Returning to Roots

A Friend

   When they went back the next day to the tree she'd hidden in, Braonan didn't actually expect her to show up, so when he heard footsteps just a passus away...,. Well, let's just say Andreas had to grab his knife throwing arm.

"You?" He stared at the redhead. She wore a green hooded tunic with brown leather legging and boots. Her dress was Gallic, she even had the appleblossom, but her features were that of a Greek aristocrat. Her accent too. Who was she?

"Me."

Braonan blinked. He'd almost forgotten that he'd spoken. "You came back here, why?" Braonan could feel his jaw working nervously.

She bit her lip. "You let me go."

Andreas added impatiently, "We should probably move deeper into the forest to avoid being overheard."

"I know a good briar hollow nearby." Braonan turned to lead them when she piped up, "You've only been here for two days, how would you know the area?" He gave her a weary look, "You did talk to Rhiannon, right?" Her eye twitched and she clenched her jaw, but she followed him to the thicket.

They all stepped inside and Andreas started talking, ... in Greek. Great. "So, who are you?", he asked in Gaelic when he was done listening to their incomprehensive bable.

The girl took a moment to switch her attention to him and change languages. "Rhea, hunter of Artemis and daughter of Clan Jardine. Rhiannon says hello to you and your brother, Core-raid-something. She also says thank you for letting me go." she added.

He noticed that her eye twitched a lot and her eyebrows wiggled a little. He wondered if those were her tells in uncomfortable situations. They spent the next hour talking about Artemis and then the state of the village before Braonan had to leave to help build some walls.

Over the next several weeks, they found themselves in thicket almost daily. As they spent more time there, they started talking about themselves more. Even Rhea began sharing.

She was a lady from Athens who'd sworn herself to the service of Artemis, Greek goddess of hunting, wilds, maidens, and children. Something about helping birth her twin brother. It didn't really make sense, but immortals generally didn't, so he didn't worry about it. Apparently, when one is sworn to Artemis, they must remain a maiden forever.

Braonan, who had little interest in romance himself, thought that sounded like a good enough deal. Andreas thought that sounded horrible. Rhea pointed out that she'd run away home to uphold that oath and Andreas' eyes widened. He shut up so fast you could hear his jaw click.

That was the first time in a long time that someone other than Andreas had made him laugh.

She stowed away on a couple of ships, wandered through a couple of forests, and eventually found herself running into Clan Jardin. She lived in a hut just outside the town for nearly a year before a pitying clanswoman had insisted dragging the "poor wee lass" into town and feeding her. Pretty soon, she was adopted and accepted.

That was when he realised that they'd become friends with the cautious Athenian.

And he thought life was complicated before.

That night, Rhea's face joined his nightmares. It was different this time.

While he still saw Andreas battling with his family, he also saw him trying to protect Rhea. She screamed at him to pick a side. She looked at them both and kept asking the same question. How could they? How could they?

She ran from them, straight into Corraidhin, and roared. Braonan couldn't see them though, because now he was locked hilt to hilt with Rhiannon. She asked him the same question. How could he? Andreas bashed her in the head with his shield and he watched her crumple to the ground.

He turned just in time to see Corraihin run Rhea through. Andreas rushed to them, but he was rooted to the spot. He saw Andreas draw an arrow just before he felt a pain in his spine and between his ribs.

He looked down to see something red and silver sprouting from his chest. He looked behind him and saw Rhiannon's face. "Forgive me.", she whispered, and everything went black.

Braonan woke up sweaty and gasping, cool morning air rushing in and out of his lungs. Their first strike was in a matter of days. His nightmares could all come true within a matter of days.

Running a hand through his sweat and grease slicked hair, he worried all through his shift on the fort. It was complete now, he was guarding it today.

By the time they met in the Thicket, he'd decided. He needed to get Rhea out of the line of fire. She wasn't part of this war, and he didn't need to add her to the faces in his nightmares.

He didn't waste time with small talk. "Rhea, you need to get out of here. One of the other scouts found signs of the village and we're attacking in three days. Come to the Thic-"

"No." Her eye twitched as she glared. "Stop, right now." Her fists were clenched and Braonan flashed back to Corraihin. "Don't you even talk about something like that. I don't want to hear it."

Why did everyone do this to him? "I'm just trying to save your air a chùlaibh you idiot! You're just a kid and you have no business going into battle. His hands had swung behind him and been scratched by the briar, but he didn't have it in him to care.

"I'm not going to stand by while friends are slaughtered just because you have a guilty conscience!" She was standing now.

"Oh, so you're going to be such a great help by getting slaughtered with them?" And now he was standing too.

"Ma Artemisia, Yes." Her eye twitched.

"This isn't even your fight! Why is it so hard for you to stay out of it?" He ground his teeth.

"Jardine took me in when Athens wouldn't, they're more my people than anyone in Greece. If you have a problem with that, then you can pigaínete sta korákia!" She stormed out.

It was only when Andreas asked, "What was that about mate?", that Braonan realized that they'd been shouting in Gaelic. He put his head in his hands. He wasn't even sure who he was shouting at anymore, Rhea or Corraidhin.

Suddenly, his head popped up as he realized why Corraidhin wouldn't leave. He'd become a Roman, just as Rhea had become a Galli. His friends, his bràithrean, were the soldiers he fought with.

Andreas, realizing that he wasn't going to get an answer, pulled him out of the Thicket. They walked back in silence, as Braonan realized that the only way to help his nightmares was to choose a side. He had to betray Rome.

When they came back the next day, Braonan apologized. He couldn't fault her for standing with her loved ones just because he was too cowardly to do the same. She just smirked and told him to try and stick to the right flank if he could. She had to get back to help with some last minute battle preparations.

Andreas turned to him, "Did we just become enemy informants?" Braonan nodded. Looks like he got his wish. He'd committed treason and betrayed Rome. That was weirdly easy. How did any government ever keep anything secret?