Later that evening, Sarah returned from town in a state of great agitation. She called everyone together, saying there was important news. Everyone gathered around the hearth, but Gwendoline was missing.
‘Hold on, I bet I know where she is.’ Pelana said. She rose and went into the bedroom that Gwendoline and Morgana shared. Sure enough, the musician was there, but had been so intent on her work that she had not heeded Sarah’s calls.
Bethany and Liana broke off their conversation and rejoined the rest of the group as Gwendoline finally put aside her latest composition and emerged from her room.
‘Pelana said she had something important to say to us all. What is it?’ she asked.
‘Actually I’m as mystified as anyone.’ replied Pelana. ‘It’s Sarah who has news, but she wouldn’t say what until we were all here.’
‘Um, yes, I have something important to suggest.’ Sarah began, with unusual hesitance. The youngest of the friends at only nineteen, she could often be overly energetic and talkative. She made a living by riding or running messages for the townsfolk, sometimes all the way to the mountains.
‘I was in town this morning getting cloth for a new tunic; I ruined one of mine falling from a tree yesterday. It caught on a branch and almost ripped in half down the front. I really can’t repair it properly and my stitching is pretty neat-’
Rowena interrupted her with characteristic impatience. ‘Get to the point!’
‘Now we know it’s definitely important.’ interjected Bethany, her varicoloured eyes twinkling. Both she and her sister Isabel had one green eye and one blue, adding to the similarity of their appearance. ‘Otherwise she wouldn’t have stalled in telling us.’
‘All right! I’ll get to the point. There was a messenger from Grenit in the town square this morning. He said that the King has finally lost patience with letting Atta and Kebrion invade and raid towns whenever they wish to. The King has ordered the formation of an army to protect Jarda!’
   This really was news. A hubbub of conversations sprang up around the room, wondering about what kind of troops were proposed and how big the force could be.
‘That’s what all those people were up to; they must have been gathered around the notice...’ Katherine remarked to Aradia.
Sarah waited for her friends to hush and then continued.
‘That isn’t all. Apparently they want a lot of archers, but there isn’t much time to train them, so the more proficient archers they can get to start with, the better.’ with the finish in sight Sarah gabbled the last of her idea in one breath. ‘So I was thinking, seeing as we’re all pretty good archers, well, very good really, what if we volunteered and joined the new army?’
This was serious, and this time there were no muttered comments as she finished speaking. Sarah’s suggestion was met by unsettled silence.

   Eventually Fiona spoke up.
‘I can’t speak for anyone else but I think it’s a very good idea. The least we can do for our country is try to defend it. It would be a shame to let our skills go to waste.’
‘They don’t go to waste; we use them for sport and to keep pests down. We use them to defend the town at need. Morgana uses hers to hunt food so that we can all eat. I wouldn’t call that waste. Most of us only learnt to shoot because we enjoy it’ Bethany pointed out.
‘But this is just an extension of defending the town, protecting our people. If we don’t defend ourselves then raiders steal the food from our mouths and kill our friends. Imagine if we could help get rid of the raiders for good? Imagine that people would never lose their homes or have to flee in terror again. Then we’d never have to fight again.’ Fiona argued. ‘Perhaps if there had been a Jardarin army years ago my family would not have been slaughtered when Attite raiding parties hit the town. Think about it, we’ve all lost somebody dear; some of us haven’t any family left!’ She said, looking at the other three orphans. ‘Sarah, how can you so easily discard a chance to avenge the deaths of your parents?’
‘I was only small when they died, and I wasn’t there. I barely remember them and I finished grieving for them years ago. I don’t wish for revenge.’ Sarah replied honestly. She was too cheerful a soul to brood on vengeance for those she did not remember.
Fiona turned to the others who had lost their close family, trying to find support for her point.
‘Katherine, what of your father? And you two; your family have been dead barely a year!’ she said angrily to the sisters.
Both of their faces fell at the harsh reminder.
‘Fiona, you go too far.’ Isabel warned, tears in her eyes. ‘Not a moment passes when we don’t miss them. Not an instant goes by when I don’t miss James. You can’t imagine what it feels like to lose a twin! How dare you think your grief is greater than that of others? I sometimes wish we had been at home that day and burned alongside those we loved so much! Your motives are distorted – you seek only revenge!’ she cried, becoming angry in her turn.
Bethany glared at Fiona and held her sister close. Fiona continued, apologetic for the hurt she caused but undeterred.
‘I don’t think my grief is greater than yours, but even though it was long ago it is little less. I was only four, but I remember. I remember my helplessness, my parents’ screams... I never want to feel that way again!
‘All I’m saying is this: If there was a force to help towns and farms beat off the raiders, or to wipe them out completely, then perhaps there would be less mourning across Jarda... I think we should go.’
Most of the group could understand Fiona’s reasoning, though not her fervour, and said so, yet they still sounded doubtful at the idea of leaving.
‘I agree with you that Jarda needs an army, but should we be part of it? How can we be sure we won’t be scared and run away in a fight?’ Morgana queried worriedly. She found it hard to imagine how horrible it would be if they had to fight people face to face. She wasn’t sure she could do it.
‘You’re right, Morgana.’ Diana agreed. ‘It’s true that we all know one end of an arrow from the other, but shooting foxes and vermin or even deer for the stew pot doesn’t compare to shooting people.’
Morgana nodded. ‘I hated it enough just defending the walls of the town; a full battle would be awful!’ She looked about her at the people she had known closely for years, seeming to look right into their doubts with her piercing grey eyes. ‘Could any of us do it? End the life of another person face to face and watch them die?’
‘But archers fight at a distance; we wouldn’t have to be face to face.’ Gwendoline argued.
Aradia shook her head at her friend’s naivety. ‘Learn your history, Gwen. No battle ends with arrows alone. Archers almost always end up fighting up close at some point.’
Gwendoline looked even more uncertain at this news. She was not a violent person.
However, Fiona, her reason lost as it so often was when her parents deaths were mentioned, would not be swayed.
‘I would do it for the townsfolk and to avenge my family, not just to defend my own life.’ She declared boldly. ‘We’ve all defended the town walls at least once. If we hadn’t the invaders would’ve broken through and lived to kill more innocent people.  The only difference is that we couldn’t clearly see the people we shot at. We shot at them from a distance and moved straight on to the next target. We have never yet faced an enemy in open battle, but we must. This violence is necessary to keep our home safe. If it comes down to it I will fight again, I will kill again. By the Lady I swear it!’
   The words of their usually careful friend shocked even waspish Rowena.
‘Do you mean what you just said?’ She demanded. ‘You swear to the Lady Goddess that you will take lives? Even to protect those you care about, that is not a good promise to make. You’re being foolish, Fiona!’
Liana was similarly disturbed. As a priestess, she was strongly devoted to the Gods. ‘Fiona, you know that that oath is unbreakable! Especially if made before a servant of the Gods. I wish I hadn’t heard you, but now it is too late. You know I can’t just ignore an oath like that! Whether you meant it or not you said it and now you are bound to join the army. You no longer have a choice. For your sake I really hope you meant it.’
‘Of course I meant it, and I meant you to hear it!’ Fiona declared. She seemed suddenly tired, as though the oath had drained her anger. ‘I must leave; I would always have gone anyway. We have a chance, a rare chance to do something worthwhile, to be a small part of something bigger than ourselves. The question is; will any of you stand forward with me?’

   There was silence in the room for a while as they considered the sudden, worrying events. The minds of eleven young women echoed with one question: with one of them leaving, how could the rest face each other if they refused?
   Pelana, who had sat silently and watched her friends’ debate, now looked to each of them in turn for their decision. One by one, they nodded, though Morgana looked as if she was certain this particular escapade was going to end in tears.
Pelana let her unconsciously held breath out in a rush, keenly aware of the turning point they had reached. She personally felt a strange excitement at the prospect of leaving. Though she enjoyed life in Olat, she sometimes felt that she should be doing something more. ‘We agree then; whatever our motives, we all think that this army is necessary. So, we will go with Fiona. Time is of the essence; whatever skills we already possess, we will need training if we are to stand a chance in war.
We should leave as early as we can the day after tomorrow to reach Grenit the following morning. It’s late. I’d suggest we use tomorrow to say our goodbyes and pack our things.’
‘The Gods be with us.’ Liana prayed quietly, staggered by the choice she had made.
‘We’re probably going to need them.’ Rowena added pointedly.
   
The group split up and walked away, some to their rooms, others to the stable beside the house and some out into the town. Fiona stayed with Liana for a moment to ask for the priestess’ blessing. Though she was utterly resolved, she was not without doubt. Liana was troubled; concerned that her friend had bound herself, and the rest of them, into a promise she would regret, yet she spoke the words of blessing all the same.
Those with family still living faced the difficult task of explaining to their relations that they were leaving, and might not return. They all knew they were heading into the unknown, and into danger.