"Why do we travel this far north Arthur?"
Arthur looked at his first Knight with a sigh. He knew his actions were confusing to his men. Arthur knew he could have sent them to do this task, but truth be told he'd wanted to escape for a while. Five years had passed since the battle of Badon Hill. He'd almost lost several of his valued knights before and during that battle; his brethren. Arthur had married Guinevere and had loved her dearly. His kingdom had come to be known as Camelot, and his castle had been erected more quickly than anything he could have imagined. Somehow they'd managed to survive and their kingdom was a place of peace and equality. His people were happy.
Other knights now traveled to his lands hoping to take up residence. They wanted to become part of the well known Round Table. Soon the northern people, clans as they called themselves, would be traveling to Camelot to pay homage to the man who'd liberated Briton from the Romans and Saxons alike. There were still sightings of rogue Saxons to the north, and recently there had been rumors of children living in these same forests. The rumors of children were the purpose behind Arthur's trek. He did not think there was truth to them, but they gave him an excuse to keep his mind off of other, more diplomatic issues.
Merlin was pressuring him. Arthur had thought his marriage to Guinevere strong and unbreakable. When she'd started to swell with their child Arthur had known a fierce love immediately. His Guinevere hadn't been strong enough to birth their child; a stillborn boy. As she lay dying she'd broken Arthur's heart. The name she called out for with words of love was not his own, but that of his brother, his best friend, Lancelot. That had been six months past. Now Arthur's thoughts were a confused jumble. Had Lancelot known of this love Guinevere held for him? Had they acted upon those feelings? Was it possible that Arthur wasn't even father to the stillborn child? Yet, Merlin wanted him to wed. Said there must be a Queen to his King.
Arthur and his six knights rode steadily. A faint wind was blowing, and Tristan's head shot up. He signaled for all to stop, and they heard it. So soft they weren't sure if it was real; it was a child's laughter. The men dismounted and headed to the edge of the dense woods. They heard the giggle once more and Bors looked to the others. "Downright spooky." he muttered.
The others could not disagree so instead said nothing. Arthur motioned and the men split up to search. Tristan went to the far left. It had been the direction he'd heard the laughter coming from. To his right he caught a flash of white running between the trees along with more giggling. Tristan relied on his sense of hearing and located the girl standing behind a large tree. She peered at him from large green eyes.
"Were you trying to sneak up on me?" he asked quietly.
The girl shook her head. "No." she spoke in a clear, sweet voice which was heavily accented. "But she was." The girl pointed behind him, and Tristan looked to find a red-haired girl standing behind him. He hadn't heard her approach, and he was more startled by that than by her appearance there. He didn't have a chance to move before the girl slammed her fist into the side of his head. He fell to the ground as blackness took him.
Gawain walked stealthily looking for the child. He thought of calling out for it, but would hate to scare it. Without warning something jumped atop his back and held a strange smelling cloth over his nose and mouth. All he caught a glimpse of before blacking out was red-hair.
Dagonet turned past a tree and saw a dark haired woman's body lying on the ground. He moved to the woman quickly, and saw she was awake. "Are you hurt?" he asked and began to look her over.
"Aye, my inner leg is hurting something fierce." She told him with a heavy accent. In the dim light of the forest Dagonet leaned closer to try to see the wound. The woman moved quickly and her thighs were clamped around his neck. She squeezed and he fought her, but he couldn't get away; he couldn't pry her legs from their viselike hold. Slowly he lost consciousness.
Bors strode through the forest annoyed. He didn't see any sign of children. Bors heard a rustling above him and looked up in time to see a blur moving towards him quickly. It slammed into his chest. He flew backwards onto his ass knocking the wind from his lungs. The figure was gone in seconds. He rolled over to stand up, and it was on top of him again covering his mouth with a stinking rag. The last thought in Bors head was, "I think this is a bloody girl."
Galahad searched the trees for any sign of the laughing child. He could hear her every once in awhile, and heard Bors cry out suddenly. "Bors?" he yelled out and got no response.
He stopped when a slight figure stepped out of the trees. The child was small with dark hair and shining eyes. She smiled at him sweetly. He found himself smiling back and took another step closer to her. "We're playing hide and seek." She told him in her sweet tone.
"Who's we?" Galahad asked.
"Me, and her." The girl pointed behind him. Galahad thinking another child was behind him turned and found a grown woman there. Like Tristan, a fist slammed into the side of his face and he fell into blackness.
Arthur and Lancelot heard strange sounds. "This doesn't feel right Arthur. We should have heard something from the others by now."
"I agree." Arthur kept his voice down. He had a sneaking suspicion they were being watched. "Who watches?" he called out in a strong voice.
Lilting laughter came from the trees, but he couldn't tell from where. A woman's voice with a strong northern accent answered. "We have your men Roman. If you're wanting them unharmed you'll put your weapons down and surrender to us."
"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Lancelot called out.
"Well, now, I've given no word have I?" the same mocking voice called out. "I simply alerted you to the fact that with weapons you have no hope, without weapons, you have some. I will say that we don't make a habit of killing innocent men."
It took several moments but both Arthur and Lancelot removed their weapons setting them on the ground. Four women dropped from the trees surprising the two men. Two with ebony hair, and two redheads who appeared to be twins. They were silent and looked as if they'd been living in the woods for some time; they were filthy. The women bound the men's hands, and lifted their weapons. A last woman dropped to the ground. She was quite lovely from what they could see. Even through the grime the men could tell all of the women were the same kind of lovely with either red or black hair, light eyes, and slender bodies. Their leather tunics and leggings accentuated womanly curves, and long legs. The woman in charge, because it was obvious who was in charge, was tall with wildly flowing black hair, blue eyes, and was obviously very ill. She was pale and her body looked clammy. Dark shadows framed her eyes. In fact they all looked in different stages of illness.
"Come." She instructed in her husky voice. They neared a small campfire where a small girl watched five of his knights as they lay unconscious and tied to trees. The spot had obviously been picked for its location and flat ground. The woman in charge walked over to the fire and took a small water bag from a pack on the ground. She coughed and it was a hacking sound. One of the others wrapped a strange fabric around the woman's shoulders. The fabric was a mix of burgundy and greens.
It seemed they sat there for ages, though it could have only been minutes, before the other men started to come awake. The women just stared at them from empty eyes, and the small girl, the only one who didn't look ill, played to the side with wooden figures. Her childish voice seemed at odds with the occurrences around her.
"Do you realize who you've captured?" Lancelot hissed angrily.
The sick woman stared at him. "We caught a bunch of men." She said coldly. The way she said the word 'men' made it seem obscene.
"Why do you hold us here?" Arthur asked.
"You will soon see." She answered him abruptly.
"Who are you?"
Her eyes narrowed, and then filled with pride. "We are the last of our people. Destroyed by Saxons and traitorous swine. Now we roam without land or hearth to call our own. Soon we head to the new kingdom to pledge fealty to a new king."
Arthur knew they meant him, yet said nothing. They would learn of their error. The bonds on his hands were already loosening under his covert ministrations.
"I do not believe they fit the description Bronwen." One of the red-heads spoke and her voice had the same husky tones, but softer. This woman moved to the leader. "Let me see your side." the younger girl ordered.
The dark haired leader lifted her tunic to reveal a horrible wound along the right side of her rib cage. Arthur drew in a breath in a hiss. Bronwen's dark blue gaze met his as she kept her pain in check. "Aye, they don't. They're too dark. The only one who comes close is that one." She pointed to Gawain. "But I won't turn any Roman loose without first checking." The woman winced as the red head pushed against her wound and it oozed.
Gawain's eyes narrowed. "We aren't Romans."
The small girl looked up from her toys. "She's here."
Another girl stepped into the small clearing. The girl was young, just reaching womanhood, and quite pretty. Curling auburn hair was cut short to above her shoulders, blue eyes and a generous mouth drew attention to her face, and made her relation to Bronwen obvious. She was tall and slender as the others were, and it appeared she was the only one besides the child who wasn't ill yet.
"Caity." Bronwen spoke softly, and walked to the girl.
The girl looked worried. "Bronwen, ye're injured and aren't well, what're ye doing out here hunting?"
"Caity, I'll be fine darlin'. I want you to look at these men." Bronwen led her to Arthur and his knights. "Look and tell me if he's among them."
The girl trembled, and Arthur could tell that just looking at his knights and himself terrified her. She looked at them for only a moment, and then turned back to Bronwen. Arthur held his breath. He'd managed to get his bonds undone, but didn't move. "No Bronwen. He is not among them."
"I'm sorry." Bronwen told the girl, and hung her head in frustration. "I've failed ye again."
The girl, Caity, moved to the older girl and hugged her. "Ye do the best ye can Bronwen. We can't ask for more than that. You're ill. It's time to give up this fight."
"Who do you search for that you would attack strangers so?" Arthur asked quietly and wasn't sure if he'd get an answer.
"Nigh on six months ago we lived farther north." The girl Caity addressed him as one of the other redheads tried to clean Bronwen's wound. "One day I was not with my sisters, I was off thinking I could care for myself." Her mouth twisted bitterly. "A Roman attacked me, left me for dead after using my body." A haunted look reached her eyes. "Bronwen has sworn we would find him."
"What will you do when you find him?" Lancelot asked. He found the thought of rape morally repugnant and found it churned his stomach to know a man forced himself on the lovely young girl in front of them.
"I'll kill him." Bronwen answered. She staggered suddenly and two of the women moved to catch her. "Let them go." She ordered, and sat down heavily. "Send them on their way. If you must fight for your pride then fight me, but if we fight it's to the death. Free them." Before the women could move to do her bidding the men stood having freed themselves. The women drew their myriad of weapons and surrounded Bronwen in a protective stance.
Arthur held up a hand. "We won't harm her. We won't harm any of you. Our man, Dagonet, is a healer of sorts. Let him look your sister over. She looks quite ill."
Another girl who resembled Bronwen closely in size and appearance nodded once and moved away. Dagonet moved to Bronwen and placed a hand on her forehead. "She burns badly Arthur. This wound is quite infected." He listened to her chest for a moment. "She is terribly ill. It's surprising she hasn't passed out yet, and it looks as if most of these women are coming down with this sickness."
"Come with us to Camelot." Arthur offered. "We can care for you all there. Weren't you already heading that way anyway?"
The girl, she appeared to be Bronwen's second, nodded shortly. "We go to kneel before the new king."
"Well then, you'll be happy to know you've found him." Lancelot smirked and nodded to where Arthur was mounting his steed. He enjoyed the nervous look the women shared.
When they reached the knights horses the women whistled and several steeds came into view. The women mounted with Caity riding with a sister, and the small girl riding with a sister. Bronwen sat hunched in her saddle and the group proceeded slowly.
"How did you come about the wound to your side?" Dagonet asked as he rode beside Bronwen.
"A treacherous lowlander sliced me up and left me to die with the Saxons." she sneered.
Bronwen's second spoke. "It was one of the MacGregor's."
"Damn the MacGregors!" One of the redheaded twins snarled.
"Aye, damn their blackened hearts!" the other twin agreed.
Caity sighed and looked at the last girl who appeared only slightly older than she. "Neely, sing us a song."
Neely, a girl with curling black hair, bright green eyes, and a smattering of freckles smiled. "All right Caitlyn dear." She began to sing and her voice was lovely. "Beauty is the land I call home, and the wind upon my face,"
One of the other girls joined in. "Beauty is the love I've known and the children I will raise. Though I'm now far from home, our dreams are still alive."
"And though I'm now far from home our hopes live and thrive." All of the women were singing now, "And one day when I return, when the years have passed me by. The blood will no longer stain the fields or tinge the bright blue sky. Beauty will be the land called home which holds the stories of our lives."
"Beauty will be the land of McCree, the land to which we're tied." Neely finished.
Even going slowly it didn't take them long to reach the castle. Caity gasped, "Why, it's beautiful. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."
Jols and Ganis moved to help the knights and the women accompanying them. With a collective effort they managed to get everyone inside, and the ill women to chambers. Once the women were at rest the men met at the Round Table.
"Will you punish them?" Lancelot spoke more quietly than normal.
Arthur looked at the men who stared back just as intently. "No. I think it seems they've been through enough. Not having a sister I can not imagine this thing that haunts them, but I can not hold their thirst for justice against them. We were not truly injured."
"No, for the most part they are children." Bors said gruffly. "All of them, so young."
"Even the eldest is younger than I am." Galahad added. "Even ill they used skill and cunning."
"They are similar to the Woad people, except cleaner." Gawain chuckled. "Fighters all of them. A group of women took out the men who defeated the Saxon army."