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Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything from king Arthur except for the DVD and of course, who wouldn't want to own Tristan... anyway.. I'll get on to the chapter now.
Chapter Three: The Village
The next morning Aurora awoke before anyone else and sat up, stiff and tired. She could never get a good night sleep as long as she was on foreign soil. Slowly she moved her shoulder in circular movements; she had forgotten all about it. It hurt, badly, but she would never admit it.
"You should have looked after that last night." She was surprised, but didn't jump, Tristan was sitting beside her, looking out at the sleeping camp.
"Do you ever sleep?" she asked.
"Do you?" He returned.
"Fair enough."
The knights were getting up now and packing up the camp to get moving. It took about fifteen minutes and they were climbing onto their horses backs. Aurora and her father climbed steadily onto their horses as well and Tristan rode off ahead to scout with his father in toe and Aurora was left behind with Arthur and the other knights.
"I had no idea that Tristan had a sister." Galahad tried to make light conversation. Aurora barely acknowledged this comment. She just kept looking straight ahead and alerted to her surroundings.
"How is your shoulder?" Dagonet attempted jovially.
"It is fine." She sighed slightly and decided to try a conversation with these men. They were after all, her brother's companions. "So what are your names?" She asked.
"I'm Galahad." The man with the curly hair and nice smile said. "And this is Bors," he pointed to the man with the chunky build that woke her up when he laughed the night before. "Dagonet" The quiet, bald one. "Gawaine," The man with the long blonde hair. "And of course, Lancelot, you two already had a little bit of a run in," The man who was going to kill her last night. "And last but not least, Arthur." The leader of the group.
She nodded lightly at all of them and asked how long they had been on the road.
"This is only our second day," Lancelot said. "We must go to a town and do damage control. We are Sarmation Knights, this is not what we were meant for!" He started to get worked up. Aurora cut him off with her quiet but demanding voice.
"Be careful what you wish for, we are all going to die someday, but you might bring your death into your own hands."
"Do you have any idea how much like your brother you really are?" Lancelot sulked in an awe-struck voice.
"He's right you know, I believe those were the exact words that Tristan said to him." Said Bors, with a little chuckle that could shake the surrounding trees. Aurora fell into worried thoughts and scratched the dried blood on her face unconsciously. Here and there, she ducked to miss a branch that was there but that she didn't see.
By mid afternoon, Arthur and his troop were in the village now and asking if there was any food for lunch. As they sat down to eat, Tristan sat down on one side of Aurora and her father sat on the other, being overly protective. Their lunch consisted of a bread roll and a goblet of wine each. She raised her hand to take a sip of wine and Gawaine from across the table spoke to her.
"I didn't notice that cloth on your hand, did you hurt that as well?" She looked quickly down at her hand that was indeed wrapped in a dirty piece of material from her tunic. Swift as a sword through flesh, it was hidden inside her tunic and she was careful not to show it again...not just yet.
Arthur finished talking to some woman and was walking up to her as she finished her wine, her brother and father still sitting beside her, father chatting away with Bors about unexpected axe movements. Arthur was carrying a beautiful green bundle and a brown cloak. He handed it to Aurora and she looked back up at him for an explanation.
"Dagonet will clean your wound now and after that there is a stream not to far that way that you can wash up in. These are your clothes." She looked at them and then back up to Arthur, he smiled. "You are a woman. I will not have you dressing in rags. I'm sure that underneath all that dirt and blood, you're a very pretty young woman." He was trying to be nice and treat her as he would anyone else but the truth was that her father was the one he didn't like. The way he made sure he always knew where she was at all times and was angry at her when he found her with them. She stood and went to the caravan that Arthur made sure they took with them incase someone was injured and Dagonet had a basin of water that was heated over a fire and some spare wine from the table. He also had a very blunt, dull-looking needle and some thick thread. She took off her tunic with a little pain and he spared her the indignity by merely ripping the dress and the spot where the wound was. First, he wiped it clean with the warm water.
"This may hurt a bit." He said off handedly. Without any further warning, he poured the red liquid onto the wound. She winced ever so slightly, but remained impassive. Dagonet saw the muscles in her back twinge and tense a little but there was no other sign that it was hurting her.
Brave girl. He thought. What she wasn't expecting after that was for him to take a hot poker to her shoulder.
"I have to do this, the arrow severed something and you will die if I don't close it. I know this will hurt and I'm sorry for it." She tensed again and felt the hot poker enter her skin. Her eyes clouded over and she took a shuddering breath. And then it was over, there was still pain, but the poker was gone. Next, he took the needle and thread and began to stitch the wound together to make sure that it closed. That was painful too, he knew that, but know real signs that she felt it.
A true warrior like her brother.
After that, he draped her tunic over her exposed back and she wondered out to the stream. She didn't know that someone was watching her bathe. Before she got into the stream, she took all her weapons out of their respective places and laid them on the ground, still in her site. First her two swords at her sides, then the dagger hidden in her bosom, six cutlasses from pockets in the bodice of her dress, two daggers at each thigh, one at each ankle, and two cutlasses at her back. Her bow and arrows were still attached to her horse's side and she had another dagger that sat in an ornate holder in her hair when it was clean and not as messy looking. But the man didn't know about that one because she wasn't wearing that now. She undressed and began to wash. The man was about to leave, but then decided to stay and watch her bathing. When her hair was clean, it was only slightly less dark brown. She washed the grime off her hands and face and entire body. But there was no time to relax, she had to get back to the town. She dried off and put on the dress. She supposed it was nice. She had never worn anything so beautiful in her life. It was a vivid emerald green and matched one of her eyes, she guessed that was why Arthur picked it. She pulled the cloak over her shoulders and began to trek back to the village. When she got back, there was a crowd around Arthur and she could hear him practically shouting at them.
"You are free, don't you let them tell you that you're not! But this cannot go on, an innocent Roman boy has died today and he didn't do anything. Yes, the Romans may deserve it for whatever the reason, but it is not your place to go around giving punishment, it is God who decides that! This boy had nothing to do with the sins of the rest of the world, why do this? Why? When you are free all ready to live your lives in piece and harmony?"
He was so frustrated with them that he heaved a great sigh and moved through the crowd toward me. "A boy was killed earlier today. We must stay for the funeral processions tomorrow. It is our duty." We walked toward the little tavern where we had lunch. Dagonet, Galahad, and Gawaine were sitting at the table laughing, obviously with more wine in their veins than blood. Tristan and his father were throwing knives at a table. It was easy to see that Tristan also got his aiming ability from his mother. As Arthur and Aurora walked closer to them, they looked up and stared at her for the first time, able to see her face.
"You're a little more clean shaven then him." Bors jabbed his finger behind him at Tristan and they all burst out laughing. She almost managed a smile but looked over their heads out the other side of the tavern at the Roman soldiers riding up to meet them.
"You may have to stay for this funeral but my father and I don't, are you coming, father?" She brought her hood up over her eyes. Everyone stopped laughing and her father looked behind him at the soldiers. "Right you are, Aurora. We'll be leaving now." They both whistled for their horses which were roaming not too far from the stable across the path.
"I'm afraid I don't understand, we thought you were going to stay with us a little longer." Arthur tried to grasp this.
"Thank you for the dress, and Dagonet, thank you for fixing my shoulder but we have to leave.-" At these words the soldiers charged up as Aurora was about to kick her horse into a gallop.
"You hold it there!" the leader yelled. A horse charged between Aurora and her father and the way out.
"Is there something wrong?" Arthur tried to reason.
"Tell that one to lower her hood!" He barked. Aurora did as she was told and turned her horse to look at the soldier. "These two stole food yesterday! And This one," He pointed to Aurora. "Murdered an innocent man!" All eyes were on her.
"Aurora, is this true?" Arthur asked.
"Yes." She stated without hesitating. "We did steal food yesterday because we were starving and yes, I did kill a man yesterday but he was hardly innocent." She said in that soft voice. "He was going to try and kill my father and I, he said he knew where my brother was and was going to kill him too." She looked straight into Arthur's eyes with her own mismatched ones. He believed her. He helped her. She didn't understand why, but he helped her.
"I am Arthur, future king of all Britain, and I believe that she is innocent, so innocent she shall be since the only word you have is that of a dead man." He stated aggressively and she was surprised. Apparently so were they and they rode off though Aurora knew that her name was not cleared with them the way Arthur thought it would be.
Later that night, Aurora was sitting under a tree in a grove listening to the stream gurgling nearby. Her father entered the little clearing, though he made so much noise that it was hardly a surprise visit.
"Why are you wearing that dress? You don't deserve it. You little wench!" She just looked straight ahead, trying to ignore him and listen to the stream but it was impossible. "How could you drag me into your spat with the guards? You stole the food in the first place! AND, you were the one who killed the man not me! HOW DARE YOU NOT LISTEN TO ME! I'LL TEACH YOU!" He screamed and backhanded her hard across her left cheek. She toppled slightly sideways and he grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her violently. She winced at the pain and a tiny cry of pain escaped her lips.
"What's that! Are you showing your pain? You definitely are not your mother's daughter! I'll have to teach you more self control!" He began punching every inch of her that he could, as hard as he could. An arrow shot through the thick trees and bushes and into her father's head. He slumped over, dead. Tristan entered the clearing and sat down beside his sister. He couldn't believe what he had seen, but he suspected it. He was already damned for killing so many people, but he would sit in the devils thrown himself before he would ever let anyone hurt his little sister. She sat up as straight as she could again and her older brother put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. He whispered quietly in her ear.
"You are everything mom was and more." She buried her face in his tunic and she couldn't stop the hot, stinging tears from falling from her eyes.
After two hours of just sitting there, letting her cry, they got up and began to wander slowly back to the village. They passed the shady crowded tavern and from a shadowed spot jumped a man and hit them on the head, knocking them into unconsciousness. When they woke, their hands were bound and all of their weapons were gone, all except the one in Aurora's hair that she had taken the time to put on earlier. She cut Tristan free and he was on the verge of cutting her free when a trapdoor in the floor opened and Galahad, Gawaine, Bors, Lancelot, and Dagonet were pushed up the stairs, all their hands bound as well. Guards came up with them and lifted Aurora off the floor and dragged her down the stairs, Tristan didn't want to sacrifice the weapon and knew that whatever this was, his sister could handle it, she gave him that look that told him she was strong, and not to worry. The other knights protested and began to push forward but the two other guards pushed back and they fell to the floor, the guards went down the steps in the trap door and latched it shut behind them. They all left the guards room below and they had nothing to do but cut each other free and ask Tristan what was happening. The last question that Tristan was asked was:
"Where's your father, did he escape?" Galahad asked, slightly breathless from the excitement.
"My father is dead." Tristan said it in such a tone that they knew it wasn't a guard that killed him but that Tristan himself killed him.
Aurora was pushed into a room with many furnishings in it, including a bed. The guard left her in there and latched the door shut. Before long, the man who wanted her dead in the first place for killing his brother entered the room: Demos Maronous.
"Now I have you all to myself, and believe me, I will kill you, but I think I have the right to a little fun first." He licked his lips lustfully, looking her up and down. He swooped down on her and pushed her onto the bed, biting her neck and lips until they bled. His hand was running up her leg now and she tried to get herself out from under him. She managed to get beside him and that was good enough for her, she swung her bound hands around his neck and stood quickly, pulling him up with her. She heaved the rope back, could feel it cutting her wrists open but he was gasping for air, that was good. She jerked back as hard as she could and soon, Maronous stopped moving and slumped to the floor. She took a second to straighten out her dress a little and then started kicking him under the bed where he couldn't be seen. Moving to the window, she leaned through it and whistled for her horse. He came galloping and she apologized to him when she pulled two strands of his tail hair out. She slapped his side to make him go and turned back to sit on the bed and make herself look disheveled and scared again. She called for the guard and when he came he looked around the room.
"Where is Maronous?" He asked, his eyebrows crowed together in suspicion.
"He had to leave, a man came to the door and said he had important business for him, he left immediately and told me to call a guard to come and get me." The finish was a scared look up at him and then back to the floor. He moved into the room and grabbed her by the arm, thrusting her into the corridor and back to the little gaol. There were no other guards in the little quarters below the gaol and she made her move to get herself and the knights free. She stopped the guard before he unlatched the trapdoor to release the stairs.
"Wait, wait!" She brushed against him slightly. "These ropes are just so tight, do you think you could cut them off for me?" She backed him toward a chair with a seductive glare. "I mean, it just hurts my hands so much," She paused for effect. "And I'm very good with my hands." She emphasized. He seemed to think about it for a second.
All the knights in the cell upstairs were watching through the cracks in the floorboards, not believing that she would stoop to this to get herself free. The only one who didn't seem worried was Tristan.
"She's got a plan."He whispered softly, almost to himself.
The knight looked down at her short figure in the green dress.
"If I cut you free, will you give me what I want?" He asked. She played with him, knowing what he wanted.
"And what is it that you want?" She asked, a smile playing on her chapped, swollen and bleeding lips.
"You." He said, there was hunger and lust in his voice.
"Of course." She whispered back seductively. He wasted no time in cutting the ropes and she pushed him into one of the three chairs in the room and sat on his lap, kissing him hard.
It was hard for Tristan to watch, but Bors was about to scream at her. Gawaine covered his mouth quickly, seeing what he was about to do.
Aurora didn't stop kissing him. She worked her bandaged hand through his hair and the other hand was taking off his armor, fingers running along his chest, suddenly, she found what she was looking for. The dagger that all Roman shoulders kept inside their armor for emergency use. She grabbed it and thrust it deep into his chest. He gasped slightly in surprise and stopped moving. Bors began to cheer, relieved at her trickery but she put a finger to her lips and found the two strands of long horse hair in her bandage. There was a nail on either post of the small doorway. She wound the horse hairs around one nail and twisted it together across the doorway. She used the other nail to keep the strands level and explained the rest of her plan.
"Bors, you'll sound like a guard, when I say so, yell to the other guards that the prisoners are escaping. Then I want you all to turn and look at the back wall. Don't look until I tell you." She looked at where Bors would have been sitting, she couldn't see through the boards and he tried to argue. She didn't wait for him to and got a firmer grip on the hairs.
"-Now." She said calmly and Bors sighed and began to yell.
"Guards! The prisoners! They're escaping! Help!" He yelled and the sound of two sets of heavy feet from the other room running down the hall were heard. The guards ran straight into the wire, getting them in the neck, hair was sharp enough to slit their throats and they fell to the floor with a meaty thud. Aurora threw the hairs back at the other nail and turned the guards onto their back so that they couldn't see the throats. From upstairs, voices were hear.
"Galahad! You were supposed to turn around! You daft lump!" Lancelot scolded and another weaker voice was heard.
"I suppose you taught her that one Tristan?" asked Galahad. Then, another voice.
"Actually no, I have never seen that one before. She'll have to teach me."
"Galahad!" Aurora sighed exasperatedly. She moved to the latch and slid it back so that the trap door fell open and they all came down.
"Grab a sword, we're getting out of here the same way we came in. Tristan and I don't remember so you'll have to navigate and fight." Aurora started handing out the guards swords.
"What about you?" Asked Galahad, extremely pale.
"I have my dagger, that's good enough for me." She took the dagger from Tristan and started for the door, sliding her hood over her eyes again. The others followed and Bors lead the way, thrashing at anyone who came near. Aurora followed up the rear, silently killing. A buff man came at her and she did an elegant twist around to his back and stabbed him where his gheart would be. Eventually they entered into the night, there being no one left to stop them, they walked back toward their quarters where Arthur seemed asleep and unaware of what happened to his knights. It would stay that way.
