A/N: Just a warning that some of the flashback scenes may include some material that could upset some people. Thank you x
Arms flailed wildly as another scream took hold of her thrashing body, her back arching up off the bed and her head falling backwards and letting her hair hang limply behind her. Sweat rolled down her face as the keening noise ripped through her mouth and shook her body, her face contorted in agony, her lover attempting to still and soothe her. Falling back down to the bed she continued in her violent seizure, words tumbling from her mouth making no sense and her eyes glazed over in a glassy swathe.
Galahad burst into the room and immediately took in Gawain's desperate look as he tried vainly to restrain Anise without hurting her. The young Knight ran forwards to the bed and without trying to look too distressed he attempted in pinning her convulsing body to the bed whilst bellowing for Tristan.
"What happened?" He asked, turning back to his terrified friend.
"I...I don't know. One minute she was fine and then…" Gawain's stammered out, turning his face up to look pleadingly at Tristan who appeared suddenly in the doorway.
Tristan moved next to Gawain and nudged him away so that he could help to contain Anise, and Gawain moved backwards a little to let Tristan help him. He gulped hard as he watched his love in the full throw of a seizure and his face crumpled. Galahad noticed the threat of helpless and suffering tears that sprang up in Gawain's eyes and he met his eyes with a small smile; granting his closest friend and comrade his support and sympathy.
Day flew into the room next and let herself take an evaluative glance over the situation before running towards the bed and ducking beneath Galahad's arms. She clambered onto the bed, hitching her dress up around her knees and carefully kneeling over the convulsing body of Anise. Day breathed deeply before placing a cool hand onto Anise's forehead and recognising the fever that was there. Gawain looked fearfully over to his best friend who could do no more than attempt to be brave for him, and they both turned back to Anise. The chaotic murmurings were coming faster and louder now, often intermixed with intense screams and cries of pain or anguish; no-one could quite tell. Nimble hands pressed firmly onto the young girl's shoulders as Day attempted in aiding to gain some control over her body. Strong hands gripped the thrusting limbs, worried faces watched the pained expression and trembling ears heard the relentless cries.
"Can't you help her?" Gawain cried distraughtly, his voice rearing up over Anise's suffering cries and screeches.
"She won't stop!" Day shouted back, her hands leaving Anise's shoulder to wipe away the hair that had fallen across her face, and she sat back for a moment in confusion. "Galahad, give me her arm." She demanded suddenly and with a nod from Gawain, he complied and let go of her arm.
Day studied her arm for a second, clenching her knees around Anise's waist to try and stop her from jerking so much and upon running her finger along the witch's arm and giving her charmed motif an appraising glance, a look of understanding came across her face.
Tristan noticed this and questioned her with the raising of an eyebrow and Day replaced Anise's arm, placed her hand upon her forehead in a soothing manner and whispered something in Celtic to the delirious girl. Her body stilled slightly but her cries simply grew more passionate and Day told the men to let go of her.
"What are you going to do?" asked Gawain quietly, his blue eyes frowning in fear for Anise.
Day didn't answer but instead turned back to the incoherent girl and grabbed both of her hands. Two tortured screams soared into the still night of the fort and caused everyone that heard them to start with icy fear. The screams were agonised, drawn out, keening cries that struck everyone with a sense of harsh loss and suffering. It was enough to cause the other Knights to come running from their separate positions throughout the fort and burst into the room panting and looking alarmed. Everyone stood in frozen shock and fear at the sight of both Day and Anise shrieking; each had their own expression of pain, anguish and suffering but their cries were the same.
"What's going on?" Arthur demanded as he rushed into the room, his voice slightly hesitant and worried.
The three Knights who were already there simply turned to him in surprise and bewilderment as if they hadn't quite been able to react to the situation.
Day's eyes suddenly snapped shut.
There was fire, fire everywhere. It cast flickering shadows over the trees, over the small huts and over Anise as she ran. Frantic, the whole situation was frantic. She was running as fast as she could, glancing hastily into houses and down paths as she ran desperately looking for someone. Her breathing came in soft, sharp pants, her heart pounded in her chest, screams and yelling filled her ears and her hair flew around in the vicious breeze caused by her running.
At last she heard it; that noise, that cry that told her where the one she sought was.
Anise's glassy gaze also dimmed then until her eyes flew shut as well.
The shadow of the forest and the mountains hung heavily over the hay-strewn courtyard as Anise burst into it, but halted instantly. She was there, her mother was there but already it was too late. The Woads had hold of her, a dagger held to her throat pushing into her skin lightly and her dress already covered in a rivulet of ruby blood. Her mother's eyes had whipped up to the faces of her attackers; although her face was beginning to show signs of harsh purple bruising and cuts were evident from where they had dragged her.
"These Romans are all the same…"
Both girls took a shuddering breath as the words resounded in both of their heads.
"Kill the bitch."
The struggle had been brief but ever second that passed was another stab into Anise's heart as she could do no more than watch, her feet frozen in place and the distance just too far. Her beautiful black curls, her pained and still stunning face fell down into the mud. The blood trickled out slowly to mix with it as the Woads walked away, sneering at their conquest before finding something else to attack.
Pained sobs wracked both of the girls' bodies as they relived the scene, sharing the memories and the emotions. The Knights looked at one another wondering whether to stop it, but no-one was quite sure whether it would do more harm than good.
"What are they doing?" Lancelot asked in fearful wonder.
"Sharing their pain." Tristan whispered back.
Life flew backwards quickly then for both girls. Flashes of laughter, of dappled sunlight streaming through leaves, of learning new things, childhood friends, new conquests, and then back to Anise's very first traumatic memory.
Her father had just left. He had simply got up and walked out one day never to return. Her mother was huddled with Anise in her arms that night as darkness fell, whispering sweet nothings into her daughter's ear and letting her tears splash down the child's innocent cheeks. Then suddenly Anise remembered the door flying open and her grandmother bursting in. An argument started between her and her mother and Anise simply sat and watched it. Watched them shouting and screaming at one another until she was grabbed by her grandmother and dragged towards the small fire in the centre of the room. She didn't struggle at first but the tight grip on her arm and her mother's pleading screams instilled fear in her and she began to kick and jerk herself away as much as she could. The fire loomed fiercely in front of her 4 year old eyes which widened to an impossible size as her grandmother thrust her towards it, the grip still unyielding on her wrist.
"You and your mother were never good enough for my son. Let's burn the witch." Hissed her grandmother and with that she plunged Anise's arm into the fire.
The flames licked up the tender skin and for a moment Anise felt nothing more than a warming sensation along her skin. Then the agony had started and she began to scream, her body jerking violently as she tried to escape the fire. Her mother had been shrieking for her grandmother to let her go, to stop it, and she had started to bat the old hag in an attempt to make her cease the torture. After a few more seconds of obstinate pain it ceased and Anise was shoved backwards towards the ground; her arm bleeding freely and her skin burnt. She could only remember the tears after that. Nothing mattered apart from the throbbing of her delicate arm and the tears that came from both her and her mother. Tears of pain, of sorrow and of innocence all in the same drop.
The thrashing of the girls had started again, the intensity reaching a crescendo and Day's knees threatening to buckle and let her fall onto Anise. The Knights had attempted to pry them apart since the screaming had began again over five minutes ago but the bond they shared had been to great, even for all 7 Knights and now they watched helplessly. Tristan brooded over near the wall, not bearing to watch and fearing for the baby. How could Day be so stupid as to put not only her life but that of their baby in danger? He had tried with all his might to wrench her away, to stop her screaming, to comfort her broken body but the bond of magic had been overwhelming. He had even seen the ribbon of white light that shot between the two girls' hands as the men had managed to inch them apart. Gawain knelt by the bedside, the tears evident in his eyes as he watched and prayed to any Gods that were listening for the pain to be over and for it to stop.
It had mostly been Anise talking between the screams and Day only breathing heavily before she joined her friend in another agony-stricken cry. But now Anise fell silent and Day began to mumble incoherently. Tristan jerked away from the wall and knelt beside Gawain as all of the Knights made their way over to the bed curiously and listened attentively with frowns.
The woods, the dark, the rustling of the leaves shot between the two girls. Day was desperately trying to stop her memories from being shared with the girl beneath her but the flow of magic between them was too strong. The darkness was all consuming as it began and Day began to cry in her mind.
That was the first sound Anise heard as Day's mind was opened up to her. The crying. Her focus was unexpectedly whipped round to find three children huddled in the corner of a darkened tent, all of them whimpering and shaking in fear. The eldest soon stood up, telling the others to stay here and be safe as she hefted a sword u into her arms. It was Day. The other two children, both slightly younger than their sister protested but she told them everything would be ok and that they must stay here. They nodded dumbly, obeying their sister's orders and simply watched her with the tears streaming down their face. The sword was too big and heavy for Day but she struggled towards the flap of the tent, assuming what was meant to be a battle stance with the sword levelled awkwardly in her hands before spinning and flashing a smile to her siblings. And then she was gone.
"No!" whispered Day as the memory began to creep into her own mind.
She was prepared for the scenes that were to come as she had relived them many a time but she knew that Anise would never be strong enough to face Day's worst fears. That was something she alone faced.
She attempted to wrench herself away from Anise, pulling back away from her hands with all her might; the strain showing obviously on her face. But she was forced back down with a frustrated sigh.
It was dark outside. The fighting must have finished. Day dropped her sword and took off hesitantly into the night to seek out her mother and father. They had had to leave their children to protect the village from the onslaught of Romans when the fighting had begun but they had not yet returned. It was silent in the forest apart from the soft murmurings of her villagers as they made their way home; battered and bruised from the battle. She carried on in her silent creeping past the villagers until she reached the outskirts of the village. Here there was complete silence and stillness, but then Day heard a muffled shouting some way off and decided to go and investigate. The worst mistake of her life. She had ran swiftly through the forest using the slim spots of moonlight as her guide. Jumped over logs, crawled under dead branches and crept along leafy ridges until she finally slowed as she neared the noise. She hid in a bush to get a better look at the scene and to be hidden from view; she had listened well to her mother's advice. The shouting began again and her attention was turned to a Woad man covered in blood from the battle and being held back by 4 Roman soldiers, hands over his mouth. Her father. His blue skin was cut and bruised from where they had beaten him and he was obviously more concerned about something else. Day followed his gaze with curious fear and stopped in stricken fear at what she saw. Her mother. Nature had always been important to her mother and now she had died amongst it; the rope tied tightly around her graceful neck as she dangled limply from the branches of a tall tree. A small puddle of blood formed beneath her as small trickles of the ruby liquid ran in tiny streams down her body and dripped from her feet. Day had watched with unshed tears as the Romans had laughed and jeered before her incensed father until they had beaten him to within death's reach and left him.
Anise gagged in her seizure and Gawain started so suddenly that Tristan only just caught him before he leapt towards her. Gawain had turned to him with a broken frown and Tristan pulled him back with a shake of his head and a comfortingly strong but ever passive face. It was his eyes that spoke his pain though.
Showing herself, she ran to her father and ran a shaking hand along his face. His eyes opened to see her and he had whispered something to her before grabbing her in his arms. She had wept freely then, her sobs muffled by his bloody chest as he held her and shed his own tears.
"Day, you should not have come here. You should not…" Eiger had trailed off as his teary gaze went back to her mother and Day looked with him. She had grabbed a dagger from his boot before he could protest and had ran to the tree which held her mother and cut the rope with a strangled cry. Her father had watched with overwhelming pride as his daughter did this and he hugged her so tight that she though she would never breathe again as she helped him to stand. He ignored his broken and battered body as he hefted his love into his arms and set back towards the village in a faltering gait. Day walked beside him, her eyes never leaving her mother's as they journeyed in silence and before long they were back in the village. People came out off their huts and gasped as they watched the tiny procession through the village. Eiger walked with a sorrowful but proud stride, giving his wife as much dignity as she deserved. Both father and daughter were covered in blood as they walked and Day's tears did nothing to wash it from her fair skin. That night their small family had wept at the sudden loss from their life, nothing caring about the blood and had stayed that way long into the early hours of the morning.
The magic bond was suddenly broken as the girls wept unboundedly and Day collapsed down next to Anise. Their writhing had stopped and now they lay still; their breathing calm and quiet apart from the gentle sobs that held their supple bodies in a bout of long-suffering torture.
Tristan and Gawain were instantly to their loves' sides and the cradled each girl within the comforting hold of their arms. Everyone watched in sympathy and confusion at what had just happened and one by one left the Knights with the still weeping girls.
A/N: Well I'm not sure of the purpose that this chapter served but I thought it could give you more of an insight into both girls' lives and why they might be how they are. I will hopefully develop on this a bit more in due time (if I can, cos I don't even know how I'm going to lol) and there will be the usual fluff after-math lol. Tell me what you thought about it and what purpose you thought it served (cos I haven't got a clue lol) and I hope you enjoyed it...well not in a sick and twisted way lol. Thanks for your undying support everyone! Thanks x