This chapter is fairly long even though I don't get very far in the story. That's because there is some more information about Trinaty's past. I hope you like it. Please R&R.

Review Response:

Red Dragon10—I'm really glad you liked the first part of Troubled Memories. I really like it too. I don't know yet if you red the second part, since you didn't review on it. A lot of people think that its Gawain, but you'll see.

g.—Thank you soo much for pointing out the difference between Briton and Britain! It really does help.

Scruffybunny—I'm a little confused. Why do you hate me? Thanks for the review

Chapter 4: Trees and Shadows

By morning it had stopped raining. Though this made little difference since the water that had collected on the leaves of the trees continued to fall on the knights.

Everyone was in a bad mood the next morning from sleeping on wet blankets and from the prospect of traveling through the woods. The trees that seemed to be closing in on them from all sides did nothing to improve the feeling in the group.

Trinaty's ears were ringing from the imposing silence that was by the time Arthur decided to send Tristan forward to scout for Woads.

"Arthur, let me go." she said before Tristan had moved off. "I know these wood better than anyone here." He stared at her silently for a wile as if deciding whether or not to ask her why she knew the forest. But he knew that she was part Woad. All of the knights knew. He nodded and her and Tristan spurred their horses off into the trees.

They continued their fast pace for several minutes before Tristan yelled for Trinaty to stop.

"What is it?" she asked as she turned Draco around and walked back to where Tristan had quickly dismounted.

"There is a trail here." He explained quietly. He had bent down and was examining the earth. "It hasn't been used for a long time though. I wander if it leads out of the woods."

"It doesn't." Trinaty said, still astride Draco. She recognized the Trail. Oh she recognized it all right. "That path only leads to ruins."

"How do you know?" Tristan asked looking up at her.

She was silent for a long time. Then she decided that she was tired of bearing the burden of her past alone. "You know that there is Woad blood running through my veins."

He nodded and said, "There is also Sarmatian blood."

"Yes, but quite a bit more Woad blood." She paused a second then continued, "You also know that I am no longer loyal to that blood." He nodded again. "But I did live in a Woad village for the first thirteen years of my life. And that path," she pointed to it, "leads to that village."

"So there are Woads living not far from here?"

She shook her head bitterly. "No. No more dose anyone dwell there. Not since the Saxons attacked and slaughtered almost everyone in it."

"Ah," he said, "That would explain the fact that the path is so over grown." Though some might find his words heartless, Trinaty knew that he was trying to distract her from the memories of that place. And she was grateful for it.

"I doubt that any Woad in his right mind would venture so near this place." She continued in a brisk voice. "We should ride on further. If I remember correctly there used to be a camp a few miles from here."

Tristan didn't say any thing but remounted and nodded for Trinaty to lead.

Arthur paused when he heard horses pounding hooves coming toward them from the trail ahead. He hoped that it was the two scouts returning but was prepared for it to be Woads.

He let a small sigh escape him when he saw Trinaty come around a bend in the trail, closely followed by Tristan.

"Did you find anything?" he called out to them.

"We found some tracks. It looked like three men on foot and two horses. One carrying a heavy load and the other pulling a small wagon." Tristan reported as he rained in his horse next to Arthur's. "But they were at least a week old."

"Good." Arthur said.

"Arthur, we should quicken our pace. At least wile to path is still good." Trinaty said after she had taken in the other knights and decided that nothing had happened since they had left. "It gets pretty rough up ahead and the horses will need time to maneuver it."

Arthur nodded and held up his had to signal to the rest of the knights. They rode at a brisk loupe, with Arthur and Tristan in the lead until they came to the part that Trinaty had warned of. Then they fell into an easy trot.

Trinaty, seeing that Horton was constantly glancing at the trees as though he though he thought 'blue demons' would jump out and grab him, had made Draco fall into step with his steed. While it looked like Trinaty was riding close to comfort Horton it had the exact effect that Trinaty had hoped for. That was to make him even more paranoid. She was certain that this little man thought her to be a witch.

In truth he wasn't that far wrong. Her father was a sorcerer of sorts and her mother had been a seer. And having inherited these traits from both sides she had been accepted into the sisterhood of Avalon.

Long ago Avalon and the magic it yielded had been ruled by men. But as so often has happened in history, there was discontent and the men had fought each other to prove which was the strongest. This fighting and treachery continued until Avalon was nearly lost. That's when Britannia had come to the island. She had taken what was left of the old order of mages and turned it into a new order.

This order consisted entirely of women, for women were less likely to shed blood in their fight for power. But seeking to create an order that was above such petty ideals, Britannia had hand selected those that were to be admitted into the order. So Avalon had prospered in secret, just off the coast of Britain, for many, many years. And all those who were chosen were granted eternal youth for as long as they served the order.

Over the years several young women came and left the order. Most left for love and family. But there were also those who died wile serving the order. For Britannia had pledged to the Mother Goddess that this new order, this order of Avalon would be the keeper of history.

Now being the keeper of history meant that most the order's members were dispatched to places all around the known world. Most members chose to be stationed in their home lands, where they wrote down matters of great importance and sent word of them back to Avalon, where it would be recorded in the great libraries concealed on the island.

Some of the members had to disguise them selves so they could gain access to secrets that very few others knew. This became a very dangerous task and many of the members had been died or been killed.

Trinaty had been in such a situation. When Britannia had heard of Arthur Castus and his band of legendary knights, she had sent Trinaty to Britain to pose as a Sarmatian knight. Trinaty had been chosen because she had lived in Britain and had Sarmatian blood in her veins. So posing as a young Sarmatian knight from an outpost that had recently been abandoned, Trinaty had come to know Arthur and his knights. While she was with them her task had been to gather information and tales about as many Sarmatian knights as possible.

Trinaty had lived three years in the guise of a boy when her true identity had been discovered. Though Trinaty had long believed that Tristan had known that she was a woman, it was not he that reveled her.

She had been wounded in battle and been unconscious when Bors had discovered her little secret. Soon afterwards Lancelot had discovered several papers that contained the words they had spoken in confidence.

Expecting the worst and prepared for it, Trinaty had offered her life to Arthur in payment of her treason. But Arthur had refused to take her life, and in the end the knights had excepted her for what she really was, a loyal and trusting ally and friend.

They rode all that day. Never stopping to eat or drink. And although both Tristan and Trinaty were alert for any sign that there were Woads about, they did not see any.

Late in the evening Trinaty told Arthur that she was going to scout farther ahead.

Arthur nodded, "Right. Trinaty you go. Tristan I want you to stay back with the rest of us."

Tristan nodded, but Trinaty caught the tiny flicker in his eye that meant he would rather be scouting that sitting doing nothing.

As soon as Trinaty had disappeared from sight Arthur noticed that the trees had started to sway as though caught in a light breeze, though the day was perfectly still. Bors had noticed it also and was rubbing his eyes as though he could make stop the trees swaying.

"The trees," Tristan muttered quietly to Arthur. Arthur nodded but did no take his eyes off of the unnatural movement.

The party slowed their horses to a walk and was completely silent, listening for the slightest sound. Then Tristan whispered to Arthur, "Woads."

"Where?" Arthur whispered back.

"Every where."

At that moment there was the sound of arrows whistling through the air. Arthur braced himself for impact, but the arrows thudded into the trees in front of him. Connected to each arrow was a thin rope with barbs sticking out along the its length. Together the ropes made a net that prevented the knights from continuing froward.

All of the knights had instantly pulled out their swords in what seemed like a single movement.

"Back!" Arthur shouted, and the knights, Jols, and Horton turned their horses and spurred them back the way they had come.

They had not gotten far when another net blocked their path.

"This way!" Tristan shouted and he plunged his horse into the trees off the side of the trail. They soon came upon a smaller, less used path and began to charge their horses along it. But using their nets, the Woads carefully guided the knights back to the original path where they quickly surrounded them.

Trinaty rode Draco for a distance, then dismounted and quickly hid in the trees. It was not long before a Woad scout came cautiously out of the trees to examine the seemingly abandoned horse.

Trinaty watched from her cover as the Woad tied Draco to a tree, then began to check the ground around the horse for her footprints. Spotting them, the Woad began to follow the slight marks in the dirt. As he drew closer to her hiding spot, Trinaty drew out her boot dagger and prepared to confront the blue skinned Woad.

When Trinaty judged he was near enough, she leapt out and tried to grab for his neck. Startled, the Woad jumped back and twisted to one side.

Missing her mark, Trinaty kicked out with her right foot and caught the Woad in the shin. This unbalanced him and he fell to the ground. She was instantly on top of him and had pinned his arms behind his head before he could give a shout of surprise.

Looking down into his face, Trinaty saw that he was barley out of child hood.

"What were you doing with my horse?" she asked in a gruff voice.

"N-nothing." The boy stuttered.

Trinaty raised her eyebrows slightly and glared at him strait in the eye. The boy squirmed under the intense gaze.

Finally he blurted out, "I was going to take it back to Merlin. To prove that I am a worrier."

Trinaty sighed at the boy's need to impress, and stood up. The boy lay on the ground for a moment than jumped to his feet and sprinted towards the trees. Trinaty had been expecting this and she threw her knife after the fleeing figure.

The boy froze as the dagger thudded into a tree not two inches from his head. Trinaty causally strode up behind him and yanked the blade out of the bark.

"Now what made you think I would just let you take my horse?" Her voice was cold and offered no room for excuses.

"I thought you would have been killed in the ambush."

"What ambush?" her blood ran cold as she thought of her friends. They were more than a mach for the Woads, she knew. But this was their territory, which gave them the advantage.

"The ambush on the Roman knights that dared to enter our woods." The boy explained, managing to infuse his voice with a little pride and indignation.

But Trinaty wasn't listening. She had run back to Draco and vaulted into the saddle.

The knights all had their swords held out in front of them and were prepared to fight to death. But the Woads did not advance.

"Why do they not attack?" Bors asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Arthur was staring at a point just beyond the net that kept them from moving forward. There stood a Woad worrier glaring at him in defiance down the shaft of a arrow. This Woad looked familiar, but Arthur couldn't place him. Then he remembered, this was the Woad that he had sparred in the attack against Bishop Germanius.

They were still glaring at each other when they heard a horn being blown from some where deep in the forest. The Woads exchanged looks of surprise and confusion. The horn sounded again and with one last resentful look at Arthur, the lieutenant signaled for the Woads the fall back before he himself melted into the trees like a shadow.

The knights were silent for a moment. Then they heard fast hoof beats from the path ahead. Arthur lifted Excaliber, expecting another Woad attack. But was relived to see Trinaty speeding towards them.

Pulling Draco up short of the barbed net, Trinaty dismounted and stepped forward. There was a look of worry on he face as she took in the knights.

"Hey, Trin." Lancelot greeted her with his usual grin. "You missed all the fun."

Looking up at the knight she smiled. "Oh really? Do you mean the Woad ambush, or did I miss some thing else?"

Horton stared at her in disbelief. Then suspicion. "How could she have known? Unless she was in league with them?" he asked in an accusing tone.

Trinaty glared at him with hatred burning brightly in her eyes. "Unlike Romans, who would turn on their friends if they saw a profit in it," she started. "I do not betray those whom I have earned trust from." This made Horton furious. She turned to Arthur. "I found a scout, not far from here. He told me of the ambush. I came as fast as I could." Arthur nodded, accepting her explanation.

Gaining a hold on her temper, Trinaty pulled her sword from its sheath and began to slice through the thin ropes.

"Why didn't they kill us?" Galahad asked.

"Merlin doesn't want us dead." Arthur answered in a distracted voice.

"He will probable try to use you to accomplish his own goals." Trinaty said.

"What do you mean by that?" Lancelot asked.

"Rome is his enemy." she explained. "I don't know if he considers Sarmatians his enemy. But the Romans are leaving Britain, and the Woads will be stuck with the Saxons."

"And our fifteen years of risking our lives will be for nothing." Galahad said bitterly.

Trinaty nodded. "And all the dead Sarmatians buried on Badon Hill."

Everyone was deep in thought as they had started forward again. Trinaty turned to Arthur and said in a voice that betrayed no emotion, "If we ride through the night, we should break free of the forest by morning."

"All right." He said, then looked over at her. "You shouldn't let Horton get to you."

She gave him a half smile. "I know. It was just that his trying to get you to turn against me," she broke off.

"My trust of you runs too deep for a rat like that to destroy it with one simple comment."

"Even though there are things about my past that I have kept from you."

"We all have secrets."

She smiled. "Thank you, Arthur."

"You are welcome." And with that he held up his hand for the knights to quicken pace.

Falling back, Trinaty came level with Lancelot. "So Lancelot." She said with a sly grin. "Just how many Woads did you kill?"

"My share." He said with a shrug.

"Really? I didn't see any bodies, or blood." She smiled broadly as he looked sheepishly at her. Then she shrugged herself. "Well, better luck next time." Then they both laughed

So I tried to end it on a high note. Hope that worked out. Please, Please, Please REVIEW!!!