Helice prepared a meal for Charis, Dirce, and Drosis when they returned. When Dirce and Drosis finished eating their meal, they relieved Astera and Thyia from their watch. Otonia and Dione brushed down the horses once again.

Charis waited as her warrior-sisters gathered in the lantern lit Common Room, Helice the last to eat. Astera and Thyia arrived and not long after, Otonia and Dione.

“Mistress both doors are barricaded and we are as secure as we can be and my stallion is watching the stable and the wagons,” Dione said.

“What do we know and what can we do?” Charis asked, questioning the assembled Daughters in the Common Room.

“Once they find their dead friends they will declare us an enemy, although we did hide them far enough away we hope.” Helice offered.

“Four dead still leaves too many alive, especially when fully armoured.” Otonia added.

“They are sending out men now to round up the village and the nearby farms, could we ambush them at night. Would they be confident enough to send the one knight out in each direction?” Thyia asked.

Thyia sunk a little into her chair as all eyes turned to her, full of agreement.

“Perhaps it is a mistake the old servant doesn’t return to the Keep in the morning. We could ask if he could drop the elder’s sleep ointment into the morning meal. It would probably put the entire Keep into at least a drowsy state, possibly sleep?” Astera suggested.

“Yes Mistress, kill what we can by stealth tonight and perhaps try to even the odds in the morning with the Keep asleep or drowsy, especially since they do enjoy eating their hosts out of hearth and home,” Helice commented. They all evaluated her in new light, the seer-lover gone, and more the plotter and planner now.

“While I kept watch there was nothing moving on the trail to the Keep,” Otonia confirm.

“At the Keep’s Gate the occasional pair of Judge Knights rode out, they do not ride to us. Although it is on dusk now so difficult to tell what they are doing. The ones killed in the ambush may have been ordered to stay out to round up the villagers in the morning so may not be missed as first we thought,” Dione said.

Charis continued to stroll around the Common Room and once all were quiet she found herself back at the bar looking up at them.

“Thank you sisters I now have a plan. Dione and Otonia; take this ointment and ask the old servant if he could slip this into their morning meal, the Initiates will describe to you where his cottage is. Ensure you instruct him to make sure no one else sees him and explain it sends people to sleep at best. There will be no harm to his Baron. Watch out for the Knights, they will be spreading out through the village before night. Then try to locate at least one or two of them and wait until they are asleep to kill them,” Charis commanded.

“Yes Mistress.” They were gone.

“Astera and Thyia; prepare before it is dark and then search another part of the village and try to track or find other knights. We need to kill enough to prevent the villagers walking to their deaths or worse becoming hostages. I will stay here and worry of course.” She didn’t smile.

At the fall of dusk Helice approached Charis. All the sisters were now gone and the initiates on watch.

“Mistress there is still some meal left if you require an additional serve?”

“No thank you I am well fed, the meal well prepared,” Charis replied

Helice then left the Common Room and after tidying up the Kitchen, she stoked the fireplace and added some wood, shortly it was ablaze and helped the lanterns push away to the approaching dark.

Charis wondered how her warrior-sisters were managing. Helice joined her then and instead of the lover, she was the grieving killer. Thyia of all the sisters whispered to Charis earlier of what she witnessed, which is why Helice stayed in the Inn this night.

“I killed today Mistress. I accept it’s my duty, I carry daggers and after all the training … but all the blood, the smell of it and especially how it clings. Thyia, poor Thyia, she witnessed my madness and when I threw up! I was embarrassed, why did I react that way? I … I couldn’t stop myself.”

“I am glad you did, you took life, which isn’t normal or shouldn’t be, to anyone. My first kill I took in vengeance and I didn’t grieve the death, I thought it justified. I saved my grief for the loss of my lifelong friend. The second life I took saved my new friend and allowed me to take vengeance. For most of my kills since I used my bow, at a distance, therefore I am yet to face and passed the test you took today. Even so I needed to grieve and took comfort and solace from a kindly old lady whom I can never repay.”

“Yes and No Mistress. I killed to save my sisters and myself. I am glad I did, the blood, so much and the second one, I well…” Tears started.

Charis reached and hugged her. Strengthened by the warmth and closeness she continued.

“I stared, frozen as the light faded from his eyes,” Helice paused remembering, “his face wasn’t one of evil, or good for that matter it was despairing as his blood drained from him and his life followed. He knew he was done for. Caught in my trance I didn’t try to staunch the blood, there was too much, my training made me into an effective killer. I just watched and then vomited.”

“We each deal with death in our own way, mine is I am on a mission, I swore an oath to do all I can so no sister dies if I can prevent it. You must find your own way to cope, remember I will always be willing to listen to you, to help if I can.”

“Thank you Mistress, I will consider your words. Do you trust the Judge Knights? Are they evil?”

The change of subject caught Charis out, although a final embrace of Helice gave her the time to recover.

“They are selfish and executing a plan the High Priest alone understands and they don’t care about anyone who gets in their way or who they can use, which means they aren’t Judge Knights. I am sure no offence is being committed against Judge when we slay them if that is your concern. Some would call them evil and be right in their judgement of them.”

“You know as part of my training I ‘attacked’ a suspended pig carcass, it was to provide a similar experience for the real thing. I need to ensure they add blood, for next the next time.”

Helice bowed slightly and left the Common Room. She was going to explore how she reached Charis this afternoon; instead deciding she needed to sort through her own issues for now.

---

Dione urged her stallion around the corner of the cottage and as she and her horse disappeared from their pursuer’s sight, she rolled from her saddle and leapt to ground, two-handed spear at the ready. Her stallion galloped on as ordered. She set the spear butt in the ground and prepared for her pursuers.

The Knight rode around the corner of the cottage and as she thought, he rode low in the saddle to clear the eaves of the cottage to cut the corner and reduce the distance to try to catch her. Dione teased both of her pursuers by being just out of reach, her stallion her willing accomplice enjoying the game as much if not more. Her stallion so superior in every way to the warhorses rode by the knights and their shared link providing an absolute and intimate understanding.

She wasn’t sure, where the point of the spear would strike, she was hoping it would penetrate his armour, the spear shaft wouldn’t snap or the butt of the spear wouldn’t give. She also needed to ensure the spear didn’t strike the horse. Crash and squeal, the spear point slid up his chest plate armour scarring it, the angle not kind and it didn’t penetrate. As he rounded the corner and lent forward the spear point slid higher and caught under his chin, the momentum of the horse propelled the spear point through the chain mail there and lifted him off the back of his horse, her spear ripped from her grasped as his dead body landed, the knight’s head still attached.

The knight with him didn’t realise anything was amiss until a riderless horse was beside him and he reined in his horse, curious. Turning in his saddle, he contemplated his prone companion, skull shattered and blood spray everywhere. Glancing about him, watchful, he rode back to the corner of the cottage, sword and shield ready, guiding his well-trained warhorse with his knees, whoever they were, they were gone, he didn’t want to dismount, the armour he wore was heavy and best used from horse back.

It was nothing, a slight cheeky girl they were chasing, she didn’t appear capable of killing anyone of them, and she was gone now and the least of his worries. If there was someone else killing them, should he return to the Keep or continue with the plan? It wouldn’t need two to herd peasants, and confidently he continued on, taking the now spare horse with him.

The stallion circled the cottage, waiting on the blind side from the remaining Knight, for Dione to mount. It took some effort to free her spear, valuable moments. Once it was free, Dione leapt onto her stallion and with her spear ready, hid behind another cottage and once the Knight gave up on her she then gave chase. She instructed her stallion to remain perfectly still and calm. This allowed Dione to listen to the clopping and neighing of the two horses with the knight, allowing her to avoid him.

Otonia rode west from the old man’s cottage while Dione rode east. There was still light and they decided to try to tempt and intercept some knights before they settled in for the night. Otonia could ride, even so she felt too exposed on horseback. After riding a short distance from the old man’s cottage, she dismounted and tied her horse to probably the last surviving tree in the village.

“My, my, what do you we have here?”

The voice was across from her horse. She prepared her knives using her horse for cover as she heard them approach on horseback.

“She would be a Daughter of…” He stopped as a knife emerged, planted in his eye socket, he didn’t live long enough to regret not slapping his helm visor into position before opening his mouth. His companion glanced at him when he stopped talking mid-sentence. Then the dead knight’s companion followed back along the line of the throw at the harmless looking girl’s throwing arm and its attached empty hand, slapping down his helm visor in shock.

The second throw was rushed and Otonia knew it. The remaining rider could easily kick his horse into a leap, push her own horse onto her, and knock her to the ground. She withdrew the spear from its sheath by the saddle and rolled away, springing up into a guard position, spear butt planted to receive a charge. The second Judge Knight paused. He was still as a statue, sitting astride his horse staring at her, which explained the amount of time, he granted her to be ready.

---

Dione cast her Borrow Stone, the half-light, half-dark of dusk giving way to night finally. She rode wide, to overtake her target on a parallel path. She was in position; it all depended upon him following the obvious path. The noise of his horse and the one he was trailing behind him reached her ears. He was trotting. Dione was ready to spur her stallion on; she needed to keep pace with her target.

Her relationship with her stallion made him easy to control and she could concentrate on her lasso. Her target realised at the last moment, gaped behind him, and then glanced down at the rope around his waist. Then it was tight around his chest and he snapped stop. It was a contest between the stop, his feet in his stirrups and his grasp on the reins of his own horse. He reined in his own horse and by pulling on the reins for balance it reared up in response. He tumbled off backwards and hit the ground hard in a clatter of armour. Dione was off her horse and dagger to the throat of the Knight. She noticed his head was at an awful angle to his body, his neck snapped by the fall. Dione retrieved her rope, mounted her horse, and rode wider to the outlying farms to hunt for any more.

---

Otonia studied the Knight, captivated as he dropped the reins of his horse and reached high on his chest, a finger width above the rim of his plate armour. She noted he found something and removed it, casting it aside. She admired his bravery; the pain would be unbearable. A large warm stain he felt and sensed spread from that point, he tried to examine it, to counter his disbelief and gave up, his neck too thick and the wound too high on his chest. He raised his head to search for her and then kicked his horse into a charge aiming to destroy her.

Otonia rolled away, no point holding your ground when a dead man charges. His horse slowed after the initial urge to charge as the mounted Knight fell from his saddle. As dusk was about to fall Otonia cast her Borrow Gem and hastened to retrieve her knives. Her special knives; which she cherished as her most prized gift. She inspected the chainmail armour the knife penetrated, the links parted and cut. As a test, she threw one from close range with her full strength at the plate-armoured chest of the dead man at her feet. The result surprised her.

---

Astera and Thyia casted their Borrow Gems and left by the rear door of the Inn. Charis closed and boarded it back up. They crept along the edges of the cottages and headed along the trail, which eventually led to Farstay. They decided the most obvious clue would be a horse tied up near a cottage or a horse making a noise inside a cottage perhaps if a Knight truly liked his horse! No one else in the village would own or afford the cost to feed a horse.

Most cottages consisted of two rooms; living area and sleeping area, some were smaller and some were larger, they were all scattered about the gentle rolling plain at the feet of the Keep in a very loose street maze. Astera and Thyia stalked between them all. The other issue was if the knight was staying with a family. Would the family aid the Judge Knight or would they aid no one? Would they panic, scream, and call out?

They found a lonely horse and decided a spooked horse would be a possession a Knight would want to chase after. The chase would separate the Knight from any family in the cottage they were staying with therefore if it succeeded it would be ideal. The plan was to un-hobble or un-tether the horse; then stand back and slap it on its rump to startle it. The horse should neigh in protest and gallop off clattering.

Thyia observed the horse bolting, satisfied with her efforts. She began swearing and cursing unrestrained enjoying herself. The Knight rushed out of the cottage due to the noise and salivated in anticipation at the back of the one who chased his horse away. Advancing and raising his sword from on high he was anticipating an easy kill, wondering if he could cleanly split the target in two.

Then he felt a pain, his eyes downcast staring at the spear point erupting from his chest. He managed to swear, cursing his lack of armour before he fell forward dead. Astera extracted her spear and chased after Thyia as they left the cottage behind, searching for more horses.

---

Otonia extracted the knife from the armoured chest of the dead Knight; it was clean through the plate, the chain, underclothe, and amazingly found flesh. She never needed to sharpen them or mend them they stayed true. She felt safer, fully appreciating what she found out. She started hunting Judge Knights full of confidence, wearing a hungry smile.

---

Charis, tired of waiting in the Common Room crept to the Inn’s front window to peer outside, not that she could spot anything beyond the circle of light cast by the lamps within the Inn, at least she could pretend to be contributing. Similar to those who remained behind in the Inn. She worried for her warrior-sisters, she knew their capabilities, and therefore they must succeed and survive.

“Mistress, word from Hillperch,” Helice called.

Charis was startled as she thought Helice was “talking” to her sisters about what they recently discussed together.

“The wagon caravan is at Farstay, Alcmene, and Apelles with Judge Knights, real ones and some of the town guard are with them. It appears the Duchess’ influence is upon them.”

“They are days away, unfortunately, at least the village won’t starve if they live through the next couple of days. Thank you.”

She then continued towards the window, slightly demoralised, although frustrated and helpless would be more accurate. She then felt Helice’s hands upon her shoulders and Helice’s head, resting between her shoulder blades. It was a small comfort and then her muscles tensed and Helice released the embrace. Charis alert, ears pricked returning to the hunt as she thought she heard horses outside the Inn. She also heard someone, hopefully an Initiate on watch on the floor above, rushing down the hall and towards the stairs to report. She gazed out the window in the slim hope the light shed by the Inn would be enough to reveal who or what visited.

---

The warrior-sisters started to make their way back to the Inn. It was very late and they would need sleep if they were to be awake and fit enough for the next day. Otonia was the first to approach the Inn. She crept past a number of cottages and needed to cross the width of the main trail, when she saw them. Seven Knights mounted, with torches, trotting down the trail from the Keep. Their destination could easily be the Inn. If she ran out now they would most likely spot her and Charis always treasured surprise over every other advantage, so she stayed hidden to allow them to make the first move.

Astera and Thyia approached the Inn to discover seven Judge Knights on horse, with torches, waiting before it. For what, they weren’t sure. They both retreated into some shadows and waited.

“Warrior-sisters, Daughters of the Duchess I call you to reveal yourselves and be escorted back to the Keep. With your example the villages will follow in the morning and we will all be safer and then we can locate the evil and destroy it together,” the lead Judge Knight called.

“We agree, we will be at the Gate as early as possible after first light, we will be able to assist the villagers as well. The Inn isn’t the best place for us to organise and plan together. Is that acceptable?” Charis shouted.

“Well spoken! Agreed! We will welcome you at first light!” With that decided, they rode off in perfect formation heading back to the Keep.

Against the darkness of night the light from the Inn remained. Otonia, Astera, and Thyia crept to the backdoor and called out to gain entry.

The all met in the Common Room, except Dione. They were discussing what to do; search for her or not and she greeted them, smiling.

“Did seven Knights just visit?” she asked.

“Yes they asked if we would relocate into the Keep tonight although they easily accepted my suggestion of moving back in the morning,” Charis answered.

“So are we and why were they asking?” Helice questioned.

“I presume they were checking if we were home,” Charis said.

“Will they be back?”