Disclaimer: I don't honestly believe that I must tell you this, because doubtless you already know. I do not own any of Tamora Pierce's creations. But for the sake of protocol and tradition, I feel I must.

She ran, she had to keep going. Had to find them! Where was she? The sudden blizzard that had driven in was still raging. Leaving her nothing short of blinded. Kel could barely see her hand in front of her face, and the fact that she was being blown about like a leaf at the sudden gust of icy wind, wasn't helping much.

The sharp ice particles stung Kel's face, as the bitter gusts drove her further and further away from her knight master and the King's Own…

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"KEL!" "Keeeelllll" "Kel!" several voices could be heard searching for their commander's squire. Loudest of them all was Lord Raoul of Goldenlake, a great friend and leader to all who knew him. He was by far the most concerned, though Dom was trailing by only a tad.

"KEL!" Raoul's voice boomed over once again. "Mithros! Where could she be?! One second she's right next to me, leading Hoshi by the reins, the next she's completely disappeared!"

"I know what you mean sir, she was right in front of me…But that storm front that blew in was pretty strong, I'm sure she just strayed a bit off course! She'll be fine, she is Kel after all. She's not as fragile as the noble ladies, in case you hadn't noticed." Dom tried reassuring him, but scarcely managed to lighten the mood.

Raoul gave a weak smile and said, "Your right! If anyone's capable of surviving in the middle of the woods in the dead of winter with spidrens and all other sorts of immortals crawling about it's Kel." But his words didn't sound at all comforting.

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Kel was barely keeping hold of Hoshi's reins when she more felt, rather than heard, the cracking of ice. Which could only mean one thing: she was no longer on solid ground. 'Oh no! Goddesses above please help me! This can't possibly be good!' were her last thoughts as her feet crashed through the brittle veil of ice…

2 Weeks later, Letter to Alanna of Pirate' Swoop and Olau

(Sent by a messenger bird of Daine's)

Dear Lioness,

We've searched for weeks, even got first and second company out here! But so far there haven't been many signs. We found her dagger a few days back, but she could have easily lost it when the storm blew in. I know you're worried sick, as am I. It makes my heart pain when I think of her out there all alone.---WAIT! What am I saying?! Bad Dom! I'm not trying to make this sound hopeless, but I pray we don't search in vain. My apprehension grows daily, and I can only imagine how Neal will take it when he finds out. I pray that you break the news to him gently. I'd tell him myself, but as you've noticed, I'm not exactly tactful with words. Neal, as I'm sure you've noticed, is pretty sensitive, despite his biting sarcasm at times. And Kel is one of his very best friends, so…you know…On another note, Lord Raoul is also taking this pretty hard, he feels that if something were to happen to his squire, he would be to blame. I've tried to steer him away from this line of thinking, reassuring him that nothing is going to happen to Keladry. But I can see he has steadily weakening faith in this, especially as the days pass by without any signs. He's thoroughly convinced she's lying in a ditch somewhere, frozen to death, or her body has been consumed by spidrens, or worse…I probably shouldn't be voicing these aloud; I might prove to jinx myself yet! My apologies, I'm beginning to ramble. Just try to ease the whole situation on my cousin gradually and with care. The last thing we need is for Neal to have an emotional breakdown at a time like this. Maybe you should even keep it from him, cause all this fuss and buss might be for nothing after all…but I'll leave this assessment up to you.

May Mithros guide you,

and Goddess bless,

--Dom--

Alanna read and re-read the letter. Making sure that her eyes weren't deceiving her. Kel was still missing? She'd failed to let Neal in on the whole disaster, No. It isn't a disaster…yet. Kel's going to show up soon and laugh at everyone for being so concerned. At least that's what she preferred to think. The truth was, that if she told Neal, he'd be worried sick, literally. And he'd want to go back immediately, which just wasn't possible. The roads were snowed in already, and passage to the north was not an option. But Neal was well known for taking rather rash actions at times, and she couldn't risk him getting injured or even worse…killed. No, she couldn't tell Neal, not yet. Maybe when I've got more information. When I'm…sure…No, Neal would not find out.

A/N: I know this was VERY short, but don't worry, because I had to end it like this in order for the next chapter to run smoothly. I hope you liked it, no matter how short it may have been. It was more like a prologue anyways. And I'm betting no one is even going to find this worthy of his or her time to read, let alone review. But PLEASE do! Review, no matter how short or pitiful they may seem, really are encouraging. They let you know that at least someone though your fic was good enough to comment on. Thanks again. And see you next time.