The day before the events of the last chapter….
Hansa, the new head quartermaster of all Saxon hordes under Horsa, was ordered by Aedilhild to choose 7 of his best men to follow him on a mission to Chelmsford. The objective was to find a weakness in the defences so that it could be exploited once the main invasion had occurred. It was not his forte. But, it didn't matter if it was not. He was chosen by Horsa to be one of his aides on his journey to Weymouth weeks ago. In time, Hansa had proven to be cold blooded and strong willed. Able to match the skills (and egos) of those at the upper echelon of Horsa's command structure. He had proven to be capable. And he would not betray their trust in him by chickening out - unlike that traitor Corvus.
The mission had to be done.
"Hansa." Ahlmund called out. "Are you alright?"
"I am fine, Ahlmund. Call the others and continue our journey." Hansa then rose up from his seat on the grassy ground and went to untie his horse from the branch. Ahlmund already left to get the others once Hansa got up on his horse.
Hansa and his men were riding from the Saxon encampment to the City of Chelmsford for 2 days now. They encountered refugees on the way whose destination was the city as well. The Saxon spies joined them by saying that they were mercenaries from the nearby villages who didn't have anywhere else to go but Chelmsford. None of them suspected a single thing. Except for the leader of the refugees. But it didn't matter.
Dead men tell no tales.
And after the leader died, his wife took his place. Eagerly taking care of everyone's needs and making sure that everyone gets to Chelmsford as fast and as safely as possible. Hansa, the killer of the husband, helped this woman by taking away a considerable amount of responsibilities off of her shoulders so that she could tend to her other duties. Rationing the food supplies so that all could eat. Settling disputes against merchants and farmers by reminding them of their goal. Having sex with the wife of the man he killed to get her to like him more. And many other things that made life a little bit better for the refugees.
In doing this, he's managed to earn the trust of the people as well as collect strange news about some mysterious being who's been destroying many of the minor towns and villages that dotted the area we now know today as Essex. The only survivors to tell the tale were women who had their throats slit just enough to stay alive and severe enough to lose their voices.
It didn't make sense to him until he marked the towns onto a map and wrote the dates of the attacks over the markings. After he finished his writings, Hansa concluded that this being was getting closer and closer to Chelmsford while leaving a wave of destruction in its wake. Which is bad. Because that meant Drecken would interfere with his mission and be the reason for Chelmsford to reinforce their defences in such a manner that it would become insurmountable for the Saxon horde.
"That monster needs to be leashed somehow. But that thing is the creation of that Witch, Morgan. All we can do now is pray that he won't appear anytime soon." Hansa muttered to himself as he approached Ahlmund and the now packing up refugee caravan.
"Ahlmund. Have you seen the map I've given you?" Hansa asked as he saw his fellow Saxon help pack bags onto a horse drawn cart. He then looked up towards the sky as if seeing something that caught his interest.
"I have." Ahlmund replied as he waved at the family who thanked him for helping out. "Do you think we should message Lord Horsa?"
"I already did." Hansa said as he looked up to see a raven descend from the sky and land on his shoulders. He carefully removed the parchment tied to its leg and let the raven go on its merry way.
"When?" Ahlmund wondered.
"When we've 'secured' the faith of the people. I talked to them and they told me what he's done." Hansa said as he unfolded the paper. The refugees who were nearby busied themselves as they thought that the raven carried news from Hansa's family members. They had no reason to doubt him. Not after all the good things he and his men have done for them.
"And his reply?" Ahlmund said as he picked up a child who tripped because of his foot.
"Lord Horsa said that he will meet us the night after tomorrow. If we were in the city at that time, we would have to find a way to get outside to talk with him." Hansa explained.
"What's to say that he wouldn't kill us right where we stood?" Ahlmund asked in reference to Drecken's less than ideal tendency when it came to people.
"The paper I'm holding has been enchanted by the Witch herself. A single drop of blood will activate it. I don't know what it does. Lord Horsa said that I should only use it when we meet Drecken." Hansa replied as he tucked the paper inside his pocket.
"Is everything ready?" Hansa asked as he and Ahlmund went to where their horses were parked.
"Yes, Hansa. The only one we were waiting for was you." Ahlmund said as he got on his horse.
"Then let's go. We will not stop until we reach Chelmsford." Hansa said as he steadied himself on his horse. He then cracked the reins and went on to call the refugees to start moving.
A day later… in a certain knight's room
Mordred found herself standing in the middle of a beautiful forest. The first thing she noticed was the autumn sun gracing the field with its cool radiance. Oak and Birch trees littered the field. Their leaves are either yellow, orange or red. They fell onto the ground in a slow motion-esque way. And while all of that was great and all, the thing that stood out to her was this large field maple tree whose leaves were a fiery red hue. If autumn was a colour, the maple tree's leaves would be it.
A strong gust of wind blew from behind her. She turned around for half a second and once she turned around she saw that she was 3 feet away from the maple tree's trunk. She was being shaded by its resplendent leaves. Mordred wasn't a fan of trees, per say. However, she had to admit that this maple tree looks nice. It gave off this relaxing aura that she couldn't help but like about it. She then went on to touch the stump with her hand and found that it was warm. Confused, she had her second hand touching the tree trunk. Gradually moving her hands across the surface trying to figure why it's this warm. She gave up and just chalked it up to the sun making it like this.
And then, a strange urge came upon her. After looking around to see if anyone was looking. Mordred then tried to reenact the funniest thing she's seen Kay do.
"Ahh! A wolf! Mordred, get that thing away from me! Hahahahaha!" Mordred laughed as the thought of that scene came to mind. She was hugging the tree in the same way Kay had done a year ago. She laughed her ass off as she flung that wolf to Kingdom Come. Kay from then on earned the moniker, Kay the Tall Treehugger from the Red Knight. But, the joke became old after a few months, so she stopped using it by the time Archer came around.
She was about to let go of the tree trunk when she noticed an apple that shone gold under the autumn sun up above her. Strange, she's never seen this apple there before. It looked tasty, she thought. Eh, might as well try and get it to satisfy herself. Mordred then climbed up the tree in haste. It didn't take long for her to get to the apple. It was hanging at the far end of a branch when she plucked it and bit into it. She thought the sun caused it to be so warm. Mordred then bit and bit and bit until the core of the apple was left. She went on to eat said core. Biting into it with-
"SIR MORDRED! PLEASE WAKE UP! SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED!"
"Whu- wha?" Mordred said as she hastily turned towards the with all the grace her half awoken brain could afford to her. She quickly rose up from the bed and rushed towards the door to slam her fist into it. Causing the two at the other side to yelp in surprise!
"The hell do you want with me!" Mordred shouted at the two. From the sound of their voice, it sounded like Gareth who called her out.
"Oh- oh! U-hm. Sorry, miss. I didn't expect that Sir Mordred had someone staying with him. Would you be so kind as to wake him up from his sleep?" A flushed Gareth hastily muttered out. He didn't expect that a woman would be the one answering in place of the Red Knight, that's for sure!
"Wha? You crazy or something? It's-"
"Mordred, your helmet isn't on!" Archer furiously whispered as he got out of his bed and ran towards the table that had her armour set.
"Oh…" Mordred dumbly muttered. She was so shook from her abrupt wake up call that she forgot that her helmet hides her female voice wasn't on. She had to slap herself awake for a second there before catching the helmet Archer offered.
"Ahem! What do you want, Gareth?" Mordred asked as she attached her helmet strap out of habit. His male sounding voice did the trick when it came to getting things back on track. Instead of hearing Gareth's voice, it was Gaheris who replied.
"Sir Percival reported a murder attempt just a few minutes ago. According to him, a man named Corvus had been struck by an unsuspecting assailant after leaving the tavern not far from the church. He was saved by Lieutenants Levi and Davis of the 15th Cavalry however, both of them have been wounded. Sir Gawain and Lord Regulus have requested you to be there." He explained.
"We were supposed to find Sir Archer so that we could tell him the news. However, we couldn't find him. Please tell him what we told you, Sir Mordred. My brother and I will be heading towards the Church now. Where the meeting will take place. The meeting will not start without you and Sir Archer, after all." Gareth added.
"Fine, fine. I'll tell him. Now, get out of here. I'm kind of… busy right now." Mordred said. She was actually halfway into putting on her armour. She would've followed then and there had it not been for that simple fact. She turned around to where Archer was and found him fixing her bed. Weird, but appreciated nonetheless.
"O-oh! Y-yes of course. We wouldn't want to disturb you and you uh… lady friend over there. S-see you soon, Sir Mordred." Gareth said as he tried to hide his embarrassment.
"A-nd uhm. Sorry to disturb you, dear lady-friend of Sir Mordred!" Gaheris added as the twins ran away from the door.
"Ah, for fuck's sake. Now, they think I had sex with a nonexistent girl." Mordred muttered as she turned around towards Archer who was looking out at the mirror. "This is some fucking hell of a joke. Don't ya think?" she finished.
The Red Knight then looked up towards the redhead and found him in a daze. She was looking at his face and found nothing but a listlessness she found off putting. She then looked down towards his neck and jaw and realised that there were fresh red marks all around it. Mordred then bluntly said.
"Oohhh, I see… looks like these bed bugs got the better of ya. I knew that this had something fishy to it. Oh well. Don't really care all that much. We better go now, or else Gawain's gonna be preaching like a priest all day long at me." Mordred said as she patted Archer's shoulder. It was at this moment did Archer put a hand on Mordred's and offered,
"You go on ahead. I'll catch up. I'll deal with these… bedbug bites meanwhile." Archer said. He then offered her an equally enigmatic smile and moved away from the window.
"? Alright, I'll go. Don't know what's got your pants all in a twist. But, I'll just leave it to you." Mordred said as she confusedly let her hand off of Archer's shoulder. She then moved towards the door and left the room.
'Weird how his hand was warm like that tree.' Thought Mordred as she walked down the stairs.
At the same time, Archer was slouched at Mordred's bed. He just went through one of the most nerve wracking moments of his life. And he fought Gilgamesh, for crying out loud! The memories of what happened to him before Gareth and Gaheris came around. It all started with a heavy object hitting his chest early in the morning. He quickly woke up after that and found Mordred on top of him all of a sudden. He sat up and tried getting her off slowly but then her hands went to his chest and started patting it for some reason.
'Was she dreaming of something, or what?!' Archer thought.
Then all of a sudden, a dream walking Mordred then held him in a bear hug and began muttering something along the lines of, 'get off'? What? He tried again to loosen her grip on him when she shifted and caused him to fall onto his bed. He looked down to see that Mordred was inching closer and closer to his face. He tried waking her up but speaking out loud when she began planting hick-
"Nope. That never happened." Archer resolutely said to himself as he stood up. Effectively pushing those memories away from his face. Although, the blush on his face remained. In order to get his act straight he needed to have some time alone to gather his thoughts and emotions. And he will do that now.
But first, how on earth do you hide hickeys?
—-
"Ah, Sir Archer. You've arrived. I see that the winter has started to affect even you." Gawain lightheartedly greeted as he saw Archer walk towards the centre of the Church. The redhead was wearing his scarf over his head this time. He was also wearing a grey sash that he used as a mask.
"It has been getting colder. I will admit. Although, you haven't changed a bit." Archer replied as he paused to talk to Gawain as he referenced the Knight's lack of extra wear. Knowingly feeding the misconception that the redhead added more cloth on because he was cold.
"Hahahahaha… yes, of course. My weapon has given me the blessing of being resistant to the cold winter." Gawain said as if apologising for not explaining it. He then patted the sheathed sister of Excalibur, Galatine, that was resting at his side.
"I have to admit, Sir Archer. You are quite the fellow, you know." Gawain said as he guided Archer towards his assigned seat. Everyone was idly talking to each as they waited for Percival, who was busy bringing the affected parties to the Church in a safe manner.
"Pardon?" Archer asked as he and Gawain sat down.
"I heard of you from the King himself when he commanded me to head to Chelmsford through Merlin's mystic ways. He has told me many things about you. How you almost defeated the King in a duel, how you managed to increase the quality of the royal kitchen and - most significantly of them all - how you impressed both the King and Sir Mordred that they would openly acknowledge their trust in you. A feat that is excellent in nature considering Sir Lancelot, the greatest of us all in the Round, did not achieve such a thing during the early years of King Arthur's reign." Gawain explained. Archer meanwhile, narrowed his eyes in suspicion. His words of praise had an underlying message to it. And that message sounded a lot like Lancelot's when he talked to him weeks ago in that library.
Who are you to have been graced by these gifts?
"Fret not, Sir Archer. This is no test. I have seen your devotion to the cause of protecting the people from the Saxon invasion. And I have heard the tales from passerby refugees from Hullbridge who had witnessed your desire to protect them from the horde. I merely am giving you your due praise. Knight or not, you have shown chivalry wherever you go. And the compassion befitting of someone in the Round." Gawain elaborated.
'Oh no… this wasn't a test… this was a recruitment…' Archer thought as he blanched at the realisation of what was going on.
"You know, he's got a point." Mordred, from out of nowhere added.
"Mordred?" Archer asked surprisedly. Not expecting her to back Gawain up nor appear from behind him. The memories rushed into his head and caused him to go slightly red at the sight of the secretly female Knight.
"Once all this shit ends, I might recommend you for a seat in the Round Table. You've gone through one hell of a first mission and did more than enough to get it done with all of us alive and well. Sounds like a perfect resume for a seat, in my opinion." Mordred said thoughtfully.
Gawain meanwhile looked astonished. The prideful Mordred was vouching for Archer. He would have bolstered her own achievements rather than uplift another's if it meant that would imply the Red Knight was somehow lesser than them. His interest in the redheaded 'Scot' had increased significantly after that.
"Just who are you, Sir Archer. To earn such praise from the most hard headed Knight in the Round table?" thought Gawain out loud.
"The hell did you call me?!" Mordred exclaimed. Before things devolved into a fight, Percival entered the Church. Flanked by the members of the 15th Cavalry who weren't injured by the murder attempt, Andrus and his wife Cyrille, and the man of the hour Corvus. Who suffered a lost eye and a butchered left arm before he was saved by the Knight of the Dove.
The sight of the newly entering people was enough for the atmosphere to turn grave. Everyone found their positions on the table and waited in subdued silence.
For they all saw the proof they needed to understand that there is an enemy within their walls. And if word arises within the populace of Chelmsford. Mass panic that cannot be contained would ensue. Which equates to everyone's downfall if things go horribly wrong.
And if a certain person's E-rank luck had anything to say about it, it's that everything will go wrong.