Chapter Four

The week passed swiftly. Juliana's days fell into a steady rhythm. Her mornings were spent in prayer and doing whatever errands Mother Superior needed done. In the afternoon she would work in the vegetable and herb garden that the nuns had cultivated on their third day. The days passed without Juliana's noticing.

After that first night, Juliana no longer wandered out of her apartment after dark. She stayed where she was safe, not from lustful knights, but from her own sinful thoughts and actions. But still, no matter how much she worked and kept her mind focused on God, thoughts of the young knight would invade her mind. She thought of him whenever she allowed her mind to slip from its pious thoughts. It did not help her any that she had not seen him since Sunday Mass. Because of that, she thought of him more, wondering what he was doing at that moment. Her thoughts drove her to Confession almost regularly and she gladly paid her punishment of thirty Hail Maries a day. But no matter what she did, she still could not drive his roguish face from her thoughts.

Monday donned with the sound of the roosters' crows. Juliana woke from a fitful sleep. The knight had been in Mass the morning before, sitting in the exact spot as the Sunday before that and never taking his eyes off Juliana. It had frightened and thrilled her at the same time. To think, a knight was intrigued by her. The very thought of it sent an excited shiver down her spine. Juliana knew it was wrong, she knew that she had made a vow to remain chaste and never marry. But the idea that a man wanted her was too alluring to pass up.

Rousing herself from bed, Juliana drifted to the wash basin and silently washed her face. No doubt Mother Superior would soon call her and give her a list of errands and duties that needed tending to.

Juliana didn't mind much that Mother Superior was always calling on her. It was, after all, the elder woman who had generally taken care of Juliana when she'd been left on the convent's stoop all twenty-one years ago. Ever since she could remember, Juliana had been there to help Mother Superior, even before she had changed from Sister Sarah to Mother Superior. She could remember kneeling beside the elder nun as a young girl barely older than five to help the Sister in the garden. She had been like a mother to Juliana, always looking out for her, punishing her when the young girl did something wrong. She was the closest thing to a mother that Juliana had ever had.

Pulling on her drab, black dress and habit, Juliana made her way down the stairs to the back of the church where the kitchen was located. A handful of nuns were already busy kneading the dough that would be made into their breakfast.

"Ah, Juliana, take this and gather some thyme for me. Father Gannis has come down with a head cold and I need it to make a poultice." Sister Helen said, handing Juliana a basket. Though Juliana had taken her vows just like the rest of the nuns, none referred to her as Sister Juliana. They had all basically known her since a child and had grown too used to referring to her as simply Juliana.

She took the basket without a word and headed out into the brisk morning air. Beneath her bare feet the earth was damp and the grass was wet with glistening dew. Juliana couldn't resist squiging the earth between her toes as she walked to the patch of earth that housed their garden- a handful of transplanted herbs which they had brought with them from Rome and some vegetable plants that Arthur gave to them from one of the fields that supplied his court.

Kneeling down in the dirt, Juliana dutifully collected the thyme, along with some other herbs which could be dried or used for other medicinal purposes. The earth felt cool and malleable as it pressed between her fingers and gathered beneath her nails. A slow smile drew across Juliana's lips. She just loved the feel of the earth. As a little girl she used to love playing in the garden, making mud pies, and throwing dirt clods at the nuns. A laugh bubbled up from her throat as she remembered what a little terror she had been as a child.

Having collected all she needed, Juliana brushed the dirt off her dress and headed back across the small courtyard. The clang of iron striking iron caught her attention and Juliana cast a look at the small wall that separated the church courtyard from the town around it. Curious, Juliana changed her direction and headed instead for the east side of the wall. Dropping the basket by her feet, she stood on her tip-toes and looked over the wall.

> > > > >

Gawain ducked beneath Galahad's swing, taunting the younger knight as he did so. Bors roared with laughter from where he watched the two; a collection of his children, watching the knights with wide-eyed wonder, at his side. They cheered whenever one struck a blow and happily joined in with taunts and jeers of their own.

Any watching could easily see that Gawain had the upper hand in their little battle. Galahad was tiring slowly, his movements slow as his arms began to ache from the weight of his practice sword- specially made swords that weighed more than the knights' regular swords. They helped the knights to build muscle and make their blows in battle even more deadly.

The older knight pivoted, bringing the blunted edge of his sword across the crook of Galahad's elbow. With a curse, Galahad's sword dropped to the dirt and Gawain picked it up triumphantly.

"What do you say, Galahad," he smiled teasingly as he handed the knight his sword, "best two out of three?"

"No thank you." Galahad took his sword from Gawain, a scowl on his face. Gawain couldn't resist laughing at his friend's expression. Galahad's scowl only deepened.

"Very well then my friend." Gawain replied gallantly. He turned to challenge Bors, but his eyes caught on a face peeking over the wall just behind the large man. A smirk spread across his lips.

"It would appear that we have an audience." He said, just loudly enough for the young woman to hear him. Her eyes widened. She knew she had been caught. Quickly, her head disappeared behind the wall and Gawain laughed uproariously. It struck him as beyond hilarious that one of the pious nuns would be interested in watching men battle with swords. Perhaps having them around would not be so bad. Gawain's smirk turned wicked. To think the fun he could have corrupting a nun.

> > > > >

Juliana leaned her back against the wall and place a trembling hand over her racing heart. They had seen her. Juliana hadn't intended for that to happen. She hadn't intended to watch them for as long as she had, but she couldn't help herself. The way that they had moved, their bodies like water, their movement languid and graceful- in a deadly way. It had all been so entrancing that Juliana had lost track of how long she watched them. She had meant to only take a quick peak and see what the sound she had heard was, but instead she had stood there, transfixed by their lethal dance.

"Juliana?" Sister Helen's voice carried across the courtyard. Juliana quickly grabbed her basket and ran to meet the nun.

"Here I am." She said, slightly out of breath from her sprint.

"What has taken you so long? I only asked for a few sprigs of thyme. Have you been day dreaming again?" Through the reprimand, Juliana could hear traces of mirth within the Sister's voice.

"I'm sorry, Sister Helen." Juliana apologized sweetly. "The day is just too beautiful for me to concentrate on my work."

Sister Helen laughed openly then. It was a deep sound, unbefitting to the slim woman.

"I won't tell Mother Superior if you don't." She whispered conspiratorially to Juliana. The young woman smiled.

"Thank you."

> > > > >

Yippee, another chapter finished. I really am on a roll right now. But then again, this happens to me a lot. Soon I'll have writer's block so badly that I won't be able to update for awhile. Of course now that I've said that I've probably jinxed myself. Oh well. I'll make sure that I work hard to update this story regularly. I'm really enjoying writing it and I'm glad that you all love it so much.

PS. Sorry if the chapter was kinda short. The next one should be a bit longer.

Wander of the Roads: Yes I agree that Rome probably wouldn't have been that interested in whether or not Arthur and his people attended Mass, but there's a reason that I said that they had to go. It was sort of my way of showing how Rome was trying to still have control of Britain. Sort of think of it as Rome wanted to make sure that they still had a small hold over Arthur's people. My way of thinking is neither Rome nor Arthur knows how weak the other is. So Rome wanted to keep a watch on Arthur and his men and wanted to make sure that Rome could still hold some control over them. Does that make sense? As for Tristian dying, yes he did. As I said before, everything that happened in King Arthur the movie has happened in this story. Which, sadly, includes the deaths of Lancelot, Tristian, and Dagonet (did I spell his name right?). Also, you'll be seeing more of the knights as the story progresses, don't worry.

greenDayzIdiot: I'm sure church was very long and drawn out back then. I'm just glad we can have contomperary services now, or else I would be so bored sitting in church on Sundays.

sarmatian-woman, MedievalWarriorPrincess, KnightMaiden, and the sarahnater: Thank you all for reviewing. I really love seeing what you guys have to say about my story, my writing style, and everything else.