Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from KA, unfortunately.

I would like to thank Hannah and UnicornTKD for reviewing. I hope I haven't disappointed. I know the chapter is short, but it's the best I can manage for now. I promise the next, if people like this one enough, will be longer. Please read and review.

I Do

Chapter One

"No Bors. That's not good enough!" Vanora's voice was raised just short of shouting. "How many times have you made that promise? One, two hundred times?"

Vanora glared at him for a few seconds before turning her back on her lover and storming across the room to where her youngest child was looking nervously from one parent to another, too young to understand anything other than things weren't happy and smiley.

"Van, what more do you want? I'm doing the best I can here," he said as he started to walk towards her only to be stopped by a fierce look.

"Well, in that case, your best isn't good enough."

Bors stood in silence, his jaw hanging open comically. He could see from her face that Vanora regretted her words, and he felt deflated. Was this what they had come to? Things had been going fine, as far as he could tell, but then Arthur had to go and get himself married. That's were all this had started. He knew how the story should end, but that didn't mean he knew how to get there.

"C'mere," he said walking over to Vanora and the child who she now held tightly in her arms. Before Vanora had a chance to say anything, he had drawn the pair into his arms. He loved hearing the sound of his children breathing. He would never tell anyone but it made his heart swell each and every time. He smiled down at the wide eyes that were still looking anxiously from mother to father.

"We'll come through. One way or another, we'll make it. All of us, together. Me, you, this littl'un, Gilly and the others. I promise from the bottom of my heart."

In reply he heard Vanora sniff and he pulled her closer to him. Then he pulled back and bent down to kiss the two-year-old on her dainty little nose.

"This one's going to be beautiful like her mother," Bors said as he kissed Van.

"And as stubborn as her father," Vanora added, pulling back with a small smile on her face.

Bors shook his head and tickled the girl's tummy, making her giggle.

"Van, I-" Bors started but was cut off almost immediately by a knock on the door.

"Arthur requests your presence presently," someone called from the other side of the door. Probably a servant of some sort.

Bors growled and Vanora pursed her lips. Bors knew that she didn't always agree with the obligations he felt himself bound to through Arthur, but she understood enough to know it meant much to him. She didn't know how grateful he was for that understanding.

"Arthur re-"

"I heard you the first time," Bors ground out through gritted teeth. Why was it someone always wanted him when he was about to bring up something important with Van?

"Go," Vanora said, turning him by his shoulders and gently pushing him towards the door. "I'll still be here when you get back, but it's about time this little one had a rest. Sooner you go, sooner you'll be back."

Bors grumbled something else and kissed her before leaving. He stalked through the hallways, across the courtyard, through more corridors and into the large stone room with its famous table. He slumped down in his chair and stared at the table. He glanced up as the others came in.

They looked even more of a rag-tag bunch now. Galahad looked tired, his skin was pale and he had large shadows under his eyes. Gawain was little better. Too much drink. Lancelot, Tristan and his Dagonet no longer seemed to be entirely focused on the world about them. For Tristan it wasn't much of a change. And only slightly more so for Dag. But Lancelot? Bors couldn't remember the man so much as looking at a woman since he had been told by the physician that all his wounds had healed, or at least the physical ones. The only one who hadn't really changed was Arthur himself, although he had stopped wearing Roman armour on all but the most ceremonial of occasions. For some reason that always made Bors laugh.

"You'll want to know why you're here," Arthur started.

"No, not really," someone replied from the other side of the room.

Arthur carried on as though the words had not been spoken. "The Angles that were allowed to settle in the east have broken the agreement. More are landing on Britain's shores, and are slowly taking more and more land." Arthur stopped for a few moments before finishing. "We have to stop them."

"We?" shouted Galahad rising to his feet. "What happened to those garrisons you posted, huh Arthur? You said they would be enough."

"I know I did. And for almost two years they had worked. But you know Britain is good land, especially there in the east. But I need two of you to lead the newly trained infantry south to reinforce the garrisons."

A long silence followed. Bors knew that in some weird, twisted way, the knights had become attached to the more northern parts of the country. As the silence grew longer Bors could hear the others start to become restless and fidget.

"I'll go," Galahad said after a long time, followed swiftly by Gawain.

"Thank you. I would like you to be ready within the week. That is all," Arthur said before turning and leaving.

Bors took that as his cue to follow suit. As he left the building to cross the compound, he saw Lucan hovering by the door waiting for Dagonet. The lad had grown over the two years. He'd seen him and his Gilly wrestling more than once and had to agree, grudgingly, that Lucan was a fine opponent.

He found himself hurrying to get back to his rooms. He opened the door to find the younger children curled up asleep. He saw the older ones helping their mother, or trying to. In Gilly's case the help seemed to be causing more trouble than it did good.

"Bors, help me with this," Vanora commanded, as she bent to pick up a basket.

Bors complied, stepping over the sleeping children to get there. He was surprised by how heavy it was. Maybe being a woman wasn't the easiest thing after all if you had to carry this day after day. He much preferred the thought of what he did. At least he got to see more of the world than a woman who spent her time either in a tavern or looking after a small tribe of children.

It was some time later that the rooms were up to Vanora's standards. As soon as their mother had pronounced the work done, the older children had fled the room while somehow managing to miss their younger siblings in the rush.

"You know what Bors," Van started.

Bors gulped. That sounded ominous.

"It's about time we gave them names, don't you think?"