Well, well, well. I thought you ought to know that this might be either the last chapter or the second to last chapter. But there will be a surprise in the last chapter that I will let you know about. Anyways, well I'll just get right to the chapter, huh? Hope ya like. Oh ya, I still need a name for Emma's brother if anyone has any ideas.

Disclaimer: I do not own King Arthur but I do own Emma and her brother.

Faded Roses in a Heart
Chapter 9
Sweet Occurrences
Emma's POV

"Alecto! Let me see you! You have triumphed. Young Alecto, let me see you! You are here!" I heard as I awoke groggily. I sat up slightly and rubbed the sleep away from my eyes.

"Lucan!" I heard a woman say. I looked at the boy that jumped off the carriage beside and recognized Lucan and Guinevere. I felt slightly cold as I tried to remember what happened. Jumping up, I looked around for the knights, Dagonet in particular.

I rushed out of the carriage to run over to Lancelot. I grabbed him in a hug and felt him do the same.

"Where's Dagonet?" I asked quickly searching his face for any clues. He gave me a sad smile before pulling me towards a lone carriage. I went into it with Lancelot following me. Dagonet was lying under a couple of blankets and looked very ill.

"Is he okay?" I asked turning to face Lancelot with tears burning in my eyes.

"He shall be fine. There was only one arrow that hit. We were worried about you also. You had an awful fever that was easily overcome. Don't worry, everyone else is fine also," Lancelot soothed. I sighed in relief before grabbing Dagonet's hand.

"Did you know that he asked to be my dad?" I asked Lancelot. His expression turned to surprise then contentment.

"Good. I'm very happy to hear that," Lancelot said rubbing my head. I pulled away from him grinning.

"I'm not a pet," I chirped. I reached down to kiss Dagonet's cheek before leaving the carriage with Lancelot.

"Well, at least we know you're sense of humor hasn't vanished," Lancelot chuckled. We both looked up as we heard the Bishop start talking and addressing the knights. I walked over and stood beside Arthur.

"Great Knights. You are free now! Give me the papers. Come, come. Your papers of safe conduct throughout the Roman Empire! Take it, Arthur," the Bishop said. Arthur placed his hand on my shoulder before walking up closely to the Bishop.

"Bishop Germanius. Friend of my father," Arthur said sarcastically before leaving. Lancelot grabbed the papers and started to pass them out.

"You are free. You can go!" the Bishop said. Lancelot came up in front of me holding up a paper.

"Hmm?" I wondered why he was holding this out to me.

"For your dad," Lancelot replied smiling softly. I took it then gave him another tight hug. He gave the rest of the knights their papers before Tristan took the box from one of the soldiers and left with it. Most of the knights had left already and I saw Gawain off to the side. I already told myself that I would get to know them more, so I took my chance.

"Hello Gawain," I said beaming charmingly at him.

"Hello Emma. Would you care for a walk?" He asked me. I nodded and followed him out of the courtyard. I didn't know where we were going but he seemed to.

"We haven't talked a lot have we?" Gawain started. "That's alright. There's no time like the present and now that we're free, we'll have a lot more time on our hands."

"Oh yes, I'm very excited for you. What are you planning on doing now that you can leave?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not entirely sure. I told the others that I wanted to find me a nice wife, but I think that now it's over with, I want to relax first. What about you?" he questioned.

"Well, I'm not sure either. I have my brother back now and I would like to spend time with him, but… Dagonet asked me if he could be my dad, and I would like that also. I just don't know how my brother would take it," I replied solemnly.

I looked around and noticed that we had arrived in a small garden. It had all different types of flowers, but I couldn't find anything resembling the rose that Tristan had given me a while ago. I needed to speak to him about that. Actually, I wanted to talk to everyone. I would have time now that they were free.

"Well, it seems like you could ask him now," Gawain said pointing ahead of us. I looked up and saw my brother sitting with his back against a tree with his eyes closed. "I'll see you later." Gawain walked away after I said my goodbye.

"Come on over here Emma," my brother said, startling me, without opening his eyes. I walked over to where he was patting the ground next to him and sat down. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. Are you okay?" I asked in return. He nodded then looked at me, opening his eyes.

"Of course… I know what he asked you," my brother stated seriously.

"O-oh? Um… I can explain," I started nervously but was interrupted.

"No need, I think it's perfectly alright. I mean, it's only natural to want to have a real father, huh…" my brother replied.

"It's really okay?" I asked uncertainly.

"Certainly. You deserve it. And besides, I'll only allow it if you always stay with me. No going and getting a new older brother," my brother added mock seriously. He held up a finger in front of my face trying not to laugh.

"Oh no, I would never have it any other way," I promised giggling happily.

"Good, because then only I can love you so much," he said hugging me close to him.

"I love you too," I replied as he kissed me on the top of my head.

--

I knocked on the door gently before walking in on the invite. Arthur was sitting on his bed looking at two pieces of a coin. I sat beside him and waited for him to say something.

"I have to leave soon," Arthur started and I looked at him in concern.

"Why?" I asked as he placed an arm around my shoulders.

"There are many things to be done and I'm afraid that I must be the one to help complete them," Arthur said. "The Saxons are coming here and I must fight. I want you to leave with the knights."

"What? But I want to stay and help you," I argued.

"It's not your fight," he replied and was about to say something more but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Arthur, come to the wall now," a man said on the other side.

"They will be leaving soon enough, you should go get ready," Arthur said before leaving. I picked up the broken coin and pocketed it before running after him.

When I got to the wall, Guinevere and Lancelot were there with Arthur.

"Knights. My journey with you must end here. May God go with you," Arthur said. Before I could hear anymore, I rushed off again without anyone noticing. There was no way I was going to leave Arthur to fight on his own. I just had to plan this out carefully. Seeing as how he was talking to Lancelot, I figured I would get some armor quickly.

After entering the empty room, I grabbed the first small piece of metal I could find. It would fit over my chest and that would be all I needed. I don't think I could fight with tons of armor on.

I went back to my room and readied my weapons. I didn't know when Arthur would be leaving, but I should be ready when he does. After setting everything aside for tomorrow, I put on my night clothes before lying down. I needed rest if I was to be fighting tomorrow. I just hoped that I would be able to help in any way I could.

--

I noticed Arthur on a hill with his horse fully armed. He was watching the other knights leave. I was supposed to be with them, but I said I would catch up.

I had gotten ready quickly this morning in hopes that I didn't miss my chance. My swords were in place on my back and my daggers were hidden on my body. I was prepared for anything and everything.

Bors had taken out his sword and raised it to Arthur. I noticed Lancelot kept his head down not glancing at Arthur.

"Artorius!" Bors yelled and then screamed something unintelligible. Arthur yells back raising his own sword watching Bors rejoin the group.

I trotted up to Arthur on SunDance hoping the knights didn't notice me. Arthur did though and turned to look at me in shock. I came up to his side and glanced up at him from underneath my hair.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"I wanted to help you. I am your charge, right?" I asked hoping that would make him let me stay.

"Yes and as my charge, you're supposed to listen to me. I can't have you getting hurt," Arthur replied with a stern look on his face.

"But I want to look out for you. After you have helped me so much with everything, I want to do something for you," I said quietly.

"By getting yourself killed?" Arthur shouted. "You can't help me by getting hurt!"

"I won't!" I cried, tears welling up. "Please!"

"No," he said simply. "Now go to the knights."

"Please, I don't want to lose you," I begged, the tears now making their way down my cheeks.

"And I don't want to lose you either, that's why you've got to understand. You can't stay here because you wouldn't be able to survive against them," Arthur insisted. "Please, for me, go back."

I looked up at his pleading face and sighed heavily.

"Alright. But I'm warning you, if you don't come back… There will be dire consequences," I said threatening him. He smiled and hugged me gently.

"There's no way I would leave you," Arthur said kissing my temple. "Now go."

I waved sadly before urging my horse to catch the other knights. Once I reached them, I took my place beside Tristan. Depressed, I kept my gaze on the ground, not wanting to endure the curious expressions of the others.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine," Tristan said from my side. The horses then kept trying to turn towards the wall. They all glanced at each other deciding something.

"Hey, you're free," Tristan said to his hawk who flew off. The knights then began to ride back towards the wall. Dagonet wasn't with them so I guessed he was still recovering. Tristan hadn't moved from next to me so I looked up at him. He was looking at me with a soft grin on his face.

"I'll watch over you. Don't worry about Arthur. I'll allow you to protect him, we both know he needs it," Tristan said.

"O-oh… Um… Tristan?" I asked as we were riding towards the hill Arthur was on.

"Yes?" Tristan replied.

"Well… about that rose… Why did you give it to me?" I asked blushing shyly. I couldn't look him in the eye and chose to look at my horse's mane.

"I'll tell you, after we survive this," Tristan simply said.

"O-okay," I responded petting my horse. I wasn't too happy with his vague answer. What if one of us didn't survive? Then I would never know his answer. I glanced swiftly at him and couldn't help but notice how peaceful and calm he looked right now. Well, no matter what he meant by the rose, I was sure happy that I was the one to receive it. With that thought, I patted my pocket containing the pieces of Arthur's coin and Tristan's rose.

--

Okay so this isn't the last chapter, but the next one will be. Sorry to say that but there will be a surprise in it. Yay! I can't wait to write it. Anyways, well I'll have it up in a couple days. If anyone has any ideas of a name for Emma's brother, I would appreciate it. I loved the interaction of everybody with Emma in this chapter because it was all sweet. She brings out the sweeter sides of everyone. Well, until next time!

Love, Archer

Review responses for Chapter 8:

HyperSquishy: thanks for reviewing. Sorry, I hate cliffies also but it just felt right to end it there. I'm not bothered anymore about my LOTR story because it gives me more time to write this story and my other one. I'm planning on reposting it without correcting anything and telling them to stuff it. Haha. I'd love to see their reactions. Yes, some people on here are rude. But none of my reviewers on this story are and I absolutely love every one of them. Well thanks again for reviewing.

tlm1633: thanks for reviewing. Well, I wasn't too sure about the part that Emma's brother would play, but I went for the safer path and just made him the normal brother. I will definitely try my hardest to not make anyone die, trust me, it would break my heart also. We'll just have to see how it turns out. I've decided not to have any romance in this story but who knows… there will be one eventually (hint hint). No worries

Elfvamp1-13-97: thanks for reviewing. I'll try to post as quickly as possible, I promise.

Blacksand: thanks for reviewing! Don't worry about my other story, I'll figure something out with it. I'm just happy that everyone likes this story. This story is my number one priority since it's almost finished. Well for now it is. (hint hint), haha, I'm giving lots of hints today. Don't be sorry for not reviewing, I'm glad that you're reading. Thanks again

FFAMasquerade2005: thanks for reviewing. I was very pleased with the relationship turn out with Dagonet and Emma. Very sweet and in this chapter, I also love the interaction with Emma and her brother. Thanks again.