As promised... enjoy!

When they rode into the village a few moments later, Sarah noticed the difference in the way the people behaved. Instead of shyly greeting them, these people clutched weapons tightly, fear and suspicion on their faces. She was marveling at the changes and failed to see the man standing in front of them until they stopped. She heard a horse fast moving to the head of the group and saw Timothy stop to talk to a man. She couldn't see who the man was until Timothy's horse moved to the side as they looked at the knights. "Derek!" she exclaimed softly. Although she had whispered, she knew Gawain had heard her by the way he tightened his hold on her. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the scowl on his face and knew he thought she was pleased to see him. "That's not what I meant. I was just surprised to find him in charge." She explained. She felt him relax and saw the scowl lessen. Knowing that problem was solved, she turned back toward her brother and the man she had once promised to marry.

As Timothy was talking, she saw a look of fury flash across Derek's face. She saw him move to come toward them, then stop and say loudly, "Although your help in returning my bride to me is greatly appreciated, you cannot enter in peace, as you claim to desire, with your weapons. Remove them or you will not be allowed to enter." He looked at each knight, then turned to Timothy. After saying a few words, he turned and headed into a large hut that stood in the center of the village. There had never been a hut in the center before. Only a large fire pit where all the men of the village met to discuss never needed discussing. The women were not forbidden to attend these 'meetings' and some did, but most just took that opportunity to sit together and talk amongst themselves.

All these thoughts crossed her mind in the time it took Timothy to ride back to their position. "Derek says you are to be taken to the council hut to wait for him." Then as if an afterthought, "you must go unarmed." He stared directly at Arthur and waited for him to nod. Sarah watched the commander's face and saw resignation there before he spoke. "Gawain, you and Lancelot will accompany us," then he turned to Timothy, "the rest will camp away from the village until this is sorted out."

The three men dismounted and made to lead their horses as they walked. Timothy did not move as he said, "Your horses cannot go. War horses make formidable weapons as well." Sarah wondered at the knowledge her brother now possessed. She also wondered what had made the fury appear on Derek's face. Even if he cared little for her, he would not take kindly to being replaced so easily while she was gone. Especially by someone he would know he could not best. Without thinking, she leaned into Gawain and felt him tighten his arm on her shoulders. After the cold reception she had thus received, his presence gave her a sense of security and she was thankful that he was there.

They reached the large hut and entered single file. She had started in first, but Gawain had held her back as he stuck his head through the opening. Finding nothing amiss, he let her precede him and the others all came behind them. Inside the hut was one single room with mats woven from straw for them to sit on. In the center of the mats was a fire pit where a small fire burned. On one side she saw that one mat was on a platform making it sit higher than the others. Derek, it seemed, still had to be the best or at least in this instance, he had to appear best. To the back of the hut, Sarah saw a door that she could only assume lead to another room, being too far toward the center of the hut to be a back exit. It was unusual for their huts to have more than one way in or out, so she assumed Derek lived behind the meeting room. How like him to want to be the center of attention, even when no attention was necessary!

Since everyone was standing just inside the room, she moved to one of the mats and sat down. She would not stand around and be uncomfortable and uneasy around her own people! The knights followed suit, with Arthur sitting on one side of her and Gawain on the other. Lancelot sat next to Arthur. Timothy and William, a boy only a few years older than she, stood outside the circle and gave all appearances of guarding them. What could she do to make Derek see the folly in treating these men as prisoners? Could she make him see that these men should be honored for bringing her all the way home instead of mistreating them so terribly? The changes in her people made her sad and when she saw Derek enter the room, she knew he recognized her sad face as they locked eyes.

He hesitated when he found her eyes with his. Then breaking eye contact, he strode into the circle and as Sarah had thought lounged on the taller mat. Timothy and William never moved. If she hadn't known them, she would have thought them guards of some high ranking person of this village. They almost stood at attention as the Roman legionnaires did back at the fort whenever Arthur walked up. Slowly the anger she didn't know she felt at how things appeared started to bubble. She jumped up and went to stand directly in front of Derek. "How dare you treat me and my guests this way! You know who I am, yet you treat me like some criminal." She stood with her hands on her hips, angrier than she had ever been, waiting for some kind of response from the man.

Derek slowly looked around the circle, taking in each one's reaction to Sarah's words. He noted the way the one with the long, blonde hair had almost followed her. He was the one she had been riding with when they arrived. Even though there was another horse, riderless, being led behind them. 'So, this man thinks he can take what is mine.' He thought as he slowly stood to face the woman he'd planned to marry. "What right do you have to enter our village in the company of seven men and expect to be welcomed as you would before you left us?" He looked pointedly at Gawain before he continued, "I watched for you every day and thought surely the Saxons had found you when you didn't return. I never would have believed that you would have found 'something' that could keep you away from me for so long." When he finished speaking, he raised his hand and struck her across the face, knocking her backwards. He saw her raise her hand to her lip and feel the blood on her split lip.

Before she could react to the blow, she saw Gawain jump up and bound over the small fire. He knocked Derek down and had him by the throat. Timothy had a sword at the back of Gawain's neck and Sarah heard him say vehemently before he released his hold, "If you ever touch her again, I will kill you!" She jumped up, wiping the blood on her hand off on her tunic. "Wait, Timothy, don't!" she pleaded. Arthur and Lancelot were standing ready to go to the aid of their friend. This was spiraling out of control and only she could get all of their attention at once. She put her hand on Timothy's arm and although she felt him move away from her touch, he withdrew the sword and looked into her face. She saw the sadness directed toward her and she looked away. Timothy then reached down and helped Derek get to his feet. She went to Gawain and helped pull him to his feet. Once he was standing, he reached over and touched her lip, a look of pure hatred on his face.

She led him back to their places around the fire and as she sat down she gave Derek a look of disgust. She regretted ever placing her trust and love, little as it turned out to be, in the man sitting across from her. Even if she didn't love Gawain with all her heart, she would never be able to love the man Derek had become. She saw him straighten his clothes before he deemed it necessary to speak again. "Well, I see my faithful bride-to-be has given you the impression that it is acceptable to care for her." He turned his eyes to her and said with malice, "but I can assure you, to think such thoughts is folly. She belongs to me and I will not allow any other man to lay claim."

She felt Gawain tense in preparation of another attack. Timothy must have noticed the same, for he moved closer to Derek, holding the sword at the ready. This was truly the last straw. "Derek, I am no longer to be considered your 'bride-to-be'. Father was right, it was a mistake, but thankfully, a mistake that can be remedied." She saw him flash a look of malice toward Gawain, then turning back to her, "Oh, but you are mistaken, my love. You will be my wife."

His arrogant attitude made her stomach clench. If not for the fact that she wanted to avoid any trouble, she would have jumped the fire as Gawain had earlier done, but under the circumstances, she thought it best if she just tried to reason with the man. "Derek, I cannot marry you. You are not the man I once thought you to be and surely you have no wish to marry a woman who does not come willingly to you?" She was surprised that instead of looking at her as he spoke, he looked directly at Gawain, "It matters not what you feel. You. Will. Be. My. Wife."

Sarah was in such a state of shock at his words, not to mention his tone, that she just sat there and stared at him. His stare was directed solely at Gawain and she looked to see that he was not looking away from Derek either. As much as she wanted to avoid trouble, she knew that sooner or later there would be trouble between these two men. She placed her hand on Gawain's arm, trying to draw his gaze from the other man. Whether he felt her movement or not, he did not look away. He reluctantly broke the stare when he heard Arthur call his name. He looked at his commander and heard him say quietly, "Don't let him goad you. That's his goal and you have no reason to worry. He will not hurt her again. He only hit her to see if someone would react. By doing so, you gave him the answer he was seeking." After a moment, Gawain nodded and looked into the fire.

He knew Arthur was right in his analysis. But he couldn't get over how he'd felt when he saw her struck. He had never wanted to kill someone so badly as he had at that moment. It would have been worth it if he'd been run through, to have seen the light of life slowly extinguished in the man's eyes. To see the look of satisfaction wiped from his face and replaced by one of terror. Gawain suddenly realized he had never experienced such hatred before and it was hard to forget the emotion, He slowly got his breathing under control and began to relax.

Feeling exhausted from the emotional turmoil, he turned to Sarah's brother and asked, "Can we not have something to drink? Our own skins are with our mounts." He saw the other man look at him and wondered what he thought about this Derek striking his sister. But from the way he had gone to the other man's aid instead of checking on her told him where his loyalties now lay. He continued to stare at Timothy until he lowered his gaze and motioned for the other man to bring them something.

Derek stood and looked at her expectantly. Sarah patted Gawain's arm and slowly stood. She walked over to where Derek was standing, waiting for her. She wanted to scratch his eyes out for slapping her. He was lucky Gawain did not have a weapon, then realized that was the purpose of relieving them of their weapons. He could do pretty much anything he wanted and not have to worry about consequences. "You would be wise not to underestimate Gawain or any of the others. Any of them could kill you with their bare hands if need be." She spoke through clenched teeth as she stepped up beside him. Watching his face, she saw the flicker of doubt cross over his eyes, quickly hidden as he half closed them for a moment.

"So… Gawain is his name. He would be just as wise not to try to take something that does not belong to him. Otherwise, I might have to make an example of him." He watched her face closely before smiling and reaching for her hand, "Come, tell me of your journey." Sarah noted that the smile was only on his face, she still saw something in his eyes that disturbed her. She felt that the man in front of her was capable of many things she would never have thought him capable of before. The challenge in his eyes frightened her and she began to doubt the sanity of his mind. Deciding to listen to her inner voice, she put her hands together in front of her and said, "I see no reason to leave this room. There is very little to tell."

She saw anger briefly contort his features before he once again showed her what she assumed was supposed to be a smile. He spoke softly, "I feel the fear in you, what could you possibly fear from a man who loves you?" She decided to stop all the pretending and just get it over with. She was tired of all these games. "Oh, I don't know, for starters let's discuss how I and my friends are being treated as enemies. Then we can move on to how you struck me only minutes ago. If you would go so far as that in front of seven other men, nine, if you count my brother and William, then I have every right to fear what you might do with no one watching." She realized she had put her hands on her hips and that he had just glanced down at them, before looking back at her with a smirk.

"Sarah, my lovely, do you think I need to get out of sight of these… these heathens, to do anything I might like to do? You have much to learn about the new ways of your people." He waited for her to respond and when she didn't, he said, "Very well, if you wish to stay here, then I will not force you to leave. I choose my battles and right now, this one is not worth the effort." He led her away from the group. Coming to a large wooden pillar to one side of the room, he leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest. Even if he had not changed so much, the look he gave her would have made her angry. He looked at her as one would a small, unruly child that needed to be taught how to act in front of adults. She'd be damned if she would let him get away with such treatment of her.

"Derek, why do you feel it necessary to treat people the way you are treating me, not to mention Arthur and his knights? Does it make you feel like a bigger man?" For a split second, she thought she had pushed too hard. She saw him flinch and prepared for the sting when he slapped her again. But instead, he just laughed. "I have no need to feel like a big man. I am a big man. No one even so much as shouts without my knowing it before hand. Things are so much different now that the old ways have been discarded. Just wait, you'll see." She noted that toward the end of his little speech, he had sounded like a child who wanted approval for a job well done. Had he always been this close to being insane? Why had her father not warned her since he seemed to know there was a reason she should not promise to marry him? Knowing she would never find the answers she was seeking, she sighed, "You're wrong, Derek, I will not see. I won't be here long enough to see anything. I only came back to see if my family survived, since Timothy is the only one and he doesn't seem to care whether I am fine, then I see no reason to linger. We will be leaving as soon as I inform Arthur of my decision."

This time his laughter was real. When he finally subsided, he told her, "I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see, now that you have returned to me, I am reluctant to let you leave again. It seems you, and your friends, will remain my guests for a while longer, reluctantly I see, but guests none the less." He gave her a slight bow, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to see to. Timothy will escort you to your rooms." Then he hesitated as he turned to leave her, "I'm afraid you will not be allowed to stay with this knight of yours. It is forbidden for a man to lay with a woman out of matrimony in our village. Funny, of all the old laws, that is the one I would choose to keep since you lay with me before we wed. But very fitting when dealing with whores."

Before she realized what she was doing, she slapped him, hard enough to make his teeth cut his upper lip. Blood slowly welled up before slipping down his chin and he reached up to wipe it away. "That one makes us even. But don't let there be another time, for I will not let our past protect you from my wrath. You will suffer the same fate as anyone else who goes against my word." He looked at the blood on his hand, then back at her. He reached out and wiped his blood on her cheek, then turned and went back through the door he had come out of before.

She stood there for what seemed like a long time, just staring after him. She turned when she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Gawain standing behind her and Timothy standing ready should he try to go after Derek. He took his thumb and wiped at the blood smeared across her cheek. She shook her head and told him, "He's insane, he says we must remain as his 'guests' for a while longer." She sounded so sad and frightened he asked, "What did he do to you to make you strike him?" His tone said he would not let the subject drop. She wanted to tell him it was nothing, she just wanted to pay him back for hitting her, but she knew if she lied he would know. "He called me a whore! Then he said I would not be allowed to stay with you since laying together out of wedlock is forbidden." She took his arm in both her hands, "Promise me you will not leave me alone. I don't know these people any more. Derek frightens me, maybe more than the Saxons."

He took her in his arms, holding her close. "I promise. You will not leave my side until we are out of this place. Come, let's tell Arthur what is going on." He released his hold on her and reached for her hand. She gladly let him take it in his relishing the feeling of security the small gesture gave her. They went back to the seats they had next to Arthur and Sarah told him what had transpired between her and Derek. He listened intently, then told her, "I think it best if you stay as close as possible to the rest of us." She heard Lancelot cough loudly and looked to see Timothy heading toward them. Arthur stood up, followed closely by the others, with Sarah being the last to stand.