Thank you for all your reviews! I am so amazed and pleased that you like it thus far. Sorry it has been so long since the last update, but work has been hell! Short staffed, you know the old saying... over worked and under paid? A huge understatement! But it is almost over, so here I am again! To make it up, I am giving you two chapters today. Hope you enjoy!
The next day the small group came to the edge of the woods and rode into the meadow beyond. Gawain noticed that Sarah was looking around more intently and moved his horse a little closer to talk to her. "Does this look familiar to you?" he asked quietly to get her attention. She was turned almost all the way around on her saddle, looking to the right, toward the west. She suddenly pointed and said with excitement in her voice, "That way, my village is that way." Then she turned to the left, looking past Gawain, "I went that way when I came to this meadow. I wanted to stay close to the woods, but they looked so dark and eerie that I was afraid to venture into them very far." Then she looked at him with a look of confusion on her face, "I don't remember where I went after that, I must have wandered a long way to the east before heading south. It took me so much longer to get to the fort than it's taken us to get back."
Gawain reached out to take her hand in his and heard Dagonet shout, "There. A man." He looked in the direction that Dag was pointing and saw a man running away from them. He looked frantic and upset, shouting something they could not understand. Arthur turned toward the man and they quickly rode to catch him. As they got near, they heard him shouting, "Saxons! They've come back! To arms!" As they got to him, he turned to face the riders, catching them by surprise. Arthur reined in his big war horse, the horse pawing the air, trying to obey his master and stop before running the man down. The others all followed suit, some almost riding past before they could stop their forward momentum.
Tristan, ever ahead of the others, was the first to dismount, pulling his curved sword from his back. The man held his weapon more like a club than a weapon, leaving no doubt with the other knights that his end would come swiftly if he continued in his 'threatening' manner. Arthur spoke to the man, trying to use a friendly tone, which was not an easy task considering the man's posture. "Sir, we mean you no harm. I am a Roman commander with my knights. We are hereabouts checking on stories concerning Saxon attacks." The man looked quickly at Arthur, then jerked his head back to look at Tristan. Sarah saw that the man didn't trust that Tristan would not attack if he looked away. She tried to slowly inch her way around where she could see the man's face. Something about him seemed familiar, but no one she knew in her village would act this way.
Just as she was almost where she could see his face an arrow came streaking through the sky and struck the ground at Tristan's feet. She jerked her attention in the direction the arrow came from and saw a small group of men riding toward them, one holding a bow with another arrow nocked and aimed at Tristan. Squinting against the sun, she tried to determine who these men were. If they were men of her tribe she would announce herself and put a stop to all the nonsense, but even the man standing closest seemed foreign to her memory.
They all watched as the riders slowly moved closer. Finally, Sarah heard one of them shout, "Drop your weapons and dismount or the one standing will be the first to die." Arthur was about to shout back when he heard Sarah yell as loud as she could, "Timothy, it's Sarah!" She started to dismount and felt Gawain grab her arm. "Gawain, it's my brother. He's alive and I must tell him I'm back!" She gave him a pleading look and he released his hold on her arm, "Be careful, something doesn't feel right about this. I thought you said they didn't know how to fight?" He said in form of a question.
She looked up and slowly shook her head, "They didn't when I left." Then she slowly stepped around the horses and headed toward her brother. Before she had gone more than a few paces, he yelled, "Stay your advance or I WILL kill you. MY sister would not be riding with a bunch of Saxons. My Sarah is dead!" She kept walking, taking one step at a time, holding her hands in front of her so the men could see she had no weapon. She heard Gawain's whispered plea, "Sarah, stop." But she had to find out what had happened to her brother and why he did not recognize her. She had only been gone a little over six months and she knew she hadn't changed that much in such a short time. Even if her brother did appear to have done so. But she still recognized him and he should know her as well.
Arthur watched, afraid to make a move in case it put Sarah in more danger. The riders started toward the knights, whether it was to get to Sarah or the men, he couldn't tell. He turned toward Tristan, "Sheath your sword and get on your horse. Prepare for combat should they move to hurt her." Tristan nodded and did as Arthur bade him. "Gawain, if there is any sign of trouble, get her and get her out of here." Arthur didn't look to see if the man would do as asked. He probably would have without being asked. The tautness of his muscles radiated out for all to feel.
Sarah walked slowly forward as if she and the riders were the only ones involved in this. The man she called Timothy spoke to the others sitting on their horses and slowly rode toward her alone. Arthur saw Gawain's horse prance in anticipation of his master's next move. He held his hand out to stop him, "Wait. Let's see what happens. He does not have a threatening demeanor yet." He stole a glance at him and saw the shock on his face, "By the time I get there now he could already have harmed her. If I wait, I might as well plan on doing nothing." But Arthur noted he did not move toward her.
When Timothy got close enough to really get a good look at this woman who claimed to be his sister, he saw that it truly was her. He dismounted and ran to embrace her in a hug. "Oh, Sarah, I thought I had lost you as well. The gods must have been watching over you for you to return unharmed after so long." He looked back at the knights, "Derek will be pleased that you have returned. I have much to tell you, but we must go to the village or he will be angry that I didn't report this quickly." He took her arm and started to lead her towards his horse, but she pulled back. "Wait, Timothy. We must let Arthur and his knights catch up to us." She wanted to tell him of Gawain, but for some reason she didn't think he would listen to her. He seemed uneasy and reluctant to do as she asked.
"Timothy, what is wrong? You're acting strangely." She questioned him. Again she saw the hesitation before he released her arm and mounted his horse. "You will accompany us to the village. As our prisoners. Until it is decided whether or not your escorts mean us no harm. Saxons caught us unawares once. It will not happen again." Having said that he rode back toward his friends, leaving Sarah standing to watch with her mouth hanging open at the turn of events. She finally turned back toward Arthur and the rest. Her step was a little quicker on the return, but she felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. She would never have dreamed her beloved brother would treat her thus! She had been afraid the invasion had taken all that she loved from her, but she had never thought of the effects it would have on them if any had survived. What had Timothy seen that had changed him so? She felt the tears stinging her eyes and quickly brushed them away with her hands.
She heard the sound of hooves and looked up to find the knights all riding slowly toward her. Gawain stopped beside her and pulled her up in front of him, holding her a little tighter than she thought was needed. The sound of Arthur's voice made her look toward the commander. "Sarah, what happened? What did your, brother say?" She felt tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, "We are to be their prisoners. Until it can be decided whether or not you mean to attack my village." She wiped her eyes with her hands, "He didn't believe me, my brother who I was closer to than anyone else, save my father and he didn't believe me." She tried to hold back the sob that was rising in her breast, but felt Gawain pull her closer against his chest, letting her know she had failed. She turned her head and let him hold it against him with his hand on her cheek. He gently rubbed her hair and kissed the top of her head.
Arthur looked over Sarah and Gawain to the men sitting impatiently for them to comply. Finally, he sighed, "Men put all weapons away and ride slowly toward them. We will go along until we get to the village and find out what is going on." The knights reluctantly did as they were told and Arthur took the lead with Gawain and Sarah beside him. As they approached, he called out, "I am Artorius Castus of the Roman Empire. My knights and I will accept your terms to avoid unnecessary bloodshed until this misunderstanding is straightened out. But, we will not relinquish our weapons until we are certain no ill intent is in your minds." He waited and saw the hesitation on the other man's face. Finally, he nodded toward Arthur and the group of men moved to the side to allow Arthur to lead the way. He noticed that two of the men rode beside him and Gawain, but this, Timothy, rode in the back. As he would himself, if escorting an enemy to the fortress.
Sarah felt the tension emanating from all the men, both the knights and her countrymen. It would not take much to feed the fire that burned in all of them. She looked around at the men 'escorting' them to the village. They all looked different than she remembered. Harder, somehow. She didn't doubt that they could wield the weapons they now carried instead of farming tools. But she knew they would be no match for the skilled fighters that now rode as her companions.
It surprised her that she would be comparing her people to the knights. It surprised her more that she found them wanting. What could she do to keep any of them from being killed should trouble start? If she could do nothing, who would she give her allegiance to? She loved Timothy as much as herself, but she loved Gawain more than her own life. Could she live with the knowledge that she could not stop the deaths of these two men when she somehow thought she had brought this all on?
Oh, why hadn't she just stayed at the fort? Her mind shouted. Then she wouldn't be faced with the possibility of such a choice. 'And never know for sure if your brother, or your family, had survived?' a voice deep within her heart shouted back at her, mocking her indecision. The ride home was plagued with dark thoughts and fears swirling in her troubled mind, to the point that she wished she could scream!