Gwaine and Lancelot sat in the armory working on cleaning and sharpening the weapons.

"You're quiet," Lancelot remarked, breaking the silence that had hung between them.

Gwaine grunted in response. "Just thinking."

"You seem a bit distracted lately," pressed Lancelot. "Is there something bothering you?"

Gwaine shrugged, letting out a sigh.

"Nothing that should be," he replied.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Lancelot.

"Raieya," said Gwaine, rubbing the cloth harder than necessary along the blade he was holding.

"What about her?" pressed Lancelot.

"She slept with Leon," he answered at last.

Lancelot drew in a breath, shocked. "I'm sorry, Gwaine."

"You shouldn't be," snapped Gwaine. "She is not mine. She never was."

"You have always been courting her, in my opinion," said Lancelot, unfazed by Gwaine's outburst. "Have you seen anyone else since her arrival here?"

Gwaine shook his head, ignoring Lancelot's first comment.

"That says something about how you feel about her, don't you think?" Lancelot pointed out.

Gwaine shot him an exasperated look in reply.

"If there is nothing between you then why are you being this way now?"

"I don't know!" he replied, shortly. "I don't understand it!"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Lancelot smiling slightly. "You're in love with her."

"I am not in love with her!" argued Gwaine.

"You are," Lancelot replied calmly. "You're jealous of Leon and upset because she slept with someone other than you when you've been devoted purely to her all this time."

"I'm not 'devoted' to her, Lancelot," Gwaine said firmly. "I've just been less interested in seeing other women because I know she can satisfy me, and she does."

"That doesn't explain why you're upset by her choosing to sleep with someone else though, does it?" countered Lancelot.

"I shouldn't be upset by that!"

"Yet you are," Lancelot remarked.

"It doesn't matter," said Gwaine shortly. "Even if I did feel something for her, she obviously doesn't feel the same way."

Lancelot shook his head. "I believe she loves you as well, she has just not yet accepted that."

"If she loved me, then why would she sleep with Leon or anyone else for that matter?"

"I can't say for sure," Lancelot answered. "But we must keep in mind Raieya's strange aversion to love. Perhaps she is realizing what she feels for you is love and she slept with Leon to find out if that's truly the case. Maybe she slept with him simply to prove to herself she still can sleep with other men. If she fears being in love maybe she is attempting to push you away right now. Perhaps she is trying to prove to herself that she is not in love."

"She's not in love," argued Gwaine. "Not Raieya. She won't have anything to do with it. She's already upset with me for getting jealous. In fact, when I hinted at possibly having feelings for her, she fled."

"You have feelings for her, then?" Lancelot asked, a knowing smile dancing onto his face.

"I'm not supposed to," said Gwaine irritably. "I'm not supposed to feel anything, according to her. We had an understanding."

"And yet you have had a change of heart," Lancelot replied.

Gwaine shrugged. "I know Raieya. She doesn't want this. I need to just forget it."

"No," Lancelot said firmly. "All she needs is time. She'll come around."

"I doubt it," Gwaine replied. "I have no claim on her. She'll never be just mine."

"She will," argued Lancelot. "You must be patient. She'll realize she can't fight her own feelings forever."

"She's spent a long time ignoring her emotions," Gwaine replied. "I don't think I can change that. Besides she's avoiding me anyway."

"For once I think you're underestimating yourself, Gwaine," said Lancelot. "Raieya won't be able to avoid you forever. I see how she looks at you, the way you are with each other. This will all work out in time. You two were meant to be together."

"You can't know that,"scoffed Gwaine.

"I'm certain that you are," said Lancelot, unfazed.

The evening entertainment had finally ended and Raieya hurried out of the banquet hall to her room. She had felt Gwaine's eyes on her, noticed him watching her all evening and she needed to get away. She was still angry with him for his behavior the previous night. And now she was feeling a bit guilty, which only made her even more angry with him. He wasn't supposed to feel anything and neither was she. He wasn't supposed to have any emotional affect on her.

Raieya put away her lute and changed into her regular tunic, determined to go find the person she blamed for Gwaine's behavior. Lancelot. She grabbed a light cloak from her wardrobe and headed out to the castle grounds.

It didn't take her too long before she caught up with him near the castle gardens.

"Lancelot," she called.

Lancelot stopped and turned to see who had said his name.

"My lady," he greeted her.

Raieya frowned and rolled her eyes.

"What have you done?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry?" Lancelot responded, confused.

"You," she snapped. "You've filled Gwaine's head with all your nonsense about love and now you've ruined everything!"

"Raieya," said Lancelot. "I-"

"Now he seems to think he has feelings for me," Raieya interrupted. "That he can be jealous! As if he has some sort of claim on me! It's almost as though he believed we were courting. You gave him that impression!"

"I've only merely pointed out that the two of you might as well be," countered Lancelot. "It's obvious to me you have feelings for each other."

"You're wrong!" Raieya exclaimed. "You have no right to claim you know my feelings! What Gwaine and I had was a close friendship. Nothing more was to ever come from it!"

"What would be so wrong with Gwaine loving you?" asked Lancelot calmly.

"That's not what I want," said Raieya coldly. "I am no one's. Gwaine used to understand that. We used to share the same view. Now you've turned my closest friend into someone else!"

"Gwaine has always had the ability to fall in love," argued Lancelot. "So do you. It doesn't change who you are. Love is not such a bad thing."

"Love isn't real," said Raieya slowly and firmly. "It's a pretty name for lust between two people. A name to disguise a weapon two people can use against each other. A term for manipulation, betrayal. I will not fall into the trap you call 'love' ever again."

"True love is none of those things," Lancelot replied, shaking his head. "It's when two people care deeply for each other and are devoted to one another."

"Commitment?" scoffed Raieya. "No. Nothing lasts forever."

"It could," said Lancelot. "If you gave it a chance."

"No," said Raieya firmly. "No. I told you. I am not interested in love. A relationship just complicates everything. I enjoyed the uncomplicated friendship Gwaine and I had. Now that's over."

"Your friendship with Gwaine doesn't have to end just because he has feelings for you," Lancelot pointed out.

"But now everything is different! How can I confide anything in him if it might make him jealous? How can we be intimate if he thinks it could lead to something more?"

"Surely Gwaine will respect your wishes regardless of what he feels," Lancelot responded.

"I can't," snapped Raieya. "I can't think of us as the same, knowing he wants more."

"I think, perhaps, you should examine your own feelings, Raieya," suggested Lancelot. "You might find that you care for him more than you think. And ask yourself, are you really willing to give up your friendship with Gwaine just because he cares for you?"

"He's not supposed to care for me in that way!" exclaimed Raieya, frustrated. "And I don't care for Gwaine in that way. I don't care for anyone in that way. I can't. I won't."

"I believe you can," said Lancelot. "Eventually you will have to come to terms with your feelings and when you do, you'll find that you do care for Gwaine."

"You're wrong!" Raieya shouted. "I don't care for anyone! I don't need anyone! And you can tell Gwaine that too!"

"Raieya," Lancelot started but she had already turned away from him and hurried back toward the castle.