Hell's Bells (Rochette)

[evelyn]

They ring so loudly.....

With the moon high in the sky and a nice, cool breeze settled over the ground, the forest was wonderfully free of humans at the moment. Well, mostly free. A young gypsy girl sat by her fire, warming her stew to an edible state. She was dressed in a deep purple dress, a cord tied around her middle to keep the dress secure. Long brown hair feel over her shoulder and back in wild curls a waves, shining almost a red-brown in the firelight. Her feet were bare, her simple shoes sitting right beside her stool. A black stallion, almost blending into the night, nosed her shoulder with a small 'humph' of air. She reached up, running her fingers over his silky forehead.

"I know, I know. It's been a long day..." she mumbled, leaning into his strong neck. Her chestnut mare whinnied from the other side of the camp, trotting over to lay beside her. The gypsy chuckles, laying a hand on her back. The flames crackled before the three, rising and falling in time with the girl's breaths. It was a calm night, one that lulled travelers into a calm before the storm. The girl picked up her stick, prodding the fire, even though it was unnecessary.

"Camelot's near...maybe half a day away..." she murmured softly. The young gypsy has heard stories about that place. About the King who kills any magic user, and about the handsome prince. Evelyn chuckled slightly. handsome princes were a dime a dozen, as she has learned in her travels. She doubts Camelot's prince would be any different. She may make some good money though, preforming for them. But she couldn't use her favorite tricks, for she would not like to be exposed as a sorceress.

She continued to poke the fire, humming a soft lullaby that her mother used to sing her. One about the shadows of the forest dancing with the wind and the moon as the spotlight. She closed her eyes, leaning against her stallion as she continued to hum, the sweet sound carrying out into the dark forest.

[rochette]

"I don't care!" She hissed at her stallion. We are not stopping for water, we are so close to Camelot I can taste it." She took in the air, it tasted of more horse? Some one was near, She was going to find out who. She silently jumped into a tree, then to an other and Mystery followed closely behind on the ground. Etta was close enough to see the girl by her fire.

"Hello Little one." Rochette called out to the girl and flipped out of the tree. "What are you doing in the woods alone, unprotected?" She asked somewhat normally with her head cocked to the left side. By the looks of her, she was a gypsy, no doubt here to entertain the king and his knights. They, from experience, were no doubt a bunch of pigs. Sickening to to think someone with such potential would be entertaining them. She shivered at the thought.

[evelyn]

Evelyn was tired. She had been traveling all day with hardly any stops. Camelot's celebration was less than two days away and she had to be there.It was to be the King's birthday. he had lived yet another year without getting killed in battle or by an assassin. Yes, it was a good thing when kings lived, even ones who killed her kind. Not gypsies of course (or at least she hoped), but magic users. Sorcerers and witches by birth. They had been hunted by the king for years. Far too many years in fact. Why had this mad hunt, this trial of genocide, started in the first place? Of course there have been rumors. A man could not start this without them, after all. But what story, if any of them, were true? Which one revealed the true intentions of the magic-killing king?

The sounds of a voice shocked Evelyn out of her half-sleep. She blinked away the sleep from her eyes, looking past her camp fire to a figure of another woman. She was tall and though her features were a bit hard to see in the dim firelight, she seemed impressively self-confident in approaching a stranger. Evelyn straightened, waking herself up with a small shake of the head.

"I am no 'Little one' and I protect myself," she said. Evelyn stepped away from her horses, looking the other girl square in the eye. She was grateful for the fire that burned so hot between them, knowing that she could easily use it to help her defeat this woman if need be. But just who was she? The woman had to be quite brave to wander the forest alone. But was she really alone? What if she were part of Uther's guards? Or of another royal that had come to join in the celebration.

"My name is Evelyn. Who are you?" she asked.