Finally the day came. Two lines of soldiers, both varicolored, filled the field. Among the Tortallans: Raoul, Merric, Tobe, Neal, and Dom formed the center of the group. Their line was bright with colors, mail, helms, and weapons glinting in the late afternoon sun, and most men atop fine mounts.

The Scanran soldiers were a little worse for wear. Their scraggly horses head aloft only the richest of commanders, common soldiers only had what they could afford, mainly ripped shirts, rusted swords, and decrepit armor.

On one horse, though, was a woman. She was thinner than usual, wearing the same clothes she had disappeared in, and she had her arms roughly tied behind her back and a cloth sack pulled over her head with the ends of her hair unbound sticking out. She had soldiers on each side, holding the reigns of the horse to make sure she couldn't go anywhere.

One man who seemed to be the commanding officer urged his mount forward a few paces and called, "Send over the ransom, and we'll send over the girl!"

Raoul's face was impassive but he yelled back, "First her, then the ransom!" he voice easily reached the ears of every man there.

Unwillingly, Hilam nodded to the guards, they sent Kel's forward, for Dom time seemed to stand still, and all was silent except for the slow plodding of the horse. He would have rushed forward, but Neal's tight hold on his arm prevented any movement.

Not keen on waiting, Raoul hurried his horse and brought Kel back behind the line of soldiers. He motioned for the soldiers to send over the ransom and carefully cut the bag off Kel's head. There were bruises and cuts covering her face and neck, some old, others new, but all were colorful and a painful reminder of how long she'd been gone. 'Probably more over the rest of her,' thought Dom, he was furious that they would even consider torturing a noble.

She showed signs of recognizing Raoul and Dom heard her forced whisper, "It's Duke Hilam, milord," before she collapsed against the neck of her horse in a dead faint.


When Kel next awoke, it was mid afternoon. She pulled herself up slowly, and reached for the water jug. She had drunken half of the pitcher before she felt better.

After looking around she realized she was in the infirmary of New Hope. She lifted arms that felt like lead to inspect her condition. All the bruises and gashes from being beaten were healed, 'Neal,' she thought. Strangely, the thought of him brought stinging tears to her eyes. 'Have I been gone that long? she sniffed.

A shuffling noise drew her attention, she looked over, and in a small chair by the door sat Dom's cramped body, his head nodding back, he was asleep. 'How long has he been here?' she asked herself, crying openly now. She pulled her arms around her legs and cried into her knees, shaking slightly.

The next thing she heard was, "Kel?" Dom had woken up, "Kel! Thank the gods you're alive!" he rushed over to her and hugged her as tightly as he could. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again, you hear?" Kel was simply content to wrap her arms around him and cry into his shirt. Dom pulled away, "You have no idea how much we've missed you," he said softly, "especially me."

Unluckily for Dom, Neal walked in, "Kel!" he yelled, disturbing their peace, he ran back outside to shout, "Kel's awake everyone! Kel's alright!!" He ran back in and hugged her, too. Within minutes a large crowd of people were trying to fit into a very small infirmary, all eager to hug Kel and make sure she was in one piece. They had to stop their welcomes short though, because in a few minutes Kel swung her legs over and tried to stand up.

Neal nearly screamed, "Good gods, Mindelan, where do you think you're going?"

"To get something to eat, of course," Kel said, her tone sharp, "is that alright, oh great healer?"

"Well, I guess." Neal said sheepishly.

"Good." She stood up, a little dizzy at first, "Excuse me," she said as her crowd of friends stared at her, "but, if you don't mind, I'm famished." The sea of people laughed, this was the Kel they remembered, and parted for her. She walked out with Dom following close behind, steadying whenever she faltered.