Whistle Down the Wind

 

Whistle down the wind

Make it clear and strong
So the whole night long
Every signal that you send
Until the very end
I will not abandon you

my precious friend


Chronology: Tristan is 19. Lancelot is 17. Raja is 9.

 

The sun was barely rising as the knights, Ardeth and Raja prepared for their weeklong trek to a villa near Glevum. Cassian Ulixes and his family were going to Egypt for a tour, their own ship had been waylaid, and they’d no transportation. When he got word that there was another ship coming from Egypt to meet with a highborn Egyptian living in Britain, Ulixes tracked Ardeth down, requesting a favor that he and his family be allowed to sail back to Egypt along with Ardeth’s fleet. The knights were designated as the Roman’s escorts from the villa to Glevum, just a few days away.

 

Ardeth was meeting his men at Glevum to exchange documentation for monies for the Medjai and colony. The fleet needed to be swift, so the Egyptian thought it more feasible for him to go to them this time.

 

Ardeth had contemplated leaving Raja at the fort, but he had never been gone from her for more than a day, and he felt she would not fare well at his absence of two weeks or more. So, the little girl was going along for the journey, excited to travel with them.

 

“Why are you bringing that?” Lancelot asked his small cousin, smirking as she carried her small bow and quiver of arrows.

 

Raja gave him a bemused expression. “What if we encounter enemies?”

 

Lancelot snorted. “If we do, what do you think your little arrows are going to do?”

 

“These are deadly weapons, Lancelot!” Raja reminded him. “Even though they are smaller than yours.”

 

“We can protect you just fine, Raja,” Bors said, swinging her up in his arms.

 

“I know,” she said. “But I have to do the same, right?”

 

Tristan chuckled in the corner and Dagonet smiled. Bors set her down and let her go to Odin who was already saddled with her light luggage.

 

“Humor her this one time, Lancelot,” Ardeth said from behind him, clapping him on the back. “It is her first journey. She sees this rather like an adventure.”

 

Lancelot grumbled but couldn’t help but grin at his young cousin’s enthusiasm. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been looking forward to one of these excursions. Of course, to him, this wasn’t anything like an adventure, but a duty. Another long, drawn out journey to escort Romans around like royalty. Raja walked back up to him and handed him a small draw-string bag, already having handed out the other bags to the other men.

 

“What’s this?” he opened it and sniffed.

 

“Horse treats,” she said. “I made them myself. Try one.”

 

Lancelot scrunched his nose. “I don’t eat horse food.”

 

“But it’s made with all kinds of stuff humans eat.”

 

Their conversation was cut short when Arthur began to speak to his knights. Ardeth ushered Raja away to finish preparing. He had made sure he had everything she needed for as comfortable a journey as possible. He had a makeshift tent for her, it wouldn’t do to have her laying outside for the wind chill to hit her in the night and early morn. Tonics just in case she developed a cough, an extra blanket for warmth, she did get cold so easily.

 

Not too long after, they all mounted their horses. Raja shifted on her saddle, patted Odin on his neck. This was going to be his first long journey as well. He may have been the only horse present that had never ridden into battle, but he could tough it out like the rest of them. Odin was not quite the size for her, but she refused to ride any other horse that would suit her person better.

 

Because it was a particularly long journey, Jols was going along with an extra horse that carried various supplies for all.

 

The group rode out into the rising dawn at a fair speed, but when they exited the gates the horses broke out in their fast glory and Raja’s first journey officially began.

 

----

 

Raja was seeing different attitudes from all the men. They were more vigilant a lot of the time as they rode, she surmised because this was their duty, which she had momentarily forgot earlier that morning. This was not a simple journey for them, they had been on many of these excursions in their lives.

 

Only after a few hours, her rear end began to hurt even though her saddle was padded. The inside of her knees were hurting from gripping the sides of Odin firmly. Their first break was many hours later, they slowed into a light canter than a walk. Tristan had ridden ahead, finding a suitable place to break. Raja dismounted, stretched her legs and back. The horses had their tethers loosened a bit and allowed to graze. Food came out of the knights’ bags, and some of them wandered off, presumably to relieve themselves, before coming back to sit themselves down.

 

Tristan was constantly the scout. This was the first time he had felt an even more pressing obligation to make sure areas were clear. Raja was with them, and even though Ardeth could provide more than adequate protection, the scout could not help but want to keep her as safe as possible. It was odd, having such a small presence with them. Even with the Romans he had had to escort around the island along with the rest of his brothers-in-arms, having a little girl changed the atmosphere drastically, but not in a bad way.

 

“Um...Uncle Ardeth,” she looked up at her uncle.

 

“Yes, little one?”

 

She looked around to make sure the other knights couldn’t hear her, then she whispered to her uncle in Arabic: “Where are the facilities?”

 

Ardeth grinned and took her hand. “We will return shortly.”

 

Odin saw them walk off, and instantly followed them. The Egyptian led his niece to a covered brush, walking away several steps to give her privacy. After many minutes, he thought his niece should have finished, but she had not returned by his side.

 

“Raja?” he called. When he heard nothing he approached the spot she had gone to – she was not there. Ardeth sighed heavily. To his reprieve, Horus cawed up above, always in good distance from Raja. Ardeth followed the hawk, finally coming up his young niece trailing after a rabbit. He cleared his throat, and Raja jumped.

 

She smiled sheepishly, but her uncle looked stern.

 

“You should not have wandered off Raja. Come along.”

 

“But-” She immediately stopped her entreaty at the displeased expression on his face. She scrunched her face and followed him back to where the rest of them were, looking behind her several times to where the rabbit had been.

 

The men noticed the downtrodden mask on Raja’s face. She plopped down a few feet away, Odin near, Horus swooping down to land on her arm.


Dagonet looked at Ardeth questioningly.

 

“She wandered off to a rabbit,” Ardeth said.

 

Lancelot openly snorted and shook his head. “I take you stopped her!”

 

Ardeth gave a half-grin to the young man. He knew Lancelot meant no ill will in his comments.

 

Raja was in close enough proximity to hear his words, she turned her head with narrowed eyes. Raja got up and went to sit closer. Ardeth gave her a flask of water, some dried cheese and a slice of bread.

 

“Try to eat as much as you can, little one,” he said. “We will be going off again soon.”

 

Tristan came riding up from a distance and dismounted, relaying information to Arthur.

 

“Tristan,” Raja called. “You should eat, we’ll be off again soon!”

 

The men laughed and Raja could not fathom what was so funny.

 

“I can’t remember the last time someone told Tristan when we’d be leaving!” Bors chuckled. “He’s our scout, Raja, that’s his job.”

 

“Oh,” was all she said. “Well, you should still eat,” she told Tristan. She held out some bread.

 

Tristan’s own rumble of amusement was stifled, but he accepted her offering of sustenance anyway. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had reminded him of times or places when out on these treks. Bors was right, that was his job. Had anyone else told him what Raja had, his pride would have been offended. Besides, he had already known that they would have to depart again soon.

 

“Do you always go off by yourself?” she asked him.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Is that safe?” she looked at him, then her uncle. “You should have someone go with you.” Then she lit up. “I’ll go with you! Can I go with him next time?” she asked her uncle.

 

There were chuckles all around again. Ardeth smiled at her fondly. “I think Tristan is more than capable of seeing to his duties himself. He has been doing it for many years.”

 

“Hmm.” She gave Horus some bread. Just then, Penelo gave her own call, and Tristan raised his own arm out to her. “Well, Penelo takes good care of you.”

 

Lancelot, ever the contemptuous ones to the birds scoffed.

 

“You know, Lancelot,” Arthur said. “With that attitude, Horus and Penelo might be obliged to land their droppings on you.” Even Arthur was in a lighter mood with Raja with them.

 

Lancelot instinctively looked up, even though the birds were next to Raja and Tristan. He scowled. “Sure as hell better not.” He tended to Adonis.

 

Odin nuzzled Raja’s head and she stood up to prepare him for leaving. She checked for saddle sores, retightened his bridle comfortably. Dagonet lifted her onto the saddle, and they were all ready. It was a trot they started off with to warm up the horses after their break, before they broke into a canter, Raja gave Horus a lift off, and Tristan did the same.

 

After a few hours, Raja’s eyes began to droop a bit. The sun was waning in the west, Tristan had already gone off to find safe shelter. Ardeth flanked Raja’s left, expertly lifted her off her saddle and sat her side saddle in front of him so she could rest. She did not notice the next hour, and when they stopped in an open copse, her eyes flitted open.

 

She mumbled, “We’re there already?”

 

“I think it will be a few days yet for that, little one,” Ardeth said, squeezing her to him gently. He dismounted easily with the small Egyptian girl in his arms. He set her down slowly on her feet, checking to see if she was awake enough to stand.

 

Raja rubbed her eyes and looked around. Odin walked to her and she gave him a sleepy kiss on the nose, beckoning him to bend his neck down so she could remove his bridle. Jols helped her take the saddle off, then Raja brushed him down, once again checking for saddle sores.

 

With all that tended to, Dagonet began to get the fire started, Tristan went off again to scour the perimeter, then the knights gradually let themselves relax a bit around the pyre. Raja sat next to Dagonet, her Uncle Ardeth and Arthur were talking in the tent that the Egyptian had set up. Bors was guzzling down ale as was Lancelot, they seemed to be waiting for something.

 

A few minutes later, Tristan reappeared with three hares in tow. Raja gasped, her eyes opening wide, the firelight dancing in her enlarged pupils. Her face lost a bit of color and tears filled her eyes seeing the dead animals. Lancelot groaned under his breath, Dagonet put a consoling arm around her small shoulders. Raja knew she very well could not make a scene – they had to eat, didn’t they?

 

“Here, finish your meal, Raja,” Dagonet said gently. He patted her on the back, his heart going out to her. She was like a little sister to him, a sister he never had, and he loved her like his own.

 

Raja’s sadness made Lancelot uncomfortable, Bors cleared his throat. Tristan wasn’t unsympathetic, she had been ruining his hunts for over a year now, save for the times he and the knights were away.

 

“I’m going to skin these,” he warned her.

 

“Okay,” she said quietly. She got up. “I have to use the facilities.”

 

The men grinned, the atmosphere lightening. Dagonet got up and took her hand, escorting her as her uncle had done earlier that day.

 

Tristan sat down and went about preparing their food.

 

“I expected her to argue,” Lancelot said, a wry smirk on his face.

 

“Ach. Nice having her here though,” Bors said between drinks.

 

Lancelot snorted. “Yes, instead of having one birdbeak following us, now we have two.”

 

Tristan shot him a look. “You’re lucky Raja didn’t hear you say that.”

 

Ardeth came out of the tent with Arthur, looking circumspectly at the campfire. “Where is Raja?”

 

“The facilities,” Lancelot said, smiling at his cousin’s word. “Dag took her.”

 

Ardeth nodded. Just as he did, Dagonet and Raja returned, hand in hand. “There was an owl, Uncle Ardeth,” Raja beamed wondrously at him. “I heard it. Dagonet heard it too.” She stared up at the tall knight so he could confirm her statements.

 

“I did,” Dagonet said, placing an affectionate hand on the back of her head before taking his seat.

 

“But I didn’t wander off,” she hastened to tell her uncle.

 

“Good,” Ardeth replied pointedly. Raja stifled a yawn. “Come then, I think bedtime is in order.”

 

“Oh, but I’m not sleepy!” she exclaimed.

 

“We have to get up early, little one,” he reminded her, leading her to the tent. The knights chuckled as she continued to protest futilely. Raja said something to her uncle, then he let go of her hand so she could give a hug and kiss to all of them.

 

“If the enemy could see us now,” Bors muttered. “Warriors getting good night kisses.”

 

The men laughed lightly in the night, camaraderie stable, all was well. Not long after they each rolled out their bedmats around the fire. It was quiet, and an owl hooted.

 

“It’s Hooty!” Raja exclaimed in a hushed whisper from the tent.

 

Lancelot mumbled, “She’s got a name for it already.”

 

The men heard the indistinct voice of Ardeth, then Raja quieted.

 

----

 

“Little one,” Ardeth woke his niece gently. “Time to rise.”

 

Raja mumbled, the blankets wrapped tightly around her. It took a few more minutes for her to wake. She stepped out of the tent with her uncle, her hair in disarray, her face puffy with sleep. She rubbed her eyes, seeing that everyone else was already moving about. Then she looked up at the sky, it was still dark.

 

“But it’s the same day,” she said.

 

Ardeth chuckled. “No, it is only early in the morning, Raja.”

 

Raja scrunched her face. Odin walked over, already saddled, her belongings securely harnessed. Obviously, her uncle had let her sleep later while everything else was prepared. Ardeth took her to do her morning duties, a small creek where she splashed water on her face, and dunked her feet in before putting on her socks and boots. Back at the camp while her uncle dismantled the tent, she unbraided her hair, nothing else for her to do, smoothed down her hair and re-braided it.

 

She was still groggy and yawned. She noted that Tristan wasn’t there, Lancelot was sitting against a tree, eyes closed.

 

Lancelot felt something snuggle under his arm, surprising him. Before he could say anything his cousin was already cuddled against him, drifting off. He automatically tightened his arm around her, but not so much that she was squashed against his armor.

 

Everyone was ready shortly after, Raja had completely fallen asleep.

 

Ardeth chortled quietly and extricated the small girl from Lancelot’s side, carefully, not wanting to wake her up. The Egyptian placed her side-saddle in front of him, clicking his tongue so Odin would ride next to them. Then they were off.

 

----

 

It was another fair day, Raja did not rouse herself until they took their first break. She rubbed her eyes again and looked at the sky, hoping to see Horus, but he was nowhere near. Odin nuzzled her head, and she gave him a smacking kiss.

 

“I will ride with you this afternoon,” she said. She reached into her pouch of horse treats and gave him one. Raja sat herself down next to Tristan, drinking her flask of water, cheese and bread. “Are you tired?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Did you sleep?”

 

“A bit.” He wasn’t used to answering these questions, no one ever worried about how much he slept or didn’t sleep on these journeys.

 

“I could keep watch tonight,” she suggested. Her eyes brightened and she looked towards her uncle. She smiled at Tristan so genuinely, that his immediate response of ‘no’ was lost to him.

 

“I think it best that you rest during the nights, little one,” her uncle answered.

 

“Don’t I get to do anything? My baba certainly didn’t sit around like a lump.” She rose before anyone could answer, walked off a few paces to pick some small white flowers.

 

Ardeth mumbled something like a prayer in Arabic under his breath, but decided not to go after his niece.

 

Tristan went off again, sparing one last concerned glance at his little friend. Lancelot walked off to relieve himself and came back to see Adonis with...flowers braided into his mane!

 

He sputtered an oath, whipping his head around to see Raja doing the same with Arthur’s Bucephalus, while the Commander was nowhere in sight. Lancelot aimed to remove the offensive flowers from his mount’s hair, but Adonis snorted harshly and turned his head the other way.

 

“It’s pretty,” Raja said, coming up behind him. She still had three more flowers in her hand.

 

“You can’t...” Lancelot struggled for words, “You can’t put flowers in a war horse’s mane!”

 

Raja was genuinely confused. “Why not?” She smiled lovingly at Adonis who came up by her. “He likes them.”

 

Her cousin’s eyes were wide, his cheeks flushed. “This is...” He saw Arthur appear by Bucephalus, a flustered look coming over the man’s face as well. “See!” He pointed towards Arthur. His little cousin was doing away with all his knightly behavior.

 

Bucephalus moved away from Arthur in the same fashion Adonis had done to Lancelot. Arthur stopped mid-step. He appealed to Bucephalus who raised his nose in the air haughtily, continuing to spew harsh breaths from his nostrils at every attempt Arthur made to remove the flowers.

 

Ardeth sighed. “Raja.”

 

“Why not braid flowers in Lord Ra’s mane?” Lancelot asked.

 

“Ra doesn’t like white flowers,” Raja answered diplomatically.

 

“Oh,” Lancelot retorted mockingly. He said one more curse in Sarmatian, then felt something plop on the shoulder of his armor. Bird shit!

 

Horus cawed in the air, apparently not having cared for Lancelot’s choice of words.

 

Lancelot growled.

 

“I’m sorry!” Raja apologized. “I told him not to poop on your armor!”

 

Bors, Dag and Jols were standing around, half trying to stifle their laughter before ceasing their attempts.

 

Lancelot face turned a deep crimson. His dark eyes, for the first time, appealed to Ardeth.

 

The Egyptian looked at his niece sternly, he handed Lancelot a cloth from his sleeve, which the young man used to wipe the shit from his armor.

 

“Please remove the flowers from both Adonis’s and Bucephalus’s manes,” he told his niece, his tone offering no room for opposition.

 

Raja nodded and reached for Adonis’s mane, he complied by dipping his head to her level while she gently extricated the flowers from his black mane. Then she did the same with Bucephalus. “They did like them,” she told both Arthur and Lancelot.

 

Arthur rubbed his eyes, a small smile on his face, having taken the situation in better stride than his first knight. Adonis nudged Lancelot in the back, hard enough for Lancelot to stumble forward. Then he offered a swish of his tail, showing Lancelot his wide rear in defiance.

 

“Traitor,” Lancelot hissed. He felt Raja take his hand softly, about to pull it away and offer some more words of chastisement but her expression stopped him.

 

“I’m sorry. Adonis liked it, I thought you might, too.” She said the same to Arthur before meeting Odin halfway and letting Dagonet put her on the saddle.

 

“How does she do that?!” Lancelot spat.

 

“What?” Arthur asked.

 

“The pipsqueak makes me feel guilty! Not this time!” But Arthur could see that his friend felt guilty nonetheless.

 

“I imagine it is because she is sincere,” Arthur said.

 

“Bah!” Lancelot turned around and waved his hand dismissively.

 

In less than quarter of an hour, they were all off again. When the sun began to wane, they found camp again. Raja was trying to make it up to Lancelot by offering him a sugary confection that she had bought from the market, and she knew they were her cousin’s favorites. He took one reluctantly, and Raja gave him the rest of the bag.

 

“Forgiven,” Lancelot said.

 

Raja beamed and gave him a hug that actually swayed his body in his sitting position.

 

Tristan said, “And you say we’re too soft.”

 

“It wasn’t Dyne’s mane she braided flowers into!” he retorted.

 

Tristan sliced off a bit of his apple and thought, It wasn’t your hair she put a flower into.

 

That night, Raja played her nei for them, and they clapped along heartily until it was time for all to settle down.

 

The next few days were a repeat of the one before, with new antics from Raja, her cousin having given up his oppositions. The further they went, the more Raja slept astride her uncle’s saddle. It was difficult for Raja to walk, the insides of her knees were very sore from the continuous riding. She rolled up her breeches for her uncle for him to see the bruises.

 

“I think it best you ride with me the rest of the journey, little one.”

 

----

 

A mile from the villa, the stench of rot greeted them, the wind blowing against them. Raja scrunched up her nose, sniffed.

 

“Garbage,” she said disdainfully.

 

“It’s not garbage,” Lancelot said. “Not the kind you’re thinking of.” So many years, he knew the smell of rotting corpses as well he knew the smell of ale and women.

 

Just outside the villa’s iron gates, a pile of burnt bodies was visible about a half-mile from the walls surrounding the village. In the sunlight, flies buzzed around the mound of limbs and flesh. The guards halted Arthur, and the commander explained what their business was.

 

“Finally!” one of the guards said.

 

The knights exchanged glances with one another. Romans.

 

“What happened here?” Arthur asked.

 

The second guard explained. “The natives. Raided the premises about four days ago. A lot of the villagers were killed, or hurt, some houses burnt down.” He said it flippantly, as if the peoples were of little concern.

 

“What of Cassian Ulixes and his family?” Arthur inquired.

 

“Safe. Some of the savages got into the villa, a few servants were maimed, not too much harm done.”

 

The first guard, who was much younger, shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Ardeth noticed the boy’s behavior. Something was definitely amiss. Tristan didn’t fail to notice the young man’s posture either.

 

“Are you the man who offered the ship to Cassian Ulixes?” The older guard asked Ardeth.

 

“I am,” Ardeth said stoically, the warrior in him answered, the death strewn haphazardly around him had made him grim as he inspected it like the Legion Commander he had been in Egypt.

 

Tristan spared a glance at Raja who was huddled against her uncle. Her stare was plain, but he saw that she was slightly discomfited. Probably seeing her mother killed in front of her had desensitized her to seeing unrecognizable bodies in a heap. Still, he wished he could shield her from the sight, and he knew Ardeth did as well.

 

“Open the gates,” the second guard said to the men in the towers.

 

Raja gasped, looking at the spiked gates for the first time. There were heads impaled on them. “Who are they?” she asked.

 

“The enemy,” the guard answered.

 

Ardeth said something to Raja in Arabic who was quivering in his arms. The entourage’s horses walked into the village, the devastating sight was worse than what they had just seen. Roofs were caved in from fires, wagons, barrels and various outdoor implements were turned over in the streets. Some people stared at the visitors in awe, some faces were blank. It was not a large village, nor a small one. Before the raid, it looked as if it had been fairly affluent.

 

The further they trotted on their mounts to the large building in their sight, billowy clouds gathered in the sky, turning the dim blue to a light grey.

 

Another gate surrounded the villa manse. They were let in, trotting in the courtyard. A man, assumed to be Cassian Ulixes stood on the manse’s steps, typical guards in place. There was a fountain in the middle of the circular courtyard with benches on the left and right. A large tree shaded the green lawn off to the side.

 

“Arthur!” Ulixes said. “We’ve awaited your arrival.” He smiled at them indulgently.

 

They all dismounted, Ardeth carried Raja in his arms.

 

Ulixes snapped his fingers at two men. “Escort the horses to the stables.”

 

Raja cried out, “No! Where’re you taking Odin?” She squirmed in her uncle’s arms.

 

“Shh, little one. He will be well taken care of,” he said, setting her down on her feet, but keeping a hold of her hand, for she was wanting to run after Odin.

 

“I’ll take good care of him, Raja,” Jols said. “I will personally attend to him.”

 

Raja was slightly put at ease. She trusted Jols with Odin, but she was still not used to putting Odin in a strange place. A frown creased her brow and she kissed Odin goodbye, watching him all the way until he was out of sight.

 

“Are you the Ardeth Bey who has been so magnanimous to let I and my daughters travel on your ship?” Ulixes asked.

 

“Yes,” Ardeth said with slight bow of his head.

 

“I cannot thank you enough!” Cassian said. “I yearn to get off this forsaken island. As you can see.” He gestured back out of the gates to the ruined village. “And who is this?” he asked pleasantly, looking down at Raja.

 

Unconsciously, Raja took a tiny step back, huddling her body against her uncle’s leg. There was something about this man she did not quite like, but she was wary of meeting new peoples.

 

“This is my niece, Raja,” Ardeth said. He said something softly to her in Arabic.

 

Both of her small hands held onto her uncle’s tightly, her face was half hidden by his arm. “Hello,” she whispered.

 

Ulixes stepped forward and bent down towards her, just as a crack of lightning sounded.

 

Raja screamed, a high-pitched shrill sound of terror. BAD MAN! She could see it in his eyes. Dark, so dark. Poison beneath every syllable he uttered. The little girl huddled around her uncle’s leg like a lifeline, shaking in fear, muttering in Arabic.

 

The knights shared glances, the Roman soldiers who were around were watching the scene in surprise, the girl’s shout was like a sword piercing flesh. Fat raindrops fell down to them. Ardeth picked her up at once.

 

“I did not mean to startle your niece,” Ulixes apologized.

 

“Startle?” Lancelot mumbled under his breath, loud enough for the men to hear.

 

“A scream of bloody murder, that was,” Bors said. “She didn’t even scream like that when she saw your face, Lance.” His joke lightened the mood, Lancelot sneered.

 

“Please, come inside before we all get drenched.” Ulixes ushered them in the wide, double-doors.

 

Tristan saw that the Roman was shaken at the small girl’s scream.

 

Raja looked at Tristan, and he gave her a sympathetic glance, his expression said at the same time that he would not let anything happen to her.

 

Ulixes ordered two maids women to show his guests to their quarters, then to show them where the bath houses were.

 

The maid left Ardeth and Raja after showing them their rooms, coming back minutes later to given them their things.

 

“My room is right across the way, Raja,” he told her.

 

Raja looked around, she did not want to be in an unfamiliar room by herself. It was adorned more extravagantly than hers back at the fort. Marble covered the floors, depictions of past Roman leaders and important peoples covered the walls in a mosaic fashion. She sniffled.

 

“I’m sorry I screamed,” she commented wistfully.

 

“No harm done, little one. You were frightened.”

 

“Is Ulixes your friend?”

 

“No. He sought me out when he heard that our ship was docking, he needs to get to Egypt.” Ardeth sat next to her on the bed and pulled her on his lap. She instantly snuggled against him, hearing the increasing barrage of raindrops falling from the sky. “Is there something else that frightened you, Raja?”

 

Raja peered up at him.

 

“You can tell me.”

 

“Did the same thing that happened at home, happen here?” she asked instead, hedging towards what was really bothering her.

 

“Yes. But they are gone now, and we will be leaving soon.”

 

“The bad man is still here,” she whispered urgently.

 

“Who?” Although he had a good feeling he knew whom she was referring to.

 

“The bad man. Ulixes.” Her small hands clutched to her uncle’s tunic.

 

“Why do you say he is a bad man?”

 

Her pupils dilated, and now a trickle of unease wafted over Ardeth for his niece. The second he’d laid eyes on Cassian Ulixes, the Egyptian had also gotten a bad impression of the Roman. There was something distinctly off about him, although his voice was hearty when he had thanked him and greeted him, his eyes had been cold. He had eyes that could only light up at the head of ill omens. He second-guessed his decision to bring Raja here with him, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Ardeth always tried to do his best by her, and he could only imagine the state she would have been in at the fort after a week of his absence.

 

“His eyes,” she answered. “A bad man...” was all she could say.

 

Ardeth kissed her head and rocked her back and forth until she lolled off into whatever place her dreams sought fit to take her. He tucked her in, unsure of leaving her. He was reminded of the first day they had arrived at the fort. It had been a bleary day such as this, he had put his exhausted niece in an unfamiliar bed. The only difference was that she now had five more people who had come to care for her.

 

----

 

“There’s something not right with that man,” Lancelot said to Arthur.

 

They had just finished cleaning themselves, donning a pair of fresh clothes and putting their armor back on. Arthur and Lancelot were walking to a sitting room to discuss the attack on the premises with Ulixes, Lancelot had waylaid Arthur to talk about their charge.

 

“What makes you think that?” Arthur asked.

 

Lancelot gave a semi-exasperated curl of his mouth at his idealistic friend. Of course he wouldn’t figure anything amiss with his Roman counterparts. Truth, Lancelot couldn’t put his finger on it, and did not have the words. But Tristan did. He thought about his cousin’s reaction to the Roman. Normally, when she was introduced to new people, especially males, he couldn’t recall her being so adverse, at least not after a while when she became a bit more confident. He was spared answering when they entered Ulixes’s sitting room where, the Roman conspicuously absent.  

 

A young man ushered them into the room, pouring them wine, asking them if they needed anything else, just as another young man entered with a platter of fruits, sweetmeats, and other confections.

 

They were left alone in the vast room, the windows were open to the visible raindrops that continued to fall in haste. Lancelot looked out at the grounds which appeared untamed as if no one had bothered to take care.

 

“Ah, Arthur Castus,” Ulixes said congenially, with that wide grin on his face. “And...I...oh my, I have forgotten your name.”

 

“This is Lancelot, my first knight,” Arthur said, shooting a jade eye at Lancelot for him to keep his snide expressions or words to himself.

 

“Yes,” Ulixes said. “Please, sit.”

 

The knights took seats across from the Roman who sat back leisurely in his grand chair, legs crossed, a stem of grapes in his hand which he nibbled at gingerly. Arthur perused the man, his receding hairline, the velvet, red toga with a white tunic underneath and his sandals, revealing pedicured toes.

 

“If I may, why do you think the Woads would attack here?” Arthur asked.

 

“They usually don’t come around these parts,” Lancelot interjected.

 

Ulixes swallowed his last grape and threw the stems onto the tray. He steepled his hands and trailed his eyes back and forth from one man to the other.

 

“One of your guards said that they breeched these doors,” Arthur prompted.

 

“Hmm.” He nodded slowly. “A few workers were killed. But the soldiers managed to get all the savages.”

 

Arthur was taken aback at the man’s casual tone. “The village faired poorly.”

 

Ulixes’s brow raised. “Indeed. But, truly, there is nothing I can do about that.” He managed to mask his face with a semblance of regret. “I leave here shortly, there is another coming to take my place.”

 

“You seem eager to depart,” Lancelot said a bit sharply.

 

The Roman’s lips set in a straight line, a glint of dissatisfaction in his dark eyes. “It really is no longer safe for my daughters.”

 

This was only the second mention of his daughters. “Of course,” Arthur said.

 

“I hope this mishap will not impede us from departing at the appointed time,” Ulixes said, a bit to urgently. “There was a ship supposed to come weeks ago, but all of a sudden it could not be spared. I thank God for the Egyptian.”

 

“Ardeth,” Lancelot told him pointedly.

 

“Yes, Ardeth,” the Roman pointed a triumphant finger at no one in particular. “In fact, I must speak with him once we are finished here.” He moved his eyes around the room absently.

 

They spoke of the village and the brief travel to Glevum. Arthur attempted to extract more details of the raid, but Ulixes was very dismissive.

 

“Very well,” Arthur said, standing with Lancelot. “I think that is all for now. I will take a look at the village. My knight, Dagonet, a healer has already gone to the infirmary to lend his assistance.”

 

“How kind of him,” Ulixes said. “I must speak with Lord Ardeth,” he added once more.

 

Lancelot hid his smirk, Ardeth preferred no one add ‘Lord’ before his name. And just to jab, he said, “You may have to wait. He doesn’t leave his niece.”

 

A disappointed expression was hastily covered up. “I suppose it is wise not to leave babies unattended.”

 

“She is not a baby,” her cousin said indignantly.

 

Arthur cleared his throat. “She is nine.”

 

“Nine!” Ulixes laughed. “Looks no older than three!”

 

Lancelot could not stifle his snort. Even though it was true.

 

Ulixes seemed to contemplate something, then waved it off. “I shall ask one of my servants to seek him out. And if he is not available, I suppose I will have to...wait.” He bid goodbyes to the knights and called for one of his men.

 

Arthur and Lancelot headed out of the manse, but nearly slammed into Tristan. The halls were dark, hardly a torch spared.

 

“The man is hiding something,” Tristan started.

 

“You were listening,” Arthur stated.

 

“All Romans are hiding something,” Lancelot commented.

 

“The servants here are skittish and wary. They know things, threats are very likely given to them. I will look over the premises,” Tristan said.

 

Arthur knew better than to question the scout’s judgment. “We will be in the village,” Arthur said. “Ulixes wanted to speak with Ardeth.”

 

“How is Raja?” Lancelot asked.

 

“She was sleeping last time I spoke to Ardeth.” Tristan was always more expansive in his words when it came to Raja. “He agrees that there is something dark lingering here.”

 

They departed. Before Tristan left, he went up to where Ardeth and Raja were staying. With Raja there, his duties as a scout were often in conflict, but he was untroubled with putting Raja first at the moment. Her door was open, she was reading a story to her uncle. Both had bathed, the small girl was looking less weary and troubled. She smiled wide at her friend.

 

“Tristan,” she admonished, “didn’t you change your clothes!”

 

Both men half-grinned.

 

“There is warm water,” she added.

 

“Raja,” her uncle said her name, not harshly.

 

“All right,” she said. She put the book down and hopped off the bed. Raja put her tiny boots on, donned her thick linen jerkin, the sleeves winging out at the tips. Her cloak, which had the eye of Horus stitched on the back swung over her shoulders as she tied the lace. It had stopped raining, but the ominous clouds still hovered. “Have you seen Odin? Is he okay?”

 

“Fine,” Tristan assured her.

 

“I want to see him,” she said.

 

Just then, a man stood a foot away from the door, obviously having been ready to knock on Ardeth’s door. Tristan gave him a lethal glance, Raja stepped closer to her uncle.

 

“Cassian Ulixes requested a meeting,” the man’s voice quivered a bit. “If you are...available.”

 

Raja held her uncle’s hand possessively. Bad man...

 

Ardeth spoke softly to his niece. A rising panic was coming over her, and she was shaking her head.

 

Even though he usually did his recognizance alone, Tristan said, “I can take her with me.”

 

Ardeth spoke to Tristan in Sarmatian. “I know you can take adequate care of her, but she is sensitive right now.” Meaning, she was scared. “I wouldn’t like it to interfere with your duties.”

 

“It’s all right,” Tristan said.

 

Ardeth still looked unsure. “Would you like to go with Tristan?” he asked his niece.

 

It wasn’t that she did not want to go with Tristan, but she also did not want to leave her uncle alone. “I will be fine, little one,” he told her, as if he read her mind.

 

She bit her lip. “Okay,” she said quietly.

 

The man outside the door shuffled his feet uncomfortably, looking up and down the halls as if someone could be watching. He caught Tristan’s golden gaze and hastily averted his stare elsewhere.

 

“If she becomes further ill at ease, please alert me, Tristan,” Ardeth said.

 

Tristan nodded. The two went one way, Ardeth went the other with the young man. Raja stared back until she could see her uncle no more.

 

“It’s dark here,” she said to Tristan, taking his hand.

 

“Hmm,” he replied. Which meant he agreed.

 

When they left the manse, Raja blinked, the light outside a stark contrast to the gloom inside, even though it was as if a darker cloud hovered over the dilapidated villa roof. She saw the semi-ruined village in the distance, and far, far away, she could barely make out the rounded heads still impaled on the iron gates.

 

“He’s a bad man,” she whispered up at Tristan.

 

His narrowed golden gaze met her silver gaze. “Why do you say that?”

 

“A bad man,” was all she could say in return. Bad man...

 

----

 

The young girl peeked out from behind the curtains of an unused room. She saw the Fairy Princess and one of the Sarmatian knights. She knew that she would be saved, she dreamed of it. Of course, she had been expecting some sort of Fairy Godmother, a sweet, old lady with white hair, like the kind in stories her mother used to tell her and her sister. But, instead, the fairy godmother came in the form of a small Fairy. And she had to be a princess because she was holding the King Egyptian’s hand.

 

She saw from the window a bird landing on the Fairy Princess’s arm, and a brown bird land on the Sarmatian knight’s arm. Then they were out of sight. She moved away from the window, further into the dank shadows of the large room. Many rooms in the manse had not been used for so long a time, but they had still been taken care of. For the past year, her step-father had ordered the rooms closed, and sheets were put over the furniture, doors locked.

 

Step-father wanted to get away. As quickly as possible. Especially since the blue people had come that one day. Servants had been killed, there had been blood on the marble tiles. But step-father had never been in any danger, neither had her sister. Because step-father had Sissy in the Play-Room, a room that was hidden, very well hidden.

 

The young girl limped across the room, poked her head out the door to make sure no one was around and slipped out. She was in the west-wing of the manse, an area that was unoccupied, but one could never be too sure. Her step-father was more and more unpredictable. He had gone in a uproar when the ship that was supposed to take them away was deterred, but he found a King to take them instead. And what a King! Like no one she had ever seen before.

She had stood rapt in another room on the second floor, hiding, watching the meet and greet. Of course, she had been looking for the Fairy Godmother, but when she saw no sweet lady, her heart drooped, but was instantly lifted when she saw the Fairy Princess. The Princess had been dressed in regular, but well tailored breeches, tunic, jerkin and cloak. Her hair was raven-blue with an incandescent white streak running through. The silver eyes, probing, sensing the evil in the step-father. The knights were goodly people, otherwise the Princess wouldn’t be around them, and certainly the King would not tolerate them. Besides, she had heard many tales of Arthur Castus and his Sarmatian knights, they were legendary. Definitely not the typical “shining-armor” men, but they looked as capable of saving a city of victims as the tales told.

 

There was a really tall one, a shorter, gruffer one. One with curly hair, with a cocky, snide expression. Arthur was all cordial, but had the air of a born leader. Then there was the one the Fairy Princess was riding with now. He had tattoos, snaggly facial hair and a mop of askew brown locks with braids, and cheekbones as sharp as a knife. She wasn’t sure about him at first until she noted his posture when her step-father had gotten too close to the Fairy Princess. That knight was cold and blood thirsty, a true killer, but it was all in the name of the Fairy Princess.

 

She continued to shuffle down the dark, cold halls. She knew every room and floor and ceiling tile in the place, every secret corridor, every servant’s name, what servant was bedding whom, disliked who, loved who. They were all afraid of step-father. Some of them were taken to the Play-Room, or any empty room, the click of a lock was a sound of doom if one was in a room alone with him.

 

She wondered if she should go to her Sissy now, or beseech aid from the Princess now. There wasn’t much time. No, she would quickly inform Sissy that help had finally come, something to give Sissy hope.

 

It had all started when father had died six years ago in Rome. She had only been four then, but she knew the look in her father’s best friend’s eyes, pure evil. When father had died, mother had nothing but she and Sissy and a fortune. They lived with Aunt Fortuna for a time, oh, how she loved Aunt Fortuna. She had felt so safe and loved on that rural farm in the country. But then father’s friend had come, seeking mother’s hand in marriage, and she accepted. Sissy and her had been taken from Aunt Fortuna, moved back to the city where the terror began. Sissy was eight years older, and step-father’s dark eyes followed her from room to room. Then, two years later, mother had died, and they were left alone. At first, she thought that they would go live with Aunt Fortuna again, but step-father kept them, probably for Sissy.

 

Sissy had been in tears when she had gone to her younger sister’s room one night, three months after the passing of their mother. Only six years old as she was told what step-father had done to Sissy, but she understood perfectly. He had violated Sissy. And continued to do so, there was nothing to be done. They had tried running away to Aunt Fortuna, but they had been caught. Then, step-father threatened Sissy. He said that if she ever tried to leave him again or told anyone of their “love-making” he would do the same to her younger sister. Sissy hated what happened to her, and love her sister more than anything, so to protect the younger girl from the nightmare of being violated, she endured. Then, three years later, Sissy became with child. It was illegal, and horrific, but step-father got some sort of tonic to rid Sissy of the baby. Less than a year later, they were in Britain, away from suspicious eyes in Rome.

 

For the past two years or so, they lived in the manse of horrors. For a time, step-father ceased his violations on Sissy. He bedded many wenches from the village, he took servants at his whim. On many occasions, the young girl had come upon step-father playing with a servant from behind in one of the dark hallways. He made the same panting sounds as he did with Sissy. The servants said nothing, just went along with their duties.

 

But her step-father was becoming increasingly unstable. Villagers gossiped, why did they never see his two daughters? A constant plague of shadows hovered over the roof of the villa. Sure, step-father did whatever to keep the village as calm as possible, not because he cared about their well-being, but happy workers are quiet workers. That was until rumors began circulating around the village, just as gossip had been passed around in Rome. Probably one of the soldiers had boasted in a drunken mind in the tavern. The tavern which was now a bit ruined from the raid. In his worst state of mind, step-father gave “special rewards” to the soldiers who brought him pretty women. Some of them had been the blue women. The blue women didn’t always last long. If they got with child they were discreetly “released.”

 

Oh, but about five months ago, one of those blue women had escaped when she was taken from the Play-Room and into the dark forest to be killed. That was the reason for the raid, she must have gotten back to her people and told them about some of her kin in the Play-Room. Of course, she didn’t know where the Play-Room was because she had been blindfolded when taken there and taken out.

 

It was around that time that a dead baby had been found washed up on land from the river. A villager had found it, screaming to her mother. A premature child of Sissy’s. A deformed thing at five months. Step-father hadn’t realized she was pregnant. Too lost in his insanity. The servant he had ordered to dispose of it had not disposed of it well enough. Whether on purpose or not, that servant was killed, accused of theft, therefore a justified reason for an execution. The villagers were not stupid, they saw the craze in the eyes of their overseer. They blamed him for inadequate protection of their homes, step-father knew he was losing control of them. The loss of loved family members drove people to do dangerous things.

 

When the young girl got to Sissy’s room, she heard groans. Step-father was in there with her. She had to get to the Fairy Princess. Sooner than later. She heard the loud grunt from her step-father, the sound he always made when he was finished. She hid in the room across from Sissy’s until she heard the opening and closing of her door. When she knew her step-father was long gone, she went into Sissy’s room who was cleaning herself.

 

“Nemo,” her sister said, “what are you doing here?”

 

Her real name was Sperantia, Nemo was a nickname given to her when she was barely three years old. A quiet child she was, like a friendly ghost, and one day, she had snuck up on a young boy at a dinner party stealing wine. She did not tell on him, but he had called her Nemo. “No name, Nobody.”

 

Sissy gave Nemo a hug. There were dark circles under her eyes, she had lost weight, sickly since that miscarriage of hers.

 

“The Fairy Princess is here,” Nemo whispered.

 

“Oh.” Sissy nodded indulgently. Her younger sister had been talking of a Fairy Princess since their step-father had told them about Arthur Castus and the “King” Egyptian, as Nemo called him, who were taking them to Glevum. Long ago, she had lost hope of being released from this hell, all she could do was endure and try to keep her sister safe.

 

Nemo had been born with an eyelid that covered most of her left eye, but her right eye revealed a beautiful sky-blue, like mother’s. She walked with a limp, born with a leg a tad shorter than the other. She had the smallest of humps on her back, hardly noticeable unless you knew it was there and looked closely. Nemo was sharp in mind, but also a bit dim about some things. Like believing in a Fairy Princess.

 

“She’s so tiny,” Nemo went on. She told Sissy about all she had seen earlier. “I will seek her help and the King Egyptian’s. Arthur Castus and his knights are good, I think they will help us as well.”

 

For a second, Sissy’s hope lifted. Would they help? Why would they bother with two girls they did not even know? Her step-father was of noble stock, served in the Roman military for many years, who would cross him?

 

As if having read her mind, Nemo said, “The Fairy Princess saw the evil in step-father. Do not worry, Sissy.” She patted her sister’s hand. “She has the King by her side, and Arthur and his knights. They will help us get back to Aunt Fortuna.”

 

“Nemo...” she stared at her sister’s determined eyes. She did not have the heart to tell her that the Fairy Princess was more than likely just a very young girl. The Egyptian, true, was wealthy and noble, revered in Egypt.

 

“I will tell one of the servants to bring you lunch. I must get to the Fairy Princess. There is not much time.” Nemo stood up, gave her sister a kiss on the forehead and left the room, but turned at the doorway. “Have hope, Sissy. You have endured step-father to save me. And now, it is my turn to save you.”

 

----

 

Dagonet wrapped the clean gauze around the old man’s forearm. The infirmary was fully occupied, the villagers who had not been harmed too badly did as much as they could to help those who had. They buried the dead with reverence, shared food, assisted with housework. Other healers in the room had told Dagonet about the raid, which lead into the state of the village. How it had once been prosperous, but when Ulixes had arrived, there was a steady decline.

 

“He’s mad,” one of the injured said from his bed.

 

“Shush,” Rosa, a comely maid said. “You should be resting.”

 

The man mumbled and drifted off. “Mad,” he muttered.

 

Dagonet stood up, practically towering over Rosa. He had done all he could for the time being. “Are there any people in their homes that need checking up on?” he asked.

 

“Most are faring well enough,” she replied, grateful for the knight’s help.

 

“Don’t hesitate to come to me if any more help is needed,” he told her.

 

“Thank you,” she said.

 

“May I speak plainly?”

 

“Of course.”

 

He lowered his voice a bit to not disturb the old man or the others. “Why does he say Ulixes is mad?”

 

Rosa bit her lip, her troubled eyes roaming the patients idly. She ushered Dagonet out the door and onto the porch of the infirmary. She pulled her shawl around her shoulders, saying nothing for several moments as she looked upon the muddy streets, the cloudy sky.

 

“Hello, Rosa!” a passing woman said, stopping.

 

“Good day, Lorena,” Rosa greeted in return with a smile.

 

The plump woman snorted. “Good day my rear!” She approached the porch. “Who’re you?” she said to Dagonet. Lorena was a woman in her years that Dagonet had met many times in his life. The loud, boisterous one who took no lip from anybody, but deep down had a good heart.

 

“Dagonet,” he replied politely.

 

“One of them knights?” she said.

 

“Yes, lady.”

 

Lorena appraised him. “Come to save us from the devil, have ya?”

 

“Lorena!” Rosa chastised.

 

“He is the devil!” Lorena spat at the ground.

 

“Why do you say that?” Dagonet asked, having heard no good things of Cassian Ulixes of the hours he had been here.

 

Rosa pursed her lips.

 

“There’s a lot of talk around here,” Lorena went no. “And I’d wager most of it is true, if not a bit exaggerated.” She looked up and down the streets, few people were around. “Come to my cottage, and I’ll tell ya, if you care to hear.” She didn’t bother to wait for an answer just walked away.

 

Dagonet stared down at Rosa who shrugged her shoulders. “I need to get back to my own home, then I’ll check on the patients again later. There’s Iain,” she said, pointing, “it’s his shift now. Thank you so much, Dagonet.”

 

“Of course,” he replied, parting ways, deciding to take Lorena up on her offer.

 

“Well, come on,” she said, turning back at him. She opened her cottage door. It was an average sized room, a fireplace, a bed and side table. A small table for eating. “An old woman like me doesn’t need much. A drink?”

 

“Please,” Dagonet said, taking the proffered chair at the table near the fireplace.

 

Lorena poured him a hearty cup of ale and sat down at the table. She took a good few gulps of the ale as well. She did speak for several moments.

 

“Right, he’s mad,” she said. “The devil. Surely, you’ve heard some things by now?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“The village was all right when he first came with his two girls, who people around here have only seen a handful times, mind you,” she said. “One is a fair girl, the younger is fair in her own right, but,” – she took another swig – “her face is a bit lopsided. Got an eye droop, she does.”

 

He waited for her to go on.

 

“Rumors started about a year ago. A drunk soldier was blabbering on about how he got special treatment from the man for bringing in the natives.”

 

“Ulixes takes Woads prisoner here?” Dagonet asked.

 

“So I’ve heard,” she replied dryly. “That soldier said he keeps ‘em in a room for his use.”

 

Dagonet narrowed his eyes, disgusted at the thought.

 

“Some soldiers are wary of him though. Of course, they don’t say anything. You don’t want to cross insane leaders. Keep that in mind, boy,” she said, pointing a knobby finger at him. “Not too long ago, a young woman found a deformed baby by the river.”

 

He stilled.

 

“Came screaming like a woman possessed back here. She led some of the village men back there, was the talk of the area. But then...there was a servant executed, accused of theft a couple of days later.”

 

“You think the servant had something to do with it?”

 

“Hmm...maybe, maybe no. But, I tell you, I’ve been delivering babies here for near twenty years. I always know when a woman is with child, I can tell when one miscarries. And no woman, in that month, had miscarried. Villagers know. It could have been that servant’s child, but it had to have come from that house.”

 

Dagonet wondered why, if someone wanted to hide the fact that they had miscarried, why they would put it in the river and risk it washing ashore, instead of burying it.

 

“That young girl, the one with the droopy eye. I saw her, that day of the execution. The one eye I could see looked right at me, and she shook her head ever so slightly. There was a crowd, so no one paid attention to me, walking over to her. She was hidden.”

 

“Did she say anything to you?”

 

She took her time answering. “She looked a bit scared. Not of me, but of being caught. I asked her what the matter was. She just stared right up at me, saying nothing at all. Then she said just plainly: ‘We will be saved from this madness.’ And scampered right off as quick as she came. I don’t know who she thought would save us, but she said it with such belief I couldn’t challenge her.”

 

Dagonet was quiet as he finished the rest of his drink. They spoke a bit more, none of it particularly good. The steady sound of more raindrops, a rumble of thunder and a crack of lightning sounded to the end of their meeting.

 

“It is getting late. I must report to my Commander,” he said.

 

She stood up with him. “You staying in that house?”

 

“The barracks were a bit burned down,” he said. “We have lodgings in there.”

 

“That little girl staying in the house, too, I’d guess then.”

 

Dagonet’s eyes pierced hers, knowing she was referring to Raja.

 

“I mean no offense,” she told him, noting the sternness of his face. “But I would worry for her safety,” she said.

 

“Thank you for your concern,” he said sincerely. “Ardeth, her uncle, would not let anything happen to her. Neither would I or the rest of the men.”

 

“Then be safe, warrior,” she replied.

 

----

 

Ardeth was waiting for Raja and Tristan in the stables. When it had began raining again he knew the scout would take Raja back. Her face lit up, seeing her uncle, and though he smiled at her with genuine affection in return, there was a grimness to him. She reached out to him from her saddle and he plucked her off, setting her on his forearm.

 

“Did you enjoy your outing?” he asked her.

 

She glanced at Tristan, then back at her uncle. “This place is sad, Uncle Ardeth. Odin and Horus didn’t like it much either.”

 

“I see,” he replied. “Well, we will be leaving the morning after tomorrow.”

 

“The Bad Man is coming with us?” she asked with trepidation, a whisper.

 

A shared lock of eyes she did not see was passed between Ardeth and Tristan.

 

“Yes, little one. His daughters as well.”

 

“Where are his daughters?” she asked.

 

Ardeth thought back to the brief meeting he’d had with Ulixes. He had mentioned his daughters in passing and that was that. He seemed unnaturally eager to depart from the island and away to Egypt. The Egyptian did not like him. He shook that from his mind, concentrating now on his niece whose eyes were drooping with fatigue, he heard the rumble in her stomach.

 

“How about some food and a nap?” he offered.

 

“Will you eat with me?” she asked him.

 

“Of course.”

 

“And Tristan, too?” She grinned at her friend.

 

The scout nodded, his half-smile buried around his beard. Not long after, the three of them ate, Raja was put down for her nap. Ardeth closed her bedroom door quietly. Arthur wanted to speak with him, along with Dagonet. All had troubled expressions. Dagonet told them what Lorena had said. Arthur and Lancelot had spoken to the insecure soldier at the gate. Arthur told them that the young man had said that some of the soldiers bolstered of special treatment. They were “given” servant girls, or female natives they brought back. The young soldier knew that for certain, he often heard some of the older soldiers talk when they were sober.

 

Ardeth listened as they all spoke. Bors had gleamed similar information.

 

“Ulixes is keeping girls locked in a room,” Lancelot said scornfully.

 

“And the villagers are talking,” Bors said.

 

“That is why he wants to leave here swiftly,” Ardeth said. His first thought was of Raja, it was imperative he keep her away from this man.

 

“Has anyone seen his daughters?” Arthur questioned.

 

There was a negative around the room.

 

----

 

Nemo swept through the gloomy corridors like a ghost. The Fairy Princess had been put down for a nap by the King Egyptian. She knew where the Princess was staying. She approached the door, putting her ear against it. When she heard nothing, she quietly entered. The Fairy Princess was a small lump under the covers. The fire crackled, the windows were open, revealing a sun that would be setting in mere hours.

 

Nemo closed the door, then stood there, watching the Fairy Princess in silence. Finally, she was to meet her! She crept to the side of the bed, the little Egyptian’s head was visible, the white streak prominent. She breathed easily, but her eyelids would flinch every so often, wraiths liked to pass her by in her dreams.

 

Nemo reached out to touch the white streak in her hair. So soft, like silk. She snatched her hand back when the girl whimpered and scrunched herself under the blankets. It was now or never.

 

Gently, the girl tried to coax her awake. “Fairy Princess,” she whispered, patting her on the shoulder. “Fairy Princess, wake up.”

 

In the distance, Raja felt someone trying to wake her. But hadn’t she only fallen asleep a short time ago? Her eyes flickered open, seeing a figure that was no one she knew hovering over her. She opened her mouth to scream but a soft hand covered her mouth.

 

“Shh!” Nemo said. “I won’t hurt you, Princess.”

 

Raja stilled. It was a girl, a young girl. Older than her though, she guessed. Only one of her eyes was fully visible, and her dark-chestnut hair was plaited down her back.

 

Nemo took her hand away and stepped back.

 

Raja sat up in bed, wary. “Who are you?”

 

“My name is Nemo,” she replied, hands clasped in front of her deferentially.

 

Raja’s silver eyes narrowed. “Are you the Bad Man’s daughter?”

 

Nemo’s head snapped up. “Step-daughter...he is a Bad Man. I knew you would see it! I knew it! You have to help me and Sissy. Please, Fairy Princess!”

 

When she eagerly stepped forward Raja scrambled out of bed on the opposite side. “Why do you call me a Fairy Princess?”

 

Nemo tilted her head to the side awkwardly. “Because you are. And you came here with the King Egyptian and Arthur and the Sarmatian knights.”

 

“My Uncle Ardeth isn’t a king,” Raja said with a small giggle. “And my name is Raja.”

 

“The Fairy Princess Raja,” Nemo echoed.

 

“I’m not a princess,” Raja said again.

 

Nemo only nodded. “Will you help me and Sissy?”

 

“Help how?”

 

“Our step-father. You must save us from him.”

 

It was as if ice cold water had been dumped on Raja’s head. The Bad Man. How could she save anyone from the Bad Man who did bad things? “No,” she said with a shake of her head.

 

Nemo face was awash with shock. “But you must!” She hurried over to Raja who was a whole head shorter than her. “You must!”

 

Raja shook her head vigorously.

 

“He hurts my sister,” Nemo hissed insistently. “And he said that if she were to tell, he would hurt me, too.”

 

This made her pause. “Hurts...her?” Raja’s voice trembled.

 

Nemo nodded sadly. “He hurts her...and others. That is why he wants to leave this place! The people are talking.”

 

“How...” – Raja’s voice cracked – “...does he hurt them?”

 

Nemo’s eyes filled with sorrow. “He made Sissy’s babies die. When the others get with child...he releases them.”

 

Raja was shivering by then, the fire did nothing to warm her. Her thick socks did not succor her from the chill that was billowing from the floor.

 

“I can show you, if you do not believe me,” Nemo said. “I will show you tonight!” She rushed on before Raja could say anything. “Then you will see, and know the truth, then you can tell the truth to the King Egyptian and Arthur and his knights, and we will be saved.”

 

Raja wanted to help, but she had never been able to help when physical action needed to be taken. Her kind of help was with hugs and kisses, smiles, knitting socks, putting fresh flowers in her uncle’s, Lottie’s, Trissy’s and the other’s rooms.

 

“Help,” Nemo pleaded.

 

Raja met Nemo’s blue eye...and nodded. She was taken aback when Nemo wrapped her in a fierce hug. Instinctively, Raja put her arms around her, too. It had been so long since a person her age had accepted her as she was, let alone asked for her help, believing that she could help in the first place.

 

“Tonight,” Nemo said, “I will come back, and show you.”

 

“Okay,” Raja said.

 

Nemo bit her lip. “Before I go...can I touch your hair?”

 

Raja’s brow shot up, but she said she could.

 

Nemo parted Raja’s white streak from the rest of her hair. “Beautiful,” she said. “You really are a Fairy Princess.”

 

----

 

Raja could not fall back asleep after Nemo left, the girl had captured her unwavering attention. She’d never expected to be going on a rescue mission when she had departed from the fort with her uncle on what was to be a regular journey. The smiles throughout that time seemed rather distant from what was to come after the sun would set. It emboldened her to know that Tristan did not like the Bad Man either. Her uncle did not like the Bad Man, and if her uncle didn’t like someone, that someone had to be of ill repute, indeed.

 

How awful were the things the Bad Man had done to Nemo’s sister? Raja sat crossed legged in front of the fire, her dragon amulet with the ruby eyes in her fist. People were always protecting her, and it had always saddened her that she could do so little to return such protection.. Her baba had died protecting both she and her walida and her walida had died protecting her. And since, her Uncle Ardeth had given up his life in Egypt to keep her safe, and now there were five more men who would shield her with their swords and bodies, as well.

 

She must have been sitting there longer than she had thought because when her uncle knocked on her door the sun was fully set and without any candles lit, and only the fire for light, the room was even more dim than the previous hour.

 

“Are you all right, little one?” he asked her.

 

“Mmm-hmm,” she said, and got up to plop herself back on the bed.

 

Ardeth lit two lamps, the white lights blazing throughout the room like twin beacons. He sat down next to his niece in silence. She was clutching her dragon amulet to her chest.

 

“I miss baba and walida,” she said in a hushed whisper.

 

The Egyptian put a hand around her small shoulders. “I do as well, Raja. But they are at peace now.”

 

“I know.” She scratched her nose. “Could...could I have done anything to save them?”

 

His niece looked up at him with such wide, guileless eyes. “No, little one. They would have wanted you to live.”

 

She turned her head away in deep contemplation just as it began to rain once again. “Am I too small to help anyone?”

 

“Of course not! No one is ever too small or too big to help another. It is all a matter of good intentions.”

 

Raja sighed. “I think...I am sleepy again.”

 

Her uncle tucked her in again for the third time that day. And at that moment, she wanted to stay the size she was forever, so she never would outgrow her uncle’s arms, so he could carry her as he sometimes did. So he would tuck her in every night. She never wanted her feet to touch the ground when she sat, she wanted to swing them back and forth like she always did. She wanted her small hand to get lost in another’s when she would clasp onto her uncle’s or Trissy’s or Lottie’s.

 

“Will I ever get too old for you to tuck me in, Uncle Ardeth?”

 

Ardeth chuckled softly. “I think not. I will come to say goodnight to you no matter your age.”

 

Raja smiled and held out her arms to be hugged. “Ana bahebak, Uncle Ardeth.”

 

“Ana bahebik, Raja,” he replied with the utmost affection.

 

----

 

It was two hours later that Nemo snuck into her room with expert stealth. She’d been extra careful not to wake the King Egyptian whose room was straight across the hall.

 

“Fairy Princess Raja,” she said quietly.

 

“Hello, Nemo,” she replied. She obviously was not going to get her to stop calling her a fairy princess. Raja was already ready. Her breeches, tunic and jerkin were already on. She slipped on her boots and cloak, and the rescue mission began. She still was not sure exactly what she was going to see, but she knew it was something bad. Raja made sure her dagger was securely sheathed to her hip.

 

Before they left, Raja put some of her clothes underneath the blanket to make it appear as if her tiny body was still in bed. She doubted her uncle would fall for it, but it would buy her some time if he came to check on her later before she returned.

 

Raja closed her bedroom door with a silent click. Nemo grabbed her hand and held on securely. Like wraiths, they crept through the dark halls and corridors. There were guards standing around, but few, and they were hardly paying attention, the security was lax around the manse.

 

Neither of them saw, but there was a scout who had spotted them. He had been doing some midnight recognizance of his own when he spotted two shadows traveling around. No guards stopped him from walking through the halls. He had just  come in from scouring the premises once again, this time with thorough concentration. He had walked in through the back, already familiar with the layout of the villa. He scoffed in disgust at the soldier’s poor excuse for guarding. And he almost had come upon a guard screwing a servant girl against the wall. He had gone the other way, that was where he spotted the two shadow figures. So small. He followed like the scout he was, the other two completely oblivious to his near presence. He was surprised at their own stealth, two kids getting passed these guards. Tristan knew one of them was Raja, which was why he was so keen on following. He wasn’t entirely sure who the other figure was, but it was a girl he saw.

 

Tristan stopped around the corner when Raja and her partner stopped at a door.

 

“The Bad Man is in here?” he heard Raja whisper.

 

The Bad Man? What the hell was she doing trying to find the bad man by herself and with another kid at that?

 

“Through a door in this room,” Tristan heard the other girl answer.

 

The door opened and shut, Tristan went and stood in front of the doors. Oh so quietly, he opened the door just a tiny bit to see the girl pull back a large tapestry, and indeed there was another door behind it. Raja and her friend walked in. Tristan entered the room, closing the door and locking it. He pulled back the tapestry.

 

----

 

Raja walked down some stairs with Nemo. It was dark, but Nemo knew exactly where she was going. There were two halls, one leading right, the other left. Nemo took her down the left one. There was one torch lit on the wall to guide their way. They went into one room which was empty, save for another door across the way. Nemo locked the door behind them.

 

“Here, Fairy Princess,” she said. The door had a rectangular opening at the bottom. “This place is used for a prison,” she told her. “Please, see the truth.”

 

Raja was wary of looking through the opening. But inside, she heard distinct voices. She took a deep breath, the room was cold, the stone below her knees was hard and unforgiving. She opened the peep hole, and saw hell.

 

The room was large, with a large fireplace lit, many candles on their perches on the wall. It was decorated with fancy couches, cushy chairs, plush pillows were strewn around the floor which was covered with an antique carpet with tassels on the fringes. There was a table with food and jugs which probably contained ale.

 

She spotted the Bad Man sitting on one of the chairs sipping a goblet of wine, his legs were crossed and he had a short cloth around his hips. There was a woman laying on one of the couches, staring blankly at the ceiling, wincing with every hard thrust a burly man was giving her.

 

Raja began to shake. There was another woman on her hands and knees, a man behind her. Another woman was straddling a man, then another man was behind her. And...and...another man took a seat, and a young boy knelt in front of him, taking the man’s erect venomous snake into his mouth.

 

Bile rose in Raja’s throat.

 

“Hey, watch the teeth!” the man snapped at the boy.

 

“Eva!” the Bad Man called to a woman who was doing nothing. The woman turned her head and stood in front of the Bad Man, letting her dress slip from her body. “Closer.” The woman did so and the man put two fingers between her legs.

 

It was...it was...her walida all over again. Nemo had taken her into the past to make her witness more of THEM hurt people. And here she was, watching from another a larger alcove while it went on. THEM. THEY. Raja breathed heavily, turning away from the horror. She crawled away on her hands and knees to the opposite wall.

 

Nemo knelt in front of her. “Eva is my Sissy.”

 

Raja looked at Nemo frightfully. No. No. No. Stop it! Make THEM go away. She covered her ears and drew her knees up to her chest. Still, she could loud grunts coming from the room. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

 

“Help,” Nemo said again.

 

Raja scrambled up, her knees barely able to hold her and ran for the door. She opened it and bumped into a large figure.

 

“Raja,” the figure said, kneeling beside her.


She would know that voice anywhere. “Trissy!” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “The Bad Man...Trissy.”

 

Tristan looked at the girl who standing near. A droopy eye.

 

“The Bad Man!” Raja said again, dislocating herself from Tristan’s arms. She pointed to the peep hole.

 

He let her go, looked in the peep whole for a mere moment, taking all that in that brief moment. He stood up, a hard look on his face. He picked Raja up off the floor. Nemo followed them out the door, around the hall lit by one torch, back up the stairs and into the room. All the time, Raja kept whispering: The Bad Man.

 

“Will you tell the King Egyptian now?” Nemo asked when they were in the hallway.

 

“Who are you?” Tristan snapped.

 

“Nemo,” she said blithely.

 

“You took her here?” he sneered at the shorter girl.

 

“I had to make her see the truth so she could tell the truth and save us,” Nemo defended herself.

 

“The Bad Man, Tristan!” Raja said again. Then, she bolted, running as fast as the wind. The two others followed her, barely able to catch up with her she was running so fast.


Raja ran all the way back to her uncle’s room, and pounding on the door with her fists with all her strength.

 

Ardeth opened the door, still dressed, still awake. He knelt down instantly.

 

“The Bad Man! The Bad Man!” she screeched.

 

Tristan and Nemo were there.

 

“What is this?” Ardeth asked harshly.

 

“King Egyptian,” Nemo said reverently.

 

The screeching had attracted the attention of Arthur and Lancelot. Dagonet had gone back to the infirmary with Bors. They were both still in their armor and armed.

 

Raja pulled on her uncle’s hand. “The Bad Man!” she said again, feverishly, hysterically. “He’s doing bad things! Bad things! He’s hurting them!” She continued to tug on her uncle’s hand. She babbled in Arabic and Sarmatian.

 

Ardeth tried to calm her, but it was no use.

 

Tristan spoke to Ardeth in Sarmatian, told him briefly what they had seen. Lancelot translated it for Arthur, a shocked expression donned the commander’s face.

 

“Where?” Arthur demanded.

 

“I shall take you,” Nemo said.

 

They all looked at the other girl.

 

“Who the hell are you?” Lancelot asked.

 

“The Bad Man’s step daughter,” she said as if it were obvious. She was already walking away. “Hurry! Come on, Fairy Princess!”

 

Ardeth did not want Raja going back to wherever Nemo had taken her. But there was no one to watch her. But Raja hurried after Nemo, taking the fast pace.

 

The four warriors followed them with haste, back to the path of hell.

 

“Stay here,” Ardeth ordered Raja when they entered the room with the hidden door. “You as well,” he said to Nemo.

 

Tristan led them down the stairs and to the door. Ardeth looked in the peep hole, swearing in Arabic. The door was locked. Ardeth unsheathed his sword, calling imperious with a deep baritone voice of a god. The sounds in the room ceased.

 

Ardeth called again. The three other men backed him up, swords at the ready.

 

“Open the door,” they heard a man say.

 

When the door was opened a mere crack, Ardeth blasted his way through, instantly hitting a pressure point in the nude man’s neck with a stern thumb, the man fell to the ground in an unconscious heap. The other men who had not bothered to cease their ministrations, looked up in shock at the four men entered the room, blocking the door.

 

They took in the scene with disgust.

 

Cassian Ulixes looked at them indignantly. “What is the meaning of this? How did you get here?”

 

Ardeth’s obsidian eyes bored into Ulixes with all the wrath of Seth, Egyptian god of Chaos and Destruction. The Roman cowered like the pitiful being he was.

 

“Lord Ardeth-” he began in a conciliatory gesture, arms outstretched.

 

“Silence! You sully my name with your tongue!” Ardeth boomed.

 

Just then, Nemo burst through the room and ran to one of the women.

 

“Sissy!” she said, embracing her. “I told you we would be saved!”

 

Sissy embraced her, Nemo helped her put her dress back on. “What are you doing here, Nemo?”

 

“The Fairy Princess, the King Egyptian!” Nemo said.

 

“You!” Ulixes turned fiery eyes on Nemo. “You hideous demon, this is your doing!” He raised a fist to the girl, but his wrist was caught by a tattooed hand.

 

Ardeth was taller than him, stronger than him. With a slight turn of his own hand, Ulixe’s wrist snapped. The Roman cried out.

 

The other soldiers who had been looking around with half wariness, and half defiance had donned their breeches and reached for their weapons, but Arthur stopped them.

 

“Stand down,” Arthur commanded them.

 

The soldiers looked at each other.

 

“Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?” one of them spat.

 

Lancelot, close enough, sneered and swung his sword, spewing the blood of the soldier. Another man ran to his defense, but Tristan cut him down with graceful savagery.

 

Deftly, Ardeth used his hand to cover Ulixes neck, pushed two pressure points on each side, and let the man slide to the floor. The last two soldiers were defeated with their leader unconscious.

 

Ardeth turned to look at them, the wrath not gone from his eyes. “Step away.” The soldiers obeyed.

 

The young boy in the room, had grabbed a sheet, having been without clothes for the passed three weeks when locked in one of the underground rooms. Nemo and Sissy helped him and the other two women who were out of sorts.

 

When Tristan grabbed the keys hanging near the door, he saw Raja standing in the doorway, stock still, staring.

 

Ardeth turned. “Little one,” he said. His eyes softened. “I told you to stay put.”

 

“Fairy Princess!” Nemo called. She turned to Sissy. “See! I told you she would save us!”

 

Sissy saw something in the little girl that her sister did not. She was no a Fairy Princess, but a very young child, whose only magical power was the possession of a good heart, and who helped despite the sheer horror that masked her pale face.

 

“Raja, I told you to stay put,” Ardeth said, not harshly. His large body stood in front of her, shielding her from the sight. He sheathed his sword at his hip.

 

Lancelot turned his face, not wanting her to see the blood splattered on his face and armor, somehow not wanting her to see the cold warrior inside of him. The first time he had ever cared about anyone seeing that side of him. Tristan handed Arthur the keys.

 

“Take these two, lock them up,” Arthur said.

 

Lancelot grabbed one man, Tristan the other, taking them out of the room and locked them in a small room across the way. The two dead soldiers were taken away as well, locked in another room for the time being.

 

With the rabble out of the room, Ulixes as well, Ardeth let Raja go to Nemo, who instantly embraced her.

 

“Fairy Princess Raja, this is my Sissy,” she introduced the two of them.

 

“Hello,” Raja managed to say to Nemo’s sister.

 

“Thank you,” Sissy said to Raja.

 

The three other prisoners were escorted from the room. A slight bit weak. They had been fed to keep them in a modicum state of health, healthy enough for them to gain entrance into the Play-Room.

 

Ardeth alerted the few other soldiers. While the others were being taken care of, Arthur and Ardeth interrogated the other soldiers who had only heard rumors of the goings-on, but were never privy to being a part of it. Only Ulixes favored soldiers were allowed.

 

Dagonet and Rosa inspected the young servant boy, Noah, and the two servant girls who had been reported to have disappeared a month ago, Sienna and Millie. They were fed, bathed, given clean clothes.

 

Sissy cleaned herself up, Nemo would not leave her side. Raja stayed with the two of them in her bedroom. It was a long night that crept into an overcast morning, the sun threatening to shine its way through the clouds. Dagonet and Bors were told what had transpired.

 

“Kill ‘em all,” was Bors’s casual answer.

 

The two soldiers that were already dead were buried, no villager attended, the goings on had already reached their ears.

 

Ulixes cursed his step-daughters up and down, going as far as to say that they were possessed, and had seduced him, his senses having finally taken a permanent leave. He pleaded to “Lord” Ardeth for mercy, and when the Egyptian stared him down coldly the Roman cowered. Ardeth left the chamber several minutes later, reporting that Ulixes’ heart had renounced its mortality. There was no blood in the room, no sign of torture, yet Ulixes lay on the barren ground, staring up at the ceiling, eyes shot open in terror as if he had seen the heinous deeds he had committed throughout his life playing before him when he’d taken his last breath.

 

No one questioned Ardeth, no one mentioned the other two guards who had suffered the same mortal affliction as Ulixes when Ardeth had spoken to them. Tristan hid his smirk, admiring Ardeth all the more for his tactics in killing, although the scout himself would have preferred a bit more bloodshed.

 

Arthur had ordered a pit be dug for the Woads that had been decaying in front of the walls for one too many days. The soldiers endured the disgusting labor of putting the decomposed corpses in the pit, along with Ulixes and the other two guards and the heads that had been staked onto the iron gates. The pyre burned for hours, and by that evening the bodies were charred, and the pit was filled with earth.

 

During that day, Ardeth spoke to Eva and Nemo about their future. Raja sat on his lap, contented not to leave her uncle.

 

“Do you have any living relatives?” he asked them.

 

Nemo looked at her sister happily. “We have an Aunt Fortuna in Rome!”

 

Eva quieted her sister with a gentle pat on the hand. “Yes, we have an aunt who lives on a nice farm in the country.”

 

“My ship still needs to depart to Egypt after I meet them in a few days time. But if you would like, you can disembark with them. I will write a letter to my brother, and the two of you will be given a place to stay. He will arrange for another ship to take you to your aunt, if you wish it.”

 

Although Nemo had a wide grin on her face, Eva was silent, struck dumb. “Oh...but...that is so kind, I could never repay you, Lord Ardeth.”

 

Ardeth held up a hand with a kind smile. “Just Ardeth, please.”

 

“Ardeth,” she repeated.

 

“But cost is no matter. I will take care of everything. The important thing is that you and your sister are now safe, and have means at your disposal to take you where you would like.”

 

Eva fought back tears. “We cannot thank you enough.”

 

Nemo and Eva packed sufficient belongings to tide them over on the journey. They slept soundly in the room next to Raja’s, resting for they were to leave early the next morning. Nemo had reveled in being close to Raja, asking her questions about Egypt and what it was like, who was there. They were going to stay at Raja’s old home that had been repaired a couple of years ago.

 

Tristan had heard Nemo yak on and on whenever he was around. Raja introduced Nemo and Eva to all of them. To Tristan, it was odd knowing that a ship would be bound for Egypt without Raja and Ardeth on it. Occasionally he thought that Raja might suddenly want to leave with her new friend, Nemo. She had the chance to.

 

Later that night, Raja was in the stables with him. Since everything had happened, Tristan worried about how Raja would react to everything when it was over. She seemed to be holding up well enough, although she had dark circles under her eyes that were not there before she had seen what she had.

 

“Trissy,” she said, while she brushed Odin’s tail, “you haven’t washed since we left the fort, have you?” She arched a brow at him.

 

He stopped grooming Dyne for a mere second when he peered down at her, and only grunted.

 

“It might make you feel better,” she said, a musical lilt in her voice that told him she was feeling okay for the time being.

 

“I feel fine,” he replied.

 

“Ach! Okay, but you should at least wash your feet!” she told him. “I got everyone else to wash their feet, you have to too. And I brought clean socks for everyone,” she said, trying to make the prospect of cleanliness a positive thing.

 

Tristan griped a guttural sound that meant he relented. Raja brought him a bowl of warm water in his room, which he dunked his feet in.

 

“Don’t-”

 

“I’m not sniveling,” he finished for her.

 

“Yes you are,” she rebutted. “When you snivel you have that look on your face like you smelt something icky.” She put her hands on her hips and stared at him knowingly with a confident curl of her lips. “I know you too well, Trissy.”

 

He snorted in good humor.

 

While his feet soaked, they sat and ate apples in silence. Raja left the room for a moment and came back with a pair of socks, waving them in the air so they flopped around like bunny ears.

 

----

 

They left early the next morning, the journey was uneventful in terms of ill happenings. But Raja was upbeat, along with Nemo. Lancelot would look at Eva with sidelong glances, but Arthur chastised him with his eyes, Raja poked him in the ribs.

 

They arrived at Glevum two days later in mid-afternoon. The ship was to arrive the next day. Raja spent most of her time with Nemo and Eva who appeared to have a great load off of her shoulders, and hope for both her and Nemo’s future. Raja contemplated what to give Nemo to remember her by. She had never had a friend like her, and did not want to be forgotten.

 

Before she went to sleep that night, Raja bound her white lock of hair with a piece of twin, braided it securely, then bound the bottom part with another piece. She cut an inch above the top piece of twin, did the same below until she had six full inches of a braided lock of stark white hair that Nemo had constantly admired.

 

The parting was bittersweet. Eva thanked Ardeth, Arthur and his knights over and over, and Raja as well. The small Egyptian stood under the bright sunlight in front of Nemo on the docks.

 

She held out the braid she had cut from her hair with trepidation. Nemo stared at it, slowly reaching for the piece of hair before clasping it in her hands and holding it in her chest. Her blue eye gazed at Raja as if she had just been given the moon, stars and the universe with all its secrets. They hugged, and didn’t let go until Ardeth told them gently that the ship had to leave.

 

Raja stood holding her uncle’s hand as the ship sailed further and further away. A tear slipped down her cheek as she saw Nemo continue to wave with her gift in hand until both Raja and Nemo were mere specks in the other’s eyes. Four months later a letter would arrive at the fort reading that Eva and Nemo enjoyed Egypt very much, and were now healthy and content on their Aunt Fortuna’s farm.

 

The little Egyptian was quiet after that, quiet and solemn. Ardeth took her to the beach with Odin and Horus. Penelo circled with the white hawk over the ocean. The knights joined them and Raja’s spirits lifted. She collected a basket of shells for a while, then she took off her boots and rolled up her breeches to walk into the water.

 

She kicked the cool water, sprays of salt-water hit her face. “Odin! Odin!” she called. “Get back here, you’ll drown!” She splashed further into the ocean where Odin was rearing in. “You silly horse, come back!”

 

“Raja!” Ardeth called, now that his niece was getting too deep in the water.

 

A wave knocked her on her butt and she tumbled backwards, coming up from under the water, spitting out the salty taste. The men laughed in good humor.

 

“It’s not funny!” she yelled back at them, shaking a small fist in the air. Odin walked out of the water, but Raja stayed where she was. “I’d tell you to get in the water, but you would all sink with that silly-looking armor on!”

 

“Hey!” they all grumbled at her.

 

“Tin-men!” she called back.

 

Lancelot scoffed. He took off his armor, boots and socks, rolled up his own pants and treaded in to her. Bors and Dagonet did the same, Arthur took off his armor but only sat on the sand.

 

Tristan stood a few paces away from Ardeth, watching as the four of them got soaked and passed Raja around from one pair of arms to another.

 

“You can’t toss Egyptians!” she yelled at them, her voice trailing to the shore by the wind.

 

Tristan’s chest rumbled in laughter. Finally, he took off his boots and socks, only to tread in the shallow part of the water, letting the coolness of it wash his sore feet.

 

Lancelot carried Raja over his shoulder as she still grumbled back to shore. He set her down on the sand, and Ardeth put his war cloak around her, her teeth were chattering.

 

“I think a warm fire is in order, little one,” he said.

 

----

 

The next morning, Lancelot went into the stables to prepare Adonis for their leave. Adonis had small blue flowers braided in his main...all the other horses did too.

 

He looked around, knowing his cousin was there.

 

“I think the blue flowers suit him better than the white,” she said.

 

“You...little...” Lancelot chased after her, and after dodging him for a few minutes he finally caught her.

 

Raja squealed when he tickled her. He grr-ed in mock frustration and picked her up, swung her around and set her back down on her feet. She brushed the hair out of her eyes a smile still plastered on her face.

 

Lancelot bent down with his hands on his knees. “I can always count on you to be a pain in my ass, huh?” But he smiled at her fondly, pulling her into a brief, spontaneous hug.

 

A few minutes later the other men came in, seeing that their own mounts had flowers braided into their manes. When they complained and tried to remove them, their hoses whinnied and protested indignantly with swishes of their tails and furious snorts.

 

Ardeth was the only one who didn’t say anything about the three flowers braided in Ra’s hair. He just sighed and patted Ra on the head. “We will have to make do, yes?” he said to his mount.

 

----

 

The night they arrived back at the fort, Raja crept into Tristan’s bed and onto his chest. He wrapped her in a cocoon of his arms, wishing he could have done the like a week ago when she was scared at the villa. Raja twisted a strand of hair around her finger, dozing off.

 

Tristan wanted to keep her in a cocoon always, but he knew it could not be so. The little hellion would break free, to either play, or get herself in some trouble where he would be there to protect her. Not because she needed protection, but because he wanted to protect her. She could call his name, and he would come, ever her defender. And he knew in his heart, that she would protect him in her own way, as she had done since he first met her.

 

Every signal that you send
Until the very end
I'm there
So whistle down the wind
For I have always been
Right there

 

8/5/07

 

Meanings:

Ana bahebak/bahebik: I love you