The Romans chuckle softly but it means nothing --Dalla has only been grazed and will suddenly sit up and say, “It’s only a scratch”. Her lips will quirk up in their usual smirk while her eyes will send out the death glare that she is so well known for.
But she does not stir.
“Dalla!” I yell. “DALLA!”
I scramble to my feet and burst through the bushes into the clearing, my breath coming out in searing gasps. Dalla has only fallen from the shock. All I have to do is pull her up and she will realize that she is all right.
But as my feet break into a sprint, I am grabbed around the chest and held back.
“There’s nothing you can do, Maeve,” Garrick whispers in my ear just as Brogan steps in between us and the Romans.
“Get her! Save her! She hasn’t lost too much blood yet!” I pull against his grip.
“It’s too late, Maeve.”
“We can still save her!” I struggle hard and viciously, but Garrick’s grasp is strong and he will not let go.
“There is nothing you can do, Maeve. She’s gone.” Garrick’s voice cracks as he speaks but he does not loosen his hold.
Even though Brogan is greatly outnumbered, he meets the Romans in battle above Dalla’s body. He is careful to step around the body on the ground, but the Romans trample over it like it is not even there. My body aches to run forward and save Dalla from the Roman’s brutal heels. But Garrick does not let me take a single step.
Brogan slowly dispatches the Romans one by one. Two fall to the ground but when the third realizes that his time is up, he does not attempt to even put up a fight. He drops his weapon and clammers away towards the forest, blood dripping from his arm.
Brogan growls and takes a step towards the Roman, a menacing sneer curling his lips.
Garrick lets go of me and jumps into his friend’s path.
“Stop,” he orders.
Brogan eyes fill with fury and, for a moment, I fear he will cut Garrick down where he stands. But Brogan does not move. His sword brandished, his eyes flaming with anger, he does not move.
“We can’t go back.” Garrick’s voice is steady, soothing. “Immediate vengeance will not bring Dalla back. The time for justice will come but not now. We have to protect those in our care.”
Garrick leans in and whispers something in Brogan’s ear. For a moment, the Brigantes warrior does not move. He is as still and imposing as a statue. His eyes suddenly dart to us. His eyes are red with unshed tears and his chest heaves with uncontrolled gasps of breath.
His sword lowers and his gaze softens.
Garrick’s tense stance slowly deflates and he sends me a wary glance.
Brogan looks down at his feet where Dalla’s body lays, her blood soaking the ground around her motionless frame. His face drains of color and his entire body begins to shake. He kneels down beside Dalla and gently pulls his wife’s head onto his lap. A teardrop lands on her forehead. He quickly brushes it away. His gaze is fixed on me. I try to meet his eyes, but the pain behind them... I simply cannot. I press the heels of my hands into my eyes until all I see are flashes of light.
Dalla... dead. My best friend... my sister.
I let myself topple forward into a lunge, almost eating the ground in my attempt to reach Dalla. I feel Garrick’s hands on my back, trying to hoist me back onto my feet but I have already thrown myself forward again and out of his reach. It takes a series of stumbles and dives before I reach Dalla. She almost looks asleep with her eyes peacefully closed and her mouth relaxed. A speck of blood on her cheek and a tear stain below it is the only facial evidence that she is dead.
A soft hand inserts into mind and Ailis’ golden hair brushes my shoulder. Her body trembles with sobs and she wraps her arms around my waist. Her tears quickly soak through my leine. The coolness of the teardrops is comforting to my burning skin.
Behind us, I hear a stream of curses flow out of Garrick like the waterfall back in the clearing. He sighs and then walks away. I glance back to see him approach a nearby tree. A horse meets him and nuzzles his hand. He ignores it.
I take a glance at Ailis, prepared for the worst. Her face is twisted painfully and has grown pale. Suddenly, she swivels to the side and doubles over. A clear pasty solution waterfalls out of her mouth and a digested stench fills the air. I reach around her and pull her close, rubbing circles into her back. Her eyes are heavy and dull as they stare off into the forest beyond the body.
“Look what I found.” Garrick says suddenly from behind us. We all turn to find him approaching us, Lachlann waddling beside him.
Ailis rushes forward and scoops the little boy into her arms. The tears come back, but now they are from joy.
“Where did you find him?” she manages to choke out. Lachlann’s head rests on her shoulder. His big blue eyes are bright and attentive. He glances up at me and his little bow-shaped lips curve up into a smile. There is no fear behind his gaze.
“He was up in a tree. Dalla must have feared for his safety and hidden him away just before the Rom--- just in time.”
Ailis does not seem to be listening but tightly cradles the little boy in her arms as if he is her last link to this world.
Garrick shuffles in his spot and rubs the back of his head. “I hate to say this, but the Romans will have heard the commotion. We have to go.”
Ailis’ brows furrow for a moment but the confusion is quick to disappear. Her shoulders tense up. I reach out and place my arms around her shoulders. She is as stiff as a rock. I wince and try to hold her still, but I know there is nothing I can do.
She snaps. Her eyes blaze up in anger and she jumps to her feet, letting Lachlann gently slide down her legs to the ground. I quickly pull him onto my lap before scooting out of the way.
“How dare you? My sister just died!” Ailis roars. “We are not going to run away!” She glances at Dalla’s body and back towards the village. Her eyes darken and her lips curl. “Her killers must be punished. They must die! She deserves justice!”
With that she shoves her way past Garrick and stomps towards the edge of the forest.
Garrick quickly jumps into her way. His eyes are a little startled but his face remains solemn and unexpressive. “Racing back into the arms of the Romans is not justice, Ailis. It is suicide. I’m not going to let you kill yourself.”
“You are not my brother! You are not my husband! You have no authority over me. Now, I command you to step aside and let me pass.”
“No.” Garrick crosses his arms. Brogan shuffles to my side and stares at the confrontation. Tear tracks still marring his face, his eyes watch expectantly and his mouth hangs open as if about to shout something at the two of them.
“Fine,” Ailis sneers, before whipping a dagger out of the folds of her leine and pressing it against Garrick’s throat. “Let. Me. Pass,” she hisses.
Garrick does not move. His breathing does not quavered. He grits his teeth together and slowly steps out of her way.
Jumping around him, she races for the edge of the thickening forest.
“Ailis!” Brogan yells after her. Ailis flinches from the power behind his voice but she does not slow nor stop. Brogan scrambles to his feet and darts after her. They both disappear into the forest.
The clearing is thrown into silence. I glance at Garrick. He stares out after Brogan and Ailis. The only proof of their escape is the rustling of the bushes, but even those grow still after a few moments.
“Why did you let her go?” I say. “You could have easily disarmed her.”
“I could have. But that would have only infuriated her.”
“Better her angry than dead.”
“She would have taken her anger out on something --maybe on one of us-- had she been forced to stay. She was ready to use that dagger. I’m just happy didn’t have the chance to use it on you.”
“She would never.”
“People in furious pain rarely act like their usual self. Who knows what Ailis would have done?”
“I do. She wouldn’t have hurt anyone. Least of all me.”
“You know her best now that...” He glances over to Dalla’s body. I refuse to let my eyes do the same.
“You don’t have to see this,” Garrick says. He heads over to the supplies and pulls out a blanket. With it, he covers Dalla.
“No, it’s okay,” I say. “That is not Dalla. That is only the shell she used while living. My sister is no longer on this earth.”
That is only the shell she used while living. Her essen e is long gone to the afterlife. She is at peace and is no longer afraid. Death --and the Romans-- cannot haunt her anymore. She is in the land of Aed, god of the underworld, the Land of the Dead, a place where there is no sickness, death or old age, where happiness lasts forever and a hundred years is as one day. She is now with Callen, Earnan, and Tyrone, enjoying the bounty of the dead and living as the gods do themselves.
“We can’t leave her body here, though,” I add. “Even though it is only her carapace lying here on the dirt ground, she still deserves the proper funeral and rites.”
Garrick nods. Grabbing a coil of rope from a horse’ pack, he makes quick work of tying Dalla’s blanket wrapped body to the back of a saddle.
“We’ll bury the body when we have the chance,” he says.
A twig suddenly snaps behind us. Frantic whispers fly through the air. I clutch Lachlann tiny body to myself. I glance at Garrick. He takes a step towards us and places a silent finger to his lips. I nod, but the panic in my chest threatens to explode in hysterical screams.
They break out into the clearing. I bite back a scream when I see it is only Brogan, dragging a fighting Ailis behind him. But she is not fighting to return to the village as she was minutes ago. No, now she fights to race towards Lachlann. The panic behind her darting eyes is clear. She would most likely be screaming if Brogan did not have a firm hand over her mouth.
“Romans--” Brogan hisses. “--right behind us.”
Without a single thought to remaining quiet, we all break out into a run and race for the horses. Garrick jumps onto the nearest horse and takes Lachlann from my outstretched arms before pulling me up in front of him. Brogan grabs Ailis and throws her onto the next horse before swinging himself up behind her.
A dozen men suddenly bush their way into the clearing, a stampede of soldiers headed straight for us. The sudden eruption of sound startles the two riderless horses and they quickly race away.
Garrick curses after the supply horse but does not waste a second. With a shout, he spurs his horse into a gallop.
The thundering of hooves instantly fills my ears. Garrick leans forward, his chest pressed against my back, holding me in place. My arms wrap tightly around the little boy in front of me. My fingers thread their way into the horse’s mane and the warmth of the creature beneath slowly melts away the blanket of shock that has wrapped itself tightly around my mind and my chest.
With the wind blowing coldly against my face, my mind snaps to attention. Beside us, another horse gallops, Brogan and Ailis on its back. Ailis’ eyes are clamped shut. But Brogan’s are wide and unblinking. The wind sweeps a tear off his cheek.
I dare a peek beneath Garrick’s arm. Dalla’s body jounces around viciously behind us. Strangely enough, the sight does not incite anything within me. The body is not my sister.
Beyond the body, the Romans are visible. They still run but are gradually slowing down as they realize that they will never catch us on foot. While their pace slows down, their urgency does not. One of the men shouts a direction and they all turn around and dive back into the forest towards the village. Horses.
I turn back to the front. Freedom is not ours just yet.