The Silver Lining

Arthur sighed as Lancelot told him for the third time that morning that there was no trouble and they should head back. "You are just eager to see Vanora biting Bors' head off during labor or to try and make the new tavern girl swoon at your feet," he remarked dryly as he glanced at his lieutenant and best friend. The mischievously boyish smirk that grew across Lancelot's face made Arthur nod in answer to his own queries. "Dagonet said that she won't go into labor as quick as she believes and the tavern girl will be there for some time Lancelot at least, until you break her heart."

Lancelot just brushed his words off. "Pah!" The knight in question Bors, who generally could make any man cower or woman blush, sat on his horse with a placid look and a clear hint of terror in his eyes. No one understood how after eleven children, the man could be terrified of having them but then again, they weren't in his position currently, and they also did not have a lover like that of Vanora.

At twenty-eight summers old, Lancelot stood at five foot eleven in height with a strong and muscular build that had been formed after years of training and fighting on the island of Briton under service to Rome. Out of all the knights, he was considered to be the most handsome of the eight who remained of the infamous Badon Keep cavalry. As of this present time, he had aged well and his years of battle had left him scarred but in a way that most of the tavern women that he attracted found appealing to their eyes. Dark and thick curls hung just on his forehead and what stubble he had on his chin had been cut in a way that made him appear quite roguish when he got that well known smirk on his lips and his dark brown eyes danced playfully like he had just formed an ingenious plan in his mind.

Of the twenty knights who had originally been posted at Badon Keep the eight who remained were loyal to one man and that one man was Arthur Castus, a half-Roman half-Briton commander who had followed in the footsteps of his father and taken command of Sarmatian knights. His men each had traits that Arthur valued; Bors was strong of head and heart who fought like a bear no matter what the situation, Dagonet was a tall, dark and intimidating figure but with a healer's touch whose kindness knew no end to those who deserved or needed it, the three knights Gawain, Galahad and Agravaine were cousins from three different Sarmatian tribes and each had stubborn natures to them but none more so than the youngest one Galahad who had only been nine when taken, Tristan was the stotic scout with a gentle side that was only shown towards his pet bird that aided in his scouting for the party and Lancelot was- well he was Lancelot, arrogant, stubborn, a heart breaker but loyal and almost like a brother to his commander.

"Tristan ride-" Arthur was stopped in mid sentence when a party of men with a wagon came towards them down the narrow road that weaved through the forest. It was unusual for people to travel this route towards the sea as Woads infested the forest and there was a simpler but longer way round the danger of losing ones life. Most took the longer way as they could pass through Badon Keep and rest themselves or join a larger band of travelers. Anyone who came through this route made Arthur suspicious of their business.

The knights brandished their weapons as soon as they met the party of men. Arthur asked the leader of their business, his eyes not missing the wagon which was built like a cage. Almost as soon as he saw it, he knew exactly why these men were traveling this way. They were slave traders from Gaul who hadn't wished to be caught by people such as himself and his knights.

"We are just a party of men who catch wild animals and sell them to others, we catch rare creatures and find owners who look after them," the man remarked. It was said in such a way that made Arthur's skin crawl. He knew just what type of creatures this man dealt in.

"You will show us this catch them," Arthur stated in a authoritative tone. One of the men seemed on edge, almost like he was a nervous wreck and when he moved forward, Tristan aimed his bow on him, but the man didn't stop, thinking that it was just a gentle warning. Tristan gave no warnings to anyone. He loosed the arrow and hit the man in the throat, another already notched and aimed for the next man before the jittery one even fell to the ground.

"You would attack travelers who are doing nothing wrong?" the man roared at Arthur who merely raised his sword, pointing it at the cage.

"Slave traders are not welcomed nor tolerated," Arthur said. "You will open that cage, now." The man bristled up at Arthur's command and said he refused that he was free to do whatever he wished. Arthur gave him a half sided grin before saying that if his order went unanswered than he would place them all under arrest. The man did not look to be backing down from Arthur's threats and just told Arthur that he could not stop people from doing their work, it was not right. "Do not mistake earnest work for what you do trader, now- open the cage."

"Arthur, you don't know what they have in there," Lancelot remarked quietly enough so only his commander could hear him.

Arthur did not care, these men were slave traders, it was clear from the shackles hanging off the side of the cage what they were and it was something that Arthur was not going to let them get away with. He was determined to stop as much slave trading as he possibly could and he was not going to let anyone get away with it, not even lords would if Arthur had it his way. "Do as I say now, one of your men is already dead, would you like to join him?"

At the threat of death, the man seemed to cower a little. As he got off his horse and waddled towards Arthur and his men, Tristan trained his next arrow on him and when he got three steps from Arthur's horse, he shot him. The man seemed to almost turned stone like as he fell to the ground, the thud he made on the earth causing Arthur's horse to back up a little. The slave traders men all charged at the knights as soon as Tristan's arrow buried itself into the man's heart.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a quick and easy fight that saw the slave traders fall before they barely had a chance to put up a fight. Arthur told Tristan to find the keys on the leader and when he did, the commander did not fail to notice his scout pilfer the large coin purse from the man's belt. It made him grin a little actually. Tristan enjoyed pilfering items off the dead when he could and what he thought would be useful. The coin however he would be taking from him later. There was no telling how the men had come to gain such an amount of coin but Arthur wasn't going to let the scout keep it.

Taking the keys from him when he held them out, Arthur gave his knight a look. Tristan merely ignored it and went back to his horse.

Lancelot came to his side when he moved to unlock the cage, his swords drawn and just out of view of whatever may be in the cage when Arthur opened it. As his commander pulled the door open, Lancelot's grip on his swords tightened instinctively as his body shifted into an attack position. He heard Arthur curse and Lancelot immediately moved to stand directly beside him and look in on the prisoners of the cage.

He now had to hand it to Arthur, he knew when to stop people and question them on their business. A woman was in there with four small blue painted children huddling to her. They were Woads.

The woman, on the other hand, did not look like Woad; no blue paint covered her in anyway and she certainly was not dressed like any Woad Lancelot had ever seen before. From the small bit of light that was slipping through the furs that covered the cage, Lancelot was able to see that she could barely remain conscious. "How far do you think they've been brought?" Lancelot inquired as Arthur looked his shoulder to call for Dagonet.

"I'm not sure." Lancelot frowned and glanced back at the five in the cage. None of them looked to be fairing well at all however, the children were Woad. They were strictly speaking none of the knight's responsibility. They had no obligation to save them, however Lancelot knew Arthur would not leave the children to die.

"Arthur, we can't help them. We'll be endangering ourselves if we bring the children with us," he remarked.

"They're Woad, well the children are. Her clothing is strange, not like anything the Woads normally wear," Arthur commented, clearly dismissing what Lancelot had just said which angered the knight.

"They are free, now let us leave before we end up being hunted down by their kin," Lancelot pressed, stopping Arthur from climbing into the cage.

The commander looked at his friend and Lancelot knew from just the look in Arthur's eyes, his words weren't being heard. "Lance we can't leave them to die," he said and Lancelot pulled a face, trying to think of a way to convince Arthur that what he was about to do might give them more trouble than they need.

The woman collapsed suddenly and Arthur climbed in, leaning down over her to check her. One of the children tried to push him away, hitting him.

Lancelot had to hold back his snicker as the child shouted at his commander and it didn't take knowing the language to know that the tiny child was telling him to not come near them or the woman, especially when the tiny child hugged the woman.

"Arthur this is ridiculous, if we're going to help them at least get them out here," Lancelot said with a large sarcastic smile on his face when Arthur tried to lift the woman up only to have the child refuse to let her go.

Bors came over to stand at Lancelot's side and said to hand him one of the children. Arthur managed to pry the now crying three year old off the woman and pushed her into Bors waiting arms. His history with his own children came in handy as he cuddled the tiny child against his armour and sang to her in Sarmatian. It was a side to the knight that not many ever saw but at the moment Lancelot was grateful that it was at least consoling the child and silencing her crying. The next child was a much older girl who spat at Lancelot's feet. He made to grab her only she moved away from him.

Scowling at the girl, he found it returned by her. Dagonet took hold of her arm gently and gave her a small smile as she made to pull away from him.

Two boys followed and they stood shoulder to shoulder reminding Lancelot of himself and Arthur when they had been younger and trying to seem much bigger than they were.

Arthur asked for Lancelot's help and he turned to his commander as he made to hand the woman to him. Lancelot slipped his arm under her knees and his other round her back.

In the dark she had appeared to look fairly plain to Lancelot's eyes but when seeing her close and now out in the light he found that the woman in his arms was very striking in appearance. Dark brown long curls contrasted strongly against milky cream colored skin. Her clothing however drew his attention. It was strange and very foreign to what he'd ever seen.

"She isn't Woad," Gawain remarked as Lancelot walked over to his horse which Galahad was holding the reins of. He managed to get her onto the back of his horse before swinging up behind her and pulling her back against him.

"What is she wearing?" Galahad questioned as he curiously reached out to finger the long coat the woman was wearing.

"I'm not sure," Lancelot remarked before he glanced over at Arthur who was helping the Woad boys up onto his horse. Dagonet was looking after the girl and Bors it seemed had managed to aid the smallest child into resting a little as she now lay against his chest, her thumb in her mouth and her eyes shut.

"We need to get them some food and water," Dagonet remarked. He must have checked the girl for he added, "with haste."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They left the forest and found camp safely away from the path before they stopped for the night. It was not exactly a safe place but it was better than being out close to the trail and at least where they were had been the beginning of a small cluster of trees which hid their camp from the roadside, save for the flame of the fire. Lancelot dismounted and gently pulled the woman from his horse.

Dagonet told him to place her on the spare bedroll that he had and noticed Agravaine was curiously peering over his shoulder. Lancelot glanced at him slightly and saw him quickly turn away. Looking down at the unconscious woman, he reached out and brushed some the curls back from her face. She didn't even move when he did so and he quickly pulled his hand away when Dagonet came over to check on her.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The children were all sitting near the woman as though they were her protectors while she recovered. Dagonet had found a nasty bump on the back of her head which had lead them to wonder how she had been captured by the slave traders. The children were happy to finally eat and drink but they hadn't had too much, their stomachs weren't use to large amounts, especially after the amount of days that they had gone without both.

None of the knights were in the mood to sleep and as they all rested and talked, Dagonet continuously checked on the woman. "Where do you think they found her?" Dagonet inquired as he sat back down beside Bors.

"She isn't Woad," Gawain said.

"She isn't Roman," Galahad chipped in.

"Sarmatian?" Arthur mused and saw eight heads turn and stare at him as though he was a mythological hydra come to life. "Do not look at me like that; you all know I could be right in what I'm suggesting here and..."

A groan made them all fall silent. The woman stirred, her hands going to her head as she slowly sat up. The three year old seemed attached the woman as she cuddled into the woman's chest, making the woman look down and smile softly before hugging the child back warmly.

Arthur stopped up and slowly approached the small group. The woman looked up and her eyes widened before she moved back and away from Arthur as he came closer. He stopped and put his hands up in a gesture of peace as the others all sat silently behind him. "It is alright, we aided you. You're safe."