A/N: Did you know that I love you all? Of course I do. I love every review, every favorite, and every follow. I love the people who favorite and follow me as an author. I love you guys. So I'm going to let you in on several secrets. One: I have several chapters prewritten and do not like to post chapters if I don't have the next one ready to go. Two: I've been reworking this chapter and the next three because I've been unhappy with their progress so they might come a little slower due to rewriting. Three: Sometimes I post slower because people are reading slower. I'm watching the number of views per chapter and when it hits the average, I post. It's to help those like me who automatically jump to the last chapter. It just so happens that the majority of you read within the first 18 hours or so. Four: This chapter and the next run concurrently for those of you attempting to pay attention to time.

Roald looked up to address his future council minus Faleron and Gwen and smiled. These were the people he had handpicked for positions within the palace when the others retired. He wasn't going to force anyone out of position. His Uncle Gary had asked to remain Prime Minister and he certainly wasn't going to take the man from the position that had become the passion of his life. The matter of his Champion had yet to take form. He was currently in debate between Faleron and Gwen. Both would be well suited for the job but on the other hand he needed to consider carefully. There was a point he was sure would come up about Gwen not being a knight yet but he had no doubts that she would survive her Ordeal. He could pull some strings for her. He was about to bring it up to those before him when the door to the meeting room opened and his father walked in. He frowned internally. His father had agreed to let him do this alone so he could show he wasn't going to be a puppet of his father and wouldn't always be seeking his approval. But right after Jonathon came a dusty and tired looking messenger in army maroon. The messenger looked at the company in the room and then to Jonathon before he walked up to Roald and handed over a letter.

"He said it had to be given to you directly and that you needed to read it right now," the messenger informed Roald.

"He who?" Roald asked. If this was a trick of an assassin he didn't want to open the letter.

"The knight that came to do the border patrol, Sir Faleron of King's Reach. He said you'd want to know immediately to see if recovery could be done for her." The messenger twisted under Roald's gaze for a long moment. Roald really didn't like the possibilities of the meanings behind those words. There was only one 'her'.

"Excuse me," Roald told the room and broke open the seal. Inside was a short letter from Faleron detailing what his side of the story was and what he wanted and the other was a report from the sergeant of Gwen's squad explaining how she had been taken. "You, were you there?" He turned to the messenger.

"Aye, roughly three squads of men-at-arms mounted on warhorses. They had us surrounded and then they surrounded her. Once they had her, they left."

"Over the border, you're sure?" Roald asked. "And what's this?" He held up the piece of cloth on the Sergeant's report.

"They crossed the river and continued west. Sir Faleron was gathering volunteers to canvas the Tortallan land on that side of the river as I was leaving." The messenger fell silent.

"And the cloth?" Roald reminded him.

"The insignia the men were wearing. Our Sergeant ripped one of their tunics," the messenger twisted.

"When are you expected to report back?" Roald trust a cup of apple juice at the man.

"Whenever your reply is ready."

"Hopefully within the hour." Roald turned to look at the people sitting, "Excuse me," then he marched out of the room. There were many ways a communication spell could take place. The common way was fire and he would use fire if he didn't want to see Edric's face and if he didn't have something he needed to show. Fire was for quick verbal communication only. Another was a two way spell between consenting mages. He didn't have one in Tusaine that had consented. Communication spells could be laid on jewelry, on certain stones, and in metal. But that required having gifted on to Edric long before this moment and once again they were just verbal. Spell mirrors were the only answer left available and as royalty both Roald and Edric had access to such expensive items. Roald went to his tucked away in his study. It was the same mirror that he had allowed Gwen to use when he had gifted her with her armor. He touched it with a spark of blue fire and muttered the words the to spell he had been taught. After a moment the smiling face of Edric appeared.

"Well, it's Prince Roald of Tortall!" He explained to whoever else was in the room. "Decided to tell me personally about your coronation? Congratulations!"

"Thank you, but my reasons for this are far less celebratory." Roald held up the letter. "This is a report from one of my army sergeants on the Tusaine/Tortall border."

"Roald, I swore peace to you and I meant it," Edric's face had fallen and his eyes followed the letter that Roald waved.

"My squire was on a border patrol and her squad was attacked by thirty men-at-arms wearing this symbol," he held up the cloth for Edric to see. "They knocked her out and took her, breaking off the attack as soon as she was over a horse. It is believed by both Sir Faleron who was at the fort with her as her mentor and by the squad she rode with that she was taken across the Drell and the men continued on due west."

"You think she's in Tusaine," Edric stepped sideways for the other person in the room and Roald recognized Sir Nikolas immediately.

"Not by your decree at least, Edric," Roald explained. "Does this look familiar to either of you? It doesn't look like any of the fief standards I've seen from Tusaine before." He held up the cloth again. This is where he wanted to see Edric's face in particular. He wanted to see if the man lied. Edric looked up at Roald and Roald could see the man was chewing on the inside of his lip, considering something. Then he looked to Nikolas who was staring at the cloth looking a bit dismayed.

"There's a small group in Tusaine plotting treason. We've had it under our watch for a while. That is believed to be their symbol," Nikolas explained after a long moment. "With the exception of... one... other incident, it's been just talk."

"From talk, to the other incident, to kidnapping the Tortallan Royal Squire sounds like a bit of a leap," Edric scratched at his chin. Roald wouldn't ask what the other incident was if they were taking care to talk around it. His focus was Gwen. "Perhaps they want the ransom to fund their treason. We'll investigate, Roald, and keep you informed. I know this is going to be a hard request to hear but it would be best for Tusaine if you didn't send any sort of recovery after her. Tusaine is at a delicate point and if the people see Tortallans here poking about and asking questions…"

"I understand Edric, I truly do. Please, I need her back in Tortall." Roald knew he was letting his own mask slip. Gwen was like a sister to him and she worked hard for him. She had made herself indispensable and now he would be planning his coronation without her valuable input and assistance. There was a chance she wouldn't be returned before he was crowned. But that was over two months away.

"We'll do our best, Roald. Remember she's a hero of Tusaine as well. When the ransom request comes, inform us as soon as you have it." The spell stopped and Roald was left looking at himself in the mirror.

He looked to his desk and went to withdraw a piece of paper and a quill. How was he going to explain to Faleron that they were going to do nothing in recovery except wait for Edric and a ransom? Could he expect that Faleron would just stay put at the fort and not go after her if he knew nothing else was being done? Faleron was loyal to a fault but he was protective of Gwen and they hadn't had enough time to figure out how the dynamics had changed between them now that Gwen was also his sweetheart. Did Roald still rank above Gwen in Faleron's books? Did that actually matter when she had been taken from him? Kel had also been loyal to a fault but had chased her refugees halfway across Scanra to bring them back.

"Do you think he'll listen to you?" Came the voice from the other side of the desk when Roald finished writing. He looked up to see Sir Myles patiently waiting in his chair. "Very well handled with Prince Edric I'd say. And he's right. We don't want to throw Tusaine into a civil war. It won't win us any favor with Edric if we spark it and the other side would prefer war with Tortall after that to recover what they view as their land." Roald wasn't surprised Myles had followed him or that he had listened in on the whole conversation. It was what he was supposed to do as Spymaster. And the disappearance of an important person usually had his name written all over it.

"I made a plea for him to return here. I need him now more than ever and there isn't much we can do but wait at this point. They'll ransom her. She's a noble and Edric is right, she's a hero of Tusaine and valuable to the Tusaine Crown. They'll either ask Tortall for a ransom or Tusaine, or both." Roald shook his head and looked down at the letter.

"If I might make a suggestion?" Myles stood. "Send a noble with your messenger. Someone young Faleron can't outrank." He turned to walk towards the door. "We learn from our mistakes and young Keladry managed to slip out of her escort by ordering them on and pulling rank. Sir Faleron might remember that and try the same." So Roald sent the letter back with the messenger and with Faleron's cousin Sir Merric.

Within a week Faleron was riding through the gates of the palace and fuming. He stormed through the palace grounds and straight up to Roald's office. Roald had been informed of his arrival and had already put tea on for the inevitable meeting.

"We're just waiting!" He snapped. "She's your squire. She's a Tortallan citizen, a Tortallan noble! She knows valuable information on this country! On you! You're just going to abandon her?" Roald was certain that the entire palace had heard him yelling but he sat calmly and waited for Faleron to scream himself out. It had probably been building since he got the letter.

"You brought Gwen's things and her horse I assume?" Roald asked as he poured the tea. He saw Faleron pause for a moment to register the change in conversation.

"Yes, I did," he was quieter now. "Roald, she's important. Not just to me and you, but politically. We can't just leave her out there to die."

"I didn't write everything in the letter that I wanted to." He pushed the cup of tea at Faleron and sat back in his chair. "I told you that I contacted Prince Edric and was letting him investigate the matter and that we were sending no recovery." Roald recapped the main part of his letter. Now he went on to explain the whole conversation until Faleron had sunk down into his chair and had covered his face completely.

"I need her back, Roald." Faleron's voice held him captive. He knew that Faleron had been serious about Gwen but how serious he had never gotten the chance to find out. Now it was the plea in his voice, the softness and agony it held that told him Faleron was in more pain than he was letting on.

"We'll get her, Fal. And I'll keep you informed on everything."

"Have you written to her parents?"

"Immediately after I wrote to you," Roald confirmed. "Now we just have to wait for the ransom request."

Roald continued on his planning and waited patiently for a note or some sort of communication regarding Gwen from her captors. Edric checked in nightly to see if they had heard anything yet but neither side had any information. The rest of July fell into August and then to September without a word. Roald had to make his final preparations for coronation and he couldn't delay anything any longer for Gwen to make her appearance. Faleron accepted the role as his champion and had thrown himself into the planning for Roald's safety during the royal ordeal and coronation with Lord Raoul and the King's Own. The job did fall completely to Raoul but Roald suspected Faleron wanted to make sure someone else wasn't lost on his watch.

"Cousin," the voice came from the spell mirror that Roald kept out and visible as a totem when working in his study. Roald stood and went to face Edric. He saw Faleron lurch to his feet as well.

"Tell me you have her," Roald begged. They had two weeks until the coronation and he wanted her there, at his side.

"We have a lead. A little over two months before Gwen was taken, there was another incident with our rebellion. We had one of our nobles go missing: the youngest son of our main general." Edric started.

"Why is that a breakthrough for finding Gwen?" Faleron interrupted.

"Because," Edric was a patient man and Roald could see he was using that patience for this conversation. During the past months of conversation it had likely become clear to Edric that Faleron had more personal involvement than professional involvement in her recovery. "Because my Spymaster believes they were taken by the same people to the same place for the same purpose: to extract information. It would be the only reason we haven't seen ransom for either of them. If they were no longer alive there would have been no reason to take either of them. We have his location narrowed down to several fiefs that he might have been taken to. There's some noble privilege we have to cut through to search but I can use searching for the general's son to push it through. It may take a few weeks to get that far. I'm sorry but unless she magically turns up at the palace doors in the next week, I can't get her to your coronation." Edric shook his head. "I'm doing whatever I can though. Please know that."

Roald stopped and thought for a brief moment. Sir Nikolas was the oldest son of the main general of Tusaine. If the youngest son of the main general was the one that had been taken, it meant that the other missing person was Nikolas' brother. That made this search just as personal for Edric as it was for him. He knew there was a reason Nikolas and Edric had referred to the disappearance as an incident. It was likely that the disappearance had been hushed up until recently to avoid panic by other nobles. If that was the case then Edric was about to make it public that one of their own nobles had been snatched for whatever reasons. It meant a lot to Roald and he was sure that when Faleron had a chance to digest it, it would mean a lot to him as well.

"This is amazing news. Thank you for letting us know!" Roald felt a surge of excitement. They had it narrowed down. There was a chance Gwen would be found soon. No, she wouldn't make it to the coronation if that was the case, but she would be back at his side when he was King and he would make it up to her. The mirror returned to its normal reflective state and Roald turned to Faleron, "Now we just need to get me through this coronation."

The evening of October 4th, Roald kissed his wife, each of his children, and hugged his parents. Then he followed Faleron down to the Chapel of Ordeal. He would spend the night in vigil and then when dawn came he would step into the Chamber and have his Ordeal of Kings. He knelt in front of the door and thought hard on what it meant to be King. He had been born for this. He had spent his life training for this. He would be charged with leading this country. He would be charged with the direction this country was moving in. Each Tortallan life was in his hands. He would be charged with the protection of each life in his kingdom. Somewhere behind him he heard Faleron settle into a new position. Duty, he was reminded of the strain of duty. Gwen was likely the first thing on Faleron's mind with all of this time to think and here he was, sitting in the Chapel of Ordeal with nothing but time to think and his duty to Roald was keeping him here. He knew Faleron had been sleeping less, training more, and occupied his mind with the coronation to keep tracking Gwen out of his mind. The strain of duty was a man whose lover was missing and he was sitting and guarding the next king rather than searching for her. That was also the strain of duty of being a king. Matters of the heart often had to be set aside for duty. It was something he had learned early in life.

The first rays of light came through the windows to touch the sun disk on the wall and the priests stepped out to open the door of the chamber while Roald stood. He swore when he was knighted that he would face the day he had to step back into the chamber as a day he would face bravely. He stepped inside of the chamber as watchers came to see if he would step out alive. In all of Tortallan history no Conte had failed the Ordeal of Kings. He intended to make sure he wasn't the first. The iron door closed and he was alone in the dark.

It was a Midsummer Ball and he was waving a pretty dark haired squire over to him. He recognized Gwen and felt his heart twinge at her missing. When she drew level with him he saw her eyes slide over his shoulder and this time he turned to follow her gaze. There on the balcony was the archer. He felt Gwen's hands on his chest to push him down and something like instinct forced him to grab her and spin her in front of him. He held her there as each of the three arrows thudded into her body. Only when the archer was taken down did he let her body slump to the ground. He was horrified with himself. He had used her like a shield. Looking down at his hands he saw her blood was smeared across them. Her blood was on his hands literally and figuratively. He had been using her as a shield when he had asked her to be his squire and sadly that was exactly what a King was supposed to do. Allow people to become shields while the King let them die first. It was a sad reality.

The scene changed and Roald was standing in front of the gallows on Traitor's Hill. The executioner led out a chain of people he knew. Keladry of Mindelan, Nealan of Queenscove, Merric of Hollyrose, Seaver of Tasride, Esmond of Nicoline, and Owen of Jesslaw. He listened as the charges read were for treason and deserting during war. He had feared this day when the Scanran War was still going on. He had feared he'd see his closest friends executed or banished from Tortall. Now he watched as they were each led up to the gallows and the executioner looked to him to approve each one. Some force made him nod to each one and he watched as he sent each of his friends to their deaths. This was again duty before matters of the heart. He had a duty to be fair and treat his friends no different than soldiers he barely knew.

The scene change again and Roald was standing in a brightly lit room where a table, a full tub, a chair, and several obvious torture devices were. The door opened and two faceless men walked in, one carrying a scrap of humanity that looked thin enough to break. Even coated in dirt and grime and half her original size, he recognized Gwen. Her little, rough clothing was removed and she was tossed into the tub. He could see her fingers were twisted strangely, swollen, and purplish, and her back was striped with angry looking scabs. The bigger of the two men scrubbed her with rough wool until her skin was raw and red and the scabs had reopened on her back. Then she was hauled up and set in one of the chairs. She was so limp she nearly slipped out of her seat.

"Tell me about your Prince," came a voice. The Gwen in the vision refused to speak. "This is your last chance today, Gwendolyn. You know my questions by now." Roald watched as a vial was produced when Gwen refused to speak. Her mouth was pried open and the contents of the vial were poured down her throat. He watched her eyes roll back into her head for a moment and then the bigger of the two faceless men scooped her up and carried her away from the room. Somehow this didn't feel like the other visions. He had a feeling this is where Gwen had been and if Gwen had survived, she would return in a terrible state. This was also a sad reality of being royal and King. The people he loved could and would be hurt or killed to either get him to cooperate or to hurt him in some way.

The vision cleared and the door behind him opened. As he stepped out, Faleron was there to catch him. There was nothing he could say to the man. He was not allowed to speak of his Ordeal and he could not tell Faleron he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Gwen had been tortured. He let Faleron help him out of the Chapel and up to his rooms. He would be allowed to sleep for a few hours and then the rest of the day would be spent in the Hall of Crowns. He thought sleep would elude him but his tired body gave in without warning his mind and he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The Mithran Priest and the Priestess of the Goddess blessed the silver crowns that would go on Roald and Shinko's head. Lord Raoul and Faleron stood nearby the altar. It was the duty of the King's Own that Roald survive the day and it was Faleron's duty to stand by Roald as his Champion. Roald knelt with Shinko before the Priest and Priestess as they chanted and lifted the crown up and then lowered it onto his head and then onto Shinko's head. He felt the magic of the land run through him and he had been prepared by his father for this moment. He was enveloped in silver magic and he could hear the crowd ooing and awing at the spectacular show. He knew Shinko wasn't experiencing the same thing. While she was Queen, only the King was bound to the land. That only changed when the natural heir to the throne was female and then she would be bound by the magic of the land. When the lights died around him his father stood and made a show of handing over the Dominion Jewel to him. He felt its magic spark through him as well and he knew it had bound to him as well. The only duty that Roald would not perform until his father had died would be as Voice of the Tribes. That would only come when Jonathon was ready to pass on as was the tradition of the Voice.

Then they moved on to the celebrations and Roald was able to sit and enjoy a meal and entertainment while his court feasted in honor of him. Faleron sat to his right while Shinko sat to his left.

"Lord Raoul wanted me to tell you they had four separate attacks that were stopped before you were crowned. There has been no activity since." Faleron muttered only loud enough for Shinko and himself to hear. "The hope is now that you are bound to the land, they will stop trying so hard."

"We can drink to hope then," Roald raised his cup. He didn't feel any different really. He was the King of Tortall now but Gwen weighed heavily on his mind. If the vision in the Chamber of Ordeal was correct, she wasn't coming back the same if at all and he needed to prepare for both outcomes.