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ARTHUR could not believe his eyes He stared at all of the wo as she scratched out things upon a piece of parch out what sounded very close to assignoes on here?" he asked

Isabel glanced up while most of the women, all those but Gwen, scrambled to their feet

"Oh, sit down already," he said "Isabel, what is this?"

"This is the round table," she said caly Is that not what this table was created for?"

"For, for" Oh, gods, &039;twas a waste of tiy? First you have Mary force braids upon ht? What will you not do, Isabel?"

"Allow any to win in their atteht be oal for this day"

"And you feel it all right to involve the women?"

Isabel looked around the packed table "Any of you who feel unwilling to join in, raise your hands If you are at this table against your will, speak up now You will not be punished, and you are free to go right now"

Not a single hand lifted, not even Gwen&039;s

"I will not allow - "

"You have no choice Guinevere - last I heard, the Queen of Camelot - has decreed that we e almost overruled his admiration "This is war This is a man&039;s battle"

"This is a battle to preserve Camelot," Isabel said "It is up to all of us to join in"

"You are of Dumont You are not of Camelot You have not authority to - "

One by one he watched as every wo Gwen And by the belligerent countenances, he was certainly aware it was not out of respect for their king Truth be told, the allegiances had most assuredly switched to the woive her the authority, Arthur," Gwen said, even as she shook a little "We are joining in, in our oays Every one of us at this table has aour part, whether you agree or not Isabel has plans We are not going to do a single thing to interfere, only to, o back to your plans, and leave us to ours"

And then, to his utter a theh five"

Toowas that this was the very first time Gwen had stood up and counter attention, grown a backbone Then again, when she declared that all of the woht, or aof Lance, not of hi He cared that thefor was he

Second, that the wo him

And worst of all, that Isabel not only joined in this fight to help save his lands, she had ed to form an army of females to follow her into battle for them

He knehen he was out-womaned "Fine," he said "You do as you see fit But, Isabel, if your plans involve bringing any woman into the battlefield - "

"They do not," she said "I voe are doing this in a way that women do best We are smarter and sneakier than ht I swear And if we are successful, no oal?"

"That is the goal But, Isabel? Countess Isabel? A word?" he said, crooking his finger at her

"I&039; to hearkind"

The woht But words ill have Now, please"

"Shall I accoreat, now she had people ready to attack hiainst her His own people He had definitely lost control of this entire castle

"No need, Mary," Isabel said "Not even Excalibur at his side worries er attached to the rest of my body, you may correctly assu"

"VERY funny," Arthur said as he dragged Isabel into his study

"Have Mordred and his men returned yet?"

"They have"

"The h he could not wait to rip those braids from his head And they were not happy about the dresses"