rom the top of a raise, the view of the town was splendid. Jade crouched there, eyeing the buildings suspiciously, noting dead ends and exit routes. It was a town - not a village, but certainly not a city either, and Kat had indicated a desire to enter it and buy more rations, as they were nearing their destination and they did not want to be stopping to purchase many things on their way back. Not with the probability of the Christian soldiers looking for them. Jade assumed that Kat would disguise them in some way on the way home, but she would rather not take any unnecessary risks. As the moon rose above the trees, Jade sighed, suppressing an urge to howl. Wolves this near a township would certainly cause alarm, and the hunters would come out the next morning with traps and bows, and Jade definitely wanted to avoid that. She missed the rest of her pack though. It was always like that. She survived away from them, doing her duty in protecting Kat, Marc and David, but the ache of a lone wolf was always there. Refocusing her attention, Jade noted the number of lights burning in the town's inn. It seemed that there was a higher than usual number of people staying there that night. Jade assumed that they were soldiers, but also that they would probably be moving on the next morning. Whilst the direction they would be travelling in was questionable, Jade didn't doubt that the group would be able to avoid notice if the soldiers came in their direction. And as long as they didn't draw attention to themselves, they would be fine. She hoped. Jade slipped away from the rise, and returned to camp to report her sightings.

The group arose just before sunrise, and broke camp. They had done it so many times recently it seemed a second nature to them, and was accomplished swiftly. The gates of town opened at sunrise, and the four travellers rode slowly towards town along the road.
"I think we should spent tonight in town," said Kat quietly.
"Why? We're just sitting ducks in that place," Jade replied immediately, eyes still automatically scanning the woods around them, as they always were.
"The horses would probably appreciate a night in a nice warm stable, with some decent food. Besides, I wouldn't mind a warm meal myself."
"So we'll have lunch in town."
Kat looked towards Jade for a long moment. She was sitting uncomfortably in her saddle, looking for all the world like she did not belong on a horse. Kat could tell she would far rather be on her own two feet, running beside them as she usually did, but was riding simply because they were near town. She was alert, and Kat suddenly realised she hadn't seen her relax once since parting from the Conmhaol - with the exception of when she was asleep, but even that had a kind of watchfulness about it, and the slightest noise woke her. Kat sighed, realising there was almost none of "Jade" left. Kat supposed that the change had been inevitable - one couldn't be Conmhaol if one had any sort of weakness, and the softness of Jade would be considered a weakness to the conmhaol. Besides that, "Jade" didn't really have much to hold onto - with the possible exception of David, but Sinéad had him too, so that wouldn't be enough to hold her. Kat smiled. It had always been one or the other with Sinéad, never a compromise.
"I want a bed, Sinéad."
She glanced over.
"Town is too much of a risk. It's like being in a cage. Your safety is my primary concern, and I don't like towns."
"You will still be able to do that in town."
"Not as well. There's too many people and too many closed in spaces."
"We need to go in there anyway."
"We could just send in Marc to buy rations."
"I don't want to send Marc in to buy rations. I want to go in, buy rations, buy lunch, buy a night in an inn for us and a night in stables for the horses, some decent food, a warm meal, a warm bed, and a decent night's sleep!"
"It is too risky. There's soldiers in town, and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."
"I need to get a decent night's sleep, Sinéad. Besides, we need to be here tomorrow, and it would draw more attention to us if we left then came back."
"I don't like it."
"I understand that, but it's the only practical answer."
"Fine, we will go into town, but I am picking the inn."
"I wouldn't have expected otherwise," Kat replied mildly.
Gracious in victory.
The four rode in silence towards the town.

Jade left David and Marc guarding Kat, with firm instructions that ran more along the lines of threats that if anything happened to her she would castrate them both, and moved around town, looking at inns. It took some time, but she eventually identified one that had several exits, a fair amount of space around it - not as much as she would have liked, but then, it *was* the centre of town. An additional bonus was that it was on a quiet side street, so the noise would - hopefully - be minimal after the tavern closed for the evening, and there were no soldiers staying there. Jade established with the owner that there were two rooms vacant, and stabling for the horses available, then said she'd be returning later with her mistress, and left to find Kat and the boys. They were, of course, in the most crowded area of town, and Jade scowled. Too many people around, any one of them could be an enemy, and she couldn't pick them out. She noticed that Marc was standing at the edge of the market with the horses, looking in every direction at once, his head tilted slightly to one side - a mannerism which Jade had learned to interpret as him using his gift. David was standing next to Kat, paying close attention to the haggling, and acting as immediate body guard. Jade made her way swiftly to Marc's side. She touched his elbow, and raised an eyebrow.
"It's alright," he said, quietly. "Nothing hostile, yet."
"I found us an inn. We should go there now and deposit our things."
"Alright. Are you going to go grab Kat and David?"
"Yes. The inn is over that way," said Jade pointing. "You start walking, as the horses will slow you, and we'll catch up."
"But Kat-" Marc began to object.
"Will be fine. Just because you won't be using your gift every second doesn't mean she's immediately in danger."
Marc frowned, but Jade had slipped into the crowd before he could reply. He sighed, and moved in the direction Jade had directed.

Once the horses had been stabled, the four sat in the inn's mess hall and were served lunch. Jade had selected the more secure of the two rooms for her and Kat, and the boys had taken the room across the hall. Propriety stated that they couldn't meet in the bedrooms, and so all planning had to be done in the tavern, mess hall, or out in the streets - none of which were particularly secure, but they would have to make do.
"So, why do we have to be here tomorrow, Cáit?" Jade asked.
"There's someone we need to meet."
"Who?"
"I'm not sure. Sarah, I think."
"Who," asked Jade quietly, "is Sarah?"
The 'and why wasn't I told about her before' went unspoken.
"Sarah," Kat replied, "Is the keeper of the grail."
The other three were silent for a moment, then Jade again broke the silence.
"You mean we're here to meet with the enemy."

"Something like that" Replied Kat without much conviction whilst shooting a look towards Marc and David to keep silent.
"Fine, I am going to scout the area again then" Jade said and stalked off
"What the hell was that about?" David asked "Sarah isn't evil she is Darryl's wife"
"I know that, and we aren't metting Sarah"
"Then why did you say we were?"
"Because I sensed Jade had a friend visiting her"
"Huh"
"Didn't you notice Marc?"
"I thought I saw a extra shadow but I didn't understand"
"That shadow was Irene. If you remember Irene is the Witch that chased Darryl for years but he never returned her love. She would have read Jade's mind about Sarah and I knew for certain that Irene was there when she called Sarah the enemy."
"What is she doing in Jade's mind then?" David asked
"Checking us out."
"Will Jade be ok?"
"She will be fine, Irene just wanted some knowledge about us just incase"
"Incase of what?"
"Incase of discovery. She will help us as long as it suits her own plans but as soon as they don't she will try and use our own weakness' against us"
"Charming"

Jade returned and they all feel silent and headed inside. Kat watched her carefully but Irene's presence was gone. The next morning Kat awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon cooking in the little kitchenette. Jade wasn't anywere to be seen. Kat got dressed and greeted the guest.

"Morning Irene"
"Good morning Kathryn, how are you today?"
"Not bad and you?"
"Can't complain. Oh, I hope you don't mind but I sent your little wolf away, she should be back soon"
"Hmm I see"
"Oh and the other two are sleeping well"
"If you wanted to spend some time with me Irene all you had to do is ask"

Irene laughed

"Good to see you again Kathryn, it's been awhile."
"That it has."
"So you would like the Holy Grail?"
"Yes"
"It's that time already?"
"Yes"
"Your missing some people though"
"Yes, the Goddess will bring them through in time though"
"So I guess Sarah is bearing the child of Avalon"

Kat didn't answer she just smiled. They sat down and had breakfast and after some time Jade, Marc and David entered. They too sat down and had some breakfast, packed there gear up.

After Irene had left, Marc looked at Kat curiously.
"What was that about? She wasn't malevolent, but..."
"She is a seer, Marc. A witch. She follows her own path."
David looked confused.
"But yesterday, with Jade..."
Kat frowned slightly, then sighed.
"Let me try and explain... Irene has the gift of sight. She was goddess-trained, but at the completion of her training, she left Avalon and joined the outer world. I can only presume that some vision she chose not to share with the rest of us prompted that move. I don't know what she saw, but I can hazard a guess..."
"What?" asked David, curiously.
"Perhaps it was the passing of Avalon. Or perhaps it was what would happen if we failed in this quest. Both of these outcomes aren't really attractive to one who values her life and lives for Avalon."
"So she seeks to help us?"
"Or hinder us. I know not - she works for her own purpose. Perhaps she seeks to make a third thread by teasing and splicing the existing two. She will help us when it suits her, but we can not place great faith in her."
"I see..."
"Yesterday, I knew Irene wanted to talk to me. So we stayed."
"Why did you risk it if you knew she may not be friendly?" demanded Jade.
"And you let her just send me out like that..."
"The compulsion didn't last long. And if she had lost concentration, it would have dropped from you earlier."
"Right. So who was this Sarah you said we had to meet?"
Kat smiled.
"Nobody. I was just thinking of Darryl when I noticed Irene listening in, and she was the first female that came into my head."
"What about this "child of Avalon" thing she mentioned as she left then?" demanded David.
Kat smiled again.
"That is nothing - Irene has simply misunderstood the prediction."
"What?"
"The prediction, the prophecy, whatever you want to call it - the seeing that led to Vivian organising our little trips... It mentions 7 people who must be present at Avalon. The Guardian, The Knight Protector, The Conmhaol, The Lady, The Child, The Sage and The Catalyst."
"The Child?" asked Marc. "I don't remember that bit. I thought it was the Priestess."
"It is. The Child is just a rough translation. It is actually The Girl Child - the Daughter. Daughters of Avalon. Priestess of Avalon."
"So... *You* are the child Irene thought was missing? Who hadn't been birthed yet?" asked David in surprise.
"Aye. And Jimmy is the Sage... And Darryl is the Catalyst."
"Keep it in the family," muttered Marc softly, teasing.
"We were born for this purpose," Kat replied, softly. "And if we fail, I don't like to think what would happen."

***

The afternoon saw the four leaving the small town, thankfully unimpeded by the Christian Soldiers guarding the town. The afternoon had been spent reprovisioning, and then Kat had "ordered" Jade to spend the afternoon with David, whilst she and Marc went shopping for pleasure. Jade had enjoyed the time off, but made sure she was within calling distance if Marc signalled that Kat was in danger. She took her job seriously. The afternoon was sunny, and the four rode in silence, enjoying the sunshine. Eventually, Kat shook herself out of the meditative trance she'd been riding in, and called a halt. They moved to the side of a road and food was distributed.
"The place we seek is very near - within a single day's ride," said Kat. "It's vaguely Nor'east from here, hidden in some ruins, but I can't discern more than that. The only problem is, I think I know exactly where it is..."
The others looked at her curiously.
"A few hours ride from here is the chapter house of the pandion knights, which is attached to a monastery. If we're lucky, the grail is in the monastery. If we're unlucky... Well, let's just say I'd really rather not encounter any pandions."
"Would they cause trouble?"
"If we were just passing though, no. If we linger, yes. And if we steal something from them, definitely yes," smiled Kat. "But in any case, the monks won't have far to go for help once they realise the grail is missing, so we're going to have to ride hard and fast back to the Long Woods to meet the rest of the conmhaol. And what's more, we're going to have to do it with a minimal amount of notice, noise and fuss. David - you have the box?"
"Yes, in my saddle bag."
"Good, that will black the grail from detection by the monks at least."
"They can detect it?" asked Jade, startled.
"Aye. They have drunk from it, as I have. Just because they believe they're drinking from the cup of Christ doesn't mean it works any less."
"So... it grants immortality?" asked Marc, warily.
"I don't know yet," smiled Kat. "I'm not that old, and nobody's run a sword through me recently. But I doubt it. I would suggest it merely restores vigour and enhances psychic abilities - that's all it's done for me, and Vivian doesn't look as though she's immortal, though she's also drunk from it."
"Anyway," Jade interrupted. "The best way for us to escape is for me to stay behind and slaughter anyone following us, to give you a good head start."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Kat replied immediately. "You're as necessary as the rest of us. You can slaughter to your heart's content *after* we reach the Long Woods and the conmhaol. Until we get there, though, we have to move swiftly and unobtrusively. I do have a plan, though."
"Let's hear it," suggested Marc, leaning back against a rock.
"There's another town on the far side of the monastery, another few hour's ride on. I suggest we ride around the monastery and buy a carriage from town. Jade, you're best at that, you can spin some story about the carriage wheels breaking or being robbed or something - being robbed would probably be better, as it could explain why we're not travelling like nobles when we arrive. David, do you still have your rapier?"
"Yes."
"Ok... so the story goes that my dearest brother and I are travelling to visit a hated aunt in the west. Jade, you're my maid and sooth-sayer. Marc, you're my knight protector. A few days ago, somewhere to the east, we were set upon by bandits who stole all our possessions and it was only due to the skill of Marc and his brethren - whom were sadly slain - that we managed to escape. Since then, we have travelled night and day to escape them and we are exhausted. We find an inn - I'll sew some gold into my hem to explain why we still have some money, and stay there. For the first day, I'll pretend exhaustion and Jade and I will stay in our room for the day. David, you should stay in your room too, remember you're a noble. Marc you're free to go out and about - We'll need a seamstress or two, and a carriage, but not for a couple of days. After the first day, Jade can go out and arrange for seamstresses to come to our room and make me some dresses, and Marc, you find us a carriage... Does that give you enough basic story line to work with, Jade?"
"And then some," replied Jade wryly.
"Good. Then the night after we have the carriage and the dresses ready, we slip out, visit the monastery, steal the grail, and return to town before the sun rises. Then we move out in style. Our disguise should be enough to fool the knights. Think it could work?"
The others considered.
"The carriage would slow us down," remarked Jade, finally.
"Yes," agreed. "We have to decide if the slowing down is worth the disguise. Riders would be suspects."
"True."
They considered some more.
"I say it's our best option," said Marc finally, and the others then concurred.
"We'll have to ride hard, to exhaust the horses a bit," added Jade.
"Let's get going then," suggested David. "We don't want to be locked out because the gates are closed!"
The four remounted, and galloped down the road.