CHAPTER 15: "Trust"

ARI

Sir Oliver retreated to his quarters after the confrontation with the dragon. Ari had never seen the man look so... scared, she thought. He is scared.

Ari had been terrified but the high of survival was hot in her veins, and the same could be said for Bard and Barnacle. Bard had invited them back to his campsite for revelry and, of course, wine. Ari had tried some this time, and she despised it.

The party was still covered in thick, black soot from their adventure. They were sprawled out, exhausted, onto a crimson rug on the ground.

"It was bigger than I thought," wheezed Barnacle.

"Aye, much bigger," Bard agreed.

"Where do you think it went?" Ari asked.

"Perhaps it just was scared of Sir Oliver, Breaker of Wind," Bard joked. "I know I am."

"Perhaps Sir Oliver broke wind at the beast and that's what scared it off," laughed Barnacle. Bard wheezed happily too.

"Break wind?" Ari asked. "You say this. You mean like fiery breath?"

Bard and Barnacle made eye contact and burst into laughter again.

"Gods be good, my lady," Bard chuckled. "Your lessons in the common tongue have failed you."

"My lady?" Barnacle asked, confused.

Ari's eyes went wide.

Bard looked like he had spilled his wine on a duchess. "Oh my," he said, realizing he had let out Ari's secret. "Barnacle did not know?"

"Know?" Barnacle asked. He looked at Ari again. "Know. Gods... You're a... woman?!"

"Bard!" Ari exclaimed. "Damn you!"

"Well, she knows the common tongue well enough, I suppose," Bard joked, taking a sip of wine. Barnacle saw the humor in it.

Seeing their jolly moods put Ari at ease. Maybe I should have trusted Barnacle from the start, she thought. "You will not tell anyone?" Ari asked Barnacle.

The orc put a hand over his heart and said, "I solemnly swear, my... lady?"

Ari nodded and smiled.

"Why the lie?" Barnacle asked.

"The Order of Cambria does not permit women to be knights," Ari answered.

"Correction," Bard cut in. "No order of knights anywhere allows for women to join their ranks."

Ari had an honest question for her comrades, feeling safe in their presence. "Do you think it is a foolish rule?"

Bard and Barnacle looked at each other for a second, then at Ari. Bard said, "Look at you, Jas-- what is your true name, girl?"

Ari paused. Trust them, she told herself. "Ari. My name is Ari."

"Ari," Barnacle repeated. "Lovely to meet you, Ari."

"Does the Prince know?" Bard asked.

Ari shook her head. "I do not think so."

"Do you hope so?" Bard asked. Barnacle let out a little snicker.

Ari blushed. "I know not what you mean."

"You do not need to admit it to us," Bard smiled, winking. "You have already admitted it to yourself. And for what it's worth, I think he does know."

Ari smiled. "I'll have some more wine," she said. Not that she wanted it, but felt like she needed it.

///

The twilight came and went, and when Ari had finished celebrating with Bard and Barnacle, she began her walk back to the castle. The night was damp. A rain was upon her, she knew it, smelled it in the air. Nightingshire was quiet tonight.

As Ari saw the castle walls ahead in the distance, she felt a heavy rock pummel the back of her head. The pain was sharp, stinging. She turned to face her assailant, and recognized the boy that she had pushed eariler, his friend standing with him. Both of them, this time, held a sword. Ari reached for hers and realized that she had left it at Bard's camp.

"Hey, Shitbag," the rat-faced boy called out to her. "Where's your sword?"

Ari started to run, and the boys chased her. Ari ran to the moat but the drawbridge was up. She called out, "Help! Help!" but no one seemed to hear her.

The boys caught up to her and threw her backwards to the ground. They both drew their swords and pointed them down at Ari's face.

"Please, I am sorry," she begged.

"You will be, Shitbag," Rat-face said, as he scraped the tip of his sword across her cheek. Ari screamed in pain, feeling the blood trickle down her face.

"Stop, please," she begged.

"Cut him, Dayne," the other boy said. "Cut him good."

Rat-face, Dayne, raised his sword and took a swing. He made contact with Ari's wrist guard and the metal clanged. Her wrist was stinging. The armor was thick but it would not hold a blade forever.

She prayed like she never had before. Asked for strength from Osha. Dayne took another swing at her, and another. The other boy backed off, sword still pointed at Ari. He simply wanted to be out of range of Dayne's heavy swing. Dayne pulled back to attack once more and Ari managed to drive a hard kick to his kneecap. There was an awful, audible snap.

"Dayne!" the boy's friend screamed.

As Dayne winced, Ari grabbed his wrist and squeezed, trying to wrestle out his sword. Ari had never felt so strong, so empowered. She picked Dayne up off the ground by his neck and with a force that should not be possible for a young girl, threw him a few meters away into a tree. Dayne made another cracking sound as he hit the tree. Ari almost rushed towards him again, but held back, seeing that he was not moving.

All of a sudden, her rush wore off, and instead she felt guilty, and scared, scared of herself.

"Dayne!" the other boy screamed, dropping his sword and running over to his fallen friend.

Ari dropped Dayne's sword and ran too, ran far, far away from this. She did not want to see what she had done any longer.

She was not sure where she was running, just knew it had to be away from here. She headed towards the market, thinking maybe she could hide somewhere. Ari stopped when she saw a Sister standing in the middle of the path. It was the one who threw a dagger at the orc who stole Ari's horse.

She looked at Ari with an evil smile and said, "You are in it now, my lady."

Someone grabbed Ari's arms while another person draped a shroud over her head. Before she knew it, she was being dragged off somewhere she could not see. She tried to scream, but like before, no one seemed to hear her.

SIR OLIVER

Sir Oliver wiped himself off with a towel. His bath had cleansed his body but not his mind. As he draped himself in a tunic for sleep, he was startled to see one of the Sisters standing in the middle of his chambers.

He toweled off his wet hair and asked her, "Can I help you?"

"You need to come with us," the woman in blue said.

"Us?" asked Sir Oliver. Then he felt the cold blade of a dagger meet his throat.

A woman's voice from behind him said, "Do not make a sound, dear knight. And put on this shroud."

The woman held out a black bag for him to wear over his head.

"Might I put some trousers on as well?" he asked sarcastically.