"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Dreaming/Memory

Different Language

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Chapter-Twelve

'This can't be good,' Helena thought. The space she was in was completely white, and looked like it never ended. The last thing she remembered was feeling a pain in her shoulder, then she was here.

"Helena," she heard a voice call out. A women, with long brown walked closer toward her. She was wearing a simple white dress, and her hair was down in curls.

'Emily,' she thought. Emily came closer and stopped in front of her. "Mom," Helena asked quietly.

Emily smiled and cupped her face between her hands. "You shouldn't be here."

"Where is here?" Helena asked.

"It's a place where your souls goes before you move on. Makes the transition easier," Emily told her.

Helena's eyes grew wide. "So I'm-I'm dead?"

Emily shook her head. "No, not yet. You still have a purpose on earth. A destiny." Helena smiled at her mother, and realized that she didn't want to leave. She had lived her whole life without her mother, how could she go back and pretend like she never met her?

"Can you come back?" Helena asked, knowing that it was a stupid question. Emily laughed and leaned forward, pressing a light kiss on her forehead.

"I wish I could, miel. But remember, I'm always looking out for you." Helena suddenly felt herself moving away from her mother.

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"Mom," Helena called out. The knights shared a puzzled look. They were still by the lake, Dagonet was in the wagon, he had lost a lot of blood but he was doing better. After Helena had been hit with the arrow, the ice broke and she fell through. Dagonet hadn't fallen, so he was able too grab a hold of her arm before she sunk.

"Lena?" Arthur asked softly. Helena's eyes opened slowly, a confused look crossed her face. She tried to sit up, but suddenly felt a searing pain in her shoulder. She bit down hard on her lip, hoping the pain would go away. She opened her eyes again and saw Tristan leaning over her.

"I'm cold," she whispered. "And my head and shoulder hurts." 'Why am I cold and wet?' she wondered. 'And why does my shoulder fill like it's on fire?' All she could remember was fighting the Saxons, then everything just went fuzzy. She looked down at her shoulder and saw that the tunic she was wearing was ripped and a white bandage covered her shoulder.

"You fell into the lake," Tristan explained. Helena scrunched her face, and started at everything around her.

"You don't remember?" Guinevere asked from next to her. Helena shook her head. She noticed Tristan grab Arthur's shoulder and pull him further away. Lancelot walked over to her, crouching down beside her."

"What happened?" she asked. Lancelot sighed and gently pushed some hair out of her face.

"Just relax," he told her. She saw Tristan and Arthur walk back toward her.

"Can you stand?" Tristan asked her. She felt him place his arms under hers and lifted her up slowly. She instantly clutched her head and closed her eyes, feeling like it would fall off if she didn't. "Take deep breaths," Tristan told her. He was standing directly behind her, one hand was resting on her hip and the other was on the small of her back. After a few minutes she opened her eyes again and saw the knights and Guinevere riding back to catch up with the wagons. Tristan's horse was the only one left.

"Where is Athena?" Helena asked.

"They took her with them. You can't ride by your self," Tristan told her. They walked over to Tristan's horse, and he fished through his pack. He pulled out a tunic, before turning back toward her. "Put this on; you'll have to keep your britches on and we'll share the cloak."

Once he had turned around, she tried to shed her tunic, but found it difficult with only one arm.

"Tristan, I can't get it off with one arm," she replied. She felt him mover behind her, resting his chin on her head. He untied the ties then cut the remaining material away from her arm. Helena lifted her other arm when she felt him remove the rest of the tunic. He placed the other tunic over her head and slowly worked her injured arm through the sleeve hole.

Helena knew she should have been blushing like a school girl. Here was a man-and a good looking one at that-removing her clothes and she didn't flinch once. Helena knew that Tristan would never take advantage of her in anyway, so she felt comfortable around him. The way that he was treating her, like she would brake if he moved too fast, made her feel like he truly cared. When he came around her and started tying the ties, he made eye contact with her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"I'll be fine," she replied.

When they were through, they walked back over toward the horse. Tristan helped Helena into the saddle then mounted behind her. She snuggled up into his body, and he wrapped his cloak around the both of them. He grabbed the reins and they started out at a slow pace. Helena rested her head on his shoulder and turned it so her face was buried in his neck.

"What happened?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Dagonet was hit by an arrow. He lost a lot of blood, but they think he'll make it." Helena shut her eyes tightly, hoping the tears wouldn't fall. Flashes of the Saxons and the lake appeared in her head. She felt Tristan kiss the top of her head before whispering, "Sleep. You're safe." Helena smiled slightly as the sound of Tristan's heartbeat and the rocking of the horse lulled her to sleep.

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A few hours later, Helena opened her eyes just as they entered through the wall. Tristan dismounted, then helped her off as well. They made there way toward the other knights, when they saw Bors through his discharge papers on the ground then walk away.

Elain spotted Helena first, and ran off toward her.

"Stop!" one of the guards yelled. Before they could even move, Tristan had one of his daggers pointed at the mans neck. Helena bent down and hugged the girl. Guinevere walked over, Lucan close by her side.

"Are you alright?" Guinevere asked.

Helena nodded a little. "How's Dagonet?"

"He lost a lot a blood but he'll make it. They took him up to his room, a healer is checking his wound now."

"Ah, daughter, you have returned," the bishop replied, a sickening smile on his face.

Helena looked up and glared. She walked up toward him, and before anybody could react, she had a dagger pointed at his neck. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the guards coming closer toward her.

"You know me. I could slice your throat before they come anywhere near us. Call them off," she ordered. The bishop placed one of his hands in the air, silently telling them to stop. "I know about my parents."

Fear flashed in the bishops eyes. Helena smirked.

"You will leave tomorrow," she pushed her dagger further into the skin, causing a little blood to drop onto the blade and for the bishop to yelp. "You'll never bother me again, or I promise you, that mark will be the least of your worries." She moved away from him and walked out of the court yard.

Helena made her way toward her room. She spotted Alecto down the hall a ways, sitting on a bench. She made her way down there, stopping in front of him.

"Are you alright," she asked. He just nodded and Helena sat down next to him on the bench.

"Thank you," he said after a while.

Helena raised any eyebrow. "For what?"

"In the woods. You saved my mother and I." Helena smiled and leaned her head against the stone wall behind them.

"Where is your mother?"

Alecto pointed at the door next to them, grinning a little bit. "She's in there with Sir Dagonet. She's been taking care of him since we returned."

Helena laughed. "He's a good man," she replied. Alecto nodded.

"What are you two up too," Lancelot asked, coming to stand in front of them.

"Gossiping," Helena replied.

Lancelot grinned. "Do tell." Helena raised an eyebrow at him.

"Lancelot, you gossip more then all the women of this fort combined."

"I take offense to that," he cried. Helena laughed. "You do not."

"Well if that's the way you're going to treat me, I'm leaving," he replied dramatically. He turned toward Alecto. "Come on boy, I'll show you to a room." Helena laughed after the two left, and stood up. She walked over toward the door and opened it enough to see inside.

Fulicina was asleep in a chair, and Dagonet was sitting up in bed. She walked further into the room. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Better, thanks to you," Dagonet replied smiling.

"I know you saved me from falling into the lake. I just wanted to thank you."

"Before I left Sarmatian, I had a daughter. Her mother died giving birth to her, but she lived. It hurt more to leave her then anything. You remind me of what I think she would look like." Helena smiled, trying to keep a new batch of tears from falling. She walked up to him, minding both of their injuries, and hugged him.

"Thank you for telling me that. It really means a lot." They pulled apart and Dagonet kissed her forehead. She smiled before walking out of the room. When she was outside she took a few deep breaths before walking down toward her room. She laid down on the bed, not caring about changing her clothes, and falling asleep.

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A/N: I know nothing happened in this chapter, but I promise more will happen in the next one. I had to put some Tristan/Helena fluff in this chapter, I hope I stayed true to Tristan's character though. I got the idea about the lake from another story, A New Way Of Life, but I hope it's different enough. I'm sorry if there are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, but it's three thirty here and I don't really feel like checking the whole chapter. I hope everybody enjoys this chapter, remember to R&R!