You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.

~ Robert A. Heinlein

Chapter 6: Living in Ealdor

Hard to believe that it had been two weeks since he started staying in Ealdor. Balinor was starting to feel that after everything that had happened and everyone he'd met here that it was like he had been here for a year. He learned that life was pretty self-sustaining here. The people here lived virtually on what they were able to grow from the fields and what they could gather from the scattered fruit trees in the surrounding woods. The land was quite fertile nearby and they've grown enough for everyone in the village and then some. Balinor had decided to help the villagers in working the field as a way to blend in with the rest of the village. It wasn't long before he even started to make some friends. The first that he'd had since Uther had killed his old ones.

When it came to Uther and Camelot it turned out that he didn't have much cause to worry about his identity being compromised. There was a lack of royal presence from their own king except during annual tax collections or collection from the harvest. Cenred seemed to have little interest in the outline villages except to claim them as his own. He left them to live on their own with little to no presence to keep them safe. The only time that Cenred's men were near were to patrol the borders once in a while to make sure that there were no trespassers from Camelot. Despite his lack of involvement Cenred did expect for young men in the village to fight for him when he called. One of his new friends, Richard, had previously served as a scout for Cenred's army two years back when one of his lords tried to overthrow him.

The two of them were busy plowing as they talked on the matter.

"Are you loyal to Cenred?" Balinor asked as he pulled on his plow.

Richard snorted. "No, not in the least bit but I needed the gold. Working for Cenred helped me get out of some debts that I found myself in. I was able to rise to have a small rank and luckily ranks were able to have payments. If he weren't so intolerable I would've stayed on permanently. Besides...who in the army is really loyal to their king anyway? You fight for them because of money you need or the promise that they'll hang you in front of their or their lower lords castles."

"Seems to be like the only promises they're eager to keep," Balinor hissed.

"I'll say. Luckily I was made to go about in scout missions during my time in his army. He's ordered his main forces to do much more unpleasant things in his name. Simmons, he wasn't so lucky," he said pointing his head over to him. "He was forced to participate in an advance party and came out of it with a big scar down his side for his trouble."

Simmons did seem to be a grouchy sort of person on a regular basis. At first he thought that the coldness he showed to Balinor on his first day there had just been a form of precaution but he found that he was generally that unpleasant. "So that explains it," he mumbled. "I thought it was just me."

"No he always was a little pessimistic even when I was a child but that took it to a new high," he said with a teasing tone to his voice that made Balinor and himself chuckle a bit.

"Pessimistic? I think he has to be nothing but negative for that. It seems that he always positive in how everything is a disaster though."

Richard laughed. "You are a funny man Balinor."

"Well, you're not so bad yourself Richard." He pulled on the dirt before he struck the plow in again. This was good news that he had heard underneath this story. It seemed that Cenred only moved into something when it either benefited or threatened him personally. This meant that as long as he didn't draw in too much attention then Cenred wouldn't bother him. The opposite of how Uther ran things. From what he gathered if there was a blade of grass that didn't follow his ways then he would move in at an instant. Thanks to his village hopping back in Camelot he had been able to hear about his challenge from Lord Tristan Du Bois who he struck down and the execution of a knight named Sir Ector for disobeying the king in allowing Balinor get away without pursuit. Thanks to Kilgharrah he was able to look between the words and surmise that his actions to deal with the aftermath of their escape wasn't too pleasing to Uther and he wanted to make an example.

As they finished with the acre they were given they headed off to get themselves cleaned up. Richard broke the silence as they made it to the stream to cool themselves off.

"I notice that you've been staying with Hunith all the time that you've been here."

Richard's tone was protective but not threatening. He sounded genuinely curious and Balinor should expect it. Richard's wife Gina and Hunith did seem to be good friends. Hunith had been going to help Gina with things as she was with child.

"I have. Someone close to Hunith knew I was traveling in Ealdor's path and said that I could stay with her as long as I needed to stay in Ealdor. She is only giving me a place to stay that's all. Why are you asking Richard?"

"I was just curious to why Hunith is letting a complete stranger stay with her." He ran some water across his face. "It's not personal Balinor. It's just that I don't want Hunith to get hurt. I've known her for a few years now and I don't think she needs more pain in her life."

His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"It's not my place to say. I just want to keep her safe."

"You don't have to worry about that from me," he said firmly. "Hurting Hunith is the furthest thing from my mind."

Richard straightened himself up. "You've fallen for her," Richard had said that with a certainty like is someone said that the sky was blue.

Balinor didn't want to know how Richard knew that. It was probably something embarrassing like how Kilgharrah pointed out to him that she caught his eye on the day they first arrived.

Richard continued. "I don't blame you. She is quite lovely in more ways than one. Just don't toy with her feelings," he warned.

"I would never-

"But you just told me that you weren't staying in Ealdor long. Didn't you?" Balinor was just silently looking back at him. "You said you didn't want to hurt her. So don't …or I might be forced to hurt you."

He went back to cleaning himself but Balinor just stood there…staring ahead. He stood there for who knows how long before a rumble snapped him out of it. He saw that the clouds above him were starting to thicken and up ahead were some really dark clouds.

"Seems a storm is coming," Balinor said stepping out of the stream.

Richard followed right after him. "We better head back and make sure everything is secure before it hits."

"You're sure?" asked Uther. He fidgeted when his movement caused a sting to erupt from his side from his now healed wound.

"It's not a hundred percent but it is the most likely scenario," answered Sir Tate. "He was seen in a village in the direction that he made his escape in where he purchased some clothes and a horse there. The people he bought from confirmed that he bought those things with gold."

"My gold," he growled. The theft from his castle treasury by Balinor was still like salt over the wound.

"That makes no sense," said one of the knights in the court. "Why would Balinor buy a horse when he has his dragon for travel?"

"I don't know," said Tate.

"Probably as food for his dragon," said another.

"Alright, let Tate finish his report," Uther said ending the exchange of blind theories. When they all fell silent he nodded to the knight. "Continue Sir Tate."

"Yes, I followed along in the direction that I was pointed to but the nearby settlements all insist that no one fitting Balinor's description came along even with the changes that he might've made based on what he bought. There is a chance that he picked an alternate route."

"Yes…that does seem most likely. He must be trying to confuse us by trying to randomly altering his trail." The dragonlord was crafty, Uther would give him that. "Deception is creed for those of magic and one as powerful as him would be more so. And there is no sign of the dragon?"

Tate shook his head "No sire, none."

"Anywhere?" he asked the room in general.

"No reported sightings whatsoever sire."

Uther was a little confused. He fully expected Balinor and that dragon to be raining chaos upon his kingdom as soon as they had escaped the city but everything has been quiet. Something must be hindering them. The best guess would be that there was some problems with their capabilities. Perhaps those chains had more of an effect than he first presumed. The dragon might not be at full health and Balinor was waiting for it to regain its full strength before he made his move. If that is the case then he had to move quickly and defeat them before they did.

"We shouldn't let our guard down. Until we have concrete intelligence telling us otherwise then we must assume that Balinor and his dragon are still in hiding somewhere within the kingdom. It's possible that their escape from Camelot must've hindered them somehow and they need to regain their powers. If that is the case then they are vulnerable and it might be the only window we receive to stop them before they strike back at us. Since Tate had found evidence of him in the area I would like for patrols to sweep along the northern and western borders. Check anyplace that might be suitable enough for them to hide." He looked at Tate still kneeling on the floor. "Sir Tate."

He rose his head up. "Sire?"

"You have proven your capability in investigating the Dragonlord's progress therefore I am appointing you to be in command of this operation. Sir Peter, Sir Jarvis and Sir Lehman, I want you to take a squad of men each and comb through the areas. Report directly to Sir Tate, am I understood?"

"Yes sire," they sounded.

Tate stood up but bowed down his head again. "You honor me sire."

Uther face fell into a frown. "The people that assisted the dragonlord, you have their names and residences?"

"Yes sire, I do." he answered. Why did Uther ask?

"Give them to Sir Dietrich. Dietrich, I want for you to go and arrest these people and have them hung for treason."

"Treason sire?" many voices echoed in the room.

"If I may ask sire," started Tate. "How have they committed treason? It's thanks to their information that we now know the areas to concentrate our search."

"It's thanks to them and their assistance that the dragonlord is now in hiding as deep and well hidden as he is as well. Their actions have endangered the lives of everyone in the kingdom and they must answer for it."

Gaius stepped forward. "Sire, isn't that a little rash? These people most likely had no idea who this man even was before Sir Tate explained it to them."

"I have made up my mind," Uther announced defiantly. "A crudely looking man pays them in gold and they don't find it suspicious enough to report it. That would've been the responsible thing to do and instead they chose to ignore it and do business with the enemy. It doesn't please me to do this but I must show the kingdom that carelessness and moral blindness has consequences. My decision is final."

As the court was dismissed, Gaius was feeling a little hopeless over this entire situation. This was starting to get out of hand. No, this was out of hand since the first day that Uther declared war on magic. Yes he could understand Uther's pain and fear after the loss of his wife but this was taking it to another level. First Lord Tristan Du Bois, then Sir Ector and now these citizens. But as much as Gaius felt for all these people, what could he do? Doing nothing he was forced to watch many people, some he'd known for years be executed before his eyes. Actually doing something like helping the innocent dragonlord Balinor escape made Uther fly into a rampage. He fiercely rubbed his eyes. He'd hope that Balinor would at least have made it to Hunith's village in Essetir at least. He knew the area and it seemed like the ideal place to stay out of Uther's sight with everything one could need. He had written to Hunith to expect him and asked if she could help in any small way that she could but it seemed like he hadn't made it there and by the report Tate gave, might not even be going there. He just hoped that he did the right thing in the end after all.

Balinor had borrowed a ladder from one of the villagers as he climbed the roof of Hunith's hut and started working to strengthen and reinforce it. The previous night's rain was a little hard and Balinor noticed a dripping sound late into the night. He had to repay Hunith's hospitality somehow and this seemed like the only thing that she would likely accept from him.

"Everything alright up there?"

Balinor looked down to see Hunith with a basket of in her arm. "Concerned for my well-being?" he answered back with a small smile.

Hunith rolled her eyes. Every time she had taken to strike casual conversation with him he would always try his best to sound a little smug. Balinor had never romanced a girl before but teasing them was something he knew how to do well. He liked it when Hunith tried to challenge him back. Hunith however found him silly and tried to put up with it.

"I just thought you might be hungry," she lifted her arm slightly to indicate the basket. "I just got some cheese and bread and a bit of chicken. Besides, when people see a fool on the roof of someone's home, they tend to talk."

Balinor smirked at her. "I believe that but it's nice to know you don't have that problem."

"Really?"

"You have anything but a fool on your roof." He started to rapidly climb down to her when he slipped on one of the ladder's footing and fell flat on his back.

"Of course I don't." she breathed before she went into the house.

Balinor raised his head and let it come down a little hard in frustration as he looked at the sky above him to curb his little embarrassing moment. In the house Hunith set the food on the table with a small smile on her face. Balinor might be a bit of an idiot but he could always make her smile at the end of his little moments. Hunith wasn't blind to what was going on. She could tell that Balinor was trying to romance her. If only he knew that he didn't have to try so hard but she had to admit that she hadn't had this much fun with someone in years. A sad smile came over her when she thought of the last boy that she did have this kind of fun with. She shook herself out of it when she heard Balinor as he limped inside the hut.

"I think your roof should hold up better now. I saw that one of the beams was rotting and replaced it."

"I appreciate it. You didn't have to do that for me though."

"Can't let it be said that Balinor is a poor guest," he said with a bit of a laugh. She huffed and he deflated slightly. "Really, it was no trouble at all," he said sobered. "You let me stay in your home so the least I can do is keep it good for you."

Hunith's face softened a bit as she finished setting the table up. "Care to join me?"

Balinor returned her smile and sat down across from her. They ate in a steady silence until Balinor remembered his talk with Richard the previous day.

"How's Gina and the child? Richard told me that you were with her yesterday afternoon before the storm."

"She's finding it hard to move around and feel comfortable. At this point in time it would be for her. At the same time, she's excited. She's in complete suspense on what its going to be."

"Richard told me that he's hoping for a boy."

Hunith smiled. "Naturally. Men always hope for boys."

"And let me guess, Gina's hoping for a girl as women always hope for girls?"

"No, she said that she is hoping for a boy as well."

Balinor raised his eye at her. "Liar," he breathed.

It was Hunith's turn to smirk at him. "They'll still have to wait about a month to find out though."

"I'm in suspense myself."

"Oh," Hunith said surprised. "You're planning to stay that long?"

Balinor fell silent. He really didn't know what he had planned to do. Uther and his purge was still out there for him to deal with. Kilgharrah was recovering his full strength quite quickly here and should be ready for travel in a few days but…now he wasn't so sure that he would be ready. He was falling into the way of life here. He felt like he was serving a noble purpose in helping the villagers in Ealdor with the work he did and he felt a sense of respect brewing from the village because of it. He was also making good friends like Richard. His other friends have all been killed and he was all alone save Kilgharrah but that wasn't the case here. But there was also one thing here that made him not to leave above all of that.

"I would like to," he answered with a near whisper. "If I could." He wiped his mouth with a cleaning cloth and excused himself as he went to step outside.

Hunith stayed in her seat. She took a moment to imagine life without Balinor here like it was before but for some reason she found it hard to. Moments of idiocy or not, she had grown to like him around.

Ever since Sir Tate was put in charge of this manhunt for Balinor he was starting to second guess himself. Uther wanted regular annual reports but he wasn't' sure he should be reporting anything in the off chance that anyone who he did have any sort of information wouldn't be carted off to Camelot and receive punishment. The tailor and the herdsman had been formally accused and arrested for conspiring with sorcerers to undermine the crown. As per Uther's orders Sir Dietrich had them publicly hung. Personally, Tate thought Uther had taken it too far. For all they knew the escapee was just another traveler to them. The news of the dragon and dragonlord's escape couldn't have reached them by the time he had gotten to them so they hadn't known to be on the alert but that didn't seem to help these people in the slightest. Still, Tate couldn't say or do anything more or he would no doubt follow Sir Ector into the grave labeled a traitor.

Right now, all he could do is his duty and that was to find Balinor. The investigation hadn't amounted to much. One of the others did find a tavern where the innkeeper did say that someone who resembled their man did buy a meal but that was it. When the knight who found him asked Tate what they should do with the information, he told him that he would handle it. He sent out an update to Uther but he simply said an 'eyewitness' rather than a witness to try and protect the working man and it seemed to work as Uther responded to keep at it. Yet after another week of not even a whisper it seemed like they had been stopped cold.

Tate and his men were setting up camp when one of the soldiers came up to him hysterical.

"Sir," he gasped out before dropping the bundle of firewood he had been sent out to collect.

Tate stood up and put his hands up to try and pacify him. "Settle down soldier. Breathe, nice and easy." The soldier took a few seconds to get his breathing under control until he seemed to nearly stop his wheezing. "Alright, now, what's wrong soldier?"

"I found something."

"What?" asked Tate.

The soldier led him and a few of the others deeper into the woods.

"I was out collecting some firewood when I stumbled and found this."

He led them to a small brush where they saw remnants of a campfire. It looked close to two months old based on the ash around it.

"An old campfire?" Tate welcomed any leads at this point but the truth was that this could've been done by anyone.

"No," the soldier said shaking his head. He pointed to the ground a few feet away from the fire. "That sir."

They moved in closer to see that it was a great paw print. A dragon's paw print.

End of Chapter 6

A/N: Now I'm getting sad now. Balinor meets a nice girl and the girl and he are on the verge of having something soon but then you get hit with the reality that there is something out there that still needs your attention. And judging from Tate's progress it looks like it is closing in on him. I hope you like Richard as I plan to make him a good part of the story. I wonder if any of you can guess just who he might be in relation to Canon.