Memories of Death

Chapter 21—Follow Orders

Lara sighs deeply, looking indifferently at the wreckage of the battle. She turns her swords in her hand and sheaths them. She looks over her shoulder and smiles at Merlin dressing a wound on Arthur's arm.

They won the fight. It was brief and easy. A village was being bombarded by bandits pillaging and Arthur and his knights happened to be passing by. Lara was at the head of them, finishing off the leader before anyone else began to fight.

Lara turns when she hears a whimper behind her. She frowns and goes to the barrel where she heard the noise. She kneels and moves the barrel aside. A little boy with dark hair shrieks and shudders at the sight of her, clutching to the dirty wall. His arm is bleeding.

"It's okay," she says softly. "You're hurt—let me help you."

Lara holds her hand out. The boy whimpers again and pushes away from her, his bare feet kicking away the mud mixed with drops of blood.

"St—stay away from me!" he cries. "Don't—don't hurt me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," she says softly.

"You're the Angel of Death!" he cries shooting guilt, discomfort and pain through Lara's bloodstream. "My mama told me to about you! You bring Death!"

Lara stands as Dresban and Leon go to the boy. Dresban picks up the boy who wraps his arms around his neck to keep him safe and Leon looks at the boy's wound.

"Don't you do enough?" Dresban shoots at Lara.

Lara ignores him and her hand drops to her heart. She shudders deeply.

"Lara," Merlin says touching her arm softly.

Lara jumps and raises her sword unconsciously to his throat. She sees his eyes and her own go wide. She drops her sword in the mud and backs away from him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers, her throat clogging.

"Did you see that?" Dresban cries. "She almost killed Merlin!"

"I'm so sorry," Lara says again.

"No, Lara, it's—" Merlin begins.

But Lara raises her hand, picks up her muddy and bloody sword and stalks toward Trinidad.

"Lara," Arthur tries, but Lara walks past him and pulls Trinidad out of sight of the village.

Lara leans her back against a tree, closing her eyes and facing the sky. She swallows deeply and touches her throat, feeling the water and a few thick drops of blood.

—Lara screamed when she was thrown roughly into the throne room. Her head was pulsating with hot fear and her hair was dripping from the rain she had just gotten out of.

Then he came in—that man who took her personally from her parent's house. They called him Gorian, but he wanted her to call him Bronwyn. He had smiled at her as they traveled—he had called her names of endearment. But he was grim—he had run her mother through. So much red blood—more than Lara had seen in her entire life.

Bronwyn smiled down at her and sat on the throne in the middle of the room.

"Hello, my pet," he said.

Lara cried and shivered. "I—I want to go home," she whispered.

"You are home, my darling," he said. He gestures toward the castle. "The Isle of the Gorinians is your home now." Lara whimpered. "Oh, come now, dear, you've moved around for most of your life—how is this place different from any of the others?"

Lara swallowed looking at the scary men staring at her around the room with sword. "It—it—" she began.

"It's what?" Bronwyn nearly mocked. He laughed. "Is it scary?"

Lara looked at him and nodded. Bronwyn laughed again. "There are scarier things, beautiful."

Bronwyn stepped down from his throne and kneeled as he did in the forest. Lara whimpered when he holds her small child's chin in between his thick, calloused fingers. "Listen to me, angel," he said. "You will follow my every order. More than you ever did your father. You will be my angel of Death. Do you understand that?"

Lara stared at him. He shakes her head roughly. "Do you understand that?" he repeated.

Lara nodded slowly, remembering the bloodshed she had witnessed—blood that included her parents'.

-They rode back toward Camelot, talking and laughing as they often do after a battle. Percival, who normally jokes with Gawain but that particular knight was away on his honeymoon, laughs with Elyan and Arthur.

Merlin rides up next to Lara who is at the head, staring stoically forward. "Lara?" he says carefully.

"Not now, Merlin," Lara says softly.

"That boy was scared," Merlin tries to reason. "He didn't know what he was saying."

"He isn't the only one to give me the name the Angel of Death, Merlin," Lara rebukes roughly.

She hits Trinidad's reins and rides more forward. She hates her memories and wishes they would go away. She hates that they haunt her, follow her as surely as she did Bronwyn's orders.