Rude Awakenings
Once they had entered into his small tent, Elaine quickly turned around, catching her brother off guard with a sudden embrace. Recovering from his surprise quickly, Arthur wrapped his arms around her slim waist, bring her tightly to him. The two stayed this way for a while, each savoring the presence of the other. After being separated from one another for nearly fourteen years, it was almost as though they were not truly there, that all this was all a strange dream and at any moment either one of them would awake.
Soon they released each other, and Arthur lead her over to a made bed that was to be hers for the night.
"I know that you must be very tired, but I need you to give me some answers that I've waited for so many years."
As she sat down upon the soft bed, Elaine smiled at Arthur as he sat across from her on a bed of his own. "Always so serious," she said, making her voice deep as she mocked him.
Arthur chuckled as a full smile appeared across his face. Tears came to her eyes, as she reached over and touched her brother's face softly.
"Now, there is a sight that I have waited for so long to see again."
Arthur leaned into her palm, "I have missed you so."
"And I you."
He took her hand away from his face, holding it firmly in both hands as though there was some way that she could suddenly just disappear from his life once more. She smiled lovingly at him, a long strand of her hair falling in her face as she did. Arthur reached over and placed it behind her ear once more.
"Now, please we must talk."
Elaine sighed, but her smile remained. "Ask me anything, brother."
Arthur struggled with the words he had been wanted to say all these years. "Was it the Celts? We're they the ones who abducted you that night."
Pain filled Elaine's eyes as the memory of that fateful night came soaring back into her mind.
"Yes. And I have dwelled with them ever since."
Arthur dropped his head. He fought back tears that threatened to spill out onto the grassy floor.
"Arthur, please let me tell you."
Arthur looked up at her words. Elaine sighed preparing to unleash the truth about the life she had been living for the past fourteen years of her life.
"That night, I was taken, by force, by a Celtic man named Gaelan. He had journeyed all the way from the island of Shalott with a small troupe of men. They came to the wall because they had heard rumors that the Romans were looking to extend their empire father east, and eventually overseas. Gaelan feared that this might put his people at risk for enslavement, for as you probably know, the Celts of Shalott broke away from Ireland to retain their pagan ways."
"What has any of that got to do with this, Gaelan, simply deciding to take a six-year-old girl from her home?"
"Arthur, please."
Arthur closed his mouth, but still sighed with anger. "Forgive me."
"Gaelan had a wife back in Shalott, Isolde, who had recently lost a baby girl in child birth. She had mourned for weeks, and Gaelan feared that she may die from grief, for soon after the baby's death, she was told by the healers that she could never bare another. Now, Celts are, of course, fair in their appearances, and that goes for Isolde and Gaelan as well. But the girl that she gave birth to was special. For she had wavy raven black hair, like mine. When Gaelan saw me that night, playing around the fort, his was heart broken, for in me , he saw what would have been his own daughter. He became frantic, and asked his companions to help him. He was desperate Arthur, and his judgment was thus impaired. I cannot count how many times since that he has begged me for forgiveness."
"This man, this Celt, took you away from me," anger dripped from Arthur's words, "because the color of your hair?"
"He was in mourning Arthur. His wife had lost their only child."
"THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR HIS ACTIONS!"
Elaine was frightened at her brother's anger, for she had never before witnessed Arthur lash out the way he was. "Arthur, please. He was so sorry. So grieved by his mistake. I forgave him, though."
Arthur froze, his pacing that he had begun when he had had his outburst was suddenly ceased. He looked down upon Elaine with unimaginable disbelief, "You forgave him? Elaine, he took you away. He stole you from your home, took you to a foreign land and..."
"And he made me his daughter."
Arthur shook his head, "You were only daughter to one father, and one mother. No one could ever erase them from your life."
"Yes, no one could ever, for I hold them locked in my heart. But Arthur, Gaelan and Isolde loved me and cared for me. They raised me, taught me their ways, their language. They educated me in many fields, taught me to defend myself, taught me so much, and gave me so much. I became a healer, and I helped others. Above all else they loved me, and I loved them."
Arthur looked deep into Elaine's pleading eyes, not completely able to believe what she had said. He knelt down to her face, and took her hands in his. After a moment, his eyes soften and she reached up once more to stroke his face. But the sweet moment passed quickly, as Arthur stood up abruptly.
"How could you love such savages?"
Elaine's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped. Her own fury filled her quickly.
"Savages? The Celts are an educated people. They don't live in trees and prey on the souls of the innocent."
"Yes, but they steal away young girls?"
"They never harmed me in any way."
"Yes they did. Or did you not feel the pain that I felt all these years? Did you not love me as much as I loved you?
Elaine's eyes narrowed, "I told you once that my love would never falter. DO NOT TREAT ME AS THOUGHT I WERE A CHILD AGAIN, ARTHUR. I DIED THAT DAY."
Arthur's heart broke as tears streamed down her face. He felt helpless.
Elaine quickly recovered from her momentary breakdown, dried her tears and sniffed. "I am a woman now , Arthur. We have both changed."
The siblings did not look each other in the eyes as they sat in silence. So many emotions were coursing through both their bodies, but neither could speak, nor act in any way at all. Finally, Arthur began to remove his breast plate. Elaine watched as he placed his armor in a designated space near the entrance of the tent. She prayed that he would say anything at that moment, forgive her, yell at her, anything. She got her wish, but in a twisted way.
"Sleep now," he said as he laid down upon his bed roll and blowing out the lantern that had illuminated the entire tent, "we wake early tomorrow."
Elaine sat in the darkness, staring down at the back of her brother. She watched as his breathing slowed and he drifted off into sleep. Slowly, she bent down, not taking her eyes away from his sleeping form, as she removed her tiny white slippers. She finally broke her gaze when she slipped under her thin sheet, turning her back to Arthur as she laid down as well. Tears fell silently as she wept, slowly falling in a fitful sleep.
Hours later, Elaine sat up with a start. Beads of sweat covered her entire body, as she quickly pushed the covers from her, slipping into her slippers that still sat by the edge of her bed. She had nightmare. Elaine was sitting atop her horse, Luka, as she looked out over a smoke filled field. Suddenly, Arthur came into view, as did all the knights, each battling hard against a deadly enemy that she could not see. Slowly, each knight began to fall one by one, and she screamed, nudging Luka with her heels in attempt to ride to their rescue. But something was wrong. Luka was frozen, and she soon realized that she too could not move. She frantically attempted to free herself from the invisible force, but she watched in horror as she saw the last knight, one she couldn't tell the face of through the smoke, run towards her sword raised. She realized that the unknown enemy was coming towards her, and the unrecognizable knight threw his entire sword in the air, lodging it in the wailing enemy. Just when she thought the worst was over, thousands of dark, enemy arrows soared through the sky, hitting her savior with great force. She cried out, as her dream shifted slightly. Elaine found herself kneeling over the fallen body of her brother. His face was pale, blood seeping out from his lips as he spoke "Forgive me, forgive me. I love you." That is when Elaine woke up in a start.
Elaine rose from her bed, looking at Arthur's peaceful form as she draped her blue cloak about her shoulders, and slipped out of the tent's entrance. She had to get fresh air, for the tent seemed to be growing smaller and smaller, consuming her with anxiety.
When she step outside, she was met with the sight of the sleeping knights. Carefully maneuvering over their bodies without a sound, Elaine escaped out into the forest. She had to be alone. Soon, she was sprinting through the forest, her white gown gliding about her, giving her an angelic appearance in the dark woods. Elaine ran swiftly through the trees, with the skill of a woad.
Soon she came to a clearing and stopped dead in her tracks. Her chest rose up and down, as she caught her breathe. Looking around her, she thanked God for the beauty and security of this small sanctuary. Elaine slowly paced around the clearing, closing her eyes when she finally stopped, and wrapping her arms about her. She sighed to herself as she enjoyed the night breeze, but still remained alert, listening for any disturbances. Gaelan had taught her how to listen to the silence. As silly as it may have sounded, Elaine knew he was right, for when you give yourself completely to the silence, you can hear everything. That was, of course, disturbances in the natural noises of the world.
"You shouldn't be out hear."
Elaine yelped as she spun around. She saw the dark scout from before, enter into the clearly, and was shocked that he hadn't made a sound.
"You frightened me!"
The dark knight chuckled, though his placid face did not change. "Well if you weren't lurking around here, I wouldn't have."
Elaine's face became puzzled. "What are you doing out here? Don't you sleep?"
"I'm keeping watch."
"All night?"
"Probably."
"But won't you be exhausted in the morning?"
"No."
"How?"
The scout grunted exasperatingly as he strode over to the woman, who back away in fear, "Do you always ask this many questions?"
Elaine swallowed, desperately trying to regain her composure. "Yes, if the person I'm engaging in conversation with insists on speaking with single word sentences."
The man smirked, "I don't have conversations."
"Than what are we doing now?" Elaine said with a cunning smile. The knight huffed, as he turned away, taking a long knife out, and cutting into a large red apple.
"What is your name?"
The man looked up from his apple, "You know my name."
Elaine studied the man completely puzzled, than it hit her.
"Tristan?"
Tristan didn't respond, but she didn't need him to either. He looked back down at his apple, carving thick wedges from the fruit.
Elaine walked over to where Tristan now sat upon a small rock, and she sat down beside him. Suddenly, Tristan felt extremely uncomfortable, and ultimately regretted coming to her in the first place. But he had seen her leave Arthur's tent, and followed her quickly as she ran into the forest. He couldn't let anything happen to her. For Arthur's sake, of course.
"I do remember your name, Tristan. And I remember the boy I meet, years ago . The night Arthur and I came to the wall. The night..."
"The night you were abducted."
Elaine frowned, "Yes. I remember we met that day in the stables, and that we spent the rest of the evening together, sharing stories," Elaine chuckled, "eating apples."
Tristan gave Elaine a wedge, which she took from him thankfully. He acted as though he had done nothing at all, and continued to look uninterested in her retelling of the story he had replayed in his mind a thousand times before.
"When the Celts snuck up behind us, in the stables, we were both taken by surprise. You leapt forth as they grabbed me away, and you stabbed one in the arm. He began to beat you, but you still fought so bravely. They finally had to injure you with an arrow to stop your attacks."
Elaine stared at Tristan, searching his face for a sign, any sign that he remembered.
"I never got to thank you," she said, placing her soft hand upon his gloved one. Tristan froze at her warm contact, staring down at her small hand against his large, slender one. He swallowed hard before he could speak.
"Right," he said emotionlessly, as he stood. As he did, he slipped a fresh apple in the hand that Elaine had previously rested on his.
She sighed, secretly disappoint at Tristan's behavior. Things certainly had changed. Even the boy who she had dreamt about for so many years. Now, he was a man that she hardly recognized.
As she stood, looking down at the apple in her hand, Tristan spoke, his back towards her.
"You killed ten Woads today."
Elaine heart raced with the sudden nervousness that came upon her. Where was he going with this?
"You put in arrow into them, one by one. Woads are exceptional marksmen, and they are even better when their in their element. How did you manage to kill each without the others ambushing as you did."
Elaine searched for an acceptable answer to give that would end the scouts interrogation.
"I didn't kill but one, and that...that was an accident. I do...don't know about the others." Elaine mentally kicked herself for her foolish attempt.
The scout still stood, his back towards Elaine. "And when I came across you, you detected my presence, and almost put in arrow in me."
"Listen, Tristan...today was nothin..."
Without warning, the knight swiftly turned, a small dagger flying from his hand and directly toward Elaine's heart. Out of instinct, Elaine swooped her arm around, catching the dagger as it lodged into the apple she still held. She looked down at the pierced apple, than towards the knight in disbelief.
Tristan only smirked, "Just as I thought."
Elaine's eyes raged with fury as she sent the apple directly at Triatan's head, which he caught, pulled out the dagger, and biting into it.
"You bastard !"
"You've been trained to fi..."
"No! You tricked me."
"I was only trying to discover the truth."
"Oh, and what if I wasn't able? Hmm? Than what?"
"I took a chance."
"You are a bastard!"
"So I've heard."
Elaine stared at Tristan, before she fled back towards the campsite, leaving him. As she made her way back through the woods, tears fell mercilessly down her cheeks. God, how she hated him
Tristan sighed. He'd noticed the tears forming in her eyes right before she left him there alone. What was wrong with him? Why was he such an animal?
He rubbed his eyes, trying to erase the image of her fleeing white form from his mind. Gods, this woman was having an undesired effect over the scout. She had just appeared from thin air, back into his life, and in a matter of hours had managed to turn his usual calm self into an emotional mess.
Gods, how he hated her.