The next morning Lilly woke up to the sound of the others rumaging around. Gwaine had gotten up early so the others wouldn't find hi mand Lilly in a compromising position. With nothing keeping her lying down, Lilly decided to get up as well. When she was on her feet she did a few stretches to wake up her muscles. "Now that's just unfair, lady Lilly." She heard Gwaine's voice behind her. "Goodmorning Sir Gwaine." Lilly said, while doing a last stretch. The last one was not really neccisary, but it was fun to see the noble knight squirm. He walked up closer, far enough not to call for attention from the others. "Now that one was on purpose."
Three days went on like that. Lilly was more than able to keep up with the knights, to their surprise. Lilly helped out with the wood gathering, coocking and planning the attack. During the day She would try not to get too close to Gwaine, but every night she layed down her blanket next to his. Every night she fell asleep in his arms, and evry morning she woke up without him. She knew it was better to be discreet with three other nobleman, the king an merlin around, but something deep inside wished she could one day wake up in his arms as well.
The fourth day the came across the first village from Lilly's lands. From a distance it looked deserted. The bandits came and got what they wanted, then left the village thrashed. The company went to investigate. To cover more ground they splitt up. Lilly had searched a few houses and found nothing, no food or weapons left, nor any suvivors, or bodies. The last hous had a barn, she slowly opened the door. "NOOO!" She screamed. She had not found one body, she found all of them. She heard footsteps rushing her way, but she didn't care to look who it was. All she could look at were her people, dead and stacked like cattle. She felt someone put his arm around her, and recognized the smell of Gwaine. Finally she turned around and burried herself in his shoulder. "It's alright. We'll get them back. You're safe now." He whispered to her, knowing she wasn't listening to a word he said, only his voice. The other knights were quickly arriving. some of them put their hand on Lilly's back to show support, but they just let Gwaine hold her. "Get her out of here Gwaine." Artur ordered. "Now."
Gwaine brought Lilly back to their horses and sat her down on a log. Still sobbing, but regaining her composure. "They were innocent Gwaine, I knew they looted, but kill! We have to get to the castle, what if they're already there?" "We'll get there Lilly, we'll save you family, we'll save your people. We'll keep you safe." He answered her. Lilly looked up and into Gwaine's eyes. "We'll save them, all of them." Gwain panted. Lilly responded by embracing him tight. "Thank you."
When the other knights got back they found Gwain still holding Lilly. Lilly had calmed down and was more determined than ever to fight. "I'm sorry for panicking back at the barn. I wasn't expecting to find my people like that. I, I never felt so useless before." Lilly said. "You're not useless Lilly. You got help. We will do anything we can to make sure this doesn't happen again." Arthur said. "We need to get going. The faster we get to the castle, the better."
The next day the foound a second village, at first they made sure Lilly was riding at the back. But the villagers were still alove and walking around. When the villagers recognized the sigil on the cloaks they cam running towards them. Lilly got to the front to make sure her people saw she was still fighting fort hem. That's when she saw familiar faces.
Lilly got off the horse and ran towards two little children. "Robert, Julia, thank goodness." The children recognized Lilly and ran to her for a hug. "Lady Lilly!" They shouted. "Thank goodness you two are alright. What happened why are you here?" Lilly asked. "I knew you would come back, I knew it." Little Julia was holding Lilly tight, repeating the same thing over and over again. "Yes I'm back, and I brought help from Camelot. These are the bravest knights in all the kingdom, and they're here to help. Now tell me, how did you two get this far from the castle?"
The children started telling, in a typical child way, confusing. But the story Lilly made from it was that they had sneaked out to find her. They heard rumours Lilly had lef tand they went to find her and prove the rumours were wrong. The ended up in this village helping out cheltering refugees and treating the wounded.
"Robert, Julia. You know I wouldn't just leave the two of you. Where else would I get a hug if I need one? You could have been seriously hurt on your journey." Lilly told them. Then gave them both another hug. "But thank goodness you're alright."
"Lilly, we need to move on. These people are well equiped to fend for themselves, but we have to fight the bandits at the castle." Sir Leon had come to get her. Lilly took a good look at the children she was holding, the oldest ten, the youngest seven. Artur and the other knights had come her way. "Sire, thank you for letting me ride along this far on your queste. But my place is here at the moment. These people are scared, they were forced out of their homes and are badly wounded. I need to stay here and protect my people. The castle is not that big or challenging, I'm sure you will be more that capable of fighting those bandits without me." Lilly said.
"As you wish my lady. A wise decision. You are very good to your people." Arthur said. Then let the knights have a chance to say goodbye. Most of them gave Lilly a small and short embrace, Gwain was last. "These people have no idea how luck they are with you as their lady." He said, then engulfing her in a tight hug. "Be carefull out there." Lilly whispered. "We will get you as soon as it's safe to return." Gwaine answered. "Hurry back." Lilly whispered before they let go. She waved them of off with the rest of the village, even when the knight were out of sight. "Hurry back."