Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Kate was there to pick up the slack when your father was forced to retreat. She would rush forward with her own Claymore, fighting men that were twice her size with a skill that other men didn’t ha be. She was a force to be reckoned with when her mind was set to the task at hand.

 

[KieranSoares]

It didn't take long for more Axemen to join, and soon Kate and Brogan were at the forefront of the push into the castle. When they cleared the doors, a group push broke the bar on the inside of the door and Axemen flooded into the main hall.

"Spread out, search everywhere. Give quarter if y'can," Brogan roared over their men. "I'll take the second floor. Kate, the lord's probably on th'third. Anyone who finds nobility, capture them an' bring them t'the main chamber!"

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate took her father’s instruction and nodded, gathering her own small contingent to search the floors as they took over the keep. “Alba! By decree of the king of England, you are ordered to surrender! If you do so in an orderly manner, your family and those with you will not be harmed!”

 

[KieranSoares]

A voice answered almost immediately, "The English Crown holds no authority here!" Kate's men went on, opening doors to locate the voice until, upon opening one, the leading man was struck by a crossbow bolt and stumbled back into the opposite wall. Five more rushed in and a fight ensued, but Kate was otherwise distracted as an arm snatched her from behind, trapping her in a headlock. Just by the sleeve, she would know it was one of her father's own men.

Brogan turned, shock crossing his features, quickly followed by anger as he brought his sword to bear. "Thanedge... Don't do this, lad..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was about to enter the room behind her father's men when she was snatched from behind, the headlock tight enough that it restricted her airflow. She saw recognition on her father's face as he pleaded with one of his men to not do this. She couldn't breathe and she was soon reaching for the dagger at her belt to relieve the pressure at her throat.

 

[KieranSoares]

As Kate reached for the dagger, the man behind her let out a startled gasp and suddenly let her go, collapsing to the floor with eyes wide in shock and death. There stood Kell, deep annoyance and frustration in his expression as he muttered, "Found you, you rat." He took Kate's arm as Brogan straightened and sighed in relief, and Kell hugged Kate tightly, looking at her bruised throat. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "He left a false trail... I didn't realize til twenty minutes ago that he was in your unit..."

Brogan looked down at the dead Axeman, muttering, "Thanedge joined us three years back. Was 'e bought off?"

"Yes and no," Kell sighed. "He was the son of one of Oliver Colton's men. He joined the Axemen to get away from his father's profession, though he brought some skills in from his father's work. I don't know what caused him to shift yet, but he was either threatened or offered a bounty for Kate. I'll explain more later. I'm confident Thanedge was the only one left. For now..."

 

[heartofcourage]

The instant that Kate could breathe again, she went weak at the knees. Gasping for air, she found herself in her husband's arms, the wolf holding her tightly and apologizing for not being able to help her sooner. None of that mattered, really. She was alive and the person responsible dead. It would eat at her father to know that it had been a man in his own employ, but there was nothing that could be done for that now.

"Let's finish this." Kate croaked out, coughing to try and help her voice return to normal.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Stay here for a moment," Kell muttered, keeping Kate beside him and offering his canteen as Brogan hesitated to leave them. A glance shared between the men, and Brogan finally tore himself away to complete the mission.

Kell looked Kate over quickly. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, deep concern chasing away his frustration with himself momentarily. "He wouldn't have gotten the chance if Qira hadn't been wounded..."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I’m fine, Khelt.” Kate said sharply, more upset with herself than with him that she had even been placed in that position. “It’s just a little bruising. Certainly nothing of concern.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Of course it's of concern..." Kell sighed, placing her sword back in her hands. "Go, then. I'll be with you."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate said nothing else as she was handed her sword back, moving ahead of Kell to hunt down Alba. She was angry at the world now, especially since her father had almost seen her very injured or killed. She wouldn’t stand for that.

 

[KieranSoares]

It wasn't long before men came by her hauling a nobleman with a deep gash in his sword arm, and a woman, likely his wife, and three small children were gently but firmly guided along behind by some of the older Axemen, trying to keep the family from anything too violent. But after an hour of searching the castle and even spreading out into the city, there was no sign of Alba himself.

In the main hall, the nobleman was brought before Kate and Henry when things began to settle and the Rothbury soldiers surrendered. Allowed to stand with hands bound, the nobleman stalked toward Henry.

"How dare you!" He snarled, held back by two English royal guards. "Is this how you treat your lords, you tyrant?! Invading as you please with Scottish dogs?! How many of my best men have you murdered? How many families have lost fathers today? How many homes have you pillaged, how many women raped by these northern heathens?!"

Henry faced the man calmly, glancing over his shoulder as Brogan, Durban, and Boar looked on in equal calm. They were used to being considered monsters by the northern English after generations of war along the border that only lightened during the reign of Brian Cross and Brogan himself.

"Baron Jonathan Sordeaux," Henry spoke up, stepping forward. "We have found evidence of your harboring dangerous fugitives wanted by the English court, most of all one Baron Thomas Redcourt of Alba who has attacked holdings of the Scottish throne without order or prompting, a court of allies and personal friends of mine. How do you answer these charges?"

Baron Rothbury glared death at Henry, "Yes, Alba has been here, he ran with all his men and left me for dead when you opened the gates. The bastard can burn for all I care."

"So you weren't helping him?" Henry narrowed his eyes.

"He was passing through. He was a friend of mine, I welcomed him and he suddenly brought an army to my doorstep. I thought he was going to attack me, but he insisted he was just staying a few nights before heading back to the border. I told him he could stay, but I refused to aid him in border raids without royal orders."

Henry took a deep breath and sighed. "I will investigate your claims. If this is true, then I owe you far more than an apology, Thomas. But you must understand, Alba has not only sacked a Scottish fort, he had his men torture most of the Castor family and murder them in gruesome fashion. If you supported him beyond letting him stay a few nights, you will be punished severely."

"I have nothing to hide," Rothbury growled. "At least leave my family be. They have nothing to do with these politics and battles."

"We may question Lady Amelia," Henry looked past him to Lady Rothbury. "But I agree. They are not a part of this." He looked then to his guardsmen. "The noble family are to be under house arrest from this point, sequestered to the third floor unless escorted. Do not disrupt the lives of the children any further. Take the Lady and children upstairs. But Lord Rothbury will remain with us for now."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the guards agreed, escorting the family upstairs but leaving Rothbury himself, who was quickly seen to by medics.

Henry turned to Brogan, Durban, Kate, and Boar with a sigh. "I truly, deeply hope to God that this wasn't a massive mistake..."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Sometimes in war, Henry, we must make choices that might seem wrong at first but prove to be part of a larger plan when looked back on in hindsight.” Kate rasped out, looking to her fellow ruler. “Our intel was good. We did this with minimal loss of life. Of course, Scotland will help to pay for those that did not survive.”

Kate then turned to look at Kell and let out a deep sigh. “Send your fastest men with Uncle Ashien. Track Alba down and bring him in like the dog he is.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You heard her," Kell muttered to a cloaked human near them, who immediately headed for the door. Kell faced all the leaders present then. "We have a lot to discuss. It's best we set up a new center of operations here and ready to chase Alba if he can't be captured."

"Agreed," Henry nodded. "We'll bring in everything from the camps and set up here in the castle. The city sustained little to no damage beyond a few dead and wounded guards, so we will try to keep things normal for the citizens, even reinstate the guards along with our own. We can't blame any of the soldiers here for defending their home. They didn't know what we were doing."

"I'll take care o' the Scottish camp," Boar volunteered before heading out.

"I'll secure the town an' collect any dead," Durban spoke up.

"An' I'll start arranging things here. I'd like Kate to stay with me," Brogan murmured.

"I will address the people and explain things as best I can. They probably won't accept a Scottish leader's words," Henry sighed. "Kell, I would appreciate some of your people watching the noble family."

"Done," Kell nodded.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate glanced toward her father as he announced that he would stay with her to get plans underway. Instead of arguing, she gave him a nod, not saying anything as she knew that he needed her close by to soothe himself.

 

[KieranSoares]

As soon as the group separated out, Brogan put an arm around Kate and walked with her to a side dining room where they could sit and lay all the reports out. Once they were relatively alone, Brogan hugged Kate tightly and didn't seem willing to let her go.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Da, I’m alright.” Kate said softly as he hugged her so tightly to his chest that she was nearly smothered. “I promise I’m alright. Kell protected me just like he promised he would.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know," Brogan muttered, still not letting her go. "... Tha' was one o' th'most terrifying things I've ever seen... A man loyal t'our family suddenly turnin' on my little girl... I hope Kell can find out why..." He finally held her at arm's length, taking a look at her neck. "He didn' do anythin' else?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate looked into her father's dark gaze, seeing all the worry and concern that he had for her just then. He hadn't expected to see her almost die that day and that was certainly something that she had never wanted him to see in his entire life.

"He had a dagger." Kate finally said, turning to raise her arm to show him the small puncture that Kell had missed under her right arm. "It wasn't very deep and it doesn't hurt. It's not that big of a deal, Da. I promise."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Sit," Brogan directed her to a chair, opening a pouch on his belt to withdraw a clean roll of bandages, making her take off her chest plate and lift her shirt so he could tend the small wound. It wasn't serious and he wouldn't make a fuss of it, but he wanted to see it cared for. "Kell's gonna find out," he murmured.

 

[heartofcourage]

"He probably will and hopefully he won't make too big of a fuss." Kate said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I know he'll beat himself up if he knows. I just need him to focus on the task at hand for a moment."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I suppose that's a good idea righ' now..." Brogan sighed. "But any worse'n this, an' I'd want t'let 'im know. He sat down across from her, taking her hands in his own just to soothe his own mind. "I tried t'tell myself t'be ready, tha' you migh' get hurt. I was startin' t'be okay with it, knowin' you were smart enough t'stay close t'people who could help if you did... But I didn' know there were people after you here."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Da, you’ll beat yourself up over this until you’re ill again.” Kate said softly, squeezing his hands as what had happened weighed heavily on him. “And what I need now is my Da that can help me end this battle quickly and quietly.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm focused... I'm focused..." Brogan sighed, meeting her gaze once more before hugged her again and finally turning to the reports on the table. Damage, deaths on both sides, and lists of surrendered people and their roles lay before them, but there was little to really do until Baron Rothbury could be properly interrogated.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate leaned into her father's side, her eyes closing as she simply let him hold her tightly. She wasn't about to complain that her father was holding her and she wasn't afraid to be weak in that moment, letting the man who held her heart first soothe her after a traumatic event.

"I missed you terribly, Da." Kate said softly, admitting to him that he had been heavy in her thoughts for a while.