03. A Knight of Camelot (Juliet/Gwaine)

If she was going to have stay in this place for a while, she was going to be a knight.

Honestly, she wasn't even sure how they got there. Henry had convinced her and Carlton to travel over to England for some reason and look for Shawn and Gus, and they were right in the middle of whatever castle they had gone to when suddenly they turned around and it was like it was occupied, active, like it was in the Middle Ages. And, apparently, they had traveled back to the Middle Ages, somehow.

They didn't really know how to get back, and it seemed like she was the only one who wanted to return to an era where she wasn't judged not by her cup size but by the fact that she even had breasts. Carlton had taken to coordinating political arrangements and battle tactics and was even starting to gain influence over the knights, and somehow Arthur was tolerating him more than expected. Gus was apparently really enjoying helping out around the castle and Camelot, though she suspected it had more to do with spending time with Guinevere, and he said Shawn was somewhere out in the woods but safe, whatever that means.

So it looks like she's stuck here for a while. But, if she's stuck here, she's going to make the most of it, and she's going to be a knight.

She nearly laughed at the look on Arthur's face when she approached him about it. He was utterly shocked at the possibility of a woman being a knight of Camelot, though it probably didn't help that at the time she was wearing one of Gwen's medieval, corseted dresses to fit in. He would admit that it wasn't unheard of for noblewomen to be trained in basic swordplay as a defense, but it was absurd to consider a woman as a knight. She straightened defiantly and told him that, where she came from, she was one of the most esteemed knights in her kingdom, and she would more than be able to hold her own against anyone he faced her with. It was with a skeptical expression that Arthur finally agreed to let her lightly spar with one of his knights, and he called Gwaine over for the task.

Morgana had some armor remaining from her past swordfighting lessons, and she donned that quite easily and picked out a sword from the armory; and the next day, hair tied back and a defiant expression upon her face, she headed into the knights' training arena to see her opponent. His hair swung coyly into his face, and his lopsided smile, joking with the other knights, nearly twisted her stomach as she swiped her own bangs from her forehead, but any attraction was immediately swallowed down for the task at hand.

It wasn't a long battle. Gwaine was trying to go easy on her, ostensibly on Arthur's orders, and it was fairly easy to get his sword away from him the first time and pin him to the ground with hers at his throat. She tossed it back to him and offered him another chance, and he fought a bit harder, searching for redemption; but it still wasn't long before she had both swords in her hands. The last chance she gave him, he fought her quite seriously, ignoring the jeers of his fellow knights and properly fighting against her, their sword clanging together over and over. And she was really impressed, as they fought long enough for her to be winded when she finally twisted his sword out of his grip, kicked him to the ground, and stood over him victoriously.

He grinned up at her, perfect white teeth set in a crooked smile, and she ignored the approach of butterflies in her stomach.

"How did you do that?"

She reached out a hand and helped him up, grinning back as he moaned before wrapping an arm around her shoulders good-naturedly. "I did fencing in college," she explained simply.

"Fencing? What do you mean?"

She laughed lightly. "Let's just say I was a trained in a place where they thought women would make just as good knights as men."

There was only a brief hint of shock in his eyes at her revelation, swallowed quickly by the admiration and affection which was slowly setting in his expression as he looked down at her. She blushed and looked away as he led her over to the knights, only to grin and laugh as they jumped around her for a hug and cheer of congratulations. She had proven herself to them, and they were ready to accept her as one of their own – for the most part, anyway. She still had a bit of work to do, but now she had the opportunity to do it, and she was looking forward to it.

So, if Juliet O'Hara was going to stay in Camelot, she was going to be a knight.