The Silver Lining

Sophia sat down on the grass, watching the children run around the trees nearby as Arthur made them all rest around noon. During the morning, after the first round of arguing and information, Sophia had let lose a second time on Arthur. It had really been the fault of the knight Lancelot who had made a comment about the cross pendant she wore, though by the look on his face the man had been more focused on her breasts than he had been the pendant. Arthur had questioned her on why she wore such a pendant, choosing not to notice his companions obvious staring at the time. She had folded her arms across her chest and just looked at Arthur saying it was her fathers and that she had been given it when he'd died years ago.

Her faith had been brought into question which had angered Sophia. Faith was something that Sophia held in both high and low regard. She knew what people would and could do in the name of "faith" and "religion" and it had never pleased her to know that those who did such vile things were human beings. Sophia held it in high regard as it was the only thing left that she knew of to pray to in order to rest her soul with the duty of which she was burdened to carry and all because her ancestors had forsaken god when they had not answered their prayers to save them.

Maybe that was why Zachariah and Anna had been turned, divine punishment for not holding their faith just like their ancestors.

She looked up when someone sat down beside her as she was watching the children. It was Arthur. Rolling her eyes as he began to talk, Sophia glanced at him sourly. "You must understand that for us to walk into Woad borders to return the children would make us easy targets," he started.

She shook her head and threw her hands up in the air. "As I said, I do not need your help," she snapped, "I'll do it myself if it is so hard to try and make some peace for five mere moments and not soak the ground with more unnecessary bloodshed!"

"I will not put my men at risk! I have lost enough of them!" Arthur replied back quickly, pointing a finger at her.

Sophia stood up and planted her hands on her hips, looking down at the man. "I take it you are not use to women talking to you like you are beneath them Arthur but listen to me when I say that taking three children into a world they are not use to is not going to result in anything good. Take it from someone who knows what she is talking about."

Turning Sophia walked towards the children. She felt a hand grab her arm suddenly and Sophia turned, moving to hit the person who had grabbed her. It was the silent and scarred knight Agravaine. He caught her hand and mouthed something to her. "You really need to learn to speak up, knight," she told him.

A brief flash of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth before it was gone. "There is a Woad village not far from here," he repeated. Sophia smiled up at him and then looked over at Arthur who did not look too pleased with what his knight had just told her.

"Which direction?" she inquired, glancing back to Agravaine who had very quickly let her go after a second or two.

He just pointed to behind where the children were and Sophia turned, heading for them. "You can not just walk out into the forest on your own lady and without weapons!" Arthur called.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Least I'm trying to do the right thing," she shot at him and Arthur looked towards his knights and then at the lone knight standing between the two parties.

Agravaine didn't say a word, he just nodded his head to Arthur before following Sophia and the children. "Agravaine, it is a fools errand!" Gawain called to his cousin who just waved a hand at them.

Galahad shook his head as Bors laughed at the scene. "Come Arthur, we'll meet him at the crossroads," Tristan, the other scout of the knights, commented to his commander.

Arthur glanced at Lancelot who just lifted his shoulder up. "He is right, that is where Agravaine will be heading once and if they actually accomplish the fools errand."

"Ya got to admit the lass has got quite a spirit, wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her, I like having her round already," Bors said aloud making most of the knights laugh at the look on Arthur's face at that.

"Lord help me if we cross a Roman unit," Arthur muttered as he climbed back onto his horse and started for the crossroads.
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Agravaine was walking ten to five steps behind them and Sophia couldn't help but be amused by him. "You know, you do not have to walk all the way back there," she told him. After a few more steps, he was walking just behind her. "Thank you for helping me, you didn't need to if it will cause trouble between yourself and your leader." She didn't get an answer and Sophia looked at him. "You do not talk much do you?"

He glanced at her and quirked an eyebrow before Sophia just shook her head. "I talk when I need to," he said back quietly.

"Fair enough but you know I'm not going to tell that you talked to me if that is what it is going to take to get you to," she stated. She heard a soft chuckle. "Maybe you could give me some answers to questions I have been waiting to ask?"

"What questions?"

Sophia smiled. "Well for one, history? I am somewhat lost on what is actually going on around here and why Arthur is so..."

"He is part Woad. His mother was one. His father was Roman," Agravaine begun as he fiddled with his knee length sleeveless jerkin slightly, "His father was a commander here in Briton and Arthur followed in his footsteps. Us, his knights, or whatever Rome would like to call us to make us sound important to the world are slaves."

Sophia glanced at him as he sighed heavily. "Over three hundred years ago, Rome invaded Sarmatia, a wide and spread out tribal nation. The army fought and were defeated but the legendary cavalry of Sarmatia remained. Rome, decided not to kill them that day... Instead they were incorporated into the Roman army, made into knights who were forced to serve Rome for fifteen years of their lives," he paused and breathed in deeply, "Those who survived returned home but Rome made them swear to give their sons, and their sons and so on to Rome to serve as knights around the Empire. We're some of the last of the odd twenty that we traveled here with nearly fifteen years ago."

"So you'll be free soon?" she asked.

He nodded. "Just under four months," he answered.

"You don't like Rome but you serve a Roman?"

"Half," he corrected, pointing at her, "And Arthur is a man that I would die for. In all these years he has shown us that he is a leader, we are his men but we are also his brothers, we protect each other."

She pursed her lips, taking hold of his arm, stopping them both. "I don't understand why you're helping me then."

He looked down and then to the children before shaking his head and telling her he'd spoken enough and they needed to move quicker.
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Sophia could sense when they were in Woad borderlines when Agravaine told her to keep in behind him and the children to not run around. Arrows landed at the feet of the knight as he made to step further ahead at one point and he drew a short sword and a broad sword as the children hid behind Sophia.

It surprised Sophia when the men stepped out of the forest like ghosts, dressed in rags and blue paint. She wondered if they spoke Latin.

"Why are you here, knight?" a skinny one inquired.

They did apparently. Sophia stepped round Agravaine who made to say something to her. "He is here to help me."

After a few murmured words between all the Woads clearly about her clothing, the leader stepped towards them. "And your business in our borders?" he pressed.

Sophia turned slightly and motioned towards the children. Before Sophia could blink, one of the men rushed forward and dropped to his knees to hug the two small boys. He was their father. A blonde woman appeared, surprising Sophia, and approached Celcie who was in Sophia's arms after the other three children had been taken care of. It was clear the eldest of them was not of this village as she moved to the leader and nodded to him before two women came and pulled her away.

Celcie didn't initially want to leave Sophia's arms until Agravaine pried her away and handed her to her mother. He pulled Sophia back by the shoulder as the Woads all disappeared back into the forest. "Its better that you forget them," he told her.

She nodded. While happy that they were now safe, Sophia had grown fond of the children. Agravaine said to her they had to head back before they outstayed their small welcome.
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Arthur was pacing across the camp they had made at the crossroads that night. As much as the lady irritated him, there was something mysterious about her that made Arthur wondered not only of where she was from but how she had gotten to Briton and in such a bind as what they found her in.

When the knights were stripping off to swim in the river that was just near the crossroads and the camping grounds, Agravaine and Sophia returned. He noted their was no injuries on either of them and that the children were no longer with them. Arthur did not say anything to her except that she was to stay here while they went to the river.

He did try to question Agravaine, but like Tristan, he was a man of few and far between words. His reasons though were entirely different to Tristan's. Agravaine was only two years younger than Tristan who was thirty-three, the knight was the eldest of himself and his two cousins and also a man who Arthur respected greatly due to what he had endured.

Nine and a bit years ago, they had been in a raid on a small Woad village. Their orders had been to kill and all Woads that they were to find in the village. Agravaine had gone into one of the huts and came out with a small little girl in his arms. The Roman soldiers, who had been with them during that raid, had attempted to take the child off him and kill her. He had fought back to protect the child who had done nothing wrong to anyone, she couldn't when she was only two back then from what Arthur had guessed.

Agravaine in the fight had been slashed across the face. It ran from above his left eyebrow, between both, down and extremely close to his right eye before finishing near his right ear just an inch of two above his jaw.

That had physically wounded him to where he had been unable to fight back and save the child. Since then, he had become closed off and withdrawn. He and Tristan had become closer after that and Arthur knew Agravaine had helped Sophia with the children, whether he agreed to it or not, because of that day.
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Sophia had been talking to one of the horses when the first of the knights returned. "Did I say you could touch him?" She jumped and spun round. Lancelot smirked at her, shaking his damp black curls as he walked over to her, fixing his armour back up properly.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she said, quickly moving away from the horse.

The knight laughed. "I was only playing with you lady. He likes pretty female companions who give him some attention," he replied, smiling at her. Sophia had to hand it to the curly-haired knight that he was very attractive and confident around her. Judging by the looks she had already received from him during the day that Lancelot was very good at charming women. Galahad returned next, telling Lancelot to knock it off that she was not some tavern girl.

Sophia smiled at the young knight, which had made him go a little red in the cheeks.

When the others returned, Sophia was told that she could go down to the river if she wanted. She didn't. Sophia was not that dirty and she could stand a few more days without washing. She had more important things to worry about over being clean.

Zachariah and Anna. She had not asked or spoken of them to Arthur and his knights and she really didn't know how to. What would she say to them about it if they asked where she had last seen them? Tell the truth about how they had been about to kill her.
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The snow fell down around him, leaving him cold and shivering as he trudged through the thick white blanket. He was holding his pants up around him which had been ripped during his change. Seeing the small fires from ahead, he smiled wolfishly. He had said he would return and return he did. The men who greeted him were not exactly smart and it took them quiet a few moments to realize who he was.

When they finally did realize who he was, they immediately retreated back a few steps.

"Nervous bunch ain't they?" He looked over his shoulder as his sister came up behind him. He chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Very," he added, looking back to the soldiers who had their weapons drawn.

"Down boys," she said, smirking at the men. Following his sister, he growled at the soldier he passed, laughing as the man jumped back quickly and ended up falling over. "You think she ended up near here?" she inquired.

"I've been hunting and trying to sense her but I can't," he answered.