The procession through the snow was slow and tiresome; the tribe was making little headway but yet could not stop...the mountain passes were dangerous at the best of times but there had been a marked increase in raids and attacks by the Ice Men so stopping was not an option.
Most of the tribe were on foot as the majority of the members were men and women. No children had survived the winter which was why the Chief had made the decision to migrate to the warmer regions beyond the mountains, away from the hard weather and midnight raids. Only the Chief, his sons and his 2nd wife were on horseback, everyone else was trudging through the knee deep snow in thick deer hide boots that offered some protection from the snow and ice.
Skara glanced up at the Chief's eldest son, Ronan and glared, "Bastard..." she muttered as she gripped her bone handled blade harder. Skara was one of the younger members of the tribe, having just 19 years, she was also the youngest warrior they had...and one of the most skilled. Her father had trained her since she could walk so that fighting with an axe, blade or bare hands seemed as natural as breathing. The young woman was dressed like all the others; thick pair of deer hide boots, several layers of thick wool undergarments which were all covered with a heavy fur coat with rabbit fur lined hood. She also had thick fur gloves that had become supple and pliable from use. Skara had tried to set herself apart from the other women who all wore their hair tied up with strips of coloured cloth; Skara had chosen to have her dirty blonde hair left down, with plats at irregular intervals around her head.
"Who's a bastard?" a musical voice asked.
Skara looked around and smirked when she saw Aurelia walking beside her, clad in her usual furs and carrying a roman sword; Aurelia had been conceived during a raid by roman soldiers when the tribe had been South of the wall. Her mother had given the new-born babe a roman name rather than a more common one; no one had bothered to ask why and Aurelia was seen as a rarity among the tribe...She was beautiful in a very Roman way with silky black hair and dark brown eyes.
"Ronan, he came to my tent again last night," Skara glared once more at the back of Ronan's arrogant head as he rode beside his father, "begging to sleep with me. He said I owed him and I should just shut up and spread my legs, cause either way...he was gonna be fucking me."
Aurelia laughs and looks ahead, "You could do worse. He's handsome enough, if you like fools and he's a good enough fighter when it comes to it. I hear he's fathered two babes on some fisher's wives at the harbour, so you know he'll be of use."
The younger woman rolled her eyes, "He's a selfish brute and he believes all women in the land are for his use-" Skara stopped dead and listened closely; there was no sound but the wailing of the wind...but something was wrong...