Selfless

Title: Selfless

Author: Agarwaenloth

Pairing: Arthur/Lancelot

Summary: Set before the movie. In an effort to save his knights, Arthur is captured by a madman, only to be released shortly afterwards unharmed, or so it seemed.

Disclaimer: Don’t own it, never will. Also, the name Thanatos comes Molly Cochran’s book, The Broken Sword. But hers and mine are in no way connected.

A/N: If anyone knows of any Yahoo group dedicated to this pairing or just King Arthur slash, let me know. Also, I know they didn’t have anything resembling needles back then, but the bad guys do because they are far more advanced, especially if it has to do with pain.

Chapter 1

His men were fighting valiantly, but they were too. T. Their enemies were overrunning them. They had been caught by surprise. The warriors they fought were not men, they were like demons. It seemed the only reason they were still standing was through the will of their enemy alone. Death was a certainty, but these demons wanted to draw it out.

“Arthur!”

The voice stilled his blood and sent shivers of fear of his spine. He looked up in search of the owner of the voice, and what he saw sent a wave of horror and terror through him. He was tall, seven feet at least. He had a pale complexion and dark hair. This was not what inspired Arthur, whom no one could accuse of being a coward, to be shaken. It was his eyes. Black, cold, merciless, they were the eyes of one who kills and finds great pleasure in it.

“I have a proposition for you, Oh Legendary Arthur,” the evil man said, with an evil smile on his lips and a sadistic gleam in his eyes.

“Who are you?” Arthur shouted back at him. “What do you want?”

“I am called Thanatos,” he said calmly. “And as to what I want, well, I want you. Give up, and your knights will be free to go, given that they do not attempt to follow us, of course.”

Arthur looked at the men standing with him. They were all looking at him. He couldn’t let them die. Lancelot looked straight into his eyes. He knew what Arthur was going to do.

“Arthur, don’t,” Lancelot whispered. “We will fight them.”

“And you will die. That I cannot allow, not if I can stop it,” Arthur stated. “And if you are the knights I know you to be, then you will honor my decision and not endanger your lives to follow me.”

“Have you decided yet, Arthur!” Thanatos cried.

“For the lives of my knights, I will give myself up to you,” Arthur said, his eyes never leaving Lancelot’s.

“Excellent.”

Arthur was grabbed rly bly by two of the demon-like-creatures, and still, his eyes remained locked with Lancelot’s. Lancelot, who never knew how much Arthur loved him. Lancelot, who would never return that love. Lancelot, whohur hur now gave his life to protect.

Suddenly, he felt something prick the back of his neck. Blackness started to creep into his vision, and he soon was floating in a sea of oblivion.

Lancelot cried out as he saw a man come up from behind Arthur and stick something into the back of his neck. His heart nearly broke when Arthur’s body went limp. He heard Thanatos chuckle.

“Don’t worry,” the man said. “He isn’t dead. Yet.” He then ordered his demons to move out, leaving the six knights standing there, bound by respect and love not to follow after the evil creatures.

Lancelot could not take his eyes off of the motionless figure of Arthur. He would never know of Lancelot’s love for him. Inwardly, he cursed Arthur for being so selfless. He had often told them that their deeds were meaningless unless they served some higher purpose. Well, Lancelot’s purpose was Arthur, plain and simple. And now, he was gone, more than likely never to return.

He looked at the five other men standing around him. Their f all all showed a mixture of sorrow, rage, confusion, and hopelessness. They all were thinking the same thing.

“What are we to do now?”