Wandering Home

A/N: Sadly, I am unable to reply to all of you lovely people personally here anymore. I shall try my best to respond through the new regime that has been put in place. Have patience, it might take a while for me to get a handle on it all. I would just like to let all of you know that I greatly appreciate your reviews. They make a rather dreary day of work just a little brighter.

On to the real reason why you all keep coming back!

Chapter 3: Deliberations

The room that this nervous young maid led the three women to was more than they expected or what they were used to. The maid nervously announced that this room was at the end of the Knight's Hall. When the reached the room, they learned that it was more of a suite of rooms; small kitchen, a common room with fireplace, and a bedroom. It was starkly furnished in simple wooden furniture and the walls were open faced stone. It was complete with a layer of dust, indicating that it had not been used in a while.

"There's a hot bath waiting in the bedroom," the maid muttered, overwhelmed by the blank stares from the three women.

"Many thanks," Alannah replied gently. Seeing the girl hesitate, she said, "Ye can leave now if ye like."

The maid dropped a quick curtsey and nearly flew from the room.

Grainne raised an eyebrow. "Did she say 'hot bath'?"

"I do believe she did." Meara began pulling off her boots and tattered dress that was beyond repair. Not wanting to be outdone, Alannah and Grainne began pulling off their equally destroyed garments. With peals of childish laughter, the three ran the few short feet to the bath.

Slipping into the tub, they just let the hot water ease their achy muscles. Bits of weeks old grime began to lift away from their bodies. The cramped space of the dungeon had done nothing to improve upon their well being and made them even filthier than they had been during the time that they were running.

"Ahhhhh…" All three women sighed as the warmth washed over them. It was wonderful to actually have a bath.

After a few long minutes of intense scrubbing of flesh until it turned pink and washing out hair until it looked reasonable, Alannah spoke to her sisters.

"What do ye expect Arthur to do with us? It would be a terrible political move for him to kill us; all of the settlers here seem to admire him. But alas, at the same time, he must obey the Roman laws that bind him." She ran a comb through Meara's long wet curls.

"Ouch!" Meara's hand flew to the back of her head.

"Gabh mo leithscéal!" Alannah pleaded with her sister. "Your hair is just so long and curly…"

"Ye tugged, nothing more. My head merely aches from dealing with that impossible Roman." She wiped soap from her eyes and turned to Grainne. "Have ye any thoughts? Ye have been too silent on this issue, siúr."

"Simply wondering. Ala is right about the politics of it though. It could prove disastrous either way he chose." She paused for a moment, a look of thought on her face. "Though, despite the politics of the situation, those Knights may hold some sway where we are concerned."

"We can only hope," Alannah replied.

In a slightly removed section of the fort, the Knights were doing just that; trying to convince Arthur that letting the sisters stay and not kill them off was the best idea.

"So you would just cast them out and let them fend for themselves? The moment they walk outside those gates any Roman with half a mind would be after them to see them done with!" Lancelot pounded his fist on the table trying to drive his point home.

"Arthur, they have no home. Where are they to go?" Galahad looked at Arthur with that look of his that said, We all have been taken from our homes. Would you condemn others to the same fate?

"Galahad, it is not that simple! There are laws in place that I must follow!" Arthur sunk into a chair. "I know what morals drive me to do, but I also understand the laws that must also govern my actions."

"For one bloody moment forget the bloody laws!" Bors yelled in frustration. "Laws are all good an' well, but where women are concerned, it becomes a whole other issue. If they were men, I'd do as the law commanded me without a nod to morals. But they are women!"

As quietly as his deep voice allowed, Dagonet posed a question to Arthur. "Did you ever have a sister?" Arthur shook his head no. "Suppose for a moment then that you do. Would you want harm to befall her on account of a foolhardy man?" Dagonet dipped his head and whispered, "I know I would never wish that fate upon my sister."

All of the Knights looked at the large Knight. This was the most they had ever heard him speak of his family before. Even when they were young and as Knights in training, he barely ever mentioned home.

"I understand what you are trying to tell me, and I appreciate the viewpoint. But it is not that simple."

Gawain banged his forehead on the table. "Gods Arthur! How stubborn can you be? I know you won't kill them. But if you throw them aside, what is to say that they just won't come back?"

"These sisters are not dumb, Arthur." Arthur picked his head up when Tristan addressed him. He looked at the Scout curiously. Tristan continued. "Look at it; they managed to get into the fort without the Roman guards noticing, that's something. Then, if the Romans are to be believed, they managed to escape capture for a while after the first time a guard confronted them. They know how to survive. I commend them for getting this far."

Arthur sighed deeply. If only it were a simple choice where he did not have to worry about laws, politics and morals. Why was being a commander so bloody difficult?

In the middle of Arthur's rather deep concentration, the door to this little room slammed open, revealing a sturdy red headed woman in the doorframe. "Artorius Castus, what in the name of the Gods are you thinking? You want to leave these lasses to slaughter? I thought better of you."

Bors stepped forward. "Vanora, love, quiet. You'll raise the dead with all of this racket!"

"I'm not going to let him do it! I met one of those lasses Arthur. Sweet as can be. She cleaned up a disastrous mess in the Tavern so I could tend to the clan. I swear on this earth Artorius Castus, if you do anything besides keep them here, you will face my wrath." Vanora then turned on her heel and stalked out of the room.

"What a little ray of sunshine in our dear Arthur's life," Lancelot quipped.

"Hasn't left him with much choice," Gawain added. "Though, in the end, we're not going to give him much choice, are we lads?"

"Conspiracy! Bloody conspiracy! You haven't even met them!" Arthur bellowed to his brothers in arms.

"They seem decent enough," Tristan remarked. "That's all that really matters. Besides, it might be nice to have women that can actually cook and not be hung down by an army of little ones."

Standing and knocking over his chair, Arthur bellowed, "You lot are impossible!" With that, he stalked out of the room.

"He'll come around," Dagonet said. "He has his entire family against him."

"What a lovely choice," Lancelot quipped again.

"Well aren't you the bloody master quips today," Galahad snapped. "Did you not get bedded last night?"

Lancelot made a swipe for Galahad's mop of hair. "One night you will find your lovely curls missing from your head and that poor excuse for a beard will be removed from your chin!"

Galahad looked at Lancelot in mock horror. "You wouldn't!" his hand flying to his head.

"Both of you, enough." Dagonet sternly reprimanded as if they were children. With glares aimed at Dagonet, the two Knights got up and filed out of the room. Everyone else followed, wondering just what Arthur was planning to decide.

Night had fallen the fort and most people huddling around fires to chase away the unusual biting cold. Annoyed with being cooped up like caged animals, the three sisters pulled on their tattered cloaks and began to wander around the fort.

"Why can't she just make up his bloody mind!" Meara steamed.

"Have patience," Alannah scolded her older sister. "Ye are not going to accomplish anything with all of this fuss."

"It is quite annoying, though."

Alannah glared at Grainne. "Oh, not ye as well! Ye could at least be a little supportive. Who knows what this one might do if we give her the space."

As they walked along the battlements of the fort, an almost unearthly wind began to build. It whipped through the open compound, rattling window shutters, doors, and knocking over just about anything that was not secure. The sister's clothing whipped about their ankles, their hair streaming in the wind.

Meara clambered up on to one of the battlements. Tossing aside her cloak, she lifted her arms up in greeting. In her lilting voice, she began to chant. "Winds of Change, stir these feeble hearts of men. Elen of the Ways, guide us all along the paths that our feet have chosen to tread. We ask this in the name of the Mother Goddess."

Meara began the chant again, only this time Alannah and Grainne added their voices to hers to create the ancient melody of invocation.

Down below, all of the Knights had gathered. Their curiosity was peaked by these strange women who were seemingly calling down this wind.

"What the Devil is this?" Arthur demanded. "What, in the name of God, are they doing?"

Dagonet put a firm hand on his commander's shoulder. "Just let them be."

Tristan nodded in agreement. "They need to hold on to their own culture in a new land. A sense of familiarity makes them more comfortable."

"You can't cast them aside Arthur," Gawain said. "They need to be here."

Arthur sighed resignedly. There was nothing else that he could do. Unless…

Slowly, the winds calmed and the sister's chant ceased. As they pulled on their cloaks, they noticed their audience down in the compound. Hurrying down the closest set of steps, they made their way to the group of Knights.

"Ladies, I have come to a decision."

"About time," Grainne muttered under her breath. She received a sharp jab in the side from Meara.

"Ladies," Alannah scoffed with a roll of her honey eyes.

Arthur cleared his throat. "I have decided to let you stay on a few small conditions." All three women looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You must submit you full names, location of birth, current age and a physical description of yourselves for our records here. Secondly, know this. You will be on probation for period of time." The three made noises of protest, but Arthur held up a hand for silence. "This means that you must prove yourselves to us. What I mean by this is that you must demonstrate a desire to blend with the community here and not fight against the system of law that we have in place here. After you have demonstrated this, you will be acknowledged as full citizens of this fort here at Hadrian's Wall."

The three stood there for a moment, absorbing everything that Arthur had said. It seemed as fair as he could make it for both the Romans and for himself. A look of consent was passed from sister to sister. They shoved Meara forward to speak, who glared back at her sisters. Cowards, she thought.

"We, the daughters of Erie and of the land of Clifden, born of the clan O'Cearnaigh submit to the terms that ye have set before us on this night."

"Welcome to the fort," Gawain added before Arthur could get a word in. "May your times be blessed."

Gaelic Lesson!

Gabh mo leithscéal – I'm sorry

Siúr - sister