Chapter Nine: Regrets and Returning

Galahad burst into the meeting-room where Arthur was in deep conversation with carious heads of tribes, including Iseult's brother.

"She's gone," he told Arthur sternly. Arthur looked back, unsure of what Galahad was going on about.

"Iseult has just escaped with one of the horses." Galahad elaborated. Gwillam stood up suddenly, knocking his chair onto the floor.

"What?" he exclaimed. "I thought you were watching her!"

"We were, but this girl seems to be a heavy sleeper." Galahad said angrily, looking at the girl next to him. Arthur leapt into action, not wanting to waste any time on petty arguments such as this.

"Galahad, collect others for a search party, she won't have got far if we move quickly." Galahad nodded and sped out of the room, followed by Arthur. As he passed the knights chambers, Lancelot stumbled out of his room and limped towards Arthur.

"What's going on?" he asked Arthur.

"Lancelot, you should be in bed," Arthur told his friend, not wanting to tell him.

"It's Iseult, isn't it?" Lancelot asked urgently. Arthur looked at Lancelot with amazement then nodded. Lancelot lowered his head, an uneasy look on his face.

"What? Lancelot tell me," Arthur demanded.

"Before Badon Hill, when you talked with Merlin. Iseult and I…we…we slept together." Arthur raised his head a little and took in a breath. Lancelot continued, more urgency in his voice than before. "She visited me in my room last week and…I think she's pregnant, Arthur." Arthur looked at his friend and sighed, his look unfathomable. He turned and walked into the morning sun now flooding the courtyard. Lancelot stared after him for a moment, considering, then went back into his room and changed, grabbing his swords and limping slightly as he ran into the courtyard, which was now a hive of activity. Galahad was astride his horse, along with Gawain. Gwillam was standing next to them, a terrible scowl on his face. Lancelot strode, as best he could, over to Jols.

"Jols, saddle my horse." Jols looked from Lancelot to Arthur- who was walking up behind Lancelot- and back again.

"Do it!" Lancelot yelled, prompting Jols to go and saddle the horse.

"Lancelot, I'm not going to let you go," Arthur began, placing a hand on his shoulder. Lancelot wheeled on him, shaking the hand off.

"Arthur, please!" Lancelot pleaded loudly. Arthur didn't answer, knowing that he couldn't temper Lancelot's passion at a time like this. Jols brought his horse to him and Lancelot leapt astride, managing to avoid his leg locking as he did so. He turned the horse round and cantered out of the fort behind Galahad and Gawain, the Iceni leader running behind.

They spent the rest of the day searching for her, and the next, and the next. After that, Arthur regretfully could give up no more resources. Lancelot fell into a foul mood, not talking to anyone, striding across the courtyard for hours, sitting in the tavern drinking, or riding out on the hills, but eventually even he gave up hope of ever seeing Iseult again.

Arthur was upset too. He had lost one of his best fighters-his best scout, and had lost the leader of one of the most important and powerful tribes in the south. And they weren't best pleased. Gwillam, of a more passionate disposition than his sister, blamed the loss mainly on Arthur, but also himself. The shaman, however, seemed less worried about the whole affair. When Arthur had asked him about it, the man simply smiled and said, "Time will reveal what may be hidden to us, remember that. We will just have to wait." So the Iceni stayed, and Arthur housed them in one of the unused outbuildings, and seven months later, they were still there.

It was a clear, still morning when Arthur stood on the wall, taking in the view of the country all around them. Behind him, the courtyard was just beginning to wake. He could hear Jols and the stable-hand sweeping out the horses, and Bors yelling at his children for waking him up early again. Arthur took in a deep breath and sighed, eyes surveying the horizon. His eyes locked onto a dark mound moving towards the fort. He watched it for some time, trying to work out who it was. A whistle suddenly sounded from the mound, and from the sky a small dot shot down and landed on the mound, now revealing itself to be a rider and horse.

"Tristan," Arthur breathed, an elated smile crossing his face. He ran down to the gates, ordered them to be opened and ran out to the other side of the wall as Tristan galloped towards him and halted.

"Tristan?" Arthur repeated, disbelieving. "Thank God you have returned. Tristan dismounted and his hawk fluttered her wings a little until her balance returned. Tristan turned and gave what seemed like a smile to Arthur. Arthur stared, talking in his friend's appearance. His clothes were a little dusty, and there were a few more flecks of grey on his beard, but otherwise he remained unchanged. Shouts came from inside the fort as the knights ran out to see who had arrived.

"Tristan?" they all cried apart from Lancelot, who maintained a look of quiet shock on his face.

"Where have you been all this time?" Bors asked.

"I didn't want to hang around while you sorted these tribes out. I went-exploring, you might say. Amazing who you find out there," he mused, eyes turning back to the hills.

"'Who' you find out there?" Galahad asked. "Shouldn't that be 'what'?" Tristan looked at him, a mild smile on his face.

"No, I mean what I said. I saw that Iseult girl a month ago, riding around the mountains. She looked pretty well wrapped up or…she's a bit bigger than the last time I saw her," he chuckled. The knights suddenly went on edge as they looked at Lancelot, whose eyes were clearing as he registered what Tristan had said.

"What did you say?" he asked Tristan urgently. Tristan knew he had been heard the first time.

"Well, didn't you talk to her?" Lancelot asked.

"No, I told you, I didn't want to be found, she didn't see me, so I went in the opposite direction and that was the end of it." Bors turned to Lancelot.

"Oh, come on, Lancelot, you can't still want to find that girl…especially if she's a little..." He gestured to show his point.

"Well, she would be like that, Bors, she's pregnant," Arthur shut his eyes involuntarily and the knights stared, dumbstruck. Tristan, feeding his hawk, suddenly realised as all the pieces came together. He, however, remained inert. Lancelot turned to Arthur.

"I can't let her stay out there, not now that I know where she is. The weather is turning again and she'll be stuck out there alone," he said, impassioned. The knights were, again, shocked at Lancelot's genuine concern over Iseult. He had never been this bothered about a woman before in all the time they had known him. So was Arthur, but he had realised Lancelot's feelings towards her a while back.

"Go." he told him. "We'll come with you. You can't go looking for her on your own. Tristan, you can show us where you last saw her." Tristan nodded.
"I think that I should come too, or she'll have no-one around who's capable of helping her," came the voice of Guinevere floating up from behind them where she had been standing for some time. Arthur smiled and nodded. Trust Guinevere to be practical in a situation like this. Guinevere smiled back then, when Arthur had his attention directed towards someone else, she shot a glance at Lancelot; hurt, possibly, mixed with loathing. She simply couldn't believe that Lancelot had been that close to that girl.