Neal sat with his friends at their usual place in the Mess Hall, picking at his food. His plate did have vegetables on it, quite a few, but it just wasn't the same with Kel using her commander voice, ordering him to eat them. Kel, Neal's spirit sunk even farther when he thought of his best friend. Neal couldn't believe the rage that had filled him when Kel had told their group of friends that she wasn't allowed to return. But even as he felt that anger, he had also felt resignation. No one could change the Stump's decision now, except the King, and King Jonathon was busy with political affairs. And when she had left, Neal felt an emptiness creep up inside him, and he knew that life at the palace would never be the same. Palace new showed that Neal wasn't the only one angry. Servants talked in whispers of how Alanna the Lioness was now threatening to leave Tortall for good. And if she left, as would her husband and children. Daine too was upset, and the animals were all rebelling against nobles. It was a dangerous idea to anger the Wildmage, for everyone knew that Tortall's most powerful sorcerer, Numair, would side with her. If they both left, Tortall would feel the loss.

The sound of laughing interrupted Neal's train of thought, and his head whipped up to see Joren's smirk as him and his cronies walked by their table. Neal could see Merric's fists tightening, barely restraining him, and even Roald was gripping the table so hard that his knuckles were turning white, but no one moved.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the Lump is finally gone. Thank Mithros," Joren sneered. "Everyone knew that Lord Wyldon wouldn't let her star, Queenscove, you and your little friends were the only ones who kept your hopes up. Now, your dreams are crushed! Poor baby!" Neal couldn't stand it anymore. He jumped from his seat and was about to throw himself at Joren, but a set of warm, strong hands landing on his shoulders stopped him. He looked up, murder evident in his eyes, to see the scowling face of his father. Oddly enough, Duke Baird of Queenscove wasn't scowling at his son, but at the young men in front of him.

"That is quite enough, Joren of Stonemountian. Return to your table." Neal's father's voice was deathly quiet. Joren glared, but gave a mocking bow, and left with his friends. Neal looked up at his father, and then yanked out of his grip.

"You didn't have to stop me," He muttered so only his father could here. Duke Baird gave his son at sympathetic look, then replied.

"Yes, I did. Lord Wyldon would have punished you, not Joren, and Kel wouldn't want you to do this in public." Neal grumbled, and his father walked off. But he turned around, and called back. "Oh, and Neal?" Neal looked at his father. "Make sure that if your friends come to the infirmary, you're with them. I'm only going to healing those who were Kel's friends!"

With that, Duke Baird walked away, leaving his son staring open mouthed at his back. Neal's friends stared in shock as Neal returned to their table, grinning like a drunkard.

"What was that all about?" Seaver finally asked. Neal's grin simply widened.

"Father's rebelling against the King too!" Faleron and Cleon both whooped, while the others all smiled.

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing the King. Everyone hastily stood, Neal's group a little slower then the others. King Jonathon's face was pale, and he looked as if his emotions were balancing between fury, and sadness. He walked up to the High table where Lord Wyldon sat, then turned to face the pages and the few squires that were not off with their Knight Masters.

"I know that many of you are angry with me," he began, his voice very quiet, nothing like the regal, commanding voice everyone knew, "I'm angry with myself now too." Everyone was now puzzled, and was looking at their King with confused expressions. The King cleared his throat, then continued.

"A traveling party just came back from the King's road with terrible news. They found a carriage overturned, with dead bodies around it. Everything around it was burning, a sign that it was the group of bandits that have been plaguing us for a while now. The bodies were burned past recognition, but one flag was not." He looked at all the pages, his eyes resting on the table he had seen Kel sit many times. He took a deep breath, and braced himself for war.

"The flag bore the Mindelan crest. There were no survivors."

Silence enveloped the room, then came an uproar. Everyone was screaming, except for Neal. Neal sunk to the ground, his legs giving away. He looked up and saw his friends looking at him in horror, but he didn't care. 'Kel,' he thought, 'you're gone.'

******

Kel wandered the forest, passing tree after tree. The forest was thickening, something Kel knew meant that she was getting deeper into the wilderness, enhancing her chances of getting lost, but getting lost was what Kel wanted. She wanted to roam for a while, then find civilisation somewhere, and make her home there. But as she walked further, and further, she found more flaws with this plan. She had no food with her, no extra clothing, no money, nothing.

"Well then, I guess I'll just become a herbivore." She said out loud, looking doubtfully at the plants that surrounded her. "But which one are poison, and which ones aren't?" Kel continued to mutter to herself, enjoying the sound of something human among the sounds of nature.

Finally, when her legs could walk no more, Kel sank to the found, leaning her back against an oak tree behind her. Her eyes fluttered close, and Kel was allowing herself to get a tad of rest. She was just sinking into oblivion, when a twig snapped.

Kel's eyes shot open, and she jumped to her feet. Drawing her sword, her eyes swept the forest, taking in everything, searching for any signs of movement. Even when she found none, Kel did not drop her guard. She stayed perfectly still, ignoring the dull ache beginning to form in her calves from staying bent low to the ground.

After what seemed to Kel like hours, she straightened her body, reluctantly admitting that she must have imagined it, or that it was simply a small animal or a leaf. She returned to her previous spot, but this time kept her eyes open, only resting her legs, not her mind. Yet her plan failed when her eyes drooped down, and she fell into a deep sleep. Only a few minutes after this happened, did two figures that had been standing motionless in the foliage walk towards her.

******

The two figures slowly advanced on the sleeping form. Their muscles were tensed, ready to run at any moment, ready to react immediately if Kel woke up. They looked down at Kel, staring at her for a few moments, taking in every detail. Then, as if on signal, they both got up and walked away. They walked a short distance, only far enough so that Kel wouldn't here them, and then they began to talk in hushed whispers.

"It's just a little girl! She can't be more then twelve!" One said. The other shook his head quickly.

"She might be just a little girl, but she had a powerful look sword with her." His friend just shook this off.

"A sword which she most likely doesn't even know how to use, Taine! She probably just took it with her to scare off any bandits!" But his companion was persistent.

"Most likely doesn't know how to use. Probably just took it with her to scare off bandits. For all we know, she might be trained Shang, Brinan! I say that we get rid of her." His friend, Brinan, looked outraged

"Get rid of her? And how do you plan to do that, pray tell? Kill her? We should take her with us!"

"Out of the question! How about we just leave her here, and watch her. But if she comes any closer to the camp, we knock her out and dump her on the side of the road. Though killing her would be much easier."

The two continued to fight, their word never going any higher then a whisper, so that anyone in hearing distance would simply think it the wind. Finally, Brinan spoke in his full voice, ignoring the gestures Taine was making to be quiet.

"Well, I'm just going to go and wake her up, and ask her what she thinks we should do with her." With that, he ran off in the Kel's direction. Taine cursed quietly, then ran after him.

The two men sped through the forest, until they came upon the sleeping Kel. Brinan walked towards her and reached out a hand to shake her shoulder. Just as his hand was about to come in contact with her, Kel's eyes snapped open.