Out of Darkness Comes the Light - Chapter 32
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone you may recognize. I don't even own the title. If you think I have ripped you off, sorry. This came purely from my own imagination, such as it is. I don't even claim that my story is any good...
A/N: Here's the mental fallout of what just happened. Well, I wouldn't exactly call it mental per se...
op - I'm glad that you liked it. Things are about to calm down for a while though.
Cardeia - Thank You Milady! As you sent that, I was outside standing in my backyard. In the pouring rain. It's been nearly 100 degrees the past few days that the rain felt so good. I do so love summer storms. I hope you like where I put that...
AHH! A sus scrufa is a varient for pig. Or wild boar. My computer kept putting it in and I kept taking it out. A battle of will that I lost.
And your take on the Victor/Justus relationship was exactly right. I so happy that you figured it out. It seems that so many are just interested in reading about blood and sex. I really enjoy when people figure out the little clues I put in here and there.
KnightMaiden - I'm happy that you enjoy it. Here's more I hope you like.
Lady11Occult - Yup, Justus done got his. Nasty, hateful man...
June Birdie - You make me laugh so hard, you know that? In your reviews and in your stories.
Melosine - I'm not sure I see him a a fixer. I mostly see him as way insecure. He's not pushing her away. He's trying his hardest to though!
"Ceridwen, take this rag. Hold it against that wound."
The frightened girl did as she was told. Her face showing her distaste at the blood. This whole mess was frightening. These men around her... Teagan doing what she did... It was all so hard to take.
"Arthur, why do that? He's going to die anyway." Lancelot asked his commander. Disgust dripping from his voice as he looked at the man on the floor.
Arthur held up a small knife, laying in the spot Teagan had just vacated. He held it up, showing Lancelot.
"If this is what she stabbed him with, I doubt he's going to die." Blood dripped from the knife, already starting to congeal, to turn a darker red.
"Pity." Lancelot muttered.
"But what if he talks?" Ceri wondered aloud.
"I don't think he will. He's finally met his match. He's only going to run with his tail between his legs."
"Why don't we let Tristan loose on him. You know he wants to."
Arthur shook his head. He moved next to Ceridwen, crouching next to an unconscious Justus. He turned his head to Lancelot who was lounging in the doorway, his legs crossed.
"No. He needs to be away from this. We can't afford to have fingers pointing at him." He rested a hand on Ceri's shoulder. "Why don't you take Tristan back to the inn where we are staying?" Ceridwen nodded her head, standing.
Arthur grabbed her sleeve before she could leave. "And bring Gawain back here."
Ceri left without another word to the two men, more than happy to get out of there.
"Now what?" Lancelot asked after the woman was out of earshot.
"I'm thinking." Arthur said as he looked at the man lying on the floor.
Justus' breathing was becoming more labored as time wore on. Perhaps he was going to die after all.
What would they do if he did? Could any of his men be implicated in this crime? Was it even a crime at all? He had attacked Teagan, she undoubtedly bore marks of his attack on her.
Perhaps he deserved what Teagan had done to him. From what had happened today and apparently for some time, he had been terrorizing her for years.
They would deal with it as it came.
Arthur's thoughts were interrupted as Justus began to cough violently, blood coming out of his mouth, his eyes never opening.
He scooted back, not really wanting to touch the foul man. He wasn't the one who knew about belly wounds, but what he did know, most people died from them.
From loss of blood. And from the looks of the Roman lying on the floor, he'd lost quite a bit.
0o0o0o
Ceridwen approached Tristan cautiuosly, not wanting to startle him.
But, looking at the man, he didn't look all that dangerous. Not right now anyway.
Tristan sat on the ground, his back facing a wall behind him. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, just looking up at the ceiling. He had a still bundled Teagan in his lap. Who wasn't looking at anything either.
Considering the situation at hand, it looked like the most natural thing in the world to her. They both looked rather calm.
Ceri cleared her throat. "Sir Arthur bids me to take you back to the inn."
Tristan only nodded, effortlessly standing while holding Teagan. Though he knew the way back, he had no qualms following Ceridwen back.
No one said a word as they made their way back to the inn where everyone was staying. Around them, noises of the city could be heard.
Dogs, laughter, the crashing of some pottery and even a baby's cries could be heard. Tristan's ears could almost make out the sound of lovers...
Overhead, low thunder rumbled over the city, heralding a possible storm on the way.
Tristan was silent as he followed Ceridwen. His eyes going upward as he heard the thunder, studying the clouds and sky.
Teagan lay tightly bundled in Tristan's arms. Her eyes large as she watched where they were going, taking in everything around her. Her mind going over the events of the past day. She also heard the thunder.
"It sounds like it's going to rain." She whispered against Tristan's chest.
He shifted her weight, bringing her face up closer to his neck. He felt like smiling when she snuggled closer into him, her breath caressing his neck.
"No, not tonight. Tis only the heat."
0o0o0o
Ceridwen returned about two hours later, with Gawain and Gilly in tow.
The young man had decided that he didn't want to be left out of something this exciting. Ceri hadn't told much to them on the way there, being cautious of being followed, but what he had heard, he wanted in.
He felt, in a way, that he owed Teagan. She had traded herself for him. Then to turn around and kill him... 'Wow' was all he could think.
Now, looking at the state of the room and all the blood, he felt his excitement build. This was the kind of things these knights dealt with all the time.
'Life is never boring around these people.' He thought wryly. He couldn't wait to tell his father.
Both Gawain and Lancelot watched as Gilly wrapped Justus' body in a few blankets he had gotten off the small, dirty bed.
"So, what are going to do with it now?" Lancelot said as he kicked the stiffening body of Justus.
Gawain's face took on the one he wore in battle, the mask of a hardened killer. His eyes though, remained unchanged. They were as merry as ever.
"Well, I could make the bigger pieces, smaller." He said in mock seriousness.
Lancelot let out a chuckle, giving Gawain a shove. "I don't think so." He moved to the shuttered window, looking toward the woods that lay beyond the city. "Maybe we could just dump him out there, the critters would surely love the meal."
"Might be our best bet." Gawain agreed. He clapped Gilly on the back. "Go make sure there is no one around. We don't want an audience, do we?"
Gilly couldn't help but laugh at the huge blonde knight as he ran to do Gawain's bidding. Finding humor in a situation like this...Gilly was fast finding Gawain a hero.
Lancelot glared at Gawain as he tried to pick up Justus. "Are you going to help me?"
Gawain let out a snigger. "Hadn't planned on it. Supervising an all." He feigned a look of disgust at the thought of even touching the man. "He's a Roman after all."
Lancelot had just gotten the dead man's head and shoulders off the floor when Gawain made that remark. Dropping them, both knights winced at Justus' head hit the wood floor hard. The noise carrying out of the door, dust flying everywhere.
"You'd think, being a Roman and all, he'd have better accommodations." Gawain said as waved some dust away.
"Ahhh, the better to kill you with my pretty." Lancelot laughed as he stretched his back.
Neither man noticed that Arthur, having heard the noise had come back up the stairs.
"Done playing, boys?" He said as he looked around, amusement playing around his lips.
A friend is a person who is alway ther when you need them. A good friend will help you hide the bodies.
Well, this lot were surely the best of friends.
0o0o0o
It was some time later when Arthur made it back to the inn, Lancelot, Gawain, Gilly and Ceridwen in tow.
They had decided to take Lancelot's advise and dispose of Justus in the woods. Burying the man as far out as time and light would allow.
All were fairly certain that they hadn't been seen. But it was a chance that everyone present had been willing to take.
Everyone took care of everyone here. Arthur gave a satisfied sigh, everyone here was family.
Now, all he had to do was talk to Tristan. To get him to stop this nonsense. He knew that the women were taking care of Teagan's wounds and Tristan was downstairs in the inn's small sitting room.
Sure enough, he was there. Pacing. Though the murderous rage that he was capable of was still there, Arthur saw something else.
"Is she alright?"
"She's fine." His tone hard, his words clipped. "Guinevere and Cassandra are with her now." He tried to pass Arthur, but the commander stopped him.
"Tristan, listen to me." Arthur took the scout by his shoulders, his voice bringing Tristan's eyes to meet his. Tristan's eyes were as dark as ever.
Arthur had been the only one to truly never be afraid of Tristan.
Other than Teagan. And again she would be his savior. She would always be the one to rescue him.
"You must stop this madness. This is bordering upon obsession. That is what this Justus wanted to do to her. Own her. You do not own her." Arthur watched as Tristan's eyes changed. Changed from the normal deep brown that they usually were to the almost black he got when truly angry. "I understand that you need her. She needs you also."
"I don't..."
"You do. She needs you to be calm. You are not the only one who thought they lost her. "
Arthur watched as Tristan's face changed again. And couldn't help thinking that Tristan felt he was the only one feeling slighted in all this. He dropped his arms, starting to pace.
Both Gawain and Lancelot were as angry as could be with what had happened. Lancelot worried that he had lost his sister. Arthur had even caught the knight crying a bit. It had been a good thing Cassandra had been there.
Arthur's lips curled into a slight smile. Lancelot thought that his and Cass' secret was safe. It wouldn't be once they reached the wall.
Gawain had just wanted to charge after the man, hack him into bits. He had been that angry.
No, Tristan wasn't the only one who thought he had lost Teagan.
"Teagan did a good thing today. She prevented Bors' son from being killed. Even if it meant getting hurt herself. She made a judgement call she thought was best. She is truly the leader she tries so hard not to be."
He turned, facing a still quiet Tristan.
"This is what we have been doing for all these years. Giving of ourselves to protect others. She did just that."
Tristan had stood silent the entire time his commander talked, taking in what the man had to say. It made sense, all of it. Teagan didn't die, they had made it to her in time. And she had handled herself the best she could without them.
She hadn't really needed them. Or him.
He hadn't needed anyone in such a long time. Made sure that he only had to take care of himself.
So why did he feel that he needed Teagan so much?
0o0o0o
After Arthur left, Tristan stood against the window looking out into the night. Thinking. Thinking about what Arthur had said. How so much Arthur said made sense.
Snorting to himself, Tristan kicked at a rock that had been tracked in, making his way up to Teagan. There were things he needed to say to her.
Opening the door, he watched as she slept. She lay with no covers on. The women had dressed her into one of his linen tunics, the length of it nearly coming to her knees.
Carefully he sat next to her, his fingers moving the hair that had fallen into her face. Lightly, he traced her exposed ear, watching her.
Tristan took in an enormous breath, slowly letting it out, building his courage. Once he opened his mouth, but no words would come.
He shook his head, angry at himself. He needed to tell her...
He took another breath.
"I thought you left me. Whether by your choice or his, it didn't matter. I'm tired of seeing those that I care for leave. You've done things to me that I cannot explain. I have been yours since that first time I saw you shoot a bow." Tristan took a piece of her hair, feeling the softness of the curl between his fingers. He felt his body become more calm. He continued to talk softly to her.
"You are not afraid of me. Men I have known for nearly all my life are afraid of me. You shouldn't be with me. I am unstable. Ask anyone."
He looked at the sleeping woman. He watched as she shifted just a little. The movement bringing her closer to him.
"You didn't see that in me."
Tristan bent his head to her, resting his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes. "I need you. You are my sanity. I love you." He whispered.
He opened his eyes as he felt Teagan's fingertip under his left eye.
There was a slight smile on her lips, her eyes a pale shade of blue.
"You know, you have a scar here, right under your eye." She brushed it so lightly, Tristan wasn't sure she was touching him at all. "I never noticed it before."
Tristan dropped his head, his hair and braids falling into his eyes.
Teagan reached up, pushing the errant hair away from his eyes. Her touch light, causing shivers to go through his body.
"I heard you." She whispered.
His head snapped up, then he tried to turn away. He wasn't quick enough, Teagan grabbed his arm, making him face her again.
"Don't run away from this."
"I have to." His voice heavy with emotion.
Teagan groaned, sitting up, still holding onto Tristan's arm.
"Why do you feel the need to hide yourself from me?" She asked him softly as her free hand took hold of his longest braid, fingering the leather cord. She loved this braid of his. So much longer than the rest.
Tristan lifted his head, as he did, it caused Teagan's hand to brush his cheek. He took hold of that hand bringing it to his chest, right over his heart.
"If I don't let you in here, it won't hurt so bad when you finally leave me."
"You think that of me?"
Tristan nodded, not trusting his voice right then. He would not tell her that she was already in his heart.
But, Teagan already knew that she was. If she wasn't, he wouldn't have reacted the way he had when she was taken.
Guinevere and Cass had filled her in with all the details as they had helped clean her up. The way he had been. Though both women were disappointed when Teagan wasn't as forthcoming with her information.
Again, she pushed a lock of his dark hair from his eyes. As she did, she slid into Tristan's lap, the hem of the white linen tunic riding up her legs.
Tristan couldn't help but run his hands up her exposed thighs.
Carefully, as much as her injured side would allow, she wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her cheek on his shoulders.
"I will never leave you." She said softly. So softly that Tristan had a hard time hearing the words.
A/N: Well? Was it okay? And I have just realized that I am so near the end of this. Running out of ideas. (Hint, Hint)