Chapter Four
They spent the next few days travelling through the flatlands before they reached the village they were looking for. The knights stayed upon their horses at the gates – Hermione riding on the back of Galahad's horse – until the giant gates of the wall were opened.
"We have come to take you back to Rome." Arthur began. "Your people are in great danger."
"We will not leave. No, sir. We stay here. We are perfectly safe. Rome has sent you to guard us and that is all we need." The short stumpy man by the name of Marius said cockily. Hermione looked on curiously as Arthur dismounted.
"You and your family will die if you do not leave this place now. There is an army of Saxons on their way here to kill you and if you do not leave as soon as possible, you will be slaughtered." Arthur said wisely.
Marius showed a slight flinch at this, but stood taller. "No, we do not need protection. Leave my village." He said.
Arthur marched up to him and looked him straight in the eye. "Listen here, sir. Me and my knights have put off our release from duty just to come here and save you and your kin, and I swear to the almighty God that if you do not come with us now, I will drag you until you are within the confines of Hadrian's wall myself. Am I clear?" He asked angrily. "Now, which one of you is Alecto?"
"I am." A new voice intervened, coming from a young man of about eighteen, who walked through the gates, being trailed by a beautiful woman who Hermione guessed was his mother. "Why do you ask?"
"The Bishop has specifically asked for me to ensure your safety. Go, now and pack your things. We leave as soon as possible." Arthur instructed, earning a glare from Marius as he stomped grumpily back into the gates; his wife and son close behind him.
Hermione leant in to whisper in Galahad's ear. "What gives him the power to have such a fancy house, when these people are stuck in their huts?" She watched as they went back to their work, muttering amongst them, having heard the news of Saxons. "And shouldn't we save them as well? I mean, they're people just as much as any other."
Galahad knew she was right and as he turned to face her, he found himself nodding in agreement. "Arthur!" He called, trotting up to the leader in question. "Should we not get the villagers out, too?" He asked, casting a glance through the town and spotting a few things out of place and frowning at them.
Wordlessly, Arthur looked around, making his own notes of the town, before spotting something that disgusted him. They all watched as he rode up to the middle of the square, where an old man hung by his wrists, bleeding from all sorts of places. "What has this man done to receive such a punishment?" He demanded with an authoritive voice. "Answer me!" He shouted when silence met his demand.
"He's our village elder, sir." One of the villagers said, his eyes boldly meeting Arthur's. "All he asked was that we keep a little more for ourselves. All our food goes to trade and we get near to nothing for our hard work." Hi voice had risen to an outraged cry.
Arthur took his sword – Excalibur, Hermione remarked in her mind – from his sheath and Hermione watched in awe as he cut the man down from his chains, issuing orders to take care of him. "Now listen, all of you must leave this place. There is an extravagant army of Saxons coming this way. Those of you who are able should pack your things and leave now, those unable come with us." He issued these orders and the villagers set to work.
Suddenly, there was a brief moment of pause, dread filling the hearts of every person in hearing range. The drums of Saxons were sounding in the distance, getting louder as they came closer. It was at this moment that the first of the snow began to fall.
Arthur looked around again, his brown eyes settling upon a pair of guards hurrying along a couple of monks, who seemed to be building a wall. He marched up to them and demanded to know what they were hiding. They hesitated, before Arthur signalled for Dagonet to break down the wall.
"Unlock this door." He instructed. One of the monks protested greatly, causing Arthur to ignore him and signal for Dagonet's skills once more. He hacked mercilessly at the door until it came off its hinges.
Taking their swords from their scabbards, Arthur, Dagonet, Bors, Tristan, Gawain, Lancelot and Galahad dismounted and made their way to the entrance. Hermione cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me; you can't just leave me out here." She protested.
Arthur looked at the young witch. Her honey brown eyes were darting back and forth between the guards of the Monks, who were looking at her with lust in their eyes. "Bring her." He instructed, earning a sigh of relief from Hermione. "But I cannot promise you will like what you see."
She nodded and whimpered as Gawain carefully untied her wrists. "Sorry about that." He said, gesturing to her bloodied wrists.
Tears filled her eyes as the rope was pulled from her skin and the air caressed the bleeding welts. She ignored the tears and dismounted, almost toppling herself in the process. "Bloody horse." She glared at the horse and followed Gawain and Galahad into a small passage.
The smell of rotting flesh assaulted their nostrils as they descended into a chamber filled with iron barred holes within the walls. Hermione covered her nose and mouth, resisting the urge to throw up. "Oh, God." She mumbled, her stomach turning.
"Who dares disturb this holy chamber?" A monk demanded, sneering at them. "You dare come in here and disturb God's work?!"
"Shut up, you! What is this evil?" Arthur demanded. He looked around the chamber, frowning at the dead bodies littering each little cell. "This is no holy place!" He said aloud. "Find anyone who is alive. Check every cell." He instructed.
"They are here to repent! They have sinned against our God!" another monk cried, coming into the chamber and lunging at Lancelot. "You cannot do this!" His angry words were cut short as Lancelot plunged his sword into the man and pushed him off, the next round of angry words left in his cold dead mouth.
The first monk gasped, his yellow teeth showing. "How dare you! You just killed a servant of God!" He yelled in a rage.
"Not MY God!" Lancelot replied, swiftly cutting down the chains of a cell.
The monk launched for Hermione, grabbing her around the neck and holding her against his body, a knife at her throat. "Leave this Holy Place, or I kill your whore!" He shouted as Hermione screamed her protest.
The knights drew their swords, anger filling their eyes. "You draw a drop of blood from her and you won't have a head for much longer." Galahad warned in a low and dangerous voice.
The monk cackled. "You dare threaten me? Hah! I know God will save me from your evil." The knife pressed hard against her exposed throat.
"I am NOT their whore!" Hermione screeched, taking the monk off guard when she spun herself out of his grip and kneed him in the groin. He yelled in pain and she punched him in the face with her closed fist, her eyes smouldering and disgust. As he fell to the ground, clutching his balls, Hermione dusted herself off proudly, sneering down at the monk. "You touch me again and not only will they be bruised, but they will be hanging from your ears."
The knights all took a step back at this. "I keep tellin' you, lads, she's a feisty one." Bors remarked quietly. "I wouldn't piss her off, no sir."
They continued searching every cell until there was none left, discovering only two living people – a small boy who had taken a natural liking to Dagonet and a woman, frail and scared.
As they began feeding the woman and child with water, Marius came out, enraged. "What is the meaning of this?! You are disturbing God's Will. These people have neglected their duty to God!" He shouted angrily, watching as his wife fed the woman some water. "You!" He shouted. "You kept them alive!!" He pulled her up by the elbow and slapped her down.
Arthur stood in anger. "You are an evil man! God does not wish it upon any person that they should receive this fate! You have made these people suffer for nothing! This NOT God's work!" He raged at the egotistical Marius.
Hermione stood by watching as Marius and Arthur yelled at one another, and Arthur ordered the Monks walled back up to suffer what they wish on the innocents. "Arthur, we don't have time!" Galahad shouted. Arthur just instructed them to keep going, ignoring the protests.
"Hermione, you should get back on the horse." Galahad said quietly, holding some more rope. She looked around and spotted Horton watching her closely, a slight sheen of fear in his eyes. "He'll not feel safe."
"I don't care if he feels safe." She spat angrily. "Look at what your ropes have done t my wrists." Hermione thrust her wrists in front of his face. "Please, Galahad. Don't." She begged with her eyes, her big honey brown eyes.
He shook his head, feeling guilt well up inside of him. "I'm sorry; I'll tie them loosely, I promise." He said kindly, mounting the horse. "C'mon, we don't have time." He swung her up in front of him and tied her wrists once more, though very loosely.
