See Prologue for Disclaimer and Author Notes

Note: I realized recently that I had placed Corsa in Adolind Province, instead of L'Petrie. That is now corrected. You have my most sincere apologies for the error.

Chapter 1

With the Captain in administrative meetings throughout the day, and Mara still on light duty, it had fallen to Karigan, once again, to advise the King. Despite the conflict in her heart, she rejoiced at the sight of him. Yet, something in this day had her uneasy – indeed, she'd felt it for the past several days – and it had nothing to do with the fact that the man she loved belonged to another.

Having found the Captain distant and knowing the King to be forever beyond her reach, she kept her own counsel for the moment, though should this shadow linger any longer, she would tell someone.

A commotion at the back of the Hall drew her attention away from her thoughts and the petitioner standing before the King. Astonished, she watched a boy – no more than five – swiftly and with great agility wind his way through the crowd, heading in the direction of the dais. Slipping easily past grasping hands, between legs and over feet, he wasn't letting anything stop him. The same could not be said of the two older children – neither over eighteen – that had been detained by Weapons at the entrance.

"Noah."

Kari could see that her whisper caught the King by surprise. She hadn't even realized that she'd said anything until his head turned in her direction. In an instant, she was off the dais and in the midst of the crowd.

"Noah." This one was louder, and her little cousin's head turned toward her just before he uttered a desperate, forlorn cry and threw himself into her open arms Kari saw only a glimpse of his bruised face and haunted eyes before he buried his head into her shoulder and sobbed.

"Karigan?" The King's voice was soft, and she realized with a start that he had stepped off the dais as well, and come so close to her that only she could hear the way he said her name. "Who is the little one?"

"Noah, Sire. He's my cousin… and, being here, is quite a few days' journey distant from Corsa. If your Weapons would be so kind as to let his companions come a little closer, I would like to find out what's going on."

King Zachary, in his own curiosity, went one step further than what had been asked of him, and in but a few moments, the Hall was clear of all save the three youths, the gathered Weapons, the King himself, and the Rider who held his heart. In seeing the two older youths, she realized why it was the Weapons had stopped them, why they were even now being viewed as a threat. They had come armed.

"Aidan, Lise… this is not how I thought I'd be seeing you. I want to know what's happened to bring you here, but first, the Black Shields would appreciate it if you surrendered your weapons." Karigan smiled at them, happy to see them, despite her fear of the news they may carry.

Aidan, the elder of the siblings, was the one to answer Kari. "Ours we have given without question, Chieftain. The one they wish now is not ours to surrender, but yours." He tried to raise his arms and offer her the wrapped bundle in them – clearly a sword of some sort – but he was halted by a nearby Weapon.

Karigan straightened even more at what those few words told her. She felt something in her break at the title by which she'd been addressed, but she would be damned if she showed any weakness here. She would scream, cry and rage later. Now was not the time.

Karigan looked at Zachary, who motioned the Weapons to step back from the boy, allowing Karigan to move closer to him. Stepping up to her childhood friend, the Rider reached out a hand to undo the ties holding the wrapping closed. For the first time since the start of the commotion that had drawn her attention, Karigan took a close look at the weapon Aidan had kept, even under threat of the Black Shield blades. It had never been belted to him; the one that had been his was currently in Weapon hands. She let her eyes travel down the great sword, still in its sheath, and when her eyes lit on the hilt, the force of the memories that hit her nearly took her to her knees. In truth, only the thought of the child in her arms prevented it.

"It seems there were many things my Father didn't tell me… more than I could have imagined. Sire, what I must do now may seem strange, but I ask your indulgence in this. I promise you, it is important." Her eyes met his in silent affirmation of that promise. A simple nod was his only answer.

"We will need Arms Master Drent for this… likely Fastion and Captain Mapstone, and possibly Mara. I don't know. These two," and she nodded at Aiden and Lise, "are threat to neither King nor Country. You may let them go. As for the sword, it could do no harm in their hands. Neither of them would be able to draw it."

Karigan, torn between holding Noah even tighter and reaching for the sword before her, chose to follow neither path, and instead asked Aidan and Lise for a few details. The King, meanwhile, had had the foresight to call for a table, chairs and food.

"What happened?"

Again, Aidan was the one to answer, though he looked nearly at the end of his endurance. "We were attacked… the reason for it escapes me. The Chieftain received word from a member of the Watch that a great host of armed men approached… and it was quite clear they were not there for the Festival. Chief Stevic asked for more details, and heard something that let him know this was no show. I don't know all of the tale, only that a half-hour after he had heard, he had my father gather all of the children, and told the oldest of us that it was our task to take the little ones to Lord L'Petrie. To Lise and myself, he gave a second task. Get this sword to you. 'Get the children to L'Petrie,' he said. 'Once you've done that, take the two swiftest horses of the ones I'm giving you now, and take the sword to your Lady. Ride fast, and don't look back.'"

When he paused, Lise continued, neither youth noticing when Drent entered the Hall and chose to listen several steps from the table, the Captain entering only a few steps behind him. She caught the gist of the story quickly, and Karigan noticed her consulting her gift frequently. "We didn't want to go," Lise said, struggling to find the right words. Like Aidan, clearly she had gone as far as her body could take her… and then she had pushed herself beyond it.

"We argued with him. We had been trained by our father and were more than old enough to fight for the Clan he'd chosen. We wanted to stay. It was our father who stopped this disagreement. Speaking quietly, he told us that we were not to argue with our Chieftain in this, that those who were coming would take no pity on children. He asked us if we wished to leave the Clan's children defenseless. When we said no, he told us that we must then take the children away from the fight, and that if we stayed, none could be trusted to see the children safe. That's how I knew. Our father – both of our fathers, Lady – did not think the chance of survival to be high. We left with the children, but when we were heading away, we disobeyed our Chieftain's order. We looked back. Looked back and saw our father defending our Chief… looked back, and saw them both fall."

Zachary's PoV

Zachary saw Karigan's face pale, and fought the urge to hold her as tightly as she was holding her little cousin. The little one had refused to be parted from her, and it was something of a maneuver for her to eat her dinner… yet, she'd never rebuked the child, or forcibly separated herself from him. Hearing the confirmation of her father's death seemed to make her as unwilling to be apart from Noah as Noah was to be apart from her.

While they had eaten, the strange sword had not remained unguarded. In fact, the sword-belt was set about the back of Aidan's chair. The only logical place, Zachary thought, as Aidan takes his task seriously, and Karigan seems reluctant to touch it as of yet. Or rather, she prefers to entrust the sword to Aidan and hold her cousin to herself.

"Please, continue if you feel able," Zachary said, upon noting that Lise had fallen silent and Aidan had yet to resume the tale. He was careful to keep his voice patient, though that was the last word which could describe him at present. Concerned would work, as would furious, and he felt an almost blinding need to discover the identities of the attackers. A deliberate attack on one of his Clans, on his people, would not go unpunished. He would have felt the same rage regardless of who had been attacked… that Karigan suffered as a result of it only made it hurt more.

He had seen Drent and Laren enter, and noted that though both listened intently to the conversation, the Arms Master's eyes were focused on the sword… almost as though he recognized it. As tempted as he was to make Drent tell all he knew, that would have to come later. These two members of Karigan's Clan – whatever was left of it – would have to tell as much of the tale as they could tonight, and while he had no wish to make it an order to the exhausted youths, he would do whatever he must to coax it from them.

"There's not much more to the tale, Sire," Aidan said as he took up the story again. "We took the children through the woods, finding shelter in the trees. There were times when I could almost swear we were being watched by someone… guarded, but I could see nothing. No one disturbed us, and we could discern no one following. We made it to Lord L'Petrie's estates, and he showed no hesitation in welcoming the children. We made quick work of getting them as settled as possible in the situation, and Lord L'Petrie offered us fresh horses and provisions for the journey here. Our intention was to have Noah stay with the rest of the children, but that notion didn't suit him. That one said that if we did not take him with us, he would find a horse of his own and follow. If any five-year-old could do it, it would be this one."

"Somial asked… nicely." The little voice caught the King by surprise; he'd thought the child was asleep.

"Noah?" Karigan's curious tone asked the boy for more of his own story, gentle and coaxing, giving no hint – as Zachary had given none, earlier – of her impatience.

"Somial and his ten, tien, tiendan – that's it – watched over us. Said there weren't enough of them to stop the traitors, but they could help us escape. Somial stuck close to me when no one was lookin' and told me to give this to you." His hand held out a small leather bag, and Karigan showed no hesitation in opening it. She trusts Somial, Zachary thought. And she has been given reason.

Peering into the bag, a brief hint of a genuine smile lifted the corner of her mouth, and from the bag, she poured into her hand a wealth of moonstones. This, the King knew, was a precious and unprecedented gift. Karigan had mentioned that there were stories of mortals being gifted with one moonstone on occasion, but he counted at least five in her hand now, all of them blazing brightly. From the size of the bag, he would wager that there were at least twenty more. A single tear found its way down Karigan's cheek, and despite the audience, he could not stop himself from reaching out to wipe it away. His Rider, as tired and grieving as her companions, apparently lacked either willingness or strength to stop him.

She lifted her head and whispered a thank you before slipping the moonstones back in the bag. He knew without question that wherever she went, she would have them, and couldn't help but feel relieved by that. So long as she had a moonstone, she was never without protection.

The King saw Karigan's eyes move to meet Drent's. Quietly, she invited him to join them, and Zachary's pointed look turned the request into an order, though Drent was not likely to have needed it. Zachary then invited the Captain to a place at the table; it was almost as though Karigan did not see her… or, at least, that Drent's presence was more critical at the moment than Laren's.

"Arms Master Drent," Karigan said, her voice hinting at a history with which Zachary was not familiar. "Some time ago, there was a Weapon serving here by the name of Ryn. While she served, an extra banner flew above this castle, a banner that signified her willing service to Sacoridia and Queen Isen. It's time for that banner to fly again."

"Rider, that banner flies only when one of her line serves… and her line died with her daughter."

"It didn't die, Arms Master, but was merely hidden… even from itself. I say again, fly the banner."

His gaze flicked to the sword, and though the King wasn't certain what he wanted, he could tell that Kari knew. With a troubled look on her face – and one that was slightly resigned – she rose from her chair, setting Noah in her place. Leaving the boy with a kiss to the forehead, she walked around the table until she came to Aidan's chair… and the blade.

Lifting the entire swordbelt from his chair, Karigan drew the weapon to her, letting her fingers trace over the odd markings on the sheath. Pressing an almost-reverent kiss on the hilt, she wrapped her hand about it, and drew the sword. The motion was smooth, uninterrupted, and when complete, she brought the blade to rest against her forehead, kissing the base of the blade as she had the hilt.

"Kaedra's Blade is drawn. Kaedra's Blade is bonded. As the Blade's wielder, I call for the Sacor Three. If ever there was a time their light was needed to battle the darkness, that time is now. Fly the banner, Drent. You remember the order." Karigan's voice was an echo of another's, the words not quite her own, but Zachary, looking at her eyes, knew that she had taken them as her own. There was no hint of Shawdell's menace in that echo, as there had been when Amilton stood last in this Hall.

Her words were followed by the distinctive sound of several blades being drawn from their sheaths, and Zachary glanced about the room, prepared to halt his Weapons from attacking a Rider they now viewed as a threat… only to be treated to a sight he had never seen. All of the Weapons had stepped from the shadows and drawn their blades, as he'd expected… but the blades were not raised in aggressive fashion. They were raised in salute. The look of utter shock on Mapstone's face – a sight nearly as unfamiliar – testified to the fact that she, also, had never seen Weapons behave in such a manner.

"I do," Drent said, verifying the order of the banners. "Sacoridia, then Hillander… then Deisaria."

"No, Drent. Sacoridia, Hillander, Coutre, then Deisaria."

"But…"

"Sacoridia first, Drent."

At this point, Zachary wanted little more than an explanation from his Rider… but he wanted it without the benefit – or hindrance – of an audience. At a nod from him, Drent left the room, and one by one the Weapons sheathed their blades again, Karigan following suit shortly thereafter. With a word, Zachary called a servant to direct Aidan and Lise to their rooms, and Karigan had convinced Noah to sleep in her own room, where he would find some comfort among her things.

Alone, save for the remaining Weapons and his unusually silent Rider Captain, Zachary turned to Karigan to request an explanation.