Gilan raised an eyebrow, "You've never mentioned that before."
Kath shrugged, "There wasn't any need to."
"I'm guessing this was back in Iberion?" Queried her best friend, she nodded.

"Back where?"

"Iberion." She recognised Will's curiosity and explained, "It's a country to the south of Gallica. In fact, Gallica's the only country bordering it. The rest of the country is surrounded by water. The Narrow Sea and Endless Ocean on one side and the Constant Sea on the other. Other than Gallica, the closest country is Toscano."
The boys nodded their understanding, suddenly understanding her accent; "You're all exotic aren't you?"

She smiled slightly at Will, "I guess so."

"How did you end up in Araluen then?" Asked Horace curiously. Kath turned to gaze upwards, staring at a past only she could see, as she began her story. "My father Fermin, was a merchant in the city of Costa de Ouro, in the common tongue it means Coast of Gold," She explained, "and had taken over the family business as a young man. He was rather good at his job, and quickly finding favour with the King, was soon invited to join the court. He and his new wife, a beautiful Gallican woman called Clarissa, caused quite a stir and they quickly rose up the rank. He was given the honorary title of a knight whilst she became a lady. Of course, not being of noble blood, we couldn't afford to spend all their time in the court and we lived most of our life in a large house at the centre of Costa de Ouro.

"When I was about ten, my father discovered he had a talent for jewelry making and sold the business to become a full time craftsman. My older brother Emilio though became embittered, he was about 17 at the time and believed our pai had sold off his inheritance. He said that pai's action was ill-thought out and wasn't to the better of our family. It was horrible, they argued constantly and about a year later, we woke one morning to find that he'd stolen some of pai's gold, most of my mãe's jewelry and had run off to become a pirate. It completely shattered my family. Emilio, and my sister Arrosa had always been my mother's favourites, and the day he ran off he broke her heart. Broke my heart. My father in his shame and distress decided to move over here, to Araluen. You see, my mother's companion was an Araluan woman called Kathryn, who they named me after. She had spoken with so much pride about her country that we thought it was a good place to have a fresh start."

All three boys leant forward as she told her story. Neither Will nor Horace had heard her speak much and hearing her describe her life in such detail, they felt like they were seeing it through her eyes. Kath continued to stare into the sky, watching the sparks of the fire dance, completely oblivious of their attention.

"I loved it here, I was always more tomboyish than my sister, much to mãe's dismay. She thought girls should spend their days in fine dresses doing needlepoint; not running around in forests and taking fighting lessons from her brothers. Emilio used to teach me you see, he was a good big brother. Strong, athletic, handsome. It was he who taught me to ride, to use knives Anyway, mãe and I didn't get on particularly well and like I said, Arrosa was always her favourite daughter. She was beautiful like mãe, with long curly golden hair and grey eyes. She was talented, ladylike and sweet; she never raised her voice or got grumpy at all, but anyone could tell that she missed Iberion. About a year after we arrived in Araluen, when she was seventeen, she left to go back home. Several months later we got the news that she'd married her childhood sweetheart Inigo, a palace guard.

"Mãe was utterly distressed that her children had left her, for in her mind, she only had two children. She didn't like me, though my father did. Pai doted on me, and encouraged the lessons with Emilio. He paid for my tutors and, back in Iberion would take me with him around the port, chatting to all the sailors and other merchants. I used to be talkative back then and loved every minute of it. But everyone kind of forgot about my younger brother; Josu. He, however was my favourite person in the whole world and was only five when we left Iberion. I was the only one who played with him and together we spent the days laughing and rolling around in the grass, with the horses and in the wooded glens of the forest. He was the only one of us to inherit mãe's brown eyes, but like Emilio, had the Iberian olive skin and our dad's chocolate curls; he was absolutely beautiful. I taught him everything he knew. But one day, almost two years after we moved, a sickness came to the village.

"Josu and I both caught it. An awful disease which was like living death. It drained you, and you shivered uncontrollably. Your head burned with headaches and you couldn't eat without fear of coughing up blood. Not many survived, I was one of the lucky ones. Josu wasn't. I'd been recovering for several days and was starting to move around. Slowly of course, since all my bones were weak with fatigue. I was reading in his room as I always did, when I heard this sudden choke from his cot. I rushed across, only to watch as he simply stopped breathing." A silent tear slipped down Kath's face, as she remembered her lost brother.

"That day, it was like a switch had turned for my mother. Sobbing, I told her of Josu's death but all she did was stare straight ahead. When mãe finally spoke, she told me it was my fault. That me getting sick was the reason he had it. She blamed me for his death, and hardened her heart towards me. Our house was under constant strain. Any mention of my siblings and my mother would break down and blame it all on me.

"I became quiet and withdrawn, beginning to spend all my time out of the house so I wouldn't have to face her screams. It was one of these days when I first met Halt. Some of the boys from the village had cornered me and were teasing me for my accent when he just showed up. He appeared from the bushes and scared them away. I however, stood fascinated, wanting to know how I could do that. He asked me to take him back to my house and so I did. He stayed for dinner, talking long into the night with my parents. Over the next few weeks he kept an eye out for me, not that I knew it. I spent all my time trying to reimagine how he moved trying to copy him. Then suddenly, one day my mãe became sick, the same disease and had been hanging around the house, in our clothes and sheets. One morning she just didn't wake up. My pai and I were alone. We moved to a smaller house and whilst pai spent all day in his study, I took once again to exploring the forests and playing with my knives. Not long after, Halt came to visit and asked if I would become his apprentice. I was thirteen."

She sighed as she finished speaking, still caught in the past. The others caught her gaze and smiled sadly at her. She flushed, not realising that she had spoken for so long and Gilan sensed her discomfort. "I think we better sleep now, we have another early start tomorrow. Will, you're first on watch, Horace you're second. I'll go third and Kath last."

The boys nodded and Horace turned into his cloak to sleep, whilst Will moved off to a bush a few metres away. Kath turned to go to, but Gilan caught her hand. "Are you okay?"

She didn't meet his gaze, and he sighed softly. "It's not your fault Kath." He knew she still struggled with the guilt of her mother's and brother's death. She simply shrugged. "Maybe."


A/N: Thank you to my lovely reviewers, this chapter is for you. Really hope you enjoy it, I loved creating her backstory and throughout the story more of it shall cometh to the lighteth.

Anyway, see you all in a couple of weeks! Please wish me luck.

Oh, and of course. Gilan, Will, Horace and Iberion belong to John Flanagan.