Cecily Makay held her dress skirts as she ascended the hill towards the castle. The dark of night was closing in on a wonderful day as the castle guards lit the torches on the walls and she sighed to herself with full contentment. She called out to the maids chatting behind her.

"The new babes bring a joy to my heart." she said and smiled to the twinkling stars.

"Aye, my lady, the Lord has blessed our village." one said to her as they neared the large. stone outer walls of Banwy, her beloved home of twenty years. She touched the cold stone and wistfully remembered her and her mother walking hand-in-hand picking wild flowers and walking to the village. Those days were gone. Her mother was dead by the hands of her father and her father was dead from a terrible sickness. She was alone and sadly, in charge for the time being.

"Go ahead, ladies, I'll be seeing you in my chambers." she waved them away and walked slowly towards the moat nearby. Her sky blue dress flapped in the air and she adjusted her belt and sword hanging low on her waist.

The water was dancing only a bit in the cool breeze and the ducks quaked a welcome to her before swimming away into the darkness. She smiled to them as she had done her whole life. They were the perfect addition to a wonderful day of celebration. Cecily had personally organized a festival to honor the new lives, something her mother, Lady Mona Makay, was fond of doing.

"The people of Banwy work tirelessly, Cecily. Times are hard and there must be something to help us hold on to the good." her mother once said.

God, if only she could be a tiny bit like her mother. She had her medium frame, her long, curly, blonde hair that could never be tamed, her playful blue eyes, and yet Cecily was not sure she had her sweet disposition. Cecily chuckled to herself. It seemed like only yesterday she was being scolded by her mother.

"Cecily, my love, please do try not to get hurt!" she would say as she picked her small daughter out of a pile of fighting lads.

"Mother, Arlen started it!" she said indignantly as she shoved her skinny cousin onto the ground as two other boys apologized and scampered away. Lady Mona stood between the fighting children and laughed her tinkling laugh.

"Mother, I want to learn archery and everything that Arlen knows! He says I can't!" Cecily said as she studied her older cousin. He was just a scrawny thing, with curly, short golden locks and a freckly nose and he was eying Lady Mona as if she were an angel.

"My Lady, she is a girl, she cannot learn these things!" Arlen said in shock!

"Sweet Arlen." said Lady Mona as she kneeled and cupped his chin. "My daughter must learn all that she can. I am sure that no matter what, you will help her and watch over her. I may not always be here." she said looking at each child lovingly.

That year, twelve years ago, her mother had tried to give birth to a baby boy, at her father's request, and she had died along with Cecily's baby brother. It was a sad day and Cecily had hated her father from then on, even refusing to cry when five years later he died after coming home from battle with a mysterious disease. Cecily felt no loss. Men were all after one thing, sons and she hated them all, save her cousin. Arlen would never do anything to hurt her and had been her protector and best friend ever since.

Cecily shook the memories from her head and turned her thought to happier things. Arlen would be home soon from visiting the king and life would be complete!

Suddenly a shadow moved towards her and grabbed her arm. Cecily let out a scream but a large hand clamped over her mouth. Cecily squinted in the dark and furiously hit the attacker in the arm with her free hand.

"Did you miss me?" a manly voice asked her with blue eyes twinkling and uncovered her mouth.

Cecily enveloped the large man in a hug.

"Arlen, you've returned!" she said and stepped back to look at him as she clasped her hand together in delight.

"My Lady, it is I." he said as he bowed to her in great theatrics.

"Arlen, you gave me such a fright." she said as his other knights joined him. The castle became alive with cheers as the troop of weary travellers made their way into the light of the fires. "I apologize, LORD Arlen, you gave me such a fright." she teased him. She greeted the other knights as they bowed to her and made their way to the gates.

Arlen stood talking with Cecily about visiting the king and his travels and she took the time to inspect him. He was tired, as she could imagine he would be. He'd need a good, hot bath as his curls were sticking to his forehead with sweat and his gold beard was caked in dirt. Yet, he was handsome without a doubt and she was so proud. Here was the new Lord of Banwy, tall, good looking, strong, and powerful. She was startled out of her daze as Lord Arlen unsheathed his sword and started walking into the dark.

"Lord Arlen, what is the..." she said but was struck speechless at the sight of a band of knights riding grey horses and dressed in white and blue with their swords drawn. Their leader sat perched on a black stallion, who was pawing the ground and snorting.

Cecily drew her sword and yelled to the advancing Arlen.

"Come back! We are outnumbered two to ten! This is madness, please, come back!" she yelled as she ran to join him.

"I call to your Lord. If he is a civilized man he will greet me face to face." bellowed Lord Arlen. Some of Banwy's knights had ran down the hill and stood beside Cecily waiting.

The leader, with a helmet adorned with metal wings, dismounted his stallion and walked over to Lord Arlen. When they were only a step away the men threw down their swords and embraced with chuckles. Cecily was shocked! The knights beside Cecily looked at each other in complete confusion. Arlen kept his arm around the shoulder of the slightly taller, huskier man and called to the crowd.

"This is my ally, Lord Ronin Oran." he told everyone from Banwy. "He has saved me many a time when we were fighting as lads in battle."

"You have done no different for me." the other man's booming voice added.

"Lady Cecily. Lady Cecily. Now where did that lass go?" Arlen said as she made her way to the front of the gathering men. "Ah, Lady, these men have traveled far and I would like for them to be given the best treatment. They are to be our guests."

Cecily curtsied and nodded. The knight standing with Arlen took off his helmet and revealed a god among men. He was as sinister as he was handsome and Cecily was instantly in awe. Lord Ronin was huge, to say the very least. He had black, thick hair that hung in his face and green eyes that captivated you and left you drowning in a sea of unholy thoughts. His body was muscle on top of sleek muscle and he reeked of power. She examined him from his large leather boots, to his long legs, to his waist adorned with a large belt and sword, and up to his broad chest. When she got to his face again he winked. Her cheeks flushed with shame.

"Did you find yourself a wife, Arlen?" Lord Ronin jested as he eyed Cecily with approval.

Lord Arlen laughed and touched Cecily's shoulder.

"Had I a wife, I would certainly be trying to keep from gallavanting all over the kingdom. No, this is my cousin, Lady Cecily Makay. I am her protector and only family member." Both Cecily and Arlen shared an affectionate smile. "Besides, she has decided not to marry. I assure you, every man within a days ride has been refused." he added a chuckle and Cecily rolled her eyes.

"You and your men are welcome here at Banwy, Lord Oran." she said and smiled at the Lord.

He walked closer to her and nodded.

"Ronin, please call me Ronin. Your kindness is most appreciated, Lady. I am honored to meet you." he said and winked as he bowed to her.

Cecily's legs tingled and a throb somewhere in her gut almost knocked the wind out of her. His smile made her feel both like a sensual woman and lowly prey at the same time. She'd best keep her wits about her in his presence. He made her want to do things the maids had whispered about doing with the stable boys.

Lord Ronin lightly grazed his hand across her hand as he walked beside Lord Arlen towards the castle. She jumped a bit at the contact and turned to see him smiling back at her.

Neither noticed that Arlen was watching from the corner of his eye and he smirked to himself. So, prehaps he had finally settled what to do about getting Cecily out of Banwy. Oh, he adored his cousin immensely but, if he wanted to bring home a wife for himself he was going to need some space from her! She was always at his heels, scaring away the fair damsels he wished to conquer. Besides, he knew that Cecily and Ronin would to be perfect for each other! Both were the most faithful of friends and stubborn as the day is long.

When Arlen had been sent to aid the kingdom against invaders, he had met Ronin. They had battled side-by-side for years and Arlen knew well of his friend. Ronin was a powerful man as his father had been. What Ronin wasn't given from his family he fought full strength for. Arlen could tell by the look in his friends' eye exactly what he wanted now. No woman, that Arlen had ever met, could resist Ronin. Yet, Cecily was no stranger to the advances of love sick noblemen. Yes, this was going to be fun, he thought, as he stretched his aching arms. Now, he needed to get some rest.

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Yes, I know another historical piece.

Now don't give me a hard time for not keeping my facts about that time period straight. This is purely for my fun!