"And..." John paused for effect, "It was not one room...but two complete rooms and this..."

John slowed his steps and as she followed Gwyn noticed that they had begun to step over fallen trees and stones.

"This is another ruin!" Gwyn said, feeling excitement building within, "That bit of stone pile is almost in a straight line. It must have been part of a wall..."

"Aye." John smiled as they squeezed between a large tree and a pile made of stone and ancient timber. "Only these are no fallen trees."

John pointed to a lattice work of logs covered thickly with moss, making it almost undistinguishable from the surrounding overgrowth. Saplings and even a young tree as thick as her waist grew in a cluster where the ground seemed to slope down beneath them.

"Another secret room?" she guessed as it seemed the depression in the ground roughly resembled the size and shape of a room.

"What is left of it." John confirmed. "It will be enough to make a handy place to hide the horses and your little mule. And down under there is a door. It was blocked by rubble but we cleared it out."

"A back door?"

"Aye. You see, the room you found—"

"My mother found."

"The room your mother found was bricked off as she described. We figured maybe they did that when they build the mausoleum."

"But what about the other room you found, and this?"

"There is nothing left to know how large this ancient place was. But I have wandered below ground in more than one castle. This is only three rooms and I think the ancient place they originally belonged to was very grand indeed. Perhaps even as large as the King's palace."

"How ever did you—oh, the bricks?"

"Aye. Thomas went down first to see how best to proceed. He discovered it was rather an easy thing to destroy ancient brick, especially with a sharp dirk to chip away the old mud mortar and sword to lever out the first brick. After that the two of us made short work of clearing the arch."

"And?"

"Come. Let me show you. We shall use our back door. Watch your head..."

As John held back the drooping vines, she dipped her head under to enter a dimly lit area that truly was a surprisingly large corner of a room still intact. Especially given the size of the collapsed area. On the back wall, not far from the collapse was a freshly overturned pile of rock and timber. And a few steps from that was an ancient door with large iron hinges.

Tugging on the handle she stopped, surprised by the weight. Using both hands and leaning her weight, she still could not move it far.

"It is rusted." John said as he moved to open it, also requiring both hands as he leaned back to move it.

"And heavy." Gwyn smiled, glad to see John also had difficulty.

"Yes. And heavy. I will leave it open behind us. There is very little light inside as we had no candles among us and Erec would only guild a small fire."

She stepped into the dark passage, glad for John's company. She was not frightened of the dark, but this dark underground passage in an ancient ruin was a bit...creepy. It appeared to be a hall. To her left there looked to be another arch but it was too dark to see where it went. Gwyn could just make out another door on the other side of the hall and a little to the right.

Further down the hall to the right she could see the dim glow of their small fire making the formerly bricked arch a jagged silhouette with a dark mound which she assumed was the broken brick.

"How big is the room?"

"The original room, the one your mother found, is large enough we would all be able to lie down but it would not be pleasant for very long in such close quarters. I think all the rooms on this level were about the same size. Since we shall have at least two men on guard at all times, the remaining three will sleep rather comfortably in that room." he pointed as he passed the door she had seen.

"We can use all of the hall behind that door for storage. There were steps at the end of the hall, but it is collapsed and obviously goes nowhere."

"Obviously." She smiled as they entered her mother's room.

It was as big as her whole house on the farm. No wonder John said the ancient manse it belonged to was grand—grand indeed that these forgotten storerooms were as large as peasant cottages!

"This will be for you and Erec alone in the sleeping hours. In the waking hours, we can use this room as a living space. It has that window up there to let the light in and the smoke out. And doing so will have the added advantage of keeping Erec abed.

"That sounds sensible. And I appreciate the privacy in the sleeping hours." She blushed, "I have brothers, of course but I have never been in the company of..." she bit her tongue as she caught Erec's knowing look and remembered their night together.

She turned away, watching as Dermot received another bag through the window above and added it to a pile next to him and turning to await the next.

"How are you arranging things?" A wrinkle creased her brow as she looked at the haphazard pile growing in the corner.

Dermot stepped aside as Drew lowered himself into their window and dropped to the floor of their room. His arm was restored to sleeve and he gave her a smile and a nod before crossing to Erec's side.

"We decided," John explained, "that since this was your hiding place that you should be the one in charge of where things went. Erec tells us you ran two houses on the farm and cared for your father and four brothers."

"He did not misinform." Gwyn said with a chuckle. She heard Drew cover a laugh with a cough and smiled as she went on. "I do have a lot of practice at looking after grown men."

Another poorly disguised cough sounded from Drew. She smiled as she turned about slowly, taking in the room and thinking where best to put things.

"Alright." She began as she rolled up her sleeves and reached for a bag on the pile of items. "Here is what we are going to do..."

"Here we go." John mumbled just loud enough.

"Uh oh." Dermot groaned.

Erec only laughed.

---

With their supply of candles being limited to what she had on the farm, they decided to only work so long as there was daylight. Situated as they were underground, and the only window a small, hidden window, daylight did not last much past midday. There were a lot of hours left to sit around the fire.

With such shortened work days, it took her nearly six days to set things to rights as she would like. In the end, she determined it was nothing so grand as a proper home, but at least the men had woven mats to sleep upon instead of the stone floors. And there were blankets and even a few stools to sit upon. She was only able to bring one small chair.

One evening shortly after she declared her job finished, but before the evening meal, Gil gave the little chair to her. But it was the way he did so that brought a blush.

She was sitting in the corner by the candle, using a stack of blankets for a cushion as she worked on her mending. She looked up to catch Gil's eyes upon her. He sat a few paces away upon the chair and gave her a smile. Suddenly he stood and carried the chair over to Erec's cot where he set it down with great flourish.

Curious, she watched as he made an elegant bow and cleared his throat. He gave her a wink and she swallowed.

Dear Lord, what is he up to this time?

"This chair," He began in a voice more fit for king's court than an underground hidey-hole, "shall hereafter be known as the throne and it shall be reserved only for our mistress. For sooth, only she is fit to sit upon a throne so grand as this."

"Sir Knight," She began even as she felt her cheeks burn, "You should not honor me thus. Have you all not bled for the crown and the people of the realm? I have never spilled more than a drop or two of blood, and that is only because I am so terrible with needle, or rather with keeping my fingers away from said needle."

Gwyn held the needle aloft and wiggled her wrist for good measure.

"Nay, milady." Dermot argued. "You are more worthy for this honor than any man among us."

As if he sensed her reluctance, Erec gave her an adoring smile and held out his hand.

"Our friends pay you respect and honor with their gesture." He tipped his head toward the chair when she remained seated. "Come, my love. You do not wish to offend them by refusing?"

"No, of course not." She mumbled as she set aside her mending and got to her feet.

Standing straight and squaring her shoulders, she took small steps as she crossed to the throne and sat primly. With straight spine and hands folded demurely in her lap, she lifted her chin and offered Gil a smile of thanks. He gave a nod and made his way over to the corner. She frowned as she noticed that his limp seemed exaggerated.

"Gil? Your limp seems worse tonight. Does your wound yet trouble you? Come, let me get a look at it."

"Nay, milady." Gil shrugged. "It is...tolerable."

She gave him a knowing look and watched as he lowered himself to take up her former cushions. She did not miss his jaw clenching as he did so, or that he held his breath, releasing it in a sign that was a bit of a groan as he stretched out his legs before him.

"Gil. I can see very plainly that it does pain you." She frowned and stood. "Come, let me look at it."

"Nay milady." Gil gave her a half smile. "Do not trouble yourself."

"Nonsense." She frowned at him, putting a hand on her hip as her frown deepened to a scowl. "I will not be deterred. Even if the wound is healing properly, I may be able to help you with the pain."

"Very well." He looked away but not before she caught the look of worry on his face. "But it can wait until after we have eaten our evening meal, can it not?"

She nodded and waited anxiously through the meal, stealing glances at Gil. She did not wait long when she saw that he had finished. She also knew that he was reluctant, so she stood quietly and began gathering up the dishes into an empty pail.

"Will you not help me with the dishes this eve?" Gwyn asked Gil.

"Nay, he shall not." Dermot replied as he stepped forward and took the pail from her. "I shall do the dishes this eve so that you may take care of Gil's leg. Do not let him put you off further, for I too have noticed that it pains him and it seems to be getting worse."

"Really!"

"Do not bother to deny it Gil. You are foolish to put your pride before your health. You cannot be ignorant of what happens when war wounds are not properly cared for."

Gil gave a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"You are right. I am being foolish." Gil frowned and held up a hand. "Since there is no need to pretend further, give me hand up. It does indeed pain me and it is difficult to rise."

Gwyn took the pail from Dermot as he needed both hands to help Gil to his feet. Once Gil was again on his feet, Dermot took the pail from Gwyn and nodded to them both before he left them.

"Gil?"

Gil gave her a pained smile as he offered his elbow. Gwyn smiled her sweetest smile and took his arm as she leaned in and whispered. "We can save a little of your pride. Lean on me if you wish. We shall retire to the other room and I shall tend your wound in privacy."

He gave her a smile but did not lean upon her as they walked the several dozen steps it took to get to the other room. He looked at the floor where his bedding was laid out and frowned.

"You will, of course, need some time to remove your stockings so that I may get to the wound. I shall go and gather up my herbs and start some water to heat. It will take me some minutes together. Lie down and cover yourself." She smiled at him, "And try not to fall asleep."

She had seen many wounds in her months at Brecken and in the years that she had cared for her brothers. Still, her stomach rolled at the sight she beheld when lifted away the last of his bandage. His right leg bore a long angry cut from mid-thigh to just below his knee.

"I was not treated by Drew on the field. He was busy with Erec. Unfortunately for me, the soldier that stitched me was no healer and the wound has not healed properly. Thankfully, you pestered me, and I have no doubt that you shall heal me at last."

"I shall do my best but...Gil." She set a hand upon his arm. "You...may..."

"I will not. You will heal me."

She smiled.

"Right. Well, to start with I shall make you a sleeping draught."

"Nay."

"Gil, what I must do will be very painful and even if I asked someone to hold you down, your screams..."

He pressed his lips together and nodded. He wrinkled his nose and made a gagging sound as he drank her potion down.

"It is horrid."

"It is." She agreed. "Now lie back. I shall be gentle as possible. Before I...I shall make a small puncture anddrain some of this away before...while we wait for the draught."