Cait

**Cait** (12) is a young woman bartered as a child bride from the Cantii tribe who was due to undergo an initiation into womanhood on the eve of the Solstice. The ceremony was interrupted by the arrival of the Roman Empire, leaving her in a limbo state between girl and woman. Saved from the destruction of her village by the outcast Druid Divis, there is much more to Cait than she knows and she will play an important role in the future of Britannia itself. She is the girl with no name.

## Biography

### The beginning

After the destruction of her village, Cait woke up next to Divis, who questioned her about valuables in her home. When they went to search her home, they found everyone remaining dead and the place looted. Divis offered to take Cait to the cave, but she must leave her cat behind. While they travelled, they were ambushed by two apparent thieves. Divis offered up their food and Cait, as a virgin, for his own life. Cait, indignant, watched as Divis mesmerized the two into dropping their weapons and letting them go. Later, in the forest after a night's rest, Cait wakes up to three Romans passing her in the woods, without seeing her, and no Divis to be seen. But there is a circle around their sleep zone. When Divis returns from berry hunting, Cait recounts the experience and then declared that Divis protected her by creating this circle around her before he left to make her invisible. He denied this, clarifying that he made the circle for when he slept as protection, but then expresses surprise that it would have functioned similarly for her, but then immediately mocked her limbo between girl and woman making her invisible to everyone.

Confronted by a wolf, Cait runs away and the single wolf grows to three wolves. As Cait runs through the forest falls through a trap in the forest floor where her leg became impaled and she's knocked unconscious. Upon waking she pulls the spike through her leg and she crawls out of the trap. Cait again was confronted by one of the wolves, at which she threw her makeshift spear and ran it off. But two wolves remained behind her, so she built fires near the stream to keep them away and cauterized her leg to stop the bleeding. When the fires died down, she travelled through the stream to get away from the wolves where in time she came upon the camp holding her father, Sawyer. She witnessed the burned blinding of her father as consequence of striking one of his captors.

After she flees, she comes across Divis mesmerizing two Roman soldiers and asks for his help. When he rebuffs her, she snatches his stone and runs. Divis runs after her and pleads for the stone back. After asking again for help and Divis come closer for the stone, she swallows it, offering to give it back if he helps her get her father out of camp.

### Burden of the prophecy

Cait has difficulty coping with the burden the prophecy brings, and also not believing Divis knows exactly what he is talking about which makes it hard for her to learn from him. Their relationship is also argumentative, with her often talking back to him. She also misses her sister, Islene, and without her she feels Divis is the only person she can turn to.

However, Love comes into her life and she suddenly feels comfortable, having someone she feels she can talk to. He tricks her into leaving Divis and her feelings for Love develop, and she starts to be able to understand her powers that continue to grow. Having lost her virginity to Love, Cait must choose whether to continue to follow the challenging path given by the prophecy, or to give up altogether.

Three years after the Roman invasion, Cait is on her own, and has grown strong. She finds Phelan (now renamed as Cwunt) in the woods and goes with him to see the Druids. She meets with Veran, and asks her what her name is, but when he is about to tell her, she curses out the Gods and slashes Veran's throat with a knife, mortally wounding him. She then runs away from the Druids and comes across former Regni Queen Antedia.

Cait and Antedia start working together to con those they come across. After a successful con, while counting their money, Antedia lays out her plans for revenge against the man who betrayed her and took everything from her, Aulus Plautius. She begins to detail how her plans have several different stages, starting with emancipation and going on to what she calls Operation Warchest, but they are interrupted by a nearby Roman patrol, which they hide from. Antedia later spots a Roman cargo cart, which they follow to a nearby tavern, at which they continue conning the patrons. They meet an oil salesman, who they get drunk and Cait hexes to con him out of his oil cart, which they steal. The lamp oil is set to be phase three of Antedia's plan. She and Cait follow the Romans to their fort to negotiate an oil trade with the Roman Quartermaster. They agree on a deal and later that night, Antedia lures the Quartermaster away from the rest of the camp, knocks him unconscious, and then charges the flaming oil cart at the main building, immolating the building and killing all inside. Moments prior to this, Cait met with Caius, a young Roman soldier with whom she discusses the constellations in the night sky and their respective Gods. Caius was at the tavern where they conned the oil salesman out of his cart, but assures her he won't tell his Quartermaster they are selling him stolen goods. Cait looks on in horror as Antedia charges the cart at the Romans, and grows ever disgruntled with her.

Antedia and Cait decide to come clean to each other and reveal who they truly are. Antedia goes first and says how she was the Regni Queen, Ruler of a hundred hills, scourge of all foes, and daughter of Bork the Dread. Cait describes her life, and Antedia at first despises her for being Cantii. Cait tells Antedia what she did to Veran and how Veran thought she was part of a prophecy, but she denies being part of it, or at least, feels like she's walked away from it. Cait wants to split from Antedia because of her burning desire for revenge against Aulus, whom Cait wants to stay away from. As Cait is leaving the bar she spots former Roman Prefectus Lucius and runs into her father Sawyer who she hadn't seen since parting with him at Locerly Cross. Antedia leaves after Cait and meets Lucius again.

While Antedia and Lucius are conversing with each other, Cait and Sawyer have a heartfelt discussion. Sawyer says he's been searching for Cait for a while now and has been travelling with Lucius. When Lucius saw the explosion of the Roman bar caused by Antedia, they both instinctively knew that Cait was also involved in it also. He said that when Cait's mother died, the only thing that kept him going was Cait and Islene. Sawyer told Cait that Lucius has mentioned the spear and she should know about it, and then Cait tells him that she killed Veran. Theh nearby Roman prisoners Rufus and Felix recognise their former Prefectus talking with Antedia and tell their commanding Legionary, who with the aid of his comrades surrounds Lucius and kidnaps him. Antedia starts to fight off the Romans but is dragged away by Cait for being outnumbered. As they make their escape on a horsecart, they witness a Roman cart run down Sawyer, killing him.

In an attempt to console Cait, Antedia tells her the story of how her father, Bork the Dread became king; by boiling his father, Bork the Fearless, in oil. She also says he hates Aulus because he lied to her, betrayed her, and killed her beloved son Gildas, but she tells Cait that she has to accept that Sawyer is gone otherwise she would go mad like her. Cait runs off from Antedia and meets with the spirit of Islene. Cait tells Islene that their father has been killed, but Islene already knows this and says he is at peace now, knowing he played his part. Islene discusses the plans that she had, to have six daughters and teach them all how to hunt. She also says she knows why the Gods chose Cait, and tells her to go back. Cait says that she can't go back because she killed Veran, but Islene already knows what she did and tells her that she hasn't seen Veran in the underworld, meaning he's still alive. Cait returns to Antedia and they decide to go meet with the Druids, wary of how they might be treated after what Cait did.

They arrive at the Druids to be held at bow-point by Ania, and Cait meets with Veran in his hut. She says she isn't sorry for what she did and if she could go back and change it she wouldn't, as she is on this path and has to walk it until the end. She summons Antedia to discuss the spear. Veran asks Antedia about what Lucius told her about the spear. She replies that Lucius buried it but he didn't say where, so if Veran wants the spear he's going to have to find and rescue Lucius to ask him.

As Veran assembles the Druids, he says that Cait will lead them into the light, but first must find the Spear of the Silver Dawn, and to do this, she must choose a band to walk with her, protect her, and learn from her. Cait chooses to say something also. She says she doesn't know who she is or where she is going, but she knows why - not for a prophecy, not for Veran, and not for the Druids, but for herself. She denies being the chosen one and says she chooses this herself, to which the Druids cheer. Cait is then outfitted in armour.

Cwunt asks why Cait chose her, and she says because he knows what it is like to be lost. She then reunites with Divis, who says he has a problem with horses, but she tells him that she has had the great vision, which is why she came back, and she couldn't have done it without him. Antedia asks Cait about Rayne, and she tells her he looks fun, and reassures Antedia that this is her path. Veran tells Cait to find the spear before Rome does, and they set off.

A short time after leaving the Druids, they find the bounty hunter Hella again. They compare their previous experiences with Hella, how she kidnapped Phelan, buried Cait alive, and nearly killed Divis. Hella informs the band that the Romans take their deserters to the Blue Hills in the west, five days' travel from where they were, and that is where Lucius should be. She tells the band that the west is too dangerous for her, so her sister Drella will take them instead.

Guided on their path by Drella, Cait asks Antedia what she knows of the Blue Hill Tribes, who says they always were a headache. The band is stopped when they come across a fork in the road, and a tree decorated with red ribbon by the Sun Folk. Antedia says how it's a tree of the Sun Folk despite these not being the Sun Folk's lands, but they at least respect Veran, or at least they used to. Ania offers to travel along one path to the Sun Folk, and if she doesn't return, the band should go the other way.

Waiting on Ania to return, Antedia tells Divis how she thinks Cait and Rayne will soon sleep with each other. After returning from her trip to the Sun Folk, Ania lies and says the highroads are too dangerous so they should take the lowland way. Divis disagrees as his gut says it is the wrong path. Being the leader, Cait decides that they shall do as Ania says and take the lowlands. As they journey continues, Cait senses something is wrong and tells the band to stop, and Antedia can hear the trees talking. Members of the Belgae Tribe emerge and surround the band. Cait tells them they were sent by Veran, but they reply that Veran abandoned them so now they'll repay Veran with the band's blood. They threaten Antedia but recognise her as queen of the Regni, and they all bow before her.

The Belgae Tribe toast to Antedia, who they will always view as their queen. Years before the Romans invaded, Antedia and the Regni once helped out the Belgae in a war with another tribe, but the Belgae had since been slaughtered by the Romans. They know of Veran's prophecy and who Cait is, and they believe in Cait. Cait leaves for fresh air, and Rayne joins her, but Divis interrupts their flirting and Rayne shortly leaves. Divis tries to persuade Cait to get rid of the band as he believes he and Cait can find Lucius without them, and he feels that something is wrong. As a response, Cait threatens to remove Divis from the band.

The next morning, Cait awakens to Ania cooking her breakfast. Ania tells her that Cait snores, kicks like a mule, and talks in her sleep. She bonds with Cait by saying she once believed she was part of a prophecy before, how she thought she was the Goddesss Brenna. She says that will always give help to Cait if she needs it. The band then set off from the Belgae. It isn't long before they come across some Romans attacking a village. Cait is reminded of the burning of her own village, Locerly Cross. Rayne tries to convince Cait to leave, saying they are already lost, but she hears a woman call for help so rides back after her, followed by Rayne and Ania. The woman says her boy has been stolen by the Romans, and Cait wants to go find him. Rayne discourages it, but Ania says she will help Cait. As Cait runs ahead, Rayne and Ania follow until because of Hemple's hex, Ania knocks Rayne unconscious with a rock. As Ania regains control, she realises what she's done and waits with Rayne. Alone, Cait is spotted by a Roman and chased by him. She kills him and finds the missing boy, who, unknown to her, is the once-deceased son of Aulus and Hemple, Cyrus.

Cait picks up Cyrus and returns him to the village, but he warns her that one of the band will betray her and he runs off. She chases him into a house where some scared villagers demand she leave, saying they have no children. She returns to the band and they continue their journey. Divis interrogates her to find out what happened. She replies that she was doing the Gods' bidding, as she always does, and she tells the band to stop and rest. Divis says she needs to be smarter and remember the training he gave her, but she relays the warning she was given by Cyrus, that one of her allies will betray her. Cait gives Divis the task of finding out which ally will betray her, and he asks how she knows he won't betray her, to which she replies she doesn't know.

The next day, Ania scouts the Roman deserter holding camp, but when she returns to the band she says she couldn't see Lucius as she was too far away. She tells them that if they do have Lucius, they do not know who he is, and she also says how the place is barely even guarded and it shouldn't be difficult to sneak in there. Cait warns Drella that if Hella lied to them, it would be Drella who pays the price for it. Just then, they see Aulus arriving at the holding camp, complicating things. They watch Aulus leave with Lucius before making their move.

On the road again, the band come across a large Roman viaduct bridge, and are perplexed as to what it is. Divis calls it a monster, and Antedia says how she has seen one before in Gaul. She calls it a road, and the rest of the band are in disbelief as to how a road can be in the sky. Rayne then points out that to cross it, the Romans will have to break formation, making it the prime location to try and rescue Lucius. Rayne and Cait scout the base of the viaduct, and he says they should attack at night. Cait points out that if they go up there, they will be trapped, but Rayne replies that their horses won't last another night, so they have to do whatever they have to do now. Cait can't believe that she would have chosen a traitor to join the band as everything she does is prophesised, and she asks what they will do if they fail.

Cait asks Antedia if she can trust her and says she is worried about the mission. Antedia tells her she can always just turn around and run away from everything, and go back to being Cait from the salt-farm. Cait replies that she can't remember the old Cait fully anymore, and that she can't run because she is the chosen one. Later that night, Cait is sharpening her knife as Rayne tells her she has to believe that she is the chosen one, and everything she does is part of the prophecy. He tells her she needs to release herself from everything and take the step beyond. Antedia then walks up and tells him to leave her alone, and then Cait leaves. Cait asks Divis if this is the real trial. She believes that she is the one who will betray herself, and Divis tells her that they should give up, as he's lost Big Pebble. Cait tells him it's just a pebble, and he can find another. Divis believes that the Romans have killed their Gods and answers her question by saying this isn't the real trial, and the real trial hasn't even begun yet. She then goes to talk to Rayne, who says they should prepare.

Cait starts to climb the viaduct by herself, and she hears the Romans travelling across. She blocks their path, and as they try to clear it she sneaks behind the prison cage and hexes the guard to let her in. She looks for Lucius but can't find him. She climbs on top of Aulus' cart, and overhears Aulus tell Lucius he's the best prefectus he's ever had. She sees Lucius and gestures for him to be quiet. As she drops into the cart, Cyrus appears before her and tells her to "spill the blood". Aulus throws a knife at Cait, and as she dodges, she throws one at him, wounding his arm.

After the band realise that Cait has climbed the viaduct without them, they start climbing themselves. Alerted to her presence, the Romans try to capture Cait, and she is helped by Rayne, Drella, Antedia, and Lokka who has possessed Divis again. As a Roman carries her off, she is saved by Antedia. She then climbs on top of the wall of the bridge, and remembering her lessons from the trial of wind, she jumps, followed by Divis/Lokka. Having survived her fall, she is helped up by Ania, but she hallucinates Ania as Hemple. The next morning, Ania is picking berries and is shocked to say a Roman corpse in a nearby river. She takes his breastplate and uses it to cook the berries over a fire with Cait. While the berries are cooking, Cait says she saw Lokka the night before. Ania uses the excuse of Cait having blood in her hair to walk behind her and weave red string into her hair, hexing her.

Ania and Cait wander in to a field, where they breakdown laughing. They then travel to a cliffside beach, where they mockingly impersonate Veran and break down laughing yet again. Cait starts hearing voices, of Islene telling her being a girl is the best thing in the world, and of Cyrus saying one of her allies will betray her. She then hallucinates Lokka pinning her to the wall by the throat, and Islene's spirit telling her the dead are chanting her name. She jams her thumbs into Lokka's eye-sockets, and black butterflies are expunged from Cait and Ania as Lokka disappears.

Cait and Ania then make their way to the Roman stronghold, and Cait commands Ania to stay where she is, saying it is the Gods' will. Cait then gets surrounded in the courtyard as Hemple welcomes her. Aulus commands his legionaries to take her. But Cait makes a speech saying the Gods are with her, and Antedia and the Belgae send flaming arrows to kill the Romans. Cait disappears while the Romans are distracted, and goes to find Lucius. She manages to find him, and he tells her where the spear is hidden. Hemple then walks in and shoots Lucius with a crossbow. As she prepares to shoot Cait, Amena ambushes her from behind and slits her throat, but Cait gets non-lethally shot anyway. As she is running from Hemple, she falls over, and is rescued by Divis and her band.

Divis is following the band when he stops, turns around, and takes Cait back to the Romans. He gives Cait to Aulus in the same way he saw Cait falling into Aulus' arms when he was hallucinating. He runs off to a beach and searches himself, where he finds a piece of red string tied around his toe, revealing himself to be the one to betray Cait.

Some time later, Cait wakes up in Rome having recovered from her wound. She walks to the balcony, followed by Aulus.

## Personality

In the wake of her sister's death and her father's abduction, Cait develops as a stubborn and defiant individual determined to save her father.