Chapter Eight

Beleth sat unbelieving in her room. When Galahad and she had actually got to the wall their breath was taken away by the sheer number of Saxon's camped outside. Then when her brother finally arrived he said something that was far to close to a goodbye to Beleth. She had run ahead to his rooms.

After arguing for a while he had just grabbed her arms. The words he had said still rang in her head.

"Go! Go with Galahad, I know you care for him." She had tried to interject but he wouldn't let her. "Go with him and share a life that I was never able to give you!" With that he stormed away, leaving Beleth standing there feeling utterly alone.

Now she sat on her bed, she had a wool dress that was a deep red on, that fell off her shoulders, her thick woolen wrap beside her and her small bundle of precious belongings beside her. Her hair was pulled back at the sides otherwise out. She was leaving and her brother wasn't coming, she was going to be completely alone.

Beleth was walking along beside Vanora; she had given her horse to help pull a few of the wagons. Galahad was ahead of them on his horse. He hadn't looked at her. She was quite glad because the thought of having to look him in the eye after what her brother had said was quite daunting. Her brother…would she ever see him again?

Beleth wasn't religious, she never had been really, and she didn't like the idea of someone controlling her. She believed everything happened for a reason, fate, destiny. But now she whispered a small prayer asking for her brother to be returned safely to her.

There was a commotion up ahead as the knights tried to quiet their horse. 'No, not this…'

As she appeared on the other side of the equipment wagon she saw Galahad in his full armor with a helmet under his arm. He looked at her and she couldn't help but let the tears fill her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She looked at her hands and then steeled her self to say it.

"I…I am not going to ask you not to go because I know you will." She looked at Galahad, his expression was unreadable. "But I want you to know before you go…that…that I love you, and I always have and I always will." She looked at her hands as the tears ran down her face. Galahad took a step towards her, lifting her chin so he could look at her.

His heart burst with the desire to tell her how he felt, but he couldn't find the words to describe it. How did you tell someone it hurt to breathe when she was near? That your heart ached at the thought of her? How could he say such things and make Beleth understand that such agony was the sweetest thing he'd ever experienced?

So Galahad didn't even try to use words. In fact, he didn't say anything at all. He simply looked at her. And then he pulled her close and did what he'd been dying to do ever since he had her in his rooms. He kissed her.

Locked in Galahad's warm embrace, Beleth felt as though she was floating. Her hand pressed against the broad expanse of his chest. She was flying. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck; she never wanted to let him go. It felt as if they were the only people in the world. But they weren't.

"Galahad," Galahad slowly pulled away from her and looked around not letting her out of his embrace. Gawain was standing in front of them. "We have to go." Galahad nodded and Gawain disappeared behind the wagons.

Galahad turned back to Beleth; he slowly kissed her forehead and released her only to grab her arms with his hands. He looked deep into her eyes.

"I love you and I will come back for you." She looked up at him as he released her and jumped on to his horse. He looked at her one last time before galloping away with the rest of the knights.