RETURN TO SARMATIA

Chapter One – Knights' Rescue

With a mighty swing of his sword, the famed leader of the Sarmatian knights freed the village elder that had been punished for defying the Roman official Marius.

"Help this man!" the hero known as Arthur barked at the villagers gawking around him. "Help him!"

As some of the men rushed forward to obey this order, Dagonet stood by, observing the proceedings in a semi-dazed state. The whole dastardly scenario wrenched his gut. The old man was fragile and withered, pallid in near death and covered with cuts that revealed the torture he had endured. Dagonet ventured a few steps forward toward the small crowd to see if there was anything he could do to help. The other knights had already rushed off to take care of other business.

As the villagers tried to lift their elder to move him to a safe place where he could be treated, the old man stirred and seemed to regain some consciousness. Dagonet could just vaguely hear the words he feverishly mumbled over and over again.

"Eliora…please…you must help…Eliora…"

"What?" Dagonet grabbed the arm of the spectator closest to him. "What is he saying?"

The villager stared up at the formidable knight with wide, fearful eyes. "El-Eliora." he stammered. "That is his granddaughter, my lord knight. He is calling for her."

"Why? Where is she?" Dagonet demanded.

"We…we don't know. It is likely she is already dead." the villager answered mournfully. "The soldiers took her away from us a long time ago. Our lord Marius ordered it after accusing her of being a loose woman."

The young man then shook his head defiantly, tears of rage shining in his eyes. "But not our Eliora. She was pure and innocent. They only took her because they wanted her for themselves."

Dagonet growled with anger at this terrible account. "But you are not certain that she is dead?"

"No. But we would rather she were than to even think of the terrible fate she suffers in the hands of those animals." Trembling with his emotions, the villager pointed an accusing finger at some of Marius's soldiers standing nearby.

At that moment, Galahad came up beside Dagonet to interrupt the interrogation. "What is going on here?"

Dagonet quickly explained what the villager had just told him about the elder's granddaughter.

"There may yet be a chance that she is alive." the big knight said urgently. "We must at least try to find her."

Galahad nodded grimly. "Of course." he agreed. "Let us go into the manor and search every room if we must."

Suddenly, they heard Arthur call for Dagonet somewhere outside the milling crowd of villagers.

"Go on and help him." Galahad told Dagonet, clapping a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I shall take Bors, and he and I will look for this Eliora."

After Dagonet had walked off to accomplish the task asked for by their commanding officer, Galahad went to Bors and explained the situation.

Bors scowled. "Well, to make the search a lot easier, why don't we beat some information out of these sons of bitches!" He stormed over to a pair of Marius's soldiers and grabbed one of them by the front of his shirt. A blade was pressed against the trembling coward's throat.

"A young woman named Eliora." Bors growled menacingly. "Where is she? Speak, dog!"

"I…I don't know!" the soldier choked out, then gasped when Bors eased the knife slightly over his skin, drawing blood.

"One last time." Bors snarled. "Where are you keeping her?"

"A-at the barracks." the man finally whimpered. "The soldier's quarters. A prison cell 'round back."

Bors' eyes flashed with hatred and anger. He swept his arm back and struck the soldier's face solidly with the back of his hand. He turned to Galahad and nodded, his mouth in a tight line. "Let's go."

The two knights located the soldiers' barracks easily, unchecked by the cowards who dared not get in their way. They reached the prison cell the solider spoke of, and broke through the heavy locks. The room was dark, cold, and cramped, nowhere near fit for a human being. It was unlit and unfurnished, save for a small bed in the corner. The small figure that sat huddled up on the lumpy mattress moved as Galahad and Bors walked in. There was a gasp, one unmistakably female and frightened.

Galahad was the one who approached the girl, moving slowly as so not to scare her further. He felt sick at what he saw as he drew closer. The poor girl was deathly pale, as though she had neither slept nor eaten for many days. Her wrists were bound together by thick rope, and tied to the bedpost. The terror and grief on her pathetic face was enough to drive any warm heart to tears.

"Don't be afraid." Galahad said, speaking as softly and gently as he could. "We're here to help you. To free you."

In spite of his reassurances, the girl withdrew like a terrified rabbit as the knight knelt on the bed to cut the ropes that bound her to the post.

"Your name is Eliora, is it not?" Galahad asked, as he set to work loosing the bonds on her wrists. The girl nodded mutely, her dark eyes huge and confused as they stared up at her rescuer.

The knight forced a smile on his face. "I am called Galahad. I'm a knight." He held out a hand for her to take. "Your grandfather is looking for you. Let me take you to him."

"Dagonet! If you're through with that, we need some of it here."

Dagonet's attention was drawn from the little boy he had rescued and was now seeing to. Galahad had settled down beside him with his own charge cradled in his arms. Dagonet stared at the frail young woman that lay helpless on his friend's lap. "Is that…?"

"Eliora, yes." Galahad said impatiently. He held out his hand for the skin flask his fellow knight held. "Water, quickly!"

Dagonet handed it over, but continued to stare at the pathetic creature with Galahad. She was in such a terrible condition; it was a wonder she still lived. Her white, dirtied face was marred with cuts and vicious bruises. Her coarse, scanty clothing was soiled and torn in many places. She reeked of a smell that confirmed the sort of abuses she had been subjected to. Nonetheless, in his disbelief at such cruelty, Dagonet felt the need to ask of it.

"What have they done to her?" he whispered, trembling slightly in his growing fury.

"You know what they have done!" Galahad snapped back. The young knight's face was red with anger, his eyes shining with tears. "Those bastards! How could they? How dare they!"

At that moment, both Arthur and Lancelot, who were led by Bors, joined them. The Roman commander crouched down beside Galahad, his face showing great concern. "Bors told me what happened." he said, reaching out with a gentle hand to touch the woman's arm. Too weak and barely in a conscious state, Eliora was unable to recoil.

"Did he tell you they had her locked in a cell and tied to the bed like an animal!" Galahad spat out. "They were using her, all of them! A pretty little pet to satisfy their lust at will!"

"We should just slit the throats of those bastards! Every last one of them!" Lancelot growled. He glared at Arthur. "With all these atrocities they committed, even you cannot deny they deserve no less."

Arthur was silent for a long moment before he rose back up. "What they have done is despicable, and they do deserve to be severely punished." he said firmly. "But right now, we have not the time to round up the guilty party and deal with them. We will reserve that right for a more opportune time. As for Marius, he will face judgment before Rome and the Church for his crimes soon enough. I give you my word on that."

The knight commander nodded at both Galahad and Dagonet and their charges. "Take them to the caravan. They will ride in the wagon with the rest of the injured. We must move out now. Quickly."

Arthur saw the clear hesitation on Galahad's face at giving up Eliora to another's care. He placed a firm hand on the young knight's shoulder. "They will be fine." he told him. "The lady of the house has promised to see to their care."

Dagonet and Galahad were both silent as they carried their charges to the covered wagon as Arthur had ordered. Eliora had finally succumbed to her fear and pain, and fell into unconsciousness. Galahad worried over this until Lady Cassia, wife of Marius, assured him that there was nothing to fret about. Everything possible would be done to mend the broken woman's wounds. Hopefully soon she would be well enough to be spoken to.

Dagonet observed silently as Galahad yielded Eliora to Lady Cassia. His friend's care for the young woman was evident in every word and action he's shown so far around her, and Dagonet had to smile at the younger knight's chivalry. He understood that the idealistic Galahad took injustices like this more personally than the rest of them, and that would explain his fervor. He wondered though, if there was more to his concern for Eliora than simple kindliness. Perhaps it was yet too early to ascertain, and perhaps only time will tell soon enough.

To be continued…

Next: Chapter Two – Daughter of Sarmatia

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