The next morning she woke from a fitful night of nightmares ranging from Hansel's lifeless face staring at her to the man from the tavern with the piercing gaze. Standing stiffly she stretched trying to remove the aches and pains from her body. Although Hansel had been hurt the most she had not escaped unscathed. Dressing as quickly as she could, she turned to find her brother still sleeping, at least it seemed to be more restful then before. Grabbing her still damp cloak she wrapped it around herself and headed out the door, down the stairs and out of the inn. The morning chill along with the slight drizzle immediately assaulted her and did not help with the state of her cloak. Heading across the street to the tavern she pushed through the door and headed in. The place was nearly empty compared to last night. The man from the previous night was seated in the same seat. Her previous bravado from the night before seemed to have vanished and she ducked her head walking to the counter. The woman from last night had been replaced by a younger brunette. Ordering some bread and soup she turned to go and sit down but instead ran straight into a solid chest of muscle. Rebounding she immediately tensed as a set of hands grabbed her forearms to steady her. Shoving the stranger away and hurriedly moving back she immediately felt for her knife that was safely secured to her belt. Looking up into the face of the man she had bumped into she froze. It was a face that she hadn't seen for over 10 years. Although aged she could easy recognise it. It also seemed that he recognised her as well.
"Gretel?" he questioned, standing before him gaping like a fish out of water she had no response. The man before her was the main reason for trying to avoid Hadrian's Wall. Taken from their village 13 years ago, she hadn't seen him since and didn't know if he lived or not. It was two years after he had left that her mother and father had both passed away from an illness and her brother and her had decided it was best to leave before they came back for more Sarmatian boys. Since then they had made a formidable name for themselves as bounty hunters, which the Roman army frowned upon.
"Is that you Gretel?!" he questioned, gathering her wits she responded
"I don't know who you're talking about" she replied coolly. Moving quickly around him to sit at a table to await her meal. It was too much to hope that he wouldn't follow her but he did, sitting down immediately opposite her. He didn't say a word just watched her with a grin on his face, she could see some other men watching them closely, including the man from the previous night. They must have been is fellow Sarmatian knights. He had aged, the man that sat before was no longer the young boy who had been like an older brother to her. His once dark brown hair was now flecked with grey through it, although it didn't detract from his attractiveness it seemed to add a sense of mysteriousness about him. Finally after what felt like an eternity her meal was called as ready. Standing quickly she moved to the counter and could feel him follow her. Grabbing her meal she turned to leave but stopped, she didn't want to ask the woman about medical supplies with him standing there. Though she didn't believe he meant any harm it still showed a weakness that one of them was wounded. However it could not be avoided, she had run out of supplies and needed to resupply. Turning around she faced the young woman before her.
"Is there a place that I can find medical supplies?" she asked
"Are you hurt?" he butted in before the young woman could reply. His gazed scanned her quickly looking concerned. Ignoring him completely she focused her attention on the woman in front of her.
"Well?" she asked irriatably as remained close lipped after a quick shake of his head from the man beside her "are you not going to tell me?"
"Nope" he said, grinning again "at least not until I tell her to, so why don't you talk to me" huffing exasperatedly she turned to face him. She didn't like this, she was rapidly losing control of this situation. It had been years since she had felt like that. She didn't like it.
"Fine" she grumbled "long time, no see Kay"
"You can say that again" Kay replied, he paused look her up and down "you don't look hurt so I'm guessing you are travelling with someone"
"No" she returned "just restocking"
"So you are on your own?" he said, looking shocked
"Yes" came her sharp response "now if you would excuse me I have to go" he let her get as far as the door before he called out, stopping her. By now they had all the inhabitants of the tavern watching them, carefully. She was willing to bet that all the men in here were his fellow knights, and if she wasn't careful her brother would join those ranks. She turned back to face him. He was leaning nonchalantly against the counter watching her.
"If you are on your own why are you in such a hurry? And if I know you, which I do, where you go, Hansel follows" he let that statement hang in the air, watching her tense before continuing "so come now Gretel, where is your baby brother?"
