Ten Years Later

(Zahara's POV)

It had been ten years since I had been in the desert, and now I was back. I wasn't the girl I was when I left. That girl had remained behind her veil, wishing she could someday fight in battle, like my brothers did, like my father had before he died. That girl knew nothing about weaponry or strategy or war tactics. Now, I was a woman.

I have been a fully-trained member of the Queen's Riders for eight years. I hadn't worn a veil in a little over nine years. I was now an expert in tactics and strategy, and could use a crossbow, long bow, sword, mace, axe, and knife. I was second-in-command to my group's commander, Miri Larse. Miri and I are close friends, and she had informed me that when she eventually retires, she plans to name me as her successor to Queen Thayet, wife of the Voice of the Tribes. I have spent the past six years married, and we had two beautiful children; 5-year old Jamar, and 3-year old Yadira.

I smiled down at Yadira, who I was sharing my saddle with. She had fallen asleep a little while ago, and was resting against my stomach, which unknown to anyone in this group except me, had a child growing inside it. I was only about a month or two along. I gently stroked Yadira's hair, and brushed a few strands out of her face. I looked back at my husband, Calum, who had Jamar in his saddle, and smiled. Jamar was wide awake, and looking around, pointing to every rock and oasis we passed.

(Calum's POV)

I saw my beautiful wife, Zahara, smile back at me. I returned her smile. Despite the way she was acting, I knew she was nervous. We'd be arriving at the Sandrunners tribe any time now, and that meant we'd be seeing her mother soon enough. Zahara could face a bandit prepared to cut her to shreds, a spidren, a hurrok, any other immortal, pirates, or an enemy country's army and not bat an eye. But her mother frightened her witless. I knew it from how she talks about her mother. She is afraid her mother won't be proud of what she has accomplished in the past ten years. I had told her no mother could hear everything she'd done, and not be proud. For Zahara's sake, I hoped I was right. Especially since Zahara would be hearing some news I could no longer protect her from.

We were going to the desert to be at the wedding of Zahara's youngest sister, Yasmin, who had recently celebrated her twentieth birthday.

"Dad, look!" Jamar said, bouncing in the saddle, and pointing. "Look! Look! Look!"

I sighed. "Yes, Jamar," I replied. "I can see the oasis. Now if you don't settle down, I am going to have to get rope and tie you down. I don't want you falling out of the saddle again. That will make your mother most unhappy with me."

"We'll be at the tribe in about another ten miles." I heard my brother-in-law, Shakil, call from the front of the group, where he and his wife, Carly, were riding.

(Kirsten's POV)

Ten more miles. I thought. Ten more miles until we get blankets, pillows, and real food. Rations are fine, but they get a little boring after awhile.

I glanced over my shoulder at my husband, Nicholas. He wasn't looking at me or the road. Instead, his eyes were fixed on our three daughters; Alanna, Alison, and Ilane. They were each proudly riding their ponies, which had been a birthday gift for them a few months ago when they turned nine. He had our six-year old son, Jonathan, in his saddle. We planned to begin teaching him how to ride during this trip. I had our three-year old son, Domitan, in my saddle. Domitan was sound asleep. Jonathan was complaining about having to sit in a saddle…loudly.

(Nicholas' POV)

"But, dad! Why can't I ride my own pony like Alanna, Alison, and Ilane! Why do I have to sit in a saddle like a baby like Domitan! I'm not a baby!"

"If you're not a baby, stop whining like one, Jonathan." I said. "You don't know how to ride, your sisters do."

"It's not my fault you and mom haven't taught me." Jon sulked.

"Jonathan, stop it." I heard my wife, Kirsten, snap. "You daddy and I were going to teach you during our time at the tribe, but if you keep complaining about not being allowed to ride, we won't....and we'll tell Grandma Keladry that you were being naughty."

"But I promised Grandma Keladry I'd be good and she said she'd buy me a treat if I kept my promise!"

"Then I suggest you stop acting like this." I said before Kirsten could respond. "Because we will tell Grandma Keladry, and she'll be very disappointed in you."

"I'm sorry, daddy, I'll be quiet."

"Good."

"Jonathan, don't lie to Uncle Nick. You can't go a whole ten miles without talking." I heard my niece, Kaitlyn, said. She had slowed down her horse, and was now riding next to me and Jon. "And by 'talk' I mean whine or cry just like a little baby."

"I do not cry!" Jonathan yelled.

"See? You couldn't even go one minute without making noise."

(Kaiya's POV)

"Kaitlyn..." I warned my ten-year old daughter as I turned around in my saddle.

"What?"

"Come and ride with me, and leave your cousin alone."

"But, mama!"

"Now!"

"But why?"

"Because I am your mother, I told you to, and if you don't get over her by the count of three, the back of your head is going to get a reunion with my shukusen."

"Kaitlyn in trouble!" my six-year old daughter, Eva, said, pointing at her sister.

"Shut up, Eva." Kaitlyn said as she rode. "Mama, was the shukusen threat really necessary? I didn't do anything."

"Eva, don't point at your sister and tease her. It is rude, and I'll use my shukusen on you too." I turned to Kaitlyn. "As for you, young lady, you were upsetting your cousin, that is what you did...and yes, the threat with my shukusen was necessary."

I saw one of my triplets, one of Kaitlyn's triplet sisters, ride over, and tug on her arm, hard. Kaitlyn was pulled a little in that direction. "Katherine!"

(Caden's POV)

"Katherine!" I scolded my ten-year old daughter as she attempted to pull her sister, Kaitlyn from her saddle.

"Dad, don't worry. I wouldn't have let her fall."

"I don't care, you don't even joke about something like that! One more stunt like that, and I'll tether your horse to mine, and you'll ride the rest of the way to the tribe and the whole ride home like that."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "No, you won't."
I glared at her. "Try me."

"Dad, she wasn't going to let anything happen to me." Kaitlyn said. "If I had wanted to, I could have kept her from moving me at all."

"I know. You, Keladry, and Kaitlyn are as close as your Aunt Kirsten, Aunt Carly, and mother are." I said. "But it's not funny. If you had been distracted, she could have pulled you from the saddle without meaning to."

(Carly's POV)

"Shakil, I think I see the top of the tents to the tribe." I said, lowering my spyglass. I saw my husband, Shakil, nod. "That's the top of the tents."

"So what? About another five minutes?"

"Not even that long." Shakil said. "Unless of course, hill men attack and we need to be rescued like a certain lady knight I know and love."

I stuck my tongue out at Shakil. A little over ten years ago, I had fought with my sisters, and had come out to the Sandrunners' tribe alone. At the point we were at now, I had been attacked by a group of hill men. Shakil and his brother ended up fighting them with me, and lead me safely into the tribe.

I turned to look behind me. My sisters, brothers-in-law, and sister-in-law were watching their kids as well as the four boys-10-year old Ayman, Arash, and Aaron, and 4-year old Raoul-that belonged to Shakil and me.

Ayman, Arash, and Aaron were each riding their own mount. Raoul was in my arms, asleep. I gently shook him awake. "We are almost at the tribe, Raoul." I told him.

"We are there." Shakil said. "I see two riders coming out to meet us."

(Shakil's POV)

I smiled to be back at the Sandrunners tribe. I loved the north and I loved working for the Own, but there was a part of me that would always belong to the desert. I looked forward to seeing my brother, Jamar, who had been made Headman according to word from the Voice.

I glanced back where my sister, Zahara, was. Calum told me he had told Zahara about the news of our mother, but I was a little skeptical. She hadn't ever seemed upset. She and mother didn't get along great, but she would have to be cold-hearted and cruel to not be upset over the news. Even Carly had been genuinely thrown off about the news, and she and mother hated each other.

As the two riders from the tribe approached us, I noticed one was my brother, Jamar. The other looked familiar, but I couldn't place a name to the face.

"Hello, Jamar." I said as my brother and the other Rider stopped their horses in front of Carly's and my horses

"It's been too long since you and Zahara came home, Shakil." Jamar said as the two of us briefly gave the other one a brotherly hug.

"You know Zahara and I make our home in the North, now." I said.

"Well, it is nice to have you here anyway. Welcome. Welcome all of you." Jamar raised his voice so everyone could hear him. He smiled at the sixteen children between Carly and I and Nicholas, Caden, Kirsten, Kaiya, Zahara, and Calum. "Let's get inside the walls of the tribe.

"How is mother?" I asked quietly as we rode in. I noticed Carly listening closely.

Jamar avoided my gaze. "See for yourself in a few minutes. She is asking to see all of you."

"What do you mean all of us?" Shakil asked. "All twenty-four of us?"

Jamar shook his head. "You, Zahara, Carly, Calum, and all of her grandchildren. Amani, Arash, and Yadira are already with her. So are their families and Yasmin's future husband."

I walked into the tent set aside for Zahara, Calum, Jamar, and Yadira. "Mother wants to see us." I said quietly. Carly, Ayman, Arash, Aaron, and Raoul were outside the tent.

"Shakil? Is something wrong?" Zahara asked.

I glared at Calum. Now I knew he hadn't told her about our mother. He shrugged while having an apologetic look on his face.

"What is it? What is wrong?" Zahara asked, looking back and forth between me and Calum.

"Just...come on." I said. I turned, and left the tent. Calum, Zahara, Jamar, and Yadira came out after me.

(No one's POV)

Shakil, Carly, Zahara, Calum, Ayman, Arash, Aaron, Raoul, Jamar, and Yadira walked into the tent that was reserved for the parents of the Headman, if they were still alive. The Head shaman was hovering over Shakil and Zahara's mother, Yadira.

"What's going on?" Zahara asked, tears already filling up her eyes. "Mother, why didn't you come and greet us yourself? Why are you in bed? Jamar, why is the shaman here?"

"Come over here, Zahara." Yadira's voice was little more than a whisper. Zahara and Shakil both raced to the edge of the bed.

"Zahara. My darling daughter." Yadira reached up and stroked Zahara's hair with a shaking hand. "My daughter, I am dying."

"What?" Zahara asked. "No...no, you can't be dying."

"I am." Yadira said. "I have been dying for a little over a year."

"A year?" Zahara asked. She turned to glare at Shakil. "Why don't you seem so surprised?"

"Calum was supposed to tell you."

"Why didn't you?" she turned to glare at her husband.

"I didn't know how to break the news to you." Calum said. "I am sorry, Zahara. This is not the way I wanted you to find out."

"Zahara, don't cry." Yadira said. "You know I have missed your father terribly. Now I can be with him again." Yadira looked at Jamar and Shakil. "Help me sit up. I want a good look at my grandchildren that I haven't met yet."

Shakil and Jamar carefully helped her sit up. Shakil walked back over to where Carly, Calum, and the kids were. "These four belong to Carly and me." he said. "The three older ones are our triplets; Ayman, Arash, and Aaron. This little one is Raoul." Shakil nudged the triplets to walk up and meet their grandmother. She cupped each of their faces in trembling hands. "You are so lucky to have such a strong father, and a strong mother. Mind them and what they say."

The boys nodded, then backed away. Carly came forward with Raoul. "Raoul, meet your grandma Yadira."

"Is she the one you called-" Carly quickly covered her son's mouth.

"Raoul, sweetie, there are some things better left unrepeated." Carly said.

Yadira smiled at Carly. "I am sure I was all of those things you said about me. I wasn't the most open-minded or understanding woman of the tribe."

Carly looked at Yadira. "I wasn't exactly polite to you, either, Mistress Yadira."

"I am sorry about calling you a demon." Yadira said. "I was wrong."

"It's alright." Carly said.

"And Zahara-" Yadira said.

"Yes, mother?"

"Jamar told me about everything your brother wrote in his letters. You have turned into an amazing warrior. Your father would be very proud of you."

"Thank you, mother." Zahara said.

"And I am also very proud of you. I am the luckiest woman in the tribe, not because my son is headman, but because I have you for a daughter."

Zahara's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, mother. You have no idea how much those words mean to me."

Yadira wiped the tears from Zahara's eyes, and everyone saw she was also crying.

"You don't know how proud of you I am." Yadira said. "Shakil."

"Yes?"

"You have done a great job of taking care of Zahara. Continue to do so. Also, guard your wife and my grandchildren."

"Yes, mother." Shakil said, kissing Yadira's forehead.

"I am proud of both you and Zahara, Shakil." Yadira said. "I am proud of the warriors you have become, and I am proud of the people you have married." Yadira looked around at all six of her children, who were on either side of her bed. "After Shakil and Zahara left." she said as she looked each of her children in the eyes. "I never thought I would live to see the day we were together as a family again. I am proud of all of you. And I am so happy that I got to meet all of my grandchildren." Yadira was fighting to keep her eyes open. "I am tired, and I need my sleep. I'll see all of you when I wake up."

"Sleep well, mother." all the kids said, and slowly left, until all that was left in the tent was a sleeping Yadira and the shaman.

"I have a lot I need to tell your mother when she wakes up." Carly said. "The way I use to treat her was wrong."

Shakil kissed her deeply. "You can apologize when she wakes up."

But Yadira never did wake up. About an hour later, the shaman came to Jamar, who then went to his family. Yadira had died in her sleep.

Author's Note 1: Sort of sad, I know. But some people had wanted something on what happened after Trouble's End, and I felt like having Carly and Mistress Yadira make amends.

Author's Note 2: I want to turn this into a series of drabbles, but I have no idea of what to do. So, if there is anything you want in the series, then let me know. If you want an OC in the story, give me a name and description for the OC (please include info such as male/female, hair color, eye color, plus anything else you want me to know) IF I GET NO IDEAS, THIS WILL REMAIN AS A ONE-SHOT!

So? What do you people think?