Both Guinevere and Cordelia, who was hanging onto the rock cliffs with nothing but her fingers, looked up at her voice. Before Guinevere could deliver the final blow to Cordelia's hands to make her fall to her watery grave, Emogen surged forward, with a strength and speed she thought impossible, and tackled Guinevere causing them to wrestle around along the ground.
Lancelot was not far behind her as he ran towards the cliffs and skidded to a halt at the edge. He got to his hands and knees and looked over frantically.
"Lancelot!" came a cry from below and directly under him.
He tilted down farther and saw the raven hared blue-eyed woman hanging onto an outcropping that looked like it had seen better days. He bit his lip and started to worry. She was to far away for him to reach down and pull her up and he didn't have any rope with him. Then something occurred to him!
"Cordelia! Are you wounded!"
She replied humorlessly, "Well, I need a few stitches if that's what you're asking me."
Lancelot smiled grimly despite the circumstances and looked around once more. It did no good. Although, the fight with Guinevere and Emogen was getting interesting…especially the way Emogen's dress was rising up her…FOCUS!He scolded himself as he leaned over again and looked around the area she was in. All of a sudden he wished he had Tristran's gray hawk-like eyes.
He cleared his throat and called down, "How strong is that branch you're on?"
A few seconds later she replied, "It'll hold…for now."
"How much longer do you think it has strength?" he continued to ask all the while wishing he had his horse, Vertigo, here with him.
"Probably no more that thirty minutes, so I'd really appreciate it if you hurry up and HELP ME!" she screamed the last part in a mixture of anger and helplessness.
"I have to go back to camp and get a rope! I'll be back before that branch breaks, I promise!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet and ran away from the Circle of Rocks. As he left he couldn't help but wonder, what were they fighting over so badly that would make them kill their own cousin?
Emogen was furious! Sure, she knew Guinevere had a taste for power and the ambition to do whatever it took to gain it, but to kill your own flesh and blood! That was a BIG grievance in the Picts world order. You simply did not kill your own blood-it was blasphemous against The Lady, The Goddess. She was shocked when Guinevere's fist met her mouth causing her to spit out blood from her busted lip and already she felt the bruise forming.
She couldn't help but scream in pain. It wasn't so much as the physical pain as it was the mental and emotional. Her own cousin would kill her and had almost succeeded in killing their other cousin, Cordelia. When she saw an opening, she winced but took it. It landed perfectly causing Guinevere to collapse on the ground unconscious. Emogen sighed in relief. She was eternally grateful to that one Sarmatian Knight of the past who had helped her to learn how to protect herself. Now that she thought about it, he reminded her of Tristran. It wasn't so much that they looked alike, but it had to do with the cheek tattoos and the personality. It was he who had taught her how to take a person down without harming them fatally or physically. All she had to do was learn extreme hand and eye coordination skills together with specific places on the human body. She pressed what Trador, the Knight, called a "Pressure Point" and Guinevere's body immediately told her to go to sleep to protect herself from anymore-dangerous attacks like the one just dealt it. She sighed and looked around. She felt her heart jump into her throat. Where is Lancelot? Why hasn't he pulled Cordelia up? Where are they? Did they leave while I was fighting Guinevere? As she wondered towards the cliff, she continued to ask herself these types of questions-such a short distance never felt so long in her life.
As she reached the edge, a few rock chips fell off, and a voice floated up, "Are you back already Lancelot? That was fast! What did you do, run like the very devils of Christianity were on your butt?"
Shocked, Emogen looked down, but couldn't see anyone.
"Ah, Cordy, is that you down there?" she tentively called out.
"Emogen! What happened! One minute I was sitting in the circle minding my own business thinking about your idea, brilliant one by the way, when all of a sudden, Guinevere is behind me! She hit me with a knife to the back! Then to make things worse, she punched me until I was flat on my back in the center of the ring! When I got my bearings again, we fought. She cornered me by the cliff and well, you can guess what happened next…"
Emogen probably could, but she wasn't worried about that just now. She was more worried about the wound.
"What about the wound? Is it okay? Do you think it is dangerous? I can't tell because I cannot see you, and I'm to far away to actually see it."
"Ah, it is a small wound barely an inch thick. She must have used her bosom knife. I barely felt it enter me, but I definitely felt the pull out!"
Emogen rolled her eyes at her cousin's offset nature when it comes to her welfare. Cordelia doesn't like to be dotted on. She feels like she has to be the tough one because she's the eldest, and by Pict Law, she could become Queen upon her marriage to a man-any man. But now, with the new system being developed, Cordelia's Queenship wasn't so secure. Cordelia was good at covering up her true feelings on things, and battle wounds were just another thing she had to hide under her leadership mask.
"I'm not one of your soldiers Cordy! I'm your cousin! If you cannot let yourself feel vulnerable in my presence, who can you?"
There was silence at the other end and for a split second she panicked, but returned to normal when Cordelia replied, "It's not that Gen, it's just that if I talk about it, the pain will return and I hate pain…it makes me feel like I'm weak and I don't like feeling weak either.
Emogen decided to change the subject, "Where's Lancelot?"
Even from her place high above the Lady of War, the Lady of Peace could hear the laughter in her cousin's voice as she answered, "He went to get a rope to pull me up. If he doesn't hurry he'll be late, and I'll be very mad at him!"
Emogen had a feeling that there was another part to that story, but she also had a feeling that she REALLY didn't want to know, so she waited (impatiently mind you) with one eye on Guinevere just in case she decided to wake up unexpectedly.
Lancelot was sure his body was dying. He had never had to push his body so hard after a painful wound. He was also sure Alma was going to yell at him for doing this, but he didn't have a choice. Cordelia's life was in his hands and his ability to arrive BACK at the Circle of Rocks within thirty minutes. He wasn't sure exactly how much time had past, but he was almost positive that it had been nearly ten minutes since he left, and the trees were finally starting to break apart to reveal the group right where Emogen and he had left them.
As he crashed into the clearing, he collapsed onto his hands and knees and was gasping for breath. His body was sending him painful reminders that it was still hurt and it didn't like all the work he was forcing it to do.
Just as he thought though, Alma wasn't happy. "LANCELOT! You idiot! Are you trying to kill yourself?" she screeched as she jumped out of Gawain's lap and rushed to his side.
He winced at her tone and gasped out, "Guinevere! Cordelia! Circle of Rocks! Cliff, fall, needs rope…branch breaking…to old…need to help her…"
He fell unconscious and Alma stared at him in horror.
"Enys!" she yelled startling the young Healer and causing her to break away from Galahad with a yelp.
"What!" she cried out as she rolled to a stop beside Bors.
"Get some rope and you and Galahad ride HARD to the Circle of Rocks and save either Cordy or Guin! It looks like one of their fights actually managed to get out of hand! One of them is hanging on to the cliffs by an old branch that is ready to fall off dead!" ordered the red-hared woman sharply causing the aforementioned Knight and Healer to jump to their feet and run into Enys' tent.
They came out seconds later and Galahad in turn ran for his horse, Maphestas, and swung onto his back. He trotted towards the group. When he past her, he leaned down, lifted her up, and placed her in front of him in one perfect move. The Knights and the Ladies all watched hoping beyond hope that everyone was all right and wishing that the one causing this pain were here for them to yell at.
Alma sighed at the First Knight before her, stood up, and said, "Gawain, can you and Dagonet please place him in my hut? I'll have to check him to make sure he didn't rupture something."
As she turned to leave, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned and was surprised to see Lady Fulucina at the other end of the hand. It wasn't because she didn't know someone was there beside her, but it was because Lady Fulucina kept to herself and hardly spoke-at least not to her. She spoke to Lucan, her son, Alecto, Dagonet, and surprisingly enough Vanora. She blinked at the Roman woman for a minute before she realized the Roman woman had asked her something and she completely missed it. She blushed furiously.
"Ah, could you repeat that? I was not thinking about what you were asking." Stated Alma willing her blush to fade away.
Lady Fulucina smiled gently and asked, "May I be of some assistance? It is common knowledge amongst the Roman women to know how to care for wounds since we receive a lot of them for disobeying our husbands."
Alma winced at that, but was awed that the timid woman would admit that such a crime was committed upon her in front of people she barely knew. Then she remembered some of the most fulfilling relationships are made during trying times-and this was definitely a trying time!
Alma smiled softly and said, "Sure, I could use your help in cleaning his wound and making sure he stays put while I do it!"
Both women giggled softly and entered the hit behind the two Knights.
Galahad and Enys galloped at full speed through the trees using all of Enys' knowledge of the forest to get them there that much faster. When they arrived, they found Guinevere lying on the ground face first into the dirt and frowned. Guinevere was the one trying to kill their cousin then. They heard a gasp and spun around and saw Emogen staring into a wolf's eyes. Galahad cursed and swung his bow and arrow up and around and let the arrow fly. It flew true and in an instant he found himself being hugged by Emogen while simultaneously being pulled towards the cliff.
"She's far to out of reach and more importantly-straight down. We'll need to the lower the rope to her and then pull her up. Then Enys will have to look at her wound while we, Galahad…"
"Ah…not to interrupt this nice plan to help me but…could you hurry it up…the branch is breaking!" cried out Cordelia anxiously.
In a flurry of motion, Galahad tossed the rope down and dug his feet into the soft Briton earth. Enys pulled from her side purse a few herbs and a water canteen. She was eternally grateful to her teacher, Merlin, for making her wear one all the time no matter what. Emogen, on the other hand, was walking around Guinevere wary for an attack. Her cousin was notorious for attacking the instant the other person lowered their guard thinking they have won.
When she was relatively sure that Guinevere was still out, she knelt by her older cousin and pulled her around so that she lay on her back and not her stomach. She smirked. Cordelia is definitely a better hand-to-hand fighter than Guinevere-that's for sure. She thought gleefully. She checked the wounds inflicted on her and diagnosed them as livable pain filled wounds (such as bruises, bumps, and small scratches.) and lay back with a sigh. She turned around at Enys' cry of shock and saw that Cordelia had a hole straight through her body, back to front. She sighed. Once again, Cordelia had down played her wound for her and Lancelot. Enys all but tore Galahad's shirt from his body for bandages. Fortunately, he didn't mind and purposely walked over to her with the rope in hand ignoring her appreciative eye rolling over his bare top. Hey, she thought they could look but not touch. Why can't I?
"So, Guinevere actually tried to kill Cordelia." Stated Galahad in disbelief.
Emogen nodded sadly and said with a sigh, "So much for our picnic tomorrow."
Galahad looked at her curiously and asked, "Why, what's changed?"
Emogen sighed and said, "With Guinevere's actions tonight, it had made the choice for Queen instantly Cordelia's. You see Guinevere and Cordelia were born at the same time exactly. I was born three months later, but that's beside the point. The point is, Cordelia and Guinevere are both what Roman's call, Heir to the Thrown, but they still need a good, strong King."
"Like Arthur." Cut in Galahad.
Emogen nodded and continued, "As such, they are Princesses, along with I, but they were the two competing for the thrown. Guinevere's actions tonight have broken many of our more sacred rules. Never minding the fact that killing ones own blood is a terrible offence. Tomorrow, Merkin will demand for a meeting and demand that Guinevere be banished or killed, whichever he's in the mood for, and demand that Cordelia become Queen."
Galahad swore as he tied up the Woad Princess and turned to the other two. They were silent, but watching them.
Galahad asked softly, "Is this true?"
Cordelia sighed and replied, "Sadly, yes. Tomorrow is going to be awful."
Galahad placed Guinevere over his horse unceremoniously and turned to Cordelia with a twinkle in his eyes. The three women were alert for some prank, but none came. All he did was twinkle at them.
"Goddess above! Out with it! What are you thinking of?" exclaimed Cordelia outrageously.
Galahad didn't answer right away, but when he did he asked, "Which do you prefer…tar and feathers or wine and chicken eggs?"
The three looked at one another in complete befuddlement as they arrived back at the fire. Emogen quickly forgot about Galahad when she saw that Lancelot was not with them.
Before she could hyperventilate, Dagonet grabbed her gently by the shoulders and said, "He's fine! Alma just needs to clean him, and check on his stitches. He isn't hurt or had a relapse. He is FINE."
Emogen took a deep breath to calm herself down and nodded. She turned to the horse and sighed.
Bors said gruffly, "So, Guinevere's the culprit. What's gonna happen now?"
Emogen replied sadly and tiredly, "Well, the picnic tomorrow is off for Cordy, Arthur, and myself because of what she's done. We'll be stuck in meetings all day long about this and…"
Lancelot's voice carried over as he made his way over to them slowly, "I don't care if I have to call a recess! We WILL have fun sometime tomorrow even with this…this…this difficulty!"
"Lancelot!" exclaimed Emogen happily as they kissed. He pulled away shortly and grinned cockily at her. She huffed but laughed with him as they sat down. The others all rolled their eyes good-naturedly at them and teased them once again on their lovey-dovey routine.
Tristran and Ula, who were sitting close together, looked at her with equally worried faces. To them, Emogen was pale and dead tired. They looked at Lancelot to see if he had noticed, and were happy to see him glancing over at her from time to time worriedly.
Ula stood up and said in a tone that demanded obedience, "Gen, I don't care if you have higher authority over me, but I'm ordering you to bed! You look so pale that I'm afraid our people will mistake you for Inish (Devil Ghosts). GO TO BED!"
As she opened her mouth to argue, she saw Tristran's disapproving glare. She closed her mouth with an audible snap and glared softly at him. He raised an eyebrow in challenge. She sighed. Normally she'd take him up on that challenge, but she was too tired. They were right. She did need to go to bed.
Lancelot placed his hand upon her lower back and whispered into her ear warmly, "Come, my Maiden, let's go to bed."
She yawned and said teasingly, "Why are you coming, I can't do anything tonight."
He barked a laugh and replied, "With all regards My Maiden, I, too, am unable to commit to such a vigorous night! I was hoping you'd invite my into your bed for sleep- not other nice activities."
Emogen blushed softly even though she knew it was a joke and as they reached her hut, she said softly and with extreme feeling, "Welcome to my bed, My Savior."