For the Honour Of My Clan

"Mistress Nolee we have to get away," young hand servant to the leader of the village Riverbrook spoke as he tugged on the hand of the head of the army and the leader of the town, Nolee Lacroix. The village had been unprepared for the Celtic Raiders who were now pillaging from them and taking their food, their gold, and even some of the residents as slaves.

"I cannot leave my people!" Nolee softly said, tugging her hand away from Evan.

"You will do no good to them dead Mistress," Evan frowned, grabbing her hand again and tugging her through the large mead hall that they had been taking shelter in. He flung open one of the doors to be greeted by two burly men dressed in armor. The two men grabbed Evan and Nolee, easily stopping their struggling.


"Lord Sheamus we found two more! And I think the girl is their leader," sneered the taller of the two men.

((I don't care who it is, just pick two men. Lolz))

Sheamus was the powerful leader of a band of Celtic warriors, who often went around pillaging villages, just because they could. He hadn't told his warriors, but he'd chosen to raid the village of Riverbrook for a reason. He'd heard rumours of the village leader's beauty and wanted to see for himself. Sheamus figured his people may as well pillage the place if they were going to go there.

He'd sent two of his most trusted men to check the mead hall, knowing someone was likely to be hiding there, though he was surprised when one of the men called out, saying he may have found Riverbrook's leader.

Sheamus stepped down from where he was standing on the raised stone platform that was Riverbrook's lookout point on its highest hill. He'd chosen the spot as it overlooked the whole village. He walked down the path towards the mead hall, a smug look on his face as he spotted Nolee and Evan in his mens' grip.

"Well done Drew," Sheamus said, gently patting the brunette's shoulder. "Hmm yer right...she does fit the desription I've heard..." He looked over at the shorter, blond man. "Finlay, take the boy over to where the other men have the rest of our prisoners..."

Nolee glared at her captors before looking over at Evan who they were taking with the others. She could see some of her friends and some of the men and women who worked for her, holding on to each other and sobbing, though most of them wore shackles.

She looked back at her captor, the legendary Lord Sheamus. He was a warrior through and through and undeniably of Celtic descent. She growled as she was forced to genuflect in front of him to show her respect. She did not respect this man, he had killed and pillaged her village.

She refused to look at him but instead chose to stare at the ground in front of her.

Sheamus watched for a few seconds as Finlay carried the boy towards the other captives, then turned back to the girl. now that he was looking at her properly, he was sure this was Nolee.

He shook his head, frowning at her attitude. "What's yer problem Iníon?" (miss)

As she stared at the ground, Sheamus stepped closer to her, gently grabbing her chin as he forced her to look at him.

"Where's yer respect for an honoured warrior such as myself? Ba chóir a fhios agat níos fearr a..." (you should know better)

Nolee gritted her teeth as she was forced to look at Sheamus. "I have no respect for a man who has raided my village, a man who has killed good and honest men who were trying to protect their families, who will allow children and women to be sold into slavery. No, I have no respect for an 'honored' warrior such as yourself, Lord Sheamus. And by the gods one day a man will kill you for your vile crimes."

To add insult to injury she spat in his face.

Sheamus laughed at her. "Oh come on now, I never actually take part in half those things yeh said. It's my people that do..." He stopped when she spat on him, a dangerous look suddenly appearing in his eyes.

"Yeh really shouldn't have done that, soith." (the translation starts with a b...same amount of letters)
He let go of Nolee's chin, slapping her for her disrespect. "Do not spit on me." He snapped, wiping his face. "Ever."

Nolee cried out in pain as she was struck across the face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him, "Do what you mean to do to me but make it quick. The steel of your blade sending me to the mead hall in the sky shall be welcome compared to what will happen to some of the men and women you captured..." she said, her eyes closed.

"Yeh really think I plan on killing someone like yerself?" Sheamus chuckled. "And here I was hoping you'd be smart..." He nodded to Drew, who lifted Nolee to her feet.

Sheamus stepped closer to Nolee as he looked her over, gently stroking a hand down the same side of her face he'd slapped just before. He leaned close to her, whispering in her ear. "Why would I let someone as beautiful as yourself go ter waste...?"

She shuddered at the feel of his warm, gloved hand against the stinging flesh of her cheek. "Wh...whatever it is your thinking, Celt, get the pig thought out of your head." Nolee hesitated at first. In the land she was raised in, it was unjust for a woman to be with a man until they were wed. Seeing as how Nolee had ran her land alone, she had never been with a man. And she didn't plan on it. Marriage was the farthest thing from her mind.


She just hoped it was the farthest thing from his.

"Oh muirnín... (sweetheart) I'm not a pig. Nor are my thoughts." Sheamus whispered, his hand still on her cheek. "You are from the Lacroix family yes?" He asked. "I know all about yer family and their traditions..."

He'd purposely stopped there, smirking, knowing she'd be curious about how he knew.

"My...my family and their traditions?" It had been years since Nolee had heard from her brother, a brave warrior who was leading his troops in battle against the Romans to protect their land, and she didn't remember their father. "If you don't mind me asking, oh so noble warrior" she said with contempt in her voice, "how do you know of my family traditions and what do you know of them?"

Sheamus grinned smugly, leaning away from Nolee to see the look on her face. "I guess yeh could say I knew yer family..." He ran a hand through his red hair, which he used to have much shorter as he was growing up.
"We even grew up in the same village..." It had been years since he'd seen that place and he'd changed his name since then, dropping his family name entirely to become know only as 'Sheamus'.

"Do yeh remember the Farrelly family...?" He asked her, staring at her with his cold blue eyes.

"They were peasants...simple farm folk..." Nolee softly said. "Our mother said that we were never to interact with them again...that we were royalty in our own right and that we would act like it. She moved us here to Riverbrook, to make sure that we acted as royalty."

Sheamus frowned as he was reminded of the family he'd come from. "And look where treating us like the dirt yeh walk on has gotten yeh now..." He said, glaring at her.
"My family deserved more respect than we ever got. Who was it that grew the food you ate huh? Yeh all would've starved if it weren't fer the Farrellys!" He suddenly yelled.

Nolee flinched as he yelled but regained her composure. "So I guess you've come to treat me like dirt have you? To treat me like my mother treated the men and women who were beneath her? Look around, m'lord, and you'll see I don't share her beliefs. Do you know who sleeps in the mead hall. Children and their families who are in need. We celebrate life here. And look what you have given us, nothing but death and wreckage."

"No, I never said that..." He trailed off, turning around angrily. "AND I NEVER SAID TER GO AROUND KILLING PEOPLE!" He yelled loud enough for every one of his men in the village to hear.

His men all stopped what they were doing, suddenly looking ashamed, though only a few men had actually killed anyone. They went about gathering the town's people without hurting another one of them, or wrecking anything else.

Sheamus turned back around, satisfied and looked at Nolee again. "That's not why I came here at all. No one was meant ter be hurt...but some small minded men didn't seem ter understand what I said..."

"Then why did you come here? My land has no wonders for you to take, it barely has any gold in which to clothe and feed my people," she softly said, her eyes speaking her fear even if her body didn't. "What do you and your maurauders want from us?"

Sheamus grinned "Oh it has a wonder..." He said, looking over her again. ""just not the kind your thinking about..."

Drew rolled his eyes as he watched his leader, but continued holding Nolee still. Though he wasn't even born in the same country, he was incredibly loyal to his leader.

"What...you mean..." she gulped in realization, "I shall NEVER be your Lord Sheamus and I would die a thousand deaths before I became your wife or your slave..."

Sheamus laughed. "Yeh won't huh? We'll see..." He leaned close and put his hand on her cheek again.
"Yeh know, I could always...silence...some of yer friends. One by one until yeh change yer mind..." He told her quietly, a dangerous tone in his voice.

Nolee looked over to where her people were being kept. What was more important to her: their lives or her own freedom. Tearing up she raised her head to look at him, "I...I will submit to your wishes...m'lord..."

Sheamus smiled, though on the inside he actually felt terribly guilty about what he'd just done and he was sure it showed in his eyes.
"Good." Was all he said, before walking off to talk to some of his men, leaving Drew holding her.

Nolee sobbed, looking at the ground again as she felt the warrior behind her keep his tight grip. She was a prisoner, a slave. Looking over she saw Evan who was comforting one of the village children soothingly. He gave her a sad look before nodding as if to tell her she did the right thing.

Inside she felt dead, knowing that she was to become a simple house maiden for a man who had destroyed the peace and prosperity she had worked so hard on.

Sheamus looked over his shoulder as he walked away from Nolee, tempted to go back and explain. He chose not to, knowing she probably wouldn't believe him anyway.

He went and talked to Finlay, telling him to head back to their village with half of the warriors and only a few of the prisoners. Sheamus had decided that, for now, the rest of them would remain in this village.

As she was dragged away from her homeland, Nolee felt sick to her stomach. Everything she had known was being ripped away, for the second time in her life. She heard Drew make, what she believed to be a crude comment to Finlay about herself in a language that she did not understand, as they made the journey to wherever Sheamus was taking her.