The past comes to haunt me {Yassia}

[Deleted]

The morning rays where just coming through the widow in Sir Leon’s room when he was up and getting dressed for the morning duties. This morning it was training. Not like the knight of Camelot didn’t train all the time. The job called him to be fit always, and Leon was pretty fit, he was a well known knight among the kingdom and he was a trusted and loyal to the king and the prince. He would give his life for them. It was an honour he held close to him, after the things that had happened in Leon’s past, he had overcome them all and had been moulded into the knight he was now. And he knew that his father would be proud of him, he would serve the King just like his father had before him.

He got up from where he was sitting on the side of his bed, and moved to the window to look out into the main courtyard; people were coming and going, servants, other knights and so on. He moved away from the window and picked up his sword, putting it into its hilt and striping it to his side. Leon had learned many years ago how to dress himself into his own chain mail, when it came to wearing full amour that’s when he needed help. But he wasn’t like Arthur who had Merlin to do everything for him. Sir Leon might be Arthur’s second in command; he just liked it more to be alone. Over the years he had gained this sense of bottling up his emotions, not truly saying how he feels.

He kept his past from Arthur, from Gwen, from all those people close to him. It was not something that he liked to talk about much, and he would try everything in his power to not bring it up, or talk about it, in any case. He knew he should be able to tell people close to him, but Leon’s heart had been scarred so much that it even hurt to think about what had happened all those years ago. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and wiped away the small tear that had fallen down his cheek. Even just thinking about it, brought true emotions, and Leon thought if he really did talk about it, he might become an emotional wreck.
He finished getting his chain mail on, and closed the door to his chambers behind him. He walked down the hallway and smiled and nodded at people coming and going in the busy hall ways of the castle. He headed down the stairs and made his way out towards the training grounds.

Since Arthur was off doing something, Leon was left to take command of them and train them in when ever they needed. Because you never know when there might be a battle or attack on the city, the knights of Camelot had to always be ready to fight. He walked across the muddy ground towards the group of knights waiting there. If anyone came looking for him, he would be here training the knights, and if they didn’t think to look here, because there was friends of his parents that came to see him, if you asked anyone in the castle they would say Sir Leon was out in the training grounds. He looked at the knights and nods, “Let’s get started then”

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Today was the day. The day were everything Yassia had been through in the last couple of months finally would come to a reasonable end. This was what she had been waiting for, dreaming of and hoping with all her might. Sir Leon, her uncle was the only man in the world she could think of to help her. From what her mother had told her about her family back in Albion, her brother had just started his training to become a knight of Camelot when she had left for Ailantha. By now, he surely would be a member of the court of Camelot, and maybe even in a position where he could afford to help his niece… if he ever got over the shock of learning to have one at all, that was.

Yassia so wished Mircea would be here right now. Not only would he be able to calm her fluttering nerves but he would also prove a valuable help. She had not expected to this all on her own, but ever since washing ashore on the big island called Albion she had had to learn to fend for her own and she had been in more than just one tight spot. Wasn’t revealing herself to her unknown uncle a walk in the park compared to that? It should be… but that didn’t help the princess in the slightest.
The last night she had spent in a tavern in the lower towns of Camelot, called “The Rising Sun” as it had been too late to appear at court in her eyes. Better to get a good nights sleep and work on some kind of plan before she barged in there blue eyed. The name of the tavern had seemed like a good omen to Yassia, maybe now the sun of her fate would finally rise up again?

Now she made her way towards the castle, and as she was wearing the most decent clothes she had been able to bring with her all the way, no matter what hardship she had endured the guards at the gate didn’t give her a second glance. The dress was not luxuriant in any way, plain but clean and maybe marked her a lady of lower nobility. It would have to do for now.
As soon as she had stepped through the gate, another thought occurred to her. How to find her uncle? All she knew was his name: Sir Leon Griffiths, but she didn’t know how he would look like, only the rough description she got from her mother years ago.
Gladly a passing soldier proved to be very happy to help her out and described the way towards the training ground.

As soon as she got there, there was no mistaking him. The hair of the man seemingly in charge and the features of his face reminded her so much of her mother it sent a painful sting through Yassia’s stomach. She had to get to him, before they started fighting!
“Excuse me, Sir Leon?” she called out, her voice a little quivering as she approached. This was the moment! Now everything depended on the first impression she made.
“Could you spare a minute of your time for me?” Yassia tried to smile, but she was not sure if the nervousness showed all too clearly.

[Deleted]

This wasn’t the first time Leon had to train the knights himself. He was glad that Arthur trusted him to train his knights while he was off doing what ever it might be. Sure Leon was his second in command and a respected knight in the court. Arthur was the prince and leader of all the knights, even Leon, and he was more important. Which meant that when ever Sir Leon had to take over the training he made sure he put the knights through the same thing Arthur would have made them do, Leon made sure that he could show Arthur that if he ever needed Leon for something he could. Not that Sir Leon hadn’t all ready proven himself my times to the prince and the King.

He was always up early every morning, no matter what he was doing. He got up, made sure things were good with the knights, with the king, and even with Arthur. Then he would give the reports to the King, do anything that he might ask of the knights and when he got his duties done and there was time to him, which was very rare really he was always working. That why he never saw the people close to him. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had seen Gwen or sat down with her and talked, or visited her at her house. It seemed like a long time to him. In his free time he would have a drink or two down at the pub and hang out with a few knights.

He liked to keep himself busy; as if he kept himself busy then he wouldn’t have to think about the past. It was something he barely talked about. It was something he hide from even his closest friends, Arthur and even Gwen, who he had been childhood friends, since her mother had been a maid in his house hold. He had even gotten Gwen her job at the castle. But it was not something Leon could easily talk about. It had been so many years since his sister had been taken, that it seemed that she was more then likely dead, or at least that’s what his parents had told him, because they thought it was better for the young knight to deal with, dealing with a death was easier then always thinking if she was still out there alive somewhere.

It was a subject that which he never talked about really, only in his mind did he think about it. Nothing could fill the hole in his heart, sure he had great friends and stuff, but the thought of having any family member was gone, ripped from him. He shook his head as he walked towards the knights that were waiting for him. He wanted to get right down to the training but it was short lived when a young lady came towards them. The knights were the first to see her, and when he heard his name he turned around to face the young lady in front of him. He smiled and nodded his head, “Yes of course, my lady”, he said bowing his head allitle and turning to the knights. “Carrying on with out me”. They nodded and went off farther down the training field to train. He turned back to look at her, she looked like someone he might have known but right now his mind couldn’t place her. “What can I help you with?”

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Her uncle Leon appeared friendly on first sight, and that was enough to raise Yassia’s hope. Yes, he might still be distant in his kindness, but if he was so friendly to a mere stranger, a woman he had never met, how much friendlier would he be when he discovered who she was? His long lost niece, the daughter of his beloved sister? Or was she exaggerating in her mind, and what she mistook for friendliness was nothing but the polite demeanour a noble like he felt obligated to show… She shouldn’t get too excited. Maybe he had all but forgotten about his sister after all?

Then, when it was her turn to speak, Yassia could feel every nerve she possible had flutter inside her stomach, and her heart beating not in her chest but in her throat, a very unsettling feeling that even made her sick. But of course she could not lose her countenance just like that and ruin the first meeting by throwing up her breakfast, best on Sir Leon’s fanc red cloak bearing the golden crest of Camelot. Oh yes, he looked dashing, a man in prime age and still fighting fit. But she couldn’t distract herself with such things now, he probably waited for an answer.

“I…” she started off, but stopped again the next second. No, starting a sentence with “I” was never good, and especially not in her case. She couldn’t just assault him with the revellation of: ‘I am your long lost niece’, no that was a shock he most likely wouldn’t survive. Yassia needed to be more subtle, but how? No matter how many times she had imagined this conversation, how often she had thought about things to say, tweaking the phrases until they sounded just right – now her mind was empty, and she was left with her own fear and awkwardness. Not a very pleasant sentiment to behold, and a part of Yassia wished herself to be elsewhere this very moment. Just one more day to think about it all, but now it was too late.

“Do you…” she tried again, licking her lips nervously, but then inwardly squaring her shoulders. She couldn’t stay a coward forever, after all she had been through to be in this very moment! “Do you remember a woman named Rhiannon? Rhiannon Griffiths?”
Exhaling deeply, Yassia fiddled her fingers. Now she finally had made the first step. How would he react? What would he say? Oh goodness gracious, why wouldn’t the earth swallow her up this very instant?! She had never anticipated so much tension!

[Deleted]

Ever since Leon could remember he had been trained to become a knight. It was normal any boy of noble blood to become a knight and it was only seeing that his father in fact had been a knight in Camelot. And had still been one when Leon was born and his father pushed him from the early age to become a good knight. So the many years that he had in fact been a true knight, because you only became a true knight by being given the title ‘Sir’. For Leon had been wearing this tile for many years and had served the kingdom of Camelot with all his heart. So when ever he greeted someone he did it with the noblest knightly way, as he did with the young lady in front of him, or any one he did come across in the castle. May it be a guest, a important person, or even the less, because to him it didn’t matter really, titles were just titles, he looked at people for who they are, either they be noble or not.

He watched her as he waited for her to speak. He could tell there was something on her mind, as he looked like she couldn’t speak at the moment. She looked like she was going to be sick, and Leon wondered what was making feel this way. Had it been something he said? No he didn’t think so, it made him wonder. He looked around the training ground abit while he waited for the young lady to speak. He could hear the knights behind him training on without him. He had no clue when Arthur was getting back from whatever it might be that he was doing. The day was nice and sunny, prefect weather for training.

He looked back when he heard a single word come out of her mouth. He raised an eyebrow at the way she was acting but he didn’t say anything, he would wait for her to speak. He wasn’t rude, he wouldn’t tell her that he didn’t have time to just be standing here, if she had nothing to say then he would get back to his training, but he never dare say anything like that to a lady. He went back to looking at the people walking past the training grounds coming and going in and out of the castle. He wondered what he might do after the training was done, maybe have a drink down at the tavern or something. Maybe think about visiting his parent’s grave. It was not something he had time to do those days with him being busy all the time. He was so lost in his thoughts that when he heard his sister’s name he turned back to the young lady in front of him. “How do you know that name”, he blurted out before he could even think about what he had said. “I am sorry I mean, yes I once knew that name”, but she’s been long since dead, he was going to say, or at least that’s what Leon’s parents had told the young knight who had only been eighteen at the time.

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Sir Leon’s reaction was more than fierce, and it was laced with some kind of hidden emotion Yassia could not yet define. Well, at least she had not happened upon the wrong “Sir Leon” – though this would have been a ridiculous coincidence by all means, there were not many knights around with such a name and probably none of them was so well respected like her uncle. Oh yes, she could call him that now, his agreeing on knowing the name of her mother was enough. Another Sir Leon Griffiths knowing a Rhiannon Griffiths and still not being her uncle? Now that was unthinkable!

This left her with another dilemma though. Had she thought after the first step everything would be easier, she now realised how utterly mistaken she had been! It didn’t get easier, on the contrary, this just got worse concerning her nervousness and insecurity.
She watched the fighting knights again, as if she could somehow find the right words in the way they moved or written on one of the stone walls surrounding the training ground. But of course there was nothing. It was all up to her.
“I know this name…”, she started hestitantly, but then trying to give her voice a firm, convining touch. “I know it because Rhiannon Griffiths… was my… mother!”

Yassia waited a few moments to let this possibly outrageous statement settle in. She didn’t know much about her mother’s life before she had made her way to Ailantha and married the young king Diodore. For all Leon knew her mother should have been dead for years and years. Seeing her supposed daughter now all of a sudden must be a heavy blow for the seasoned knight and Yassia would not even be mad at him for not believing her or wanting proof. So it was good she had brought said proof with her all the way from home and had kept it close enough to her heart to never lose it, whatever she had been going through.

“I am Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha”, she added her full title after some hestitation. “… your niece!”

[Deleted]

He tried to hide the fact that he was allitle shocked and shaken by his sister’s name being brought up after so many years. He had only been eighteen when she was taken from there family home in the countryside, and Leon had been here at the castle becoming a knight. All his life he had felt it was his flaunt that she was gone. If he had only been there to save her, or stop it from happening. His parents to save there son’s grief and told her she had just been taken and later had been dead. That was before his own parents had been killed by riders. Now he had no one, he didn’t have any of his family members left. Was it fear that was now in his mind, or was it joy. Joy that this lady might know his sister, that there might be a chance that she was still alive and what his parents had told him long ago was all long.

But soon all thoughts of joy left as the fear snuck in. Maybe in fact it was true that his sister was dead, and this lady had come to tell her that it was true. That his sister had been in fact alive but now she was dead. Leon wanted to know, he really really wanted to know the truth, because it had been a whole missing in his heart for many years now, he had nightmares about it, always wondering, waiting, for that day she might come back to Camelot, but there was always that question of why his sister, of all the women in Camelot it had to be her. Leon had spent the rest of his life without his sister being there to see him become a knight, nor his parents. They weren’t hear to see him became the knight they knew he who. He had never been able to fill that whole in his heart. He had tried masking the fact that he wasn’t always happy, sure when ever he got the chance to see Gwen, his close friend, she made him happy, but it didn’t fill the whole, nor being around the prince as they were like brothers, it still didn’t fill that whole and he didn’t then it would ever.

He hadn’t even told Arthur about his sister, nor did he think Gwen remembered his sister, as it had been so long ago. There were nights when he lay in his bed that he wished he could leave Camelot and go after his sister, but Leon had never asked the King if he could, he had just became a knight so the chances of being able to leave were slim. And there were many times after that he wished he could, but he knew that his help was needed in Camelot. He had been so lost in his thought that when he heard the name of his sister with the word mom. He turned to the young lady in front of him, his eyes went wide and he shook his head. It couldn’t be true, couldn’t it? “No this can’t be right..”, he said to himself, it couldn’t be right, all this hit the knight as once and he had to breath in or he must pass out right there. He could feel his heart beating so fast. He couldn’t get it in his mind that his sister’s child was standing here, he just couldn’t. He kept telling himself that it wasn’t true, that it can’t be true. But he looked back up at her, his eyes full of pain, angry, and what ever else the knight might have been filling. When she said her full name and she was in fact Leon’s niece, he felt his heart drop, his sister had been married, had a child and Leon didn’t know about it at all. The whole that was missing was now even better as he was hurt that he hadn’t known about these things, then though he didn’t like the man who had taken his sister at least Leon could have know, he was her brother! He sighed and nodded his head, “You know you look so much like her”, his sister he meant, she did look so much like her, and it was what Leon knew some what that she was in fact his sister’s child, but Leon needed more proof before he could truly get over it all.

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Impatiently and very edgy Yassia waited for Sir Leon’s reaction. This was were it all was supposed to pay off: the long arduous journey, the supposed loss of her beloved stepbrother Mircea, the humilations and the setbacks, the failures even and the often enough hopeless prospects. Now, if she only could convince her uncle to help her, that he needed to care for the problems of his niece he had never met in his whole life, hadn’t even known she existed until this very moment.
Now that she thought about it, what had come over her?! How could she readily assume that he would literally spring at the chance to help her? It was like she had ben hit with a bucket of ice water, a shocking and heart freezing revellation. What was she thinking? He possibly had all he could wish for in his life, a reputation, people who looked up to him and a purpose to serve. Who was she to ask him to give it all up, if only for a short time, to travel with her in a faraway land to reclaim something that he couldn’t care less of? All this hope that had kept her strong the past months… it was clearly built on pillars of sand.

Though, however much her hopes were shattered right now, this was a family reunion still, one she also had been waiting for regardless the political aspect of it all.
“It IS right… uncle”, she added hestitantly, savouring the taste of this title on her tongue, filled not with the usual hatred and scorn she normally connected with it. “In case you need it, I have proof. This…” she fumbled with a delicate chain around her neck and revealed an intricate silver ring pending from it, showing it to him. “This she told me you gave her for her 13th birthday. Do you recognize it?” A weary smile crossed Yassia’s face as memories stung like bees in her mind. “She gave it to me on MY 13th birthday, the day when she told me all about her backstory… and of you!”

Oh yes, Yassia remembered this day as it had only been yesterday. Her family, still united and happy sitting in the comfortable fireplace room, while Rhiannon told her children about her adventuresome past. It had been nothing but a tale for the little princess back then, she would have never dreamt of this story becoming her lifesaver once. Just that even back then she had realised her mother had skipped some details. Until this very day Yassia had only an inkling of what had happened to her mother on this troublesome journey down south. Initially she had been taken by bandits. The princess who had come across a few bandits herself in the course of her own journey, realised she probably didn’t want to know what her mother had been through until Diodore had proven to be her saviour in times of need.

Hestitantly Yassia took a step forward, examining her uncle. He looked still very fighting fit, only supported by the fact that he seemed to be in charge of the knight’s training. And there was this uncanny resemblance to his sister that before had made Yassia’s heart ache. Now it was filled with joy.
“So do you, Uncle Leon”, she replied softly, her eyes gleaming. “Goodness gracious I feel like I’m dreaming!” She felt she was opening herself up to him with every second that passed – and hoped her high expectations wouldn’t be misplaced. “My mother imagined you to have a powerful position at the court of Camelot, and now look at you. Her prediction was right for all I see!”

[Deleted]

He felt that the hole that was in his chest was gone, but it was still there really if you think about it. All that Leon had known about his sister’s death was wrong, she had been killed, she had lived and had a child, or children for all he knew. But all those years of answers never being answered now came crashing down on him all at once. And it was a wonder that he hadn’t just fallen over right there. If he wasn’t the strong person he was right now he would have just down that, but of course he was a knight of Camelot and he would not show any weakness, even if it was the weakness of the broken a heart. He was still trying to get over all the facts that Yassia was telling him. He felt his heart had been ripped out more then it had all those years ago when his sister was taken and then years later when his parents had been killed. And it started to wonder in his mind why his sister hadn’t sent him any letters, why she hadn’t told him she was safe an that she had a child. He was an uncle for gods sake and he didn’t even know. He couldn’t understand, his sister hadn’t been the person to not let anyone know about anything, he still had her letters in his chambers from the months that she had spent with a few ladies training.

Him and his sister were close, and there wasn’t a time when she didn’t send him a letter, or he didn’t send her one. Leon always wanted to know where his sister was, and what she was doing, because when he was younger he always feared that something would happen to her and it had came true. If he had not been training to become a knight, he could have been there to save her. Maybe things would have been different if Leon had lived a simple life, but now that he was living the life he was, he couldn’t see himself as a simple man. There was nothing simple about being a knight of Camelot, and the second in command. Leon had a duty to serve and protect and he had to live up to his title as second in command. He had to live up to what Arthur saw in him and the King. He had o not fail them and he had to make sure that if something where to happen he could step up and take over just like he had many times before.

He shook his head when she had it was true, even though Leon knew deep down in his heart that it was true, but he still couldn’t get his mind wrapped around all of those, and one question still was there. Why now? Why a few years ago, Leon would have found someway of getting to his sister, but why now after anything that had happen in this life, now was the time that everything came out. When she said she had proof he looked up from where he was staring at the ground trying to get through his thoughts that’s when he saw the sliver ring he felt his heart drop. He knew that ring, he would never forget something like that. He nodded his head. “I do recognize, it was the last thing I gave her before I become a knight”. The he looked down again, “The last time I saw her…”, it had been the last time he had seen her face, heard her laugh and seen that sweet smile of her’s that would bring life to his heart.

He wonder if the story that his sister had told to Yassia was all true. About how the fact that she had been taken from there manor in the country side of Camelot, that it wasn’t like his sister had willingly gone with the man that took her. Or the fact that Leon had a growing hate for the man that had taken her from him and that it would never leave him. He wondered what kind of journey his sister had made, what kinds of things had she faced? Because Leon did not know these things, all he knew was that his parents had said that she had died on that journey. But of course those were all lies. He wonder what his sister’s life was like there, where ever Yassia had come from, that Leon didn’t know. He nodded his head, “I know, there is so much about you young Yassia that is so much like her, it breaks my heart that I never knew about many times”. He smiled lightly, even though he felt his heart had been ripped open more, he felt that there was a new hope of some kind. That he would finally get his answers he had been so longing for to know, and now he found a new sense in life, besides serving his king, he had a niece to look after, to get to know and be the uncle he hadn’t been, all those years that he had missed in Yassia life he would do his best to make up and be a good uncle. He smiled again, “If only she was here to see the people both of us have become”. Because he was sure that Yassia had taken a long journey to just come here to see him and there most be a reason, “What as brought you to Camelot, Yassia, besides finding me, as there must be a reason”. Yes there had to be, to seek out Leon, her long lost uncle for some reason. Was his sister in danger or was it something else. He all ready knew in his heart that she had pasted away, but there was always that hope.

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Yassia felt there was more to what Leon said. His whole demeanour gave away a certain inner agitation, though he surely hid it well. But Yassia had been brought up in a world were even the slightest twitching of the mouth or the flicking of the little finger could tell a whole story. Emotions where not supposed to be weared on one’s sleeve, be they of positive or negative kind. But seeing her uncle like this made her wonder just what he had been going through the last twenty-or-so years. Her mother had never answered the question truthfully why she had left her former life so thoroughly behind her after she had been taken from it. It had seemed to be some matter-of-fact decision Rhiannon never wanted to delve into again. Now that Yassia was older she often wondered if it might have been shame. The fear of facing her family again after all that happened. Shame had always been a great issue for the Queen of Ailantha, something she feared above anything else. The only reasonable way must have seemed to move forward, not back, starting anew with the unbelievable luck she had had.

“I could never understand why she didn’t even write to you”, she murmured impulsively. “You had a right to know! I can only imagine, half a life wasted with needless mourning, it’s not how it should have been!”
Her voice had risen with fervor and determination with every word, until she almost found herself calling out. Some knights were staring over. She realised and quickly lowered her eyelids, blushing the tiniest bit. “Forgive me. My rash temper gets the better of me often enough. It’s just that I… always felt fiercely about this matter. But there was no reasoning with her about this point. She was determined to not burden you or your parents with the knowledge of what has happened.”

This could not make up for it and Yassia knew it. But she and uncle Leon where only getting started. There would be much time during the following days to talk things through, to get to know each other better and to answer many questions preying on their minds. But first, she would have to crush his hopes again, as he would need to know that even though his sister had survived an abduction, bandits had gotten the better of her in the end, after so many years of being safe.
“Uncle… I do have to tell you though that it’s been some years since… she has not been with us any more.” Six years to be precise, and still Yassia felt a lump in her throat when having to say it. “Maman got killed by a band of roaming mercenaries, as was my elder brother Ramon. It happened six years go. I’m… I’m so sorry!” Her lips were quivering now, but she forced it down with all her might, this unseemly upheaval of emotions. She was a princess, made to be queen, she could not afford to be sentimental!

Hiding her trembling hands behind her back, she stood upright, nodding once to acknowledge his apt notion. “Yes, there is another reason to seek you out, a matter of urgency though the extent of this urgency has diminished a little given the time I have spent travelling here…” She broke of, sighing. “It’s a long story. I will try to put it short. My father died recently, leaving the throne of Ailantha vacant. I am the rightful heir as there are no other children left, but the Ailanthan law says I will have to marry first to claim the throne. Now, my father’s brother Guifré, he always yearned for power, and as he couldn’t seem to get it one way, he choose the other… forcing me to marry his son, my cousin. I… I couldn’t bear the thought and so I fled – to seek for any possible help I could think of… you.”

[Deleted]

He was still getting over the shock; no he had gotten past the first wave of shock, now he was getting over the shock of never finding out about any of this. Why hadn’t his sister send him any news, even if it had been small something, just something to keep hope that she was alive out there somewhere. But as the years went on Leon lost hope, it haunted his dreams, and everytime he saw or heard something that remembered him of her, it ripped a whole deeper and deeper into his heart, where it got to the point where all talk or thoughts of his sister were gone, and he had not thought about those deep dark thoughts for along time until now. If Yassia had not come here to seek him out then he would have gone on with his life and have never thought once about his sister. But now it was there not in the back of his mind, but right there in the front and it would be the only thing on the knight’s mind for many days to come. He feared he would not sleep the next few days, miss his meals and try and put the thoughts away by either working himself too much, or a few drinks down at the Raising Sun would help that. He hadn’t been one to drink much, but he remember the first time he had been drunk, once when his sister had been taken and then the night he had come back to Camelot from finding his parents burned dead bodies. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and listen to what Yassia was saying.

He couldn’t understand it just as much as she couldn’t. For years he had spent wondering if he had done something wrong, had he been a bad brother? What had caused his sister never to send any word to him, she could have at least say that she was alive and well, he had known nothing. “I guess she had her reasons, but some word would have been nice, I could have let her know when our parents passed”. After his parents had been killed there was no way of telling if his sister was out there somewhere, so he couldn’t send word about it, he couldn’t send her their mothers jewels and dress anything that Leon thought his sister might have wanted at that, now they sat in the closet in the manor which had been untouched for many years, after it had burnt down to the ground, Leon had it rebuilt in secret for times in need. He had never been back there and he didn’t know if he could, would it reopen more wounds like now. “There’s nothing to forgive dear Yassia. I understand how you feel about these matters. Any news wither it be happy or not would have been better then no word at all”.

Yassia being here meant a new beginning for the knight. It would be a chance to get to know what had happened to his sister after she was taken from them, and he would get to learn more about Yassia, as she would about them. Maybe with each moment he was with Yassia he would feel more connected to his sister in some way and it would make up for all the years she was not in his life. He sighed and nodded his head, knowing very well that those words were coming soon. That she would have to in fact tell him that his sister was dead. He knew in his heart that she had been gone all those years but he never brought himself to accept the fact that she was truly dead and now Yassia was conforming his inner thoughts on the matter. “I knew deep down in my heart that she would never come back, that she had joined our parents, I am sorry about your brother and your mother”. It was funny their parents had been killed by bandits and here his sister had been killed by them too, so when it came time for Leon’s end would he be killed by the steel blade of a bandit? It was funny to think such thoughts but it seemed to be going that way with the family.

He quickly wiped the tear that had formed on his cheek before any of the knights saw. He was a noble man, respected and honoured, in some eyes it was not right for a grown man to cry, but with all these emotions running around in Leon’s mind he can’t help but let one single tear come out. He nodded listening to her story. If she had just some random royal who needed help Leon would think about helping, not that he wouldn’t say no, still he was the type of man to help anyone, even if it was a commoner. But this was Yassia, his sister child, and the only blood family he had left, and when Leon felt strongly about something he wasn’t going to stop till it was done and he wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in his way. He got up and smiled, “I will help you”, he said first thinking a few times over, he would have to talk to Uther about it, and who knew how long that would take, then he would have to find Arthur and talk to him, tell him everything. This was the first time he would have to open up about his past, about his sister and so on, because Leon had never told anyone, he didn’t know if Gwen remembered his sister or not, but he never spoke of his sister around the other knights nor Arthur and not even the King. “As soon as there’s a time to speak with the King I will, then I will have to talk with the prince before making any plans to leave”. He looked towards the castle, “You may stay in the guest room in the castle for a few nights, after I’ll have Thomas bring you to the estate till things are settled here”. He nodded to the knights and turned back to her, “If you wish I could take you to your room now”

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

There was no way Yassia probably would ever be able to fathom the true extent of Leon’s feelings and thoughts. She had never been in such a situation. Maybe she had felt like that a little on that 13th birthday, when her mother had first told her about her whole backstory. She had felt deprived and irritated that her mother only now thought her worthy to bear the truth, but conversely that had meant she now could feel proud of being thought a grown up girl. After the let down had followed a certain feeling of adventure and excitement. She had had no personal relationship to this uncle far away so she only could feel a vague discomfort at the pain her must suffer not knowing anything about his sister. Far closer to her heart had been the fate of her own mother, the pains and adventures of her own journey and the happy ending it all had found with Diodore saving the lady in distress and making her his wife. For little Yassia, the story had been ended with this fact, the past was the past, it’s distance also symbolized in the territorial distance. Albion was far and Yassia had never dreamt she would ever need to see its shores. That had changed the more Yassia had grown up, but just like she had mentioned to Leon, Rhiannon had shied away from contacting her brother.

“I know, uncle Leon”, she sighed. “It was not right, but we cannot turn back the time. And I also know how bold it is of me to come and demand something when you never have been given anything in return.” She added, slighrly bowing her head, expressing the unease she felt. Perhaps t had been too bold. Leon had every right to turn her down!

It must be very hard for Leon to learn the news of Rhiannon’s ultimative passing. Surely he had hoped for even just few seconds that he might see her again, finally find out her story, or simply just talk with the dear sister he had missed for so long, Her daughter, his niece, must surely appear a weak substitute in comparison. And wasn’t it peculiar that her presence still seemed to linger here, just because Rhiannon Griffiths was being spoken of this very minute. Six years melted into nothing, a day perhaps or even an hour and for Yassia it was like she could suddenly see her mother’s face hovering above them, smiling down and speaking words the princess couldn’t understand. At her side was Ramon, grinning his usual daredevil smirk. This was how Yassia would always remember them. Not the bloody, gashed corpses she had stolen a glimpse at and then had been dragged away…
“It… was a hard time…” she admitted, struggling to keep her voice level and not quivering. “I still miss them so much and of course I can’t help but think that with Ramon still alive my life would be so very easier.”

She saw the tear in Leon’s eyes and it made her heart melt and almost break for him. In her experience it took much to make a man really cry and it was also not easy for them to show this kind of feelings. So Yassia was by no means surprised he tried to hide it as quickly as possible. No one should see this, and she also wouldn’t mention it to not deepen the discomfort.
Salvation… it seemed to suddenly fill the air with its exuberant joy and relief and when Leon spoke these few words: “I will help you” Yassia felt the ground waver under her feet, simply overwhelmed by the relief now finally crashing down on her. She had won nothing yet, but at least now she had her first ally. If Leon said he would talk to the king then a very important first step was made. Every client needed an advocate, especially in such high regions as Yassia was faring with.
“Uncle… I don’t know what to say…” her voice was but a breathy sound and she hesitantly reached for his hand, to steady herself and to confirm this was all real. “Yes… that all sounds so wonderful and I can barely believe it. Your estate you say… is that where… Maman grew up?” It was an odd feeling, to think she would delve into her mother’s past, walk the ways she walked when she had been a child…

“But, if you’re busy here, with the training or such, don’t mind me.” She glanced over at the waiting knights, feeling guilty for keeping their trainer from them for so long. “I don’t feel too tired, I could stay here and watch – if I’m allowed to of course.”