The morning of the training session had Ailith on her toes. In her mind she kept imagining how the day would play out. How her failure to keep a secret would cost her greatly after the day was out. But she still went through her routines, bathing and rubbing lovely smelling oils into her skin and hair before dressing in slacks and a loose shirt. Her leather boots fit snugly and she braided her to long dark hair. She left the bathing room and made her way to the tavern, immediately finding Bega helping out Vanora. The red haired woman and Ailith had grown close in the weeks the Sarmatian had been in Castellum. She didn't feel the need to hide things from the older woman. That and it was nearly impossible to get on Vanora's bad side. It was like the woman saw what she was thinking and was quickly able to shut the dark haired woman up.
"Ailith! How'd you sleep?" Bega asked, skipping over to her sister. Ailith gave the girl a tight smile, patting her shoulder before sitting at her normal table beside the kitchen. "Oh yeah, Tate told me about what happened." The girl gave her sister a tight hug before going to the kitchens. No doubted to get Vanora to come talk some sense into her. And just as Ailith predicted the red haired mother of nine came out with a frown across her face.
"Morning Vanora." Ailith gave her a tired smile before watching her put a bowl of porridge in front of her. "Thank you."
"You're being' oddly polite today, Ailith." Vanora said her frown deepening as she watched the younger woman eat slowly, a faraway look in her eyes. Swallowing Ailith nodded before stirring the food in her bowl.
"My sister is always polite when she's nervous." Bega said with a slightly smile, one she had learned to use from her sister. Vanora moved her hands to her hips and stared down at Ailith. "And what do you have to be nervous of, hm?" Ailith shrugged, spooning another bit of porridge into her mouth.
"She's going to train with the knights today." Ailith's eyes narrowed on her sister spinning her food once more. Vanora raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
"Nothing' to worry about, dear. The men will go easy on you since you're a woman." Both Bega and Ailith laughed, only the latter was a hard, cold laugh. Vanora gave both an odd look before shaking her head. "Now what?"
"If they go easy on Ailith they'll be dead." Bega said with a slight smirk that looked oddly like the one Lancelot used. "She's not called the Wolf for nothing." And with that the younger girl disappeared back into the kitchen.
"What's this about a wolf?" The mother asked while beginning to wash the table beside Ailith's with the rag that she had stashed in a pocket.
"Nothing more than a Roman's pet name for me." The younger woman spat, glaring down at her meal. The red head gave her friend a mildly amused look before standing and taking Ailith's bowl.
"If you're not going to eat then just go calm down in the stables." The woman advised, moving away with the food. Ailith shook her head with a bitter smile. Not even time in the stables would fix her mood.
An hour later Ailith found herself sitting on a hill outside Castellum. The town had started to wake and Ailith didn't want to be in the loud place. And just as she thought, the stables hadn't helped lift her mood at all. If anything it worsened. Jols was in the stables, working on organizing some gear. She started her routine brushing of Aelred and Cadmon but the small man had seen her and decided to strike up a conversation about the upcoming training and how eager he was to see her in motion. After taking a few minutes of the man's chatter the woman's patients snapped and she had chucked the brush at him. After a quick apology she left the stables and left the town.
Now, with a cool breeze on her face and the scent of the valley she felt as calm as she could be. If she closed her eyes and blocked out the sounds of shepherds herding their sheep she could imagine being back in Sarmatia. The blue skies, untouched grassland, and wind that carried the scent of her tribe. The woman opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the sky with noticeably calmer eyes. Nothing about Britain reminded her of home. The air was colder, the sky darker, the scents of trees instead of grass and tame animals instead of the wild things that Ailith had loved. She sighed heavily, laying back to stare at the sky, letting the blades of grass tickle her skin. Up in the sky was a familiar bird of prey, brown feather gliding easily in the open sky. It was the same hawk that Ailith had seen her first day here. That hawk marked the end of her enslavement in a way. So lazily she smiled, hearing the soft screech from way above. After that she heard a few steps behind her, coming up the hill slowly and silently. Whoever it was probably hadn't seen the woman stretched out there, staring at the sky. But she was proven wrong went a face peered down at her, familiar dark eyes hidden behind dark tresses.
"Hello Tristan." Ailith said softly, closing her eyes and breathing out slowly.
"Arthur said that you'd be joining us for training today." Came the simple and quiet reply. Ailith frowned, listening to the scout take a seat beside her. "Are you planning on skipping out?" He asked, surprising her slightly. Tristan didn't seem to be one to say more than a few words at a time.
"I want to but really can't, can I." It wasn't really a question, just a statement.
"No." A smirk lit the woman's face. She really hadn't been expecting him to answer with anything else.
"Is there any other reason you're here?" She sat up, brushing the grass from her shoulders. Suddenly a hand brushed over her back, making the woman freeze instantly. In less than a second she was standing farther away from the knight, shivers racing through the woman as she tried to calm herself. Quickly as she could, Ailith turned and fled from the hill, nearly running back to the village. And behind her stood a scout with a strange expression on his face, wondering what he had done to make the girl move so fast away from him.
By midday Ailith had calmed, eaten more than her breakfast and had gotten ready for training with the knights. When Bega had seen her, the girl instantly pointed out how pale Ailith was, but after shooting Bega a silent plead to keep silent the younger sister spoke nothing more of it. And that was perfectly fine for Ailith. But now, she was waiting in the training ring, a sword in her hands and a solemn expression on her face. She knew she was early, so she sat down against the fence surrounding the training area.
"Hey there Ailith." Gawain said, coming up to the woman. He crouched down to her level and smiled at her. Ailith rolled her eyes and slowly stood up and leaned against the fence.
"Hi Gawain." He laughed and slung his arm over her shoulder. It seemed that this was his way to show his friendship.
"Are you excited for a bit of training? From what I hear you haven't found with a sword in four years." Ailith's grey eyes darkened as she stared at her friend with narrowed eyes.
"Bega right?" The knight shook his head with a slight grin.
"Nope, your friends Eadric and Dax. They were talking about you and so I joined their conversation." Relaxing slightly the woman rolled her eyes and leaned into the man a little. She might as well enjoy the closeness now while it lasted. Gawain seemed to sense her thoughts and gently nudged her. "What's up?" Ailith just sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.
"The sky." She muttered, gaining a laugh from the knight. A few moments later Bors and Dagonet came in chuckling on Dagonet's side and gut busting laughter for Bors.
"What?" Gawain asked, watching his comrades from the fence. He didn't more from his position, feeling that the woman resting on his shoulder needed it.
"Lancelot just got shot down. Rather harshly too." Bors replied, calming his laughter and walking over to the two. "You okay, girl?" Ailith rolled her eyes and picked her head up a bit.
"I'm not girl, I'm Ailith." She grumbled, staring with dark eyes at the man. He chuckled nervously before nodding.
"Ailith's a little cranky right now." Gawain said a smile clear in his voice. Said woman elbowed him in the side, a glare set on his shoes.
"Ow!" Bors laughed heartily again, adjusting the leather stapes across his chest.
"Who's all joining us?" Ailith asked Dagonet, seeing as he was probably the most normal of the three knights with her. The giant man smiled at her and stood on her other side. She straightened out, shrugging off Gawain's arm.
"Normally everyone comes even if it's just to watch. But most of the time each person fights at least once." She nodded, thinking of Gawain, Lancelot and for some reason the stoic Tristan. She would show her back even less to him. "Is there something wrong?" Dagonet asked, noting the calculating look in her eyes.
"Trying to find ways to defeat you all." She said, her eyes tracing the training area then looking back at the three knights, carefully thinking about how much each would probably weigh and their fighting style. She had never seen any in battle so that was a disadvantage. But on an up note, none of them even knew how knowledgeable she was about the art of war.
"Have fun with that." Gawain said lightly from her other side, a smile on his lips. "You'll probably only defeat one of us at the most." He said honestly. Ailith shook her head and smirked at Gawain.
"You'll see Gawain." She murmured, moving away from the group and off to the other side of the field. There she unsheathed her blade and held it a moment. It was slightly heavier then she was used to so she went to Jols and asked for a lighter sword. The short man, still unnerved by her previous display of irritation quickly dashed back into the stable. He came back with a sword that looked nearly the same. Ailith nodded and took the sheathed blade. The woman went back to spot, only to look across and find that most of the men were there now. Save only Tristan, Erec and Arthur.
Ailith unsheathed the sword once again, testing the weight with a slight tilt of her mouth. It was the perfect weight for her and that meant the knights were in for trouble. She tested the blades edge finding it dull. Good, she wouldn't cause unnecessary damage to anyone.
"Ah, there they are." Galahad called, waving to the last three knights. Immediately Arthur joined the group along with Erec, only Tristan seemed to notice Ailith standing farther away from the knights.
"Alright, warm up first. Who wants to go?" Immediately Gawain raised his hand with a grin. "And who will be your opponent?" Already Ailith and Dagonet knew who would be picked.
"Ailith." Arthur nodded and stepped back to the fence. With another nod the mock battle began. Gawain grabbed the dagger and axe at his feet before running after the only female in the ring. Ailith felt the familiar feeling of indifference slip over her as she readily moved to the side, avoiding the dull axe as it came down.
"She's light on her feet." Percival noted to the others as they watched as their comrade tried over and over again to get a hit on the dark haired woman. Suddenly her stance changed and her sword crashed down onto Gawain's dagger. The woman stepped back, dust coming up with her swift movements. And as she turned the flat side of her blade knocked against the fair haired knight's arm. Gawain growled, moving a bit faster now that he realized that he couldn't simple play with her.
"She's not even using her full speed." Dagonet murmured to himself, watching as the woman danced circles around his fellow knight. "And she's got the upper hand." He stated, watching her face.
"What do you mean?" Galahad asked, watching the fight with curious eyes.
"She's not showing anything. She hasn't even laughed at Gawain." The others looked at the woman with slightly awed eyes. Ailith backed up for a second before Gawain charged at her again. She quickly moved, using one foot to drag herself just a bit out of the way while her other foot stayed in place. To say the least, Gawain had a very unpleasant fall. And when he looked back up the tip of Ailith's sword was pointed at his neck. An eruption of laughter followed from the other knights as Ailith backed up slowly, her hollow eyes filing back quickly as Gawain stared at her from the ground.
"Okay, so you might not have much difficulty at all with us." He uttered under his breath so only Ailith could hear. She smiled tightly, sheathing her sword and helping up the man. "Good job." He clapped the girl on the shoulder before moving back to the others while she went to her side.
"I'll go next Arthur." Dagonet stated as he and Bors stood and moved to the center of the ring. Arthur nodded and the fight began. Ailith sat slowly, watching the battle carefully. Bors seemed to throw his weight around more than Dagonet. The giant knight took his time and observed his surroundings before attacking. They clashed blades a few times before both seemed to rush at each other, weapons at the ready. Ailith watched silently, her hand griping around her sword absentmindedly.
"Go Dagonet!" Cheered the others, grinning as they watched their friends. Ailith gave a slightly smile before blocking the others out and focusing on the battle. Bors had the upper hand at the moment, his hand blades giving his the ability to block Dagonet's sword and attack at the same time. But the taller man was smart, when Bors blocked next he kicked out his foot and the smaller man toppled over. The knights cheered, laughing and giving Bors a hard time for losing such a way.
"Next?" Arthur called while smiling and chuckling at something one of the knights said. Ailith tensed when she saw who raised their hand next. A certain dark haired scout with tattoos. Arthur nodded before looking expectantly at the other knights. None stepped forward, watching Tristan as he moved into the center. He turned his head slightly and stared hard at Ailith.
No way. Not a chance! My style completely shows my back during turns and I can't let this man see it ever again, she inwardly argued. But when Lancelot smirked over at her the irritation for the man she called brother flared up.
"Aw, my baby sister isn't afraid is she?" Ailith glared at the knight, watching his laugh and shake his head. The dark haired woman stood and unsheathed her sword.
"I wonder why Tristan wants to fight her." Erec said quietly to Percival who shrugged, eyes glued in front of him. Ailith swung her sword down once before stepping in front of the scout. He was taller than her by a good four inches. Her head only coming to his lips and he looked light, so he probably moved fast. Arthur nodded once and watched Tristan slowly unsheathe the long sword at his waist.
"Tristan will get her." Gawain murmured quietly to Galahad.
"Betcha Ailith will either draw or win." Gawain raised an eyebrow at his younger friend. "She defeated you in a few minutes. I wonder where she learned to fight like that." Ailith took a slow, long breath and let herself calm fully, her eyes taking on a hollow property once again. The women raised her sword and to quickly strike out at the knight. Tristan stepped out of the way at the last second before meeting her blade as she brought it down at his feet. They switched from offence to defence, Tristan lunging at her, his movements graceful and well thought out while Ailith blocked and moved according to his own. Then they switched once again.
"Does anyone else see a dance here?" Percival asked, watching the two's feet as they twirled and twisted around each other. Never once did their feet touch though.
"Yeah but Ailith doesn't seem to know all the steps. She's never not facing him." Lancelot spoke softly but the others heard it. Tristan seemed to notice this too, even trying to get behind her at one point, only to have her almost hit his arm. So he improvised. He forced his blade down on her, Ailith easily catching the metal with her own. The only thing she hadn't seemed to put into her mind was how strong Tristan really was. He pressed down on his sword, forcing Ailith to bend at her knees. She refused to let this scout win. But, luck wasn't on her side. She fell softly onto her back, her sword and Tristan's still locked. He noticed frustration slowly seem into her grey orbs and when the corners of his mouth lifted a little he saw the frustration turn into anger.
"Finally got a reaction, huh?" He whispered before stepping away and walking back to the others. Ailith lay on the ground, dirty and angry at herself for letting Tristan win.
"It won't happen again." She promised herself quietly, moving into a sitting position. A hand was in front of her and when she looked up she found Dagonet's small smile. A confused look crossed her face. Oh, guess she had been a tame wolf this time. Shaking off the thought, she took his hand and let the knight help her up.
"Wow! That was intense!" Galahad said staring in amazement at the woman as she and Dagonet walked back. Ailith smiled slightly. Maybe they didn't think bad of her. But oh well, she'd think about it later. Ailith turned to Arthur and when he nodded she passed her sword to Jols before leaving the training ring.
"How'd it go?" Dax asked from beside Ailith at the table. They were in the crowed tavern eating dinner before they'd go separate ways. Ailith shrugged and gave the man a meaningful look. She had come to see the man after changing from her training clothes and back into a dress.
"It didn't end up nearly as bad as it could of. I tried to keep it down a notch." She forked some food into her mouth before swallowing and muttering to herself. "Of a few notches." Dax laughed, shaking his head at the young woman.
"And you got beat too I hear." Ailith glared over at the man, but his grin didn't falter. "Yeah, Bors told me about it. He also said that you and Tristan should dance at one of the festivals some time." This nearly made her choke on her food. Ailith stared at the man with a red face while he laughed like a mad man. He was clutching his sides because he was laughing so hard.
"I hope you fall off that stupid chair." Ailith grumbled. She finished her meal and left the tavern, waving over to Vanora before starting to wonder. The knights hadn't seen her at her top and she was more than likely out of practice. But she had proven that she could fight without hurting anyone. On an actual battle field she wouldn't need to keep that in mind. She'd fully be able to let out all her frustration and anger out on her enemies. With a slight grin she left the village once again, making her way to Hadrian's Wall. She leant against it, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. The sun was slowly setting across from her, casting the small valley into an orange glow. It was quieter now than it had been in the early morning. No shepherds were outside, their flocks safely stowed away into their pens. Ailith opened her eyes and sighed. She felt an extreme need to go back to the hill for some reason. It was like a tugging on her mind that she couldn't ignore.
She followed the tug, walking as quietly as she could up the grassy hill just a bit away from the village. And just as she thought, someone was there. It was obvious who it was, even if his back was to her. But the braids gave it away Trying to be even quieter than before, the woman snuck up slowly behind the scout, breathing only through her nose. At the last instant the knight turned and gave her a look. Grumbling, the woman sat down a bit away from Tristan, making sure to keep her distance.
"You are a good fighter." The man said in his normal calm voice. Even that voice irked her. Not as much as the neutral yet teasing voice he had used after beating her.
"I guess so." The way that they were facing gave Ailith a perfect view of the sunset and even if the sky was cloudy she could still see it clearly. "This land isn't as wonderful as ours but it has its good points." She said quietly, not even expecting the man beside her to hear.
"In a way, yes." He replied before turning to the woman. "Where did you learn to fight?" Ailith smirked slightly at the odd turn this conversation had taken. Much like her last conversation with her brother. And somehow they ended right back to this question. And once again, Ailith felt no need to hide this part of her life.
"My father started to teach me a while after Lancelot was commissioned. We started with wooden swords and bows first. And I absolutely loved the feeling of letting the string snap back. The bow is my favourite but with a sword you can get closer and more accurate results. When he died and we were taken from our home the men from our slave group decided it would be best to continue with my training. I trained for three years like that, learning from the men. Some were even former knights and taught me a lot. But after an event I refuse to talk about I stopped and started to learn healing instead." Memories of training and laughing with the men of her group made her smile slightly. Those were some of the few good memories she had of the last seven years. Suddenly Tristan stood and nodded.
"Arthur wanted me to tell you that we have a mission tomorrow." He said slowly before turned and starting down the hill. But of course, she couldn't hear his footsteps right now either way so when she felt a slight tug on her hair Ailith turned to find Tristan standing there, a lock of hair that had freed itself from her braid in his fingers. Grey eyes watched the stoic scout carefully, as he twisted the lock into her braid before turning and walking down the hill for real this time. Ailith watched with narrowed eyes on his back.
"That man is strange." She whispered, falling onto her back, her cheeks now slightly pink. "But he is handsome." She muttered, before shaking her head and closing her eyes to enjoy the rest of the sunset.
All characters that do not belong to me are from the wonderful creators of King Arthur.
And thanks to Binne Inksong, BooBoo33, BlackQueen92, Scribbled Truth, ShiloCoulter and LadyQueenB. You guys have given me enough inspiration to get this story as far as I have. Please continue to support this story!