Chapter 9: Revelations

A/N: OK, I know I said this would be done by the first of the year. I didn't say which year, though, so I'm not running behind. Many thanks to Lady Mage for her helpful comments.

"He's done what?" I practically shouted. "Why did he do that?"

Now, I know I shouldn't have been yelling at someone who came to help me, but Melissa's news was so unexpected I couldn't help myself.

Melissa held up a hand to stop me from yelling. "There are extenuating circumstances that keep him in Agramant's camp."

"Rogero owes no particular allegiance to Agramant. What reason would he have for remaining in his camp?"

"Rogero has a sister who was kidnapped when they were but children. She was sold to the Bazhir. They raised her as one of them, and she has become an excellent warrior. She only fights for Agramant to prove her mettle in battle. As soon as Rogero convinces her that she can make herself a name fighting for Tortall, he will come back to King Jackon's camp. It is a matter of time, though. You should get Rogero and his sister out of Agramant's camp before there is some other obstacle arises to keep them there."

"He has a sister?" This was certainly not the news I had expected. It was not unpleasant by any means, simply unexpected.

"The ring I gave you can make you invisible to all but the most powerful mages. Take the ring and go into Agramant's camp. With you to vouch that King Jackson will accept Rogero and his sister into his army, Rogero will have no trouble convincing his sister to leave Agramant."

"Wait. The ring can make me invisible? What else does it do?" I asked, amazed at this new information.

"I've told you already that the ring protects its wearer from anything a mage may try. If you put the ring on and concentrate on being invisible, it will prevent all but the most powerful of black robe mages from seeing you," Melissa explained.

"This is beside the point," she continued. "If you wish for Rogero and his sister to join your king's army soon, you must go to Agramant's camp and convince her that this is the wisest course. Go now," she commanded and immediately disappeared.

I wasted no time mounting Venture and turning him toward the enemy's camp. Before long, it was time to test Melissa's words about the ring. As always, I was wearing the ring. I concentrated all my will on being invisible.

With my heart beating in my throat—I was walking into the enemy's camp alone—I marched into Agramant's camp. Even though, Melissa had said that no one would be able to see me, I still stayed in the shadows as much as possible. It's not that I didn't trust Melissa, I just saw no reason to take unnecessary chances. The ring worked exactly as Melissa had said it would, though; and I was soon creeping among the tents of Agramant's knights, looking for signs of Rogero.

It was not long before I found Rogero's tent. It was set a short way away from the tent's of the other knights. Conveniently, he was inside the tent with a woman who I assumed was his sister. As unnoticeably as possible, I lifted the tent flap and entered the tent. Facing Rogero, I stopped concentrating on being invisible.

I wasn't thinking that to Rogero and his sister I had simply appeared in the tent with them. Both of the tent's occupants were visibly startled and understandably so. Rogero jumped to his feet, but relaxed when he recognized me. Rogero's sister, though, had drawn a dagger and was about to kill me when I turned my attention to her. Rogero quickly intervened.

"Wait, I know her," Rogero cried. "She's a friend."

"You know a mage that powerful, and you didn't tell me?" his sister asked as she sheathed her blade.

"She's not a mage, if she is really who she appears to be," Rogero said to his sister. Turning to me, he continued, "And how did you do that?"

I quickly explained all that Melissa had told me about the ring she had given me.

Once I had assured Rogero that I was who I appeared to be, he explained how he suddenly came to have a sister.

"Bradamante, when we met, I told you that I was raised by Atlantes. Atlantes rescued me from raiders from Carthak. They wanted to sell me as a slave when they returned to their home. Atlantes bought me from them and raised me to be the knight I am today. Atlantes never told me that the raiders also had a girl with them that they claimed was my sister. You should know by now that Atlantes is a peculiar man. He rescued me from the raiders, but the left my sister with them. He even put an enchantment on me to make me forget that I ever had a sister."

I interrupted Rogero's story at this point. "If Atlantes erased your memory of these things, how can you remember them now?" I asked.

"Atlantes is dead," Rogero's sister broke in. "He tried to ride into the camp unannounced only a few days after Rogero arrived here. The night guard shot him when he wouldn't identify himself."

Rogero took up the story again. "I didn't remember everything at once, though. Only when I was introduced to Kara did I remember I had a sister. It was she who recognized me."

"I'm three years older than Rogero," Kara took up her story from her brother. "I vowed that I would find him someday. I have searched for my brother for years. I never thought that Atlantes would raise him to be a knight, though. I've been searching all these years in slave markets. As unexpected as meeting him here is, I recognized him immediately."

Their story sounded unbelievable, and I didn't believe it. I pulled Rogero as far from his sister as I could. "How do you know this is your sister?" I asked. "If you did not recognize her, how can you be sure she is not lying to you?"

Rogero was shocked that I did not simply trust his word.

"I only ask this in your interest," I explained. "What if she is simply trying to use you somehow?"

"I am not trying to use him, Lady Knight." There really was no way to keep from being overheard inside a tent the size of Rogero's. "Besides, if Rogero himself did not know he had a sister until Atlantes died, how could anyone else have known?"

I turned to Kara. "Have you some proof that what you say is true?" I asked.

Kara regarded me coolly for a few moments, agitated, I'm sure, because I would not simply agree with her logic. "When my brother and I were captured, the raiders marked us as slaves. We each have the mark of the same clan of slavers branded into our arms." She pulled up the sleeve of the tunic she wore and showed me the scar of an old burn. It was a Carthaki symbol of some kind. "There is an identical brand on Rogero's arm," Kara informed me.

Feeling a bit sheepish for my disbelief, I tried to turn the conversation to my original purpose for coming: convincing Rogero and Kara to return with me to King Jackson's camp.