Chapter Eleven

Rain still streamed down from the heavens. The dam had been broken and now the rain, though it had slacked off to a drizzle, still persisted.

Galahad sat at the famed Round Table, listening to Arthur, Gawain, and Bors discuss the upcoming harvest, which would no doubt be a good one now that the rain had come. He could barely contain the sigh that threatened to spill from his lips.

The happiness and elation that Galahad had felt at kissing Juliana was a short lived feeling. After they had parted company at the stable, Galahad had gone to his room to change into dry clothes, and had found Zephaniah waiting for him.

She was dressed in nothing but a lace trimmed nightdress, which barley covered her breasts. Her hair was undone and hanging over her shoulder in a most innocent and alluring way. Candles were lit throughout the room, casting a hazy glow over her. A slow and seductive grin came over her face as she drew close to Galahad.

"Let's get you out of those wet clothes." She purred, tracing her hand seductively down his chest.

Galahad pushed her hand away, not at all in the mood for her brazen advances. His blood was still hot from his encounter with Juliana, but Galahad had no desire to quell his passions with Zephaniah. To do so, so soon after he had spent thirty glorious minutes with Juliana in his arms, would be a betrayal of his own heart.

Zephaniah pouted. While many men may have been enticed by such a look, Galahad was only disgusted by the fact that he had allowed her to blind him and seduce him.

Worried over the fact that Galahad did not give in to her charms, Zephaniah asked him what was wrong, and if she had offended him.

"Your very presence offends me." He wanted to say, but held his tongue, asking her to leave his room instead. Zephaniah did so, but not without one last attempt to change Galahad's mind.

"Don't you think so, Galahad?" Gawain's voice brought the young knight back to the present.

"Excuse me?" He said. Arthur grinned and Bors laughed heartily at Galahad's confused expression.

"Don't you think that the festival will go well this year?" Gawain repeated the question.

The harvest festival, held each year on the night after the harvest had been brought in, was nothing more than a time for people to enjoy the more sinful- as the nuns would surely claim it to be- aspects of life. The night would abound with drunkenness and couples enjoying the physical aspects of their relationships. It was a night for all to celebrate the passed summer and the coming winter.

"Are you sure we should still hold the festival this year, Arthur?" Galahad asked his king and friend. In the past, Arthur had not resisted the festival as it was a custom of Britain's.

"What do you mean, Galahad?" Arthur asked, curious as to why, for the first time ever, Galahad was questioning a custom of his own people.

"Surely it would offend the holy people." He said. "And you are constantly telling us that we must not give them anything to write to Rome about."

"The festival is a custom older than any of those Roman dogs." Bors spat. "Why should we change our lives so as not to offend them?"

"I just don't think it wise." Galahad said with a shake of his head. As he looked around the table at his friends, he could see the knowing look within Gawain's eyes.

> > > > >

Juliana knelt in front of the alter, head bowed, eyes closed, and hands clasped in front of her. She prayed silently, asking God to forgive her the sins she had committed and to erase the lustful thoughts from her mind.

It had been only a day since she and Galahad had kissed, and it was the only thing that filled Juliana's mind. Her thoughts were consumed with replaying the kiss over and over again in her mind. She could still feel Galahad's body pressed against hers and her lips still burned from the passion of his kiss.

The doors to the sanctuary opened behind her, but Juliana did not turn to see who had entered. Surely it was just another nun coming to pray, or even one of the monks who- though they often kept to themselves- sought to pray with the rest of God's children.

Juliana continued in her pray, making sure that she thanked God for His many blessings and for the life of His son: Jesus.

"Amen." She whispered solemnly before crossing herself and standing. She turned to go back to her room, where she would spend a few hours reading the Bible. But as she turned, a man stood in her way.

He was tall and broad shouldered. His hair was blonde and swept down past his shoulders in dirty locks and he was in desperate need of a shave as his beard was unruly. But it wasn't his appearance that startled her, it was the way that he was staring at her. His eyes, a light, almost icy blue, were boring into her as if to see what was in her very soul.

Juliana's back straightened and she returned his steady gaze with one of her own. This man was intimidating, but she would not allow him to see that she was frightened by him.

"May I help you, sir?" She asked, bowing her head subserviently, but not moving her eyes from his face.

A grin could been seen behind his beard, and Juliana recognized him as one of Arthur's knights. The very one that had caught her watching them train.

"Yes." He said, taking a step towards her. Juliana quickly stood upright once more.

"I was wondering exactly what this god of yours is all about." He looked around the sanctuary curiously, his eyes lingering on the wooden cross which hung above the alter.

A glimmer of hope sparked inside Juliana's heart. Perhaps there was hope for these people. Perhaps one man was all it took for them to slowly come to Christ. She could not keep the smile from her face as the man continued to move closer, his eyes still moving about the room.

He stopped right in front of her and Juliana was left staring right at his chest. She looked up, only to find him gazing down at her with a fire behind his icy blue eyes. Fear jumped into her throat, lodging there as she realized that he had not come to seek Christ.

> > > > >

Dun dun dun. Lol. Ooh, I wonder what's gonna happen. Hehe. I'm so evil. I guess y'all will just have to wait to see what happens to Juliana.

I know this chapter was kinda short, but I hope you guys liked it. The next one will be longer, I promise.

Alright, so I know that a lot of you are probably kinda mad at me for the way that I'm portraying Gawain. I know that he seems a little…evil. But he's not. That is not at all how I'm trying to portray him. The only reason he comes off that way is because when he seems evil it's coming from the way that Juliana is seeing him. Does that make sense?

Anyways, I hope you guys will review and tell me what you thought.

Wander of the Roads: I hope this chapter had enough of Galahad in it. I am planning on making this next chapter more about him, but I thought that what I wrote this chapter should suffice for right now. Okay, so things between Juliana and Galahad are going to take some turns. In this chapter I hinted at a few things- their real subtle so if you can't find them don't worry- that are to come. Basically, Juliana's gonna get a lot less nun like and some things are going to be thrown into her path that she'll need to deal with. I was so happy to see that you reviewed. I just love reading everything you have to say, even the nit-picking. Lol. I hope you'll keep reading this as it's about to get more interesting.

KnightMaiden: You'll just have to keep reading to find out what Juliana does. All I'm gonna say is that she's gonna start becoming her own person real soon.

TRISTANLOVER, grullo-cowgirl, MedievalWarriorPrincess, Makayla, Evanstar-mor2004, greenDayzIdiot, KingArthurgirl, Lady Marek, and problemgirl088: I'm so glad you guys like this story. Thank you all so much for reviewing, you guys really make my day. Thanks.