Chapter Twelve

I do apologise to everyone for the delay of this chapter, life has been hammering at the door and i had to answer it. I tried to let people know about the delay via status and messages to those who follow me, but it didn't reach you all. Which got me to thinking that starting a tumblr for updates on the writing process might be a good idea.

So if you would like to stay up to date with my writing, have any questions you would like me to answer or soeone to squeal about the books we read, please head over to my blog and friend me. I follow back to everyone! Blog: teatoastandbookposts . tumblr . com

Chapter Twelve

Aurelia had never seen anything quite like it.

As far back as she could remember, she had witnessed Roman soldiers fight as one, a cohesive war machine, acting like they were of one mind rather than as individuals. The terribly effective shield line, what must have been the very thing of nightmare’s to Rome’s enemies, advancing together in their tight formations on the dusty training fields back home. Enemy armies would break upon that line and the last thing they would see was the tip of a Roman spear and the red plumage on a bronze helm.

This fight was entirely different.

It was… hypnotic, to say the least. They had circular shields, but that was the only thing in common to Roman warfare. British warfare was wild, a deadly dance that was a raw form of skill and brute strength using long swords made of dull steel. It had started off slow, circling each other with eyes intent upon the other, searching for any give away response, any weakness in the other’s stance. And then without any warning, their swords clashed and the real fight began in earnest.

The ring of metal against metal was startlingly loud and Aurelia flinched from it. But she didn’t look away. She was unable to look away.

Aiden’s first cut was low, and Kailen deflected it off his sword. Kailen answered with a sidearm blow and Aiden’s shield got in the way. Wooden splinters flew and the surface split sideways with a satisfying sharp crack. Kailen pressed his advance with a slash at Aiden’s thigh, once, twice, screaming against the steel. Kailen was impressively quick, but Aiden managed to deflect them all.

Growling, Kailen smashed the side of his sword into Aiden’s face, blood spurting in an arc. Aiden staggered back, regaining his feet at the last moment. He raised his sword to open Kailen from shoulder to hip, but Kailen spun away.

Aiden cast his broken shield away, sending it rolling across the ground, and leapt for Kailen with an enraged bellow. The Silure threw up his shield in time, putting all of his weight behind it and he repelled Aiden’s desperate attack.

“Let’s make this a fairer fight,” Kailen called as he threw his own shield away. “Now we are even.”

Bran had not been exaggerating. Kailen was a force of nature when he fought. He wielded his sword like it was an extension of his body, the swings and jabs were relentless. Muscles corded and strained as he twisted and parried. Sweat was beginning to glisten on his skin, making his shirt cling to his torso. He showed no signs of weariness as he moved, only a calm determination that was thrilling to watch. He met Aiden blow for blow, speed for speed. It reminded Aurelia of a dance, deadly, but a dance nonetheless. It was flowing, freethinking, a scary sort of perfection that kicked up Aurelia’s heartbeat.

Aiden, on the other hand, was showing signs of the stress his body was going through to keep up with Kailen. He gritted his teeth in pained concentration, some swings going wide and his left leg was clumsier in his footing than his right.

“How long can they both keep this up?” Aurelia murmured to Bran worriedly.

Bran smirked. “It’s what we train for, to outlast our opponent. Besides, Kailen hasn’t even started.”

Aurelia’s eyes flew to Bran in surprise. “Not even started? Then what is he doing?”

Bran nodded to Aiden. “He’s testing his opponent, pressing him to reveal his strength and weaknesses, his endurance level. Once he is satisfied, he will go in for the kill.”

Sure enough, Aiden gave a shout born of frustration and slashed wildly at Kailen’s chest. Kailen jumped back out of range and immediately fell into a fighting stance, feet spread apart and arms loose at his sides, waiting.

Aiden pointed at Kailen with his sword. “Is this how you fight, Silure? Ducking and weaving like a coward? Fight me like a warrior damn you!”

Kailen smiled. “As you wish, Venicone.”

The sheer speed with which Kailen launched himself at Aiden was incredible. One moment he was on one side of the circle, the next he was on Aiden like a fiend. The sword blurred in the morning light and he forced Aiden back step by step with the force of each impact of sword against sword. It was all Aiden could do to keep up, and not very well at that.

In one fluid move, Kailen crossed their swords before throwing his arm out and Aiden’s sword flew from his hands to skid across the grass, far out of his reach. Whilst Aiden’s attention was on the sword, Kailen brought the pommel of his own sword crashing across Aiden’s cheek and sending him to his knees.

The men circling them hooted and jeered, Aiden’s men were grim of face and disbelieving. She thought they may have moved to help their fallen leader, but none did. It would have been a hopeless cause and they all knew it.

Kailen barely panted for breath when he spoke. “It looks like the Gods favour me this morning, Aiden. Perhaps you should have sacrificed one of your slaves for a good outcome.”

Aiden bared his teeth in a snarl. “You would kill one of your own countryman over a Roman slut?”

The tip of Kailen’s sword pushed at the delicate skin of Aiden’s neck, forcing his head back in a show of submission. “You, Are not. My. Countryman. You lost that right when you broke the Guest Rights and went against my every warning. You have no honour.”

“You will pay for this, Silure. My people will see to that.” Aiden hissed at him, his hate and rage was something fierce that it felt like it had its own physical force. Aurelia was only too glad it wasn’t directed at her.

“I don’t fear your people, Aiden, I never have.” Kailen’s eyes flicked to Aiden’s men standing silent around them. “And if any of you seek retribution on an honour killing, I will personally bury your people until there is nothing left to say you ever walked this land.”

“Look away, little lady.” Bran said to her as she watched Kailen take the sword away from Aiden’s throat and raise it above his head.

Aurelia turned around quickly, shutting her eyes in the process. This was most definitely not what she wanted to see, not ever.

She’ll never forget the silence of the men around her, the whoosh of the blade as it sliced through the air and the sick crunch of bone and flesh as the metal carved through it. Aiden had made no sound as his body toppled to the floor.

“All safe.” Bran said softly without turning away.

Aurelia didn’t turn back around, not wanting to see the aftermath of the killing. Too much. Far too much death in so short a time.

“Take your dead with you and bury him however you see fit.” Kailen said to Aiden’s men. Aurelia heard the shuffling of feet and figured they were collecting Aiden’s body. “I want you all gone before the sun is up.”

No one argued. No one dared. They were soundless as they packed up their gear and untethered their horses. Aurelia watched as they bundled the three Roman soldiers to their feet, leashes made of rope around their chaffed necks. They were forced to walk beside the horses as the War Party left for home, in the direction Kailen’s own War Party had come.

Aurelia watched them go with a painful lump in her throat. Those men would never see home again, would never see their wives, family and friends. They were going to meet their death, death at the hand of druids for their twisted religious rituals. She could only pray that the end would be quick, but she doubted it. Everything she had seen up to this point had been like a show of horror. Only naïve fools could hope for something else.

Aurelia walked away from Bran, feeling disconnected from the world around her and fell to the blankets she had used for the night. Her resistance had finally broken. All those times she had held back her tears had finally come upon her at once.

She cried silent tears, as if she was expelling all the grief that was locked inside of her.

~

“Do you think his threats were idle? About his tribe taking retribution on us, I mean.” Vaughan asked as he was checking his horse’s saddle straps. A frown creased his brow, making his young face appear older than his years.

Kailen shrugged. “Could be,” He answered over his own saddle. “But if the Venicones have any common sense amongst their wise men, they will understand that the execution was legal and necessary. If they take action against us it will sour their trade links with other tribes. No one will want to have any dealings with those that flout our laws.”

Vaughan shook his head. “I just can’t believe Aiden would be so dogmatic over getting to Aurelia. Surely he should have known he would make it out of the camp alive if he did anything to her.”

“A man looses all of his wits when told ‘no’, by a woman and especially by another man. I get the feeling that he didn’t hear the word often enough in his childhood. That, and a strong case of denial. He genuinely thought I wouldn’t uphold my word to killing him if he tried anything, that I didn’t have the balls. I saw it in his eyes right up to the moment I raised my sword for the killing blow. He thought he was impervious to punishment.”

“The Venicone’s succession for their leaders and wise men are through father and son rather than the ones that are most capable to lead and give council.” Vaughan shrugged his shoulder. “It means the tribe doesn’t hold them accountable for their mistakes. It breeds a displacency and arrogance to those around them.”

Kailen grimaced. “It’s abhorrent.”

Vaughan grinned. “Agreed. If we took that principal up in our own tribe, your ego would be stifling.”

Kailen pointed a finger at him. "I’ll remember that you said that in our next training session.”

It was Vaughan’s turn to grimace. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’m sure you are.” Kailen threw over his shoulder as he headed back to the smouldering remains of the camp fire, kicking the logs over to stifle the embers and sending up black ash.

With the breaking of camp finally underway, his thoughts immediately turned to Aurelia. Without fail, his eyes sought out the hunched figure of the woman, drowned in the furs she had used for a bed. She had her face averted from all in the camp. He had lost count how many times he had looked at her from the moment the battle had finished. He seemed to have no control over his own body.

He had been aware of her eyes on him throughout the fight; it had prickled his skin and made his muscles thrum with static energy. He had felt powerful, indestructible. Having her watch him had leant Kailen a strength he had never had before. As ridiculous as it sounded in his head, he had wanted to impress her.

He had never wanted to impress a woman with his swordsmanship, not even in his youth. It made a man reckless and often got him killed for no good reason. Kailen had honed himself with years of training and self-control that the idea that he was losing his head like this rankled him to his core.

Kailen ran a hand through his hair, a show of the frustration that he was feeling. Gods, he was turning into an inexperienced green-horned youth over a woman that wasn’t even his own in the first place. Maybe he was going mad.

Mad enough to want the attention of a Roman woman, anyway. It was a foolish notion, several moments of weakness, of strange temptations. She was unlike any woman he had ever met, someone foreign, someone exotic. He tried to reassure himself it was natural to be curious about her, to wander. It will pass, like most attractions often do, he told himself. The blood lust of battle and the triumph of the victory with an attractive woman looking on had spiked his blood. It will pass.

As if to reassure himself, he strode over to Aurelia and knelt down by her side. His movement caused her to look up at him and he noticed her red rimmed eyes, silvery tear tracks down her cheeks. She scrubbed furtively at them with her bound hands, but it was too late now.

He frowned at her. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “I am fine.” She said softly, voice husky from whatever emotion she was feeling.

He raised his eyebrows at her. “Do women from your country leak water from their eyes when they are fine?”

She didn’t have a comeback for that so she shrugged uneasily. “Then I am fine as I can be when I am a hostage to a tribe who is determined to see my intended dead and a man attempted to assault me in the middle of the night.”

Kailen smiled with his teeth. “That’s what I like about you people, always looking for the silver lining in a potentially bad situation.”

Aurelia raised her eyebrows in turn. “A ‘potentially’ bad situation? I would have that you to be more certain.”

Kailen lowered his eyes for a moment. “I spoke that in anger. Do you really think we would take you all this way just to kill you at the end of our journey? What purpose would that serve to any of us?”

Aurelia’s face clouded over in confusion. “To incense my intended? To commit your tribe and the Roman soldiers to war? A great many things could go on in your mind that I would have no true knowledge of.”

“A possibility, I grant you.” Kailen agreed. “But the Silures have already incited the wrath of Rome by killing what was left of her reinforcements on the ships. By taking you, I am insuring the continued efforts of Commander Aquilla and his murdering marauders.”

“And keeping me alive means what exactly?” Aurelia prompted.

“A man will go to far greater lengths for the safety of his beloved than for the retrieval of her corpse.” Kailen said simply. “So trust me when I say you are worth more to me alive than dead, Aurelia.”

“Are you asking me to trust you, Kailen?” She asked with barely a tremble In her voice.

Kailen reached out for Aurelia’s hands and a traitorous part of him preened when she didn’t flinch away from him. He drew a dagger from his waist and cut the rope from around her wrists. The skin was pink from the chaffing and he stopped himself from brushing his fingers over the skin.

Instead he looked up at her face and said, “I guess I am. Besides, what choice do you have?” And he walked away.