19.
Lord Pendragon stood on the castle ground
watching his warriors trained in their morning session. He was in a foul mood
and then approached the training ground. He picked up the training sword; made
of wood and weighed with metal piece on the hilt to mimic the real sword in
weight. He looked to the four warriors of his calling. They are battle trained
with the numerous scars seen on their body.
Lord Pendragon without any warning calls,
stormed at the group of warriors with the wooden sword swinging. The other four
warriors with their instinct horned in battles, reacted to the Lord’s attack
with deflection then retreated. There was some apprehension on the group but
soon they were charging at the Lord with their wooden sword. The slashing and
cuts were intense with no quarters shown but the Lord Pendragon with his years
of fighting held his own against the four. He was hit several times and reciprocated
with his own towards the others. The bout of fight soon came to an end when the
Lord himself surrendered.
“I treasured such days but my body aches
from places I knew never of.” Lord Pendragon dropped the wooden sword then
having shown signs of breaks on the edges. He then reached for the wooden cup
to quench his thirst. “It’s not wine but in the battlefield, the water is the
wine.”
“How may we be of service to you, my
Lord?” Lord Pendragon heard the offer by his warrior. He looked to the one who
spoke.
“Julian, I hid nothing from you. I need a
task to be done; discreet and …”
“Say no more, my Lord. Give us the name.”
“Auric Augustus.” It was said and the task
was set. It was the same with the warrior Belvedere who had concerned on Lord
Meleagant. He had heard the call to prepare for battle with the barbarians but
he could not find his master. He searched the half complete castle and the
surrounding lands. It was by chance he met the household servant.
“Have you seen our Lord Meleagant?”
Belvedere looked to the elderly lady who was the washing lady.
“Yea, he went to the valley there by the
wall.” Belvedere rushed over on his legs towards the area indicated where the
stream flowed. He climbed the low hill and then trailed the stream in the
valley. He was to reach the cluster of trees when he heard voices. He stopped
to listen before he peeped at the trees.
“Claudius, I am tired of the wait.” The
voice was that of a lady. Belvedere moved silently towards the trees taking his
steps carefully. He stopped by the tree trunk and then looked past it. He saw a
lady standing there telling Lord Meleagant of her plight.
“He is getting ever unbearing of late.”
The lady told the other. “I will …I must be cleared of him.”
“Julia, you will be soon. That is my
promise to you but we have to bide our time.” Lord Meleagant gave his
assurance. “I am working on it. He may be disposed of during the battle or at
worse by the dagger in the chest.”
“Do you know that Igraine is back here?”
Julia asked. “She is back with her lover.”
“I know she was in your camp, but I did
not know that Pendragon is here. I thought he was away which was why I came
back here. I have influenced on the others in his land. When did she leave with
him?”
“A forth night and now resides in his
castle. She must be punished for her role in Gorlois death.” Julia remarked
back. “You must alert the others. Utter Pendragon day’s are over.”
“I am meeting them soon. Lord Amish have called for a meet.” Lord
Meleagant assured the lady once more. “Julia, please refrain from doing
something silly. I will have King Gorlois name resurrected. And then you can
have peace on your cousin’s death.”
“What
of my peace with you? Are we condemn to be individuals with no real
companionship?” Julia looked at Lord Meleagant.
“We will bide our time. And when its all
done, we shall be united.” Lord Meleagant replied. “Now go in peace.”
Belvedere watched the couple before he
took to his own departure. He turned and saw the mercenary standing there. He
recognised the figure was from the Auxiliaries.
“I believed you are intruding, mercenary?”
The Auxiliary told him. “I don’t like that. And so does Lord Meleagant.”
“Lord Meleagant is my master. I have come
to protect him.” Belvedere replied. “Who are you? I have seen you with the
Auxiliaries.”
“I am Chief Asterix. I am of the Auxiliaries and alike to them, I also
worked for Lord Meleagant. I hold his interest above all else.”
Belvedere was surprised tat the Lord have
entrusted his safety to another without letting him know. Belvedere have worked
his way to hold the trust of the Lord but he was wrong. It seems that the
benefactor of his works was not to be to be trusted. He told the Auxiliaries
that he was to leave but was stopped.
“I have not given you permission. And more
to that my Lordship does not condone others to know of his …” Chief Asterix
struggled to find the word and then decided to place action to his next move.
He moved to drew his sword but Belvedere had anticipated the move. He stepped
up and held his right hand on the other’s sword hilt.
“We are on the same side. We don’t need to
fight.” Belvedere tried to reason with the order. “Your Lordship is also mine.”
“I … will not share my place with you.”
The Auxiliary challenged back. “I will have you removed.”
Belvedere moved ahead of the other. He
pulled the sword by the hilt of the other’s sword and swung the sword pressing
in to the other’s chest. The blade of the sword slashed into flesh there at the
chest and into the left shoulder. The other screamed and retreated backwards
but Belvedere kicked with his left leg before he charged into the Auxiliary.
They went down together and rolled on the ground. Belvedere crouched up before
landing a punch on the other. He then took the dagger on the other’s waist and
thrust it into the throat.
The fight was over.
The trust between the warrior and the
leader was in question then.
20.
Lancelot looked at the gathered there on
the clearing north of the wall. They have all been summoned from afar to ride
there. He estimated they were about three hundred then; a huge army by their
standards. The Chiefs have ridden out to gather the new warriors with the
warning that it was their final battle for when the wall was done, they will be
doomed.
“We are not only doomed by it the Saxon
will come by next summer and it will be a heavy price to pay they will isolate
us there and kill us all.”
The threat of the Anglo Saxon was huge and
it drove the locals to join in then. Lancelot was pleased but he was shocked by
the decision then.
“You want to join the invaders? Why? They
are here to kill and pillage our homes.” Lancelot raised the protest. “I can’t
be …”
“You are not needed, Ghost.” The one on
the left dressed in the overcoat and was armed with a huge battle axe. “I, Alex
will take over. I will lead you all.”
“The leadership under Alexander Semak will
be your end.” Lancelot stood up to defend his position. “He …”
Lancelot was shocked by the appearance of
one other. He was dressed similarly like Alex and held a battle axe. He was
from the North and was not supposed to be there.
“Hengist Algar…Why I am not surprise?
Where is your brother, Horsa?” Lancelot roared out. His resentment for the
other was deep rooted. Hengist and his brother have once betrayed him to the
Pictsa, and he barely escaped with his life. He was up North to sough a parley
with them and to avoid the yearly raids. He was allowed into their land and
then imprisoned. He did kill three of their warrior and they bargained him to
the Picts. He escaped when the guard was lax in the duty.
“Lancelot the Ghost. You were to be one
but your desire to kill me strengthen and resolved you to live.” Hengist looked
at Lancelot. “You have created quite a reputation in that two seasons.”
“Two season, you were wrong. It was one
and the only reason you are standing here was because I was preoccupied by the
Romans.” Lancelot replied. He then looked at the others. “The Romans are our
real threat.”
“I agree but we are here to offer you our
friendship.” Hengist cut in. “Our threat is the Roman’s. They were massing on
the Antoinne Wall. They had started on the other wall, and then they took the
land south of it. Now they are here. They are creepi. ng onto us. Soon we will
be at the beaches.”
“You missed the highlands and lochs. If
you ever knew them, they are nice people. You would not want to be unfriendly
with them.” Lancelot gave out a smirk on his face. “I say we cannot trust
them.”
“I say we unite or die by the swords of
the Roman.” Hengist reinforced the other threat.
“Are you offering to join us? In an
alliance? Against who? The Picts or the Romans? I doubt it so. You have been
invading us for the last ten years, or more. Now you are to be our ally.”
Lancelot laughed out. “I won’t have you guarding my own backyard.”
“I won’t. They will be happy to have me.”
Hengist looked to the others. “We have already an arrangement.”
An arrangement was then by Primus Artorius
then with his legionnaires. He had the attendance of Lamorak, his Optio, the
Decurio Galahad, and the leader of the mercenaries was missing. Chief Asterix
was not to be found. The Primus had arranged for another to replace Chief
Asterix. They were in the Primus tent and sat by the round table. It was a small one that could
accommodate six persons. The Primus had said that when he made it to Legatus he
will hold a bigger table. One that could accommodate up to twelve with space
for more. On that meeting, they were served wine before the real talk became
intense.
“Where is Asterix? He is unreliable. I
never liked him. If he was in the Legions, I will have him whipped and removed
without any….” Lamorak was distracted then. He saw the new arrival. He was a familiar face.
“This is Belvedere. He is from Lord
Meleagant but now he served me. I have secured his services but he will also
ensure Meleagant camp will be protected. Its my promise to the Lord. Now that
we got that clear we will proceed to the threat on the horizon.”
“The Anglo Saxon have marched south. We
heard that they are working with the local clans to fight us. We cannot fight
them alone. The Cohort is small in numbers but we are the Legionnaires. We will
handle the coming battle.”
“What about the Cohorts? The Sixth and the
Eight are a ride away.” Lamorak voiced out. “Or the other Legions. They are the
others …”
“The others have their own tasks. As we
speak, the XX Legion had been given their recall orders. Rome may be
withdrawing from Brittanica.” Primus Artorius told the others. “The wall is not
ready. If we stay here, we will lose. I will take the fight to the Anglo
Saxons. There are places I can fight them. I will get local to help me if need
be.”
“How?” Optio Lamorak was sceptical on the
move. “We are secured here. The wall here is almost done.”
“No, we are not. The Wall is not secured.
Its only an obstacle. We need a real wall. One with the high walls, and the
towers. And archers on there to kill them. The Equities will then ride out and
take them down. For the finale the Legionaries will do the final honour.”
“You are mad, Primus Artorius.” Optio
Lamorak glared at his commander.
“Are on ranks now? At this level when we
are supposed to discuss like warriors? Or was it men?” The Primus smiled. He
then looked at Belvedere. “We are all equals when we sit on the table. No
Primus, no Optio, and no …Decurio.”
“Yes, the Decurio is an equal here.’
Primus Artorius meekly acknowledged that. “The ones I treasured are my equal
despite their ranks. Even a lady maid may sit here if she could offer me good
advice.”
“So, do sit, Belvedere. Tell me again what
you told me.”
“I was …I mean that I know of someone who
could help. It was one of the servants. She was from this land. She said they
disliked the invaders. They come and kill anyone they could. Steal their
valuables. They return every season the same time. The servant felt that we
could do something. She told me she can get me help.”
“And for that you are here?” Lamorak hit
back. “Artorius, are you really mad? When have we been so quaint on whom we can
invite here?”
“No, it’s not that. I met the local help.
He will join us….just about now.” The Primus stood up and looked to the new
arrival. It was Merlin.
“How did …” Lamorak was surprised.
“I am a druid. And we have a way to come
and go as we like.” Merlin stepped up. “You can’t survive unless I help you.”
“Arthur. That is your name.” Merlin ended
his words.
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