Chapter Eleven
My guards had caught up with us, and so they fetched Arthur and Gwen, along with Gregor and the father of the girl who'd nearly killed Gwaine. Leon, Merlin, and I all kept a rather watchful eye on the girl until they arrived, making sure she couldn't squiggle out of what she had coming. All listened to the tale, taking time to listen to both sides, as was only fair, but the girl clearly didn't help her own case, blubbering on about wanting a knight for her own. Her father, Lord Owen, seemed rather close to tears himself, but more from frustration and anger than anything else.
"How could you do this to our family?" he hissed at her. That finally got her to shut up. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then turned back to the Arthur. "I am terribly sorry that this happened, Your Majesty, especially to one of your own most trusted knights. My daughter will accept any such punishment as you deem just."
Arthur looked to him rather impassively, then to Gwen. What followed was one of their silent conversations. "Lord Gregor, you are the Lord Steward of Caerleon. I will leave judgement in your hands, as this falls under your jurisdiction," he finally announced, pulling a tiny smile from his wife.
"But Your Majesty, I can't-" Gregor started, then paused as both royals nodded, rather regally. "Of course, Your Majesty, as you wish."
He was silent for a moment, but not still. He paced back and forth from his place in front of the door, eyes taking in each member and their part in the story. At last, he stopped, pulled himself to his considerable height, and folded his hands behind his back. "Lady Tinsley of Arroway, you have been found guilty of poisoning a knight of the realm, with the intent to trap him into matrimony. As you are not yet of age, and show only selfish rather than malicious intent, I hereby banish you from the courts of Caerleon for the space of one year and one day." She gasped dramatically, as if he'd sentenced her to death. "If you are gone from these halls before morning light, no one else need know of your indiscretions. However, if you have not removed your personage before sun up, the entire court will know of it via a proclamation to be read in every town square. Do you understand?"
"We do, Your Grace, and thank you for your leniency," Lord Owen said quickly, glaring at his daughter when she squawked to disagree. "We will be gone before morning light, and we will also send reparations to Sir Gwaine at Camelot. Excuse us, Your Grace, Your Majesties," he added with a very abbreviated bow to the room in general, pulling his daughter from the room.
Once the door shut, Gwen beamed at Gregor. "You did splendidly, my lord."
"Yes, Gregor, you did well," Arthur added. "It was a just and fair punishment, taking in motive but not disregarding action. I believe I am leaving Caerleon in just the right hands."
"Thank you, Your Majesties," the man replied, sighing heavily. "I hadn't thought much about that portion of the job when I accepted. Otherwise, I might not have."
The men laughed and Gwen smiled. I may have smiled, as well, but only very briefly. "Lady Anna, are you alright?" Gregor asked me. "Are you… displeased with my verdict?"
I shook my head quickly. "Only because I wanted to pull the girl's hair out," I assured him. "No, you were fair. And I am glad you'll be the one doing the judging, because I wouldn't be able to see past my own dislike of a person to be as fair as they deserve."
The men laughed again, but Gwen gave me a knowing look. "Well, my love," she told Arthur, "it's time we went to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Anna, why don't you walk with us?"
"If it's alright with Merlin, I'll stay here to help him look after Gwaine. The oaf isn't a very good patient," I said quickly, not liking that knowing look, but not knowing why.
"That's fine. If you're here, perhaps he'll be less of a prat when he wakes," Merlin agreed with a grin.
It took a few moments, but everyone else filed out after saying goodnight. My lovely guards brought several rather fluffy looking pallets for both of us to sleep on, along with plenty of blankets. Merlin checked on Gwaine and made sure he had several potions ready, "Just in case," he assured me. Then, we each snuggled down.
But I wasn't quite ready to sleep just yet. "How bad could it have been if you hadn't gotten to him in time?" I asked quietly.
His hesitancy to answer nearly answered for me, but he finally said, "It doesn't matter now."
"He could have died, you mean." The words landed, cold, in the pit of my stomach.
"But he didn't," Merlin reminded. "And he'll be just fine by morning. Well enough for us to still begin for home. He might have to ride in the carriage with you and Gwen, though."
"Oh, goddess save us from that," I laughed.
"He'll be fine, Anna, I promise."
And he was. When we woke Gwaine the next morning, he told us the dancing fairy in his head had been polite enough to put down her knives, a vast improvement from the night before. But his eyes were still rather sensitive to the light, so Merlin proclaimed he would ride in the carriage. He accepted with easy grace, even after the other knights teased him for it. "I would far rather ride inside with the two beautiful ladies than ride around your ugly mugs," he announced, shutting them up rather quickly.
As it turned out, both of my travelling companions were feeling under the weather. So, after convincing Gwen to lay down in the seat facing me and Gwaine to lay his head in my lap, I pulled out my flute from the satchel and began to play, minding the flow of the magic. My song wrapped around them, comforting them and allowing them to sleep more. Even after both had begun gently snoring, I still continued to play. I wanted to let them get the rest they needed, in the hopes that they would feel better once they woke.
"Thank you, Anna," Arthur said, bending to look into the window of the carriage. "Gwen's not felt well for several weeks now, not been sleeping well. Hopefully, once we get back home, Gaius will have something more to help her."
"I'm sure he will," I smiled back. "Now, shall I play something a little more lively for you men?"
"It won't wake her, them, will it?" he asked, concern crinkling the corners of his eyes.
"Absolutely not," I assured.
"Then, by all means, Anna, and thank you."
…
We stopped for the midday meal, though Gwen insisted I walk with her before we eat. "Thank you for playing," she told me, squeezing my arm she'd threaded through her own. "I feel better, though I do desperately want to stretch my legs now."
"If my playing helps you at all, then I'll play until I run out of breath," I promised.
"There's no need for that, at least not yet," she laughed.
We walked quite a ways, our guards faithfully surrounding us and keeping watch. And then we found a delightful little brook, happily babbling its way through the trees. Since it was such an unseasonably warm day, Gwen mischievously suggested we take our shoes off and refresh ourselves. And if the Queen of Camelot and her lady in waiting ended up splashing one another rather soundly, there wasn't anyone around who would care about the lack of decorum. We happily grinned at each other as we put our shoes back on.
"Gwen!"
"Anna!"
Our heads shot up when we heard our names called, from back in the direction we'd come from.
"Anna, where are you?"
"Gwen!"
I'd never heard Arthur sound so anguished, or Gwaine sound so worried. Without real thought, I ran back to the others, Gwen right beside me.
"Anna!" I caught sight of Gwaine, his face lightening when he saw me, though he didn't stop running until he very nearly crashed into me. "Anna, you're safe," he gasped, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face into my neck.
I hugged him back, carding my fingers through his slightly damp hair. "Of course, I'm safe. What is it?" I asked, looking to Gwen to see Arthur similarly wrapped around her, while she had just as puzzled a look on her face as I was sure I did.
"Lot's men," Gwaine gasped, his breathe tickling my neck. Though the shivers that zinged down my spine were not the good kind. "They attacked, wanting you, and I just- I was so afraid they'd taken you."
"I'm alright," I assured quietly, heart in my throat. "We didn't even see anyone. I'm alright."
The others arrived, and I could see the evidence of the battle they'd fought. Percival's arm was bleeding, Elyan limped, and Leon had a nasty looking cut on his head. That made me worry about Gwaine, since I couldn't see much of him, close as he was to me. "Are you alright?" I asked, nearly panicked now.
"'M fine," he mumbled, resisting my efforts to raise his head from my neck. "Swear."
Knowing he wouldn't swear it if he was hurt, I gave up, going back to carding his curls through my fingers. "Is everyone else alright?" I asked, loudly enough for the others to hear.
"We didn't lose a man," Leon assured me. "Merlin's taking care of our wounded, but it's nothing serious."
"Though Lot's men can't say the same," Elyan grimly added.
Worry, frustration, and rage bubbled up and out of me. "Why does he keep coming for me? We're on the other side of Camelot, and I'm just one woman! What could possibly be so important about me that he'd keep coming?"
Gwaine snapped up, looking me in the eye. "You're not just one woman, Anna. You're brave, and funny, and kind, and fiery, and passionate, not to mention one of the most beautiful women in the kingdom. Lot'd have to be utterly blind not to see just how incredible you are, not that that's why he wants you. At this point, he sees you as the doe who got away in his hunt, and he's obsessed with getting you."
My insides trembled at his words, far too many emotions stirred up. "Then he's not going to stop until he gets me."
It wasn't a question, but Gwaine answered anyway. "No, he won't, but we won't let him."
"Wouldn't it be better for everyone if I just went to him, then?" I asked, pulling away from him and wrapping my arms around myself, frantically trying to keep from flying apart at the seams. "He'll keep sending men, and you'll have to fight them, and sooner or later, one of you will be seriously hurt, and then-"
"Better for everyone?" Gwaine's voice, so soft behind me, was filled with incredulity. And something else I couldn't quite identify. "Do you think Gwen would be better off without you? Or Hunith? Or Leon's girls? Do you really think Merlin would be better off without you, knowing his oldest friend was being… harmed? Do you think I- Do you think any of us could stand by and let that insufferable piece of pig dung touch you in any way? Do you think so little of yourself?"
"I can't let you keep putting yourself in danger for me!" I cried, whirling around to face him. "I couldn't bear it if you- any of you were to get seriously injured protecting me, or heaven forbid, killed! Do you think I could handle that?"
"It's our job, as knights who have sworn to protect you, to do so," he told me. His hands reached up to cup my face, thumbing off a tear I hadn't realized I'd shed. "And I will die before that cretin is allowed to marry you."
"But I don't want you to die, not at all and certainly not for me," I whispered.
"I won't die, not as long as you're around, love," he murmured, lowering his head to rest on mine, still holding my face in his hands.
It was that moment, in a dirty forest, with all of our friends surrounding us, that I realized I loved this man. This man, this loud, never serious, always teasing man who had such an impossibly good heart had stolen mine. I wrapped my hands around his wrists and nervously licked my lips, not sure what to do. But the movement caught his eyes, dipping down to gaze at my mouth. My heart suddenly pounded, and I wanted him to kiss me more than anything I'd ever wanted in my life.
"By sending his men across my kingdom, Lot has declared war," Arthur said, sounding so very loud and startling me from Gwaine's hold. "I was willing to forgive the previous band, since Camelot is so close to his borders, but I can't let this go. And I will not see my queen unhappy because he has taken her closest friend," he added, smiling gently at me.
"I'm not sure I'm worth all this, Arthur," I told him, ignoring Gwaine's huff of disagreement. "I don't want anyone to die for me."
"It's not just for you, Anna," he assured, "though that is part of it. If I allow him to continually harass any of my subjects, I am telling the world that Camelot is weak, and open to attack. I cannot let that happen. And I will not let him harm you."
I dropped my head. "Thank you, Arthur."
"And that doesn't mean you can sneak out away from us and give yourself to him," Gwen said sternly, even as she hugged me. "I won't allow that. Especially since our child will need its godmother soon enough."
"Child? Godmother?" I gasped, looking to her in shock.
Both Gwen and Arthur grinned happily. "We were going to wait until we got back home to tell everyone at once, but if it means I can use it to guilt you into staying, then I'll do it," she said cheekily.
"Of course, I'll stay!" I cried, throwing my arms around her again.
"Couldn't you have said that a bit sooner, Gwen?" Gwaine asked. I could hear the grin in his voice, even without seeing his face. "It would have convinced her far faster than anything I said."
AN: It's been forever, I know, and I'm sorry. But I promise I will finish this story. I'm not giving up on Anna! It's just gonna take a while for me to finish. Thanks for sticking with me!