I don't get a chance to leave for several more nights. I'm reluctant, anyway, to leave Sam and our son. Sons. Or possibly a daughter (and I was rather hoping for the latter). I will be gone for many months, and children grow so fast. I knew that I would miss the birth of our second child. I do not trust that accursed tree, but part of me is excited anyway. For the children alone, it was enough to push me to fulfill Natla's task. And for Sam too, it was all the more urgent. Still, I hope that Conrad does not hate me for leaving.

At least this way I was able to properly prepare my supplies for travel. I was going over the maps again when Sam came in. She looked down at the table, as though she weren't able to meet my eyes. So I reached over and turned her head towards me. "What is it?"

"I don't want you to go, but I can't stop you." We'd already had this argument three times, and I was grateful that Sam seemed to have run out of things to say.

"You can run things just fine without me. I'm a soldier, Sam. A Knight. I was never meant to rule."

She rolled her eyes, but I could see the briefest glimmer of a smile on her lips. "So this is an excuse to play with swords for a few months?"

"Naturally," I told her, lifting her up to sit on the table. I leaned in, pinning her hands to either side of her. This was deathly serious, this thing we joked about, but it helped to ease the tension in my stomach and the fear in Sam's eyes. Gently, I said, "I will return to you, Sam. I promise."

"Crofts always keep their promises," she responded. Her lips found their way to mine, and as always I was drawn into her, unable to resist. Sam tasted so sweet, and I made sure I had my fill of her. Gentle caresses and soft gasps gave way to needy desperation. And my maps? I could always get new maps.

Rain heralded my departure the next morning, a fine mist that made my hair stick to my neck while droplets pinged off of my epautlets. I knelt to hug Conrad, to hold him and remember his warmth. "I love you." I still remembered how I'd last seen my father. He hadn't said a proper good-bye. He hadn't even had time to say he loved me, so I told Conrad that often. "Help Reyes take care of your mother. I'll be back soon and I know you'll make me proud."

I stared into his eyes, so much like my own, then picked him up as I stood. His small arms looped around my neck as I turned towards Sam and Joslin. The blacksmith and her daughter stood near the Queen as I reluctantly transferred Conrad into Sam's waiting arms. "So this is it."

Sam squared her shoulders, and that inner strength she so often hid seemed to cement her to the ground. "Ten months, Lara. I'm giving you ten months then I'm sending someone looking for you. Do you understand?"

"Eighteen. Ten months is too soon, I have to travel very, very far."

Something angry flashed in her eyes, but she relented and nodded her head. I felt ice in my chest, and I knew I couldn't leave it like this. If something happened, I didn't want her last memory of me to be steeped in anger. I stepped close to her. "Sam, when I come back, this will be settled, and we will have the rest of our lives together. I need you to trust in my ability. Trust in me."

She swallowed, her throat bobbing, but she nodded her head. "I love you. I trust you. I'm just scared."

"It's okay to be scared." I take her hand and kiss it. "I'll be back before you know it."

I turned as she said, "I'll keep a candle going for you. So you can find your way home."

"Then I'll have something to look for in the night."

My words haunted me as I traveled West. Two days of constant rain that seemed to follow me, and I wondered if it were some kind of curse from Natla. The only thing I looked forward to just now was a hot meal and a warm bed, in precisely that order. Through the downpour I could see town lights in the distance. The last time I'd been here had been during the invasion, and our desperate flight to keep Sam alive.

The village was locked up tight against the storm, but when I stepped into the tavern it was pretty lively. A pretty, redheaded barmaid smiled at me, and I felt momentary suspicion. But not every barmaid was Natla.

"I'd just like a room, and whatever you've got simmering in a pot," I said. I kept my voice low, and with the shorter hairstyle I'd adopted following the war it would serve to obscure who I really was.

"Of course! Come this way, I can have it sent up if you'd like?"

I looked around at the tavern, then glanced back at her. "That would be fine, thank you."

While it might be valuable to listen to the goings on of the land, I wanted to clean up and warm up before mingling with people. She gave me another smile, this one laced with a promise I couldn't take her up on, before turning to lead me up the stairs. At the entrance to my room, she held the door open for me. "Is there….anything else I could get you."

"That will be enough, thank you." I gave her some coins, and tried to ignore the disappointed look that crossed her face. All I ever would need is Sam and there were few people in this world besides her who could make my body react against my will.

The stew was delicious, and between that and the blankets I wrapped myself in I warm up. I had become accustomed to sleeping nude through habit (just one more thing I could blame Sam for), but that wouldn't do here. We'd spent hours discussing how I would conduct myself while traveling, and disguising my identity was of the utmost concern. To prepare for sleep, should I be rudely awoken, I wore loose trousers and an ill fitting tunic, underneath of which was a tight fitting shirt I usually wore under my armor. It made it easier to fight and had the side-effect of hiding my gender from any prying eyes.

I slid into bed, then sorted through one of the pouches Sam had given me. Inside was a jade pendant with some sort of swirling pattern to it. Sam had included a note. She'd found it in the vaults and wanted me to have it for good luck. I immediately pulled it on, then noticed there were some markings on the back of the note. I looked at them, the heaviness on my heart lifting. Conrad had drawn the three of us together. Crude, but as a mother, it was the most beautiful piece of art I'd ever seen.

The rain stopped sometime during the night, and the lack of sound was the thing that woke me. It was so quiet, and so desolately still. I laid there, straining my ears. It felt like something was in the air, something that made the muscles in my body tense.

During that pregnant pause, before all hell broke loose, I grasped the hilt of my sword. I was already standing when I heard the crashing downstairs, and throughout the town came the sounds of splintering wood. Someone screamed. I pressed myself flat against the wall next to the door. When the bandit burst in, I ran him through. The fighting continued downstairs, so I kicked my packs under the bed and then stepped out into the hall.

The redhead from earlier lay in a pool of her own blood, eyes glassy as she stared away into nothing. She'd done nothing to deserve this, but I had to cool my anger. If these were more than simple bandits, than there were other girls who'd meet much more grisly fates.

Kneeling, I closed her eyes, then crept down the hall, and leaned around the corner to look down the stairs. The tavern was a wreck, two bandits picking through the rubble. I counted three bodies. Behind me, I heard other doors open. I turned and lifted my fingers to my lips, and prayed the other guests would stay put.

If Sam were here, she'd tell me that a sane person would run down the stairs, instead of leaping over the railing like I did. I landed hard on the first bandit, my sword sinking through the back of his shoulder and into his heart. Blood splattered the other man as I pulled it out, just in time to parry a clumsy blow. He was slow, and predictable, and he joined his friend in seconds.

The sky swirled ominously overhead, the break in the storm seemingly centered on this town. I surprised one bandit, dispatching him as quickly as the others. Town guards battled down the street and I ran to help, scooping up a rock as I moved. It shot through the air, hitting an attacker in the head, and the distraction gave the guard the edge he needed.

I saluted him with my sword, then rounded another building. Bandits were pulling a family out of a house. Darting forward, I cut through one, bringing my sword up to block a counter attack from his comrade as he reacted to my arrival. It was the first challenge of the night, comparatively. He was clearly trained, probably by the army, but his style was rigid. I slapped his sword out of his hand, then gutted him.

As his entrails spilled onto the muddy ground, I wondered why I didn't feel so sick. Perhaps it does get easier. Perhaps watching Roth die hardened me to such things. I didn't really know. I look at the woman and her daughter, and any guilt I feel eases. They'll live because of me.

"Return to your home, miss. You'll be safer there while we clear out these bastards." It was starting to rain again, my hair plastering to my scalp. My overshirt was going to cling to me in short order and my undershirt didn't completely hide my curves. So much for secrecy.

"They've never come into town before," She said, expression dazed. "They've always ambushed people on the roads, but they've never come into town."

"Something drove them here…" Her words worried me. If bandits have been attacking people on the road, why have I not heard of this before? I resolved to send a message to Sam, so that she could increase patrols. In the mean time, I needed to find out what made them desperate enough to come into town. "Please, go inside. This will be a long night, but I promise you will stay safe."

I took off at a brisk run as soon as they were safe. All told there were a dozen bandits - most of which were killed, and the remainder captured. Too many of the townspeople were hurt or dead, and I pulled the constable aside. Reluctantly, I flashed my seal. "I'd like to find out what drove them here, before I depart. They will be punished, and I will increase patrols in the country-side so this does not become a problem again."

He looked a little starstruck. The man was portly and this was probably the most action he'd seen since the war. "Yes...yes your majesty! But I wager I know what did it! Wyverns!"