A/N: That moment a virus rakes havoc on a holiday :/
Saberin: Well...at least Scout's old enough for the ships now...
Aubrey: If you need to consult age ranges, know that Scout is 17 now and the ages were posted in a prior chapter in the response section.
Raider: Well...not exactly. Bachelor parties don't typically involve a young female cousin tagging along :P
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. And still not Australian.
Lina leaned on the ledge of her open window. She smiled to herself as she saw five familiar figures dashing towards the trees on the far side. Liam came behind her and brushed her neck with his lips. "Come to bed. She's going to be out all night," he whispered.
"Why did she have to grow up on us?" Lina asked.
"I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure that's just the way it works."
The cool air felt good against her face. Lina leaned out farther. "I wish we could have been so carefree when we were her age."
Liam wrapped his arms around her. "It must be nice."
"Mhm…do you ever think we were wrong sending Scout to Hibernia?"
"No. It was either uproot the entire family or just the daughter who was uncertain about her future anyway. Besides Scout chose for herself, remember?"
Lina shrugged. "I suppose."
Liam began kissing her again but his attention jolted back to the field. "Were scouts supposed to go out tonight?"
Lina followed his gaze to where a dozen people in dark clothing ventured towards the tree line. "No," she whispered. She squinted in the dark and leaned forward more. Her heart fell. "Is that…"
"I think it's time for me to go."
"Both of us are going."
"What about Caitlyn?"
"I'll send her to stay with Rosalina."
"Alright but I'm running ahead."
And run Liam did. He gathered his cloak, boots, and bow in a whirl while Lina roused Caitlyn and gave her youngest daughter careful instructions. She then made her way to the stables and saddled Prince quietly. She was up and riding in no time but the stalkers and Liam were already past the trees. She got Prince up to a comfortable pace and set to stringing her bow. She tracked her husband as only she could until she came upon a scene that made up the worst of her nightmares.
Liam was bloodied and bound across the back of a horse being carried away with haste. Lina pulled at her reins and pulled an arrow. The rider was dead in no time. Two of his companions turned back to train arrows on her but the rest remained focused on Kane, William, Daniel, Ace, and Scout. Lina knew if she killed one the others would just release their arrows, killing either her or one of the young hunting party. Lina loosened her drawback and held her hands up in mock surrender. Kane and Daniel, both trained for these situations, had caught onto the danger long ago and had been trying to find a way to tend it without alerting their royal companions. Seeing Lina come into the light gave them the distraction they needed.
The moment the boys released their arrows Lina leaned to the side and held herself flat to Prince's side as the horse galloped full speed in a wide arc. Daniel inherited his father's natural talent as an archer and Kane was by birth a Sunrise Warrior's son raised by the man who trained the best archers in the Ranger Corps. It didn't take long for the cloaked men to realize their efforts were useless and began running away.
Ace and Scout hesitated but the others pursued the way they were trained. Lina signaled Prince to spin back and raise on his hind legs to crowd the closest attacker. Lina slung her bow over her shoudler and thrust the arrow into the face of her victim. Without bows, arrows were pitiful weapons but Lina had enough force to do the job. She drew out her katana and chased after the runners.
"Damn!" she cursed as more of them appeared on horseback. There were too many to count in the dark but she recognized the two leaders. One, wearing the same mark that had caused alarm, sat on a sleek black mare looking smug. On his tunic was a rising sun streaked with red. It was the mark of the Sunrise Warrior Academy. The other was Rey Felipe, Anamaria's father.
"This is low," she snapped once she realized words were her best defense.
"Silencio!" a red faced man next to Rey Felipe barked. "Usted debe morir ahora! You must die now!"
Lina narrowed her eyes. "Grandes palabrasdeun hombre tan pequeño. ¿Está usted tan poco importante que usted dice sólo lo que le dicen? Ladrar de nuevo, el perro. Muéstrele a su maestro lo que un perro callejero bueno que eres," she spat. "Big words from such a small man. Are you so unimportant you say only what you are told? Bark again, dog. Show your master what a good mutt you are." The man glared at her. She held her ground. "That's right. I speak your language."
"Enough," the Academy-marked man said. "Do you remember me, Nerilina?"
Lina eyed him. "Sure, you are the pigheaded wannabe Captain who lost your imaginary promotion to a much better man."
She could almost see his blood boil. "That should have been mine! That bastard didn't even know who his father was and I bet still doesn't!"
"A bastard who is a much better man than you."
"Is that your woman, Carlos?" Rey Felipe asked. Carlos had been Liam's biggest rival and even enemy back at the Academy. Lina hadn't thought of him in a long time but his arrogance brought back several memories.
Carlos nudged his horse forward. He reached out and grabbed Lina's wrist. She tried to pull away but his grip was firm. He held her bare arm up in the moonlight and smiled. He traced an old scar with the tip of his knife.
"Remember when I gave that to you, Nerilina?" he whispered sadistically. "All you had to do was be with me. I could have given you everything. I had a birthright. I was entitled to more than that orphan slave ever was."
"Funny," Lina hissed back. "An orphan slave became among the best of Araluen's Rangers. Another orphan is now queen of Hibernia. I may be wrong but I'm beginning to think that more is accomplished through work than birthright."
"It should be you as queen."
"Go jump off a wall."
He thrust her arm back. "You already did that. And now I hear that you're damaged goods. Why is it you haven't left that strange saddle of yours? Why do you have crutches strapped to its side?"
"I'm not goods I'm a person."
"We'll see about that."
"What do you want?" William's voiced boomed with the authority of his father as he caught up to them.
Rey Felipe walked over to him. "First, you will be killed. No daughter of mine will marry an Araluen prince, even if she is my youngest. Then we will move onto your friends."
Lina looked back to her daughter. Clearly Scout had never experienced anything like this before, something Lina had wondered since she began sneaking out to the woods at night. She glanced quickly to the bodies that littered the area and silently pled it wasn't going to affect Scout too much. Suddenly Carlos was yanking her to the ground. He had her pinned by the time she was fully aware of what was happening. "I'm going to…" Carlos began but suddenly an arrow was poking through his neck. He slumped over. In an instant everything was still. Lina looked to the clearing for the shooter. William still stood with his hands at his sides. Kane and Daniel had arrows pulled in their bows, not released. Ace didn't have it in him to kill another person. Scout, however, stood with her bow up. It'd been her arrow. The men had seemed to discount the teenage girl as a threat.
"Scout, run!" she shouted. Her daughter was frozen. "Run!" Lina begged. A black arrow plunged into one of the Iberions. The skirmish lasted just long enough for Lina to push Carlos' body away from her. It seemed like every Ranger on hand for the wedding had arrived with bows and knives in full swing. Knights and common soldiers spilled from the trees and began fighting. Lina pushed herself. Scout had dropped to her knees. Lina crawled the short distance and sat beside her. She touched Scout's shoulder tenderly. "Scout?" she whispered. Scout seemed to snap at the sound of her name. She stared into her mother's eyes vacant of all emotion. Lina rubbed her back.
"I killed him, Mama," she finally whispered.
There was no denying it. "Yes," Lina told her.
"And you killed that other man."
"Yes."
"Kane, William, and Daniel…they all killed too."
Lina hugged her tightly. "I tried so hard to protect you from this."
Scout trembled violently.
"I killed that man."
Soon both Horace and Sean appeared. They walked to where soldiers had Rey Felipe on his knees. "I would declare war on your country right this moment," Horace said firmly. "But that would hold up my son's wedding."
"Besides, pity for good men to die over their king's lack of judgment," Sean agreed.
"I'm sure you've lost more than a few of your best just now," Horace said, "I think a large dowry gift is an order. Perhaps since you also attacked Princess Scout you should loop Hibernia into your gift as well."
"Perhaps the dowry should cover all Araluen's major allies," Sean went on. "Let's see...is this country still on good terms with Arrida and Nihon-Ja?"
"We are," Horace nodded. "And Scandia. I think that free trade will even open to Araluen merchants while Iberion merchants are still subject to Araluen taxes. After all, that would be a good gesture of good will."
"You are loco!" Rey Felipe countered. "Too much money!"
"Not near what a war will cost," Horace hissed in a low voice. He leaned down. "If you ever try to harm my sons again I will kill you regardless of what conflict it causes in the courts. Listen to me. Anamaria, your daughter, will marry William, my son. Your children in this clearing tonight? Skandians still believe in slavery and I know more than one jarl that would love my gesture of goodwill. I hope your wife is prepared to lead your country because you, Rey Felipe, are never setting foot on Iberion soil again."
"You can't do this."
"I am doing it."
"And I support it," Sean said before Horace could continue. "I believe this conversation is over. You will now be escorted to your wife to explain these events to her. Leave your dead and say goodbye to the sons here.
"Take all the survivors to the dungeons," Horace ordered his men. "Keep them separated."
Horace went to his sons and put a hand on each of their shoulders. The princes had a murmured conversation with their father. Halt stepped forward and went straight to Kane. He and his son stepped to the side to whisper. Gilan gave orders to the Rangers and then went to cut Liam free. Will went to Daniel and led him away.
"Those were people from your old life weren't they?" Scout asked dryly. Lina nodded.
"Just the one was. Carlos."
"You and Papa used to be part of them. Didn't you?"
"Yes."
"And Kineta too?"
Lina swallowed hard. "Yes. She was an archer."
"What did Papa do?"
"Search-and-Rescue Captain. He led teams through particularly intricate missions."
"And you?"
Lina swallowed hard again. "I was an advanced scout. I…I had similar duties to what these men did tonight."
Scout jerked away. She stared at her mother. "No."
"Times were different then, Scout. Please…"
"You attacked innocent people."
"I…"
"You told me to never attack someone unless I was certain they weren't innocent."
"I also told you I learned that the hard way."
"But…" Scout trailed off with frustrated sobs.
"Scout," Lina said gently. "I…"
"Don't touch me! I hate you!"
Scout found her feet and began running. Her mother wouldn't be able to immediately follow. Liam had been standing just a few feet away when their daughter fled. He started after her but Lina held her hand up to him. "She'll just keep running."
"I'll go," Sean volunteered. He nodded reassuringly to Liam and Lina. "You two are good parents. She's just angry."
Liam knelt with Lina as Sean jogged after Scout. Halt came over to join them. Kane had already been in situations like that one before as a Royal Scout so it hadn't taken as long to get his emotions stable. Halt knelt down so he was at eye level with both of them. "You two did nothing wrong," he told them confidently. "From what I've learned watching others there comes a time in every young person's life when mother and father can no longer give them answers and a mentor has to step in."
"She said she hates me," Lina whispered.
"I know and it isn't true. If she hated you she wouldn't have shot that man attacking you. She's just scared. Come on back to the castle. We'll get some coffee, and for you, Lina, some tea."
