Note: Thanks for the review! See look a longer chapter than usual. Hope you like it.

AN:As the the question on how old Kiran is in the last chapter would be the age of10 in the beginningas Sheridan was10 when Kida took his place. Kida's age would be 13 when she was sent with the Romans as Kiran. From there I hope the age makes more since. A little confusing but I hope that answered any questions about Kiran/Kida's age.

Gathering Knights

Time Passes:

Kida sat outside of the great hall of the fort. She had hoped that it would be she that was chosen for knight commander training, but as the fates deemed right she was refused. She was crushed. The past three years of training had been for nothing. All the bruises, the cuts, the broken bones and pulled muscles amounted to nothing. She could not understand why she was passed up for a group of slow witted giants. Her instructors admitted that she was well qualified for a commander position. She was smart and strategic while the others were dull and narrow-minded.

The very thought of those idiots leading other men into battle boiled her blood. The blind leading the blind never lead to anything but death. When she heard the results of the ones who would be moving on to commander training she had to leave the room. Crying was not a practice that was accepted in a man's world.

Once she was alone in the corridor, she hit her fists against the wall and silently cursed those who were given the special honor. She had hoped to get the honor since she first came to the post and heard about it. If she had made it to commander maybe it would have made it easier to find Liam, but now she would never know.

At night as she watched the moon rise and the stars shine, she would think about Liam and the time when they were children. It seemed such a long time ago, almost as if it was all an illusion and the reality was that she was Kiran, knight-in-training. She tried not to think of her home for there were many unhappy memories there. Sheridan and Mira were probably living happily and quite pleased with themselves for out witting the Romans. Padu was probably dead or even more insane that when she left.

Disappointment grasped at her heart as she thought of what laid before. Now she would be assigned to some post located in the farthest most unreachable place imaginable fighting some natives that were mad that the Romans had taken over their land. The chances of living through her servitude were slim and the chances of finding Liam were nonexistent. Despair took its hold as she thought of the dark future ahead of her.

Liam stood guard at the gate. Guard duty was a joke. There were never any attacks on the fort; all they did was sit and stare into the darkness. During late night shifts, Liam thought about home. He missed the sun, for it rained for days in Britain. He missed the blue sky and the plains. He missed his family. He worried about Kida. Poor defenseless Kida left alone to fend for herself against Mira and the villagers. He did not dare to think what fate dealt to her; it would be too depressing. Kida alone and unwanted like when she was born; but this time he was not there to take care of her.

Kida worked twice as hard at her training after the commanders were chosen. She was not the type to just stop; there was no way she was just going to stop after all she did to make it as far as she did. She threw herself into her training to forget about her despair in being passed up. Determined to prove the world wrong about her, she took up extra sessions and shifts on guard duty. In doing so, what little sociability she had was lost in the dark cloud that surrounded her as she fumed.

Her extra work did not go unnoticed; Luca, the head of the post, noticed the great change in Kida and watched her closely for he saw her full potential. She could make a great warrior and be a credit to the Romans. As time passed and she lost herself in practice, many great plans for the ambitious girl were plotted by her instructors behind her back.

Arthur Castus was a commander. Following in his father's footsteps, he forwent training to become a knight for Rome. He had been given the privilege to choose his knights. Being a young idealist, Arthur insisted on finding the best and so he began to search for his knights. He did not know how long it would take him to assemble his knights but he was determined to pick the best he could find.

His first choice was a young man who he trained with, Lancelot, a cynical lad with dark hair and eyes. After his first choice he and Lancelot went out in search of the rest of the men that they deemed destined to be his knights. The next knight to join Arthur's band was a certain young man that had been imprisoned by the legion of Romans he was assigned to for trying to save a child. At first meeting, Arthur liked the man quite well and invited him to join his knights. Dagonet obliged willingly, and did not forget his friend from training and suggested Liam Pada to Arthur.

On their journey back to Britain to meet with Liam Pada, Arthur collected to him many knights. A boy named Galahad had begged to join Arthur's knights; he was very skilled with a blade and lance. The young Gawain was invited by Arthur for his skills with an axe and sword. A perfect scout was found in the silent Tristan who proved adept to a bow and curved blade and knives. A large drunk man, Bors, was found on their landing in Britain who was stout of heart and deadly with a bow and blade. A numerous amount of young men joined Arthur's knights and he had more than enough by the time he came to Post Casterus.

Liam watched as a large band of knights rode up to Post Casterus. He recognized a large man on a black steed riding in the front of the column; Dagonet rode ahead to meet his friend Liam. Liam left his post and ran to meet him as he rode through the gate. "Welcome Dag."

Dag nodded in reply. Behind Dag came a young man dressed in Roman livery. "This is Arthur, he has come to recruit you," Dag explained.

Liam nodded and led Arthur to the golden armored man. Arthur shook hands with the man and requested for Liam to be admitted into his service. The golden armored man agreed without hesitation and that night Liam left Post Casterus forever.

Great pains were taken in finding the best place to post the youthful Kiran. The fiery lad had shown great courage and strength that his instructors admired, but could not show for they were training the boys to die. But of all the lads they have ever trained, Kiran left an impression. When Kiran had first come it was believed that he would never make it through training, but he defeated all odds against him with his will. The strong will of the young man showed great characteristics that they looked for in a commander, but with his size he would not serve very well under such circumstance and was passed up.

Once again Kiran surprised the teachers by throwing himself more into his work instead of slaking off and because of it they tried to find a place that would suit the stubborn will of the lad. Luca and his second in command, Jeru, discussed the matter of placement with many of the instructors. After many days they all came on an agreement on where to place him.

Kida waited anxiously as she waited as she stood in front of the commander. She was receiving her assignment today. The Luca wrote something down on a paper and then handed it to her. "Well, Kiran, we are pleased with the progress you made. May God be with you and may you fulfill your duty to Rome." With that she was dismissed. She waited until she was in the dormitory to open her assignment. Hesitantly, she tore off the seal and unfolded the paper.

Kiran Pada is officially assigned to Commander Lysander Morelus at the farthest Eastern point of Hadrian's Wall by order of the Holy Roman Empire.

Kida sighed; she was leaving this horrid place at last. Quickly, she packed her few possessions and went out to the stables to saddle, Cor, her horse. An hour after she received her post, Kida had left the fort and rode towards the East with a four other knights.

Liam rode beside Dag as they headed north. "We are we assigned?" he asked.

"The gate of Hadrian's Wall," Dag replied. Liam nodded his head in understanding. He knew what the area of Hadrian's Wall was said to be like. It was infested with Woads, blue demons that ravaged the land.

"So we are to spend the next seven years of our servitude in Hell," Liam remarked as they rode on to their dooms.

"Don't be so cheerful," the young Galahad interjected. "It can't be as bad as they say. There is no such thing as a man that can't be killed."

Gawain rode up beside Galahad and said, "Shows what you know boy. I have been in this life for eight years and seen more than enough death to last you seven lifetimes."

Galahad blinked a little shock at Gawain's remark. Tristan and Bors laughed at the conversation. "You are young. Perhaps with enough time with me you will learn," Bors said.

"Killing is a way of life," Tristan said.

"Killing? Life?" Galahad asked.

"You kill or you die. The law of the warrior life is to kill your enemy before they kill you. There is no mercy in battle. Your enemy would show you no mercy, so don't even think of showing it to him," Tristan lectured. Tristan was a mystery to most of the knights. He rarely spoke and when he did it was on depressing matters. Many of the young knights feared him for he was odd and very unpredictable. He made no attempt to make friends and seemed only to be friendly with his bird. Once in a while he would ride with Bors, Arthur, or Lancelot but other than that he spent most of his time alone.

Galahad was the youngest of the group and very naive. He still believed in the glamour of knighthood and doing great deeds. He believed that he was invincible and that all would fear him, but the ignorance of youth must be undone, and he was in for life lessons that he never would have had had he been among another group of knights. Harden warriors such as Bors and Tristan were more than ready to break in the harsh reality on the young knights.

Being the eldest of the group, Bors took it upon himself to be somewhat a minder of the younger ones. He had been taken into Roman knighthood later than any of his comrades for he came from a hidden valley that had almost been forgotten. Bors started his training at twenty while the eldest started at sixteen. Now, seven years into his servitude he was now twenty-seven and by far the most harden for he saw things the others did not in a whole different perception.

After Bors, Tristan was the second eldest. He started his training at eighteen but had not started his fighting. He came from a fighting back ground and was more than adept in the art of battle when he was taken into the Romans service.

In total, Arthur had gathered to him thirty knights. Being from different backgrounds they did not all get along with each other, Lancelot was such troublemaker. Lancelot took to annoying the other knights with cynic remarks and condescending attitude. The other knights did not bear a great liking of Lancelot but Arthur seemed to hold him in high esteem and so there were no fights between knights for Arthur had saved them all in one way or another and they thought he deserved peace among his knights that he took such great pains in gathering.

Of all the knights gathered Gawain, Galahad, Bors, Tristan, Lancelot, and Dagonet were the ones that stood out in Liam's view. Dag for his silent yet demanding presence, Bors for his relaxed ways, Galahad for his fresh perspective, Gawain for his honesty, Lancelot for his cynicism, and Tristan for his mysterious ways. Out of the six, Dag was Liam's favorite for he had known him during their training years but some of the other knights grew on him.

Being among a group of men with no Roman commander behind them watching their every move seemed odd to them at first, but as they grew accustom to each others company the atmosphere lightened and it soon seemed as if they had been friends all their lives. Over the ride to Hadrian's Wall, the knights became like brothers and spent much of the ride pulling pranks on each other.

Arthur found the fact that his knights took so well to each other as a good sign for it would not be a present time if they all hated each other. Arthur was a quite young man who watched all that went on around him with a sharp eye. He had dark hair and a dark complexion with eyes that looked like black pools of water. He had a cool head in tight situations and thought his way out of trouble.

He was happy with his selection of knights. He and Lancelot went back along way and with his help he picked out the best knights imaginable. From the silent Tristan, to the loud Bors, he felt that the combination was perfect. As they came to Hadrian's Wall, Arthur let out a sigh. The last years of their servitude were to be spent here, and if they survived it they would be given the right to go home.

As the massive stone wall rose in the distance, its menacing presence silenced the knights. So this was the hell that they would live out the rest of their servitude, and for some their lives. This cold stone wall was that object of their protection. A wall. For most of the young men they would have preferred if it were a person, to be more precise a woman (an extremely beautiful woman with the face to start wars, a fair Helen one might say).

Reverently, they rode in two single filed lines and filed into the fort that was to be their new home. They were met by a young man. He bowed to Arthur and took his horse's reins. "I am Jols, I am at your service m'lord."

"Well met Jols," Arthur said. "Thank you." Arthur dismounted and Jols called some other boys in to take the other knights horses. He leaned over to grab Lancelot's reins when Lancelot pulled the horse back.

"Don't ever touch my horse boy," Lancelot ordered. Jols, stark white, nodded nervously and took Bors and Arthur's horse to the stable.

Bors tapped Lancelot on the shoulder and remarked, "He's only a boy doing his job, there's no need to be rude."

Lancelot glared at Bors as a snake ready to strike. Arthur recognized this look and intercepted Lancelot before he could act. "Lancelot, you must learn to get along or else the next seven years will be hell."

Lancelot looked at Arthur, "Hell? Are we not there already?" The knights laughed. It was true that Britain was as close to hell as any of them could have imagined, that is if they were Christians, for their beliefs dictated other punishments than the Hell of the Christian faith. With the uncomfortable atmosphere broken, the knights went and explored their new home.