Wings

Chapter 2

The hunt ended the next day. The group had had much more luck and were headed back to Camelot by early afternoon. On the ride back Lancelot was silent but nobody seemed to notice as they laughed and told stories. As it turned out, someone did notice. Merlin slowed his horse and rode beside Lancelot.

"Are you okay? You're awfully quiet today," Merlin asked.
Lancelot gave him a small, forced smile.
"I'm fine, I'm just listening to all the stories Gwaine's been telling. That one with the bears was ridiculous."
Merlin laughed, seemingly believing Lancelot.

He was about to say something else when Arthur's horse spooked and the prince landed on the ground with a loud thud. Merlin jumped down from his own horse and grabbed the reins of both animals while Arthur stood up. Mounting the grey gelding again, the prince gave a small nod and signalled for them to follow him as he nudged his horse forward again. Nobody missed the way he looked away from them, obviously embarrased, but no one said anything. They'd all fallen off before. Merlin sent Lancelot an apologetic look before riding alongside Arthur again to make sure he was alright.

Lancelot let out a soft sigh when everyone went back to talking, before he realised he couldn't hear Gwaine's voice anymore. He risked a glance at the group and saw that Gwaine was looking back at him. The latter slowed his horse down and rode beside Lancelot like Merlin had done just before. Lancelot averted his eyes when Gwaine glanced at him.

"I haven't told anyone, if that's what's bothering you," he said softly, only loud enough for the pair of them to hear.
Lancelot bit his lip and kept his eyes forward.
"I didn't think you had, it's just a bit... different, for someone else to know."
"Well look at it this way, now you don't have to work so hard to keep it secret. Since I already know, I can help," Gwaine suggested.
Lancelot didn't look convinced.
"Hey Gwaine, why don't you stop bothering Lancelot and tell us another of your brilliant stories?" Elyan spoke up when he noticed Gwaine talking to a less than happy Lancelot.

Gwaine didn't want to tell another story, but he couldn't let them know anything was going on and Lancelot seemed on edge as it was, so he forced a grin and began to explain how he'd escaped an attack from a sorceror in his teenage years.

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The knights had the rest of the afternoon to themselves and Lancelot had already disappeared. Gwaine excused himself from a conversation with the others and wandered off in search of his friend.

Almost three hours later, Gwaine was still walking around. He'd searched the whole castle but the winged knight was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was ready to give up and find the other knights, he finally saw Lancelot, walking quickly to his chambers. Gwaine jogged to catch up to the other man and managed to slip into Lancelot's chambers just before the door closed.

"Hi there."
Lancelot jumped and spun around.
"Gwaine!? What are you doing here?"
"I've been looking for you. Speaking of, I searched the whole castle and couldn't find you until just now, where have you been?"
Lancelot paused before replying, "On the roof."
"The roof!?"
"Yes Gwaine, the roof, you know, the thing we're standing under."
"Yes I know what a roof is, but how did you get up there?"

Lancelot hesitated again before gesturing for Gwaine to follow him out of the room. They walked down the hall and into a small room nobody ever used. There was a large spiral staircase inside and by the time they'd reached the top, Gwaine's legs were aching. They were in another dark room. There was dust and cobwebs filling the cramped space. Lancelot lead Gwaine over to another place in the room and pulled on a part of the ceiling that was hanging down just a bit lower than the rest. Once he'd pulled it down he gestured for Gwaine to climb up and followed after. They were both on the castle's roof. The section Lancelot had pulled away easily slid back into place.