"Why have we got a girl with us, they are no good for anything?" asked a boy looking over his shoulder at Faya who was riding close to the back

"Leave her alone" said another boy, who was much bigger than the first, he turned around and smiled at the girl, he beckoned her over; she looked suspicious at first, but rode over all the same

"Hello" said the boy "my name is Dagonet. What's yours?"

"Faya" she replied in almost a whisper. Dagonet smiled

"Well Faya"

"Faya is that her name? She was so quiet I couldn't hear her" said a boy riding on the other side of Dag

"Be quiet Bors" Bors scowled, which made Faya chuckle a little, the others grinned as they heard her little laugh, she was introduced, to fourteen knights in particular who were Dagonet, Bors, Gawain, Galahad, Tristan, Lancelot, Kay, Bedivere, Gareth, Geraint, Gaheris, Dinidan, Percival and Lamorak.

In that short time she had made fourteen new friends, they talked to each other most of the time save Tristan and Faya who usually merely listened, until a Roman came up to them and told them they would be camping there tonight, they dismounted and unsaddled their horses.

Bors and Gareth went to make a fire while the other sat and made themselves as comfortable as possible, as soon as Faya got comfortable a roman came and dragged her up by the front of her tunic

"you are a good hunter, yes?" he asked dislike evident in his voice, Faya nodded in response, "go find us some food" he ordered shoving her off towards the woods, she hit the floor with a small Thud, she crawled over two her bow and quiver, she grabbed them and ran into the woods, she returned about ten minutes later with five good sized rabbits, she handed three to Bors who was tending the fire, he took them with a questioning look, she winked at him and went over to the Romans she handed them the two rabbits and walked back to the knights.

She sat back on her bedroll and watched the sky. After a while she lay back and lay her head on her arms, closing her eyes and listening to all the noises, she opened an eye when she saw Gawain with a piece of rabbit holding it out to her, she took it and nodded her thanks

"Do you ever talk?" he asked her

"Yes" she replied

Gareth looked over and placed his hand over his mouth in mock surprise

"She speaks" he exclaimed, she rolled her eyes and shook her head, causing many of the boys to laugh

"Maybe I should speak more often then" she said looking at Gareth

"As long as you don't talk as much as Bors" he said with a smile

"I don't think anybody could talk as much as Bors" she muttered so only Gawain could hear, he burst out laughing causing some of the boys to stare

"What she say?" asked Lamorak

Gawain just continued to laugh so she spoke up

"I said I don't think anybody could talk as much as Bors" she said making the other boys laugh just as much as Gawain. Even Bors took it easily and laughed along with the rest, Faya looked around

"Where are we heading for?" she asked looking back at the Sarmatian boys, they quietened almost immediately

"Britain" replied Kay

"Where in Hades is that?" asked Faya

"Haven't got a clue" replied Percival

"Oh, that's very helpful" said Faya sarcastically, the boys chuckled, she lay back on her bed roll and closed her eyes, she was dozing off within minutes as the others laughed and joked

"So Faya you ain't got any parents have you?" asked Lancelot. When she did not answer, the boys looked over to her to see her asleep

"Poor thing" said Lamorak "losing her parents and then this, must have been a hard life"

"Yeah, I don't know any one who has lost both their parents at the same time"

"How do you know it's the same time?" asked Tristan

"Because they were killed at the same time" they looked around to see Faya looking at them through one eye "Hades in hell, you lot are so loud I don't know how I'm gonna get to sleep on this escapade"

"How were they killed?" asked Bedivere ignoring her comment

"An attack on our tribe, both my parents were killed on that day, and that day was also the day when I made my first kill" she said indicating her tattoo under her eye

"How old were you?"

"Six"

"Six, you lost your parents at age six" asked Gaheris in disbelief, she nodded, Tristan marvelled at the girl, though he would not admit it, he hadn't got his tattoo till the age of eight. She moved her arms from underneath her head and sat up,

"My father and my mother were good people, my father taught me every thing about fighting and weapons and my mother taught me about healing and things like that. I learnt a lot from them before they died. And for that I am thankful" she said staring up at the starry night sky

"I still can't believe it" said Gaheris "how did you cope on your own?"

"I held my own, went hunting for my tribe, fought in many battles did anything I could to help" she paused "Even if my efforts went unnoticed" she added with a shrug "the orphan child stands alone, that's what people said, this is her destiny" she said in a voice barely above a whisper "But it's not, I know it's not" she said in a stronger voice, the boys stared at her, she shook he head "enough 'bout me. What about you?" she asked returning her eyes to the group

"Well, life was simple in my tribe, always hunting, festivals and baby-sitting" said Gawain glaring at his brother, Gareth smirked

"hey, it's not my fault you were born a minute before me" added Gareth in his defence, the pair kept on arguing until well on into the night, Faya yawned, most of the knights were settling down, she settled down making herself comfortable and closed her eyes, sleep took her yet again as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.