NEW BEGINNINGS.
Twelve years ago, Kel was taken prisoner by Scanrans. Now she returns, escaping her prison with her eleven year old Son Wyl, who happens to be the Prince of Scanra and King Maggur's son.
CHAPTER ONE - Home.
Steadfast, Tortall.
Dom stared out over the battlements, his eyes gazing out over the land that stretched out before him. His gaze was unfocused, his mind lost in thought as he found himself thinking of his long lost friend.
Kel.
She was the bravest woman - warrior - he knew, as long as he'd known her he'd never seen her baulk at anything, she had never showed her fear; had always put the safety of others before her own.
Now, after twelve years, he didn't know what to think; he had been sure that Kel would find some way to escape, everyone had, but time had passed by and no sign, no word of her reached them.
No one knew if she was alive or dead, he refused to believe the possibility of her death; she was too strong, too determined, too stubborn to give in and die. He knew that, where ever she was, Kel was alive; the only problem was, no one knew where that was.
Sighing he shook his head, he couldn't count the number of times his thoughts drifted to thinking of her; if he ever heard a whisper of news, a single lead on where she might be, he'd be there as fast as he could. The was what was the most frustrating, in twelve years, there had been nothing, no news of any form; not even news of her death.
What made it worse for him, was that he'd been there when she was take; they had been scouting around New Hope, the scanrans had come out of nowhere. He and Kel had been separated, he hadn't been able to help her; it was her they had been after, only a few of the eight had fought him, the rest had focused on Kel.
Within moments, they had had her cornered; while she had been fighting three of them, one had sneaked up behind her. Before he could yell a warning, Kel had been hit over the head; he'd watched as she had been dragged from Peachblossom's saddle, the big war horse had tried to stop them, attacking, rearing at them.
A huge scanran soldier had struck the gelding repeatedly with a length of rope they were using to tie Kel, Peachblossom had run.
They scanrans fighting him had waited until Kel had been taken out of sight before falling back, Dom had tried to follow; but his wounds were too severe, he'd barely been conscious when he'd stumbled into New Hope.
"It wasn't your fault."
Jumping Dom spun at Merric's voice, shaking his head he sighed. "I should have done something," he should have done anything to help her.
"We tried Dom," Merric shook his head, "we searched for weeks. Had groups go into Scanra for months after, we did our best."
"It wasn't enough!" Snarling Dom scowled, "she was our friend, and we gave up, we failed her!" That was the hard truth, no one had wanted to stop the search; but after weeks of searching and finding nothing, they had been forced to stop. They hadn't had the resources to continue, or the men. Even though they had done all they could, they had failed; he had failed her, and that was what hurt the most.
xxx
Kel was exhausted, after four days carrying them both, Peachblossom's strength had waned; he was fne carrying Wyl, but he could only carry her as well for short distances.
She was on foot, her hand dug in his mane as she led him towards home. She knew they were close, knew they would cross the border by noon; would be at Steadfast by night fall.
But it seemed too hard, she was weak after twelve years being held prisoner; she simply didn't have the strength she used to, neither did Peachblossom. Her faithful mount was skinny, his ribs showing dramatically along his sides; the years hadn't been easy on him either, he had scars from fights with other horses, scars from swords or arrows that hadn't been there the last time she had seen him.
But none of that mattered, no matter how hard it was; she had to go on.
"Mama, maybe you should ride a bit." Wyl reached over and squeezed her arm, "you need a break."
What could she say, he was right; her legs were weak and searing with pain with every step, her breath was coming in long, shuddering gasps. Pausing she slowly pulled herself onto Peachblossom's back, "just a short break then." She didn't want him dying under them, "just enough to catch my breath."
"Are we close Mama?" Wyl asked, turning his head to face her, "do we have long to go?"
Kel shook her head, "we'll be at Steadfast by night fall." She only hoped the fort was still in use, else wise she didn't know where to look for her friends. Steadfast was closer than New Hope, and with any luck, they would reach it without incident. Closing her eyes Kel let out a soft sigh, after so long, would her friends recognised her? How would they react to Wyl?
"Ma, what is it?"
Kel smiled and shook her head, he was just like her; sometimes he was so like her it scared her. "Nothing, I just don't know what to expect." Running a hand through his hair she smiled, he looked like her; he had her hair, her face, her eyes slanted ever so slightly to make them uniquely his; he looked nothing like his father, that would help make the shock less terrible.
She knew they would blame themselves for her capture, and for anything that as done to her after; the only thing she hoped, was that they wouldn't hate her son.
xxx
She had been the best he'd ever trained, he had been unfair in the beginning, not believing she had what it took to be a knight; but she had that and more, she had thrived on his every challenge, strived to better herself at every opportunity. Keladry of Mindelan had been a true knight.
Lord Wyldon sighed and shook his head, for twelve years he'd stayed posted in Steadfast; almost everyone thought by now he should have retired, but he couldn't. He couldn't leave without knowing whether or not she would return, no one had given up on the hope of her escaping; even after all this time, neither had he.
He had seen Keladry beat unbelievable odds before, had watched her overcome every adversary, the only thing he didn't understand was why she hadn't managed it yet? What was stopping her from escaping her prison?
He was sure if she had been killed, they would have heard of it. But to hear nothing, suggested, to him, that she was alive somewhere; and that whoever had her, was afraid they would find her location and save her.
But if anyone had needed saving less, it was Keladry, she had never needed to be saved from anything; now he wished he'd done more to find her.
xxx
Night was falling.
Soon he'd have to light the torches so he could see, but it could wait a little longer. Dom still stared out, watching for scanran raiders; there had been a lot lately, more than usual, and they came most frequently at night.
Merric stood with him, occasionally breaking the silence for a few minutes of conversation; he wasn't much help, he wasn't in the mood to talk, he always became silent and brooding whenever he thought of Kel.
Peering out towards the road leading to Steadfast he frowned, for a moment he could have sworn he'd seen something, something moving towards them.
Lighting the torch beside him, Dom peered harder into the darkness. "There," he pointed at at moving shadow, "what is it?"
Merric frowned and grabbed the spyglass from his belt, his breath sucked in sharply as he recognised the horse coming towards them; it was too far away to make out the rider, but the horse was unmistakable. "I don't believe it," handing the spyglass to Dom he shook his head. "Is that who I think it is?"
Peering through the spyglass, Dom gaped, it was Peachblossom; Kel mean tempered war horse. Focusing on the rider, he felt his heart thumping in his chest, please. Please be her... He knew it wasn't rational, but part of him hoped, preyed that it could be her.
The rider lifted it's head and Dom saw her face, his eyes went wide, his breath caught in his throat. "K-Kel..." He breathed her name, his voice shaking with joy. "It Kel!"