Stood up

[Lady Gillianne Auvray]

Gill leaned back against the stony wall of the Castle with her eyes closed. She was standing just inside the main castle gates overlooking the courtyard, and had been for a while.

Work had finished hours ago. She had had a pretty good first day back since being in the apothecary rooms. Her ribs didn't hurt her anymore, and her cuts and bruises could barely be made out anymore. Gill opened her eyes and let out a small sigh. Where was Henry? He had promised to meet her after her shift today to take her out properly. Their relationship had always been an odd one, but Gill thought that they were finally on the right path. She had only spent a few minutes doing her hair, and checking her reflection in the mirror before she had come out to the courtyard. She couldn't have missed him.

Gill watched the servants still working hurrying across the courtyard with candles; the sun had dropped so low in the sky that the courtyard was in shadow now.
"Are ye' alright miss?" One of the guards manning the gates called over to her. She forced a smile in reply.
"Fine, thank-you, just waiting for a friend." He gave a sympathetic nod of the head, as if to say, "If you say so."

As soon as she'd replied to the guard, Gill realised that Henry wasn't coming. Even though he'd promised. Her first thought was for his safety; fear that something bad had happened to him and prevented him from coming. Gill berated herself for having such thoughts. What was the likelihood of that? More likely he had forgotten, or worse, had changed his mind about her.

Gill waited in the same spot as she mused; the disappointment obvious on her face.

[Lancelot Du Lac]

Sir Lancelot had been riding around the countryside and villages that surrounded the main city o Camelot. I he did decide to stay he thought he should re-familiarize himself with the general area.

It had been a long and hard day o riding, some of it over some fairly rough topography/ He was now glad that he had worn is old brownish-green traveling cloak with a hood. only the hilts of his two longswords were visible above his shoulders, behind his neck. All-in-all, he was quite dusty, and the cloak had kept the dirt and grime away from knight's uniform. Once he got cleaned up he was probably going to head for some ale at the Ram. But first he had to enter through the main gates and head into the main area of Camelot. As he rode in, the sun was setting behind his shoulders, and just ahead in the shadows he saw what looked like a young woman and a contingent of the king's guards.

Lancelot slowed his horse to a reduced walk, and as he approached, heard the guards questioning the girl. The question that the guard asked was one that he had been trained to ask, one of duty more than anything else. Once he had asked the required question, he accepted her answer and began to move on. The knight, though, approached, and would not so easily be put off with the smile that she had used on the guards.

At first, Sir Lancelot thought that she did not recognize his presence, so he walked his horse right up in front of her. "Young lady, it not acceptable or permitted that you wait here alone. You will have to move along yourself or be escorted. Which is it to be?"

[Lady Gillianne Auvray]

Gill faltered as a handsome knight seated on a horse spoke to her directly. As a maid, she should have been used to the nobility of the castle addressing her, but she was quite caught off guard in this instance. The guard who had previously spoken to her returned to his station.

"I'm sorry, sire." she stammered in reply, looking up to where the knight was seated on his steed. She couldn't tell if he was concerned for her safety, or was telling her off for loitering in the courtyard. She lowered the hood of her cloak so she could get a better view of the knight speaking to her, and continued in a more steady voice.

"I work here sire." she explained, sweeping her cloak open to reveal the white apron tied around her dress. "I was to meet a friend after I finished work today, but... it seems he has forgotten me." she gave a little laugh despite herself. "I'll move along, sorry to trouble you." Tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear, Gill dropped into a curtsy.

[Lancelot Du Lac]

"There is nothing or you to apologize or mademoiselle, and there is no reason to call me Sire .... after all, I'm not Prince Arthur ..... I'm Sir Lancelot Du Lac." He thought that it was important that she knew clearly who she was dealing with, and who she was not. "I' am not one of the Prince's knights at present, and am merely concerned with you safety, ma cherie."

He steadied his horse as he listened to her further explanation. So .... she worked at the castle. Then she should be quite aware of the do's and the don'ts at the castle. It should be old news or her. "Hmmmm ..... doesn't seem to be much of a friend then ..... at least not one who pays attention to their responsibilities." He assumed that her friend was a male, and she quickly confirmed it for him.

He had been keeping his horse steady, but now her used his black Arabian stallion to follow her as she moved away. "What exactly do you do in the castle?," he asked. "It was no trouble mademoiselle.... again .... no apologies are necessary .... where would you like to go?," he asked as he brought his horse to a stop, and hopped down, "I don't believe I caught your name, ma cherie." He found her attempt at a curtsy to be mildly amusing, but cute enough to bring some color to his cheeks, but not enough to notice.

[Lady Gillianne Auvray]

Sir Lancelot Du Lac. Gill dimly recalled the name, as if she'd heard it spoken at court, but as Lancelot's face was unfamiliar to her, she guessed he must be a knight only recently returned to the castle. Gill felt a rush of relief as he replied in a tone that was far from angry, and she smiled up at the polite knight who was concerned over her welfare.

She silently agreed with Lancelot's words that Henry was a neglectful friend, and in that moment she decided to push him to the back of her mind. There was no point thinking about him now, and beside, Gill was interested to make an acquaintance with the knight before her.

"I'm a handmaid to several of the noblewomen, and I just run general errands." she replied conversationally, having to consciously check herself from adding "sire" onto the end of her words. She watched coyly as the knight jumped down from his stallion and inquired her name and where she should like to go.

"Oh, I don't mind." Gill replied with a smile. She was just glad for the company and also a little flattered that a knight had noticed and stopped to talk to her; she curled a strand of dark hair around her finger self-consciously and continued, "Perhaps we could take a turn about the castle grounds? It's getting late but it's still warm out. And my name is Gillianne Auvray, just Gill if you like."

[Lancelot Du Lac]

As Lancelot stood there, it was if she was trying to figure something out. He assumed that she was trying to figure out o he was a familiar nobleman or knight from Uther's court that she should know of. He had done his best not to be threatening to her, either in tone of voice or action, and it seemed, after a moment or two that she seemed to realize he wasn't threatening her, and she seemed to relax, ever so slightly, and at least she tried to smile.

He wondered what kind of friend would arrange to meet this girl here, and then just leave her hanging. Although it was unlikely that anything bad would happen to her here, it was unnecessarily dangerous he thought. Even i he was not a knight, Lancelot thought, he would not do such a thing.

"To several of the noblewomen in the castle you say? Would you know of Lady Morgana, or her servant Gwen, or perhaps o Prince Arthur's manservant Merlin? I was once, for a short time, a Knight of Camelot, but most recently served the Earl of Huntingdon in Wessex. I don't stay in one spot or too long. There's always new challenges to ace, and opponents to overcome."

She did not seem to object to his attention too much, and he did desire someone to talk to that he did not feel he had to worry too much about what he said. He thought the way that she played with her hair was quite intriguing. "Yes, that sounds like a brilliant idea. Its been some time since I was able to tour any part of Camelot, especially with such a pretty guide .... Gil ..... and if nobody is around you can just call me Lance. Titles can be such a chore sometimes."

[Lady Gillianne Auvray]

Gill had heard of the nobles as Lancelot listed them. "I've only seen Lady Morgana and Prince Arthur from afar." she replied, remembering serving them both at formal dinners and feasts. "But I see Merlin and Gwen more, they're often in the servants' quarters, if they're not busy serving the nobles"

She blushed as the knight offhandedly complimented her, but hoped it didn't show on her pale cheeks. Gill was too easily flattered. "Lance." she repeated his name with a smile, it felt unfamiliar to address someone of higher ranking in such a casual way, but Gill enjoyed it. It reminded her of an earlier time in her life when her family were of a higher status...

They began to walk out of the courtyard and round the back of the castle to the vast grounds that spread out toward the lake. "So where are you originally from?" Gill asked interestedly, her dark mood had lifted, and her annoyance at being stood up momentarily forgotten about. "Do you have family in Camelot?"

[Lancelot Du Lac]

Lancelot found it easy to talk to this serving girl, just as Gwen had been easy to talk to. However, he just liked to hear her talk. Although he had been a knight for the Earl of Huntingdon, he had found that much of his work was done by himself, and now that he had left his service, and become basically a wandering knight, he rarely had anyone to talk to or to listen to. So he enjoyed the experience while he could. "Yes .... they are good people .... most of the time, but they can be quite distant, especially if you are not of their class. And how are Merlin and ..... Gwen. How are they doing?"

He wasn't sure how she would take the slight compliment, but she seemed little affected by it, he thought. She probably gets compliments from the other servants frequently, he thought to himself. She did, though, seem to like the shortened version of his name, so he smiled.

Finally, they had cleared out of the bustling area of Camelot and had gotten to the areas with much more space. He was always more comfortable when he wasn't hemmed in, both in battle and in regular life. He took a deep breath of the openness and cleanness of the air, and she began to ask him questions again. But these questions just served to bring him back to the harshness of his past. "Me .... oh .... a little village on the northwest edge of the kingdom. My parents were from from France. There was some talk that they were nobles there, but they never talked of it. They were farmers, and they apprenticed me to a carpenter. The village, though, is gone now, as is my family. I'm alone in the world," he said as casually as if he was talking about the weather.

[Lady Gillianne Auvray]

Gill folded her arms around her cloak as they walked further into the grounds. It was getting darker, and the reflection of the castle's lights in the lake looked beautiful.

"They're well I believe." Gwen and Merlin were high up in the servants' pecking order, due to the fact they waited on such revered nobles. She didn't speak to them personally, except in passing, but she had seen them around the castle- and they had looked in good health.

Whilst Lancelot had answered her questions about his origins, his words seemed sad, and Gill half-wished she hadn't asked in the first place. He spoke without emotion, yet to be alone in the world... that had to be hard. "I'm sorry." Gill replied quietly, both apologising for asking, and for Lancelot's situation. She had a family back in her home town, so she couldn't fully understand how lonely his situation must be. "But you mustn't feel like you are completely alone. There are so many people in Camelot... and you are so charming, you must make friends easily." Gill smiled, trying to move the conversation forward in a lighthearted manner.

[Lancelot Du Lac]

It had been a long time since Lance had taken a relaxing walk, almost like a tour, in nature. He generally had not had such a good companion either, he reckoned. The sight of the castle in sunset, and early evening stars making their appearance, was striking as well.

"That's good ..... its been some time since I have seen them. My new responsibilities had taken me far away." Lancelot was still unsure whether it had been a good idea to return. They had moved on with their lives, more than likely, and it was not like the chances of him becoming a Knight of Camelot were that great.

Lancelot really did not get the opportunity to talk to too many people. And when he did have the opportunity, it was not very likely that they would talk about his past, especially since it was not the most happy of subject areas. "No .... no reason for you to be sorry. It's been my life to lead, not yours. Sometimes events are simply beyond your control, and you just have to swim with the current."

She was a good listener, but finally, she stopped listening and offered some advice, at least, sort of. "Oh ..... but I'm not alone. I have my horse, Sher-Fore here, and now I have you. So, I'm not completely alone. Oh ..... Camelot. Yes, plenty of acquaintances, but blessed few friends. You know, charm, if I've got it, will only take you so far. Sometimes fear is even more effective than being merely pleasant," he laughed. "Ah well then, what would you like to talk about then?"