A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, they are greatly appreciated! I'm trying to get the story moving and a bit of excitment because it was really starting to bore even me. So in the next few chapters we'll be getting into the thick of it. Enjoy!
That night Kayleigh could not sleep. She felt like a prisoner enclosed in those stone walls. She put on her light hooded cloak she had set aside and fastened it around her shoulders with a dragon pin she retrieved from the hidden pouch. Not being able to cope with the confinement any longer, she evacuated the building.
Outside, the air was cool and a light breeze blew through the empty streets. Her gaze fell upon the fort's wall and she inwardly groaned. How she hated that wall. She made her way over to the stairs and began to climb them. Might as well see what awaits me on the other side, she thought, curiosity taking hold of her. She reached the top and looked out into the darkness. In the faint moonlight she saw a dark silhouetted line across the countryside. An exasperated sigh left her lips, "Another damn wall."
"Hadrian's Wall," a voice specified. She jumped and turned to see Tristan leaning against the wall, studying her. The moonlight blanketed her in a soft glow that made her appear young and her skin soft. But when she turned to him, he could see that, even though she was only in her mid-twenties, she had an old soul. She had seen many things. When he gazed into her eyes, it was like looking into a pool of water. He recognized the weariness reflected there. It was the same he had. The same all of the knights had.
"What are you doing here this late at night?" she asked, narrowing those eyes.
"Keeping watch," he simply stated.
Her cheeks flushed realizing the foolishness of her question. He is a knight, that is his duty. She turned to peer over the wall again in attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Beyond that," she nodded her head towards the wall, the end of the Roman empire, "Freedom."
"Death," he corrected her.
She turned to him leaning her back against the wall. "You've been to the other side?"
"Once," his voice barely a whisper.
Kayleigh tilted her head to the side, looking at him. "And yet here you are, alive."
"My body, yes," he confirmed. Memories of that day flooded back to his mind. Woads had tried to sack the fort many years ago. His unit had been sent north to cut off their attack and buy time for the other legions to prepare for battle. Many of his fellow knights fell that day, some who he had known from his own tribe. A devastating loss, not only for Rome. The Woads had pushed them back south of the wall but never made it as far as the fort. Reinforcements had joined the battle and he cut down the enemy with vengeful accuracy.
"And your spirit?" she asked him, encouraging him to continue.
He looked at her darkly, then looked to Hadrian's Wall in the distance, "Lies with my comrades' bones on the other side." He glanced at her one last time before turning and walking away.
Kayleigh rose early the next day, giving up on a fitful night's sleep. She was anxious to start paying off the debt she owed. She mended the dress the maid had given her and hemmed it at the sides to fit her body more comfortably. The sun was not yet up but the moist air outside told her that a thick fog was over the land. Galahad had pointed out the stables yesterday on their tour so she had no trouble finding them in the dim morning light.
It smelt of horses, hay, and leather and she breathed in deep, smiling to herself. She loved the smell and almost felt at home. She entered to find the stable boy cleaning out the stalls. "May I help?" she inquired. She had nothing else to do until Jols met her later that morning.
He gave her a strange look but shrugged, welcoming the assistance. He was a scrawny young lad with wiry red hair and introduced himself as Haggan. They went through each stall removing the soiled hay and replacing it with a fresh batch. Kayleigh looked over each horse as she moved into their individual stalls. They were all fine beasts in excellent condition. Some had scars that she imagined were from battles but one would expect that of war horses. She came to a stall in the back corner and was about to enter when Haggan stopped her.
"This one has a wild temper," he warned. "I would not want you to get hurt." He brushed her aside and entered the stall cautiously. She ignored his words and followed him. The horse was gray with a black mane and tail. It backed into the corner and its eyes darted around nervously as Kayleigh and Haggan stood there.
"Whose is it?" she questioned.
He shrugged, "No one's in particular. It was used as a secondary when a knight's horse was injured. It was not nearly as well trained but it got the rider where he needed to go."
"Do they know its condition?" she asked.
"No," he shook his head. "It had rebelled against one of the calvary's men. Threw him off and broke his leg. I thought the horse unfit to ride and we tried using it as a workhorse. It was too wild for even that. I confined it to this stall away from the other horses so that it would not upset them. It grows fat with inactivity."
Kayleigh approached the horse slowly but the horse reared and pawed in the air aggressively. She stood still until it settled and reached a hand out for the horse to sniff. The horse's skin was taunt over its ribs but it's stomach sagged heavily. Kayleigh rubbed its face and looked into its eyes.
"You fool!" she exclaimed, turning angrily on the stableboy, startling the horse. She pushed Haggan out of the way and ran from the stall. She went to some barrels containing feed and filled a pail. She ran back to the stall, "You're starving her!"
"I am not," he argued. "This horse is lazy and useless!"
"What's going on in here?" Jols had entered the stables during the argument and was now headed to the back to see what the fuss was about.
"Your stableboy," Kayleigh explained, sneering at Haggan, "is killing this animal. It is only lazy and useless because you've made it so!"
Haggan's face grew red, his fists balling at his sides, "And what do you know?"
"She's with foal," she returned to the horse lifting the pail, bidding it to eat.
"What?" Jols turned his eyes to the horse's midsection, examining her.
Haggan didn't believe her. She had only just seen the horse. "How do you know that?" he challenged her.
Kayleigh brought her hand up to scratch behind the mare's ear. Her own horse had always had a spot there that was in constant need of attention. "She told me as much, with her eyes."
"You can talk to dumb beasts?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of him.
She turned to him, glaring, "And isn't that what I'm doing right now?"
Haggan was insulted but couldn't come up with the words to insult her back. He could only step back and lean against the stall, watching in smoldering silence.
"How long has she been like this?" Jols asked, trying to get an idea of when she would give birth.
"The beginning of summer, last year."
Kayleigh frowned, "It may be too late for both of them."
"I'll inform Arthur," Jols announced.
At this, Haggan became frantic. "Please don't! If he thinks I cannot care for the horses, I'll be out of a job!"
"You can do the wash," Kayleigh joked. "Were you not trained for your job?"
He shook his head. The mare had finished eating and nudged Kayleigh with her head. She retrieved some water for the horse and turned to Jols, "I will meet with Arthur tonight and explain the situation. Maybe we can work something out."
Both men seemed to agree with her suggestion. Jols prepared a horse drawn cart, and he and Kayleigh made their way to the barracks. A Roman officer met them and showed Kayleigh to a room that was used for storage. Inside were piles of dirty clothing and linen. Kayleigh wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Is this an army of skunks?" she asked Jols once they had loaded the cart. Jols chuckled and shook his head.
The officer rejoined them after locking the room back up and Kayleigh wondered why anyone would want to set foot in there. She never would have said these things to the officer, though. He was a stern looking man with sharp eyes. "Arthur requested you be accompanied to the river. I will have to scrounge up a man, which will be hard considering part of the legion are on watch, part are sleeping from being on watch all night, and others are tending to their own duties. As if we don't already have enough to do, we have to babysit a thief so she doesn't steal dirty garments," he said, not attempting to hide his annoyance at these new orders.
"I would go with you," Jols offered, "but I have a busy day ahead of me as it is."
"I'll go," a voice behind them offered. She turned and smiled at the newcomer. Perhaps the day wouldn't be so terrible after all.
Dagonet reined his horse in to walk beside Kayleigh who was driving the cart full of laundry. Though he was sure she could defend herself against a man, he knew she would have no chance against a group of Woads. He told her as much, not wanting her to think that he didn't have confidence in her skills.
"What are Woads?" she asked. She was glad it was he who offered to accompany her and not an egotistical Roman soldier. Dagonet was strong and confident but had a softness in his eyes. He reminded her of her brother.
"They are the native people of this land," he explained. "They never gave in to Roman rule."
"And why should they? It is their home. Who wouldn't resist foreigners that take land that does not belong to them?" She stopped herself then before spouting off how Rome's greedy hand has set people against each other, not uniting them the way the empire claims it has. She did not yet know Dagonet's feelings towards the power.
He did not show any surprise at her words. "You aren't Roman, are you?" it was more a statement than a question.
"No," she said viciously.
"Where are you from, then?" he asked curiously.
Kayleigh thought for a moment. She did not yet want to reveal where she had been born. The reputation of her people was not a good one and wouldn't help her situation. "I'm from many places. I do not have one home."
"Why are you here, and not elsewhere?"
"I traveled for many years, looking for my brother. When I found him, I found where I belonged. Now, I belong no where," she said sadly.
He wanted to console her, tell her that she would be alright, that she belonged here. But he was not sure of his own fate, how could he predict hers?
They rode on in silence, reaching the river before mid-day. He helped her unload the cart and unharnessed the horse from it. He led the two horses upstream for a drink and to cool off in the shade of the trees, leaving Kayleigh to her work.
She knelt at the edge of the river, grumbling about how dirty men were, when she heard voices in the woods downstream from her. She looked upstream to where Dagonet had disappeared with the horses an hour ago and called out to him but she received no answer. She dropped the garment she was washing and turned towards the woods, listening intently. Between the trees, four large men were stomping towards her. They were heavily armed and sweating profusely under animal skins. She could not understand what they were saying, for they spoke in a foreign tongue. They did not look like Romans to her and she did not figure them to be natives. Natives would have dressed lightly for the weather.
She reached into her boot for her dagger but only felt leather. Her heart raced as she remembered its resting place in her room. She cursed Arthur under her breath and hid on the other side of the cart. They approached from the other side, falling silent as they saw the cart and clothes. Seeing nobody around, one kicked the pile, sending clothes into the mud and some downstream, caught in the current. Kayleigh watched angrily as they trampled over the clothes, drawing closer to her position. If she had her weapons, they would be dead before the laughs escaped their throats.
One of the men hushed the others and pointed into the woods. Kayleigh turned to see Dagonet walking the horses back to where he had left her. She tried to warn him without giving up her position but he did not see her motioning to him. The man closest to her drew his crossbow up and aimed for Dagonet's chest.
"Watch out," she screamed, coming from her hiding place and tackling the man. The arrow was let loose but missed it's mark, grazing Dagonet's arm. He winced as he drew his sword but ran forward to attack without hesitation. The other three men, startled by Kayleigh's warning, took a moment to draw their weapons. Kayleigh had knocked the crossbow from the man's hand but he had pinned her in the mud. He drew his dagger, intending to slit her throat but she brought her knee up to his groin and he gave out a yelp of pain, falling on top of her. "That's for getting my clothes muddy," she said through clenched teeth.
Dagonet was fighting off two men with his sword. When he pushed one away, the other attacked. He blocked a blow and slashed his sword across the foreigner's mid section, killing him. His comrade attacked, swinging his sword high, which Dagonet ducked and swiftly buried his sword into the invader's chest.
Kayleigh twisted the hand of the man that lay atop her, forcing him to let go of his dagger. She reached her arm around him, dagger in hand, and plunged it into his back, then rolled out from beneath his dead body. The fourth man had charged Kayleigh as soon as she had stood. She dropped to the ground in the last instant and the man swept past her. As he ran back towards her, she lifted the dagger and threw it at his chest. The momentum of the blade knocked him back, his dead body falling in the water, giving it a pink hue.
She turned to Dagonet, who had just finished off his last attacker as well. "Are you okay?" she asked, seeing the blood run down his arm.
He laughed and nodded his head, bringing a finger to the wound to inspect it. "I knew you could defend yourself," he said, kneeling down to the river to wash away the blood, "but I didn't know you would be defending me as well. Thank you."