Arielle half walked and was half pushed up the winding stairs that she thought would never end until they finally did, stopping on one side of a long, narrow corridor. The guard barked at her to get moving and they walked down the echoing passage, the bard's shoulders scraping the walls every so often as she teetered from one side to the other. Her head was pounding and she felt like she was about to pass out, but tried to keep her mind focused on what was going on so that she might understand how she got there. The guard opened and pushed Arielle through many heavy, wooden doors that peppered the corridor's twists and turns. And just when she began to wonder if she was ever going to leave that nauseating maze, the passage ended with a large set of bronzed doors.
"Just don't say anything stupid in front of Shula." the guard spat before opening the doors with a loud creak and pushing Arielle in ahead of him.
The bard stumbled into a large chamber half full of people who all went silent at her presence. She took a timid look around. She would have marveled at the room's magnificence if there hadn't been so many armed people staring at her with everything from contempt to distrust. The large vaulted ceilings made her feel as small as an ant and the smoke from candles and incense that hung in the air gave the impression that it should have been a much holier place than it seemed to be.
"Go." the guard ordered, pointing down the aisle made of large burning candles on either side down to the throne at the end.
There was an opening high over their heads and the sunlight streamed down through it, blanketing the throne in its rays, making it hard for Arielle to see the figure seated there. The bard took a few steps forward and stopped.
"Come forward." Shula told her.
The blond moved precariously forward and when she had finally reached the throne, she stopped at the few steps that led up to it. Arielle looked up to see a woman with long, straight hair the color of fire sitting and gazing back at her with very curious yet suspicious eyes. The bard was puzzled by the woman who gave off an air of graciousness and hostility at the same time.
"Who are you?" the woman asked in an even, yet powerful voice.
"I am Arielle of Avignon," the bard practically whispered with her dry tongue, "daughter of-"
"There are no wives or daughters here." Shula interrupted sharply, "What are you doing on our lands?"
Arielle didn't have the strength to wonder what lands their lands were. She had no idea where she was or what she was doing there and it took enough energy just to keep upright.
"I'm traveling home from Jerusalem with my friend."
"Jerusalem?" the woman repeated with interest.
Arielle nodded weakly while the woman nearly devoured her in her curious, sharp stare. And even though Arielle wasn't looking at her, she could feel those eyes upon her and it made her feel like trapped prey, seconds from being ripped to shreds.
"You said you were traveling with a friend. Who is this friend?"
"Eden of Florentia."
The blond noticed a sudden murmur travel through the large chamber and she raised her head slightly to look at the woman on the throne. The bard watched with great strain as Shula propped up her elbow and rested her chin on her hand. Her brows knotted as she scanned the bard up and down, even tilting her head a little as if the angle might make her see something more.
"You are the bard of Jerusalem, are you not?" she asked with a tone like she already knew the answer.
"What?" the bard replied in genuine confusion.
"You answer the question, you insolent brat!" the guard reprimanded and swatted Arielle in the head with his thick, leather glove.
The pain of the glove against her head wound was too much and she blacked out for a few seconds, ending up on the floor in agony. The woman said nothing and simply kept watching Arielle as if she was waiting for her to do something amazing. After a short while, the bard regained consciousness and carefully opened her eyes. Shula was interrupted in her studying of the bard by a cloaked woman who approached her from the side and whispered something to her.
"Are you sure?" Shula asked, turning to the cloaked figure and receiving a nod.
"Take her back to her cell," the seated woman ordered to the male guard, standing up from her throne as her lips turned into a thin smile, "and get her a healer. It seems we have a visitor coming. And Arielle shall be my guest."
"Yes, Lady Commander." the guard said.
Arielle watched the woman take one last look at the bard, smile widely, and turn away as the guard grabbed the blond by the shoulders. And then Arielle's world went black again.
"No!" the bard cried out, reaching out toward the sky and snapping her eyes open only to close them again quickly and hiss in pain.
"Don't move too fast." a gentle voice told her as Arielle lay back down, "A healer took care of your wound while you slept, but you should still be careful."
Arielle opened one eye to see a woman sitting on a patch of straw on the other side of her cell, watching her calmly. The light in the cell was dim, but she could see the woman's long, curly brown hair that was only a little darker than her skin. Her clothes also caught the bard's eye since she was wearing a long tunic and thick leggings not much unlike something Eden would wear. The bard sensed that she didn't pose a threat, but she remained cautious nonetheless. She raised her hand to her hair and let her fingers slide across the bandage wound around her head.
"You were yelling in your sleep. Calling someone's name." the woman mentioned after the silence between them had dragged on for some time.
"Did I?" Arielle replied, knowing full well the nightmares that plagued her when Eden wasn't beside her.
The woman simply nodded. Arielle turned her gaze to the ceiling and took a survey of how she felt. Her head didn't throb as much anymore and the rest of her body was a little sore from her rough treatment and the hard floor, but still in quite good shape. She decided to take a chance and slowly sat up, resting her back against the metal bars of the cell she was in. Her head began to spin in the change of position as she smacked her lips together, reminded of her dry mouth.
"Here." the woman offered as she quietly made her way towards the bard with some water, "Drink."
Arielle's head spun too much to take the ladle and soon she found the back of her neck supported by the woman as she brought the ladle to the blond's lips and let her take a few small, tentative swallows. The bard made a small motion with her hand to show that she had had enough.
"Thank you." she whispered as the other woman moved away slowly.
There was no reply as the woman crept off to the other side of the cell and leaned against the stone wall.
"Who are you?" the bard finally asked.
"If you had asked me not all that long ago, I would have told you exactly who I am. But now, all I can tell you with certainty is that my name is Lillian."
"I'm Arielle." the bard said in exchange.
"Arielle the bard?" Lillian asked and received a hesitant nod, "Some stories about you have even reached here."
"Where is here?"
"You really don't remember anything, do you? You don't remember being brought in here? Or talking to the guard?"
"Everything is a blur." Arielle confessed quietly, "I don't know what's real and what's just a nightmare."
"Well... this is the stronghold of our order. And more specifically, these are its dungeons."
"Come forward, Arielle," Shula said as she rose from her throne when the bard was escorted in before her the next day, "and walk with me. And you, leave us."
The guard bowed once, turned, and promptly left. Arielle approached Shula slowly, observing her almost as closely as she was being observed. There was an arrogance and power in her stance that reminded the bard a little of Garrett and for a moment she wondered if they were perhaps related. Even up close, Shula's hair seemed to be made of flame and her eyes were dark and the light danced in them almost like a crackling fire. The taller woman smiled as Arielle reached her, but it was devoid of any real warmth. It was almost like a snake smiling at an approaching rat.
"What do you know of this place Arielle?" Shula asked, as the blond stepped in beside her and they began to slowly walk through the large chamber.
"Nothing." the bard answered truthfully.
"What do you know of us?"
"Nothing."
"Would you like to know?"
The blond hesitated for a moment, caught between her natural curiosity and her feeling that she should stay clear away from these people. Most of all, Arielle wanted to run out and find Eden. She didn't even know whether the warrior was alive, but she didn't feel that slowly engulfing cold darkness that she had before when Eden was near death. And she knew that if Eden was alive then she would do everything she could to find her. So instead Arielle focused on trying to keep herself alive and learn as much as she could of where she was and who she was up against.
"Yes." she finally answered.
"Well, then it's time for the bard to listen to a story." Shula said as if she was quite pleased with herself, "Have you heard of the Assassins?"
"I've heard stories about them."
"We are alike, the Assassins and us." Shula started, "We are the Order of the Lily of the Valley. We started as a sister to the Assassins who didn't let women into their ranks. We seek out the same sin they do and for the same purpose. We try to keep balance in the world and dispel corruption, greed, and malice."
Shula stopped walking in front of an intricate carving in the stone wall, turning her head to look at it.
"We wear this flower and that is why many simply call us the Fiori." she explained, pointing to the large flower carving that towered over them, "It is the lily of the valley, our Lady's flower blessed by Uriel."
"Uriel?" the bard asked in surprise.
"Yes, the archangel. You see, Arielle, unlike the Assassins, there is something sacral in who we are and what we do. Our judgments and sentences are sanctified."
"Sentences?" the bard repeated and felt a small chill travel down her spine.
"Why yes." Shula said with a smile of disbelief, "Surely, you agree that in order to heal that which is sick, you must destroy the disease. After all, sins are meant to be punished."
"What about forgiveness?" the blond countered.
"Forgiveness is not enough, there must be atonement. If we are foolish with our health then sickness is our price. If we sin, then God's vengeance is our price. We are simply an instrument in God's hands. I'm not a murderer, I simply carry out a sentence they brought about upon themselves. They had a choice."
"And so do you."
"Oh my, you truly are the naive bard, aren't you?" Shula laughed and Arielle's cringed as the cold laughter echoed against the walls, "Tell me, if you were sick and called for a physician and he came and simply held your hand instead of cutting out your sickness then would you call him a good physician?"
Arielle didn't answer. For a moment her mind drifted back to her best friend who, despite all the times Arielle was unwell, never cut anything out of her. Instead, Eden would give her everything she could. And if there was nothing more she could give, she would at least offer her touch and presence and Arielle could swear that sometimes that was what healed her best of all.
"It's easy to see us as murdering women lurking in the shadows." Shula said, tearing the bard away from her thoughts, "Unlike the Assassins, we don't concern ourselves with worldly influence. We are concerned with our power."
"You kill for power?" Arielle asked, unable to fully mask her growing disgust.
"Not the power we gain, but the power we have." Shula clarified, growing a little impatient and returning to their walk, "Power doesn't necessarily mean brute strength or bloody hands, you know. We use it instead to instill a sense of justice and order. Isn't it written to fear the Lord? Isn't it written that an eye for an eye? We take no eye that hasn't first plucked out another."
"But who are you to take other lives? How can you make that decision?"
"We are chosen for it." Shula said simply and looked back at the perplexed bard for a moment, "We take our calling very seriously. It's also written that if our hand drives us to sin, we should cut it off. God's grace and wrath apply to us the same."
Arielle didn't know what to think. The purpose was noble, but there was something in the casualness with which Shula talked about killing others as punishment that made Arielle grow cold. Eden had once told her that knowing your enemy was sometimes as important as knowing your friend, but the more Arielle learned about the Fiori, the less she liked and the more she began to understand what trouble she was really in. Arielle still had no idea why she was there, but was now starting to fear that she might not ever leave.
"Come," Shula motioned to her and quickened her step, "perhaps I can show you what I mean."
Arielle hastened her step to keep up with the flame-haired woman and they passed through the chamber and down a narrow corridor that opened up into a courtyard underneath the sky. Arielle looked around in amazement. Mountains surrounded them from all sides and the courtyard-like area lay in a flat impression in the middle as if they were standing at the bottom of a giant goblet. She peered far to one side and could just make out the edges of the ramparts at the entrance to the large fortifications. She could see the points of the lances of the women guarding the walls glimmer in the sun. Big, white clouds crept lazily across the sky and kept the sun from glaring down on them and Arielle judged it to be about midday. She looked across the courtyard to see a woman in chains, flanked by armed guards, looking at them with a somber expression on her face.
"In order to clear the plague of this earth," Shula said quietly, leaning sideways towards Arielle but keeping her eyes on the woman across from them, "we must first be cleansed ourselves. Now observe, young bard, for we will be a story to be told for generations."
With that, she took a few paces forward and took a moment to scan the faces of the people circling the courtyard. Arielle did the same and noticed Lillian, who remained in chains off in a corner held by an armed guard. There was a heavy quiet that hung over them, almost foreign and it reminded her of the quiet that filled the hall as everyone waited for Eden to appear at her trial, ready to attack her with their preconceived judgments. She shook her head to clear her mind of the memory; it stilled pained her to think what Eden must have gone through then.
"My sisters... and brothers," Shula began loudly so that everyone could hear her, "We are here to pass judgment on one of us who has been found guilty of so many travesties. A proud look, a lying tongue, a heart that devises wicked plots, sowing discord amongst us. This one who was chosen to lead us down the path of light, led us only down a path of destruction!" she cried and then turned to look at the chained woman, "You used us and instead of molding us like clay in the hands of our Father, you broke us into pieces. You have made us weak! You, Yasmine, have turned us into the laughing stock of the earth!"
"I am made us strong! I led us to who we truly are!" Yasmine finally shouted in return, deciding that if she was already damned, then she wouldn't go silently, "You'll never understand that violence doesn't bring you respect. It only brings you fear and a hand itching to stab you in the back once your head is turned."
"You only satisfied your own desires, your stomach being too weak to do what needs to be done."
"I did what was right for the order. I did what I hoped was right with God. Your selfishness speaks through you. You constantly lust after more and are never satisfied. Your desire for vengeance blinds you!"
"Silence! I won't be degraded by the likes of you!"
"You're silencing me? You forget Shula," Yasmine said, her tone dropping into more of a growl, "as long as I live, I am Lady Commander."
"Well that life won't last much longer." Shula concluded quietly and reached out to the guard on her right who handed her a quarterstaff, "As our former commander, you had the right to request trial by combat. Despite being found guilty, if you win, you're free to go. If you lose... well, it's a nice day to die."
Another guard approached the chained woman and handed her a quarterstaff and then walked off.
"Aren't you going to unchain me?"
"And have a criminal walking around free? You must think me insane." Shula responded with a sneer.
Arielle watched a sad recognition cross Yasmine's face as she folded away an errant strand of hair behind her ear. The bard wanted to push forward and defend Yasmine against the injustice she saw, but the moment she moved, she felt a guard's strong grip tighten around her arms from behind. Arielle tried to struggle a little, but felt the grip was too strong for her. She looked around, seeing some looking at Yasmine with disgust and bloodlust in their eyes while others looked on in shame and a regret they seemed too scared to voice. Arielle's gaze darted back to the fight when she heard the first crack of the staffs.
Everyone could see that Shula meant to play with her victim a little before killing her. She taunted her and attacked the commander with sneaky moves in the anything bur fair fight. Yasmine defended herself as well as she could, the chains around her wrists and ankles weighing her down and making it hard to move in any way. She held her own well and, for a moment, the bard hoped that maybe good would triumph in the end and Yasmine would actually win. Shula's arrogance made her misjudge one move and she swung too wide. Yasmine instantly noticed and took advantage of the mistake and brought her staff in hard and quick with a sharp jab to the ribs. It was enough to send the flame-haired woman a few steps backwards with the air knocked out of her. A murmur rippled through the crowd. The bard could sense a sudden tension appear in the air almost as if two opposing emotions were battling in the air above them. Arielle looked up in a strange feeling that there was something more than them at work there, as if there was something beyond them shifting. Were these the gears Eden felt?
Shula's roar and charge at Yasmine brought the bard's eyes back to the fight. Shula attacked in a rage, swiping and hitting without mercy. Yasmine parried and dodged the first few strikes, but couldn't keep up in chains and the blows began to shower her body. She grit her teeth, determined to not give in or go down, but Shula was merciless. Shula finally swiped the feet right from under the commander and before Yasmine could fully register that she was on the ground, Shula was already standing over her, hitting her blindly and with all her strength. Shula didn't want to win, she wanted to beat Yasmine into a bloody pulp.
"Enough!" Arielle finally yelled.
The injustice of what she was seeing burned in her heart and muscles and somehow she finally managed to pull free from the guard's grip. Without a second thought, she bolted forward, seeing Shula raising her staff above her head. Arielle flung herself at the wounded woman, covering the commander's body with her own, and looking up at Shula.
"Stop!" she yelled, raising one hand up above her head.
Shula held her weapon and needed only a split second to send it crashing down onto the bard. She glared at her with utter contempt as she heard the murmurs rippling through the onlookers. Her victory was being taken away. Her revenge was being starved and her plans ruined. She wanted to crush the bard's skull in, she wanted to make those green eyes close forever and that desire fought against her reason that knew the bard was needed alive if Shula was to get her greatest revenge. But this was just too much; the blond had meddled in her affairs once too many.
Shula lowered her weapon only to quickly lean down and grab Arielle by the front of her tunic tightly with both hands.
"I've had enough of your meddling, little girl." she growled into the blond's face, "You should have passed through Tyre without looking back. But you had to start sticking your nose in everywhere it didn't belong. I gave you a chance to see who we are, to see that I'm not evil and that I have a divine purpose. And you had to interfere with that too. But you are in over your head in a game that you don't understand and I'll make you regret you ever started it. Guards!"
Shula shoved Arielle back roughly as two guards rushed forward and grabbed Arielle's arms. Yet what no one had been expecting was for the bard to yank herself out of their grasp. Without any real plan or thought, the blond grabbed a fighting staff from one of the woman warriors watching the whole affair and began to defend herself against the guards coming at her. Her logic had shut down and she was simply acting on a deep belief and feeling that she couldn't let them simply kill Yasmine.
Arielle knew little of the staff and would have done much more with her bow and short sword. Yet she took what she knew about the sword and applied it to the staff as best she could. Soon she found that she had knocked over three surprised guards with hits to the head and was stirring up quite a commotion in the courtyard. She could feel that strange heaviness in the air again, almost as if they had been put on invisible scales and their fates were being weighed. She began to wonder if perhaps something might just change when she felt a sharp blow to her back that threw her straight into the arms of two oncoming guards who immediately grabbed her and held on to her tightly.
"You won't take another triumph away from me, pathetic storyteller." Shula spat loudly in her anger, "This time I'll take everything away from you. First, your dear friend. Then, your life."
Shula pointed away and the guards immediately began to pull the bard off towards the dungeons as another pair grabbed Yasmine by the wrists and dragged her right behind them.
"You call this God's will?" Arielle finally said in angry frustration, starting to wrap Yasmine's wounds with crude bandages, "This is how sacral you all are? You are simply female assassins."
Lillian remained quiet for a while, pondering over the comment as she continued to tear the rest of one of the thin blankets they had into strips. They both knew that efforts were futile, the majority of Yasmine's pain coming from damage on the inside that they could not see or reach. But they also couldn't simply sit there and watch the commander fade away. So Arielle continued wrapping and Lillian continued tearing.
"We started off like the Assassins, yes." Lillian finally replied slowly, "But that didn't last too long and we soon realized that more separated us from the Assassins than just nature. Yes, we try to root out evil, but we try with all our might to do that without spilling blood. We choose to talk, to reason. You could see it as a type of peaceful converting in a way. We are warriors whose last resort is to fight."
"That's something completely different than what I saw today." Arielle countered.
"Of course it is. And the one telling you this is sitting in a dungeon cell with you."
Arielle fell silent and drifted off into thought. She had seen two very different sides of the same coin. Shula would destroy the order in her obsession with power while Lillian's vision of their order seemed to be lost. What bothered Arielle most was the mentioning of Uriel's patronage. Her heart twisted painfully for a beat when she remembered that he had shown her Eden's soul after death in his open book. She wondered if he would explain to her what was happening if she called upon him. Yet she was too scared that she would learn something she didn't want to know, just like the first time.
"I have heard a few stories about the Fiori. They were good things." Arielle acknowledged, "But now I see they're just stories."
"Yes, well, I can tell you that the stories are probably more true that what you see now. This isn't who we are. Nothing foretold such a turn of events... Shula suddenly started a rebellion and usurped Yasmine, throwing all loyal to her in chains and taking the title of Lady Commander."
"Why?" Arielle asked simply.
"I can't be sure." Lillian admitted with a sigh, "She was always too fiery for her own good, believing true strength was measured in weapons and might. She seems driven by a fierce need for revenge."
A long moan from the commander interrupted their conversation and drew the women's attention to her.
"Leave me be. My time is growing short." Yasmine whispered, trying to push Arielle's hand away.
"Hold still." the bard gently reprimanded and continued to see to her wounds.
"Why are you doing this? We're strangers and I'm dying." Yasmine asked curtly.
Arielle looked at her for a moment. The bard had been asking herself that same question. If someone had asked her a year ago if she would throw herself into the middle of a fight to save a complete stranger's life, she probably would have thought the idea romantic, but shook her head in the end. She wasn't brave or strong; she was naive and foolish. But now, she had done exactly that without a single thought and it made her see herself in a new light again. Was she actually brave and strong? Could she stand side by side with Eden and defend the defenseless? Would Eden be proud of her? And then she felt a small warmth in her chest at the thought of Eden probably yelling at her first for jumping into the middle of danger and then kissing her forehead when the bard would explain that she thought it was simply the right thing to do.
"I don't want you to leave this world thinking that it no longer carries any kindness." Arielle answered.
Yasmine fell silent after that and the bard finished tending to the rest of her wounds. As the hours shuffled into evening and night, Yasmine's condition rapidly grew worse. Her skin grew pale and clammy and her breathing became more shallow and shorter. Lillian watched on with somber knowing that her commander was dying and there was nothing that she could do. She didn't let it show, but it broke a part of her heart. She had known Yasmine for years and respected her like no other. Her commander was the most just and kindest person she ever knew and had learned so much from her. She had been her sister and her dear friend and despite all the oaths and promises, Lillian could do absolutely nothing to protect or save her. Arielle knew that somber stare all too well and she put her hand on Lillian's shoulder which got her a faint, sympathetic smile.
In the middle of the night, Yasmine began to shake and complain of cold. Lillian sat up against the stone wall and pulled Yasmine into her, resting the pale woman's head on her chest and wrapping her arms around her middle. The sight caused a pang in the bard's heart, the memory of Eden doing the same thing when she was taken with the coughing sickness. She blinked hard twice and settled down beside Yasmine, wiping her forehead and neck and whispering soothing sounds from time to time.
"My sins..." Yasmine stammered out, "must have been grave... to be punished like this..."
"Rest." Arielle soothed.
"Hear them..." Yasmine said in sudden urgency, using all her strength to focus on the bard, "Hear my sins... before I go to Hell..."
"No." Arielle countered gently, "You aren't going to Hell. Sins are meant to be forgiven, not punished."
Yasmine looked at her in slight disbelief until a strange clarity suddenly appeared on her face.
"Forgive me then." she rasped.
"I'm not a priest. I can't-"
"Forgive me." Yasmine implored and then coughed.
The bard felt her heart hammering in her chest. Her mind told her that she was far beyond her authority, yet something burned in her soul to give the woman the peace she was looking for. And it was a peace that the blond somehow knew Yasmine deserved. Again, she felt a heaviness in the air as if all the angels had come down from the heavens and were peering over her shoulder, waiting for her to decide.
"All is forgiven." Arielle said gently.
Yasmine let out a sigh of relief and calmed a little. She then reached down to the underside of her belt, pulled something out, covering it in her fist, and then handed it to Arielle.
"Take this."
Arielle opened her palm to see Yasmine drop a silver flower pendant on a delicate chain into it. It was the likes of which the bard had never seen before; it looked so fragile that Arielle was afraid to break it by tightening her grasp, yet it the light of the torches bounced off it like little sparks, giving it a sense of majestic power.
"It's beautiful." Arielle said in wonder, noticing that it looked exactly like the large wall carving in the throne room.
"Do you... accept it?..."
"Yes..." Arielle said with hesitation and only when she turned her gaze from the pendant to Yasmine, did she see the commander's serious and focused eyes and feel her hand clasp hers tightly.
"Fortitudo et decor indumentum eius, et ridebit in die novissimo. (Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.)" Yasmine began to whisper with determined strain.
"What are you doing?" Lillian tried to interrupt, looking down at Yasmine, "Are you sure of this?"
"Please... Os suum aperuit sapientiæ, et lex clementiæ in lingua eius. Fallax gratia, et vana est pulchritudo: mulier timens Dominum ipsa laudabitur. Date ei de fructu manuum suarum: et laudent eam in portis opera eius." (She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.)
Arielle looked on at the ritual nervously, her eyes jumping from Yasmine to Lillian and back again, unable to understand what was happening. Yasmine tugged on her hand slightly and Arielle looked at her in confusion.
"Multæ filiæ congregaverunt divitias: tu supergressa es universas. (Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all)" she whispered with the last of her strength.
Yasmine felt a relief wash over her once she said the last of the words. She relaxed in Lillian's embrace, exhausted. Lillian looked at the confused bard who was still holding the pendant in her open hand and starting at her with wide eyes.
"What's going on?" Arielle asked in an almost frightened whisper.
"You've been given the sacral Lady Commander's pendant... You are now our Lady Commander by destiny and our law."
Arielle was stunned and could only turn to see Yasmine looking at her with hope. A heartfelt hope that she had done the right thing.
"It is done. All is in order." Lillian whispered into Yasmine's ear, hearing her labored breathing and feeling its strain in her arms, "Go now, sister. Go in peace... Go to your Father's house where He waits for you. He will wipe every tear from your eye. And there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain for all these things will have disappeared."
It was almost as if Yasmine had taken heed of Lillian's permission and her breathing grew gradually slower until it finally stopped and Arielle's saw the light in her eyes fade.
"Requiescat in pace. (Rest in peace)" Lillian whispered, her voice cracking as she leaned her forehead against the top of Yasmine's head.
Arielle remained stunned by all the things that had suddenly happened, not fully understanding what it all meant and how it would change her life. There was such high hope for her in Yasmine's now lifeless eyes. Arielle reached over and closed the dead commander's eyes gently with her hand. Arielle didn't want her to see that her hope might have been misplaced.
They had lay Yasmine's body in the opposite corner of their cell and covered it with a thin blanket. The two women sat across from each other, Arielle with her back against the bars, Lillian with her back against the stone wall. Neither said a word, both simply staring off somewhere, seeing their own demons and angels dancing before them. After what seemed like half a lifetime, Lillian sighed and looked at the bard.
"You should try to get some sleep." she offered.
"I'll only have nightmares." Arielle answered softly with a shake of her head and looking off to the side as Lillian nodded lightly.
"Tell me of Zauba'a then."
"What?" Arielle asked, her gaze snapping back to Lillian so fast that it startled the woman, "Why?"
"I'm first in command after you." Lillian explained, "It's my duty to protect you from any threat. The better I know you, the better I can protect you."
Arielle said nothing. She sensed no ill will from the woman, but the conversation was making her uneasy in unveiling things she wasn't sure she wanted anyone to know.
"You can tell me. I'm your greatest defender... The stories say that the bard of Jerusalem travels with the desert scourge."
"I'm no bard of Jerusalem." Arielle corrected sternly, the softness suddenly gone from her gaze, "And her name is Eden... She is my friend... If you call her a scourge once more, this conversation is over."
Lillian was taken aback by both the comment and its tone. Though she thought Yasmine's passing on of the sacred pendant was rash, she had seen and heard enough to believe that Arielle wasn't the worst choice to lead them. The blond was young and seemed slightly naive, but there was a strong light that seemed to beam from her, powerful in its gentleness. Arielle's sudden display of temper only gave Lillian more to respect.
Lillian's interest in Arielle's friendship with Eden was genuine. If her Lady Commander had given Eden her friendship, then there must have been something more to the warrior than the bloody stories told... or not. Lillian took her duty seriously knowing that it was her responsibility to now protect Arielle, their Lady Commander, even if it had to be from herself.
Arielle was surprised by her outburst and didn't know how to react for a moment. Her need to protect Eden's name was natural; her reaction was a reflex. The sternness of it puzzled her as she wasn't one to raise her voice or say things in anger. If Eden had been there, she probably would have simply picked up Lillian and thrown her to other side of the dungeon. This was the blond's way of doing the same.
"I meant no disrespect." Lillian said truthfully, "The stories about Eden are all... one-sided. And now that you're here, some are afraid that she'll come and bring all of Hell down on us."
"This is all my fault." the bard sighed out, shaking her head at the mess and looking up at the ceiling, "I remember we were in Tyre and a friend of mine said that some strange things were happening and people were dying. I wanted Eden to stay with me and try to find out what was going on; I wanted to help. Eden visited the scenes of death, I talked to people, we started coming up with a theory. I remember Eden saying something about the Assassins. The last thing I remember is eating supper with her and she suddenly mentions poison. And then I woke up here."
As Arielle's memories finally settled back separate from her dreams, she felt her mind float back further. She recalled leaving Jerusalem behind in such a heart wrenching farewell that even Lawrence shed a tear while Helen bawled her eyes out into her wide sleeves. She thought of how nice it was to be back on the road with the warrior, talking and joking away the days and playing their favorite game of naming clouds or drawing amongst the stars. She remembered Eden grabbing her and throwing them gently into a field of the last dandelions of that year. She remembered returning to Tyre and dragging a slightly suspicious warrior to the edge of the port in the middle of the night just to tell her that that was the place she had realized that she was in love with Eden all that time ago. And the bard now almost wished she hadn't remembered. Arielle felt like she could almost reach out and touch her memories of Eden and felt a strong pang of sadness and loneliness as the full force of how much she missed Eden hit her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud entrance of a group of guards. Lillian tensed as she quickly noticed the group was quite agitated and there were more of them than usual and nearly all with bandages around their heads. They stomped towards the women's cell almost in a rush, flung the cell door open, and the burliest one of them pulled the blond out by her hair.
"Come here, lassie. We'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget." he said, as one of his comrades began to take off his belt.
"Let me go!" Arielle screamed, thrashing against the men with all her might.
"You thought that you could just humiliate us like that, did you? Well, we'll just humiliate the clothes off you." he threatened with a growl.
Lillian sprang into action without a single thought. She charged through the door they had left open and launched herself at the guard holding Arielle.
"Let her be!" Lillian yelled fiercely.
Yet the tallest of them had noticed her and sent a punch straight into her stomach in mid air that knocked the wind out of her. Lillian crumpled to the ground and received a kick in the teeth that sent her sprawling against the bars.
"Feisty this one is!" the guard holding the bard complained, quite surprised by her strength.
"Drink this down, whore." another bandaged guard said, bringing a large vile up to her lips, "It'll make you more... willing."
Before Arielle could say anything or scream, the tallest of the guards opened her mouth by force and poured the contents of the vile down her throat. She choked and spluttered to the jeering of the men. All except the one holding her began to smile, waiting for the potion to work and imaging their reward. But a secret only Eden knew was that Arielle's interest in herbs and remedy potions was inversely proportional to her own tolerance of them.
At the moment they thought Arielle would finally relax, she grew only more tense, her muscles becoming nearly rigid.
"Hey, what's this about?" the tallest guard asked, wondering if she was trying to trick them.
Then Arielle began to heave and vomited up everything they had poured down her throat and then some. The guard holding her immediately let go and took a few steps back as Arielle dropped to her hands and knees.
"Hey, what's with you girl?" the tall guard said, nudging Arielle in the ribs with the toe of his boot.
Arielle only replied with more heaving and the guards looked on in confused and scared disgust.
"I'm having no part of this!" the guard nearest the entrance said and quickly left.
It only took a few moments for the rest of the guards to abandon the dungeons and leave the bard lying on the ground, holding her stomach. Lillian crawled up the to the blond.
"Are you alright?"
Without waiting for an answer, Lillian half supported, half pulled the bard back into their cell and pulled their last blanket over the shivering blond who remained curled up in a ball.
"I should be fine... though I don't know what they gave me." Arielle groaned, looking up at the bloodied dark skinned woman and starting to feel her violent reaction begin to die down, "You didn't have to try and help me... It only got you hurt."
"It's nothing." Lillian assured, spitting out some of the blood in her mouth into the corner, "I'm your greatest defender, remember?"
Then, from somewhere outside the fortifications, they heard the distant beating of drums.
"White flag!" one of the archers cried.
Arielle was standing on the ramparts outside. One of Shula's archers had run into the dungeons, tied her up, and rushed her back to Shula without a word. She shivered under the fading effects of the potion and the light breeze and simply waited, not having the strength to ask and argue over why she was there. And then Arielle suddenly felt a warm jolt go through her.
Everyone gazed down to see a solitary rider gallop up, holding a lance with a white cloth tied to the end of it. Through the archer's slit in the wall, Arielle recognized the rider's colors and that certain defiant way of being that Arielle could notice even at a great distance. The rider then stopped before the main gate, stuck the lance into the earth, and turned around a few times, her gaze never leaving the ramparts. Sitting defiantly atop her black steed, her black cloak fluttering a little in the soft wind, the setting sun glinting off all her armor, Eden was such a sight to behold that it sent a pleasant shiver through the bard. She was amazed at the effect Eden still had on her, like straight out of the romantic stories Arielle liked so much. But she could also see and even sense the warrior's agitation and imagined that if Eden could have her way, she would probably just simply storm the castle all by herself right then.
"Where is the one called Shula?" Eden called out so strongly that it actually made the warriors on the ramparts slightly uneasy as the warrior's voice began to mix with her bloodthirsty reputation they had all heard of.
"I am Shula!" the woman replied loudly, taking step forward and showing herself between the ramparts and her archers.
"Good lady," Eden told her in the only slightly respectful comment she could manage to make, her eyes boring holes into her from far away, "you have something that doesn't belong to you."
"I am addressed as Lady Commander." Shula replied with bitter pride.
"Your title doesn't concern me. Where is Arielle?"
"Ah, so what doesn't belong to me belongs to you then?" the woman taunted.
"Is she your guest or your prisoner?" Eden asked, trying to keep her anger under control as her fists clenched the reins tightly.
"She was my guest," Shula replied, a cold smile crossing her face, "until she disrespected my hospitality. Now she is my prisoner."
"Let her go!" Eden boomed.
"I would love to do that, desert terror," Shula taunted, feeling powerful within her walls, "but we have commandments here and punishment for breaking them. Judgment has already been passed on her sins. She is sentenced to die tomorrow."
Almost simultaneously, Arielle went rigid with horror at the news and Eden's fists pulled on the reins so hard that Arion reared and let out a loud snort. Shula, however, was smiling widely.
"I have an army behind me. We will besiege your fortress. We will scale your walls, kill everyone inside, and then destroy anything that's left." Eden bellowed in such a cold promise that it made the bard's heart ache, "Let Arielle go. Return her alive and I'll take my army and leave."
"God's path is truly a difficult one. I am but an instrument of the Lord against all the sinners on the earth. His sentence shall be carried out."
Eden knew that Shula would have most likely rejected her offer, but her heart sunk a little at it nonetheless. She had given the woman a chance to save her life and it was refused. If You can avert this needless slaughter then do it. Because I'll kill anyone and anything that tries to harm Arielle... I'll kill them all.
"Is that your final answer then?"
"It is what the Lord wills!"
"Then hear my answer!" Eden cried, her rage coloring her voice, "A hair falls from Arielle's head and I'll tear you limb from limb and serve your heart on a plate to the dogs!"
With that Eden kicked the lance down and when the white flag hit the ground, Eden spun around to return to her lines.
"Now." Shula whispered to the archer on her left.
Arielle realized what was happening and took a breath to scream a warning, but the archer who had dragged her there managed to cover her mouth with her hand. She screamed anyway with all her might, hoping and praying that by some miracle, the warrior would hear her. The archer aimed and let her arrow loose towards Eden's back. The commander watched with vengeful eyes as the arrow sped towards its mark only to finally see Eden raise her hand near her ear and catch it. Eden slowly turned around and flung the arrow to the ground with disgust. She quickly turned back and galloped towards her army and for a brief moment Shula wondered if she hadn't met her match.
Everything just began to happen so quickly after that.
Eden had called her army forward, positioning them just outside of the range of the Fiori archers. They stood there at the ready, Eden demonstrating that she was more than serious and would happily carry out her threat to the letter. Only the slightest prick of panic entered Shula's mind, but it wouldn't go away and it was enough to send her into much more erratic and tense decisions and commands than before. In the middle of the Fiori running to and fro under orders barked by their seniors, Arielle found herself being whisked off to Shula's own chambers since the commander thought that the dungeons would be the first place anyone would look if they managed to sneak in.
The bard's mind raced with thoughts of how to make her way to Eden outside the walls as the guard pulled her forward by the rope binds around her wrists. Her thoughts were interrupted when the guard stopped and pulled out a key to open the door they were standing in front of. When it was finally opened, the guard pushed Arielle inside hard enough that she stumbled and fell to the floor as the guard followed her in. Arielle turned her head to see the door close and Eden suddenly move in from behind it, elbowing the guard straight in the temple and letting him drop to the floor.
"Eden!" the bard cried in happy surprise.
Eden put a finger over her lips to signal to be quiet as she quickly and almost soundlessly made her way over to the bard and crouched beside her. She pulled out her dagger and immediately cut through Arielle's ties and as soon as the bard had her hands free, she threw them around Eden's neck and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so happy to see you." she whispered in rush of different emotions, "I dreamed you'd come for me."
"You always do." Eden replied with relief that Arielle was near her again.
They allowed each other a few moments of simply being in each other's embrace, drinking in each other's warmth and presence. Eden didn't like it when the bard was far away- she had promised to protect her. And Arielle didn't like being far from Eden- she had promised to take care of her.
"Did they hurt you?" Eden whispered sternly as she pulled away a little and studied Arielle's bandaged head.
"I woke up here with that." the bard explained, pointing to the back of her head, "A healer tended to it."
"Does it hurt?" Eden asked, examining it with her knowing touch and gaze.
"Not anymore."
Eden looked back at the bard to see her flash an unabashedly loving smile that Eden could only smile back at.
"Listen, we need to get out of here now."
"What about the others?" Arielle asked.
"What others? I came here for you. Let's go." Eden said as she took the bard's hand in hers and began to get up.
"Eden, wait... I can't go." Arielle said hesitantly, pulling on the warrior's hand to stop her.
"What?"
"I can't go."
"Why not?"
"I can't leave the others behind."
"What others? Arielle, what are you talking about?"
"Eden, I don't know how it all really happened and I don't understand it myself yet, but... it seems that I'm the Lady Commander of the order now."
"What?!" Eden hissed, almost failing at keeping herself quiet.
The bard somberly pulled out the silver pendant that Yasmine had given her from her pocket and showed it to Eden. Eden knew what it meant, but didn't want to. She hoped it was all a trick or misunderstanding. The bard didn't need the complication and heavy burden of leading an order she didn't know in the ways of the world she didn't fully understand.
"Multæ filiæ congregaverunt divitias: tu supergressa es universas." Arielle repeated Yasmine's words in a whisper almost as if she could hear Eden's doubt rumbling in her head.
Eden closed her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. Now a very risky plan suddenly turned into all kinds of complicated. She opened her eyes to see a light green gaze looking back at her, searching for an answer in a conviction that she would find one in her dark blue pools.
"How do you get into so much trouble?" the warrior wondered aloud and Arielle let out a soft laugh.
Eden took a look around the chambers for no other reason than to not look at the bard and be able to come up with a plan. A few moments later, she looked back at Arielle.
"Alright, do you know where the others are being held?"
"Yes. They're in the dungeons."
"Alright." Eden said, feeling very uncomfortable with sending the bard there, "Do you know where the armory is?"
"I think it's off to the side of the throne room, nearer the mountain."
"What's the quickest way to get from the dungeons to the armory?"
"I don't know of any way that wouldn't go through all the guards..." Arielle admitted, but then remembered something, "There's some sort of secret door on the far wall of the dungeons. I think it leads somewhere near the throne room. I've seen a couple of guards disappear into it."
"Alright." Eden said, rapidly taking the information, analyzing it, and trying to come up with a plan that would get them all out alive, "You go down to the dungeons and free the others. Then go into that passage and just take it to the end. I'll go to the armory and open it so your friends have something to fight with. We'lll have to battle our way out. I'll meet you at the end of the passage."
Arielle nodded, but Eden could see her grow tense. Truthfully, Eden wanted to hide the bard under the bed, kill or scare everyone until the castle was empty, and simply lead the bard out unscathed. But she also knew that she had to trust in Arielle's abilities. But the mere thought of anything happening to the blond drove the warrior nearly insane.
"Listen, there's a signal." Eden told Arielle, looking straight into her eyes, "If the army sees a black flag dropped from the walls, they'll storm the castle... Use it if our plan doesn't work... Please, don't try to be a hero, Arielle. Just run. I'll find you."
The bard only nodded, but the thought of something not working almost made her want to give up and just stay in Eden's arms, but she tried to keep a grip on her emotions and composure.
"When we get out of here, you have some serious explaining to do." Arielle said in mock annoyance, pressing her index finger against the warrior's chest, "How in the world do you know these people? And what did you do to make Shula so mad?"
"Me?! Maybe you'd like to tell me the story of how you became Lady Commander of an order you've never heard of overnight?"
"Okay, point taken." Arielle yielded as she looked into Eden's sharp but friendly eyes.
There was so much she still didn't know about the warrior. Their friendship was almost like constantly unwrapping a gift, never knowing what surprise was there until it was opened. She wondered how long it would take for her to truly be able to say that she knew Eden. Or perhaps she would never be able to say that at all? Yet she realized that as she learned more about Eden, she also learned more about herself and, in that way, gave more for the warrior to discover about her. She thought that Eden was the most intriguing person she had ever known and she wanted to dive into those dark blue pools and discover all that lie there. And every time she wondered over the complexity of her best friend, she also found herself surprised that Eden hadn't grown tired or bored of her yet. But that thought and many others would have to wait.
"Be careful, Eden." Arielle said, softly stroking Eden's cheek once with the back of her hand.
"You too, my bard." the warrior responded, leaning into the touch.
A moment later, Eden got up and quickly made her way to the door, opened it cautiously, and looked out into the hall. Surprisingly, seeing no one around, Eden motioned to the bard that the coast was clear. The bard squeezed her way past and made her way to the dungeons while Eden turned in the opposite direction and searched for the armory. Both were convinced their crazy plan would never work.
Arielle reached the dungeons and freed the other warriors loyal to Yasmine imprisoned there just before a group of guards ran down inside. Thankfully, the skilled women knew how to fight even without weapons and they soon dispatched the surprised guards with ease. The bard led them down the passage that one of the women confirmed led to a place near the armory. Arielle let out a sigh of relief when they reached the end of the secret passageway and Eden was waiting for them.
"Any trouble?" Eden asked and the bard shook her head, though both noticed the suspiscious peculiarity in that.
They all made their way into the armory that Eden closed quickly after they were inside. The bodies of a dozen unconscious guards littered the floor and stunned the women who all turned to look at Eden who simply shrugged. They blinked a few times and finally searched through what was there and grabbed some weapons and armor. There were no bows so Arielle simply took a staff that reminded her of the one that Yasmine had fought with. They quickly came up with a plan to leave through the same way Eden had managed to enter. The plan was a good one until the moment they left the armory and came face to face with Shula and a large, armed group of her supporters.
"Going somewhere?" Shula sneered, her sword drawn.
Eden knew that they were in a nonstrategic position with their backs against the wall. Normally, it would be easier to defend themselves than be totally surrounded, but they were outnumbered and the limited field of maneuver in the corridor made Eden uneasy. The warrior felt the bard unconsciously move nearer to the warrior, her strong presence making her feel safer. Eden sighed heavily and did the only thing she could think of before Shula sent her horde bearing down on them. She ran straight into the group with a yell.
Before Arielle knew what was happening, everyone seemed to be yelling, running at each other, and then nothing else could be heard other than the deafening clashing of weapons as the fight spilled into the throne room. Those who were supposed to be sisters and brothers were now fighting each other to the death, each knowing that they were fighting for their very survival.
Eden set her sights on Shula and the fiery haired woman wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Their swords clashed so hard that they sometimes set off sparks. Shula was fueled by her obsession to get revenge against the warrior from days past. Eden was driven by her rage at all that had been done to the bard and it was her past that had caused it. They dueled in what looked to Arielle like a rather even match. The mayhem within the walls concerned her enough that she scanned the room and scurried over to one of the corners where she saw a black tablecloth. From the corner of her eye, she saw Eden grimace when Shula sliced her across her shoulder. Arielle gathered the material into her shaking hands and was ready to run to the ramparts and give Eden's army the signal. And then she saw Eden finally find an opening and hit Shula in the mouth with the pommel of her sword, sending the woman stumbling back a few steps.
"Oh, the angels are probably laughing at us now." Shula said, spitting out some blood from her mouth and eying the warrior with utter hatred, "Two people so similar fighting with each other as if one was so much better than the other."
"We aren't the same." Eden retorted, noticing the skirmish slowly tilting towards Arielle's friends.
"Aren't we? We both have that thrill of battle, that desire for justice, and the hard-heartedness to stomach it all. We would see the world at its knees because we know that that is its place. I can see it in your eyes. It rumbles within you like distant thunder. So, tell me, how are we not the same?" Shula reasoned.
"Because you're going to lose."
Eden swung at her with a rekindled anger and the bard watched in tense fascination as the warrior almost turned into a whirlwind of sword strikes that sent Shula a step back with each contact until she was finally pinned with her back against the wall.
"Give up." Eden advised coldly.
Shula was breathing hard, but kept her blade pointed at the warrior, having no intention of being defeated. Her obsessive vengeance didn't let her notice that most of her supporters had either already been killed or had surrendered. Shula's shoulders slumped and her body relaxed for a split second as she gazed at the ground. But what Arielle had interpreted as a sign of surrender was actually a ruse. Instead of dropping her sword, Shula sprang to the side, along the wall, charging straight at the bard with her blade outstretched to run the blond through with it. Arielle was frozen in the horrible realization of what was happening and before she could finally will her body to move, a dark blur appeared and slammed Shula into the wall and then down onto the floor.
"I'll pull your heart out with my bare hands!" Eden cried as she plunged her dagger into Shula's right shoulder.
The woman cried out in pain as Eden pulled the dagger out and raised it again. And then she hesitated. She realized that if she killed Shula, then she would be nothing more than the stories told about her and that Shula, in her own strange way, would win. She would become the martyr who fought against the desert marauder for God and justice. Sometimes, Eden knew, the greatest punishment for sins was letting one live with them.
"You have made a grave mistake..." Shula spat out, breathing hard through her pain, "The world will plunge into darkness without me."
"You talk too much." Eden replied flatly, flipping the dagger around and landing a precise hit to her neck that made Shula go out cold.
When Eden looked up and caught the bard's gaze, Arielle finally let go of a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. All the bard could suddenly see was the warrior who had walked a few steps away from Shula. The bard dropped the black material she had been holding and walked over to the warrior, wrapping her in a relieved hug that she simply, at that moment, didn't care if anyone saw. The amused though slightly self conscious warrior hugged Arielle with her good arm and gave her a few reassuring pats on the back.
While they took a few quiet moments to settle with the knowledge that the greatest danger seemed to be over, Lillian quickly began to take charge and give out orders. Those who surrendered were tied up and grouped together and the dead were carried out to be buried later. Arielle was saying something to Eden when Lillian finally approached them.
"Lady Commander." Lillian said and gave a short bow at which the warrior raised an eyebrow.
"Eden, this is Lillian." Arielle introduced, watching skepticism shadow the warrior's face, "We were locked in the same cell. She's a friend."
"Eden." was all Lillian said when she extended her hand to the warrior.
Eden said nothing and shook the woman's hand while pinning her under her sharp gaze. Lillian tried to keep her composure but audibly swallowed and looked at the floor once Eden let go.
"What would you like to do with the prisoners?" Lillian asked, turning back to the bard.
"What can be done?" Arielle asked uneasily, suddenly feeling the weight of the responsibility of the pendant she carried.
"You can banish them, have them put on trial, or execute them."
Arielle winced at the last option. She turned to look at those who had foolishly decided to side with Shula and Eden followed her gaze.
"Their greatest crime, it seems, is being misguided." the bard observed absently through the kindness in her heart and lost herself in thought.
"Why are there men here?" Eden asked matter-of-factly, "Isn't this a women's order?"
"It is." Lillian answered, "A few came to us themselves. As eunuchs, some had nowhere else to go and since they didn't pose a threat, we accepted them mostly as servants or manor guards. It was Shula who allowed others to be accepted. Mostly ones she knew from somewhere."
"Some of those men aren't eunuchs?" Eden asked in mild surprise, her arms folded across her chest.
"For example, that bandaged man sitting there," Lillian pointed out, too excited to be talking to the warrior to notice what she was saying, "the one who gave Arielle something vile to drink."
"Vile?" Eden asked, suddenly wondering where Lillian's cut lip had come from.
"Yes, he and some others in the dungeons. Arielle had beaten them in a fight earlier." Lillian rambled, "It was some kind of potion that made her sic-"
Lillian didn't need to finish for Eden to understand and before she realized what she had said, the warrior had already stomped off in the direction of the guard. He didn't see her coming and the Fiori who did see had absolutely no intention of getting in her way. So Eden reached him and when he turned around to look at her, she punched him in the face with all her might.
His body crashing into the floor caught everyone's attention, including the bard's. Eden pounced on him, pinning him down with her knees and bashed his face again and again with her fist, cursing him to all the rings of Hell. Arielle began to make her way to the warrior when she heard the sickening sound of a bone crunching.
"Eden, stop!" Arielle suddenly cried out and rushed to the warrior, kneeling beside her and putting her hands on Eden's shoulder.
Eden glared down at the bleeding man with disgust. She didn't think he deserved to live. She didn't want him to live.
"Eden, please, don't kill him... He'll stand trial..." the bard continued to plead as she heard Lillian approach and stand behind them.
There were many times that Arielle had asked her to let someone go, but this time the crime was a vile one against the bard and in those circumstances, Eden was nowhere near forgiving. Her mind flashed back to the cave she had found the bard in and the wretched things Arielle had gone through while there. Eden had slaughtered every single living thing in that cavern. She wanted to do the same thing to him. She didn't care what the heavens would think of her. She would rather stain her hands with the blood of every evil than have Arielle experience the slightest trace of it.
"Please... Eden..." Arielle whispered, her breath closer to the warrior's ear, her hands spreading warmth over her good arm.
But Eden did care what Arielle thought of her.
"You're lucky she has a greater reverence for your useless life than I do, you worthless bag of pig shit." Eden growled straight into his face, "But I swear if you ever even think of doing that again, I'll rip your little friend right from between your legs and stuff it down your throat. Do you understand me?"
The beaten guard whimpered in agreement and Eden got off of him in disgust and stomped away, leaving a thankful yet saddened bard behind.
"She is your greatest defender." Lillian absently muttered in recognition.
"She is..." Arielle whispered in return.
The rest of the women and eunuchs busied themselves with cleaning the mess left behind and leading the prisoners off to the dungeons. Arielle searched for the warrior until she found her on the ramparts, looking out across the desert. The bard slowly walked up to her, stopping beside her.
"Thank you." she said softly.
Eden turned tensely, her mouth open and a breath taken ready to argue about how that man deserved to be beaten into nothingness and that it bothered her, but the bard gently put a finger on her lips.
"I know." she said quietly, "I'm sorry."
Eden could do nothing else other than let out a long breath that traveled down the bard's fingers and arm. Arielle reached down and took Eden's hands in her own. She could feel the battered knuckles under her fingertips and she gently smoothed them over. Eden's duality never ceased to amaze her; the same hands that could beat the life out of someone were the same ones that were nothing but gentle with her. Arielle looked at Eden to watch the warrior give her a faint, tired smile and the bard realized the lengths the warrior would go to not only to keep the blond safe, but to protect Arielle from Eden's dark.
"Let's go inside. Lillian insists that we stay and she'll show us true Fiori hospitality." Arielle said and tried to pull Eden along with her.
The warrior didn't move, not wanting to go back inside the rooms full of people she didn't know or trust amongst the remnants of battle. But the bard wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
"Eden, you searched and found me, dragged an army along with you, rescued me, and saved the order from tearing itself apart." Arielle listed with a twinkle in her eye, "The least you could let me do now is tend to your shoulder... Then we can call it even."
A single chuckled escaped through a smile that crossed the warrior's lips and she shook her head.
"We should get moving." Eden noted practically.
"Eden, I'm not going to have you bleeding over half the desert. You need some rest. So do I." Arielle explained, "Besides, you had some serious explaining to do, remember?"
Eden gazed at the bard now grinning back at her; so full of strength and yet so full of innocence. She would be a destroyer of nations, bringing the world to its knees with just her smile.