Chapter: Together
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….. A Year Later: …..
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Most of the knights were seventeen years of age when they went into their first serious battle. A battle where they had not only lost a few of their fellow knight brothers, but it was where the knights' personalities began to harden and change as they realized this will be their life for the next fifteen years.
Anastasia ran across the grassy plain that was nearby a small village. Villagers were hiding in their homes as Arthur and his knights fought against a large group of Woads that emerged from the woods that surrounded the small village.
She ducked as a large Woad swung his axe at her head. She span on the balls of her feet to get behind the Woad and sliced the back of his calves causing him to yell out in pain until she silenced him with a slice through the neck.
Panting, her eyes went wide as she realized that she killed another Woad, another person. In her mind, Anastasia was trying to remind herself that she had to do it to protect the villagers, it was their jobs to protect and to fight under Arthur's orders.
When the Woad ceased moving, Anastasia turned in her spot to see a spear flying at her. She ducked, but got grazed across the top of her right shoulder that made her to hiss in pain. It was enough force to cause her to fall backwards and her war helmet to come off her head.
The Woad that threw the spear charged toward her, but stopped when she rose from the ground to show that she was a woman. A cunning grin came onto the Woad's lips making Anastasia to snarl, especially when the Woad began to circle her, eyeing her up and down and saying something in his language with that cunning smirk. Then he lunged at her.
Anastasia dodged him, moving quickly across her feet and brought her sword up to block a dagger aimed for her side. She teeth clenched as the Woad pushed his weight against the dagger. Quick thinkings, Anastasia shot her foot out and into the Woad's knee making them to fall to the ground. The Woad tried to swing at her from the ground, but she jumped over the swing and then shot her knee out to the underside of the Woad's chin.
The Woad collapsed on his back, staring up at her as she raised her sword up to end them. But as she stared at the Woad, she shook her head as she was not able to do. She turned away from the Woad, not able to do it to an unarmed person.
When Anastasia stepped back, she did not know that another Woad was sneaking up behind her. The sound of mud squishing behind her caused her to whirl around, sword ready, but gone wide eyes as the Woad was already bring his sword down toward her head.
A hand grabbed the back of her chainmail on her shoulders and ripped her backwards. The sword missed her and stuck in the ground. The hand let go and Anastasia watched as Tristan stepped forward and sliced down the Woad that tried to kill her. She watched as he pulled his dagger out and turned around, flicking it out.
Gasping caused her to turn around to see that the Woad she did not kill out of mercy, now had Tristan's dagger through their throat and laid on the ground.
Anastasia looked back at Tristan and saw how dark his eyes were then their burgundy brown eyes. Blood thirst for the battle was clear in Tristan's eyes. She saw how vicious he got on this battlefield, taking pleasure in facing his enemies, especially his new and improved footwork. He moved smooth and fluently now.
When a Woad came running at Tristan from the wide as he fought another, Anastasia ran forward and ran her sword through the Woad's side.
Tristan took out the one he fought against and he turned around to see that she taken down a Woad that had been coming at him. Anastasia saw Tristan about to give her a nod of thanks when she saw another Woad come out of nowhere.
Pulling out one of her short swords, she whipped it over his shoulder. She watched the sword connect with the Woad's head and slammed to the ground, unmoving. Tristan had whirled around to watch her take her short sword out of the Woad. A hand around her wrist and she was ripped around to chest bump against Tristan's chest. His eyes stared down at her and she tried not to fluster up.
"Now, we are even." He whispered to her in a low husky voice.
"Battle is not over yet, Tristan." Anastasia whispered, pushing him away just as an axe came down between them.
Both Tristan and Anastasia let out yells as they stabbed their swords through the Woad that had thrown the axe.
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The battle came to an end. There were casualties on both sides. The ground was splattered with blood. The knights that fought and survived their first major battle, life was forever changed.
Knights stood in their spots and gaze around at their surroundings, seeing what they had done. They saw that this was what they will be doing for the next fifteen years.
Anastasia stood beside Tristan, her eyes scanning the grounds at the bodies that surrounded the two. Her eyes landed on her sword, watching blood dripping off the tip and being absorbed by the ground.
Expression emotionless, but her breathing was heavier than usual and her eyes filled with terror and disbelief at what she had done. The will to survive overcame her instincts as she taken down her enemies.
Tristan eyed Anastasia as he took notice of how she kept her facial appearance blank, but her eyes told everything. He had stepped up to her, sheathing his sword and he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder causing her to flinch, but looked up at him.
"Come." Tristan slid his right hand down to her lower back and led her over to their horses.
The others were finding their lost brother knights, grieving and helping Jols place the bodies on the wagon to bring them back to the walls where they will be properly buried with a ceremony.
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When the knights had got back to the walls, no one spoke.
Anastasia handed Jols her horse's reins and walked away. She found herself running out of the walls and to a small pond that was down the hill. She sunk to her knees with her head bowed as the tears finally came.
The pond surfaced reflected her image. She saw someone she was not familiarized with, but it will be like this for the next fifteen years.
Her hands were covered in dried blood that was beginning to flake off. Her hair was coming out of its braid and dirt covered her skin.
Hands visibly shaking, she untied the ribbon to unweave the braid to allow her long, dark brown hair to tumble down her back. Strands touched the side of her head that she tried to brush away, but felt the blood brush against her cheeks.
Lifting her hands up in front of her face, Anastasia stared at the blood on them. The tears that were built up in her eyes were trickling down her cheeks. A hard feeling welled up in her chest and traveled up her throat and out of her mouth.
She screamed.
She bowed her head and dipped her hands into the pond, desperately trying to scrub the blood off her hands. The blood was coming off fast enough causing a loud sob to escape her.
When hands grabbed hers and stopped her actions, Anastasia flinched in her spot. Quickly, her eyes shot up to see Tristan kneeling beside her. She kept her eyes on him as his head bowed and he rubbed his hands over her hands, scrubbing the blood away with a gentle touch.
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Tristan had saw Anastasia run out of the stables once she handed Jols her horse's reins over. He trailed after her and stood back, watching her have a breakdown at the pond. The feeling of the battle crashed down on her shoulders all at once. When Tristan heard that sob escape from her, he could not stand to watch any longer.
He knelt down beside her and grabbed her hands, helping her wash the blood off her hands. He stayed beside her to comfort her.
"I killed people, Tristan." Anastasia sobbed out, bowing her head.
"They were the enemy."
"But they were people. They were people—people. Living, breathing—"She gasped when he reached up to grab either side of her face and made her face him.
"It is hard, I know. But you have to understand that we have to continue to do this for the next fifteen years. To gain our freedom."
"I feel like once those years are up, who or what will we be at the end. We will be unrecognizable to our families and friends." Anastasia whispered, shutting her eyes then opening them back up as he used his thumbs to wipe away her tears.
"We will have each other and our fellow brothers." Tristan said, bumping his forehead against her forehead.
They stared one another in the eyes until Anastasia was the first to shut her eyes and gave a small nod of her head. Tristan pulled her into his arms and made they lie down on the grass. He rested his chin on top of her head, holding her close. He knew at this moment that he will protect her and keep her by his side.
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….. Days Later: …..
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For the next few days, the knights grieved for their lost fellow brother knights after their ceremonies. They mostly found themselves altogether at Vanora's family tavern, trying to drink away or entertain themselves from the painful events from a few days ago.
Anastasia sat in the tavern, staring down at the table with her fingers tracing across the wood table surface when a slice of an apple came into her view making her to grin a little and accept it. Her eyes glanced to the side where Tristan sat himself down, munching on the apple but slicing pieces off for her.
"You really are too quiet on your toes." Anastasia told him softly.
The corner of his lips twitched up a bit before his face went blank.
They sat in silence, watching their fellow knights. Tristan kept glancing around and watching anything that caught his eyes. Lancelot was trying to lighten up the mood with jokes. Both Gawain and Galahad were going head to head with a dagger throwing match. They all were trying to be act normal, to not grieve too much, but it was hard. They knew it will not be the last time that they will have to grieve for a fellow knight.
"On the field, you moved gracefully." Anastasia said, drawing Tristan's attention back on her. He got a small smirk on his lips.
She felt her face heat up as he eyed her. Looking away, she bit into the apple slice and tried to not look back at Tristan. She knew he was still eyeing her, smirking. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Tristan leaning toward her causing her to turn her head. They came nose to nose.
This time, her cheeks felt hotter than usual. A sly smirk was on Tristan's lips, his eyes showing amusement upon her reaction to him.
Tristan had a look of accomplishment on his face as he was the only man to get her flustered in this manner. He knew that she felt something for him, which he liked. A smugness began to bloom in his head and he had the need to continue messing with her, not realizing he letting his ego get too large.
"I had a good teacher." He mumbled as he leaned closer to her and head tilting a bit.
Anastasia could not believe that this was happening and she felt her eyes shutting. But when another apple slice was shoved into her mouth, her eyes shot open to see Tristan leaning away with an amused smirk. Blinking slowly, she realized that he was teasing her.
To say that got her pissed off was a huge understatement.
It was clear that she had a crush on him. Since the day she taught him how to move better on his feet, she knew the crush on him only got deeper. But for him to make her flustered up, having the nerve to tease her and acted like he was going to kiss her, got rage to erupt in her.
Shooting up from her seat causing it to scrap loudly across the cobblestone floor, Anastasia three the apple slice at Tristan and glared at him.
"You are an ass." Anastasia said coldly before she stormed out of the tavern.
"Whoa, Ana, where are you going?" Lancelot called after her.
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"You had done it now. You know she does not like to be tease in such a manner like that. It obvious she likes you. " Dagonet said, staring at Tristan as he had saw the whole scene take place.
Quickly, Tristan stood up from his seat and jogged out of the tavern. He glanced both ways down the road to figure out which direction Anastasia went. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of long, dark hair going around a corner. Tristan sprinted in that direction.
Rounding the corner, Tristan saw that Anastasia was heading toward the stables. He knew she will look for comfort with her horse, Links. Running to the stables and entering with caution, Tristan made his way over to the stall that housed Anastasia's horse.
He came to stand in the doorway of the stall, staring at Anastasia as she rested her head against the side of Links's head.
"Ana."
"Of course you would follow me."
Taking a step into the stall and he stood behind her, staring. Tristan found their feet interesting as he could not find himself to blurt out an apology. The last time he apologized to anyone was when he was a little boy. Now, he was struggling to get one out.
"Did the word ass even make its way into that head of yours?"
He nodded his head, but saw that she was not looking at him.
"Yes." He answered.
"Why did you follow me?" Anastasia turned to face him with a heated glare on him. She took a step toward him.
"To...to…"
"To what?" Anastasia stepped even closer to him.
Tristan looked away with his eyes shut and his hands flexed on his side. It was not supposed to be this way. She was not supposed to be the dominant one in this situation. Mustering everything up and telling himself to get over himself, Tristan faced her with narrowed eyes. Her eyebrows rose, especially when he began to take steps to her.
He kept walking toward her until she backed up into one of the stall walls.
Slamming his hands on either side of her head causing her eyes to go wide, not believing how he was being toward her. He knew he was the alpha in this situation now.
"To say sorry." Tristan said firmly.
Her eyes flickered to search his and he could see that she could not find any lie to him. He spoke the truth. He wasn't one to lie and if he did, it was necessary to do so.
"Tristan, what you did was a teasing asshole move. But I'll accept the apology." Anastasia said lowly.
Tristan grabbed either side of her face and held her in place. He pressed his body against hers, pushing her against the stall wall and bowed his head to give her a deep kiss. The feel of her lips, he knew that he was screwed. He felt chained to her now.
The feelings for Anastasia had started to come to light after she went against Lancelot last year and they kept becoming deeper and noticeable after she helped him with his footwork. It was when Tristan assured himself that he will have her for himself and no other man shall ever have her.
It took a few moments before she began to kiss him back. Her arms came around his neck causing him to groan and pushed his body more into her, adding more pressure to their lips.
It was the moment that they both knew that they formed a powerful relationship. It was a start to a new chapter together. And it was all thanks to the silent knight teasing and showing her his emotions.
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Hi Everyone,
***UPDATED as of 7/5/2017****
Here was a new chapter.
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Thank You for Reading!