Note: I just wanted to upload another chapter before my work week starts (Fridays are my Mondays!). Hope you enjoy and I'll try to do another chapter sometime this weekend. I usually have four or five chapters written ahead, but I read them several times (and edit) before I submit them. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter and yes, Derek is insane. But then most power hungry people are a little off their rocker.
The commotion that Derek's men made as they arrived at the hut brought all three inside to attention. Suddenly the door burst open and Timothy was thrown to the floor without preamble. Then, leaving, they closed the door behind themselves. Gawain rushed over to Sarah's brother, "Arthur, he's unconscious, but he's alive." Then he began to shake the unconscious man, "Where is Sarah? Wake up man, tell me where your sister is!" Lancelot grabbed Gawain and tried to pull him away from the other man, "It will do little good if you kill him trying to wake him up. Let Arthur deal with him. I'm sure she is fine." As he spoke, he looked at Arthur and the commander saw the doubt reflected in his eyes.
"Gawain, find a cloth and wet it. We'll find out soon enough where she is, but I'm sure nothing will happen in the time it takes us to wake him." The look he gave Lancelot belied the confidence that his words were meant to instill in the worried man. He was sure that Derek meant no good toward the woman and only hoped they could do something before much harm befell her. As Gawain searched for a cloth, he mentally calculated the time since the sun went down. He was sure it would not take Tristan long to get to them with their weapons and then they would be able to search for the missing woman. He was sure they would find her at the council hut. The only problem for the time being was keeping Gawain calm enough that he would wait and not try to go off on his own before the others could help them.
Gawain was unsuccessful in locating a cloth, so he just turned up the pitcher of water he found, pouring all of it over the unconscious man. Timothy sputtered and tried to get up but Arthur held him down. "I'm sorry, that wasn't what I had in mind, but it seems it was effective. Timothy, what happened? Where is Sarah?" Timothy looked blankly into Arthur's eyes. "Sarah?" He answered in form of a question. "Sarah! Derek burst into my hut and took her. He was evidently drunk and when I tried to stop him he knocked me out. I don't know where they went, but I can assume he took her to the Council Hut."
Gawain started toward the door as soon as Timothy said Derek had taken Sarah, only to find Lancelot standing in his way. "Move, Lancelot, or I will go through you." Gawain ground out through clenched teeth. He saw Lancelot glance in Arthur's direction and felt his commander put his hand on his shoulder, "Gawain, if you go out there you will only make it worse. He probably won't harm her unless we interfere. If he sees you, it could send him over the edge." Arthur's voice was calm, almost pleading with the younger man to listen to reason. Instead, he rounded on the man in charge, "If I don't go out there can you promise me that he won't harm her? Like the promise her brother made to keep her safe?" Then realizing he would have to fight two of his friends, he sagged in defeat, "I must do something. Anything." If Arthur hadn't known the big man so well, he would have expected tears. He had never heard him sound so dejected in all the years they had fought and lived together.
"You will. We will. Just not right now. We must wait on Tristan and the others to come to us. If we walk out that door right now odds are we will find an arrow in our chest before we make it a yard past the door. That won't help anyone." Arthur wanted Gawain to understand that sometimes you have to pick the time and place of your battles. That was what had kept them alive for so many years.
Until Arthur said this to Gawain, Timothy had remained silent. The others were surprised when he spoke with anger and vehemence, "You must know that he is insane. I've been seeing signs for the last few months, but tonight, I didn't recognize the man he had become. I hate to disagree with you Commander, but Gawain is correct in this. If we don't do something soon, I think he might kill her. Especially since she is so stubborn and will refuse to go along with him no matter what he does to her. That was the reason we fought tonight. I think he would have raped her in front of me, he was so incensed that she had so openly shown her love for Gawain. I… tried to reason with him but he just laughed." Arthur listened to the tale, all the while wishing he would have waited to tell it. He sensed that Gawain was almost to the point that nothing he nor Lancelot did would stop him from trying to get to Sarah. "Alright. We will move now and hope that Tristan leads the others to where we will be." The resignation in his voice left no room for doubt that he thought there would be trouble that they could avoid if they waited, but he did not want to leave her to the fate that Derek would impose.
"Timothy, is there weapons we can get to without too much trouble?" He stared at the man and watched him go over the possibilities in his mind. Finally, he saw the light of realization come across his face, "Yes, back at my hut. If we can get past the guards posted outside, we should be able to get there without being seen." He then stepped around Arthur and Gawain and stood in front of Lancelot, "Follow me, but stay out of sight until I get the guards attention." Lancelot waited for Arthur to give the signal that it was alright to let him pass, then he stepped back beside the doorway and watched Timothy open it and go outside. "William." He called out into the darkness. "You must realize that Derek has lost his grasp on reality. If we don't go to Sarah now, he will kill her. Do you hear me?" Nothing but silence came as an answer. "Our village has suffered so much in the last few months, do you really want the death of another on your conscious?"
Finally, the younger man from earlier came into the light of the torch that stood outside the doorway. "Derek says she is evil, that she has changed since she left the village. Why should I believe what you say? You are just trying to save your sister." Arthur heard the uncertainty in the man's voice and stepped into the light. "William, as I've said before, I am the commander of the Sarmatian Knights from the Roman outpost at Hadrian's Wall. We came to investigate the rumors of Saxon movement in Britain and to check on this village for Sarah. I do not make it a habit to get involved in the policies of individual villages, but I cannot stand back and let someone who is under my protection be harmed in any way. We will fight you if need be, but we would rather stop this madness now, before someone gets hurt or killed. I agree with Timothy, there has been enough death and loss here already." He spoke the words clearly, in his most formal 'commander's tone', hoping to further make the men standing outside the circle of light consider the rationality of what he was saying. He meant every word, they would fight, and he had no doubt that his men would win. But, he also had no doubt that there would be needless casualities on both sides. That was the way of battle, and he was becoming weary of death.
It seemed to take forever for William to answer Arthur and Timothy, but finally, he said, "I have heard of the great knights from the wall. Tales of your fairness and honesty are carried from village to village, even this far north. Because of this, I will go check on Sarah and return with my answer. Do not try anything until I return. If, as you claim, she is in danger, I will help you. If she is not, you will wait until morning and then you can talk to Derek. Agreed?" Gawain moved quickly from behind Arthur, "NO! I will not wait!" But Arthur placed his arm in front of Gawain's chest to stop him. "Agreed. None of us will do anything until we have heard your decision. You have my word." He looked at Gawain and saw the defeat in his eyes. How he hated making the man suffer, even for the time it would take for William to go and return. But, if it would save even one life, then Gawain's suffering was a necessary part of his decision.