"Seeing many a strange thing; on one fair day, they saw a ghost, a ghost of the past; in all her glory."
Chapter one
"THERE STOOD THREE"
Three heavily armored soldiers sat upon three steeds; Steele, Fire, and Death. Side by side they raced up the hillside, heading to Hadrian's Wall. They had been sent there to collect on a debt, and to serve Arthur on his last mission. The three had been dwelt a harsh punishment from their fathers for letting a bet get too far out of hand. Brothers in arms, missing. Never to return home. Sent on a wild goose chase. The three thought to themselves as they came across a carriage and some Roman soldiers, they only paused a moment before heading onward. Though one stayed behind. "Lovely…Fog." The one rider looked back up at the other two, "I'll make it quick." He nodded his head to them as he pulled a long black bow from the side of his saddle; stringing it and placing an arrow on the white strip he smiled remembering. 'You will always hit the center of whatever you are aiming at. And it surely will die.' He smiled under his helmet. "Old man…" He looked up when he heard other horses in the distances, 'More riders? And little blue men. Thought we left those creatures behind us.' He turned his horse and allowed him to walk down the side of the hill. Pulling the arrow back, he found his target and released the arrow. Watching it fly through all the others, hitting its mark, dead in the face of a Blue man. His horse stopped short and watched the chaos unfold before them.
Tristan was the first to realize that they were not alone. A single arrow claimed a man that stood in front of Arthur. He followed it back up the hill from once it came, a rider on a rather large horse. He noticed the detail on the armor, must be royalty. He looked closer killing a few men as he went on, 'Horse hair like Arthurs.' Roman? He was beside himself, who was this man, and why did he kill the wood. Once the fighting stopped he went to his mare, mounted her. "Arthur, we have a guest." He looked up towards the hillside, to find the man had come down and stood before a Romaine solider. 'Figures.'
The bishop revealed himself and smiled at Arthur. He then turned to the man who had approached him. "This here is one of the few that the Pope himself has sent to aid you. Says it is their duty to aid you. The others must have gone ahead." He waved for the man to come closer.
He approached and nodded lowly to Arthur, "I've heard many a things about the Samaritans knights. I hope all are true in some sort of fashion." With a deep voice none would noticed that what the helmet hide, long soft locks of dirty blonde hair, ever so changing bluish green hazel eyes. And soft features of a woman. She inhaled, glad no one asked her to remove her helmet. It must be Arthur alone that sees her and her Sisters. Not this Bishop man, not the man how has cursed her whole family to death.
Arthur nodded back, "Let us make for the wall. Before night falls upon us." He nodded once more before looking into the eyes of the figure before him. He saw something, something breathtaking. A woman hides beneath that helmet. He would not make her show herself among theses men, not yet.
Tristan and the others led the Knight with them. Tristan watched the rider, as did the others. He noticed that he sat straight up in his saddle, most unusual saddle. Covered in furs, thick heavy furs, leather frame of some sort. He inspected it very closely, seeing whether or not it was one piece or not. He was caught off guard when Lancelot approached him.
"If you stare long enough, he might actually kill you as well." Lancelot spoke jokingly to his brother in arms. "Look, we are to be free men soon, and I will have this woman of Gawain's, and you can come by too." He grinned when the silent knight finally spoke "Come we will see theses' knights, see if they are as glorious as me. If they make beautiful child." He grinned when Bors and Dag approached the rider.
Bor didn't realize that they had the new rider among them. "Dag, We …" He paused and looked at the rider. "I wonder why you are here. What brings a man with all this armor all the way out to this damned island anyway?" He paused when Dag smiled. "What are you smiling at?"
The rider turned to him, "Your women. I hear they are worth my wild and more. Maybe I will leave my own here, taking them all into my bed, making even Lancelot's babes, look as fierce as me. Making your women woo over me now."
Bors didn't like the sound of someone else claiming his woman. He wouldn't have it. He growled and pushed his horse onward, hurrying into the gate to meet his woman. "Vanora!"
The rider laughed heartedly and smiled towards the other rider, "Do you have a woman?" His answer was received with a shake of a head. Gawain had joined in, "no. He doesn't. Not much of a talker, women find him scary."
Arthur smiled they had made it. He dismounted and asked Jols to take the three into the stables and he'd be there shortly. He turned and escorted the Bishop and his man into the Keep; asking his knights to join him later.
Once in the stables, the three removed their helmets; revealing a lot of hair in shades of blonde, white and red. All different, all women. All fully capable of killing a man. The Rider of Fire let her long dirty blonde hair flow, before pulling it out of her face. Her eyes were soft when she met Jols. The shock from seeing her she guessed. She smiled looking at her sisters. Aslini, the red head smiled at her. Her short reddish brown hair had become wet from sweating under the helmet, "Is this the Jols?" Her green eyes smiling at the man before Aerith, her sister. She looked back at the other one smiling, "Stuck?"
Westor pulled her helmet off finally, it was a bit small for her head, but it was worth it. She liked her things close to her. Easier for her to move around and be quiet when the time came. She pushed her white hair back just as Aerith had. "Not stuck. Just hot. Aerith I don't understand why we had to wear our battle armor. We are not a threat here." She paused and turned to see and man in the door way. "Grinning like some drunk fool."
Aerith ran to the man, "Arthur, How I have missed my favorite friend." She kissed his cheek many times before turning to the others, "These are my sisters, Asilini, and Westor. We have come because we heard that someone sighed something of ours that is here, that and father has asked us to leave. Being of our age, and not married, nor and children. He is disappointed and thinks that we should come here and find our inner woman." She smiled at him, when he picked her up once more pulling them all into a big hug.
Arthur could not believe his eyes, she had returned. His oldest friend, and closest, besides Lancelot. She was like family to him, his sister. The smell of dried roses brought a memory back from the grave, she had left, leaving dried rose petals over his mother's grave, and something else. She left her heart for him to hold on to. A stone, in which he keeps in his trouser pocket at all times, shaped like a heart. "I have missed you so much. I feared you would never return. And now here you are with Sisters and here to…" He let them go and looked into her eyes. "Help…with what?"
Aerith sighed, "The bishop is not only here to give you and your knights their papers, but one last mission. We are to aid you in any way possible. He will not know we are women, but we must hear the meeting he has planned. We will stay in the shadows till he leaves."
Arthur couldn't believe it. How dare that man come to do that to him and his men? And for what. "Stay in the shadows…Come." He led them into the keep to round table where he placed them in the darkest shadows. He saw Tristan and asked him not to say anything till the Bishop had left. Or told otherwise.
Once all were seated the Bishop entered and wasn't happy about the table before him. He sat himself beside Arthur. Aerith growled lowly to let the Bishop know they we're there as well. He nodded, "Strange, even they refuse to sit at this table. Like something pagan." He turned to Arthur and his knights and spoke about something Aerith had no interest in. Arthur dismissed his knights and the three, before letting the Bishop continued. He was almost as upset with himself for not believing in Aerith when she told him.