I opened my eyes and then narrowed them. Two months ago when I had arrived at the wall and I would have had my dagger out in a moment had I felt someone in my room. Now, I only glared at Branwain and Bors.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing asleep?" Bors asked me and poked my forehead as if to see if I was really alive. I stared at him annoyedly and considered ensuring that he would father no more bastards. Vanora was pregnant with the eleventh and I pitied the poor woman.

"Wall? Woads?" Branwain said loudly. I could have sworn she was related to Bors. I cursed whoever had sent them to wake me up. And then I actually thought about what they said. I leapt out of bed and pulled on my clothes. We were supposed to be heading out to monitor a small strip of land above the wall. Arthur was trying to scare the woads away from the wall. Show them the Romans had not yet abandoned the island.

"We leave in an hour." Bors said with a gleeful smile. A whole hour? By the time my hand wrapped around my sword handle, they had fled out the door. I groaned and fell back on my bed. I heard the door open quietly and I pointed the sword at the door.

"Branwain, I swear one day I'm going to-" I was cut off by a familiar mouth covering my own. Perhaps it was not Branwain. I helped Galahad out of his tunic. I was quite fond of his torso and I did not try to hide it. It was another much loved aspect of wall life. Gawain and Galahad were dearer to me than brothers, but I didn't look at them like brothers and I knew they did not consider me a sister. Several minutes later I felt Galahad's hand start to slide up my tunic. I tensed for a moment and then I pulled my tunic off. I still had the cloth that held my breasts in place on, but it was enough. Galahad's hands didn't stop there though and I soon let my own hands wander. We jumped a while later when the door opened. Gawain heaved a sigh at the sight of us.

"Lock the door next time. Anyone could have walked in." He said with the patient voice of an older brother. His mouth parted surprisedly when he noticed two tunics on the floor instead of one and my half naked frame. He walked over and hauled Galahad off of me. He mumbled something and I picked out the words "fornication" and "stupid ass". Galahad laughed while blushing and began to put on his own tunic. He walked over to my shield and began inspecting it. Gawain, who had started to hand me my tunic, paused and looked at my body. Evidently changing his mind he took Galahad's place and began to kiss me with his easy confidence.

"What's in the middle of- You just pulled me off of her!" Galahad sputtered as he turned around. I smiled languidly and held out an arm to him.

"There's room for one more." I said huskily. Gawain and Galahad looked at each other and looked disgusted. Gawain looked like I had asked him to cut off his own manhood and Galahad looked like that was a more preferable option. I smiled at my victory. I itched to pull one of them back onto the bed, but I held the urge in. I quickly packed my things and Galahad soon left to pack his own. Gawain had just smiled and started to come forward and pull me to him when the door flung open again.

"I seem to have left something." Galahad said and promptly dragged Gawain out. I groaned. Damnit.


We rode for several hours northeast. I personally didn't think ten knights and a Roman would send the woads running back to their trees, but Arthur it seemed, put more faith into our reputation than I did.

As we rode closer to the eastern coast, Arthur sent Tristan, Bors and I on more and more scouting trips. Tristan rode apart from us half the time, but when Arthur sent just Tristan and me, we stayed together. On the sixth morning, Tristan stopped me suddenly. We sat absolutely still and listened. Even Kolaksay's breathing had become inaudible. Someone was talking a ways off. It wasn't the harsh language of the woads, but something more guttural. Saxons. We made for higher ground and looked down upon the forty or so Saxons that had set up camp. What were Saxons doing this far inland? I looked to Tristan but I found nothing in his expressionless face. I began to turn Kolaksay around and he nodded. We rode back to Arthur and reported.

"How many are there?" My leader asked.

"Forty." Tristan said in his low voice.

"Something's not right." I said. Arthur was silent for a moment.

"We should pick them off." Lancelot said wisely.

"When it's dark. Might as well get them before they can grab a weapon." Galahad said darkly. Dagonet agreed and Branwain grinned also.

"We'll attack in the morning. Good visibility, but they'll be caught unawares." Arthur said finally.

"Send them scrambling…" Gawain said amusedly. Bors chuckled viciously and I smiled grimly.

We rode a little farther away from the Saxon encampment and prepared for our foray. We lit no fire just in case they had sent their own scouts out but that didn't stop our loud talking. Bors produced a skin of strong ale and passed it around. I closed my eyes and took a deep swallow. Tristan sat next to me and did the same.

"You know, woads aren't very nice looking, but Saxons have to be the ugliest damn bastards I've ever seen." I said seriously. Tristan grunted in agreement.

"I've never seen one thank the gods." Galina said shuddering.

"Hope that you never do." Lancelot said with mock seriousness. "They take captive women and shave their heads. They have to walk around naked for the rest of their lives. Of course, I wouldn't mind you doing the same…" He finished and gave her a wink. My smile faded as I watched her normally pallid cheeks grow pink. Galina was still beautiful with her strong features, but she now ate even less than ever and her cough sounded like rocks grating on each other. The fevered gaze she often directed at Lancelot worried me and I wished he wouldn't lead her on. I saw Tristan's eyes bore into Galina and I wondered what he saw. Death, aphrodisiacs, obsession? I couldn't tell. A man who observed everyone else's' expression had little use for his own.

I sighed as I stared through the tree tops. I couldn't sleep. Galahad's arm lay around my waist and his breath tickled my neck. My own head rested on Gawain's shoulder. I looked over as the owner of my pillow turned over to face me.

"Awake?" I asked.

"Mm." He said. I rolled closer to him, with Galahad still wrapped around me. I nuzzled my neck into him for comfort and he wrapped his other arm around me. He lowered his face and kissed me. I could tell he was smiling and so was I. There was a sort of thrill to secretly kiss one's friend while in the middle of a group of sleeping people. A while later I suppose we had grown less quiet for I heard a small cough. We both lifted our heads at the same time. He quietly swore as our heads connected. I however already felt the blood rushing to my face. Tristan's eyes glinted in the darkness. How much had he seen?

"Enjoying the show?" Gawain whispered good-humoredly. The scout's shadowed face remained still and Gawain laid back down with a sigh. We laid without touching each other for a moment until we shrugged and moved back together. I was close to sleep when I heard a voice which sounded suspiciously like Galahad's mutter something that sounded like "serves you right…"


The next morning we rode swiftly to the Saxon encampment. Bors, Branwain, Gawain, Galahad, and I took one side while the others spread out around the other side. We began firing arrows all around the Saxons and they panicked. They couldn't figure where the arrows were coming from and it all turned to chaos. I smiled as my eighth arrow thudded into a man's throat.

"Eight." I said and Bors swore.

"That one's particularly ugly…" Branwain said pointing towards a foul looking man. His ratty yellow hair swung around his dirty face and beefy arms.

"Put him out of his misery." Gawain said disgustedly. I nodded in agreement. He fell with five arrows in him.

"Mine hit first." Galahad said assuredly.

"Ah, you're wrong. I obviously killed him." Bors said giving the rest of us a look one would give to a small stupid child.

"No I did-" Gawain began but was cut short.

"Ewww." We all said unanimously. We recoiled. The hairiest man any of us had ever seen had run out of a tent with no shirt on. Jiggly, hairy fat…I felt my stomach turn. He was soon felled with arrows from everyone, even the knights from the other side.

"The damned Saxon won't stay still!" Galahad roared as he frantically tried to aim his bow at a Saxon. The man was running around madly, trying to escape the arrows that rained from all sides. Soon we were all trying to hit him. The man was quick, and all of our arrows thudded into the ground. I was highly annoyed. So far I had come closest to hitting him, but I still could not kill him. Suddenly there was an arrow sprouting from his head and we whipped around. Tristan looked at us smugly as he notched another arrow.

"Bloody scout…" Galahad muttered. I blushed remembering the night before but Gawain only grinned. Tristan gave me an indescribable look and returned to shooting Saxons. I made a point to shoot just as many as he.

A day later we were riding near a lake outside of a forest when I stiffened.

"Arthur-" I was cut short as an arrow flew past my face. A woad fell out of a tree an instant later with one of Tristan's arrows. The blue people poured out of the surrounding woods like demons from some dark story. I rode down a few of them easily as I drew the machaira. I launched Kolaksay at a few woads near a tree and began hacking at them without mercy. A flash of blue later and I was staring at a pair of bright green eyes and I realized one of the damned woads had knocked me off my horse. I drew my legs up and kicked him bodily off of me. I nearly snarled with annoyance. I had never been dismounted in my entire life. Before I could dissemble the doomed woad, two more had attacked me. I struck the woman's sword repeatedly until her arm weakened from the vibrating metal. My sword left a deep gash in her chest and I twisted and stuck my dagger into the ribs of another woad. I realized that positioning myself so near the trees was unwise, but I welcomed the challenge. Four more dead woads and I found myself facing the one who had tackled me. He smiled wickedly and I found it strangely attractive. His long wild brown hair, vivid green eyes and extensive woad tattoos were arrestingly handsome. The small axe and knife he carried were constantly moving and distracting me. He let out a yell and leaped at me. My sword snaked around his axe immediately and I flung it away. To my chagrin he pulled out another, slightly larger one and winked. He attacked with a series of ducks and retreats and it was beginning to anger me. He spun on his foot and slashed my arm. I touched the blood and gave him a deadly look. I struck at him and he ducked it nimbly for a not so small man. Before he could do one of his damned twirls or retreats I slashed at his face. He mirrored my own reaction and felt the small laceration that marred one of his eyebrows. I cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled sweetly. Before anything else could happen however, there was a long drawn out roar from a horn and just like that, the woads melted back into the forest.

"Quickly." Arthur said and we obeyed. We were all mounted and riding swiftly away immediately. A few cuts and bruises had been sustained but nothing serious. We had been attacked in woad territory, but we had miraculously escaped. My thoughts kept returning to the emerald eyed woad, but I pushed the thoughts down.


Back at the wall five days later we all sat around the round table.

"How's the new one?" Galahad asked Bors. Bors looked at him from where his head rested on the table confusedly.

"Oh ten? He's-" He began.

"Eleven." Lancelot said as he massaged his arms. We were all quite sore from the uncomfortable ride back. Arthur had made sure we rode through every nook and cranny for miles above the wall before returning.

"Vanora says it'll be soon… I almost wish we were still above the wall. She's as mad as a Roman these days." He said trying to move his mouth and body as little as possible. My own shoulders were aching and knotted. Even Tristan's face showed a little discomfort as he stared at the wall from his dark bangs. Arthur walked in at that moment and slumped in his chair.

"Arthur," I said darkly. "Let's leave the north to the woads from now on."

"We accomplished nothing." He said tiredly and rubbed at his eyes.

"There's too few of us." Dagonet said comfortingly. Arthur needed reminding that there was only so much he could do for his duty. We sat in a family like silence for a while before we all went our own ways. I returned to my room and pampered myself with a nice hot bath in a large basin I had brought in. I was even happier when Gawain came in and massaged my tense shoulders while my hair dried. I wasn't surprised when I woke up and realized that it had sent me into a deep sleep. The small amount of light in the room and the golden warmth seeping from the fireplace had sent Gawain into a slumber also. I shift underneath him and his eyes opened lazily. We resumed what Tristan had interrupted only a few days before.

"That was… wonderful." I said breathlessly a few hours later. Gawain smiled knowingly and I had no doubt I was one of many women to have enjoyed Gawain's skills. He had never tried to bed me, but that did not mean we stuck only to kissing.

"It's a pity the woads didn't capture you." Galahad said pleasantly from the doorway. "Then I'd have Isolde all to myself."

"You couldn't handle her all by yourself." Gawain retorted.

"Nothing wrong with sharing, boys…" I said with mock fairness. "There's enough to go around."

"Indeed there is." Gawain said and slapped my backside. A few minutes later with our tunics newly put on, we stepped out into the hall and were about to head towards the bar when I heard a sound come from Branwain's room. Galahad looked at me disbelievingly… Was that a man's voice? Galina opened her door right at that moment looking alarmed.

"What is that sound?" She asked and I held a finger to my lips. Dagonet stuck his head out into the hall and looked at us and then and Branwain's room. A moment later Lancelot appeared with Arthur and then Tristan and Bors walked over. That was definitely a happy man who was making the noise. We heard splashing and then another sound. And a very, very happy woman. Lancelot unceremoniously threw the door open and we looked in. Branwain and Lionel were in a water basin together. Naked.

"Oh dear gods." Gawain said in a dry voice. Galahad made a wheezing sound and Bors happily thumped him on the back to help him breathe. Branwain and Lionel were looking at us with highly embarrassed faces.

"Lancelot my friend, I'm in a tub with my lover." Lionel said trying to retain his dignity. Branwain's mouth was open in abject horror.

"Well then…I'll just…shut the door…" Lancelot said in a slightly high pitched voice. He slammed the door closed and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"That was…" Gawain said uncomfortably.

"Awkward." Dagonet finished. Galina's cheeks were blood red. Tristan kept shooting disturbed looks toward the door and I shuddered. They all took women and joked about it, but to see Branwain and Lionel…That was different. We all stood there for a moment longer before Bors broke the silence.

"So that's why she's been so rosy for-"

"To the bar!" Arthur said and we all practically ran.

I sat down and grabbed the large flask from Bors' hands and promptly drank it all.

"I'll be having nightmares about that for weeks." I gasped. Tristan sat next to me and quirked his lips.

"Should have seen it coming." He said amusedly. I snorted and began to talk with Dagonet and Lancelot. Branwain and Lionel came in a few minutes later with whatever dignity they could muster. I didn't know whether to laugh or be amazed. She was wearing a peach colored dress for the first time. I smiled and shook my head silently. Madness. A few hours later and Tristan looked up. I saw him look at a proud looking, auburn haired woman. She caught his gaze and held it for a moment before smiling in an enticing way. They both stood up and walked out of the courtyard. Tristan may have been different from the other knights, but he was still a man. He didn't take a new woman every night like Gawain or Lancelot, but he did have his fair share. The women were not stupid enough to paw at a man like Tristan, but they were always willing to answer his call. Sometimes he sat with his arms around a particular woman until it was time to retire, but other times he simply looked at his chosen bedmate and left with her without any form of courtship. He never took the same woman for more than one night in a row. I imagined he was not the most affectionate of lovers, but that didn't keep women from being drawn to him over and over again. I shrugged away the small heavy lump in my stomach and turned to Galahad. His hand found mine under the table before he got up and walked out. I waited a few minutes before doing the same. Everyone was to drunk or busy to notice and we found a nice quite spot in the stables. If anyone interrupted us there, I would kill them.

"You know Galahad, Gawain was very nice to me today. I'm afraid you're going to have to try harder than normal to compete with him." I said somberly. His own face mirrored mine as he began undoing my tunic.

"I'll do my best."


"Arthur, we have a problem." I said the next morning. Galahad and I had awoken that morning to a rider bursting into the stables. He was about to piss himself as he began rambling to us.

"Arthur, a man says people from his village have disappeared." Galahad said. Arthur and the others were in the middle of breakfast and I smirked at Gawain who was giving Galahad a nasty look. I quickly snatched the few pieces of straw from Galahad's curls and my tunic. Tristan's ever sharp eyes caught the motion and he looked me in the eyes. I mentally berated myself. Tristan had now caught me with two of our friends and he probably thought I was their whore. I realized I was being unreasonable. Tristan had never judged me before. At least not that I knew of. He should be able to discern the truth.

"Disappeared?" Lancelot said sitting forward curiously.

"Farmers who stay out late in the fields…" I said. "All the men who go hunting."

"How long has it been happening?" Arthur asked, his brows knitted together.

"A fortnight perhaps. Five men have disappeared." Galahad said and I nodded. Arthur sat back and sighed.

"Woads?" Bors asked. I shook my head.

"Not woads…It's something else." Galahad said.

"Wonderful." Gawain drawled.

"Could be Saxons." Tristan said to Arthur.

"Why are they hiding in the forest and picking off villagers?" I asked trying to work it all out.

"Doesn't sound like Saxons…" Galina said but Dagonet's face was unsure.

"When can everyone be ready?" Arthur asked suddenly. Galahad's frown deepened.

"Few minutes." I said shrugging. Might as well get it over with.

"Tristan, Isolde, ride ahead. The others and I will follow behind." Arthur said pushing his chair back and standing up. Tristan and I walked briskly out of the room and began to get ready. I was putting on my kohl when Tristan poked his head inside the door. It seems no one, myself included, thought knocking was necessary any more. His eyes asked me if I was ready and I held up a hand to tell him to hold on. When it came to scouting, every little bit of added visibility counted. I was having difficulty because the mirror I normally used was in either Branwain or Galina's room. Tristan fidgeted impatiently and took the kohl from my hands. He held my face steady and outlined my eyes carefully but quickly. He took his thumbs and gently smeared the black substance around my eyes. I had always thought Tristan was attractive, but I was surprised to find myself wondering if he would make a better lover than Gawain or Galahad. As soon as he was done I stepped away and he followed suit. I grabbed my things and we were out of the wall gates in a matter of minutes.


We rode across the lush green hills for a while until we came near the village. We didn't go into the village; instead we immediately began scouting around it. We found nothing.

"It's not woads." I said quietly to him. I was sure of it. There was something going on. I looked towards the village. There was nothing going on. I couldn't see one man, woman or child. Tristan moved his horse a bit closer to mine.

"The forest is still." He said and looked uneasily at the surroundings. His hawk sat on his shoulder and let out a small sound as if she agreed with her man. Our bows were out in and instant the moment we heard the snort. I swore as I saw Gawain and Galahad.

"Arthur sent us to look for you. He, Lancelot, Dagonet, Bors and Galina are patrolling the fields." Gawain said. I could tell he was apprehensive too.

"Where are Lionel and Branwain?" I asked.

"Arthur sent them to question the villagers." Galahad said as his horse pawed the ground. Something was amiss.

"You know, I haven't seen a villager yet." I said suddenly. Gawain looked at me.

"Not one?" He asked sharply. Tristan snapped to attention and looked towards where the village lay through the trees. He immediately began riding to the edge of the forest. We followed him and I knew something was wrong. The sense of panic was growing larger and it pulsed through my veins. I spurred my horse as fast as I dared amid the trees and burst out of the forest. There was no one in the village. I saw Branwain and Lionel's horses, but not the riders themselves.

"No." I said and we rode down to the village just as Arthur and the others rode towards it. Where was my cousin?

Ok REVIEW! There will be more Tristan… I promise.. I'm just trying to make it not so…"She looked deeply into his eyes and realized she was madly passionately in love with him and they made sweet sweet love." The next chap will be a bit sad.