Chapter Four:
The ride to the estate was damp and cold from the night's rain. Kelleigh found herself wishing for Lancelot's arms again. They arrived at the estate, and Kelleigh saw all of the walls. They were very much like Hadrian's Wall. Kelleigh turned her head to see serfs crowding on either side to see the commotion. Mercenaries closed the gates as they rode up. "Who are you?" One mercenary asked.
"I am Arthur Castus, commander of the Sarmatian Knights and by Bishop Germanius of Rome. Open the gate," Arthur ordered. Kelleigh reined her horse in next to Arthur on his right side. They watched as the gates opened, and a man walked out with several mercenaries. Kelleigh looked the man up and down. He was shorter than Arthur by a few inches, but the man had hair as dark as Arthur's. He wasn't close enough for her to see what colour his eyes were. The mercenaries were all dressed in military garb, helmets, and all.
"It is a wonder you have come!" the Roman man exclaimed. "Good Jesus, Arthur and his knights." He reached up to touch Kelleigh's horse, but Kelleigh reined back. In the process, she'd knock her long brown hair loose, causing the man to look at her with new eyes. "You have fought the Woads. Vile creatures," he added, still staring at Kelleigh.
"Our orders are to evacuate you immediately," Arthur said. The Roman looked around apprehensively.
"That--That's impossible," he told them, stuttering.
"Which is Alecto?" Kelleigh asked, looking around.
"I am Alecto," Kelleigh looked up at the wall. A young boy, Roman, like his father, stood there, along with a Roman woman.
"Alecto is my son. And everything we have here in the land given to us by the Pope of Rome."
"Well you're about to give it to the Saxons," Lancelot said.
"They're invading form the North," Kelleigh added, causing the man to look at her again. It was easy to tell that she was a woman, now that her hair had fallen loose. It framed her face in soft waves, setting of her green eyes.
"Then Rome will send an army," the Roman told her.
"They have," Arthur interjected. "Us. We'll leave as soon as you're ready." Arthur shifted his horse so that he was directly in front of Kelleigh. No man had a right to look at her the way the Roman was, in his opinion.
"I refuse to leave," the Roman stated. Kelleigh watched the doors, and saw Alecto walk out, followed by his mother. "Go back to work!" The man ordered his serfs. "All of you! Get back to work!"
"Back to work!" The mercenaries walked toward the serfs, shoving them to the ground. Arthur watched unhappily. Kelleigh glared.
"All right, all right!" She heard a voice behind her.
"Go on!" the mercenaries yelled.
"Go!" the Roman shouted.
"Go back to work!"
Arthur dismounted his horse, and approached the Roman man. The Roman took a few steps back in fear. "If I fail to bring you and your son back, my men can never leave this land," Arthur said. He continued on through gritted teeth, "So you're coming with me if I have to tie you to my horse and drag you all the way to Hadrian's Wall myself," Arthur made a mock bow. "My lord," he looked at the lady. "Lady, my knights are hungry," The woman put her hand on the Roman man's shoulder.
"Go," he said, and the woman left. "Come," he told his son after staring at Arthur. He looked at Kelleigh before he turned to his son and walked back into the gates. Kelleigh shuddered. The man was most definitely a leaper. Kelleigh looked at the strange building to her left, and wondered what it was.
"Come, let's go," Bors told Arthur. Kelleigh saw a man being hung up by chains, and knew Arthur saw the same. Bors' eyes followed Arthur. Arthur approached the serfs, Excalibur drawn. Bors followed the suit. Kelleigh pranced her horse around, while Lancelot looked at her. She watched as a man walked up to Arthur and began talking to him, but Kelleigh heard not a word.
"Are you from Rome?" A monk asked Bors, causing Kelleigh to look at the man.
"From hell," Bors replied, following Arthur. Kelleigh was about to gig her horse forward, but Lancelot put his hand on her reins.
"No," he said sharply. Kelleigh met his eyes, an open challenge in her own. But she stayed behind, against her better judgement.
"Who is this?" They heard Arthur ask, pointing at the old man with his sword. Someone must have replied, but neither Kelleigh nor Lancelot heard the answer. They watched the scene unfold, and Kelleigh jumped when she saw the serfs all back up. "I tell you now. Marius is not a man of God. And you--all of you--were free from your first breath," Arthur hit the chains, and Kelleigh saw the old man fall. "Help this man!" No one moved. "Help him!" Arthur yelled again. People rushed forward, unwilling to invoke the knight commander's wrath. "Now hear me. A vast and terrible army is coming this way. They will show no mercy, spare no one. Those of you who are able should gather you things and begin to move south, toward Hadrian's Wall." Kelleigh and Lancelot looked at each other, knowing what was coming next. "Those unable shall come with us." Arthur turned to the man Kelleigh had seen him talking to earlier. He said something, and Kelleigh turned to Lancelot.
"Lancelot, we don't have time for all of these people. I don't want to leave them, but..."
"We're not leaving them, Kelleigh," Arthur said, walking up to them. Kelleigh looked at her friends and rode away, frustrated. Arthur's nobleness was going to be the death of them all.
A short wile later, everyone was almost ready. Lancelot looked at Kelleigh as he walked up to her. "You've got that 'I-don't-want-you-to-do-this' look," she said, trying to make a joke. Lancelot wasn't laughing.
"Ride in the carriage," his words were soft, but they meant exactly what he'd said. No argument.
"Lancelot—" Kelleigh began, but his face told her not to protest. "What does Arthur say?"
"Ride in the carriage," Arthur said, coming up beside her. "I want you safe," he added.
"We want you safe," Lancelot amended. "Why we let you come is beyond me."
"Fine, I'll do it," Kelleigh looked at them angrily. "I'll ride with the family," she added, causing them to look at her sharply.
"You'll do nothing of the sort," Arthur said.
"Am I suddenly a prisoner, Artorius?" Kelleigh asked, and walked away, leaving them to stare after her.
"Sometimes I want to tie her to my horse and drag her across this land," Lancelot said, looking at Arthur.
"She's grown into a woman, independent, wilful and strong," Arthur said. "I almost pity the man who marries her."
"What if it were one of the knights?" Lancelot looked at Arthur.
"Are you saying something, Lancelot?" Arthur asked.
"I'm in love with her, yes," Lancelot replied.
"Good luck, my friend," Arthur replied, walking away, leaving Lancelot to stare in the direction in which Kelleigh had stomped angrily.
Kelleigh took the cloak she'd been wearing off, and put in on the saddle of her horse. The dark burgundy colour contrasted nicely with the black of the saddle. She briefly looked up when Tristan rode past her. She was still upset about having to ride in the carriage. Arthur wouldn't understand how much it felt like he was trying to protect her from what he didn't want her to see. Kelleigh looked up briefly when she heard drums in the distance. Jols walked up to her. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking at her. Kelleigh pulled the dagger she kept hidden from the rest of them out and strapped it to her other thigh, her sword came next, but that she handed to Jols.
"Riding confined to a carriage," Kelleigh replied angrily. "Would you take my horse?"
"Yes, and for what it's worth, he's just trying to protect you," Jols replied. Kelleigh took the cloak off the saddle and put it over her shoulders.
"And confine me to keep me safe!" Kelleigh blasted. "They taught me!" She noticed Gawain ride past them, and toward the strange building. Kelleigh took her sword from Jols and briskly made her way to the circle of knights. She walked in the circle, avoiding Lancelot's eyes, and stared at the building ahead of her.
"What is this?" Arthur asked, pointing at the building with his sword.
"You cannot go in there," one of the monks said. "No one goes in there. This place is forbidden."
"What are you doing? Stop this!" Marius said distantly. Bors moved to stop the man from getting any closer to them. Arthur moved to inspect the mortared bricks in front of the door.
"Arthur, we have no time," Lancelot said from atop his horse. Kelleigh stepped forward.
"Can you not hear the drums?" Galahad asked, his horse prancing a bit.
"Dagonet," Arthur looked at the knight. Dagonet dismounted his horse, grabbed an axe, and hacked at the bricks. Arthur pushed Kelleigh out of the way, making sure that any falling debris didn't hit her. After the bricks were hacked away, Dagonet came to a door. "Key," Arthur said, looking at the mercenaries.
"It's locked…from the inside," one mercenary replied. Arthur nodded at Dagonet, who used his strength to knock the door down. Kelleigh watched Lancelot dismount and draw one sword, while Arthur walked grabbed a torch. Kelleigh gave her sword to Galahad who took it without a question. He knew she was going to follow Lancelot and Arthur. Arthur took a torch from the wall, and walked into the little building. Lancelot and Kelleigh followed.
"Move!" Gawain yelled. Kelleigh got closer to Arthur and Lancelot.
"Gawain," Lancelot handed him the torch he held. He then looked at Kelleigh. "You shouldn't be here," he said.
"Exuadi orationem meam…In nominee Del patric omnipotentis et in virtute Spiritus Sancti," they heard someone saying through the corridor. It was almost disheartening. Kelleigh watched Lancelot go ahead of Arthur and into another room. "Who are these defilers of the Lord's temple?" Someone asked. Kelleigh followed Arthur and Lancelot down the little passageway.
"Out of the way," Lancelot shoved the monk to the side. Kelleigh gasped when she and Dagonet came into the room. Death was everywhere. It hung in the air like a curtain drawn across the windows, shutting out any other smell. "The work of your God," Lancelot looked at Arthur. "Is this how he answers your prayers?" It was never more evident, the differences between the two best friends and their religion.
"See if there are any still alive," Arthur ordered. Dagonet, Lancelot, and Arthur spread out, searching for life, while Kelleigh and Gawain stood at the doorway, along with the monks.
Bile worked its way into Kelleigh's stomach. She watched as Dagonet opened the door of a cell and recoiled from the putrid smell.
"How dare you set foot in this holy place!" A monk exclaimed, trying to stop Lancelot from opening a cell door.
Lancelot turned and stabbed the monk in the stomach, meeting Kelleigh's eyes. She didn't know him then. Lancelot's eyes were that of a stranger, so cold, holding nothing of the warmth they held when he looked at her. The monk fell over, dead. "There was a man of God," the monk from the building said.
"Not my God!" Lancelot exclaimed angrily, pointing at the monk.
"This one's dead," Arthur said, his voice distracting Kelleigh.
"By this smell, they are all dead," Kelleigh said, looking around the room. "The place reeks of death and decay."
"And you," Gawain pointed the torch at the two monks, "you even move, you join him," Gawain motioned to the dead monk on the floor near Kelleigh's feet.
Kelleigh watched Dagonet open another cell. "Arthur!" he shouted, and pulled a little boy out of the cell. Kelleigh stepped over the dead monk, and rushed to Dagonet and the little boy. "You must not fear us," Dagonet told the boy, pointing his finger at the boy.
"Dag, be careful of his arm," Kelleigh said, looking the little boy over with gentle hands. "It's most likely broken, from the angle it's placed." Dagonet nodded, while Kelleigh turned to Arthur and Lancelot. She watched as Arthur handed Lancelot the torch he'd been holding, then stand, break the chains on a cell door in front of him, and let the cell door fall with a loud clank. She watched Arthur kneel down, and hold out his hand to someone, or something. When he pulled his hand back, Kelleigh saw that he pulled someone out. She rushed over to help. "Let's get them outside," Kelleigh said, looking at Lancelot. He led the way out of the little building.
Kelleigh breathed in the frigid air once they were outside. She took several gulps to fight the bile that threatened to rise in her throat. "Water! Give me water!" she yelled, moving so that Arthur and Dagonet could come out of the building. Lancelot stuck Excalibur in the ground next to Arthur as he knelt down with the woman in his arms. Horton and Jols ran up, bringing flasks of water to Kelleigh and Dagonet. Kelleigh handed the flask to Arthur. "Slowly," Kelleigh told him. The woman drank, and began to cough. Kelleigh got up and stood next to Lancelot. Tristan sheathed his sword and watched.
"She's a Woad," he told them. Kelleigh looked at the young woman more closely. She saw what Tristan saw; tattoos, made from blue dye, upon the woman's lower legs.
"I'm a Roman officer, you're safe now," Arthur murmured to the woman. "You're safe…"
"Stop what you are doing!" Marius approached Arthur. Kelleigh could contain herself any longer.
"What is this madness?" She asked angrily, looking at the Roman.
"They are all pagans here," He replied furiously.
"So are we," Galahad interjected.
"They refuse to do the task that God has set for them!" Marius yelled. "They must die as an example!"
Kelleigh walked toward the woman and Arthur, knelt down to comfort the woman, and nodded at Marius' wife as she knelt beside her.
"You mean they refuse to be your serfs!" Arthur shouted, standing.
"You are a Roman. You understand. And you are Christian," Marius yelled back, and then he looked at Kelleigh and his wife. "You! You kept them alive!" Marius meant to hit his wife, but Kelleigh stood in time to stop him. She fell back onto the ground, taking the blow for the other woman. Arthur saw red. He punched Marius, knocking the Roman man backwards on the ground. Kelleigh got up carefully, holding her cheek. A bruise was already forming. Lancelot held out his hand to her, and Kelleigh took it. Lancelot lifted her in front of him on his horse, and immediately began to check her out for injury. Kelleigh never saw what happened with Marius, nor did she care to. All she wanted was for him to get what he deserved.
"Let me see," Lancelot whispered, gently moving her hand away from her bruised cheek. Kelleigh looked away, but Lancelot pulled her chin back to face him. "You're awfully strong to take a blow for someone, Kelleigh," he told her, looking into her green eyes.
"If I hadn't of, she'd still be on the ground," Kelleigh told him with a hint of defiance in her voice. She was afraid that Lancelot was going to tell her she was wrong to have done that.
"Our Kelleigh, courageous to the end," Lancelot smiled, and ran his hand over the bruise. Kelleigh winced. "It mars your beautiful face," Lancelot whispered in her ear. Kelleigh smiled.
"It'll heal," she whispered back. "He'll get what he deserves, right?"
"Most definitely," Lancelot answered, kissing her lips softly, almost as if he was sealing the vow. Kelleigh sighed in contentment. She was there, in Lancelot's arms, where she'd wanted to be for so long. Lancelot broke the kiss, and looked around them. The knights had all moved away, and Arthur was riding toward them.
"How is she?" he asked Lancelot, looking at the bruise on Kelleigh's cheek.
"It's nothing, Arthur," Kelleigh answered for Lancelot, looking at Arthur.
"You're not to do that again," Arthur replied.
"And let the bastard beat her? Arthur, can't you see?" Kelleigh argued.
"No, Kelleigh," Lancelot said. "Let it go,"
"Lancelot—" Kelleigh looked at him, but she didn't finish her sentence. Arthur rode away, leaving them to look after him. "I'm not a child, yet you both treat me as such," Kelleigh told Lancelot, who had begun to ride toward the caravan waiting for them.
"For your own good," Lancelot said simply. "If either of us were to lose you, none of us would be the same man we are today," he added. Kelleigh glared at him.
"You'd be the same man, Lancelot," she told him. "A proper killing machine." He looked at her. Kelleigh turned away from him, almost as if she didn't want to look at him. Lancelot helped her slid down off his horse.
"Don't let your guard down," he ordered. "Keep a weapon on you at all times,"
"Don't worry about me," Kelleigh said, looking up at him with clear green eyes. "You and Arthur taught me well." Little did they know that she had been training whenever she got the chance, and her people now considered her an Amazon.
"Even so, if you have need of us, don't hesitate," Lancelot said, looking down at her with something unfamiliar in his dark eyes. Kelleigh found herself a bit unnerved. She nodded and watched him ride away, wishing that she could tell him of the love in her heart.
Snow covered the mountains all around them, or at least what Kelleigh could see outside of the carriage she sat in. The journey back to the wall was going to be long. Kelleigh longed to ride her horse, wishing for the silent comfort that the animal gave her when she needed a friend. Looking back at the little boy Dagonet had rescued, Kelleigh sighed. The boy's name was Lucan, and he was a Woad child. Kelleigh and Dagonet took turns caring for the child; applying compresses to his burning body. His fever ran high, due, in part, to the malnourished state that he'd been rescued in. Looking for some more water, Kelleigh noticed that she had none. She carefully went toward the front of the carriage and slid out, jumping to the ground. Arthur, who had been looking in the carriage at the woman he'd saved, gave her a funny look. "The boy burns with fever. I need more water to keep him cool," Kelleigh said. Arthur nodded, and pulled her up in front of him on his horse.
"Ride with me a bit," he said, and then he stopped to look out over a bluff. Lancelot rode up beside them.
"We're moving to slow. The girl's not going to make it and neither is the boy," he said, looking at Arthur and Kelleigh. Kelleigh knew that he was right.
"The family we can protect, but we're wasting our time with all these people," Kelleigh looked at Arthur.
"We're not leaving them," Arthur replied.
"If the Saxons find us, we will have to fight," Lancelot added.
"Then save your anger for them," Arthur told Lancelot, looking at the man.
"Is this Rome's quest?" Kelleigh asked. "Or Arthur's?" Arthur looked at her, and then turned to watch Lancelot ride away.
Later, Kelleigh and the Roman woman, whose name was Fulcinia, were taking care of Lucan, when Arthur walked came in the carriage. Kelleigh looked up. "Arthur."
"How is he?" Arthur asked, looking at the little boy covering thick course blankets, moving slightly.
"He burns," Kelleigh replied. "Brave boy," Arthur went back toward the woman he'd rescued. Kelleigh shifted herself so that she could see what he did. She watched as the girl recoiled from Arthur at first and then Arthur gently coaxed her into submission. After putting her fingers back into their rightful place, Arthur made ready to leave them, but the girl stopped him. Kelleigh listened intently to what the woman said.
"He tortured me," she said. "With machines. He made me say things I didn't know to begin with." Arthur just stared solemnly at the girl. "And then, I heard your voice in the dark." The girl looked Arthur in the face. "I'm Guinevere. You're Arthur, of the knights from the Great Wall."
"I am," Arthur replied, looking at the woman.
"The famous Briton who kills his own people," Guinevere added. Kelleigh watched the woman fall into exhaustion against his chest. Kelleigh knew that in that moment, Arthur would love her forever. The girl would become important to him. She'd force a decision out of him, and it would affect them all.
Kelleigh looked over the snow-covered hills around her. Arthur and Lancelot finally relented to let her ride, due in part to the fact that she was making herself sick over caring for the little boy. Both Arthur and Lancelot had told her to take it easy. Tristan was off scouting, while Dagonet was in the carriage with Lucan and Fulcinia. Galahad and Gawain were somewhere, looking out for trouble, while Bors rode at the end of the caravan. Kelleigh didn't know where Lancelot was, nor did she intend to find him. He was his own person. Kelleigh turned her head slightly when she heard horses come up beside her. She looked at Arthur, and smiled at him. They rode together in silence for a while. Lancelot rode up beside them a while later and the three each took comfort in the company they offered. They didn't need to speak. Long ago, they'd learned to communicate without talking to each other, even when there was animosity between them.
Kelleigh watched Arthur turn his head to look at something behind them, and she looked back as well. She saw Guinevere sitting in the carriage, staring out. Lancelot must have too, for he gigged his horse and was gone. Kelleigh looked after him, while Arthur went back toward the carriage to talk to Guinevere. Kelleigh didn't want to hear Arthur and Guinevere talking, so she rode ahead, and set a steady pace for herself near the Honorius carriage.
She let her mind wander over her future, thinking about what she was going to do when the knights all left for Sarmatia. She'd have nowhere to go. She refused to go back to Rome with Arthur, as he'd insisted many times. In Rome, she wouldn't have the freedom she needed in order to survive. In Rome, Kelleigh knew that she'd have to marry Arthur in order to save her reputation. She didn't want him to resent her for tying him down to someone he didn't love.
If she went to Sarmatia with Lancelot, she'd at least have the freedom she craved, but he would be the only one she knew. If she went with him to Sarmatia, she'd be with the man she loved forever. If she went to Sarmatia, she'd live with the pain of knowing that she'd live with him, not knowing if he ever loved her enough to take her to Sarmatia as his wife, or as his friend and sister.
Kelleigh wasn't sure she wanted to leave Britain. It was her home. It was the only place she'd ever known in her life. She'd never been away from Britain. Part of her never wanted to part from her homeland, yet the other part of her never wanted to be parted with Lancelot or Arthur. They loved her, and she loved them.
Kelleigh looked to her left and saw death. Saxons had destroyed a village, and left the dead people out for the scavengers to devour. Kelleigh felt the bile rise in her throat and stopped her horse, allowing herself to jump off the horse and throw up. Arthur rode up and dismounted beside her. "Are you okay?" He asked, stroking her back. Kelleigh wiped the bile from her face with the back of her hand.
"This is the worst thing I have ever seen," Kelleigh said, indicating the carnage around them with a tilt of her head. Arthur nodded his head and helped her mount her horse again. Kelleigh took the reins in her hands and looked at Arthur.
"Saxons," he told her, knowing she was wondering. Kelleigh looked past him and saw men, women and children, dead, with arrows protruding from their bodies. The sight made her sick. Some of the bodies were blackened from the fires that had burned the forests around them, while others were bloated, and decaying. Lancelot rode up to her and Arthur. Kelleigh was glad he'd stopped in front of her, so that she couldn't see that gruesome sights in front of her. Kelleigh met his eyes.
"So much blood," she told him. "So much carnage,"
Lancelot nodded at her. "You're safe with us," he told her, and looked at Arthur.
"Ride ahead, and keep an eye out," Arthur said. He watched Lancelot look at Kelleigh once; making sure that she was all right and then rode away. He saw Kelleigh looked after Lancelot with longing in her expressive green eyes. Arthur knew that Kelleigh was in love with Lancelot. "Kelleigh," Arthur looked at her.
"Yes Arthur?" Kelleigh looked back at her best friend.
"Be careful," Arthur told her. "Lancelot may not admit it, but he cares for you deeply," he added. Kelleigh nodded and watched Arthur ride away.
Kelleigh reined her horse in next to Galahad, and looked out at the snow-covered expanse before her. They all looked out at a grove of pine trees. "We'll sleep there," Arthur said, pointing at the grove of trees. "Take shelter in those trees," Kelleigh nodded at Galahad, who looked at her. "Tristan," Arthur looked at the knight beside him.
"You want to go out again," Tristan asked his hawk, which sat on his arm, as if awaiting orders. "Yeah…" He lifted his arm, and the bird flew off, vaulting high into the sky. Tristan rode of shortly after. Arthur rode off to the front of the caravan, while the rest of them stood there a moment. Kelleigh rode toward Lancelot and stopped beside him. They stared out at the trees, not talking. Guinevere stared at them from behind.
"'Tis a beautiful country, is it not?" She asked. Kelleigh and Lancelot turned their heads to look at her.
"If you say so," Lancelot replied.
"And where do you come from that compares?" Guinevere asked. Lancelot and Kelleigh turned to face the Woad woman. "The Black Sea? This is heaven for me," Guinevere added.
"I don't believe in heaven," Lancelot said. "I've been living to long in this hell." He gave Guinevere a cheeky grin. "But if you represent what heaven is," he turned his head to Kelleigh, "Take me there," he whispered for her ears alone. Kelleigh looked at him, but didn't reply.
Lancelot heard thunder and looked up at the sky, almost savouring the noise. Rain began to fall with snow mixed in. Kelleigh watched Lancelot stretch out his hand and felt the rain. Kelleigh kept completely still. Lancelot had his head toward the sky, rain, and snow falling on his face. "Rain and snow at once," He said. "A bad omen,"
"Let us make camp," Kelleigh said, staring at Lancelot. She then rode away from him, hoping to find Bors to help make the preparations for camp. She was jealous of Guinevere. Lancelot stared after her.
"You love her?" Guinevere asked. "She's very independent and strong-willed."
Lancelot turned away from Kelleigh to stare at Guinevere. "Kelleigh is going back to Sarmatia with me, yes," he said, feeling like he wasn't being true to himself. "There are times when what I feel for her confuses me beyond comprehension," He said.
"Love is a phenomenal thing," Guinevere replied.
"If that's love, then I suppose I've loved her for the past fifteen years," Lancelot said. "Telling her won't be easy."
"The time will come," someone said from behind Lancelot. Guinevere looked over his shoulder and saw Gawain. "I've suspected that you'd fallen in love with our Kelleigh sometime. When the time is right, you'll know, and you'll tell her," Gawain said with wisdom beyond his years. "She's deeply in love with you too, though she is too stubborn to admit it."
"Stubborn, that's our Kelleigh," Lancelot agreed. Both men forgot about Guinevere for the moment, and got lost in their own thoughts. Lancelot made a point in his mind about talking to Kelleigh that night, no matter what it took.