Chapter 18

As he fetched Dagonet away from the medical rooms, Gawain recalled the whispered conversation he'd had with Tristan while Kation had been dozing in the fort's hospital. They had been trying to predict how the knights would react to Kation.

"Lancelot will make lots of crude jokes," Tristan prophesied.

Gawain didn't negate the truth. "Dagonet will take it in his stride; Kahedin will probably see straight through it, fancy her rotten, flirt like a whore, and never touch her. And he likes women…"

"That man's such a pest," Tristan growled, as if he wasn't talking about his closest friend. Gawain laughed.

"… and Gaheris will probably try to gain her trust, while saying crude things to you."

"If she's got any sense she'll find him as annoying as everyone else does."

"Oh come on, he's not that bad…"

"Remember the time we found him in the woods after the battle…?" Tristan said ominously.

Gawain shot a quick look across the room and was relieved to see Kation still dozing. "Yes I remember," he said quietly. "But we're not going to let another accident happen ever again."

Tristan snorted incredulously and Gawain suddenly felt a little foolish – of course it hadn't been an isolated 'accident'. How could such a thing be an accident?

Seeing Gaheris' hungry expression earlier, Gawain knew that Tristan was right.

As they entered Tristan's rooms, Gawain and Dagonet were met with an unbelievable sight: Kahedin, slumped across Tristan, with the girl on his back trying to strangle him. Without speaking, both knights immediately sprang into action.

After a few seconds struggle separating all three combatants, Gawain was left holding the girl by her hair, while Dagonet had sat Kahedin in the chair to check his throat. The girl grunted and writhed, reminding him he still had a painfully tight grip on her, and he instantly let go. She sprang to Tristan, positioning herself between Tristan and Kahedin. She was looking openly dangerous, even if she was unarmed and absolutely tiny compared to everyone else in the room.

It was like watching a kitten fluff itself up and hiss at a dog.

Kahedin, however, growled – literally growled – at her. "Little monster." He hissed, and then broke into a grin, waving Dagonet off. Clearly he admired her spirit.

Kation's eyes narrowed a fraction, and she dipped her chin, levelling a murderous look at him.

"Tristan, if you can speak, what on earth happened?" Dagonet asked, walking over to check his friend's wounds.

"I have no idea. They just burst in here and threw themselves on me." The scout winced as Dagonet prodded his wounded shoulder.

"He was threatening you." Kation said softly, still glaring at Kahedin, who was watching her with that amiable expression that only meant he knew something he was very pleased about. Gawain felt a twinge of trepidation in his gut.

"No he wasn't!" Tristan said, and Gawain detected a note of frustration in his voice. "I trust him."

"If you really trusted me, you would have told me what was going on!" Kahedin broke in, his annoyed tone not matching the smile he was still wearing. Gawain had the distinct impression that the younger of the two scouts was feeling hurt at the lack of faith.

Dagonet looked at Gawain, an eyebrow raised in confused exasperation. It was unusual for Tristan to bicker with anyone, let alone Kahedin. Usually these two were the last knights to create a scene of this sort. Gawain shrugged and crossed his arms with a sigh.

"I bought a slave – what more is there to say?" Tristan ground out.

Kahedin was about to retort, but then realised that they had an audience and closed his mouth with an almost audible snap. He leaned back with a huff and glared out of the window. Kation, sensing a temporary truce, relaxed slightly and moved away from Tristan to lean against the wall, dragging a hand through her hair and looking more tired and annoyed than both scouts combined.

Gawain sympathised: dealing with one of them was tough, but being caught between the two? Nightmarish.

~oOo~

The girl was insane. Kahedin was the least of Tristan's troubles now, despite being too maddening for words. And now he looked like he might start asking some pointed questions… The one blessing on his ruined day was that Dagonet seemed uninterested in anything except Tristan's injuries.

"Why did you have to throw yourself on him?" the giant man rumbled at Kahedin. "You've set his recovery back by at least a week's more bed-rest. I know he's like a brother to you, but try to control yourself."

Kahedin, unwilling to take the blame, pointed at the slave with a smile. "Actually, I was just standing there – it was the boy who threw himself at me, and we both fell on Tristan."

Dagonet shook his head in despair and rubbed some cool salve onto Tristan's inflamed shoulder, which caused the girl to wince for some reason. But she said nothing and kept an eye on Kahedin while watching what Dagonet did.

A few moments later, Dagonet gave her a small bag. "This has medicines in it – this pot will prevent infection; the leaves must be stewed in hot water and he must drink it at least once a day." He instructed. The girl nodded and carefully held the bag in both hands, then cast an openly concerned glance at Tristan. Dagonet visibly melted at the pitiful look, and placed a big hand on her head comfortingly.

"He'll be fine – just don't jump on him until he's better." He teased. The girl coloured, and Tristan could only admire her acting skills. She was terrifyingly deceptive. Dagonet then looked at Tristan with a hard, unwavering gaze. "And you," he said in a tone of unmitigated authority. "Are to take it easy – no strenuous activities or stress on your wounds."

Tristan nodded, but didn't say anything. It was what Dagonet always said and sometimes he paid attention to it. But right then, all Tristan wanted to do was sleep – and it wasn't yet lunchtime.

"Well I have other things to do." Dagonet said, addressing the room at large. "Don't hesitate to fetch me if Tristan needs anything." He nodded to the other knights, and left.

Gawain sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as Kahedin stood up, gearing himself up for a confrontation. But the long-haired knight intercepted him as he made to walk over to Tristan again, and dragged him to the door. "Don't worry," he said over his shoulder. "We're just going to fetch everyone lunch and bring it back."

Tristan didn't feel like this was exactly mercy, but could concede that Gawain had bought them a bit more time.

The girl put the medicine on the small table and sighed, turning back to him with a weary expression. "Kahedin suspects me, in case you hadn't worked that out already. Are you going to tell him? Because if not, then he's likely to start tearing my clothes off in an effort to learn the truth."

Tristan grimaced at the idea, but realised she had a point. If Kahedin knew, and then allayed their deception, it would certainly put everyone else off the scent – after all, if it seemed that the two scouts didn't suspect anything, then the rest of the fort had no reason to say a word.

He voiced this idea to Kation, who shrugged. "I don't care," she sighed, walking over to the window and looking out of it. "I just want to avoid being raped to death."

"Unlikely. Why don't you sleep? Between us, Gawain and I will explain things to Kahedin."

The girl shook her head, stubbornly stifling a yawn. "I don't trust either of them." She mumbled, blinking hard to wake herself up.

"You should learn to, rascal. They're good men."

"I'm not a rascal." She huffed. "I'm your slave, who didn't get a lot of sleep last night. When am I getting my own bed?"

"As soon as you deserve one." Tristan replied promptly.

"Whatever." She grunted, and began to pace around the room again. "How long are they going to be?"

"Not much longer." Tristan replied. "But if you are tired, then sleep. I will watch over you."

"Will you wake me when they come back?" she asked, moving back to the bed again – she looked more than a little apprehensive.

"I think they will make enough noise to wake the dead, much less you."

"Will you wake me?" she repeated stubbornly.

Tristan felt slightly pleased by her grudging sign of trust and nodded.

The girl seemed to relax slightly, and sank onto the bed next to Tristan's legs and curled into a ball with another yawn. Tristan noticed that her hair would benefit from a comb and silently resolved to buy her one. It could be a peace offering of sorts; with this in mind, he spontaneously reached over and ruffled her hair. She ducked away, scowling, and Tristan smiled slightly as the room descended into a companionable silence for the first time ever.