Disclaimer: I own nothing…..
Author Note: Thanks to those who have been reading my story. I'm really excited about this one and I know everyone had to get into it and your reviews are really keeping me excited! Thankyou.
MistakenLove:
'Laugh'. Oh don't worry, this one is definitely
interesting. Love triangles all over the place. I've never done a
fiction like this so I'm hoping it turns out really well.
KnightMaiden:
Ah…loyal reviewer! Thank so much. Hope you like this chapter
just as much.
0-0-0
Punctuation:
My first few months started of on a rocky road. When I first met Arthur, who was to be my commander, he looked at me the same way the rest of the boys did. Curiously. I talked with the Knights but avoided their gazes whenever I could. I like them. They were very nice and all of them have a bond already, all except Tristan. He scares me slightly. He is quiet and the best fighter by far. He is 15, only three years older than I but every time he looks at me he questions me. When I speak to him, those brief few words we share, I seem to get tongue tied. I'm sure they laugh about me behind my back but I couldn't help it. I'm the same age as Galahad but he seems oblivious to the fact that I'm a girl. He and Gawain are close. Vanora and Dagonet are a great help to me. Vanora helps me with clothes and my hair and Dagonet trains me at night so I can be better prepared during the daily training sessions.
The winter went into the blooming season and I'm growing and changing everyday. Soon it was summer, not much different to the winter, and I turned 13. I celebrated on my own not wanting anyone to know much about me. I kept it that way for a long time. I didn't speak much, even less than Tristan, and always minded my own business. I'm a good fighter. The best alongside Tristan with a bow and my skills with my sword are improving everyday. Lancelot is still trying to find out my secret. He speaks to me of home and asks about my family and at one point I thought I was going to faint but Vanora and Dagonet worked with me in speech. They asked me questions and I would find answers to each.
As I turned 14 the only problem I had was looking like a man. Every time I let my hair loose and wore a simple skirt and top Vanora and Dagonet were amazed at how I was changing. At one point I noticed Dagonet staring at me which caused me to blush wildly as Vanora stitched my new tunic. She and I became great friends quickly. We have so much in common. She and Bors quickly became lovers and she was pregnant with her first child. I looked down at my chest and sighed. I just kept growing and growing. Vanora laughed and said 'We'll cover you up. Don't worry.'
In the end I had to do something about my ever expanding chest. I wore a tight breast cover and was thankful that Britain was a cold place because I could wear heavy tunics and jackets when on missions. Just before my 15 birthday we were on a mission. We were checking villages to make sure no more Woad raids had been happening because Romans were living in most of the villages. I was standing beside Bors when a bunch of Romans walked past and began staring at me. I was not even concentrating on them and to my bad fortune Tristan heard them say if I had long hair I would look like a girl; and a pretty one at that, one of them decided to add.
That is when he began watching me more closely. That night, as I thought everyone was sleeping I left the camp and walked to a nearby stream. I stood beside it watching the water wash over the rocks. I untied my hair and sat down beside it before putting my face in my hands. I couldn't stand this life, and I had another 12 years of it to fulfil. I looped one of my curls around my finger before wiping it away in frustration.
I sat there in silence for a long time before I heard something in the trees. I could barely hear movement but I knew something was there. My feminine instincts kicked in and I turned toward the sound. I rose from the ground and walked into the forest. I thought it was a rabbit or some other animal as I walked in. After I passed a stag and many trees I began to think it was my imagination playing tricks on me. I sighed and moved a lock of hair from my eyes as a hand went over my mouth and another around my waist. I squealed but with the hand covering my mouth nothing could be heard. We hit a tree and the person holding me hostage stoped moving. Terror clenched me as I tried to struggle but my captor was too strong. 'Be quiet,' he hissed. 'Its Tristan.'
I stoped moving and frowned as my heart pounded in my chest. 'Are you going to stay quiet?' he asked close to me ear.
I nodded. Slowly he removed his hand and I breathed in deeply. 'Are you trying to scare me to death?' I asked him. He turned me around and looked at me. His suspicions had been confirmed.
'Why did you do it?' he asked me. I stayed quiet and did not let my eyes go to his face. 'I've had my suspicions ever since we met. Dagonet has been helping you as well as Vanora. Why don't you tell?'
'Because girls aren't allowed to become Knights,' I said looking down at the floor.
'Why did you do it?' he asked me again.
I sighed and looked to the sky for a moment. 'My brother was ill with scarlet fever. He wouldn't have made it to the fort in his condition. So I hid him as he begged me not to do it and I left with the Romans as a boy. And in my opinion I was doing a good job until you found me out.'
Tristan snorted. 'No you weren't. We all have had our thoughts. The only reason Arthur hasn't said anything is because Dagonet keeps making up excuses. You don't look like a boy. And covering your body with heavy tunics and tying your hair back has not been helping your case.'
I huffed angrily, not really knowing why his words hurt me so much. 'At least I tried.' I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at him.
'You even have the temperament of a horse. Common in all females,' he said calmly. 'They won't kill you if they know.'
'I'm not telling them,' she said. 'It'll be too weird.'
'Well….it is up to you. But one day they'll find out and it will be even stranger,' he said.
'Why?' I asked him.
He walked into the clearing. 'Because you'll be even more attractive.'
'Ha?' I asked nasally as I followed him. 'That is the dumbest thing you've ever said.'
'And of all the stupid schemes that have been played in the world, this one is by far the worst,' he said calmly.
'You're not funny,' I said as he stoped walking. 'I'm not trying to be honourable or anything but I did not exactly plan this life either.'
He looked at me with no expression on his face. I caught his eyes wondering and waved my hand in front of his face. 'You talk too much,' he said.
'Have you finished insulting me?' I asked with a glare. 'I'm not feeling very good about myself right now and your comments do not help with lifting my spirits.'
'I didn't come to lift your spirits,' he said plainly. 'I came to find out your secret. And I have fulfilled my mission.'
'I'm happy for you,' I said sarcastically. 'Now go away.'
'You're coming to,' he said taking my arm.
'What! No, are you nuts?' I said as I tried to pull away from him. He sighed frustrated and picked me up and threw me over his shoulder; walking and carrying me like a dead stag.
We stoped a few feet away from the camp and he put me on the ground as I hastily tied my hair back. 'They want to get to know you,' he said in a voice barely audible to the untrained ear. 'Tell them and you'll see your life will be better.'
'You're not exactly the most open person in the world,' I snapped.
'At least I'm not lying about my identity,' he said as he walked back to the camp.
0-0-0
The next day my mind was completely occupied with Tristan's words. Should I tell them? I was afraid of their reaction after wards. Although Tristan said they wanted to get to know me, I couldn't bring myself to accept that they would treat me as an equal. As I rode on beside Lancelot an arrow shot past me. I managed to dodge it at the last moment but it caused me to fall off my horse as another arrow shot out.
I cringed as I hit the ground and drew my sword as Picts ran out of the woods. I stabbed a man with my dagger and duelled with another Woad as two more came toward me. Lancelot drew his sword through the Woad I was duelling with and before I could thank him I felt a sharp pain in my jaw. I fell to the ground and before I could rise everything around me went black.
0-0-0
As I opened my eyes my mind was spinning. I clutched my head as I tried to stand but I immediately stumbled and sat back down. Another pair of hands touched my face. 'Try not to move,' said a woman. 'It will pass shortly.'
'Where am I?' I asked looking around. I leaned back against the log and looked at the woman before me. She was a Woad. Long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes met her Woadish clothes and blue tattoos.
'Were being held captive by Picts. Two days ride from Hadrian's Wall,' she said. 'I am Guinevere.'
I smiled at her and extended my hand. 'Evan.'
'Arthur's woman Knight,' Guinevere said smiling.
'How did you know?' I asked her calmly.
'We have met before,' she said as she sat down next to me. 'You are too beautiful to look like a man. That is why the Picts kidnapped you.'
'Oh,' I said as my head stopped spinning. 'Not much of a reason but who am I to judge.'
She laughed lightly. 'I like you,' she said. 'You have fire in you.'
I laughed sceptically. 'I have to, to keep up my charade.' I realised my hair was loose and my tunic and jacket were missing. I was in only breeches and an under top which had no sleeves. I flicked a beetle off my boot as two men came out of the trees looking at Guinevere and I.
0-0-0
'Shit,' Dagonet hissed.
'What?' Arthur asked as he cleaned his sword.
'Evan,' he said taking hold of her horse. 'Sh…he's missing.'
'What?' Gawain asked as he looked around.
Lancelot was sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. He received a sharp blow to the head when he was trying to fight the Picts that were kidnapping Evan. 'They went that way.' He pointed to the forest. Tristan went over and saw the foot prints and nodded. 'We can track them easily.'
'On foot,' Arthur said putting his sword in its sheath. 'Why would they take him for?'
Tristan had already disappeared into the trees which left Dagonet shifting silently. 'Who knows,' he said as he quickly followed Tristan into the woods.
They followed Tristan through the trees going deeper and deeper into the forest until they heard voices. Tristan motioned for everyone to stay silent and he crouched down trying to see into the clearing. He saw two women, one was Evan in all her womanly good graces, and the other was a Woad. They were around the same age and even looked alike, slightly. 'What the-' Lancelot said but was cut off when Dagonet put a hand in front of his mouth. 'But that's-'
'I know,' Dagonet hissed. 'Shut up.'
Lancelot watched the scene before him along with the Knights and for the first time saw the real Evan.
One of the men tried to take her arm but she slapped his hand. 'I don't think so,' she said. 'I'm not that type.'
The woman beside her smiled slightly. 'What do you want from us exactly?' she asked them.
6 more Pict men and 2 women walked into the clearing and stood around them. 'It's a fiesta,' Evan said. 'This isn't Beltane season is it?'
The Knights smirked.
'Because orgies have never really been my strong point and it's quite…disgusting if you ask me but hey….I've never really experimented so I wouldn't really know,' she finished.
Lancelot put a hand in front of his mouth to stop from laughing.
The Picts shared quick words in their language and the woman beside Evan whispered something to her. A man walked up to Evan and picked her up off the ground. He whispered something in her ear, which from the Knights point of view put her in a deadly mood. 'I don't think so,' she said before hitting him square in the jaw.
The Woad shot up from the ground and immediately engaged in a fist fight with another Pict. The Knights took this as their que and ran out to the unsuspecting Britains.
0-0-0
I was fighting one of the women when the Knights came running out of the woods. I groaned and hit the woman. She fell to the ground and I waited for someone else to attack me but no one did. The Knights had each killed our captors and I was now standing in the middle of a bunch of men waiting for an explanation. It was the end of my life; I could feel it. Of all the stupid times to get caught it had to be while I was with the Knights.
I cleared my throat. 'Surprise?'
