Sir Gabriel

by Erin Griffin

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Rating: Strong R

Pairing: You'll figure it out soon enough

Chapter 13

"Ready?" Ketterly called out again. Again there was no reply.

"Sir Rhyse?"

"AYE!" He bellowed.

"Ready?

"Aye." There was another delay as Kettery watched Sir Rhyse to make sure he was alright, then he gave the signal.

"GO!"

"H'yah!"

"C'mon!" Rhyse yelled. Both horses went at top speed, Nix going faster than she'd ever known the horse to go. She was slightly concerned for his safety and didn't want the horse's heart to go out or something equally tragic. Gabby aimed the best she could, partially afraid that she would hit the other knight and that it would harm him even further. As much as she didn't like the man, she didn't want him hurt by her hands. There was a crash of splinters, but she didn't feel herself falling. She'd been knocked backwards, but her feet were firmly in the stirrups and was able to right herself immediately. She found Sir Rhyse on the ground when she had righted herself. Gabby herself jumped off of Nix the best she could in her armor, and went to help Rhyse to his feet. She took off his head piece to see he was bleeding even more freely now.

"You're hurt." she observed, looking him over quickly. "The healer, Barbara will heal your wounds. Let me help you up."

"Leave me." he said, shaking her off. "Get back on your horse, Gabriel. We will finish this joust."

"But your wounds-"

"I'm tough. I can handle it. Now get back on that horse." Gabby frowned.

"Gabriel, is there a problem?" Gabby heard King Bruce ask from his seat.

"No. No problem." she assured him. She got back onto Nix with Thadius' help.

"Don't worry about him, Gabe. He's not very good with losing. Know too many men like that, I'm afraid." he said. "Just worry about the next two, and then it will be over, and win or lose, know I am proud of you for getting this far." It started to rain down on them harder, not unlike the night before. Gabby was lucky the thunder and lightning wasn't there this time. Images of the seer in the midst of her passion suddenly filled her mind for the first time since the joust started. She wanted to get off of Nix and run away from everything.

"Ready?"

"Aye!"

"Ready?" 'No, I'm not ready.' Gabby thought.

"Aye!" she called instead.

"GO!!" The blonde night took in a deep breath.

H'yah!" she heard Sir Rhyse shout.

"HAH!" she yelled a split second later. Nix got off to a late start, and it was Gabby's fault for hesitating so. Gabby's beloved horse didn't get to the speed desired, though she could tell he was trying. She felt Rhyse's lance hit her shield, but the strength of the blow knocked her from her horse and to the ground. She felt as if she couldn't breathe for a minute, and wondered if that was what it felt like to get the 'wind knocked out of you'. Drops fell on her face as she took off her head piece. "No." she whispered.

"Oh come on, Gabe. We can go together, it will be fun!" Thadius was saying as they play fought, wrestling in the garden area of the Manx household.

"A tournament?"

"Why not?" The older man shrugged.

"I'm not even a knight yet, Thadius, that's why not."

"Tomorrow night there will be a ceremony. You'll be knighted tomorrow as the farmers get rewarded for their efforts in the war. You know this as well as I do. You have nothing to lose. Just come with me, we can enter together." Thadius persuaded.

"I dunno...

"Tell you what. If I win this wrestling match here, you come with me. If I lose, you can say no."

"I don't like the sounds of that."

"It is no different than any of your bets, Gabriel."

"But you like to do certain moves that beat me every time."

"Scared?" Thadius said in his menacing voice.

"No-"

"Then what's the matter?"

"Alright, you bully." Gabby tried to get him into a head lock, but Thadius pushed her to the ground and had her in a pin before she knew what was happening. "Somehow that seemed unfair, but you win. I will go to this tournament with you."

"You fought in a war, Gabriel. I don't see why a small tournament like this will intimidate you."

"I dunno. I just feel odd about it is all," she said in a low voice. It was the truth. She'd hear Thadius say once or twice to trust her initial instincts, her first inner reaction to things, and there was something about this tournament that told her to stay away from it.

"Well, you'll get through it, and if I don't whoop you in it, I'm sure you'll be the next best thing."

"You sure you can make it through the draw bridge with that swollen head of yours?" Thadius laughed his thunderous laugh, patting Gabby on the stomach, then helping her up.

"No." She repeated as she let her mind wander to the different points of the to tournament. From the moments with Dinah before the fire as they spoke of their past, the first and second tasks, the robbery, the punishment, the healing in her arm... She knew she would never forget any of it no matter what happened to her, no matter how much she'd wanted to. She felt she couldn't do this. She slowly stood up and watched Nix, who was breathing hard from running so quickly. "No more. I can't. We can't." She turned to address the royal family, whom watched her patiently, as if to wait for her to get onto her horse and break the tie between the two knights, but Gabby didn't want to. "Your Majesties," she called in a shaky voice, bending to one knee before them. "Though Princess Helena Wayne is certainly one to fight for, I would like to ask for your permission to eliminate me." Gabby could hear a couple of gasps in the crowd, and she'd heard murmurs of 'Why?', 'What's going on?' and even 'Coward' around the audience.

"I demand to know why you wish for me to do such a thing, Sir Gabriel Andrew." King Bruce said in his voice filled with authority.

"I am not doing this out of fear or pity." She glanced at Rhyse, whom wiped some blood from his lip, but refused to meet her eye. "The truth is, I am weaker than I believed I was in the very beginning. I have exhausted myself and my horse. He is special to me and I do not want his heart to go out. I guess most of all I am doing this..." Gabby swallowed hard, wondering what she was doing, telling the king what she was about to say. "I guess I am doing this for love... sir. You cannot win the one you love in a joust or a swordfight, I know this now." The younger knight bowed her head down and listened as the winds howled insults to her and as the crowd went silent to hear the king's answer.

"Very well. Sir Rhyse, I now declare you the winner of this tournament, and Sir Gabriel Andrew... the loser." King Bruce said with a little bit of disappointment, though the blonde knight knew he was trying to hide it greatly. "Gabriel, you are dismissed, but please ... stay tonight for the ceremonies." he said. Gabby nodded, knowing she wouldn't. She walked to her beloved horse and took his reigns.

"I'm sorry I used you as an excuse, Nix." she said as she walked to the stables. She put him back in his stall, and pet the horse, afraid to face Thadius. He'd come into the stables anyway, moments later, she predicted. She was right. Gabby didn't say anything to him.

"Are you going to tell me what is wrong?" Gabby said nothing, and couldn't seem to look up from Nix's shoulder which she was overly concentrated on brushing. "I should have seen it. Something was bothering you, Gabe, and I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault in the least, Thadius." Gabby said, looking at the older knight, but not in the eyes.

"Whatever happened must have happened sometime last night." Gabby looked down, thinking of Cameron. "Was it a woman? A man only looks that shattered when it involves a woman." Gabby looked away, feeling herself break down a little bit. "The Seer." Thadius said. Gabby didn't move, didn't breathe, didn't speak. "Gabe, please talk to me. I know I was a bit harsh with you, but had I known... Look, I am proud of you. You fought, and did your best in this tournament, but you let your heart win. In the end, somehow your heart always wins."

"She hates me, Thadius. I lose no matter what." Gabby said, putting the brush down. Thadius had a look of sympathy all over his face that made Gabby feel worse. "Where's Irene?" She asked as a way to get the topic away from her pain.

"She's inside with Alexis and Elizabeth, I s'pose. They left their seats right after you were eliminated." Thadius gently helped Gabby out of her armor. Gabby was still fully clothed underneath, so there was no insecurities. They were both silent, as this task took many minutes. Gabby packed up the armor into her wagon, even though Thadius said there was room in his. This made the younger knight wonder whether or not Dinah would travel back with them; would she raise the baby in the Wayne kingdom somehow, or would she eventually make her way back to the Pennyworth kingdom where she would always have her place inside the castle, known for the rest of her life as just Seer as she raised another special baby for King Alfred to use as a tool? The two knights stood in silence after the armor was taken care of, and Thadius became uncomfortable in the silence, not sure what to say to the younger knight to his left to make him feel any better about life. "Would you uh... Would you like some time to yourself?" he asked finally. Gabby thought this over, then she nodded. "Alright then." Thadius walked out of the stables to his quarters where he was probably going to pack up so that they'd be off tomorrow headed for home.

"I forgot to tell him." she murmured to Nix. "I forgot to tell him about my land. I had been waiting to tell him, and there he was... and I forgot." Gabby laughed, one not of humor, but of sarcasm, a way for her to keep back the unwanted tears. She was finished with crying. She had no tears left, or so she thought. She tried so hard not to cry again, yet the tears came anyway. She cried for her own pain, but not only that, she cried for Carolyn and the baby, praying silently through her sobs that the baby's delivery is safe. She sobbed for her lost love- if she had even the right to call it that.

"Shh, don't cry, Gabriel." Gabby jumped at the soft voice, and looked up, wiping her eyes quickly on her shirt sleeves.

"D-Dinah." she said surprised. She looked to see that she was also crying, though more silently than the knight had been. The seer's eyes connected with Gabby's, then she walked up to her until they were inches apart. Dinah's hair was down, long blonde hair flowing down her shoulders as it had the night before. Her cheeks were red from her own tears, and Gabby couldn't help but think about how heartbreakingly beautiful she was. The younger woman seemed to fall into the knight's arms as she started to sob harder on her shoulder. Gabby didn't know what to say, what to do, so she said nothing as she held the seer in her arms as she'd longed to do all day, yet not quite like this.

"She's gone." Dinah managed to croak through her tears. "She passed on not but an hour or so ago." she said, and Gabby felt a tear slide down her left cheek and onto her shirt.

"I'm so sorry." Gabby whispered. Then she asked, "And what of the baby?"

"She-" The seer stopped in mid-sentence and swallowed.

"Shh... Take your time." Gabby soothed.

"The baby was killing her inside, but it was her own gift that took her life. She tried to kill herself and the baby, convinced near the end that this child was sent by the devil himself, a demon from Hell."

"Oh God." Gabby whispered.

"She set herself ablaze." Dinah said slowly.

"But," Gabby whispered, "I thought Carolyn had the power of fire."

"She did. She manipulated it and moved it about with her hands so that it didn't burn her, yet she wasn't strong enough to keep it from burning her this time, and she knew this. She just didn't want to move the flames this time; the pain was too much for her. She burned to ash... yet..."

"Yet...?" Gabby gently urged the woman she loved to continue as she let her hand gently stroke the seer's hair.

"Yet the baby survived. It was still in the womb, yet still he survived. He looked as if he wasn't even touched by the fire... and he looked as if we'd just set him there after cutting the thread of life on his stomach. After Barbara and I extinguished the flames around him, I tried to pick him up to start cleaning him and start to care for him, but his skin was scorching." Dinah lifted her head and showed Gabby her blistered flesh, which she'd unwrapped from the bandages that the knight had just noticed.

"Oh Dinah..." Another tear fell down Gabby's cheek.

"That is how it looks after Barbara healed me. She said she'll try again tonight after she's rested. The baby boy is with her now." Dinah said. They were silent for a moment. "I wish not to talk about that now." she whispered. Gabby concentrated on the motion of her hand as it continued to stroke Dinah's hair. The knight felt the moisture on her shoulder as tears leaked onto it. It hurt the blonde knight to see this, hear this, but she couldn't trust her voice to say exactly what she'd meant to say. The seer's tears slowed, then stopped completely, yet still Gabby didn't let go or stop her hand's rhythmic motion.

"I meant everything I said to you last night." Gabby finally said in the faintest of whispers, hoping that Dinah knew that she didn't have to raise this boy alone.

"Including the part when you told me that you loved me?" Dinah asked, her question muffled in the knight's shirt. Gabby's heart sped up. She was almost certain that Dinah hadn't heard her the night before. "I remember it, Gabby. I remember it all. What you said, what I did... I remember it, and I am sorry for the horrid way I treated you this morning." There was silence. 'What do I say that won't make things worse?' Gabby asked herself as she held on a little tighter to Dinah. "Did you mean everything? Even... that?" She repeated.

"Especially that." Gabby said truthfully. She listened as the sniffling soon stopped. Dinah looked up at the knight and kissed her twice before putting her head on her shoulder, her nose buried into her neck. Gabby leaned her head so that her cheek was on the seer's upper forehead. After a while, Gabby lifted her head. "Come Dinah. The stables is not the most romantic place to be when resolving a lover's quarrel." She was surprised she'd referred to it that way, but thinking it over briefly, Gabby found that that was exactly what this had turned out to be. Dinah moved away from the embrace, and the knight immediately regretted saying what she had, missing the warmth of the younger woman right away.

"No, I s'pose it isn't." the seer agreed in a soft voice. She took Gabby's hand, and the knight smiled before leading the way towards the castle.

Chapter 14

They didn't care about the rain that fell on their heads, or the looks that people gave them as they walked into the castle, or even the whispers about them. They cared only for the fingers that intertwined together as if they belonged that way; connected, and that is how it shall remain. Behind the closed doors of their quarters, Gabby lit the fresh candle on the table, and watched as the seer wrung out her dress. "I suppose I shall leave the room so that you can dress. I don't want you catching a chill. I will start a fire when I get back inside. I will just be outside the door." She looked quickly at Diable' Blanc, who seemed to be asleep. 'Soon, I promise you.' She thought to the rabbit.

"No please. Stay." Dinah's eyes pleaded with Gabby more than her voice did.

"But the fire-" the knight protested.

"I have had enough of fires for today. Please." Gabby could almost see the painful memories of the flames in Dinah's eyes."

"Of course, my love. How could I have so readily forgotten-"

"None of that is your fault, Gabby." the seer said, placing a cold finger on the knight's lips.

"But you're cold, Dinah. We must get you warm."

"Shh..." the seer shushed. "I'll be alright." she whispered, "I-I just don't want you to leave." she admitted, sounding a little embarrassed to admit that.

"Alright. I won't leave then." she said. "I'll never leave." the knight decided. There was silence between them as Gabby turned her back to the seer as she undressed. She tried not to think of the silky skin behind her as she started to make a fire with the candle before putting it back on the table. She knew what Dinah'd said about fires, but the temperature of Dinah's finger upon her lips concerned her to no end, and she wanted the woman she loved to be warm and safe and healthy. Gabby jumped when she felt a touch on her hips not long after she stood up from the fire. She wasn't expecting it. Slowly she turned towards Dinah, and was shocked to see that the seer was completely nude. Gabby swallowed when she realized how warm her body was getting despite the fact that her clothes were cold and sticking to her.

Without a word, Dinah undressed Gabby, the knight being almost too afraid to move or speak in fear of this being an illusion of the night before out to haunt her. The seer lead her to the bed. "You- You don't have to-" she started to say as Dinah kissed up and down her flesh.

"I want to."

"Your blistered hand-"

"I- I love you, Gabby. I have never felt... this way about anyone." Dinah kissed the knight, one no more intimate than if Gabby were to kiss the princess' hand once more. "You showed me more love... in one night than I have felt in my entire life thus far. You've made me feel something, though forbidden, that I don't ever want to let go of. I don't want to let go of you, Gabby." she finished in a whisper, a small tear falling from her eye and onto Gabby's neck. The knight quickly sat up, desperate to dry Dina's tears.

"Please... Please don't cry, Dinah." the knight said in the same whisper. She swallowed, not sure if she wanted to say this next sentence that lingered on her tongue, yet she felt she had to. "If you do not wish to let go, then please don't let go." 'Just make sure that I am worth holding on to.' Gabby thought to the younger blonde.

"I started to remember last night after we quarrelled this morning. I remembered what you told me last night, what I did... I meant all that too."

"Then that is all I need to know." the blonde knight said. Dinah kissed Gabby, then gently forced her to lay against the pillows. "I want to love you, and you... You awakened my body last night. I wish to do the same."

"Just your touch, your nearness does that to me." Gabby replied. Dinah's kiss became urgent as if the time for talking was through. The way the seer touched Gabby made the knight's skin heat up within seconds. This was new to Gabby, the way she felt with each touch, and what she had said to Dinah was the truth: Just the younger girl's touch was enough to awaken her flesh and arouse the whole body.

"What I know... about intercourse... I saw. In other people's heads, I mean." Gabby wasn't sure what to say to that, and Dinah didn't give her a chance to speak as she kissed her way down the knight's body.

"Do you think it's true, what your father said?" Gabby wondered out loud.

"In case you have forgotten, my father likes to talk a lot, especially when he's drunk. What exactly are you referring to?" Johnny Boy and Gabby were sitting inside eating their midday meals since it was raining outside, and if they were to eat out there, they'd catch a chill. They were about 16 years of age (Gabby being almost 17, and Johnny Boy just turning 16 mere days before at the start of the winter).

"Just this morning when he told us how he met your mum." Gabby said, tearing the crust from her bread and eating it. "Do you think that it is possible to have a 'soul mate' as he'd put it? It seems like another bard's tale."

"Sure," Johnny Boy said, wiping crumbs from his shirt, then looking at his best friend as he continued, "but I reckon in most cases they've already passed you by." There was silence as they both thought this over. It made Gabby wonder if somehow she'd already passed her 'soul mate' in the market, but didn't see her because she was looking at the newest swords being sold while the other girl walked by. Gabby watched Johnny Boy as she ate, and wondered what his soul mate looked like. "Y'know, my mum keeps saying that we should get married, that you an' me are 'soul mates' because of the way we got on from the very beginning." Gabby couldn't help the unladylike chortle that escaped her. "What's so funny, Gabby?" her friend asked, clearly annoyed.

"We can't get married!" she cried through her laughter. "We're best friends. It would be too awkward." she said.

"That's just it, we ARE best friends, and true, it would be awkward, but not as much so as if we were to get married to total strangers. I mean, at least we'd have something to talk about come suppertime." Johnny Boy said, taking a bite of his cheese.

"True, but I know it would ruin the friendship we have." Gabby stated. " 'How was your day today John?' Being married and therefore grown, we'd be known as Gabrielle and John, you know." Gabby said before continuing to make fun of their future conversation. 'My day was great. I jousted and won us a new cow!' 'Oh that's great, dear. My day was also great, I had another babe, took care of our other 14 children, washed down the house and tended to the gardens, and then I made 4 different types of breads for supper.' " Gabby said, laughing without any humor in it. She then made a face that clearly stated that she didn't like the sound of her own words.

"Okay okay. Enough of that." Johnny Boy said, sound a little bit hurt by her sarcasm.

"I'm just saying-"

"Please, Gabby? Can we not go into that again?" Johnny Boy pleaded.

"Fine." They were both silent for a while. "We both know that if 'soul mates' existed, we wouldn't be it for the other. You'd find a n ice Lass somewhere in the market place and fall head over heals for her, and she for you." Johnny Boy nodded in the middle of his bite. Gabby looked down at the Andrews' table, then back up at Johnny Boy. "Okay, let's pretend there is such thing as 'soul mates'."

"Alright." Johnny Boy said in a tone that told her to continue with this hypothetical scenario.

"Suppose you were to meet someone, and you know that your souls are intertwined forever... but your soul mate happens to be another man." Johnny Boy stared at her as if to think she'd gone mad to think to ask such a question. "It's just a question." Gabby stressed, as if to read the boy's mind. "I mean, what if you found no interest in women, but found men to be attractive?"

"I don't know, I suppose I would have to pass him by and marry a masculine woman but never touch her except to make an heir and add to my bloodline. I have heard of people who have done that. They can't marry their own sex or they'd be killed, so that is just the next best thing."

"Why must you be so difficult, it was just a question?" Gabby asked, rolling her eyes.

"It was an odd and unexpected question, even you must admit to that, Gabby. I don't see why you are getting so upset." he said in his defence.

"I'm not getting upset." She said, though they both knew that she really was. She crossed her arms anyway. Gabby wanted to tell Johnny Boy, scream at him 'What if I think my soul mate is a woman?' but she knew what trouble that would cause her. She sighed instead. "I'm sorry."

"S'fine." Johnny Boy said, looking over his friend carefully. "What about you? What would you do if you found that your soul mate was a woman." 'I'd marry her in a heartbeat. I can't tell him that, though. I must lie.' Gabby thought.

"I suppose I'd change my mind and marry you if I wanted a woman." She joked.

"That wasn't nice. Are you saying I am feminine?" he asked.

"Not the brightest would-be squire, are you?" Gabby asked, roughly rubbing Johnny Boy's head. Johnny Boy thought this over briefly.

"HEY!" he protested as Gabby ate the rest of her bread and tried her best not to spit it back out in her laughter.

Gabby ran her fingers smoothly through Dinah's hair, staring into her eyes in wonder. She didn't know how many hours had passed since they'd entered the room, nor did she care, as long as they'd been spent with the seer the way they had been. (Even if those hours were spent just lying there in silence, well, that would have been fine too.) The younger woman hadn't been lying when she said she'd seen things in other people's heads. It made Gabby wonder why she's never bedded anyone before. And the things Dinah had done with an unlit candle... well, it was enough to make the knight blush for at least an hour afterwards, and made her want to find that person Dinah's seen THAT in and thank them until the end of time. At that moment, Gabby lie on her side, leaning over her lover, whom was on her back still, both of them with the blanket just barely covering their waists. Gabby kissed the seer's shoulder, not worried about her exposed upper half. "I could tell you every second until the end of time just how beautiful you are, yet still I would never be able to capture the words to say it properly." she whispered to Dinah. The seer's skin turned pink, and Gabby couldn't help but fall even more in love with her. Faintly, as they had most of the night, they heard some voices outside their door. And again, as they had for most of the night, they went ignored.

"Gabriel! Why weren't you at the celebrations like you said you would- Oh God!" The door was opened without warning, and the voice that both blondes heard was without a doubt that which belonged to Sir Rhyse. Dinah quickly covered up as the door was closed once again as quickly as it had been burst open. Gabby jumped out of bed and reached for her clothes. She somehow knew that Sir Rhyse wouldn't let what he'd just seen go. She dressed as quickly as she could, looking over at Dinah every once in a while with an apologetic look.

"There is nothing I would love more than to spend the rest of my life in bed with you, my love. I will try to get back as soon as I can." Gabby said, but deep inside she had a feeling things weren't going to go very smoothly and that she wouldn't see Dinah after that night. She shook those fears away before she kissed Dinah. (She had a feeling that the seer felt these fears anyway when they touched.) Then she walked out of the warm room and she felt the breeze in the corridors. This made her shiver in an eerie sense of foreshadowing as she turned and tried to find Rhyse.

Chapter 15

Gabby wasn't sure what to expect from Sir Rhyse once she found him, but knew somehow it wasn't going to be all that pleasant. Suddenly, when she was nearing the banquet hall, she was forced against the wall, her head hitting the stone. A wave of pain traveled through her, and she was surprised to see Sir Rhyse in front of her with speed she didn't know a man could possess (except for perhaps Cameron, who had some odd gift in which he'd chosen to use unwisely). "I can't believe I lost a swordfight to a woman, and she had one of her hands broken!" He said, his breath smelling strongly of different types of alcohol. His pride was deeply wounded, and it suited the bigger knight jus t fine to take it out on Gabby.

"That was supposed to be just for fun." Gabby choked out the best she could. Rhyse's arm was firm against her shoulders and on her throat. Sir Rhyse ignored her comment.

"A woman... What are they going to think about me w hen they find out that a woman almost lost me this tournament?" Rhyse held onto the blonde firmer, and air was getting harder to come by. Gabby pushed at him and broke his hold, but he was unbelievably strong and held her shoulders to the wall. "I bet that was why you disqualified yourself. Wasn't it, GABRIEL?" Sir Rhyse hissed. He seemed to think this through. "Yesss..." he hissed. "you knew that you weren't good enough for the princess, so you eliminated yourself and settled for your whore from the Pennyworth kingdom."

"You should be thanking me!" Gabby said suddenly, finally letting out her anger towards this man. As far as Gabby was concerned, people can say as they will about her, but speak ill-mannered about her lover and things got nasty. "Had I not disqualified myself, you would have never won! I would have knocked you off your horse and onto your arse quicker than lightning because I am one of the few who wouldn't help you cheat, which is the only way you would ever win in life, Rhyse." The man before the blonde knight saw red, and he raised his hand to strike her. Gabby felt she didn't care.

"UNHAND HIM, RHYSE!!" It was a familiar bark, and unlike the last time she'd heard it, she was happy it came at this time. The older knight turned and glared at Thadius, whom had roughly pushed Rhyse off of Gabby, allowing her to step away from the wall and next to Thadius. Sir Rhyse glared at Thadius with pure hatred.

"YOU! I suppose you're to blame for raising an improper daughter such as this." he growled at the middle aged knight.

"You've dipped too far into your cups, Rhyse. I suggest you go rest your head before things get nasty." Thadius warned slowly in an even tone, drawing out his last word.

"Not nearly as things will get when I tell King Bruce that you've entered a woman into the tournament." He said in deep disgust. "And worse than that, she was in bed with your seer. How dare you bring such filth into the Wayne kingdom?"

"Gabe here is not a woman. He's just so handsome you probably saw 2 women in bed with him." The oldest knight looked over at Gabby's guilty face and seemed confused by the blonde knight's silence. She looked down at the floor. "Gabriel? Don't tell me that this insignificant ass is saying truths. Tell the knight he's lying so you can get back to bed." Gabby could feel that Thadius was getting impatient, but still she couldn't find the words to say anything to him or the courage to look at him. "Answer me, Boy!" The blonde knight jumped at Thadius' thundering demand.

"What he says is true." Gabby whispered. She felt the oldest man's eyes on her, then he chuckled. Gabby looked up and exchanged a quick but confused look with Sir Rhyse.

"Oh, you're gonna have to try harder than that to mess with my mind, Lad. I give you points for effort, though." Thadius slapped Gabby on the back.

"No jokes, Thadius!" Gabby said firmly. "What he says is true." she repeated. The oldest of the knights seemed to sober up immediately while Sir Rhyse's face became smug. He glanced between the two, watching... waiting.

"Oh, you mean you didn't KNOW?" he asked. "Oh, you ARE in trouble, now aren't you?" He laughed, a cruel and heartless laugh not unlike the man the sound had escaped from. There was more silence as Thadius seemed to think things through, then suddenly a look of recognition and disappointment came over him. Gabby would have taken death over that look a thousand times. She tried her best not to cry, but the tears seemed to fight their way to her eyes. She never let them fall, as the next sound she heard was that of footsteps. All three knights looked up and saw that the royal family plus their guards were walking their way to get to their quarters for the night.

"Sir Gabriel!" King Bruce called, making his way to them. "I did not see you at the ceremonies tonight. As I recall, you weren't there last night either. May I ask why?"

"You've got three guesses why." Rhyse muttered.

"I apologise, Your Majesty. I did so not to seem rude or- or a sore loser." Gabby turned to look pointedly at Sir Rhyse. "After all, I did hand him his victory in his drinking goblet." She turned to the royal family. Then she slightly bowed. "I- I spoke with someone, and I didn't realize so much time had passed, sir." King Bruce seemed to take this as an answer, which was partially the truth.

"I have a question, Your Majesty, if you don't mind me asking." Sir Rhyse spoke up after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"I shall give the answer accordingly, depending on the question in which you ask."

"Yes, of course." Rhyse said. He smirked in Gabby's direction.

"Don't even think about it, Rhyse-" King Bruce put up a hand and silenced Thadius.

"We were just having an argument, Sir Thadius and I, a petty one I assure you, but I was hoping you'd be able to... resolve it once and for all."

"What is it?" King Bruce asked, his eyes shifting between the knights.

"What would you say the consequences are of a woman impersonating a man and becoming a knight?" Rhyse asked, trying hard not to look at Gabby. The youngest of the knights took in a deep breath, which was an act Princess Helena saw and didn't dismiss in her mind.

"Well, uh... She would be stripped of her title." King Bruce said almost instantly.

"I see... And what if she beds another woman?"

"You should know by now that she'd be executed, and her lover burned at the stake, for surely there was some kind of craft involved." Gabby fought the overpowering urge to run to Dinah and... And then what? Warn her? Protect her?

"Interesting...." Sir Rhyse rubbed his chin in thought, though Gabby knew what he was thinking. "And... Would these rules be the same if she'd entered a tournament such as this one but didn't win?"

"If she bedded another woman, yes, she'd still die, and so would her lover. If she hadn't, but had still entered the tournament as a woman, then she would be stripped of her title and sent home." King Bruce was looking rather tired now, and more so annoyed with the dark knight.

"And what if she did win the tournament, and won a princess? What if they had gone to bed together without anyone knowing of her true sex?"

"The princess would die as well, being the lover of that knighted woman."

"Would you do that to your own daughter, sir?"

"My own daughter wouldn't bed a woman." King Bruce responded immediately, almost defensively. Gabby stole a quick glance at the princess, who was watching her shoes very carefully, which made the youngest knight wonder if she would in fact bed another woman if it didn't mean certain death for either person.

"One more question, if you please-"

"Sir Rhyse, if you argue over little matters such as this, then I suggest you find new subject of conversation. Please, my wife and I are tired, and my daughter has been speaking of exhaustion since the 3rd round of the joust. Please make it quick." King Bruce put himself in such a posture that told the dark knight he was serious and that this last question better be worth his time.

"Yes, yes of course. What would you say if all that has happened... in this very castle, and the whole time I was talking about... perhaps... Gabriel, maybe?"

"That is quite an accusation, and an innocent person could be put to death." The exhausted king turned to Gabby, and she felt all the blood in her body run cold. She couldn't look at anyone, knowing what was to come." Is this true Gabriel Andrew?" He knew the answer by the youngest knight's posture, but felt he had to give out a chance. He owed that much for saving the life of his daughter.

"Yes." One syllable, less than one voice, two deaths. King Bruce closed his eyes, then sighed.

"Take her away from me. She dies at dawn."

"NO!" Thadius bellowed, but it went unheard as he was held back by Guy and the guard that stood closest to him, which was the guard that normally protected the king himself. Still, he fought to protect Gabby, but the two guards succeeded in keeping him at bay. King Bruce seemed angry now, knowing that a scandal had happened within his castle walls.

"And get her whore. She dies tonight." The third guard, the one which protected Queen Selina, roughly took Gabby's arms. She didn't fight him. She couldn't... She didn't want to.

"Father please!" Gabby was surprised when Princess Helena spoke up, placing a firm hand on her father's shoulder. "You forget that she's saved my life, woman or not."

"You know the rules of my court." The king waved his daughter off.

"If she hadn't been there, that man Cameron would have slit my throat and left me for dead. If she hadn't been there, I would have died, and when you die, there'd BE no more rules of the court!" Princess Helena said.

"Please, Bruce..." Queen Selina said in her gentle voice that wouldn't have been heard if King Bruce had chosen to respond at that point. "She saved our daughter. It is only one life spared."

"Fine." he said in an equally gentle voice, which seemed obvious that it was reserved only for his wife, "I'll spare your life," he said to Gabby, "and you can watch your lover die. I care not." The guards let go of Thadius as he stopped struggling in their hold. Guy grumbled something in which no one heard, nor asked him to repeat, as the third guard did the same to the youngest knight, releasing her. Thadius' face became neutral. Gabby spoke strongly for the first time in what seemed like many hours.

"No! I'll do anything." She pleaded, "Please Your Majesty, you mustn't harm Dinah. I- I can't let you. You can kill me if you must take a life." The king was impressed with Gabby's offering, and stayed silent as if to consider just going to bed and leaving things be. For a minute or more, she actually believed it was a possibility.

"Your execution's at dawn. Like I said before 'I care not'. My word is final. Good night, gentlemen. Ketterly, walk with Guy to the dungeons, then keep on your guard tonight. I need you to awaken me." With that, the king, his daughter, and his wife walked away, Princess Helena turning to look at Gabby with a look that seemed to say she was sorry, but also that she admired her. Guy did as he was told and grabbed a hold of Gabby's arms and forced her to walk in front of him.

"Gabe!"

"May the Lord have mercy on your soul, 'Gabriel'!" Sir Rhyse called after them. There was a thud, and then Gabby heard Thadius speak as they got further and further away.

"Listen here, you low life sunnova bitch! From now on you better sleep with one eye open, or better, yet not at all, because one of these nights you'll fall into your drunken slumber and never wake up!" the oldest knight growled. More words were exchanged while Gabby walked the dark corridors of the Wayne castle. They stopped in front of the stone steps leading down into a dark dungeon, and Gabby was pushed down them, knowing she hit her head on at least 3 of them. She groaned when Guy picked her up again, practically ripping her arm from it's socket.

"Sorry about that." the guard said in a voice that clearly stated he wasn't. He locked Gabby's right foot in a chain linked to the very back wall, and threw a very thin blanket at her. She threw it in a different corner of the room after taking in it's foul smell and tried not to gag. Ketterly and Guy spoke to each other for many minutes, telling each other their favorite ways of execution. This was a way to scare Gabby, and it was heavily working. She sat down and put her head on her knees as she tried to block out their dialogue.

Chapter 16

"Dad! Show me how to swing at the bad guys again!" A ten year old Johnny Boy ran to his father, whom had not been home from his latest tournament for more than a day.

"You know I am not supposed to be doing that while Gabrielle is watching. Her father will get angry with me."

"I promise not to tell. I don't want Johnny Boy getting the upper hand in Dragonhunt." Gabby pleaded. Johnny Boy's father smiled. He liked Gabby, and often enjoyed showing her how to block certain moves that he'd shown Johnny Boy just days before. It made watching them play interesting. He chuckled.

"I'll tell you kiddies what. If you let me rest for a while, I will show you how to make arrows like me an' my brother used ta' when we was younger. Then I will show you both how to shoot 'em, but only if you promise not to tell your father, Gabby. And Boy, I better not be hearin' 'bout you shooting animals with these, you hear me? It will be your hide."

"Yes father."

It was cold. The floor was damp beneath her, covered in moss, water, and she didn't want to think of what else. No, she didn't want to think of anything. Gabby didn't know why that one thought entered her head. Perhaps she wanted a happy thought to keep her mind from thinking of what was to happen. She'd by now cried every single tear, silently of course so that Guy and Ketterly couldn't hear her and taunt her for them. All that crying had gotten her was a parched mouth and swollen eyes. 'Perhaps where I go tears won't exist... or perhaps I'll be in too much pain to cry. I wonder what Death would be like. Would I rise above my own body just as my head hits the ground? Would I see nothing but blackness and that's the end? Would I actually meet God or the devil himself long enough to ask Him 'Why'? Would I see Dinah again in an afterlife? Would she recognize me then? Would I become a ghost and haunt those I love until the day THEY die? No, I would never do that to them. Not if I claim to love them so. Would Dinah forget about me and move on with her life as she raised Carolyn's son alone? I didn't even get a chance to see him, to welcome him to the world...' she thought, lifting her head long enough to lean it against the wall, which seemed like a hard task, as her head along with the rest of her body seemed to weigh a ton. There were sounds all around her that only the silence could intensify: Guy's occasional cough, a small breeze that whispered Dinah's name all around her, the sound of a rat as it scuttled around somewhere near her, most likely searching of food where Gabby knew there never had been any... She felt she'd go mad in there before dawn.

Gabby tried once again to think of happy thoughts: summertime, Dinah, what the Lance baby must look like, Dinah, Diable' Blanc, whom she'd never kept her promise of freedom to... Dinah, her childhood before becoming a knight... and surely the seer had entered her mind sometime during all that. These thoughts only reminded Gabby of what she'd lost... what she'd lose come dawn. She then noticed that Guy and Kettely were no longer talking. In fact, Ketterly was gone. Guy met her eyes and then got up, walking slowly to the knight, stopping when she started to cower further to the wall, fearful that he'd start to beat her. "It's okay, Gabriel. I am sorry for pushing you down the steps. I had to put on a show for that bastard Ketterly. Real snitch, that man. I didn't think it would hurt you so badly, seeing the hits you took today in the joust. Look, you saved my life as well as the princess' yesterday, and woman or not, I need the chance to pay that back." he said, making Gabby look up at him. "I have told your father to come by tonight. I know what the king says, but he wouldn't hurt me. Anyway, I told Sir Thadius Manx to come here with a plan and to talk to me about it. I know my father wouldn't hurt me for this."

"You-You're a prince? Then what was Helena saying about no more court without me being there to save her... and all that?" Gabby asked, clearly confused.

"That is a long story." Guy muttered, but Gabby would hear just about anything in the silent darkness of the room at that point.

"Doesn't look like I have anywhere else to go at this point, and I suppose a bedtime story will take my mind off of the fact that I will die tomorrow."

"Your death will be quick, as mine is a slow torture." Guy said, then looked down as Gabby frowned in thoughtfulness and confusion. Still Guy didn't explain his cryptic words.

"What?" Gabby finally asked.

"The princess found me when I was a baby. I was on her horse trails left to die." The guard crouched down next to her, then lowered himself to the floor so that he was facing her.

"But, you're nearly twice her age." Gabby said.

"In looks perhaps, but I have only walked the earth for a month's time." Gabby was about to say something when the guard just shushed her. "You want a bedtime story or not?"

"Yeah." The knight was curious to know how such a thing could ever come to pass.

"Then listen to the narrator and don't interrupt." She only nodded. "I wasn't born. I was created. I was a spell gone wrong. A man was fooling with the craft in the middle of the forested parts of the horse trail. He fled in the middle of his spell when he heard horses, thinking no one would ride the trails at that time. I do not know who he was, and I have a feeling he is dead now. I feel it within me. I think I was the result of that. Princess Helena found me, and she took me to the castle. Since the King and the Queen couldn't seem to conceive anymore children and heirs to the throne, they adopted me, yet it was Helena whom I trusted, her being the first voice I heard, the first touch I felt. It was her whom had cared for me. Her and sometimes the Healer. You see, I breathe, I eat, I sleep, just like any other human, but I grow.... I grow much faster than any man. In a matter of days, I will be older than your father, Thadius in looks."

"How can you know to talk, and walk, as infant children have to learn these things?"

"I just knew within me, just as I somehow knew that the man died not long after I was created, the spell being the reason he would have lived had he completed it correctly. I just knew how to walk and talk read and fight... But the more important things about life, how to be a real man, how to love... I learned that from Helena. She loves me like any mother would a child, yet she is, in King Bruce's eyes, my sister." Guy stopped talking, and Gabby thought this through. "You know about these people, the ones whom have magiks within them. Cameron was one of them, and if I was born, I would say that this was my magic."

"I was told these aren't magiks, but a gift within them that God had given them at birth. I just wish those with these gifts used them to help others." 'Like Dinah and the masked women in her dream.'

"Perhaps. You should know that though my life isn't worth saving, I am grateful for the fact that you saved Helena's life. She is my life, you know? I don't know how my last few weeks of life would be without her." he said, as if he was thinking about it and not liking the thoughts in his head. He shuddered violently.

"I was just doing what any knight should. Besides that, Cameron was getting to me with his 'real man' nonsense. Telling me he was to show me who was the bigger man and such... I know what a bigger man should be like. I learned from the best of 'em." Gabby went silent as she thought about Thadius and everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks. "Well, I suppose I should be thankful too. I've always wondered about soul mates and true love and all that in which the bards speak of. I was blessed to have known it before I died. Even if Dinah had never returned my feelings, I will know at least what it feels like to fall from the sky, never to land." Guy remained silent. "I- I'm sorry."

"No worries, Lass. I do know what it is like to love, and though it isn't quite in the way you have, it is still love for and from another, and it was given with all my heart. And I do love Helena and Selina, and even King Bruce when he's not barking orders at me."

"If your souls are intertwined, and if you believe that God gives us second chances at life as I do, then know that perhaps in time you will meet again. Know that you will always protect and care for each other." Gabby said. "I know Dinah and I will meet again... someday. Even if we never become lovers again, which I hope doesn't happen, then I still want to see Dinah again. To be near her in another life, to protect her, though let me tell you, she doesn't need much protection. Something tells me that she will be the one someday protecting me." Gabby said. She realized she was babbling, but also found that Guy didn't seem to mind listening to her. She watched Guy after her stream of consciousness.

"Something tells me she will always be protecting me, too. Helena, I mean."

"If you ever met with Helena again, what do you think you'd tell her if you never got a chance to tell her now?" she asked curiously.

"I'd let her know how happy she's made me in my short life, and that I want the same for her." he said without a beat. Gabby nodded and smiled warmly at the guard.

"I'm sure you will get a chance to tell her." She said. Guy put a hand on her knee in comfort and they sat in silence as they drifted into their own thoughts. While the guard thought of what his short future life would be like, Gabby thought of what her future with Dinah in this life would have been like if Rhyse hadn't found out about her true sex.

"I missed you." Dinah would say as Gabby got off of Nix after going to battle with the rest of King Alfred's army. The boy, still but a tyke, would be in her arms and she couldn't look lovelier with him in her arms. Gabby would kiss her wife, then take her hand as they put the battle behind them and walk into their home set on the land that King Bruce had given her but a year or two ago. She'd attempt to rest after her long journey home, but becomes restless without the presence she'd missed the most while she was away for a month's time. The knight would get up and see the smile upon her lover's lips, and hear the sound of laughter from the child she never hesitated to claim as hers. Her heart would melt as she watched them play together, knowing that the boy would become something great, even if he was only a farmer. The boy would know the ways of being a man from the very best, his grandsire, who would be too stubborn to fall ill at his ripe old age like most men of his age.

"He's growing way too fast."

"That he is, as they always do." Dinah would reply. Gabby would smirk and join them in their play, the baby boy watching the one he'd always know as his sire with wonder as if to ask where he had come from, as he hadn't seen him enter the room in his play...

'Who am I kidding?' Gabby thought as she shook the fantasy away from her as quickly as she could, wiping the tears away. Guy saw her start to cry and didn't seem to know what to do. He had only seen Princess Helena cry once, and that was the night before, after Gabriel had gone after the attack and the punishment for that evil man Cameron. Guy was close to Helena, so it seemed like nothing was more fitting than the comfort that he had provided for the young woman, but he wasn't sure what to do with the knight. She seemed so strong throughout the tournament and the attack of her and the princess, and to see her fall apart like this almost scared the guard. He was concerned for her, but still he didn't move towards her, and wished and prayed for Thadius to come for her. He would know how to comfort her as the guard didn't. Maybe comfort from Sir Thadius Manx will help, as his encouragement and love seemed to help her throughout the tournament. As the tears fell from her face, Guy wondered if someone was really ever worth the tears, but looking back at Gabby, he knew that to Gabriel, this seer really was worth every single tear cried for the rest of her life...

"Hello?" Guy got up immediately and let the voice into the room. Thadius was at Gabby's side in less that 4 strides.

"Hey," he said so softly that it didn't seem right to come from such a man. "I have come to take care of this, and I will, I promise."

"No. Don't make promises you aren't sure you can keep." Gabby said. "You should be taking care of your family-"

"And that is what I am doing."

"No. Take Irene and your daughters and leave."

"DAMN IT GABRIELLE!" he shouted, scaring both Guy and Gabby. She fell in to silence, shocked that Thadius had used her real name. He cursed at himself and his voice softened as he realized the fear in Gabby's eyes. "That is what I am doing. I am not leaving without my daughters. ALL of them." he stressed. "My family... is being torn apart. I have two daughters in my quarters crying, one in a darkened dungeon, and my is wife riding the trails on her own to clear her head. I can't just pack up and leave part of this family behind. Whether you like it or not, you are a Manx, and even if you didn't know this, you always have been, ever since you came to live with us. I will not let you die without putting up one hell of a fight, and I promise you THAT, B- Gabrielle."

"I-I prefer Gabby."

"So Irene said. I just wanted to hear that from you." he said. "Now, if I hadn't signed you up for this tournament, or had at least respected your wishes not to get involved with the princess, you wouldn't be in here, and you would be safe."

"This is not your fault. I left my family in the Gotham kingdom so that I wouldn't hurt them with my desperation to be a knight. I don't want to hurt you." Gabby said, feeling yet another tear fall. Thadius wiped it away and placed a kiss on her forehead, which was the thing she needed. This was the first time someone was treating her more like a lady other than Dinah and though it felt almost foreign to her, it was still just the thing she needed.

"Hush now, Gabby. The only thing that would hurt me is if you gave up while there is still life left in you. You are the best knight I have ever known, you know that. Any woman would have known nothing but love and pride in being your wife. You are better than any man I've ever met, and knight or not, you make me proud, Gabrielle."

"I learned from the best."

"So did I." Thadius said. Gabby was confused by his comment, and Thadius smiled warmly at the younger knight. "They say in ancient scrolls that mentors learn just as much, if not more from their subjects than they teach. I believe each and every word of it. I have learned so much from you, never having a squire to train before. I don't know how, but you have opened my eyes to many things in the years you have been with me, with us. Your presence has changed my existence greatly. How can you tell me to leave something so great behind?" Gabby hugged the older knight.

"Thank you." They were just the words she needed to hear, and most of the worries about 'would anyone truly miss me when I'm gone' left her instantly, knowing that she would be. This also made her feel guilty, but she knew there was nothing she could do, and though Thadius had hopes that he would fight for and somehow win her life, she didn't have as much faith. She felt honored that such a man would fight so for her to live. 'If I could be with Dinah again, that would be living. To be saved and not be with her... well that is just giving me back my existence.'

"Can I get you anything? Do you need me to get anything for you before dawn?" Thadius asked softly.

"Tell Dinah I love her. Tell Alexis that she gets Nix, for I know how much she loves him so... Tell Elizabeth and Irene I said thank you... for everything... and you... Take care of Dinah, alright? She has a little boy to care for now- He's not mine, that is impossible." she said quickly at Thadius' look. "It isn't even hers, actually... Look, she will need all the help she gets, so please, for me?"

"Don't talk like that. You are not going to die tomorrow, and when we get back to the Pennyworth kingdom, you will help her take care of that little boy yourself. I better go now before I get caught. I will see you in a few hours." Thadius said, putting his palm on her left cheek, a couple of fingers going into her hair. "Ugh," he said in disgust. "You're due for another hair cut. Whomever did it last time should be hung."

"It was you who cut my hair, Thadius." Gabby said in a hoarse whisper.

"I take that back then." he said chuckling softly. Gabby smiled. "That is what I like to see. He sure did a number on you, didn't he?" the older knight asked, inspecting her face where there were various scraps and cuts from the tournament and beyond.

"Rhyse didn't hurt me all that bad, considering." She said.

"I wasn't talking about him. You can handle him. I was talking about Guy."

"He didn't mean it."

"I know, but I still got him one for it anyway." he said smiling. "I will see you soon." he whispered, patting the cheek once. He stood up and walked towards the door where Guy held it open for him. He was at her doorway when Gabby spoke up.

"Goodbye Thadius." She said with finality and closure.

"Goodbye Gabby. You will see another sunset. This I promise you." With those words, the middle aged knight was gone.

"Come on, Johnny Boy, it was just a game." the 17 year old said to her life long friend, who was sitting on the ground where he fell from the impact of the girl's final swing.

"Yes, but a girl beat me at this game, and I created it! That is just not fair." he pouted. Gabby looked at Johnny Boy. She knew she should have just let him win, but what kind of knight would he be if everyone just let him win and he didn't earn his victories? Johnny Boy smiled shortly after his pout to show that there was no hard feelings. "Help me up, will ya'?" Gabby did so, and patted his back once he regained his footing. "That was a nice swing. Next time, I am going to be the ultimate knight, and you can be the evil dark warlord." h e said. He handed Gabby the shield they'd made from an old pillow and the stick/sword that was marked as belonging to the dark warlord, and Gabby handed over the wooden sword and the rusted shield that was marked as belonging to the gallant and loved knight. They held them as well as they could, trying to get a good grip on them.

"Ready?" Gabby asked after she fitted the 'armor' the best she could. Johnny Boy already had his ready and was waiting patiently for his friend. He nodded. "Alright, on the count of three alright?"

"Alright." he agreed.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!" Gabby and Johnny Boy both made their own little war cry before running towards each other once more, ready to attack...

Chapter 17

*From this chapter on is the other ending I had just added to the story. I still feel as if there is something missing but for the life of me, I cannot figure it out. If you are seeing something I am not, please please please let me know.*

"Rise and shine. It's time to die." The voice belonged to Guy, and Gabby felt herself swallowing the lump in her throat. The tone in Guy's voice made her wonder if she'd dreamt of his kind words about the princess and about how he came to be. Perhaps he told the story just to humor her, in which case was better for her because it had the desired effect of keeping her mind from thinking about death for a while. Gabby looked up at the guard, whom had Ketterly right next to him. The look on Guy's face clearly showed he was sorry for what he was a bout to say and do. Gabby nodded slightly and gave him the silent message that it was okay. The knight let out a small grunt as she was roughly unchained and lead out of the dungeon. She was pushed roughly from behind by Ketterly once as she was walking stiffly and therefore not fast enough for the king's assistant. The light hit her eyes and she had to shut them against it, as the had started to hurt. She slowly opened them seconds later, not trusting the two men around her to guide her. She looked up to see that the sun was rising, promising what looked to be a bright day. 'It figures that the sun would shine on the day I die.' Gabby thought bitterly. They made their way to the jousting field where she looked up at Cameron's cage. His lifeless body seemed to stare down at her, partially accusing, and if the dead could talk, the knight was sure Cameron would say with his tongue what his cold eyes weren't. She wondered if even as dead as those eyes were, if they'd still watch her die. She shuddered.

She heard the chanting and the booing before she saw the audience. And there was quite an audience there to watch her die, and she wondered if they were all like this. Gabby had only seen one execution and that was when she was five or six, quite too young to remember the details, but it made her afraid of fire for 3 years at last afterwards. When Johnny Boy invited her to camp in the woods with him and his sister Beth, she started to feel more comfortable with fire as she sat and stared at the flames.

There were many different chants being shouted at her, one of the loudest being 'Sinner' 'Witch' and 'Filthy'. They had moved out an old tree stump and knelt her before it. Gabby could smell the blood of those who died before her. She was forced to look up at the king above her as she watched the executioner (who was Ketterly with a wooden mask on and hidden under a large cloak) sharpen his blade on his stone wheel. King Bruce waved his hand in a short motion and the people of the crowd went silent. Gabby looked around with her eyes, but didn't see any of her family. Part of her felt lonely since she would die seeing unfriendly faces, and the other part of her was glad because she didn't want someone's last memory of her to be her head rolling across the dirt. "Gabrielle Manx, you have been accused of impersonating a knight and bewitching the Pennyworth kingdom's seer."

"KILL HER!!"

"SHE'S VILE!!"

"SILENCE!!!!" Ketterly called to the crowd, and they did as they were told. Ketterly nodded to the king, who continued.

"I am grateful for the fact that you have saved my daughter, the princess Helena Wayne of the Wayne kingdom and you have been offered your freedom," There was the sound of a baby crying, a pierce to Gabby's ears, yet not harmful. She wondered briefly what type of child could make such a sound. "However," the king continued, but Gabby was distracted by the pitch of the babe's cries (now turned to screaming), which seemed to increase as each second passed, "you made the choice to sacrifice yourself for your lover, and so your sentence is death. I pray God forgives you for your sins." Gabby waited. Suddenly that screaming turned into an indescribable... note, causing everyone including the king and the rest of the royal family to cover their ears. Gabby looked about to see Dinah just barely hidden in a cloak she that knew belonged to Irene, for she was wearing that very cloak the day before when they spoke on the horse trails. She was holding onto the boy, and didn't seem affected by his scream. She seemed to focus on something, and though she was looking in her direction, Dinah wasn't looking at her.

The axe that Ketterly had in his hands seemed to leap from the ground and into the audience where the princess and Sir Rhyse sat side by side holding hands. The blade landed quite forcefully on the wooden seat between the dark knight's legs, nearly castrating him. The older knight paled and looked as if he would faint. It was then that the screams started up again.

"SHE CURSED IT!"

"SHE'LL KILL US ALL IF WE DON' T KILL HER FIRST!" Gabby heard the crying of the baby still, knowing know that it was the cries of Carolyn Lance's son. The woman didn't know what to think of this. She was sure that if the boy was to have any power at all it would be the resistance of fire, but perhaps one can have two of these magic? The cries once more became higher in pitch. Gabby wondered why no one caught on that this baby was causing the chaos of the jousting field, but she was too busy trying to look for them again, Dinah and the baby. They both seemed to have vanished, yet the cries were still there as if the babe and Dinah never moved. Gabby felt a firm grip around her waist and suddenly found herself on the back of a horse. The horse was running faster than she's ever gone on a horse before and the person behind her was screaming for the horse to go faster still.

Thadius stopped the horse after many minutes of running, and there was a thump on the ground. Gabby was helped from the horse by her rescuer. Thadius had taken small balls of cloth from his ears, which was probably why he wasn't affected by the baby's high pitched screams. Suddenly, Gabby was pulled into a huge hug by the bear of a man next to her. "You're alive!" The man's shoulders shook, and Gabby realized that he was sobbing. "Thank God you're alive!" She looked up the heavens and closed her eyes, thanking God for her life, promising that she will do all in her power to live it this time and not to waste this chance she's been given. Many more minutes later the man pulled away looking more than a little embarrassed. They said nothing as they both let their blood settle within them, and minutes later Carrah was seen galloping to them, Dinah holding the reigns expertly with one hand, and a slightly disturbed, but not frightened or upset baby in the other. She hopped off as if she's ridden the horse all of her life and grabbed Gabby's shirt front, bringing her towards the seer's lips.

"Don't ever do that to me again, or I will kill you myself." Dinah said before claiming the other woman's lips. When they broke apart, Thadius turned red with his embarrassment.

"Yeah, what she said... without that last... bit." Gabby laughed at the knight and nodded.

They rode hard and by dusk that night, they reached the Manx household, only to see a sight that made All three riders' blood run like ice in their veins. Horses surrounded Thadius' man made land barrier with riders waving the colors of both the Wayne kingdom and the Pennyworth kingdom. They would have easily been out run if they chose to turn and escape. The reached the end of the line.

"Gabrielle Manx, Thadius Manx and Dinah Redmond, you are to dismount your horse immediately." King Alfred's assistant, Wade Brixton demanded. Gabby slid off of Thadius' horse slowly and was grabbed roughly by the arms by two Wayne guards. She heard Thadius growl at the men to leave him alone, and that he wanted to know where is wife and children were. Gabby just barely heard that they were in the Pennyworth castle with King Alfred and King Bruce while they all waited for the fugitives arrival.

"Get in the carriage!" Gabby heard in her ear. She climbed in and the doors shut. Almost immediately, she lurched forward. She saw out the back wind of the cold carriage that Thadius was getting into a carriage with Dinah and the newborn baby.

"I only prolonged my death." Gabby said slowly as the carriage seemed to pick up speed. She thought of her escape and wondered if Things would get any worse than they already have been. The carriage rocked violently with an urgency to get to the castle, and after many moments, it abruptly stopped. Shouting was heard outside as all the other horses' hooves came to a complete stop somewhere behind her carriage.

"Get them inside!" she heard Wade Brixton shout, right before her carriage door opened. She stepped out, and was face to face with the king's assistant. "I promise you, Seer, you are safe within these castle walls. The king always keeps his promise." He said to Dinah with a look that Gabby could not quite interpret. It was a mix of distaste and concern, and odd mix of expressions. Gabby was taken by her left arm and lead inside. The Pennyworth castle isn't much smaller than the Wayne castle, but as some sort of illusion, it seemed so because the decorated tapestries and candles weren't placed about as so. King Alfred found it somehow boastful to have his wealth lying everywhere, and perhaps that was why when on her stroll with Princess Helena, Gabby had seemed a little uncomfortable with her choice of attire. The path taken to the great hall was different this time, though Gabby knew her way around the castle, being a regular guest there after the war. The guard holding on to her arm entered the great hall first and seemed to have the appearance of dragging Gabby after him, possibly to look better for his king.

"Are they all here, Silus?" King Alfred asked him. The king stood up from his seat, where he was drinking a cup of ale with King  Bruce and Guy, and looked at the guard. Silus nodded after her bowed to him. Neither said nothing as King Alfred and King Bruce stared at Gabby. Standing next to King Bruce was Selina, Helena and Barbara. Helena was wiping her eyes, and Barbara stood by her with some cloth for her to use. The princess thanked the Healer, and Barbara smiled warmly and fondly. She seemed worried as well, and tried to hide it for the princess. On the other side of Helena, Sir Rhyse stood, glaring at Gabby as if she had no right to even look in Helena's direction. He held on possessively to the prices' hand and Gabby was almost certain she saw Helena wince.

"Yes, Your Majesty." King Alfred waved him off and he left. Gabby could only bow to the king, and refused to get up until he had told her she could. She knew how deep she was in trouble with both kingdoms and she didn't want to make it worse. She heard shifting and the sound of fabric around her as the rest of her family came into the room.

"You all may go." King Alfred said to the many guards from both Kingdom. There was a silence then everyone left, as if the Wayne Guards weren't sure if they should leave their king with the likes of Gabby and Thadius. There was the sound of shifting before Gabby was given permission to stand. She looked down at her feet though. "Gabrielle, I would like to know what happened," the king said softer than she ever thought she would hear a man speak to her anymore. "Of course, King Bruce, Sir Rhyse and Princess Helena have all told me what they knew of the story, but you, being the one present at all times, know all the rest, so please tell me your side of the story." Gabby bowed quickly and began to speak.

Chapter 18

Gabby's lips moved wildly as she told her king what had happened, why she became a knight, when she met Thadius Manx, and everything that happened throughout the tournament. She hadn't just seduced a woman to get her into bed with her. She was in love with the seer. "You... You didn't want to win the princess then?" The king asked.

"She is a very lovely young lady, but I wasn't looking for anyone to marry. I knew I couldn't." Gabby said truthfully.

"Somewhere along the way, even before that first night we had fallen into bed, I had fallen for Dinah." Gabby whispered. "Everything from then on is true, M'Lord."

"While you were within Bruce's kingdom, he chose the penalty of your actions. Now that you are within my borders, I decide your fate. You do know that you have been accused of kidnapping a child from the Wayne Kingdom. don't you."

"I- I have?" Gabby asked, knowing that the king was talking about the newborn babe wrapped up in Dinah's arms right at that moment.

"I have over looked it, as the mother has given the Wayne Healer written word that Dinah was to care for the child." King Alfred held up two small rolls of parchment and a small bit of paper.

"Much to my displeasure... " King Wayne muttered.

"I understand that you have disobeyed the rules of the court and have even gone against the word of god, but I cannot find it in my heart to harm you or Dinah after what you have done for me. As a king I have been near death many times, and I owe you both your lives in return. But the law then still states that a woman cannot be knighted, so I am given no choice but to strip you of that title." Gabby looked down, but she felt oddly calm with this decision. She knew that if she were to live through this, her life as a knight or woman will never be the same. At that point she was glad that she was going to live through this, as King Alfred had just promised her life. She wasn't sure though that she would get her land that King Bruce had given her, and without that, she wasn't sure what to do. "As a woman, you cannot own any land, Gabrielle." the king seemed to read her mind. "I can give your land to your father, Thadius, but you yourself cannot own it."

"If that is the case, you know that land is as good as yours, Gabby. It only has my name on the deed." Thadius stepped closer to her. King Alfred nodded.

"That will be acceptable. Thadius Manx, as long as you sign the deed and pay the taxes on the land, then you may do what you will with it."

"Thank you sir." Gabby was afraid to ask the next question. She had her land, she had her life... but did she have Dinah?

"Do I live on my lands alone?" King Alfred looked a little saddened.

"I know that you will never marry a man, and that is unfortunate-"

"Why? Why must she marry a man if they weren't hurting anyone with their obvious love for each other?" Princess Helena asked, making everyone look at her.

"Helena!" King Bruce scolded. "You know that is against God's words."

"There is a reason for everything, father. If god didn't want women to love other women, he would not have put that emotion in Gabby's heart."

"What has gotten into you?" Sir Rhyse asked. Helena looked down at their joined hands, and pulled hers out of his. There was a look of what Gabby thought might be satisfaction on Barbara's face when she had done that, and it made her wonder as well what had gotten into the princess. Why was she fighting so hard for her?

"Nothing, Father." the princess said. "But if god didn't want Gabby in love with Dinah, then he wouldn't have allowed her to feel anything for her. Together their love must mean something, even if it is just raising that little boy together."

"I will not listen to another word of this nonsense. I do not want to hear another word from you!"

"Gabrielle is a good woman. She made an excellent man. She fooled you for 7 years, and I am sure she hurt herself more than she hurt anyone else. She deserves the happiness Dinah can give her."

"what is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?" King Bruce asked in a hiss, trying to get his daughter to sit down and be quiet.

"Because I am in love with a woman as well." There was a sudden silence in the room and Gabby looked between Barbara and Helena.  'Of course.' Gabby thought to herself. 'Why else would my sentence hurt her so? "So what are you going to do father?"

"Oh Lord..." Selina moaned as King Bruce stared at his daughter in shock. He looked over at Gabby as if to ask her what ideas has she gotten inside his daughter's head, but no words came from his mouth. Gabby looked down once more. Her life was changing so rapidly in a matter of hours.

"Are you going to try and kill me too, father? Take my lover away and try and kill her too?"

"You know I wouldn't do that to my own daughter."

"Then why do that to her?" No one said anything.

"Who, then?" King Bruce asked.

"I will not say." Princess Helena shifted on her feet and the silence continued.

"Was it the Healer? Is that why you always went to her for help with Guy?" the king asked softly. Barbara's eyes widened some, but she didn't do anything else.

"Yes." Princess Helena said.

"Then you must leave the castle. Both of you. I cannot have this in my kingdom." King Bruce said after the longest silence Gabby had ever been in. She could see that this decision was killing the king inside, and she knew that he couldn't kill his lovely daughter. There was a look of great anger on Sir Rhyse's face. Of course this meant that the engagement was off, since Helena was no longer a princess as of that point, and she was sure that he had lost a great deal, a mother for his son, the throne, a large dowry, and most importantly perhaps... his pride.

"What of your throne?" King Alfred asked King Bruce.

"Guy will produce an heir to the throne, since he is my family." King Bruce said slowly.

"He doesn't have time." Gabby heard Helena say.

"He has a few days." the king rubbed his eyes. Guy seemed uncomfortable and Thadius stared at the guard, him not knowing what was going on between the royal Wayne family. Guy nodded a moment later.

"Yes, I have a few days. More than I need." he said, rolling his eyes.

Helena and Barbara left the great hall intending to go back to the Wayne kingdom to pack their things. They were to vanish in the morning, no one knowing where they were headed, including themselves.  Both women were very glad that they had gotten out of there as quickly as they could, not able to stand the looks and the silence much longer, though Barbara was concerned that their love may not give them what they need to survive. As for Gabby and Dinah, well, their fate was still in Alfred's hands. She knew that no matter what, she had a place to stay, and that Dinah had a place to live and care for the baby, but she wasn't sure of the king would allow them to ever see each other again. He seemed to think very hard on what to do. Then he smiled softly and handed Gabby a piece of paper. "Do you know how to read, Gabby? Has the Manx's ever taught you?"

"Yes, Thadius taught me before he taught me how to swim and fish." The king seemed pleased to hear this.

"And can you write as well?"

"Yes sir." The ex-knight was rewarded with another smile.

"Then I believe I have a proposition for you, and a job as well." Gabby looked briefly into the king's eyes and saw he was almost relieved as if he didn't want to make his other decision had he not come up with this said proposition. "As you know it is a rarity to run into those that can read. Normally, only the monks know how to read and write, though we are coming to an age where we need our nights of the kingdom to know how to read as well. Not all of my knights know how to read, as you may already have seen. I need you to teach them. If you stay in my employ until I feel you are no longer needed, I will keep a blind eye to the goings on in your household. Who you love is your own business. And as this will be a job for you, I will give you enough to provide for your family. Do you agree to these terms?" Gabby couldn't believe the words from her king's mouth. She still gets to be with Dinah, and everything she wanted, a family, a way to care for them, and her own land... it was all coming true for her. 'God must be smiling down on me now. Perhaps he always was, and I didn't know it. I promise to pray more, and I will never curse you again.' she thought to the skies.

"All has been said here that can be said. King Bruce will do what he will with his problems of his castle, but as far as you are concerned... you are all free to go. GUARDS!" There was a swirl of men coming to see what the king wanted of them. They were so loyal to this king, which was understandable to Gabby, as he was a good ruler. "take them back to the Manx household, and guide the guests from the Wayne Kingdome to the most comfortable rooms we have here."

"Yes your Highness."

Gabby and Thadius walked side by side, Gabby glad that he was watching out for her closely, but when they walked to the carriages, he went to check on his daughters and his wife to se if they were treated alright when they were held in the castle. Gabby walked up to Dinah and climbed into the carriage behind her, and looked down at the child and watching him sleep, hoping he isn't disturbed by anything unpleasant.

They reached the house when the sky was slowly beginning to lighten, and Gabby felt her heart swell at the sight of the house. The whole family was exhausted from the last couple of days of worry and tears, and so everyone was asleep within minutes of entering the house and covering up in linens. A couple of times throughout the morning, the baby cried for milk and attention as they tend to do, and Dinah seemed so graceful as she gave the boy the milk from the pouch Thadius had made, the one Gabby had told her about the fateful night their lives changed. Gabby tried to stay awake through this, but her body seemed to need the sleep, and her eyes closed not long after the boy's cries stopped.

Gabby awoke late in the day, nearing the evening, and she saw Dinah sleeping with the baby wrapped in a blanket on the floor beside her. The baby was awake, be he was quiet. This surprised the older blonde. "I think you wore her out." Gabby said softly to the boy, who studied her. She smiled at him when he gave her a look of confusion. She spoke to him some more, telling him about the Manx family and how he will love them. The baby started to fall asleep at the sound of her voice and soon his eyes were closed.

She walked outside where the sun was beginning to set and she watched it, knowing that Thadius had kept his promise and she hadn't believed he would. She should have known ber. She should have believed in him as he always believed in her. It was as if she didn't trust Thadius to be there for her after all the they had been through as a knight and squire. They were in this together, as friends, as family..., and she had no right to think otherwise. As if her thoughts summoned him, and as if he read her every thought like Dinah could, Sir Thadius Manx sat next to her, putting a cloak around her arms. Gabby didn't know when the large man had woken up, or if he had been sleeping, but she was glad she had his company. "I know you'll be out here for a while, and unlike last week before the tournament, the night will get cold. Didn't I tell you that you'd see this sight again?!" he said happily, following her gaze. "I told you, Gabby, and I kept my promise." Gabby nodded, and her guilt returned. "A Manx always keeps their promise." The blonde smiled softly, wiping a tear from her eyes. She was so used to being tough, and never drying a whole lot unless in pain that it seemed embarrassing to cry in front of Thadius.

"The sunset looks so much different, though I know it has never changed... It is so much lovelier than before, more colourful than I've ever seen it." Both Thadius and Gabby knew that after near death one tends to see things in a new light, and that light only seemed to get brighter.

Epilogue

Gabby and Dinah stood the next midday on a large wet field with a small forested area. 'My own land.' The seer held onto the small cage which still housed Diable' Blanc, and the knight was holding the baby boy for the first time. She felt she couldn't let him go. Dinah set down the cage and slowly opened the hatch, swinging open the door and watching as the rabbit just sat there. She nudged him out of the cage and he trotted off a little ways, and the two women watched him. Then Gabby stared down into the boy's eyes. He watched her carefully with his trusting coal colored iris'. If the boy wasn't the one to help save her, and if he wasn't so damned cute, Gabby would have sworn that he was also part demon, but she knew otherwise. Gabby felt a hand on her back and looked up to see that Dinah was leaning over her shoulder to look at him as well. Finally, the seer spoke.

"Carolyn has requested that I give the baby his birth father's last name." Gabby looked at her, trying not to show the disappointment. She was hoping that Dinah'd forgotten about that so that... So what So he'd take her last name? Become a Manx? "Seeing as it was her dying wish, I feel I must oblige to this request." she continued.

"Only thing to do." Dinah moved around so that she could see into her lover's eyes.

"Which is why I have decided to name him Lance Andrew Manx." Gabby's eyes widened. "Thadius and I wouldn't have it any other way." She smiled at the shock still on Gabby's face. In a small way, this boy was named after her, which was what she had wanted deep down since she saw him. " 'Listen here, Seer. If my Gabe survives tomorrow, that boy is a Manx, hear me?' " Dinah said in a gruff voice which was almost an exact impression of the middle aged knight.

"He actually said that?"

"In a much nicer way." Gabby bent her head back and laughed, then looked back into Dinah's eyes, which shone with her own smile.

"I love you." Gabby breathed.

"I love you." Dinah returned, leaning in to kiss the knight. When they broke away, Gabby leaned down to the baby.

"And I love you, Lad." she kissed the baby's forehead, which wasn't scorching skin as Dinah had felt it to be when he was first born. His skin was still much warmer than normal body temperature, but not enough to burn. Something told the knight that this would be the norm for the little boy, but nothing will stop her from loving him any less now that she already decided that she did.

The boy the boy grew to look like Carolyn, and one could tell right away if they knew the young woman, that the boy would grow to take on her dark blonde hair and green eyes. Yet something told her that whatever was inside this boy, the love, the things he'd learn... it would show, and maybe override the physical features so much so that it would be apparent that he took after those that cared for him. He'd have Dinah's touch, Gabby's courage, and Thadius' strength. In Gabby's mind, she will always be there for the boy as his sire, even if she had to let her hair grow out and wear dresses again. She knew she'd miss her life as a knight, but she would never go back and give up what she now has to stay a knight. She knew that no matter what, she would have chosen the same path, as her life is peaceful now. Her days from then on were somewhat routine, and she wasn't sure she liked it at first, but she got used to it, and as she looked at her own small family, she knew that life was perfect.