Arthur II Book II Chapter 29

 

29.

 

Lancelot stood below the shade of the hut looking at Guinevere who was talking to her friends. They have arrived at the coastal village which was the home of Lady Penelope, the mother to Guinevere. The young lady was in a better mood compared to the day when she was rescued. They have ridden pressed on by Guinevere to get home fast. They have reached dusk and were given shelter in the hut by the family known to Guinevere. Lancelot offered to rest in the shed outside. He had woken up and saw the lady was visiting her friends. He had hastily dressed and then looked for her.

“Joanne, you have grown.” Guinevere hugged her old friend who was with a child.

“It’s Brian’s. We got hitched in last season.” Joanne replied. She was in her advanced stage then with her unborn child.

“I would have not known then. I thought you were with Liam.”

“He left for South and was not seen for three seasons and was lonely. I …” Joanne blushed.

“You naughty lady.” Guinevere teased her friend. The two then marched off to the coastal area swinging their arms. Lancelot felt embarrassed to spy on the ladies.

“You are new here?” Lancelot turned to see who had spoken to him. It was an elderly man in the worn-out tunic and with the clutch for his bad left leg.

“I am. I arrived with the lady…… Guinevere the night before.” Lancelot replied.

“Guinevere? That lady.” The elderly man looked at the two ladies a distance away. “I know her.”

“You know Guinevere?” Lancelot was curious. “May I have your name, Sir?”

“Sir? I am no Sir. Not for a long time. My name is Issacs of Moor. I am the Granduncle of Lady Guinevere.” The man said.

“Guinevere is the daughter of Lady Penelope, my niece. She was with the miscreant Utter Pendragon. He left her to go south.” Issacs spoke then. “The ladies here have a saying that if a man goes south, he was not coming back.”

“Guinevere the daughter of Utter?” Lancelot was alarmed at that. “I would have not …”

“Penelope had died shortly after giving birth to her. Her lover was given the signs that her death was due to the girl. Guinevere was deemed a bad omen and Utter rode off without a look to his daughter.”

“Where did Utter go?” Lancelot feigned ignorance.

“South! Did I not say that?” The elderly man was getting agitated. “He rode off and found his glory there. He joined an army I was told. He made his name and fortune before he left for the continent.”

“What happened to Guinevere here?”

“She was fine. She has a Godmother who was my sister. Igraine took care of her with the coins sent. Igraine was married to a Lord but we never got his name.  She returned here to Guinevere but the seafarers came. They …”

“The bearded ones with the dragon ships?”

“Yes, they used to raid us during the harvest seasons and take our food. We were too few to fight them. That year they took the ladies including Guinevere. I fought but was defeated. We did not see her for many seasons till now.” Issacs looked at the Lancelot. “I had never got your name.”

“Lan…. Lawnslot.  I met Guinevere on the trail and brought her here. It’s a wildland out there.”

“I heard that too from the wayfarers. They also told us of the new King. Arthur is his name and he was winning the war against the Anglo Saxon. Have you met him?”

“Arthur? I doubt it. I am a wayfarer myself with no name and home.” Lancelot replied.

“Do not doubt the destiny of the two of you. You met and brought her home. You are a nobleman. You may also find the village here is peaceful. With the news of Arthur’s battles, we share the thought that he will be here soon. It will be then that we bring up our woes of the sea raiders. Arthur will protect us as he did for the others on the Anglo Saxons. The village could do with you as I did before. You can be the village protector. And Guinevere will stand by your side.”

Lancelot was to speak when he heard the call for help. It was the ladies. He rushed off towards them. He saw Guinevere on the ground holding her right leg. Joanne was seen running with her heavy belly towards the village. She saw Lancelot and told him that Guinevere was bitten by an adder snake.

Lancelot has handled those bites before as the Ghost. Adders are common on the land and will only attack if threatened in which most cases were easily spooked when the people stepped into their paths or nests.

“Guinevere, where is the bite?” Lancelot crouched next to the lady.

“My right leg.” Guinevere showed her leg to Lancelot. She had not hesitated to pull the hem higher to show him the bite wound at the shin. Lancelot bent down to look at the wound. It looked like a shallow bite from the blood. The adder could have been scared off before its fangs went in deeper.

“I may need to suck the blood out,” Lancelot told her and without waiting for the reply, he sank his mouth over her wound. He sucked hard at it and then spat the blood out. He did it a few times to get the poison out.

Guinevere still in pain was taken in by the gallant knight who had risked his life for her’. She felt his teeth biting at her shin, with the left hand gripping her knee. It was painful but there was a sense of pleasure to it. She laid back on the ground while the knight continued on his treatment.

“We can aid her now.” It was the village healer and Lancelot stood up. He looked to the exposed leg from the upper thigh to the toes. It was not the first time he had seen such a pose but with Guinevere, he felt differently. He was aroused and felt the embarrassment to be standing there.

 “Are you well, Sir” It was Issacs the Elderly who asked. “The healer has the potions for the adder bite.”

“I am fine. Please excuse me.” Lancelot stepped further away. He walked to the sea and let the waves reached to his knees. He was unsure of the events that were in his mind. He looked back to Guinevere who was then carried by the villagers back to the village.

Back at Mount Badon, Arthur stood at the foot of the hill. He was abandoning Mount Badon to its history. He was questioned by Lamorak.

“Prime…. I meant Arthur. Why won’t we station some men here? Like at Gurnion. It was a …”

“A hard victory and we will not man the last bastion of the enemy. We will let the forest reclaimed its right back.” Arthur looked to the clearing where he had marked for the burial of the fallen; his men and Anglo Saxons. They were buried in two plots so that they won’t fight in the other dimension. He started with four hundred strong Legionnaires, two hundred Welsh arms and the hundred recruited Sarmartians under Aubin. Nearly a thousand strong against the two thousand or more Anglo Saxons.

Arthur buried fifty legionnaires, two hundred Welsh and half the Sarmatians. He did not count the Anglo Saxons but they were many. The wounded and surrendered were sent off without their weapons back to their homes; where ever it was then. He did not include the local warriors because the dead and wounded were taken back by the others. It seems that they will bury them in their local plots.

“Three hundred of our knights died here.” Arthur sighed.

“Aye, and another two hundred wounded but they will fight when they have recovered,” Lamorak added to the other’s count.

“We will return to Camelot. I have to do more there.” Arthur called out the command. He was anxious to go back and oversee his castle. He then turned to look for the druid.

“Druid, I need to talk to you,” Arthur called the druid who was standing a distance away. The druid had turned to leave but Arthur's call was not to be ignored.

“Stop that druid. I want to talk to you…. now.”

A short while later at a clearing coincidentally next to the burial plot of the Anglo Saxons.

“Were you ignoring me, druid?”

“No, Arthur. I was not. I was …” Merlin explained his previous action.

“Don’t patronize me, Druid. I am asking on Guinevere. Where is Lancelot?”

Lancelot was still in the village although he moved to his tent outside the village. It has been some days and all that time he avoided the lady. He was afraid to be near her. He stoked the embers in the fire to stir the fire up. He had caught a rabbit in the snare and after having skinned it was to place it over the fire. 

“I have not seen you in the village. They told me that you have gone hunting.” Lancelot turned to look and saw the lady. He was dressed in a tunic and without his sandals. He had removed his armor and Arondight at the side.

“Why are you here?” Lancelot asked.

“Why? I do live here.” Guinevere was surprised at the question. “Maybe I did come at the wrong time?”

“No, Guinevere…… I meant my Lady Guinevere. I did not mean to be rude.” Lancelot looked at her. “I was ….. tired from my …. hunting.”

“I was …. Sorry if I intruded.” Guinevere replied. “I was to see you on the invite to come for Joanne’s celebration of her child. She gave birth to a boy. They are having a feast tonight.”

“I will…. Join. I will bring the meat.” Lancelot smiled.

“And one other matter, Sir ….. Lancelot? I was to ask if we can go back to Camelot. I want to see Lady Igraine.”

“I have to…” Guinevere added on.

“We can leave tomorrow,” Lancelot said.

“Maybe not so soon. We can do it in two days. I need to say my goodbyes.” It was then Guinevere turned and leaves. Lancelot was all alone once more.

Later at the dance, Guinevere had pulled Lancelot into the dance then. The Ceilidh dances are easy to learn and often look more difficult than they are. Learning them is easy because the musicians and fellow dancers are always happy to help beginners learn the steps. 

But not knights who only knew how to fight.

“You got the steps mixed.” Guinevere laughed. “And your arms are too stiff. Let me help you.”

The touch of the lady’s hands was overlaying in the feelings. She gripped him by her fingers and led him on the moves. He felt his clumsiness then and twice he fell at her feet. That roared the others to mock them.

“He proposes and she….” The men sang.

“She said yes.” The ladies replied.

It was merriment and the feast went on till dawn.