Lieutenant Dallaw and Sergeant Longrunn were talking amongst themselves while watching a training Daleria.

'Look at that bally hare! If neither Rapieratce or Lady Consellariel comes right now and peel her off that sabre of hers, she's going to wear the flippin drilling ground down to dust!

'Too true.'

'I say old chap, here comes the lady herself!'

They watched as the badger lady ambled up to the training hare, who had her back towards Consellariel. The badger lady placed a large paw onto Daleria's shoulder. Before she could say a word, the hare captain moved so quickly she was a blur. Whipping her body over to the right, she did a lightning fast turn that sent her sabre, back strap, sheath and all flying off her back where it had been loosely hung. Swiftly catching the hardy reed woven sheath in her left paw, she brought it up to neck level, placed her right paw on the hilt and withdrew half of the blade at an angle that reflected the noontide sun straight into Consellariel's eyes.

All this was done in a matter of seconds, and when Daleria finally looked up, she got the shock of her life. Looking up into the badger lady's stunned eyes, which were squinting at the bright light, the hare captain quickly shoved the sabre back into it's sheath and hurriedly slung it back over her shoulder and buckled it back on. Coming smartly to attention, she saluted Consellariel and rapped out an apology.

'Beg yeh pardon marm! Didn't know it was ye who was behind me marm!'

Chuckling ever so slightly, Consellariel blinked a few times and regained her composure.

'At ease, captain.'

Daleria hastily took up the at ease position as the badger lady started to talk.

'I know, Daleria that you want to train hard, should come a day when the vermin responsible for your sisters death come across our shores, but this is too much. You have been here since dawn for the past few days, and have barely eaten a bit of food.'

'But marm, I don't feel the least bit tired or hungry.'

'Daleria, you've told both Rapieratce and me those very words for the past few days, so I will tell you again, get rest and some food.'

'But…!'

'Get in and get food, and that is an order. Dismissed.'

Just as Daleria started to trudge back into the mountain, she heard some muffled chuckling coming from nearby. Whipping around, she sighted the two hare officer.

'Longrunn! Dallaw! I'm going to ----'

Hearing their commanding officer's voice sent shockwaves through them. Their ears shot straight up in panic, and they turned tail and fled, sending sand flying everywhere. Daleria followed at an equally fast speed, driven by rage.

'You two come back here and I'll make you march ten leagues before nightfall! You, you, you ----!'

The cheeky Lieutenant Dallaw shouted back.

'Tut tut, watch yore language marm!'

An outraged yell and the patter of footpaws followed that remark as they entered the mountain. Daleria smiled evilly, she wasn't a long patrol hare captain for nothing. Putting on a burst of speed, she cornered the two misfit hares against a wall, and with a swift, single movement of her body, Longrunn and Dallaw were pressed against the wall, with an angry captain Daleria breathing down their necks.

Still breathing heavily, Daleria waved a paw under both of the offenders' noses.

'If I catch you two one more time, the next time we go on patrol, I'll set both of you on double guard duty and march your paws until they frazzle up and drop off, you two get that?'

She stopped leaning over them and started to make her way to the Mess Hall. Under his breath, Dallaw muttered,

'No I don't missie don't-eat-at-all.'

Daleria's sharp hearing caught every word. Doubling back with a quick twist, she pinned Dallaw against the wall with both paws, quicker than he could blink. With a dangerously causal smile on her face, she asked,

'Did I hear you mutter something, lieutenant?'

Swallowing hard, the lieutenant shook his head frantically.

'No marm, nothing at all marm!'

Smiling that same disarming smile of hers, Daleria released Dallaw.

'Really? I thought I heard a request for double sentry duty tonight. You should have just asked, I could have easily gotten the colonel to agree.'

Then she walked off, still smiling.

Longrunn prodded the naughty lieutenant.

'Do that again, old chap, and you'll be running around the bally mountain with the captain and her flippin great sabre chasing you.'

'Then I'll take me own flippin sabre with me.'

'That's bally well useless, old boy. Remember way back when she was but a flippin recruit? Beat me at it, just flipped me blinkin sabre into the air. Didn't last a flippin second.'

The younger lieutenant started to laugh,

'Ho yes, jolly well hilarious!'

'Why you liddle ----!'

The sergeant started to chase Dallaw, and both ended up crashing into Lady Consellariel, literally.

'Eep! Marm! Apologies, we- he- I-!'

Sighing, the badger lady said,

'Both of you, get to the Mess Hall before I decide to throw you there. I have got a long day ahead of me.'

Saluting, the two officers scurried away.

Longrunn couldn't believe he had done what he had just done. Usually the strict and organised hare, he never did mad things that were against the rules and got him into trouble. Still in his own daydream, he automatically made his way slowly towards the Mess Hall where he sat down next to Daleria. He snapped out of his dream world as he watched Daleria. The hare captain was pushing the food around on her plate, letting it grow cold.

'What's wrong old gel? You look jolly pale.'

Daleria put down her hand-carved wood fork, sighing deeply. She started to converse with the older sergeant.

'I don't know sergeant. Ever since Clandestine's death, I've had this feeling of unrest, though I don't know why. I can't help but think that trouble is brewing, though it may not be large, I think it will be lethal.'

The sergeant nodded slowly, with a thoughtful look on his face, ears slightly drooping.

'Well old gel, cross the bridge when you come to it, so I guess that we jolly well have to wait and see, wot!'

'I guess you're right…'

Reluctantly, Daleria forced the food down, though every bite made it taste worse. Clearing her plate, she moved off towards her dormitory.

Hooking her sabre's sheath onto the wall-peg above her bed, she progressed to take a cloth from her trunk and started to polish the keen silver blade. After finishing that, she sheathed it and then took out a small wood carving knife. Reaching for her sturdy yet lightweight oak quarterstaff, she cut and smoothed out the hard and bumpy lumps that made handling it difficult. Then she looked at its base. On it was carved the name "Daleria". There was a blank space next to that. She never knew her surname, the incident where her parents and kin died having taken place only just after her dibbunhood. War made her grow and mature too fast. She took quite a few long seasons to learn the ways of surviving in Mossflower. Ten seasons had passed, and only then did she stumble across Redwall Abbey and find her way over to Salamandastron.

That was all a good seven seasons ago, and if she had ever known her surname, the shadows of pain and terror had long blocked it out to make way for more important or more painful memories and skills. Now that the age of Vaxial was past, she longed to know more about her own past.

What was her family like?

Who were her friends?

What was her surname?

Where is, or was, her home?

The clouded figures, images and sounds filling her memory didn't help.

Daleria absentmindedly fingered her necklace. She took it off as a single tear ran down her face. Looking at the sapphire, she saw the word "Daleria".

Wait. Was there something beside it? Yes!

Perking up considerably, Daleria held it up to the light.

"Windbind"

So that was her full name. Daleria Windbind. Her sister never knew. How Daleria wished that patrol never happened. It could all have been different. Everything could have changed. Clandestine would still have been alive. But it was too late. The bell that signalled quarterstaff practice awoke Daleria from her dream world.

Grabbing her oaken staff, she set off to find Lady Consellariel first to inform her about her surname.

She knocked on the forge door. No answer. She knocked again. Still no response. She got worried. Pushing the forge door open, she rushed in, When she found the badger lady, she saw Consellariel's face was deathly white. Consellariel suddenly fell to the forge floor, twitching unnaturally.

Poison.

The minute Daleria saw, she knew. Dropping the quarterstaff, she dashed onto the training ground to find Colonel Rapieratce.

'Colonel sah! Lady Consellariel seems to have been poisoned sah! We need Taremin!'

Rapieratce sprang into action. Dropping his staff, the two hares set off to find Taremin. After grabbing the necessary things, they dashed up into the forge.

Lady Consellariel had gone still. Daleria dropped to her knees.

'No! Not you marm! Anybeast but you!'

The colonel pulled her away gently.

'There's nothing you can do, old gel. Let Taremin do her job.'

'Why me? Why everybeast I love and admire? Why?'

'I don't know, old gel,'

The colonel's jaw was clenched tight, eyes blazing,

'but we're jolly well going to find out.'