The Silver Lining

Chapter XIII

The smell of smoke overwhelmed them before they reached the village, sending their horses into panics. Coming over the crest of the hill that overlooked the village and forest, Sophia's eyes clouded with tears. They were too late. She could hear the screams and pleas from the villagers but their attackers were deaf to them. Sophia had failed again. She'd been too focused on only hunting the werewolves. She already knew that it was why they had been brought to the village but if they hadn't have gone off on a chase of something that might not have even still been in the forest then they could at least have saved the people by evacuating them when the first signs of an attack came. Now she felt like their deaths were on her hands.

Agravaine was beside her and he glanced at her as she lowered her head, wiping her eyes and cheeks.

Arthur moved his horse closer to hers. "Sophia, do not think this is any fault of yours. We were called to the village to help them and we were," he said. "Things happen that we can not control, it is fate. If we had not been hunting those things, I have no doubt that we would have more trouble on our hands if that creature had appeared whilst we were dealing with those raiders."

She sighed heavily and looked up at him. "Has anyone ever told you how much you sound like a king when you try to console a person?" she inquired. He smiled, it was small but it was there. Sophia knew that if she had not been here, they would have lost a few of the knights without her knowledge of the werewolves but still in preventing one attack, another had still occurred. "It is not fair. We do the right thing and then this happens," she said. Arthur nodded but said the raiders were not going to get too far with those they had enslaved.

They moved fast and without rest, Arthur had refused to let them. They rode the forest line before heading right when they came to a rock wall before them leaving only cliffs beyond. Where they were heading, Sophia did not know, all she did know was that she needed to harden herself. Being with the knights, even just for these few days was showing her that she had a lot to learn, especially if she was stuck in this time.

Their horses were losing their strength from the hard pace Arthur had them at and he finally agreed to stop for the night. They came upon a part of the cliff which dropped away and dug into it was a small hideaway for travelers which was clear by the small fire stones set in a circle in the middle of the place. Galahad and Gawain had collected firewood and Gawain had started a fire as Sophia found the corner of the hideaway and eased herself down into it, shaking a little. Galahad nudged Gawain and motioned over to her when he noticed her not looking at anyone or speaking for that matter. They both frowned, looking more like brothers in that single moment than actual cousins, worried for the young woman who, while extremely brave and determined, was caught following her heart which was turning her into a mess.

Dagonet came over to her and asked if he could check on her arm.

She only lifted up a shoulder in reply and didn't look at him as he sat there beside her, cleaning and dressing the terrible bite marks covering her forearm. Her coat arm needed to be patched up and she would do it as soon as they returned to the wall and she found some material. When he was dressing her wound, Sophia remembered her little pocket companion and undid her coat, pulling it off.

Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out the tiny fox cub and grinned softly as it woke up, yawning before stretching out like a cat or dog would after resting. He was alright aside from the injury he had received before she'd discovered him.

"Where did you find him lass?" Bors asked, noticing the tiny red and white creature sitting among the folds of her large coat.

Sophia smiled a little as she scratched behind one of its ears and it leaned into her hand, clearly liking the affection.

"While we were scouting. I'm glad that he didn't get hurt anymore than he already was when I was being thrown around," she answered, not looking up at the burly knight who crouched down beside her and petted the tiny thing warily. It licked his hand in turn and Bors chuckled.

"So I gather you are keeping the animal?" She looked over at Tristan who was feeding his bird. Realizing that a bird and a fox were naturally enemies Sophia gave him a meek look as she nodded. "As long as he doesn't try and attack my bird then I leave him alone." Sophia was more than happy with that answer and as the fox grew she would train and teach him not to attack the bird.

Arthur sat across from where Sophia was with Lancelot at his side, who clearly did not look at all happy. He did not fail to notice that fact. "What is eating at you Lancelot?" he asked quietly so as none of the others could hear them.

"Nothing," he replied. Arthur shook his head noticing the line of Lancelot's gaze.

"Oh really?" he pressed.

"Yes really," Lancelot replied folding his arms across his chest, frowning even more. Arthur grinned slightly and shook his head. Lancelot was stubborn and full of pride which was not something that came in handy when Sophia was round him for he thought being arrogant was the way to get her attention. It wasn't and as Arthur looked at the group, he was plagued with the question of how many more were going to be lost before their freedom was gained.

Dagonet and Bors sat on a log with Tristan, Sophia sat in the corner with the baby fox, Gawain and Galahad were talking to each other and Agravaine sat on the ground near Sophia, cleaning his sword. It was not hard to see that Agravaine was different towards Sophia but Arthur was pleased that a woman was able to befriend him after all these years of barely speaking to one and only answering Vanora when asked something, Agravaine's skills with women were worse than Galahad's. "She is not some tavern girl Lancelot," he whispered to his friend.

"I am not blind Arthur. If she was one, she would already be heartbroken at my hands," Lancelot shot back. Arthur shook his head.

"Do not treat her so badly."

"She doesn't treat me nicely," Lancelot defended.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the knight. "Well I can understand as to why she treats you harshly, because you are treating her like some foolish young girl and are challenging her at every chance you get," he stated. "And all because she is not attracted to you at the beat of a heart."

Lancelot growled. "I do not challenge her every chance I get, but when she will not listen-"

"You would do well to remember that there was a time when you would not listen to orders or advice," Arthur interrupted him.

The arms were folded over his chest again and he huffed, turning his back to the fire. "I was a boy. Its different."

"You like her, more than you wish to admit," Arthur stated and saw Lancelot's eyes snap round to look at him. He smiled back at the scowling knight before patting him on the shoulder.
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Agravaine was watching them as they spoke, he could read their lips partially picking up on some of the things they were saying. When he caught the last words from Arthur, he glanced over at Sophia who had asked Dagonet for a bandage earlier, had ripped it in half and was using one of the pieces to wrap up the fox cub's injured paw. It tried to attack the bandage as she was doing so. She was fixing her coat up as a pillow, the pocket where the fox had been originally was just beside her head and he grinned slightly seeing the small thing walking around now, shaking his injured paw, trying to get the bandage off it, even biting at it.

The little thing gave up after a moment or so and continued to explore the camp as the knights settled into their bedrolls for the night. Agravaine found the small creature highly amusing. It went to go near Lancelot who, in a foul mood, swiped his hand at it, knocking him onto his back. Sophia told him to be nice and he only smirked, pushing it back over as it got up, growling at him.

Knowing Lancelot would keep doing it, Agravaine whistled and gained the little cub's attention. It trotted towards him and sat near his feet as he rested back against a log, his bow laying across his chest, ready in case he needed it while he kept watch. He found a stick on the ground and decided to entertain himself and the small thing by playing tug of war with it and the stick. Not long after he began to play, the knights were all asleep, including Tristan who had third watch tonight. Lancelot had the second surprisingly.

He heard the footsteps but didn't look up at her as she came over and bent down to pick up the fox. "You know it was not your fault. Raiders have attack these small valley villages a lot," he stated as he threw the sick away.

"But if we hadn't have been out chasing something that may not have even still been out there," she replied.

Shrugging, Agravaine just told her that Arthur had been right in what he'd told her this morning and she did not need to try and put the blame upon herself.

Sophia didn't say a word back to him and he glanced up at her as she straightened up before walking back over to her coat. "Do you need a blanket?" he asked.

"I'm fine, the fire is strong enough," she answered.
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When Agravaine's watch was over, he woke Lancelot who had grumpily just gotten up and not spoken a word to him. The other knight really was not phased as both he and Lancelot were known for butting heads and ignoring each other a fair bit at times even for no simple reason.

Lancelot was still moody and even he didn't fully know why. Glancing over at Sophia who was sleeping on just the ground and using her coat as a pillow, he noticed her trying to curl up and keep warm. Looking at the ground, he reached round and undid his cloak. Walking over, he dropped it down over her and saw her eyes open up as she hugged it round herself quickly. "Thank you," she whispered. He nodded and walked back over to where he'd been sitting.

It was going to be a long watch.