Tristan awoke to find himself lying beneath a tree with Dagonet and Bors standing over him. His mind was flooded with confusion, and he strained to remember what had happened and how he had ended up on the ground. "What happened?" he asked, putting his hand against his throbbing head. He wondered how long he had been unconscious.

"We were about to ask you the same question," Bors responded. Tristan grunted in pain as he sat up. He looked over at the smoke rising from the Octavius estate.

"Should we be doing something about that?" he asked.

"Go ahead. We're right behind you," Bors responded sarcastically.

"I already went back," Dagonet said solemnly, "There's nothing left we can do. They killed everyone."

"Who?" Tristan asked, getting to his feet. He noticed that their horses stood near by. Dagonet must have gotten them out in time, he presumed. He had obviously been knocked out for quite awhile.

"The woads," answered Bors, as if it were a stupid question, "How hard did you get hit in the head?" Tristan rolled his eyes. Just then, they heard the sound of another horse's hooves clomping against the ground. They turned to see Galahad riding towards them.

"What are you doing out here?" Galahad asked. He turned his head to the estate, and before they could answer, he asked, "What happened?"

"Long story," Tristan responded.

"Did you find the Lady Gaius?" Dagonet asked.

"No, we found the lake, but it's completely deserted," Galahad answered, "Arthur told me to ride back to check on you three."

"I think you just missed us," Bors teased.

Galahad rolled his eyes. "You realize that now not only is the Lady Gaius missing, but we've let an entire Roman estate go up in flames. Arthur's not going to be happy," Galahad warned.

"Perhaps they might still show up with the Lady Gaius," Dagonet suggested.

"They won't," Tristan said curtly, "It was a distraction to lure us away from the estate."

"I knew she couldn't be trusted," Galahad said, referring to Jillian.

"Galahad, if it weren't for her we might have ended up like the rest of the Roman soldiers inside those walls," Dagonet said. He had thought fondly of Jillian ever since he met her at their departure from the Gaius's estate.

"Or we might have prevented it from happening!" Galahad argued.

"Yeah, yeah," Tristan said sarcastically, "You would have played the hero, right?"

"I wouldn't have just sat back and watched it happen!" Galahad screamed.

"Stop!" boomed Dagonet's voice, "What's done is done."

"And what do we do now?" asked Bors. Tristan walked over and mounted his horse.

"Where do you think you're going?" Galahad asked impatiently.

"I'll meet you back at the lake," Tristan responded, kicking his horse and riding into the forest.

"Great! Wonderful!" Galahad shouted after him angrily, "He always has to be so damn independent!"

"Yeah, well maybe he'll find the girl and we can get to the bottom of this," Bors said.

"She knows where Lady Gaius is," Galahad said, shaking his head angrily, "I know it."

"Perhaps," said Dagonet thoughtfully. The three knights mounted their horses and took off down the trail to meet with Arthur and the rest of the knights at the lake. They were grateful that for once their journey was a short one of two miles instead of the usual two day ride.


Jillian turned back and watched the smoke rise from the Octavius estate. Her heart raced with exhilaration as it always did after battle, especially after a victory. That night, however, had been more than just a victory over Marcellus and the other Romans. Jillian had also been able to repay her debt to Arthur and the knights. Perhaps they would not see what she had done as trying to help them, but she did not care. She had done what she felt was right to the best of her ability, and that was all that mattered. She was proud of that feat, for she had always tried to be honorable and keep her word to others. It had not been easy, and she was still angry at Tristan for not cooperating, but everything had turned out alright.

Jillian walked between the trees of the forest letting the night air sweep across her face. The breeze that rattled the leaves was cool, yet refreshing. She could feel the electricity in the air, and she knew a storm was coming.

Jillian could have met up with the other woads after the battle, but she decided she wanted some time to herself. She had never fully allowed herself the time to grieve for the loss of her brother, but now that she had avenged him by killing Marcellus, she wanted just one night alone to mourn Einar's death.

Jillian came across a clearing in the middle of the forest and walked to its center. Just then, a clap of thunder echoed through the woods followed by rain splashing against the dirt carpet of the forest. Jillian held out her hands, lifted her head, and let the water cascade over her face and body. The moment was her own, a chance to completely isolate herself from the world. She let the hollowness of her heart consume her, and for the first time since the night of Einar's death, she let herself cry. The hot tears mixed with the cold rain, cleansing her face. She closed her eyes. Jillian wrapped her arms around herself, took in a deep breath, and exhaled. She then reopened her eyes to discover that the rain had stopped.


Dagonet, Bors, and Galahad returned to the lake where Arthur, Gawain, and I sat waiting. We immediately noticed their solemn faces and braced ourselves for what they were about to tell us. "Arthur, we have some bad news," Dagonet said, confirming our suspicions.

"The bloody woads ambushed the estate. Killed everyone," Galahad said still as angry as before, "The whole place is burned to the ground."

Arthur sighed sorrowfully. "This is all my fault," he said, hanging his head in shame, "I shouldn't have left. Lancelot, I should have listened to you."

It was just like Arthur to take on all the guilt himself. "Arthur, you couldn't have known," I replied, trying to reassure him, "You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Where is Tristan?" Gawain interjected.

"He went to look for the girl," Galahad replied.

"Good," I said, "She's the one that got us into this mess."

"She was only trying to help," Dagonet defended.

"I'm sorry, but I agree with Lancelot," Galahad said, "She's the one who caused all this."

"You can't blame her for something a group of over 200 woads did," Dagonet replied, "She saved the life of myself, Tristan, and Bors and your lives, as well."

Arthur nodded. "Dagonet is right," he said, "She did what she did out of goodness, and I will hear no more of it."

"I, for one, couldn't care less if a Roman got his estate burned down," Gawain commented.

"Gawain," Arthur chastised, "Many people died tonight. There's nothing we can do about them, now, but there is still a chance to save Lady Gaius. Perhaps the girl can help us."

"Since she was so helpful with that before," I muttered under my breath.

Arthur glared at me, and I knew it was time to shut my mouth. "We will set up camp here for the night," Arthur said, "and discuss this further in the morning."

"But---" Galahad tried to say.

"In the morning!" Arthur repeated, turning and walking towards the edge of the lake. He stared at the ripples the breeze made as it swept across the water's surface and let out a sigh.


Tristan rode quickly through the forest, using every scouting instinct he had to try and track where Jillian was headed. Part of him assured himself that she could not have gotten very far in so little time, but another part of him knew that it was large forest in which she could have taken any direction. He was determined to find her, however, and would ride all night if he had to.

There was something about being atop his horse riding by himself that enabled Tristan to think and reflect. He replayed his conversation at the edge of the woods with Jillian over and over again in his mind. She was lucky the blow had knocked him out completely. No one got away with hurting Tristan, not even people he genuinely liked. 'Genuinely liked?' Tristan thought, shocked at what he had just admitted to himself. He supposed he did genuinely like Jillian, even if he was livid with her at the moment.

Yet, perhaps the person he was really angry at was himself. How had she gotten him to let his guard down long enough to render him unconscious? How had he let that happen? It was not like him to be so careless. Then again, he had not been acting like himself at all lately. He was not one to attach himself to others, yet he had been disappointed when Jillian left the caravan and surprisingly elated when he saw her again at the Octavius estate. He had, of course, kept these emotions safely hidden, but they were there. They were there.

Tristan heard a clap of thunder that was followed by a downpour of rain. The rain stung his eyes as he rode, but he kept plodding forward. To his relief, it wasn't long before the rain stopped. Tristan saw a figure standing in a clearing in the forest up ahead and slowed his horse. He dismounted and walked quietly and cautiously between the trees.

Jillian stood in the middle of the clearing with her arms wrapped around herself. Tristan wondered what she was doing out there all alone. She seemed to be absorbed in thought, completely unaware of anything around her. She brought a hand up to her eye, and he could not tell if she was wiping away a tear or a drop of rain.

Tristan walked towards the clearing, revealing his presence to her. She turned to him, and he could see now that she had without a doubt been crying. Her vulnerability caught him off guard; yet, it touched him, as well. He strode over closer to her, and she looked up at him. Her eyes narrowed. "Will I never be rid of you?" she asked.