Chapter Thirteen
Alanna
From the edge of sleep she heard a tiny noise. Alanna opened her eyes and looked around. The camp was quiet; only the sound of breathing disturbed the peace of the desert. But there had been a noise, and her heart was beating fast.
She pulled her sword to her as she stood up. The buckle of her belt clinked as she stood up and George stirred in his sleep. She watched him for a full minute, but he didn't move again, and she moved on.
She found herself wandering to the edge of the camp, so only the watchmen were closer to the empty sand than she. The sky was dark, but the edges of the horizon were tinged with pink, suggesting a red dawn to come.
"What is it?" she whispered to herself.
A breath of sand brushed the back of her legs and she spun around, hand reaching for her sun.
Alianne held up her hands in defence.
"It's me, relax,"
Alanna smiled at her daughter.
"I'm impressed,"
Alianne smirked and bowed. "I've been learning while I was away,"
Alanna nodded. "You have,"
"And I'm happy," Alianne continued. "I'm doing something I believe in with people I care about,"
"I know," Alanna replied. "And I'm so proud of you,"
"Then why have you been avoiding me?" her daughter asked. Alanna sighed.
"I just look at you and realise that all my children are grown up and don't need me anymore,"
"What about finding me a husband, and wives for the boys?" Aly asked. Alanna laughed.
"You seem to be doing just find at making your own husband, and Daine informs me he's being very proper about the process. As for the other two, I think I'll leave Thom to you, and Lianne has her eye on Alan,"
Alianne choked. "Lianne… princess Lianne… Li, Lianne, wants to marry my brother,"
Alanna nodded. "Didn't you know?"
"Lianne can't want to marry my brother. My best friend can't be my sister-in-law,"
"Well look at the alternative. Do you really want Lianne to move to another country to marry a man none of us have ever met, like Kalasin did? I know her best friend doesn't like that very much,"
Aly considered it a moment. "You're right,"
Alanna smiled. "I am occasionally," She jumped when she felt Alianne's arms wrap around her.
"I love you Mama," she whispered.
"I love you too," Alanna replied. "Now go back to bed,"
"Alright," her daughter hugged her again and then turned away. Alanna watched as she wandered back towards the camp.
"They're awake," Kalasin's voice surprised her; it had become such a rare sound.
"Who?" Alanna asked.
"Roger's army," the young Empress replied. "The dead,
"Can you kill him?" she asked.
"Roger?" Alanna asked.
Kally shook her head.
"I don't know; I guess we'll find out when I do,"
A ghost of a smile tugged over Kalasin's face. "You'll take care of my father; won't you?" she asked.
Alanna nodded. "Always; mind my children,"
"We will," Roald replied, standing quietly beside his sister.
Alanna glanced at them both. "And you'll both take care of yourselves too," she checked.
They flung their arms around her, or to be more precise, Roald flung his arms around the both of them and Kally used one, balancing her son on the other. Alanna was surprised.
"Sorry," Roald muttered. Kalasin moved away, her face registering blank again. Roald looked just plain miserable.
"I guess it's time to go," he muttered. Alanna nodded.
"Wake them,"
"Can you do it?" Liam asked her. Alanna nodded and broke his nose, slamming the shards back into his brain.
"Trust me, that wasn't the hard part," she told his corpse.
"What about this then?" her back straightened and she looked up into her twins eyes.
Thom tilted his head to one side. "Surprised?" he asked. Alanna shook her head.
"Nothing that sick, sadistic bastard does surprises me any more,"
"So how shall we play this?" Thom asked her.
"I don't have time to fight you like you deserve," Alanna told him. "But I can make sure no one else kills you," She rammed her sword in between his eyes and watched as they filled with red.
Roald
Roald glanced up as the sun glanced off the sword of the man he'd just killed. The battlefield stretched out for miles all around him, and he'd long lost track of his family and friends, except for Kalasin, who stood on a little mound of bodies- men he'd killed to protect her, surveying the area with a detached expression on her face. The infant in her arms was following his mother's eyes, and for a moment Roald wished he could just kill the baby, and end everything right then. But he knew that if he did Kalasin would die too, and he couldn't let that happen.
Kalasin
She felt something pulling her, drawing her inexorably towards her ultimate goal. All around her people were dying, some who had already experienced the pain of death, and she had to stop it. She was Alanna of Trebond, Pirate's Swoop and Olau, King's Champion and knight of the realm of Tortall. That knowledge soaked through her body and turned into power. She knew what she had to do, and no one, not even Roger of Conte, could stop her.
Daine and Kaddar
Daine flew high over the battlefield, her hawk's eyes searching for her foe. A flash of steel caught her attention and she was tumbling from the sky, touching the ground in her naked human form.
"Hey," she called.
The Stormwing Orzone spun around and glared at her. His expression turned to a smile as he recognized her.
"Hello Veralidaine," he greeted her.
"You've caused a lot of trouble," she told him. "If I'd known just how much, I'd have taken a little more time over killing you,"
"Well now you have another chance," he replied. "Are you going to try it or are we just going to stand around her making small talk until this is all over,"
"I was going to kill you," she replied. "It was definitely on my list of things to do today,
"But then I realised that I wasn't the only one who you hurt, so I'm going to give someone else the opportunity," She gritted her teeth at the sound of metal on metal as Orzone's wing met with his nephew's sword. She looked away a few moments later, as blood spewed out of the wound Kaddar had made in Orzone's chest. It was finished by the crunch of bone and Kaddar's voice telling her,
"It's over now,"
She nodded without turning back to see, and sprang onto her wings the minute they would lift her.
Alanna
"Take it,"
She stared into his eyes and heard Kalasin's voice in her mind.
"Can you do it?" she realised that the question had been not so much a question and more a wish, a desperate plea from a mother who did not want to lose her child.
She slid her blade into Alex's body smoothly into his chest and took Lightening from his hand as he fell.
Roald
Roald looked up at Kalasin and saw her stiffen, confirming what he was feeling. He lifted his sword just in time to stop the oncoming blow, and turned his attention back to the battle.
Kalasin
She stepped down from the pile of bodies her brother had made for her and walked forward so she could see the scene. It would be over soon she knew, with a sort of detached certainty. No one but Alanna, Jonathon and Roger of Conte could affect the outcome of the battle now.
Alanna and Jonathon
Alanna felt Jonathon's presence beside her.
"I guess this is it," she muttered. Jon nodded. He reached out for her hand. "I'm scared," he whispered. She gripped his hand tightly. "Me too,"
"I…" he began, staring into her face. Alanna stiffened suddenly.
"Go on," a voice from behind them advised. "By all means Cousin, profess your eternal love for this woman. It's the last chance you will get,"
"Shut up," Jonathon hissed. "Let's just finish this,"
Roger looked disappointed. "I was hoping you'd want to play first, but if not…"
Lightening hot pain shot through Alanna's side and she gritted her teeth to keep from screaming. She heard Jon groan next to her, but didn't allow herself to be weakened by glancing at him. Instead she concerntrated on forming a wall of protection between them and Roger, and soon felt Jonathon's grip tighten on hers and his voice recite the words of the spell with her.
A wall of purple and blue dancing light rose up between them and their enemy, but Alanna could still see him smiling triumphantly.
"There you go, already putting your energy into defence," he gloated. This may be even faster then I thought,"
"I wouldn't count on that," Alanna called. "There's two of us and only one of you," she knew she was lying, and suspected that he did too, but the words made her feel braver somehow,"
Jonathon was whispering something and suddenly a sapphire globe appeared in mid air and slammed through their barrier into Roger. Alanna winced at the pain as it whistled through their protection.
"Jon," she whispered.
His hand squeezed hers. "Do we have a choice Lady Knight?" she shook her head and then screamed in pain as the barrier collapsed, revealing a grinning Rger holding a sword in his hand.
Kalasin
The wind was rushing now, all of time blowing past in a frenzy as the battle drew nearer and nearer to its climax. She took another step forward, and braced herself against it, holding her child tightly.
Alanna and Jonathon
Alanna felt Lightening shiver in its scabbard.
"Do you want it?" she asked. Roger laughed.
"My dear Alanna, the last time I wanted that sword from you it wound up sticking out of me if I remember correctly. Do you really think I'd make the same mistake twice?"
"Judging by the fact that you've come back here, where nobody wants you alive, I'd have to say yes," Jonathon replied.
"Now now Your Majesty, don't let's get testy. And may I remind you that I didn't choose to come back here, and didn't do so by my own means?"
Kalasin
It had become too fast for her to her what was happening, but at the same time everything around it had slowed almost to a crawl. From the corner of her mind still with her body she saw her brother drop beneath the charge of a large man wearing the clothes of a foot soldier. Distantly she heard his cry, and another, answering, female. Ignoring this she turned her mind back to the real battle.
Alanna and Jonathon
Alanna sighed. "This is getting tiresome," she told the men. "Can we please just do what we have to and be done with it?"
"An excellent suggestion Lady Alanna," Roger replied. She felt the pain again, higher up this time, wrapping itself around her heart and choking the life out of her.
"Do you have anything more to say, or shall I just finish you off?" Roger asked. He smiled triumphantly, towering above her darkening world. In the distance she heard a voice speaking urgently, but couldn't make out the words.
Duke Gareth
The sky was darkening over the heads of the battling armies. Duke Gareth of Naxen glanced up at the sky and shook his head. The neighing of his horse was all that alerted him to the fact that there was an enemy present. His defence was not swift enough to save the mare, and her slid from her saddle as she fell, meeting his attacker on foot.
Alanna
Alanna fought against the darkness, which seemed to her eyes to be somehow orange. She felt Roger's spell tightening its grip on her heart and screamed without sound at the pain.
Kalasin
A tiny palpitation of emotion welled up inside her as she felt the dwindling life forces of her father and aunt. The baby seemed to grow in her arms, and she fell to her knees under its weight.
Roald
The giant's sword was crushing his wind-pipe, and the world was very quickly fading in on him. Dimly in the distance he heard a scream, and he recognized it.
"Don't worry Kally, I'll take care of you, I promise,"
His sword was lying where it had fallen by his hand. His fingers gripped it and he raised it up to strike the man on top of him. He felt his lungs fill with air, and got to his feet, massaging his throat. She wasn't where he'd left her. Panicked, he scanned the area. His eyes found her and he began to run.
Alanna and Jonathon
Somewhere far away she felt the heat of her sword in her hand, and was reminded of how that particular weapon had come to be in her possession.
"I don't think giving in is the answer this time Lightening," she thought sadly. Then she heard the voice again, closer this time.
"Open the way for us,"
She felt a rush of burning power go through her body and opened her eyes. He was smiling cruelly, not even watching her. She felt Jonathon's hand squeeze hers and lifted Lightening.
Roald
Suddenly he felt a great change in the air, and couldn't find the energy to keep running. He sank to his knees in the empty sand.
Alanna and Jonathon
Roger's mouth fell open, even as his head fell from his body. Red clouded Alanna's vision as she sank to the ground once.
"Burn," she heard Jonathon whisper, and felt a rush of heat as she repeated the word. The orange light faded, and sparkling purple and blue took its place. Then everything vanished and all that was left was Jonathon's sapphire eye's staring into hers.
"Alanna," he whispered.
Roald and Kalasin
Roald lifted himself up and looked around. The bodies of their enemy were fading, and those who were left alive were vanishing into the distance. He got to his feet and ran to his sister.
He knelt down beside her. There were tears streaming down her face.
"Is it over?" he asked.
She looked at him, tears streaming over her cheeks, and nodded. Then she smiled.
"Yes," she whispered. "It's finally over," She looked down at the baby sleeping in her arms.
"It's over," she repeated, and burst into tears. Roald took her in his arms and glanced towards the place where he knew that battle had been taking place. It was empty; nothing remained to show what had occurred there.
Kalasin caught his eyes and pulled them upwards to the sky. He was shocked to see the stars shining in the middle of the day. Then he looked at the Cat, and found himself smiling as he saw one of the stars flickering on and off. Faithful was winking at them.
Gary, Raoul, and Duke Gareth
"He knew what he was doing," Raoul told Gary. "And so did Jon, when he brought him with us. He wanted an honourable death in battle, not to die in his bed surrounded by his family. You have to understand that, and let him have it with your blessing,"
Gary looked away. "You really think he wanted this?" he asked.
Raoul nodded. "And you know that I'm right," Gary closed his eyes.
"Yes,"
"Alright, now let's get this done with,"
Roald and Kalasin
Roald stared at the crowd of people gathered at the base of the hill where they'd made their final camp.
"Are you ready?" he asked his sister.
Kalasin nodded. "Yes, I'm ready," She took a deep breath and stepped forward, only to stop.
"What is it?" he asked, concerned.
"They're all watching us," she replied.
George
George Cooper watched the silhouettes of the two young people as they stood there at the top of the hill. As they began to make their way down he closed his eyes and sighed.
"Papa?" Alianne addressed him. He looked at her, and she glanced towards the front of the crowd where Thayet was standing with her children and his sons. He nodded to his daughter and stepped forward to join them.
A cheer went up as Kalasin's feet touched the ground at the bottom of the hill, but that cheer abruptly stopped as Thayet stepped towards her daughter with an expectant look on her face. Roald came to stand behind his sister, but nobody else moved.
George felt Alianne slip her arms around him and looked down into her frightened blue eyes. He looked away and made eye contact with each of Alan and Thom as they came to stand by him.
Thayet's eyes filled with tears as her son and daughter stood stoically before her with no words to give. She glanced around, and George felt her eyes on him, though he couldn't meet them for the sun. He turned his head away and then looked back, unable to offer her any comfort but wanting to see anyway.
Kalasin stepped forward again. The whole army held its breath as she moved towards her mother. When she was about two steps away she reached out, offering the baby in her arms. Thayet stared at her for a moment, and then slowly reached out and took her grandson in her arms.