Author's Notes: Hello again everyone. As I said before this will be another character development chapter, after this one we'll be back to death and dismemberment. Still don't own the Warhammer world.
Though the knights and their horses were as tired as Karl felt. Bach pushed them through the night. Karl feared they would crash into trees or trip on roots in the dark or be ambushed. But the horses clearly knew the woods better than Karl did and no sign was seen of the enemy. They emerged from the forest just as the sun was rising.
They emerged from the forest on a hill; below them was the town of Three Rivers. It was aptly named. Two rivers merged to flow together forming a third. Nestled in the area where the two met was Three Rivers. It was a walled town; at a guess Karl would say that it had to have several thousand people living in it. At the back of the town, nearest the river, was a large manor house.
As they rode down the hill toward the town Karl smelled all the smells that he had come to associate with human habitations and there was another smell; he did not know how he knew what it was but he did, it was fear. It hung like a cloud over the town.
When they entered he saw that there were many more people than he had thought. Far too many to be permanent residents; Karl guessed them to be villagers and famers who had fled the approaching Beastmen. The smell of fear emanated the most from them and many stared about with frightened or vacant eyes. Among them moved two groups of people; the first was a group of women in the white robes common to the Sisters of Shallya, they moved about the refugees handing out food, blankets and medicine. The second group was men in the some sort of uniform; they were moving among the refugees and grabbing all the able-bodied men and the larger boys and shoving them into a group, they were clearly conscripting them for the town's defense.
Now that they were on his mind he saw a lot of soldiers about, running to a fro under the glare of sergeants and officers. He also so more knights of Bach's order. He felt more confident looking at them; surely this was a force more than capable of seeing off a swarm of beasts. Then he looked at them more closely; the knights were as battered and worn as Bach and his men and they all had wearing and uneasy looks, as if haunted by some terrible knowledge. Karl's confidence was further undermined by the troops. Most of them wore no uniforms and the way they moved and handled their weapons suggested unfamiliarity with military life. Karl guessed most were not soldiers at all but refugees and townsmen pressed into service. He thought back to the monsters he had faced and shuddered, most of these men wouldn't stand a chance against those things.
The knights rode on into what was clear the upper class part of town when things were normal. They pulled to a halt in front of a building that was clearly a temple to Shallya and Clare and the children were handed down. A middle age priestess came out; Bach gave a few words of explanation and the priestess said she would try to find a place for them. They tried to get Ernst to dismount as well but he refused. "My duty is to fight." Was all he said; Bach looked at him for a moment and then silently nodded his agreement.
The knights, along with Ernst and Karl, went to the temple of Sigmar where the knights were staying. There they met with Baron Von Srab. The baron was a short man of middle years built like a barrel, hard muscles beginning to run to fat.
"Welcome back Bach, I was beginning to fear the worst." He looked at Ernst and Karl, who hastily bowed, "And who might these two be?"
"Refugees from Tree Fell my lord;" said Bach, "When we found them they were holding off an Ungor scouting party. As they show more of an inclination to fighting than most of the people here I wanted them with my knights rather than with the militia when the fighting starts."
"As you will;" said the baron, his mind clearly on other things, "What did you learn from your scouting?"
Bach sighed resignedly. "It is bad my lord. We could not get an exact account of course but the enemy is in strength far greater than a raiding party; it's a whole Sigmar-damned army. I would guess that they number over two thousand at least."
The baron sighed heavily. "I feared it would be so. What of our own strength?"
This last question was directed at an old man who appeared to be a councilor of some kind. The man consulted a piece of parchment before speaking. "Of our own numbers; we have one hundred and fifty regular soldiers, these include the men of the town watch. I have been informed that the militia now numbers approximately seven hundred; Sir Bach of course has his thirty knights. Messages have been sent to the neighboring lords requesting aid but so far none have answered. Of provisions…" The man began, but the baron waved him to silence.
"No need to go on about that Rufus. This will not be a siege. The beasts will reach us by nightfall and I doubt not that they will throw themselves at us at once. No, we may very well die but it will not be from hunger." He turned to Bach. "My old friend, as you know most of these men out there have never held a weapon before and of the troops I doubt you would find a score of veterans among them. The fighting will fall hardest on you and your knights."
Bach gave a shrug. "Our order is dedicated to the defeating these beasts and the defense of the citizens of the Empire, we would have it no other way."
"Good;" said the baron, "Well, I do not believe there is anything more to be said. You all know where you need to be at sundown I suggest you all get some food and rest."
Karl went with the knights to get some food, Ernst chose to remain behind and pray and as many other people where there seeking comfort he went to speak with them, the town's priest having died a month or so ago of fever.
After he ate he went to the barn where the Knights horses were stabled. Bach had promised to send someone for him at sundown and Karl was determined to catch up on lost sleep while he had the chance. He sat himself down in a corner, rolled himself up in a blanket from his pack and was asleep in seconds.
A noise jerked him awake, he struggled to throw off the blanket and grab the wood cutters axe one of the knights had given him. "Please, it is only me." Looking up Karl saw that it was Clare. She had scrubbed her face and tied her red hair back with a leather band. In place of Karl's cloths she now wore a simple white dress, rather like the ones worn by the priestess only without the emblem of the goddess or red cuffs. In her hands she held the cloths he had given her. She hesitantly offered them to him. "I thought you would want these back." She sounded nervous, she looked nervous and to Karl's nose she smelled nervous.
"Is something wrong?" Karl asked.
She shook her head, not meeting his eyes. She squired in place, took a few deep breaths and then tackled him so hard that if he had not been sitting down it would have knocked him off his feet. He opened his mouth ask her what she was doing but before he could speak her lips locked with his in a ferocious kiss.
Karl felt like his body was on fire. His heart was pounding so hard he feared it would burst from his chest. He felt lite headed and could barely think. Finally she released him and he found himself gasping for air, as was she. "What are you doing?" He finally managed to get out.
"Thanking you." She said, blushing even more than him, as she started to pull off her dress.
Karl felt the blood simultaneously rush to his face and shoot from his head causing him to feel even more lite headed, making thinking even harder. "You don't have to do this." He somehow managed to splutter out.
"Yes I do. You saved me from being…" She stopped and took a deep breath. "You saved me from those things and tonight you are going to face them again, you deserve this. I'm not brave like you; tonight you'll be on the wall facing them and I'll be hiding in the temple with the children, but if I can make you happy till then I will."
Karl tried again to speak but she placed a hand on his mouth. "I know what you're going to see, that I don't have to do this, but I want to. Do you know what is going to happen, if we survive tonight I mean?" Karl just shook his head. "I'll tell you. You'll leave here, you're not the settling down kind I can see that. Do you know what will happen to us? Ernst will be alright; when the new priest gets here it will be as before for him. The Sisters will look after the children until families take them in and me…" She paused and seemed to be fighting back tears. "Well, I am a woman; I will have to find work. The only work I'll probably be able to get is working in the tavern. Being pawed and groped by drunks all day and I'll be expected to… to go with patrons.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to sound calmer. "I know I'll never see you again and I know that all those stories about the lady being rescued by the brave knight and living happily ever after are just that, stories. But you will always be a hero to me and I want my first time to be with you. So I can pretend that it's you every time I have to go with a patron."
Karl was unable to speak for a moment. He had never imagined something like this. A beautiful girl was begging him to take her, and by Sigmar he wanted to. But he could not do it. This girl thought he was a hero but if he did this now that would be a lie.
She was terrified of both dying and what would happen if she lived. She was exhausted from the last several days and now that she finally had time to think she was doubtless grieving for her family and fully realizing what had happened and what would have happened; he doubted that she was thinking clearly and was latching on to him in both hero worship and terror. To take advantage her like this would be wrong and it would make Karl a monster in his own eyes.
He could not find the words to express all this but she must have seen something in his eyes; "You don't want me!" She jumped up and ran towards the door, tears flowing from her eyes. Karl sprang up and caught her before she reached the door. He pulled her into an embrace as she sobbed into his shirt. "You must think I am horrible." She bawled. "Some kind of loose woman; or a silly little girl full of romantic nonsense."
"Hush;" Karl said softly, "Don't go saying things like that. You are braver than many men I've known. Most of them could not have gone through what you have, never forget that." Looking down he saw that though she was still crying a little she was on the verge of sleep, exhaustion finally catching up to her. 'Come;" he said softly, "You need some sleep."
"Can I stay here?" She whispered in a pleading voice. "I feel safer with you."
Karl smiled softly. "Of course you can." Together they lay down. She snuggled up beside him, her head on his chest as he arranged the blanket over them, soon both were sound asleep.
Author's Notes: Well there you have it, I hope it was not too risqué for anyone. How was my portrayal of Clare? I wasn't trying to show her as weak. She has just had her world torn apart after all and is terrified about the future seeing only bad at this point and she sees Karl as both her hero and first crush. I am not sure if things would really be as grim as she says but she is a penniless refugee and let us face it, back then men had advantages and opportunities women did not. For those of you who found this too mushy fear not. Next chapter we conclude this adventure and there will be much death and dismemberment. Bye, please keep praying for Shawn and the others and may Jesus bless you till then.