Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Fiona glanced up from the vegetables that she was cutting as Hara called her over. She nodded and dusted her hands off on her apron before she met the woman that had wanted to speak with her. It was a surprise when the news of her grandfather's will came up. Owen Blackstone had loved her more than life, but she had never thought that he was wealthy enough to leave behind anything.

"My grandfather's will?" She asked the woman, slightly surprised that it would have come up after all this time. "I didn't know that my grandfather had anything left to give to me when the end came."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He had several investments in Greece that have come to fruition, but I wouldn't talk in the open about such things, for your sake," she said softly. "If you don't mind, I have a camp nearby with all the papers and items in question. If your employer would be willing to let you go for a bit..."

Hara gave Fiona a smile. "Go on, dear. She must be a busy woman, and family matters are too important to wait."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona's skin itched as the woman talked. Something didn't seem right about the entire situation but she couldn't tell Hara that she felt uneasy. She simply nodded as she moved back into the kitchen to leave behind her apron. She grabbed a small knife and slipped it into her pocket, just in case something happened that was beyond her control.

"Lead the way." Fiona said, motioning for the woman to lead her towards her camp.

 

[KieranSoares]

The Greek woman led Fiona out of the village and down the road until she took a turn into the forest with a clear direction in mind. They soon arrived at a little clearing where everything seemed in order. The woman approached a small wagon and opened up the canvas cover. It seemed as if she were telling the truth until, instead of any papers or valuables, she pulled out a loaded crossbow. Fiona was a good ten feet from her. "Don't move," she said calmly, the crossbow leveled at Fiona's chest.

"Samuel Ghis is coming for you, and you're going to admit to being Morgan Kerrigan's partner. You're going to put up a fight, and you're going to keep him out in the open." That last bit told Fiona that the woman was there to finish Morgan's work in assassinating the Ghis family, and Fiona was going to be the scapegoat.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was stunned as the woman pulled a loaded cross bow from the back of the wagon, leveling at her chest and telling her that she would admit that she had been Morgan's partner. She shook her head, looking at the woman as she stated that Samuel Ghis was already on his way for her. She would not be complacent in someone's death.

"Who is doing all of this?" Fiona asked, listening to the woods around them in order to gauge what direction she would run.

To her left was the stream, where she could easily lose the woman in the thick trees. To her right was the main road, which Sam was more than likely traveling on right that moment. If she dodged to the side, she would make it to the woods and beyond, able to hide until the danger was over.

 

[KieranSoares]

"That is classified information." So this woman was a professional. Her finger moved to the trigger, anticipating that her prey would flee. "Don't even think about it." By the other tents in her camp, it became clear she had comrades.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I wouldn't dream of it." Fiona said as she shrugged her shoulders slightly and acted as cool as she possibly could. "But you know that none of this plan will actually happen. Samuel Ghis could care less about me. His family has a tight reign around these parts and they make sure that nothing goes on outside of their careful plans."

She was biding time as her hand went towards her pocket to get the small knife that she had taken before she left Hara's restaurant. Her brain was whirring fast, thinking over all the different possibilities. She might die. Will could take care of himself, but she didn't relish leaving him so soon. Samuel Ghis might die, but she would do everything in her power to make sure that didn't happen.

"Well, what do you know? There he is." Fiona said, looking over the woman's shoulder until she moved slightly.

When the woman moved, she took the knife and threw it, hoping that it gave her enough time to escape into the woods.

 

[KieranSoares]

Luck was with- or against- Fiona in that moment when the knife flew true and snapped the crossbow string before shredding past the woman's neck. Blood spurted from the cut artery and she collapsed against the cart, clutching the wound helplessly with a startled cry. But it would only be minutes before she bled out.

Off from the direction of the road, a soldier appeared at the worst possible time to see the woman bleeding and Fiona clearly the attacker. "Halt!" He shouted, drawing his sword and rushing Fiona.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona watched the woman fall, her hand clutching the bloody wound at her throat. She hadn't meant to kiss her, but she had no doubt that the woman would have killed her without hesitation. Her world crumbled, however. She knew that there was no way that she could go back to Inverness, the were villages, or perhaps even stay in Scotland any longer. Will was on his own. She was as good as dead.

When she heard the guard telling her to halt, she didn't hesitate to run. She ran towards the river, the guard's steps heavy behind her as he gave chase.

 

[KieranSoares]

He gave chase as long as he could, but his armor and lack of familiarity with the area quickly slowed him down til he lost her altogether. He roared after her, but he wouldn't find her with how loudly his armor clanked and how slow he was. When he finally gave up, he headed back to the road with the intention of calling in the rangers and werefolk who could search more thoroughly and catch her more easily.

 

[heartofcourage]

As soon as Fiona crossed the river, she knew that she needed to keep going. Her grandfather's old cabin, run down as it was, should have still been standing deep in the forest. It would give her a place to rest and figure out what her next move was. Everything was going too fast for her to think about.

 

[KieranSoares]

That evening, Sam returned to the keep in a quiet rage, Kell calmly beside him looking rather disappointed. Sam didn't stop to talk, going to write down reports while they were still fresh in his mind. Kell was the one who brought the bad news to Julia.

He sat down beside her in the parlor with a sigh, and Julia could see a bloodstain on his sleeve but he was unhurt.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia had spent the day tending to Brogan's needs. He seemed to be better, stronger than he was, but still very tired. Once she had left him to rest with Ashelin still at his side, she returned to the parlor to sit and wait for Kell and Sam to return.

"What happened?" Julia asked when Kell returned, a blood stain on his shirt and Sam in an obviously foul mood. "Please don't tell me that she did something drastic."

 

[KieranSoares]

"When a guard found her, she had thrown a knife at a foreign woman and hit the artery in her neck. The woman died of blood loss and Miss Blackstone fled. The best that we can tell from what was in the woman's camp, and according to her partners who arrived later, she had come to give Miss Blackstone an inheritance from her grandfather that had been left in Greece. The woman had a crossbow, but it looked like she was trying to defend herself. She was a Greek government official..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia was quiet for a long moment, pursing her lips as she thought about the situation. She was never one to let her anger control her or to talk about something without considering all sides first. She gently shook her head as she looked towards Kell.

"Sam will want to see her hanged." Julia said softly. "I love him dearly, but he is a stubborn man who only sees things in black and white. Fiona Blackstone has no record beyond stealing a few pieces of food to survive. She's not a brutal killer and I'm sure that she's scared right now. Kell, please be the voice of reason in this situation."

She reached over and squeezed his hand, giving him the strength that she had always had when it came to stressful matters in Inverness. "We need your level head to help us through."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I've always been the voice of reason, Julia. That's why you and Brogan let me marry Kate." He gave her a gentle smile, always having been the even-tempered Lord Protector since receiving the title. "I'll look after Sam til he can approach this sanely."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Thank you, love." Julia said softly, considering Kell just as much her son as any of the boys that she had actually given birth to. "And do me another favor...tell Brogan about Kate. A mother knows when her baby is under the weather and she has looked a little green the past few mornings. It will brighten his mood to know that she's going to be a mother."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I wouldn't want to excite him too much. And he might get a little short with her for not telling him herself." He then chuckled. "Then again, I doubt she even realizes yet." Kell and Julia had figured it out between their own suspicions and Vincenzo's thoughts.

 

[heartofcourage]

"She's been busy lately. Not too busy, I can tell..." Julia teased with a smile as Kell's ears folded back slightly in embarrassment. "I know that all of Scotland will have high hopes for that little cub. You will be an excellent father, Kell. Just love and support them both like you always have."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We're just following your example with Brogan," Kell teased right back, knowing the older couple were never too busy for one another. Kate was now in her mid-twenties, and Kell nearly thirty. They hadn't made their own family a primary concern in their first years of rule, deciding that if a baby came along, then so be it. But by twenty-four, Kate had begun to feel the pull of maternal instinct, only to spend two fruitless years trying for a baby. She'd nearly lost hope by this point, most doctors attributing the difficulty to her petite stature.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm happy for the both of you. Scared for Kate and all she will go through with her lords, but I know that she can handle it beautifully. She knows how to be fierce when she needs to be. She learned that from her Da." Julia said as she leaned in and kissed Kell's cheek. "Go spend some time with her. She went to bed an hour ago, but she promised that she would try to stay up until you can back."

 

[KieranSoares]

"She learned it from you more than anyone," he murmured before kissing her cheek in return. "Goodnight, Julia." With that, he rose to make his way to Kate's room.

Opening the door quietly, he stepped in and let it swing silently shut, looking to see if Kate had managed to stay awake.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was tucked into bed already, dozing with her state papers around her. It was a common sight. She would work in bed until she had exhausted herself to the point of falling asleep. There always seemed to be something that needed her urgent attention and she hardly had time to do it all. Considering that she had been off the past few weeks when she woke in the morning, the night time was all that she had.

She opened her green eyes when she heard the door open and she smiled when she saw Kell. Khan lifted his great white head from his paws, letting out a soft mew before he went back to dozing in front of the fire when he saw that it was just his master.

"I managed to stay up for you." She said with a smile towards him, laughing softly at their little joke.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Barely," Kell chuckled, coming to gather the papers up and lay them aside. "You really shouldn't do this to yourself every single night, love." He crawled into bed beside her and let his arm drape across her waist.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know, but there isn't enough time in the day to do all I need to do." Kate said as she snuggle up against Kell's warm side. "It's not my fault that you're always running off to play the hero. I heard that Sam left in a fury over that Blackstone girl."