heya!

So, this may come as a bit of a suprise to those 3 people that are still reading this story, but I ain't dead! I swear. I've actually still been writing the story as of about 6 months ago, but it didn't occur to me to upload.

So, if you guys are wondering why the writing style changes so drastically, you now know :P

This chapter was un-beta'd, so please be gentle :D

Chapter 10

Bri knew something was wrong the moment she stepped in the castle. The instincts she had spent years honing were going insane, telling her that what lay ahead, she may not like.

She found her parents in their favourite room in the castle, the music room. Her mother was playing the piano, something she only did when she was feeling under a great deal of pressure, and her father was staring at the pattern on the rug hard enough that Bri actually feared that he might set it on fire.

Her mother looked up, finished the melody, closed the piano lid and motioned for her to sit down.

"Rose, dear," She said quietly, sitting next to rose and her father, "What we're about to tell you we've wanted to tell you for a long time. Understand that, please. But we feel that the time is right for you to know."

"Know what?"

"Everything."

A sense of foreboding washed over Rose once more and she swallowed.

"Tell me."

And they did. About how in a desperate bid for children, they had turned to a witch of black magic. About how in a fit of rage, Bri had been cursed. About how it could be broken. They had tried to sound as though there was hope, but Rose knew the odds, and wasn't about to delude herself.

At the end of the tale, her mother looked at rose with pleading eyes, begging her to understand, to not be angry.

She stood up, concealing the rage within her. She didn't mind the curse, but they had kept her from living. She had to sneak out to do the thing she wanted most. She had always stayed before, because she didn't want to go against her Mother and Father, didn't want to hurt them. Now, she was going to live.

She only had a short time on this world left, and she'd be damned if she was going to spend it looking for some man who probably didn't even exist.

"Mother, I require some time to think. Don't come looking for me, you won't find me. I won't be back for some time."

"Where are you going?"

"The future, Father. To my future."

She went up to her room and packed everything. All of her weapons, her uniform, her 'other' clothing. She wasn't going to be back for a while.

When sergeant Bri strode into the camp that day, although he didn't look visibly different, all of the men noticed something different. He looked free.

They watched him walk up to Captain Nalin, and have a few quiet words. They saw Nalin's concerned face ask something and give Bri a reassuring smile, who then returned it and nodded.

"You'll be alright, then?"

Bri nodded. She had told Nalin that she could finally stay at the camp, and would no longer have to ferry herself between places. Although he would never admit it, he did worry about the girl he had come to know as Bri and would do nearly anything to help her.

"Good." His face suddenly snapped back into it's normal seriousness and he added sharply, "Can't have you moping around doing nothing. You know what to do, Seargent! Get to it!"

She snapped a salute. "Yessir!"

Then, although his face never changed, it suddenly seemed to Bri as if he was smiling. "And we'll see about finding you a place to sleep."

"Thank you, Sir."

And so Bri closed one book and opened the first page of a brand new life. She adjusted quickly to living in a camp and within a few days had already found herself quite at home with this new way of living. She became more used to calling herself 'Bri', and in fact nearly didn't recognize her own name when she heard it.

It was a warm late-summer afternoon, and Bri was just wrapping up fencing practice with some of the less-experienced recruits (or 'those hopeless idiots' as Nalin insisted on calling them) when Darian emerged from under the green canopy.

She grinned before composing herself. "I haven't seen you around for a while, Private."

"No, sir. I've been busy with my duties up at the palace."

"Well, it's good to have you back." She gave him a tight smile, and then watched the last of 'those hopeless idiots' walk back towards the tents.

"So, how's about we spar, Bri?" He gave her a grin. "I may have been busy, but I couldn't help it. I'm here now, so I want to see if I can finally best you."

She snorted. "Not bloody likely! It's been a while since I've been beaten."

"I can take you." He stated, smugly. She looked at the slightly familiar stance he had taken up just standing casually, and then wondered how long Myles and he had known each other.

"Myles taught you?" They began to walk towards the fencing ground.

"You know Myles?"

"He and I have...met." He was my mentor for most of my life, she wanted to say, but didn't think it would be such a bright idea.

"He defended me after Princess Rose went missing. He said that she was a free spirit, and that we'd never find her if she didn't want us to." He suddenly smiled, as if his next sentence was the silliest thing in the world. "He said we'd probably find her on some battle ground somewhere, using warding magic in secret and fencing young men. He said that she always excelled in warding and defensive magics, among other things"

Among other things. Well, it was kinder than calling it 'Dark Magic'. It was yet another side effect of her past. "Did he?"

"Oh yes! I don't think he knows her though. Free spirit, yes, but she doesn't seem to want to fight."

...Oh how little you know... "Well, you know those free spirits, eh? Never quite sure of what they want..."

"I don't know, I've never met someone so sure in my life. I wonder what she's doing now..."

"Probably erecting defence wards, and sparring with young men." she smiled wryly.

He started laughing, and she found herself joining in.

"I'd like to see that!"

And there, Ladies and Gentlemen, is conclusive proof that truth is much stranger than fiction.