Disclaimer: Two characters in this belong to me. Just two, that I can
think of, right now. The others belong to Universal. That okay? On 
with it!

**== Part Number One ==**
	Fergus was filling his mug to the brim, and overrunning 
her's with the amber ale. She  couldn't return the grin. 
	"What's the matter, Angrahad? This is a happy time. 
Caitlin's giving the Prince a child!" he announced, raising his mug to 
an invisible toaster. "Blessed be!" he agreed, shoving Angrahad's
mug at her. "Drink to their health, and that Conor gets a boy." he 
told her. 
	She shook her head, "I'd better not. It's not good for the
Sight." she stood up, and moved to an area by the fire not so 
frequented by those getting drunk. She needed to think. Bad. 
Conor was sitting there, his head down, staring at the fire. 
"What's wrong? You should be rejoicing! Cat's having your baby!" 
she told him, and he looked up at her. 
	"Oh, it's just you, Ana. That's what I'm afraid of." he 
admitted it, and turned back to the fire.
	"Just me? Well, you shouldn't be afraid. Caitlin and the 
child will be fine."
	He glanced quickly at her. "Did you see that in one of 
your visions?" just then, he looked so much like a little child, 
wanting something so bad, getting excited when the prospect 
came up.
	"Actually, I didn't see any thing." he was so easily
disappointed. "She's a strong woman." she was lying mostly. 
Caitlin hadn't been strong ever since the babe had developed late 
into term. The child was big! 
	"Is that good or bad, not seeing any thing?" he wondered 
aloud. She was about to answer, when a woman came to the bright 
ring of light the bonfire gave off. It was pitch black outside the 
fire. "Prince Conor, it's time! Come acknowledge your own." 
	Conor looked so worried, for a moment, then everything 
went away, and was replaced by amazement. Angrahad was happy 
for him. She smiled, though the smile seemed so fake to her. 
	"Good luck." she told him, and he grinned at her. 
	"I'm a father!" he yelled, and all the men and women around 
made a little roaring type shout in response. 
	Angrahad was the only one left there not excited. Birth 
brought death to someone. It was a balance. Somewhere, when someone 
was born, someone else died. Most of the time, when a woman tried 
to give birth to a child that big and was that weak, she died. That 
couldn't happen to Caitlin. Angrahad had grown too close to her, 
and Molly. They had been the only friends she had since...a shudder 
ran down her spine, and she tried to block the images that flew into 
her mind.  She saw a woman, hunched in a corner, one in the dark, 
screaming out in pain...why did the images come, now? Was it just 
a flash back, or would someone really experience it?
	The time Conor was in the cave seemed to last a lifetime 
over, and she was getting worried about it. What had happened, 
for him to take so long?
	His figure finally cleared the darkness, and she saw him 
pause in the middle of the group huddled by the fire. "It's a..." he 
paused dramatically. The crowd around him leaned closer, and 
Fergus, drunk at their head, shouted out, "A boy, it's a boy!" 
	Conor's grin spread from ear to ear. "It is a boy, and a girl,
too!" he announced proudly. Their cheering was louder then than 
any other Angrahad had ever heard. "Their names are Liam and 
Lavender." 

	Caitlin smiled as Conor came into the cave. It was warm in 
here. The fire had been banked up to keep her warm as she birthed. 
Like she had needed it. It was burning up in there, while that had
happened. Now, it was pleasantly warm. His face was so anxious. 
The first thing he did was look for her. When he saw her smiling face, 
he rushed over to her, and grabbed her hand. 
	"You're all right?" he asked her, kissing her forehead, which
sweat had been sponged away from. She grinned. "Tired, aye. But 
definately all right." he was instantly relieved. She revealed two
bundles at her breast. "Your wee babes." she whispered, and put a 
finger to her lips. "They're sleeping."
	He was incredulous. "Two?!" she nodded, and he grinned. 
	"A lad and a lass." she told him. She smiled tenderly down 
at them. "The boy is amazingly like you." 
	He trailed a finger gingerly across one's face. "The boy?" he
guessed. She shook her head, giggling. "That's the girl." 
	Embarrassed, he brought his hand to his mouth to stem the
laughter that was about to cover up his nervousness. He grinned 
wide again, and told her, "I would offer to hold them, but I'm afraid
that I might either drop them or one would wake up." 
	She grinned, and shook her head. "I don't think you would. 
You are careful enough around me." That brought laughter. Also, 
it brought the thought that he wouldn't have to share his bed with 
her pregnant body any more. She would be comfortably slim 
again, soon. He held his hands out, and she laid them ever so 
carefully in his arms. She had him first hold the boy. Conor gripped 
around the boy ever so softly, afraid he might break the fragile life 
in his arms. He stared down at the perfect little face, the wisp of 
blond hair atop his head. And the little blue green eyes that after a 
bit of focusing, stared up at the big blob later known as Da. He 
smiled tenderly. "Hello, Liam." he gave him that name, one chosen 
almost immediately after Caitlin had alerted him of her pregnancy. 
He carefully gave the lad back to his mother, and picked up the little 
girl. 
	She was a little goddess, like her mother. Beautiful, straight
down to the curly blond hair, the green eyes, and her rosy little 
cheeks. "And my little Lavender. I dare say you look like a little
Gwenevere, so you're Lavender Gwen." he glanced up at Caitlin for
approval. She nodded. "I'm sorry I
woke them." he apologized. She smiled. 
	"It's all right." she shooed him off, "The Sanctuary is waiting
to hear the news."

	After he told them, Fergus handed him a mug of ale, and tried 
to get him to drink with them.  But, he didn't feel like getting drunk, 
tonight. He wanted to be able to hold Caitlin while she slept tonight, 
and if the babies needed any thing, he'd be eager dad and help them 
for her. It was only later he would regret that decision. 

	Later that night, after the hut was tidied up, Conor slipped out
of his pants, and slid into the bed beside Caitlin. After he had pulled her 
close, she grinned, and asked a question, "Why are you still wearing 
your shirt?" 
	"Well, I don't want to wear my pants in bed." 
	This bewildered her even more. "And why would you do that?" 
	He shrugged. "I don't want to get up to get one of the twins and
have them see me undressed."
That was funny. She giggled, and he looked at her. "What?"
	"You're so self conscient." she giggled even harder, "Besides,
your shirt doesn't cover everything
up, it's a little too short. Stops half way of what you want to cover."
	He blushed and started tickling her. Giggling even harder, she
pulled his fingers away. "Don't! It still hurts!" this caused him to stop, 
and instead of tickling, he held her, and she closed her eyes as
he kissed her neck from behind. 
	"I can make it feel better." he whispered. A little pout came
from one of the tiny cradles at the foot of the bed. They sighed. He got 
out of bed, and padded over to the cradles, picking up Liam. He cradled
Liam close to him, and the little lad grabbed a finger, sucking on it.
Conor smiled, and glanced up at Caitlin. She smiled back. 
	"Is he hungry?" he asked, she shook her head. "He just ate. He
could hardly be hungry." she told him. Conor started gently rocking the 
little boy, and shifted positions a few times before he looked helplessly 
up at Caitlin. "How do I get him to go back asleep?" he asked her. She 
started to get out of bed, when he shook his head. "Stay there. I can 
do it." 
	Chuckling, she joined him, taking Liam from him. She rested
Liam's head against her shoulder. Then, she started singing a little 
lullaby. The melody was sweet, and slow, and soon the newborn was
closing his eyes, drifting asleep. Ever so carefully, she laid Liam back
in the cradle. "Go on back to bed, now." he whispered, and steered 
her to their bed. He laid beside her, and as soon as his arms 
went back around her, the other babe cried. He put a hand on Caitlin's
shoulder as if to tell her that he would take care of this. 
	He got up, and picked Lavender up. Lavender got the place 
of honor on his shoulder, and he began, much to Caitlin's surprise, to 
sing. He tried to sing a lullaby that he had heard Molly sing to 
herself. Caitlin smiled, and let the little melody lull her to sleep,
like it was doing for their little daughter in Conor's arms. 
	When Caitlin woke up, Conor was not in the bed, like normal. 
She raised her head to look around, and saw him by the fire. In his arms 
were their children. They were all asleep. She got up, and crossed over 
to them. She touched his shoulder, and he opened his eyes.
"Good morning, love." she greeted. He smiled. 
	"Morning." she took Lavender, and grinned, "I heard you 
singing last night. You sing well. I liked it." 
	He blushed to a deep crimson. "You heard that?" 
	Grinning, she nodded. "Aye. I liked it, too. You should sing
more often." they laid the children in their cradles, and started getting 
dressed. He started to care for them when they woke up, but she
shook her head. "I'm a mother, now. I should take care of them." when 
he started to protest, she grinned. "I'll be out in a little while, and any 
ways, you have things you need to do, as Prince." 
	So Conor walked out. He saw Anghrahad sitting with Molly,
talking, and Fergus asleep by the fire. He grinned, and nudged Fergus 
with a foot. "Wake up, Fergus!" he told him, bending down. 
	Fergus woke up, and groaned. "And good morning to you, too, 
Mr. Sunshine." Conor returned.
	Fergus looked up. "Oh, it's just you, lad!" he chuckled, 
"And how was your first night as a Da?" 
	Conor chuckled as well. "I think they planned something 
against me. As soon as one went to sleep, the other woke up, and so 
on, all night long, until they both were up. They fell asleep at around
dawn.  Caitlin woke me up, this morning." Fergus laughed.
	"I don't think Molly ever slept at night. She'd keep her ma and
I up all night." 
	Molly heard that. "I did not." she countered. 
	Conor grinned, "That, I can't believe." he stood up, and saw
Caitlin coming out. He quickly went up to her, and wrapped an arm 
around her, to support her. Caitlin had made a sling to help 
carry the twins in. Molly turned green with envy, seeing the care that
Conor was giving both his children and his wife. She still loved him, 
and she found it hard not to. 


	Months passed by. The twins soon slept through a whole night,
much to the relief of their tired parents. That was also the night that they 
slept a whole night, for the first time in a long time. The little twins 
toddled around, learned to walk properly, and soon they were speaking 
first words. Liam's first word was "Da." and Lavender's was "soap." 
They turned a year old, and then time sped by even faster. Before they 
knew it, they were four years old. And in another battle. 
	Conor began the roaring, on this day. He started to charge at
the Romans with a full fury, Caitlin by his side. Today is the first day, 
you see, that the little twins would be left with someone else.
Conor slashes men down with his sword and Caitlin would zero others
down, and with a twang, she would shoot them down. It would do 
poetry good, they were acting just as heroes and heroines of
proud countries should. Nothing new. They had done this before. 
That day, it seemed like they lost not a soul to their side. They beat 
back the Romans, and forced them to a humiliating retreat. 
	But, the glory would not last that long. 
	They went home. At least, what they thought was home. 
	If there ever was a more heart breaking sight, this would be 
ten times that. Her heart in her  mouth, Caitlin looked around. At first, 
it seemed that it was just deserted. Then, she saw things were
on fire, and men, women, and children were laying dead on the ground.
She winced as she saw all the cut throats, all the back stabs, and the 
daggers to the stomachs. There was a king's ransom in all the
daggers left behind. Almost all of the women and girl children had their
dresses ripped to the waist. Caitlin remembered with teary eyes what 
they had suffered. Every where you looked, there was ruin, 
or death. Caitlin was the first to scream out a, "No!" Conor couldn't
move. The Sanctuary was supposed to be safe. The Romans weren't 
supposed to know where it was. They had camped away that night
just so that they wouldn't know where they were. The Sanctuary was 
the haven where all the homeless would find their way to. And for the 
love of the gods, this had been his home, where he had begun to
raise his....the children! Where were they? Sweet mother, they couldn't
be, dead, could they? 
	Caitlin must have just realized it, for she started sobbing,
rivers of tears running down her face. She collapsed into Conor's arms, 
her legs just wouldn't hold her any more. "My babies...what've they
done with my babies?" she shrieked. 
	Conor stroked her hair back, and tried to keep back the tears
that threatened his own eyes. But, all the people were looking to him 
for help. They were homeless, now. Even though the Sanctuary
was made of rock, the Romans now knew where they were. They 
weren't safe in a place well known and where all the vegetation around 
it was burnt to a crisp. Where so many had died. He held Cat's 
hand, and together they walked around, looking at the damage. They 
both knelt to close the eyelids of the people whose eyes still stared 
blankly ahead in fear. 
	They went in every cave, to see all the damage there. Their 
own cave had been burned out. Nothing but ashes were left there. 
They had to move on. 
	Later in the day, as the sun was resting in the hills, going
down, they held a meeting by the old campfire. All the bodies that 
hadn't all ready been burnt in the other fires were heaped into it, and 
the eyes watered at the stench of the burning bodies. There was so 
much sobbing and crying at the loss of loved ones, even on the part 
of war hardened warriors, that between it and the fire, you couldn't
hear yourself speak. Conor stood on a pile of their cloaks, shouting at
the top of their lungs to get their attention. 
	"I have something to say!" he waited, and the people finally
looked up at him. "There's been worse that's happened. Many have 
died today, aye. This is the second time this has happened to 
me. I know that the Sanctuary is supposed to be a place where we can 
not have to fear loosing our home, where we go when it does happen 
to us. But, the Sanctuary isn't just a place, but an idea. We can find a 
new home, and it will be bigger, and better than the old one. We won't 
be hiding, this time. We will let them know where we are, fool hardy 
or not. I don't know about you, but I believe that we can win. We can 
beat the bastard Romans if we just get our strengths together. Out of 
the remains of this, we can build a dream. One like never before. And 
we will all get together, and avenge the dead. Avenge the land. It's over. 
Even though we want to, though, we will not blindly strike. We will 
have our revenge, after we've won. We'll use this to be an inspiration, 
but not a cause. They want us to. They did this to get us to go get 
them without preparing, without thinking. We won't let them bend us 
to their will!" 
	While they were roaring approval, he and Cat slipped away 
to their cave where they knew that the twins, Anghrahad, and Molly 
had been. "I couldn't find their bodies." Conor told her, looking around.
	She agreed. "Either did I. Every where we looked, I thought 
that I would see my little dear ones laying dead. Do you think they 
could still be alive?" she kicked something, and it plunked to the other
side of the cave, making a metallic ring. It was a cloak pin. Like the
one that priestess of the Druids wore. Like Anghrahad's. And there was, 
some where near it, Molly's ring. It was clearly Molly's, for it
even had her name engraved on it. "Look!" she cried out, pointing to 
the items. He saw them, and picked them up. 
	"They just have to be alive!" 

	Diana sighed, staring at the letter in her hand. It was written
in Latin, and was signed with the seal of the emperor. But, it was 
devastating. It read: "At this time we can not send any back up for you 
in Eire. Rome isn't fairing well from its own struggles. All the men we 
have right now fighting for us must be used wisely, for the Roman 
empire threatens to fall. We're sorry for any inconvenience this might 
cause."
	She threw the letter to the floor, and stamped on it. "Sorry 
for any inconvenience." she shouted at the wall, throwing herself into 
a chair. She had given orders to kidnap the prince's children and any
one trying to prevent them. She had ordered the destruction of the
Sanctuary of theirs. And she knew that they would come some time, 
and rise against them. And at this point, it was likely that they would
win. Longinus came in, and was shaking his head. 
	"You've gotten yourself into more trouble than you can 
handle. How do you think the prince  would react if you stole his 
beloved children away from him? And how do you think his men 
would react when they marched to their home and found it in ruin? 
You're acting blindly. As of now, there is only about five hundred men 
to fight for you. That includes all of the guards, and all of the slaves, 
even those in the dungeons that you stole from the people of Eire. More 
than half of this place is full of them. You know that. so, that leaves us 
with about two hundred men. Some of which aren't going to live, or
be able to fight. They're wounded. Conor knows that. But he doesn't 
know that we are on such a shortage. You're going to have to do 
something, Diana."
	She turned to him, and answered flatly, "I could, but I could
also not do anything."
	Longinus looked sharply at her. It was unusual that she 
wwoul give up. She never had. It was something totally foreign to her. 
"What's gotten into you?"
	She shrugged.

	Anghrahad held Lavender to her, and rocked her gently. "Come
now, little dear, it's all right. Your mommy and da will save you. It's all 
right." she whispered. Molly, with Liam beside her, was trying to hide a 
giggle. "What, wretch?" Anghrahad asked her crossly.
	"It's so easy to get these two calmed down. The very same 
way you get Conor and Caitlin calmed down."
	Ana shook her head, and pulled Lavender closer. "Oh? If it's
that easy, you make little Lavy calm down."
	Molly grinned, and took Lavender from her. The novice sat her
beside her brother, and kissed her forehead. She sang the lullaby sweetly, 
and almost at once, the girl stopped pouting. 
"Daddy went a-hunting
A-hunting in the wood
To get his baby bunting 
Every thing that's good
He came across a fairy trail
And walked it for a while
So he could bring home fairy dust
And see his daughter smile"
	Lavender smiled up at Molly. Molly turned to Anghrahad, and
grinned. "You're the more trained of us. You should know how to get 
babes calmed. But, my dear Ana, haven't you ever heard Conor
sing it to the kids?" she widened the grin, "Or Conor sing it to Caitlin? 
They have a thing about singing each other to sleep." the grin turned evil. 
"He changed it just for her."
	Anghrahad wanted to throw something at Molly, but decided
against it. "What's wrong with you, today?" she wondered aloud. 
	Molly shrugged, and retorted, "There's always something 
wrong with you. But you never explain." 
	Anghrahad's eyes flashed, and she moved to sit over beside
Lavender instead of near Molly. "You're just jealous of Caitlin, and 
taking it out on everyone else."  
	Molly raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Took you long enough to 
come to the conclusion every one else seems to know. And you are 
supposed to be gifted with the Sight. I doubt it. So, what if I am 
jealous?"
	Anghrahad was about to answer, when Liam stood up, and 
shouted at the top of his lungs, "No fight!" for a little boy, it was pretty 
loud. 
	Molly turned to him. She took his hand. "Of course we won't
fight. We're just having a disagreement.  Don't your Mommy and Da 
ever have those?"
	Liam shook his head. "No. Mommy loves Da. Da loves 
Mommy." he stared at the two women. "Why not you two love each 
other?"
	Molly shrugged. "We just can't...agree. That's all." she felt
silly trying to explain things to a little four year old. 
	Lavender sat in Anghrahad's lap. "Ana, tell us a story." she
begged. She seemed to ignore the quarrel. 
	Anghrahad nodded. "I will, little princess." she cleared her
throat. "Once in a land not so far away..."

	Caitlin's head rested on Conor's shoulder, and he turned to ask
her a question, finding her asleep. He sighed, and moved her head to his 
laps, taking off his cloak to lay over her. She was one of the few women 
around the fire, one of the few left in their little war band. Yet there were 
at least five hundred of them strong, left. And just in the remains of the 
Sanctuary. He lifted his head towards the stars. A few years back, he 
had thought that his family had moved to the stars. That they were up 
there, watching every thing he did. His fingers idly played with
Caitlin's hair, playing with her long locks and down across her cheeks. 
She woke, and rose, taking him into her arms. Conor held her close while
she cried against his shoulder. Ordinarily, the men were envious of so
yyoung a man having so passionate and beautiful a wife, but now 
they pitied him. He had children that were gone, just as they had family 
that was gone. But although it wasn't new to any one, Conor
had it happen twice. 
	While he held her, she sobbed herself to sleep again in his
arms. He sighed, and let her sleep. He felt close to tears, but knew if he 
cried, nothing good would come of it. In his life time, he had cried
enough for ten tragedies over. But, something was odd about the night.
No one could sleep except Cat, whose sleep was plagued with 
nightmares. He would soon find out what was so strange about the
night, soon enough.

	Diana sighed, and stared at the incredulous faces of the four
she held in captivity. She couldn't stand it. They were so happy while 
she was so miserable. It's hard to admit when you're wrong. Especially 
when you're wrong about trying to conquer a whole island. But, that 
didn't have to be admitted, yet. She would still fight to her death, all 
though it would not completely be her fight. She wouldn't physically 
fight, but she would still be the one either winning this final
battle, or loosing it. This, she decided, was the final battle. She
wouldn't tell any one, but this final battle wouldn't make much of a 
difference. If they lost, they would just be killed, or what ever fate 
Conor had in mind. Or, if they won, they would get the privilage of 
returning home to  Rome alive. If there was any thing left of it. There 
was rumor that Rome wasn't even there any more. And the Emperor 
wasn't talking in his letters like a real Emperor. At the back of her mind,
she wondered, herself, if Rome even existed any more.
	"Yes I am letting you go free. When ever your father, or mother,
or whomever comes, you will be handed over with out a fight. No 
problem." she verified their queries.
	Anghrahad and Molly, all though they were at the point of 
hating each other completely, started hugging each other, and the two 
young ones, jubilant with joy, were nearly jumping up and down. 
Sighing, she started to turn around. The night was falling, so
she wanted to go to sleep before she really regretted her decision. 
Before her conscience caught up with her doings in Eire. Conscience-- 
something she had left behind in Rome. One couldn't have a conscience
when trying to promote your own will. You just couldn't conquer a
country mercilessly with a conscience. But, Anghrahad stopped her, 
putting a hand on her shoulder. 
	"Thank you, Diana. You are not as bad as they make you out to
be. Truly there's hope for you, yet." she told her. 
	Diana nodded, and left. It was odd. Why would these people 
who had suffered so hard under her thank her for any thing? Why 
couldn't she see any more?
	As if on que, Longinus saw her musings, and lifted her chin.
"What's your decision on the fate of this little fort? What shall we do, 
my queen? And what's on your mind, lately?" 
	She shrugged. "Fight til the death. The Romans will not be 
known as people to retreat like children playing a little game. We are 
not cowards." she heaved yet another sigh. If sighs were money, she 
would be a sincerily rich woman. "What's on my mind? These people 
here forgive one another, and they are even thanking and forgiving me. 
I don't remember the last time any one actually thanked me for 
something. It's been so long since I was treated like a normal person, I 
seem to have forgotten how to be one." 
	Longinus nodded gravely. "It seems you finally see the price of
being a leader. Some times it costs you your sanity, some times your 
personal life, sometimes your life, period. It all depends on how much 
you let the position get to you. I see a woman who's always 
struggled. Once the Queen of whores, now the Queen of a tiny kingdom 
of slaves in Eire. What has it done for you? What have you gotten out 
of being the driver instead of those being driven  by the whip?" 
	Diana didn't know how to react. Perhaps this rotting 
Immortal was right. Maybe it was time to act like a normal person again. 
But, maybe it wasn't.

	Catlin woke up after dreaming the worst nightmare she had
dreamt, yet. Her heart still beat hard from running in the dream, all 
though she couldn't recall what she was running from. For the longest 
time she could remember, she had been running. From one thing, to 
another. From a broken family, to enslavement, away from inslavement, 
to...Conor. She opened her eyes, and saw his brown eyes. Had he been 
watching her sleep the whole time?
	"Good morning." she told him. He smiled.
	"Morning, Cat." he took her hand, and was content to just sit
there a while longer.
	She sat up, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "How's
everything, Conor?" she asked, trying to keep the topic from straying 
to the previous day's occurances. 
	He shrugged, and then yawned. "I didn't really get much 
sleep."
	Fergus, sitting beside him, grinned at Catlin. "Aye, lass, he
was up the whole time looking at you. Just staring at you, staring at 
the stars, and singing under his breath." 
	Conor smiled secretively, and clasped Catlin's hand a little
tighter. "You see, Fergus's never heard any one sing before. He wasn't 
even the one to first get the song going." he didn't care about Fergus's 
mood for teasing. It would pass. Every thing would pass. When he 
wakes up this time of the year next year, everything will be wonderful. 
And he'll get to go away on a little vacation type break. Maybe go 
sailing. Conor was imagining all the places he'd go sail away to when 
Fergus broke his train of thought. 
	"Conor, lad, get out of your day dreaming. I asked if you 
knew where Molly and Anghrahad were." 
	Conor blinked, then sighed. "Ah, Fergus, no one does. Molly 
and Ana were with Liam and Lavender when..." he couldn't finish. 
Shutting his eyes to try to hide the abused Sanctuary from his vision, 
he complained, "Fergus, they took my daughter! And my son! How 
could they harm lives so little when it's me that they want? Maybe 
for the good of the island I should just turn myself in to them."
	Fergus stared at him. "What did they do to the Conor that I 
know and love as a son? Not only did they take my daughter, they 
took Conor, and replaced him with a fake! Where's the lad that I know 
was going to fight the Romans to their death or his,which ever came 
first? Where's the lad that was doing a good job of leading us against the
oppressors? Where'd Conor go?" he asked him, shaking his head. 
"Because you're certainly not acting like the leader we all boast. You're 
definately not being our brave leader. You're being a coward. We 
can win. We can beat them. You know it. You just want to give up, 
like a coward. You just want to do it the easy way. With one battle, 
we can do it. You know that. Just one more battle, Conor!" 
	Conor smiled. "Aye. We can do it. We will do it. For the gods.
For our people. And in my heart, for little Lavy and Liam."

	Catlin stared at the horses ears in front of her. They had been
traveling for days on end, only stopping to eat and sleep. Conor hadn't 
told her why they moved, or where, just that they would be there, soon. 
It had all ready been seven days. She sighed, and turned to Conor. His
eyes seemed distant, like he was thinking on something. "A kiss for 
your thoughts." she  offered, smiling. He blinked, and turned to her. 
	"I'm trying to figure out a way to get Argyle to join with us."
he told her. This shocked her to bits. 
	"Argyle? The same Argyle that hates your guts? The same 
one that had the daughter that married your brother?" 
	He nodded. "Aye. The same. The one who blames me for not 
dying when his daughter  did. He's the strongest tribesman in the west, 
and we need his help." Conor's right hand fell to his sword. It was 
instinct, she knew, for when he was either worried, or unsure about 
something. That, or when there was danger. But, his muscles, and her's, 
didn't tense. So, danger wasn't near. For now. 
	"When will we be there?" she asked, reaching out to brush a lock
of hair out of his face.
	"Probably tomorrow. Earlier, if we're lucky." he shrugged, and
held her hand. The horse slowed down, and her's, seeing the other, did 
the same. He stared towards the sun. "It's about time to eat. I guess it's 
time to stop." Fergus, riding beside him on his other side, shouted to the
other riders. He was otherwise silent, pondering his own thoughts.
Fergus hated Argyle even more than Argyle hated him. For Argyle 
thought that Fergus had neglected his duty to Derek when he didn't 
save them from their death, Argyle's daughter along with them. 
	"What was Argyle's daughter's name, any ways?" Catlin 
asked, and Fergus shrugged.
	Conor rolled his eyes up for a moment, trying to think of the
answer. He furrowed his brows, and answered, "I don't really remember 
it. Maybe it was A-something. Like Ara. Or Ana. Something. Come to 
think of it, I never really knew her. I think that she had red hair. Or 
maybe brown hair. Something like that." 
	Catlin smiled, "Kind of like Anghrahad." she offered. 
	Conor shook his head. "No, not like Anghrahad. At least, not
that I remember." They halted the horses, and Conor helped Catlin 
dismount. She grinned, and leaned over, kissing his
forehead. "That's the kiss that I owe you for your thoughts."

	Anghrahad pushed a lock of her auburn hair back behind her 
ear. She sighed lightly, watching Molly and the twins sleep. She smiled, 
and for a moment pretended that the two tiny bodies snuggled up to 
Molly were her own children. The two that she had never gotten to 
bear. Becoming a priestess had prevented her from marrying. She hadn't
really had any one special, that she could remember. Nor could she 
remember ever having loved some one. She couldn't remember her 
family, nor any thing before going to the Druids and becoming a novice, 
then a priestess. All she would remember would be a thought here, a
flash back there. Very confusing. 
	She stared down at the floor, and then looked back up at the
different furnishings in the room. They were in a prison, but only by 
technicalities. They couldn't leave the room, but that was about all of 
the similarities. The room was very nicely furnished, with many 
luxuries that Ana couldn't ever remember having. But, the room was 
oddly familiar, and when she did have a flash back, she recognized this 
room as one of the many places that they took place. It was so odd, 
she couldn't ever remember being there, but...she couldn't really
remember much. When would she remember?

** The room was so bright. Flashes of light filled the room. It was
blinding her. She tried to cover her eyes, but it didn't work. She just 
saw a woman, doubled over in pain. Who the woman was,  she would 
never know. At least, not at the moment. The woman squeezed
her eyes shut, and cried out, again. She knew that the woman was 
having a child that would probably die. She  hated death. Every one 
she knew was dead to her...but who did she know?

It changed to another place. The place was here, and all she could see
was the blinding lights. Occasionally, a woman would bend over her, 
and slap her to silence her wails. What was wrong? Could this be her 
that she was remembering? She remembered hearing wails, from a baby. 
Then, she heard the baby's cries cease. Some thing had killed the baby. 
She remembered the salty  tears that ran down her face...**

	Anghrahad wiped tears away from her face, trying to sort out 
the memories. She knew that these flash backs were memories. But 
memories of who? What had happened to her? 

**== To be continued ==**

As usual, send all questions/comments/your answers to the
questions/rants/etc. privately to:
jenross@win32supportbbs.vnet.net or gwenls@hotmail.com
T'anke! 
Gwen
~=**=~