Lin- I'm glad you're enjoying it :D
Sarah- Glad you liked chapter five :P Sorry I didn't get to your review sooner.
HGandRHrforever- :D You're reviews always make me feel better! Glad you liked it. Tristan's plan is quite simple, really. Read on :P
Calliann- Of course, everything Tristan comes up with is perfect :P Thanks for the review!
katemary77- I'm amazed at how many people like the way this story is going .
tenshikoneko03- Maybe not this chapter, but a few chapters from now Vrena might get a go at her :P If you want it to be one of the knights or something, feel free to suggest ideas.
Sarah- The reason Vrena's sister hates her will come later on.
Dw- Thanks :D
Noemy009- Tristan always has a plan :P
Etraya- I'm glad you like it. I'm trying hard to make it as good as possible.
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Chapter 7- Similar Directions
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Vrena looked at her surroundings. There was a stone wall, another stone wall, wow…three stone walls. Possibly the most enthralling thing she had ever laid her weary eyes upon. So colorful, so…creative, so…
"Hawk!" one of the guards shouted, interrupting her artistic sarcasm.
Vrena spun around and gripped her hands onto the bars of her cell, focusing her eyes towards the men keeping her under surveillance, to see one swatting at a large dark bird that hat swooped above his head like a bat.
Tristan's hawk! Vrena recognized the trained animal as it soared in through the open door and perched itself on an disused chair across from her,but they were still separated by the long iron bars. Then she saw something gleam in the moonlight against its right wing…She tried to get a closer look, but a feather was blocking the object.
"Calm yourself, Finsten. 'Tis only a bird, and nothing more. Let it keep the demon company." The other guardsneered.
She watched, baffled as the bird tossed itself off the chair gracefully, landing softly on the cold ground without a sound. It walked on its small feet over to her, and was small enough to fit through the space in betweentwo bars. Flapping its wings once, the item Vrena could not distinguish landed onto the floor with a soft clink, and the bird gallantly went back through the bars with its neck held high, proud with accomplishing its job.
It flapped its wings hard and fast, taking flight, again stopping over top the guards heads; causing them to jump and shoo it away as it flew off into the night.
Vrena looked down to the floorat a small, yet fairly large blade, handle tied to a string. The string was looped to fit around the wing, so this act had been planned out.
She silently thanked Tristan, and then silently cursed him. Did he realize how much she owed him now? She still had not apologized for kicking him in the head, now he had just helped her break away from her death!
But this was no time to be contemplating things.
Vrena turned around and sat herself down onto the floor, picking up the knife, her hands still tied around her back. Then she swung herself around and faced the other direction, as to hide her hands from the guards view, should they look in.
She had never done anything like this before, so she had to fumble around with the knife in different positions before she got one that would easily allow her to divide the rope with it.
Then she started her work. She felt relieved with each and every small string she felt snap under the sharp blade.
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Arthur watched as some of the townsfolk fastened a noose to a branch on a nearby tree. They were all serious about executing this innocent woman, which made him disgusted.
He knew that his knights were thinking the same thing as they watched the preparations. The people of the small village, which turned out to be quite many compared to his original predictions, began to gather around, awaiting the trial.
"Why they call this a trial, I'll be damned if I knew." Lancelot said from his spot next to Arthur, petting his black horse as it waited impatiently for them to stop stalling and get a move on. If Tristan accomplished whatever he had planned, he had better hurry up. People were getting anxious.
"It must be one o' those complicated Roman words for 'condemnation'." Bors chimed in as he took a long swig of wine that an individual had passed out.
"The poor lass. Tristan better hurry it up. What is he up to, anyways?" Gawain asked Arthur quietly as one of Tirth's soldiers passed them by.
"I have no idea." Arthur let out in one breath. Lancelot was about to say something, but they all dismissed the conversation as the girl from earlier, whom they had almost mistook for their kicker of scouts -with shorter hair- walked by, ignoring them completely.
They all looked up as a loud screech filled the air above, and Tristan's hawk soared down, awaiting one of them to stretch out their arm for it to land itself on. Lancelot reluctantly took the honors and outstretched his upper limb, allowing the hawk to float down and sink its talons into his shirt.
"Ay, don't rip it!" He scolded the bird.
Their eyes were then drawn towarda man in luscious green robes with gold embroidery walking out of a home, followed by the woman from earlier and two Roman soldiers.
"That must be Agustius." Arthur noted out loud as the man, no later in his years then forty- strolled by with a pleased look on his face.
"You two, go fetch the girl from her confinements and bring her to the field. The execution will be at present!" He cheered. The two soldiers walked off into the direction of the cells.
The six men mounted their horses, awaiting whatever signal Tristan would give them.
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Vrena had finally managed to break herself free of the roped bindings and worked quickly on the ones that bound her feet. If she was caught doing this, it would surely be her end. There would be no public execution. The guards would whip out their polished swords and dirty them with her blood, slice her head clear off her shoulders for all she knew.
But she worked quick and quietly. The ropes were off in a few seconds, and she stood up, brushed off her skirts, and watched the guards hesitantly as she reached out her arm for the keys.
They jangled a bit as she removed them from the nail that held them to the wall, but the guards were dumb and deaf, so it didn't matter all that much.
Like a ghost she slid the key into the hole, turned it to the right, and the cell chamber echoed with a loud click. She would have exited, but held herself back, seeing it not a wise thing to do. From her spot behind the bars she could see that the door on the cell next to her was wide open, which set her mind open for possibilities.
Flawless.
Without opening or locking her door, she reached her arm out and set the keys back in their rightful place.
"Excuse me! Hello?" She called for the guards attention. They just ignored her and remained at their posts.
"Please! I could really use some help right now!" She tried to sound desperate and scared. The stage was not her profession, however. But her heart filled with hope as they turned to steal a look.
"Please, help! There's a rat! It's huge! Hiding under this pile of hay!" she said and gestured towards the pile of hay that was supposedly there for a prisoner's bedding.
"So, what of it?" one of them laughed at her. Curse these uncaring Romans.
"It's vile and disgusting, and if you do not come here and rid of it right this instant, I will cast spells on your families!" She said as-a-matter-of-factly, silently praying that this would work. If they just blew her comments off, that would be bad. She would have to get physical with the matter, which meant breaking out herself and fighting them dead on.
Her having Woad blood, that wouldn't be too hard if they hadn't been armed.
But her plan worked, and the two frightened men scurried into the room and stood in front of the bars, while they both fumbled for the keys at the same time.
Wrong move.
While they were bunched up and paying no attention to her, she quickly with all the strength she could muster swung the long barred door open, and moved quickly as to not give them time to react. The door caught both the men by surprise, knocking them into the cell next to hers as she had planned.
Swinging her door back as speedy as possible, she closed theirs and slammed it locked, then limped quickly out of the cell chamber before their shouts could be heard.
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Tristan watched as the lady limped painfully out of the stone-built chamber and spun her head in all directions; her eyes landed on her horse that Tristan had deliberately moved out from behind their hiding place, behind one of the homes. She limped forward silently cursing as her leg began to pain her again.
When she made it to her horse, she jumped back a bit at his hidden figure, but then recognized it and took a breath of relief.
"Where are your other friends?" She asked him as he helped her onto her large steed.
"They will catch up later, but we must ride." Tristan said as he grabbed the reigns of her horse and pulled it back over behind the home just as two guards came into view, heading to the cells, most likely going in there for her.
"How will they know?" She whispered.
Tristan let silence answer her question as he mounted his horse and kicked it lightly with his boot, signaling it to run hard into the woodland. He turned his head to see her do the same, and they dangerously headed out into the open. But luck was on their side. No one was wandering around town because they were all waiting for her to be executed on the other side. Vrena was yet again at awe with the silent man she had only booted in the face just hours ago.
They made it into the safety of the woods and let themselves be hidden in the thick trees.
She followed just behind him as he led the way back out to their original path, near where they had set up camp. They slowed down their pace until they were only moving at a steady trot.
"Where exactly were you headed before kicking me and collapsing of shock?" He asked in a low tone, seeing no other way to state it.
He looked back at her to see that shehad beenfastening on her cape that he had left on top her horses saddle. She threw up the black hood over her head and let it drape around her. No one would know who she was unless she took it off. A smart girl.
When she lifted her head to answer his question, he saw a pained look in her face.
"I…I'm sorry about that. I was afraid and didn't"-
"It is nothing compared to other damages I have received, lady. Think nothing of it."
"B-but"-
"Where were you headed?" He cut her off. Depending on how she answered would tell him which direction to send her off in. Unfortunately for Tristan, he was not well educated on the subject of a woman's feelings, unlike the other knights who had their fair share of it. This was truthfully one of the only times he had conversed with a lady for a long time and counting.
"Do not interrupt me when I am trying to apologize." She corrected him in an almost motherly tone.
"I think right now your safety matters more then any apology you may think I require." He retorted. Evidently he was new to these topics. He turned around again, but saw there was no need to as she sped up her horse to ride next to him.
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Vrena steadied her horse next to his and shrunk back when he looked at her. She hated to admit it, but she was afraid of this man. He was one of Arthur's knights who had killed perhaps thousands in his time. His dark eyes looked at her and almost forced the answer from her mouth.
"Before I ran into you and the other knights, I was headed towards the town of Marius where my mother's half-sister resides as the wife of Marius. I knew them quite well before I decided to try living somewhere else. It is the only place now where I would be welcomed with open arms...as long as Marius never finds out about this incident." She explained, her saddened tone complimenting her worried face.
Tristan shot her a strange look.
"What?" She asked as she gave him a look back.
"Nothing, that just changes my plan a little." He said as he scanned the empty forest.
"I need to thank you for that, too."
"You do not need to thank me for anything."
"You indeed merit it, why do you not accept?"
"Because I do not deserve it."
Vrena paused at his last words. She had learned already that he was a very quiet man who enjoyed killing none the less, was this guilt that she sensed coming from his words?
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He was afraid he said too much. This was truly the longest, most momentous conversation he hadengadged inwith any person since he was drafted as a knight. Something about this woman made him more open with her, though he knew not what.
There was a silence that needed to be broken.
"The place you speak of is also where we are headed, though we have to make it there in a day's time. We cannot afford to delay." He explained.
"We planned to start off tomorrow, but you seem to have put a dent in our schedule." He finished, looks of sorrow filling her face again. Regretting the way he had phrased his words, he added more.
"If you think that you can ride full-speed without pain, Arthur will let you travel with us." He watched as her face lit up again.
"Really? What is Arthur's business with Marius, anyhow?" She asked.
Tristan halted their conversation and realized he had lost track of time.
"Ask him of that. We must ride with haste now and meet them down the north road where the mountains rise. Will you answer my last question?" He urged her, then felt a hard object slam into his leg just after. It wasn't as if she was trying to knock him off his horse, so he allowed no thoughts of retaliation into his mind. Instead he just gave her a warning look, which she ignored.
"I thought Sarmatian knights were supposed to be brave, fearless and kind- not as arrogant as the Romans. And yes, I can ride as fast as anyone else. Shall we go now?" She said and sent his glare right back at him.
Tristan paused.
"Now that I think of it, there is a way you can repay me."
"Tell me."
"I never received your name." He said and looked in her direction.
"Vrena. But I think kicker of scouts still seems to suit me quite well." She express with amusement, kicking her horse with her boot and urging him to rush in their designated direction.
Tristan sighed and did the same.
They shared no more words, only focused on the path ahead of them.
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"She's gone, the witch escaped!" came the shout of a guard running towards the crowds.
Relief washed over the knights, and Arthur closed his eyes, thanking his god.
"Ah, well, that ends that. But where exactly do we ride?" Lancelot asked Arthur in a hushed tone. But the knights watched in question -and Lancelot in horror- as the hawk thatwas perched on his forearm flapped its wings and tugged at the fabric of his outfit.
Lancelot spat a few naughty words and almost clawed the animal, but it flew off in a northern direction.
"Arthur, I think it wants us to follow it." Dagonett spoke as they watched the bird fly further towards the road nearly a mile away.
"Indeed." Arthur answered and signaled his knights to move out in the direction of the hawk, which he knew would lead them to their scout. The man of few words had succeeded in his plan, and now they must rush for lost time.
"Ay, once you manage to catch the witch again, send me an invite." Bors hollered to the town's priest who stood in disbelief. The girl from earlier who resembled their lady in distress had a vile look on her face, as if she wanted to kill something.
The knights rode off, leaving the town of Tirth behind, their mission completed.
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Well, that was an eventful chapter. I just finished writing two chapters in one day XD…
Hope you guys enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed typing it! Especially the scene with Tristan and Vrena's argument.
III Cari III
