Disclaimer: I don't own CT!
A/N: Ok, it's now about six o'clock in the morning. Here you go!
Chapter Ten: War (Part One - With Traitors) She heard everyone's screams even when she jerked awake. It was the middle of the night and the full moon shown in her room. Her nightshirt was sweat soaked and it ran down her forehead. She tried to calm herself down but sleep would not return. She gave up and yanked on some breeches and shoved her boots on. She thought a ride would calm her down. She tiptoed to the stables trying not to wake up anyone and saddled Lily, her white mare and rode out. At first she rode hard but then she slowed to a canter. A twig snapped behind her just as she was moving into the village of Truce. She whirled around, and grouped for her sword: she had left it at the castle. "Who goes there?" a man hissed. "I am Schala." Schala replied. "I intend no one here any harm. I am just riding." Injecting formality into her voice. "I see. I see." He murmured. "Pardon me for startlin' ye." "It's all right." She said thoughtfully. She trotted off and heard a snap of a bowstring and a sharp pain went through her right shoulder. She let go of her reigns and grabbed her shoulder in a scream of pain and slid from her saddle and was nearly knocked out. "Tell the Queen, that war's gonna be startin' soon." The man said. "That is.if you live." He laughed and slapped Lily on the rump causing her to whinny loudly and thunder towards Guardia Forest. Schala was on her stomach and tried to get up but kept falling each time she attempted to stand. She felt blood trickling between her shoulder blades telling her she needed help right away. She looked inside herself for her healing magic. From the shimmery white orb inside herself she drew out a cord and applied it to her shoulder. "I need this arrow out." Schala gasped. She couldn't reach the arrow and she was about to pass out from the pain.
* * * Once Ayla woke she knew something was wrong. She threw the sheets off of her and yanked on a shirt and a pair of pants and walked out of the room. She went next door to Magus's room and rapped on the door. "What?" he demanded. "Something wrong." Ayla said bluntly. "I feel in it in gut." She pounded her stomach to emphasize her point. "Wrong about what?" Magus inquired. "Me not know." Ayla confessed. "Then go back to sleep. You probably had a bad dream or something." He told her. He shut the door before she had a chance to protest. So she moved on to Magus's neighbor, Schala. She knocked once, then twice. When she was about to knock a third time, she just opened the door. Schala's bed was empty and she wasn't at her desk. Ayla knew right away this was probably the reason she felt uneasy. She raced back to Magus's door and pounded hard. "What?" he hissed irritably. "It Schala!" Ayla cried. "She not in her room!" "What?" Magus ran next door and saw the empty room for himself. He raced out of the room, Ayla in tow. He went down the hall and went to the mess thinking she was hungry. "She not here." Ayla said as if Magus couldn't see how empty the pitch- black room was. "I'm aware of this." He said dryly. He sighed frustrated and went to check the stables. Maybe his sister went for a midnight ride. Lily was gone and Magus saw the hoof prints leading into Guardia Forest. He and Ayla were on the trail for ten minutes when the white mare came galloping at them. Magus grabbed the reigns and tugged the mare in front of him. Ayla comforted the mare while Magus looked at the hoof prints. "Where could she be?" Ayla wondered. "Lily came into the forest.I'm going to check Truce." Magus said. He walked into the quiet village and saw a body on the ground and ran to it. "Schala?" "Ma-Magus?" Schala forced out. "Gods, what happened to you?" he demanded. "Some man.stopped me but then apologized for bothering me, then an arrow got me in the back." Schala explained. She sat up with extreme effort. Magus saw the arrow and winced. After warning her, he snapped the shaft of the arrow to get the feathered end off and pushed the rest of the arrow's shaft through her shoulder. Schala fainted against her brother as he concentrated on his work grimly. Ayla arrived, leading Lily and tore strips from her shirt for a bandage, once she saw what was wrong. Together, Ayla and Magus hoisted Schala onto Lily and walked back to the castle. Magus took her down to the castle healers where he barked orders to them. He stayed in the healer's hall until morning. Ayla returned to the guest wing to tell the others what had happened. They rushed to the healer's hall to see how Schala was.
* * * When Schala's eyes fluttered open it was nearly noon. Her ears filled with the sounds of murmuring while her nose filled with the smells of healing salves and saw all of her friends on cots around her. She rushed to get up; she had remembered the man's message and needed to tell the queen. A strong arm stopped her from sitting up. She pushed it away and got up. "Whoa. Where're you going?" a voice said in her ear. Magus tugged her from the door. "The man that shot me said to tell Queen Leene that war's coming." Schala told him in one breath. "What?" "Then he slapped Lily." Schala finished. "What's going on?" Gabrielle had awoken. "Nothing, go to sleep." Schala murmured. Then she glared at Magus who glared back. "I'm going with you then. C'mon." he led her out of the hall and together they walked directly to Queen Leene's room. They explained to the guard standing there what they needed to tell the queen. He permitted them through without hesitation. "Excuse me, Your Majesty?" Schala inquired politely. "Yes, young lady?" Queen Leene replied equally polite. "What is it you need to tell me?" "Um.last night I went for a ride at midnight and when I entered Truce a man attacked me." Schala told her. "Oh, dear, I hope you're all right." Leene put her hand to her heart. "I'm fine, thank you, but what he told me to tell you is more important." Schala informed her. "What did this man say?" the queen wanted to know. "He said to tell you that war's coming." Schala told her. Queen Leene gasped and asked, "Do you know if this man was an Amazon?" "I believe he was, Your Majesty." Schala replied. "Then we must prepare immediately." Queen Leene said grimly. "We're in for a hard winter."
* * * "What?" Gabrielle screeched and jumped up out of her seat when she heard the news at breakfast. Midnight squawked his protests as he flapped off her shoulder. "That's not true! He was lying! Lying!" Glenn grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back into her seat. "Relax, Gabrielle." He murmured. Midnight sat on the girl's shoulder once again. "That is what he said, Gabrielle." Schala told her. "What he told you is most disturbing." Robo remarked. "This means Lady Gabrielle will have some problems fighting them as she is now a knight and will go onto the battle field, am I correct?" Gabrielle's eyes widened, "No, you can't make me fight my own people!" she cried. "Gabrielle, you're a knight!" Lucca said. "You have to!" "No! I'm not going to fight and kill my own people!" Gabrielle protested. "Lady Gabrielle." Robo began. "I believe you would be a valuable asset to the Guardian army. You have the knowledge of Amazon tactics and the language as well." "So?" "So, you could help us win this war quickly." Crono told her. "You could help negotiate since you know the Amazon language." A dozen knights burst into the hall covered in sweat and grime. They snatched up tankards of water before they spoke. "There's been an attack." One gasped. "Ama-" -cough- "Amazons. They came in from the south on Ze-Zenan Bridge. Then they in" -cough- "Invaded Guardia Forest." Gabrielle grabbed the man by the shoulder even though he was filthy. "Did they have any kind of insignia?" she demanded. Midnight pecked at the man's face making him flinch. Gabrielle took him off of her shoulder and stroked him in her arms. "They had some kind of sunburst surrounded by a red circle and a brown circle." He replied. "Oh gods!" she shouted letting the man go. "This is bad." "Is it the Samaran tribe?" Marle wanted to know. "No." Gabrielle replied. "It's the Thayten! They're a southern tribe on the mountain, I guess Shatara was generous on them and the tribe's still alive." "Is the Thayten bad?" Crono asked. "If you call a tribe that did human sacrifice and a lot hunting for humans bad, yes." Gabrielle retorted. Crono winced. "I hope they didn't pass on their lovely habit of the past to their descendants." Lucca murmured. "The attack is done but the sav-I mean, beg your pardon, Sir Gabrielle, the enemy has camped all around Guardia Forest." The knight said. "We're planning out retaliation to be carried out in a few hours." Another knight added. "No!" Gabrielle cried. "Don't attack them! Amazons always are ready for retaliation. Your troops will be captured, tortured, and killed. Your entire army will be slaughtered." Her words came out grim and cold. "She's probably trying to protect her people!" a knight in the back of the room accused. It was Sir Jameson. "She's lying!" "I am not!" Gabrielle protested. "I've lived with the Amazons for nearly half my life and I know how they battle! They regroup after every battle to reflect and arrange to be ready for retaliation by the enemy. I'm saying this to save a ton of your soldier's lives!" "I say, she's lying and those Amazons are going to have a savage party for their so-called 'victory'. Now is the time to attack!" another knight cried and pounded his fist on the table. "I'm going to warn the King and tell him of this.traitor!" "I am not a traitor!" Gabrielle spat. "Aren't Amazons a part of Guardia?" "Not now." Jameson approached her. "You are the enemy, Amazon. You'll be treated like it." He punched her in the face catching her left eye. Gabrielle gave Jameson a good hit in the stomach. "Wench!" he snarled. "You are a traitor, aren't you! You're a spy for the Amazons, you saved the Queen because you knew she'd knight you then you'd be right where you want to be." "That is ridiculous!" Marle had had enough. "Gabrielle came with us, from 12,000 B.C! She didn't even know that Amazons still existed here." "You lie!" Jameson cried. "You know she's a traitor!" The King entered the room. The knights bowed and cleared his way to Gabrielle. Midnight gave a squawk that made everyone wince. "Is what they say true?" he inquired. "Your Majesty, I swear by Shatara, I am not a traitor." She told him firmly. "She swears by an Amazon god!" Jameson informed him. "Well, she's an Amazon." Glenn pointed out, getting up. "Obviously she's going to swear by her goddess." "Your relationship with this girl has impaired your judgment, Sir Glenn." Jameson accused. Gabrielle looked at the young knight's belt and saw a familiar sunburst medallion with two circles around it. "Where did you get this, Sir Jameson?" she demanded snatching it off his belt. "This is the symbol of your 'enemy'." She informed him. "I.I got that off of an Amazon I killed. They really do need to work on their sword skills." He said slyly obviously trying to cover up his anxiety. Gabrielle examined the medallion closer. "If tradition hasn't changed, Amazons where their tribe's symbol on their chests. I've seen that you knights like to slash at people's chests." Gabrielle said turning the medallion around showing everyone that it was clean. "There's no blood on this." Gabrielle saw something on the edge of the metal disc. She nearly laughed. "Your Majesty, if you would look here, you'd see something interesting." She announced. Jameson knew what she had seen and was determined to shut her up. "Amazon wench!" he tackled Gabrielle with his dagger drawn and aimed to drive it into her chest. Gabrielle fell backward and felt the burning pain of the blade sink into her stomach. She cried out in pain and tried to push Jameson off of her. Glenn wrenched him off of her and saw the blood that was soaking Gabrielle's white shirt. Midnight went berserk and attacked Jameson who tried to slash at the Gryphon. When the Gryphon went to Gabrielle, Jameson went for Glenn. Glenn side stepped just in time as Jameson's dagger nearly sliced at his face. Marle and Schala ran to Gabrielle and to apply healing magic on the stabbed Amazon. With only a scar on her stomach, she got up stiffly and held up the disc again. "Your Majesty, Jameson is a traitor!" Gabrielle told him. "On this medallion is his name. All Amazons engrave their names on their symbols. Weapons as well." Gabrielle said. Crono and Glenn had disarmed Jameson and held him by his arms. Magus picked up the dagger and examined it; he grinned grimly and showed the King the hilt. Jameson's name was scratched into the leather wrapped hilt. "Search him!" the King ordered. Knights searched the young man's pockets and in his shirt. A piece of paper was tucked between his tunic and shirt. It was plucked out and read. "Gods!" a knight cried. "It's in completely alien script!" he told the King. The King squinted at the paper then immediately handed them to Gabrielle. She took them looking perplexed. Of course they were in Amazon and Gabrielle could read them. "What do they say?" the King wanted to know. Gabrielle could read Amazon as fast as she could read English, so translation was simple. "Um.kill the Amazon knight, kill her friends and if the King finds out about anything." Gabrielle stopped reading. Midnight squawked an inquiry. "What?" Glenn prodded. "Kill him." Gabrielle finished reading. "Meet us in the northwest corner of Guardia Forest for further instruction. And there's a map, Your Majesty." She gave him the paper. "Throw him in prison and put as many guards at his cell as you can." King Guardia commanded. "Yes, sire." A knight said with a bow.
* * * "Ok, now turn left." Gabrielle pointed to a crude trail to the party's left. "Then continue straight for a few feet." Gabrielle held the map while Glenn had a compass. She had brought Midnight on a leather collar and leash. "What're those x's?" Schala asked. "Those're traps. Pits, nets, arrows, ambush points, you know all that kind of stuff." Gabrielle replied. Midnight pecked at Gabrielle as if to say, "Enough, all ready!" "Lovely." Schala murmured. "Watch out for woven grass mat looking things; they cover the pits and where they're tall trees or hills is where the archers are." Gabrielle warned. "Maybe we should split up." Marle suggested. "We're such a big group. It's be harder to spot us if we were in pairs or something." "But we only have on map and it's in Amazon." Magus pointed out. Gabrielle was taking out a charcoal stick out of her pocket and tearing the map in pieces. "What the hell are you doing?" Magus demanded. Midnight flew up to him and pecked his face. The Gryphon was extremely protective of Gabrielle and got irritated whenever someone yelled at her or hit her, which caused problems in the practice yards. "Ow!" Magus cried out tartly. "Go away!" he barked at the Gryphon who was getting on his last nerve. "I'm going to write the directions for the pairs. Marle had an excellent point. Look at us, we're a herd!" she waved her hands around her. "Maybe we should go into groups of three." Everyone nodded. Gabrielle swiftly wrote out directions from the map she'd memorized and gave them to the groups. Crono, Marle, and Schala went on the trail on the left and Robo, Lucca, and Ayla went on the smoother trail behind them to the right; it would lead to the back of the Amazons' camp. Magus, Glenn, and Gabrielle found a skinny trail to the left of the one Crono, Marle, and Schala went down. Bushes stuck out into the trail and it often stuck to their clothes. Magus was having the hardest time because of his long cape. Glenn and Gabrielle tried not to laugh and keep going.
* * * "Sir. I have just received word that Jameson was unable to kill the Amazon wench. Or the King of Guardia." An underling announced to his superior at his table. "What?" the burly Amazon male jumped up. "That incompetent swine! When he returns to camp, kill him!" He sat back down and gulped his ale in disgust. "In fact if anyone or anything enters this camp that's not one of us, kill it! I don't care if it's an old beggar woman, kill it and dispose of the body!" he ordered. "Yes, sir." The underling hurried from his angered general's presence. "But don't you want prisoners for ransom?" a lieutenant wanted to know. "That might be a good idea." The general replied. "But for now kill anyone who has no business here." He said grimly. "Sir, I heard that those foreigners are trying to attack. Those friends of Sir Glenn." The lieutenant told him. "Yes, Rian. Those ones hold captive. But get me that Amazon wench, most of all. That Gabrielle." He commanded. "I want her dead, you hear me! Who does she think she is? Shatara? I'll put her in her place. She may have come from the past but she will learn quickly that this world has little room for bold, aggressive females." He cackled and toasted them with his glass and left the mess tent.
A/N: Ok, it's now about six o'clock in the morning. Here you go!
Chapter Ten: War (Part One - With Traitors) She heard everyone's screams even when she jerked awake. It was the middle of the night and the full moon shown in her room. Her nightshirt was sweat soaked and it ran down her forehead. She tried to calm herself down but sleep would not return. She gave up and yanked on some breeches and shoved her boots on. She thought a ride would calm her down. She tiptoed to the stables trying not to wake up anyone and saddled Lily, her white mare and rode out. At first she rode hard but then she slowed to a canter. A twig snapped behind her just as she was moving into the village of Truce. She whirled around, and grouped for her sword: she had left it at the castle. "Who goes there?" a man hissed. "I am Schala." Schala replied. "I intend no one here any harm. I am just riding." Injecting formality into her voice. "I see. I see." He murmured. "Pardon me for startlin' ye." "It's all right." She said thoughtfully. She trotted off and heard a snap of a bowstring and a sharp pain went through her right shoulder. She let go of her reigns and grabbed her shoulder in a scream of pain and slid from her saddle and was nearly knocked out. "Tell the Queen, that war's gonna be startin' soon." The man said. "That is.if you live." He laughed and slapped Lily on the rump causing her to whinny loudly and thunder towards Guardia Forest. Schala was on her stomach and tried to get up but kept falling each time she attempted to stand. She felt blood trickling between her shoulder blades telling her she needed help right away. She looked inside herself for her healing magic. From the shimmery white orb inside herself she drew out a cord and applied it to her shoulder. "I need this arrow out." Schala gasped. She couldn't reach the arrow and she was about to pass out from the pain.
* * * Once Ayla woke she knew something was wrong. She threw the sheets off of her and yanked on a shirt and a pair of pants and walked out of the room. She went next door to Magus's room and rapped on the door. "What?" he demanded. "Something wrong." Ayla said bluntly. "I feel in it in gut." She pounded her stomach to emphasize her point. "Wrong about what?" Magus inquired. "Me not know." Ayla confessed. "Then go back to sleep. You probably had a bad dream or something." He told her. He shut the door before she had a chance to protest. So she moved on to Magus's neighbor, Schala. She knocked once, then twice. When she was about to knock a third time, she just opened the door. Schala's bed was empty and she wasn't at her desk. Ayla knew right away this was probably the reason she felt uneasy. She raced back to Magus's door and pounded hard. "What?" he hissed irritably. "It Schala!" Ayla cried. "She not in her room!" "What?" Magus ran next door and saw the empty room for himself. He raced out of the room, Ayla in tow. He went down the hall and went to the mess thinking she was hungry. "She not here." Ayla said as if Magus couldn't see how empty the pitch- black room was. "I'm aware of this." He said dryly. He sighed frustrated and went to check the stables. Maybe his sister went for a midnight ride. Lily was gone and Magus saw the hoof prints leading into Guardia Forest. He and Ayla were on the trail for ten minutes when the white mare came galloping at them. Magus grabbed the reigns and tugged the mare in front of him. Ayla comforted the mare while Magus looked at the hoof prints. "Where could she be?" Ayla wondered. "Lily came into the forest.I'm going to check Truce." Magus said. He walked into the quiet village and saw a body on the ground and ran to it. "Schala?" "Ma-Magus?" Schala forced out. "Gods, what happened to you?" he demanded. "Some man.stopped me but then apologized for bothering me, then an arrow got me in the back." Schala explained. She sat up with extreme effort. Magus saw the arrow and winced. After warning her, he snapped the shaft of the arrow to get the feathered end off and pushed the rest of the arrow's shaft through her shoulder. Schala fainted against her brother as he concentrated on his work grimly. Ayla arrived, leading Lily and tore strips from her shirt for a bandage, once she saw what was wrong. Together, Ayla and Magus hoisted Schala onto Lily and walked back to the castle. Magus took her down to the castle healers where he barked orders to them. He stayed in the healer's hall until morning. Ayla returned to the guest wing to tell the others what had happened. They rushed to the healer's hall to see how Schala was.
* * * When Schala's eyes fluttered open it was nearly noon. Her ears filled with the sounds of murmuring while her nose filled with the smells of healing salves and saw all of her friends on cots around her. She rushed to get up; she had remembered the man's message and needed to tell the queen. A strong arm stopped her from sitting up. She pushed it away and got up. "Whoa. Where're you going?" a voice said in her ear. Magus tugged her from the door. "The man that shot me said to tell Queen Leene that war's coming." Schala told him in one breath. "What?" "Then he slapped Lily." Schala finished. "What's going on?" Gabrielle had awoken. "Nothing, go to sleep." Schala murmured. Then she glared at Magus who glared back. "I'm going with you then. C'mon." he led her out of the hall and together they walked directly to Queen Leene's room. They explained to the guard standing there what they needed to tell the queen. He permitted them through without hesitation. "Excuse me, Your Majesty?" Schala inquired politely. "Yes, young lady?" Queen Leene replied equally polite. "What is it you need to tell me?" "Um.last night I went for a ride at midnight and when I entered Truce a man attacked me." Schala told her. "Oh, dear, I hope you're all right." Leene put her hand to her heart. "I'm fine, thank you, but what he told me to tell you is more important." Schala informed her. "What did this man say?" the queen wanted to know. "He said to tell you that war's coming." Schala told her. Queen Leene gasped and asked, "Do you know if this man was an Amazon?" "I believe he was, Your Majesty." Schala replied. "Then we must prepare immediately." Queen Leene said grimly. "We're in for a hard winter."
* * * "What?" Gabrielle screeched and jumped up out of her seat when she heard the news at breakfast. Midnight squawked his protests as he flapped off her shoulder. "That's not true! He was lying! Lying!" Glenn grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back into her seat. "Relax, Gabrielle." He murmured. Midnight sat on the girl's shoulder once again. "That is what he said, Gabrielle." Schala told her. "What he told you is most disturbing." Robo remarked. "This means Lady Gabrielle will have some problems fighting them as she is now a knight and will go onto the battle field, am I correct?" Gabrielle's eyes widened, "No, you can't make me fight my own people!" she cried. "Gabrielle, you're a knight!" Lucca said. "You have to!" "No! I'm not going to fight and kill my own people!" Gabrielle protested. "Lady Gabrielle." Robo began. "I believe you would be a valuable asset to the Guardian army. You have the knowledge of Amazon tactics and the language as well." "So?" "So, you could help us win this war quickly." Crono told her. "You could help negotiate since you know the Amazon language." A dozen knights burst into the hall covered in sweat and grime. They snatched up tankards of water before they spoke. "There's been an attack." One gasped. "Ama-" -cough- "Amazons. They came in from the south on Ze-Zenan Bridge. Then they in" -cough- "Invaded Guardia Forest." Gabrielle grabbed the man by the shoulder even though he was filthy. "Did they have any kind of insignia?" she demanded. Midnight pecked at the man's face making him flinch. Gabrielle took him off of her shoulder and stroked him in her arms. "They had some kind of sunburst surrounded by a red circle and a brown circle." He replied. "Oh gods!" she shouted letting the man go. "This is bad." "Is it the Samaran tribe?" Marle wanted to know. "No." Gabrielle replied. "It's the Thayten! They're a southern tribe on the mountain, I guess Shatara was generous on them and the tribe's still alive." "Is the Thayten bad?" Crono asked. "If you call a tribe that did human sacrifice and a lot hunting for humans bad, yes." Gabrielle retorted. Crono winced. "I hope they didn't pass on their lovely habit of the past to their descendants." Lucca murmured. "The attack is done but the sav-I mean, beg your pardon, Sir Gabrielle, the enemy has camped all around Guardia Forest." The knight said. "We're planning out retaliation to be carried out in a few hours." Another knight added. "No!" Gabrielle cried. "Don't attack them! Amazons always are ready for retaliation. Your troops will be captured, tortured, and killed. Your entire army will be slaughtered." Her words came out grim and cold. "She's probably trying to protect her people!" a knight in the back of the room accused. It was Sir Jameson. "She's lying!" "I am not!" Gabrielle protested. "I've lived with the Amazons for nearly half my life and I know how they battle! They regroup after every battle to reflect and arrange to be ready for retaliation by the enemy. I'm saying this to save a ton of your soldier's lives!" "I say, she's lying and those Amazons are going to have a savage party for their so-called 'victory'. Now is the time to attack!" another knight cried and pounded his fist on the table. "I'm going to warn the King and tell him of this.traitor!" "I am not a traitor!" Gabrielle spat. "Aren't Amazons a part of Guardia?" "Not now." Jameson approached her. "You are the enemy, Amazon. You'll be treated like it." He punched her in the face catching her left eye. Gabrielle gave Jameson a good hit in the stomach. "Wench!" he snarled. "You are a traitor, aren't you! You're a spy for the Amazons, you saved the Queen because you knew she'd knight you then you'd be right where you want to be." "That is ridiculous!" Marle had had enough. "Gabrielle came with us, from 12,000 B.C! She didn't even know that Amazons still existed here." "You lie!" Jameson cried. "You know she's a traitor!" The King entered the room. The knights bowed and cleared his way to Gabrielle. Midnight gave a squawk that made everyone wince. "Is what they say true?" he inquired. "Your Majesty, I swear by Shatara, I am not a traitor." She told him firmly. "She swears by an Amazon god!" Jameson informed him. "Well, she's an Amazon." Glenn pointed out, getting up. "Obviously she's going to swear by her goddess." "Your relationship with this girl has impaired your judgment, Sir Glenn." Jameson accused. Gabrielle looked at the young knight's belt and saw a familiar sunburst medallion with two circles around it. "Where did you get this, Sir Jameson?" she demanded snatching it off his belt. "This is the symbol of your 'enemy'." She informed him. "I.I got that off of an Amazon I killed. They really do need to work on their sword skills." He said slyly obviously trying to cover up his anxiety. Gabrielle examined the medallion closer. "If tradition hasn't changed, Amazons where their tribe's symbol on their chests. I've seen that you knights like to slash at people's chests." Gabrielle said turning the medallion around showing everyone that it was clean. "There's no blood on this." Gabrielle saw something on the edge of the metal disc. She nearly laughed. "Your Majesty, if you would look here, you'd see something interesting." She announced. Jameson knew what she had seen and was determined to shut her up. "Amazon wench!" he tackled Gabrielle with his dagger drawn and aimed to drive it into her chest. Gabrielle fell backward and felt the burning pain of the blade sink into her stomach. She cried out in pain and tried to push Jameson off of her. Glenn wrenched him off of her and saw the blood that was soaking Gabrielle's white shirt. Midnight went berserk and attacked Jameson who tried to slash at the Gryphon. When the Gryphon went to Gabrielle, Jameson went for Glenn. Glenn side stepped just in time as Jameson's dagger nearly sliced at his face. Marle and Schala ran to Gabrielle and to apply healing magic on the stabbed Amazon. With only a scar on her stomach, she got up stiffly and held up the disc again. "Your Majesty, Jameson is a traitor!" Gabrielle told him. "On this medallion is his name. All Amazons engrave their names on their symbols. Weapons as well." Gabrielle said. Crono and Glenn had disarmed Jameson and held him by his arms. Magus picked up the dagger and examined it; he grinned grimly and showed the King the hilt. Jameson's name was scratched into the leather wrapped hilt. "Search him!" the King ordered. Knights searched the young man's pockets and in his shirt. A piece of paper was tucked between his tunic and shirt. It was plucked out and read. "Gods!" a knight cried. "It's in completely alien script!" he told the King. The King squinted at the paper then immediately handed them to Gabrielle. She took them looking perplexed. Of course they were in Amazon and Gabrielle could read them. "What do they say?" the King wanted to know. Gabrielle could read Amazon as fast as she could read English, so translation was simple. "Um.kill the Amazon knight, kill her friends and if the King finds out about anything." Gabrielle stopped reading. Midnight squawked an inquiry. "What?" Glenn prodded. "Kill him." Gabrielle finished reading. "Meet us in the northwest corner of Guardia Forest for further instruction. And there's a map, Your Majesty." She gave him the paper. "Throw him in prison and put as many guards at his cell as you can." King Guardia commanded. "Yes, sire." A knight said with a bow.
* * * "Ok, now turn left." Gabrielle pointed to a crude trail to the party's left. "Then continue straight for a few feet." Gabrielle held the map while Glenn had a compass. She had brought Midnight on a leather collar and leash. "What're those x's?" Schala asked. "Those're traps. Pits, nets, arrows, ambush points, you know all that kind of stuff." Gabrielle replied. Midnight pecked at Gabrielle as if to say, "Enough, all ready!" "Lovely." Schala murmured. "Watch out for woven grass mat looking things; they cover the pits and where they're tall trees or hills is where the archers are." Gabrielle warned. "Maybe we should split up." Marle suggested. "We're such a big group. It's be harder to spot us if we were in pairs or something." "But we only have on map and it's in Amazon." Magus pointed out. Gabrielle was taking out a charcoal stick out of her pocket and tearing the map in pieces. "What the hell are you doing?" Magus demanded. Midnight flew up to him and pecked his face. The Gryphon was extremely protective of Gabrielle and got irritated whenever someone yelled at her or hit her, which caused problems in the practice yards. "Ow!" Magus cried out tartly. "Go away!" he barked at the Gryphon who was getting on his last nerve. "I'm going to write the directions for the pairs. Marle had an excellent point. Look at us, we're a herd!" she waved her hands around her. "Maybe we should go into groups of three." Everyone nodded. Gabrielle swiftly wrote out directions from the map she'd memorized and gave them to the groups. Crono, Marle, and Schala went on the trail on the left and Robo, Lucca, and Ayla went on the smoother trail behind them to the right; it would lead to the back of the Amazons' camp. Magus, Glenn, and Gabrielle found a skinny trail to the left of the one Crono, Marle, and Schala went down. Bushes stuck out into the trail and it often stuck to their clothes. Magus was having the hardest time because of his long cape. Glenn and Gabrielle tried not to laugh and keep going.
* * * "Sir. I have just received word that Jameson was unable to kill the Amazon wench. Or the King of Guardia." An underling announced to his superior at his table. "What?" the burly Amazon male jumped up. "That incompetent swine! When he returns to camp, kill him!" He sat back down and gulped his ale in disgust. "In fact if anyone or anything enters this camp that's not one of us, kill it! I don't care if it's an old beggar woman, kill it and dispose of the body!" he ordered. "Yes, sir." The underling hurried from his angered general's presence. "But don't you want prisoners for ransom?" a lieutenant wanted to know. "That might be a good idea." The general replied. "But for now kill anyone who has no business here." He said grimly. "Sir, I heard that those foreigners are trying to attack. Those friends of Sir Glenn." The lieutenant told him. "Yes, Rian. Those ones hold captive. But get me that Amazon wench, most of all. That Gabrielle." He commanded. "I want her dead, you hear me! Who does she think she is? Shatara? I'll put her in her place. She may have come from the past but she will learn quickly that this world has little room for bold, aggressive females." He cackled and toasted them with his glass and left the mess tent.