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Disclaimer: This is so monotonous! Don't we all know if we did own anything of the legend, we'd be shouting it from the rooftop?

Here you go…

The knights had entered the woods north of the wall shortly after taking their break. Tristan had ridden ahead since this was prime Woad territory as the others rode quickly through the dense forest. When he found nothing that would hinder their progress, he stopped to let his horse rest and the others catch up. The soft whinny of a horse got his attention and he quietly moved into the woods to investigate. He found the horse tied to a tree limb and looked around for the rider. He saw someone leaned against a tree and thought at first the person must be dead or at least injured. All he could see was legs covered in brown leather and brown leather boots. There was no movement to indicate life.

He slowly inched closer, moving around to better see who the person was. He was holding his bow ready in case he was wrong. When he got into position to see, he stopped and stared. The person was a woman with long brown hair, done into one plait that hung over her shoulder. She was either sleeping soundly or dead with her head hung forward, her chin on her chest. Her hands were clasped together on her lap. He took a few more steps and didn't see a weapon of any kind, so he lowered his bow and moved to stand directly in front of her. "Lady, are you hurt?" he called out. There was no response, so he moved closer still.

Just as he stepped close enough to lean down and touch her, she raised her head and opened her eyes. He saw her eyes widen in surprise as she tried to get up. "Lady, are you injured?" He spoke quietly, hoping to reassure her that he meant her no harm.

She stopped moving, "No, I'm just resting. Who are you and what do you want?" She recognized him as one of the knights from the fort, but didn't want to let on. He heard the suspicions in her tone and took a step back to let her know he wouldn't try anything. "Tristan. I want nothing. I just heard your horse and thought you must be injured. Since you are not…" He let his sentence trail off, then noticed that her eyes were green, like Gawain had described. "What is your name?" This must be the girl his friend had spoken of, it would be too big a coincidence for two women with green eyes to be north of the wall, alone.

"My name is my business, sir, now that you see I am not injured, you may leave me and go on about your own business." She stood up as she spoke and he saw that she did not have a weapon. "Do you think it wise to travel alone through Woad country without a weapon?" She had spirit, either that or she was incredibly stupid.

"I've never felt the need for a weapon. To carry a weapon is to invite trouble." She began to gather her things and prepared to replace her saddle. Since he didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, then she would.

Tristan was hoping that the others would catch up soon. He really didn't want to get involved in stopping her from leaving, but if they didn't hurry, he would have to. "Sarah," he called her name. She didn't look at him, she just stopped what she was doing, her saddle held in front of her. "You need to wait before you leave. Arthur will be here shortly to escort you home." He watched her for any sign that she was going to make a run for it.

Instead of running, she just dropped her saddle and turned to face him. "Why would Arthur want to do that?" He could tell she didn't believe him. "Because Gawain asked him to." He hesitated for only a second, "You know he didn't mean to cause you any pain yesterday. He really is a good man."

She watched him as he spoke. He didn't seem to be planning anything. "I have no doubt that he is, as you say, a good man. But I have a good man waiting for me at home." He heard the confusion in her voice and wondered why she was confused.

"You are married?" He saw the look in her eyes and knew that she wasn't. "No, betrothed. We would have been married by now if the Saxons hadn't attacked. We will probably marry as soon as I return. But that really isn't any of your business. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need to continue my journey. I'd rather not have to travel at night and you're wasting my time." She bent over and retrieved her saddle and placed it on her horse. When she finished she turned to face him once more. "Please tell your friend and the commander that I appreciate their concern, but I don't need an escort to my home."

He stepped toward her as she put her foot in the stirrup, before he could take more than a couple of steps he saw a Woad come from behind a tree holding a sword. He pulled his sword and moved toward the other man. "Sarah, get out of here. Head back the way you came and you'll find Arthur. Tell him the Woads are attacking." He didn't look to see if she was doing as he asked, but he heard the horse head back down the trail. At least she was smart enough to recognize trouble when it appeared in front of her.

The Woad leader perked up when he saw the man approach the woman. He looked dangerous with his bow, an arrow nocked and ready. He motioned for his party to prepare to intervene should the need arise and watched the man with an eager look on his features. When he heard the man mention 'Arthur', he recognized the name and knew this had to be one of the knights from the fortress. He was reassured that he meant no harm to the woman, but he could not pass up the chance to dance the battledance with the knight. He drew his sword and stepped from the cover of the forest, followed closely by his companions.

Sarah rode back the way she had come hoping to see the other knights quickly. She didn't know how many of the blue men were back where the lone knight was, but she knew if there were many, he would not be able to fight them all. It would be her fault if he died. They had come to escort her home and she didn't want anyone to die because of her. She hadn't gone far when she saw the others riding toward her. She stopped and waited for them to come to her.

When they were close enough to hear her, she shouted, "Hurry, he needs help! Woads." She was glad to see that they didn't slow down, they just galloped past her and pulled their weapons. She turned and followed slowly. It would do no good for her to hurry, she couldn't fight and would probably just get in the way or get one of them killed trying to keep her safe. "Damn, what a mess. But I'm glad they didn't find me alone."

She heard the sounds of fighting before she arrived. As she got closer, she smelled the metallic smell of blood and thought she would be sick. She remembered the smell from when her village had been attacked. It had stayed with her for a good part of her journey away from the fighting and she thought she would never get it out of her nose. It had been a long time before she could even eat meat again. She closed her eyes for a moment and then hearing the sounds of battle die down, she opened them and walked her horse toward the others.

When her horse stepped into the clearing she saw bodies laying on the ground. Some were missing pieces and others were just split open gruesomely. She stepped down off her horse and stood surveying the carnage. She swallowed several times to keep the food she had eaten from rising up her throat into her mouth. She had never seen so much blood. The knights were covered and the ground was saturated with it.

She saw the big man, Dagonet, Vanora had called him, leaning over Gawain. She quickly ran over, trying to avoid stepping in the blood and failing. She knelt beside Dagonet and saw that Gawain had an arrow sticking out of his left shoulder. He looked at her as she knelt beside him. She saw the pain in his eyes and felt guilt that he was hurting because of her. "I'm sorry." She couldn't think of anything else to say to convey the guilt she felt.

Gawain saw Sarah kneel beside Dag. The guilt on her face surprised him, as did the paleness. He tried to smile, but the pain made it come across as a grimace. When she said she was sorry, he wanted to take her in his arms and protect her from her guilt. He reached up and took her hand. "It's not so bad, it just hurts like hell, but I've had much worse." When he saw the tear slip down her cheek, he released her hand and wiped the trail away. "Don't cry, I'll be fine, won't I, Dag?"

"Yeah, we'll just remove the arrow and stop the bleeding." Dag told her. She watched as Dag broke the arrow off and push it the rest of the way through to the back of Gawain's shoulder. Gawain made a face, but didn't yell. She saw that he kept his gaze locked with hers and hoped she didn't look too ill. She wanted to be brave for him, but she knew it wouldn't be real. Right now she was as frightened as she had been when the other knight had yelled for her to ride.

When Dag pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She bit her lip from the pain in her hand, but refused to cry out. If he could stand the pain he felt, she could stand having her hand crushed for a minute. As soon as the arrow left his shoulder, Dagonet then placed a cloth over the wound and pressed hard. Gawain was gritting his teeth and grunting loudly. After several minutes, he raised the cloth and checked the bleeding. "The bleeding has slowed. It will stop soon; we should return to the fort as quickly as possible. If the Woads return Gawain will not be able to fight and we might not be able to protect him." His words were aimed toward Arthur, who had come to check on the progress of his knight's wound. "Come, let's get him on his horse and head back." Then he turned to Sarah, "Lady, you must return to Hadrian's Wall where you will be safe until Gawain has healed. Will you do so without an argument?"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot return to the fort. I must go to my home." She stood up to go to her horse and was confronted by a very angry Galahad. "So, you're going to just leave after Gawain risked his life to protect you?" He shouted. She saw that he was clenching his fists and thought for a moment that he would strike her.

"I did not want anyone to be hurt. But, I did not ask anyone to come. The decision was your own, now please let me pass, and I will be gone." She tried to sound cold, but she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. She tried to push past him before the tears started to fall, but he grabbed her arm, "Gawain felt guilty for pushing you into leaving, but I think his guilt was misplaced. You care nothing for anyone but yourself. Go, then and good riddance." He moved and let her pass. She hesitated, then rushed past him, and headed to her horse.

When she reached for the reins, she felt someone take them from her. She turned to see the knight with the dark curly hair holding them. "Sir, my reins?" She held her hand to take them. "I'm sorry, Sarah, but as Arthur said, you must return with us." Lancelot was a little angry that after they had been pulled from their beds to follow her, she was being a spoiled little brat, refusing to see reason.

Sarah stamped her foot, "I have done nothing wrong! Why can't you just go back and let me go where I please?" She waited for him to relent and let her leave. When he made no move to do so, she asked him, "Am I to be held against my will, then?" Lancelot flashed his famous smile, "Not exactly, you will be our guest until you can be escorted home in the manner a lady should expect. But, if you insist on trying to leave again, we will do whatever we must to keep you safe."

Being told she could not leave brought the tears and try as she might she could not stop them. She angrily wiped them away and said quietly, "Very well. It seems I will be returning." She held her hand out again and Lancelot hesitantly placed the reins in her hand. She mounted and waited for Dagonet and Arthur to place Gawain on his horse. She moved beside him, deciding if she couldn't leave, she could at least help ensure he did not become injured any more than he already had.