Hi guys i know this is very late and i'm sorry. I won't bore you withthe details of life.
A very belated Happy bday to Lilli- thanks for the support, this chapter is for you.
Also, 37 reviews! Wow! Thanks everybody and please keep it going. Who says King Arthur is a forgotten catgory?
I hope my Arthur seems a little older and wiser then he was in the film, that was my intention anyway. And just incase you get confused; Ria is the middle sister and Mari is the youngest.
Chapter Four: Team of One
King Arthur slouched in a large chair pushed back from his famed round table, his expression was serious and his large calloused hands where steepled in front of him as he rested his elbows on the arms of the magnificent oak chair. Aiya shifted her weight between her feet as she kept her head respectfully bowed, peering at the formidable man from beneath the curtain of hair which had fallen over her face. Dagonet stood several paces behind her; he was a large reassuring presence, she felt as if she'd found an ally in this cold hostile land.
"I find myself conflicted Aiyana." The King sighed. "Traditional justice tells me that I should cut off your thieving hand for stealing from a knight of the realm. Alas..... My Queen and I are attempting to build a new Britannia. I wish to be just but, I also wish to be merciful. I don't believe that you are a bad person Aiyana, you fell upon hard times and dealt with it in the best way you could. I too desire to provide the best for my family. Do you agree?"
Aiya dipped a curtsy. "I do, your majesty." She said demurely. She was still unsure of his purpose; she hadn't thought that dealing with one thief would cause so much conflict within such a great man.
"You cannot go without punishment. The lifestyle you led before now is over. You and your sisters will be wards of this court, you will be employed as servants and seamstresses within this keep and you will be under close supervision. Your debt has been paid in full but a portion of your income will go to me for the loss I have incurred in paying your debt. Once you have paid me you will remain in service to this court for two years, you sisters, however, are free to go." Aiyana felt both relief and fury. She would no longer be able to afford the books and well made clothes her sisters had grown accustomed to, she was essentially to be demoted to a serf. An indentured servant. She would belong to Arthur, King of the Britain's.
Arthur beckoned Dagonet forward. "Your family have been assigned a room near the healers wing, Dagonet will show to your new room, your sisters are waiting for you there. If I hear about one more incident of thievery, rest assured you will receive the harshest punishment possible. You will report to Mistress Farrow in the servant's quarters tomorrow at dawn." His expression brooked no quarrel so Aiya curtseyed and backed away from the King.
She breathed a deep sigh of relief as soon as the doors closed behind her and Dagonet, The large man gave her a sympathetic smile. "He was lenient." She observed.
Dagonet nodded thoughtfully. "He was a good man before all this madness and he has made a good king. I also belief the Queen had a word with him on your behalf." He smiled as Aiyana's shocked look. "She's adamant about doing away with the more brutal of the Roman traditions."
"So I assume since we've been placed near the healer's wing that you will be the one to monitor me?" Aiyana asked with a roguish smirk, she almost grinned in triumph when the large man blushed. It was her new favourite game; playing with the large knight.
"I.....volunteered for the position." He admitted as he led Aiyana down a series of corridors.
"Is that so?" She said with a small smile. "Why Sir Knight, all this attention is sure to create gossip." She trilled.
"Let them talk, I'll set them right." He growled.
Aiya jumped at his booming declaration. "I was only teasing, I apologise for angering you." She assured the large man.
Dagonet looked bashful. "I'm sorry, I just dislike the idea of anyone talking about you like that. Gawain tells me I need to reign in my temper." He admitted.
Aiya paused momentarily, the large Knight's continual declarations of affection both shocked and confused her. "You know who else volunteered to act as watchman?" Dagonet asked her softly.
"Who?" Aiyana hoped it wasn't Elias; the young knight seemed like the type of man who could hold a grudge.
"Tristan. He seems intent on studying you like he does his birds." Dagonet seemed troubled by his own words.
"Oh." Aiya gasped, her encounters with the dark eyed knight had sent frissons of fear across her body but, more confusingly, she also felt excitement at the prospect of running into the him again.
Dagonet mistook her expression for one of upset, the large man paused to place his hands lightly on her arms. "I won't let him hurt you again." He vowed.
She took a steadying breath as the handsome man's vow stole the wind from her lungs, she plastered a wry grin onto her face. "Why, sir Knight, there's no need to worry about me or have you forgotten Sir Tristan's wounded hand?" She prompted teasingly.
"Ah yes! Poor Tristan, perhaps it's him who needs to be protected." Dagonet chuckled.
"Perhaps." Aiya said modestly, drawing more chuckles from the large man. "It seems strange; here we stand, making jokes, when a few hours ago I was terrified about facing justice."
"This is a strange place. You'll get used to it." Dagonet told her.
"I suppose I'll have to." Aiya mused as they passed the Healer's room, they turned down another smaller corridor where Dagonet stopped outside a modest oak door. She heard voices from inside which stopped as soon as Dagonet opened the door. Before her eyes could fully adjust to the dim light inside the room Aiyana was hit with a large blonde object.
"Aiya!" The skinny person glued to her front shrieked as she pressed her face against Aiyana's body. Aiya smiled as she smoothed Mari's blonde curls.
"Hush now! There's no need to make such a fuss Marianne!" Ria scolded as she stood from the bench which she had been perched on. Ria dipped a respectful curtsy as soon as she saw Dagonet, he bowed his head in acknowledgement. Aiya surveyed the room; there were two chests in the corner of the room and on each of the three beds lay a large sack which she assumed held the personal belongings of each of the sisters.
"Where have you been?!" Mari demanded, she had pulled away from Aiya and was stood with her hands propped on her hips and a fierce scowl on her tear stained face. "Big men with a horse and cart came and got us and no one would tell us where you were!"
"You know perfectly well where she was Marianne. You got caught didn't you?" Ria demanded as she began to unpack the bags on the beds, she slammed open the cupboard doors and stuffed clothing onto the shelves.
"I'll leave you ladies to get settled in." Dagonet shifted uncomfortably on the spot as he eyes the three scowling girls, he seemed to be particularly fearful of the one with tear tracks down her face. Evidently Dagonet did not know how to deal with crying women, even if they were really small ones.
"Thank you Dagonet." Aiya said with a forced smile, she shot a glare at Ria when her sister scoffed at the blushing Knight. Ria had no patience for romance.
"What on earth were you thinking?!?!" Ria bellowed as soon as the Knight closed the door behind him.
Aiya winced. "Would you please calm down? I have a headache and you're not helping." She moaned.
"Calm down?" Ria snarled as she stalked across the room to glare down at Aiya. "We had a perfectly acceptable life and you had to go and ruin it because you wanted more-"
Aiya's bitter laughter stopped Ria's rant. "You think I stole for fun? Because I wanted to get rich? You know for an intelligent person you can be incredibly stupid sometimes Alexandria. I stole because our perfectly acceptable life was funded through loans, loans which now have to be repaid. And yes! I got caught." Aiya spat as she collapsed onto one of the beds.
Ria was silent for several moments before she moved forward and placed a lit candle in the holder that rested on the bedside table. "The trunks are full of books, cloth and supplies. We have enough candles to last us for months and the cloth will make at least half a dozen dresses. We only really had to leave the furniture behind." Ria told her; Aiya knew she wouldn't get an apology but this was Ria's way of telling her that she didn't fully blame her for the abrupt change in circumstances.
"Molly from the mill said that working at the wall is loads of fun!" Mari piped as she bounced onto the bed next to Aiya. "What happened to your face?"
"What?" Ria demanded as she peered at Aiya in the hazy candle light, she gasped when she saw the livid bruise left by Tristan's hand.
"I was stealing Sir Elias' prize sword, I got caught by one of the Knights. He was a little upset," Aiya told them as she sat up to tug her boots off her feet. "It's alright Mari, it doesn't even hurt anymore." She lied as she saw her little sister's lower lip began to tremble. Marianne made up for Alexandria's extreme lack of emotion by crying about everything.
Ria's delicate yet strong hands appeared around her right boot, which always got stuck more than the other one, she tugged firmly until the battered leather slid off smoothly, she placed the pair of the boots at the end of the bed so Aiya wouldn't trip over them in the night. Having been assured that Aiya wasn't in any pain Mari flounced around the room, unhelpfully rifling through all the unpacked possessions until Ria lost her patience and slapped Mari's hands away from the folded stacks of clothing. After that Mari settled herself onto her bed and sulked quietly. Aiya lay down on her reasonably non-lumpy bed and let her heavy eyes drift shut.
"This is a lovely new home! Do you think we'll get to see the Queen? I hear she's beauuuutiful-" Aiya smiled to herself as she let Mari's babbling lull her to sleep.
"Aiya, wake up. We have to report soon." Someone hissed into her ear as they lightly shook her by the shoulders. She blinked sleep from her heavy eyes, hissing when the harsh morning sun increased her throbbing headache to a dull roar, a loud clatter from the opposite side of the room made her sit up.
"Oops." Mari winced as she stood in at the centre of a pile of broken crockery, she shuffled to the left as if to disown the mess.
"From now on Marianne, do not help me." Ria hissed through clenched teeth.
"God, I'm tired." Aiya moaned, rubbing her slightly swollen eyes.
"Serves you right." Ria sniffed as she swept up the broken bowls, Mari stuck out her tongue in silent solidarity with Aiya. The eldest sister smiled her thanks as she walked over to the large pot bubbling over the hearth, she prodded the contents with a large wooden ladle: porridge, and lots of it. Her stomach rumbled in approval.
"Move." Ria ordered; Aiya obeyed. She had quickly learnt that it was not wise to mess with the woman who cooks your food, the last time she had defied Ria in the kitchen it had been up to her to feed herself and Mari for a whole week. It was only then that they had learnt how disastrous she was at cooking; three thoroughly unusable cooking pots, four charcoaled chickens and one serious fire later, Ria had relented.
"What do you think we'll be doing? I want to polish swords!" Mari declared as she brandished a long thin piece of firewood. "Tom says that after you polish them they let you swing em around a bit. I'm going to be the first ever lady knight!" Mari told them as she successfully killed the menacing pillow she had been beating with her stick.
"You'll do no such thing; we're going to maids and seamstresses as is proper for a young lady." Ria informed her as she placed three bowls of porridge on the small battered table.
"I will too be a knight!" Mari countered leaping off the bed and waggling her stick at Ria.
"You will not; you cry every time you fall over and graze your knee plus you're afraid of the dark. You'd be the most useless knight ever, also, women don't become knights. It's a rule for a reason." Ria informed the fuming girl before sweeping her skirts out and sitting daintily at the table.
Mari and Ria both looked to Aiya to settle the argument. "It's too early for talking." She grumbled ladling hot porridge in her mouth at a rapid rate.
"Stop eating like a commoner." Ria chastised.
"Technically we are commoners." Aiya informed her sister. "And both of you remember that, we stick to our story. Dead merchant class parents, home schooled and not a word of Roman from either of you."
"You're the one who makes all the mistakes Aiyana, not us." Ria reminded her softly before turning her eyes to her food, Aiya bit her lip and swallowed the urge to cry as she thought of the years of service she had ahead of her. She wondered what her father would have thought of the life she had condemned her sisters to.
Hope you guys liked it. More Dagonet in the next chapter and Tristan tries to learn more about the mysterious young lady who invaded his life. :)