An Optimist's Dream in a Time of Darkness
Chapter 11: A Dark Cloud Forms
That dawn the knights and their commander departed from Hadrian's Wall riding off into the burning sunrise. Aislin sat numbly in her room, as she always did when the knights were sent out on a quest. She could here the horse's hooves shaking the ground hard and heavy, and continued to listen even as the galloping got further and further away from her heart. The young woman hated the feeling of loneliness that would sweep over her when Arthur was sent away. In truth she was surrounded by hundreds of people but it had not mattered, she was not close with one them, save for Vanora and Joules.
Her long blond hair twisted and wended its way around her shoulders so that it came to lie on her bed next to her. She rolled her index finger through a few strands creating a spiral that fell as soon as the finger was dropped. Aislin gazed over her chamber and in not finding anything amusing to stare at she turned over in her bed to sleep. Her cold blue eyes slowly shut as the numbing warmth of exhaustion crept over her tired body.
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"Aislin? Aislin, its Vanora. I have some clean linen for you." Vanora lightly pushed the door watching peacefully as it opened to reveal its sleeping mistress.
Vanora couldn't help but smile comfortably. There was a din rising up from the stairs so the woman closed the door quietly as to not disturb Aislin's slumber. "She needs some warmth in this room, with the snow she'll freeze." Vanora sat down her wicker basket of linens and walked over to the three fire pits in the room and lit each one by one.
"Vanora?" Aislin spoke up half asleep.
"I'm here, child." Vanora had gotten into the habit of calling Aislin child or young one since the time, nearly ten years ago, that she had to watch over her.
"Would you stay here with me?" She asked childishly through the haze of sleep. Aislin saw that Vanora was going to oppose and chimed in once more, "please?"
"Yes, I'll stay." She walked over to the other side of the bed and laid down next to her companion.
"It's just with Arthur and the Knights gone-."
"I know; it's hard on me, too." She sighed deeply, "Now get some rest." The two women fell peacefully asleep warmed by each other's depression.
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"Dusk already, it seems as if we had just left the safety of Hadrian." Lancelot proposed nonchalantly as he rode calmly next to Galahad.
"Yeah I know, no more sweet maidens to curl up next to at night. Now all we have is Bors." The young knight made a disgusted face as Lancelot chuckled. For an added effect Bors turned around on his horse and pursed his lips at them before turning back around after almost ridding off into a tree. "Speaking of women," Galahad grinned cunningly, "why haven't you found a maid to settle down with?"
"Why haven't any of us found a maid to settle down with? We still have another five years of uncertainty, can you honestly promise a woman your life and then die in a battle?" Lancelot voiced as Arthur began to pick up pace pulling the rest of the knights with him through a darkened forest.
"Even if that woman has already been forced to live with uncertainty for other circumstances in her life?"
The older knight forced a questionable gaze onto his comrade. "You do not speak of Vanora, do you?"
"You know well the woman I am referring to." Galahad shifted his gaze and starred up at their commander with a certain pride in his meddling.
The unnerved Lancelot followed the trail of Galahad's gaze; his heart already bound and knowing. His deep amber eyes met with the back of Arthur's head and he couldn't help but to try and swallow the knot in his throat. In the softest of voices he spoke the name of the hidden, "Aislin."
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"Aislin! AISLIN WAKE UP!" Vanora shook the young woman until her eyes rolled open in shock. Aislin's body was sprawled across Vanora's folded knees; her neck was cupped into the crook of her arm. "It's an attack! They haven't breached the walls yet but with Arthur gone who knows what could happen?"
Aislin rolled from the bed and nearly collapsed onto her feet. She stood shakily and walked to her balcony her heart thumping so loud that it might have burst. Though there was no fire she could feel its flames licking her face, though the streets were empty she could hear the women's screams and the men's barbaric cries, and though there were no knights she could feel the protection of their strength surge through her body. "We need more bows and arrows."
"What!" Vanora's voice was shrill as she spoke.
Aislin turned around, her fists clenched at her sides, "We need to find whatever spare bows and arrows we have and round up as many archers as we can gather. The wall must not be breached again." Aislin walked over to her bed and snatched her cloak from the stand. "Find Joules and tell him my orders, spread the news as fast as you can."
"Where will you go?"
"I will be at the wall informing the Captain of the guard." She took in the shaken expression on Vanora's face and welcomed her into an embrace. "Everything is going to be fixed, it will not become another defeat I swear to you." She paused, "It is not how it was ten years ago. We are stronger, our wall is mightier and our people are more courageous. Hadrian will not fall while I live, I swear it to you."
"Please Aislin, do not fall into the black nothingness as you did last time. Do not leave me here alone again." It was almost child-like how she spoke, but there was an emotion burning deep within the pit of her eyes that made Aislin's stomach crawl. She could feel the despair vibrating from her expression and felt almost entrapped within its grasp. This woman, her friend felt helplessly left out and alone. How could this have happened?
"You are not alone, Vanora, you never were. But if you do not find Joules now we may run out of time. Please, hurry."
"Yes, my lady." The older woman rushed from the room and scampered off down the corridor.
Aislin forced one last glance towards her balcony; she could hear the shouts of the Romans barking out orders and the hiss of the arrows raining down upon the opposing Woads. "I cannot lose this garrison to them, Arthur would never forgive me." With that determination forced into her thoughts she raced from the room, her skirts billowing around her legs as she ran, nearly trampling the passer by.
"Excuse me, please I must get to the wall. Please move!" She jumped up and down on her feet to get her sense of direction back. By this time the streets were filled to the brim with the town's people and Aislin could scarcely see through the thick fog of inhabitants. "Please, move. It is urgent! Sir I beg you move!" She was standing in front of a rather large balding man who would not budge from his spot in the path.
"You're place isn't at the wall, it's in my bed." As he spoke his mouth drained with thick red wine, his drunkenness grinning at the young woman through butchered teeth. Perhaps he drank for pleasure, perhaps he drank of habit, or perhaps he drank to ease the pain of the attack. Which, in effect, had worsened the situation for Aislin. He reached out his thick hairy arm to snatch her, spitting horridly as he howled with laughter.
Aislin pushed away his arm, tripping backwards as she became unbalanced. Upon hitting the hard ground she forced her eyes shut and inhaled sharply, with no weapon she could not ward him off so she had no chance at defeating him. But the man's arms never forced her into his embrace; she never felt the degradation of his filthy touch.
"Aislin, it is over. Come we must get to the wall before it is too late." Her fearful eyes slowly opened and brightened at the sight of Joules. The young woman smiled before she could stop herself, but Joules hadn't seemed to mind the inopportune smile and simply extended his arm for her to grasp.
"Vanora, she was able to find you?" Aislin shouted over the din of the crowd as they dashed along the side streets towards the gate.
"Yes, I already have a small group of men who are able. At the moment they're going from home to home rallying more aid. In no time we should have a couple dozen makeshift troops all ready and willing to fight."
"Thank you Joules, this wouldn't have been possible without you."
"Don't thank me now, we haven't won yet." He teased as they came up on the wall. "There, that is Captain Faurcus. He's the one you want to inform." Joules watched curiously as Aislin for the first time hesitated. "Go on, there is nothing to be afraid of. Besides you have no time to feel fear or even acknowledge its presence."
The young woman nodded in agreement, "thank you." She bounded off up the stone stairs, raising her skirts high enough so that she would not trip. At the top she nearly ran into a soldier. "I need to speak with Captain Faurcus, it is urgent information."
"The only urgent information a woman could carry is the birth of a child." The Roman soldier spat back.
"And perhaps that is what my news is, nevertheless it is none of your business, it is the Captain's." Aislin's tone was bitter and every muscle in her face contorted to show her disgust with this man and his closed mind. "Let me pass, or you will hear it from my cousin upon his return."
"Your cousin, and what might he do to me, I am a soldier in the Roman Army what is your simpleton cousin going to do to me?" His toothy grin made Aislin shutter, he obviously did not know to whom she was referring.
"He might throw you in the brig or perhaps order lashings, or maybe even discharge you from the army all together. That would be the worst for you wouldn't it, to give up that entire male bonding thing you Roman's are so fascinated with. I bet you enjoy it when in the heat of battle the other man brushes so coarsely against your flesh placing himself right on you, close enough to touch."
"You should know your place, woman!" The anger rose into his throat reverberating through his mouth, causing his teeth to grind together.
"I bet by that time you want him so much that you can feel it quack between your legs, calling you to him. I bet you would like nothing more then to pull his lips onto yours!"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" At that point Aislin had gone too far, pushed too hard with the soldier. She hadn't even seen it coming; his hand had grazed her flesh leaving her cheek numb and her neck aching from the speed of the hit. She stood silent, her hand to her face and her eyes watering emotionlessly. I shouldn't have said those things. What came over me?
"You dare strike Artorius Castus?" Aislin could hear Joules defending her but did not dare look at him, for fear he would see how wretched she truly was. To have said such things made her just as low as that Soldier; she enticed him to strike, she had caused it.
"She is not the Commander of this garrison; she is a weak, dishonorable whore!"
"She is Artorius' flesh and blood, and I will be sure to inform him upon his return just how his cousin was treated when she attempted to administer helpful information to Captain Faurcus to aid in the struggle against the Woads." Aislin couldn't have been prouder of Joules if he had pushed back the Woads all on his own.
The soldier had become speechless; he stood there numb and dumb as a door, simply gawking at the young woman now bruised by his hand. "Is this true?" Captain Faurcus questioned as he walked towards them. "You have information that could help us?"
Aislin stumbled over her thoughts at first but managed to make them clear in her mind. "Yes sir, I have had Joules here rally together a group of men who are ready and able with a bow. We have also gathered all spare bows and arrows that we could find. The group should be arriving shortly." Aislin paused, "I believe that if we can hold the Woads at bay while they're still at the gate there will be no need for hand to hand combat. That is why I sent for extra archers so that we may beat them here where they are most vulnerable."
"Those are my thoughts exactly. I appreciate your help and am indebted to Arthur for schooling his cousin well in the arts of war and common sense." He smiled pleasantly, "not many women have such a trait, consider yourself lucky to be at such a great advantage."
"Captain, the men have arrived." Joules spoke up as he directed the Captain's attention to the couple dozen archers below.
"Very well, have them come up and take their places." He turned backed to Aislin, his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks to you we will be able to claim victory today, your cousin will be proud."
In a matter of minutes arrows began another storm on the opposition, many men fell victim to their tiny metal points. The young woman stood to the side in a state of confusion. She was not horrified as she had been ten years prior, but at the same time she could not stand it. As she watched the arrows fall towards the challenging Woads she felt the arrows impact as if she had been standing among them. Aislin found herself holding her stomach and nearly doubling over in pain.
"Aislin, Aislin are you all right?" Joules walked up behind her and pulled her from the kneeling position she had fallen into. "Come Aislin, this is no place for a woman." She had nearly flopped back into his arms and fumbled her way down the stairs as he led her to a horse.
"I feel so tired," she groaned out, her arm still clenched tightly around her stomach.
"Well it's no wonder with running around and putting together a makeshift band of archers." Joules smiled warmly up at her as he helped her mount the horse. "You're a strong woman, and a witty one at that; never forget who you are."
"I won't," she yawned. As she sat on the horse's back she gave one final glance towards the wall. She watched as the smoke rose from the torches singeing the sky with their still burning embers. Aislin couldn't help but feel pity for those men and women outside of the gate whose lives were being torn to shreds by her sensible gesture.
"Now go on back to the villa, there is nothing left here for you to do." Joules had shook her from her dreamy state of mind and brought her back to her exhaustion. With one clean smack the horse was on his way, carrying the burden of Aislin's depression as well as her pride, their weight unbalanced and uneven upon his back.
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"Sir, it is over. Every last Woad has fallen or been wounded to the point of inevitable death." The adolescent soldier remarked stiffly from behind his decorative helmet. "What are your orders, Captain Faurcus?"
"Find any survivors that are able to speak and bring them to the brig for interrogation. We must find out answers to why they chose to attack us, what their motives were." The Captain spoke coldly his hands braced against the stone of the wall.
"Yes sir, I will begin the search immediately."
"Very well," Faurcus listened somewhat distantly as the young Roman left his presence to do his bidding. The middle aged Captain was torn, he did his duty to his people, his fort but was it right? Now as he gazed down upon the several dozen people he had slaughtered with arrows he wondered what the point of it all was. These were young ambitious adolescents with a few elderly leaders, nothing more. There was no way they could have achieved victory, so why attack?
"What was their motive?" His mind pondered the situation trying to come up with a reasonable solution when he caught a glimpse of something. "Nephris? Is that-."
As Faurcus turned around he came face to face with a charging Woad, her eyes alive and vehement. Her voice rained down on him as she thrust her spear towards his heart, missing when he ducked to the side. She tried to pry the weapon from the rock but was unable to before the Captain had took a hold of her. The woman had screamed and wretched in his arms creating an unavoidable scene.
The Woad bit into Faurcus' arm in an attempt to free herself, but was surprised to find her captor's firm hold of her matted locks. "Now I will release you if you swear to behave as a civilized person and accept your imprisonment."
The woman hesitated in her response before reluctantly nodding her agreement. Once released from Faurcus grip the woman pulled away, examining her hair and rubbing her scalp. The captain took a step closer to her and extended his hand, "you must come this way, with me."
The Woad's eyes scanned the area, trying to remember every bit of it. Her dull chocolate eyes glared back at Faurcus as she muttered something in her tongue. Spit flew from her mouth and landed on Faurcus' feet just before she leapt from the wall into the wagon below. The remains of her deceased people cushioned her fall, and as her face turned up towards the sky and fell upon Faurcus she smiled at his rage.
"CATCH THAT WOMAN! CATCH HER!" The enraged officer shouted out almost in the form of a shriek. He watched almost helplessly as the woman took down two soldiers with their own swords and fled towards the woods. "CATCH HER!"
At that moment the adolescent soldier from before charged out onto the field riding a horse. With every gallop he came closer to the fleeting Woad, he felt the rush of the moment his adrenaline taking full control of his body as he leapt from the horse at her. His body tackled her to the ground, his helmet coming off from the impact.
"Saelyn!" A man shouted from the gate of Hadrian's Wall, he stood tall even as he limped against the stone of the wall. "SAELYN!" He watched breathlessly as the young woman rolled around in the grass fighting for her life against the weight of the man pinning her. He could not stand to watch any longer, he limped his way towards a bow that one of his people had left after their death.
He knew there was not much time, heavy footfalls echoed in and out of his mind warning him that the Romans were only feet away. The man knelt on his knees pulling the bowstring back and aiming his arrow. They were close now, but all he would need is one shot, one arrow and his sister would be free. His target kept moving making it difficult for him to aim correctly. The Woad finally gained a target and just as he was about to release the arrow a noose was hooked around his throat and he was jolted backwards onto the ground and pinned by two other Romans.
Saelyn continued to kick and scream digging her nails into her captor's throat, his blood running over her fingers. He groaned out his pain and forced her arms to the ground above her head. "Please, I beg you don't put up any more of a struggle." He paused taking in air, "I don't want to have to hurt you. Please, don't struggle."
But Saelyn refused and kept on pushing, shoving him from her. The Roman released one of his hands and she flew up just as he reached for a sizable rock. She wasn't expecting it, didn't even see it coming as she crawled from his grasp but it happened all the same. With one painful hit to the head she was knocked to the ground unconscious. The young Roman took a moment to breathe and watch the trees sway, dropping piles of snow to the already packed ground. He scooped the woman up in his arms surprised at how light she truly was. He starred at her sleeping state, watching her peaceful slumber created a calming sensation to swarm over his nerves.
"Bring her here!" Shouted the Captain from the gate, standing just beside the pinned brother.
The soldier glanced down at the woman one last time, "I'm sorry, I know now I should've let you go instead of keeping you here to watch the horrors of torture. He is your brother isn't he? I'm so sorry. Please, find it in your heart to forgive me." He pulled his cape from his back and wrapped it around her frigid body before making his way through the snow to his commanding officer.