This deals with some problems with Cordelia that will be dealt with in the last chapter, but WARNING it a bit emotional to ALL the characters in this chapter.

The Sun and Moon of House Lyon 8

Lancelot sighed. Since his friend and King was currently in Enys' Healing Chambers with Cordelia for their weekly baby appointment, he was currently seated in the Great Hall meeting with a few friendly, visiting dignitaries in Arthur's stead. He was careful to keep his next sigh hidden and a small, polite, friendly smile on his lips as he thought When will this end! This guy has said the exact same thing four times already-four different ways! It's like he doesn't realize that I know this, and is making me feel like an idiot for listening to him! I wish Emmy were here.

Then his thoughts turned worrisome, but his face retained its neutral friendly air. Enys had placed Emogen on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy because all the effort Emogen had to do just to walk. Emogen, for the past month, had been short of breath and complaining of back pains. Enys, Ula, AND Alma assured him, in privet, that this was normal in pregnancies and he shouldn't worry. But, he'd worry about his lovely wife and children for the rest of his days, and there was nothing those three could do about it. Also, Emogen had been experiencing stomach pains and the tightening of the womb's muscles for a week now. Enys had explained to him that this meant that the babe was close to being born. He bit his lip, absently made a hand gesture that meant 'carry-on', and sat back against Arthur's Deep Oak with golden trimmed throne, and pretended to listen once again.

The only thing was, their children were just into their seventh month and if those stomach pains meant anything like what the three Healers said, their children would be two months early, and they would not survive living outside Emogen's womb. He didn't want his children to die. Plus, there was a chance that Emmy could die too. He didn't want his wife, the light of his life, to die and leave him in darkness. Emmy made him whole again. Then Lancelot heard Ula's gentle voice in his ear, Lance this is her first birth, to bare twins will be hard on her, and she could die. I don't want to alarm you, but…you need to be aware of this.

He came back to the present when the man, some high lieutenant from around the area of Egypt, bowed and said, "Is this satisfactory?"

He blinked and with a straight face, that revealed none of his panic, said, "For me to think so at this point in time, is for naught, for I must review this with my Lord and King. When we adjourn to discuss all of today's meetings, I shall converse with King Arthur about your trading plans. If he is in agreement with you, I shall inform you of my satisfaction. I thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy the remainder of your time here in Camelot. Should you wish anything, please, ask one of our servants. They will assist you in anything you need."

The Egyptian bowed once more and vanished.

Lancelot sighed and rubbed his face once he was sure he was relatively alone.

"You weren't very aware of what was being discussed." Came a voice from the shadows.

Lancelot raised his head and answered tiredly, "Can you blame me, Merkin?"

Duke Merkin Wise shook his head and said, "Even though you face such darkness Lancelot, you must keep your head on the Matters of State too. 'Tis a good thing that you answered the Emissary from Egypt so neutrally; he might have taken offence if you had replied in any other way."

Lancelot rolled his eyes and asked warily, "Is that all? I'm sure there aren't anymore Ambassadors, right?"

Merkin looked at the scroll in his hand and said, "You're right. He was the last."

Merkin looked at the tired man, and said with more care in his voice, "Go, go to Emmy Lancelot. She needs your love and support now just as you need hers."

Lancelot nodded and all but ran out of the Great Hall.

Lancelot slowed as he came to the fork in the hall. To the right were Arthur and Cordelia's chambers and to the left were his and Emogen's. He bit his bottom lip as his eyes jumped from left to right. The torch outside Arthur's chambers was lit meaning that he and Cordelia were inside. He wanted to go and see how his queen was, but he also wanted to be there for his wife as much as possible. He turned when he heard the sound of soft footsteps behind him. There was only one person who could walk that silently behind him, and still make his presence unknown to his other senses-Tristran.

"Hello, Tristran, how are you?"

Tristran came up beside him and said softly, "You are tired, my brother. You should be in bed resting."

Lancelot rubbed his aching eyes in silent agreement, and said warily, "I cannot. With Arthur and I being who we are, our jobs are very time consuming. Then we have to add the worry we feel for our wives. Emogen couldn't sleep well at all last night, and Cordelia was much the same. With the twins pushing so hard upon her body, Emogen has little to no energy left for more than eating and sleeping. I'm worried, Tristran. I could loose all three of them, and I don't know what to do. This is something I cannot fight. What am I going to do?"

Tristran placed his hand upon his Commander's shoulder and said soothingly, "Hope, that's all you can do. Emmy is strong, Lance. You just have to hold out for another two months, and then you can finally hold your children."

Lancelot smiled and nodded.

He turned towards the scout and said happily, "Thank you Tristran, I feel much better now. Now, I need to go and reassure Arthur of the same thing. Can you go and watch Emmy for me? Dagonet should have left an hour ago when she fell asleep, and she should be waking up soon."

Tristran nodded and said, "I'll keep her company. You go and play best friend to our beloved King, eh?"

Lancelot smirked and nodded. Very quickly he walked the rest of the way down the right wing, and knocked solidly on the oak door.

"Who is it?" came Arthur's tired, but strong voice.

Lancelot smiled and said back, "Only I, Arthur. May I come in, cousin?"

There was silence for a moment, as the door opened up and Arthur's surprised face appeared before him.

Lancelot threw all caution to the four winds and hugged his friend tightly and said, "It'll be alright, Arthur. The child is strong and Cordelia too. Do not despair."

Arthur wrapped his own arms around his friend and said, "I'm trying to. What are you doing here? And why did you call me Cousin?"

Lancelot pulled back, smirked, and said lightly as he stepped into the room, "That's what I am now, isn't it? I mean, Delia and Emmy are cousins therefore so are we, my brother."

Arthur tilted his head and said equally lightly as Lancelot sat on the edge of his bed and placed a soft kiss upon Cordelia's slightly pale brow, "I hadn't really thought about it that way. You're right, of course, but I've only ever thought of you as my brother. Cousins? Yes, we are, but I'd rather just call you brother."

Lancelot with his arms around his wife's cousin, for a gentle hug, smirked up at him and said, "Well, of course! But, it's a new title for you I'm trying out. Now I can call you, king, commander, friend, cousin, AND brother!"

He turned to Cordelia and asked softly as Arthur sat down on his side of the bed beside Cordelia, "And how is the little prince, cousin?"

Cordelia rubbed her very pregnant belly and said tiredly, "For only eight months, he's a big boy. He's pushing downwards and Enys is afraid he'll damage my insides during the birthing process."

She looked up into familiar dark brown eyes that were filled with sympathy, hugged him gently, and said softly, "I'll birth him just the same, and love him till the end of time, but I'm not sure I'll last the birthing. I'm so tired now, and during the birthing I'll be using even more energy that I'm not sure I have Lance. I'm afraid…I don't want to die."

Lancelot looked distraught. Arthur also wrapped his arms around the queen of Briton and said softly as both he and the First Knight comforted the woman, "You'll live my love because you have the will to live. You will live because of our son. He needs his mother and I need you, too. You will find the energy to birth him and live because you want to live and see him grow. I know this because you told me so many times. I know you, Delia, my love. You will NOT die; understand? Do not doubt yourself on this."

Lancelot nodded and said equally as passionate, "You will live Delia, if only to see your son grow up tall and proud. We ALL still need you dear cousin, do not despair. In a month's time, your son will be born. Take comfort and cheer from this, not fear. And he will be a beautiful child."

He smiled at her and Arthur and ended softly and lovingly, "After all, with you two as his parents, how could he be anything less?"

Cordelia burst into tears and hugged her cousin's husband tight. Lancelot simply smiled and held her close with Arthur's arms wrapped around him too. He knew Cordelia needed to hear what they had told her, and he was glad they got through to her. This little princeling was absorbing much of Delia's strength like his own twins were with Emmy. Cordelia was just tired. When the time came to birth the prince, she'd have the strength to do so successfully because she IS strong.

He released his hold on his queen and cousin and said, "Now, I have to go comfort my own wife since Tristran is keeping her company. Will you be alright now, Delia?"

Cordelia nodded sleepily and said, "Yes, go to Emmy. She's even worst then me I think today. After all, this is her first birthing. At least I've gone through this once before. She has not."

Arthur furrowed his brows and asked, "When was this?"

Lancelot patted his friend on the back as Cordelia answered as her eyes closed, "Once, a long time ago, when a Roman captured me. He tortured me and killed my babe whist still in my belly. Merlin had to cut her from me, to save my life as hers had been forfeit…"

Then she was asleep.

Lancelot pulled his friend from the bed gently and then out the door. Arthur punched the rock wall hard and growled.

"Arthur, you must control yourself. I bet this is why Delia's is sick and tired all the time. She's afraid that what happened before will occur again. You'll have to support her almost constantly because of this, I'm sure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to my own wife. Please, remain calm." Pleaded Lancelot. He felt horrible for his friend, but he had his own wife to comfort and he couldn't be in two places at once. Plus, he knew his friend was beating himself up for not knowing this little tidbit of information about his wife. Arthur would also take this offence onto himself because he was once Roman and fought so hard for Rome.

In the past year alone, Arthur's entire life structure had been torn upside down and thrown to the four winds. He had been slowly gathering his life back together, and this new bit of information was threatening to destroy what little he had rebuilt.

Arthur sighed and Lancelot watched as his friend's strong shoulders slumped.

Arthur turned to him and said, "Go, go to Emmy. I'll join you when I can. I want to stay with her for a few more minutes and…"

Lancelot held up a hand and said in understanding, "I be waiting for you then."

He placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder and said in a supporting voice, "Hey, just think of your son! Cordelia AND the prince will be here and back to normal in only a few weeks!"

Arthur smiled weakly and nodded. Then he vanished back through his door.

Lancelot sighed and ran to his own chambers. When he entered his chambers, he saw Emogen and Tristran were sitting on the bed talking softly to one another. Tristran raised his hand and whipped away one of Emogen's tears and pointed at him. Emogen smiled bravely at him and he smiled back.

When he was seated beside her, he placed his arms around her and said, "My Maiden, what's troubling you. Is it the child?"

Emogen smirked and said with a watery voice, "I know you know that we're to have twins. You can stop pretending now, my savior."

Lancelot winced slightly and asked, "How'd you find out?"

Emogen smiled at him and said gently, "Ula told me that she HAD to inform you of the twins because of my condition. But, for some reason, Tristran seems to think that you knew before hand. How'd you find out?"

Lancelot smiled and said as he rubbed her swollen belly and felt his children kick his hands once again, "I found out from you, actually. Last month, when I felt them kick me for the first time was when I found out. I was about to wake you up and tell you that they kicked me, but you placed your hands upon your stomach and told them to be patient, and that you'll feed them soon. I decided to let you have your secret since you hadn't told me yet, and I wanted you to be able to surprise me when you were ready. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, are you mad at me?"

Since Emogen's emotions had been all over the place this past month, Lancelot was afraid that with his confession his lovely wife would break into a fit of tears. He was surprised and thankful that she did not.

She snuggled into his embrace, kissed his neck, and said, "Nay, I'm not mad. I'm glad that you know. I was growing tired of hiding it from you anyways."

She straightened up and asked brightly, "How is Delia?"

Lancelot closed his eyes painfully and answered with a question of his own, "How come none of you Ladies ever told us that Cordelia had been with child before?"

Lancelot saw Tristran's head snap up and his eyes widen. This was the most surprised Tristran had ever been if his memory was correct, and he totally understood how the scout felt.

Emogen tensed up in his arms and asked tersely, "How'd you find out about the babe?"

Lancelot sighed, rubbed her stomach in an attempt to calm the twins, and said softly, "She told us herself as she was falling asleep. I don't think she meant to, but she told us while she was in the haze of wakefulness and dreams. I think this is why she's been so distraught lately. She's afraid that this babe will be stolen from her belly like the one before."

Lancelot saw his wife bite her lip, sigh, and answer, "It was during our seventeenth year and Cordelia, Guinevere, and I had just reached maturity. We had taken our places as the Ladies of Power and as a show of their allegiance; all ten tribes threw a large party for the three of us. As our titles and ranks allowed, Cordelia, Guinevere, and I took our first lovers and Delia became pregnant."

At the men's startled look, she added, "She had forgotten to take the herbs."

They nodded and Lancelot felt her take another deep breath and continue, "She had been shocked to find out she was with child, but she was determined to have the babe even though the father wanted nothing to do with it. It was during her eighth month, like now, that she was taken prisoner by an old friend of ours."

At their confused look, she elaborated, "A Roman Commander by the name of Germanous."

Both Knights felt an intense fire burn in their bellies. It made them smile in a feral way when they remembered how Dagonet had killed the little Roman bastard months ago.

Emogen continued, "Anyways, Germanous was drunk apparently, and decided that a Woad woman, unwedded, and with child should suffer for her sin of passion. He beat her and paid a lot of attention to her stomach. He killed the babe, a girl, and Merlin had to cut her out from Delia's belly."

She sighed and ended sadly, "Since this is Delia's eighth month, she's probably filled with fear and anxiousness about the babe. She already lost one, and she doesn't want to lose this one either."

She turned to Tristran and said beseechingly, "You must tell Arthur this. Only he can help Delia with her nightmares now. We all can help, yes, but he most of all."

Tristran nodded and silently left after smiling a little at him and placing a gentle, brotherly kiss upon his wife's brow.

As he settled in more comfortably in bed with her, he asked, "And how are you feeling? I know you cannot be very happy about Enys' enforced bed rest."

Emogen sighed, leaned against his strong body, and said, "I am dealing with it. I hate not being able to walk around, but I know this is for the best. I do not want to endanger the baby with to much exercise. But, I am going insane with only these four walls to stare at. If only I could go outside to the garden, and not have to walk…"

She ended her sentence mid way through and asked with bright hopeful eyes, "Can you carry me outside, my love? That way I'll not be on my feet, which hurt a lot now, and I'd still get to stare at something other than these four walls?"

Lancelot opened his mouth to reply, when their door opened and revealed Arthur. He had tears in his eyes. Lancelot sucked in a deep breath. Tristran had told Arthur, and Arthur was devastated by the story. Emogen could read his friend just as well as he, and silently opened her arms to him. Arthur came to their bed and gently wrapped his arms around his best friend's wife. Lancelot placed his hand upon Arthur's shoulder and squeezed it in support. Arthur was shaking and tears were falling from his eyes, but Lancelot didn't care. This was a terrible time for Arthur and he still had to deal with Kingship duties as well later on. He needed this release now-of this Lancelot was sure.

When Arthur's tears stopped, he pulled away and said in an embarrassed tone, "I'm sorry, I came to help you. And here I am crying like a child."

Emogen smiled and Lancelot heard the love in her voice as she said, "I do not blame you, my cousin. Cordelia's story is an emotional one. The sadness is only added to you because you once knew Germanous and he had betrayed you yet again, only this time you hadn't a clue that he betrayed you. It hurts, but like Delia, you'll get over it and besides…"

She smiled and ended with a laugh, "He's dead!"

Arthur and Lancelot couldn't help but laugh with her. Her smile was had an infectious quality to it, that made everyone want to laugh with her.

Emogen smiled again and asked, "Could you go and find Enys for me? I want to ask her if it's okay for me to go outside with Lancelot carrying me around."

Arthur blinked, nodded, and said, "I'll bring her here. I'll be back."

When Arthur left their chambers, Emogen stretched and said, with an energy that had been absent from her voice for a long time, "Let's get ready to go outside!"

Lancelot raised an eyebrow at her sure tone. His wife must have seen it because she shrugged and answered, "She'll let me go, it's not like I'll be alone or walking. But I HAVE to get outta here!"

Lancelot smirked at her and went to his wardrobe. After he pulled out his early winter cloak, he pulled out her cloak from her own wardrobe and marveled once again at their royal quality and look. The cloaks were dyed a dark emerald green and on the left side, above the heart, and on the back of the cloak was the Lyon Family Coat of Arms. The top left of the shield was emerald, the top right was silver, the bottom left was silver, and the bottom right was emerald. In the center of the shield was a golden lion with his mouth open in a roar. The lion's eyes were emerald. Behind the lion was a golden dragon with sapphire eyes. Behind the dragon and the lion were his twin demon blades dyed steel and black. It was a marvelous work of art, and he reminded himself to thank the Seamstress the next time he saw her. Her work was excellent, and she deserved their utmost thanks.

As he stared at the lion again though, depressing thoughts of Sarmatia flashed through his head. The lion was actually the symbol of his tribe. His father, his mother, his sister, and his brother probably thought he was dead. But, he couldn't help that. He couldn't leave Arthur and Emogen. Emogen couldn't travel in her delicate condition either. Plus, he'd never let his wife travel such a distance-to many problems could happen with bandits, illnesses, and rogue Roman soldiers-not to mention other cultural groups could attack them too. No, it was better to stay here, in Briton, home. Thought Lancelot with a small sigh.

Emogen's calling, "Lance, Lance, Lancelot!" thankfully interrupted his thoughts.

He shook his head to clear it of his depressing thoughts, smiled, turned around, and said, "Sorry, I was just admiring the stitching. We really need to tell Miss Hailey that her work is excellent! Perhaps we should also pay her more for the quality and time she puts into making all these clothes for all of us. It's really fine work."

Emogen rolled her eyes and opened her mouth. Before she could reply, the chamber door opened and in stepped Arthur leading an almost six months pregnant Enys.

Enys stepped up to the bed, without Arthur's help, and said as she placed a hand on Emogen's stomach, "You can go outside with Lancelot's help, if it's only for an hour. If you feel your stomach tightening again though, you're coming inside no matter what you say, understand?"

Emogen nodded eagerly. Lancelot winced. He knew his wife wanted to DO something, but being outside probably wasn't the best thing. But I can't persuade her otherwise. AND Enys said it's okay. I just wish she'd rather stay in with Delia or something. But, she and Delia are together so much lately, that they are probably running out of topics to discuss. I suppose she really DOES need this break…

Arthur nodded and said, "Well then, let's get Delia and go outside. I'm sure we can discuss those meetings from this morning just as well there than in the Meeting Hall."

Lancelot looked at his friend and Arthur answered the unasked question clear in his eyes, "I asked Enys the same thing concerning Cordelia. I really think that some fresh air and just being outside will do wonders for her health. So, while I get Delia, you start heading out for the gardens, okay?"

Lancelot nodded and as he picked up his wife bridal style, Arthur ran down the hall and took a quick left turn. The couple made it to the garden in about fifteen minutes with Arthur and Cordelia five minutes behind them.

When they were settled in nice and comfortably under the shade of a large oak tree, Arthur turned to Lancelot and asked, "Well, let's have it."

Lancelot rolled his eyes and said, "For the most part, we had ten dignitaries today and most of them want to establish trading routes with us. Apparently our style of clothing has caused a ruckus, in a good way, and everybody wants our clothes!"

Arthur and the cousins burst out laughing.

Cordelia said cheerfully, "Of course! We are using the best of Rome and making it even better! Why wouldn't they want our clothes! They can finally show off to Rome and not get in trouble for it!"

Arthur waved his hand and Lancelot continued, "There is one, a man from the far south, Egypt perhaps, I truthfully wasn't listening very well to his place of origin. He wants to establish a trade route with us, but it is mostly for importing good from them, not us exporting goods to them. They see their foods as a high commodity and think we'll take to them eagerly. I told him that I'd have to talk to you about it. But, the costs alone to export all the way from Egypt…"

Arthur nodded and said, "Yes, it would be costly. Especially for some of those fruits I bet they want us to buy. Rome pays an obscenely large amount monthly for the fruits, and I just don't think we're ready to pay for that kind of luxury. But, it's something we'll have to discuss later on with Dagonet to be absolutely sure."

Lancelot nodded and fell silent as the four friends and family just relaxed for the first time in nearly nine months. Not just sleeping-true relaxation. It felt glorious!