Chapter 21

Winter arrived late that year. Having expected the first snows just after Samhain, Kel was shocked they did not arrive till nearly three weeks before Yule festivities. She could barely register all that had happened in the mere fourteen months she had been in Gaul. Each time she counted the months and the events that had unfolded to change her life she suddenly felt like she was a page or squire again. Her life back then at least had always been full of new experiences and challenges. Obstacles that no one thought she could overcome and she proved them all wrong with flying colors. And now here in Gaul she was doing just that, but to men that would make most green knights quiver in their boots, and even some not so green knights.

After the celebrations for Samhain she had returned to the Maiden's City with the rest of the young women that would be taking their vows in the coming year. No one had spoken much and it was understandable, they didn't want to think about what really happened on the Wild Hunt. Or what could happen. From what the shamans had told them to her it sounded as if it were just another version of the chamber of ordeal. That cold stone windowless room that she had spent an entire night trapped in silence to face her worst nightmares, and now she would face it again. The only difference being this time she would face it with countless others by her side, and this time it could truly fight back. Each year it claimed lives, ripping men and women from cities and country side. Some were found broken in the streets or fields, their bodies ripped apart by some creature or sword, while others seemed to have died of something internal. These were those who were corrupted, so damned that they murdered or raped or committed other heinous crimes that went unreported, noticed, or solved. The hunt found them eventually and made them pay the price.

But as quickly as it came, it left and people moved on with their lives. Winter preparations had begun the following day and the maidens left to help prepare smaller villages for the winter. Southfall even sent a report that left both Kel and Ashely smiling, proud to both be the Lady of and from such a village. Their summer harvest was one of the largest in years. The orchard had continued to prosper even though it had been untouched for countless years, and the cart loads of fruits had been carefully set aside or preserved and would last well until next harvest. Even the fishing operation was going well enough that they had begun trading with other local villages for beef or mutton. The council agreed it would take time before they would be known for their creations in wood again. However the fact that the people were no longer at each other's throats over rations, no belly was left empty, and the fact that they could actually truly celebrate and enjoy festivities again had raised spirits. More and more each day slowly were finding their strength to lift hammer and chisel.

So now, trapped with the first of winters snow there was little Kel could do but read. Like most of the young maidens she was waiting to see if they would be sent to some village that ran risk of mountain raiders on the border. But even Scanra was eerily quiet this year, and that had Kel concerned. So before the snows she had spent her days teaching the younger girls and the maidens at the city how to hold a lance and at least knock a man from his saddle. There were a few who seemed to have some talent and even came close to knocking her from the saddle, but there were others that were lucky to just hit the shield no matter how hard she tried to teach them it was just something they were not skilled at.

"What ya reading?" Ashely slipped into the bed next to Kel, her wool gown was damp from having trudged through the snow to get to the stables and back. She had been on assignment to feed them that afternoon, something Kel was not looking forward to when it was her turn in the morning because more snow was to be rolling in.

"Just a book to pass the time, nothing informational for a change." She muttered turning the page. This was true, for probably the first time in her life she found herself reading for pleasure rather than purpose. And of course the book was geared toward the ladies of Gaul. The tale was rather interesting to be honest, written from years passed just after the founding of Gaul and the maidens order. It even held some romance, something Kel was desperately missing. It had been upsetting enough that Xamos didn't speak to her when she saw him last, but everyone else was around and she understood and respected that. But even in private when she saw him on his way to the practice rings and called he looked her over then seemed to disappear in the castle halls. She never did see him again before she left.

"That's a shock!" she teased reading over Kel's shoulder till she actually perked a brow. "You'll have to let me borrow it after." She finally rose to pull her dress free and lay it over a rod near the fire so it could dry. It felt like hours passed in silence as Kel read and turned page after page, each one better than the last. "Don't you think it's weird?"

"What?" Kel managed to ask as she turned yet another page. She did her best to keep the blush from her face as she read on.

"Well, the fact that the borders are so damn quiet. They never are this quiet, ever. Even local bandits try to pick off in the winter and we haven't heard from them." She rambled as she moved to her own desk and plopped herself down. A few times she picked up the quill before lowering it again as if she couldn't bring herself to write just yet.

"Why complain, besides winters just started. Remember it was a late winter, which means when it hits it will be worst. We will have double the trouble because they didn't plan properly for it." She explained as Kel let out an over dramatic sigh and turned to face her desk. This time Kel heard the lid to her ink pot click open.

"I guess that makes sense… I hope there is at least something." It was that tone that registered with Kel though she only smiled and said nothing in response. Ashely was itching to see Kelland again, and the only way she would see the young king's guard would be if the Maiden's got sent out with his squad on a mission. Clever girl to keep his squad up to date on what was going on so he could make sure they were first to volunteer. Very clever little vixen Kel though with a smirk before turning the page in her book while listening to the slow scroll of a quill across parchment.

-Gaul's Eastern Border-

"Ready those damn scorpions!" A blonde man snarled as he stood on the very edge of a mountain cliff high above the small village that lay nestled in the mountain before them. Behind him the camp was filled with nearly four dozen men scrambling to assemble what looked to be a cross between catapults and crossbows, scorpions.
"Sir, we will be ready to move before the moon even kisses the mountain." The tongue of Scanra seemed almost smooth compared to that of Gaul, but the blonde spoke both with ease as he turned to glare at the burly chestnut haired man. Nearly half of the men in the camp could have come from Gaul, but each was as glossy eyed as the last with pupils dilated till there was barely the ring of color to prove they were even human. It wasn't unless the hair was moved that one could notice the tiny rune branded behind their left ear.
"Good soon as the moon is up we will move. I want to sup in their grand hall tomorrow." He chuckled and pulled his own mask up and over his nose and against the vicious winds that bit at him. The men with the black eyes didn't seem to notice the cold as must worked in cut off rags and torn garments. As they moved one could see where the lash had ripped through the cloth and bit into the skin beneath. Mindlessly they worked and never stopped to speak or even take a drink until an overseer would force something in their hands to eat or drink, though even that was short lived as they returned to work.

"Xavian, you better not fail us. We need to stir the blood of these Northmen, and quickly. You know the importance of them issuing war when the springs melt." The chestnut haired man said again before a hand as large as his head grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward to meet him face to face.
"This village is the main supplier of Cobalt. I hope your –lord- knows what he is doing." He threw the man back against a supply wagon before moving to grab a skein of wine from it. "This sort of alchemy is forbidden among my people, if he succeeds… It will take near a lifetime for the land to repair and be safe to live in again." He took a large swig of the wine as he leaned against the wagon.
"That is exactly the point my dear Xavian. We just need to be sure you can truly get into your capitol, we will handle the people of Tortall." The man wandered toward the edge of the cliff to look down below. "Gaul…. Your land will be the example we set for the rest of the known world. It is perfect, and in our liege's future legacy this land will become the seat of a grand empire. A land so fierce the gods cannot conquer… but his bloodline can!" He spun on Xavian with a devilish grin then. "And you, and yours shall have a grand place at his side… if you succeed."
"I will, and I want my prize and alive." Xavian grinned then as he offered the skein.
"The Maiden is his Xavian, he would be most great full and rewarding if you can obtain her as well for him. But yes, the protector is yours."
The sounds of the working camp drown out their laughter as the men rushed to finish their work. Fresh steal and weapons glistened along with giant arrows as thick as a child's arm and with a head as large as a man's hand. The few draft horses were hooked to the wagons that held the deadly weapons that were finished and ready to bring havoc to the world below. Death was coming, and it was not going to come gently.