"Speech" / Thoughts
Epilogue Part II
Arthur was looking at Guinevere with great concern; one of the healers had been with her again. Guinevere was at this moment around eight months pregnant when she started to lose blood, which concerned the healers and midwives severely. The healers had already warned Guinevere that she needed to gain more weight for her pregnancy. They feared that the pregnancy would take a great toll on her already tenuous frame. At this point of the pregnancy Guinevere was too exhausted to do anything else but lay in bed. The brave woman Arthur had fallen in love with was now a mere shadow of herself.
"Who is at my door?" Arthur asked upon hearing the knocking.
"Tristran and Sebastian," Tristran's voice sounded through the door.
Arthur stood up to open the door. He hadn't expected his scout to turn up this early, let alone two scouts turning up. As Arthur opened the door he also opened his mouth to comment on the early visit from Tristran. All he could do was blink as he saw a toddler on Tristran's arms that looked remarkably like Sebastian.
"Can we come in?" Tristran laughed at the astonishment on Arthur's face. They had come here for a serious matter.
All Arthur could do was nod and follow the pair into his private chambers. He made sure the door to the bedroom was closed; he didn't want Guinevere to wake up. After sitting down in the chairs Arthur waited for one of his scouts to tell him what this was about. He hoped that Sebastian hadn't gotten into trouble with the locals for impregnating a girl. Judging form the toddler's age he would have learned that earlier.
Tristran looked at An and was wondering whether she had lost her nerve to tell Arthur the truth. She looked at him and took his hand, he had been right in assuming that she was afraid of Arthur's reaction.
Arthur watched the silent pair before him finding it strange that Sebastian would take Tristran's hand in such an intimate gesture. He found it even stranger that Tristran would allow the gesture.
"I would like to tell you something Arthur."
Arthur blinked at Sebastian. Did he just speak? Sebastian had spoken the words so softly and slowly. He thought he had imagined it. Arthur realized that Sebastian was waiting for some kind of gesture from him so he nodded. Arthur watched the twinkle in Tristran's eye becoming more apparent, he hadn't seen that look on Tristran in a long time.
"Artshoor." All eyes focused on the toddler on Tristran's lap who was pointing at Arthur and smiling broadly at him.
"Yes that is Arthur," Sebastian said to the child and this time Arthur knew that he did indeed hear Sebastian speaking.
"Are you telling me my daughter can recognize who he is but insists on calling me a bear?" Tristran looked accusingly at Anovaoo'o, who did her best to look innocent.
Just what is going on here? That cannot possibly be Tristran's daughter and when has Tristran gotten so relaxed in his way with people? The questions kept popping up in Arthur's mind.
"Could one of you please tell me what is happening here. Because I'm very confused at this moment." Arthur looked at both his scouts.
"Sorry Arthur. I came here to tell you the truth, but I'm finding it very difficult." Anovaoo'o frowned, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought of the right words to use.
"It's all right, take your time," Arthur reassured his scout, earning him a small smile.
"Why don't I take little stinky here somewhere else?" Tristran lifted Aenheso in the air as he had smelled something all too familiar. "That way you can take all the time you want and we won't be in the way."
Again Arthur was surprised by Tristran's attitude. He appeared to be very content with his current situation and completely in control.
"I would like to tell you my real name." Anovaoo'o had decided to start with the beginning.
"That would be very useful." Arthur realized that his scout had been hiding something from him all these years.
"My name is Anovaoo'o. This means a girl beautiful." Anovaoo'o gave Arthur some time to let the words sink in.
"Let me guess, that would make you a girl." Arthur caught on surprisingly fast and seemed very open minded about it.
"Yes." Anovaoo'o nodded her head.
"Why did you hide that from me? I could have helped you." Arthur felt angry with himself for missing the signs that must have been there.
"I had no reason to trust you or any of the other knights." Anovaoo'o looked down at her feet. The memories of her former commander came back to life in front of her eyes.
"Cesario…," Arthur stopped the sentence as he saw the flash of terror on Anovaoo'o's face. "I'm sorry." And that didn't even express Arthur's string of thoughts correctly.
"So am I for not trusting any of you." Anovaoo'o had taken another deep breath to calm herself again.
"Do the others know?" Arthur remembered the return of Lancelot and the others. They should celebrate their return tonight.
"They do as of today. Apart from Dagonet and Tristran of course." Anovaoo'o wondered if she would have told any of them if it wasn't for Gawain's reaction on Ophelia holding Aenheso.
A loud scream from the bed stopped Arthur from further questioning Anovaoo'o. He rushed towards Guinevere as she thrashed in the bed again, clearly in agony.
"Shh. Calm down it's alright." Arthur tried to hush his wife but she didn't respond to it.
"Shall I call the midwife?" Anovaoo'o looked concerned at the pair.
"Yes please." Arthur looked desperately from Guinevere to Anovaoo'o.
Anovaoo'o left the room to alert Jols to find the midwife. She would finish her conversation with Arthur later. For now she would have to look for Tristran and her daughter.
Arthur felt helpless as he stood next to Guinevere who was in obvious pain. She was clutching to Arthur as she cried out again. "Arthur make it stop."
Arthur wondered whether such pain was normal during a pregnancy, he had never seen Vanora behave this way. And seeing that Guinevere had spent several years fighting on the battlefield Arthur assumed that she was accustomed to some amount of pain.
Arthur waited for what seemed ages before the midwife came into the room. Apparently several other women had begun their labour on this day. The midwife took one look at Guinevere and order Arthur out of the room. She told Arthur to go and find one of the Healers.
"What is wrong?" Arthur panicked he felt all control of the situation leave his hands.
"She is losing too much blood and I'm not sure she is going to make it." The midwife pushed Arthur out of the bedchamber and closed the door.
Arthur looked at Jols and yelled at the man to go and get all the healers he could find around the fortress. Jols had never seen Arthur this desperate and raced out of the room.
"Queen you have to stay awake. Don't fall asleep!" Arthur heard the midwife scream in the other room. Not certain what his role was at this moment Arthur forced himself not to burst into the room, he started to pace around the room in circles.
Bors had informed him that childbirth was a painstaking business and women often screamed during the whole thing. Arthur didn't know what scared him more; the fact that the midwife was screaming at his wife or the fact that he didn't hear Guinevere anymore. Arthur was so caught up in thoughts that he almost walked into the heard of healers Jols had managed to gather.
"What are you standing here for? Get into that room and save my wife and child!" Arthur yelled at the bunch of jumpy men in front of him.
"Ophelia do you think we could ride to your home?" Gawain felt that he needed to ask Benedict for her hand in marriage. He wouldn't risk the chance of losing her to somebody else.
"Why would we ride to my home? It's only a street away."
Arthur had offered Benedict a place at the fortress. When the Roman smithy had left with the rest of the Romans, Arthur had offered Benedict a place at the fortress.
"Even better." Gawain smiled broadly and grabbed Ophelia around the waist, twirling her around. He looked around and was pleased to find that they were alone.
"Gawain what are you doing?" Ophelia found that Gawain was acting mighty strange since his return.
"Will you marry me?" Gawain had said that after his time was over he would go back to Sarmatia and find himself a beautiful Sarmatian bride. Little did he know that he already found her in Britain. After his journey to Sarmatia he had realized this and didn't want to waste any more time.
Ophelia looked at him with her mouth open. She had promised to wait for him and three long years had passed. She never thought that he would come back to her, and now that he had she was surprised that he would move so fast.
"Ophelia?" Gawain sound a little puzzled.
"Just say yes," Helena walked towards the pair. "You have waited long enough and I'm done with your constant whining about Gawain this and Gawain that."
"Don't you have other men to torment?" Ophelia knew that her sister had been on an official date with the bakers' son.
"I have already tormented enough men for today. Aren't you going to answer his question? Although I must say that look of desperation is absolutely adorable on his face." Helena smirked at Gawain.
"Yes Gawain, the answer is yes."
Gawain couldn't care less if the entire world was there at that moment. He grabbed Ophelia and kissed her with all the love he could find in his heart.
"We should find your father," Gawain whispered as he let go of Ophelia.
Bors, Lancelot, Galahad and Dagonet had made their way towards the tavern. Upon seeing Vanora, he couldn't help but tease her for old time's sake.
"Did you miss me?" Lancelot said as he pulled the red head on his lap again.
"You were gone then?"
Bors laughed loudly at Vanora's comment and pulled the red head from Lancelot's lap.
"Give the lads something to drink."
"Dagonet, you were aware that Sebastian was a girl and didn't tell us?" Bors complained.
"It wasn't my business to tell." Dagonet looked at Bors bastards and quickly found Lucan. He gestured for the boy to come to him.
"Lucan, could you fetch some pastries from the bakery?" Dagonet placed some coins in the young boy's hand who nodded and ran of with Gilly.
"So the child is Tristran's?" Galahad found it hard to conceive that Tristran would be able to maintain himself and his blood thirst whilst having a family.
"Yes. I think it has benefited Tristran greatly." Dagonet knew that the scout was a wild child at heart, but being with An had made him more docile.
"They fit together greatly. I wonder what the child will be like when it grows up." Galahad hoped it wouldn't become as deadly as its parents but he feared that the child would.
Tristran was sitting in a tree in the courtyard with his daughter looking at the crowd below. He believed that he was lucky to have such a quiet child, compared to the ones' of Bors, which were a loud bunch of rascals. Even Lucan couldn't keep quiet for a long time. Perhaps she would make a good scout some day.
Tristran decided that it was time that his daughter knew his name.
"Aenheso," Tristran pointed towards his daughter. The girl repeated her own name.
"Tristran," Tristran pointed towards himself.
"Bear." The little girl smiled at him. Tristran groaned to himself. Perhaps he should try something easier.
"Dad." Tristran again pointed towards himself.
"Bear?" The little girl was starting too look confused at him.
"No, not bear. Tristran." Tristran watched his little girl starting to pout. Clearly she didn't agree with him.
"No, bear."
Tristran produced and apple from his tunic. He knew his daughter was just as fond of them as he was.
"Apple," Tristran said out loud.
"Apple," she clearly replied.
She's quick, Tristran thought.
"Do you want the Apple?" Tristran wondered if he could bribe his daughter. The little girl nodded.
"Say Tristran." Tristran kept the apple in sight but refused to give it to her.
"No." The girl appeared to have inherited his stubborn streak.
"Stop tormenting our daughter and come out of the tree," An's voice sounded amused from below the tree.
"Catch." Tristran held his daughter out from the branch he was sitting on.
"Don't you dare! You will not throw our daughter!" An wasn't sure if she could move fast enough to catch her daughter if she should fall.
"Teach her my name." Tristran might not be able to bribe his daughter he knew he could bribe An.
"Fine," An said impatiently. She waited for Tristran to climb down from the tree without dropping their daughter, which he swiftly did without causing any harm to the little girl. She seemed to trust her father completely. An grabbed the little girl and then hit him over his head for such foolish talk.
Gawain, Ophelia and Helena stood in front of the smithy. Gawain took a deep breath and tried to control the racing amount of emotions that were currently going through his body.
"What are you waiting for? Don't tell me the big brave knight has gotten scared," Helena teased Gawain.
"Helena!" Ophelia warned her sister and pushed her towards the door. "Go and see if father is in."
"She is right I am a bit scared. What if your father doesn't think me good enough for his daughter? What if he says no?" Gawain admitted his feelings of fright.
"And why wouldn't you be good enough for me? Gawain you're a wonderful person. You're generous and loyal. Your make me smile a lot." Ophelia squeezed Gawain's hand as Benedict stepped out of the smithy with a broad smile on his face.
"So you have returned." Benedict shook Gawain's hand.
"I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come back and take that out of my hands." Benedict pointed towards Ophelia.
"You will miss 'that' when she is gone for this house," Ophelia warned her father.
"If you let me have her I will be glad to take her out of your hands." Gawain's fears disappeared with the sun that was going down.
Beatrice came running into the courtyard with a cry, grabbing the attention of the three outside.
"Oh, Ophelia, I am so happy for you." Beatrice first hugged Ophelia and then hugged Gawain.
"You will be so happy. Such a big, handsome knight to marry my daughter." Ophelia turned red at her mother's behaviour.
"Woman, stop flirting with my future son-in-law or I might get jealous." Benedict smacked Beatrice on her behind which caused the woman herself to turn red.
Later that evening Arthur had asked Jols to gather his knights in the Fortress Hall. Jols thought that Arthur seemed relieved for some reason. Jols found most of the knights at their regular place in the tavern. As he summoned them he asked them if they knew where Gawain had disappeared to. Galahad mumbled something about the Fortress Smithy with Benedict, so Jols tried his luck there.
As the knights settled into the Fortress Hall they thought it was to hear more of Anovaoo'o story, little did they now what the real reason for they summoning was. They waited patiently for Arthur to make his appearance, until then, they settled their curiosity about Anovaoo'o.
"And why is it that you have never taken one of the seats at the table? Isn't it there to prove that all who sit here are equal?" Lancelot started the questionnaire as An took her place on the bench next to him, but still not sitting at the table.
"I do not wish the disrespect the spirits of the people who have resided here first." An looked at the empty seats along the table, knowing that great men have sat there and died without their freedom.
"And why don't you sit on Tristran's lap now?" Bors decided to prod a bit in the relationship of the couple.
"Because I would crush our child." An pointed towards their daughter sitting quietly on Tristran's lap.
"What is her name again?" Bors got the feeling that the child was fond of Dagonet as most of the children at the Fortress where.
"Aenheso." Dagonet provide at which the girl looked up at him and giggled.
"What does that mean?" Galahad watched the little girl hide behind her hair.
"Little Hawk," Tristran provided.
"So the next child will be called Little Falcon?" Gawain joked.
"No," Aenheso said to Gawain's laughter which caused him to laugh even louder.
"No, Gain, no." Aenheso looked strictly at Gawain, who tried to stop laughing.
"Does she know all our names?" Galahad wondered how the girl knew that this was Gawain as they had never seen the girl since today.
"Try," Tristran sounded proudly.
"Aenheso what is his name?" Galahad pointed towards Bors.
"Boss." Aenheso seemed very interested in this name game as she stood on her father's legs looking at Bors and then back to Galahad.
"And who is that?" Galahad pointed towards Dagonet.
"Dag." The girl giggled again at Dagonet who just calmly smiled back.
"And who am I?" Galahad noticed that the girl only used short names.
"No." Aenheso shook her head at Galahad.
"She doesn't know my name?" Galahad sounded offended.
"I believe it is too difficult." Lancelot laughed from the other side of the table. This made Aenheso frown and look back at Galahad.
"Alahad."
"Close enough. What about my name?" Lancelot looked hopeful at the little girl giving her his most charming smile.
"No." Aenheso shook her head again. "No."
"She doesn't know your name." Galahad laughed at Lancelot.
"Lanlot." Lancelot smirked back at Galahad, the little girl was good.
Tristran smiled at his daughter. If only she could say my name properly.
"Who is this then?" Lancelot pointed towards An.
"ka'wiy." Aenheso sat back down clearly the interest for this game was over.
"She knows all our names but she can't say her mother's. That's rich." Bors laughed loudly.
"Ka'wiy means mother in my native language," An explained calmly hoping that Lancelot would ask the fatal question of Tristran's name.
"And what is he called?" Lancelot pointed towards Tristran who already groaned at the coming answer.
"Bear." Aenheso looked at her father. "Bear, bear, bear, bear." Then she busted into a big fit of giggles.
All the knights looked confused at Tristran who just shook his head at his daughter and glanced at An. "Aenheso. Moha Hta'wiy."
Aenheso looked at her mother and then back at Tristran. "e'he hta'wiy."
Tristran looked at An for an explanation. "She said yes father." Tristran just beamed at his daughter that was definitely an improvement from Bear.
Aenheso looked back at Dagonet and giggled again. She climbed off her fathers lap and walked towards Dagonet holding her hands up for Dagonet to pick her up. When Dagonet lifted the little girl onto his lap she started to giggle again. She lifted her shirt up to expose her belly as Dagonet just stared at her she pointed towards her belly. Dagonet seemed at little bit embarrassed by the movement, but couldn't resist the temptation of blowing on her belly which caused her to laugh even more.
"An." Tristran motioned for An to come over and sit on his lap.
"So An, what does Tristran have that we don't have?" Bors eyes twinkled with mischief as he looked at Tristran and An sitting together.
"A hawk?" An pretended not to understand what Bors was suggesting. The knights looked at her for a moment then burst out laughing.
"Seriously, what does Tristran have what I do not have?" Lancelot really wanted to know why An chose Tristran to trust and not any of them.
An looked at Tristran for a moment, which was all Tristran needed to realize An's playful mood this evening. "Hair on his chest."
Lancelot blinked a couple of times at the pair and just shook his head. Then Bors started to laugh even louder than he already had done.
"Now I get it. Bear. That's a clever little girl you have there." Tristran looked ready to slice Bors into tiny pieces.
"An, I think Aenheso is ready for sleep." An looked on the almost sleeping child on Dagonet's lap. An nodded in agreement and made her way towards Dagonet to relieve him of the little girl.
"Perhaps Ophelia can watch her while we await Arthur's appearance?" Ophelia had suggested the option with Gawain before leaving him to the Fortress Hall.
"Yes I will try it there." An carefully wrapped the child into her cloak and started to leave the Hall.
"Do you need help?" Dagonet wanted to check on Lucan anyway.
"That would be welcome." Dagonet knew that An would never ask for help. She could do it herself even thought it would take longer. It wasn't easy to carry a child and walk with a cane. Tristran never offered his help to her because she wouldn't accept it from him, but from Dagonet she accepted the help.
Arthur took one last look at Guinevere resting in their bed, she looked exhausted. The healers had tried to warn Arthur that she could still die from blood loss, but he would not hear their words of warning. Arthur had been so overcome with joy that both his wife and child had made it through the delivery that he believed god not to take them away after that frightful task.
The baby had been in reversed position as the contractions had begun that afternoon. The midwife had told Arthur that Guinevere's body had started the contractions because she wouldn't survive the nine months of pregnancy. Her body had started to protect itself from the sufferings of pregnancy and had begun to reject the baby. The baby of course hadn't turned at that moment because it wasn't ready for birth yet. After a long time of trying to get the baby the natural way the healers had decided it was best to get the baby through other means. They had sent the midwife out of the room and had operated on Guinevere to retrieve the baby.
The healers had yet to inform Arthur that Guinevere would never be able to have children again. They had known this at the time they had made the decision or operate on Guinevere; the process would cause much trouble to her womb. So now Guinevere was also at risk of getting an internal infection. The healers decided not to tell Arthur the results of the operations, for fear they would be punished.
Jols knocked on Arthur's chambers to inform him that the knights were waiting for him in the Fortress Hall. Arthur then informed Jols that he had become a father of the most beautiful daughter in the world. Taking the tiny infant out of the crib he showed his daughter to his most loyal servant. Jols had been shocked at the size of the tiny infant. He hoped that Arthur's God wouldn't take the baby away, it seemed so fragile.
Arthur followed closely by Jols walking into the Fortress Hall with a bright smile on his face. As he looked around he found that two of his knights where still missing, he looked at Jols for an explanation.
"They should be back soon, Arthur. Tristran's little girl was tired and Dag wanted to check on Lucan," Lancelot explained.
"Perhaps we should wait on them to return before I give you the news." Arthur sat down and looked at Jols to get the maids to bring them their wine.
"Arthur if this is about Sebastian being a girl we already now." Lancelot wasn't aware that Guinevere was pregnant as he hadn't seen or heard from her since he had returned this morning.
"This evening is only partly about Sebastian being a girl. I have been informed that you already knew this." The knights were beginning to think that for once Arthur had been drinking too much. The smile that had graced his face upon entering the room hadn't vanished for one moment.
"Ah, good your back, please sit, sit." Arthur wanted to inform the others of his luck as quickly as possible since he was so overly happy.
Dagonet and An looked at the others, they were as confused by Arthur's behaviour as they were. Dagonet took his time to escort An back to Tristran; he knew if she had been given the choice she would have taken the bench next to Lancelot again.
"Now Arthur would you please tell us what has made you behave so strangely this evening." Lancelot was as curious as the rest of the knights.
"This evening Guinevere and I have been blessed with the arrival of our first child." Arthur was standing at his place at the table beaming at the other knights.
Dagonet and An shared a small look of concern as they had been aware of Guinevere's condition. Lancelot looked ready to choke on his wine; this had been the reason for Guinevere's mysterious absence at their return. Gawain and Galahad congratulated Arthur on his good fortune. Bors looked at him with an amused smile, being very quiet for once. He of course already knew what Arthur would be going through over the next couple of years. Tristran just sat and observed Lancelot's behaviour at Arthur words. He had been the one Lancelot had expressed his feelings about Guinevere to.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Dagonet informed.
"I have been graced with a beautiful little girl." Lancelot felt like he was going to be sick at Arthur utter expression of happiness.
"And how is Guinevere doing?" Dagonet had wanted to ask that first, but decency had prevented him from doing so. Dagonet knew that the baby was born too early and Guinevere's health was probably the reason for it happening.
"She is resting." Even now after some moments Arthur refused to believe that his wife was in any danger.
"That's enough for now. I believe that we were going to learn something more about An." Arthur had learned from Jols that his knights had been questioning her as soon as they had entered the room.
"I myself personally have been wondering about your tribal background. It has become clear to me that you aren't Sarmatian at all." Arthur had always been very interested in the cultural differences between himself and his knights. He had never thought he would be given the chance to learn more about Sebastian since he was led to believe that the man didn't speak.
"I'm sorry Arthur I would rather not talk about my family it would cause me too much grief." An had of course wondered over the years what had happened to her family. Did they travel further into the strange countries or did they find a place of their own to live? After hearing from the three returned knights she knew that there was only such a small chance of finding them in a country where so much tribal rivalry existed.
"No I should be sorry for ignoring the fates that have brought you here." Arthur felt ashamed of his question. He hadn't given much thought to the circumstances that led his knights to him.
"Excuse me Arthur." Gawain wanted to share his news also with the other knights, although he guessed they already knew.
"Gawain what is it?" Arthur looked back from An to Gawain.
"I wish to share some news also." Gawain stood up as was accustomed at the table when somebody was telling something important.
"Ophelia has agreed to become my wife and we were wondering if Bors and Dagonet could help us organize a Sarmatian wedding." Gawain didn't remember much about Sarmatian wedding ceremonies and hoped that the older knights could be of some help to him.
"Oh Dag I do believe our little boy has grown up." Bors pretended to wipe the tears from his eyes. Dagonet just looked pleased with Gawain's decision to get married so quickly.
The sharing of happy events yet to come was interrupted when Jols ran into the room to get Arthur. Guinevere had awakened and was asking for Arthur. It did not look good for Guinevere; she had developed a serious fever during the short period of time that Arthur had been with his knights. Arthur left the Hall without saying anything more to his knights. Dagonet and An looked at each other and silently took their decision.
"Tristran, An and I are going to check on Guinevere. The healers here at the Fortress have been trained by the Romans and you know what their way of healing is." Dagonet stood up and walked over to An grabbing her arm. If An would have allowed it, Dagonet would have picked her up, but she still had some pride left in her to prevent that from happening.
Tristran nodded. "I will wait for you in the tavern."
"Yes. We all will be waiting in the tavern." Lancelot stood up and the knights made their way to the tavern where they would spend their time waiting for news from Guinevere. They were joined by Ophelia, Helena and Vanora.
Upon entering the bedchamber where Guinevere was thrashing in her bed both Dagonet and An knew that there was something seriously wrong. Dagonet got a chair from the other room so that An could sit down as she examined Guinevere.
"Do you want me to leave?" Arthur had always known Healers to send him out of the room while they where doing their business.
"No. You have every right to be here." An pulled back the furs covering Guinevere.
"We have to cool her down she is burning up." Arthur helped An as best as he could.
"Arthur, give her a sponge bath with cooled water." An looked at Jols to get Arthur the things he needed. Then she made her way towards Dagonet who was checking on the little baby in the crib next to the bed.
"I'm not certain. All I know is that we have to move the baby. It's so fragile it might catch something from Guinevere's conditions." An nodded in agreement.
"We can put it in Bors old room and leave one of the maids with it," Dagonet suggested.
"What do we do with Guinevere?" Dagonet looked at the pale woman that looked so tiny and fragile in the huge bed.
"I fear she is bleeding internally." An shook her head. Whatever those healers had done it had looked like they butchered Guinevere. "It is a wonder that they didn't cut the baby."
"What should we tell Arthur?" Dagonet had never in all his years seen Arthur look as helpless as he did sitting next to Guinevere trying to calm her fears.
"The truth." There wasn't anything else they could do for both Guinevere and Arthur.
Tristran jumped up from his seat as he saw an exhausted An walk into the tavern. He tried to support her but she wouldn't let him and mumbled something about not needing it. She did sit down closely to him and grabbed his hand.
"Lancelot?" An looked at the dark knight. "Arthur had requested your presence with him."
"What does he want with me?" Lancelot was still afraid of his reaction to Guinevere.
"He wishes you to join him in a wake for Guinevere." Lancelot's eyes got large and he stood up to sprint towards his best friend.
"I take it she is dying then?" Ophelia carefully inquired.
"Yes, there is nothing we can do anymore." An huddle closer to Tristran.
The remainder of the evening was spent in silence. Guinevere eventually lived for another agonizing three days, which showed her incredible endurance to pain. A few moments before she died she had some lucid moments so that Arthur could take his leave of his beloved.
Even Lancelot was allowed some private moments with her as she requested them. Guinevere made Lancelot promise to take care of Arthur. Lancelot said yes to every request she made even to the one in which she made him promise to find himself a decent wife. Guinevere made it clear that he deserved the happiness of a family just like every other human being, maybe even more.
Arthur had spent every waking hour of Guinevere's last moments at her bed so it wasn't surprising that he collapsed only a few moments after her death. Lancelot, although just as weary and tired, refused to leave Arthur alone for even a single moment.
At the fortress a period of mourning was announced, but that didn't stop some of the single women to try and catch Arthur's eye. Even thought Arthur only had eyes for his infant child, praying every night that God wouldn't take her away as well. Arthur would never remarry.
Gawain's and Ophelia's wedding was held after the declared mourning period ended at the Fortress. Even though, according to Bors, Sarmatian weddings where loud and could last several days; Gawain and Ophelia decided to keep it small and simple. The fates would bless them with 6 strong boys and although it wasn't due to a lack of trying the girl Gawain had set his heart on would never arrive.
Galahad without Gawain went through a period of bar fights, since Gawain wasn't always present to control his temper. After a few years Galahad lost his heart to the baker's daughter. All though there were nights where everyone present at the fortress knew they where having another row they where madly in love with each other. People often made jokes about their future offspring at the tavern. It was said that the poor infant would explode after taking in its first breath, since the couple each had their own fiery temper.
Dagonet was involved in the raising of Arthur's daughter as well as being a father to Lucan. Although the children at the Fortress all adored him Dagonet felt that there was something missing. And with the help of Vanora, Ophelia and Helena he managed to secure the heart and love of one of the young widows at Badon Hill.
Although Bors had repeatedly asked Vanora to marry him he couldn't convince her to do so. It took him to properly naming all the children before she agreed to have him. And even then it took another several years for the wedding to be planned, which of course lasted several days. But Bors wouldn't remember it that way as he drank far too much on the first and second day to pass out for the other two days which resulted in the first marital row between him and Vanora.
Lancelot had become a changed man after Guinevere's death. He kept his promise of finding himself a proper wife. But with all the lovers he had had in the past he was finding that task very difficult. Although Arthur would listen to his complaints of the lack of proper wives, even Arthur had his limits. So Lancelot had to find himself another person to complain to, which turned out to be Helena. She had also been in need of a person to complain to since her mother kept sending her on dates with the most impossible men of the surrounding area. Although others around them often told them that they were perfect for each other it had taken an imprisonment in a tiny cupboard to let them realize what they had together.
And that was how it came to be that Lancelot began to visit Gawain's wife a lot, although not for the reasons he had suggested years ago. Gawain never did have to hit Lancelot over the head with his axe.
Tristran, An and their two children spent most of their time in their own company enjoying the lives they were given. They would often scout for Arthur when it was needed, and when their children were old enough they would go scouting as an entire family. An never did get to know what happened to her relatives that she had left behind. Tristran had offered to go looking for them but An thought it better to keep them alive in her memory.
THE END
A/N: That was all. I had fun writing and researching this story. If you like it let me know.