Chapter 17

Gwaine got his old quarters back, Lancelot got bigger ones due to the fact that he had a family now. Gwaine, ever popular and known as a loyal friend, soon settled back into life at Camelot. To Arthur's delight, he had indeed become more responsible during the year he had spent away. As a result, the man saw his work load increase as a token of Arthur's trust.

Lancelot, who had informally been Arthur's second in command from the start, was awarded officially the status in case Arthur were to perish in battle. Oliver, however, previously well-liked by both men and women when posing as a boy, found it more difficult to connect with the new ladies of the court. She assumed it was mostly due to the fact that she wore men's clothing or something else to that effect, but an encounter with one of the courtiers made her doubt her initial assumption.

She had been headed to her quarters to eat with Lancelot and the baby. In the hall a couple of chambers away from their quarters, she ran into a beautiful dark-haired woman. She apologized and was about to resume walking when she noticed the woman was staring at her.

"I'm sorry, were you hurt?" The woman didn't look injured, but one could never know.

"He only married you because you got pregnant", the woman uttered.

Oliver shot her an incredolous glance. "And I only married him to save his life. Why are we talking about this? Who are you?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." The woman buried her face in her hands. "I just..I wanted to marry him. I know, I don't even know him, but.."

Oliver hugged her. "Sorry kid. You shouldn't just fall for people based on what they seem. Just..get to know the other person. Spend some time with him. See where it goes. I hear sir Guillaume is available, and he's a really good man."

The girl sniveled. "He's a foreigner."

"Maybe, but very charming and loyal. Check him out." Oliver patted her back in comfort. She knew she was far from smooth, but she didn't know what else to say. The girl took a long while to calm down. When she finally did, she wiped her tears away with her handkerchief.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry", the girl squeezed her hand before leaving.

Lancelot raised his head as he saw Oliver come through the door. "How was your day?"

"Like you wouldn't believe", Oliver muttered and Lancelot knew not to question her further.

They started eating.

"Fine." Oliver began, and Lancelot smiled inside. She could never hold things inside her for too long.

"I met a girl who told me you should've married her instead of me."

"Who?" Lancelot asked, not really caring about the answer. This wasn't a good conversation to have with one's wife.

"I don't know her name. You probably don't know her, she said she fell for you without even knowing who you are. I don't blame her, but I think that's the wrong way to go about it."

"Really?"

"Yes. You get to know the other person. If you meet the person once or twice and base your image of him on a fairy tale you create, you'll never love him for real."

Oliver finished her dinner first and told him she'd head out again. Lancelot called after her. "Where are you going?"

"To the fighting ranges. Arthur asked me to train the new kids." She waved in goodbye. "Take care of Gal while I'm gone, okay?"

Lancelot looked at Galahad who was giggling. He had a feeling that in other marriages, it was the woman who took care of the children whilst their husbands went to work. Then again, other marriages didn't include Oliver.

Lancelot, having learned her real name, hadn't begun using it since she hated being called Elaine. Apparently Percival had called her Oliver since they were young, that was where she had gotten the name to begin with.

He started thinking about Oliver's words. He, too, had met Gwen only a few times. They had hardly spent any time together. Was he really thinking about Gwen, or the idealistic image he had created of her? Maybe Oliver, in all her bluntness, was wiser than he had initially thought.

Lancelot poked the child, making him laugh again. "Let's go see mommy teach boys to kill each other, okay?" He took the baby into his arms and vanished through the door as well.

On his way to there he met Gwaine. "Taking Gwaine junior out for a walk?" Gwaine asked playfully. Lancelot ignored him. "I was going to see Oliver teach the rookies."

"Count me in."

They met Merlin at the ranges. He was there to help Arthur, who was training the knights.

"How is she doing?" Lancelot asked him.

"They're just beginning, so see for yourselves", Merlin replied, curious himself.

Oliver, having made a side track to the weaponry storage, arrived a while later. She stepped in the middle of the young men. "We'll start with an evaluation of your skills. You will each face me and you will be split into groups based on your performance."

"Who are you?" The boys asked in unison. They had expected to be trained by Arthur, they didn't know this man.

"Oliver. Arthur asked me to help out. Now that he is king, he needs more men than ever before." Oliver clapped her hands. "Now, you are only avoiding the inevitable. You, go first", she said and pointed randomly at one of the men, who stepped forward.

"You may begin", Oliver told him, he obeyed and drew his sword. He swung the sword at her in a rather obvious fashion, thinking to defeat her by strength alone. He missed and lost his balance: Oliver pushed him to the ground with a single kick. "Go stand over there." The man slunk his shoulders and walked away.

Oliver motioned the next person to come forth. He came to stand in front of her in a very confident fashion. "You got off easy with him, but I'll prove to be a bigger challenge", he stated.

"Then show me." Compared to the first one, this man actually had some technique. Oliver got an actual exercise out of the experience. Just when she was starting to have fun, the man made a tiny error in movement and Oliver grabbed his cross-guard and placed her sword on his jaw. The man looked mad at himself and Oliver let him go. "Why did you lose?" she asked him.

"Because I made a mistake and left a hole in my defense", the man answered.

"Good. Go over there and announce yourself to Arthur. You will train with the knights from now on." Oliver motioned him to go. The man's face brightened up, then became doubtful again. "But I lost", the man said.

"But you know why you lost. Training with the knights will do you good."

The man nodded and bowed. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I hear Arthur's a real pain as a teacher", Oliver said. The man walked up to Arthur. Arthur looked at Oliver questioningly, and Oliver waved at him enthusiastically. Arthur nodded and pushed the man among his other trainés.

Oliver turned back to the young men. "Who's next?"

"Hey, I know you! You are married to sir Lancelot", one of them realized.

"That's beside the point." Oliver motioned him to come forth.

"But..I can't hurt a woman."

"But if you do, you might get to train with Arthur", another one pointed out.

"To become a knight, I should go against the knight's code?" the original man argued.

"Don't think of me as a woman, think of me as the person who will kill you if you fail this test", Oliver said and motioned him to come forth. She was tired of this nonsense.

"I will never raise my sword against a woman."

"What if your enemy is a woman?" Oliver asked him. The man looked unsure, but still refused to fight. He went over to Arthur, who yelled at him for quite some time. The man came back. "I suppose."

By now Oliver had sorted the other cadets into groups, this man would be the last one. "What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything about fighting women, he told me I should respect my authorities." He looked ashamed. "I'm sorry."

"Let's just get this over with."

The man turned out to be an adequate fighter. The groups Oliver had created were 1, those with strength but no technique 2, those with technique but no strength and 3, little of both but not enough conviction to use either one to its full potential. She assigned each group with tasks and then came to say hello to the men who had been watching her. Gwaine punched her in the arm. "Not bad. You seem like you'd have done this before."

"I am simply following the instructions of my own tutor with some of my own ideas thrown in between", she smiled at Lancelot and came to give Galahad a little kiss. "He was the one that trained me during our year away. Despite all his complaining."

Merlin caressed the baby's forehead. "No wonder you have gotten so good. Maybe you could teach together?"

"But then who would take care of baby Gwaine while we're away?" Oliver joked.

"Oh great, so now you are calling him Gwaine too?" Lancelot asked, annoyed.

"I was the one who came up with it!"

Merlin laughed at Lancelot's frustrated sigh.

Lancelot hesitated. He stared at Oliver long enough to irk her. "What?" She asked.

"I'm proud of you", Lancelot told Oliver.

Oliver was surprised. "So you don't think I should quit anymore?"

"I didn't say that", Lancelot said, expression as serious as ever.

Oliver frowned and was about to punch him in the arm when Lancelot dodged her fist and flashed her a wide grin, finally sticking his tongue out to her.

"What do you know, he does have a sense of humor after all", Gwaine said to Merlin, who grinned. Gwaine then left to take care of his duties. Merlin stared after him. He knew he couldn't continue this charade of friendship with the man, when he still wanted more.

When the training was over, Merlin could finally get away from serving Arthur. As he headed towards the castle, Lancelot called after him. "Where are you going?"

"To go do something I should have done a long time ago. But I need some encouragement first."

Later that evening, Gwaine heard a knock on his door. His new servant went to open it and found Merlin on the other side. Merlin was moving strangely. Gwaine told the servant to take the night off and Merlin slipped in and past Gwaine. "What are you doing here, Merlin? Trying to confuse me some more?"

"I am here to. Talk things over. And we're not leaving until we're finished", Merlin replied, speaking slowly, as if forming each sentence caused him great difficulty.

"Are you drunk?"

"Semi. I drank three tankards of mead just so I could come up here, and another one to get me to actually talk to you." Gwaine sighed. Merlin wasn't used to heavy drinking. The next morning would be ugly.

"If you think I'm talking to you like this, you're wrong. I'll go get Gaius." Gwaine headed for the door, but it seemed locked. He turned around to see Merlin's melancholic smile. "I told you, we're not leaving until we're done."

"You are starting to scare me, Merlin", Gwaine said and sat on a chair. If he was going to be held hostage by his ex, he might as well be comfortable during the experience.