Chapter Two
They had given her a dress, made from orange cotton – courtesy of Bors' lover. Then they had quite unceremoniously dumped Hermione on a horse and chained her to the bridle. Bloody bastards.
"You have no idea how uncomfortable this is!" She shouted over the sound of pounding hooves. "Why am I chained to the horse? Can't you just trust me?" She asked, only to be met with laughter. They had been riding hard for four hours and her bum was beginning to hurt.
"Alright, then." Arthur said, slowing his horse. "We'll have a rest." He declared, stopping and dismounting. The others followed, but Hermione was left chained to her horse.
She huffed. "No, of course I don't mind being chained to a horse, with a sore bum. I find it quite wonderful, actually." She spat sarcastically under her breath. When she looked up, she found one of the knights gazing at her. Her cheeks flushed, but she stared back. "What are you looking at?" She snapped.
"Calm down, Lass." He said coolly, holding his arm out. A bird suddenly swooped down and landed on his arm. Hermione jumped. He chuckled, before cooing at the bird and sharing some of his apple.
"Perhaps we should let you off your horse, then." Galahad said, coming up to her and unbuckling her chains. She rubbed at her wrists for the second time in one day and dismounted swiftly, but very ungracefully. Galahad steadied her and she glared at him.
"Thanks." She said. She looked around; they were in some kind of grassy meadow, the grass a brown shade. "Wow." She breathed, plonking down on top of the soft grass.
"Nice, isn't it?" The Bird Knight said. He sat down next to her and passed her a water canteen. She drank from it and smiled softly. "Is it as nice as wherever you come from?" He asked quietly.
She blinked at him and he chuckled. "You know I'm not a woad?" She asked, uncertain, but knowing that if he hadn't known before, he surely knew now.
"We all know." He said, pulling up some grass.
"But then – why?" She sputtered. She looked around and spotted the odd one out. Well, the other odd one out. The Bishop's friend, Horton. "Oh. I see." She said.
He chuckled again. "So, are you really a witch?" He was just plain curious, now. He wanted to know everything about this strange girl; where she had come from, what her home was like... if she was married – but that was just for Galahad.
She looked around cautiously. "Will you burn me at the stake if I am?" she asked, causing him to laugh – loudly. "I'll take that as a no, then." She said and he smirked. "Yes, I am. Don't tell the Bishop, though." She whispered conspiringly.
He rolled his eyes and stood up. "You have my confidence. But right now, I think we're leaving." He indicated to the group mounting their horses again and went over to his own horse.
Hermione gingerly mounted, almost dismounting herself in the process as the long skirt of the dress got caught in the stirrup. She cursed and Horton looked at her disapprovingly. "Honestly, I don't usually curse this much..." She said, her cheeks flushing. She had always hated getting into trouble...
"We've got to move swiftly through the forest, or we'll be ambushed." Arthur announced. "Tristan, how far have we got until we reach Woad territory?"
The Bird Knight, as it turns out, answered Arthur swiftly. "A few hours' ride... If we ride hard." Hermione looked at him curiously.
"How did you know that?" She asked, unable to control herself.
"He talks to the bird. She's his one and only love." Bors said with a grin, making them laugh. Tristan smiled and whistled into the air, calling the bird to him. "And she comes with his call... though I don't know why; he's not that much of a looker." Bors roared with laughter at his own humour and Hermione gave off a snort.
They continued on for a few more hours and stopped just as dusk hit. There, they set up a camp, not risking the forest until morning. "Should we tie her up? What if she goes savage during the night?" Horton worried.
"Oh please, I'm a human, not an animal." She said, swinging her leg over the horse. Her dress got caught – again and this time, she fell flat on her back, with a groan. "Bloody hell." She muttered. "Stupid Ronald. Stupid Harry. This is all their fault." She seethed.
"She's a feisty one." Bors remarked. Lancelot snorted and made some comment Hermione didn't hear and Arthur looked at her apologetically.
He came over to her. "I'm really sorry about this." He said.
"Sorry about wha – whoa! Hey, what are you doing?! Put me down RIGHT NOW!" She yelled as he swung her over his shoulder and carried her over to the nearest tree. They tethered her up like a horse to the tree.
She glared at him and Bors laughed. "It's alright, Lass, you'll be fine. We just can't let you go savage on us, now can we?" She glared at him, too, refusing to speak – though it was pointless.
Just after the sun set, Arthur and Horton stood up, disappearing to a quiet place, leaving Hermione with the rest of the knights.
A grin broke out on Galahad's face. "So, Tristan, old boy, who's the winner?" He asked cheerfully. Hermione's eyebrow rose.
"She's a witch." He said quietly, flicking some of his dark hair out of his eyes. "Bors, Galahad and Arthur win."
"Cough it up, boys. I want my silver." Bors said loudly, holding his hand out. He got three silver pieces from Tristan and three from Gawain and Dagonet, who rolled his eyes and took a drink of water. Galahad got the same amount with a triumphant grin.
"You were betting on whether I was a witch." She stated. She blinked at them and they all owned up to it sheepishly. "Men. They're all... idiots." She muttered, plonking down on the ground. "Is anyone going to tell me what a Woad is?"
Galahad sat down next to her, warmth radiating off his body. "They're the rebel Britons. The ones who don't agree with Rome invading Britain. They live in the Northern part of Britain and occasionally attack in the South. Savage and ruthless with their fighting."
She nodded and was silent for a minute. "So, how much of that is mine?" Hermione indicated to the money Bors was putting in his saddlebag.
They laughed. But she was being quite serious. "None of it." Bors said. "To earn any of this, you need to learn how to ride a horse and fight properly, sweet'eart."
She scoffed at them. "I know how to fight, thank you very much." She defended. "If I had my wand here, I'd show you a thing or two –"
"Wand?" Galahad asked with a sort. "What are you; a fairy?" He teased.
"If I wasn't tied to a stinking tree I'd come over there and show you how much of a fairy I am!" They laughed at her ferociousness. "You're laughing now, but I've fought –"
"The Bishop's Man is coming back. Quiet now." Dagonet said suddenly, sitting himself down, though all of the others could barely hide their curiosity.
Arthur returned with Horton scurrying behind him. "Good night, God bless." He muttered, crawling into the tent that had been set up just for him. Hermione rolled her eyes. It probably wasn't as good as a wizard tent, anyway.
"Arthur, you've won, by the way." Dagonet said with a bore air, dropping some coins into his leader's hand. Gawain followed, along with Tristan.
Arthur gave a smirk of satisfaction and settled himself for the night.
Galahad walked over to Hermione and threw a blanket in her face. She gave and indignant 'hey!', but smiled at him nonetheless, before snuggling into the blanket – not that it helped much against the cold weather, coming up to winter and all.
Her skin formed goosebumps and she found herself shivering throughout the night. "Bloody hell." She muttered under her breath, curling up into a little ball. Really, she shouldn't be doing this right now. If she could get her hands on those wretched boys she called best friends... Well, then they'd have something to be angry about.
