Note:Thanks for the reviews! I do believe this story might come to an end after all, somewhere in the future. For those who read my other story I appologize for the sudden halt of it, it got a wee bit annoying to jump back between plots. As soon as I finish this one and edit a few things in the other it will be continued. Thank you all for your patience with me and this story. Happy reading and let me know what you think if you see fit. Thanks again and have a smashing day!

Reckoning

"Lorna?" Liam asked.

"Yes."

Liam blinked. "When?"

"Nights."

"How long."

"Since Kida died."

"So soon?"

"Yes."

Liam was speechless. It just made no sense. "But you love Kida. Don't you?"

"I did. I do. I don't know. I thought she was dead and then she rejected me. I was trying to move on."

"So you picked the closest moving creature." Liam was mad. He had a hard time with Kida receiving all the unwanted attention from Tristan and Dag but he had been patient and most of them disappeared. He thought Tristan really cared for Kida with his enduring attentions, it was not love, he was sure it was not love Tristan felt, especial now. "Does she know?"

"No, I told Kida nothing." Tristan stared at the ground.

"She must never know of this. She is finally letting her guard down and letting herself feel and openly show it. If you tell her this she will close up again and may never come out from her walls again."

"But…"

"Not a word. If you tell her, I swear I will hunt you down and make you wish you were never born." Liam turned his horse and rode away. He was furious at Tristan. When the loving girl he remembered finally starts to slowly surface Tristan had to go and destroy it. Kida cared, he knew she did, about all of them but she did not allow herself to get to close, but Tristan had managed to make Kida see something and help draw her out of herself. She was not as open as she once was, but anything was better then the standoffish person she had been for the past few years. He was determined to protect her no matter what happened. If Tristan broke her heart he would pay for it.

Once Guinevere left Arthur Liam found him. "Arthur…"

"Liam, I know. There's nothing we can do."

"But…"

"Liam, let things be. They can solve their own problems."

"But…"

"Liam, if it is meant to be it will be."

"I don't want…"

"I know. Do you think you are the only one who cares about Kida? It's not in a romantic sense but most of us fell the same way you do. We sort of have come to think of Kida as a sister. We all care about what happens to her, but there is a point in life when brothers must learn to let their sisters make their own decisions and take care of their own problems. It is hard, and I think that if it were any other girl I would be as reluctant as you to let her find out, but Kida is not like most girls. We don't know what her reaction will be but I know she will find a solution on her own. All we can do is watch as everything unfolds."

Liam looked at Arthur. "I know what you speak is true but it is so hard to just let her get her heartbroken."

"We don't know how she will react, but I have a feeling that she will not handle this like most women." Arthur looked Liam in the eyes. "She will be fine. She lived through drowning, fatal wounds, pretending to be a man, unwanted attentions, and so many other things that no person could have managed. If she isn't then we will interfere."

"Very well, I will do as you advise but I am not happy about it." Liam sighed. He knew Arthur was right but he did not want him to be. Liam pulled back and went back to ride with the others. He had to do something to get his mind off of everything.

Arthur watched Liam go, so much concern over his two solitary knights. About this time he wished things were back to the petty concerns such as how to make Tristan hate Kida. At times he was confused at the sudden change in things. One might be able to find it amusing but it would not be for long. Some one was going to be hurt and, depending on who it was, it would be messy.

Kida went to Arthur. "Arthur," she started.

Arthur blinked, the person causing so much drama. "Kida."

"I know."

Arthur stared at her. "What?"

"I know about Tristan and Lorna."

"But how?"

"I followed Liam when he went to talk with Tristan."

"I'm sorry," was all Arthur could think to say.

"This is the Fate's way of telling me I am not meant to have a lover. I was weak and almost gave in, but this is a sign and I'm going to listen to it before it's too late."

Arthur stared at Kida. He could not believe that she thought that. Then again he could believe it. She did not blame any of them; she just took it as a signal that she was not meant to have a relationship. He shook his head. She certain was a confusing person.

Guinevere went up to Lorna. "Guinevere," she greeted. "I'm so happy."

"About what?" Guinevere asked.

"Tristan, he asked me to go to with him to his homeland." Guinevere stopped. Was she imagining it?

"He did? When?"

"Just a few minutes ago. He seemed sad. I think it was the thought of leaving me. I don't care though. Once we are together in his homeland we will live happily ever after."

Guinevere stopped. Tristan asked a few minutes ago. None of this made any sense. Tristan and Kida were supposed to be together, after all they've been through they deserved it. Baffled, she went to find Tristan himself to straighten everything out.

She found him not to far away, tending to his horse.

"Sir," she started. "Is what Lorna tells me true?"

Tristan nodded.

"But what about Kida?" Guinevere asked.

"She told me to," came Tristan's reply.

"She told you to?" Guinevere echoed. It made no sense, if a person was in love with a person why would they tell that person to go be with someone else. She looked at Tristan for answers, but he had none.

"She just said that we were not meant to be and that I should keep Lorna, who needed me more. I don't understand any of this."

Guinevere stopped. Kida was giving Tristan to Lorna. What kind of woman would let her man go without a fight. "You just did what she said? You're not going to fight for her?"

"I've done enough fighting. If this is what she wants then she will have it." Tristan mounted his horse and rode away. Guinevere wanted to scream. This was all her fault, or she felt that is was anyway. If she hadn't pushed Lorna to go after Tristan then Kida and Tristan could…She would not think of that now. She had to do something to fix the problems she caused before it was too late.

Kida rode silently beside Liam. She had not spoken a word all day and Liam was looking at her questionable.

"What's wrong?" Liam finally asked.

"I let him go," she said.

Liam was shocked. He had expected more of a fight to get out of her what was bothering her. "Tristan?"

"I told him to go with her."

Liam nodded. There was no need to ask who 'her' was. "How did you know?"

"I heard you talking with him. I am glad I did. It was the sign I needed to know that we were never meant to be. Don't do anything Liam, I know you will want to, but it was meant to be this way. Let it go. Think of going home in a few days, just one more day to the fort and then the trip back home." Kida smiled. "It's not really all that bad."

"But, what about you?"

"I'll be fine, really. In three more years perhaps I will join you back at home." She said perhaps to give him hope, but she knew she would never return home, they did not want her there and she did not want to be there. She had seen the world in a different light and was not about to let everything she'd learn go to waste.

Liam looked at Kida, he knew better then to believe her. "Will you, return home?"

Kida sighed. "Sure, what ever you want." Liam seemed satisfied and they rode on in silence.

Tristan watched Kida from a distance. He still could not believe she told him to stay with Lorna. He had only…He was very confused about the entire Lorna issue. He swore at himself for being so stupid by taking up with the first woman that came his way. It was because he was missing Kida and he needed a way to forget about her, for when he forgot about her the pain he felt went away.

How he wished he could just corner her and tell her everything he felt, but she refused to listen and told him that he had to stay with Lorna for she would not have him now. So he told Lorna that he wanted her to come to his home with him and she was ecstatic, as he knew she would be. He kept watching Kida, hoping, wishing that she would change her mind and come to him, asking him to leave Lorna and be hers. At night he dreamt that she did and he took her home with him and they were happy. It was all an illusion though, he knew that. There was no way possible he could get Kida to go with him. She had different plans to what she would do with her life; all the knights knew that, except for Liam.

He watched her and his heart stopped. He did not feel that way when he watched Lorna. All those years of trying to win Kida wasted. When he finally got what he wanted, he could not receive it. He looked back at Lorna who was watching him from where she sat in a carriage. She was happy. He knew Kida thought her happiness more important then his or her own. Tristan shook his head; there was nothing he could do now. Nothing.

Kida stole glances at Tristan all the last part of their journey. He did not like her decision; she could read it on his face. It was his fault. All of it. He had to be so quick to find someone else once she died. For a moment she wished she could blame Tristan, but she couldn't. It was meant to happen to tell her that what she had been thinking was not possible. She had to stick to her original plan. She resigned and began to rebuild the wall around her heart. She had three years left, and if she was going to survive them she could not afford one slip up. Not one.