Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Author's Note: Thank you once again to all of my reviewers and those that have put this story on their alerts or favorites! ^_^ I hope you enjoy this chapter! And remember....Reviews are the best kind of bribery for another update. hehehe Enjoy!
'…..She was about to reach around for her dagger, when she was grabbed from behind. A hand was clamped over her mouth and her arms restrained. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" she heard whispered into her ear.....'
Caley's eyes widened when she heard that voice. 'I know that voice.' she thought as she was roughly pushed to her knees, mud splattering on her pants, and her hands bound. She struggled, but it was useless.
The man that had spoken walked to stand in front of Caley. Towering over her. Caley looked up at him and her eyes widened again as her suspicions were confirmed.
"Altus..." she trailed off. Not quite believing it was him.
He smirked at her. "Glad to see that you remembered me."
Caley narrowed her eyes at him. "How could I forget the bastard that took me from my home!" she spat at him. Caley's head snapped left as Altus backhanded her, the sting intensified by the rain and her wet skin.
"Don't you touch her!" Caley heard Tristan struggle nearby, no doubt angered at Altus for striking Caley. Caley turned her head back to glare at Altus, he cheek stinging and turning red.
"Watch your tongue. You are not in a position to be insulting a Roman officer." he said dangerously. Caley continued to glare at him. A twisted smile spread across Altus' face. He leaned down so that he was eye level with Caley. "I have a present for you." he whispered, and reached out to caress her cheek. She pulled away, not once breaking her glare.
"Don't touch me." she ground out dangerously.
Altus just smirked and stood upright. He looked at his men. "Bring them to the camp." he ordered and walked away into the woods. Caley and Tristan were hauled to their feet and forced to follow Altus. The rain dispersed slightly when they reached the trees, but that did not stop the squelching sounds their boots made as they walked.
Caley and Tristan were forced to walk, a dagger held at their backs making them do so. The Romans had surrounded the two Knights, preventing anyway for them to escape. But that did not discourage them from looking over the area for anything that might be useful in a escape later on.
As they walked Caley shivered. Her clothes were soaked now, and the night air gave her a chill, even in the middle of summer. Tristan noticed her slight shivering.
"Are you alright?" he whispered in their native tongue.
She glanced over at him, and nodded her head. He didn't seem convinced, and she could see the worry in his eyes. She gave him a small smile, trying to cease his worry, but she knew it was futile. She would always worry him whenever they were in some kind of predicament.
Caley was not fine, however. She glanced down at her stomach. The baby growing inside of her was her biggest worry. Whatever these Roman's were gonna do, she feared for the safety and health of her unborn child. She bit her lip, as her worry flared to its worst.
'I mustn't let these bastards know that I'm afraid. They'll only do worse to me, if they don't plan on killing me.' she thought as she continued to walk.
The group continued on in silence, with nothing but the sound of snapping twigs and footsteps through mud. After about a half hour or so walking, Tristan and Caley could see a dim light of a fire up head. As they got closer, they could tell that it was the Roman's camp, and there were another 5 Romans wandering around. Two small tents had been erected on either side of the camp, with the fire burning brightly in the middle.
Altus stopped when they reached inside the camp boundaries. He turned to his men that were guarding Tristan and Caley and motioned for them to be brought to him. When they reached him, the two Knights were forced to their knees, yet again.
Altus smirked at his two prisoners. "I love this position of power." he said with a smile on his face. "Here I am, with two of Arthur's fearsome Knights." he looked from Caley to Tristan. "Yet, they are completely powerless to do anything." As the words left his mouth, he let his hand fly and hit Tristan across the face.
Caley glared at him, and struggled against the man that was restraining her. Just as Tristan hated seeing her hit, she felt the same way when he was treated in such a way.
Tristan recovered from the blow quickly and gave him a glare that would send most men running for the hills. Altus, however, just smiled at Tristan's act of defiance. He looked over at Caley, who was still struggling against her captor, and his smile grew wider. Altus drew his dagger and held it at Tristan's throat. Caley immediately froze, frightened that he may end her beloved's life right in front of her.
"Seems the wench has a bit of a soft spot for you." Altus said with laugh. "How touching." He sheathed his dagger. "That is something that I will definitely remember."
"What do you want?" Caley asked, tired of this little game Altus was playing.
Altus walked over to stand in front of Caley. "What do I want?" he repeated as he squatted down to become eye level with Caley. "I want revenge."
Caley looked at him confused. She tried remembering a time or instance that she or the Knights had crossed this man in her time being on this island.
Altus laughed seeing her trying to conjure up a memory. "Can't remember? Well allow me to refresh your mind." he stood back up and started walking back and forth in front of the two. "You disgraced me." he said shooting her a look. "Because of you trying to escape when we brought you here, I was forced to restrain you and hit you when you did not listen. Because of that Arthur had me discharged from Hadrian's Wall. Apparently, he didn't like the way I treated you, bloody half-Roman. I was dishonored because of that. I was sent back to Rome, and wasn't able to be stationed anywhere. All because their precious Artorious Castus removed me from his service."
He paused and went back over to Caley. He knelt down in front of her and grabbed her face. "My life was ruined because of you." he said in a dangerous voice.
Caley jerked her head out of his hand. "You did that yourself." she said glaring at him. "And that's a pretty pathetic reason to get revenge on someone. But you pig headed Romans alwa-"
It wasn't a slap across the face that cut Caley off this time, it was a punch. Altus had hit her so hard that she saw stars and landed in the mud. She gritted her teeth against the pain, refusing to let him hear a cry escape her mouth, the taste of blood made her stomach turn.
'The Baby!' her mind screamed. 'You must keep your temper in check, Caley. You don't want anything to happen to the baby!'
She heard another body hit the muddy ground and she could only assume that Tristan was infuriated, and attempted to lash out, only to receive a hit to the ground. Caley attempted to get back up, but her restrained arms prevented her from doing so. Altus, however, hauled her up roughly.
"If that damn Scout attempts to attack us one more time, I will not hesitate to kill him or you!" He shouted at her.
Caley looked over to where Tristan was. He was forced onto his stomach with a sword tip at the back of his neck. A Roman soldier was off to the side, nursing what looked to be a bloody nose. She smirked, 'Tristan must have used his head.' she thought.
"Now." Altus said letting go of her tunic and standing up straight. "Lets continue our little reunion." He turned and looked at one of the Romans.
"Go get her little present." He ordered. The Roman gave a short salute before walking away towards one of the tents. Altus looked back I Caley. "I do hope you enjoy your gift."
Caley just glared back at him. It was broken though as her attention was brought to the commotion coming from one of the tents. Caley and Tristan watched as the Roman was joined by another Roman and they were dragging someone towards them. Whoever it was, was putting up quite a fight, struggling and flailing the entire time.
"Let me go!" yelled a feminine voice.
Caley froze and her eyes widened. 'No.' she thought to herself. 'It couldn't be.'
The woman was brought to the group and forced to her knees next to Altus. Caley looked at her speechless, not quite believing her eyes.
"Mina?" Caley breathed out looking at the girl.
The girl looked up and her eyes had widened as well. "Caley? Is that really you?" Mina said in disbelief. Caley just smiled. It was her sister there was no denying it. The long brown hair, and green eyes gave it away.
Tristan looked up from his position on the ground from Caley to the girl she had called Mina. Instantly, he could tell that they were sisters. There was no denying it. They looked so much alike it was unmistakeable. 'But why was she here?' Tristan thought. 'If she's here, then the state of their tribe does not bode well.' he thought bitterly. 'If something happened to Caley's tribe, she'll be broken. That or her anger will be so great that these Roman's will stand no chance against her if she got free.'
"I thought you would like your gift." Altus said to Caley.
Caley tore her gaze from Mina and fixed Altus with a death glare. "What did you do to our tribe?" she asked icily.
Tristan didn't miss the look of sorrow that shadowed Mina's face. 'It's as I thought.'
Altus let a smile spread across his face. "Well if you must know. Me and my men killed everyone and burned it to the ground." he said rather joyfully. "Your father was the last to die, begging for his pathetic life. Can't believe he used to be a Knight, but then again, you Sarmatians are nothing but dogs. We let your brat sister live. Thought we would bring her to you before we killed her, then you, and your precious Scout." Altus laughed, along with a few of his men.
Tristan watched helplessly as Caley looked to the ground squeezing her eyes shut tightly. He could see her shaking as her anger started to rise. He glanced over at Mina who had silent tears running down her face. He glanced up at Altus and his men, his own anger starting to rise. Before he could act, Caley beat him to it.
She shot up from the ground, and out of the restraining arms of the man behind her. She used all of her strength and plowed into Altus and knocked him to the ground, her going with him. She quickly rolled away and got back to her feet and kicked him hard in the side.
"You bastard! I swear I will make you pay for what you did!" she screamed at him, slipping into her native tongue through her rage.
"STOP!" a man yelled, but she ignored him. She froze, however, when she heard Mina.
"Caley!" she yelled, fear lacing her voice. Caley looked over at her, and saw a Roman holding a dagger to her throat.
'I can't risk losing her too.' Caley thought to herself. If Mina or Tristan were not here she would be giving everything she had to make Altus suffer. A Roman came up behind her and grabbed her, holding her tight.
Altus slowly got up from the muddy ground, anger emitting off of his body. He looked at Caley and struck her so hard across the face, it could have been a punch. "If you ever do that again I will kill you all without a second thought!" He shouted at her. "However," he said lower his voice some. "You will severely pay tonight for your little act. Take her to my tent!" he ordered one of his men.
Caley's eyes widened as it hit her what he was gonna do. 'He's gonna rape me!' her mind screamed. "My Gods, protect my child!' she prayed.
As her captor started to drag her away she struggled, fighting every step of the way. She could see Mina panicking, knowing what was gonna happen to her sister. Tristan was fighting to get up from the ground, but his captor was refusing to let him get that far. She met his eyes, and saw the burning inferno of anger residing in them. She knew hers must have been showing fear, because he struggled even more.
"Touch her and I swear that I'll-" Tristan started yelling.
"You'll what? Kill me? I highly doubt it in your position Scout." Altus laughed. "Tie him and the girl to a tree for the night." he ordered before following Caley and her captor to his tent with a smile on his face.
Tristan and Mina were drug over to the edge of the camp and each tied to a tree. It took them a lot longer to get Tristan tied, since he was trying to make it as hard as possible, hitting them anyway he could, with his legs, shoulders, and his head. He earned himself a few punches, but they eventually had him tied.
"Enjoy your night, you Sarmatian dogs." one Roman spat at them before walking back to the fires of the camp.
Mina looked over at the man that was held prisoner with her. She studied him, taking in his dark hair and eyes, and the tattoos on his cheeks that were similar to her sisters and late fathers. 'I suppose he can be trusted.' she thought to herself.
She summoned up enough courage to speak to him. "Will you help my sister?" she asked him quietly.
Tristan looked over at the girl, taking in the fear that was evident on her face. 'Who knows what these Roman bastards did to this poor girl.' he thought to himself. 'She can't be no older than 14.' He let out a small sigh and tried to give Mina a reassuring smile. "I will." he told her. "I will get you and her out of this camp."
She smiled slightly, glad that she could trust him. "What is your name?" she asked him.
"Tristan." was all he said.
"Mina." she said properly introducing herself. "Thank you." she whispered quietly.
He looked over at her slightly confused, but then nodded. 'She's probably grateful to not be in this alone.' he thought solemnly.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the strangled cries of Caley from withing the Roman's tent. Tristan's blood started to boil, and he tried pulling against rope that bound him. He wasn't able to protect Caley from that Roman and it was killing him. When he got free, that Roman was gonna be in a world of pain. But as it stood, Caley, Tristan, and Mina were gonna be in for a long torturous night.