DISCLAIMER: I own none of the movie characters and don't claim to.....

Notes: Thanks for the kind reviews! I am very glad that you enjoy this story!

SO IT BEGINS

"No....." The scream echoed over the battleground like thunder. Arthur sank to his knees, staring wide eyed at the motionless body of his friend. It could not be .....This was not supposed to happen.

"It was my life....." he whispered harshly, "....my life you were supposed to take."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Arthur let his sword glide out of his hand, covering his face.

It could not be, it simply could not.....not Lancelot! He touched the crossbow bolt that protruded from his best friend's armour and for a moment, everything became quiet and still. The call of his knights, the smoke, and the battleground....everything faded until there was nothing left but quiet.

"It was my life, God." He whispered, more to himself, " My life, not his ....."

"Arthur...." A hand touched his shoulder and the world came rushing back in a wave of noise and heat. He looked up to find Gawain standing next to him, his eyes red from the smoke and uncried tears. He could see Guinevere hovering in the background, near Bors and Galahad. The bloody axe still in her hand, she was a stunning sight in her war paint, exuding a raw, unbridled power......a pagan goddess with blood spattered over her blue painted body. But in her eyes he could see the shock, the same grief he felt, as her eyes swept over Lancelot's immobile form.

"There is nothing any of us could do, Arthur. Nothing we could have done, he is dead." Gawain said grimly. Arthur could not say what it was, but something about the knight's words bothered him, something tugging at his mind and yet the thought eluded him. Then he caught sight of Merlin's tall frame walking towards where they stood gathered around Lancelot. Stepping over the dead bodies of Saxon warriors as though they did not exist.......and it came to him.

"Where is she?" Arthur yelled at his new ally, stumbling to his feet in the effort to reach him. Merlin planted his heavy staff firmly on the ground, nodding at Arthur as though he knew what he meant.

Arthur looked around, into the astounded, grief-stricken faces of his friends, looking for the one face he could not find. He balled his hands to fists in frustration. " Morgianna ......" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I have sent for her already, she will come." Merlin said simply.

"Sent for whom?"

"My sister."

Gawain raised an eyebrow, staring at Arthur in confusion.

"You said she was dead."

"I was mistaken." Arthur answered, his voice hard as his angry gaze came to rest on the woad- leader.

Morgianna wore no colours of war, no paint...nothing of the kind as she came towards them in long, swift strides, the hood of her cloak thrown back. And for the first time Arthur understood that this had to signified a different kind of status, her place in their midst.... the woads respectfully cleared a path for her, she walked past Merlin without a word. Guinevere acknowledged the other woman's arrival with a nod of respect and anticipation.

Morgianna stopped at Lancelot's feet, staring down at the lifeless knight for one endless moment. Her expression was even and calm, not betraying the sudden burst of fear that raged inside her. Looking down at his face, Morgianna could feel a cold hand squeezing her heart so that she couldn't even breathe. She knew his face. She had known his face before she had ever laid eyes on him on that day. It had haunted her in her dreams eversince she could remember. And now it scared her to death.

Lancelot, the knight, the rake .....

Morgianna looked at her brother before she kneeled, reaching across his knight's body to feel his pulse, splaying both hands over the chest of his armour.

"What is she doing? He is dead!" Gawain whispered, exchanging glances with Bors and Galahad.

"Not yet...." Morgianna said, rising to her feet. "But he is close. He is a strong one, his soul still lingers."

"Witchcraft....." Galahad whispered to Bors. The big man shrugged his shoulders, unperturbed.

"If that will save him, I say let her get to it!"

Morgianna´s eyes wandered over the knights shortly, then she turned her attention to Arthur. He stood in front of her, almost close enough for their bodies to touch and swallowed hard.

Galahad was right.....

He was a Christian, he had always been and would always be a believer in the one true god...and yet he found himself turning to her. She had not lied; here she was in his hour of need. He did not ask her if or what she could do......in truth he did not want to know.

"Save him." He whispered roughly, meeting her eyes. "My life for his. Save him, Morgianna and my life will be yours."

"I do not want your life, Arthur!" She said tonelessly, her own control for once slipping. Her voice took on a strangled tone. She motioned at Bors and Galahad.

"Take him inside, do it fast. There is nothing I can do for him here......take him to a room with a fireplace and no windows."

Bors nodded, but Galahad and Gawain stood still, looking at Arthur for confirmation.

"Do what she ask."

Arthur took another step towards her, until their faces were only inches apart; his facial expression was raw with grief and fear.

" I beg of you...." He whispered. "I know you are a witch of sorts, a seer, a wise woman...whatever it is the woads call you. I know you hold power that a good Christian should fear and despise, but .....Save him. Save him for me. Save his life and I will do anything you ask of me!"

Morgianna lifted a hand to gently touch his face, neither the sweat nor the blood seemed to disturb her. "You love him dearly." It was a statement, not a question.

"He is like a brother to me...." Morgianna nodded and let it go, her eyes meeting Guinevere's gaze for a moment, before the young warrior turned to follow Bors, Gawain and Galahad who carried Lancelot to the fort as fast and carefully as possible.

"He will bleed to death if I do not care for him soon." Morgianna told Arthur, returning his intent look. "His condition is very close to death and often mistaken for it, like a deep sleep....." She took a deep breath, unfastening her cloak. One of the woads stepped forward, taking it from her.

Morgianna turned back to her brother, her face betraying nothing, but there was hesitation and concern in her eyes.

"Listen to me, my brother, for I will speak truth for you now and it will be your choice that will determine the future path of you and yours. If he dies.....here....today, you will spare yourself and many others a world of grief and pain. You spare yourself and him sadness and heartbreak. But if he lives, he will fight for you like no other. If he lives, he will fight and win wars for you, but he will never find peace and neither will anyone of us. I can save him, but you need to know this, it must be your choice, brother."

She took a deep breath to calm her voice. "Choose Arthur."

Arthur stared at her in shock, not sure if he could understand what she had shared with him. He knew he had asked her for help, but there was a part of him that still did not quite believe .....in seers and witches, the Christian part of him that would deny her power, even if he could feel it billowing around her like a cloak, mingle with his breath if he stood close enough. The part of him that was not sure if she could indeed see , if she could really save his friend, even if he was willing to cling to this hope.

He could feel the anger stirring in him, anger about what she said, about her burdening him with a choice he did not really have! Lancelot was his friend, as dear as any brother.....he would not forsake him to spare himself pain or grief. Never.

"Do what you can, Morgianna. Do your best or your worst .....whatever you have to."

She nodded at him silently, as though she had always known what his answer would be.

"I shall...."
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It was dark when Morgianna stepped outside, drying her hands in a cloth.

The knights and Guinevere looked up as she walked across the yard to where they were waiting. Arthur came towards her, meeting his sister halfway. Even though she had washed her hands, there was the faint smell of blood still clinging to her hair and clothes, the smell of war ...of blood and smoke and darker things.

" He will live." She answered the question before they could even ask. They did not have to, Arthur realized it must have been written on their faces all too plainly.

" He might not awake in the next few days, but he is strong. He will live."

"See ...." Bors laughed, clapping Galahad´s shoulder hard enough to make the young man stumble forward." I told it would take more than a legion of dirty Saxons to finish Lancelot!"

Guinevere smiled at the roaring laughter while Gawain´s eyes never left Morgianna. He nodded at her, so that it seemed he was bowing towards her slightly.

"Thank you, lady." he said softly.

"Let us celebrate and mourn our losses!" Bors yelled, putting one around each of the two other knights. "Wine ! We shall drink and cry and thank the gods."

"I owe you a great debt." Arthur said gravely, looking at her intently.

Morgianna shook her head, watching Guinevere who waited a few feet away for Arthur to join her.

"No you don't." she returned in a soft, but grim tone of voice. She looked up to Arthur with an unreadable expression. " There will be no debts between us, Arthur. This I did for you ...not for this country, not for my people or Merlin. I did it for you and you alone. I did it because you are my brother and I love you." Her dark eyes bore into his as she put her hand on his arm, squeezing slightly. Morgianna leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on his cheek and to whisper into his ear. "But never forget in all the years to come that it was your choice."