The sun broke through the light cloud cover of the early morning and crept across the land. There was a man hunched over a dappled grey horse going at a moderate pace. The man himself was clothed in black with light armor. Across his back was a quiver full of arrows and his bow was across his lap. Attached to his saddle was a sword. Overhead there flew a hawk that was following the man, he was heading straight east, currently riding through a tree-filled valley. Up ahead there was a forest, which seemed the man's destination as he slowed down and carefully led his horse through the denser trees. After a while he dismounted and stood about 5 foot 9 inches. He patted the horse and walked until he heard the faint signs of another man. He then looked around and tied his horse to a nearby tree and walked into a clearing silent. He walked to the man leaning with his back against a tall tree and just stared waiting to see how long it takes for the younger man to notice.

"Gahhh!" The man against the tree yelled upon noticing the older man after a few moments.

"You need to practice your tracking Pup." The older man looked down disapprovingly at the man called 'Pup'.

"Or maybe you should make more noise or even possibly announce yourself Tristan!" The youth yelled in outrage, but still jesting. Tristan was the best scout available, and he did his job well.

"Anything happen here Galahad?" Was his simple reply.

"No, few birds and rabbits came by. No other person though."

"K. Head back to the fort and get some sleep."

"Aye Aye Tristan." And Galahad walked to his white horse, mounted and rode off in the direction Tristan came from.

Tristan then sat in the space previously occupied by the younger knight and grabbed an apple from his bag and took out his dagger cutting out thin slivers while watching the river.

Across the river the same sun broke the horizon and woke the two sleeping people in the high room. A woman rolled over and stared at the man lying next to her. The man she loved and was to marry when she was old enough, and when her parents deemed them worthy to pass the crown onto. He had let his long brown hair loose over night and let it frame his chiseled face. High cheek bones were under angled eyes which, If they were to open, be a dark green in color. His head was atop a long and graceful, yet powerful neck. His broad shoulders were tanned as was his muscled chest and arms, both of which held scars. It was as she was lightly tracing the scars on his upper arms his eyes flickered open.

"That tickles Ci." He mumbled, voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

"Well then, I guess you should make me stop." And she proceeded to trace the scars lightly. He grabbed her wrists and kissed her knuckles.

"It is too early for this love."

"Well better now than never. I leave today to go back to Hadrian's Wall with Troy." She responded and nuzzled against his chest.

"I really wish I could go with you." He said sadly, holding her tightly.

"You know you can't Folant." She looked into his eyes. "They would kill you on sight, and I couldn't let that happen to you." She hugged him tight and kissed him gently.

"I know, but just you and Troy…I don't like it."

"They won't shoot me. And Troy will be dressed similarly so therefore won't shoot him either. You however, they would shoot a Woad no matter what colors they wore."

"I just wish that you had more protection. I don't want you to take chances."

"It is safer for just us. We will be wearing our armor and I will be wearing this." She reached behind her and pulled up a chain with a small feather on it as well as a arrowhead, made of black and white obsidian.

"You still have it." Folant stated in awe.

"Of course, the first present you gave me. It will always remind me of you. You were so awkward back then." She chuckled.

"When do you have to leave?" He asked after a pause.

"As soon as breakfast is over, we want to be back before sunset."

"I will be here, waiting. Wanting to hear all about it." He smiled down at the woman in his arms and hugged her tightly before she got out of bed. Folant watched as his girlfriend walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of black slacks and a white long-sleeved tunic. She grabbed a green vest and went behind a curtain to change. When she was done she went to her vanity and brushed out her hair as Folant got dressed. He went up behind Ciara and leaned down and wrapped the necklace and tied it. After it was secured, she tipped her head back and waited for him to lean down and kiss her, which he promptly did so. They walked down to breakfast hand in hand and ate with all their family and close friends. The guards were discussing last minute safety ideas and when they were going to leave to save them if it was needed.

Breakfast was subdued, all thinking about the danger that could be awaiting the future king and queen across the river. They all went to the stables where the horses were already tacked up and held by Warrick and Kevin. They said good byes and mounted and rode off to the bridge. The whole way they were cautious and made sure to cross the bridge as quickly as possible. As soon as they reached the other side an arrow landed at their horses' feet and they stopped. From the forest rode a man familiar to Ciara.

"Tristan, pleasure to see you again." His face was expressionless.

"I am to lead you to Hadrian's Wall. Both of you."

"This is my brother, Troy. We decided to go to talk to Arthur." They then rode up next to him as Tristan turned and started leading them through the forest. It was a quick ride and as they were approaching the wall calls could be heard.

The gate opened and Tristan led them to the stables where Jols was. "Jols." Tristan greeted the loyal man and dismounted. "Please go get Arthur and the other knights." Jols hurried away as the siblings dismounted and stroked their horses. After a few minutes there were footsteps and the rest of the knights appeared.

"Lady Ciara, pleasure to see you again." Arthur greeted and Lancelot snorted. "And who is this you brought with you?"

"Arthur, this is my brother, Troy." They shook hands and then Troy asked,

"Where can we keep our horses?"

"Jols will take care of them." The siblings looked at each other.

"No offense sir, but we would prefer to take care of our own horses."There was murmuring amongst the knights and then Arthur nodded. They waited for the foreigners to finish taking care of their horses and led them into the Hall.

"Please, sit." And they took two seats next to each other. The rest of the knights sat down and there were a few gaps.

"What brings you here today?" Arthur started.

"We don't want a potential war or fighting on our hands. We want peace, or if not, no bloodshed." Troy started.

Ciara then spoke, "We are willing to compromise with what we can do to keep peace between us. You didn't know our people existed until a few days ago, and now that you do what do you want?"

Arthur and the rest of the knights were silent for a moment. "Sir, Lady, if you are willing, we would like to keep peace as well. We have enough fighting going on as is, and we would not like to start any more."

The two royal borns looked at each other, nodded then Troy spoke up, "We are on the same page, but what do we owe you?" They were suspicious, no reason not to be.

"My knights may not be happy, but if you would show us your fighting skills, it may improve our own skills." As predicted, the knights started to object. Arthur held up a hand though and they eventually quieted. "Knights, this could make our fights better. Will you?" He directed this last part at the ones being objected too.

"Arthur, I told you then and I will repeat it now, outsiders aren't allowed to learn our skills in fighting. Nothing you do or say to us will change the word to our people."

Arthur was visably distressed. "What if you two were to fight, and my knights simply observed, it wouldn't be teaching then."

"We don't want to, but if it is the only way to keep peace and to return to our home then we will." Ciara sighed.

"Very well, I will lead you to the sparring arena and you can commence." So Arthur stood and walked over to them to lead them out to the field. "Knights, you are all expected to be there." He informed them and went back to leading the siblings out of the hall and down to the sparring field.

In the hall all the knights stayed seated and Bors was the first to say anything, "Why the bloody hell does Arthur want us learning from them? Couple of froo-froo high borns, no better than Romas."

"There is no reason why we should have to go watch them." Gawain agreed.

"Arthur is planning on keeping them here. Detaining them so they will keep their end of the deal." Lancelot replied coolly.

"Why would he do that? They have no interest in us or else they would have invaded or at least made themselves known earlier." Kay questioned, being a level headed and intelligent.

"Leverage." Was the reply from Tristan. They all stared at him, knowing as soon as he said it he was right.

"Well, the sooner we get down there the sooner we can get away." There were grumbles following Dagonet's statement but they were happy for some entertainment that wasn't from Romans. And they went in a cluster to the sanded sparring field where the two were talking animatedly. What caught the knights' attention was the language. They were speaking a language none of them have heard before. Lancelot cleared his throat and the two just glanced at the knights before finishing their conversation.

"Ready to learn knights?" Ciara asked with a smirk while tying back her hair.

Troy chuckled and watched as the knights got worked up, but went to the side. They took out their weapons and faced each other.

"Ladies first, dear sister." Troy taunted as he held his twin short swords.

"Age before beauty, brother."

"Your older than me Ciara." He stated.

"Just go, you know you want to get home to you fiancée." That got him moving. He charged with a yell.

She put her sword up in time to block her brother's swords and pushed hard against him. He then twisted his swords, with one going to her side and the other towards her head. She jumped back and flipped away, landing 10 feet away.

She just stayed crouched waiting for him. He charged again with one sword raised and the other across his stomach, he plunged the raised one down towards where her head was, which she rolled away only to have to block the other aimed once again at her head.

"This is the brother I know!" She exclaimed in joy. She then jumped behind him to swipe at his back which he rolled forward to get away from.

"Cheap shots sister!" He laughed back.

"I want to get this done just as well as you, only we need to make sure it looks like an actual fight." She said in the unknown language from earlier.

On the side lines the knights were watching with a disinterested air, yet were paying attention. None of knights were able to move that well, with the jumping and rolling. It was then that the knights became interested as Ciara purposely dug her sword in the ground and ran forward and jumped about 10 feet in the air, flipped then had her foot aiming at her brother's chest. He put his swords up and she kicked those, using them to flip back towards her own sword which she charged at him with. She caught one sword, then used her free hand to grab his other wrist and twisted it so that it fell she kicked it behind her then swiped his feet out from under him. As she went in to pin him down he went to kick her in the stomach, she stepped back quickly and instead of going in for the kill, she went to grab the disarmed sword. Now she had her hand and a half sword in her right, and her brother's shorter sword in her left. She crouched and smiled at her opponent. She knew he would try and get his sword back before trying to do a kill shot. In that knowledge she threw the sword at him and watched as he deflected it and followed it. They were hilt to hilt and he went to disarm her, knowing that she would use the dagger hidden in her sword. And that is what happened; the sword flew 25 feet to where the knights were watching, now with intense focus, and she seemed to move more freely now. Having a much smaller weapon she ran circles around the young man and occasionally jabbed at him, nicking and tearing his clothes between the armor, making sure the knights knew they would be kill strikes.

It continued with the dancing around each other each occasionally hitting the other for about 10 minutes. Then Troy and Ciara both backed away and charged at each other, dagger against short sword, and at impact there was a loud clang. Each pushing against each other as hard as they could. He then shifted his weight ever so slightly which through her off balance and her dagger went flying as she was on the ground. Lancelot was excited, seeing the only one to defeat him going down. When Troy wen tin for the kill, she kneed him in the gut and straddled his stomach elbow at his throat, though his sword was at hers. Arthur then came out.

"Thank you both for that marvelous fight. Lets call it a draw and be good?" He called out. The knights nodded and the fighters helped each other up. Lancelot handed Ciara her sword and Dagonet did the same for Troy.

"Now if you will come back to the Fort with us…"

"Actually, we were ready to head back."

"I can't let you do that, you see I have questions for you."

Her eyes flashed darkly. "What do you mean? You said you wanted me to teach your knights how to fight. I fulfilled that!"

"Please understand-"

"No, Arthur. We have family, our soldiers, friends, many people that would put their lives on the line to get us back safely. Let us leave or else you will have hell knocking on your door." Troy responded calmly, while trying to subdue his sister.

It was then the knights approached them. They were ready to grab them, none wanted to grab Ciara though. They may be knights and feared by many, but still none would harm a woman willingly. Tristan sighed and pushed Bors forward. He glared but was just quick enough to grab her before she launched herself at Arthur. Galahad and Gawain went up to grab Troy. Tristan went in front of Ciara and held a dagger to her throat which stopped both of the siblings struggling.

"I am sorry for this, we would like to do this peacefully, if we let you go, will you cooperate?" Arthur tried to reason.

The two siblings conversed in the unfamiliar language yet again.

*"Should we try and make a run for it?"

"No, they may try and hurt us, or our horses. We can't risk it Troy."

"But what if we-"

"We should just wait until they come to get us. We will win the fight and then leave. They will treat us fine."

"If you are sure, I trust you sister."*

"We will stay." Troy responded.

"Without a fight?"Lancelot questioned.

The siblings nodded and were released, it took Tristan a while to lower his dagger though.

"I will lead you to your rooms. We can get you a change of clothes." Arthur said. The siblings stayed quiet as they were led through the corridors with the knights following. Some of the knights stopped behind them and some continued past them. "These are your rooms, the knights are here for your protection."

"You mean to keep us from running away." Ciara shot back. Arthur looked slightly guilty but regained his composure.

"We will talk more later to decide when you can leave. We will eat in a bit. See you soon." As they went in their rooms he told the knights. "Two guards, all times." And left.

Meanwhile in the two rooms the royals were just waiting for their knights and fiancées to show up. Daybreak at the latest. No problem, and in the ensuing cause they would call off their people and the knights would be thankful. And they would never see these dishonest people again.

Ciara lay on her bed and played with her necklace. The feather was from her sign animal, the very rare and illusive bird of prey that only lives high on the mountain, a giant eagle. He climbed to the top of the mountain and plucked the feather from the mother, once he gained her trust. The most powerful bird of prey on the island, 6 feet tall with 15 foot wingspan, it was a monster in her own right. Black and cinnamon colored, he got a flight feather. The arrowhead he went to the dormant volcano and worked for weeks getting it how he wanted. Next time they visited, he presented it and she always kept it on her, even if it wasn't always visible.

Across the hall Troy was thinking about Guinevere. About how it would be soon they would be married and he would officially join the Woads. After they got back from this expedition, he was to go with them to learn their ways. When Merlin passed on, he and Guinevere would lead the Woads, and he needed their trust, no matter how much Guinevere was liked. He couldn't wait to go with them!

Knocks at both their doors awoke them from their daydreams and they opened their respective doors. They were led to the hall and given food as well as wine. The ate enough to keep them going and same with the wine. They didn't talk until Arthur directly prompted them. "What do you think of your rooms?"

Ciara answered making her displeasure known. "It would be better if we weren't forced to them, and if they weren't guarded."

"How did you know they were guarded?"

She smirked. "I didn't, until now. We are putting such great trust with you and this is how you repay us, kidnapping us. Not a good way to build relations."

Arthur stayed silent the rest of the meal. They went up to their rooms and slept, weapons close. When they heard their doors open they pulled out knives, but upon seeing maids, simply said in Latin, "Thank you." And went back to sleep.

Across the river, there were many worried faces. None more so than the King and Queen, as well as Guinevere and Folant. They were all in silence, the captains of the guards were pacing the floor as Merlin and Nimue tried to see what was happening. After several tries they finally got an insight. They had it project in a cloud of smoke and they saw that both Troy and Ciara were unharmed, but could tell they were trapped. The guards that they saw were outside their doors were proof enough.

"Our children, they need to be rescued." Caitlyn exclaimed in shock.

Simultaneously, Guinevere and Folant stated, "I will go." As well as all the guards present.

"No." Merlin said and held up his hand to stop the protest. "Not all of the royal lines can be there. I believe that Folant should go with soldiers from here and our own. They will listen to Troy and Ciara and will fight to the death for them."

There were reluctant murmurings, and many protests from Guinevere but plans were decided on that at first light Folant and Warrick would lead a company of 23 others to Hadrian's Wall to save their rulers. Now for the restless night to wait.