Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"You'll have room for more, love. Trust me." Julia said with a small chuckle as he son insisted that his heart could barely handle all that he already loved. "Ciaran thought the same after her lost Lir. He was so scared that the world would hate him and that he would never find anyone that he loved as much. I'm very happy that he did and that he is content with his life."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Justin takes good care of him," Sam agreed. Justin had become Ciaran's friend just before their visit to Edinburgh before Kate took the throne, but it hadn't taken too long after they returned home for Julia to catch her son and the handsome chocolate-colored wolf holding hands and following one another like lost cubs. Now, Ciaran was Captain of the rangers and Justin was a fairly successful tailor responsible for the uniforms of rangers and foresters.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Just be open to the idea, love. That's all that I ask. A life without that person that completes you is a miserable existence." Julia said as Sam sat across from her.

 

[KieranSoares]

The next day, Sam went out once more, but this time it wasn't for patrols. He was intent on tracking Fiona down. He'd spent years honing his tracking skills, so once he picked up her trail at the river, he found signs here and there of where she'd gone. He followed the trail for hours until he found what was certainly her campsite, but she wasn't there. He looked around in silence for some time until he began preparing to ambush her. He was going to catch her this time.

But when Fiona finally returned from setting traps in the woods for food, she came upon a sight that was both pitiful and comical. Poor Sam was stuck in a sapling snare, a small-animal trap attached to a bent-over sapling that, when triggered by the animal, would release the sapling and snap their neck or hang them from the sapling once it stood up. It'd caught Sam by the boot and so he was laying there struggling to reach up to his foot near the middle of the seven-foot saplingand unbind the snare, but his leather chestplate was too bulky to sit up far enough. Just as she arrived, he gave up, laying back and breathing heavily after the struggle, realizing he was stuck and it was too tight to slip his foot out of the boot itself.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona came up the scene and couldn't hide her laughter. Samuel Ghis struggled with the snare that she had set up like a turtle that was trapped on its shell. He looked defeated, embarrassed, and a little annoyed as she stepped into his line of sight.

"Well, I had hoped to catch breakfast in this snare. Instead, I caught a prince." Fiona murmured as she stood there in front of him. "I should leave you here to teach you a lesson, however, I am feeling generous today. What will you give me in return if I release you?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don' make deals with criminals," Sam snarled, struggling once more to reach his boot. If he weren't stuck on his back, he could've reached behind him and unfastened the buckles that held the chest plate on and been out easily. But luck was just not on Sam's side as no amount of struggling or twisting could position him just so to get to his caught foot or the release of his armor. Finally, he fell still once more except for his heavy breathing at the exertion, and he fixed Fiona with a dark glare.

"Alrigh'... I'll leave you alone t'day..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona watched him as he stubbornly twisted and turned, struggling to get out of his predicament with some sense of pride and decorum. When he finally gave up and told her that he would let her go for today, she gave him a smile and soon had him loose with a cut from her sharp knife.

"Good to know. Of course, I'll have to move my camp now that you know where I've been staying." Fiona said as she moved to take a seat next to her campfire to cook herself lunch. "You're welcome to eat too. All of that struggling must have worked up and appetite."

 

[KieranSoares]

As Sam lay there for a moment after she cut him loose, he briefly considered going back on his word. But with pride also came an inalienable conduct of honor. So when he stood, he didn't try to trap or catch her. He dusted himself off and glanced at her as she welcomed him to eat too. It felt so strange, to say the least, the the woman whose life he was making so much harder was welcoming him to join her for a meal. Now he knew how Brogan had felt about Ria, he thought to himself.

It took him a long moment to swallow his pride and certain morals and actually take a seat to Fiona's left, but not too close as if proving he wasn't going to go back on his word.

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's not much." Fiona said with a shrug of her shoulders as she cooked over the fire. "But is warm and will keep you going."

She poured the thick mixture of rice and vegetables into a bowl and offered it to Sam before she did the same for herself. "We have honor, you know. Even if I am a thief, I do have pride and I do care for people."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know," he murmured. "I know what y'did fer tha' boy Will. An' I know Kell brought tha' inheritance to you, an' you gave it t'yer friend. Since 'e's makin' such an effort t'be good an' join th' rangers, I 'ad Rho write 'im a pardon." That was something Sam never did. Will was a known thief and had many charges from food vendors and was in trouble for 'borrowing' horses and returning them in the wee hours of the morning. But Sam, not Rho, had asked for a pardon to give him all the chance in the world to succeed and be honest.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Will's a good kid. He has a bright future ahead of him. I told him that now he has a legitimate job and life he needs to work hard to stay that way." She said as she glanced towards Sam, surprised that he had given Will a full pardon. "He will use that money to keep a roof over his head and I wouldn't have it any other way."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Hm... Good. Still mad a' Kell, though," Sam murmured as he ate. "But I 'ope you know this doesn' change anything after today. Th'hunt's still back on tomorrow." Even if she were judged innocent by his brother after capture, it was Sam's new mission to catch her fair and square.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know." Fiona said as she glanced at Sam. "However, I know I can catch you in a snare now, so I shall sleep easier."

She gave him a small grin as she finished eating her meal and then sat there with a long sigh. "I'll move my camp tomorrow. Hide a little better. I know that you have a duty to your brother and your father, but I know that I don't belong in jail."

 

[KieranSoares]

"That remains to t'be seen when I catch you." Sam finished soon after her and stood. "Th'patrols're spreading out further into th' eastern woods t'morrow morning," he murmured, as if he didn't want anyone else to catch her. "Good luck." With that, he went on his way.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was a little stunned when Sam told her that the guards would be spreading out to the East. She had no idea what his game was, but it seemed as if he wanted to be the one to catch her. He was giving her the chance to move her camp and to make sure that she wouldn't be caught by anyone else. That startled her a little bit. Why would Samuel Ghis even care?

That evening she packed up her belongings and used the cover of night to move. She went to the West, closer to where the woods would lessen and she would be closer to the highlands. It was beautiful scenery out there, which had inspired her grandfather to write about those very hills that she would see come morning.

 

[KieranSoares]

The only downside for Fiona when it came to Sam telling her where the patrols would thicken was that Sam would know she wasn't going to stay in the area. The thinner western woods where the Erygonians lived wasn't ever as heavily patrolled because the Erygonians, though peaceful, could be absolutely vicious and deadly to badly-intentioned visitors. The south was less of an option because it was open flatland and farms, while the north led to the bay, but all along the bay was some of the thicker western wood. So Sam knew east and south weren't likely choices for his target.

The morning, Sam was a little less brooding as he emerged from his room pulling on his cloak before sitting down to breakfast with his family.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You seem to be in a better mood today." Julia commented as Sam joined the rest of the family for breakfast.

Kate glanced towards her brother and then at Kell, wondering just when would be the right moment to tell them all the news that she had received from the healer. There didn't seem to be a right moment and so she kept quiet. It was excruciating because she wanted to tell them all, but it seemed that they had other things to discuss first.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I am. A good sleep does wonders," Sam told her simply. It was crystal clear that his reasoning wasn't the whole truth.

Kell took Kate's hand, seeing the look she gave him, and he offered her a smile and a kiss to soothe her.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate glanced towards her mate as he took her hand and kissed her cheek. He was always supporting, always seeming to know when she needed a shoulder to lean on. There was no better time to do this, she thought to herself as she looked around at her entire family.

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out, everything suddenly coming to a halt around them.

 

[KieranSoares]

Her brothers and sisters all stared at her as if she'd just told them the most awe-inspiring thing they'd ever heard. Brogan, who'd managed to join the family thanks to Ciaran and Kell's help, chuckled warmly telling Kate he wasn't terribly surprised, and Kell was just about the same, hugging her close to his side.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Scotland has an heir." Kate said softly as Kell hugged her close to his side as Brogan explained that he wasn't surprised. "A strong and healthy one by the sounds of it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your wolf knew before you did, love," Brogan told her with an ever so slightly mischievous grin, knowing he'd get Kell in trouble.

"Only a short while," Kell insisted.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, if I hadn't been so busy maybe I would have known much sooner too. I thought it was all because I was working too hard." Kate said as she glanced at Kell with a smile on her face. "But we've been trying for so long. I'm happy that it's finally happening."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You are working too hard. That's always a given," Kell teased, nuzzling against her neck lightly.

"He's no' wrong, kitten," Brogan said with a nod. "Ye'll need t'let him an' yer advisors take part o' tha' huge pile o' work and have it stay tha' way from now on. Tha' baby's goin' t'need most o' yer attention fer a long time." He then motioned her over as he couldn't quite get up. "C'mere, lovely."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate smiled and instantly went to her father's side, hugging him tightly. "You need to take it easy too. I want you around for a long, long time." Kate whispered against his ear.