Alright, I actually would have had this up sooner, except I got my wisdom teeth out Friday afternoon and wasn't exactly up to writing too much. But I sat myself down today before I went outside and I finished up this chapter a few minutes ago. My jaw still hurts like crazy and I think I gave the doctor one heck of a good surgery. When he came in the room I told him I didn't really like surgery. He said neither did he. I laughed and said he wasn't the one on the chair...plus he was getting paid! Also in the middle of the surgery..I was semi conscious, and somehow, even though they were working in my mouth, I started talking about my boy friend (who is finally coming home this Tursday!) and said something about my mom vacuming again. Basically, I was out of it for a good bit of time. So, I hope its understandable what took so long. I have to go into work in a few hours...nightshift sucks...and I know its going to be awful with my jaw, but I'll be thinking about my story while I'm there! I don't own King Arthur, and if I did...I would have Dagonet take his big axe and chop my jaw off! Ouch, that might make it hurt worse! Ok, enjoy the chapter...I wrote most of it while on the medicine they gave me...and its strong stuff...so lets hope it makes sense.

Time May Change

The next morning I wanted to go riding right away but he Knights were supposed to do some sort of drill practice so I had to wait. I would have just gone without Tristan, the loss of his company for one horse ride wouldn't be that great, but Lancelot needed his horse. So I went to the tavern instead and sat at 'my' table in the back.

"Here, don't worry about it, enjoy." Vanora places a bowl of stew in front of me accompanied by a big apple and at tall glass of water. I shake my head and pick up the wooden spoon on the edge of the bowl. I can see chunks of potatoes and onion slices floating around and an occasional piece of meat, which I was assuming was beef. The meat was very tender and I enjoyed it regardless that I was eating soup for breakfast. Only compliant I had, it needed a little garlic, but I have an uncanny love for garlic and think everything needs garlic.

I was on my third or fourth bite, taking my time and blowing on it so as to not burn my mouth, when a few Roman soldiers entered and sat down at a table nearby. I was going to call Vanora and ask her for some garlic, but I didn't want to bother her. So I figured I'd ask one of the brutes next to me who were more than likely just looking to get drunk a little early…no decency.

"Hey, hey…you know where I can get some garlic around here? Hey?" None look up as I call to them and I feel my temper slipping. I know they heard me. I the one who seemed to be the ring leader of the bunch to be the one who gave trouble a couple of times. Of course, I gave him some trouble too. I sigh and rest my head in my hand as stir my stew and watch the broth drip off the spoon, causing ripples around little bits of floating celery. I eat all the potato bits then take my time chewing through the beef chunks as I realize that a hunk of bread would be great to sop the broth up with. I started making a mental list; garlic, bread…maybe some salt…. Instead of doing something about it I drain the water, take the bowl to Vanora for cleaning and pocket the apple for later.

Fortunately the knights are done doing their thing and so long as the horses aren't too winded, I'm going riding. I intersect Lancelot in the stable entranceway as he was leading his horse in.

"Horse?"

"Still good, nothing too hard though, not much running. Try a long relaxed ride, he never gets that." Well yea, who gets to relax? I take the reins from and ready myself to mount when I see Tristan come around the corner with his mare.

"Leaving without me?"

"Tried to." I joke as I step up in the saddle and settle myself down softly. The horse jerks his head up in excitement and I wonder in what way did Lancelot ride this horse, he's still fresh as ever. Beside me Tristan's mare is prancing lightly. I look at Tristan puzzled and ask what kind of drills they were doing.

"Mostly easy stuff, making sure the horses still knew to stand still in battle when needed to and stuff. We didn't really ride them, just got them more excited." Terrific. Well, it's a good thing I know how to ride, otherwise the horse would have thrown me by now. I however, am as excited as the stallion beneath me, so I give a little nudge with my heel and urge him unto an extended walk and let him stretch out his muscles a bit.

As we reach the woods I pick up a trot and while keeping my hands light, I have to stiffen my wrists a bit to keep him from surging forward at the command. I love days like this, I can just feel something in the air.

"If the horses are still fresh why did Lancelot tell me to take it easy with his horse?"

"His horse is his friend, he wants you take care of him…..I know you do, don't give me that look. I think he wanted to catch you off guard, that's all."

"And you, are you ever caught off guard?"

"Never…" Suddenly Tristan stiffened and brought his horse to a halt.

"What is…?"

"Woads." Before he could react an arrow came shooting out of the trees towards Tristan's horse. The mare reared up in surprise and narrowly missed getting shot through the neck.

Instinct took over as I grabbed Galahad's blade from inside my sleeve and threw it at the blue-tinted figure I could just make out in the tree branches. Fortunately it was alone, and he wouldn't be getting back to report to the other demon freaks. I could hear the man falling dead from the branches and hitting the ground but then a new sound joined it. I turned to my side and saw that Tristan's mare was still acting up. The mare reared again, this time higher, and she began to lose her footing in the soft turned up dirt. Before I knew it, she was crashing over backwards.

Tristan was a good enough rider to keep himself in control while trying to get out of harm's way, I could see that. However, the mare's timing wasn't quite in tune with Tristan's as she fell. She stumbled down and clambered to her feet a moment later, Tristan didn't.

I quick dismounted and drew the reins down from the horses' necks so I could keep a hold on them and kneeled down next to Tristan who was slowly sitting up.

"God Tristan, don't do that! Are you alright?" I had a mare do that to me a few years back and it didn't feel too good. Fortunately the horse missed me and I was fine. Tristan however didn't seem to be moving too gracefully as he tried to stand up.

"Ah, no, no I'm not alright." I grabbed his arm and helped him to sit back down without further injuring himself. I should have had him wiggle his hands and feet and stuff like that before letting him get up, but it was too late for that now.

"Alright, what hurts?" I took his head in my hands and looked into his eyes to make sure he didn't have a concussion. His hair was in the way and I suddenly remembered that I wouldn't know what to look for anyways.

"Not my head, not too much least ways." That's good; he probably doesn't have a concussion then. "It's my ankle; I got it caught in the saddle underneath her when she fell. It's probably broken." That's bad.

"Ok, ok, give me a minute to think." I rocked back on my feet as I stayed crouched down by him and ran a filthy hand through my hair, getting caught in merciless tangles as I did. I knew almost nothing about doctor stuff. I could take care of a horse pretty alright; I knew what to do in emergencies, what kind of medicine to use for different things. Sure I was no vet, but I knew quite a bit. But no matter how hairy and stubborn Tristan was, he was no horse. And either way, I knew nothing about broken bones. Typically, when a horse breaks a leg, it has to be put down depending on the break and which leg. Usually that's the best and easiest thing to do for it, unless it's like a million dollar race horse. Sure with modern technology legs were getting easier to save, but I didn't have technology, wouldn't know how to use it, and again, as I needed to remind myself a second time, I wasn't dealing with a horse.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had a bird or something, it would have warned you of danger…you know, since you're never caught off guard." I tried to pull his pants leg out of the way but it only hurt him more. "You really should get a hawk…" I stopped at the look of frustration he gave me and continued on a different path. "So what happened, were you distracted?"

"Just this one time….aye but it hurts." I could see him trying to bite back a cry.

I suppose the best thing to do would be to splint it, but I was worried about doing it wrong or causing him more pain. So I decided maybe I shouldn't. What if I pushed the bone the wrong way when I did it? That would make it worse. I started looking around to see if there was anything that might possibly help the situation but I saw nothing. Looking back at Tristan I saw that he was starting to turn a bit pale and I realized I had to stop stalling.

"Alright, I'm not really sure what to do. I don't want to touch it, I might make it worse, but let me look at it and see if its really broken and how bad. Then we'll go from there." One look confirmed it; it was most definitely broken, the bone was clearly askew in his shin and it looked mighty painful. I gently ran a hand down on it and I drew back as Tristan winced in pain. I had to get him back to the wall, now. Thankfully we were about a ten minute gallop away, but he couldn't gallop. I didn't want to leave him in case more Woads would come, which reminded me I had more reason to hurry. If I could get him on the horse we could walk back slowly together. It would take about twenty minutes though, maybe more. I decided that would be the best bet, but first, I had to get him mounted.

"Alright, let's get you mounted up." One look at the mare and I knew it would be a problem, she was still spooking a bit and Tristan was in no condition to ride her properly, there was no way he would be able to grip right with his legs and he was turning even paler than before. Instead I tied sown her reins to the back of the slightly calmer stallion that had been so good for me and proceeded to help Tristan stand.

By putting as much of his weight on me s possible, he was able to stand ok, but the moment he tried to rest his foot on the ground he cried out in pain and almost went down again. I helped him to hop over to the horse and pleaded with my eyes that he be a good boy for us. The stallion suddenly started to calm down, for which I was thankful, and I think he knew that he needed to behave. The task at hand needed cooperation. It also needed a lot of help; I have no idea how I'm going to get him on the horse.

He was a big horse, about 16 hands. If only they had been drilling their horses to bow or lay down today. Knowing I was stuck without a trick horse, I bit my lip and did what I could. In the end I stretched my leg out in front of me with my knee up and helped him to hop onto my knee with his good foot, then try and swing his leg over the saddle. It took a few minutes and a lot of pain on his part, but he didn't cry out again. Once settled I climbed on behind him and began guiding the horse back to the wall.

We were nearing the wall, the surroundings were getting familiar, and I let out a sigh of relief; we were going to make it. Tristan was white by this point and his body was starting to tremble. I know his leg must be in a great deal of pain. As soon as we came in view one of the residents saw us approaching and ran inside. A minute later I could make out the figure of Arthur hurrying outside, trying not to worry as he walked a bit faster than normal. Dagonet was close behind him.

I pulled to a stop and slid down carefully, trying not to jar the barely conscious form in front of me. A cold sweat was forming on his brow, causing his hair to plaster down on his face, and he barely raised his eyes when Arthur called out his name. He made to dismount but Arthur stopped him.

"You need to see a surgeon, and you need help down from there, come on." He motioned to Dagonet to step forward then turned to me. "What happened?"

"Woad, in the woods. He missed the arrow alright, but didn't fare so well when the horse fell on him. Almost made it out of the way, but his leg is broken." That should answer all of their questions. I stepped back and let Dagonet slowly pull Tristan down, being careful of his leg. He bumped it on the saddle halfway though and he went rigid for a moment before letting out a half strangled moan. As I stood there watching something inside of me moved, like a feeling of some sort. I was sad, upset…my friend was hurt. I looked up with a start as I acknowledged these words. I have a friend.