Author's Note: Again, thanks goes out to all who have reviewed, I sincerely appreciate your feedback. A quick sorry as well for how long it took me to get this chapter up, the work schedule has been hectic this past week and I hardly had any time to write at all. And one last note I thought I'd throw in here, for the purpose of this story Galapas is Guinivere's father and Merlin's brother-in-law, making him Nimue's uncle. I don't think I really made that clear in the last chapter, as kungfuchick brought it up. I know sometimes I have everything so crystal clear in my head that I take for granted that you may not. Anywho, sorry for any confusion and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Roman Misgivings

The morning following her bout with the Elders, Nimue returned to her normal routine and took up a watch along the north of the wall. By noon, she had found out all she needed to know and left her post to find her father. As expected she found him deep in conversation with the other Elders, as Galapas continued his earlier disagreement with Merlin. As she approached the group, Nimue was grateful when Merlin noticed her in the distance and excused himself from the others to speak with his daughter in private, as well as prevent her from being verbally assaulted by her uncle again.

"You have news," he greeted her, taking her by the arms.

"The Roman battalion makes its way for Segedunum at tomorrow's first light. The Sarmatians go with them."

"You intend to follow with some of your infantry."

"Yes, I will take a select few and track them north of the wall until Segedunum. From there I will re-establish a position at Eboracum for surveillance purposes."

"Surveillance purposes?" Merlin asked with raised eyebrows.

"I do not travel with large numbers on this mission, nor do I plan to start a fight I cannot win. These small attacks of ours have not been successful, I go tomorrow to determine the best course of action for our people to take next."

"A wise strategy as always, but I would advise you my dear. It would be in your best interest to ensure that the entire Roman party leaving tomorrow does not make it to Eboracum."

"You want me to kill to appease Galapas," Nimue asked with a disgusted scowl.

"I am not telling you what to do either way but it would behoove you to make a point after yesterday's events."

"If I am to make a point, I would prefer to make my own point, not support theirs'," she replied coldly.

"And well I understand it, but give them a bit to quench their appetite. We are all well aware that there is little left in this battle against a retreating Rome, even Galapas sees what he does not acknowledge. What is the harm in boosting morale by allowing us to send them home with their tails between their legs?"

"What is the harm? Why don't you ask that of the people whose lives have already been taken."

"Nimue, philosophy has never been your forte, why don't you leave that to me and go and do what you're good at?"

With an indignant eye-roll and a sigh, Nimue accepted his end to their argument and left her father without so much as a good-bye. Heading to the temporary dwelling she kept at Luguvallium, she gathered her things and sent word to her warriors to be ready to leave at first light the following morning. Returning to her earlier position within the trees, she sat and thought. She was frustrated, beyond any other emotion, at the way things had turned for her people. For so long they had battled the Romans, had a purpose for their fight, and now that the Empire was leaving, it seemed the Britons did not know quite what to do with themselves - which direction to turn. They were becoming scattered and disorganized, each with his or her own ideas as to what Rome's leaving would bring them. Some were more optimistic than others, but Nimue was not among them. She knew what the Saxons were capable of, and would much prefer an orderly battle with Rome over a melee with the Saxons any day.

She did not sleep that night, but instead remained aloft in her tree thinking and watching for any signs that the Romans and Sarmatians hade decided to leave earlier than planned, but none came. At dawn, she climbed down and readied herself for their journey, calling all those to her who would be going as well. In the end, the trip from Luguvallium to Segedunum was uneventful at best. Nimue's plan was to keep their position and plan unknown to those they tracked, so they did not stage any attacks along the way, rather followed along north of the wall keeping an eye on those just south of it. She was confident that they completed the journey out of sight, but something told her that their presence did not go entirely unnoticed by some. The scout, she guessed, had a fairly good idea of his surroundings.

But whatever his suspicions may have been, his warnings to Arthur weren't entirely necessary. This was, after all, a surveillance mission, and Nimue would not jeopardize her position unless absolutely necessary. So, when they reached the second encampment along the wall, Nimue and her warriors remained hidden among the vast forest, waiting and watching. They were forced to be far more careful here than at Luguvallium, as Segedunum was not situated exactly on Hadrian's Wall, but rather sat farther south, forcing the Britons out into the openness of southern Britain. It was, of course, not an area unknown to them, but it did not provide the comfort of the north. With no attacks in mind however, the mission consisted mostly of taking up shifts watching and listening.

For the purpose of keeping their existence secret, Nimue refused to allow any of her own scouts to go within close range to the camp, though she herself ventured near on several occasions. One such occasion occurred on their fourth night there, when she had decided that Arthur and his Sarmatians must surely be relaxing between a completed journey and the nearing ride home to Eboracum. From the distance, one could make out the colors, sight, and smells of a campfire, with several laughing men circled around it. Using their distraction to her advantage, Nimue crept stealthily through the cover that the trees and overgrowth provided, until she was within very short range of her enemy. Positioning herself comfortably in a tree, she waited patiently, watching and listening to everything that was going on.

From their conversations, Nimue soon discovered that the knights did not much care for Segedunum, and it was not long before she found out why when her eavesdropping was cut off by the muffled sounds of someone struggling nearby. Instinctively Nimue jumped down from her post in the tree to investigate further. Creeping silently through the trees, she quickly came upon the source of the sound. There, in a small clearing in the forest, four Roman guards surrounded a young woman, each doing his part to control her as one of them tore at her clothes and attempted to force himself on her. The woman was a Briton, though not of Nimue's tribe, and her cries for help were stifled as one man covered her mouth, while another slapped her hard across the face for making any noise in the first place.

Disgusted at the sight before her, Nimue quickly climbed again to the tops of the nearest tree for a better vantage point. Assessing the positions of the attackers below her, Nimue deftly drew her bow and two arrows, notched them, and let them soar. Immediately two of the Romans fell, and as they other two scrambled to find the hidden sniper, Nimue returned her bow to its position across her back and jumped from her tree branch onto the ground, landing squarely between the two men. Still crouched on the ground from her descent, she thrust both hands to her waist and drew the long, identical blades that were sheathed there before rising.

Now so overcome with rage and hatred, she did not hesitate in her attack. Straightening herself, the twin blades moved in a flash, hacking left and right as she spun gracefully between the two brutes. She cut them down with deathly precision, her knives twisting skillfully overhead before she brought them back down to her sides and surveyed the slaughter that now lay before her.

Moments earlier, the same muffled cries of the woman being attacked had been noticed by another attentive set of ears. Scanning the faces around the campfire, Tristan listened again hard before standing and disappearing into the surrounding trees. Following the sound, he too made his way through the forest to the clearing where the four Romans had dragged their victim. Immediately his hand went for his sword, but before he could even un-sheath it he stopped still when two of the guards froze and fell, revealing two slender arrows buried deep within them. Tristan stayed motionless when the arrows were shortly followed by a dark figure dropping from the trees, and watched with guarded wonder as it proceeded to kill the remaining Romans.

With silent amazement he continued to stare as the figure examined its work and re-sheathed a pair of long knives. Stepping forward for a better look, his presence instantly caught the killer's attention, and he found himself staring into a familiar set of dark eyes, the Woad who had spared his life at Luguvallium. After a moment it seemed she had decided he would do her no harm as she turned her attention back to the woman lying on the ground before her. Bending down, in a great display of strength, she slowly lifted the smaller woman into her arms and rose. With one final look at Tristan, she turned and disappeared into the forest once more.

The Sarmatian stared at the spot for only a moment before turning back to his own camp. He found though that on his walk back, and for the remained of the night, he could not shake himself of the feeling that had settled over him after being targeted by her intense gaze, that final look. Those eyes had held so much, sadness, condemnation, and anger, but Tristan could not help but think that he also saw something else there – something softer. The same something he had seen just days earlier when she had called off her warriors from ending him on the spot. But he could not put his finger on exactly what that something was, and it was beginning to unnerve him a bit. After all, it was never wise to start trusting an enemy.