A/N: Last time I forgot to thank my muse's. lol Really without these people and animals my story probably wouldn't have happened, so thank you first to Tin Toy (a horse) who inspired me to have Toy (Ashla's main horse) in the story, Timmins aka Foible in the story, and Ebony aka Shadow in the story. Secondly I would like to thank toy's rider Ashley (ha ha ha) who was my inspiration for Ashla and her brothers who played her brothers in the story (ha ha ha, I killed the oldest one). I would also like to thank all the guy's that have ever pissed me off cos you guy's helped me to write about Muir, Phelan, Lincoln and Jerome, so yeah thanks. All the other characters are Tammy's, unless there are some of mine I forgot to mention, and I am just borrowing them. For those of you who are wondering what's happening to Kel in all of this, I will put up a chapter in her p.o.v. soon, hopefully after this one.

Chapter 4- Emotions Winter 461HE

"I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of one of my men. Brawling at an inn, what were you thinking?" raged Raoul as he paced around the room

"Sir it wasn't like that" Dom tried to explain

"Then what was it like? I'd really like to hear this because from where I'm standing I have no idea. This is so out of character for you"

"Sir he forced himself on a woman and then when I approached him about it he suggested I had wanted to do the same thing" Dom's very blue eyes met Raoul's black ones as Raoul paused his pacing.

"Who is she?" he asked more quietly

"One of the women in the Rider groups" Dom explained then continued when Raoul raised one eyebrow in question "Lady Ashla of Ermengarde sir"

"Because of this I have a man with a broken nose and finger being taken care of by a healer? Why didn't you just come and see me?" asked Raoul

"Actually sir, she broke his finger not me and I was on my way to inform you but then Sir Muir made his comment" Dom replied looking at his feet like a child who knew he had risen to the bait.

Raoul sighed "Off you go then. I won't bother bringing the poor girl in here, she's had enough to deal with in her life without this being blown out of proportion and dragging her name through the mud"

"Sir?" Dom looked up questionably

"I thought you knew" Raoul frowned "I don't know if it's my right to tell you but you'll probably hear some version of the truth anyway. When she was fourteen her father Sir Heiniger of Ermengarde committed suicide. He fell upon his own sword. A year after that she ran away and joined the Riders after I believe her mother forbid her to, insisting she stay at the convent that she was attending at the time. Also two years ago her older her oldest brother Sir Egnatz of Ermengarde was killed in battle. The only family member she's still in contact with is her younger brother Ascot who I have heard has been recently taken on as a squire by your cousin, Sir Nealan of Queenscove" Raoul informed him

"Thank you sir" Dom said, his head still reeling from what Raoul had just told him

He turned and walked out the door only to be barrelled into by a red faced and furious Ashla

"What did you do that for? Did you think I couldn't stand up for myself because I'm a woman? Do you feel like a real man now that you've protected my honour? Well I don't need your protection, I'm quite capable of looking after myself" with that she turned on her heel and stormed off into the night, leaving Dom standing there with his mouth open.

Dom paused for a moment before following her. He found her on the bank beside the river sitting under a tree. The gentle breeze pulled at her clothing as she gazed up at the stars which shone brightly in the velvety black sky. It wasn't until she brought her hand up to her face and wiped it that Dom realised she was crying. He walked forward slowly and sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry Dom. I didn't mean to take my anger out on you. You've been a really good friend and I understand that you were only trying to help. I'm just an awful person" she told him without even turning to look at him

"Don't say that. You're not an awful person" Dom wasn't really sure what to say to comfort her

"Oh yes I am. Dom do you know my family history?" she finally turned to face him, her eye's shinning with tears in the moonlight

Dom nodded "My lord Raoul told me some of it, yes" He admitted

"I never really liked my father, in fact I hated him. He loved my brothers but could barely bring himself to look at me. He used to hit me and make excuses to punish me, but I was strong, I didn't care. When he died though I was happy. No normal person is happy about death" the tears flowed more freely down her cheeks now.

"Hey, it's ok. You had every right to feel that way. No one would blame you for it" he reassured her.

"After his death I found out that he had every right to feel that way about me. I'm the only of my family with blonde hair and blue eyes. All the others have dark brown or black hair and brown eyes. Also nine months before my birth a Scanran noble was visiting our fief. One that, according to my sources, my mother had a great interest in. More than a bit of a coincidence huh? She never could pass up an opportunity to bed another man. She resented my 'father' as she was forced into marrying him at a young age by my grandparents who arranged the marriage. My mother is the sort of person who gives women the name whore" she finished, as tears now dripped from her face

"I'm sorry. Ranting on to you like this and crying away. It's positively shameful. I shouldn't be crying. I never cry" she said as she attempted to dry her face

"Someone told me once that you'll be stronger with each day that you cry. So go ahead, cry away. You have nothing to be ashamed of" Dom soothed her

"I'm sorry about earlier. I don't deserve friends like you" she sobbed

"Don't be silly" Dom said as he pulled her into a hug "and stop saying sorry"

He held her tightly as sobs raked through her body. She clung to him as she cried softly into his shoulder, his head resting in her hair. It seemed to Dom that she had kept this all bottled up inside and this was the first time she had let it all out. He knew she would feel better for it afterwards even if she would be embarrassed from her rare show of emotions. She reminded him of Kel. They were so alike, yet so different. Kel also hid her feelings well. So well in fact that only her eyes sometimes betrayed her. Slowly Ash pulled away.

"Look what I've done now. I've gone and made you're shirt all wet and wrinkly" she laughed

"All in the line of duty my lady" Dom teased with a mock bow, making Ash laugh harder as she punched him in the arm.

"One thing I've been meaning to ask, though," Dom said turning serious "is why didn't you put your name down for hunting? It's everyone's favourite"

Even in the dark Dom detected a slight blush creeping into her cheeks as she looked down and mumbled.

"I'm hopeless at using a bow" she admitted, which made Dom laugh. One of the best fighters he'd ever met, even one to rival Kel, couldn't use a bow. Well, everyone has their faults he thought

"How about if I helped you, starting tomorrow morning" he offered

"Oh, would you? I would really appreciate it" she gushed

"You might not be saying that in the morning" Dom warned as he got up and headed for bed

The next morning they met in a flat paddock, which was only about 300 metres from their tents, where Dom had set up three targets. Ash had brought her bow and after some tips and quick instructions from Dom she set it up and took aim. When she loosed, her arrow flew through the air only just clipping the top of the middle target. Dom corrected her position then signalled her to have another try. This time the arrow brushed the side of the target and continued flying into the tree's on the other side.

"You need to focus on your target" Dom told her "Visualise it before you shoot"

She followed his instructions the best she could before she loosed her third arrow which struck the middle of the right hand target.

"That's much better" Dom encouraged her

To his surprise she collapsed on the ground in peels of laughter, shaking uncontrollably. In between laughs she pointed at the targets and attempted to say something, but every time she tried she just laughed harder. Dom wasn't sure what was going on and thought she'd gone quite mad. Finally gasping for breath and still clutching her stomach she managed to get out a few words between fits of giggles

"I was...aiming for...the middle target" with that she fell back in uncontrollable laughter in which Dom joined her

Dom had to endure much teasing that day about his actions the night before. Many of the men believed he had taken an 'interest' in the lady, but he chose to ignore their comments. It had all been suggested before when he was friends with Kel, although not to this degree. It was fine, he didn't care. He knew he wasn't in love with her so what did it matter if others did he told himself. He also noticed that Ash was having a hard time of it because of what she did to Muir.

"Stupid wench" he heard Jerome call her that afternoon "Why don't you take one of us on? We're not afraid to try you" he challenged

"You know we're not allowed to fight because of personal reasons" she told him "However, I will challenge you to a horse race from the start of the town to the big pine tree we passed on our way her and back. What, you're not afraid of being beaten by a girl are you?" she retorted seeing the dubious look on his face.

"Of course not, but you will have an unfair advantage. Women weigh less. Your horse will not have as much weight to carry" he told her

"I will put weights in my saddle bags. We will post men every 500 meters so it's kept fair and there is no cheating" she informed him "I'm sure we'll have many of the men here willing to do that" she gestured to the small crowd that had gathered

"Fine, we'll meet at the start in half an hour's time" he snapped.

Ash looked down at her muddy carpenters clothes which were no good for riding in.

"Ok, see you then" she replied before rushing off towards the stables

A/N: Ok guy's you know what you've got to do now. Review!!! Tell me if the plot is too slow. I am almost to the point. Soon I promise. It's just I've had so much school work I haven't had much time to write ï