Leap 018 - World of Stone

Song:  World of Stone by Blackmore's Night

    When Eoin Bowman ducked through the doorway, the only sound in the small house was the whisper of steel on stone as his wife Rowan sharpened her dagger.  She looked up and sad, resigned grey eyes met determined brown before he wiped a weary hand across his dirt stained face.
    "There will be no swaying you, will there?" his voice rumbled across the scarred oak table.
    "I will stand by you, husband," she replied evenly, sheathing her dagger alongside it's mate in her belt as she rose to replace the whet stone in it's place by the fire.  Her husband watched as she tided the main room, moving wooden toys and tucking in a rag doll, it's smile not fitting the somber mood.  Completing her circuit of the room, slung a quiver of fletched arrows over her shoulder, took up the crossbow leaning next to the door and stepped next to her husband of eight years.  Gently she rested a cheek on his broad chest, listening to his heartbeat as he wrapped her in a tight embrace, pressing his lips to the top of her curly head.  They stood in quiet communion, content with simple contact, for several long moments before a pounding came on their door.
    "Eoin! Your presence is required at the tavern!" came Geordie's raucous voice, before the door opened to reveal his grinning blonde face.  From the looks of him, he had already visited said establishment before coming to summon his friend for their 'last drink'; Geordie was forgiven this jockularity however, as he could sober almost immediately when a fight was upon him.  The quirks of being a soldier for so long.
    "Oh.  Hello Rowan darling.  Gathering your last few things?"
    "Aye, my arrows and crossbow," she replied, slipping past their deceptively thin friend into the dusk.
    "I thought ..." Geordie spluttered, looking to Eion as the larger man shut the door of his home for what could be the final time.  A grim smile played across Eion's face.
    "I married a stubborn woman, friend.  She will not follow the other healers and has sent our children with her sister and mother."
    "I will not stand by as our home is attacked," Rowan's voice drifted back to the men.  "I have died a thousand times, watching those injured by our enemy slowly fade away, leaving children like our own with no one to protect them.  Today I avenge them and offer myself that such pain may end here."
    No more was said until the trio stepped into the warm glow of the tavern, greeted by friends old and new, so many gathered to face the hoard that would attack at dawn.  When darkness fell the fort commander rose, holding his goblet aloft for silence.
    "Brothers and strong sisters, we stand here as a last defense.  I drink this toast to you," Liam's strong baritone filled the warm room.  "Bring me mead and bring me ale to help us face this fight again.  Good fortune will shine down on us, together we will win, and they will never break out spirit, we will never turn and run, and we will rise strong still when we stand as one!"
    "When we stand as one," came the echo.  Quietly they all sat, thinking of those they had lost in the battles before, murmuring to one another, the voices gradually growing loud again as tales of loss and tales of laughter flew.
-------
    The defenders had lasted another hour or so before separating to steal a few moments of rest or complete preparations for the coming battle.  Stars were just beginning to fade when Eoin, Rowan and Geordie mounted the battlements together, taking their places with the archers and slingers.  The fires of their enemies shone in the fading darkness, nearly blotting out the stars that Rowan stared up at as she prayed for the safety of their children, seven year old Muireann, five year old Niall, and three year old Oran.  As the drums began across the plain Rowan's hand slipped in Eoin's and there it stayed until the command came.
    "Archers, draw bow!"

 I immediately saw this very strong, stubborn woman with wild, dark auburn curls, standing next to her husband in the last defense of their home when I first heard this song.  The story doesn't capture all of what I see in my head but it turned out longer than I intended, which is a good thing.  I've been reading a lot of King Arthur fanfiction lately which influenced the location and events somewhat, placing the last stand in a stone fort rather than a home in a small village.  The woman whose picture I used up there is Dawn Bradfield in her role as Vanora in King Arthur.  I saw a combination of she and Alex Kingston as Boudica from Warrior Queen.
Listen to the song here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qHdAOKoL18