Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Love, Ruben can go with them to help if need be. He's back in Inverness for a while helping his mother with her new home." Julia commented to her husband. "Kate. You will stay here in Inverness, though. This isn't something that you need to be involved with at the moment."

 

[KieranSoares]

"'Cause I need ya," Brogan nodded to Kate. He trusted her with everything because she never gave less than her best for him. And if he was going to teach her, she needed to keep close and see how it was all done.

"See if Ruben 'r Kreston can go with ya," Brogan told Ciaran, "If not, then I'll find someone. I know you two're capable of takin' care of yerselves, but Ciaran, y'don' 'ave much in the way of defensive skills, and you're only two young men."

"Then we'll go find Ruben," Ciaran led Lir away, and Brogan came to Kate, kissing her cheek.

"Kate... from here on, you'll be with me as often as possible durin' th' day. You can decide, in time, whether yer up for th'challenge o' ruling."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate nodded at her father's comment, not feeling the sting at not being allowed to go that she expected. It was easier with her father's promise to teach her the art of ruling the kingdom. She hoped that it wasn't something that she would have to do any time soon though.

"I understand, Da." Kate said, returning his kiss. "I love you both."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I love you too, kitten," Brogan said softly. He very rarely called her kitten, it was mostly a pet name from her mother but she'd learned over the years that he said it when he was stressed and worried. "Go on and get ready for bed aye?"

 

[heartofcourage]

The way that her Da called her kitten made Kate truly worry. She hated seeing him so stressed about anything and she could see in his dark eyes that this was a serious situation. She simply nodded, kissing her Ma on the cheek before she left them alone to ready herself for bed.

Julia looked at her husband and could see the stress in his body. She held out her hand from him, drawing him to kneel beside her so that she could cradle his head against her lap as she always did when he was stressed.

"Everything will work out, love. It always does." She murmured softly, her fingers tracing through his hair.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Tha's what worries me... maybe this time is th' time it won't..." Brogan whispered. Even though he'd long since recovered from Sarah and the war, there were still scars to his optimism and his confidence in his ability to protect his family and homeland. No matter what anyone did, those scars never faded away, even under Julia's love and care.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You're right, love. It might not. I choose to think that it will because we are so much stronger now then we were back then." Julia said softly, looking down at her husband as she saw the doubt in his eyes. "I love you, no matter what."

 

[KieranSoares]

"An' I love you," Brogan whispered in return, lifting himself up just enough to kiss her before his forehead rested against her own and he let his eyes remain closed. "Where would I be without you...?" But then he chuckled bitterly, "Probably an early grave at th' age o' thirty if no' younger."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And all of our loves certainly wouldn't be here either." Julia said softly with a smile on her face. "But I wouldn't trade this life for anything else. I'm not complete without you, love."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Yer bloody insane," Brogan chuckled and wrapped his arms a little tighter around her waist, just like their second night in Scotland together when they first began to become truly intimate. "Y'know... I think I 'ave a thing fer crazy women. Mus' be why I like m'sisters so much an' our daughter."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It must be why you want to marry me all over again." Julia teased him, a soft smile coming to her lips as her fingers combed through his thick hair. "You need a haircut, love. It's getting unruly."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Wasn' it always?" Brogan laid his head against her shoulder. "I'm thinkin' o' cuttin' it short sorta like Cole. What d'you think?" He raised his dark eyes to her own and then laid a warm kiss against her throat in just that perfect spot below her jaw. He'd never lost his obsession with her skin, it'd only intensified tenfold.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I think you'd look handsome." Julia said with a sigh as his lips moved to caress that spot on her throat that she loved so much.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Y'say tha' about me anyway. Still don' believe ya," Brogan muttered against her skin as he slowly pushed forward and laid her back on their bed with a soft, somewhat playful smirk.

"Yer more beautiful'n th' day I met ya..." Brogan whispered as he crawled up over top of her and continued his gentle assault on her skin, his fingers slipping beneath her to find the laces of her dress. She had a way of making him want her in the spur of the moment.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia gasped as she was tumbled onto her back, her husband crawling over the top of her while his fingers searched for the ties of her gown. She was still amazed that after all those years, he still wanted her like he did when she had first arrived in Scotland.

"Oh, love..." She murmured, gasping as he kissed her neck, loving her skin as he always did.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don' know 'ow y'keep doin' this t'me," Brogan whispered hotly against her ear. His fingers were just beginning to tug at the ties of her dress when an urgent knock came on the door.

"M'keng! Brogan, we need you outside!" Just like the first time they'd been interrupted, it was Cole.

"What now?" Brogan sat up on his knees, knowing from experience that Cole never needlessly came knocking.

"It's werecreatures! They're attackin'!"

"Get all o' the keep's and village's werewolves into th' cellars for safety, sound the alarm an' get th'boys movin'!" Brogan growled, rising quickly from the bed to retrieve his blade and belts. Cole bolted away, and they soon heard the alarm bell over the town that had been placed a decade before and had never rang in emergency until now except for two odd fires and an oncoming blizzard. Brogan looked to Julia as he strapped his sword to his back.

His dark eyes were intense as they used to be when he was a younger man, and he spoke evenly, "Get th'kids down in th'cellars too, but let Kate help ya." Little did he know that his little girl was already making ready to join him in the fight. He came to Julia and kissed her deeply, knowing full well that every time he left her to fight could be his last chance. "I love you..." He spoke in a gentle, but powerful tone. He knew his enemy was twice as dangerous as humans. Werecreatures of any sort would fight to the death even if they knew they couldn't win, and Erygonians didn't fight fair alongside their extra weapons of claws and fangs.

Brogan bolted out and to his horse that was held waiting for him, rallying his men together with a roar, "To me, lads! Form a phalanx! Defense is our best bet 'ere!"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Brogan, I'm not..." Her words were cut off as her husband kissed her fiercely as he always did when he was going off to battle.

She looked into his gaze, her own eyes welling with tears as he told her that he loved her. "I love you too."

Then he was off, racing through the halls to his steed. She, herself, was up in an instant, gathering the twins and ushering them into the basement of the keep. Kitty was there, helping people find space. Emma and Marri helped little Kayla and Elise to get the children accounted for.

"Where's Kate?" Julia called out, looking around frantically for her daughter.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kate was in the phalanx, standing alongside Cole, but he didn't know it was her because of a helm she wore and the bulky armor she'd found.

"Hold lads!" Brogan roared as droves of black figures appeared from the night mist. "Don' let 'em get close enough t'bite!"

The creatures charged with roars and howls, armored in bones and dressed in hides and leather with stone and crude iron weapons mostly, but they were mostly dangerous scimitars and hooks and spiked maces.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia felt fear squeeze her heart as she looked around the darkened room and didn't see her daughter. Surely she wouldn't...

"Sam. Rho. You stay here." Julia called to her son, hurrying from the basement as she went to grab her cloak and her steed. She would drag Kate home, even if she had to enter the field of battle herself.

 

[KieranSoares]

It was as the Erygonians were charging that Cole glanced over, and suddenly whispered, "Kate?! What th'bloody hell're you thinking? Get out o' here!"

"Kate...?" Brogan's voice came, and he was staring right at her. He'd heard Cole's whisper. But it was too late for anyone to get her out, because that was when the Erygonians hit the shield wall and nearly toppled the line. It was a sea of bone-clad black creatures and trained war beasts on leashes among them.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate held her own as the front lines were attacked, gasping at the force with which the wolves hit the shields. She saw the fear in her father's eyes, but she knew that she was capable of holding her own in this fight.

Julia spurred her horse on as fast as she could go, images of her daughter dying in the midst of battle filling her head.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan drew up his own shield from his saddle and wedged himself in the line at Kate's side, fighting like the beast she'd always heard of. "Kate, get th' hell out of 'ere!" He snarled, his sword breaking a werewolf's jaw. One got too close to Kate for Brogan's liking, and he pushed in front of her to kill the beast. But it proved to be a mistake despite his good intentions of protecting his daughter. A werewolf got hold of his shield, and a black werecat helped rip it away. Brogan's blade couldn't swing fast enough before the werecat sank his fangs into the back of Brogan's neck when he ducked his head under a club swing. Brogan roared in pain and his knees went weak like the beast might've damaged or temporarily weakened his spinal cord.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Da!" Kate screamed, fear flowing through her as she watched her great father fall. "No!"

She pulled an arrow free and notched it in the bow that she always carried. She panted as she let loose the arrow and took down both the wolf and the werecat that were taking down the man she loved so dearly. When they were both dead, she rushed to his side, tears already flowing down her cheeks.

"Stay with me, Da! Please stay with me." She begged him.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan had fallen to his knees, his hands clenched around the back of his neck, and the men formed a shield wall around them to keep the wolves back as Brogan collapsed on his side. He couldn't move without pain. It was just about then that a warrior saw Julia and yelled to her. "Milady! They're 'ere! Th'king's wounded!"

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia heard the cry and steered her horse over to where the soldiers protected their king and princess. She slipped from the saddle and knelt beside her husband, her hand gently resting against his arm as she saw his pain. Looking at Kate she saw the haunted expression and knew that her daughter ha seen things no woman should.

"Cole!" Julia called out, waiting until he was by her side. "Have some of your men take brogan and Kate back to the keep. Then send word to draw bows. We'll push them back with our archery might."