Leading For The Blind/Chapter One

Chapter One : Disturbed
Sometimes lies get you in more trouble than they get you out of.

The silence was absolute, except for the soft snoring of the Fifth Cohort; or most of it, anyway. One person peeped out from under the thick covers, looking out of the window at the tranquil outside. He knew the centurion slept next to the entrance and would definitely be roused if he tried to sneak out; she was a daughter of Victoria, and that meant, regrettably, that she noticed almost everything.

He pushed his face into the pillow to hide the sky from his line of sight, trying to resist the longing to exit the cohort. It was long past curfew, and he'd be on guard for a week if he was caught at this time of night.

Then, a small sound caused him to lift his head, and look nervously at the centurion. She seemed not to have been disturbed, so he held his breath as the sound grew slowly louder. He threw his face into the pillow once more and squeezed his eyes very tight shut.

He waited for what seemed like an age before he felt something touching him. It was cold, so he thought it was a blade. He jolted upwards in shock, and faced his "assailant". Drawing in a shuddering breath of relief that it wasn't what he thought it was, he found himself looking into the face of...his sister Laura.

"What?" he asked quietly, but she pressed a thin finger to her lips,and he was suddenly quiet. With his agile sister to guide him, he made no noise. She turned to face him when he was outside the cohort, and led him further onto the dewy, damp grasses.

"What?" he repeated, far enough onto the grass that he was confident that he was far enough away to be unheard.

"You're going on a quest." Laura told him flatly, almost sad about it. "And according to the person who sent me, it'll take a long time."

"A long time? Are you coming?" he blurted out before he could hold the words in, looking at her with a guarded expression on his face.

"Would I let you go without me?" she asked him quietly, knowing he knew the answer already. And he did; of course she wouldn't. She was way too overprotective.

"No..." he sighed reluctantly, kicking up a few fallen leaves.

"So what am I doing, why, where, how and when-" He was cut off with a finger to his lips, and it wasn't his sister's...definitely not.

"Sssssshhh..." hissed someone, or something.