"You know I usually try to be understanding, but this is getting ridiculous," Arielle said with her hands on her hips, "Is it something in the air around here or are you all just born thick headed?"
The three raiders who had trapped Arielle up against a boulder while Eden was busying with fending off the rest of their seven man pack looked at each other in surprise. Before they could do or say anything, they heard a carefree whistling behind them.
"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you went to." Eden said casually to the blond and pointed her blade at one of the raiders, "Friends of yours?"
"Hardly."
"Thought so."
Four swift sweeps of her sword and three male grunts later, the raiders writhed around in the dirt as Eden sheathed her blade with a satisfied sigh and turned to look at the bard.
"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Arielle asked in a tone between a tease and accusation.
"And you aren't?"
"Eden, this is probably the fifth band of raiders we've met just this week. They know it's you, but they continue to attack us anyway. Do you have a price on your head that I don't know about?"
"Somewhere probably. The price of fame." Eden teased as she dusted off her sleeves.
"It's getting tiring. This was supposed to be the safer route."
"I know," Eden said softly, putting her hand on the bard's shoulder, "and believe me that this is nothing compared to what we might have faced prancing through the middle of the Sultanate."
"I know, but this was supposed to be fun. Or at least less dangerous. How much longer before we reach Constantinople?"
"You've been asking that nearly every day for the last month."
"Well it seems to be taking forever."
"Well," the warrior drawled, raising an eyebrow slowly, "if you didn't draw trou-"
"Don't even say it!" Arielle warned, putting her index finger in the air.
Eden clamped her mouth shut and loosely tried to hide her smile. She waited patiently until the bard finally sighed, grumbled something underneath her breath, and trudged back to their horses.
For the last two months they rode towards the great city before winter snows had any chance of catching them. The occasional raider kept Eden from becoming too bored or agitated and the bard often found herself simply watching Eden be her amazing warrior self. It was also the first thing Arielle would mention when Eden began to complain about going shopping in the small towns on their way. The warrior would then only huff in defeated annoyance as Arielle led her by the elbow from stall to stall, commenting all the beautiful things she saw. Arielle would always buy her something sweet in the end for the warrior's patience and Eden would genuinely be impressed by the bard's haggling abilities. A smile faintly tugged at Eden's lips; she could have thought of thousands of worse ways to spend her trip back to the Latin countries.
The sun was starting its descent when Eden found a few larger bushes off to the side of the road which would give them at least a little shelter from the cool, night breeze. They decided to make camp early, started a fire, and wanted to get in a little sparring before it was dark. Eden was surprised when Arielle had asked to spar with swords. Arielle only laughed, shook her head, and said that the only reason that she had picked up a staff against Muriel was because "she wanted the Scribe to eat her own words". It was in the middle of their sparring that Eden raised her hand to stop the bard and turned her gaze east.
"Not again..."
Eden jumped onto Arion's back and was off right after those two words left Arielle's mouth. Arielle quickly raced after her, her bow in the ready. Eden charged towards the thundering sound of hooves, racing against the fading daylight. The sound then turned into a dark mass and the curved swords they waved above their heads told Eden the exact thing she didn't want to know- these were Turks. In the daylight, the whole band was maybe a fair match for her; in the growing dark of the desert, the odds were much less in her favor. And so Eden galloped right into the middle, causing havoc among the horseman and making them break apart.
Arielle could hear curses in two different languages between the clashes of metal and screams of pain. She readied her bow, surveyed the fight with the sound of her own deep breathing filling her ears. Her attention was caught by a lone rider riding west at an insane speed. Arielle nocked her arrow quickly and was about to let it fly when she noticed long hair and what looked like a dress.
"Damn." the bard muttered, slinging her bow over her shoulder in a split second decision.
The bard thought she was going to let out the longest string of curses she ever had in her life at the woman she was chasing as Xanthus strained to cover the distance between them. It seemed that the shadows were creeping in ever closer and swallowing up the desert with her in it.
"For the love of God, stop!" Arielle cried out, but it fell on deaf ears.
They continued galloping ahead as sand turned to hard packed earth and then to rock. Xanthus nearly skid to a stop when the horse in front went lame and toppled over with his rider. Arielle let out a breath of relief as the woman desperately crawled away, but drew it back in quickly as the woman stood and ran out onto a filmsy rope bridge.
"Keep back! I'll jump, I swear I will!" the crazed woman screamed, her eyes darting back and forth between Arielle and the deep, narrow gorge beneath her.
"Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!" Arielle yelled, dismounting and raising her hands in front of her.
"You speak Latin?" the woman asked suspiciously.
"Of course I do."
"Really? You're dressed like one of them!"
"Them?"
The woman only turned to run out further across. She took two steps and the wooden plank beneath her cracked and gave way. Arielle took off like a shot as the woman's scream pierced the air, drowning out the agonizing creaking of the rope. The woman thrashed about, desperately trying to get her trapped leg free, sending Arielle off balance before she could reach her. Arielle tumbled over to the side rope and she didn't even have the time to be thankful she had a tight grip before the rope finally snapped, sending half the bridge down.
Arielle was certain her scream could have probably been heard in Avignon.
"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down." she whispered to herself.
Hold on for her. Hold on and she'll come to you.
"We're going to die! I don't want to die!" the woman shouted hysterically.
Arielle squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to take three deep breaths.
"Don't move!" Arielle yelled.
"I don't want to die!"
"Stop moving! You'll send us both to our deaths if you don't shut up and stop moving!"
The woman grew quiet and a few moments later the bridge stopped swaying.
"What are we going to do?" the woman whimpered.
"We're going to try to make it back to the cliff."
She'll come for you.
"We'll never make it!"
"Do you have any better ideas?" Arielle shouted, barely able to see the woman shake her head, "Just do as I do."
Slowly Arielle began to shift her hands across the rope making her way back towards the cliff. She tried to drown out the ominous creaking of the rope and the fact that the bridge must have been a hundred years old at least. Her stomach lurched when the woman tried to move and only panicked.
She'll come for me.
"Calm down!" Arielle yelled.
Again, the bard's stomach lurched, but this time along with the collapsing bridge.
"Oh no you don't!"
Arielle felt a short rush of air run over her just as she started to fall. She looked up to see exactly what she was expecting to see- Eden with one arm around the bard's waist and the other holding the rope bridge.
"And where do you think you're going?" Eden asked calmly.
Arielle only smiled lightly and hid her face in Eden's tunic. I knew she would.
"As lovely as this is, we need to get out of here." Eden said quietly.
"I know. Tell me what to do?" Arielle answered, raising her head and looking up at Eden.
"The both of you need to climb up the bridge, over me, and to the post. Quickly."
"Climb over here!" Arielle shouted, turning to the woman still hanging on for dear life.
"No! I'll fall!"
"The rope won't hold much longer! You need to climb over here."
"I'll fall to my death! It's too dark! I don't want to die!"
"You will climb up this rope or I swear by all the saints and demons that I'll let go and watch you fall!" Eden finally yelled.
Eden heard the woman snap her mouth shut as her voice echoed faintly against the surrounding rock. The bard took a breath and then noticed the woman start to move towards them, shaking the whole way.
"I knew that would get her moving." Eden muttered.
Eden ignored her perilous position as the only thing keeping the bridge connected to the ridge. The burning and strain in her muscles was pushed aside as the two women slowly and almost silently made their way over her and to the post. Only when she heard Arielle pull the woman up onto the cliff did Eden finally let the rope bridge go. It's crash against the opposite cliff filled the night sky as Eden let herself swing. She found the cliff with her feet and climbed her way up the rope and onto the ridge. The woman's heavy breathing annoyed her as she undid the rope from around her hips.
"Let's not try that again, shall we?" Eden said and whistled for their horses.
Arielle wanted to tell Eden she was sorry. But then she felt two warm hands on her shoulders.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Arielle heard in a concerned voice.
"I'm alright... Just a few scratches..." the bard calmed.
"Sure. That's what I always say."
Arielle couldn't help but chuckle and then she suddenly knew she was really safe again. She looked up at the warrior, barely able to see her against the dark sky.
"I didn't hear you."
"Well riding in screaming like a banshee didn't seem very constructive. I chose the more subtle approach."
"I'm glad you did."
"So am I. Who's the lady worth risking your life for?" Eden asked, now peering at the woman.
The woman could hardly make out the warrior, but felt the violent energy rolling off her and heard the sharp bite in the tone of her question.
"Come any closer and I swear I'll jump!" she said, taking a step back.
"Fine with me." Eden shrugged.
"The Turks were chasing her. All I know is that she keeps threatening to jump." Arielle explained with a long sigh.
"Maybe we should just let her."
"Oh dear God." the woman gasped.
The bard only sighed again and gathered Xanthus' reins in her hands before turning to the woman.
"It's dark already. You can come to our camp or you can continue on your own. I don't recommend the second option."
"With... with her?" the woman whispered, pointing at Eden, "She wants me dead."
"She saved your life. It's your choice." the blond said tiredly, turning away.
"I'll go!" the woman shouted.
She heard Xanthus' reins fall to the ground and the horse knicker his doubt.
"He's gentle. Just don't tug on his mane." Arielle said as Eden pulled her up behind her.
They followed the tiny point of light in the blackness, the woman constantly whimpering something about dying.
"You're shivering." Eden said quietly to the bard. "Are you alright?"
"I'm just cold... And tired..."
"Here," Eden said, unclasping her cloak, "take it."
Arielle wrapped herself in Eden's cloak, breathing in the scent of dust, metal, and that something that was unmistakenably Eden. It made her feel safe and protected surrounded by the blackness of the desert night.
When they reached camp, the woman kept to the edge of the firelight, almost feeling as if she was intruding. The bard slumped down heavily on a flat stone as Eden took a satchel down from her horse and placed near the bard's feet. The woman noticed the wordless, but intense exchange when the bard's tired, almost dejected gaze met the warrior's concerned one. The bard then cocked her head gently to one side and the warrior exhaled loudly.
"Sit." Eden said, turning to the woman and indicating a spot, "And tell me why we shouldn't have just let you fall."
The woman stared at Eden who was emanating all the menace she housed. In the dancing firelight, Eden almost looked like a demon to her and, for a moment, she wondered whether it wouldn't have been a better idea to run off into the desert night.
"I think I might faint." the woman breathed, finding herself sitting on the ground.
"Well?" Eden demanded, taking a step forward.
Arielle saw the woman flinch and cower in front of the warrior and she silently covered Eden's hand with her own.
"Tell us your story. Who are you?" Arielle said.
The woman swallowed a few times and decided to shift all her attention to the blond who didn't seem to want to tear her to pieces.
"My name is Lydia." the woman started in a shaking voice.
"That's a start. I'm Arielle. This is Eden. What are you doing in the middle of the desert by yourself?" Arielle asked.
"I was coming back from Antioch. Official business."
"Official?" Eden scoffed, folding her hands over her chest.
"Yes, official." Lydia repeated, suddenly aware of what she must look like and tried to secure her long, loose, dull brown curls into some kind of order until she finally gave up, "My husband sent me."
"Alone?" the bard asked.
"Of course not. I had the same armed escort that I reached Antioch with. But that band of Turks attacked us out of nowhere. It's almost like they just grew out of the sand in front of us. When I saw my men being cut down, I turned and raced off as fast as I could. I thought I lost them in a nearby ravine. But they found me. You know the rest."
"Do you know why they were after you?" the bard asked.
"No. We weren't hostile in any way."
"Any other reason?"
"No."
"You're lying." Eden suddenly growled.
The bard watched Lydia's gaze grow nervous again as it jumped between Arielle and the warrior. Lydia wrung her hands, her knuckles white.
"I need to return to Constantinople. To my husband."
Eden sighed loudly and turned to look at the bard in a silent question.
"Constantinople is on our way." Arielle finally said, turning back to the anxious woman, "You can travel with us if you'd like."
Lydia let out a loud breath of relief and looked like she might deflate all the way to the ground.
"Thank you. I promise not to be a burden." she answered with a tired, timid smile.
"Do you have anything with you?"
"Only this." Lydia answered, indicating the small satchel on her belt.
Arielle nodded and started to stand until a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Rest. I'll get it." Eden said quietly.
Lydia looked at the bard when Eden quietly disappeared just beyond the edge of the firelight.
"Eden isn't going to kill you so stop being foolish." Arielle said plainly.
Lydia nodded and ducked her head in sudden embarassment. She pushed a few stones away with the tips of her shoes, watching their shadows dance.
"She's just angry that I was in danger." Arielle added so quietly that Lydia hardly heard it.
Arielle's eyes drifted off in the direction Eden had gone. Lydia saw something gentle and forlorn in her gaze, almost like she was looking at something very sad and very beautiful. She opened her mouth to ask how they knew each other when the tense warrior reappeared and placed a make shift bedroll beside her.
"It'll have to do." the warrior said shortly.
"Thank you."
Partly through fear and partly through a sense of decency, Lydia found a spot that was close enough to the fire to feel some of its warmth, but off to the side enough to give the two women some space. She turned her back to them and fell asleep before she could start to try to eavesdrop.
The bard remained silent except for a few short, quiet hisses of pain as Eden cleaned her palms. They avoided each other's eyes until Eden finshed. She turned the cloth around in her hand a few times, the redness of Arielle's blood standing out against the cream color of the cloth. It seemed completely out of place and Eden wondered if it was her fault it was even there.
"You protected me. You saved me. You always do." Arielle whispered, gently pulling Eden's chin up with her fingers.
Eden gave her a tired smile, wrapped her hand around Arielle's fingers and brought them to her lips in a gentle kiss.
"I wish you didn't always have to." Arielle said, a tear finally falling from her eye.
Eden looked at her quietly. Nothing made her more livid than Arielle in danger and she didn't spend a single thought on destroying anything threatening the bard. But she always worried that one day she would be too far off, too late, or too weak. The warrior never ever wanted to see that day, but feared it arrived with every sunrise. Yet it was that same need of her protection that gave the warrior a sense of being and purpose. Eden was the bard's defender until the day she could no longer defend. Eden wondered if maybe someday, she wouldn't be stuck in that pathetic paradox of her own life.
"I know." Eden sighed, "but at least I can pretend to be a hero."
"You are one... I promise to be more careful next time."
"Just let whoever it is jump next time."
"Oh Eden... We're both fine," Arielle said with a faint chuckle, "and we're doing a good deed by helping her back to Constantinople."
"She better behave." Eden grumbled.
"Oh, I think you did a very good job of scaring her into submission, as usual. She probably wonders if falling off that bridge wasn't a better idea."
"Stop laughing. I can't bandage your hands properly."
Arielle held her laugh and instead gave the warrior a quick peck on the lips.
"I love you, you scary, brooding warrior." the bard whispered, "Now let me tend to you."
"No, today I fix you. I'm fine, just a few scratches." Eden commented lightly as Arielle began to laugh again.
Eden was thankful that they were only a week away from Constantinople when they ran into the Turks. True to her word, Lydia proved to not be a burden, but oddly it was that very fact that bothered Eden. Arielle found the Byzantine woman pleasant company, but Eden noticed that Lydia wasn't simply just another husband's wife. She seemed to know what needed to be done around camp and didn't shy away from what she considered her responsibilities. The warrior kept a watchful gaze on the Byzantine as she fell in love with Arielle's stories, much to the bard's delight.
There was no need to announce that they had reached Constantinople; its magnificent and massive defensive walls and towers could be seen from afar. Arielle tried to compare it to a city she'd seen before and came up empty handed. Jerusalem was full of vibrant colors and accents while this city stood like a brooding sentinel in the passage between the eastern and western worlds.
"I can't imagine anyone who would be able to storm through those walls." Arielle said in wonder.
"Because there is no one on this earth who can." Lydia replied.
"Are we gawking or going?" Eden asked and spurred her horse forward.
The closer they got to the city, the more Lydia seemed to lag behind and once they reached the enormous gate and dismounted, she had covered her head in the large hood of her cloak.
"Oy, who goes there?" one of the two guards at the gate asked.
"Travellers." Eden said.
"Travellers, ey? All we get around here is travellers."
"Then you shouldn't have a problem with letting us through."
"Oh you're a sharp one then, are you?" he said, taking a step towards the group and bringing his spear forward.
"Please," Arielle interrupted, "we're just asking for entrance into the city. We mean you no harm. We're just tired as you can see."
"See? Well I'll tell you we've got all kinds of things we need to look out for, young maiden." the guard said as he began to move around Eden and examine her and her horse with a curious eye, "Raiders, murderers, beggars, Saracens, you name it."
"Witches, you forgot witches." the second, younger guard offered.
"Ah yeah, witches. Damned bitches bring plague and bad omens." the first guard muttered, "So you see, we got lots of reasons to be suspicious."
"But what have we done other than wanting to enter your city?" Arielle asked.
"Well," he answered, leaning on his spear, "I don't mean to be rude, but I got two maidens asking for passage through and not a single man about."
"And dressed as a Saracen," added the second guard who looked at Arielle and then eyed Eden, "and some kind of warrior like God never intended."
The bard could almost hear Eden grinding her teeth as the second guard spat on the ground.
"Maybe you could hold our terrible fashion sense against us, but I assure you we mean no harm. We're travelling back from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Back home to Avignon."
"That may be, miss, but words are just words and I've got a whole city to protect." the first guard answered, stopping behind Eden and Arielle, "Oy, didn't notice you at first, maiden."
Eden turned her head just enough to see Lydia from the corner of her eye. The Byzantine woman was only staring a hole in the ground.
"You alright, miss?" the guard asked taking a step forward to her.
"Quite." Lydia answered quickly and looked up at him and smiled.
The guard seemed stunned as Lydia turned back to looking at the ground and needlessly adjusting her hood. He began to nervously adjust his grip on his spear as Lydia began to fidget.
"Seize them!" he yelled suddenly, running to Eden's side with his spear pointed at her.
"What?!" Arielle cried out.
"I knew it!" Eden yelled and grabbed for her sword.
"Please don't hurt them!" Lydia yelled above the commotion at the guards, "Eden, don't fight them!"
That one second when Arielle turned to Lydia was just enough for the guard to grab her from behind. She tried to slip out of his arms, but he was faster, grabbing her right arm and twisting it behind her at a painful angle. Eden had already sent one of the guards to the ground when she turned to see a grimacing bard with a dagger at her throat. Eden growled loudly and Arielle could feel the guard's legs begin to tremble and the dagger being pushed into her skin.
"We surrender!" the bard suddenly shouted.
Eden froze for a moment and even Lydia looked at the blond in surprise. A trickle of blood appeared down the bard's neck and Eden only sighed as she let her sword drop to the ground.
"Alright."
A group of guards who had been drawn in by the commotion huddled around the warrior, pointing their spears at her while the biggest one of them tied Eden's hands behind her back with some rope.
"Tie them tighter, you haven't cut through my skin yet." Eden spat.
"Shut up!"
The yell was followed by a mailed fist to the temple which sent the warrior down to one knee with a groan.
"I said don't hurt them!" Lydia yelled.
"Yes, Ma'am." the guard grunted unhappily, "Tongue's too sharp for this one's good."
"Lock them up and I'll be back to deal with them soon. And if the smallest scrape appears on them, all of you will answer for it." Lydia commanded, pointing her finger at the guards.
"How's your head?"
Eden squinted, groaned, turned towards the voice, groaned again, and finally focused her eyes on Arielle.
"I think you dozed off for a few minutes." the bard said through the bars between them.
"I did?"
"I'm glad you woke up though. I was beginning to wonder if I should worry."
"I've got a nice headache, but I think I'm fine."
Eden took a few deep breaths to steady the pounding in her head before looking around. It was a classic dungeon like the several she had seen or been held in except for two things- it was in oddly good condition and was remarkably... dry. Eden had noticed that dungeons were always horribly damp; even in the middle of the desert. The outskirts of Jerusalem were dry as a bone in the summer, but its dungeon was probably the dampest one she remembered. But not this one; it was dry and recently swept and it didn't smell of rotting flesh, piss, and vomit.
"This is really nice." Eden said slowly, staring at the shackles around her wrists and then resting her head against the stone wall she was sitting against, "From the looks of it, we've got the entire place to ourselves."
"Do you know what they'll do to us?" Arielle asked.
Eden only shook her head. A warm hand made its way between the bars and slid into Eden's and was squeezed protectively.
"Remember when I said that the road was starting to get a bit too much for me?"
"Mhm."
"I take it back."
Eden only chuckled. At least they still had their good humor left. An hour hadn't passed before the younger guard from the gate came down.
"To your feet." he ordered with a gesture.
"And I just got comfortable." the warrior grumbled.
The two guardians went quietly beneath the guard's nervous glare. Expecting a tower, cell, or even an executioner's block, Eden was surprised when they were left in a small hall of what looked to be a private house. The small space was soon filled by a well built man who crossed his large arms across his chest and studied Eden and Arielle with an emotionless glare. The brilliance and color of his well kept armor, sword, and the cloak slung over his shoulder seemed to take up as much of the room as he did.
"I am the captain of the guard here." he said simply.
"Yes, your subtlety gave you away." Eden said in a slightly bored tone, "I'm already in chains and Arielle won't do you any harm."
The man snorted and pinned his eyes to the warrior as a woman appeared right next to him.
"You." Arielle whispered.
"Please," Lydia said, raising her hands in a sign of peace, "it's not what it seems."
"Enlighten us then." Eden snarled.
"This is my husband Marcus." she explained as she slowly made her way to Arielle and unlocked her shackles, "He wanted to meet you."
"Meet us?" Arielle asked in surprise.
"With all his blades." Eden added, nodding at the whole plethora of little knives and daggers he had on his belt.
Marcus's sudden, thundering laugh surprised Eden and Arielle. He shook and rubbed his stubbled beard a few times.
"Your reputation precedes you." he said to Eden, "I'd have to be stupid or crazy to walk into a room with you unarmed. And I'm neither."
Eden remained motionless as Arielle began to shift from one foot to the other, her eyes darting between Marcus and Eden.
"I guess you're right." Eden admitted and the loud crash of her shackles falling to the stone floor permeated the hall as everyone stared at her in surprise. "I have many skills." she stated simply with a shrug, rubbing her wrists a little.
"That you do." Marcus admitted, visibly impressed, "And now that you're free, I'd like to ask you to our table. I'd like to break bread and drink some good wine with the women who saved my wife's life."
Eden and Arielle turned to look at each other in something between relief and anxiousness.
"I see that hit to the head hasn't tempered your suspicious nature." Marcus noted, "Come, the both of you sit and we can talk."
Eden looked at Arielle, shrugged, and followed close behind the bard as they sat down at a large, square table. The raging fireplace made it too hot inside and the various maps of the known world made it seem like the walls were closing in. Lydia made a slight motion of her hand to a page in the hall who brought in hot bowls of stew, fresh loaves of bread, and goblets of wine.
"Please." Lydia offered, "It's not poisoned, I promise."
Eden and Arielle glanced at each other as Lydia's faint chuckle faded away and she cleared her throat awkwardly. She brought the goblet to her lips and took a long sip.
"So maybe we can now talk like civilized people and you can explain how all of this is a simple misunderstanding." Arielle suggested.
"I believe that this is all slightly my fault." Lydia started quietly, "I didn't tell you everything exactly. Though I didn't lie either."
Arielle heard Eden's barely audible growl. She looked closely at Lydia who, now clean and dressed in finer clothes, looked quite different from the woman they met in the desert.
"Was our meeting by chance?" the bard asked.
"If you consider chance fate, then yes."
"And our arrest at the gates?"
"That was more like utter devotion." Lydia replied, waggling her hand in the air with a smile.
"I have an idea." Eden suddenly said, rising from her chair and leaning over the table to glare at Lydia, "You start to speak plainly before I force the words out of you."
Lydia swallowed hard and gripped the arms of the chair to keep from shaking and running.
"Now, now, warrior. Let's not start something we'll regret." Marcus said, also rising and then turning to his wife, "And perhaps we shouldn't taunt our tired guests."
Lydia nodded and only swallowed once again when they sat back down.
"We had considered that we may be attacked on the road, it's teeming with bandits, but we just assumed that either my escort would fight them off, I'd escape, or I just wouldn't come back at all." Lydia explained seriously, "I never expected to be rescued and escorted by strangers. The guards at the gate recognized me and thought that you had kidnapped me or something of the sort. Unfortunately for you, the city guard is very devoted to both me and my husband and hence the rough welcome."
"Couldn't you have just explained it to the guards then?" Arielle asked.
"Time was of the essence. I had to get my message through."
"Message?"
For a moment the air seemed to thicken and Eden unconsciously moved her hand closer to the dinner knife lying on the table. Lydia finally sighed loudly.
"Hate me as much as you want, but your help not only saved my life, it might have saved an entire empire. And though it probably means little, I'm the one who got you out of that dungeon."
The admission made no impression on Eden and Arielle noticed a strange sadness appear in the Byzantine woman's eyes.
"We don't hate you." the bard finally said and it gained Lydia's attention and seemed to be enough to erase the charge out of the air.
"I'm happy to hear that." Lydia replied with a warm smile and relief, "and I really do apologize for your rough welcome."
"Now that we have the stew and niceties out of the way," Eden said in a low voice, standing up slowly, "can we leave?"
"Eden!" Arielle chastized quietly.
"I have a feeling I'm only being made a fool of here. I won't take another second of it."
Marcus rose from his seat and bore his stern eyes into Eden's angry ones. The two seated women began to fidget, feeling like a storm was brewing in the middle of the room.
"You know, your reputation precedes you, warrior." he finally said, his voice like rumbling thunder.
"What reputation?" Arielle asked curiously when Eden said nothing.
"Cold, bloodthirsty, calculated, without fear or conscience, a match for any swordsman. Not exactly the type of person I like in my city."
"Good thing I didn't ask for your opinion then." Eden replied, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
Arielle licked her lips as her mouth suddenly went dry. Lydia placed her palms on the edge of the table, ready to push off and run. It grew hard to breathe as the unarmed and fully armed warriors judged each other with cold stares. A loud screeching noise cut through the silence as the bard pushed her chair away from the table.
"Don't worry." Eden calmed Arielle, her eyes never leaving Marcus, "He's not going to throw us out. He already had his chance. If he wanted to reward us for saving Lydia's life, he would have just paid in coin. My unsavory reputation is exactly what's he's looking for."
Marcus eyed her long and hard.
"I like you." Marcus said finally, slapping his knee, "You're not stupid."
"I'm so relieved." Eden replied sarcastically as Arielle let out a breath of true relief.
"Yes, I'm sure you are. Look, you're probably wondering what in blazes in going on and so I'll tell you, plain and simple." he replied, sitting back down and motioning for everyone else to do the same.
Eden wavered a little and the bard thought for a moment that she would storm out of the room anyway. But the warrior finally grabbed her seat, sat down, and raised an eyebrow at the captain and he huffed loudly.
"Lydia, more ale please." he said and then leaned in over the table a little, resting on his elbows, "Things have never been easy around here, not in a city this big. But lately, there just seems to be a dark shadow hanging over us. Some kind of curse."
"Curse?" Eden repeated, almost rolling her eyes.
"Look, I'm the last man to go around with trembling knees at the mention of curses, but I can't find another way to explain it. It's what all the people are saying. From Emperor Manuel, to the priests, to the soldiers, everyone's shaking in their boots."
"And a city full of frightened people concerns me how?"
"Well, damn. It doesn't have to. I understand that." he answered plainly, leaning back in his chair, "This isn't your home, you have no kin here... So how about the honor of it?"
"Honor?"
The bard could see that the word seemed to strike a chord in Eden. The passive menace faded from the warrior's eyes, replaced by a question. Is there any honor left within me? Can I even be honorable at all? Marcus held her gaze almost as if they were speaking without words or gestures. Eden cocked her head ever so slightly to the side. Marcus' jaw muscles flexed.
"We'll help you if we can."
Marcus's gaze darted to the bard and he seemed so surprised to see her there that Arielle gave a somewhat sheepish smile at her intrusion.
"Well, damn. Really? I was expecting to have to threaten you with torture really." he answered with a little surprise, rubbing his beard a few times.
"Marcus!" Lydia chastized.
"What? Sages and soldiers haven't been able to figure out to get rid of the pox hanging over us." Marcus replied to his wife and then turned to the bard, "It's a nice offer, but how could you help?"
"Never underestimate small packages." Eden said and when both turned to her in protest, her eyes flickered over to the cross hanging over the doorway and then back to them, "Baby in a manager and all that."
They both turned to look at each other and hummed in agreement.
"Good point." Marcus admitted, taking a large gulp of ale.
"So tell us about what's troubling Constantinople." Arielle offered.
"Sickness." Lydia said bluntly.
"Sickness? Then get healers." Eden replied.
"That's what we did. But they were helpless and the sickness spread until we thought we might have plague. But it's quite a strange sickness. So many people are ill, but they take every long to die. They mostly suffer. It's been like that for months already."
"It takes everyone." Marcus added, "Young and old, soldier and pauper alike."
"We've tried everything." Lydia continued, anguish drawing out on her face, "We've had healers, surgeons, priests of all shapes and sizes. We've even asked our neighbors for help..." Lydia's voice tapered and she turned to Marcus and put a hand on his broad shoulder, "Antioch would rather see us fall."
"Figures... damned holy bastards." Marcus growled.
"That was your message, wasn't it?" Eden asked after a moment, "That your city is consumed by plague and those who should be your friends would rather march on you."
Lydia hung her head and slowly nodded. Marcus grumbled under his breath and tugged at his beard as he stared a hole through the wall. The heartfelt need to help nearly poured out of the bard's eyes as she looked up at Eden. The warrior knew there was something sinister behind the whole story. She wanted to say that it was dangerous, that they didn't know what they were getting into, that small and weak forces don't plague a city as huge as Constantinople. She wanted to tell her that she promised to get her home safely. But instead she only sighed deeply and resigned herself to what she saw as her fate- Arielle would help and Eden would protect.
"We'll help." was all Eden said, but it seemed to be enough for Marcus and Lydia to sigh in relief.
"We'll owe you a kingdom if you can rid us of this evil." Marcus said quietly.
Arielle suddenly smiled despite the grave tone of everyone's voices.
"Let me tell you a story..." she began.
The rest of the evening passed with Arielle's stories, some funny, some full of adventure. Lydia would laugh and Marcus would slap his knee and Eden beamed with pride at how Arielle had gained another faithful audience. In turn Marcus and Lydia told of how they met at market several years before and about their beloved daughter. And when the candles were burning down their last, Lydia rose and said it was time to rest.
"You'll be staying as my guests. There's a water basin and some clean linen if you'd like. You can take your meals here also. That is, of course, if you agree to stay."
The bard glanced over at the glowering warrior. A part of her wanted to laugh. It seemed that no matter where they were, there was never an invitation that Eden wanted to accept. Arielle smiled and turned back to Lydia. After all, Eden did the fighting, Arielle did the talking.
"If our stay doesn't include any more shackles, then we accept."
Feeble hands reached out into space and long moans left lips of those lying in the hospital. Lydia and the guardians weaved their way between the beds all so neatly aligned that Arielle wanted to comment how organized they were until she noticed that it was just to make space for the largest amount of beds possible. The hall was bigger and busier than the one in Jerusalem though there was less blood and more heavy wheezing. Lydia told them more about the sickness that held the city in its clutches and answered every one of Eden's questions carefully.
Arielle's heart went out to the sick. The people lying there seemed to drawn her in and the heartache she felt grew the further she walked. There were old men whose hands were held by their old wives, traders who listened to the latest news from their trading partners, young soldiers whose mothers told them stories from their childhood to ease their pain, women whose hair was stroked by their loved ones who whispered that they couldn't live without them. And the words spoken in the hall melted into a gentle song of despair that made the bard's heart want to crack. Lydia's voice and Eden's solid footsteps had faded away and now Arielle noticed the heat inside the hall, the heavy air, the sense of something unforgiving hanging over them.
An outstretched, gnarled hand grabbed Arielle's sleeve and she turned to see an elderly woman looking at her with pale eyes and a hanging, dry tongue. Arielle found the nearest water barrel, filled the ladle, and helped the woman drink. A tired smile was the bard's thank you and when she turned to bring some more water, the woman caught her hand, held it for a while, and then turned slowly onto her back and stared at the ceiling. And then slowly, she pointed her thin finger upwards at the sky. Arielle knotted her brows in confusion and the woman only moved her finger to point a few beds away at the only child in the whole hospital.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of him." Arielle whispered.
The woman only stared at the bard, sighed deeply, and then fell asleep.
Arielle filled the ladle with water and walked over to the boy who was already whimpering with thirst. He drank as if he hadn't had water for days and soon Arielle was bringing a fourth ladle to him. He finally calmed and turned on his side, his clear brown eyes never leaving the bard. She stroked his hair and hummed him to sleep all the while wondering where he came from, how he got here, and where his parents were and were they still alive.
The bard noticed how tired she was when the boy fell asleep. She rose, stretched her back and neck and wondered how the sisters could do this kind of work all day and night. From the corner of her eye she saw Eden standing on the other side of the hospital and the bard only then noticed how far she had wandered off. She began walking back to the warrior, taking a ladle of water for herself along the way.
Eden felt a strange knot of panic rise in her chest and she spun around to see the bard begin to cough and spit loudly. Eden broke into a run as the ladle fell from the bard's hands as she grabbed at her throat and coughed so hard that she began having trouble catching her breath. Eden had a hold of her when Arielle's legs finally gave way and they both sunk to the floor.
"Arielle, what is it?"
The bard turned in the warrior's arms a little and pulled on Eden's tunic, trying to bring her closer. Eden tightened her embrace and rocked Arielle against her, the bard's head resting against her chest. One of the sisters ran to the bard and when she turned to call for another, Eden pulled something from the satchel on her belt.
"Chew this." the warrior said quietly.
The pauses between the coughs became slightly longer, just enough to catch more breath as Eden whispered soft words in the bard's ear.
"I'll make some horehound tea." one of the sisters said.
Eden nodded once and then raised Arielle's head a little. By the time the sister had come back with the tea, Arielle's violent coughing had stopped, reduced only to some small, short coughs. Eden nodded when the sister hesitated for a moment and Arielle took the tea and drank it all, giving the worried sister a thankful smile.
"You gave me rosemary, didn't you?" the bard whispered.
Eden only nodded.
"Good God, that was terrible." Arielle said, sitting up a little in Eden's arms, "That's the foulest water I've ever had."
Eden said nothing, knotting her brows. The long string of silence made Arielle turn to look at the warrior who was looking out at the hospital. Arielle turned back to the barrel to see one of the sisters drink a ladle of water. And nothing happened. And then the ladle was filled, passed to a patient who drank it with pleasure. And still nothing happened.
"The water was foul..." Arielle whispered.
Her eyes slowly widened and she snapped her head back to Eden who was looking at her with a serious expression on her face.
"How... how is that..." Arielle stuttered as Eden put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"We'll find out soon enough."
Eden and Arielle rode out over 100 kilometers outside Constantinople to reach the city's water supply source, leaving a somewhat confused Lydia and Marcus behind. Eden didn't want to explain how seemingly good water might be the cause of sickness nor why she didn't want any escort to help.
Arielle simply followed the brooding warrior who had said very little since the incident at the hospital. It was only on the third day, after finding another possible water source and coming up with nothing, did Arielle muster the courage to speak.
"Do you know where we're going exactly?"
"No." Eden replied flatly.
"I see... Well maybe we don't know where we're going... because there's nothing to find?"
Eden suddenly stopped and turned around and Arielle swallowed when Arion snorted loudly.
"You think I don't know what I'm looking for?"
"No, I think I don't know what you're looking for." Arielle explained, "You've barely said a word to me since Constantinople. I hate it when you close up like this and I don't know what's running through your head."
"And you want to know?"
"Yes."
Eden sighed and looked to her right for a few seconds before turning back to the bard.
"It's said the Virgin Mary dried her cloak on a rosemary bush, turning its flowers blue and making it the symbol of wisdom and faithfulness... Rosemary doesn't work on everyone."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you might not be just the chosen of Uriel."
"You mean I might be the chosen of the Mother of God?" the bard whispered, barely able to understand her own words.
"You might be a lot more powerful than you think, my bard."
Arielle's mouth hung open at the revelation. She would have asked a dozen different questions, but they all piled onto her lips simultaneously and she remained silent instead. Neither of them truly knew what to make of the discovery and neither was sure if they really wanted to know.
"You found the demon lurking in the water." Eden said, straightening in her saddle and adjusting her sword, "I'll find the demon lurking in the desert."
It wasn't long after noon when they reached the largest pool they had seen and next to it exactly what Eden was looking for.
Not that demons were known for being handsome, but Arielle had never seen such an ugly creature. He was paler than the dead; his eyes watery and bloodshot and a strange, rattling wheeze escaped his lungs when he breathed. His whole body was covered in lesions except for a pair of wings that looked like those of giant bat. His claws, like his teeth, were sharp and yellow.
"What is your purpose here?"Eden asked sharply.
All the demon did was cough loudly and violently and then wipe his mouth with his trembling hand.
"You wheezing son of pestilence. You're to blame for the plague." Eden growled at the demon.
"And what if I am?" he asked calmly.
"Then I'll have to send you back to the cesspool you came from." Eden answered, drawing her sword and pointing it at him.
"So violent," he lamented with a rattling breath, shaking his head, "So eager to destroy... Did you ever think guardian... that maybe I'm useful?"
"Useful?"
"I didn't think you did... I may bring plague... but the weak and pathetic die... I bring order... What your kind might call compassion."
"You call bringing sickness upon people compassion?" Arielle challenged.
"You hold life in such reverence... that you never stop to think... if everyone really wants to live... and if everyone deserves it." he answered, turning to Arielle.
"You take lives as they come and go. Even those of children."
"Ah, but you see... you don't know who those children will grow up to be... I do..."
"It's not your decision to make, Guland." Eden said, readying her sword, "Enough of this chatter. Time for you to leave."
"Oh guardian, you're so sure of yourself... Is it your decision to make then?... Is there any decision you make yourself, soldier of angels?... You speak as if you've eaten from Eden's tree... and you brandish your sword as if you'll live forever... and we both know you won't... right, bard?"
Guland's sick gaze and words stunned the bard. Memories of all the times she had thought Eden had died filled her mind and made her heart and stomach clench. And then Uriel's vision stood before her mind's eye and her breath caught.
"What do you know, you living carcass?" Eden hissed through her teeth.
"Now you want to talk... when it concerns you... and your own existence..."
"We're not here for us, but to save those who suffer because of you." Arielle said, shaking her head a little to clear her mind.
"Save them from what?... From life?... From chance?... From their own fate?... You don't even know... So blind are you... that you won't stop to think... that if they don't suffer under my hand... they'll simply suffer under someone else's..."
"Then we'll deal with them too." Arielle challenged.
"So young... so foolish... you will learn, little bard... that true suffering is not brought by demons... and that there are worse things than death..."
"I already know..." Arielle whispered so quietly that only Eden heard and it nearly broke her heart.
"Enough!" Eden shouted.
All Arielle managed to see was blur. A thrust, a slash, a parry. Guland seemed to be putting up a fight that Arielle would have easily won. There was nothing gallant or beautiful about it. Guland was slow and cumbersome and finally after a sommersault in the air that let Eden land behind him, a neatly placed sword right between his shoulder blades brought his end about quickly. And that was the end of it.
Eden wiped her blade clean and stared at the demon's prone form for a while.
"What is it?" Arielle asked.
"That was too easy."
The trap they had been led into came to full light when they galloped back to the city and a despairing Lydia caught them at the gates and rushed them off to the hospital, tears streaming from her eyes.
"My daughter, my beautiful Sophia!" Lydia wailed as she rushed through the doors over to her pale, feverish daughter.
Arielle gasped and grasped Eden's hand for support. The entirety of the hospital was now filled with only children, their despairing parents filling the halls with sobs, prayers, and questions. One of the nurses trotted over to Sophia and poured a sip of tea into her mouth.
"How many have come in today?" Eden asked in a hoarse whisper.
"There are so many... Around a hundred I'd say." she answered, wiping her brow with her sleeve.
"A hundred..." Eden repeated and for the first time in her life, Arielle saw Eden grow pale.
"What is it, Eden?"
The warrior turned to her with a look the bard had never seen before and frankly scared her. There was something between anxiousness and a deep seeded sadness that seemed to come from a far back time and place.
"It's Lilith."
"Who?"
"Lydia, get everyone to stand up against the walls." Eden commanded in a cool tone, "Now."
"What? Why? My daughter..." she stuttered.
"Come, Lydia. Your daughter will be alright. Let's move so Eden can help." Arielle urged gently, helping the Byzantine woman up and gently ushering the people around her to follow her to the walls. The bard shuffled through the whole hospital telling people to follow her instructions as Eden walked into the middle of the hospital. When the bard was sure all the adults had cleared the large hall, she returned to Lydia and watched the warrior with the same confused fascination as everyone else. There was still that lonely sadness in her eyes as Eden hung her head and turned her palms up to the ceiling.
"Saint Michael the Archangel," Eden began to recite in a level voice, "defend us in our battle against principalities and powers. Come to the assistance of those whom God has created to His likeness. I venerate you as my guardian and protector; to you the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into heaven. Offer our prayers to the Lord so that He may draw His mercy down upon us and take hold of the devil which is Satan."
Eden then raised her head and spoke louder as she stretched out her right hand over the children.
"O Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry come unto Thee. There is no other God than Thee and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, of whose reign will have no end. I humbly beseech Thee to deliver these children in Thy name and the names of the first angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof. Cleanse them of the power of the infernal spirits and their furious wickedness."
There was now something suddenly quite foreign about Eden, the bard noticed. The warrior's eyes turned a sharp, bright sky blue with the power of her permeating stare. No one could see much out of the ordinary, but the bard watched as Eden was filled with a foreign presence almost making her something greater and more powerful than herself. Something absent but omnipresent, something very much there, but not belonging at all to their world. The crying whimpers of the children slowly stopped and a few even opened their eyes to look around for their mothers. Gasps and held breaths hung in the air as Eden's hand shook slightly.
And almost as soon as it had started, it was over and Eden's hand dropped down heavily to her side. She turned to look at the bard, her eyes tired and stricken. Arielle moved in the wave of people pushing away from the walls and back to their children.
"We need to leave." Eden said quickly.
"What?"
"I need to get out of here. Now."
Arielle asked no more questions and grew more and more worried in their violent dash outside the city walls. When they reached a secluded spot near the water, Eden took off her sword and dagger in a hurry.
"Take these. If you have to, throw them down a well or the deepest part of the water you can find."
"Eden, what's wrong? You're starting to scare me."
Eden only then noticed the bard's pale face and wide eyes.
"It shouldn't be too bad." Eden said with a faint smile.
"What shouldn't?"
Eden never replied. Her smile seemed to melt off her face as she slowly sank to her hands and knees. Arielle wrapped her arms around her as Eden began to retch so violently that the bard was afraid her insides would come out. She stroked the warrior's clammy skin and whispered into her hair, trying to comfort over her own fear. She mumbled fragments of songs and poems she remembered from her childhood as Eden coughed and spit onto the grass. Memories of Eden writhing in the Hospitaller holy waters came back with a vengeance as the warrior's body tensed and twisted in her arms. But Arielle held on, pulling the warrior in closer whenever she twisted away and swore to herself that she'd hold on even if a whole score of demons was to come out that moment.
But Eden began to slowly settle down as the bard gently rocked her back and forth in her arms. Only when she felt a strong hand wrap around hers did Arielle realize she had squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them to see an exhausted warrior looking at up her calmly. Arielle smiled and pushed a few stray strands of hair off Eden's forehead.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly.
"I think so. I told you it wouldn't be too bad."
"That was 'not too bad'?"
Eden nodded and Arielle shook her head.
"Will you tell me what happened? And why I have the strange feeling that demons are involved? And who's Lilith?"
"It's getting harder and harder to keep things from you, my bard." Eden joked and then turned serious again.
The warrior told Arielle the story of the woman who was created along with Adam, but refused to submit to him and left. God punished her by fortelling that she would give birth to many children but all would die in infancy. Yet three angels had mercy on her when she tried to throw herself into the sea and instead gave her the power to take the lives of infants unless they had one of the angels' names around their neck. The powerful Samael fell in love with the beautiful yet forever sorrowful Lilith and showered her with riches and power and they united in their hatred of God. And so the woman who could not bear children became the mother of demons.
Arielle said nothing, staring out at the horizon. Only after silence had lingered for some time did the bard notice that Eden had finished and she turned to see the warrior's eyes watching her closely.
"I... I used to think that Lilith was just a story my wet nurse told me to scare me." Arielle said quietly, "It's hard for me to fathom that she can be real."
"She is real. I've spoken to her, fought with her, seen what she can do. She is quite real."
Author's Note: I'm so sorry for not updating for so long and making you think that I just left this. I've got a lot going on right now so I probably won't update as often as I'd like, but I'll try to update as soon as I can nonetheless. Thanks for all your support and reviews, they're what keep this story going!