Whether Dom expected to be confronted by 400 angry Scanrans, or killed on the spot at the shield's dissapearance, he was in for a surprise. Not only were there 400 Scanrans. There were well over 3000! Only not the way he expected to see them. Every enemy soldier was placed in a group of twenty and tied securely, stripped of weapons, and heavily guarded by a batch of Tortallan men. And waiting with smiling faces at the front of it all were King Jonathan and Numair Salmalin.

"We had hoped you would come before this," Raoul said cheerfully.

Jon chuckled. "Well, when you departed, Alanna made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with me…again. Mind you, I'm not blaming the fair lady in the least." He bowed deeply in Alanna's direction, smiling. She shook her head and took his hand.

"I've worn out my gift, and can't keep standing for much longer. Relieve me, please." She closed her eyes and allowed Jonathan's magic to enter her body. Immediately she sighed in relief. "Finally! We can head home."

"What about them?" Numair asked, jerking his head to where the Scanrans were bound.

"Nothing about them," Alanna sad firmly. "All we need is to bring Maggot, and the army will break up."

They all turned to look at Maggur, who was tied tightly at the back. Numair gasped in surprise at what he saw. Peiden and Kel, swords drawn, were poised to behead the king of Scanra. Raoul rushed over to them.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, grabbing his ex-squire's arm.

"It's his fault! His fault! And now he has to pay for that!" Kel grunted, pulling loose of Raoul's hold.

"No!" Jon yelled. "Keladry, you can't do that!"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" Kel said. She lowered her voice, remembering the advice Raoul gave her long ago about not bearding a monarch in public. "You weren't held captive by him, with scant food in a dark cell. You weren't practically tortured when he tried to extract secret information from me…about you! You didn't have to live with the burden of your country's fate in your hands, being careful not to put one toe out of line, even if the alternative is death! And you didn't have to watch Remia Stone die in his hands. You never did." She was shaking in suppressed rage now. "I had a dream last night--a vision. Some of Remia's last words were a warning to me, but she never got around to telling me. No, she died. But last night I found out what she was trying to tell me. I saw what would have happened. But someone changed that fate. The fate of Tortall, myself, and all of you. Peiden did. He changed it all. I realize now that by unknowingly setting me up, and by going against his teachings to help me, he saved us all. Otherwise, Maggur would have…" She trailed off and turned her head away.

Kel felt gentle, callused hands on her cheek. "None of us will ever know what you've been through. But it's over. Now, the healing process has begun, and you must try to forget."

"I don't want to forget," Kel whispered softly. "Remia Stone doesn't deserve to be forgotten. I must remember."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

(A/n: um….the end? I was going to put an epilogue and stuff that told what happened to Maggur and how they went and buried Remia, but I REALLY want to get started on my next story! SO if you REALLY REALLY want an epilogue, I guess I could write one….But I'd rather start my new story. It's going to be called: "We Will Miss Them" if you want to now what it's about, I suggest you re-read Jon's speech to the pages and squires at the beginning of First Test. *hint hint* but yea I'm excited for this one.)