Ghis (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Ballas pulled her back toward the keep, then dashed inside and returned to her with her cloak. He wanted to go get Ashien.

"So what will we do?" John asked as if for Ballas. "Stay here and send soldiers or go to Inverness with them? I vote the latter."

 

[heartofcourage]

“It doesn’t look like Ballas is going to give us much of a choice.” Elizabeth said softly, wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist as they watched the tiger pull his mistress towards Darkwood Manor.

Dylan let out a sigh and took her cloak from Ballas before she knelt before him, stroking his broad head gently. “It’ll be a long journey. You must be patient, Ballas.” She said softly to her dear pet.

 

[KieranSoares]

Ballas finally settled at Dylan's soft words and sat before her. No one could say he wasn't an extremely intelligent animal with intense instinct. John looked to Julia, "We'll speak with the king and head north and meet you somewhere about Glasgow I wager." Despite how odd John and Dylan seemed to be and how they spoke so strangely, they would be welcome companions and allies, especially for the shaky Inverness.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Any help would be welcome. I thank you for your dedication to this matter.” Julia said with a grateful smile towards John as he told her that they would meet in Glasgow. “I will ride towards Wales and then up through Chester. I should be able to raise more soldiers by then.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Careful about Chester. The young lord there is quite the upstart, not a hospitable man at all," John warned her. He had no idea that young lord was Julia's brother as he went to get his own horse and ride to meet the king.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Trust me. Chester will be the least of my worries.” Julia said as she mounted her steed and rode from Darkwood Manor to meet with Kreston and the rest of his men.

Pulling up alongside the small encampment, she allowed Kreston to help her down off the horse and she took a moment to catch her breath. “They will raise the English. We must still make it to Wales to speak with the Centaurs and then to Chester after that.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"The Centaurs?" Kreston asked curiously. "How do you know the centaurs? I thought only Marri knew them."

"I know Dalton," Gabriel spoke up, hoping he could be helpful like Ruben had been. "I know where to find him too, if we go to the tavern outside Caernarvon."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I would think you would be more concerned with Chester than the Centaurs.” Julia remarked with a small smile towards Kreston. “I could send wee Gabriel to deal with them on his own.”

She glanced towards her nephew and considered it for a moment. “I could do that, Gabriel. You know the way.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Ma would kill us if I did..." Gabriel said quietly, considering his mother's temper when it came to her children. But then he grinned, "It'll be funny to see her face get all red when she finds out." Clearly he was willing. "I'll bet I can beat you to Glasgow!" He said excitedly.

"Can I go with him, Da? I want to meet the Centaurs!" Ruben asked brightly, and Kreston chuckled.

"Only if Gabriel wants."

"Let's go!" Gabriel jumped up to get his horse, followed by his cousin.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Listen to me, you two.” Julia said firmly as she grabbed both boys by their shoulders and made them stand still as she addressed them. “This isn’t playtime. This is serious and mistakes have serious consequences.”

“You need to watch out for one another. When you find Dalton, you stay with him and follow his command.” Each little boy nodded and Julia smiled at them, kissing their little cheeks and hugging each one tight. “Gabriel, your Da is going to be very proud of you.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"He's gonna ground me for the rest of my life, tha's what he's gonna do," Gabriel smiled giddily. Ruben knew he was in for just about the same by Selena and Kreston was in for much worse.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I love you both.” She murmured, holding them both as tightly as she could before she let them run off to prepare for their journey.

She watched as Kreston helped them and before long, they were both racing away, leaving the small part to stand and wonder if two little boys could really pull off something as important as their journey.

“We’ll ride for Chester. There are matters I must discuss with my brother.” Julia said as she looked at Kreston. “I’ll need all the help I can get.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You may get help from the people... but I think your brother's more likely to chase you out than give you men." He met her eyes, "Whether he does help or not, there's one more person we need to reach on our way to Glasgow. I promise you'll be glad for his help. But we'd best get going."

 

[heartofcourage]

“My brother will help, if he knows what’s good for him. If he doesn’t then he will have the full wrath of the Scots and my husband placed squarely upon him.” She said as she turned to look at Kreston as he suggested that they get going. “Lead the way, sir.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm afraid that your husband may not have much wrath to exert on anyone after this war. He'll be too tired," Kreston chuckled. He knew of Brogan's warrior prowess and could not even fathom that Brogan was currently failing. He couldn't imagine that the great Scotsman was laying wounded as Olaf overtook the field.

 

[heartofcourage]

The party rode towards Chester hard, stopping briefly to rest before they mounted again and made it there in a day’s time. Chester hadn’t changed since she left but it seemed that the times were very hard for the citizens. Many looked at her in astonishment, pointing at her as she rode past the impoverish people. It was a shame, she thought to herself, that things had come to this.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kreston, of course, kept out of sight, and as Julia finally approached the Keep of Chester, she caught sight of her dark brother outside, shouting at a cringing stablehand for one of the prized horses falling ill. But then he looked up to see his sister, and his gaze registered confusion, concern, and a bit of residual anger all at once. Confusion for her having come back, concern that something had happened with Brogan and now Chester was in danger again, and anger at the fact she'd never given him the information and inside look he'd wanted at Inverness.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Hello, Brother.” She said, staying on the back of her horse as she looked down at the man that she thought she had left behind so long ago. “It is good to see you looking so well. How are mother and father?”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Mother is cold as ever and father has stepped down to run about with his mistress. Nothing incredibly new," he grunted. Maxwell was still cold too, though there was a touch of gladness at seeing her. Perhaps she could tell him what was going on in Scotland that was so odd. He invited her inside and sat down with her, but immediately he got to the questions.

"So, has the barbarian finally gone back on his treaty and sent you home?" He asked, crossing his arms. "If I'm honest, I'm surprised he didn't feed you to his hounds."

 

[heartofcourage]

“That ‘barbarian’ is my husband and the father of your nephew. You will never speak of him that way again. His name is Brogan. You will regard him as nothing less.” Julia as she took her seat and stared at her brother with a cool gaze.

“I’m here for a reason, Maxwell. You are going to agree to this, because if you don’t, the entire might of Scotland will fall upon you. You’ve made some very powerful enemies. Some of them are looking for any reason to separate the head from your shoulders.” She responded, letting him know in that she was completely in charge.

 

[KieranSoares]

Maxwell rose suddenly, "You walk into my keep and threaten me, girl?! You're lucky I never launched an attack on that God-forsaken pit you call home now!" He was quicker than ever to anger.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Sit down!” Julia said in a deadly quiet voice, pulling herself to her full height to look at Maxwell eye to eye. “You’re lucky that the king of Scotland hasn’t come here yet and burned this godforsaken city to the ground. He told me what you’ve been doing and each time you run home like a dog with your tail tucked between your legs.”

“I’m not the girl you send into the unknown over a year ago, Max. I’m a wife. I’m a mother. I’m a queen in my own right. You will sit down right now and you will listen to what I have to say. When I’m finished, you will thank me politely and agree.” She said, her green eyes narrowing at the man that she hated so much.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Get out," he snarled dangerously. "Queen or not, you're nothing but a helpless little girl when you're alone with me."

"Back off," came a deep growl, and Maxwell nearly tripped over himself backing away as a massive white werewolf, the likes of which Julia had never seen before, emerged into view. He wore deerskin and hides like Kreston and wielded a huge axe in his hand. His fur was littered with tribal tattoos and he had one blue eye and one teal eye, staring death at Maxwell. Straining to use English, he snapped at Maxwell, "You will help, or you are coward and deserve death."

"I'm not helping the likes of you! I'm staying out of it!" Maxwell tried to sound fearless but he was terrified of this beast from children's tales.

"You not help... but soldiers will." The werewolf looked to Julia, "Come. Chester men want to help. Coward lord lose his title." This was one of the great tribal warriors Kreston had told Julia would be coming to aid them. He was bigger than Durban and looked like he could crush Boar.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia had been stunned when the other wolf entered the hall, confronting Maxwell and tell her that the soldiers would fight with her. She nodded, looking at her brother for a long moment. She had never seen him as a coward before, but that’s what she saw when she looked at him now. It made her incredibly sad.

“Goodbye, Maxwell.” She said, knowing that it was the last time that she was probably ever going to speak to her brother again in her lifetime. With that, she turned and followed the beast from the keep.

"Thank you, my friend. Without your help, I would still be in there arguing with a man that won't listen to reason." She said to the white wolf, giving him a warm and friendly smile.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Brother Kreston call, Brother Casso answer," he motioned to himself with the second name. The two were not truly brothers, Julia could tell, but it was a term of endearment among men and especially werecreatures. "Chester men already go north with Brother. I bring you north to Glasgow."

Despite Casso's broken English and more primitive ways, he was a perfect gentleman, and they reached Glasgow in only a few days. On the west end of the city was an encampment of Julia's fighters and Kreston counted them at two-thousand. A force to be reckoned with, and somehow everyone was getting along. Even mercenaries were joining out of loyalty to Scotland, and some Irish associated with Lord Monaghan joined as well. It was the next evening that a hundred centaurs galloped in too with Gabriel and Ruben, led by Dalton.