WarAdmiral-Thank God I only have one brother! I also plan to put the characters through a lot of grief, anger and pain...ah well, c'est le vie.

ChildlikeEmpress-Yeah, I'm a gory sort of person. I also wanted to show their resolve and courage, but yeah, I mainly just wanted to write some good gory torture. Yes, throttling has its merits, but I have some subtler methods...plus my brother's 5'9 and I'm nearly 5'5, so I have to reach up! (And the hawk, well, I always wanted a hawk, as well as a tarantula and a lizard but my mum said she'd leave home)

Elvenstar5-I'm glad! I'm updating every two days now. Please update your story soon as well!

MonDieu666-Yep, I'm good with the torture. I was wondering whether the rating should go up, but I thought was a little extreme.

Camreyn-Lucky you! My brother will go to uni in two years though, and I'll get some peace...Later, you'll find out why Guinevere and Aibhilín always fight so much.

This is the romantic crap chapter, and it will be explained later, especially Aibhilin and Guinevere's past. In the meanwhile, you'll just have to be patient...

Also, I couldn't remember exactly what happened in the forest so I skipped most of it.

Blessed be

ChiaraStorm

Chapter IV: Duty versus Desire

Two figures, their silhouettes not showing whether they were male or female, made their way across the frozen ground. The moonlight shone down on them, illuminating them under the night. Arthur watched idly as they made their way to the woods. Growing more curious, he watched as the one closest to him turned and pushed her hood back slightly. Her brown eyes gleamed with promise and expectation. There was something in there, something that induced him to follow her. He rose and just as silently as the two ghosts of people walked through the snow. He was cold, but did not shiver and curious, but did not ask. He merely followed them, wherever they were taking him.

"Aibhilín, Guinevere" came a voice from behind them. Dauídh made his way through the roots of the trees that were hidden in the dark. "And the mighty Arthur"

Their father began to talk, but a movement behind her caught Aibhilín. She turned around, and caught sight of a familiar figure standing sentinel. She turned around and began her ascent out of the hallowed ring, and walked up behind him, her feet noiseless, yet, he knew that she was there. He was a true warrior, worthy of a Woad.

"Why are you out there?"

She didn't stop, but came up behind him. "We are taking Arthur to his roots"

He twisted around, and started to move into the trees. Aibhilín stopped him. "This is for his ears only"

"Is that why you're here, then? To keep us away while you kill Arthur?" His voice rose a little in a fury, and Aibhilín pressed a finger to his lips. She leaned in, so close that her breath could be felt right by his ear. "I saw you tonight"

He paused, understanding the tone in her voice. "I meant no-" he began, but she cut him off.

"I saw you. What you did not want me to see"

"What?" he asked his voice soft and still on the air, but not without a hint of steel too.

"Desire" she breathed, her breath tickling his ear. "I think I know who for"

Lancelot paused, and stared at Aibhilín, who boldly stared back, her green eyes open and honest. He started to open his mouth, but no sound came out. Aibhilín started talking again as if he had not spoken-or at least tried to.

"There is no shame in it. Without desire, there is no want. Without want there is no need. Without need there is no purpose. Without purpose...there is no life. I have desires too. One of them is the same as one of yours"

She pulled herself away from him and looked at him straight. She stared at him intently, waiting for the implications of her words to sink in. After a minute which passed like an hour, she leaned in again, but this time to his mouth, and she caressed it with her lips, a brief, soft icy cold kiss. She pulled away, but Lancelot drew her back in with a deeper, more insistent kiss. Her lips and heart grew warmer, and she raised her blue-tattooed arms to encircle his neck. She forgot everything except that. All things of other significance faded away.

She broke away for an instant, but in that instant she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the colour blue. The colour of her tattoos that coiled and snaked up her arms, legs and back.

Suddenly, a thought flashed across her already-preoccupied mind. She was a Woad. Woads did not associate with knights doing Rome's duty, let alone kiss them. They were enemies. She pulled away hurriedly.

"What's wrong?" she heard him ask, as if from a distance. Don't let him see your feelings she told herself.

"I can't" she breathed.

"Why not?" Aibhilín tried to distance herself from his voice, but it penetrated her emotional shield easily. She withdrew into herself, like a snail into its shell. "This was not meant for us" she said quietly, before turning around and fleeing back into the forest. She forced herself not to look back. She knew what the expression on his face would be.

Something grabbed her as she ran past, and she ended up on the floor. Standing over her was Guinevere. "I saw that" she hissed. "You really have turned, haven't you?"

Aibhilín twisted over and deftly got to her feet. "That was a mistake" she said calmly, hoping that her sister calmed down. Instead, she fired up again.

"We come here to save out people and you instead try to bed a knight!"

Aibhilín drew out her dagger, but this time, she held up in a ready-to-attack position. "I do not wish to bed a knight"

Guinevere made a gesture that showed what she thought of that. Aibhilín twisted around and got the dagger pointing in Guinevere's back. Guinevere ducked and dove forward so that the dagger was in front of her. Aibhilín feinted to the right and while her sister was distracted she kicked her in the kneecaps. Guinevere stumbled, and her sister wrestled her to the ground. Sitting on her midriff, she held the dagger above her throat.

Guinevere looked up at her sister. They often wrestled like this; it was how they had become so good at hand-to-hand combat. However, now Aibhilín had a strange glint in her eye, an inhuman desire to kill.

"Save your bloodlust for the Saxons" Guinevere said, trying and succeeding in keeping the quaver out of her voice.

After a second, Aibhilín cast away the dagger. Guinevere sat up, and stared at her sister.

"You desire him" It was not a question it was a statement. Aibhilín was glad she didn't say love, as she would not know what to say to that. She had never lied to Guinevere, and she did not intend to start now.

"I do" she said truthfully.

Guinevere sighed. "It was not meant to be"

Aibhilín gave a humourless snort. "You do not know. You have never felt this"

Guinevere said nothing, and merely pursed her lips.

"What should I do?" Aibhilín asked in an uncharacteristically quiet and wounded voice.

"Tell no-one. Forget. Just do your duty to our people and then we will leave and you will not see him again" Guinevere suggested in the most unfeeling tone possible.

Aibhilín shook away her sister and went back into the woods towards Dauídh and Arthur, Guinevere following with a concerned expression on her face. She suddenly turned away and headed back towards the knight's camp.

Lancelot made an uneasy way back through the forest, to where his sleeping pallet was. He settled himself in his cloak, as if asleep, but his eyes were open and glazed over as he thought. He did not understand Aibhilín. She had seemed so open at first, so forward. It was she who had kissed him first, and then when he had responded, she had declared it wrong. It made no sense.

Suddenly, a hand shot out of the darkness, making a small rustle where it brushed the foliage. Lancelot's hand immediately shot to the swords he always carried, but the slim hand was surprisingly strong and stayed his hand.

"Aibhilín has a past that you know nothing about" the voice said, in atone so quiet that it merely floated by, almost lost in the night air. "She cannot bind herself to you. Do not expect her to"

Lancelot dove his hand into the undergrowth, expecting to find a body, a piece of flesh, but finding only foliage. He pulled away and turned over in his pallet and slept fitfully, always listening out for an enemy. When he woke up her wasn't sure if he had dreamed it all or whether it was real. One thing he was sure of was that the arm had strange patterns on it, like the Woad tattoos.

Guinevere collapsed into the undergrowth. She was not sure if she had done the right thing, but it was for the best. One of the things Guinevere had been taught as a child was that anyone can be undermined with weaknesses, for example, pride, greed or lust. Aibhilín was one of the best fighters she had ever known, and if she gave into this she could destroy all of the things that she had been brought up to believe.

Guinevere suddenly felt guilty. How dare she condemn Aibhilín for lust when yet, she felt similar stirrings in her own heart? They were both warriors, and they could not give into such selfish feelings. She wished that Ealusaid were here. She focused on her, capturing an image of her with her mind's eye. She was such a calming influence, yet a cold-blooded killer. She would know what to do.

"Ealusaid, friend" she whispered into the air. "I need you now" She crawled back through the forest, where Dauídh was standing. She slid into the darkness, beside Aibhilín, whose face was a mask of forced calm. They did not try to communicate. They did their duty, as daughters of Dauídh, but inside both of them were fighting their own desires.

Dawn broke, and with it the calm.

Many woke to the sound of a scream. Marius had grabbed Lucan, the boy that had been pulled out of the pit with Aibhilín and Guinevere, and was holding a sword-inexpertly, Aibhilín noted-to his throat.

"I've got the boy!" he called out in his nasal Roman voice.

Dagonet drew his broadsword threateningly. The guards raised theirs as well.

Arthur and the two sisters watched in the undergrowth. Arthur pulled his bow off of his back and raised it, but Guinevere grabbed it strongly. He released it with an amused smile, and Guinevere gripped it, Aibhilín selected the arrow, Guinevere placed it on the bowstring and Aibhilín griped the bow just above her sister's hand. Both of their hands automatically went to the bowstring, a reflex action now. They pulled it back together, working automatically. They whispered an old Woad rhyme, something traditional to say before slaying an enemy.

"One for the sorrow"

"One for the pain

"One shot in his heart"

"Watch the bloodstain"

"Flowing across his chest"

"He is now slain"

The arrow flew through the air, landing perfectly in the target. Marcus Honorius looked down at his chest, as if he had never seen his own blood before. He fell, taking an age to hit the ground. Guinevere gave a small, satisfied smile, but Aibhilín's face was a stony as ever. Somehow his death didn't seem to satisfy the empty, gaping hole inside of her.

"I see your hands are much better now" came a voice from behind her. Aibhilín did nothing, but her whole body stiffened, and it was plain to see the colour from her face faded fast. Suddenly she felt the world rock beneath her. She swayed, and Lancelot caught her arm just a little. She thought that she was fainting, but a drumming sound filled the air, and she was brought back to her senses. With usual lack of tact, she shook him off, refusing to look him full in the face. Guinevere saved her by starting to walk away, taking her with her. Aibhilín gave her sister a grateful glance.

"Saxons" Arthur said. "We must move on"

They moved through the encampment towards the centre.

"How many did you kill?" Bors asked Tristan

"Four"

"Not a bad start to the day"

They made unsteady progress through the mountains. The drumming got louder. They prepared to press on, but they reached a lake of ice. Arthur made everyone slow down, but the drumming grew closer. Arthur turned to the men with an obvious question on his face.

"My ass is sore from riding all day." Bors said.

"Let's see what the bastards look like." Galahad said replied.

Guinevere and Aibhilín stared at each other. They smiled. One was not enough to kill in a day.

The next chapter is a big action one, and finally, you'll meet the other two girls! I also plan on putting Lancelot through some grief too, as well as almost killing off everyone else. Enjoy!

Blessed Be

ChiaraStorm