Back at the tavern while Lancelot and Briseis are in the stables talking.
"Vanora!" screamed Bors. No answer. "Vanora!"
A red head appeared from the back room where the spare ale was kept, hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised. Bors looked taken aback by her forceful stance.
"Yes lover, I hear you but when you act like a pig I completely ignore you." With a flick of her wrist she had vanished and was busy working once again in the back.
Bors raised his eyebrows and then shook his head in frustration and defeat. Dagonet laughed at him.
"You'll never learn how to address a woman will you old friend?" while he slapped him on the back causing Bors to spill some of his ale that he was about to sip. Shaking the spilled beer off his hand he looked at Dagonet and then shook his head.
"That's no woman!" he shouted.
"I heard that! And you're going to regret saying it tonight when you are bunking with Dagonet!" came the boisterous voice of Vanora.
Bors looked over at his friend and Dagonet just shook his head in amusement. Taking a sip from his ale and placing it back down, Dagonet looked around the tavern filled with all his friends, filled with his family really. They were all he had and he would gladly sacrifice his life for any of them. Katrina sat a near by table with one of Bors' many bastards sitting on her lap. There were 3 or four others sitting around her also and he was curious as to what she was saying to them. Grabbing his mug he stood and walked over to her table quietly as not to disturb her. He leaned his large form against one of the beams and inclined his head to hear her magical voice. The flames from the fire danced on the panels of her cheeks while she spoke animatedly to the eager young listeners.
"…she had strayed too far from her home and was now wandering the forest in search of some help. A breeze flew through the naked branches and hollow trunks causing eerie cracks and howls. Sara shivered as when a branch caught at her shawl and ripped it from her little body. Bare to the wind and lost beyond rescue Sara wandered alone until she came upon a vast glossy lake. Wildly the wind beat against her face yet the lake was somber and peaceful. 'Come Sara, we are angels here to save you, come to us Sara, come and swim with us…' sang musical voices that seemed to reside under the surface of the lake."
Dagonet could not help but grin. She was telling them a ghost story. 'Oh Katrina,' he thought, 'have you no compassion for the young?'
The children were staring at her with wide eyes and gaped mouths. Although the tavern was loud and awake, this little corner was full of suspense and mystery all insinuated by none other than innocent Katrina.
"Come to us, come for a warm swim…" mimicked Katrina in a high pitched but lovely voice.
" 'Oh how cold I am.' Said little Sara. Step after step she proceeded into the lake. Now the voices were over taking her, they were all around her, pulling at her dress and grabbing her tiny arms with their cold claws. Poor Sara, she had fallen onto her knees now as the water began to find its way down her throat and into her lungs. Coughing over whelmed her and her little voice could not scream out for help."
The little girl sitting on Katrina's lap now clung to her as if her life depended on it.
" 'Come with us Sara, we want you, you must come with us Sara.' Sneered the voices. Sara's head was now fully under water but her legs were kicking, disrupting the calmness of the lake. In a matter of second there was not a sound to be heard. The forest stopped screaming, the lake returned to normal, and the villagers searching for little Sara appeared at the edge of the lake. All that they found of her was her shawl caught up on a branch dangling over the water like a leaf. That was all that was left of little Sara for the devils of the lake swallowed her up for their midnight supper."
The story came to an end and the children just stared at Katrina with shock and utter horror written all over their faces.
"Auntie Katrina we asked you to tell us a story." Said the small person perched on her lap.
"But I did Helia, I told you a ghost story. Didn't you like it?" she asked in an innocent voice but with a sarcastic look on her face.
"Oh no I though it was dreadful. How scary and sad for that poor little girl Sara."
He wasn't positive but Dagonet thought a hint of happiness or perhaps satisfaction cross through Katrina's eyes.
"Ok little ones, run back to your rooms and go to bed. Gilly put your sisters and brother to sleep please." A young boy of about 10 came forward and lifted little Helia off of Katrina's lap.
"May no ill dreams disturb thy rest nor powers of darkness molest." She shouted as a line of children filed up the stairs still sporting looks of obvious concern and worry on their sweet faces. Katrina smiled and looked down at her hands then dusted them off on her apron before looking up and into the eyes of Dagonet.
He smiled at her, "That was some story."
"Did you enjoy it? It is one of my favorites." She sighed as they sat back down in front of the fire.
He looked up at her with amusement written all over his face.
"What?"
"Katrina you frightened them to their very souls tonight. Have you no pity on these young ones?"
She frowned and waved a hand at him. " Oh pin feathers! It gives them character. Liven the little toads up a bit. There was no harm done, so what they lose a little sleep tonight but eventually they will appreciate all that I have offered them." She again flattened her skirt with her hands and looked up at him smiling her radiant smile.
Dagonet just shook his head and rubbed his forehead with his hands. "You sure are a different soul Katrina, one that I have never meet before."
She grabbed his hand and they both turned serious. "I am different Dagonet, I see the world differently. Everyone has all these colors around them, colors that only I seem to be able to see."
She cocked her head and looked at him but through him. He shivered and looked behind him to see what she was staring at. It was Galahad and he was sitting alone at a table with a solemn look on his face.
"I don't understand what you mean. You can see colors? What king of colors?" her eyes shifted back to Dagonet.
"You see Galahad over there. All alone and depressed. Drinking away his sorrows. When I look at him I see this sickly yellow surrounding his entire being."
Dagonet looked back at his friend to see if he too could see the color.
"He struggles…" she said in an airy almost psychotic voice, "…struggles to maintain power, control in his life. He is fearful of losing control of his sanity. He is also filled with some anger. Lines of mud red inter twine themselves with the strands of yellow. Yet there is still hope, though slim. There are small flashes of a darker red that appear every so often. This darkness proves that he has a strong will power, a will power to succeed. But this little hope comes from an outside source."
Dagonet looked confused. "Who?"
Katrina just nodded at the new arrival. Aurora sat beside Galahad and took one of his hands in hers. With her other hand she took his mug of ale away from him and cupped his face in her hand bringing his eyes to meet hers. She shook her head and with her eyes said 'no more' and he smiled. She was his light.
"What colors does she have around her?" Dagonet asked.
"Hummm. Let's see. Aurora is a simple creature. Pure and honest. There is a pink bright light forever surrounding her. She is loving and tender, sensitive and sensual, artistic and affectionate. Through Aurora, Galahad survives.
Dagonet thought for a moment and then smiled. "What about me? What do you see in me?"
Katrina genuinely brightened. "You are beautiful, surrounded by a deep shade of blue, full of spiritual nature, generosity, the right path. You are sensitive, cool and calm, collected and caring, intuitive. But there is doubt in you dear sir. A muddy blue swims through your goodness. Your fear of the future, fear of self-expression, fear of speaking what you truly feel; all these haunt you at present and will continue to plague hence you change that."
After staring him directly in the eyes she squeezed his hand and then stood up.
"Katrina I…I want to change but I need, I need guidance, I feel lost."
She shook her head. "No Dagonet you do not need guidance. You already know that path to choose, you just need confidence."
He looked at the ground with despair. A hand reached out and lifted his chin.
"Perhaps this will lift your confidence and give you a nudge onto the right path."
In one swift and graceful movement Katrina leaned down and captured his lips. It was a soft and reassuring touch, not filled with passion or love but with guidance and trust. When she pulled away he smiled and nodded his hand in understanding, he finally understood where he belonged.