A/N: From here on, it's new material. It's taken us long enough to get here, but just for anyone who got confused, the Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two and Chapter Three were second drafts of the original story. Chapter Four and Chapter Five were new chapters. Chapter Six, Chapter Seven and Chapter Eight were second drafts of original material and Chapter Nine is new material.
Chapter NineFrom the cliff-top above, Kel could see a small hunched figure seated by the fire. She sighed, wanting to go down there and comfort him, but knowing that he probably just wanted to be alone. Shaking her head, she went back to surveying the near by area, looking for any possible attack that could be coming. Her bow lay across her knees, and she was sitting as far back from the cliff edge as possible. A fear of heights wasn't a good thing to have when you had watch duty, especially not in the mountainous areas. But she knew it was a fear that she would have to work through, not something that she should avoid.
From a near-by forest, Kel could hear birds squawking, and then as one they took up in a frantic rush for the air. Suddenly alert, Kel could hear the thundering of hooves, and she headed at a fast run for the path that led back down to the camp. As she reached the camp, she saw Theo standing by one of the trees, his sword in hand, ready to attack the enemy.
Shaking her head at his stupidity, Kel ran over to him.
"Have you woken the others?" she demanded in a harsh whisper.
Theo shook his head.
"Do it," Kel ordered, and then "and if we do have to fight, be careful, I don't want to be delivering your body to your teacher!"
Theo nodded obediently, but Kel could see that he wanted to be the first one to confront the riders coming, it appeared that the possible death of his teacher had made him reckless in a way that the Shang shouldn't be.
From the area where the tents were Kel could hear Alanna cursing as she gathered her weapons, and the moans as Theo woke the slightly sounder sleepers.
"Hide!" Alanna ordered as she emerged from her tent.
Kel looked in surprise at the short heroine, she'd never taken her for the sort that would hide away from a battle.
"We'll ambush them, it might even out the numbers," Qasim explained as he saw Kel's shocked look.
With a whisper to Mage and Emerald to stay put, Kel slipped silently into the trees. She sheathed her sword momentarily and gave her axe an experimental swing. Satisfied that nothing dreadful was going to happen to it in the upcoming battle if she needed it, Kel flattened herself against the trees, unsheathed her sword and waited. Across the clearing she could see Alanna crouched down, her violet eyes shining in the moonlight. Dom stood right behind her, his sword unsheathed and ready to use. Theo had made no attempt to hide, and was just standing right in front of a tree, staring right at the entrance that the riders would enter by.
Kel sprinted across the clearing. "Get back Theo!" she hissed, and as Theo complied, almost melting into the trees she felt cold steel against her throat.
"Don't move!" a voice growled close to her ear.
"And don't you think about moving either," Alanna's voice sounded from behind her. "Let her go."
"Lioness?" the voice in her ear inquired. Kel cursed lightly as she recognised the voice, it was Joren. The knife fell away. "Mindelan?"
Kel wondered why he was being so polite, at least she did until she turned around to see Raoul dismounting from Drum with an amused expression on his face.
"Commander?" Kel asked in surprise.
"We came along to tell you we've been ordered back to the palace," Raoul said quietly, and as he said it, Kel could see Theo's face fall. Maybe Raoul saw it too, because he added, "you can stay out here and continue the search, but you need to be careful."
Qasim strode forwards. "Of course, my Lord. We'll meet up with you and the rest of the company at the palace." He turned away, and Kel was certain she heard, "have fun at the balls, my Lord."
Raoul must have heard as well because he grimaced, clapped Alanna on the shoulder and remounted. "Let's ride," he shouted in a voice that left no room for argument and wheeled Drum around and rode out of the clearing with Joren following behind him and gradually the rest of the company.
"Well, that was terrifying!" Lerant admitted candidly. "I thought he would slit your throat." The look he gave Kel was full of concern for his friend. "Are you okay?"
Kel nodded. "Just a bit surprised, that's all."
"I'll take the next watch, you can get some sleep." Lerant pointed to Kel's tent.
Gratefully Kel slid into her tent and fell asleep without even taking her sword off.
Wind whipped around the girl's body. Her short brown hair danced and fluttered in the same way that her dirty white cloak and baggy trousers did. The effect was eerie, making her look like a wind mage, not the young warrior she was. Behind her stood fifteen men and one woman with horses, their cloaks flapping on the strong wind. No one uttered a word. Then a painful cry cut through the air, it was filled with such grief and agony that the men wanted to turn away. They felt like they were intruding on something private.
The girl turned to face the young boy who had let out the yell. She dismounted and held out her arms. The boy stumbled towards her, tears winding their way down his dirty tanned cheeks. The girl picked up the young child as if he weighed nothing and walked away from the tree that they had stood under. The girl sat on a rock and let the boy cry. Around her the men and the woman started to make camp and preparations for the grim task ahead. The woman looked up at the tree and sighed, then turned back to her work.
Swinging to and fro from one of the boughs was a gruesome reminder to the warriors what sort of life they had chosen. The body was clothed, but the clothing was so ripped and torn that it may well have not been. His face was beyond recognition. They could identify him from the gloves that were still on his hands, plain khaki coloured ones bearing the Shang Globe and Bear.
Kel woke up with a start.
"All a dream," she muttered. "It was all a dream."
"No, it wasn't," a sad voice remarked from the corner of her tent.
Kel spun around and breathed a sigh of relief when she realised that the speaker wasn't going to try and kill her. "Lerant, you scared the life out of me." She titled her head on one side as she sat up on her bed roll. "What are you doing in here?"
"I could hear you screaming," he replied. "I thought someone was murdering you!"
Kel smiled tightly. "No, no such luck Eldorne."
Lerant grinned and ruffled her hair. "Shush, it's not you we're trying to kill, it's Dom!" he joked in a conspiratorial whisper.
"Okay!" Kel whispered with a small grin on her face. Then she saddened. "So it wasn't a dream?"
Lerant shook his head and stretched out and pulled the tent flap open slightly.
Sitting by the light of the dying fire, Kel could see a small hunched figure. It was Theo. He moved his head slightly and Kel could see tears glistening on his cheeks and that his eyes were overly bright. In his hands he was playing with a pair of gloves, his teacher's gloves.
"No," Kel murmured. "It wasn't a dream."
Lerant shook his head again.
Kel felt the tears in her eyes and bit them back fiercely. She wasn't going to cry. She was a lake, smooth, calm and serene. She had no deep emotions.
Lerant walked towards her and wrapped both of his arms around her. She buried her head in his tunic for a few moments.
"I'm getting soft," Kel commented as she drew away.
Lerant shrugged. "If you weren't upset at everything that happened today, I'd be horrified."
Kel tried to smile, but in the end just sighed. "I just…" She bit back the tears as they threatened to spill out again and sat down with a thump. Lerant lowered himself to the floor and sat next to her. "I just can't believe someone could do something like that. I seriously hope all the bandits feel the wrath of the Crown — soon."
Lerant looked slightly shocked at how vehement her words were, but he smiled all the same. "Don't worry. Commander Larse is as good as his word. If he says he'll catch them, he will." A Rider group under the command of Evin Larse had ridden past and stopped for a while. When they heard – and saw – what the bandits had done, they had volunteered to finish the job. Kel and the rest of the group were going to return to Corus, after they had stopped off at Mindelan to deliver Theo back to his mother for a while until a Shang could pick him up from there.
"I know, but…" She sighed. "Is it terrible of me to want to see them suffer because of the pain they caused Theo?"
Lerant shook his head. "Of course not, they had no right to do that, to hang him where they knew we would find him."
Kel heard low talking as the sentries exchanged reports and swapped with the next man to take a watch. "It makes me want to hunt down all the bandits in this country and kill them."
Lerant chuckled. "You're in the wrong job Kel, I'm sure Lord Raoul wouldn't mind if you resigned from here to join bandit patrols."
His small joke made her smile and he ruffled her hair. "Can you sleep now?" he asked. "We've got a long ride tomorrow."
Kel nodded and he backed out of her tent, leaving her to sleep.
"Kel!" Ilane cried, hurrying forwards. "What a nice surprise! We hadn't expected you!"
Kel shrugged and turned her back on her mother. She wasn't deliberately being rude, but she thought that looking after Theo was more important than greeting her mother. "Theo?" Kel called softly to the young boy who was sitting on his horse, looking slightly out of it. "We're home."
Theo looked around him and turned to face Kel. "This isn't home," he replied quietly. "Home's the Shang Base."
Kel sighed and smiled at him. "You know that someone will be coming to collect you as soon as possible. You'll only be here for a few months."
Theo nodded and jumped off of his horse.
"Theo?" a young voice called and Kel turned to see Jak running through the crowd.
Theo's eyes flicked towards his brother and swallowed. "Jak," he replied quietly, looking up at Kel all the while. "When do you leave?" he asked almost plaintively.
"Tomorrow," Kel replied. "My Lord won't be too pleased if he finds out we were out here at Mindelan when we could be at the palace joining in the balls and dances."
Lerant laughed lightly as he walked up behind her. "You're right there." He turned towards Jak. "Tler?" he asked. When Jak nodded, Lerant continued, "Where's your mother? We need to speak to her now."
"Here!" a voice called from the back of the crowd that had gathered to look at the King's Own men.
"Do you want to speak to her?" Lerant asked, "Or shall I?"
Kel sighed. This was where she wished that Alanna hadn't left them at Trebond. She would have been good at things like this. "Would you?" she asked quietly.
Lerant couldn't miss the pleading in her eyes and he nodded, although he didn't want to be the one tell Theo's mother that he wasn't going to be himself for a while.
"Thanks," Kel replied and she turned back to her mother. Her father now stood behind Ilane, a stern look on his face. Whilst he doted on his daughters, he didn't tolerate rudeness from them. "I'm sorry about that Mama, but that had to be dealt with." She looked over to where Lerant had drawn Theo's mother to a side and was talking quietly with her. Mrs Tler was getting paler and kept shooting worried glances at her son. Ilane and Piers obviously realised something was wrong, because they didn't pursue the matter further.
"I must admit I am surprised to see you here Kel," Piers told his daughter. "We had thought you would write before you visited."
"I'm not here to visit," Kel replied. "I dropping Theo off. We'll camp on the edge of the fief and move out at first light tomorrow. We've a few days hard riding to get to Corus."
Ilane looked slightly upset that her daughter wasn't staying, but she smiled. "No, you can all stay in the house tonight. We've plenty of spare rooms, certainly enough for your men stay in."
"They're hardly my men!" Kel protested.
Lerant smiled as he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Of course not Kel, they just obey orders from you, that's all."
Kel growled at him and spun around. He danced nimbly out of the way and Kel glared. "Next time we practise, you'll pay for that."
The men laughed as Lerant pretended to quiver, the only thing that could make him really quiver was the thought of facing Kel with her glaive, which she hadn't had since hers had been destroyed.
"Mama, Papa, that was Lerant of Eldorne, Standard Bearer for the Third Company," Kel said levelly to her parents.
Osbern walked forwards. "Thank-you for extending your hospitality and allowing us rooms. I can tell you, it is much appreciated."
Piers shook the hand that Osbern offered. "I'm Baron Piers of Mindelan, Keladry's father."
"I'm Sergeant Osbern of the Third Company. Your daughter and I just led a bandit hunt."
Kel watched as her mother carefully hid her pride under a mask of Yamani calmness.
"I see," her father said. "And were you successful?"
With a sigh Osbern shook his head. "We found the body of the man we were looking for and then we had to hand the hunt over to a Rider group. I've no doubts about their success though, they nearly always catch the bandits they hunt."
Kel lost interest as Osbern and her parents talked and watched with amusement as her sisters flirted outrageously with Dom.
"What a flirt!" Lerant muttered in her ear and then grinned wickedly at Kel. She knew he wanted to tease the Sergeant, like they had done on many occasions. She was more than happy to comply.
"So Adalia, when's the wedding?" Kel asked as she and Lerant strolled over. The men around them grinned, having seen them do this before when it was Lerant's sister that Dom had been flirting with.
Adalia looked at her with surprise. "Wedding?" she asked puzzled.
"Oh no!" Lerant cried with an overly sympathetic look at Dom. "Don't tell me she rejected you!"
Dom growled at the pair of troublemakers. "Lerant, I'm warning you!"
Lerant blinked, then grinned sweetly. "I'm so sorry you don't want it rubbed in your face Dom, but isn't that what friends are for?"
Seeing he was making no headway with Lerant, Dom turned to Kel. "Kel, I order you to stop."
Kel growled at him and made a rude gesture that shocked her sisters. If Dom gave her an order, she had to obey, she was under his command after all.
"Insubordinate!" Dom taunted.
"You are a bad man," Kel told her commanding officer. "I thought doing that was abuse of power!"
"Doing what?" Dom asked innocently.
Kel glared at him, angry he had spoiled her fun then burst out laughing. "Honestly Dom, if you didn't flirt so much with every woman you met, Lerant and I wouldn't be as likely to tease you!"
"I wouldn't count on that," Lerant muttered so that only she could hear.
"You're not teasing him again, are you?" Osbern inquired as he walked up with her parents.
"Of course not," Lerant replied. "Would Kel and I ever dare to tease Dom?"
Kel grinned widely as her mother raised her eyebrows. Ilane knew that her daughter could be a tease when she tried, she had been teasing her nephews for a long time.
Kel grinned as she let her mind relax and her body take over as she brought her glaive through the pattern dance called Crescent Moon and then smoothly went into Sand Storm then the Hawk Flies Free. With a small chuckle she brought the blade to a stop inches away from Lerant who stood in the doorway to her room, watching her with amazement.
He flinched as he narrowly avoided having his nose sliced off by the deadly blade. "Do you have to do that?" he inquired as he walked into her room uninvited. As he saw her grin, he sighed. "I suppose you do."
Kel lay her glaive down on her bed. "Was there anything you wanted?" she asked.
Lerant shrugged. "Just to say hi." He examined one of the Yamani waving cats that sat on her bookshelf. "So do you like having a glaive again?" he asked.
Kel nodded. "Of course. It's always been my strongest weapon, it didn't feel right not having it for so long."
"Kel! Lerant!" Dom yelled from down the corridor. "The servants say it's dinner time!"
"Food!" Lerant cried. "Proper food!" He walked briskly through the door and once he was out into the corridor, Kel could hear him running. Muttering something about men and an obsession with food, she followed him.
"Do you have to go?" Theo asked Kel. She sat atop Mage and he stood on the ground, his mother not far off.
"You know the answer to that!" Kel replied softly. "Of course I have to go. It's my duty."
Theo sighed and bit his lip.
In the pre-dawn light, the fifteen men from the Own that had joined the hunt were tightening straps and finishing breakfast. Osbern strode up and down, checking the men were prepared, and as usual found no faults.
Adalia was talking earnestly with Dom as Piers watched from a distance. Oranie looked slightly annoyed that her sister had snared the man that she wanted, and Kel dismounted and ran over to her.
"Don't worry about," she told her sister mischievously. "Dom isn't as nice a man as he seems. He trains you hard! But if it's looks you're after, he has a cousin at the palace."
Oranie laughed at that and hugged her sister hard.
"Tease Adalia for me," Kel told her. "It would only be fair seeing as Dom is going to get an awful lot of teasing from Lerant and I, even if he is my commanding officer!"
From the grins on their faces, it seemed that the other men there would be teasing Dom just as much, if not more and he didn't have an authority over most of them. He was in for an unmerciful journey home.