Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"And they will see that we will fight for those that support us." Kate said as she rose, staring at Kell for a long moment. "You know I would tend to your house in a moment's notice if you only asked me to. However, I know that you believe my brain is better served here than cleaning up your messes."

With that, she left her husband to his own devices, intent to ride with her guard again to check on those that might need her help as they waited for word to arrive from Henry or from the surrounding lords. As they rode, she surveyed the damage done to the town again. She would tell Warwick to spare what they could from the treasury to help these people get their lives back in order.

As the thought to herself, she found an object exploding against the side of her head. The spongy material splattered her armor, nearly unseating her from her charger. As she righted herself, swiping at her face, she found that she had been hit with a piece of rotten fruit. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her guard already subduing a young man, scrawny and barely older than twelve.

"It's because of you that they're all dead!" He cried, his face pressed into the dirt by one of her guards.

Glancing over at Qira, she saw him bristled but calm at the situation. She was obviously in no further danger from the young man.

"Let him up." Kate said softly, turning her horse around to face him as she swiped at as much of the fruit as she could remove with her kerchief.

 

[KieranSoares]

Qira glanced up at Kate, then hauled the scrawny boy to his feet. He kept firm grip on the stranger's arms behind his back, making him face Kate.

The royal guard accompanying Kate all looked on with hands on their sheathed weapons, alarmed that someone would so boldly and openly lash out at her. But Qira was in control and the men stood back. Two men who'd helped take the boy down now stood to either side of Qira, ready to grab the scruffy youth again if he tried to get loose.

"You have Her Majesty's attention," Qira muttered darkly, though his expression showed nothing.

 

[heartofcourage]

The young man was panting as Qira held him firmly in place, making him turn to face Kate as she dismounted and stood before them both. The boy was only slightly taller than her, very young, and obviously grief stricken.

"If you hadn't come to the throne, none of this would have happened. We were safe under the other king and queen." The boy accused as Kate stood there passively and listened.

"My coming to the throne was not what caused this." Kate said softly as the boy tugged against Qira's iron grip as if what she had said really angered him.

"Yes it did! We were fine without you. The English never attacked us in all of the time that we were under King Gale."

"You can be angry all you wish, young man, but it won't change the facts. This happened because of a greedy lord, not because I took this throne." Kate said again as the boy started to struggle again, almost as if he would have really hurt her if he got loose.

 

[KieranSoares]

"The English Barons have been a thorn in the side of border towns for years, boy," one royal guardsman spoke up. "Never quite so directly, but it was only a matter of time before they tried to steal land. It's bad luck that it happened to be your Lord's estate. And Marianne wouldn't have been able to come running to help even if she wanted to."

 

[heartofcourage]

"What's your name?" Kate asked as her guard spoke up, trying to reason with the boy.

"Michael." He muttered back, pausing in his fight against Qira as Kate took a step forward.

"Michael, I do not know who you lost or why this happened, but I promise that you will not have to struggle with the aftermath. I'm doing my best to help as many as I can." Kate murmured in a soft voice as if talking to a scared horse. "Qira will let you go if you promise not to attack."

Michael looked between the queen and the guards that were armed to the teeth before he slumped and nodded, his head hanging in defeat.

 

[KieranSoares]

Qira slowly let go the boy's arms, laying a hand on his shoulder now. "What can we do to help?" He asked softly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"They burned my house down and murdered my family." Michael said as he was set free, Qira placing a large hand on his shoulder both in restraint and in comfort. "I have nothing left."

"We will find you somewhere to live if that's a concern." Kate said as Michael shook his head no. "Then how can we help?"

"You can't." Michael muttered, the helplessness of his situation weighing down on him heavily.

 

[KieranSoares]

Qira regarded the boy for a long moment, and then removed his own cloak to wrap around the boy as his clothes were threadbare. "Corporal. Take him to the castle. Look after him. I will take over later."

One of the royal guardsmen nodded, guiding his horse forward and offering an arm. "Up ye come, lad. We'll see yer no' left behind."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate watched as Michael was helped into a saddle, taken back to the fort to be cared for there. She felt terrible for the young man, facing such a hardship so early in life. It wasn't fair to him or his family to be caught in the middle of a conflict that had nothing to do with them.

Kate glanced over at Qira as he offered her his fresh kerchief, Kate thanking him quietly as she went back to the rotting fruit in her hair. "We have the right to offer Michael and any other that wishes to serve a place in our army. However, I do not want any of them serving out of a misplaced sense of duty. They didn't as for this and we won't force them."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He feels helpless, alone. I'll try to give him something to put that anger toward," Qira muttered in Erygonian before coming to help Kate clean up til she was presentable. "It's misplaced against the people trying to help."

 

[heartofcourage]

"But what if he's right, Qira?" Kate asked, looking up at him as he tried to help her look presentable again. "What if I didn't do enough to stop this? I don't think his anger is so misplaced."

 

[KieranSoares]

"What could you have done? You didn't know. You've lived in northern Scotland all your life and were never witness to what was building here. And even once you reached the throne, any worries here were overwhelmed and drowned out by lords trying to gain your favor or intimidate you. And even if none of that had happened... What could any of us have done to help? Castor had a standing army fit to protect his estate from invasion, thanks to past English-Scottish conflicts before Henry and Brian. He was prepared as best he could be. Alba was his friend, and used it to his advantage. No doubt Castor let him right in, and Alba destroyed Paxton from the inside. There was nothing anyone could've done to prevent Alba's trickery or whatever he did to kill most of Castor's men before they could even lift their blades. No doubt those mercenaries were accompanied by plenty of assassins similar to our own. Castor had no chance in the end."

It was perhaps the most Qira had ever spoken, but it neatly boiled down the helpless situation Paxton had had sprung upon it. "We responded as quickly as possible, so did Castor's nearest neighbors. We've ended the threat and we're helping the people. It's more than many monarchs would bother with, and the most we can do."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Never believe that this is the most we can do, Qira. This is only the beginning." Kate said simply as she pulled herself back into the saddle and got herself righted. "And I will insist that others do more as well. We can care for one another, even if it means going to war to do such."

 

[KieranSoares]

"For your sake, let's try not to. And while we can do more, this is all we can do for now. Really helping these people will take time." Qira mounted his own horse as well, a huge dark Shire.

A cursory glance over the town yielded fire damage, pillaging, and handfuls of dead who dared try to be brave in the attack. The most at Kate's disposal was control of the town food stores and paying for medical treatment. The people would have to wait for more to be brought in, but supplies and extra soldiers were coming to secure Paxton once more.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate felt a deep helplessness at the situation. This wasn’t something that she could just solve and make better, no matter how Qira and Kell tried to convince her other otherwise. This would never happen again, she promised herself as she toured the city again, surveying the dead and destruction from horseback. No one else tried to openly attack her, despite the feelin that some wished they really could.

 

[KieranSoares]

Qira made Kate retire early in the evening, knowing she was going on very little sleep and that there was little more she could really do. Upon returning to the small castle and finding it had been cleaned up a fair bit, Kate found Kell facing a familiar ally.

Even before Kate's birth, a group of centaurs from Wales had been aiding those harmed by the English upper classes who knew no loyalty to King Henry. The barons and border lords and English nobility in Wales had always treated the Welsh and Scots like dirt. But Dalton, a handsome, even beautiful blonde-haired, white-coated centaur, had always had something to say about that ever since the son of his favorite barmaid came to ask his help in Inverness. The Duragai Clan of centaurs had moved just within the border of Scotland since the reclaiming of Inverness some nineteen years back. And Dalton remained their warrior captain until recently. Now, standing before Kell, Dalton with his beautiful long blonde hair and merry blue eyes, was clad in some tattoos and a long vest that marked him, among centaurs, an elder.

"Is that my dear sweet Katherine?" His melodious voice called as she stepped in. He'd seen her a good number of times, coming to visit Marri and Julia, and he'd always quite liked her spirit. He'd once told her she would be right at home among his merry little band of warriors who danced and sang as much as they fought.

 

[heartofcourage]

“It all depends on how you define sweet.” Kate answered as she moved to greet Dalton with a hug. “How are you, Dalton? What brings you all the way up this direction?”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You, of course. Or, perhaps more accurately, your people. We were out hunting and scouting when we saw the residual smoke and some Scottish royal guards. We knew something must have happened." His cheery demeanor faded to a small but sympathetic smile. "We recently came across bandits in the area, it seems.some of them were stragglers from the attack here. So we brought some of them to you along with any supplies we could spare. My boys are hauling them here from our camp as we speak."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm sure my husband will love to welcome them. He enjoys accommodating those that have done wrong against us." Kate said wryly as Dalton explained why he was there and who he had brought with him. "We believe we know who has done this, but we are waiting on word from Henry and the surrounding clan kings."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Ah, then it will be a while, I suppose. I'm afraid we don't know the right questions to ask, so we'll gladly hand over these ruffians. In the meantime, a good number of my warriors are off hauling lumber and helping the people rebuild for now. It seems the attackers stole any horses they could find, so a strong centaur will have to stand in for now."

"Do you know anything about Baron Alba?" Kell asked quietly.

"Beyond his dislike of my people and yours, not much. We aren't allowed in his land."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I will bring my army to his land and see how he likes the threat." Kate threatened, looking at Kell and then at Dalton. "I do not tolerate any of my lords being attacked or bullied by those that feel as if it is there right to do such. If an order came from Henry, then we will have an even larger issue. If it didn't, then I expect his lord to be dealt with accordingly."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I highly doubt King Henry ordered an army of mercenaries and cutthroats to attack an upstanding, even friendly bordering lord," Dalton said with a shake of his head. "I believe all three of us have met the man at least once. King Henry simply isn't that vindictive or sly. His predecessors, yes, but not him."

 

[heartofcourage]

"My aunt and uncle are friendly with his daughter. I would hope that I can count on his friendship to my throne. However, I can't count it out." Kate said, knowing that there were few that she could truly trust in this world.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your father counts him as a friend. And Henry was among the first to voice his support for you taking the throne," Kell added. "I think we'll have his aid, if only out of a sense of honor. He won't like the idea that one of his own lords went rogue against an ally."

"It seems the only thing to do is wait for his response," Dalton said with a nod. "In the meantime, there's plenty of work to be done. I'll be directing my people from the square if you need me or have any specific orders. We are at your service."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Thank you, Dalton." Kate said with a soft smile as she felt Qira step up to her elbow, looking down at her as she let out a long sigh. "If you'll excuse me. My jailer seems to think that I need some rest."