A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far – your comments are greatly appreciated!
Just2Spooky: Just reviewing is enough to keep me going!
Camreyn: I actually have a couple of chapters that refused to be written, a gap in the middle of the story – what you said gave me an idea of how to bridge it...thank you!
So, to the story so far...
Chapter Seven
The days passed quickly in Auria's settlement. Men and women cleaned and sharpened weapons, practised sparring, and received information on the Irish and their method of fighting from those who had met with them before.
Children, pregnant women, and those too old for battle fixed armour, prepared medical supplies and put together arrows. Craftsmen readied wooden chariots to be pulled by Welsh ponies, who were exercised and fitted with new harnesses. It was a community effort – no pair of hands remained unoccupied.
Lindon was perhaps the busiest of all – he continually walked around the settlement, talking to people, encouraging and inspiring them. He would lead them into battle, and he needed them behind him with no doubts in their minds.
Auria spent the time preparing her battle outfit – similar to that which she'd worm for her sally to the Roman camp in the north, but with more armour. She spoke with the men who could ride – who she'd taught to handle Roman horses. There were nine of them In all – they would enter the fray before everyone else, with herself at their head. Or so she thought.
As she was cleaning her horse's saddle, Lindon came over and sat by her on the ground.
"How goes it?" he asked.
"Well" Auria replied. "We will be ready in good time"
Lindon was silent for a long while, watching her, and Auria wondered what he wanted to speak to her about. She stopped cleaning and looked at him expectantly.
"I wish to ride with you into battle" he said. She raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't trained...not like the other horsemen"
"I can ride well nonetheless"
Auria frowned. She couldn't tell her leader no, but she didn't like the thought of him putting himself in so much danger. Needless danger, when he could enter the battle at the head of the main body of the warriors. She told him as much.
"Arthur...the Roman leader...he rides at the head of his men"
"He is a knight. You lead your people too, just not on horseback"
Lindon sighed. "I have been thinking...my people will follow me, because I am their leader, but they still distrust the Romans. I need to make a show of unity with Arthur. I need to ride into battle by his side"
Auria mulled this over, and said;
"Are you saying that I and my horsemen would also have to ride with Arthur and his knights?"
"Yes"
It would certainly be a show of unity – that much was true. And for all the horsemen to band together and form one charge also made sense...it would further scatter the enemy than if they rode separately. Auria sighed.
"It makes sense for us to ride with Arthur...but I still do not think you should do it. It will be too dangerous"
"I must do it" Lindon said. "For my people, and to show the Romans that I do not hang back like a coward"
So, Auria thought, it was also a matter of pride...
She started cleaning her saddle once again – anything to keep her hands busy before she was tempted to throttle Lindon for his madness.
"Very well" she said. "You will ride at the head of our horsemen...but I will be right by your side"
Lindon nodded. "Thank you"
He got up and left, leaving Auria feeling angry, but resigned. Lindon's place was with his people – some other would have to lead their charge now. He wasn't skilled enough on horseback to ride into battle – she knew she'd have to look out for him, and what you didn't need in battle was to worry about someone else's skin. However, as he'd left he'd thanked her. He was their leader – he didn't have to thank her for anything...but he was showing how much he appreciated her assent. He knew she was making a sacrifice for him, and he was grateful. She sighed again. She hoped he knew what he was doing...but feared that he didn't.
At the close of the second day after the meeting with Arthur, scouts returned to the settlement to say that the Irish had been sighted several leagues off, and would arrive on the morrow.
The mood in the settlement turned from one of occupation, to one of anticipation. Everyone had prepared as much as they physically could – mental and spiritual preparation were all that was left. On the third day, the Irish made camp in the next valley, and just a few hours later Romans could be seen massing their troops to the east.
Auria knew that the time had come to make a move, so as Lindon emerged from his shelter and called for a community meeting in half an hour, she took off her everyday clothes and began to don her battledress.
A thin, short-sleeved shirt went on first, covered by a sleeveless chainmail dress which reached her mid-thigh. A leather jerkin covered this, emblazoned with her tribe's emblem of a raven in flight. Wristguards protected her bare arms, and calf-boots with iron in the toes saved her feet from being trampled by horses' hooves. Leather breeches tucked into the boots, and over all went her swordbelt, a long dagger on one thigh, and a thin knife strapped to the opposite ankle.
She didn't wear a helmet – she preferred to see her enemy without hindrance.
Lindon called for silence as she joined the rest of the settlement at the communal fire. A hush fell over the clearing – warriors and children, young and old all knowing their destiny was near. Lindon stoked the fire until it burned brightly. He had already told his people why they fought – there was really nothing more to say but to give them his blessing, and the blessing of the gods.
He began to sing, his voice clear and strong, and a tankard was passed round from which everyone drank, before their voices joined their leader's. Auria wasn't sure if she believed in gods, or destiny in battle – she'd seen too much suffering and known too much hardship to think someone watched over her – but she drank her fill like everyone else, and raised her voice in song as darkness fell.
Tristan slept uneasily that night, surrounded by the 900 Romans who had set up camp on the hillside across from the Irish. He and the other knights had spent the past three days preparing in their own way for the upcoming battle – Lancelot sparred constantly, and Bors used up as many hours drinking. As always, Tristan looked within himself to find courage for the battle, but this time when he tried to quiet his mind, he was distracted by a far-off sound. Dagonet, sat nearby, raised his head curiously.
"What's that noise?"
Tristan listened as it grew and became clearer. It was unearthly somehow...it made his skin prickle.
"Singing"
A hush began to fall on the Roman camp as more men heard the voices from the beyond the distant trees. The song was deep, slow...it reminded them of the earth and of time immemorial. Tristan knew that it was a song of battle and courage, and when it ended it still seemed to echo in his mind.
More than 3000 Irish massed on the opposite hill. Tristan had had his doubts, but now he knew that the Britons were there, in the woods, in the shadows. They were watching, and waiting, just like everyone else.
Sometime towards dawn, as Arthur and the Roman commander finalised their battle plans in the largest of the tents, nine horsemen emerged from the forest.
Eight horsemen, Tristan corrected himself. One horsewoman.
They did not approach the Roman camp – they stood on the hill just below the treeline two bow-shots away, regarding the Romans calmly. They were waiting for someone to go to them. Tristan got to his feet and went to tell Arthur.
On the way to the tent, he passed Galahad, who was looking toward the Britons.
"Is that all the army they can muster? We're doomed!"
Tristan shook his head and continued on, entering the commander's tent without announcing himself, much to the annoyance of the soldier at the door.
"Oi, mate, you can't..."
"Arthur!"
Arthur stopped talking mid-sentence and turned to face his knight. The Roman commander also looked up, slightly bemused at the interruption.
"Yes?"
"The Britons are here"
Arthur looked at the commander, who shrugged. This was the knights' idea, and he didn't want to have anything to do with it. Arthur could deal with them as he saw fit.
"I will go to them" Arthur said decisively. The commander nodded his agreement, and the knight left the tent, motioning that Tristan should follow him.
Looking across the hill at the horsemen, he came to a decision.
"We will go to them"
Tristan frowned. "What?"
"Get the others, saddle the horses. We're all going to ride over there"
"Why?"
"Because I say so"
Arthur's tone brooked no argument, so Tristan nodded and quickly found Galahad, who was still watching the Britons. Dagonet and Lancelot were already up and it didn't take long to wake the others. Within minutes they were ready and mounted – it certainly helped that they had slept in their armour.
Whilst the Britons looked on, they rode in formation up the hill.
Lindon urged his horse forward on the approach of the knights, and Auria followed, stopping right beside him. Now that he was mounted and with her and her men, she felt uneasy. This was not the way things were supposed to be. She couldn't dwell on her feelings however – the knights were now slowing to a walk just a few lengths away. Both parties regarded the other – Britons, dressed in leather, with painted faces and stolen weapons; Sarmations, horse and man wearing Roman armour which glowed in the first light of dawn.
Arthur, seeing how Lindon brought his second-in-command forward to act as interpreter, motioned for Lancelot to follow him as he approached the Briton, to even up the numbers.
Lancelot's eyes appraised the young woman. She looked stunning. Her hair was drawn back from her face and braided – her face was painted with whorls running along her cheekbone and across one eye – and she looked proud. Defiant. Untouchable.
Her blue eyes sparked as they met his, and unlike on their last meeting, he thought he saw something of admiration there. They certainly held wariness.
Lindon spoke, and Auria repeated it barely after he'd finished.
"Hail, Arthur and his knights"
"Hail, Lindon and his warriors" Arthur said. "Where are the rest of you?"
"They will come when they are needed" Auria said. "Our horsemen will ride into battle with the Romans, if you are willing"
Arthur was going to suggest something similar – he hadn't told his knights, but on seeing the horsemen and idea had come to him.
"I am willing" he said.
Auria noticed the flicker in the young man's eyes who sat next to Arthur. The man from the clearing who had spoken to her – it was strange how they kept meeting in parley. It seemed as if he wasn't happy with the arrangement. Her horsemen weren't either, but it was a show of unity her people would respect. She relayed the message to Lindon, who replied;
"Then it will be so"
Arthur nodded, and pointed to a spot on the hillside just behind a battalion of Roman soldiers.
"I think it best we make our charge from there. We will scatter their forces whilst Roman foot soldiers advance"
Lindon studied the spot Arthur had pointed to and with a glance to Auria, seemed to find it satisfactory. He had to look like he knew what he was doing, and Auria's barely perceptible nod helped him through.
"My people will cover the north flank" Lindon said. "They will not show themselves until the battle has begun. We shall surprise the enemy from the woods"
A move such as this could turn the battle, and Arthur saw its sense. It also gave him the beginnings of respect for the Welsh leader.
Arthur and Lancelot returned to the knights and began to ride over to the spot they were to charge from, the native warriors following a few lengths behind. Whilst they'd been talking, both the Romans and the Irish invaders had been readying themselves, and now looked about prepared for battle. The Roman commander rode down the lines, rallying his troops, before Irish arrows filled the air as thick as rain.
They fell short, and a cheer went up from the Roman side, quickly followed by burning arrows which set the ground alight in front of the Irish troops.
The Irish advanced at a slow march, and their next volley fell on an efficient shield-wall. The Roman arrows which followed were met with less resistance, and within minutes the front ranks of the Irish became thinned. Men stepped forward to take the places of the dead.
Knights and warriors stood motionless on the hill watching the exchange, until Lindon told his men to stand their horses between those of Arthur's knights. They would not charge as two separate groups, but as one integrated force.
Although the knights didn't understand what the Briton had said, they bristled when they saw what the other horsemen were doing. All eyes turned to Arthur, whose gaze was locked with that of Lindon. The two men seemed to understand each other, at least. Arthur told his knights to make room.
Auria moved her horse to stand next to Lancelot's. He was watching the exchange of arrows, but looked over at her once she sat just a few feet away. His eyes rested on the sword held loosely in her hand, then flicked back up to meet her gaze. A leer tugged at the corner of his mouth when he said;
"Are you sure you can fight with that sword?"
Auria stiffened. She hadn't expected him to insult her right before they'd have to fight together. Images of 'accidentally' running him through sprang to mind. She looked him up and down – he was quite spectacular in his armour, but it must weigh tons, she thought. She studied it pointedly.
"Are you sure you can fight in that armour?"
Lancelot met her gaze once again, his eyes darker than before. There was seemingly no way to get a rise out of her – at least, none that he'd found yet. She was certainly a challenge.
"Touche"
Auria frowned slightly at the unfamiliar word, but when she remembered its meaning she smiled.
Lancelot, surprised at her expression, wondered what was so funny. Seeing him look at her that way, the woman's smile disappeared, and she concentrated on the battle scene once more.
Lancelot mentally kicked himself. He should have at least smiled back – on the girl it was a lovely expression...perhaps he should be trying to make her smile instead of looking for weaknesses. He hoped they'd both live long enough for him to see it again...
His attention snapped to Arthur – he was telling them to ride well, kill well, and bring victory to themselves, the Romans, and the Britons.
When he had done, Lindon said one word to his men, which they all repeated. Arthur looked questioningly at Auria, who thought a moment for the Latin equivalent. She raised her eyes to his and said;
"Freedom"
A/N: I just realised that between "scenes" within the chapters, document manager hasn't preserved my page breaks, so i'm sorry if it just seems like it's flicking from one place to another. I'm trying to find a symbol it will preserve, but i have to go through all the chapters and correct it. Hopefully i'll get it done in the next day or two!