Author's Note:

To anyone who's actually reading this story, I'd like to sincerely apologize for submitting this newest chapter so late in the day. I've had a bit of a busy day.
Please enjoy.


I paced up and down the court room. It was empty now except for me, Kolni, Ranin, Father, a few of the other generals, and the Minister of War.

"Do we have any idea why the Drow would attack? Especially at this time?" asked the Minister.

"No," replied Father.

I didn't have to look at him to know he was lying. The only reason why the Drow would attack the palace Ranien was being kept was because someone had leaked that she was Phoenix-Born. It was only speculation, but it was the only reason available since we had received no ransom letter or it's like. I glanced at Kolni, and it was clear he was thinking the same thing.

"Whatever the reason," spoke up one of the generals, "it's clear this is an act of war. We must prepare our forces immediately and plan a strategy of a counter-attack."

"No," Father said. I looked at him then, stopping my pacing. His brow was wrinkled in thought and concern, his hand resting over his mouth. "Ranien has, no doubt, been taken prisoner, and I will not have her killed before negotiations can take place."

"If I may," began Kolni, "I suggest we attempt a rescue mission." With everyone's attention now, he continued, "Have a scout look ahead and see where the enemy is camped, how many there are, and what weapons are at their disposal. With a full-on attack on the palace Her Highness was staying at, I assume an estimated 300 strong."

Father and the other generals expressions ranged from shock to dismay at the estimated number.

"With forces like that, an attempt at rescue will most likely end in defeat!" cried the Minister.

"Not with a small elite team," offered Ranin. We all turned to him in anticipation of what he'd say next. "With a small elite team, we could infiltrate the enemy's forces, find out where the princess is being held, and lead her to safety without anyone being the wiser."

Everyone either nodded or vocalized their acceptance of this plan.

"Then I'm going with you," I said, stepping forward.

Everyone turned to face me with scowls on their faces, all except Kolni and Ranin, who didn't look surprised at my sudden declaration.

"Absolutely not," my father said sternly.

"What? Why not?!" I yelled. "I've studied the arts of war for seven years. I've even proved my skill in battle to you just this morning! Give me one good reason why I can't go."

"Because I can't lose you too!"

Everyone stood and stared at us, shocked. Father walked to his throne and sat down heavily, his head in his hands. He was now so far from the fearsome figure I remembered from my childhood, and I didn't know what to say.

"Your Highness," the Minister spoke softly, "if I may… When your mission was to simply collect your sister from a couple day's journey away, it was… I'm not saying it was fitting for a princess, but it was much more fitting than a dangerous mission, such as this."

I looked at him surprised. Did he doubt my abilities that he'd just witnessed a few hours ago?

"I'm not saying I doubt you," he continued, putting an end to the worries I'd just had, "but you are the princess. It simply wouldn't do for a woman, much less a woman of your standing, to go on a mission like this."

Ah, I see, I thought. It's because I'm a woman. My skill could match or exceed that of every man in this room combined, and they still wouldn't let me go.

I glared at him, a plan already forming in my mind.

"Of course, Minister," I said sarcastically, malice dripping in every word. "What would a woman know?"

Not hinting my meaning, the Minister smiled and nodded, seemingly happy I'd agreed. Father, on the other hand, looked weary, as if he knew about the plan that was only taking form in my mind at that very moment. Kolni smiled at me mischievously, and Ranin's brow was furrowed, his thoughts unknown to me.

It was the morning of the infiltration, and I had been just been confined to my chambers. I began hurriedly tying together every sheet, blanket, and curtain I could find. Father had placed guards outside my door, no doubt anticipating an escape, but he did not anticipate an escape from my balcony. Being on the very top of the palace, finding enough materials in my one chamber to land me safely to the ground was proving difficult. I'd already tied together mostly everything with length, even a few of my gowns, but it still wasn't long enough.

I ripped down the last curtain from a window, and tied it to the rest of the make-shift rope, tied one end of the rope to one of the balcony's railings, and tossed the other end off the side. I looked down to see how far a drop I would have to fall once I got to the end, but from this height, it was difficult to tell.

Gathering up my courage, I grabbed the rope and began inching my way down. Whether it was long enough or not, it didn't matter anymore. Time was running out, and I had to be able to follow the others to the enemy's location. I began to go faster, my fear of falling fading as the thought that I wouldn't be able to follow them came to the forefront of my mind.

When I reached the bottom of the rope, I realized I still had a few stories to go down in order to reach the ground. Falling would not do. I'd end up breaking something, and then what good would I be able to do?

Because the rope was tied to my balcony, the rope was hanging no where near the wall to the palace. I began to force my weight back and forth until the rope started to swing. It took me a few tries in order to reach the ledge of a windowsill that had been in front of me, but eventually I grabbed a hold, and let go of the rope. I was now dangling three stories high from a window.

I thanked whatever had given me the good fortune of having Ranin as one of my teachers, even though I definitely thought differently while being taught by him. His slow, methodical, by-the-book teachings had made me build arm, leg, and core strength, along with weapon techniques, while Kolni had only focused on the later.

I shimmied across the windowsill and let go to drop down to another window below me, and continued until I had reached the ground. My hands definitely hurt by now, but it was nothing compared to the fear I had that I was too late. I ran toward the stables, only to find out that I was earlier than I'd expected, and hid behind one of the palace's walls. The elite team, consisting of a few of the generals, Ranin, and of course Kolni, were only just getting there.

They wore masks over their faces with only their eyes showing, wore no armor, and the black garments they'd chosen were close-fitting to allow fluid and silent movement. I'd donned a similar outfit, myself, having seen what they were planning to wear days ago. If they decided to split up, running into me would not be unlike running into one of their own, and they wouldn't be able to tell me apart from the rest of their party. I was priding myself on my quick thinking when they began mounting their horses and taking off.

I ran to the stable, mounted the horse I'd bribed the stable-hand to saddle the day before, and began trailing them, being sure to stay only within range where I could see them, and they not see me.

We rode at an even counter, that way the horses would exhaust themselves had they been running. It was beginning to get difficult to follow them as we began to get to crossroads. They would take a path, and having just turned down the path they'd taken before, I would not be able to see which way they took until I got to the crossroads and saw dust at the end of one of them. I decided this would not do, and hastened my pace. I could not lose them.

When I got to the last of the crossroads, before a long stretch of road on either side, I looked down both, and didn't see them on either of them. I was not so far behind that I would not be able to see at least the dust clouds that their horses would have kicked up, but there was nothing.

I dismounted my horse and began looking for clues on which way they had gone. I was concentrating on the fact that there were no hoof-prints, and did not hear them sneak up behind me. As I was bending over, examining the ground, I felt something hard and sharp on my shoulder next to my neck.

"You're forgetting your lessons, Highness," came a voice I knew well.

I turned around and became face to face with a masked man, but his identity wasn't lost on me. Kolni.

"What are you doing here, Princess?" asked a deeper voice, whom I knew belonged to Ranin, as he exited the closure of trees along the road, as did the others. "His Majesty expressly forbade your coming."

"My father and the Minister may not approve of me coming along, but you both know full well that I am more than capable of this mission," I countered.

Ranin's eyes narrowed, and the others looked at each other as if asking what to do. Except for Kolni. His eyes were lifted, as if he were smiling.

"Be that as it may, now we have to split our party up so that one of us may escort you back to the palace. I will not have this mission fail because of you, nor will I have us arrested on our return for failure to bring you back." Ranin's voice was low, and denied any arguing, but I ignored it.

"The mission will not fail because of me. I know what I'm doing. Nor will you be arrested, I'll personally see to that. Besides, would you really risk splitting up just to take me back to the castle? If any of you want to keep me from coming, you'll have to stop me with force." I looked around me at each of them, daring them to challenge me.

"You know that it is forbidden to touch you except when given exact permission," Ranin said, his voice sounding exasperated.

"Then you best let me tag along," I said with a smirk, knowing I'd won. "Or face my father's wrath," I added with comical, dramatic flare. I mounted my horse. "After you."

"I fear we shall face his wrath regardless," Ranin muttered under his breath as the rest of them mounted their horses also. Ranin nudged his steed, and began to gallop away, followed by the others.

Kolni kept his horse close to mine and said only to where I could hear, "Good job," and galloped away to join the others.

I smiled to myself before pulling my mask over my nose to hide my face. At least I had one person on my side.

The pale sunlight was fading, marking the end to our first day's journey. By this time tomorrow, we would make it to the palace Ranien had been staying at, and then another day's journey to the enemy's encampment.

We all dismounted our horses and hitched them to nearby trees. Some went to fetch firewood, some went to set up traps for game for tomorrow morning's meal, and the others went to a nearby river to fill the canteens. Being left alone, I felt a bit mischevious.

I laid my sleeping roll out underneath a large tree and sat down before taking off one of the black gloves I'd been wearing. Looking around to make sure no one was looking or coming nearby, I opened my hand and closed my eyes to concentrate. There was a power the Phoenix-Born possessed that I'd read in the book before leaving, which described the Phoenix-Born being able to conjure flames with their hands. I'd had a bit of success with this power before, but not much. So far, I was only able to conjure a very small flame, as opposed to the gigantic fireballs the book described.

Had I flared up, I would have felt absolutely nothing, but as I didn't want to give myself away completely, I'd refrained and felt my ungloved hand start to heat up. It wasn't a scorching heat, but pleasantly warm. I opened my eyes to view my handiwork and noticed a slightly larger flame than I usually conjured. I smiled. If I just kept practicing, eventually I would be able to conjure the fireball's I'd read about.

Hearing crunching beneath someone's feet, I closed my hand immediately and extinguished the flame. A few of the generals emerged from the trees, followed by Ranin and Kolni.

"Do you smell somethin'?" asked one of them to the other.

"Yeah… smells like smoke."

I looked up at Ranin and Kolni, and noticed that they knew what had happened. Ranin was glaring at me, and Kolni was shaking his head. I simply shrugged my shoulders and gave a sheepish smile.

Everyone back at camp, we lit a fire and began making a stew from the fish they'd caught on one of our breaks and wild root vegetables. Having not eaten all day, the stew, which couldn't compare to our royal chef's cuisine, smelt heavenly.

There wasn't much conversation going on, everyone busy with their own tasks, such as mending tears in their clothes from whipping branches, sharpening their weapons, or stirring the pot of stew. I was bored, sitting there not doing anything, so I decided to lie down and get some much needed rest before the day started again.