Chapter 2

After changing into clean clothes, Adena put on the necklace once more—as she truly loved the design—before leaving her home to the fortress as she helped out with the cleaning. Entering the kitchen, Adena nods to the chef before grabbing a green apple and a fairly large basket.

What she mostly did was take the knight's and Roman's (that she was assigned to) clothing and/or blankets, wash them and mend the holes in them. One of the older women had taught her how to mend clothing and Adena was grateful for she never got the hang of it.

Walking down the familiar corridor, Adena quickly—and hungrily—ate her apple before placing the core into one of her pockets in her dress. She knocked the first door to the right and entered when she heard no answer. Thus she started her rounds, silently and invisibly.

Galahad and Kay were in their rooms to greet her, and were kind enough to separate those that needed mending or not. Entering the last room that belonged to Lancelot, Adena hummed to herself as she cleaned about the room. She failed to notice a door across from the entrance open to reveal Arthur's best friend wet and wearing nothing but his breeches.

Adena was fixing the bed, leaning to the other side to smooth out the lines. Lancelot smirked to himself, leaning against the door frame and his arms crossed over his chest, watching the woman carefully. He grinned even wider as Adena was nearly lying on top of his bed to smooth out the upper right corner, her right leg curved upwards.

Continuing to smirk, he watched the young woman straighten up and pick up the full basket of dirty clothes and turned. She screamed, dropping the basket and placing one hand to her mouth and the other to her heart. Amusement shown in his eyes as Adena blushed like there was no tomorrow, trying to calm her racing heart.

She quickly dropped to her knees and started to gather the clothes that fell out, too embarrass to have not thought of checking the bathroom. But also as she noted his well toned upper body; may they be covered with old scars or new. She cursed herself in her head, wondering if she should stay away for a while and for thinking such thoughts about the womanizer.

Adena was suddenly startled as a hand reached for the same tunic as she was. She looked up to meet the grey eyes of Lancelot. She felt her face go even redder before looking down and gather everything, not wanting to look as his still exposed chest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear a sound when I knocked, and I never thought to check the wash room." Adena stuttered, quickly standing but keeping her eyes down to the ground.

Lancelot rolled his eyes at her shyness but smiled at the sight of the pendant. It looked even better on her neck then on the stand.

"Do you fear me girl?" The womanizer asked quietly.

Adena looked up at Lancelot, frowning at the question. "Hell no! Why should I?"

Lancelot was taken back by the woman swearing, but was highly amused. The woman did not seem to have notice so he did not make her aware of this.

"I am knight; a killer." Lancelot smirked. "And I am the good looking knight."

Adena made a face, shrugging her shoulders. "So? It's the Roman's fault that you became like this, not yourself or one of the other knight's; you didn't want this! So this is who you are, you can't really change that." Adena took a breath, not having spoken so much in a while. "Well, you can change, but not at the moment as you still have two years until your service to Roman is completed. And you are not the good looking knight."

Lancelot thought over her answer, liking this woman. It was true, he can change but it would take time as fighting was all he knew. Having realized how much she has spoken, Adena turned bright red and cursed herself. She cleared her throat, quickly looking around the now cleaned room.

"I must be going, excuse me sir." She said quietly.

She curtsied and quickly walked to the door.

"Lancelot," Adena turned to the womanizer, raising a curious eyebrow. "Call me Lancelot, my lady."

Adena smiles shyly. "And you can call me Adena. Good day."

Before she could even walk out, Lancelot called to her. "If I am not the good looking knight, then who is?"

Adena looked over her shoulder, "Gawain."

And she walked out, smiling at the look on the womanizer's face. Lancelot smiled to himself, walking back into the wash room. This woman intrigued him even more and couldn't wait to figure her out and why she did not like to talk much or even socialize—aside from being shy.

—Two months later; night—

Adena was flustered and annoyed for all night the men have been more rowdy and crude towards her and the other barmaids that were not sitting on their laps. It was semi-crowded that night in the tavern, and the barmaids that were working seemed to become less and less, leaving Adena and Vanora to themselves. But with how Bors was becoming as he continued to drink more and more, Adena would soon see herself working alone.

It was naught but an hour that passed by when Adena finally found herself alone and even more annoyed by the greedy customers. The ale was slowly becoming to an end and Adena wasn't fit to tell the customers to leave as it was late; that has always been Vanora's job. And yet, the older woman was nowhere to be seen. However, her fear of telling the drunken men to go home was eased by both Dagonet and Kay. Luckily everyone was afraid of the two giant men and their strength.

Giving them a grateful smile, Adena tended to the mess that she was about to do alone as all the barmaids have found a bed to sleep in and Bors took Vanora for some alone time. Having this meant that their children would be staying with her that night. Not that she minded, but she had hopped to have some peace and quiet that night.

Number One came up to Adena, looking at her apologetic. Adena laughed quietly, nodding to her that it was okay. Number One smiled and turned to get the rest of her brothers and sisters to go to Adena's home to get a night's rest. With a tired sigh, Adena went to work in cleaning the tables first, going back and forth into the kitchen with jugs and cups.

Both Dagonet and Kay had offered to help as the others were drunk and there was a large mess in the tavern. But Adena denied both of them and shooed them away. Though, she would have loved their help as she looked around the tavern. Then there were also the dishes in the kitchen, piled up halfway to the ceiling. Okay, maybe not to the ceiling, but there was many for one person to handle.

Adena was humming to herself, stacking the chairs upon the tables. Once it was clear, she went into the back and cleaned up the kitchen as the one who cooked that night left to their home, drunk. She cleaned up the mess, burdening herself with more dishes to wash. It took a half hour to clean, and she now turned with dread at the sink full of dishes.

With a tired sigh, Adena cracked her neck form side to side, and begun to wash. When the half barrel of water was full of clean dishes that soaked in the water, Adena dried them, placed in their proper place, and threw out the dirty soapy water. She went in the back where there was a well to fetch more clean water. Adena cautiously looked around her, hating the silence and the darkness. And since there was no one there, the young woman had to be even more careful of her surroundings.

She quickly, and expertly, brought down a fairly large bucket and when she heard the splash, Adena quickly brought the bucket back up. She just took hold of the now heavy bucket when she heard a noise behind her. Adena quickly turned her head to see two bright eyes. She gulped nervously, wondering what the hell it was. Then it came closer to the opened door, the light pouring out to a black and white wolf, its blue eyes shining even brightly.

But Adena frowned as the wolf-like was not a wolf, but a dog that looked like a wolf. An Alaskan malamute, if she remembered the name of the breed correctly, barely a year old it seems. She walked over to it cautiously, set down the bucket, and kneeled, holding out a hand to the pup. It looked malnourished and mistreated. It cautiously walked towards her, sniffing the air around the woman. Adena merely smiled, waiting for the pup patiently.

The pup then wagged its tail and walked over to the woman, who gladly scratched his head and neck. Adena laughed to herself, smiling brightly at him. She slowly stood up, picking up the heavy bucket of water once more.

"Come on boy, I'll give you something to eat." She said softly, walking into the kitchen.

The pup followed timidly, but when Adena placed down left over meat on a plate on the ground near the entrance, the pup happily came in and began to devour the food hungrily. Adena smiled in amusement and poured the clean water into the larger barrel. Thus, she began to wash the dishes once more. Unfortunately, it took more than a half hour. By the time she had placed the last jug in the cupboard, Adena went around to blow out the candles she kept lit.

She looked behind her once more to see that all was well when she noticed the Alaskan malamute. He wagged his tail as she saw him, Adena chuckling to herself quietly. She blew out the last candle and started walking towards her home, beckoning the pup to follow; which he did very happily. The young woman pondered on how an Alaskan malamute had come to Britain as they were mostly found in Alaska or Canada, but not for some centuries.

Adena was shaken out of her thoughts when the pup had begun to growl into the shadows on the right. Adena held her breath, quickly searching the darkness for some kind of danger, but found none. The pup soon started to calm down, shaking his entire body as though nothing had happened. Dismissing the idea of a drunk nearby, Adena continued her walk, the pup next to her, searching all around incase of danger. The young woman looked down at the dog, knowing that she now had a roommate for a long time.

"Well, if you are to stay with me, you must have a name." Adena told the pup, who looked up at her expectantly.

She frowned, looking at the dog carefully, taking in his entire appearance. His ears were triangle shape and pointed, his paws were fairly large for an Alaskan malamute, and then there were his eyes—a piercing blue. Adena smiled as the perfect name come to mind.

"How about Conner?" The pup's ears twisted towards her, making Adena laugh. "Meaning, Wolf Lover in Irish."

The pup barked in approval, wagging his tail. Adena laughed, nodding her head. So Conner it was. With a tired sigh, they continued their walk, a dark shadow following them carefully and quietly.

—Morning—

Bors and Vanroa's children fawned over Conner, who was both accepting the attention and very shy and cautious. Vanora merely shook her head, holding the three year old, Gilly—the only child to have a name.

"I never seen such an animal before, so I don't think you have to worry about anyone claiming him."

Vanora confirmed Adena's worry. The young woman nodded, telling the older woman that she agreed with her. Smiling, Adena went back to the breakfast she was making for them. Vanora had taught her how to make everything fresh—especially bread because despite that Adena knew how to cook, it was a little different from the old ways.

The young woman was lost in her thoughts, Vanora turning to the quiet woman. She wasn't an attractive woman, but she wasn't ugly either. Her dark brown—but a little lighter from her time in the sun—hair was mid back, the ends curling on their own. She was semi-full in the chest area, and had a curve any of the skinny women had. The only difference was that she was a little more built and had more meat on her.

However the look suited her well and many of the men liked that. Though, Adena didn't pay attention to any of them; no matter how hard they try to get her attention. That's when Vanora saw the pendant upon her neck. She wondered who had given it to her and would have asked but she doubted Adena would tell her—if she even knew or not.

The older woman made a vow to keep a closer eye on the woman and find out who has been keeping an eye on her. If she finds out who watched her more than any of the others, perhaps it would be them that gave Adena the pendant.

A/N: Thank you for those who had reviewed and were patient for me to return from my vacation! Please review and let me know what you think!