"Oh, gods…" Gareth the Younger of Naxen murmured, moving forward and crouching beside her limp form. He looked up, his eyes concerned. "It's Kiala."

The eyes of the three men with him widened.

"Are you certain?" Myles of Olau demanded, hurrying forward to look at the girl. He gazed at her pale features for a moment before nodding, and laying a cool hand on her cheek. He started. "She's alive."

"Alive!" Gary gasped. Myles nodded. He turned to one of the other men, a palace guard.

"Fetch Duke Baird. And Sir Raoul," he added quickly. "Hurry." The guard nodded and dashed away. The other, a younger man with bright green eyes, stepped forward, an anxious look in his eyes.

"Sir, I have the Gift," he said nervously. Myles stared at him for a moment.

"Can you heal?" he demanded. The youth nodded. "Well, get on with it, then," Myles said, stepping back from Kiala's form. "Gary. Stand back." Sir Gareth obeyed. The young guard knelt beside Kiala and lay his hands on the wet patch on her chest. He sucked in his breath.

"It's bad," he murmured.

"She wasn't attacked, was she," Gary said, looking at Myles. It wasn't a question. Myles shook his head.

"She tried to kill herself," he sighed. "Do you have any idea why? Any at all?" The young man shook his head.

"None. I haven't seen her for years."

A sea-green light had begun to pulse from the guard's hands, flowing into Kiala's chest, healing the wound. Myles and Gary watched anxiously. At last the guard pulled back.

"It's too much," he said, his voice not as strong as it had been. "The wound's too deep."

"Wait for Duke Baird," Myles sighed. He crouched beside Kiala again, pushing her chestnut hair out of her eyes. "Poor girl," he muttered. "She certainly found a good place. If we hadn't been looking for her, she could have been down here for weeks."

"You're right," Gary murmured, gazing at the motionless girl. Myles took the dagger from her hand.

"This is familiar," he said suddenly. "Look." He passed it up to Gary, who examined it closely.

"It is," he agreed, as Myles turned back to Kiala. He turned the blade over in his hands, staring at the engraving on the hilt. Abruptly he blinked, then blinked again, staring at it closer.

"This… this is the Tirragen design," he said quietly. Myles turned to stare at him.

"Are you sure?" Gary nodded as Myles took the dagger from him and looked at it closely. "It is…" he said. Gary's eyes were very wide.

"Alex," he muttered, staring around the room. "This is… this is where they found him, isn't it." Myles's eyes widened too as it dawned upon him. Before they could speak any more, people hurried into the room, the massive Raoul at the head. He limped across the floor to his sister, and crouched beside her.

"Kiala…" he said softly in a stricken tone. Gary and Myles exchanged a worried look.

Duke Baird, the chief healer, strode across. "Out of the way," he said sharply, crouching beside the girl. He looked at her quickly. "Alive. Only just." He laid his hands on her chest, in the same place as the young guard had. His magic was stronger than the guard's, and much brighter. There was silence for the space of two breaths, then Kiala coughed. Raoul let out his breath, which he had not even realised he had been holding.

"No…" Kiala murmured. "No… don't…" She weakly tried to push Baird's hands away. He didn't move. "No…" she said again, her voice stronger now as she gripped the Duke's wrists and tried to fight them away. "Let… let me go… don't…"

"Kiala," Raoul said gently, "you're all right. Don't worry. You're coming home."

Her eyes snapped open and focussed on his face.

"I don't want to…" she whispered, before trying to fight Baird away again. Her struggles were becoming stronger, and the Duke was having more trouble resisting her. But her effort was useless. Realising this, Kiala relaxed and began to wail.

~*~

Sir Raoul stayed by her bedside, day and night. She would sleep for an hour or two, then wake, but all she did was cry silently. She didn't even seem to recognise her own brother. He got almost no sleep in those four days.

"Raoul," a voice said from behind him. He twisted around in his chair and gazed into Alanna's purple eyes. "You look terrible," she informed him sadly. "Have you slept at all?"

Wordlessly, he shook his head. Alanna sighed and sat down in a chair nearby.

"Poor Kiala," she whispered. Just then, the girl opened her eyes. For the first time in days, tears didn't come straight into her eyes; she gazed silently at Alanna.

"Murderer…" she breathed.

"Kiala-" Raoul began, but the girl turned onto her side, tears pouring down her cheeks. Abruptly, all movement stopped.

"Ki… Kiala?" Alanna said, suddenly afraid, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. There was no movement, not even of breath in Kiala's lungs.

A/N: This Is Not The End!! ^^;;