Disclaimer: I do not own King Arthur...not enough blasted money...

a/n--I think it's about time I gave you something new to think about in this little story. What do you think?

Part Three

Jousting was as pointless as ever. Tristan had never been able to hit the target properly, let alone go against another person. Elanea had fun making Lancelot look bad, which he later claimed to do on purpose, and Gawain beat them all without breaking a sweat.

It made one wonder why they even bothered anymore.

"We need someone new to fight." Elanea complained while they were resting on a grassy hill over-looking the city. "I'm getting tired of Gawain whipping my ass."

"Hm, or we could switch to fencing." said Tristan, who was stroking his hawk's breat freathers tenderly.

"You only suggest that because you can't joust." Gawain said, standing and stretching.Tristan shrugged and Elanea laughed.

"Nothing wrong with not being able to joust." said Lancelot. "It means you're better at other things." He smiled at Elanea in a devilish fashion. "Want to go for a ride later tonight, my dear?"

"Yeah, you ain't that great." Elanea stood and wistled, causing her black mare, Nightmare, to trot over to her and snort in anticipation. She patted the horses' neck before jumping up into the saddle. "C'mon, lets go back so I can annoy Arthur and Galahad some more."

Tristan stodd, sending off his hawk. "May I assist you in this annoyance?"

"And who else will, other than Gawain."

Lancelot sighed and got to his feet. " I think I'm going to have to warn our commander about your evil schemes."

"Only if you get there first!" ELanea set Nightmare to a full-blown charge, straight towards the city. Gawain and Tristan were the next to follow, while it took a moment for Lancelot to realize what had happened.

05050505050505

Arthur watched the four from his window, a smile tugging at his lips. Try as he might, he could never get the red-head to grow up. Now he hoped she never did. Childhood never lasted very long and should be the most cherished of years. But most never got this pleasure.

He turned away from the happy sight and went back out to the stables. They needed to circulate another patrol, and he knew they wouldn't be very happy about it.

Well, Elanea would be thrilled and Tristan wouldn't mind. Gawain might not be an issue, since he wasn't one to miss out on all the fun and Galahad followed himeverywhere. Lancelot would boldly go whre no man has gone before to make an impression on Elanea, not that it ever worked. Bors was..well, Bors. And Dagonet...

To be honest, Dagonet was unexplainable. He and Elanea got on just fine, same with everyone else, but he seemed distracted as of late. That wasn't Dagonets' style. He was attentive, always sure of himself. Now he couldn't even make it through a conversation about the weather without getting sidetracked!

Arhtur sighed as he entered the stables. Bors, Dagonet, and Galahad were already there. This place was an unoffical hangout or something to the knights. If you needed to find them, the stables was the place to look.

"Arthur, you look troubled." said Galahad, who was sitting on a box.

"I am. We need to go on another patrol. A journeyman claimed to have seen a small band of Saxons heading our way."

"Good, Tristan needed to get out again. I was starting to think he was human." said Bors, who still had a mug of beer in his hand.

"I am human." they turned as the last four entered the stable. "I'm just very good at being a god."

"As if! If you're a god then I'm a whore!" said Elanea, slipping to the ground.

The knights took a moment to examine her.

"You know..."

"That could prove to be an interesting pass-time...

"Wouldn't be too hard for you..."

"Hm..."

"Oh, you people are horrible!" Elanea put her horse in her stall, pretending to be furious.

"You asked for that one, girl, and you know it." said Tristan, dropping to the ground beside her. He gently moved her out of his way with a hand on her waist.

"No I didn't! Don't go thinking that I'd give myself over willingly either. You've probably seen all you'll ever see of my skin."

"Probably?"

"Yeah. Can't deny that you're smart, dark, strong...you know, all the stuff women like."

"God, he really does seem human." wispered Galahad.

Elanea moved away from her horse and Tristan and found a place to sit, being joined shortly after by Gawain. "So what's the plan, captain?"

"We need to run another patrol."

"It's about bloody time!"

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a/n--I'm having way too much fun with this...

R&R!!