Disclaimer: As before please, for the love of God, don't keep making me write it out people:O) Ilara is a 13th C. name, but one that I thought fitted the story well.
All reviews, and constructive criticism, gratefully received – but no flaming please; and I will try to update regularly.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
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KING ARTHUR:
Fallen Knights Return
Chapter Twenty-Two – Meetings
The following morning, Odell watched Tristan leave to go on a scouting mission for Arthur. He decided he would speak to Sandrina immediately, before he returned.
"Good Morrow Odell!" She smiled as she opened the door to him.
"Good Morrow Sandrina; I wondered if I could speak with you."
Her face clouded "Is it Amila? Are you not happy she is with Lancelot? My brother is a good man, and I am sure she will be happy with him."
"Nay, it is not that - how did you know she was with Lancelot?"
She raised her eyes toward the ceiling, with a wry smile "Their room is above ours. They were moving an awful lot of furniture yesterday and last night."
He laughed out loud "That phrase will never be forgotten by knight or Woad!"
"Well, I can guarantee the others will not let us forget it, even though it was Lancelot that thought it up; I may as well get my worth out of it!
But if not them, what do you wish to speak of?"
He sighed "I wish you to come and live with the Woads..."
"What!"
"They are your people; you would flourish with them, your abilities would thrive…you…"
"Why would I want to? My life is here, Odell; I am carrying Tristan's child. My brother Lancelot is here, my best friend Dagonet is here, all the knights are my family and I would lay down my life for them; Good God, my child and my lover are here – I can never leave.
Why would I wish to live with people I barely know? Your tribe is not even mine; mine are dead, because I am Sarmatian! My mother may have been a Woad, but I was raised Sarmatian."
"You could bring Bethan with you, she is full as much Woad as you; she has abilities all her own. You belong to us…to me."
Sandrina stood in shock; but she could not be swayed from what she knew to be true "I am touched you think so highly of me, but it changes nothing. I would not leave Tristan desolate like that, I could not; he is the air that I breathe, every beat of my heart. He is Bethan's father in every way that counts.
If you want me to leave him you may as well cut me down where I sit, for that is the only way I will ever be separated from him. There is no where in the world I would rather be than by his side; if I were separated from him I would perish, simply wither and die."
"I am very glad to hear it…" Tristan stood at the door "leave now Odell, I think Sandrina has made her feelings plain enough…" his icy voice held a warning.
"She is of us, scout; you cannot avoid the inevitable!" Odell was becoming angry.
Tristan had him up against the wall with a knife at his throat in an instant "I asked you to leave." He said calmly.
Sandrina rested a hand on Tristan's arm "Just leave Odell." She caressed the scout's face, paying no heed to the Woad before her "You know I would not leave you Tris…."
He swung his eyes to meet hers, a smile ghosting his lips, dropping his arm. "Aye."
Odell stalked out – stopping only to glare at Merlin, who was now stood at the door, as he left "It seems you were right, Destiny will not be swayed." he murmured to Merlin.
"Nay, and you have made an enemy of her for trying".
"So be it; it was worth the attempt."
Merlin entered the room "I am sorry you were subjected to that; I thought he would have better sense than to declare himself".
"Did you know of his feelings?" asked Tristan.
"Aye, but counselled him against speaking of them as I knew full well Sandrina's devotion to you."
Tristan glanced at her "Always good to know" he smiled.
"Thank you Merlin; I will fare well now."
"I do not want him around her any more; I do not want her upset - or Bethan for that matter."
"I understand, I will talk to Amila; he is her brother and she will take him to task. She is quite formidable…"
"We had noticed…"
"I will leave you…"
"Merlin is there aught we can do for Dagonet; he is so sad these days. I am worried for him." It had been worrying her for a while now, and she hope her friend would help her.
Merlin thought for a moment of the best way to broach the subject without giving the man's secret away, "He is lonely Sandrina, he is very lonely."
"I see; I will think on it."
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After Merlin left, Tristan pulled her into his arms "so he could kill you before you would leave me?"
"Aye; and even then my spirit would haunt you!" she laughed, before he smothered her in a kiss.
"So long as you never left me; where's Bethan?"
"Where do you think?" she smiled "with Lucan in the stables, talking to the horses. She thinks she can teach him to interact with animals as she does."
He kissed her neck "All he wants is to be with her. I sympathise, I feel the same about you."
She kissed him passionately, "so you missed me too, then?"
"Yes, and you" he dipped and kissed her stomach "I missed all four of you…"
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Later that evening they were all in the tavern; Sandrina was working extra shifts there for a while, as they were short handed since Lynette had finally left to marry Thurston and another barmaid was sick.
Tristan had not been happy, but she pointed out that she would be helping Vanora and could spend more time with him.
He spent the evening with Bethan on his lap and his eyes on Sandrina. She would laugh at them frequently; with their matching hairstyles, intense stares and blank faces.
Eventually Bethan asked her "why do you keep laughing at us?"
"Because you look so alike!" she ran a gentle hand along both their cheeks. They smiled together, which made her laugh all the more. "Oh Bethan you are your father's daughter!"
As she went to walk away she collided with the new young woman coming the other way.
"Apologies lady – my apologies." she whispered her head dipped.
"It was my fault Ilara, do not fret so; and call me San not lady, all else do." San smiled. "Now come meet my fellow knights; they will look after you."
She pulled her over to the others "Knights! Meet Ilara – she is a Briton and new here; she can only whisper so play nice." All the knights roared hellos; and a thought occurred to San, as she saw Dagonet nursing his drink at the end of the table with Tristan and Lancelot, who had Amila sat next to him – holding her hand under the table.
She shook her head at her brother - she would have to have words with him, ridiculous man - and gestured to Dagonet "Dagonet, can you keep an eye on Ilara for me? I am worried she will not be able to cope with this lot." she indicated the rowdy tavern "and I trust you."
"Of course, have I ever let my friend down?"
"Never." She turned to the woman hovering by her "Ilara? This is Dagonet, he is my best friend in the whole world and I love him dearly – he is as important to me as Tristan and Lancelot." she pointed to the two other knights. "He is a good man, and will look after you." She saw the girl sigh with relief.
"Thank you Dagonet, thank you." She touched his arm.
He smiled down at her and for once the smile reached his eyes.
He kept an eye on her all night; if any got too friendly, he would go over and put a stop to it. If she was having trouble being heard, he would speak for her. She constantly gave him grateful looks and kept muttering her thanks.
At the end of the evening, as Tristan had taken Bethan and Sandrina home – the little girl asleep in his arms, Sandrina holding his arm – Lancelot and Amila left kissing and laughing, muttering about furniture moving to Tristan, who just rolled his eyes, and Galahad and Gawain had staggered off to…..well, he did not see them go but knew they had; he offered to walk her back to her lodgings.
"I do not have any" she smiled uncertainly "I was more worried about getting work so I could earn money to eat."
"I see, there will be nowhere open now – maybe you could come back to our home."
"Our?"
"Aye, mine and Lucan's" he indicated the little boy asleep on one of the wooden benches.
"Who is he?" she asked as her face lit up.
"He is my son…well, sort of.." Dagonet told her the story of how they came to be together, even down to how he came to be here.
She told him what happened to her and her village "The Romans came, ransacked the village and left. I was left for dead….but I was not. A Woad woman found me and tended me back to health, I was lucky to be alive; though it does not feel that way sometimes."
"Your family?"
"All dead; my husband, my young son, he would have been 4 now had he lived, everyone I ever held dear was slaughtered. Sometimes I wish I had joined them."
"You do not mean that; San used to think like that. Now she has her daughter, Tristan, another baby on the way and all of us. Lancelot and I adore her…" he sighed "But Tristan is the love of her life."
"You are sad about that? I do not talk much so I get to watch - I saw you glancing at her, you looked so sad." she smiled slowly.
"Aye, I loved her; but it will never be spoken of, she is devoted to Tristan - so I have buried my feelings, they are not returned so what is the point? She is my dearest friend next to Bors…"
"The bald man with the loud laugh?"
Dagonet grinned "Aye that is him; he is more like my brother, Truth be told." He made a sudden decision "Look, if you want work I could pay you to look after Lucan for me; I do not think it is right for the boy to be here every night.
I know he likes to come because of Bethan, but I also know Tristan is not too happy about her being here all the time either. Mayhap you could look after both, and we could pay you. Or they could pay you and I could give you board and lodgings. How does that sound?"
He reached over and gently pushed her hair behind her ear "you are too nice and too shy to work here; and you do not seem to like it anymore than San does – she is as tough as old boots too."
"Why does she do it then, if she dislikes it so?"
"To be near Tristan, they hate being apart; if she works elsewhere or chooses not to come in, he rarely stays overlong. She rode into battle to save us, you know. Took a blow that was meant for him, it nearly killed her."
"Is she really a knight?"
"Aye after a particular battle Lancelot, who is like her brother suggested - in fact they call each other brother and sister, and certainly fight like siblings. Arthur agreed."
"Who is Amila; the girl sitting with him?"
"She is Lancelot's lover. They are growing very close very quickly, a little like Tristan and San did; though with a lot of fire! But I think they will stay the course – I believe Lancelot loves her, though is wary of saying."
He laughed and then told her the story about 'moving the furniture', making Ilara blush.
Particularly as Bethan and Lucan had both said irritably "What is it with adults and their need to rearrange their rooms all the time! That is another two of you at it; who else? It's like a disease!"
"Van and I are always moving furniture in our home, that is why I have 11 bastards and one more on the way!" Bors had said and roared with laughter, until Vanora slapped him.
"They are not bastards; we are wed, remember?"
"Every time you strike me wench, every time!"
Her laughter that joined his sounded harsh, but it was genuine and he felt a newness stir in him; he liked her a lot - felt like he wanted to protect her, wanted to help her.
"I have salves that might help your throat, and Merlin might have medicines that could help your voice. Would like us to take a look on the morrow?"
Her eyes lit up "Would you? Really?" she whispered, excitedly, making eye contact for the first time that night "It would be lovely to talk in anything other than a whisper!"
Dagonet smiled and held out his arm "Shall we go, my lady?"
She beamed at him…
Lucan, lying on the bench watching, quickly closed his eyes – he smiled, he would definitely have something to tell his Bethan tomorrow! Father had found a woman, and she seemed really nice!
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Merlin, passing the tavern earlier and again now, saw what San had done. "She never ceases to amaze even an old dog such as I." he thought with a rueful smile.
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And so the wheels of Destiny move once more. Love grows for the desolate dark knight, the Woad has set his fate in motion, and the sad knight finally smiles….
