Disclaimer: The characters and stuff from Tamora's books are just that, hers! So, I have no claim to them, but the characters/stuff that are not in the books are mine. That's okay? Right? Nod your head.

It was a dreary day of Kaie's third birthday that everything went wrong. Her father was the king's right hand man with the army and was knighted for protecting the king from an assassin. One day a man out of the south came and whispered into the king's ear and her father was banished. He was stripped of his name, which had been Ahearn, to Fogarty, meaning banished. It had been on that day that Kaie and her mother were in the village when a bunch of soldiers came at them. Kaie had been so young and scared she ran for a vendor's stand, leaving her mother in the middle of the road. Her mother, Gwenifer, was running behind her when she stopped in her tracks with a slacken face, blood coming out of her mouth.

Kaie woke with a start. She was sleeping in her dark cave when she looked around and figured that it had all been a dream. A dream of the past, but still only a dream. Kaie, now seventeen, shook out the sleepiness of the night looked to the eastern horizon and saw the light blue of the rising sun.

"No point in going back to sleep now." She rose and stretched out her limbs. Looking to the back of the cave she saw the ever familiar pool of water and wondered when she had last had a bath. She had been living in the wilderness of Scanra for about fourteen years, though, only ten of them with her father.

Sighing, Kaie stripped of her clothes and jumped into the icy cold water. She lived in the ideal place. She had plenty of game, a vantage point if she were ever to be attacked, and a nice little cave to call her home. But, it hadn't been feeling like home for four years now. Her father had died of sickness in the lungs which had been caused by their new home.

Kaie got out, took one of her rough towels and dried herself. She went over to her packs to see what there was to wear. She pulled out some trousers and a shirt. A leather vest her father had made for her and a long green cloak. Satisfied she got dressed. She new that she would have to wash her other clothes soon, all of her dirty clothes were piled next to the pool that she had just gotten out of.

She picked up the comb and started combing her long coal black hair. She studied herself in the water. She had green-blue eyes that she got from her mother and a stubborn chin from her father. About to braid her hair Kaie heard a man's voice. And then she heard many voices, gruff ones that only lead her to believe that they were all men.

Slowly and quietly, Kaie tied back her hair and covered it with a small cloth hat as not to give away she was female. Kaie slid on her belly to the mouth of the cave, where, she could look down. They were strange men. They wore different colors, and yet they matched. They had on armor and were carrying shields. They were knights, not wanting to get involved with them she tried to scoot back into her cave but was attacked but little sparrows.

Not making a sound, Kaie tried to fight them off, but the chirpings had alerted the group of men below. She heard shorts orders given and soon the sparrows were gone. But instead of birds, this time there were swords pointing at her. Kaie could then define them to be of Tortall. The country now at war with the new pig they like to call a king.

"Who are you?" One of them asked her. She couldn't see them very well, but it came from in front of her. The now rising sun was behind them it was so bright that they could see her, but she couldn't see them.

Kaie acted like she couldn't understand what they were saying since they were speaking in Tortallian. She could hear someone swear and they asked her again, this time in common.

"No one worth killing." Kaie spoke softly.

"And why should we believe that?"

"Because I live here in this cave that you have so rudely entered. If you would please leave." Kaie asked. Not caring about the swords pointing at her she raised herself up to her feet. Now she could see them all. There were six of them in total. Not good odds for Kaie.

They seemed to be at a loss for words. Two of them nodded and started looking around her cave, three were speaking softly to each other and one was left watching her.

"Do you mind? This is my home, not yours. I don't care if you're the King's knights, you will leave right now, or suffer the consequences." Kaie was mad. This was her home, her own little place that no one knew about. And now these Tortallians are going through it as if she was the one doing something wrong.

"What consequences?" The three who had been talking were all looking at her. Each holding their swords tightly.

"I would rather not say. But if you just leave, none of you will be injured. I swear on the Goddess." Kaie raised her hand, causing a knife to be produced from up her sleeve. This outfit was her favorite because of all the hidden places that held her knives.

"Fine. Merric, Owen, lets go." Kaie turned towards the speaker. The knight's voice didn't sound right. It was a little higher than a normal man's.

"Excuse me, but where are you going?" Kaie asked. She didn't know why she wanted to know. She shouldn't trust anyone, not a single person who could reveal to the King that she was still alive.

"That is not your business."

"Well then, just so you know. There are many guard houses in the forest and they don't ask questions first. They will anything that moves on two legs. So, happy hunting." Kaie turned back into the cave and made her way to the pool. Her whole body was shaking. What was she thinking? Threatening six knights with pain and then trying to find out where they were going.

Trying to calm her thoughts and nerves, she started to wash her dirty clothes. Kaie had thought that they had left until there was a bird call close to the mouth of the cave. She turned to see that the six had been circled up whispering and they had turned their head to the cave entrance. A man with black hair and blue eyes answered with an identical call.

Muttering to herself in Gallian, which makes any swear words sound worse they already are, Kaie continued washing her clothes. She was halfway done when fifteen men entered the cave. Jumping to her feet, Kaie reached for a knife and grabbed a sword from in the pool. It was her father's and was spelled to with stand any water damage.

Everyone just looked at her. Why is everyone in here? This is my home! She got into a fighting stance and raised both the weapons.

"I told you all to leave. And now there are more of you. I warned you about the consequences." Kaie's voice was soft and steady, but inside her heart was racing and she could barely breathe. "Don't make me hurt you."

One of the original six men drew his sword and smirked at her, he had read hair and a face covered in freckles. None of the men tried to stop him as he approached her. He brought his sword up and attacked her. Kaie didn't have a second to think. She threw the knife towards him and blocked. The knight's eyes grew large in his surprise at her competency. They parried blocks for awhile till Kaie got bored. She didn't want to kill this man just wanted him and his friends to leave. Making a quick change in her grip to make it feel like she was holding a knife, she dove right and swung left. The knight's sword went flying and landed at the watching groups' feet. The knight was kneeling on the floor, gasping for breath.

Putter the point of her sword at his throat Kaie asked, "Now will you leave?" Kaie looked at the group and saw that the knife she had thrown earlier was buried in one of the soldiers' chest. Without thinking, she dropped her sword and rushed over. This man had brown hair and green eyes. His face was white and he was sweating.

"Oh Goddess, look at what you made me do." Kaie pushed past two of the knights that were blocking her path and she knelt at the injured man's side.

"We should cut you down where you kneel right now."

Kaie looked to see who was speaking. And answered, "I asked politely, warned and threatened you all. None of you listened. I'm not saying that I'm not at fault, but you are all to blame as well. Now, stop speaking so I can help him." Kaie turned and pulled on someone's cloak, it fell into her hands. She bundled it up and put it under the injured man's head and on top of someone's knees. This person had short brown hair and hazel eyes.

"What is your name?" There was a pause.

"Kel."

"Okay Kel, I am going to need you to pull out the knife as quickly as possible when I give you the signal." The man opened his eyes. "And what is your name?"

"Neal."

"Okay Neal. I need you to sit still. I am going to heal you." Kaie rubbed her ear; she hadn't called on her Gift since her father died. But she needed to make things right. She didn't like to hurt people.

"But I am dying. It pierced my heart." Neal said quietly.

"Not if I can help it." Kaie closed her eyes and cut out all the noise around her. She called up the golden light that marked her ability and placed her hands around the knife. "Take the knife." The knife was quickly drawn out and just as quick Kaie put her hands on the wound. Blood gushed up through her closed fingers and Neal started to whimper.

Kaie thought of the heart and found where the small hole was leaking the blood. She weaved a patch of her gift and placed it over it and the blood stopped. Then she teased the organ to stitch together the whole. It took awhile to convince it, but it did fix itself. Drawing out a little Kaie noticed that there wasn't much blood left. Instead of leaving the body to make in its own, Kaie had the body make it right then so that Neal could have the strength to recover from the shock his body had.

When she was finished Kaie opened her eyes, or at least tried to. Her eyelids were heaving and her hands shook. She looked to see that Neal was awake and alive. He was and she could tell that he was surprised. Smiling, Kaie's vision swam and the last thing she remembered was someone saying, "Don't let her head hit the floor."

Please review! This is the new vamped first chapter. Please let me know what you think!