A/N: After reading so many King Arthur fanfictions and loving all of them I have decided to write one of my own and hopefully it will be as good as everyone else's (Crosses fingers)

This is an idea I had developed after watching the movie the first time and, yes a woman knight is a total cliché but I just love the idea of it. Since there are several thousand KA fanfictions I don't have the lifespan to check if this story is in any way an infringement on someone else's work so if there are any similarities I promise they are purely coincidental. I don't deserve to call myself a writer if I knowingly stole someone else's idea.

I wrote this story using both the director's cut and the original version of the film, luckily I was able to watch both, so if there is anything missing or something you don't remember seeing, I can only urge you to go see the other version of the movie and all will become clear ;-)

I wish I owned King Arthur (Especially his knights) but alas I don't own anything that you recognise and love, all credit goes to the filmmakers and their genius minds! I hope you all enjoy it and please don't be afraid to give me feedback, ideas or whatever, I love criticism good and bad, but flames are just hurtful, people.

Happy reading!

Nina

"Land of bear, land of eagle.

Land that gave us Birth and Blessing

Land that called us ever homeward

We will go home across the mountains."

I.

The village goes up in flames, one of the few left in this hell that was once a beautiful world.

The huts are like pyres burning in the night sky, the noise and heat is forcing all the air away. You can hear the sound of death as it spreads over the valley. Smoke rises up in an acrid black cloud over the mountains. People for hundreds of miles will probably be looking out their windows now, watching the fire from a hundred leagues away, and thinking about all the things that are dying.

This tribe was the last safe place in the Sarmatian world, the last place where certain people could feel safe.

My home.

I watch from a river that runs through the grassy expanse, water up to my shoulders I can feel the heat of my home going up in smoke.

Tears are streaming down my face, and not just from the smoke I've inhaled as I ran for my life.

Everything I held dear is by now a pile of ash. Just like that I'm alone in the world, my whole existence in a river that's beyond freezing.

They think I'm dead, they think I've burnt up with the rest of my tribe, but I'm more alive than ever.

But it wasn't long until the Romans found me again. And this time there was no hope of escape for me, I simply had to accept my fate and learn to adapt.

Annia was not sure what she expected as she rode up to her new home.

Its name suggested quite clearly that there'd be a wall. And Romans, they that she hated most on this earth despite her heritage. She glanced at the others in her company, the looks of apprehension on their faces must have matched hers. This was home now, and she hated it from the moment it appeared on the horizon.

As they neared the wall, Hadrian's Wall, Annia spotted a small boy gazing at them from a stream. She wouldn't remember much of what she thought of him later, but she knew she would never forget the look of warmth and welcome on his face as their eyes locked. He gave a small smile and lifted a hand in greeting and she did the same. An older man, a man of religion by the look of him, was saying something to him, glancing at the group every now and then.

One of the boys, Lancelot, nudged Annia as she was watching the other boy, "That's our commander to be, Artorius."

"But he's so young." Truthfully the boy didn't look older than twelve, her age.

"So? We are all of us too young for the life that lies ahead."

She didn't answer, what was there to say, really? But Annia could not help but think that if that boy was to lead them, then this life may not be so bad after all. Hopefully.

He was there when they reached the fort that served as the wall's main post. He looked nervous, poor thing. He probably never got a say in the decision for him to be their commander. But as they all dismounted their steeds, he straightened himself up and stood with pride and friendliness as they approached.

The roman that had fetched Lancelot gestured to the young Arthur and said to the young group, "This is Arthur Castus, he will be your commander once you have completed the first years of training and are ready to begin service."

The rest of the boys eyed Arthur with wariness as the Romans walked away, saying someone would be along to show them their rooms shortly, but Annia was unwilling to show any emotion whatsoever, fixing a spot on the wall behind Arthur with her stony gaze instead. The one thing she had decided when she was first taken from her life, was the Romans could break her inside, have her screaming for death, but outside they would never know of her true feelings. They didn't deserve the satisfaction of seeing her defeated. Arthur looked at each of the boys in turn, his bright green eyes showing nothing but interest in his new knights. Annia stayed near the back, folding her arms and letting someone, anyone else do the talking.

"Well, let's have your names, then." It may have been a command, it may not have been, Arthur's tone betrayed nothing and it was frustrating.

The boys took turns in giving Arthur their names, and when it was Annia's turn, Arthur was visibly shocked to see a girl amongst the knights. It was unprecedented, so she understood his alarm, but her temper still stirred at his scrutiny.

"My name is Annia."

"You're a girl?" now his arms folded and his eyes narrowed slightly. Not in a sinister way, just curiously. Annia didn't think Arthur had it in him to be cruel. Not yet, at least.

"Well spotted, Sir Arthur. Perhaps your intellect does suit the role of a roman commander after all."

She heard snickers, a gasp or two, but Arthur first looked annoyed, then his face broke into a smile as he saw the joke hidden in her retort and he stepped forward, holding out his hand to her.

As they shook hands he said cheerfully, "Annia, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Or an unsurpassed rivalry that will shake the ground of this earth."

"Either way, it is sure to be exciting."

Annia couldn't help but smile at that.

When the knights, about thirty of them altogether, were shown to their rooms, in a building specifically designated for them, Annia groaned when she realized that for the first few years she'd have to share a room with three other boys.

Their names she didn't really care to remember until she absolutely had to, and she could see their frustration as they tried to get her to talk to them further than one word at a time. On one hand she understood their desire to be her friends, they were all in this together after all, but she knew the lives they were destined to live out on this island. Half of them wouldn't live to see twenty and she didn't want to form bonds with men she'd have to bid farewell to as they left the world one by one.

Her continued reluctance to open up only caused more rifts between herself and them, and as friendships formed over the first few weeks Annia found herself on the losing side of this battle. Many had already given up on her ever letting them close, but a few still persisted. Arthur made conversation with her regularly when they weren't training, and she even smiled some when Lancelot was around. Further than that though was expecting too much of her.

She wasn't the only quiet one, a boy named Tristan was even more aloof than her as anyone had yet to even hear his voice, some wondering if he even had one, but because she was a girl, well it probably bruised their egos a bit to know she wasn't a weak pushover that would be swayed by their charms.

About a month after their arrival the winter season came to the wall and it was like the fort went into a kind of sleep with heavy snow. At times it was impossible to walk outside, and the Sarmatians had to settle for training in the stables, or practicing on their own in their quarters. They trained so hard because they all secretly wished to be as prepared as possible for their first mission. The promise of freedom, no matter how far away, made them disciplined and resolute in their training.

They didn't practice anything specific with any weapons in particular, just basic combat exercises they were taught and strength training. The real training, they were told, would start when the hot seasons returned.

Annia's thirteenth birthday came and went, a day she did not celebrate or even mention to anyone, and it seemed life was finally slowing down enough for her to take a breath.

She even found a deep love of the forest that surrounded the south of the wall. Often she'd go out and just wonder through the trees before she was expected at training.

It was there that she first realized her natural eye for detail. Most of the time without realizing it she would track footprints or try and pinpoint the source of any particular noise she heard. It was a skill she put to use at the fort as well, observing people and their habits, taking note of flaws in their movements and their facial expressions. She could spend hours just getting to know people without actually talking to them and in a way she felt she knew them better because they had never said a word to her.

When the snow finally let up, Annia went to the forest nearly every day. It was dangerous for her to be out there on her own, but it was the only time alone she could have.

But one day, at around noon, for the first time ever, Annia was bored.

Trying to find tracks or signs of spring had lost its appeal for the first time so she settled for climbing a tree to see how high she could get.

When she was near the top she heard the sound of someone approaching and she froze. Rumours of Woads in the area had spread the last few weeks and she was here, alone with no weapons. How could she be so stupid?!

But when she caught sight of Tristan walking towards her tree she let out a long sigh. Then cursed him silently for scaring the life out of her. He was an odd one. From one of the more isolated tribes his features were darker and more exotic, especially with his facial tattoos, and at seventeen he already looked like a lethal warrior.

The boy stopped just below her perch, knelt down for a second then said in a normal volume, which she somehow still heard, "Are you going to come down any time soon?"

Annia tried not to let out a sound of shock at the fact that she was the first person to hear him speak!

"Depends." She on the other hand felt the need to add a bit of volume to her voice.

"On?"

"If I don't want to, what are you going to do, come up here and fetch me?" she didn't know why she was playing, but she figured Tristan must have liked her at least a little bit if he was talking to her, on purpose.

"I might do." He was still kneeling in the snow, not looking up at her.

"Spare me, you couldn't get this high if you had wings."

"Would you like to wager that, little girl?"

Annia's eyes narrowed at his belittling tone, "Before I reach fifty, you're either on a branch my height or I have the pleasure of hearing you sing tonight at the tavern, in front of everyone."

Tristan seemed to bristle slightly, and Annia felt herself grin, but then he reached for the first branch and she started to count.

The blasted boy was sitting next to her before she reached thirty!

Annia grinned in good natured defeat as he gazed the view she had been enjoying when he arrived.

"So now what, Tristan? You proved me wrong, what is my humiliating punishment?"

He looked at her for a moment with a blank expression and said, "Just as you said, I have the pleasure of hearing you sing tonight at the tavern, in front of everyone."

"What?" Annia sputtered out a reply as he began descending the branches with ease. Scrambling after him, trying to get him to take it back, Annia lost her footing about halfway down and plummeted to the ground. Landing painfully on her side she looked up as Tristan lowered himself to the ground. He smirked at her lying there in a pathetic heap, but all Annia could think about was what he had asked her to do.

"Don't make me sing, Tristan. Not for them." She was referring to the Romans. She hadn't sung since her mother died and for her to sing with their cursed ears nearby she felt it would be like slapping her mother across the face.

Tristan knelt and pulled her up, taking her shoulder in a comforting gesture, "But I wish to hear you sing somewhere. As I'm sure all of the knights do."

"Why?" for all he knew she could make birds drop out of the sky at the sound of her singing. And why would the knights want to hear her sing, they barely heard her speak.

"Because I've heard you singing to your horse. It would be a welcome relief in this place for all of us."

"But they don't like me." And that was entirely her fault.

"They want to, Annia. If you would just let them in, they could be your family here."

"Oh, you mean in the same way you let them in to your life?"

He didn't react in the way she thought he would. She knew she'd crossed some kind of line in the way his eyes seemed to cloud over.

"Forget that I asked."

When he stated to walk away, Annia sighed in frustration. Truthfully what did she have to lose besides a possible friendship?

"Wait. I'll do it. I'll sing for you scoundrels."

He turned back and nearly smiled, "No tricks, now."

"On my honour as a knight." She made a fist and held it above her heart, "I swear to sing."

Tristan gestured for her to follow him as he walked back towards the fort.

They had not gone one yard when he suddenly stopped and Annia felt his whole body go rigid.

"Annia, don't move."

Annia looked towards where Tristan's piercing gaze was directed, and saw it immediately. Like pitch on the snow, a black wolf stood about twenty feet away from them, standing just as still, its blue eyes fixed right on them.

Annia's heart leapt into her throat. She could feel her Tristan's right arm tensing as he gripped the dagger he always had with him, in a stance ready to throw it.

In barely a whisper he said, "When I say, run to the biggest tree you can find and don't come down, you hear."

"But Tristan…"

"Now!"

In a split second the wolf sprang forward, Tristan lifted his arm and Annia fell backwards into the snow scrambling away towards a tree, any tree.

She forced herself not to look back as the sound of savage growling filled her head, running as fast as her suddenly leaden legs could carry her.

She wanted to stick to the path that lead to the fort, but from experience she knew there were far too many obstacles there, rocks, fallen trees and hidden holes under the snow would no doubt slow her down. So she took a completely unknown route and ran blind.

The sound of Tristan fighting for both their lives was suddenly cut short as Annia burst through a thicket covered in snow and tumbled head over heels down a steep hill.

For a few seconds everything swam in her head as she rolled over again and again until she hit level ground.

Without giving herself time to rest, Annia pulled herself up and decided she was far enough away. Looking around she spied a tree and threw herself up it, climbing with everything she had.

And just when she thought she was safe, she heard the gut wrenching sound of a branch snapping, the branch she had just put all of her weight on.

With a cry escaping her lips, Annia plummeted back to the ground she was supposed to be avoiding, a bright light blinding her as the snow-covered floor slammed into her back.

Unable to do anything but try to breathe, Annia lay in the same position she had fallen in. How long she stayed like she had no clue, but when she finally managed to pull herself up, she, and the ground around her was wet from melted snow.

With a pounding headache and a back that felt worse, Annia looked around and her gaze fell directly on the wolf.

As she stared, she waited for either of two things: sheer terror that she was about to die, or the ending bite that would beat that terror.

But neither came. The former because she was still too dazed from her fall, and the latter because the wolf hadn't moved since she first spotted him.

Unable to do anything but sit there and stare at her demise, Annia fought the thought that Tristan was lying dead in the snow somewhere.

The wolf's hackles suddenly rose and it started circling her.

The sound of each paw crunching in the snow echoed through Annia's head, her body suddenly trembling. A bird whistled overhead and the sun could be seen just peaking through the clouds that seemed to cover the sky during winter.

Annia only noticed these things, these last few details of her life, when the wolf was close enough that she could see the exact colour of its eyes. If she had to grasp at any one way to describe that blue, it would be the colour of the sky she knew hid behind the clouds above her. An untainted and wild blue.

Her whole body froze as the wolf lunged, landing dead at her feet with a dagger hilt protruding from the back of its head.

Tristan helped her up and waited till she was steady before stepping away to retrieve his knife.

When he looked back at her still gazing at the wolf, he smiled fully.

"Looks like you need me to stick around, Nia."

"Looks to be that way." She didn't acknowledge the name he just given her, it sounded nice. Plus if Annia was to spend the next fifteen years in this wasteland, perhaps friends weren't the worst things that could happen to her.

So when I reread this it sounded kinda slow, but it's just to get the story going I guess so don't write it off just yet ('Scuse the pun, see what I did there?)

Reviews send me to my happy place!