sadist." Galahad murmured and Tristan smiled in return.
The knights drew to a halt at the gates of the fort.
"STATE YOUR NAMES AND INTENTIONS." A voice called down from the battlements.
"I am Artorius Castus from Badon Hill."
The centurion in charge of the legionaries stepped forward.
"I am Centurion Marcus Pontius detached from the twentieth legion and stationed at Badon Hill. We wish to speak with your commander."
"WAIT THERE!" the voice replied.
"Where does he bloody well think we are going to go?" Bors snarled.
"Bors now is neither the time nor the place." Arthur stated forcefully. While they were here the knights would have to function without questioning his orders every few minutes. Roman command already thought he was being too lenient, the only reason they had not interfered was the fact that they had gotten good results. He did not want to tempt fate.
The gates groaned as they were opened and Arthur watched as a man flanked by four guards approached.
"I am Centurion Licinius commander of this fort. To what do I owe this pleasure?" the Roman sneered the last part and Arthur sighed internally. A Roman centurion with an attitude problem, this just gets better and better. Pontius was quite tolerant of the knights which was very lucky but he knew the feeling was not widespread.
Handing his reins to Gawain he dismounted.
"I am Artorius Castus." He said stepping forward.
"Centurion Licinius I am Centurion Pontius."
Licinius nodded his head at Pontius and then he turned to regard Arthur with a suspicious expression.
"We are here to discuss the matter of the missing cavalry unit from this fort." Arthur stated.
Immediately Licinius adopted a defensive stance.
"And since when did they concern you?" he questioned his eyes narrowing.
"Since a Roman arrow we suspect came from the unit took down one of my knights horses, injuring both the horse and knight."
"How can you be sure it was them?"
"Well that depends on how many other Romans are wondering around shooting arrows at knights?" Bors snarled again.
"Bors I don't want to have to tell you again." Arthur snapped not even looking at the knight.
"We suspect that it might be them." Arthur continued. "Because the woads would have mocked us by now if they had caught them."
"That is flimsy evidence."
"It may be." Pontius spoke up. "But the fact remains that their fate needs to be determined."
Silence reigned for a matter of minutes.
"Well you had better come in." He stepped back inside the gates to allow the knights and legionaries to enter. As Arthur passed through the gates he caught Licinius's eye. The debate was far from over.
OO