Chapter 2
"Finding Peace"
"Lucan will be relieved to see you.", Rhiannon told Dagonet..
Once Arthur and his knights had departed, Rhiannon had released Dagonet's hand to move to the fireplace. Now, she deliberately stood with her back to him as she continued to speak.
"Perhaps relieved is not the best word for it...", she mused with a small tired grin. "I think ecstatic would be nearer the truth of the matter."
Dagonet watched her back as she spoke. Rhiannon wasn't a tall woman, but even now in all her exhaustion, she held herself proudly and to her full height. The firelight glowed through her hair, and outlined her darkly in the ever-dimming stone chamber.
He admired how her dark green gown draped over her curvaceous form. She was not in any sense a petite woman. Perhaps she was a bit short in stature, but her body was lush and sturdily built. Dag found her body endlessly alluring even as he was still so hellishly weak, and hurting. It made him smile a little that even in his current condition he could care about such things.
"Where is the boy?", He asked with a rasp.
Rhiannon turned at the sound of his hoarse voice, and walking to the table by the bed, grasped the still half full goblet of water.
"Arthur has given him a place here, and Bors' and Vanora's children keep him company.", Rhiannon informed him.
She had yet to look at him. As Rhiannon positioned herself by him on the bed, she realized with dismay that she was going to have to. She was simply too tired to deal with everything that was going through her head and her heart though.
She wasn't some green girl after all, her mind scolded... Alright, maybe I am a bit inexperienced with men, she conceded. Still, her parents, unlike so many, had explained to her about men and women. When she was fifteen, she'd had her first and only personal experience with a man, and it had left her terrified for a time.
She was a mix of a Roman father, and a British mother. As a result she was snubbed by many despite being upper middle class, and an uncle who sat on the senate. Also her name clearly was not a Roman name. A son of one of the senators named Tiberian felt that a mongrel such as herself should welcome any and all attention. She shuddered as she recalled that near rape, and quickly pulled her mind from those remembrances.
Dagonet had seen her eyes go somewhere far away, and saw her tremble. Just that quickly she was back with him. She seemed to pause a moment before looking at him. Suddenly, her eyes snapped to his.
"Here, drink...but slowly.", she admonished tilting the goblet rim once more to his lips.
Rhiannon found herself helplessly staring at his mouth. The water was making his lips glisten with moisture. She could hardly believe that a man who was simply drinking water could be so powerfully seductive.
She quickly realized that Dagonet eyes were still on her. Her face flamed as she forcefully yanked her gaze from his mouth, and back to his eyes. Had he seen? Did he have any idea what she was thinking? His darkened eyes gave nothing away. How she could be twenty-five summers and be acting like such a besotted fool was beyond her. She pulled the water away slowly.
"More?", Rhiannon asked trying to hold her gaze with his steady.
Dagonet only shook his head still watching her. He knew what he had seen in her eyes only a moment before. Rhiannon had looked at him so hungrily he had nearly choked. He couldn't recall when any woman had looked at him with that kind of intensity. The women at the tavern were just doing their job after all, and he was hardly their favorite. Lancelot was always the one that all women sought out. Lancelot...reality crashed through his thoughts.
Rhiannon saw the loss in Dagonet eyes before he had time to look away. She sat the water back on the table blindly. She wanted to take his face in her hands and...and what? Was she honestly thinking about kissing a man she really didn't know? Yes she was. She wanted desperately to love his pain away. Love! Her mind yelled at her. Had she honestly convinced herself that she was in love with him as she watched over him the last weeks? She wasn't sure she'd had to convince herself of anything. This was insane though. The man had been unconscious most of the time!
Rhiannon had always thought herself to be level-headed, and sensible. This proved she was as big a fool as she had secretly feared.
"I've got to get some sleep.", She mumbled ruefully. She put a tired hand over her face.
She heard the door open. She took a big breath, and wiped hard at her eyes before seeing who it was. Forcing her eyes open she looked up to see Guinevere entering the room with a woman that Rhiannon did not recognize behind her. Both women carried food, and odd sized bundles as well.
Rhiannon smiled as she rose and went to the drum table across the room to clear her mess off of it. It was littered with her soapstone mortar and pestle, various pouches of herbs, a knife, a metal container about three-quarters full of aloe. Her jar of salve was there as well though nearly empty. All of this was swept up and shoved into the deep windowsill nearby.
"Rhiannon, you look very nearly as faint as your patient." Guinevere told her in a somewhat amused tone, as she helped get the table to the side of the bed.
Rhiannon could only smile. The smell of the good food steaming up to her only made her feel like a ravenous bear. A grumpy ravenous bear.
"Are you alright?", Guinevere asked as she finished getting the food on her tray all settled. Her eyes went back to the healers face noting the obvious lack of rest. She permitted no one else to help her care for Dagonet though. Her eyes had moved from pinched to blood-shot
The unknown woman was clattering around with her tray of food, distracting Rhiannon a moment. Gods! Her head was heavy.
"I am only tired My Lady." Rhiannon answered as she motioned to Dagonet "As you can see though, My Lord Knight has come safely through the worst part of his recovery, so now I may take rest without fear."
Guinevere smiled with knowing and mischief, making Rhiannon both smile and roll her eyes. The unknown woman again caught her eye as she began lighting the candles in the room.
"Oh, this is Elspeth, Rhiannon. She works in the laundry part of the time, and in the kitchen as well.", Guinevere explained.
"Well met.", Rhiannon told this new acquaintance with a nod.
Elspeth nodded in return with only a ghost of a smile.
"I tended your gowns as best I could, but some are ruined with blood. Most actually." Elspeth's last sentence was a hesitant one. She knew expensive fabric when she saw it, and this woman was from Rome. Who knew what she might do? Elspeth indicated that the largest bundle was clean laundry.
"No matter.", Rhiannon told the woman. "Please think nothing of it. When I can, I will see a seamstress about new gowns...something more practical than those I brought with me might be best." She finished with a smile to the woman. She was not so foolish as to not know why Elspeth did not like her.
Guinevere saw hunger and exhaustion warring in new friends face as Rhiannon turned back to the food. She had grown a bit peaked.
"The other things we brought are the new bandages and the herbs you asked for. There are also a few things just for you in there.", Guinevere told her with a warm smile. "Now we will leave you both, and both of you please eat for Goddesses sake." Guinevere looked from Rhiannon to Dag, and with a nod to him walked out the door with Elspeth in tow.
The large knight certainly had lost weight. Between that and loss of blood, he looked truly alarming, but he was alive. Somehow, Rhiannon had kept him alive when all others would have left him for dead.
Guinevere smiled to herself as she parted ways with the aged Elspeth to go to her own love.
Dagonet watched the goings-ons of the women curiously. It gave him another unimpeded opportunity to study the woman who had so obviously devoted herself completely to him. If what he gathered was true she must have quite a talent for healing. She seemed Roman, but not exactly. There was something else. Perhaps she was like Arthur, and yet her name didn't fit Rome. Perhaps, she had been born here. He found it unlikely. Still, she didn't act like a Roman, flaunting her superiority like some might fly a pennant.
His stomach clenched as the scent of the food grew stronger. Would these women never cease talking?
Dagonet found himself distracted by a sparse pallet on the floor. He had noticed it when the drum table was moved to the bed. It was near the fire, but still...surely whatever rest she had been taking hadn't been upon the cold stones?
Finally, he noticed with relief that Guinevere and the old servant woman were taking their leave. Rhiannon came to sit by him on the bed once more.
"You will need to sit up. Do you think you will be alright if I prop you up with pillows?"She asked softly.
"Yes, I believe so.", Dag replied touching her hand that unconsciously rested on his belly.
Rhiannon sucked in her breath, and her eyes were enormous at his touch. Dagonet nearly laughed aloud. He noted that she did not try to remove her hand however. She simply stared at him a moment before continuing.
"We have to be mindful of your wounds. If it hurts too much you must tell me."
Dagonet nodded in response. He was honestly touched that she was so concerned.
Gently leaning herself down on him, Rhiannon wriggled her arms around him, one at his waist, the other higher at his chest. Still, she managed to keep her weight off of him even pressed into him as she was. Dagonet was entranced. Her full breasts were flattened against his hard chest, her mass of wild curls blanketing part of his chest and side. Her face would have been in his bed, but she had turned her head to breath, and so that he could hear her speak. Her breath was hot on the knights neck. It was swiftly undoing him. He wrapped his arms around her.
Rhiannon tightened her arms more. She was loath to put more pressure on him, but she had to get him upright. She couldn't help but savor how he felt in her arms though, and how delicious it was to feel his arms wrapped around her. She was fighting for any piece of her sanity she could grasp before she shamed herself. She had to keep her mind on what she was doing. With her mouth unintentionally grazing his neck, she spoke again.
"As I sit up, I need you to help me as much as you are able." Rhiannon tried to say with strength, but it ended in a whisper. The scent of him was flooding her senses. She had been with him for weeks but never as close as she was now. She could almost taste him. All she had to do was open her mouth...
She grasped him then, even tighter than before, and began to move upward with him, thanking the Gods for granting her the will she so badly needed.
Dagonet loosened one arm to push himself using the bed as leverage. A groan broke through his determined mouth. He could feel the wounds pulling a bit, but thankfully not opening. He was more sore than he could remember ever having been before.
Rhiannon heard him moan, but they had to keep momentum. She didn't think his wounds would split..."Hold onto me big man.", She murmured as she steadily kept moving.
Painfully, Dag was finally upright. He hated himself. He had grown painfully hard during all of this. He was incredulous at himself, and embarrassed. Somehow this woman was both soft and firm all at once, her arms were around him crushing herself into him, and her mouth on his neck had been more than he could take. He did not want to release her because then she would see how badly he wanted her. The proof was plain to see under the sheet that covered him. He might as well be naked for all the good that pitiful covering was doing. He didn't want to do this in front of this woman, at least not like this. What would she think of him? She deserved more consideration than this from him.
Meanwhile, Rhiannon was busy quickly shoving pillows and cushions behind him with one hand, while still holding him firmly with the other arm. That done, she put her arm back around him, and leaned into him gently to ease him into the soft prop behind him.
Rhiannon slackened her hold on him to face him "Are you alright?" She asked with genuine concern, as well as a triumphant smile for their success.
"I am fine milady", Dagonet answered trying not to stammer. Their gazes locked. Her eyes were killing him. The combination of brown and gold was bewitching. Gods! How he wanted her! He was miserable.
Someone cleared their throat by the door making them both jump. There, looking completely smug and amused, stood Gawain.
Rhiannon jumped up to busy herself with Dagonet's food, wondering how she didn't hear the door. Broth...good. He wouldn't be able to stomach anything more than that for now. She ladled some into a smaller bowl, making sure to keep her flushed face away from Gawain at all costs. She had come to admire and love Gawain dearly, as she had nearly everyone here, but she found his teasing merciless, and unbearable. He was also usually right on target.
"I am sorry I interrupted you. I hardly thought that either of you would be up to such antics this early on.", Gawain taunted noticing Dagonet's obvious physical discomfiture, as well as the emotional. Dags face was pleading with him.
Gawain was having fun, but he couldn't be so cruel. Not today anyway. Dagonet had returned from the dead. He quietly went to the end of the bed to grasp the heavy, thick, fur robe and spread it over the bed. Problem solved, dignity rescued. He laughed aloud at his friends look of relief. So, he cared what this woman thought of him? He couldn't blame the man. He would willingly have tried to win her over himself, but from the start she only seemed to see Dag. After all that happened, he knew she was in love with his brother, and he would not interfere with that. She was fiercely loyal, and Dagonet could certainly wish for nothing more than all this woman possessed.
"I had only come to say goodnight before I go to the tavern. You have been promised visits upon the morrow from Arthur, Galahad, and Bors. I will bring Lucan to you as well. The boy can hardly sit still knowing that you are awake now."
Dagonet nodded with a smile in response. Gawain had noticed that Rhiannon was deliberately keeping her back to him, attempting to appear busy fidgeting with their food.
He just smiled to himself. "Goodnight to you as well Lady Healer."
Rhiannon turned to smile warmly at him. Gawain returned the smile before adding on his way through the door, "You might consider a bath milady. If you look like hell, I'd hate to know what you smell like." Before she even had time to open her mouth, the door was shut. She could hear Gawain's laughter echoing in the outside passage. Gods only knew what he was going to tell everyone at the tavern. She looked to Dagonet in surprise. He was laughing as well, but softer than Gawain. He was also holding his side in pain.
"Serves you right.", Rhiannon told him with a smile, as she returned to the bed with a bowl of broth. She noted briefly that Gawain must have covered Dag up with the gigantic fur robe. She sank into it with a sigh.
Rhiannon lifted the bowl up to Dag. "You must drink as much of this as you can. I am made to understand that you are a healer as well, so you know that this is vital."
"I feel starved.", Dag told her truthfully.
'Then we will solve that." Rhiannon replied, and held the bowl to his lips.
This time as he drank, his mouth was mercifully obscured from her sight by the bowl.
Dag drank all that he could, but it was not much. He added one more drink for good measure, but he knew any more and he would be sick. He raised his hand to push the bowl away.
"I can eat no more.", he told her huskily, once again drawn to those beautiful eyes.
"I am glad you could eat what you did. How do you feel?"
"I am very tired milady.", Dag responded, full now, but certainly weary.
"I need to change your bandages, and please, I have no need of a title. Call me Rhiannon."
"Eat first.", Dagonet instructed before she could rise.
"It's alright, that can wait.", she told him feigning lightness.
"No, Rhiannon, it cannot." One arm snaked around her waist and held her fast. "You must eat as well." When she continued to show some signs of resisting, his voice grew even more stern. "Woman you must, and you will." His eyes bored into hers telling her plainly he would brook no argument. She looked at him a moment more.
"Very well then." She resignedly began spooning some of the heartier soup on the table into her mouth. It felt heavenly to eat. In her vigil over Dagonet she could hardly stand to eat out of the feverish worry she had developed. It had become life or death to her whether or not he lived. She had stayed here even in the battle with the Saxons. Had there been some other outcome than victory...The tired woman shoved those evil thoughts away from her.
Before she knew it, she was scraping the bottom of the bowl, and had somehow eaten much of the bread on the trays. Dag heard her sigh of contentment, and smiled.
Rhiannon felt his hand on her hip as he relaxed his hold on her, and she turned to be greeted by his smiling face. He was obviously pleased with her, and truth be told, he was tickled by the gusto with which she nourished herself. Now for the rest of his argument.
"Now you may tend to me if you must, although I believe whole-heartedly that the bandages could be let go till tomorrow." He could tell that she was about to protest. "I am a healer too remember? My wounds have closed, and while I realize they are still new enough to warrant bandages, it can wait."
Rhiannon's full stomach was interfering with her. She had become increasingly drowsy from eating so much, and was struggling for a counter-argument. She did admit that in her fastidiousness, her habit was to change his bandages frequently. She had changed them last only this morning.
"Perhaps it can wait.", She conceded.
Using what strength he could, and gritting his teeth, Dagonet dragged Rhiannon backward until he had her in the crook of his arm.
Nestled against Dag's side, Rhiannon closed her eyes. This was such comfort. The fur under her was soft, and Elspeth had stoked the fire at some point in her visit, and it roared chasing the chill to the corners of the bed chamber. Most important of all she was being cradled by Dag, and that warmth alone would have kept her. She vaguely thought about the scandal of sleeping in this man's bed, and just didn't care. She was far too tired to be concerned with it. "Besides,", she thought to herself, "I have never been conventional."
Rhiannon was just falling over the edge of slumber when she felt Dags head lower to the top of hers.
"Thank you.", Dagonet mumbled gently against her hair as he felt her snuggle closer.
"My pleasure.", Rhiannon whispered with a smile, her eyes still closed. Dag felt her body relax as sleep took her.
If he had his way this woman who he owed so much to, and who endlessly intrigued him, would never sleep on the floor again. The thought pained him as he looked over once more to her rough, pitiful pallet. There were so many things he had wanted to ask her today, but let it go. They both needed rest, and she had looked so much more haggard as the evening progressed, that he had determined to wait at least till the morrow.
Dagonet looked down into Rhiannon's face. Her reddened eyes were shut, and her face was now free from worry. He kissed the top of her head gently, and slipped off into his own healing sleep, with her soft, warm weight beside him. In his dreamless slumber, his arm tightened possessively around her.