Note: Thanks for the reviews! I apoligize in advance for this poor chapter. I am having bouts with writer's block and overstreching my time. I will try to keep my updates as regular as I can. Thank you for reading this note and have a nice day!

The Breath Before the Plunge

Guinevere emerged from the tent to find all the knights sitting solemnly outside, waiting for some news of Kida. The moment they saw her, they bombarded her with questions.

"Is she alive?" they all asked at once.

"She is, barely."

Tristan stood up and left. He had had enough. It was his fault, all of it. He could not take it sitting there waiting. He should have done something before the fire was lit. He should have silenced Lorna before she had a chance to tell. It was too much for him to take, the silence of the others and the heaviness of the air around them. They all blamed him, he knew they did, they had too. He went to the far end of the Woad camp. There was a small tent there where Lorna was being held. He went in.

"Tristan," Lorna smiled as if nothing was wrong. He glared at her. "What?" she asked innocently.

"It's your fault."

"Is it the Kida thing again? Really, I did you all a favor."

Tristan lost it and slapped her. "I could kill you."

"Why don't you?" she snapped.

"I don't know."

"Afraid?"

"If she dies, you're dead. We will all make sure of that."

"A threat?"

"A promise."

"I'm scared?" Lorna taunted.

"You should be."

"I don't fear you, any of you. You all lack the courage to kill a woman."

"Just wait and see. We will when provoked." He glared at her.

"What is it about this slut that has all of you fawning over her?"

Tristan moved to silence her but stopped. "You're not worth the effort," he muttered as he left the tent. If she was so unhappy to find happiness in others pain, she had enough problems to eat at her. He looked back at the knights, they were all grim. Guinevere sat with Arthur, the look on her face told it all. Kida wasn't doing any better. He turned from the dismal sight and walked into the night.

Arthur watched as Tristan left the tent they kept Lorna. By the look in his eyes, he blamed himself. Sighing, Arthur excused himself and went after Tristan.

"Tristan," he started. "Stop."

Tristan halted and turned around.

"It's not your fault."

Tristan shook his head. "It is. She told me to leave her alone and move on, but I couldn't. I kept at her until she gave in."

"It's God's will. Nothing we can do can change that."

"If I had done just what she told me we would all be going home. Her secret wouldn't have been found out. Everything would have been exactly as we planned it. Now, we're all stuck here. All because of me." Tristan shook his head and turned from Arthur.

"You're not that important," Liam chimed in. Arthur and Tristan turned to find him standing behind them. "We all made our own choices. It's nobody's fault. Kida could have fought if she wanted too. We could have fought. We could have tried to get her out last night. We could have been more careful when talking about Kida. We don't know where it went wrong, but in a way, we are all responsible. If you want to take the guilt you're going to have to share."

"No…" Tristan started.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself. She made a choice. She knew what she was doing, probably understood it better then any of us. If you're going to beat yourself up about it don't. Just deal with it."

"You don't understand…"

"Tristan, we're warriors, we kill, and we die. That's a way of life. If one girl can tear us apart, then we are useless. She would not want us to be useless. You forget that we have yet another war to fight. I for one do not want to surrender one tyrant for another. If I'm going to be stuck here, I might as well be as free as I can get." Liam looked at Arthur.

"You don't have to fight," Arthur said. "I'm not asking that of any of my knights."

"We know, we choose to fight though. Besides, Bors fancies he might like being the mayor of his own village once we drive the Saxons off." They smiled.

"But…"

"Tristan, she's not dead yet, and what I've learned over the past few years is that she will not go without a fight. All we can do is wait. You are not the only person who loves her. We all feel about the same as you. If we let the questions get out of hand we will drive ourselves crazy with the 'what if' instead of the now."

Liam and Tristan looked at Arthur. He understood more then they could have guessed. It was he who ordered them not to try to rescue Kida. It was he who held them back this morning. "Come, let's go back." Without an argument, they returned to the camp.

Guinevere sat beside Kida's bed. Kida was a live, barely. She had trouble breathing. There was nothing else they could do for her but pray. Guinevere could not bear it to go and sit with the knights again. They worried for Kida, and blamed themselves for what happened. How she wished she could kill Lorna, but it was decided against killing her until Kida either died or came too. If she died, Lorna died, if she lived, she would decide Lorna's fate.

"Come on," Guinevere whispered. "Don't die on them now. They need you." She stared down into Kida's face. It looked so peaceful, as if she were sleeping. If she was a woman of her people, she would be sought after, she was beautiful, or could be if she was given the chance to be. The fact she could fight was a plus, women warriors were well liked.

"God, please let her live," Guinevere whispered. "These men, they need her. She is apart of them. They sacrificed their freedom for her, let not their sacrifice be in vain. Please. Please."

"They are close," Merlin said. "We must start planning."

The knights stared at him. "He is right," Liam said.

"I know," Arthur replied. "We must start planning how we are going to battle the Saxons. We are outnumbered greatly. We will have to resort to tricks and illusions if we are to have any chance in defeating them."

The knights slowly began to pull themselves away from their guilt and grief and began to focus on the problem at hand, many of them welcoming the distraction for they were not sure how much more they could take sitting in silence. "How about oil?" Gawain suggested. "We pour it on the ground so all we have to do is set off some fire arrows and start them up."

"Good, we also have some catapults," Merlin said. "My people will also provide good cover with bow and arrow."

"Smoke and mirrors," Liam muttered.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Smoke and mirrors, a game Kida and I use to play. We would go to the cave we sometimes hid out in, build a fire and smoke up the cave, then we would play a sort of tag,"

"I get the smoke part but where does the mirror part come from?" Lancelot asked.

"If we moved around fast enough we could create the illusion of multiple people, making it harder to pinpoint each other."

"I did you manage that?" Lancelot asked.

"Running at each other from all directions at random times. The smoke blinded us to the point we could only see slight outlines unless we were right in front of each other."

"That might just work. Smoke to blind them and then confuse them by coming at them simultaneously from all directions, while Merlin and his people shoot at them. That might even the numbers a bit," Arthur stated.

"Knights, I think we have a plan," Lancelot said, imitating Arthur. The knights smiled. It was not the best plan but it was something.

"When did the Bishop leave?"

"He left after we saved Kida."

"He's not going to hunt us down," Galahad said.

"We're not worth it. Besides, we can go nowhere. Rome controls all the ports from here to the main land. We are as good as dead as far as he's concerned," Arthur replied. "Bors and Dagonet, I want you to go and organize the villagers. Get them into safe havens. Gawain and Galahad, I want you to take volunteers and try to get them ready to fight. Find Jols and tell him that he is in charge of the village volunteers and I want them to hide themselves along the wall. Lancelot and Tristan, you go and get the oil spread and the fire stakes placed. Is that all clear?" The knights nodded and left. Soon it was just Liam, Merlin and Arthur.

"What about me?" Liam asked.

Arthur looked at Liam, he was going to tell him to stay with Kida, but thought better of it from the look on his face. "You and I are going to help Merlin organize his people." Liam nodded. "What first?"

"Archers."

She was falling. Flames engulfed her. Was she in hell? Fire consumed her, yet she did not burn. If it was hell, it was not that bad. She coughed. Something wet fell on her. The flames disappeared and darkness fell. Slowly she opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she croaked.

"Safe," a voice said, it took her a moment to place it.

"Vanora?"

"Yes." Kida looked up to see Vanora smiling down at her.

"This brings back memories."

"Yes."

Kida tried to sit up. "What happened?"

"Don't move, just lay back, you need rest."

"I had a strange dream of burning."

"You did burn."

Kida blinked and tried to remember. She was being led up to a platform. Fire, flames bit at her. Smoke smothered her. Knights, they… "They didn't save me did they?" Kida asked, although she knew the answer. "How could they? I told them not too. I told them to take their freedom."

"Shh, calm down, rest Kida," Guinevere said as she came in.

"Guinevere, why did they…"

"You don't waste time do you?" Guinevere smiled.

"This almost dying thing is getting a little old, I must admit. I always leaves me disjointed."

"You've been out for four days."

"What?"

"For the first two days we thought you weren't going to make it, then your breathing eased and the color began to return and it gave us hope, although I didn't expect you to wake so soon."

"You know me, impatient." Kida smiled as she took in Guinevere's dress. She was wearing blue paint and trousers. "What's going on?" Kida asked as her eyes rested on the weapons at her side.

"The Saxon army is here. Today we fight."

"The knights?"

"All of them at the posts waiting for the Saxons to make their first move. I was about to join my group when I heard you."

Kida looked at Vanora who nodded confirmation. "No," Kida whispered. Kida tried to get up.

"Lay down, you need rest."

"I have to go to them."

"No."

"I have to." Kida looked at Vanora and then Guinevere.

"You can't. All will be well. When it is all over, you will see them."

"If they are alive to be seen."