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'Thoughts'
"Speech"
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KING ARTHUR:
Fallen Knights Return
Chapter Ten – Love
'She loves me' that thought, unbelievable as it was, stayed with him all night. The feel of her lips on his, was still with him. He had come so close, so close to losing her….he had felt it; her life ebbing away…and yet…and yet she had come back to him…
He lay next to her, his arms about her – listening to her even breathing as she slept. He held her close, comforted by her warmth and her love.
She moved, and woke; the moonlight shining through the window and saw his eyes, those warm chocolate brown eyes, looking at her full of love. She smiled at him; he leant over and kissed her gently "How fare you?"
"I fare well…."
He touched her side; she felt her skin burn from his touch "does it hurt?"
"Not as much. No more than the other wounds now. But pain is good…."
"Pain makes you realise you're still alive" He smiled, using the words she had herself said earlier that day.
"Are you jesting with me?"
"I do have a sense of humour…"
"You do?" she smiled mischievously.
"Yes, ask Bethan…she finds me very amusing."
She reached up and tugged one of his plaits "she adores you Tristan. She said you would save me, as I would save you. She wasn't wrong, was she?"
He kissed her again "Nay, and I adore her too; I don't get on with children as a rule…"
"But?"
"But she is different; she is like I would expect my daughter to be if I ever had one. Though I never expected to…"
"She is as good as yours, trust me; she loves you as much as any child would love their father, ask her and she would agree with me."
He hugged her tightly burying his head in her neck, causing her to gasp with pain as his arm brushed her side.
"Sorry…."
"Nay, so long as you continue to hug me I can stand any pain. I love you."
"You've said…and I love you."
"You've said…"
He smiled. "You gave me back something I lost; my humanity…." He kissed her gently "never leave me Sandrina…." And again "never leave me…."
"I won't Tristan…but I can't promise I won't ride into battle with you again. I would give my own life to protect you. But whatever happened to me, I would walk with you….."
He stroked her face, brushing her hair from her eyes, his hand gentle and soothing. "It is who you are, and I love you. I would do the same for you." He gripped her face with his hand, and rested his forehead on hers.
"What? What is it?" she reached up with her good arm and caressed his face.
He turned his head and kissed her palm "when you fell…..I thought…you were so still…and then those five days…it looked as if…"
"But I did not, and you brought me back….I will not desert you Tristan. How can I desert the man I love so much I left Heaven to come back to him?"
He kissed her….deeply. Her arm grasped the back of his head, her fingers twining through his hair; Tristan broke away breathless "You must rest San…"
She grinned, "Mayhap…for now…" and wiggled her eyebrows at him.
He laughed out loud "that is the first time I've ever heard you laugh Tristan, and you called me San…"
"I will call you more; you are my heart and soul, now rest - come here."
She moved gingerly towards him, and he once again enfolded her closely in his arms.
"You are mine….." he said possessively as she drifted to sleep; Tristan following her, for the first time in five days, to a peaceful slumber.
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The next morning, the rays of dawn filtered through the window – waking Tristan before Sandrina.
He smiled at her 'so it wasn't a dream'; she was really here, and she loved him.
He felt a presence and stiffened. "Do not fret boy – I am here to check on her only." Merlin spoke from the door as Tristan gently rolled her away from him to stand.
The movement was so fluid and quick, that he almost seemed to just appear standing on the floor.
"You are as she, of nature. She is an elemental, do you understand?"
"You mean the wind on the battlefield, the rain when she was sick, and the animals?"
"Yes, she does not control it; more it guides her, or would if she let it. She loves you boy, more than you will ever know or understand, she went against every instinct she had to protect you…"
"I feel the same."
"I believe you; you are alike in many ways. I know one thing with certainty – she only comes alive when she is with you. You brought her back…..even when I thought she would not return - she did; she came back for you.
I knew when I sent her here that she would be for one of the three she raised, though I did not think it would be you."
"Who?"
"I hoped Lancelot …."
"Lancelot?"
"It would have solved many problems. Problems yet to unfurl on us; but the heart know its own, and the soul cannot ignore the pull of its mate. She may yet stop the black clouds from gathering, she is strong; and the one who can turn from this path follows her closely."
"I will not let her perish old man - I will kill all before me first, regardless of who, even if I must die with them".
Merlin regarded him levelly; gone was the warmth from the boy's eyes, ice replaced it. "Aye, I believe you; though she will not perish, nor will you. But you will have your part to play also, in this game that fate is leading us all into.
Mark this Knight, she is a warrior – her mother was a Briton, I know. She is part Briton, part Woad. Her rage can run deep…." he leant close to Tristan and whispered "she can have a bloodlust that would make you quake, should anyone threaten those she cares for; no quarter given, no mercy shown. You will see; you will all see and soon, what a warrior that child is."
He caste an eye to Sandrina who was stirring "Child, you feel well?"
"Tristan?"
"Your first thought eh? He is here child; do not fret, where would the scout go if you were not by him?"
Tristan was by her side immediately "He is right, would I leave without you?"
"You might, if Arthur needed you."
He couldn't deny this "True, but I would tell you first."
"You wouldn't have to….I would know."
She wrapped her good arm round his neck and pressed her forehead to his "my heart beats with your heart – my soul winds with yours, my life force is now your own. We function as one….I will always know you Tristan." He kissed her gently.
Merlin understood the charm she had run, probably without realising it; she seemed to have little knowledge of her heritage. She had now tied her soul to his for all eternity, even after death. He drew Tristan aside and told him.
Without answering him the knight knelt down and repeated the charm to Sandrina, then looked at Merlin and said calmly "it is as it should be, we are for each other."
Merlin merely nodded and then set to tending Sandrina's wounds. They were meant, they were; and they would be a force to be reckoned with…he could only thank the fates they were working on the side of good.
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Fate continued to play its game, and Destiny allowed its wheels to move forward once more.
