Hey everyone. Sorry, but this A/N is about to be quite doom and gloom.

"Slowly Searching" is back on hiatus for awhile. The details are in the update on my profile. I don't feel like typing them again. If you care enough, you can read all about it there. Second, I've been through a bit of an...emotional setback recently. Because of that, I'm having trouble getting in character for happy or upbeat chapters. I just feel like I'm not really sure about much anymore...

"I'm not a perfect person. There's many things I wish I didn't do, but I continue learning. I never meant to do those things to you. I'm sorry that I hurt you. It's something I must live with everyday. And all the pain I put you through, I wish that I could take it all away and be the one who catches all your tears. That's why I need you to hear: I found a reason for me, to change who I used to be. A reason to start over new, and the reason is you. The reason is you."-Hoobastank

*+*Aderyn*+*

Tristan let go of my hand once we were outside, but stuck close to me as we went back the way we'd come. He turned suddenly without warning, heading the opposite way from the keep, and I had to jog to catch up with him when I realized what he was doing.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To the tavern," he answered.

"Why?" I asked.

"You have to meet someone," he replied cryptically.

My questions were getting me nowhere, so I followed him silently as he took the twists and turns of the streets expertly. Finally he walked to a building near the gates of the wall, and Tristan lead me inside. The place was set up with tables and chairs in all corners of the room, and a bar at the back. There were Roman soldiers at some of the tables, eating their lunch. Women served them, and I saw the hungry lust in their eyes as the barmaids came near them with pitchers of drink.

Tristan put his hand on my back to lead me forward, glowering at anyone who looked our way. We went right back to the bar where a very pregnant, harried-looking redhead woman was shouting at several small children who were playing around the bar.

"Gilly!" she said shrilly. "I am trying to work! Don't make me get your father!"

She glanced up and saw us approaching, and her face lit up with a friendly smile. "Tristan! How are you? The usual, I presume?"

"Not now," he said, pushing me forward pointedly. She finally looked at me, and her eyes trailed from my head to my toes critically. She lingered on the side of my face where my new scar was, and I looked down shamefully.

"Aderyn, correct?" she asked. I looked back up, and nodded. She hesitated for a moment longer, but finally smiled again. "It is nice to meet you. I'm Vanora."

I hid my surprise by smiling quickly. She looked nowhere near old enough to have eleven children. I wouldn't have thought she was much older than me if asked.

"She needs a bath, linens, and some dresses," Tristan told her.

"I don't like dresses," I grumbled. He ignored me.

"Tristan," Vanora sighed exasperatedly. "I'm working, and I have eleven children to feed. Do you think I can just leave whenever I want?"

He just continued to stare at her, and finally she huffed, throwing her red hair over her shoulder. "Naveen!" she called.

"What?" a voice answered harshly from a room in the back.

"Come here, girl, there are some things I need you to do!"

There were quick footsteps, and then a girl appeared. She was about my same height, and had skin that had just the right amount of pigment to it so that she wasn't as tan as a farmworker but wasn't pale either. The dress she wore accentuated her curves, but didn't reveal any unnecessary skin. She had medium brown, curly hair that framed her perfectly oval-shaped face. Her almond eyes were a rich brown, and framed by some of the longest eyelashes I'd ever seen. Her pale pink lips were turned down into a frown, but it didn't take away from the overall beauty of her face. This was the type of girl who made every other woman in a room feel ugly the second she walked in. I felt cowed instantly.

"I cook, I clean, and I serve the bastards who come here to drink," she said as she rounded the corner. "What else could you possibly want?"

Vanora rolled her eyes. "You remember Tristan, I'm sure." The girl glanced at him, and a dusting of pink covered her cheeks. I glanced at Tristan, who clearly did not to care that he was making her nervous.

"This is Aderyn," Vanora continued, gesturing at me. "I need you to show her where the bathhouse in the Keep is, get her some linens for her bed, and find some dresses for her." The girl looked me over like Vanora had, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Yes, I will make sure you get paid extra," Vanora said, cutting her off.

Naveen smiled. "You know me so well, Nora," she laughed. It sounded like bells, and the little giggles of fairies from stories Drenna would tell me. I figured she must not have any trouble attracting male attention.

"Come with me, please," she said, walking around the bar, and back out of the door. Tristan nudged me forward, and I followed her with him striding behind me. A man reached out to grab at Naveen as she walked, but she deftly dodged the soldier's attempts to take a hold of her. She didn't even glance at him as she kept going, and I had to admit that I was impressed.

"So," she said, dropping back so that we were next to each other. "You're the woman they brought in awhile ago, eh?"

"Yes," I said, continuously making sure Tristan was near. The openness with which she spoke to me made me uncomfortable.

"Can I ask you something?" she questioned. I nodded. "Are you really a Woad?"

I shook my head. "The woman who raised me was a Woad, but I am not."

She let out a relieved breath. "Good. Everyone has been in a twist about it, but they're all afraid to defy the knights." She glanced behind her, and whispered. "Especially that one."

My forehead creased with confusion, but I didn't ask. It seemed like everyone was terrified of Tristan, but I couldn't understand why. He'd never really done anything to make me fear him…except try to kill me. Maybe I was just harder to scare than others, or it may have been that I was more insistent on denying that I was afraid. Either way, I wanted to find out what it was about him that had everyone acting like he was some sort of devil in human form.

We entered the keep, but stayed on the first floor. She went to the room at the very end of the hall, and threw the door open.

"These are the baths," she announced, peaking in. "It's empty, so you can go ahead on in. I am going to run home and grab some of my sister's old dresses. They might be a bit big on you, but I can take them in once you have tried them on."

"Thank you," I said. She smiled, and cast Tristan a nervous look before scurrying away. I stared at Tristan, and he nodded towards the door, silently telling me to go in.

"Will you take me to see Egryn later?" I asked. He nodded, and I beamed at him before turning around to enter the bathing room. I shut the door with a click behind me, and stared at my surroundings. I was glad it was empty, as I really wasn't used to bathing being a public affair. I suppose I'd have to get used to it now that I was inhabiting an urban area.

It was so strange to think that I no longer lived alone. There were people everywhere. It was so new and different, and I wasn't sure if I liked it yet or not. Right now it just felt entirely too strange to be comfortable, but that could change, hopefully.

I strode over to the bath, and checked the temperature. I froze when I saw my reflection, and couldn't look away. The scar was a shock to see when I was so used to unmarred skin. It was an angry dark pink line in an almost perfect crescent moon shape across my cheek. It was raised a bit because it was fresh, and therefore more noticeable. I stood up quickly, and started to fumble with the strings of my breeches. I didn't want to think about it because I actually felt close to tears staring at that mark on my skin.

I unraveled the bandages around my torso, set the hawk necklace next to my clothes, and settled into the tub carefully. I ran water over my back to get the arrow wound used to it, and then dipped completely under to get my hair wet. When I came back up, I heard the door open, and looked around to see Naveen entering the room with an armful of things. She set down her bundle, and dug around in it to hand me a small mound of soap. I took it from her gratefully, and started to scrub my limbs down.

"Here are some towels for you," she said, dropping them next to the tub. "And I could only find two dresses that would fit you without falling off. Mine would have been too small, and I only have three. Sorry."

"It's fine," I said earnestly. "I'll find a way to pay you back for this."

"No need," she said, settling herself on a chair in the corner. "My sister won't be needing them. She's got seven kids now, and she never did get her shape back like Nora did. Besides you need them more than she does. You need to blend in. People were already starting to talk 'cause you wear breeches instead of a skirt."

I blushed at the thought of people talking about me, and dipped back beneath the water to rinse the soap from my hair. I felt the stitches on my back pull when I bent over, and let out a stream of bubbles beneath the water that would have been a shriek of pain if I was at the surface. I came back up coughing to hide the pain I was in, and got out of the water, quickly wrapping a towel around me.

"Don't you have to get back to work?" I asked her curiously as I picked up one of the dresses to observe it.

"Probably," she replied with a shrug. "But I'm in no hurry. We're short 'cause Evangeline went and got knocked up by a soldier who was called back to Rome. Wench went with him, and I've been swamped."

I turned around and mulled that over as I ripped a strip from another of the towels to wrap around my torso as a bandage. Naveen came over to start drying off my hair when I was done. She said she needed help at the tavern, and I needed a way to pay her back…

"Naveen," I said carefully, "who runs the tavern?"

"A man called Damien owns it, but Vanora manages it for him when he's not in…which is every day," she informed me. "Does a better job than he does anyway. Why do you ask?"

"I need to find work, and I thought I might talk to someone about working at the tavern. You said you needed people."

She dropped the towel, grabbed both sides of my face, and kissed me on the cheek. "God bless you!" she exclaimed with a big smile. "You have no idea how hard it is to find barmaids, especially ones who don't moonlight as prostitutes! I will talk to Damien for you."

"Thank you," I said, smiling at her. I had a feeling that I could like Naveen if I got to know her better. She said what she really thought without sugar-coating it, but did her best to spare people's feelings at the same time. That would be the sort of person I would need to help me figure out things around here. She lifted up a nearly transparent piece of white fabric, and held it out to me.

"This is a shift," she explained. "It goes under the dress, else you'll be bearing parts of yourself you don't want to."

I dropped the cloth from around me, and pulled the shift over my head. It fell to my ankles, and the sleeves clung to my arms down to my elbows. Naveen leaned over and adjusted the neckline properly so that it was off my shoulders, running parallel to my collarbone. I fought my blush at having so much of my skin bared. Normally my chest and shoulders were covered by the tunics I wore.

Naveen picked up the lighter of the two brown dresses off the floor, and bunched it up to pull it down over the shift. It had long sleeves, but the neckline only just covered the shift's, leaving my chest just as exposed as before. It was lighter in weight, most likely made for summer wear. The bodice was tight while the skirt was loose, fanning out from my hips down. There were laces on the front and Naveen yanked on them with practiced fingers, tying the knots expertly. I was having a bit of trouble breathing when she was finished. I was going to miss my tunics and breeches. I felt exposed, and smothered at the same time. I looked at the second dress hopefully, but frowned when it was of the same sort of construction as this one. I picked up my necklace, and put it back on, tucking the pendant into the front of the dress.

I bent over the water of the tub again to see what I looked like, careful to avoid looking at my face. My waist looked like it had been squished into forced curves, which I barely had in reality. My chest looked much bigger with my stomach forcibly flattened. The dress, although made of lighter material, felt much heavier than my normal attire, and the sleeves felt itchy against my skin. I could only lift my arms so far with the sleeves of the shift constricting my upper arms, but it would have to do for now.

I started to plait my hair, but Naveen swatted my hands away from my head, and rearranged the dark waves around my shoulders, smiling at the end product.

"You look so much better with your hair down," she said simply. I blushed, and she pretended not to see.

I gathered up my other dress and my old clothes while she picked up the used towels, and left the bathhouse. Tristan was standing outside when the door opened, and I watched his eyes as they scanned over my new attire. He nodded once in approval, and Naveen looked between us with a small smirk.

"I put linens on your bed," she told me, starting to back away. "I have to get back to work though. I'll speak to Nora and Damien for you."

"Thank you," I said. She smiled one last time before turning around to walk away.

"Why is she talking to Damien for you?" Tristan asked.

"They are short a barmaid at the tavern, so I'm going to work there to help Naveen out because she helped me," I told him.

"I don't want you working at the tavern," he grumbled.

"Why not?"

He looked me over again, eyes lingering longer this time. "Men don't know how to keep their hands to themselves," he growled aggressively.

I laughed. "I can take care of myself," I reminded him. "Besides, the people here do not seem to like me much. The men will probably think I'd cut off their ears and noses in their sleep if they tried to bed me."

His eyebrows rose, but I just continued to smile. The door to the hall opened, and several of the knights walked in. I knew Gawain and Galahad, but there were two others there as well, the only ones I didn't know the names of.

"Well, Tristan," the portlier of them all called as they approached. "Looks like you're going to have some trouble keeping this one to yourself. Who knew there was a beautiful woman under the boy's clothes?"

I turned the color of a tomato when they laughed, and Tristan's eyes narrowed infinitesimally.

"Leave her alone," the tall one said. His voice was deep, but his smile was kind. He seemed like the epitome of a gentle giant.

"Ah, forgive me," said the portly one. "I'm Bors."

I was shocked yet again. I would never have expected Vanora to be with this knight out of all of them. He looked to be the oldest, perhaps only second to the tall one. Maybe Vanora just wasn't showing her age yet, but he looked much older than her. Although he definitely had the obnoxiousness that Tristan described.

"This is Dagonet," Bors continued, jabbing the tall one in the side with his elbow. Dagonet smiled at me again, nodding in greeting. I smiled shyly back, feeling a bit overwhelmed at the amount of people I was meeting lately. I wanted to be alone with Tristan, who never made me feel like a strange outcast.

"Tristan," Bors spoke up again, voice unnecessarily loud for the lack of other noise in the hallway, "you need to come to the tavern again, now that you're allowed." He clapped either hand on Gawain and Galahad's backs. "We need someone to bring these two down a few notches in dagger throwing!"

"Been busy," Tristan replied disinterestedly. All eyes turned to me pointedly, and I wanted to disappear. Galahad's eyes purposefully trailed down the skin of my throat to the tops of my breasts that were exposed from the dress. I adjusted the other dress I was holding quickly to cover my chest, and his eyes darted away like a child caught doing something naughty.

"Can you manage to pull yourself away for one night in order to join your remaining brothers for a drink?" Gawain asked with mock formality, raising an eyebrow amusedly.

"Fine," Tristan relented, grabbing my wrist.

"We will hold you to that," Galahad said seriously as Tristan started to tow me towards the stairs. He either didn't hear or didn't care to answer him, just continued to pull me along in the same direction as his room.

Right as we passed Tristan's door, the one across from his opened, and a disheveled woman emerged with a coy smirk. Her dress was buttoned wrong in the back and hanging off of one shoulder, and her hair was the dull red color of autumn leaves just before they turned brown and died. She had a hawk-nose that was much too dominant on her face. She saw us from her peripherals, and turned the full force of her grayish-green eyes on us. Her coy smirk turned into a wolfish grin, and she beelined down the hall.

"Tristan," she purred seductively, bumping me violently out of the way with her shoulder. I tripped, and had to grab onto a torch holder to prevent myself from being thrown to the ground. "Where have you been, handsome?" she continued as if I weren't there. "I've been meaning to see you."

She pushed her whole body up against his, and batted her eyelashes. To me, she just looked utterly foolish. Is this really what men fell for? I could never allow myself to go to such demeaning measures, not even to win Tristan's affections.

I saw movement in my peripheral, and turned to see Lancelot standing in the doorway the ridiculous woman had just exited. He was naked to the waist, and had his arms folded as he leaned against the doorway, smirking at the display before him.

Tristan took a step back to extricate himself from the redhead, and looked down at her boredly, making it clear that she was wasting his time. She crossed her arms, pouting slightly, and then finally spared me a glance. Her upper lip curled disgustedly, and I blushed at the way her gaze lingered on the scar on my face.

"Who's this?" she spat.

"Don't bother with him, Medea," Lancelot spoke up smugly. "He is spoken for now."

Her eyes flicked from Lancelot to me, and then back to Tristan. One of her bony fingers trailed down Tristan's chest as she stared up at him through her thick eyelashes.

"If you get tired of scarface over here, come find me," she said, beginning to walk around him.

I flushed with embarrassment, but Tristan's whole demeanor darkened. He grabbed her upper arm, and pulled her back so roughly she almost fell over. His fingers squeezed her bicep so tightly that I knew it would bruise, and she squeaked when she met his glare. Her hand scrabbled at his to try and loosen the painful grip he had on her, but he didn't relent.

"Tristan, stop!" I said hastily, stepping towards them. Lancelot had unfolded his arms and stood up straight, but made no move to diffuse the situation.

"Apologize," Tristan growled.

Medea turned her tear-filled, panicked eyes onto me. "I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"It's alright," I said quickly. "Tristan, let her go."

He leaned towards her, and whispered something in her ear. One of the tears that had been building up in her eyes broke free, and slid down her cheek pathetically. He pushed her away from him, and she nearly ran to the door to leave.

"Tristan!" I said incredulously. "Why did you do that?"

He wasn't looking at me though, he was gazing at Lancelot. I stepped back so that I could see both of them, my eyes darting from one to the other. They just stared at each other without speaking, and I began to wonder if they were communicating in someway. After what had to have been more than a minute, Lancelot nodded once. Tristan barely inclined his head in return, but they seemed to have come to some sort of accord because Tristan laced his fingers with mine, and pulled me past Lancelot without a word.

There will be pictures of Naveen and Medea up on my Tumblr today.

Thank you so much for the reviews, alerts, and really, just for reading it at all. It's greatly appreciated, and I can't even tell you how much so.