Tristan watched as the two Woad sisters made their way towards the tavern. He'd thought it best to give them some time alone so had kept out of the way and stayed with his fellow comrades in the warmth of the inn. He smirked into his mug of ale as Day and her sister grew nearer and glanced up to catch her fiddling with her sister's hair; just like a mother might do. After a few moments of rebraiding, Day tapped the younger girl on the shoulder and led them through the busy street and into the tavern. They both shook themselves off as they entered the warm hostelry as it had begun to snow again and they were sprinkled in a light dusting of the white powder.
"Anise how are you?" cried Day as she ran over to the woman and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you but I got a bit…well…preoccupied." She added hastily with a blush and glanced over to catch Tristan's eye.
Anise chuckled and moved over so that the two new arrivals could sit down on the bench next to her.
"Dagonet said I could move from the infirmary as long as I get my rest." Explained Anise with a gentle smile, huddling up next to Gawain and lacing her fingers through those which rested on her shoulder.
"Well that's good. When you're well enough rested I'll train you again, but not before." Warned Day with a teasing smile before turning back to the rest of the table.
After a while spent chatting idly, joking and laughing Vanora came back round to the table looking worn and frustrated.
"What's the matter Vanora?" asked Anise with concern as the normally fiery red-head all but collapsed onto the bench opposite.
"It's the kids. They're doing my head in!" she groaned wearily as she passed around more pitchers of ale.
"Day?" whispered Jocosta quietly and waited for her sister to turn and face her. "I could take them outside for a while if it would help?" She suggested expectantly.
Day smiled at her sister's kind idea and Vanora couldn't thank the girl enough.
"Will you need someone to accompany you?" Day asked as Jocosta gathered the children near the door to the tavern.
"I'll help her." Declared Galahad suddenly and strode over to her before anyone could argue.
He had been sat watching the girl sullenly all afternoon and this was the perfect chance he could have to talk to her.
"Thank you Galahad." Murmured Day with a warm smile and sat herself down next to Tristan, who placed a protective arm around her waist.
Jocosta looked up calmly at the young Knight approaching her, although her eyes showed her obvious fear which she tried to hide vainly. Seeing Galahad's brooding expression, Jocosta turned back to the children quickly and started ushering them out into the courtyard and through the gates. Galahad simply followed lost in thought and the children frolicked happily as they reached the snow-covered fields outside the fort. After a quick nod of the head from Jocosta they all ran in different directions; screaming, shouting and yelling with joy. The girl couldn't help but laugh as she watched them bounding through the white plain and throwing snowballs at each other. Galahad's head shot up as he heard her laugh and he eyed her with a distressed expression which she ignored as he was behind her.
After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence, only broken by the gleeful screams of the children, Galahad moved towards her and coughed quietly.
"What do you know about Loire?" He asked sternly and watched intently as Jocosta turned to face him.
Her eyes betrayed her calm façade; dancing with fear and apprehension and she looked away from the Knight's pleading face.
"Please." He begged her quietly and moved slightly closer.
Jocosta looked up at him warily for a moment before beginning to talk.
"She was one of our clan." Whispered the young girl, looking out over to the woods. "I knew her only a little, but I knew of what happened between you."
Galahad sighed softly as the girl paused and waited for her to continue.
"She was one of the best fighters of our clan and she was devious with it. We had been trying to formulate a plan of attack for a while and had drawn a blank. One day there was an attack near the village, I remember as I watched from a tree….I remember seeing you there." Jocosta whispered and looked back to Galahad who was listening intently. "Well after the battle the elders were discussing what to do as you were drawing nearer to the village and it would be dangerous for us to stay there any longer. That was when Loire had an idea. She had seen you fighting and had taken a fancy to you; your skills, your grace, your passion for life. Of course it would be difficult as you seemed to be the most fervent about going home and about hating the Woads, but you were also the youngest and most impressionable. The plan worked but it was harder for her to follow-through with then you might think."
Galahad's eyes changed swiftly as Jocosta stopped talking; they lost their remorseful tint and instead went cold and steely.
"Hard for her?" Whispered Galahad angrily. "How can you say it was hard for her?"
Jocosta backed away from Galahad slowly, her eyes growing wide as his anger grew and her mouth opening slightly with fear. Galahad continued advancing on her steadily and Jocosta glanced around frantically for some form of escape.
"It was hard for her, she didn't want to." Jocosta exclaimed frantically as she continued withdrawing from the glowering Knight just inches away from her, his fists clenched and his eyes bristling.
Galahad glared at her for a moment, sensing something wasn't quite right.
"You're not telling me something. What is it you're not telling me!" He asked angrily; something desperate and frantic in his voice.
Jocosta simply stared back at him and saw the confusion etched in his features. He was angry, but sorrowful at the same time, and there was something pleading about him that needed to know what she was keeping from him. But most of all there was the agony of her betrayal and the fear of the situation haunting him.
"What is it!" He urged again and grabbed her wrists, forcing her to stand still and face him.
"Jocosta! Jocosta!" cried one of the children running up from behind her.
Galahad still held onto her wrists and she gazed back at him tentatively, her breathing heavy from the rush of emotions and his eyes still pleading with her. After a second he released her wrists and stood back from her, running a hand through his hair and kicking the snow roughly.
"Jocosta, come and play with us! The other Knights have come out!" spluttered one of the children excitedly; their cheeks flushed from running around and their eyes sparkling with childish glee as they pointed to the figures walking out of the gate.
Jocosta breathed in relief and stood back up, looking back to Galahad who was glaring defeatedly at the snow before following the child's relentless tugging on her sleeve and hurrying off towards the figures gathered in the snow.
"Hey!" Shouted Gawain with a laugh as a snowball hit the back of his head.
White balls were flying through the air everywhere; creating a criss-cross pattern in the pasty sky. Laughter filled the air too and the children still screamed with delight at the frolics of the afternoon; dodging between the Knights' legs and avoiding their tickling hands.
Tristan stood back and aimed one directly into Lancelot's face as the younger Knight straightened up with a handful of snow. Everyone laughed, including Tristan which was a rare occurrence in itself and Lancelot stood rather indignantly in the middle of the field with a face full of snow. After a few seconds the laughter stopped abruptly as another snowball was landed in Tristan' face. The dark Knight wiped the snow slowly from his face and everyone turned to look at him with shocked expressions. He suddenly burst out into laughter though, followed by the other Knights and sought out the culprit. He spotted Day nearby and saw the wicked gleam in her eye and proceeded to run towards her, still laughing. Day let out a scream and ran in the other direction, her laughter ringing out across the field and the wind whipping her hair and dress out behind her in a stream of fabric. The snowballs continued to fly through the air as Dagonet received one on the side of his face, much to his surprise, Bors was pelted with them insistently from all of his bastards and Gawain and Lancelot were attacked with the clamber of snow-filled hands after Bors had let out a roar and sent them scattering. Galahad was the only one who refused to join in the fun after he had stormed off of the field and left them to it. Anise sat on top of the parapet with Arthur as they laughed at the scene below them and watched the scurrying of figures flying across the field. They'd both had a few minutes of fun earlier with Anise pelting Gawain a few times and Arthur bombarding his smug second-in-command with a few snowballs till his wound had started playing up and he'd resigned himself to sitting out with Anise for company. Eventually Tristan had caught Day and wrestled her to the ground playfully, resulting in her laughing into his chest and struggling beneath him as they both collapsed into the snow. Everyone seemed contented and carefree and Jocosta could see why Day loved it here so much, and why she loved Tristan so much. She hadn't admitted to it yet of course, but it was obvious from the way they looked at each other.
Jocosta smiled to herself and remembered how much Day had looked like their mother. They both did, but Day more so; she had her mother's eyes whilst Jocosta had their father's, and Day possessed the same grace and quiet confidence of their mother. Eiger's traits were much more domineering in Jocosta and Gryfn, which wasn't surprising as although Day was only a few years older than them she could remember their mother the most. With a heavy sigh Jocosta started walking back towards the fort; the wind lashing across her face and flushing her porcelain skin and the snow falling softly to lie on her russet locks. She wandered aimlessly through the streets of the fort, her eyes scanning the winding alleys and glowing houses until she reached the practice fields. She hadn't seen this place before and the blanket of snow made it difficult for her to tell what it was until she noticed the half-covered archery targets and the wooden poles for sword training swathed in the white drifts. She was about to turn to leave when she a figure caught her eye sitting motionlessly on the high wall enclosing the fields. The figure sat staring down at the vast layer of snow and seemed not to have noticed Jocosta so she moved slowly towards them, making sure she didn't startle them. It wasn't until she realised it was Galahad that she quickened her pace, if she didn't tell him now she wasn't quite sure what he might do. He looked over silently as she came to rest beside him and his eyes traced her face intently as she gazed out over the untouched snow.
"The elders threatened her. They threatened to kill her if she didn't go through with the plan. She didn't want to hurt you." Whispered Jocosta slowly as the snow started to fall again in a soft flurry.
Galahad made no noise so she took it as a sign to continue.
"She went into battle that day hoping she wouldn't have to see you, hoping she wouldn't have to hurt anyone. Fate obviously wasn't boding well for either of you on that day." Jocosta shifted her eyes to meet Galahad's and noticed the hurt in his gaze. "She had to do it Galahad. She hoped the battle would be over and that she could disappear back to the forest as she'd never be able to go back to you."
"Why?" Whispered Galahad bitterly. "Why couldn't she just have run? Not gone through with it? Just left me with not knowing where she was rather than this torture." He spat out.
Jocosta jerked her head back round towards the ground and let her hair fall across her face, creating a shield between her and the young Knight.
"Not only did I have to realise she'd betrayed me, I had to watch her kill my friend. Then, THEN! I had to kill her, listen to her screams, watch her die!" shouted Galahad, bitterness and anger tainting his words.
Jocosta shuddered at his words and turned to face him with tear-stained cheeks.
"How do you know all this? HOW!" barked Galahad distraughtly as he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her roughly.
"I was the one who found her on the field!" She shouted back, unable to control the tears flowing freely now. "I'd heard the arguments she'd had with the elders, I knew about everything! It was to me she told her dying words!"
Galahad's hands still gripped her shoulders tightly, though they now heaved with her sobs and he looked at her questioningly.
"W-what did she say?" He asked, tears lacing his voice.
Jocosta looked up unflinchingly at him then, staring back at him with tear-filled eyes.
"That she only wished she'd died that day by the elders' sword rather than yours." She whispered slowly and watched Galahad crumple next to her; his hands slowly dropping from her shoulders and instead cradling his head. "She didn't want for both of you to die with a broken heart."
Galahad sobbed loudly then, his whole body shaking as it was racked with agony. Jocosta sat next to him silently, shedding her own tears for him. She reached out a hand and moved some of his dark curls from his forehead before he grabbed it and held it between his own as he stood.
"Thank you." He whispered gently. "Thank you."
At that he took off without another word and let Jocosta watch after him silently, leaving her alone in the snow. She stayed there for a few minutes, simply staring numbly out across the blindingly white blanket of snow that surrounded the fort before she heard the sound of talking and laughter erupt from the streets below and guessed that the others had come back. She wiped away the tears that had stained her face but couldn't find it in herself to move yet and so stayed where she was. It wasn't' until she heard Tristan come up behind her that she actually moved.
"Day was wondering where you'd gone." He said quietly and eyed her with his usual stony expression, although there was concern in his eyes.
"Thank you." She replied smoothly and allowed him to help her up before they started walking back down off the wall.
Jocosta watched silently as he caught sight of her sister and a smile instantly tugged at his lips, something which had been happening very often. Day smiled back and thanked him for finding Jocosta before slipping into his arms and allowing him to hug her cosily and burying her head into his chest.
"Where's Galahad?" Gawain asked aloud after a few minutes of chatting and Jocosta saw Day's head turn towards her with a frown.
Jocosta looked at the floor before raising her head again and mouthing 'I'm sorry' at her sister as she guessed that Day had worked out the cause for his disappearance. Day smiled at the girl's fear and mouthed back to her: 'It will do him good."
A/N: Lol yup snow fight! You read my mind Meredith! lol and now hopefully we can stop Galahad crying (sorry about all that, kinda dragged it out a bit but meh lol) Do we want more action soon? Or some soppy stuff? lol you know what you have to do, and you all do it so well! lol Thanks x