CHALLENGE #46 - IN SEARCH OF VALOR
Tagged by: itslikenature
Title: In Search Of Valor
Chapter: Two - Problem Solved
Challenge: #46 - Coed Cadw (The Guardian Wood) - Jeff Johnson
Media: Original Fiction - Round Robin
Rating: M - For possible violence and mature situations
Notes/Warnings: Forgive my bad habbit for exploring and exploiting character traits. I love the idea of a round robin, but honestly, getting it finished in a week?? I hope you guys do a better job than I have at moving the story forward! lol
Tagging: sydneygirl90
Feel free to use the banner again in the next chapters. I like the visual stimulation.
Chapter Two
Problem Solved
They reached the Brother’s farms, which were situated closely together in a large clearing of the Tall York Forest, by first light and their horses neighed loudly, demanding water as payment for the fierce pace their masters had pushed them.
A small child came out of a white-washed cottage at the edge of the clearing and squealed at the sight of such a large group of horsemen approaching the house, before turning and running back inside to warn her family, dropping the milking buckets obviously destined for the cow.
Minutes later, a large, blonde man with broad shoulders exited the house and met the warriors at a distance.
From the corner of his eye Darian saw the small girl child run from the back of the house, across the field, freshly sown, to another dwelling to rouse the alarm.
It took but a few moments for Darian and his warriors to make themselves known, things were easier when the blonde man recognized Althalos as his mother’s cousin.
“We will be happy to be of service My Lord,” Dalanar, the blonde man said passionate, gripping the hand axe’s fastened at his side. His brother, Weston, although similar in appearance, did not share the same enthusiasm.
“I am more than prepared to fight, My Lord, but what of our families? What of our livestock? We cannot afford to leave them here unprotected; already there are rumors of raiding parties sweeping down from the North, not sparing woman or child.”
A small framed boy, about the age of seven, with flaming red hair and a face covered with freckles stood at Weston’s side, looking up at his father adoringly.
“I’ll stay father, let me fight! I won’t let anything bad happen to Mama and Aunty. I might let the Bull chase Missy though; she stole my swords and threw them in the river…”
Darian grinned and the other men chuckled, but this did not answer the question posed by Weston.
Althalos solved the problem, “Take your wives and children with you to Arundel, they’ll be safe there with my wife Alyson, and tell her to send Thomas and Marcus out to tend to your farms. I’m sure the women and children can tend to our own livestock while we’re away.”
The brothers nodded in agreement and with a few short goodbyes and good wishes, the warrior party was on the road once again.
Fendrel spoke calmly, his tattooed face not registering any expression, but eyes still screening the surrounding wood for any sign of attack.
“This is not going to be an uncommon question Darian and we cannot send them all back to Althalos’s wife.”
“I know,” answered Darian, at a loss.
“I’m sure Althalos would not mind coming home to every other man’s wife awaiting him in his bed though…” chuckled Rowan, only to have a rock thrown swiftly at his head by the older man he was making reference to who was bringing up the rear.
Ulric grinned, “And I’m sure your wife would be one of them,” he jested at Rowan, earning him a scowl.
Darian smirked, but was still puzzled how to solve the problem.
“Why can’t your sister take care of these matters?” Brom offered, “Lady Isabeau would enjoy the distraction, you know how much she wished she was joining us. It will give her something to do other than sit around and get into trouble.”
“Isabeau was always good at telling people what to do…” Ulric added dreamily.
Darian shot him a look, unsure of what he was implying. He had known Ulric had had some feelings for his sister since they were children, but unsure of how strong those feelings were now that his sister had grown to womanhood.
Ulric caught the look and added sheepishly, “…I … I mean, when we were children, she always took great pleasure in organizing us.”
Darian nodded at his correction, “You’re right. Isabeau will gladly take on the mission of attending to estates and families; we’ll pass that message along when we send the next men back to the castle and for that to happen, we should arrive at the Blackmore’s Estate within the next hour.”
Title: In Search Of Valor
Chapter: Two - Problem Solved
Challenge: #46 - Coed Cadw (The Guardian Wood) - Jeff Johnson
Media: Original Fiction - Round Robin
Rating: M - For possible violence and mature situations
Notes/Warnings: Forgive my bad habbit for exploring and exploiting character traits. I love the idea of a round robin, but honestly, getting it finished in a week?? I hope you guys do a better job than I have at moving the story forward! lol
Tagging: sydneygirl90
Feel free to use the banner again in the next chapters. I like the visual stimulation.
Chapter Two
Problem Solved
They reached the Brother’s farms, which were situated closely together in a large clearing of the Tall York Forest, by first light and their horses neighed loudly, demanding water as payment for the fierce pace their masters had pushed them.
A small child came out of a white-washed cottage at the edge of the clearing and squealed at the sight of such a large group of horsemen approaching the house, before turning and running back inside to warn her family, dropping the milking buckets obviously destined for the cow.
Minutes later, a large, blonde man with broad shoulders exited the house and met the warriors at a distance.
From the corner of his eye Darian saw the small girl child run from the back of the house, across the field, freshly sown, to another dwelling to rouse the alarm.
It took but a few moments for Darian and his warriors to make themselves known, things were easier when the blonde man recognized Althalos as his mother’s cousin.
“We will be happy to be of service My Lord,” Dalanar, the blonde man said passionate, gripping the hand axe’s fastened at his side. His brother, Weston, although similar in appearance, did not share the same enthusiasm.
“I am more than prepared to fight, My Lord, but what of our families? What of our livestock? We cannot afford to leave them here unprotected; already there are rumors of raiding parties sweeping down from the North, not sparing woman or child.”
A small framed boy, about the age of seven, with flaming red hair and a face covered with freckles stood at Weston’s side, looking up at his father adoringly.
“I’ll stay father, let me fight! I won’t let anything bad happen to Mama and Aunty. I might let the Bull chase Missy though; she stole my swords and threw them in the river…”
Darian grinned and the other men chuckled, but this did not answer the question posed by Weston.
Althalos solved the problem, “Take your wives and children with you to Arundel, they’ll be safe there with my wife Alyson, and tell her to send Thomas and Marcus out to tend to your farms. I’m sure the women and children can tend to our own livestock while we’re away.”
The brothers nodded in agreement and with a few short goodbyes and good wishes, the warrior party was on the road once again.
Fendrel spoke calmly, his tattooed face not registering any expression, but eyes still screening the surrounding wood for any sign of attack.
“This is not going to be an uncommon question Darian and we cannot send them all back to Althalos’s wife.”
“I know,” answered Darian, at a loss.
“I’m sure Althalos would not mind coming home to every other man’s wife awaiting him in his bed though…” chuckled Rowan, only to have a rock thrown swiftly at his head by the older man he was making reference to who was bringing up the rear.
Ulric grinned, “And I’m sure your wife would be one of them,” he jested at Rowan, earning him a scowl.
Darian smirked, but was still puzzled how to solve the problem.
“Why can’t your sister take care of these matters?” Brom offered, “Lady Isabeau would enjoy the distraction, you know how much she wished she was joining us. It will give her something to do other than sit around and get into trouble.”
“Isabeau was always good at telling people what to do…” Ulric added dreamily.
Darian shot him a look, unsure of what he was implying. He had known Ulric had had some feelings for his sister since they were children, but unsure of how strong those feelings were now that his sister had grown to womanhood.
Ulric caught the look and added sheepishly, “…I … I mean, when we were children, she always took great pleasure in organizing us.”
Darian nodded at his correction, “You’re right. Isabeau will gladly take on the mission of attending to estates and families; we’ll pass that message along when we send the next men back to the castle and for that to happen, we should arrive at the Blackmore’s Estate within the next hour.”