This journey started about half a year ago. We were now ridding to the great wall, where Arthur and his knights were residing. Neyri said we would be safe, she said they would protect us even if their lives depend on it. I've doubt it since the first day; being a Roman wouldn't put the Sarmatian knights on my side at all…after all they were considered slave of the romans, of my people. I never agreed with a lot of their doing but who was I to tell them what I thought, I was just a woman.

The truth is, I ain't a Roman per say. I'm Egyptian actually, well originally. I've never seen Egypt in my whole life but my mother was a slave from this foreign country. My father just happened to have taken a liking in her. I never knew my mother either. I only heard story. She died giving birth to me. She was hunted, a runaway. A governor, my father, was pursuing her to end her life so she wouldn't give birth to the disgusting creature that I was. Imagine if I would have been a boy…I would have been his successor, what a disaster. So, when she learned that she was pregnant, she tried to hide it at first but he eventually found out. At that moment, to protect herself and me, she ran far, very far away. She headed toward the north with her sister, also an Egyptian slave kept by the governor, my father...

Neyri, my aunt, has been taking care of me since then. I consider her my mother, even call her so. I don't think she mind since she was the one who raised me. She just loves to remind me that I'm not her real daughter, that my mother was a great woman, that she was beautiful, that she was wild and courageous and a lot of other qualities that I probably didn't inherit from her. Neyri says otherwise. I supposedly look a lot like her when she was young. She says I have the same fire dancing in my eyes and the same furry burning in my chest. I got my look from my father though. I am tall, slim; I carry myself with a lot of grace and elegance. I am pale, very pale. Neyri even thought I was sick or weak before. I ain't any of those two. My eyes are blue; almost grey with the outskirts a deep and dark blue. People avoid them; they fear I'll see what's hidden in their soul. My aunt even says that I shouldn't look at people too long; she says I look dangerous with my deep eyes, I look wild and dangerous.

I lived on the old continent for a long part of my life, running away from the romans, hiding from my own people. Neyri decided it was a better idea to leave for Britain, where no one would know us, where we could finally live in peace. But peace is probably something unachievable in our time. Anywhere you go there is war, people are dying, houses are burnt down to ashes and survivors are being taken as slave. In our time, nothing was beautiful like you might have heard. There is no knight in shining armour that will come on his almighty pure white horse save the damsel in distress. In my reality, kill or be killed. A woman left alone will be abused and if by any chance saved, she will be abused by her saviour. It's my reality. That's why, when I turned 15, Neyri taught me how to fight in the old ways, like it was done in Egypt 4000 years ago.

So here I was now, heading towards the wall, where I knew nothing of what would happen. The trip all the way there wasn't at all disturbing. We didn't even come across any native who were roaming in the woods. It seems like they knew we were coming. This thought brought chills running down my spine. Those blue painted people frightened me to no end and I've seen a lot of frightening things in my life. The wall was finally in sight. To our not so great surprise, there were romans soldiers about everywhere. We didn't think of our plan too long before heading here. Two women dressed in dark and with paint on their faces (from our hunting this afternoon) wouldn't look good to those guards. At least, we weren't painted blue… Anyway, since we're already here, might as well give it a try.

There were a lot of activities in the fort, we could hear men laughing pretty hard and they seemed like they were having fun. A life in this place wouldn't be so bad…I think…First thing first, the gate. Neyri did the talking; she's always been good at this stuff anyway. An old woman who always smiles and looks harmless versus a young woman, who stares at you, who barely open her mouth to answer and seems to be on edge, the choice looks pretty clear to me. She said that I should learn to trust other people a bit more but that ain't going to happen any time soon. So after negotiating with the guards and explaining that we were looking for shelters, we finally got in.

They called a young boy to take care of our horses but that was out of the question, no one manipulates my horse. He can be a lot to handle for a little boy so I told him I would take care of him myself. I offered to bring Neyri's horse in the same time and told her to explore the grounds a bit. She got the message that I wanted to be on my own for a while and left to the tavern where we were supposed to meet later, when I would be in a more proper mood to actually not lit in fire everything my eyes lied on.

Shamal was being sweet as always (insert sarcasm here). He was being a pain in the ass. So, instead of arguing with him, I took the saddle off, brushed him and put him in a stall with hay and a bucket of water. I decided to come and check him later when I would have eaten properly myself for a change. The tavern was where I decided to head to.

When I entered by the door…well I wouldn't say door, it was more like a big opening, I looked around for a while. It was pretty crowded, with mostly soldiers and some wench. At first sight, Neyri was nowhere to be found. Great! Just great! That means that I would have to actually enter this place to look for her. At least, I made myself the most invisible I could. Attracting attention wasn't something I was looking forward to. It looked like a place where there weren't a lot of new faces often. I would probably stand out easily.

I was so lucky. You know when you really don't want something to happen…it just always happens so the gods can laugh at you. Well it happens to me all the time. Now just wasn't a good time. I wanted nothing to do with some roman soldier grabbing my ass like that. Those are the kinds of thing that will eventually attract attention since I ain't going to just ignore it. So I turned toward the soldier to give him a piece of my mind.

«Hands off!

-What's wrong honey…no fun tonight?

Seriously, that just did it. And he wouldn't take his hands off either…by the way.

-Look honey, you take that hand off my ass or I'll do it myself and shove it down your throat. And trust me, it ain't gonna be fun.

-Little girl is feisty, I like that.

I grabbed his hand, twisted it around his back, took my free hand, grabbed his hair and totally exploded his nose on the table. Everything around went silent, so much for not wanting to attract attention.

-You little BITCH!

He actually tried to attack me with his dagger. I was damn quick when I was alert and a backflip did the job to put some distance between the two of us. At that point, Neyri had spotted me. Well, at least my little outburst had been useful in finding her. She had run toward the roman soldier and was attending to his nose.

-Oh my god, I'm so sorry about her behaviour. She isn't usually like that; it's just we had a rough day and she always had a temper and…are you ok? She can be such a brat when she wants. I'm sure your nose will be fine…it's just bleeding a bit…

And she kept going and going and going. At one point, I lost track of her apologies and the soldier probably did too because he seemed to forget about the incident and tried to make her stop. Told you she was good with the talking and the diplomacy.

I made myself invisible until Neyri was done. Finally getting rid of the man, she turned towards me with an angry look in her eyes. She didn't even bother to find a place where we could speak alone she screamed in my face right here and there.

-I thought we agreed on this Eveena! You said you were fine with coming to Britain. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! THIS IS OUR CHANCE and I won't let you screw it because of your god damn temper. You better get a grip on yourself or I'll make sure you do. Keep acting like this and you'll end up like your mother, having to save your life running away.

-My mother's DEAD.

-Exactly! You're lucky to be alive so stop trying to catch your own death.

She was done. She always had to have the final word. I was done too. Arguing with her was never a good idea, never. I turned around and didn't bother with my previous appetite so I walked towards the exit and back to the stables.

Meanwhile, at the tavern, Neyri was still fuming in the middle of the place. A Roman approached her slowly.

-Excuse me my lady, I just noticed you where new around here. My name is Arthur and I'm in charge of this fort. I suppose you do not have any place to stay for the meantime and since you seem to be coming from a long journey, a good meal would probably be welcomed.

-Well that would be appreciated indeed. My name is Neyri and the young woman from previously was Eveena. We come from the continent and hope to reside here. Will that be possible commander?

-Of course lady Neyri. Everyone is more than welcomed here. Maybe we'll have the chance to meet your friend properly in other circumstances. For now, come and join us. It's common for us to greet our guests appropriately.

She followed him to the table where all the knights were currently sitting and enjoying themselves. Arthur introduced her briefly to the table and motioned for her to sit.

-Vanora will bring you something. Do not worry about the money, sitting with us have some advantages.

Neyri smiled at the man and did just as she was instructed. Since she was so hungry, she appreciated every bite of her meal listening to the conversations around her. Fortunately, the knights kept to themselves while she was eating, giving her some time to relax. They joked with each other loudly thought and finally, when the woman was done, they started asking the many questions that were burning their tongue.

-So lady Neyri, I heard you talking a bit before. Do you happen to come from the continent?

-Well yes sir, it was a pretty long travel to come all the way here to Britain. Eveena and I happen to be travelers but we wish to settle here from now on.

-If you don't mind me asking, why come here while we're still at war with the Saxons?

-We weren't aware of that fact when we took the boat sir… The giant who was previously asking question smiled sweetly and introduced himself.

-I'm Dagonet.

-And I'm Gawain and the young man on the left is Galahad, he's my cousin.

-It's a pleasure to meet you. Neyri looked around the table for a minute to register all the faces. Dagonet and Gawain introduced themselves properly but she still didn't know the rest of the knights present at the table. Let's say she was a little interested in the two who were presently talking to her but she also needed to look for a potential husband for Eveena who was now at age for marriage. Although she hadn't met them all yet, her eyes set on 3 different men. One had curly hair, a fine face and looked like he was used to women companies. The other one kept more to him and didn't look talkative. He also had fine traits with some tattoos on his cheekbones. The last one was Galahad. He was rather cute himself and looked like he had a very nice personality, very outgoing. Those were the three candidates she had spotted so far. Dagonet brought her back to reality pretty fast

-What are you doing my lady?

-Oh nothing much, I was thinking about Eveena. This took the attention of most of the table. Galahad who had been listening to Dagonet and Gawain's conversation with the newcomer decide to join in.

-The young woman you were arguing with?

-Yeah…her, she can be pretty annoying when she isn't in a good mood. You all saw the scene that she caused just minutes ago. But she's still very sweet in her own way.

-I'm sure she's fine in bed! Arthur looked at his favoured knight with a frown. This wasn't the kind of thing to joke about with new people who weren't used with their behaviour. Lancelot let out a small laugh to prove Neyri that it was just a joke. She smiled back sincerely at both of them showing clearly that no harm was done.

-And who might you be fine young man?

-Lancelot my lady. He is one of my most trusted friends. Arthur answered before Lancelot had any chance to reply. Neyri nodded her head and got up from her chair. Arthur stood up as well as a respectful gesture.

-Well, it was nice meeting you and I hope we'll get to see each other soon but I have to find my dear friend before she gets herself in trouble. This seemed to amuse the knight greatly as they all laugh at her joke not so far away from the truth.

-My lady, I'm aware of the fact that you are new around the fort. Therefore, we should probably get you settle somewhere for the night. It wouldn't be appropriate either to let you roam the grounds at night and on your own. It can be dangerous around here. Dagonet! Will you escort lady Neyri to the fort and find her a chamber. I'll send one of these men to find your friend lady Eveena and he will escort her back to the fort as well.

Neyri looked at the man for a long time. His tone implied no place for disagreements. Since he was the commander of the fort, she could probably put her full trust in him but he was also a strangers and she still had doubt. Nonetheless, one of his knights would probably find Eveena faster than her. That girl was good at hiding when she wanted some time alone. She nodded her head toward Arthur and left without another word with the tall man named Dagonet.

Once they were gone, Arthur turned his attention to the rest of his knights, mostly Tristan.

"Do you think they might be a danger to any of us?"

Tristan stopped whatever he was doing and turner toward his commander. "The old woman doesn't seem like a threat but you can never be too careful. The younger one appeared to be feistier and could cause trouble more than we think. We all saw the little stunt she pulled on the Roman earlier."

Gawain exhausted of such complicated explanation while he was still intoxicated cut Tristan before it got even more complicated, "And your point?" The other knights erupted in laughter.

"Let's just watch out for the younger one" Arthur nodded at him as an understanding passed between the two men. He didn't need to say more that Tristan was already on his feet and out of the tavern to look for the girl.

I was back at the stable when I was reminded of my hunger. I didn't wish to go back to the tavern for I knew I would clash with Neyri again. I sat on the door of the stall where my horse resided and leaned against the beam. I was so tired of this life; running from a place to another. I wished we would be able to settle down somewhere but at the same time knew it wasn't possible. It was always my fault we had to change location all the time and Neyri was getting tired of it all to. At one point, I even though about leaving without her and facing the world alone. She would be able to settle down with a man and forget about me. But, Neyri promised my mother to take care of my pathetic excuse of a human being and the pact was sealed. I wasn't the best niece in the world but Neyri loved me as a daughter and thus couldn't let me leave on my one. I probably wouldn't last a day either, killed by my carelessness.

This is probably one of the reason Neyri chose Britain for she knew I wouldn't be able to run anywhere without being killed. That way, Neyri would be able to control me a bit more, but that was a lost cause. I knew I was incontrollable and wild, stubborn and untamed. Neyri was getting too old to fight with me anymore and was getting tired of her trying for I didn't respond to her provocation anymore.

My thoughts were interrupted by steps coming down the aisle. A man most likely and heavy armed. I ignored him and wished he would do the same. I was not granted my wish…was I ever?

"You are to be escorted to the fort were your aunt is waiting for you" I didn't acknowledge his presence in anyway but the man knew I heard him. I sighted. I was exhausted but more hungry than anything.

"Just explain to me how to get there and I will join her later tonight."

He didn't give any warning and just grabbed my forearm already leading me towards the fort before any sound of protest could escape my lips. I wasn't happy at all. No one tells me what to do and no one drags me anywhere on top of it. I struggled against his grip and dug my heels into the ground. He wouldn't get his way with me.

"Let. Go. Of. Me. This. Instant." After many attempted, I broke free. Well I also fell on my behind in the process but that was just an unwanted side effect.

"Who do you think you are dragging me to someplace I do not wish to go! And I don't even know you! For all I know you could be kidnapping me!" I have to say, he was quite scary looking when I had the chance to take a better look at him. He just stared at me without any emotion making their way to his face. All in all, he was quite annoying.

"You know, usually, people don't drag other people behind them without an explanation." I picked myself up the ground and dusted my skirts avoiding eye contact with him. A smirk made his way towards the end of his mouth but don't misunderstand, I didn't know that…yet.

"Well I gave you an explanation earlier." I have to admit, he had a point. I raised my eyes to finally look at him and there it was that damn smirk. Oh how I wished I would just slap his face to get rid of it. But, I did not wish to get myself in more trouble so I just ignored him and turned around towards the stable. I realised that he dragged me a long way before I was able to break free and this little information was fully registered in my brain. Do not mess with man like him again; you might get in more trouble than you bargained for. While all this was processing in my head, I stopped dead in my track, looking back at the dark man who was merely an inch behind me. He was way too sneaky for his own good and being sneaky around me wasn't such a good idea.

"Look Mister I'm-the-biggest-jerk-on-earth-without-any-manner-whatsoever, I do not wish to accompany you to the goddamn fort, I will not, do I make myself clear?" At this point, I was poking my index finger into his chest pretty deep to. It must have hurt a bit I suppose. But, emotions coming from this man were impossible to perceive, pain included in the package.

"So, be the gentleman that you certainly are not, and leave me alone."

He kept looking at me as if I had grown another head, perhaps I wasn't clear enough to the barbarian or perhaps his brain was just malfunctioning …all in all, I was tired of waiting in the cold for this man to register what I was trying to explain, so I just turned around again and walked back to the stables. I think the man got my point, he didn't try to actually drag me back but he still followed me. I have to say that it was also annoying but less of a pain than being dragged by a strange looking man. When we were back inside, he just ignored me and walk to one of the other horses, a very tall and massive dark grey creature. I guessed it was his mare and I turned to tend to my own horse. I always had a thing for Arabian and I had stolen Shamal, my stallion, from a rich merchant when we were in Italy. He was really something to look at with his refined head and legs, not like most of the heavy horses around here.

The man with the tattoos was leaning casually on one of the beam and looking at my horse and I from under his bang. I have to say that he was reeeaaallly scary looking, probably around 23 years old. He was fairly young, I would have thought him to be older.

"Beautiful stallion you have young woman." Oh. My. God! That man was actually trying to have a conversation, and here I thought he was just a barbarian who had a hard time converting thoughts into words….Might as well see were his intelligence's limit is.

"Well, thank you… I guess. Your mare is pretty good looking too" I didn't turn around to acknowledge his presence and kept brushing my big creature.

"You know miss, I received orders to bring you to the fort where your relative is waiting for you and I intend to carry my orders." He paused for a moment while burning a hole in the back of my head. "I fully intend to get you there with or without your consent, it would be more easily done with you complying for the both of us but, if you insist on not complying, I can tie both of your feet together and drag you behind me all the way there." Ok now he was making threats. I really didn't like the guy and that was an understatement. I turned to get a good look at him and realised he was deadly serious by the glare I was receiving.

"You know, mister, I intended to get there before night falls and I don't need an escort to walk less than 500 feet. But, if you insist so much, you can escort me when I'm done tending to my horse." He seemed to think about my proposal for a while and I was sure, and absolutely sure he was going to refuse. For heaven's sake, it was written all over his forehead.

"That's a fair trade." He turned around to take care of his own beast and let me finished with my own. I was flabbergasted. And that was an understatement, again.

After the hour past, we were both heading back to the fort in silence; well at least it was not an awkward silence, more comfortable than I would have thought. He escorted me to a room where my saddle bags were already waiting for me. I turned around to thank him and subtly let him know that he could now leave me alone for goodness's sake and to my surprise, he had already left like a ghost. Very strange man I have to say, his mere presence sent chills running down my spine and his disappearance also left me with a strange weariness. I really didn't like the guy…I really didn't like the place…I really didn't like the weather and I really hated roman soldier with a passion! All in all, this was more like hell than earth. Well, after a good night sleep maybe my opinion would change….but just a bit…this was still the coldest place I've been since my birth and people here were weird, scary and some, ROMAN!