Freedom and Faith
The trees seem to bend towards us as we inched our horses further. I felt it before I saw it, a Woad pointing an arrow towards us. Before I could call out a warning, the arrow zipped past Arthur's head and imbedded into a tree. The twisted ropes with spikes reached from the tree into the darkness, seven ropes joining it from every direction. With a yell, the horses turned around and we tried to find an alternative route.
More arrows zoomed past, fences popped up. An ambush, I should of seen it coming.
"I thought you said they wouldn't attack their own!" Gawain wasn't angry, but it was a true question. We turned the horses before the arrows could possibly touch them.
"I don't exactly look like a Woad at the moment." Finally we could see the Woads, holding spears and axes, heading towards us. They were rounding us up, they had a reason for this. I glanced at my feet and noticed that Arden was still there, staying stride and stride by Pree's hooves. We were back to the first rope fence and my throat closed up. Ravidan pointed an arrow straight at Arthur. The Woads pointed their arrows at us while the only bow and arrow we had was Tristan who didn't know who to point it at.
"What are you waiting for?" I glanced at Gawain, he probably shouldn't tempt them. Again, I felt it before I heard it, the horn calling the Woads away. Ravi kept staring at us, his arrow pointing at Arthur, his eyes going from him and then to me.
"Why cousin?" The knights turned towards me when I spoke, not knowing what I was saying. Ravi didn't show any emotion, listening to the sound of the horn again. Ravidan lowered his arrow and turned to leave, walking slowly away from us. Tristan lowered his arrow and we all stayed on edge, watching the woods for any sign of the Woads returning.
"Why didn't they attack?" The horses were restless, pacing back and forth.
"Merlin does not want us dead." I edged my horse closer towards Arthur's.
"This was just his way of getting your attention. He has a reason for keeping you alive." Arthur nodded, showing that he thought that too, and urged his horse forward. I fell back to my space, Arden nipping at my toes for disappearing like that. Gawain edged his horse towards mine.
"What did you say to him?"
"I asked him why."
The rest of the ride was quiet, except for Arthur telling Tristan to ride out and scout the area. We could see the Roman estate as we rode harder and my chest tightened. I had heard Arthur say something about the Saxons heading towards the estate, these people would be butchered. The workers, the farmers, the children. I didn't see how they would make it, Saxons killed everything. Arthur had noticed the people as well and I watched the emotions race across his face as we rode to the quicky shutting gate doors.
I watched the people while Arthur spoke to the guards and someone else, who I assumed to be the man called Marius. They were in awe of the knights and none of them seemed to of noticed the female in their midsts. I unhooked my cloak and lowered the hood, feeling strangled by the material, and turned to meet the eyes of Marius.
"Where did you get that ring girl?" My hand flung to the ring and fingered it. I never even paid attention to it anymore, it seemed to become like an article of clothing almost.
"It was left in my possession by someone." The larger man didn't speak, opting to instead move around and yell at his guards. A man had been chained up, an older man, and Arthur freed him with a strong swing with Excalibur. As he spoke to the people around him, I watched as Pree had started getting antsy. Arden had stayed in the woods upon Arthur's request, he didn't want to scare the people.
Galahad moved his horse towards mine to silently check on me. Although riding a horse wasn't a Woad's forte, we did know how. While we waited as everyone packed what they could, Tristan galloped past us towards Arthur. They spoke quietly, their heads bent towards each other. The knights, sensing that something was going on, edged their horses forward. The sound of war drums, Saxon war drums, echoed around us. I pushed Pree forward until I was closer to Arthur. His face was turned towards an entrance to the right, being walled up.
He dismounted from his horse and started towards the door. The knights were being restless. Galahad mentioned the drums yet was ignored. I grabbed his wrist, mumbling for him to just hold on, and pushed my horse forward with the rest of the knights.
"Dagonet." Dagonet grabbed his ax and started to break at the bricks, opening the entrance again. Arthur followed by Dagonet, Gawain, and Lancelot entered the cave-like area. I could hear low mumbles and shouts coming from the room but couldn't make out what was being said. The drums seemed to be getting closer yet we couldn't move our eyes from the entrance door. Finally they came out again, Dagonet holding onto a small boy and Arthur carrying a woman with blue paint on her skin.
"She's a Woad." I glanced over to Tristan, trying to find out if that was supposed to be an insult. He didn't meet my eyes for more than a moment but I could tell that he was just stating the obvious. I couldn't see the girl's face but something about her was familiar. Yet all Woads are familiar to one and other, it is something deep within them.
Marius moved forward, yelling that they should be made an example of. After a cruel back hand to his wife, Arthur stood up and knocked the larger man down. Words were exchanged and a monk stepped forward to speak. I hadn't been paying attention, my eyes were resting on the Woad girl, so I didn't hear what was said.
"Wall them up." The knights sighed, their commander not listening to their advice of leaving now, and watched as the village people walled them in. The drums seemed to get closer with every second.
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The caravan was moving slowly, too slow for comfort. The drums had disappeared but I knew that it was only for a while. Arden ran along through the woods, keeping covered from sight. After getting off of Pree, I climbed into the wagon that carried the two prisoners from the Roman housing. I knew all too well what it was like to be a prisoner in a dungeon. The boy was sleeping, resting his head on Fulcinia's lap, Marius's wife. Dagonet kneeled beside the Woad girl, wrapping her hand. He nodded to me as he left the wagon, leaving the girl and I alone.
"You're a Woad?" She had put it in the form of a question, unsure. I nodded but didn't offer anything up. She looked at me, her eyes reading my face.
"You look familiar. I am Guinevere." The name was familiar, she was close to Merlin in the same way that I was close to Gasvin. We grew up together for many years.
"Loraina." Her face contorted for a moment before she was back to being neutral. She had to of heard about my leaving. I waited for her to say anything about it and for a few minutes she didn't.
"I heard the stories, that you had joined the knights of the Wall. Ravidan told us that you wanted nothing to do with us. Then Saclare left and came back not long after. She explained to us that you left for your own good, to find your family. Some of us released our grudge. Other's did not." She was telling me that she bore no ill will towards me. I motioned towards her hand.
"Will you use it again?" She stared down at the appendage and nodded, her face showing pain.
"The Romans are cruel. Yet Arthur is kind." Her voice drifted off while she spoke, slumping down as if to sleep. I positioned her and covered her so that she would be comfortable and crawled towards the front of the wagon, careful not to disrupt the two sleeping forms.
Fulcinia grabbed my arm before I was able to leave the wagon. She seemed caring, unlike her husband. In fact, I didn't understand how they were married at all. Status, most likely.
"That ring, around your throat, where did you get it?" I fingered the ring for the second time that day, staring at the Roman woman hesitantly. I explained that I had been given the ring and some coins a long time ago. She asked to see the coins and I pulled them from the small bag that hung around my waist. She twirled one of the coins with a look of confusion on her face.
"My brother had coins like these, he made them as a hobby. And that ring, that too was something he had made. I haven't seen them in years though." I slowly pulled the letters from the bag at my waist and handed them to her. She read them, her face going pale as she did so.
"These letters were written to my brother. But he has been dead for a few years." As I folded them back up, I asked her a question.
"Did he have a daughter?" Fulcinia looked up, tears in her eyes.
"While his wife was pregnant, Darian had gotten a mistress. She had gotten pregnant and died in childbirth. Someone had left the child on the porch for him. It would of ruined his reputation, he sent the child away without even knowing the gender. Darian only told me the story, I had never met the woman. I don't even know who she was." I twirled the ring around, another question burning in my mind.
"How long ago was this?"
Fulcinia counted back, trying to recall. It all seemed to fit and I felt my stomach clench while I waited for her to answer.
"Twenty-four years since the child would of been born." I seemed to fall limp and I felt tears pour down my face. Fulcinia covered her mouth and then wrapped her arms around me, careful of the child sleeping in her lap. I cried into her shoulder, neither happy nor sad. Relieved that I knew where I came from, mostly.
"So you are my neice." I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks, laughing as I did so.
"So it seems. What about Darian's wife? Is she still alive?" Fulcinia nodded but her face was sad.
"After Darian passed, Claudia was never the same. Her mind went crazy. They had one child, a girl named Renee. She lives with her husband in Rome." I nodded, saddened that I wouldn't be able to meet these people, but grateful that I knew where I came from. I was Roman.
A Roman blooded girl raised as a Woad. I laughed inwardly at the idea.
A/N: I know I said that I'd be done by the end of this weekend but... I fell behind.
I hope that you continue to enjoy these chapters.
And I'm still having trouble answering reviews, but I will get to them as soon as possible.
Reviews are welcomed.
