Chapter 4-The Festival

"Careful Andra"murmured Alexis as she gently steered Andra through the boisterous crowds at the fair.She and Andra were both veiled and while a part of Alexis reveled in the freedom that anonymity brought,another part of her was anxious and constantly on alert for any sign of danger to her friend.But she needn't have worried.no on was paying them the smallest bit of attention.The harvest had been good and the crowds were in a celebratory mood.the various stalls which had been put up to sell all manner of things were seeing brisk business.Beside her Andra was humming joyfully and Alexis could not help being glad that they had come after all.

Andra wished to buy some trinkets from the stalls so Alexis accompanied her.while Andra asked the price of a cloth of silk,the colour of buttercups,Alexis felt the unmistakable prickling at the back of her neck which warned her that she was under observation.Casually,as if merely bored she shifted her stance to place herself between Andra and the crowd and slowly let her gaze wander.

She saw him almost at once.Indeed,she later wondered if anyone in the fair could have remained unaware of him.he was standing under a tree,a tall figure,wearing a grey cloak,standing very still and watching her.his face was too far away for her to make out his features,but there was a kind of lazy confidence about his stance which unnerved Alexis,and made her wonder who he was.he was watching her intently and she returned his gaze,curiously.then he grinned and she felt the power of it jolt through her.very deliberately she broke eye contact and turned away.

"Alexis,what do you think?"Andra asked.Alexis turned around,distracted,and found her friend holding up the buttercup yellow silk and looking at her questioningly."its fine"replied Alexis curtly.Andra frowned"are you all right?"she asked and Alexis smiled at her"yes,of course".reassured,Andra turned to finish her purchase and Alexis glanced casually at the tree.there was no one there.



Andra had finished her purchase by now and asked Alexis if she wanted to go home"you don't look well dearest"she said hesitantly.
Alexis pulled herself together and pushed aside the ridiculous sense of disappointment.she took hold of herself and said mildly to Andra "No i want to to see the archery competition.Lets go!"

Together they wandered to the end of the great field,where the competitions were being held.There was archery,and sword fighting and wrestling,along with less serious games.mainly it was the common folk of Castalia who participated in these events,and they were more for fun than as demonstration of any serious skill and Alexis had merely expressed the desire to watch to avoid Andra's questioning.

There was a huge crowd building up and with shouts of merriment and much encouragement,the contestants were lining up.all at once,Alexis felt that prickle once again and sharply looked around.The stranger in grey was standing in the line with the rest of the archers,taller than the rest,and with the stance of a warrior.he was looking straight at her and Alexis felt a sudden rush of awareness,as confusing as it was exhilarating.then the stranger grinned slightly and cocked his head as if in challenge.without a thought in her head,Alexis walked up to the man handing out bows and arrows and held out her hand"Bow and arrow ,please"she commanded.

The elderly wizened man cackled at her"Whats a pretty young thing like you want with weapons then,eh?your beauty be your weapon missy,and if ye use it right,you wont need no others,mark my words!"Alexis waited for the laughter and catcalling to die down.she did not take her eyes off the old man and slowly his grin faded."The competition be for lads only"he grumbled.
"where is it written in the rules?"demanded Alexis and for a moment,the man looked nonplussed."but,but but twere always so.."he stuttered.

"What seems to be the problem here?"a voice drawled and with jolt,Alexis recognised Cameron's voice.Fighting an instinctive desire to turn away,she slowly turned to face him.Cameron's eyes locked into hers and a slow smile spread over his face as the old man babbled out his story.his gaze raked her head to foot and she stiffened in insult.

"i think,grandfather,that since the young lady wants to challenge our lads,we should appreciate her courage and let her do so.however since we are altering the rules for her,she must give a prize,should she lose"
"What prize?"asked someone from the crowd.
"Hmm"Cameron pretended to think,his face alight with laughter"since this is an important occasion,surely it should be a valued item"his gaze fastened on her neck and Alexis knew what was coming"how about the chain the lady is wearing?"

The crowd gave its roaring approval and Alexis cursed herself for being a fool.Cameron had certainly recognised her and now Icarus would know about today's little jaunt.The thought of his rage at having his sister insufficiently guarded which would be almost as great at his disgust at knowing that she had mingled with'commomers',dismayed Alexis.Damn Cameron!she saw him eyeing her chain amd smiled sweetly at him"you will not get your hands on it this time Cameron"she said"it pains me to say this,but a donkey is more skilled with a bow than you are!"

Cameron merely grinned at her,entirely unaffected by her insult.he had had his eye on the chain for a long time now.it was of simple gold,with a deep ruby,set in an intricate and unusual design.but it was not the beauty of the piece which had captured Cameron's interest.it was the legend surrounding it.it was said to belong to a great warrior queen,and to give its wearer invincibility in battle.Alexis had never set much store by its supposed powers but it was a gift to her from Juno and Alexis treasured the mark of her Queen's affection and regard.

"Scared Alexis?"he asked her softly"whats the matter ?do you think you will lose?famous Alexis with her famous skill?"

Alexis knew that Cameron was merely trying to rile her,to pay her back for cautioning Icarus against him repeatedly.he would like nothing better than to best Alexis and humiliate her publicly and she knew that she should walk away from his challenge now.only Cameron would know,and some day she could pay him back for this.but someday was just a myth and today and here and now were the only things real.Alexis looked at Cameron with a glint in her eye and took the bow and arrows from the old man.
"Bravo!"applauded Cameron softly as the crowd gave another cheer.

Alexis had almost forgotten the stranger in grey who had started this mess in the first place.he grinned at her and she stared at him coldly.cursing his impudence and her own impulsiveness,she turned to face her target.she was not much afraid of losing.not to Cameron ,whose skill was moderate at best and certainly not to any local labourer.only Icarus,on his really good days,had ever been able to beat Alexis.

The competition started.one by one the archers kept getting eliminated.it was quickly becoming apparent to the crowd that the only serious competition was between the veiled lady,the captain of arms,and a stranger in grey.the crowd which had started out by booing Alexis as she let arrow after arrow loose from her bow,ended up cheering her skill after a few rounds.
Finally only three archers were left.Cameron had been shooting angry looks to the stranger for the past some rounds and muttering.the stranger paid no attention to him.in the next round,Cameron's arrows were nowhere close to the bulls eye and with a very bad grace he stormed away after chucking his bow down and stomping on it.the crowd parted respectfully to let him pass.you did not laugh at the captain of the guards..at least not to his face,a fact Cameron was well aware of.

and now only Alexis and the stranger were left.by the whole crowd knew that neither of the contestants was a commoner and there was a expectant hush in the air.Blood humming in her head, Alexis shot six arrows,one after another into a bulls eyes six inches wide.the crowd gasped and the stranger smiled at her.then he did a strange thing.instead of turning towards his own target,he walked up to her and turned to face her target.six arrows flew out from his bow,with a kind of controlled grace,and mesmerised ,Alexis watched each of her arrows being split into two.

for a moment there was a stunned silence and then there was an instant uproar.the stranger turned to face her and she found herself drowning in eyes the colour of storm clouds."my win,i believe,my lady"he drawled,his face breaking into a lazy smile.Alexis could only stare at him as the crowd roared his approval around her.

And then from the corner of her eyes she saw a flash of movement.instinct as well as training made her whirl around to where Andra was.she was just in time to see Andra being plucked up bodily by two men who plunged into the crowd.Terror grasped her for an instant.then she ran ,straight towards her friend,but the crowd was already milling about,confused and Andra was lost..

"This way"someone shouted and she turned to find the stranger in grey with her.He jostled and shouldered his way through the crowd and suddenly she caught sight of her friend again.she was struggling,and Alexis felt rage fill her as she increased her speed.to her horror,she saw three other men with the two others and saw two of them turn and raise their bows.the stranger simply caught her and pushed her to the ground and covered her body with hers while arrows rained around them.Alexis shoved him furiously out of the way as they both staggered up.she turned around wildly and her heart sank as she saw Andra being thrown up on a horse and her captors riding away.she started to leap after them when the stranger caught her arm"no"he said firmly"we cant catch them,nor without horses.you need to calm down and think where that road leads"
Alexis stared at him and tried to think above the terror."the forests.they will head for the forests,because the only other way is straight to the castle.horse!i need to get to my horse!"

Even as she spoke,she heard the sounds of cantering and turned around to see two big powerful looking horses racing towards them.one was being ridden by a man quite as tall as the stranger.he threw the reins of the other horse towards the stranger who shouted"the forest,Damon".before she knew what was happening,Alexis found herself up on the horse with the stranger behind her.then the horsed were racing.Alexis gasped as she felt the wind roar in her ears and tear the veil away from her face.the ground sped away and almost within minutes they caught sight of the horses ahead.Damon shouted at the stranger"The bow,Justin?"
"No"the stranger shouted back,"the horses might panic!the lady is with them"

"Have to risk it!we have no idea where they may be going!they could lead us straight to an ambush!"shouted Damon and Alexis felt Justin hesitate.
"No,please"said Alexis"don't do anything to place her in danger.."

Justin was silent for a moment and then turned and shouted at Damon" I'll wait till you are near the horses and then shoot them down!"

"What,are you mad?!!"shouted Alexis and then suddenly found herself being bodily lifted and lowered to the ground.the horse slowed for a fraction of a second and she found herself being thrown unceremoniously on the ground.Storm grey eyes laughed into hers as he heard him say,"sorry,but you will be abominably in the way ,you know!"

And then she was left,standing in the middle of the road,gripped in rage and helplessness and a strong desire to kick something.she doggedly started to walk forwards when the sound of horses' hooves made her turn around.within minutes a familiar shape appeared on the horizon"Lady!"exclaimed Alexis with sheer delight,and Lady neighed as she cantered to a stop near Alexis.she mounted in an instant and Lady immediately broke into a gallop.she urged her horse on faster and soon saw Damon and Justin.

Damon had almost reached the captors and she saw Justin raise his bow.even as a scream tore from her,she saw two men brought down.their horses reared as both men were thrown off.of the other three,one drew out his sword,but before he could get it fully clear of its sheath,Damon had thrown a loop around his neck and dragged him from his horse.meanwhile the fourth horseman had let loose an arrow and in horror Alexis watched it strike Damon in the arm.Even at a distance she heard Justin's roar of rage and then both the horse and the rider were coming down,with half a dozen arrows stuck into them.
and now it was only Andra's captor who was speeding ahead.Damon was riding neck to neck with him now and she saw him shout something.then he had thrown another loop around the man's neck and was dragging at him.the man was for a moment flailing and then suddenly he was falling from the horse,and Andra was falling with him.Alexis urged Lady to go even faster,but even before she reached them,she saw Andra get up,supported by Damon and felt relief flood her.she cantered to a stop near them and jumped down form her horse.
in a second she was hugging Andra who was in tears"im sorry,im sorry"Alexis said"Andra ,this is all my fault!we should never have come.are you all right?have you been hurt?"Andra shook her head as she tried to smile through her tears.

A groan made them look around.Justin had just plucked the arrow out of his friends' arm and Alexis saw a gush of blood from the wound.Andra gasped and immediately went upto them."oh you are hurt!"she said in distress.she took out her reticule from her waist and drew out the silk she had purchased from the fair.as Alexis watched with round eyed fascination,Andra bound Damon's arm.she saw Damon's gaze fix on Andra's face like a man who is seeing a vision.Andra glanced up at him smiling and then she gazed into the deep green of his eyes and suddenly blushed.

"uh hum"Justin cleared his throat in amusement and both Andra and Damon looked away guiltily.Andra gathered herself and said in her soft voice"i will forever be in your debt.thank you"
"Yes,but who are you in debt to?"asked Alexis,a challenge in her voice."who are you?where are you from?i have never seen either of you around here"
Justin,who was looking at the dead man near them with a grim look on his face exchanged a glance with Damon
there was a moment of silence and then Justin shrugged"let us say,we are..friends.nameless friends,if you will,for the moment at least!"
"Why?"countered Alexis"have you escaped from the gallows somewhere?"
"Alexis!"exclaimed Andra
Justin broke into low laughter"Anything is possible,my lady,that's what gives life its charm"
"we need to get back"Damon spoke in a calm voice"we will drop you back to the castle and be on our way"
"Thank you"said Andra,forestalling any of Alexis' objections.

The ride back seemed very short.Andra rode with Alexis on Lady and justin and Damon formed a kind of guard in front and behind them.near the castle,Damon stopped and said to them,"we must leave you here.you will be safe now!"
"are you sure you wont come in and have that wound seen to?"asked Andra and Damon shook his head"my lady is very kind"he grinned,a lightening bolt of charm and humour"but we must not stay any longer.goodbye!"
Alexis looked at the stranger in blue and he grinned at her"i will come back to claim my prize"he promised,as both horses turned away,and the riders were soon lost in a cloud of dust.