When they were away from the Meeting Hall, Lancelot spun towards Arthur, pounced on him, and all but pleaded with him, "Arthur, please, please, PLEASE spar with me! I haven't touched my swords in nearly two weeks! PLEASE can we spar?"

Tristran and Arthur laughed at their friend's child-like pout and Cordelia and Emogen watched the three men with awed curiosity. This was a side of the Knights and their commander that they had never seen before. It was heart-warming to see them act so innocent.

Arthur pushed Lancelot away with a smile and said, "Of course Lance! Just let me go get Excalibur and we can spar with the others, okay?"

Lancelot jumped and did a happy jig that impressed Cordelia and Emogen. He was an amazing dancer!

The future queen looked at her cousin and said enviously, "You lucky woman! Lancelot is a dream when it comes to dancing!"

Emogen smiled largely. She knew it was true because during the battle of Badon Hill, she had seen her lover's movements. They were flowing and graceful like a gentle creek flowing with water.

Lancelot winked at them both and said with a flourish, "Of course I am! I'm the best dancer this is of the Wall!"

Cordelia grinned and said with a laugh, "Oh! Now I know you and Gen were made for each other!"

At Lancelot curious glance, she added, "She's our peoples best dancer!"

Lancelot turned to her and raised and eyebrow. Emogen shrugged and smiled a sly smile while looking up at him through her long inky black eyelashes.

"Well, we'll have to dance together later on then. But for now…SPAR!"

He placed a quick kiss on Emogen's lips, spun around, and ran into the hut that had been established inside the wall for Emogen. Arthur had wanted to move Emogen, Cordelia, Guinevere, and the others into the Fort, but with Bishop Germanous still here waiting for Lady Fulucina and Alecto to return to Rome, the Picts had to stay within the village huts just inside the protection of the Wall.

Arthur chuckled and placed a gentleman-like kiss on Cordelia's hand and vanished into his chambers to retrieve his legendary sword.

Emogen and Tristran smiled slightly at blue-eyed woman's dazed look and red cheeks. Very quickly both men returned with their weapons strapped to their bodies.

"So, where ARE our allusive friends?" asked Lancelot dryly as they passed through the wall and into the open.

Tristran replied, "Ula said they were going to some glen where Ula, Enys, and Alma gather their herbs for healing. They are low on stock. Vanora and Fulucina are with them with all the little numbers as well."

Cordelia smiled and asked in a knowing tone, "Ah, but they aren't little numbers now, are they?"

Arthur, Lancelot, and Tristran all smirked evilly at her words. It was true. Bors' children were no longer a long slew of numbers. All eleven had been given a name and Bors was struggling to remember all of them. Which probably accounted for his abrupt attitude this morning when Tristran walked past him. It hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since he received his motivation, (Bors personally thought it was cruel and unusual punishment) and he was in a foul mood. Apparently, Vanora hadn't been joking yesterday.

As they passed by an older Pict woman with clothes being presented for sale, Cordelia and Emogen walked up to her and Cordelia asked, "Do you have any everyday clothes for us in our size?"

When the three Knights realized that their other half, the fairer half, was missing, they stopped and turned around to find them. When the three men found them, they rolled their eyes. Of course, they were shopping. Emogen looked at them over her shoulder and smiled slightly at their annoyed faces. Lancelot grinned slightly at her, showing her one of his sexy dimples, before his face returned to it's annoyed façade.

The old woman looked them both over and said, "Aye my Ladies, I do. Let me get them for you."

Then the lady disappeared into her hut. Arthur, Lancelot, and Tristran marched up to them and Arthur asked, "What are you two buying?"

"Come on already! I want to spar sometime today!" exclaimed Lancelot childishly.

Emogen patted his head like he was her son and said slowly as if she was speaking to a child, "Soon dear, we are just getting a change of clothes. We can't very well go out and about in these long dresses now can we? We'd ruin the stitching!"

Lancelot rolled his eyes and muttered "Women" under his breath.

Cordelia and Emogen smiled eerily at him and Emogen said, "Oh, just trust me, my dear, Lancelot. You won't be disappointed in the outfit, I promise."

No sooner had she said that, did the woman return with two sets of clothes. One was blue and brown with gold accent and the other was green and brown with silver accents.

The woman gave the clothes to them and said, "That'll be two silver Romii and three bronze Romii."

Cordelia nodded and said, "Fair enough."

She pulled out the five coins and handed it to her.

As Emogen handed her five to the woman, the woman pulled back her hand and said, "Together, they cost two silver and three bronze."

Emogen froze and then protested, "Oh no! That's much too cheap! Let me pay for my clothes!"

The old woman shook her head and walked back inside her hut. Emogen bit her lip and looked at her cousin. Cordelia shrugged. She had no idea what to tell her cousin. This sort of thing happened all the time with Ladies of Peace. It was a benefit the belonged to only those of her station. She understood the reasoning behind it too, even if Emogen didn't. The people believed that the Lady of Peace was a servant of the people. As such, she deserved to receive such necessities free of charge.

Cordelia blinked away her thoughts and said as she pulled Emogen into the hut behind her, "We'll be right back!"

The three Knights sighed and relaxed their stances. Before they were out of hearing distance, Cordelia and Emogen heard Lancelot pout, "I'll never get to spar!"

They giggled and quickly pulled off their formal dresses and put on their new everyday clothes. Cordelia looked into the mirror in front of her and grinned. The top was sapphire blue. It had thick shoulder straps and in the front were golden leather strings that tied together in a crisscross fashion that pushed her chest tight up against her body. The collar of the shirt was scooped and showed a bit of her improved cleavage. Her skirt was tanned leather that fell to her mid thigh and was cut at the sides half way up to allow easy movement. Her boots were the same tanned ones as before. She quickly pulled up her raven black straight hair into a high ponytail and grinned again. She looked perfect.

Emogen, who was behind her, facing another mirror, was also grinning. Her outfit was very similar to her cousins with a few differences. Her shirt was emerald green and matched her eyes perfectly. It was a half-top with thick shoulder straps. In the front of her bosom, two silver leather strings crisscrossed creating a tied up look. Her leather strings were only for show. Her midriff was bare. Her skirt was tanned leather that fell to her mid thigh and was cut at the sides half way up to allow easy movement. Her boots were the same tanned ones as before. She, too, quickly pulled up her curly raven black hair into a bun and let her shorter strands of hair fall about her face framing her eyes wonderfully.

"So, lets go surprise the boys." Said Cordelia coyly.

Emogen giggled and together they exited the hut after calling a farewell thanks to the old lady.

When they walked outside, both women burst into hilarious giggles. Arthur, Lancelot, and even Tristran's eyes had popped wide open and their mouths were near the vicinity of their ankles.

"Wha…wha…what are you wearing!" demanded Arthur with glazed filled eyes.

Emogen smiled at Lancelot as she felt and SAW his eyes run over her body. It sent a thrill through her body when she saw him lick his lips unconsciously. She giggled slightly at Tristran's face though. His eyes were jumping to and fro in an attempt to NOT look at either one of them inappropriately. She felt a bit bad for him. Not only was it considered bad form to look at another man's woman, it was near blasphemy to look at your own brother's lover! It didn't matter that Tristran, Lancelot, and Arthur were not blood brothers. All three considered each other family, brothers, and Tristran's attempt to ignore them was very considerate. It proved to her without a doubt that even though Tristran was silent and withdrawn from the Knights at times, he truly cared for them. She also had to bite back a grin when his eyes started wandering through the trees. He was shifting from foot to foot. He was anxious to find the others now, or more importantly, Ula. He wanted to find out if she was dressed similarly!

Cordelia smiled, posed, and asked, "What, don't you like it?"

Arthur nodded his head vigorously and exclaimed, "NO! I mean, YES! Oh Blood Hell, woman! You're going to be the death of me-I can already tell and we aren't even married yet!"

Emogen giggled with her cousin and posed for Lancelot.

He grinned at her, wrapped his arms around her, and as he pulled her into a deep kiss, said into her ear huskily, "You are definitely wearing THAT tonight!"

She giggled.

Arthur pulled himself together, cleared his throat, and asked, "Shall we go find the others, now?"

Emogen and Cordelia nodded and followed their male counter parts into the forest.

Arthur waved them in front of them and said, "You know where we are going. Lead the way, Ladies."

Cordelia whispered into her ear as they walked in front of the Knights, "They just want to watch our backsides without being caught."

Emogen giggled again. She was feeling exhilarated! She felt just like a teenager again with Cordy and Guin after they had successfully teased a poor Woad boy into a blushing girl. She just knew that life with these men was going to be one exciting adventure after another.

Coincidentally, Cordelia was right though.

"Bloody Hell Arthur! Just look at them!" whispered Lancelot lowly but raggedly as both men watched their women walk. The skirts swished back and forth against their back ends enticingly. Arthur could only nod. Tristran smiled as his hawk, Siolae, flew down to his raised arm and let him pet her head.

"Hey, I thought I let you go. Why'd you come back, eh? Why'd you come back?"

The hawk made a soft sound and softly butted her head against her master's hands. Tristran smiled.

"Okay, you can stay with me."

Lancelot and Arthur grinned at their friend. Even if they sometimes hated Siolae for keeping them awake some nights with her loud chirping, they knew they'd also miss the lady hawk that helped them scout around as their eyes in the sky. After a few more minutes of walking, they entered a clearing and found the others gathered there laughing and playing some kind of game with the children.

When they entered, Tristran's eyes immediately spotted Ula, and he gulped. She was wearing an outfit similar to Cordelia's and Emogen's. Ula's shirt was a dark purple no sleeved shirt that had bronze accents along her midriff and when you looked at the bronze through glazed eyes, they turned into a bronze colored panther ready to strike. Her skirt was exactly like Cordelia and Emogen's too. She had no boots on though, but he could see three pairs of brown boots by the trees. Enys and Alma were dressed alike too; except Enys had on a light blue half-top shirt with bronze accents and Alma had a yellowish-tan shirt on like Cordelia's with bronze accents. From the corner of his eye, he saw Gawain and Galahad eyeing their love interests with looks of pure awe and desire. He snorted. It looked like none of them would get a full night of sleep tonight.

"Hey! You made it!" cheered Enys as the group turned to them. Fulucina and Vanora smiled at their new female friends and quickly pulled them into the game.

"Woah! First off, WHAT are we playing?" asked Cordelia with a laugh.

With a grin, one of the children, a girl, answered, "It's a game that Uncl' Lance made up for us years and years ago!"

Lancelot came up to the group, smiled as he picked up the girl, and said, "Caoimhe, my love, are you trying to pull these two lovely ladies into a rousing game of Hide and Go Seek?"

The eldest twin girl giggled into her favorite uncle's neck and said, "Yep! It'll be fun!"

Lancelot nodded, put her down after giving her, a large hug, and said as he kissed Emogen's cheek, "You both will have fun. The rules are simple: one, one person counts up to twenty while the others run and hide. Two, the person who counts has to go and find the ones hiding. Three, when one person is found that person has two options: one, get tagged and become IT, or the person who counts, or two, dodge the person and run towards what I call 'Home Base'. It's a safe place and if the runner reaches 'Home Base' before the counter tags them, they are safe from becoming IT. When one person is found, the other people hiding jump out of their hiding places and run for 'Home Base' too. When this occurs, if the person who is IT hasn't caught the first hider, then the person who is IT can race after any person and try and tag them therefore turning them into IT. If all the hiders reach 'Home Base' before the IT person can tag them, that same person is IT again. Thus, the game is fast paced and everyone gets to scream and laugh like utter fools. See, easy!"

Emogen and Cordelia nodded as the First Knight and soon-to-be Knight Commander faced off against his Commander and soon-to-be King, Arthur Castus renamed Arthur Pendragon.

Caoimhe smiled, pulled at her new Aunt's hand, and said, "Drostan's IT! Plus, 'Home Base' is by mummy and Lady Fulucina! They aren't playing because they are watching the little ones."

Emogen smiled brightly at the girl beside her and said, "Well, let's get this game started! Oh, Alecto! You're here too! How nice, will you be joining our game?"

The son of the late Marius Honourius smiled slightly at her, shook his head, and asked softly, "May I have a word with you please, Lady? I need to talk to you about something."

She raised an eyebrow, turned to Caoimhe, and said, "I'll join in next game. I need to talk to Alecto for a minute first, okay?"

The eldest daughter of Bors and Vanora looked up at her with wide blue eyes and said seriously, "Okay, but you have to p'omise first."

Emogen smiled at her and asked, "And how do I do that, little one?"

Caoimhe smiled brightly and said in her childish voice, which still held the lisp of her younger years, "Like dis!"

Then the small girl raised her fist and pointed her tiny finger into the air.

She continued, "Uncle Lance said it is calleded a 'Pinky Swear' 'cause my finger was all reddish-pink when he made it up and 'Reddy Swear' didn't sound to good."

Cordelia grabbed her hand and said cheerfully when the child looked up at her, "It's a good thing he did because now Gen here will participate in this glorious ritual."

Bors' daughter just stared at her oddly before she burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Yeah! You're like Uncl' Arthur! He talks like 'hat too! 'pecially when he wants to be funny!"

Emogen quickly 'Pinky Sweared' with her new friend's child and followed the teenage boy to the other side of the glen.

"What's the problem Alecto?"

The black-hared young man sighed and said, "The Bishop is starting to annoy me. He is constantly asking me when we will be leaving this rotten land to return to the glorious city of Rome. The problem is, I do not WANT to go to Rome. I have never been there in my life and I have never had a desire to go there either. I know I am the Pope's favorite, but that's because my father helped to place the Pope into his throne. It was also my father's plan to have the Pope name me his 'Favored One', so that I would one day become Pope. I don't want to. I don't doubt it would be a great honor, but I do not want that kind of responsibility. I have seen what power does to fool-hearty men and I crave none of it."

Emogen interrupted softly, "If you know the dangers, you could avoid them and make Rome truly great by changing how they view the world."

He nodded, but said just as softly, "But, in my place of power, no one would tell me when I made a mistake. I fear, they would kneel to my every whim, and I'd become the monster my father was before he died. In any case, that's not the true reason I wanted to talk to you."

Emogen blinked in surprise and asked interestedly, "Oh, then what's the true reason for talking to me?"

Alecto smiled mischievously and said with a casual shrug, "My mother has a fancy for Knight Dagonet. I need your help in devising a way to get them alone together."

Emogen blinked in shock and asked a bit stupidly, "You mean, you want to set your mother up with Dagonet?"

Alecto smiled and nodded.

"But why? I mean, she is a proper Roman Lady and…"

Alecto shook his head and interrupted, "My mother has lived in constant fear of her husband because of her Roman background. I know some of the culture of the Sarmatians. They respect their women, and they even let them fight in battle with their men. Dagonet would be wonderful for my mother. His gentleness can easily heal her broken heart and make her soul truly shine again. Please, will you help me? Getting rid of the Bishop and helping mother, I mean."

Emogen thought about it for an instant before she nodded and said, "Sure, it'll be nice to throw that annoying, egotistical Bishop out of the Wall and I like your mother. Besides, I, too, think that her and Dagonet would make a nice couple."

Alecto smiled at her gratefully and they both shook on it in agreement.

"Hey! Em…Emo…EMMY! You p'omised to join in next game!" shouted Caoimhe as the two turned back to the others and watched as Arthur twirled away from Lancelot's double bladed crosscut and swing Excalibur expertly at the last twin sword flying at him. The two swords met with a fast CLANG and then the two men parted again. Emogen smiled. Lancelot and Arthur both looked happier than ever: with large smiles on their faces and sweat dripping down their faces and necks.