A/N This is a story I started a while ago, posted, lost most of the work for and gave up on. So now I'm trying it again. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

All of these lines across my face

Dom unclenched his teeth as the woman rider finally came into view. He signaled his squad; they split in half and blended with the trees on either side of the road. Back at the camp he had told the men he wanted it to be as simple as possible, weapons drawn but hopefully not used. He planned to accomplish this by allowing time for his men in the woods to get just ahead of her thus close off chance of escape. He had ordered them to stay concealed until he and one of his corporals ambled up behind her, at which point they would have her trapped without ever raising her suspicion.

"She rides fast" Dom commented as they closed the distance with the rider. She had stolen a horse from camp in the early morning and it had taken them till that afternoon to catch sight of her.

"Sargent, I don't think that's a woman." The corporal disagreed.

Dom squinted at the figure in front of him. "Then it's been too long since the last time you were with one, of course it is." He quipped back.

The soldier forced a laugh, but didn't dare shoot back that Dom was one to talk. His leader's love life was not joked about. "Uh right, I guess she's just bigger than most women" was the awkward response.

Dom studied the woman while calculating where the other two groups should be by that point. He conceded that she was larger than an average woman. It was also clear that she was comfortable on a horse, though she was holding herself strangely.

Clearly having the same thoughts the man beside him started: "Sargent, does it look to you like…"

"Do you think she's injured?" Dom asked at the same time.

"Well, at least the fight will be easier."

Dom nodded and deemed that they had about a minute until the groups in the woods would pull out onto the road, he urged his horse forward.

Clearly having heard the approaching hoof beats behind her, the woman threw a glance over her shoulder. Dom and his corporal had worn plain breeches and tunics so as not to warn the thief that they were from the Own. For this reason Dom was taken aback when, after one brief glance the rider urged her horse into a gallop. Dom and his corporal exchanged glances, and hoping the rest of their squad was close broke into gallops of their own.

The strange way she had been riding seemed accentuated by her quickened pace and he could see that she was unable to feel the rhythm of the horse. Noting the gleam of metal in the woods he was happy to see that the rest of the squad had indeed gotten ahead of the lone rider. With that reassurance Dom brought his head down and his back up and raced after the woman. He could feel the wind whistling passed his ears and he narrowed his eyes as they started to water. It was at this moment that the two halves of the squad surged out of the trees and blocked the road ahead of the rider.

The rider, clearly surprised, pulled hard on the reigns and Dom sucked in a breath as the horse reared. When the horse turned and he saw the woman from the side his breath stopped altogether. There was a small child sitting in the front of the saddle. The squad could do nothing but stare and hold their breath as the rider fought to keep herself and the small figure in the saddle.

When the animal's hoofs finally hit the ground Dom was already beside the thief, he wasn't going to have her making a dash for the woods. He looked up to tell her just that and felt like he had been punched in the gut. All the air left his body in a rush, leaving him empty and aching. His heart hadn't just stopped, it had shattered into a million pieces and the splinters were lodged in both his gut and throat at the same time. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but couldn't.

"Dom"

Dom just stared, the word ringing in his ears and yet not making any sense in his brain.

"Sargent, should we follow protocol and…" the corporal's words trailed off as he too recognized the thief's face. "Lady Knight Keladry?" It was both a whisper and a question.

"Yes." Kel took a deep breath, "Soldiers, this is Princess Jessamine, we need to take her back to Corus." Her voice was full of steal and brought with it the instant action she could always rely on.

"Our spare mounts are all behind us." Someone offered.

"That's fine. We'll turn back, get them and then continue on." With that Kel turned her horse and with a quick glance at Dom the other seven men followed suit. Just one look at Dom had told them he was in no shape to contradict her orders.

Dom turned his horse numbly and followed the rest of the group. Kel would make eye contact with no one, Dom's brain had turned to mush and everyone else was trying to do the mathematics. The lady knight had been gone for about five months, a period of time made painfully obvious to them by their leader's despair over it. The Princess Jessamine was prince Jasson the Second's daughter and had been missing for about the same amount of time. However to everyone's knowledge they hadn't disappeared together. Had the knight been sent after the princess? In that case, why had everyone thought they were both dead?

Dom just sat and stared at the back of Kel's head. She was back, she was back, she wasn't dead, she was alive. The thoughts swirled through his brain so fast he couldn't catch hold of anyone of them at a time. He noted the familiar width of her shoulders, the color of her hair, now a little longer than it had ever been, and the new scar that ran along the side of her head.

She was alive. Alive

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