Dammit! If that stupid blowsearch pop up ad does not stop popping up right now…~~~!!!

Does Roald (the one that woke up) know Kaprice?

Nope, he's just good old Roald, the one who has no clue about what just happened.

How many more chapters?

Well, there were only going to be 29, but the epilogue chapter is being incredibly evil and long. So I'll have to split it into two, making this fic a total of 30 chapters. That's right, 30 chapters. So there's three not including this one. (ahh!!)

27. Remembrance

Thorn

The heavy presence of mourning hung all over the column.

Poor Kaprice.

She understood what it felt like to lose someone you loved. No, she had not lost her own lover, but she had cared greatly for the person whom she had lost.

But Evin had been there for her. Evin had been her savior.

But Kaprice no longer had one.

"Look."

Evin held out an empty hand to her. But when he flicked his wrist and reopened his hand, she saw that a flower lay there for her.

It's Kaprice's flower.

Thorn took the beautiful flower delicately from Evin's hand. It was the same one that she had grown in Kaprice's presence several days earlier. Her power had let it survive for much longer than an normal flower would have.

Thorn held up the flower for Evin to smell. "It's wonderful, isn't it?"
Evin smiled his wonderful smile.

"We've just about arrived at Corus. I've got someone to speak to; I'll be right back." Evin gently handed back the flower before riding away.

Thorn rode at the very front of the column that was returning to Corus. Kaprice and the other younger knights who she had befriended rode with her at the back of the column. The back of the column was gloomy indeed.

"Mamma! Mamma!"

Thorn quickly pulled herself off of her horse and rushed toward the little figure who was running toward her.

"Delora!"

Delora let out a great laugh and flung herself into Thorn's arms. "Mamma, you're finally back!"

"Indeed, I am. What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Delora quickly shook her head. "I'm not by myself. Nanny is right over there."

Thorn squinted to see the figure who was 'right over there'.

"And where's your brother at?"

Delora made a face. "Kayne's sleeping." Her tone clearly expressed her puzzlement with why young three year olds had to sleep all the time.

"Look, mamma! I have a surprise for you!"

"Oh? What is it?"

Delora stepped back and reached into her coat. And from within her coat, she pulled out a small, slightly wrinkled flower. "Here!"

Thorn stared at the dainty blue flower in shock. "Where did you get that?" The familiar desert bloom's scent floated through the air.

Delora's eyes grew mischievous and she leaned in to Thorn's face, as if to whisper some great secret.

"I found the seed for it in the courtyard. Aren't you proud of me? I followed your words exactly, and you were right! I grew a flower!"

"In the courtyard?"

Delora nodded proudly. "Yes."

Thorn quickly grabbed Delora and settled her onto her horse, pulling up behind her afterwards.

"Let's go find the seeds for this flower of yours, Delora."

~*~*~*~

Kaprice

"Are you thirsty?"

Kaprice snapped out of her reverie and stared at Neal blankly.

Neal's shoulders slumped after facing several long moments of Kaprice's empty gaze. "Never mind."

Kaprice settled back to gaze vacantly at the object she held in her hand.

Roald's medallion.

"Kaprice, we've arrived."

Kaprice slowly lifted her head and blinked. "What?"

"We've arrived at Corus, Kaprice," Kel said to her gently.

"Oh. Alright."

Dom stilled warily and glanced around. "Do you smell that?"

Kel glanced at him. "Smell what?"

"That..smell."

Neal cocked an eyebrow. "You'll have to be a bit more descriptive than that--" He frowned suddenly. "Wait, I do smell something."

Kel had also scented it by now. "It smells wonderful. I wonder where it comes from?"

"The desert."

Kel jumped. "What?"

Kaprice's gaze sharpened visibly. Her green eyes, so dull and dead earlier, were more vibrant now, more alive.

Kaprice pressed her heels into her horse's side and it started to gallop ahead.

Kaprice, too intent on pressing forward, didn't hear the other knights' protests.

She stopped her horse only when she got to the front of the column. Knights and riders were milling around in the courtyard, whispering about what was growing there in awe.

Striking blue flowers grew in great clusters throughout the courtyard. The scent that the knights had smelled earlier had come from them.

"Wow! When did these get here?" Neal blinked in great surprise.

"I've never seen flowers like those before," Dom said musingly.

Kel knelt close to one of the flower clusters, breathing deeply. "They're lovely."

Kaprice remembered how she had tossed out a generous handful of Ryker's seed into the wind before leaving for Demon's Hill. "My flower. How--how did…how did they grow so quickly? And so many of them."

Thorn and Evin suddenly stepped out from behind a tree. Thorn was smiling shyly at her while Evin grinned mischievously. Evin also held a little girl in his arms. She was playing with one of Kaprice's desert flowers.

And Kaprice, to everyone's amazement, started to cry.

Thorn looked horrified. "Oh, no. Please don't cry, Kaprice. If you don't like the flowers, I'll get rid of them--"

Kaprice quickly held out a hand in protest. "No, please don't."

"But you're crying," Thorn said with concern. "They weren't supposed to make you cry."

"No, no. I like them. Really."

"But--"

"Thorn, Kaprice likes your flowers. Stop worrying." Evin smiled reassuringly.

"Hi. My name is Delora," the little girl in Evin's arms said suddenly. "Are you the one who put the seeds for these here?" She held out her blue flower while smiling winsomely.

"Yes."
"They're beautiful!" Delora exclaimed. "Here, you can have mine! I grew it myself!"

Kaprice took the flower the girl held out uncertainly. "Thank you."

Neal suddenly let out a conspicuous breath and turned to her. "Kaprice, maybe we should go inside now." He stepped in front of her and started to point her to the castle.

Kaprice studied Neal's suddenly worried gaze. And then she turned her head and took a good look around the courtyard.

And saw what Neal must have seen before he had tried to block her view.

Roald. Walking with…his wife Shinko. They were among the crowd of spectators enjoying the new addition to the courtyard. He had one of the blue flowers in his hand and was weaving it into Shinko's long black hair.

"Don't be sad."

Kaprice jumped in surprise when she felt the little hand grasp her own. Delora stood in front of her, gazing up at her with big, brown eyes. "Don't be sad," she said again.

Kaprice gazed down at the blue flower that she held in her other hand. She lifted it to her face and breathed in its wonderful scent.

Then she glanced down and gave the little girl a shaky smile.

"I'm not."

~*~*~*~

Keladry of Mindelan

The king, the queen, Alanna, Raoul, several of the mages from Demon's Hill, and several knights, including herself, and Neal, were gathered in the room. Dom, Thorn, and Evin were also there.

Everyone's gaze was on the person who stood quietly in the center of the room.

"My duty here is finished. There is no reason for me to linger here any longer." Kaprice took a breath. "But before I go, I just wanted to say thank you. You have all been good to me, better than anyone has ever been. I was unusual and unexpected," she paused here to nod at Alanna, "but you welcomed me nonetheless. Thank you."

"Nonsense. We should be thanking you. You helped us defeat Demon's Hill," Alanna said.

Kaprice shook her head and gave the red-headed knight a smile. "You are gracious."

Alanna gave a very unlady-like snort.

"There is one other thing." Kaprice reached into her robe and pulled out a small paper bag. "I would like to give you this as a gift."

"What is it?" Evin asked curiously.

"More seeds for the flowers that Thorn grew in the courtyard." Kaprice reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of seeds to show everyone.

"I know that it can not be known to the rest of the world what really happened on Demon's Hill. Only those who were actually there will know the truth. The rest of the world does not know about me, about Roald. About what he has done. And I know that it must stay this way."

She's right, Kel suddenly realized.

How…sad. Nobody except those who were there will know about Kaprice and Roald. About how they had saved the world from turning into endless desert. Nobody will know what they have done…

To do so much…to give up so much…and have so few know about it.

Kel's heart went out to Kaprice.

"These seeds were first given to me with the hopes that I would not forget about the giver. They were for remembrance. And now I give them to you. For remembrance."

King Jonathan spoke. "We would be honored." He slowly bent at the waist, offering Kaprice one of his best bows. Everyone else quickly followed suit.

Kaprice smiled. "I--"

The door suddenly burst open.

"Father? Mother? Alanna? I've been looking everywhere for you. What's this I hear about a secret meeting--" Roald stopped mid-sentence when he found everyone looking at him with looks of dismay.

"What's the matter?"

"Roald--" someone started to say.

Roald frowned at Kaprice. "Who's this?"

Kel turned to glance at Kaprice. Her green eyes were wide and sad, but steady as she gazed back at Roald.

"Your highness, Prince Roald," Kaprice said quietly. "My name is Kaprice." She lowered herself into a curtsy that was elegant even in her desert robes. She lowered her face, but Kel was able to spot the look of pain on it.

Then, still bent into her curtsy, Kaprice disappeared with a great, shimmering explosion of silver light.

She's…gone.

And the only thing that convinced Kel that what she had seen was real, that Kaprice was real and had actually come from the future to revert the Devastation, was the shiny golden medallion that lay where Kaprice had been standing.

Kel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the amazing scent of the desert flower that suddenly permeated the room.