Lady Knight Missione (Merlin fanfic)

Chapter Fifteen

Half a month. That's how long it has been since I got here, that's how long since they have been gone, that's how long it's been since I killed that man, and half a month is how long I have gone without a good's night rest. A good night's rest where I have got more than a couple hours of sleep where there's been no nightmare's and I haven't either been shivering frozen or feverishly warm. Where I know I'm safe. I want to sleep, I want to have peace but I am so restless and unsettled, sometimes I don't think I ever will be again; at peace. But was I ever?

I've been staying at the inn that's part of the tavern using the emergency fund Al had set up and had ready for any of us if we needed it. I thank him every day, for if it wasn't for him, I don't know where I'd be. I try not to think too darkly, but it's hard, although getting to see Mordred everyday always brings a smile to me and sometimes laugh. Talking with Gwaine at the tavern most nights before I retire isn't so bad either. I practice with him, Mordred and the other Knights. I have bested many of them but some are not as easy, and I can feel myself getting better and better each day. I get into a routine. Each day is the same, until the King himself approaches me one day with a few of his Knights that I know.

"Missione." He says as I swing my sword at my opponent who ducks. I know I shouldn't look but he is the King after all and he did call my name. I turn my head towards him but stop and just barely block my opponent's sword. I manage to bring my elbow up and hit him in the nose, then his wrist causing his sword to fall. I catch it and place his at his throat with mine at his heart. I am breathing heavily as I lower the weapons and hand his back to him. My arm aches but ignore it, or what is most likely a large bruise that probably is already starting to show under my sleeve. He hit me pretty good by the elbow which almost caused me to fall but I managed not to and got myself back into the fight. This spare was a little unfair, seeing as how I had two to three years of training ahead of him but he did have physical strength that I did not hold. In the end it was all evenly balanced out and we shook hands, parting in good spirits on both sides.

I turn from him and towards the King. He is with Sir's Leon, Percival, Gwaine, Elyan and Mordred. Merlin is standing off to the side a ways. I bow as is custom and asks, "What can I do for you, Sire?"

"Well since you're fairly decent at a sword I am wondering if we can test you on your tracking and hunting skills. We were already planning on taking our youngest, Mordred, but thought you might like to join us as well." He answers.

"I would. Thank you, My Lord."

"Good. Merlin will bring your horse from the stables and we will meet in front of the castle in half an hour."

I bow once again as he, the Knights, and Merlin leave. I know how to hunt, and I know how to track both people and animals. Al was the one who taught. He told me that it is important to know animals as it is to know people. I'm sure there was something deeper he was trying to tell me those few years ago but I never figured it out then, or even now. He was always very wise like Guise, the court physician, who seems quite like him now that I think of it; that makes me smile. I'll try to remember to pour a drink out for him tonight.

When I get to the front of the castle, almost everyone's there and either ready or getting ready. I find Nadine easily through the small crowd of horses and Knights, and quickly give her the apple I stole from Sir Gwaine not too long ago. She eats it up quickly and I pat her on the nose one last time before climbing on her back to make ready. After a few minutes the King and Merlin arrive and we head out of the city of Camelot and into the large, lush woods that surround the city and land. It is quite magnificent, and there's nothing really quite like riding the most beautiful horse through more greener and healthier vegetation then I ever thought possible, and breathing in air that has never really been contaminated.

We ride out for a few hours with the King in front beside Sir Leon and Merlin, me and Mordred in the middle, and Elyan and Gwaine at the end. I wanted to stay at the end but they insisted that I didn't and it was only when the King stepped in, did I back down. I'm so used to only ever traveling alone that when the King raises his arm to stop us it startles me. I almost get knocked into Elyan behind me, but luckily it is avoided.

"Here. There are tracks." Announces Arthur. "Mordred, Missione."

The next few minutes happen so fast that at first I hardly register what is happening or what happened, but one second I and Mordred are going to check the tracks, and the next people are attacking. Most wear hoods to hide their faces but it doesn't really matter because they are all strangers to me, and I think to the others as well. We are all taken by surprise but that's what Knights are trained for, right?

We attack back, and I try my best to keep my eyes on the King and Merlin to make sure no harm comes to them but, I lose them. I lose sight of Merlin completely and King Arthur is one second in my sight and the next far from where he was before. There are so many of them, crawling all around us like ants as I fight through them, towards the King.

I watch as three, four, or maybe it is five of them all attack him at once. I watch as they slice his exposed lower arm, then his side and finally one knocks him out with the hilt of their sword to his head. I fight harder and faster than I've ever done before as I get closer, and closer, until... I am right beside his unconscious form. We are away from the others who are busy fighting their own, so I say nothing as I fight the men that injured him. Finally, the men around us are all slain.

I am shaking as I crouch down beside him, where a small pool of blood is bleeding out through the wound. I want to look more extensively but I know I can't. I have to get him out of here, and so I do. I drag him away from the enemy's slain bodies, up through a small hill and behind a large oak tree. A blood trail. It is a dark crimson at first but slowly fades away and disappears. We are safe, for now.

I remove my cloak and tie it tightly around the wound on his side only after ripping of a smaller piece for his arm. After tying that one on as tight as I can, I begin dragging him farther away as more of the people that attack us come closer to the others. I feel a tug at my heart as I watch my brother fight all alone with the Knights and I hope with all I have that they will be fine, that they will live. I know that if it came down to it, we all would decide the same thing; King Arthur is more important. Keep him safe above all else. Besides, they have Merlin and we don't.

So I keep dragging and dragging him throughout the rest of the day, and well into the night. I don't know where I am going, I have no idea, and all I know is that I have to keep the King safe. I look down over at his peaceful, sleeping form that has yet arisen, even after all those hours of being dragged through the forest to who knows where. I worry, but not just for him. For Camelot, for Mordred, for Gwaine, for the other Knights, and for Merlin.

I lay down on the grassy and dry dirt ground beside King Arthur. I'm sweaty, tired, my limbs feel like they weigh a ton, and I'm utterly exhausted. And I wouldn't change a thing.

I look up at the stars in the night and feel a loneliness that creeps up on me like a fox on a hare. I am alone, with an injured man that is none other than King Arthur himself, and I want to go home. That's when I begin to cry.