Disclaimer: I own all characters of the story, as well as the plot apart from the Lux Veritatis and the story behind them.
Birth of a Hero, part II
Edderton, Scotland, October 1474
Akara heard the whole village calling her mad, disapproving of her actions intensely. Some of them even threw rotten fruit to her. She did not care. She just kept on walking, having only one thing on her mind.
Her white dress and gray cloack were blown from the gale of this extraordinary day and the orange afternoon sky's beauty gave her courage.
Akara found the Lux Knights just before they were about to leave. She stood close to them. The knights had noticed the woman's presence but could not even imagine her intentions. They thought she just wanted to watch them depart.
"We may have better luck to our next destination. We need more forces in order to defeat the enemy" the leader stated. The knights agreed.
It took her some time and great strength, but young Akara finally found the courage to speak out.
"Pardon me, noble knights" she said while trying to disguise her hesitation with fake convenience. The knights would not accept her if they realised she was not able to even speak out with bravery.
They looked at her while on their horses, ready to depart.
"I do not mean to disturb you or waste your precious time. Forgive me if I become nothing but annoyance to you but…"
Akara sighed heavily and knelt before the magnificence of this glorious order.
"…I wish to follow you and offer my services in order to help you fulfill you sacred duties, no matter what they are".
There were some moments of silence. Some knights held themselves from laughing. An ordinary man would laugh and make fun of her but the Lux Veritatis, among many other things, were also taught to respect women. The leader of them approached the young woman with his white horse. He looked at her suspiciously, as if she was joking.
Akara remained knelt, wishing him to agree on taking her with them or, if not, be stabbed by their sword, which for her would be the holiest death, if they decided to leave her behind. She couldn't live with the shame of having rejected the only people that cared about her for an elusive dream that would forever remain into the realm of imagination.
The leader finally spoke. "Arise, young woman" he ordered. Akara obeyed at once.
"What are your skills?" he wanted to know.
Akara did not know what to answer. She knew nothing of war and battles, how was she supposed to help them? She hadn't realised she was not her skilled dream-self until that life-defining moment.
"Uh… I can… I could clean your horses whenever you ask me and…" she was interrupted by the now indignant knight.
"I mean fighting skills" his voice hurt Akara like a dagger in the heart.
"I… I cannot fight" she confessed. "But I'm a fast learner. I could be taught how to fight. I could be taught discipline and how to withstand pain. In addition… I'm a woman of great faith. I would never let the Order down. Trust me. I…" Akara couldn't hold a tear from forming a stream on her soft, pale cheek.
"I won't let you down, Sir" she said with a fragile voice.
The leader was sure that the woman was not able to offer much. But he and his people were in a crucial state. The enemy was slaying many of his warriors and right now he had to compromise to every option that was presented before him. He needed warriors. Any kind of warriors. That's why he had reached the shameful point of asking simple farmers to serve the Order's duties. He did not have a choice. He had to gather followers. For the sake of his people.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Akara" she replied with hope.
"Where do you come from, Akara?" the knight questioned.
"I… I do not know, Sir. I'm sorry. I was raised here but I never knew my real family or birthplace" Akara informed.
"Well then, we shall go to the nearest village and get you a horse. There is a long way ahead of us" the leader reported.
Akara's face became brightened with a smile of joy and a couple tears of happiness.
"You'll have to walk until we reach the village. Since you grew up here, you must know those lands better than us. You could lead us" the leader said and then smiled to her.
"Of course, Sir. I know where we should go, there's a village not far from here"
'Aunt' Helena. She will understand. She has always been kind to me whenever she visited the Akins. She will also be able to give me a horse.
"May I know the name of the man I'm offering my services to?" Akara had the strength to ask.
"Terrowin Heissturm. Let us move. We shouldn't let the night catch up with us!"