Justice Will Rhyne

Chapter One- Reunion

'You are to stay out of sight, until the Woads attack'. She replayed his instruction over and over again in her memory.

From a thick cover of trees Rhyne could see the knights escorting new Roman recruits back to the Wall. Do they know what Hell they have entered? She asked her self with a shake of her head.

The young girl and horse behind her cracked a branch lying on the forest floor. Rhyne snapped back at her silently, "SHH! Quiet!" The girl froze with a stern face. She was used to remarks like these. The black wolf trotting beside them, a long time companion to Rhyne, growled at her mutely, sensing his friends anger. Rhyne looked down at him and smiled faintly. He always knows what I am feeling.

She turned her attention back to the field. She stared in fear for a moment as one of the knights had stopped his horse and was looking intently in their direction. She stopped breathing, for if he found them, everything would be ruined. But he kicked his horse, and they were moving once more. Rhyne breathed out a sigh of relief, gazing once more in anger at the young girl behind her, who still held her passive mask.

It had been fourteen years since she has seen Arthur and his Knights, but knew each as she stared on them from above. Though she only knew them for a short time, they all had a deeper connection. A sort of string that tied all their fates together. It was so long ago…a different time…a different life…

"Father, must you go?" the little girl asked pleadingly in a deep hug.

"It is just like every other mission, my dear. I will be back in a couple of days," her father replied kneeling in front of her now.

Tears rolled down her face. "You are lying. I know the Saxons, father. I have heard the other knights talking of them in hushed voices when I am around, thinking I do not hear. They are different from the Woads. Please don't go, father." She was sobbing now, and her face was apple red.

He wiped her tears away. "Rhyne, it is all going to be okay. You will stay with Gawen and Celeste, and you will help them in the tavern, as you do every night. You would like that wouldn't you?" He asked her, smiling.

"I am no longer a child, father. I know this is a death mission," this time she had a stern face.

He looked at her hopelessly. "You are right, you are no longer a child. Only ten years old and you already understand the cruelness of the world." They were silent for a moment. "Do you wish someone else to look after you?"

"I will look after her," said a boy running up from behind them and putting an arm around Rhyne.

Her father smiled. "Would you like Arthur to look after you while I am away?" he asked excitingly.

Faking a smile, she nodded. Her father took off his necklace and tied it around her neck. It hung low on her stomach, much too big for her. The silver talisman shined in the sun, bearing the symbol of his, of her,Sarmatian Tribe. "As long as a sword is in your hand-"

"Justice will Reign," she finished. Rhyne clutched the talisman in her hand looked to her father's eyes. "You are that future, my daughter." There was a long silence.

"I will return to you. Whether in this life or the next," and he hugged her one last time, placing a kiss on her cheek and headed to the stables.

She watched him go. "It will be okay," Arthur encouraged at my side and he pulled me away with his hand in mine…her father would not return…

Rhyne stood, long after the ceremony ended, in front of the burial mound of her father. She had not shed a tear, she could. He said he would return, and I hold him to it. The world seemed to move fast around her. She did not know how long she stood there until there was a tap on her shoulder. Arthur was standing beside her, and darkness filled his features. "Do not loose hope, your father is not alone. His already fallen comrades greet him in the afterlife.

Wisdom that was beyond his years stared into her soul. "Your father, nor mine, would wish you to be sad. They followed their own path, and you must follow yours." He spoke with a slight sadness of mentioning his father. They both looked to the burial mound to the left of her father's, the flame of the candle was newly lit. "Your father always stood by mine, no matter what the cost. It was my father's wish for them to be buried next to each other. But I did not think it would be at the same time." She took his hand and they walked from the cemetery.

"There are some people I want you to meet. They are young Sarmatians, all about my age. Pelaguis says if I wish, it could be my choice to lead them, as my father did."

"Do you wish that, to fight like your father?"

"I think it would please him, and I owe that to him," he said somberly.

They walked into the courtyard and there stood twenty four boys in front of them. For a long time they all stared, stared into each other's souls. For at that moment each would be bound to each other for eternity.

How could anyone have guessed what would happen in the next year…

The wagon was pulled away from the group of pouting boys. "I will return to you, in this life or the next," and Rhyne's hand was ripped from Arthur's. She yelled from the open curtain, "Remember, as long as a sword is in your hand-"

"Justice will Reign!" they all finished. The chubby but fierce Bors ran forward, "Rhyne!" He lifted his fist up high and bellowed, "ROOUUSS!" and all the young knights joined him. She waved from the wagon until they could see each other no longer, and they all shed tears. Rhyne hoped her new owner would be kind.

Lives changed then…for better…and worse. Their fates remained cloudy, leaving only one faintly sparkling star in the coming storm…

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she clutched the talisman around her neck. A great cry broke the spell. Woads were filtering through the trees on the other side of the field. Rhyne watched as the native fighters collidedwith the Knights and other Roman guard. She looked back to the young girl behind her. "Stay here! And you," she pointed to the standing wolf, "Watch her!" He looked a little disappointed, as if ready for action, but obeyed and sat in front of the young girl's horse. With that, Rhyne started down the hill.

A single arrow flew bytattoed cheek knight'shead, hitting the Woad coming towards him. He looked back and saw a woman on a horse rushing into the action, shooting another arrow past him, killing yet another Woad. She sped past him, andhis glare followed her. The rest of the knight's realized her presence as she screamed the Sarmatian battle cry, "ROOUUSS!"

They looked at her in bewilderment, but realized they were still in the middle of a fight. In between each Woad they killed, they all searched for the woman who entered the field.

She dismounted her horse and found herself next to a heavy built long haired knight, who used a mace and long dagger as weapons. He swung at her, but shestepped back from his blow. "Why do you fight me?" she asked angrily.

"Why do you join the fight?" he questioned.

"It looked like you could use the help," she joked with a smirk, which caught him off guard. She suddenly reminded him of someone, but did not know who. Her scream washed away the thought.

"Look out!" and she threw a dagger past him, killing a Woad about to strike him in the back. He was stunned by her actions once more, not knowing what to say, but she trotted away, further into the battle.

All the knights saw the exchange and still could not make out the situation. She had come out of nowhere. Why had she come to help them?

Shebeheaded her last Woad. His blood splattered onto her face, along with the rest of the blood that covered her body. Rhyne walked over to the river and splashed water on her face. The blood streamed off, leaving streaks of it on her cheeks. She stood and turned to find seven blades at her neck, with Excalibur in the center.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked in a dreadful commanding voice.

Rhyne was not alarmed, nor frightened. She chuckled, still out of breath from the battle, and simply sheathed her sword at her back. "Is this how you treat old friends?" she asked through the blood mask on her face.

They all suddenly looked confused. "We have no friends beyond the Table," Arthur claimed angrily.

She laughed again, remembering the stories of the Round Table Arthur had made when he was appointed thier commander.This caused the knights to strengthen the hold on their weapons. "Well, if that's so maybe you should just kill me, for you definitely failed to recognize me." She was still breathing hard, and looked Arthur in the eyes. He looked her up and down. Her leather trousers were worn, along with her knee-high leather boots. Her armor was British in design over her hips and chest. It was sleeveless, and she wore leather around her forearms. She had a large dragon tattoo over her left shoulder, and an arm band ofentertwined serpentsover the other. Her deep red hair pulled back in a long braid with a few strands dangling in front of her face. Her eyes were a striking emerald. But the thing that caught his eye was the talisman she wore at her neck, the other knights noticed it as well.

His anger deepened. "Did you get that off someone you killed? That is not British, as your armor is," as he motioned towards the necklace.

She looked down to the talisman. "I know. It is Sarmatian, much like your knights," she said matter-of-factly.

The long-haired knight she saved pushed his knife closer to her neck. "We only had one friend that wore a talisman like that," he said through anger. All the knights showed despair in their eyes, as if suddenly slapped in the face with a memory that wished to forget.

She did not move as his knife sat up against the skin of her throat. "So does that mean your friend is dead? Or is it possible she's standing right in front of you?"

It took them a moment to comprehend her words. The first knight she saved pushed his long curvedblade closer to her neck as well. His eyes were piercing through the hair dangling in front of his face."You're lying. She left a long time ago." He said it with a horrible anger, but she could sense his sorrow. She could sense all their sorrow.

She closed her eyes and dipped her head. They saw her despair for the first time. In a low voice, she spoke, "And she told you she would return. In this life, or the next." She said it slowly, willing them to believe her. There was a long silence as they all played back the memory of her parting.

The silence was broken as the short bald knight stepped forward, with his blades still drawn. "I don't believe you!"

With a stern voice of understanding she spoke again, "Remember, as long as a sword is in your hand…" and she waited for the answer, waited for their memory to return to them.

After a long silence Arthur whispered, "Justice will Reign." It hit all the knights hard. A girl, their dear friend, after so many years of separation, finally returned to them, just as she said she would. They all shifted on their feet, losing their balance from the weight of this realization, and started lowering their weapons.

She laughed out loud, and it stung their hearts. "It is really that horrible to see me, or should I just disappear for another fourteen years?" She asked it sarcastically, and waited for a disbelieving answer. But instead she was tackled by seven laughing knights yelling her name. They were all speaking at once, and could understand a thing any of them were saying. "What? I can't understand any of you, one at a time!"

Soon enough they all stepped back from her and she greeted them one at a time. First was Arthur, he swung her in circles when holding her. "I feared we would never meet again." She started to cry from how much happiness she held seeing them once more, and the rest followed suit. "I promised you I would come back," she whispered into his ear. He squeezed her tighter. She called each by their name as they walked up to her. Bors cradled her in his arms, "AH! You Wench! Now you can serve me drinks in the tavern, be my slave, just as I said you would!" She slapped him, "Don't count on it!" she yelled in a playful tone.

She punched Lancelot in the shoulder before he could hug her. "What was that for?" he exclaimed. "Fourteen years without bruising you," she got an evil look on her face, "I really missed that." A few boxing matches and bruises later, the last knight walked up to her and they just stared at each other for a moment. "Tristan," she whispered, and more tears rolled down her still blood streaked cheeks. He held her in an embrace that no other knight gave. They said nothing, just stood there holding each other. When they finally parted he wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood back, with the rest of the knights.

This was more emotion they have all shown since the day of her depart. Never before, have they held someone closer to thier heart. None get the love that they share for this one girl, no, woman. The only others that the knights even cared for were thier own. Love was a hard thing to show in a lifetime of war.

"How did you know?" Arthur asked confused.

Rhyne chuckled. "Know what?"

"How did know us, after so many years. And all the others. How did you know, it was us?"

She looked at them, one at a time. She saw the men that they have become, but inside she also saw the boys that she once knew, fourteen years ago. She smiled, then spoke, "Everyone changes, even over fourteen years. But your soul never does." They looked at her, astonished with what she said. Still after so many years, she was still their sister, and they still her brothers. Rhyne was the one to break the silence, "There is someone I want to all to meet." She turned to face the woods she had charged out of, and blew a long whistle. First a black wolf exited the confines of the trees. She gave a smile, but the knights all gave a contorted look, not expected a wolf to run to her. Then another rider came towards them.

The wolf reached Rhyne's side and put both paws on her chest as a greeting. He then turned to the knights and growled. "Hey!" Rhyne said in protest. "These are my friends, the ones I told you about. Be nice!" The wolf sat down and faced the knights, looking at each one individually, as if looking into their souls, trying to decipher if they were friends after all. "This is my dear friend, Hawk. But I always call him Little Brother," she said gesturing towards the creature. The young girl road up next to her, and instantly got a worried look on her face as she saw all the blood on Rhyne's face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes. I'm fine. None of it is mine," as she waved her hand in objection. "This," she motioned to the girl, still mounted on her horse, "This is Sparrow. My daughter." There was a silence between them. The knights could not believe what they had heard, those names. Rhyne finally spoke, "Sparrow, these are my old friends, and the famous knights I have told you about." She began on one end, and started naming them all. "Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot, Arthur, Bors, Dagonet," she paused a moment, then continued, "and Tristan."

Sparrow gave an intent look to Tristan, as if she knew something he did not. He stared back at her, with a passive face, but so much was running through his mind. Their names, the wolf, and the girl. I don't believe she gave them those names. The situation was too much for his heart. For so long, she had been gone, only a memory. And now, with one more year until his service is done, she is back, like an arrow to the heart. But she had always been that way. And a daughter. He was not sure whether to let his heart break, or soar.

Their gaze was broken by one of the new Roman recruits riding upbehind the knights. "We have collected our dead, sir. We should move out before more come." They all jumped as he spoke.

Arthur turned to face him. "Good. Ready yourselves to leave." The man rode away and Arthur turned back to Rhyne. "Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"To come home."

She laughed out loud. "More than you know."