A/N: Well, ideas for stories have been plaguing me lately, so I finally caved and started typing them! This is one of two new fics for King Arthur.
BETA work done by my wonderful friend, Miss princesspomegranate, who is a fantastic writer and always very supportive. I strongly recommend you go check out her stories, if you haven't done so already. (:
Thank you so much for dropping in, I hope you enjoy this first chapter and let me know what you thought, good or bad (:
. : Last Generation : .
. : Chapter 1: The Idea : .
It was an agreement that swore lives to those who didn't deserve them. It was slavery in the worst form. It turned innocents into killers, into blooded warriors long before their times. It destroyed those lives; sacrificed them to the torments of war.
It had been going on for generations. Boys were taken from their mothers' arms, thrust into their service. All because their fathers had been strong enough to survive their own service and had returned home. They were taken by men too cowardly to fight their own battles, too weak and pathetic to handle themselves in battle. An empire so great it had to enslave others to maintain it.
Our people are the best warriors, there is no doubt. But I often resent that fact.
The Romans come to our lands near every fourteen years, just as the last men's services is about to end. They take the newest sons, train them over that last year, and then send them to their posts to replace the old knights. Then the process repeats itself.
Knights. It is almost a laughable term. There is no honour in being a Knight for the Roman Empire. True, they do not have to wash floors, mend clothing, tend to crops or their masters like other slaves. Their lives are so much worse, to kill the enemy in cold blood. To have it stained on their hands, to watch their brothers-in-arms die before they can return to their mothers and families.
I was young when the idea first formed. Very young. It was just after my Mother had given birth to their third child, when my father collapsed in our family tent, his face in his hands. I knew what it meant.
Another girl.
With no sons to give to the Romans when they came, the punishment was dire. The heartless bastards would kill the elders. Or take the older men once again. My father was too old for battle now, let alone when the time came again for collection.
There were two Knights who had returned to our village, two out of an original five. One had been blessed with sons; our father, though, was not as lucky. We heard stories of other villages with no sons to give. It was quickly learned, no matter how cruel it sounds, that it was better to have a son to give, then none at all.
My older sister rose from her place next to me and went to our father's side, laying a hand on his shoulder. Caelan was nine summers old, four my senior. She was level headed and grown up, as most offspring of knights were. We grew up much faster than other children, male or not.
"It will be alright, father." she said softly, offering him a mug of mead.
One scared hand reached out and accepted the mug, and the other covered the small, smooth one on his shoulder. Silently thankful.
It did not matter that his brother-in-arms, Darian, had sons. The village would still suffer if he did not. Father knew this.
"My daughters." he sighed, patting Caelan's hand affectionately. "If only it were that simple. The Romans will come again in six summers. There is no hope for us now."
"Father…surely they will understand…it is not your fault!" my sister tried, hopelessly.
"Caelan." Father frowned, silencing her. "You know the Romans will not understand."
"There has to be a way." she insisted, too stubborn to realise the truth of it all.
"There is none. You have no brother." He replied, the finality in his voice strong enough to make us both cringe.
The flap to our tent was pushed aside and a head popped in.
I squealed happily, leaping to my feet and stumbling across the floor to tackle the visitor.
"Uncle Darian!"
The man laughed, picking me up by the back of my dress and prying me from his leg.
"Malise, mischief embodied. How can something so small be so troublesome?" he asked, pretending to think about it for a moment. "Ah, I know. Your Faolan's blood, aren't you? Trouble like your father!"
"Darian." Father said. "Now is not the time for your games."
The grin slowly faded from my Uncle's face and he lowered me to the ground. The scar that ran from the top of his forehead to the bottom on his left jaw line puckered as he frowned. "A girl?"
Father nodded wordlessly, dropping his face back into his hands.
Caelan squeezed his shoulder. "I must go to Mama. Don't let Mali stay up much longer."
She slipped out past Uncle Darian and disappeared into the blackness, we fell into silence.
I looked between the men in confusion. My five year old mind not quite able to comprehend what was wrong. "Papa?"
He looked at me. His dark, almost-black eyes reached my similar ones and held them.
"What?" His voice rasped, as if the words pained him.
Darian fully entered the tent, the flap falling closed behind him, and he strode over to father, sitting down next to him.
I tottered over to them, falling on my backside between their legs with a huff. "What's our sister's name?"
He was quiet for a moment, his hand rising to the top of my head and began stroking the black curls, absentminded. "Fallon. Her name is Fallon."
"Is she pretty?"
"Yes."
"As pretty as Mama?"
He looked down at my innocent, curious face and smiled. He lifted me into his lap and clasped Darian's shoulder.
"Yes, as pretty as your Mama. She looks just like her."
"When can I see her?"
"In the morning, Malise, when you're Mama has rested."
I nodded.
"Filthy Roman bastards." Uncle Darian hissed under his breath, only to be met with a dirty look from Papa.
"Watch your tongue around my daughter, brother."
The chastising had little effect on the slightly younger man.
"Surely there has been enough of our blood spilled to satisfy them! Enough lives lost to the cause not our own!"
"Darian, enough!" Papa growled. "You know as well as I that Romans will never change. It is easier to go with them, then against them. We know this best of all."
My Uncle, usually ridiculously cheerful, clenched his fists until they were white. "It is still not right. My sons…"
Papa levelled him with steady eyes. "You think I am not happy that I don't have one? I am. But it is what they will do to us…" he trailed off, glancing at down at me. "You know this."
Uncle Darian sighed heavily, relaxing his equally scared hands into his lap.
"I can only be thankful that Keal will not be old enough-this time. Ana would never handle loosing both of them at once."
Keal was his youngest child, at one year old. Darian had three others, two girls Kaley and Kyla, seven year old twins, and a ten year old son, Dagonet. They often spoke of Dagonet leaving, and wondering when Keal's time would come. Ana, my aunt, refused to hear the idea. Anyone who dared utter it would often be met with flying pottery. She would not give both of her boys to the Romans.
I chewed my lip as Papa nodded and the silence resumed.
"Papa?"
He sighed, a smile pulling at his mouth and Darian chuckled. The air lightened, if only for a moment.
"Yes?"
"Why are you sad?"
The amusement faded quickly and my father's worn face took on a more worried look.
"Because, you don't have a brother, like we'd hoped."
At the time, I didn't really understand what that meant, for us and for our people. I knew my parents wanted a boy, yes. I knew that the sons of knights were taken away on an 'adventure' when they were old enough. I knew that Dagonet would be the next to go and that I was supposed to have a brother to go with him.
No one had really explained to me yet what that adventure entailed. After all, who filled a five year old's head with bloody tales of battle and death?
At the time, I didn't really understand the problem, especially when there seemed like such a simple solution. Then, I was so innocent and naïve.
"I'll go with Dagonet."
A/N: Soooo…? Thoughts? Suggestions? This idea has been around for a while, but recently I've been putting everything that pops into my head on paper, so we'll see how it goes (:
Thanks muchly for looking in, I hope you enjoyed it!
Please please review! Lots of love and cookies to everyone who does…:P :D
~Meg xx