Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: The wrath of Dame Sepphora was made all the more fearsome by her zeal to protect the innocents.

A/N: This is part of my A Light in the Darkness universe and contains the details of what happened when Kat (here referred to by her chivalric title of Dame Sepphora for the most part) was in Redhaven before she returned to Narnia in Don't Judge a Book, which was mentioned but not fully detailed. However, this story can be read without reading Don't Judge a Book first (you'll probably want to read it after this one, though).

Additional story warning: This story is rated a high 'T' and is very dark, particularly in the first few chapters.

Zeal to Protect: A File from the Desk of General Oreius

Part Two

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"Are you certain this is…legal?"

Dame Sepphora did not bother to turn her attention away from the task of sharpening the blades of her twin knives and the cold assuredness in her tone when she answered Lieutenant Lonn seemed almost as deadly, "It is."

Lieutenant Lonn looked to me for help. I wasn't as well-versed in the laws regarding Dame Sepphora's rights when she acted as ambassador but, according to the Faun Lieutenant (whose uncle is one of the counselors to the Four), the solution Dame Sepphora intended to enact was not the sort of response the Four and their council would expect. Still… Still, the hopeless eyes of those young ones haunted me and I supported Dame Sepphora's solution. However, I felt it my duty also to ensure that Dame Sepphora was not rushing into something unwise. "Dame Sepphora, should we not also alert Cair Paravel to the situation here and learn what it is the Four wish us to do?"

Dame Sepphora looked over her shoulder at us as she tested the edge of each knife. "There is no time, Alaois. You and Lonn do not seem to understand how these cowards will act should they learn we are preparing to move against them or even just investigate them. They will not stand and fight. They prefer the shadows wherein they might hide their crimes or at least feel they are not exposed. Tradition may dictate that we alert Cair Paravel but there isn't time. Those children don't have the luxury of waiting for us to hear back. These vile excuses for men will not simply flee and set up shop elsewhere. They will take some of the children with them, the most profitable ones, but the others…they will see the children left behind will die painfully so that they cannot be used to discover the identities of the clients or those sharing in Fyren's business. I will not endanger those children by waiting around just so I might keep in line with tradition."

Lieutenant Lonn frowned. "But, Dame Sepphora, surely the fact that you took Alaois to be the second witness has alerted them. I do not see how a gathering of Sons of Adams could have overlooked the presence of any Narnian, much less a Satyr."

"They were too busy indulging in their vile debauchery to take notice of us and we did not stay long enough for anyone to notice him. Still, that is the other reason we need to move swiftly. However, since I have forbidden Governor Harbrace from moving against the locals he named until the same time as our raid that should keep us from encountering any unfortunate leaks of information."

Lieutenant Lonn nodded. "As you say, Dame Sepphora."

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We kept to our own company that day, waiting and preparing as best we could for the raid. Dame Sepphora closeted herself away in the quarters given her during the evening and did not emerge until midnight neared. As the city's bells rang out twelve times to mark the midnight hour, Dame Sepphora gathered the soldiers. Her manner was grim and more serious than many of us were accustomed to seeing as she addressed us, "As Lieutenants Lonn and Alaois have already told you, we are conducting a raid in an hour. Our priorities are simple and straightforward. We are to rescue the children being held in this mockery of an orphanage and we are to capture Fyren and as many of his associates and customers as possible. However, I want everyone to understand that your foremost priority is to rescue those children. If you must choose between saving a child and pursuing one of the guilty parties, save the child."

A low rumble of agreement and determination answered her words. Dame Sepphora scanned each of our faces. Hers was the gaze of a warrior filled with the zeal to protect those weaker, those in desperate need of protection, and she stirred the same zeal in each of us. "There is one more thing I want each of you to keep in mind." Her tone made it clear that she would brook no argument from any of us as she continued, "I want you to capture the vile merchants of suffering. Do not kill them if you can keep from it. I want them to taste the full weight that shall come down on them as justice is done. Understood? Good. All right, everyone go to your assigned positions and await the sounding of the bell that marks first hour."

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We waited in the shadows, watching the house that once again had its windows emblazoned with candles. I was one of the two soldiers Dame Sepphora chose to form her group of three and the rest of our soldiers had been strategically positioned so we could surround the house. I watched a group of Calormene leave just as another group of well-dressed men entered the house. The bells in the city rang out a single toll.

Closing in on the house, I could hear the same sounds of cruel laughter mingling with helpless cries. Six soldiers entered the house ahead of us. Laughter changed to cries of alarm. Then we entered.

The place was in chaos. Some of the men tried to fight, but many others were attempting to flee. Others still were depraved enough that ignored us and continued on with the abuse they were inflicting on their victims…at least until claw or blade made it clear that they were no longer to be tolerated. Children were screaming as they either cowered in corners or behind the furniture that had been overturned. Other little ones were not so fortunate and were trampled beneath the feet of the men attempting to flee capture.

I heard other soldiers shouting orders for the men to stop and surrender. Dame Sepphora and I cornered two men, one Calormene and the other was Terebinthian. Behind the men was a young girl who looked barely old enough to be away from her mother and a slightly older boy. The boy pulled the girl back, covering her with a blanket as she trembled and silent tears ran down her dirty cheeks, while his dark gaze darted away from us to the room obviously looking for an escape. The Calormene puffed up his chest and leered at Dame Sepphora. "O maiden of fire and steel, have you come to warm my bed too? Has Tash granted me such favor?"

Dame Sepphora stared at him with a cold fury. "Those who harm innocents receive only one thing from me."

The Calormene's leering grin widened as he sneered, "They are not innocent anymore. But I wonder, O Fiercest of Ladies, are you?"

The movement was swift enough that I nearly missed it as Dame Sepphora unsheathed one of her knives, flipped it around, and then slammed the hilt against the Calormene's head. He crumpled to the ground. The Terebinthian lunged forward only to stop when I placed my kopesh underneath his chin. His meaty hands were shaking as he reached for his moneybag. "How much do you want? I will pay you to release me."

I glared at him and pressed my kopesh closer to his throat. "You will be prosecuted."

The Teribinithian laughed. "You cannot be serious! I am Faron, friend to Tarkaan Afzal! You will pay for assaulting us!"

Dame Sepphora nodded to me. I stepped back. She hammered his jaw with three rapid blows, knocking him to the ground. As chaos continued to reign around us, Dame Sepphora turned back to the children. Her expression softened as she addressed them, "Can you tell me where Fyren is?"

The boy opened his mouth and horror filled me as I realized his tongue had been cut out. Then he pointed to the back of the foul place. Dame Sepphora nodded, "I will not let him get away." The boy led the little girl toward the door at a rapid pace, but Dame Sepphora arranged for some of our soldiers to hang back and intercept the children who fled, conducting them to safety.

She headed for the back, but I went up the stairs. It was even more chaotic upstairs. I could hear little ones screaming in pain and fear. Men were cursing and bribes were being offered (and ignored) while a number of indignant shouts alerted us to the presence of Tarkaans Fawzi, Rais, and Siavash. Miriel came up from behind me and tackled a richly dressed merchant. The child he'd been abusing scrambled away from me, raising thin and bruised arms to shield her face. I nodded to Miriel and the Lynx snarled at the merchant until he went down the stairs, cursing us all as he reached the Narnians waiting to take him into custody. Turning back to the child, I knelt, attempting to make myself seem less threatening, and held my hands out where she could see them. "Do not be afraid, little one. We've come to make you safe. No one else will hurt you. You have my word."

The child was very young but the haunted look in her eyes made her seem much older. Dame Sepphora had coached us all on what we should do when trying to help the little ones trapped here, so I did not move. I was a Satyr and looked nothing like the Sons of Adam, but as the child cowered back against the head of the filthy mattress staring at me with terror-filled eyes, I wondered if perhaps I seemed too foreign to be of comfort to her. My only option was to attempt to ease her fears by speaking to her as I would my own daughter and nieces. "Peace, little one, peace. No one else will hurt you. I promise, little one. You are safe. I will not allow anyone to harm you again. I promise you do not have to be afraid anymore. There is no need to fear the shadows anymore. I will keep you safe."

The child trembled and then she lunged at me, her too-thin arms wrapping around my neck, as she desperately whispered, "I want my Momma! I want my Momma! I wanna go home! I want my Momma!"

Cradling the little one carefully, attempting to keep from stirring any memories of her recent horrific experiences, I picked her up. "We will find out where she is, young one, I promise. What is your name?"

She sniffled and clung to me, her hands fisting in my fur, before a soft whisper answered, "Rosaleen."

"All right, Rosaleen, I shall take you out of this place."

As I carried her down to the main floor, Rosaleen pressed her face against the crook of my neck, whimpering quietly, as one of the men roared a curse then shouted as he was being forced out the door, "You cannot arrest me! I am the son of Lord Ardeth!"

Another commotion caught my attention and I stopped, ready to defend little Rosaleen. A man whose sneering expression warped his thin face into a snarl was holding another child hostage. A curved knife dug into the young one's flesh, causing blood to trickle down her slim throat. "Back, you demon maggots! Back or I'll slit the brat from ear to ear!" The soldiers who had been surrounding him stepped back when he dug the knife in harder.

Then Dame Sepphora snuck up behind him and twisted the knife away as she pressed her own blade into the soft flesh underneath his chin. "Release her, Fyren."

Even from where I stood, I could see the fear flicker across his face before he sneered even as he released the child who fled like a startled fawn. "Kill me then."

Dame Sepphora's tone was cold and full of menace as she answered, "That's what you'd like, isn't it? Oh no, Fyren, I'm going to make sure everyone knows just what kind of monster you are before you die." She shoved him to the waiting hands of a Faun and Satyr. "Make sure he can't get free then take him and the rest of the prisoners to the dungeons under the governor's palace."

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.

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