[Locked to KA Muses] Cleaning Up In Lancelot's Room

[loved_by_two]

Somehow, Guinevere and Lancelot made it to his rooms. She sat him down on his bed and went to close his door, but not before sending for warm water and clean cloths. She leaned heavily against the door for a moment as her mind tried to race through the fog of pain that was threatening to consume her.

A Rider.

They had to send a rider to Arthur and the others. They needed to know what had happened. She and Lancelot...they needed to have him close by, just so they could make sure that he was unharmed. There was no way to know how many ambushes had been set up.

No, Arthur needed to come back so that they could take inventory of what was happening around them. She had to have both of them near her so she could see that they were alive. God, Arthur had to be alive. Please, do not let another ambush have been set up for Arthur.

She swallowed past the taste of blood in her mouth and moved back to Lancelot's side. This fight had taken a lot out of both of them. While part of her spirit had sung the bloodsong of her people once again, the other part of her had known that it was an encounter that niether she, nor Lancelot, were in prime fighting condition to deal with it.

She moved to Lancelot's side and silently began unfastening straps and undoing buckles to help him get out of his armour. As she helped divest him of his armour, she did her best to hide the sight of his back plate from him. It was smeared quite liberally with her blood and she did not want him to see it and become worried about her condition.

"Guinevere."

"In a moment," she said softly, taking off the rest of his armour.

"You're bleeding."

"As are you," she responded gently as she removed his gauntlets and frowned at the arrow wound and at the wounds on his shoulder and his upper arm.

Tears filled her eyes as she took in the hidden wounds he had sustained. She went to the door and opened it to allow the warm water to be brought into Lancelot's room. She had yet to meet her beloved's eyes with her own as she began to cut his shirt away.

After she stared at his chest and stomach for a long moment, she looked into his pain-filled eyes.

"We could have lost you," she whispered in a hoarse voice as she began to clean the blood off of his skin. Her touch was featherlight, but she knew that she was causing him pain, even if he didn't say so.

She kneeled on the floor at his side as her own strength started to give way. She looked him over as she continued to clean him up so Merlin would have an easier time attending to his wounds.

"Merlin will be here soon," she swallowed past the pain. "I will send a rider to Arthur to alert him and to call him back."

She tried not to lift her head because it tore at her throat and the pain from that was blinding. It made her want to just close her eyes and float away. She knew that Lancelot had heard what the Saxon had said on the battlefield. She knew it had caused him a moment of distraction where he was probably wounded again. She knew he had seen the wound at her throat and she couldn't read his eyes right now. If she could keep him focused more on his wounds and not hers, then he wouldn't be able to find out about any of the ones she was hiding from him.

She could do this. She could maintain self-control until her father got here. Then, she could slip away while all attention was on her beloved and deal with her own wounds and pain.

"Soon, love," she promised. "Soon."

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Lancelot tossed his armor aside. Like it had done him any good. These Saxons and their armor piercing arrows. He had something of a vivid scowl on his face but it was eased away by the feel of Guinevere's hand on his arm.

He was a very stubborn man, obstinate and completely pig headed when he thought he was right. A lot of people had seen this side of him and whilst he had tried to keep it out of his relations with Guinevere and Arthur, it had a habit of creeping in like right now.

Lancelot was also angry for allowing himself to be ambushed and for bringing the others into that fight. If he had been more alert, there wouldn't have been a battle and neither Galahad nor Guinevere would be hurt. Most people thought Lancelot was without care but he simply portrayed that front whilst thinking deeply on most matters.

His hand was wiped across the material of his pants and blood was soon smeared across it. He glanced to the door and silently wondered how fast that rider was moving and if Arthur was safe. He was supposed to be Arthur's right hand man and yet he hadn't been at his side for what seemed like months. Anything could have happened to him.

He simply sat and hunched over as he resigned himself to this position. Words had evaded him. He was eloquent when he needed or wanted to be but he had no words now and words could only do more damage so he remained silent.

[loved_by_two]

Guinevere didn't need to hear the words to know what Lancelot was thinking. The three of them could read each other as well as her people could read tracks in the forest.

She moved back to where he sat and placed a hand under his chin and made him look at her.

"It wasn't your fault. I was already following you, anyway, love. There would have been no way for me to avoid the fight. I am the one who sent for help and brought Galahad into it." She shook her head and smiled faintly.

"Arthur is well. We would know if he was harmed and I sent a fast rider to bring him home."

[artorius-rex.livejournal.com]

Arthur practically threw himself off the horse, thrusting the reins into Jols' hands before making his way to Lancelot's quarters, brushing past people without really taking in what they were saying to him.

He was lucky he'd been on his way home anyway, having heard from the local villages that they'd seen suspicious looking men who looked like they didn't belong in the country around - and he was lucky Guinevere had picked a fast rider.

The rider had said they'd live - but knowing Guinevere and Lancelot, that didn't really mean much.

Let them be alright.

He stopped, hand on the door handle, and hesitated for a few moments before turning it and opening the door, eyes widening as he took in the sight of the blood.

"Oh god," he breathed, more a force of habit than it having an meaning behind it anymore. "What happened?"

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At the familiar voice, Lancelot's head jerked to the side and his eyes widened very briefly as Arthur stood in the doorway. It had been so long since he had seen him last, he found himself wondering if he was actually there or some kind of figment.

" Saxons." He answered easily as Arthur asked what happened." They ambushed me and there was a battle. Most are dead but we brought the leader back with us so we could ask questions and get answers." His reply was to the point, almost as if he were on a battlefield and he was relaying information to his commanding officer which in a way he was.

A smirk found Lancelot's lips as his head tipped to one side-- to gesture towards Guinevere." She's being stubborn." Guinevere could fool many people but she would not fool Lancelot and Arthur. Lancelot only hoped that she would do for Arthur what she would not do for him. Take care of her wounds.

Lancelot inhaled a ragged breath and ignored the fact he was unable to fill his lungs and he was short of breath.

[loved_by_two]

Guinevere's eyes flashed slightly when she saw that Arthur was there and he was safe. She fought back the relief that probably would make her fall to her knees, her energy was just about gone.

She avoided his eyes, therefore doing her best to hide the throat wound, when all she wanted to do was hug him to them and be relieved that he had met with no harm.

"We didn't know how many more groups might be out there. My people are going to do patrols again. Merlin and the healers are on the way for Lancelot. They opened that wound again."

[artorius-rex.livejournal.com]

Arthur slipped off the armour, dropping it carelessly on the floor, moving inside and shutting the door behind him.

He gestured to Guinevere's dark cloak. "Take that off, Guinevere; let me see your wounds - and please, sit down."

He glanced from the bowl of water to the both of them - and hesitated; even without seeing Guinevere's wounds he knew she was just as badly hurt as Lancelot was.

"How far was Merlin from here when you sent for him?" He asked quietly, pushing down the impending panic at seeing them both so injured, at seeing so much of their blood; he hadn't seen this much blood on them since Badon Hill.

"And I thought I asked you both to stay safe," he murmured, almost to himself before kneeling next to Lancelot. "Guinevere, sit - please."

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Lancelot shrugged his shoulders. He really had no idea how far off Merlin was and his body appeared to have moved past pain into nothing. His body was numb--the first warning sign that something was wrong but it was easily dealt with.

" And I was keeping safe until those bastard Saxons ambushed me." He muttered in a gravelly voice. His lips still managed to slide into that ever cocky grin of his.

He found it harder to focus on both Arthur and Guinevere and simply shut his eyes. The darkness there was welcoming, almost too welcoming and he resisted it. His chest rose and fell awkwardly and a sharp stab of pain hit him each time he did.

" I hope Galahad's taken care of his injuries." Lancelot muttered offhandedly, he wasn't entirely coherent but he was doing his best to remain present.

[loved_by_two]

Guinevere sighed and frowned a little.

"I don't know how far, but we didn't have to send horses to find him, he'll be here, soon." She sat down next to Lancelot and in front of Arthur. "I um..." she moved stiffly. "I can't get the clasp undone, Arthur."

She was still doing her best to hide the throat wound from Arthur because she had seen what the sight of it had done to Lancelot. "Also...the material...it's stuck to the sword wound on my side." She moved her arm a little. "I can't seem to get it to pull away from the blood and the wound..."

She looked from Arthur to Lancelot. "Don't you fade on us, damn it," she said forcefully, drawing a cry of pain as it pulled at her throat. She swallowed the taste of blood.

"Galahad won't even tell Gawain the truth about what he feels. Do you think he's going to go to someone else to take care of his injuries?"

[artorius-rex.livejournal.com]

"He'll find someone," Arthur said, eyes widening at the small cry of pain from Guinevere.

"And Merlin better be here soon." He unsheathed a small knife and slowly began to cut away Guinevere's cloak, seeing but choosing to, for the moment, ignore the wound that has come dangerously close to taking her away from him completely.

"When you're both seen to, you're going to tell me exactly what happened. Lancelot," he snapped, a little forcefully. "Stay with me, dammit."

He bit his lip in concentration, knowing that he would hurt her however gentle he was, but still wanting to try and keep it as little as possible. "Both of you keep talking; let me know you're still with us."

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Lancelot's eyes snapped open at the sudden rise in Arthur's voice and his vision blurred as he attempted to focus." I'm here, I'm here. It'll take more than this to kill me off." His words were slightly slurred and he seemed to notice it and then shook his head in the attempt to clear the fuzz gathering in his mind.

" Twelve Saxons came out of the forest. Muttered some incoherent nonsense about taking revenge..." Lancelot trailed off and waved his only functioning hand in the air." It would seem that there's more of these bastards than we first thought. But I have to wonder how they managed to land and get in so close without us knowing..." His voice trailed off again and eyes blinked a few times as they grew heavy.

He then pulled himself to his feet and took to pacing. He could see the questions forming in both Guinevere and Arthur's eyes and simply answered without being questioned outloud." It'll help to keep me awake."

[loved_by_two]

As gentle as he was being, the cloth coming away from her wounds caused tears to fill Guinevere's eyes. She didn't let them spill down her face, though. She had never cried over her own wounds and she didn't intend to start now.

She clenched her jaw as the material was pulled away from the sword wound along her ribs. She made fists at her sides as the material was pulled free of the arrow wound to the back of her shoulder.

But when the material and her hair started to pull away from her throat, a cry was forced from her and she pitched forward. Dizziness and nausea rose up as she fought to regain her equilibrium. If Lancelot could walk as badly wounded as he was, she could force herself to stay awake.

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists as she fought back tears and the taste of blood. She would not do this. She would not be made to be weak because of a few wounds.

She tried to focus on Lancelot's words, but the pain...

"It bothers me that no one noticed them before now..." Talking was so not helping.

[artorius-rex.livejournal.com]

Arthur winced at her cry - could see the pain in both their eyes, hear it in their voices, see it in their stance.

"Where is Merlin?" They were both losing too much blood - and they were both too badly injured to have just him there with them. Where were those healers.

"I was on my way back because I'd heard rumours - I didn't know that they...." He trailed off, throwing the cloak to the side and biting back the frustrated sigh he wanted to let out at seeing Guinevere's wounds.

He'd been right.

"God, I didn't want to come home to see you two like this; I'd wanted you to stay safe." There's more than one reason as to why I won't take you both with me.