"GWAINE!" Elyan hit him in the back with the flat of his sword.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Stop staring off into space," Elyan answered, annoyed. "How are you supposed to defend yourself if you're not even paying attention?"
"Elyan!" They turned to see Gwen walking onto the field. The other knights stopped what they were doing and bowed to her. She smiled at them. "Carry on," she said cheerfully, and turned back to her brother. "Did I see you striking a man in the back?" she scolded with mock severity.
"In battle the enemy won't wait for Gwaine to get his head out of the clouds," Elyan joked. "He's been up there for weeks: I'm just trying to get him back to earth."
"I don't think hitting him is the best method," Gwen suggested, her eyes twinkling. "Sir Gwaine, have you had enough of my brother beating up on you for the day?"
"Yes," Gwaine answered emphatically, and walked with her back toward the castle.
"Elyan's not wrong, you know," Gwen said to him after awhile, as they strolled along the arcade. "You've been rather distracted. The only person besides myself that I saw you dance with at the wedding banquet was Raynelle. I thought maybe you were just tired—still recovering—but you seem quite well now. May I ask what's bothering you?"
Gwaine frowned in silence for a long moment, as if debating how to answer. "It's a girl," he said at last.
Gwen's eyes twinkled again. "I might have known. What happened?"
He shook his head. "I could have sworn she liked me—that she admired me for some time. I barely noticed her. And now that I have…" He blew a stray hair out of his face. "She will barely look at me. I can't think of anything I've done to make her angry—to make her avoid me like this."
"Have you spoken to her about it?"
"No. Far too embarrassing."
Gwen laughed. "Courage, Sir Gwaine! I thought you were a knight of Camelot!"
Gwaine smiled. "Courage in the face of armed warriors is easy. Courage in the face of the woman you… you admire is something else altogether."
"Faint heart never won fair lady. I suppose you could always work up to it by asking her friends."
"Maybe."
"Your majesty," a councilor said, hurrying up to them. "The King requests your presence in the council chamber."
"Of course. Gwaine," she said, giving him a smile and nod. Gwaine bowed, and watched her go.
000
"Gwaine, where have you been?" Arthur asked.
"Out here," Gwaine said vaguely, "walking."
"You missed lunch! Is the world going to end?"
Gwaine looked at him blankly. "I did?"
"Yes. Better hurry up and beg something from Cook, or you won't get anything to eat until suppertime."
But Cook was in no mood for Gwaine that day. "Out," she ordered succinctly.
"But—"
"OUT." Cook turned him around and gave him a shove out the door.
This called for drastic measures. Gwaine went to his quarters to fetch the hook and string. It would be more fun with Percival, but Perce was on patrol that afternoon. It would have to be a solo job.
Gwaine went to the storeroom just above the kitchen. Through a grate in the floor he could see Cook and her underlings running here and there, working over ovens and stewpots. There—a pot of boiled capons. Gwaine lay down on his stomach over the grate and prepared to lower the hook.
"Your lunch is over here," Cook said to someone outside the kitchen door. Gwaine craned his head to see. "We set it aside for you."
"Thank you, Cook," came Sifa's voice.
Typical, Gwaine thought. Cook was playing favorites again.
"Yes, thank you," came another voice, and Anna followed Sifa into the kitchen. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."
"Not at all. Call if you need anything."
Sifa and Anna headed over to the table in the corner, and Gwaine followed along above, to the grate just above their table.
"I understand the Queen has offered you a job as her personal maid," Anna said as they tucked in. "Congratulations!"
Sifa smiled shyly. "Thank you. I don't know if I'm up to it."
"I'm sure you'll be fine. You must be excited."
Sifa bit her lip. "I guess so." Anna watched her with raised brows as she took a bite of her lunch. Sifa shrugged a little. "My father s—wrote to me. He wanted me to take the job. He thought it would be good for me—to take some responsibility."
"You took plenty of responsibility when we were hiding out in the forest," Anna pointed out. Sifa smiled again. "You'll be wonderful."
They ate in silence for a few minutes. "Could you show me how to dance sometime?" Sifa asked diffidently. "I was sorry to miss out at the feast."
"Oh, of course! Any time I'm free."
"I was surprised to see Sir Gwaine dancing with that female knight—what's her name?"
"Sir Raynelle."
"And she led him!"
Anna smiled. "Sir Leon told me that's something they do every time they're at a dance together. Some sort of inside joke. I apparently wasn't in Camelot yet when this tradition had its start."
"Here's some extra bread, girls," Cook said, coming over with a platter. "I had trouble keeping Sir Gwaine's grubby paws off of it." She laughed. "He came in trying for some extra lunch, but I soon turned him out! He can't trick me with his flirtation."
"Is he really that much of a flirt?" Sifa asked.
"Oh, yes, my dear," cook answered. "Teasing the kitchen girls, using that adorable smile on the maids… I bet there isn't a girl in the place who isn't half in love with him. I'm not saying he takes advantage of that," she added quickly. "Always a gentleman—unlike some men who have stayed in this castle! But I always have to remind the girls—he doesn't mean anything by it. Just because he's charming doesn't mean he wants to charm you!" She laughed again and headed back to her work.
Sifa returned to their former conversation. "You danced very nicely with Merlin. I thought Sir Leon looked disappointed when you told him and Sir Gwaine you were too tired to dance any more."
Anna lowered her eyes to her plate. "I'm sure Sir Leon didn't care much," she answered with a mild smile. "He's a knight of Camelot—a handsome knight—with ladies lining up to dance with him. Being turned down by a homely physician's apprentice couldn't have spoiled his evening. I'm sure he hardly thought about it after."
"I doubt that. He stood and talked to you for at least the length of a dance. You seem to be good friends."
"Well, the first time we met, I stitched up his shoulder and nursed him through a fever," Anna said with a grin. "It does tend to forge a connection." She paused. "Healers have to be careful, sometimes. Their can patients sometimes conceive an attraction for them. Not that I'm saying Leon's attracted to me," she said quickly. "It's just been known to happen. With healers I've known."
"If it did happen with Leon, I can't imagine you'd be upset!" Sifa said with a giggle. "Like you said—a handsome knight of Camelot!"
Anna smiled. "Not at first, I wouldn't be sorry. But maybe later. These little infatuations don't last. And I would have raised my eyes to somebody too high above me—in looks, in status—and in the end, I'd get my heart broken." She cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows with a forced grin. "In the end—not worth it!"
The girls carried on with their lunch and their gossip, but Gwaine wasn't hungry anymore. He left the storeroom quietly and headed back to his room, frowning in thought.
TBC
AN: Please review!
