Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, places etc. They all belong to Tamora Pierce. I own the plot though! Anything you might find familiar is probably a quote from TP's books. Hang on, I own: Ked, Salin, Jamil and Ked's Warrior Lord, Lord Parrton.

A/N: Right. This is a corrected version of the chapter. I've been going through correcting the chapters, so if you find any mistakes, let me know! I've tried to sort out everything, but I'm no where near perfect so I'm sure you'll be able to find some mistakes. I've completely changed Kel's reactions because everyone was saying that she was completely OCC, and quite frankly, I agreed. On with the story…

Chapter Nine: Traitor!

Ednar, the Emperor's son, walked slowly into the Chamber of Tribulation and the door closed behind him. Immediately the voices assaulted him, their voices harsh, yet beautiful.

"This is not what was meant for her!"

"You are right, but how often can we interfere with the affairs of mortals?"

"She is right, the last time you tried to interfere there was an earthquake!"

"I am the Goddess of Destiny!" The voice was angry now. "I say it is not her destiny, it should change. Do something about it. Now!"

A new voice entered the conversation. "I will, just give me time, and the right person!" That voice wasn't really a person, more a spirit.

Ednar writhed on the floor in agony, the voices hurt his ears! And what were they talking about? None of this had anything to do with his future! The bare walls in front of him vanished, and he found himself somewhere else.

There was a Tortallan army advancing at him, and at its head was a woman. Her brown hair was short and she had determined hazel eyes. Shocked, he recognised the woman as Kel, his year mate, and friend when he was seven. She signalled, and the army halted. There was a loud cry.

"Commander, over there! A Yamani fleet!"

"Are you sure it's them?" she asked quickly.

"It's definitely them," a man at her right confirmed. Green magic sparkled around him.

"Right, to your places men! Don't let them near the town!" Kel yelled, and rode hard for the hill with her men trailing behind her.

"Mithros be with you Kel," the sparkling green magic man said to her.

"And with you Neal. Make sure you come out alive, or Yuki'll have my head!" she joked.

"What about Dom having mine?" the man identified as Neal retorted.

What was going on? This wasn't his future, or his past! This had nothing to do with him. And why in the name of the Gods of Fire and Ice was Kel in charge of a Tortallan fleet that was going after a Yamani fleet of ships? She had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Yamani Islands when she became a narwabi! Was she traitorous? Was she helping the Tortallans to invade Yaman?

Ednar found himself inside his body this time, and in front of him was a vast expanse of hills, behind him an army of men, and to his left a town. He ordered his men to the town.

"Now!" came a yell out of the trees.

There was the thundering sound of horses' hooves, and men dressed in the Tortallan blues and silvers raced out onto the path in front of them.

Ednar drew his sword, and found himself face to face with a woman, Kel.

"Traitor!" he snarled, and slashed at her, but she defended superbly, and his men were outnumbered. An arrow hit his back, and he faltered. Kel took advantage of this, and took his head off with her sword. Everything went black.

Ednar gasped for breath, and felt his back. It was sore, just where he could have sworn an arrow hit him, and there was a huge hole there. He felt for his head. It was still there. The walls flashed in front of him again, and he heard more voices.

"Have you done something?"

"Of course," the spirit voice snarled. "What do you take me for?"

"Who did you use?"

"Who else but someone the Emperor will listen to. Prince Ednar."

"Good. I hope he understands what you mean him to do."

"I would think my message was rather clear," the spirit voice said snottily. "I have been doing this for centuries."

"And I have seen you mess it up for centuries," the other voice retorted.

"Don't complain," the spirit voice growled. "Or next time, I'll leave you to sort out your own mess!"

What was going on? Kel couldn't be traitorous, could she?

The door to the Chamber opened, and Ednar stumbled out. As his best friend caught him, he sighed with relief.

"Are you okay?" Ervin asked.

"I'll be fine, but I need to see my father," Ednar said with urgency. "I must."

- - -

Dom hugged Kel tight, his blue eyes alight with worry.

"Now, you're sure you'll be okay?" he asked.

Kel grinned and disentangled herself from Dom. "Yes, I'll be fine. Neal came out of the Chamber fine, so I'll be fine."

"Kel, the boat's leaving!" Jamil yelled.

"Coming," she replied and ran towards the boat that would be taking them to the Yamani Islands. As she ran up the boarding plank, she turned and waved to Dom. "I'll see you when I get back!"

Dom grinned back at her, but Kel could see he wasn't his usual self, he was uneasy, he was worried for her.

- - -

The Emperor stared at his son. "You are sure it was her?" he asked suspiciously. Even he did not want to believe the worst of the Mindelan family, they were responsible for the peace between Tortall and the Islands.

Ednar nodded. "Yes, it was definitely her."

The Emperor stood up and shouted for his guards. "Tell the port officials that as soon as a ship carrying any member of the Mindelan family reaches Yamani waters they are to be killed."

Ednar hung his head as the guards ran off to do his father's bidding. What had he done? Kel might be traitorous, but they still used to be friends.

- - -

Kel leant against the railings, feeling the wind running through her hair, and for a moment, she felt completely free. The Islands were getting closer and closer, the Captain of the ship obviously wanted to get there as soon as possible. Or maybe her parents had told him to get them there fast. She allowed herself to grin, nobody from Yaman except the Emperor and his family would think about annoying her parents. They were such powerful and influential people.

"Nervous?" a voice inquired. It was Jamil.

Kel nodded. "Yes." She sighed and pushed herself away from the railings.

"You'll be fine, I'm sure," he said softly. "Besides, you've got to get back to Tortall to see that Sergeant." His mask held no trace of emotion, but Kel knew him well enough to know that he was teasing her.

"There isn't anything like that between us sir. We're friends."

Jamil raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yes sir," Kel replied. "Why would you think anything else? And besides, who was it that always told all the narwarbis never to get romantically involved with another warrior?"

Jamil grinned slightly. "I was actually talking to the boys Kel."

Kel shrugged. "You always treated me the same as them, did you expect me to disobey?"

Jamil sighed. "That is…" He suddenly broke off and leaned over the railing, trying to get a better look at a ship.

"It's one of the Emperor's ships, my Warrior Lord," Kel commented. "We have nothing to fear from them."

Jamil relaxed. "I know, but I couldn't quite see the sails. I had wondered whether they were pirates." He took another look at the ship that was heading towards them with such a speed that it looked like it had been possessed by a demon. "They're in a hurry, I wonder where they're going to?"

Kel glanced at the ship and saw a blue magic surrounding the sails. They were using magic to propel them through the water at three or four times the speed that a ship could travel.

Minutes later, the ship was to close for comfort.

"I think they're planning on coming aboard," Kel whispered to Jamil. She had no reason to whisper, but something told her that letting them know that they were watching would be bad.

It seemed that Jamil thought the same. He drew his sword, ready for battle.

As the ship pulled alongside Kel's ship and the men jumped over the small gap between the ships, she saw that they were armed to the teeth and all wore the armour that was issued to Warriors after their tribulation. They were Emperor's Warriors, just like she would be after her tribulation, so what were they doing on this ship armed like that? Had they mistaken this ship for a pirate ship, or maybe a drugs ship?

Her father stepped out from the cabin.

"Is there anything that we can help you with?" He was playing the diplomat.

"Piers of Mindelan?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Her father said, nodding slowly.

"Is the rest of your family aboard this ship?"

Piers took a step back, looking from Warrior to Warrior. "No. Only my wife and daughter."

"Your youngest daughter?" a Warrior wearing a dark blue band that signalled that he was on port duty asked. From her hiding place, Kel recognised him as Tait nohFiratumio, Ked's eldest brother. He had been her Warrior Lord for the first few months of her time as a calawabi until he got badly injured during a battle with pirates and had handed her training over to Jamil.

"Yes, Kel is on board," her father replied calmly although Kel could see him fighting the urge to throttle Tait, he was very protective of his daughters, Kel especially.

"Kel?" Tait yelled.

Kel exchanged glances with Jamil, and he motioned for her to step out from behind the cabin.

"Yes sir?" she asked gripping her sword tightly.

Tait smiled at her, and Kel immediately knew something was wrong. His smile was shaky and almost unsure. He made a small movement with his hand, and his men leapt into action. They went straight for Kel and her father.

Cursing, Kel started to defend. She was at a definite disadvantage, they were outnumbered and weren't wearing armour. As far as Kel knew, the only weapons on board were they ones that belonged to her and Jamil and then her mother's glaive.

Kel watched in horror as Tait ran his sword through her father's chest and blood poured from the horrific wound. Suddenly it became clear, they weren't here to arrest them, they were here to kill. Loosing control of her emotions, she yelled a vicious war cry and hacked one of the men to death.

She fought on, and at some point was conscious of Jamil joining her, and Tait telling him that if he didn't give himself up they would kill him as well. Jamil refused, and continued to fight, Kel wished he would just give himself up; she didn't want him dying for her. But then again, giving himself up or being captured would taint his honour, and she didn't want that either.

Three Warriors closed in on her so she had her back to the railings, Tait was one of them. He lunged at her, and she ducked to avoid his sword. He tumbled over the railings and into the Emerald Ocean. There was yelling as the Warriors realised that Tait had fallen overboard, and Kel found herself being picked up, and thrown deep into the ocean. As she turned around and swam to the ship, arrows rained down on her, preventing her from getting near the deck. She saw someone haul Tait onto the deck where he lay drenched and shivering, recovering from his dunking in the icy waters.

A weather mage conjured up a wind and blew the ship towards the Yamani Isles with her mother and Jamil still on board.

Spitting out a mouthful of salty water, Kel realised that there was no way she could head for the Yamani Islands, they wanted her dead. Instead, she turned roughly in the direction of Tortall and started to swim in long slow strokes.