Disclaimer: I have been through this before.

Author's notes: I am skipping the ambush to improve what I hope is pacing. Also I do not feel like writing that scene for the third time.

Chapter 7

The group rode on, pressing hard. They had been ambushed the day before, and the next hours and the evening had been spent on edge. The knights had carried on with their usual banter, most of the riders joining in, apart from Arlia, who stayed aloof as she usually was. She had watched, her eyes taking in every movement, and yet not getting involved with anything. That was the way she usually operated, which is what tended to make her seem intimidating, but in reality she was just observing things. Most of the knights tended to avoid her. The riders rarely bothered her, they knew better than to intrude on her thoughts. If someone did, then they might see a side of her they didn't want to see.

Arlia was lost in thoughts of her home. Her mind played out scenes from her early life. Some were painful; others brought comfort in this time. She didn't want to think of when she found her family dead. She wanted to think of her family all together, warm and comforting. Even the times that she was allowed to see her family on leave came to mind. They were the times of the spring, mid-summer, autumn and winter dances, with the solemn rituals that needed to be performed. They were also times of seeing her old friends and their children, and perhaps dreaming of that old secret sweetheart, long married. She sighed in happiness as she recalled those times. Then she knew what happened next, she had seen her family last at the winter dances.

Flashback

Arlia pressed Yildiz hard, perhaps harder than was necessary. She stopped to check if Bremusa and Reseda were still behind her, which they were. They had been invited to the spring dances, a rare honour. But if anyone deserved to take part in the rituals that brought peace and healing it was Reseda. If anyone deserved to take part in the rituals of blessings then it as Bremusa. Pressing her legs to Yildiz's flanks she set her horse off again.

"Soon now pet, soon we'll be home." Arlia encouraged.

Yildiz seemed encouraged by her mistress's words. She seemed to put an extra burst of speed on that her mistress knew she couldn't keep up for long. Cresting the hill where her tribe should be Arlia looked puzzled. There was another rise a few miles away, and there was smoke coming from over it. She checked Yildiz, unwilling to run her mount out of energy just yet. She waited for the other two to catch up with her. Bremusa and Reseda were both puzzled when they joined Arlia, her tribe was never late.

"Where are they?" Arlia asked.

"I'm sure they're just late." Bremusa soothed.

"They're Mazagardi, they're never late." Reseda stated out the obvious.

"I want to check out the smoke." Arlia set Yildiz off.

Arlia rode with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She wished she hadn't pushed Yildiz so hard, she was bordering on exhaustion. She knew she could keep going to that ridge, and then she would have to stop and rest Yildiz, water her and care for her. Luckily there was a river not a few metres from the rise. Cresting it Arlia's heart was in her mouth. She knew what to expect, and yet she was scared of what she would find. But to be afraid was to show weakness, so she carried on.

When she did reach the top she stopped dead. All she saw before her were blackened and charred tents with women, men and children lying dead throughout the camp. She tasted ash on the air, whoever had burnt the tents after taking everything of value. Walking through the mess Arlia realized she had just been hoping that it wasn't her family, her people. And now it was and she didn't know how she was going to deal with it. Checking one woman she saw a Roman dagger in her back.

"Arlia we are so sorry." Bremusa sounded shocked.

"Don't be, help me get the bodies into a pile, we need to burn them." Arlia commanded.

A while later Arlia stalked over the camp, looking in the charred ruins of every tent. There was everyone she knew, apart from her mother and father. Their bodies had, it seemed, disappeared into thin air. She knew who would know where they were. The man she called commander would know. She wanted to spit in his face, call him a dog and kill him, though she knew that would do her no good. It would only serve to get her killed. Slowly she picked up the only trace of her mother and father she could find, a dagger that had belonged to each of them. With the two daggers in her belt she walked to the funeral pyre.

End Flashback

"You must really miss them." Tristan, the so far almost silent one, spoke.

"I do." Arlia nodded.

"What happened after you found them dead?" Tristan asked.

"I went to my commander. He said that mountain lions had killed my family, and that raiders had taken everything of value. Then I asked him why he had my horses in the stables if everything had been taken by bandits." Arlia shrugged.

"I bet that shocked him." Tristan smiled.

"It did, he just said that I was accused of the highest treason, and as such, I would be in service for the rest of my life. And here I am." Arlia finished.

"In the middle of this godforsaken island. Don't worry though, they won't break you." Tristan rode off.

Arlia puzzled at the knight as they all rode on. How had he known what she was thinking about? And how on earth had he seemed to tap into her feelings like that? That had scared her, knowing that someone could read her thoughts. But then she realized that since the knights knew about her past, and she had been silent and brooding, it must have been an easy guess. But then again, what happened if he had managed to read her thoughts? Arlia decided that these thoughts weren't going to get her anywhere, apart from a one way ticket back to Rome with mental problems. So she tried thinking about other things, like Britain, and how much she hated it. But that led on to the knights, who also hated this land. And then thoughts of the knights led on to thoughts of a particular silent scout, who had a claim to Mazagardi blood. So all in all, she decided if she was left alone with her thoughts she wouldn't get anywhere. So she decided to talk to someone, though who was a bit of a mystery. Since the only person near her was the silent scout she was trying not to think of, she was stuck. In the end she decided to talk to him about the Mazagardi, which was a fairly neutral subject.

"So, do you have claims to Mazagardi blood through your mother or you father?" Arlia asked.

"My mother." Was the curt reply.

"What is her name, if it doesn't seem too personal?" Arlia asked.

"Her name is Sofia." Tristan answered.

"Excuse me?" Arlia asked.

"I said my mother's name is Sofia." Tristan repeated.

"I got that." Arlia muttered.

"What's the matter with my mother's name?" Tristan asked.

"Close family friend." Arlia covered.

"She told me her mother had been outlawed under the rules of your people." Tristan explained.

"I wasn't born when she left with her mother. Her mother had done something terrible." Arlia explained.

"Do you know what she did?" Tristan asked.

"No, no idea, you?" Arlia asked.

"None, I don't think even my mother has a proper idea." Tristan shrugged.

"And the only people who I could ask are dead." Arlia cursed in Mazagardi.

"I have no idea what you just said, but it didn't sound polite." Lancelot admonished.

"And you don't want to know what I just said." Arlia smiled sweetly.

"Lancelot, I think you missed the wonder of this." Gawain said riding up.

"What's the big wonder?" Arlia asked, confused.

"Tristan holding a conversation." Lancelot and Gawain explained at the same time.

"She started it." Tristan said bluntly before he rode off.

"Did I do something wrong?" Arlia asked.

"Tristan probably wants to scout ahead, we're almost there." Gawain explained.

Author's note: Yay! Happy dance! Another chappie. I think I am so happy I managed to find this one. You know the drill.