Title: Sarmatian Ladies
Author: Jmaria
Rating: PG-13 - R
Disclaimers/Spoilers: Joss owns the Buffy crew, Bruckheimer, Franzoni, & Fuqua own this incarnation of Arthur & his knights. A bit of Kassandra's backstory is borrowed from Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Firebrand. It goes without saying that I do not own her stuff either.
Summary: Waking up to surprises.
A/N: Second to last part in the epic that is Sarmartian Ladies. (I lied. I forgot about the Epilogue). Also? The Problem with this story (in the terms of writing it) is that it's so damn long. I forget what loopholes and side stories I've actually written about it. Also, it borrows mythology from everywhere.
And in apropos to nothing: All of the cast of KA have been in kid movies except for Clive Owen (that I've seen). And Ray Stevenson seriously needs to stop playing the villains. Also: for your Tristan/Dagonet/Cynric (Ebil Saxon son) goodness watch The Three Musketeers. (It came out on DVD the night I finished up chapter 18, and I squee-d like a 5 year old when I saw them all.)
19. And This Is How It Ends…
*****
They looked up at the towering knight in awe, and she saw him suddenly from their perspective. No longer the wounded soldier, she saw him for what he was: a brave, just and powerful knight of King Arthur's court. One day he and his fellow men-at-arms would be the stuff of legends, but now he was very much a man. And he would be hers alone, at least for a few days.
- "Man in the Mirror", Charmed, Julie Beard
*****
*****
Higher Planes, 2005
*****
She would give them these tender moments together, and she would fetch Percy - Sir Percival - and reunite the first of the Other Knights to the core. Those who had fought the Saxons. Morgana took and edifying breath and let her powers return her to Kassandra's side.
Europa was caged, and Ismene stood serenely beside her Pelagius. Morgana smiled sadly at her old mentors and friends. And then her gaze landed on her young son in his grandmother's arms.
"Jessamina and Felix have been reborn," Morgana said quietly, her voice carrying to Europa. The Liaison's entire body stiffened at the mention of her long lost children. "To parents who are far more deserving of such pure-hearted children."
"The Roman bitch and the Briton serf?" Europa's voice cracked, betraying her anger for sadness.
"Fulcina and Jols, yes."
"They also care for Elspeth?" Ismene asked, smiling from beside Pelagius.
"Yes. It would be too harsh to have her returned to Arthur and Gwen," Morgana nodded. "Tiberius will take her place, and Igraine the younger will retain her birth order."
"You plot out the children that may not yet be born?" Europa snarled. "You are an idiot, as I've always suspected."
"I restore your murdered children, and you call me the idiot? Do you not realize that you destroyed important timelines in your bid to please Mordred? You ruined empires and worlds at the click of his fingers -"
"And you are the great Restorer."
"No, I mind the balance. The third time can not be faulted. All must live, and all must serve their purpose."
"Even the recently dead."
Kassandra glanced up from where she held her grandson. Morgana had been more than happy to give her mother time with the child. Kassandra had not been a mother for nearly 1,600 years. Beside her, a younger man stood with a frown on his face.
"You've managed to wrest Gaheris from the other Powers?" Morgana cocked her head at the man.
"Yes, Gaheris has been restored," Kassandra's voice shook. "I would not return him so soon to the fold. At least not until the barmaid has had ample time to reconnect with Gawain."
"You think Gaheris presents a roadblock to their union?" Morgana stared at the dark haired man. He and Willow had known each other in the distant and recent past.
"She will remember him as her first," Kassandra shrugged.
"But dear Wesley has a certain blue companion who will feel his return the moment he sets foot on the plane. Illyria will provide enough distraction. At least more than Willow," Merlin countered, emerging from the darkened recess of the room.
"Has enough time passed, Kassandra? Shall Percy, Wesley and Morgana return to the Wall?" Ismene cleared her throat.
"I still don't understand what any of this is about!" Percy muttered from his seat beside Kassandra.
"Have you cleared Wesley's mind, Mother?" Morgana frowned.
"I have. You may inform your knight, child."
"I'll make this as painless as I can," she smiled brightly at Percy, pressing her lips to his forehead.
*****
Summers' Cottage, 2005
*****
"If I'm sleeping again, I really do not want to wake up," Dawn cried, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "It's really you?"
"Yes, it's really me. I am sorry you've had to go through this all alone. I would have given my life to be beside you sooner."
"Nuh-uh, you will not be giving your life for anything ever again, do you hear me? First rule: Don't die. Think you can follow that?" Dawn laughed, burying her head beneath his chin. "Gods, I missed you."
"Dawnie, is that freak of nature Morgana still - holy crap!" Buffy squawked as she burst through the doors to Dag's room. "He's awake?"
"Lady Buffy, we've not met, but I believe you once called me the 'rat-bastard who knocked our Dawnie up'," Dagonet chuckled.
"Call him Dag, Buff. Morgana woke him for me," Dawn glanced up at her sister, who surprisingly had tears in her eyes.
"I - I'll let you guys - I'm happy for you, Dawnie," Buffy stumbled back against the door in her hasty retreat.
Buffy found herself stumbling back into Lanyon as she left the happy couple in peace. He caught her securely around the shoulders and - god, it felt right.
"Are you okay?" Lanyon frowned at her.
"Being happy that she's happy and whole should be enough to feel this way, right?" Buffy murmured. "Because I've never seen her this happy and that's all I've ever wanted for her."
"You're speaking in riddles, Buffy. I'm not following you," Lanyon eased her away from the door.
"I'm supposed to be happy for her, but part of me is jealous, you know? Like 'oh, and where's my happiness?' Where's my cookie-me? Why does Dawnie get to be happy and -" Her breath came in deep, panicked bouts. Images of a little dark haired boy, and an equally little blonde haired girl running through the fields of tall grass slapped at her memory, overlapping like flipbook images. "I just want to be happy."
"Hey, what's brought this about?" Lanyon wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into a deep embrace. His scent slipped over her, calming the anxiety beating at her.
"I never feel calm around him. He sets me at edge, and I've been on edge since I was fifteen. He suffocates me, always suffocating me. He told me I didn't need to be here for Dawnie. That I didn't need to live my life protecting her. How could I believe that lie?"
"Because part of you wanted to escape," Lanyon smoothed his hand down her back.
Buffy stared at him for several long moments. There. The mirror was firmly pressed up against her. She had wanted to escape. Escape it all and be free. But that freedom had cost her so much. She'd lost the trust of her sister. She'd let Dawn falter and fall and she could have lost her only family. The Immortal wasn't worth that. She'd break normal boys, she'd had to sacrifice those boys who were more. But she'd never felt at ease with any of them. Not like she had with Lanyon, now in this very moment.
"I need to run."
Buffy pulled away from him, dashing to the kitchen door and raced out into the rising sunlight. Part of her heart pumped harder when she heard him give chase.
Faith watched from the balcony, staring out into the sunlight as she watched Buffy and Lanyon race out into the fields. What the hell was up with that? Shaking her head, she stepped back inside and left the safety of her room. Willow was rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she entered the kitchen a few steps behind her.
"Morning," Willow muttered.
"Your girl went on a nature run," Faith grinned at her.
"Which one?" Willow asked. "Have you checked on Dawnie yet?"
"Nope," Faith glanced over at her doorway. "But B went out that door with Lanyon."
"Why?"
"Like I have a clue?" Faith shrugged. "You hear from Vi last night?"
"Yeah, said she and Garrett would be over about nowish, and that the Hollis' family would come over at about eleven."
"They big players?" Faith asked.
"Felicia and her brother Alec were the Romans the knights had to save, while Joel was their man-of-arms, and the little boy, Lucas was the child Dagonet saved," Willow sighed. "Not Knights, but someone felt they were important enough to connect to the knights in this time frame."
"Like Morgana?" Faith snorted. "She for real?"
"She's on our side, apparently. I - I honestly don't know what to think."
"She got us killed before," Gavin huffed from the doorway.
"Got you killed, pup. I was already dead," Trevor pushed him through the doorway. "Who's making breakfast? Anyone checked on the girl yet?"
"Wow, that's the most I've ever heard you say," Willow blinked owlishly at Trevor.
"Not it for cooking."
"I nominate you, mate," Gavin clapped him on the shoulder.
"You little -" Trevor grumbled as he turned to the fridge. A frown slipped over his lips. "You seen this?"
"Seen what, T?" Faith glanced over at him.
"This note?"
*****
The Roman Fort, 468
*****
Morgana breathed deeply of the cool morning air. Isolde sat along one of the walls, ignoring the Briton guard eyeing her with distaste as she continued to sharpen her blade. Most of the Roman legion had returned with the Bishop's hasty retreat to Rome. But a few of the legionnaires had been granted their freedom and had chosen to serve as free men under Arthur. It was a mark of the man her countrymen had served under.
"Thank you for giving the fallen knights their most deserved rites," Arthur said from behind her. "How fares the lady Wolf this day?"
"She can never take the words back that she spat in his face the day he was conscripted as a boy. She can never know how he lived as a man. Nor if they would suit. She may fool you, Arthur, but she is grieving," Morgana said tightly. "He died for a cause?"
"To save the people from Saxon rule."
"The Saxon are ripping Rome to shreds everywhere. They will find a foothold in Briton sooner or later," Morgana shrugged. "Seems a worthwhile cause to die for."
"I can never, Lady Raven. Do you condemn or praise our cause?"
"I cannot bring myself to praise it, not when I see what pain and ruin it's brought to us all," Morgana took a deep breath. "But I can not condemn, not when my own people have been brutally slaughtered by the Saxons as well."
"What?"
"Sarmatia is no more," Morgana said quietly. "The tribes have been slaughtered to number in less than possibly a hundred. My sisters and your men here, we are all that remain of Sarmatia. We have no home, and no true freedom to sustain us."
"Then you must remain here. In our protection."
Morgana's head jerked up to frown at the leader of her countrymen. Had she heard him properly? True, she'd not plotted farther than getting her small band to the wall. But to stay here? In the lands she and her people had been trained to fear banishment to for more years than she could mark?
"I will bring the offer to my warriors. I cannot say if we will take it, but," Morgana gave him a small smile. "I do thank you for the offer."
"It is the least I can do. It is what I could not do for my brothers."
*****
2005
*****
Arthur had heard the door shut to the kitchen twice now. He blinked his eyes open and stared down at where Gwen was curled into his side. It felt right. And awkward at the same time. She stirred against him as she woke from her own sleep. A frown marred her face as she glanced up at him.
"What happened?"
"Morgana. I think she bewitched us a little," Arthur sighed. "Not that we all didn't need a little calming down last night."
"Lancelot - Lanyon being here, finding Dag, Buffy showing up. It's all a little daunting," Gwen smiled.
"She looks familiar."
"Morgana?"
"No - well, yes. But I was talking about Buffy."
"Well, she is Dawn's sister."
"But they don't look very much alike."
"Lanyon knew her. Maybe we knew her back then."
"That's a possibility," Arthur nodded. "Maybe we should see who went outside. And check on Dawn."
"Oh, god, she's been alone with him all night!" Gwen's eyes darkened. "It's almost worse, having him but not having him."
"I think anything's bound to be better than him not being here at all," Arthur stretched and opened the door, leading the way to the kitchen. "Better to have some hope than to have none at all."
"Hope is a cold comfort to what they shared," Gwen chewed at her lip.
They stared into the empty kitchen. A few plates were stacked on the counter and the bread had been set out. The kettle sat in the sink and a sticky note was taped to the faucet. Arthur frowned at it and quickly handed it to Gwen.
"What now?" she muttered as the headed out the door.
*****
The Roman Fort, 468
*****
Isolde would not speak. Not that she had ever been overly communicative before the death of Tristan. She would not eat either, and that was worrisome. All she did was sharpen her dagger on the wall, her eyes trained on his grave.
"Apologize to his spirit. Get your peace that way," a voice said quietly from beside her.
The blonde knight crouched down to her. Isolde watched him, much like the bird Tristan had prized used to do. He'd freed his bird before his death, and none had set eyes on the creature since then.
"Do I deserve that peace, knowing he has none?" Isolde cocked her head to the side. "You mean well, I am sure. But you know little of this topic, so hold your tongue, boy."
"I don't know grief? Of words left unsaid, or of those said in haste?" Gawain pushed away from her. "You've not been here long enough to know that we all bear those regrets, milady."
"I cursed him to die at his precious wall," Isolde said quietly. "I saw his end."
"She's touched," Galahad said drunkenly, glancing at where the red-haired warrior woman stood beside the bar, fetching drinks for her sisters.
"Which one?" Gawain asked bitterly.
"The blonde one weeps to no end," Wilhelmina muttered, setting a fresh pint in front of Gawain. "She wept through the night, until the leader threatened to bind her mouth."
"They stayed near your quarters?" Gawain frowned.
"Aye," Wilhelmina nodded, taking her tray back. "And likely will, until Arthur offers them better quarters."
"Better quarters?" Galahad sputtered. "Whatever for?"
"Assuaging his guilt," Gawain cursed.
"For what?"
"The dark one was Tristan's intended," Gawain glanced up at the wall. "And the weeper was fond of Lancelot."
"What female wasn't?" Wilhelmina scoffed, twitching her skirts and heading back to the bar.
"Lady Dawn," Gawain murmured.
"Only female with a working mind," Galahad said quietly.
"Even if she was part Woad."
*****
2005
*****
"Hello? Any one up?" Vi poked her head in through the kitchen doorway.
The kitchen was eerily empty. At least for this time of day and especially considering everything that had happened the night before. The message she and Garrett had gotten had been for them to come home at seven and have a mini-powwow before breaking everything to the civilian contingent. Also known as the Hollis family.
"Will you just go inside already?" Garrett muttered from behind her.
"Do I know if it's safe to enter? No. So I make a cautious - ack!" Vi stumbled over her feet as Garrett shoved her inside the door. "Jackass."
"Look, it's perfectly safe. Go find Dawn."
"I don't know how they did it in 'knightly' times, but we here in slayer time proceed with extreme caution. At all times -"
"Extremely loud caution?" Boris chuckled from the doorway. He glanced over at the door to Dag's room. "You seen them yet?"
"It is him? Really him?" Vi bit her lip. "Dawnie…"
"Better go in to see her now," Boris cleared his throat and pushed the door open.
*****
The Roman Fort, 468
*****
Elaine sat silently, her eyes red and her hair windblown on her perch beside Isolde. Viviane glanced out over the horizon before she noticed Morgana coming up beside them. Elaine glared at her approach, and Morgana felt the cut deeply as her sister turned away from her.
"Arthur spoke to me this morning," Morgana squinted as she stared out at the landscape. "He's offered us a place amongst his people."
"As his whores?" Elaine spat.
"No, Elaine," Morgana snapped at her, beyond done with her insolence. "As his men's kinsfolk. Places where we can be free. A place for us to heal all that we have been through."
"Because of Rome."
"Arthur no longer stands for Rome. He stands for his people here. He stands for the last Sarmatians. He stands for the Britons. He stands for hope," Morgana said quietly. "We were drawn here for a reason -"
"Yes, and those reasons lie in cold graves!" Elaine snapped to her feet. "Cold comfort we have."
"Elaine, Lancelot was lost to you long before he died on the field of battle," Morgana stepped in front of her. "I do not know how to appease your anger, nor will I try to. What is done is done. We must move forward or die as the whipped pets of the Empire."
"It feels a bit like home here," Viviane breathed deeply, turning to Isolde. "I would not mind being settled for a while."
"Of course you would!" Elaine sneered. "Morgana has deemed it to be, so Viviane must grovel to her mistress's bidding."
"We can't go back to Sarmatia," Isolde said quietly, her knife poised on the edge of the whetstone she sharpened it on. "I would not mind the rest. What say you, Elaine?"
"Aye," Elaine ground out. "Let's do stay."
Elaine stormed off, ignoring the curious stares she got. Viviane sighed deeply before turning to follow and comfort her. Morgana rubbed her temples as she weighed the pros and cons of this new development. Isolde continued to sharpen her blade.
"Elaine will cause trouble," Isolde said quietly, speaking more than she had in the last few days. "I would keep an eye on her."
"Funnily enough, Viviane said the same about you, sister," Morgana sighed.
"We are very different," Isolde smiled softly. "I have nothing to live for, Elaine still has her vengeance."
A chill skirted up Morgana's back as Isolde rose from her mourning vigil. Isolde had said that her words carried heavy meaning once. It was very easy to believe that they carried a foreboding weight now. And Morgana fear that it would destroy whatever peace they could find here in Arthur's court.
*****
2005
*****
"Look who comes to call," Dagonet whispered against her ear as the door creaked open.
Dawn smiled up at Vi, Garrett and Boris, who all gaped at the giant of a man in bed beside her. Vi was looking through him, as if she knew him before. Boris' eyes were tearing up, and Garrett looked dumfounded.
"Bors, Galahad and little Viviane," Dagonet grinned up at them, pushing himself upright again.
"Viviane?" Dawn's head whipped around. "Say what?"
"She was a tiny little thing that grew up in my village. She was marked to be a priestess of the goddess. And she was a clumsy tyke," Dagonet stretched out a hand to Boris. "Brother."
"How -"
"Morgana, she woke him up and oh - what time is it?" Dawn frowned. "Can you make it to the clearing?"
"Clearing? What bloody clearing?" Boris seemed to find his tongue finally.
"Post-it note," Vi muttered, pulling something off of Boris' back. "Clearing just over the hill. Move yer arse, Bors."
"What?" Boris glared at her.
"I'm reading the note!" Vi stuck it in his face.
"Can you help him to his feet?" Dawn asked, swinging her legs back over the edge of the bed. "The Chaste, come help me. Vi and Boris, you're on Dag duty."
"I can still use my legs, lady," Dagonet chuckled, easing his own legs over.
"You've been comatose for five months, brother," Boris said gruffly as Garrett helped Dawn to the doorway. "And it's Boris in this lifetime."
"I know," Dagonet grinned at him.
Dagonet's footing was a little rough. And he still wore hospital garb. Which could prove a little difficult, but he still walked well for a man who'd been in a coma for five months. His ears reddened a bit when Boris commented on it.
"Someone ordered that I have therapy so my limbs didn't atrophy."
"Morgana," Dawn shook her head. "The scrub pants should be fine, but we need to put a sweater on him."
"And on you, milady," Dagonet smiled at her. "You've got our babe to protect."
"That I do," Dawn grinned.
"This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard," Vi muttered.
"You once believed that kittens grew out of dandelions," Dagonet chuckled.
"How did you know that?" Vi's head snapped up at him as he leaned against her.
"Because I told you it was so, Viviane," Dagonet hugged her. "You still grew up to be a fine warrior. In both lifetimes."
"And now I have a big brother," Vi shook her head.
"As long as it doesn't infringe on my smootchies, you can have him as a brother," Dawn squeezed her hand.
"Do you think everyone else has gone to the clearing?" Garrett frowned as they stepped out the kitchen door.
"I spotted three post-it notes in the kitchen, so I'm guessing that they have."
"Who put out the post-it notes?" Vi cried.
"That would be us," Cordelia shook her head as she watched them all make their way to the hill.
"It's done," Tara breathed heavily beside them. She'd just returned from the Hollis home, where she was sending them over to the hill earlier then they had planned.
"We're pretty awesome. And what will be even more awesome? If they don't all mentally crash and burn when Morgana tells them what's up."
"Aw, don't ruin the mood, Cordy," Tara sighed.
A/N2: So, Alexis Denisoff played Gaheris in First Knight. I didn't know this when I wrote the first chapter of Not Nearly All, btw (in which past!Willow hooks up first with past!Wesley before getting close with Gawain, his brother). Also, I started writing this part and forgot who was all at the Cottage when they got there. This is what happens when years happen per chapter post. Sigh.