A/N: Here is the next chapter! I was looking at everyone's choices and I have an idea. But, you must read to find out what it is. I know, I'm so evil. Rockerforlife, your review had me grinning like an idiot as I read it. I would be laughing pretty hard myself if I saw Lancelot doing such a thing. WitheringSage, don't you just wanna really take it to him? Yeah, I was about to slap him when I realized I couldn't do such a thing. Thanks everyone for the reviews!

Arthur walks out: Lancelot has currently disappeared… to where I'm not quite sure but I have a feeling it has to do with his smug, cocky personality. I am to give you the disclaimer: Kalanie does not own anything to do with King Arthur, thank you.

Chapter 6: The Difference Between Life And Death

"Latanie… Latanie…" a voice interrupted Latanie's dream as she remained resting against Lancelot. She then recognized it as Lancelot's voice. She stirred and shifted. "Finally, you're awake," Lancelot said. His arm rested lightly around Latanie's shoulders, holding her up against him.

Latanie shifted and raised her head off of Lancelot's shoulder, cracking her stiff neck. She rubbed her eyes, his cloak falling off of her. "Morning already?" she asked in complaint, earning a nod from Lancelot. She pouted and rose wearily to her feet, handing him his cloak. "Thanks," she said softly.

"No 'good morning' kiss?" Lancelot asked, pouting.

Latanie chuckled and leaned down, gently pressing her lips against his before pulling away. She straightened up and hurried off to take care of Kalen and assist the villagers in packing up their things. She paused as she heard a muffled yell. She instantly started towards the source of the sound. She glared as she saw Marius holding Lucan against him, a dagger to his throat. She unsheathed her sword and instantly involved herself with the men battling Dagonet.

She stopped only when an arrow whizzed past her and struck Marius in the chest. She whipped around to see Guinevere holding a bow.

"Your hands seem to be better," Lancelot commented as he walked up, his twin swords out and resting lightly on his shoulders. He glanced at Latanie, his brows furrowing when he saw a light cut on her arm. "And you seem to get yourself into trouble quite often," he teased, smiling softly.

"It would appear so," Latanie jested as she glared at the guards. She watched as Guinevere shot an arrow next to the guards' feet to warn them. She chuckled as she heard a familiar voice.

"Artorius!" Bors yelled, halting his horse. "Do we have a problem? Huh?" he asked, getting close to the guards, his ax raised high above his head.

"You have a choice. You help or you die," Arthur said.

"Doesn't give you much choice, does it?" Latanie asked, laughing quietly. She watched as Bors nudged the head guard, causing his sword to fall from his hand.

"Put down your weapons," he paused. "DO IT NOW!"

"Yeah!" Dagonet shouted, watching the swords fall.

Jols ran out and collected the swords.

"How many did you kill?" Bors asked.

"Four," Tristan answered, riding up with something in his hand.

"Not a bad start to the day," Bors laughed.

"Armor-piercing. They're close. We have no time," Tristan said, dropping a crossbow at Arthur's feet.

Latanie's gaze instantly jerked to him. That wasn't a good thing. She nervously shifted and looked at Lucan, who trembled behind Dagonet. She gazed up at the gentle giant, catching his gaze. He gave her a reassuring smile before looking to Tristan. Latanie had a weird feeling but didn't say anything.

"You ride ahead," Arthur ordered.

--Hours later--

Latanie sighed as they rode along. They had to be close to getting out. Otherwise, she figured she would go mad with the cold. She pulled her cloak closer around her as they came to what looked like a valley. But, it was indeed a sheet of ice. She shifted nervously as she looked at the rest of the knights.

"Is there any other way?" Arthur asked.

"No. We have to cross the ice," Tristan said firmly.

"Get them all out of the carriages. Tell them to spread out," Arthur ordered and watched Jols turn his horse around and canter back to the villagers.

"Arthur, this is dangerous. We could possibly lose everyone," Latanie said nervously.

"We have no choice," Arthur said and dismounted swiftly.

Latanie sighed and followed him, watching the others do the same. She nervously walked out onto the ice, leading Kalen along. She halted as she heard the ice creaking underneath her boots. She winced as she heard the cracking. She steadied Kalen as he began to spook. She slowly followed the other knights, looking around wearily for Lancelot, who was not far from her. He gave her an encouraging look as they walked forward. She hesitated as she heard the banging of drums.

Arthur sighed heavily and turned his horse around. "Knights?"

"Well, I'm tired of running. And these Saxons are so close behind, my ass is hurtin'," Bors said firmly.

"Never liked looking over my shoulder anyway," Tristan said in agreement.

"Be a pleasure to put an end to this racket," Gawain put in.

"And finally get a look at the bastards," Galahad added.

"Here. Now," Dagonet said firmly.

"If you think I'm going to keep running, you're sadly mistaken," Latanie threw in.

Lancelot only nodded.

"Jols!" Arthur ordered.

"You two, take the horses," Jols ordered.

Latanie rushed forward to assist with the unpacking of the equipment. She didn't stop until everything was unpacked.

"You're seven against 200," Ganis said.

"Eight, you could use another bow," Guinevere said.

"Hello! Nine! What about me?" Latanie asked, pouting. She snorted quietly and walked over to where the others knights were lined up and ready to go. She picked up her bow and tested the string, finding it to be as good as ever. "This is it…" she said quietly.

Lancelot looked at her. "Yes," he answered and gently touched her cheek.

She watched as the villagers left, leaving the nine people to face the horde of Saxons. She shuddered as the Saxons appeared, black dots against the white landscape. She fiddled nervously with her bow.

"Hold until I give the command," Arthur ordered.

"You look frightened. There's a large number of lonely men out there," Lancelot said, glancing at Guinevere.

"Don't worry, I won't let them rape you," Guinevere said, causing Latanie to laugh at Lancelot's astonished look.

"That was a good one," she commented, earning a mock glare from Lancelot. She watched as one of the Saxon archers aimed and shot but it fell short and slid across the ice. At least the Saxons were too far away to hit them with arrows.

"I believe they're waiting for an invitation. Bors, Tristan," Arthur said.

"They're far out of range," Guinevere protested.

How very wrong she was! Latanie smiled in satisfaction as the arrows hit their target. She winced as the Saxon army began to march across the ice. "Never underestimate the Sarmatian Knights," she said to Guinevere as she grabbed an arrow and strung it.

"Aim for the wings of the ranks. Make them cluster," Arthur ordered before releasing an arrow, followed by the rest of the knights. They continued to release arrows, striking the outer reaches of the group. The Saxons began to clump, putting more weight on the ice that lay underneath them.

"It's not going to break. Back! Fall back!" Arthur commanded, unsheathing Excalibur. He backed up a few paces with the rest of the knights, who were clearly ready for combat.

Latanie glanced around at her comrades, seeing their wary faces. She felt the dread creeping up on her as she stood silently among them. Dagonet caught her gaze and held it. She could've sworn she saw something in his eyes that she had never seen before; passion. She jerked her gaze away as he grabbed his ax and ran out onto the ice, hacking at it.

"Dag!" Bors exclaimed.

"Cover him," Arthur said instantly, moving forward.

Everyone instantly stepped forward, picking up their bows and arrows to cover their comrade. Latanie gritted her teeth as she shot as quickly as she could. She couldn't take it anymore as an arrow plunged deeply into Dagonet's body. She instantly dropped her bow and charged out onto the ice.

"Latanie!" Lancelot shouted.

But Latanie didn't seem to hear him as she slid to a halt beside Dagonet. "Come on!" he surged, trying to pull him back as he slammed his ax one last time into the ice. She grabbed him just as he was about to fall into the water and heaved him backwards. She gave a sigh of relief as he landed on the ice instead of in the ice-cold depths. An unexpected cry of pain tore from her throat as an arrow lodged itself in her ankle. Her head swam with pain as she pushed Dagonet towards Arthur.

"Pull back! Arthur! Latanie!" Lancelot shouted as the ice cracked towards them.

Latanie gasped in surprise as the ice beneath her gave way. She frantically grasped at the ice as her lower body hit the water. She struggled to keep a hold but found herself slipping. That was when she remembered a conversation she had with Lancelot a few months ago.

"Damn, Lat. Why don't you cut your fingernails? You're going to kill someone with them," Lancelot suggested, holding a cloth to a gash Latanie had accidentally given him with her fingernail.

"I'm sorry, Lance! I didn't mean to!" Latanie apologized for the hundredth time. "I don't want to cut them. They may come in handy one of these days."

"What are you going to do? Poke the enemy to death?" Lancelot teased.

Latanie smirked. "Maybe."

Latanie grunted as she dug her fingernails into the ice to hold herself in place. She began to shiver violently as she tried to pull herself up and out of the freezing water. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to push away the pain that she was feeling. Opening them again, she looked up to see Lancelot running towards her.

"Lat!" Lancelot exclaimed, grabbing her upper arms just as her nails let go of the ice. He pulled her up and out of the water, holding her against his body to shield her if the Saxons decided to fire more arrows. When nothing came, he straightened up and quickly wrapped her in his cloak. He took her into his arms and stood up, making sure he had a good grip on her as he hurried back to the other knights. As he reached them, he stumbled and his legs gave out, causing him to drop to his knees.

"Lancelot," Latanie whispered, shivering.

"Don't close your eyes, Latanie. Don't close your eyes!" Lancelot urged, gently setting her on the ice.

"C-Cold," she gasped, gritting her teeth as Lancelot accidentally bumped her ankle. She tried to suppress the whimper but her face had betrayed her pain.

"Go ahead, let it all out," Lancelot said.

Latanie let out a sharp cry of pain as she lay on the ice. She could see blurry figures standing over her as Guinevere drew her bow and shot one last arrow, pegging a Saxon in the chest.

"Her ankle is shattered by the looks of it. We need to get them to Marius' wife. She can help," Arthur said.

"Dag… is he…?" Latanie asked, unable to finish her question.

"He's alive," Lancelot assured her. He made sure his cloak was wrapped tightly around her before picking her up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said quickly as she whimpered. "Let's get out of here." With that, Bors and Galahad heaved up Dagonet and they all departed.

--Next Day--

Latanie groaned softly as she awoke. She was exhausted from the ordeal and being in the carriage didn't help. A small fever plagued her, making her uncomfortable and hot to the touch. Voices outside alerted her to others. She tilted her head as Lancelot came in. "Lancelot," she said hoarsely.

"Sh," Lancelot said, sitting beside her. He gently touched her face. "How are you?"

"Better than Dag," Latanie said. "My ankle…"

"I would assume it hurts. You were struck by an arrow, not to mention it's infected," Lancelot said softly, stroking Latanie's hair. "I can't be in here long. I just came to see how you are doing. You had us all worried last night. You were so hot to the touch no one could stand to touch you for a short time." He sighed softly. "At least you're alert. Go back to sleep, my love, for you need to get better." He gently kissed her on the forehead.

"Lancelot… I'm cold," she said quietly.

Lancelot gave a slightly confused look but nodded. How could she be cold? He grabbed a spare blanket and draped it over her. "I must go. Arthur will be looking for me. Sleep well." He stood and left the carriage.

Latanie nodded and closed her eyes before passing out.

Dagonet, who was a bit worse than Latanie, opened his eyes wearily and gazed at the young knight. A slight smile came over his lips as he gently touched her cheek before drawing back. She was still very warm. He gave a slightly worried look, wondering if he should alert Marius' wife. He didn't get to come to a conclusion as he passed out again.

A/N: Sort of a cliffhanger but not really. No killing the author… otherwise I can't make the next chapter :P R&R please!