Disclaimer: I own anything you don't recognize. Everything else belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Key:
"speaking"
'thinking'
*italics*
{UniLang}
[Spanish]
~Ruthless~
Chapter One
Old Friends Reunited . . .?
Kel cursed softly to herself as she tucked her mausquer back into its holster, carefully studying the faces she hadn't seen in years. They hadn't changed much, aside from the usual signs of age - Alanna, Raoul, and Flyndan's hair was shot through with gray, and Neal had acquired lines at the corners of his eyes. Dom too had aged, though not as obviously as the others. The girl, however - Kel didn't recognize her.
She dismounted and handed the reigns to Cavalont as she knelt before Malcolm, who had emerged from the trees to her right and now stood between the Tortallans and the two from Columban. Pulling a mediscan(1) from its pouch on her belt, she knelt before the boy and ran it over his body. The resulting holo-image(2) displayed a semi-deep slash in his left side and a twisted ankle she assumed he had received fleeing the skirmish. She returned the mediscan to its pouch and gently pealed off his jacket and shirt, grimacing as the blood-flow increased. She tore the sleeves of her jacket and wrapped them tightly around his would, then led him, limping, to Hoshi-lan. She eased the young boy into the saddle, then swung up behind him. Only then did she seriously consider what she was going to do with the Tortallans.
She could send them back to Goldenlake, but she feared they might get lost, seeing as no Tortallan had ever come this far this way before. Also, she was uncertain as to whether or not she could trust them to keep quiet about her presence. Besides, some of them were injured, and though Kel know that both Alanna *and* Neal were quite capable healers, she felt that it was her obligation to aid them in that area at least.
But then if she did that, she'd have to have them swear silence about what they would see. She wasn't sure that she could trust them to make such a promise. Mentally, she sighed. Only nine years ago, she wouldn't have hesitated to bring them back to Columban. But she was a heck of a lot more trusting nine years ago. She didn't have to fear that even her closest allies might stab her in the back and betray those she'd sworn to protect with her life. She didn't even know the girl who appeared to be squire to Neal.
All things considered, it would be best if she gave them the mediocre medical attention she could afford/had with her there in the glade, then send Cavalont back with them to make sure they made it to Fief Goldenlake 'unencumbered.'
Before she could offer her services, however, Alrik, a man in Dom's squad, swooned ad slipped from his saddle. Only then did *any* of them realize how seriously he was injured; he had taken a centaur arrow the chest, only just barely missing his heart, and the shaft had broken off close to the skin.
Alanna immediately dismounted and placed a glowing hand o the prostrate man's back. As the healer swore, Kel reassessed the situation and abruptly changed her mind.
She dismounted and knelt by the healer and her patient. "Can he travel?" she asked.
Alanna pulled the arrow from his chest and gently stitched the wound closed with threads of her Gift. "He should be able to."
Kel nodded curtly, then helped the Lioness heave him up into his saddle again. "He needs proper medical attention. I would feel better if my healers had a look at him. And besides; Goldenlake it half-an-hour from here - too long for him to travel."
"[Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?]" Cavalont interrupted, sounding worried.
"[Yes.]"
"[Are you sure that's wise?]"
"[No. Am I ever?]"
Cavalont owed his head to hide a grin. "[No, ma'am.]"
Kel tossed him a look as she swiftly remounted Hoshi-lan and then spoke to the Tortallans, who had shifted uneasily at her rapid-fire discussion with her head of security. "Come with us. We're closer."
The Tortallans exchanged wary glances even as she turned her mount and headed back the way she had come, not waiting for their response, as she already knew what it would be. Sure enough, she soon heard the sound of many horses following after her as she led them even deeper into the forest.
Cavalont, she'd noticed, had dropped back so he rode at the rear of the column, but in such a way that he could be at her side within seconds in an emergency. She grinned inwardly. Cavalont was the most loyal Terran she'd ever had the fortune to have serving her, and it showed. Barely half a day after she'd made it known that she would live in Columban whenever possible while in system, rather than one of the other, more secure settlements, Cavalont had approached her about a personal security detachment that would act as her bodyguards. She had politely (but firmly) refused, insisting that they would be needed elsewhere. Still, she had been touched by his offer. Even then, despite her assurances *and* demonstrations that she could take care of herself, he made it a point to always shadow her discreetly whenever she was in Columban.
Before long, they heard the sound of moving water, and a fair-sized brook came into view shortly after. Silver Creek, it had been named. It formed the eastern-most border of the entire Columban settlement, and was regularly patrolled. Kel whistled a brief tune as she urged Hoshi-lan across, alerting the patrol and informing them they were friends.
The trees began to thin as they left Silver Creek, and the ground sloped up. They were entering the Bengali Pasture, a hilly field were the Columban livestock grazed. The workhorses not in use raised their heads and nickered at them as they passed by, heralding their approach to the main settlement.
One last ridge stood between the company and the city. Kel smiled to herself as they climbed it, imagining heir reactions as they saw it for the first time. Columban often had the same affect as Corus did to new arrivals. And she wasn't disappointed.
Kel let out the tiniest of grins. "Welcome to Columban."
Despite the fact that only 1/1000 of Terra's population was evacuated, the total number of people was still significant. They'd been dispersed fairly evenly across the surface of their new home, but even then, the main settlements (the original eight) were rather large. Columban's average population was 937,500 - larger than Corus. Therefore, the city of Columban was very large.
As they topped the ridge, the Tortallans drew up their mounts as they stared ahead of them in shock. Nestled quite cozily in a large, fairly flat field was an enormous walled city. At first glance, it appeared larger than Corus - Raoul suspected that it actually was. Rising above the walls at the center of the city was a castle-like building, complete with its own walls, towers, and turrets. Impossibly, Raoul *knew* it couldn't have been there for any than he'd been alive, but the stone fortress appeared to be older than the Palace in Corus. Waving from the top of the highest tower was a flag he didn't recognize; an arc of seven blue stars above the white silhouette of an eagle in mid-flight on a field of red.
The walls of the city were also made of stone, as was - curiously - the main gate. Both wall and gate were adorned with banners displaying the same emblem as the flag atop the castle. The gate was set in a recess in the walls, puzzling the Knight-Commander. Then it hit him: in order to storm the gate, one would have to enter the recess. Doing so would expose him to three times the number of archers he would be exposed to storming the gates of Corus. Very sound tactics.
Raoul frowned. Very sound tactics for the defense of a fortress. Drawing out his spyglass, he closely examined the walls. Not a seam could be found; the stones had been pieced together so well. And they were well over thirty feet in height. From his position on the hill above the city, he could see that the walls were thick - ten fully armored knights could walk abreast at ease across the top. He could also see that there was a large strip of land between the walls and the outermost buildings of the city. Archers (or what he assumed to be archers - their weapons were unfamiliar) were posted at regular intervals along the wall, as well as the castle wall. Barracks were spread out across the city, making it easy for soldiers to reach any location in danger quickly.
This wasn't just a simple, out of the way (*way* out of the way) village: this was a city fortress, built to withstand a siege for a very long time.
Kel let them gawk for a few minutes more, then led them down the other side of the ridge towards the West Gate, the only gate to the city visible from their direction of approach. In fact, the city had four gates, the West Gate, which was the main entrance/exit, the North Gate, used mostly by the militia, and the Southwest and -East Gate, used for farming. It also had an East Gate, but that was hidden exit used for escapes. It had never been used in the nine years since it was built except during drills.
As soon as they reached level ground, Kel urged Hoshi-lan from a trot to a canter, covering the ground between them and the city quickly. The gate was already swinging open for a short, three-hoversled(3) caravan from Comestibles Fields, Columban's farming district. The sled drivers, three stout Argentineans, graciously pulled to the side and let them through. Kel nodded to them in thanks as she directed the small company down South Pervi Lane through the government district (right beside the castle wall for a distance, in fact) to Lebath Hospital. The Silver Creek patrol had apparently called ahead; two doctors and five nurses were waiting for them with a pair of stretchers. Kel and the Tortallans turned their wounded over to them, and after the senior physician - Dr. Alein Dasa - assured the Tortallans that they would take good care of Alrik, headed back toward West Gate.
Only a little way into the city, a short distance into the business district, was a fair-sized hotel - the Traveler's Second Home. They had passed it on the way in, and Kel had been pleased but curious to note that a family had recently checked in.
"It's very likely that Dr. Dasa will want to keep Alrik overnight for observation. She and the other doctors and well aware of your ability to heal wounds, but they prefer to err on the side of caution. You might as well stay here until they release him tomorrow. I'll cover your expenses."
Alanna frowned, hesitating as she dismounted. "How could they be 'well aware of our ability to heal wounds' if they've never left this place? I've never seen *any* of them anywhere in Tortall."
Kel chewed her lip as she led the wary company into the main lobby of the Home.
"I've been meaning to speak to you about that. But it can wait. For now, get settled in. I'll be here when you've put your things away."
Reluctantly, they followed the busboys that had come to show them to their rooms as she worked out their costs with Camerie Dalan, the manager of the Home. She also inquired as to the family currently staying there, and was informed that it was the sister of one of the stable hands and her family, come to celebrate the birth of his first son. Kel grinned at the news, vowing to visit and wish him congratulations personally before the week was out.
As she wandered back into the main lobby, Cavalont stepped forward from his self-appointed post at the door. "Are you *sure* this is such a good idea, Kel?"
She felt like glaring at him, but instead resorted to her Yamani mask that had earned her the nickname 'Lump' when she was a page, and then later '*Piltakc*' - emotionless automaton in Prudian - by her superiors and colleagues after her abduction. "As I told you before - no. All I know is that it's my job to help those who need it, and right now they do. Yes, they may be Mendari, but they're also old friends of mine. Besides that, they're human, and it's my sworn duty to protect them."
Cavalont sighed. "I know that. I guess I'm still paranoid. I mean, who wouldn't be? After what happened four years ago?" He shook his head sadly.
"I'll be reasonably civil, but don't expect any more than that from me. People can change in, what was it? Seven, eight years?"
"Nine," she corrected absently. Her mind was on other things, such as the second 'genocide' committed by the Imperium. "I doubt they could change *that* much."
"People's beliefs are never set in stone," he countered. "After all, *yours* weren't."
Kel sighed as the Tortallans began to arrive back in the lobby. When everyone was reassembled, she cleared her throat. "Cavalont here will take you down to Market Square, where you can re-supply yourselves if necessary."
Cavalont's eyebrows rose. "[I am? When was this decided?]"
She graced him with the tiniest grin. "[Just now.]"
He rolled his eyes at her as he motioned for the Tortallans to follow him out the door. As they passed by, Kel motioned Raoul, Alanna, and Neal off to the side. "I'd like to talk to you about Columban. Let's go someplace where we can speak in private."
Neal hesitated before asking, "If my squire may accompany us?"
Kel frowned, and then realized that the girl waited for the just out of hearing. She nodded to Neal briefly in answer then led them back out to their horses.
Kel's home in Columban was a large, six-story mansion that she felt ridiculous living in alone. She occupied only the first two and the top floors, using the rest as a training center for the children of Columban who wished to learn the fighting arts. It was built of stone, much like Bremen's Fortress, the castle in the middle of Columban. It dwarfed the other buildings surrounding it, merely adding to Kel's feeling of ridicule. The expansive mansion was nicknamed Regent's Castle by Columban's inhabitants; a title that Kel could do nothing but roll her eyes at.
She handed Hoshi-lan's reigns to the teenaged girl waiting for her, motioning for the Tortallans to do the same before leading them into the mansion and down an echoing side hall to her large study. She seated herself behind her desk as they did the same in the chairs scattered throughout the room, and waited for the inevitable question.
"Are you really you?" Raoul was the first to pop the question.
Kel gave him a long, measuring look before nodding slowly. "I am the former Keladry of Mindelan.
Alanna frowned. "'Former'?"
Kel again nodded, but said nothing, biding her time.
"Then what do we address you as?" Alanna persisted.
"Kel will suffice." She studied their faces as she continued, carefully keeping her decidedly blank. "But I did not ask you here to reminisce, much as I might like to. I will allow you to stay in the Home tonight, and even longer if Dr. Dasa feels that Alrik should stay abed for longer then a night, but after that you must leave. A patrol will escort you to the Golden Lake. My only condition is this: speak not a word of what you have seen here. The name Columban must never leave your lips. If people start showing up in these woods and hills looking for us, we'll know that one of you let slip, and the consequences won't be pleasant. Columban *must* remain secret."
Alanna frowned. *Who's 'we'?* "Is that why you vanished nine years ago? To live here?" she asked instead.
Kel schooled her face to perfect blankness, thought internally she grimaced and pain flashed through her. "I'm not prepared to discuss that with you. All you need to know is that it was out of my control. And it turned out to be a good thing."
The girl had a confused look on her face. "You're the squire who disappeared two years before I became a page?"
Kel skewered the girl with a piercing look, an instant (and completely uncalled for and unexplainable) disliking for her sprouting in her. "Yes. I see you replaced me." She detected the faintest of blushes on the girl's cheeks and locked it away for further thought. "Good. At least the conservatives weren't able to use my disappearance as proof that the gods disapproved of female knights and forbid girls from training as such."
Neal cleared his throat. "They tried to. However, Harailt of Aili stuck in his oar and suggested that the gods wished to use you for something else for a time. This is Lisan of Avalanche Point."
"If you've been here all this time, why didn't you just come back? Do the gods still need you here? It doesn't seem like it," Lisan asked.
The former squire's gaze intensified. "Though it's none of your concern, I can assure you the gods had nothing to do with it."
"She has a point," Alanna interrupted. "Why *didn't* you come back, especially if the gods had/have nothing to do with it? And if they didn't have anything to do with it, why did you leave in the first place? Tortall and the Yamani Islands were in an uproar for quite a while after you disappeared."
Kel ground her teeth. "Had I a choice, I *would* have. As it is, I've only been here for the last three years. Before that I could hardly hope to live to see the next morning, let alone see home again. Fighting for your life takes up a great deal of time, believe it or not."
Neal blinked. "But you could've come back in the last three years. It's not like you didn't know where you were, as you made quite clear when you said you could escort us back to the Golden Lake. What kept you? And why were you fighting for your life?"
Kel ignored his last question and instead waved a hand to the window behind her. "My obligation to these people. My orders are to guard them with my life, and I can hardly do that as a knight of Tortall. Besides, it's not like I could just waltz into Corus, say "I'm back," and pick up where I left off, not after nine years. I have a duty, a job. I'm not going to abandon that, just as I'm not going to abandon these people."
"Why can't you protect them as a knight of Tortall?" Alanna wanted to know. "After all, that's what a knight's job is - protecting innocents."
Kel let out a small sigh of impatience. "As a knight, my first obligation would be to the Crown and the people of Tortall - not these people. If the king ordered me to go fight a war for him, I would have to, regardless of whether or not Columban was under siege. If I fought for him, I would be disobeying direct orders from my superiors. If I came to Columban's aide, then I would be disobeying the king's orders. Either way, someone loses. I'd rather it not get any more complicated then it already is."
"Aren't these Tortallans?" Raoul asked.
Kel hesitated. "No."
Alanna blinked. "They're foreigners? Living in Tortall without the king's knowledge? Without a treaty or a pledge of allegiance to the Crown?"
"Why haven't you told any one?" Raoul demanded. "What are you doing for them that would make you ignore your obligation to report them?"
Kel turned to the Knight-Commander. "I watch and protect them," she said simply.
There was a short silence broken by Lisan. "So you just don't want to give of your position of the all-wise, all-powerful guardian that everyone listens to, is that it?"
The other Tortallans turned to glare at her, but Kel just froze and stared at her blankly. Her mind flew at slipspeed(4) back to the one day she'd personally met the Deon of the Imperium. He hadn't known that she had sworn loyalty to his archrival and rightful heir to his position; else wise he'd have had her killed on the spot.
She had been spying on Iktaric Navis(5) when he'd shown up on a surprise visit. He'd walked through the city, 'mingling' with his subjects, and had stopped to speak with a human woman who was suffering from a disease she contracted on another planet. She'd begged him to take her back to Heronaie(6) for treatment, and if not possible, back to Earth so she could die among her own kind. The Deon had been solemn and sorrowful as he told her that there was, in fact, no cure for the disease (though there was one in existence, but long and taxing), and no way for her to be returned to Earth. He told her, however, of an uninhabited planet that was almost identical to Earth where she could live out the end of her days in an environment familiar to her. The woman had wept with gratitude and sadness as she thanked him and confessed she had no money to pay her way to the planet. The Deon had 'graciously' offered to take her there personally and free of charge.
When Kel returned to Davonsue(7), she had looked up the planet, Kintalsy, in the database. It was an uninhabitable planet whose gravity was twenty times that of Earth's. Visually, it was identical to Earth. But that was as far as the similarities went. Kel never saw the woman again.
"If it were possible for me to do so, I would. I would give up the position that 'allows' me to see the pain, suffering, and paranoia of a people who have been displaced abruptly after being nearly completely obliterated because one person had a grudge. I'd give up the position that 'allowed' me to kill thousands and 'allowed' me to become the ruthless monster I am now.
"But I can't. I have a responsibility to these people and to the people whom I've sworn loyalty to. When they give me orders, I follow them, and right now my orders are to protect these people at all costs."
"And who are they?" Alanna inquired, her temper boiling.
Kel fixed her with a dead look, well aware that the Lioness's infamous temper was being provoked. "The only people standing between you and the people who made it necessary for us to be put here."
The Tortallans blinked, exchanged looks, and stared at her. "I think an explanation is in order," Raoul finally said.
Kel shook her head. "I've already told you more than I probably should have. I'm not obligated to explain anything to you. The only other thing I need to tell you is that your lives are basically in my hands for as long as you're in Columban. The Columbans aren't the only people I'm protecting. I'm essentially protecting the whole of the Eastern Lands. If I leave here, give up my position and go back to being a simple squire, everyone on this planet will be killed. I *really* don't want that to happen. But all that depends on you. If Tortall learns about Columban and starts to bother them, in any way, then the wrong people could find out, and we'd all be in big trouble. I can't allow that. And if that means depriving Tortall of a couple of knights and a squad of the King's Own, then so be it." The Tortallans stiffened and studied her carefully, looking for any sign of a prank. They found not a one. "If you can't promise not to keep silent about Columban's existence, even to King Jonathan, then I can't let you leave. And yes, that is a threat. Columban's secrecy and safety is more important to me than your lives.
"Because if you do tell someone and I find out - and believe me, I'll find out - I will hunt you down and kill you."
Definitions/Terms
(1) Mediscan. It's a medical instrument that scans a being's body and runs an analysis on the, determining if and how the being is injured. It displays the results of the scan and analysis in a holo-image.
(2) Holo-image. A 3-D, somewhat see-through, holographic image. Usually smaller than the thing it's showing/representing.
(3) Hoversled. A high-tech cart/wagon/wheelbarrow/anything else along those lines. It helps carry heavy and/or light things from one place to another.
(4) Slipspeed. The speed a ship has to travel to enter slipstream.
(5) Iktaric Navis. A planet controlled by the HG Imperium.
(6) Heronaie. Capital planet of the HG Imperium.
(7) Davonsue. Capital planet of the UDR.
Key:
"speaking"
'thinking'
*italics*
{UniLang}
[Spanish]
~Ruthless~
Chapter One
Old Friends Reunited . . .?
Kel cursed softly to herself as she tucked her mausquer back into its holster, carefully studying the faces she hadn't seen in years. They hadn't changed much, aside from the usual signs of age - Alanna, Raoul, and Flyndan's hair was shot through with gray, and Neal had acquired lines at the corners of his eyes. Dom too had aged, though not as obviously as the others. The girl, however - Kel didn't recognize her.
She dismounted and handed the reigns to Cavalont as she knelt before Malcolm, who had emerged from the trees to her right and now stood between the Tortallans and the two from Columban. Pulling a mediscan(1) from its pouch on her belt, she knelt before the boy and ran it over his body. The resulting holo-image(2) displayed a semi-deep slash in his left side and a twisted ankle she assumed he had received fleeing the skirmish. She returned the mediscan to its pouch and gently pealed off his jacket and shirt, grimacing as the blood-flow increased. She tore the sleeves of her jacket and wrapped them tightly around his would, then led him, limping, to Hoshi-lan. She eased the young boy into the saddle, then swung up behind him. Only then did she seriously consider what she was going to do with the Tortallans.
She could send them back to Goldenlake, but she feared they might get lost, seeing as no Tortallan had ever come this far this way before. Also, she was uncertain as to whether or not she could trust them to keep quiet about her presence. Besides, some of them were injured, and though Kel know that both Alanna *and* Neal were quite capable healers, she felt that it was her obligation to aid them in that area at least.
But then if she did that, she'd have to have them swear silence about what they would see. She wasn't sure that she could trust them to make such a promise. Mentally, she sighed. Only nine years ago, she wouldn't have hesitated to bring them back to Columban. But she was a heck of a lot more trusting nine years ago. She didn't have to fear that even her closest allies might stab her in the back and betray those she'd sworn to protect with her life. She didn't even know the girl who appeared to be squire to Neal.
All things considered, it would be best if she gave them the mediocre medical attention she could afford/had with her there in the glade, then send Cavalont back with them to make sure they made it to Fief Goldenlake 'unencumbered.'
Before she could offer her services, however, Alrik, a man in Dom's squad, swooned ad slipped from his saddle. Only then did *any* of them realize how seriously he was injured; he had taken a centaur arrow the chest, only just barely missing his heart, and the shaft had broken off close to the skin.
Alanna immediately dismounted and placed a glowing hand o the prostrate man's back. As the healer swore, Kel reassessed the situation and abruptly changed her mind.
She dismounted and knelt by the healer and her patient. "Can he travel?" she asked.
Alanna pulled the arrow from his chest and gently stitched the wound closed with threads of her Gift. "He should be able to."
Kel nodded curtly, then helped the Lioness heave him up into his saddle again. "He needs proper medical attention. I would feel better if my healers had a look at him. And besides; Goldenlake it half-an-hour from here - too long for him to travel."
"[Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?]" Cavalont interrupted, sounding worried.
"[Yes.]"
"[Are you sure that's wise?]"
"[No. Am I ever?]"
Cavalont owed his head to hide a grin. "[No, ma'am.]"
Kel tossed him a look as she swiftly remounted Hoshi-lan and then spoke to the Tortallans, who had shifted uneasily at her rapid-fire discussion with her head of security. "Come with us. We're closer."
The Tortallans exchanged wary glances even as she turned her mount and headed back the way she had come, not waiting for their response, as she already knew what it would be. Sure enough, she soon heard the sound of many horses following after her as she led them even deeper into the forest.
Cavalont, she'd noticed, had dropped back so he rode at the rear of the column, but in such a way that he could be at her side within seconds in an emergency. She grinned inwardly. Cavalont was the most loyal Terran she'd ever had the fortune to have serving her, and it showed. Barely half a day after she'd made it known that she would live in Columban whenever possible while in system, rather than one of the other, more secure settlements, Cavalont had approached her about a personal security detachment that would act as her bodyguards. She had politely (but firmly) refused, insisting that they would be needed elsewhere. Still, she had been touched by his offer. Even then, despite her assurances *and* demonstrations that she could take care of herself, he made it a point to always shadow her discreetly whenever she was in Columban.
Before long, they heard the sound of moving water, and a fair-sized brook came into view shortly after. Silver Creek, it had been named. It formed the eastern-most border of the entire Columban settlement, and was regularly patrolled. Kel whistled a brief tune as she urged Hoshi-lan across, alerting the patrol and informing them they were friends.
The trees began to thin as they left Silver Creek, and the ground sloped up. They were entering the Bengali Pasture, a hilly field were the Columban livestock grazed. The workhorses not in use raised their heads and nickered at them as they passed by, heralding their approach to the main settlement.
One last ridge stood between the company and the city. Kel smiled to herself as they climbed it, imagining heir reactions as they saw it for the first time. Columban often had the same affect as Corus did to new arrivals. And she wasn't disappointed.
Kel let out the tiniest of grins. "Welcome to Columban."
Despite the fact that only 1/1000 of Terra's population was evacuated, the total number of people was still significant. They'd been dispersed fairly evenly across the surface of their new home, but even then, the main settlements (the original eight) were rather large. Columban's average population was 937,500 - larger than Corus. Therefore, the city of Columban was very large.
As they topped the ridge, the Tortallans drew up their mounts as they stared ahead of them in shock. Nestled quite cozily in a large, fairly flat field was an enormous walled city. At first glance, it appeared larger than Corus - Raoul suspected that it actually was. Rising above the walls at the center of the city was a castle-like building, complete with its own walls, towers, and turrets. Impossibly, Raoul *knew* it couldn't have been there for any than he'd been alive, but the stone fortress appeared to be older than the Palace in Corus. Waving from the top of the highest tower was a flag he didn't recognize; an arc of seven blue stars above the white silhouette of an eagle in mid-flight on a field of red.
The walls of the city were also made of stone, as was - curiously - the main gate. Both wall and gate were adorned with banners displaying the same emblem as the flag atop the castle. The gate was set in a recess in the walls, puzzling the Knight-Commander. Then it hit him: in order to storm the gate, one would have to enter the recess. Doing so would expose him to three times the number of archers he would be exposed to storming the gates of Corus. Very sound tactics.
Raoul frowned. Very sound tactics for the defense of a fortress. Drawing out his spyglass, he closely examined the walls. Not a seam could be found; the stones had been pieced together so well. And they were well over thirty feet in height. From his position on the hill above the city, he could see that the walls were thick - ten fully armored knights could walk abreast at ease across the top. He could also see that there was a large strip of land between the walls and the outermost buildings of the city. Archers (or what he assumed to be archers - their weapons were unfamiliar) were posted at regular intervals along the wall, as well as the castle wall. Barracks were spread out across the city, making it easy for soldiers to reach any location in danger quickly.
This wasn't just a simple, out of the way (*way* out of the way) village: this was a city fortress, built to withstand a siege for a very long time.
Kel let them gawk for a few minutes more, then led them down the other side of the ridge towards the West Gate, the only gate to the city visible from their direction of approach. In fact, the city had four gates, the West Gate, which was the main entrance/exit, the North Gate, used mostly by the militia, and the Southwest and -East Gate, used for farming. It also had an East Gate, but that was hidden exit used for escapes. It had never been used in the nine years since it was built except during drills.
As soon as they reached level ground, Kel urged Hoshi-lan from a trot to a canter, covering the ground between them and the city quickly. The gate was already swinging open for a short, three-hoversled(3) caravan from Comestibles Fields, Columban's farming district. The sled drivers, three stout Argentineans, graciously pulled to the side and let them through. Kel nodded to them in thanks as she directed the small company down South Pervi Lane through the government district (right beside the castle wall for a distance, in fact) to Lebath Hospital. The Silver Creek patrol had apparently called ahead; two doctors and five nurses were waiting for them with a pair of stretchers. Kel and the Tortallans turned their wounded over to them, and after the senior physician - Dr. Alein Dasa - assured the Tortallans that they would take good care of Alrik, headed back toward West Gate.
Only a little way into the city, a short distance into the business district, was a fair-sized hotel - the Traveler's Second Home. They had passed it on the way in, and Kel had been pleased but curious to note that a family had recently checked in.
"It's very likely that Dr. Dasa will want to keep Alrik overnight for observation. She and the other doctors and well aware of your ability to heal wounds, but they prefer to err on the side of caution. You might as well stay here until they release him tomorrow. I'll cover your expenses."
Alanna frowned, hesitating as she dismounted. "How could they be 'well aware of our ability to heal wounds' if they've never left this place? I've never seen *any* of them anywhere in Tortall."
Kel chewed her lip as she led the wary company into the main lobby of the Home.
"I've been meaning to speak to you about that. But it can wait. For now, get settled in. I'll be here when you've put your things away."
Reluctantly, they followed the busboys that had come to show them to their rooms as she worked out their costs with Camerie Dalan, the manager of the Home. She also inquired as to the family currently staying there, and was informed that it was the sister of one of the stable hands and her family, come to celebrate the birth of his first son. Kel grinned at the news, vowing to visit and wish him congratulations personally before the week was out.
As she wandered back into the main lobby, Cavalont stepped forward from his self-appointed post at the door. "Are you *sure* this is such a good idea, Kel?"
She felt like glaring at him, but instead resorted to her Yamani mask that had earned her the nickname 'Lump' when she was a page, and then later '*Piltakc*' - emotionless automaton in Prudian - by her superiors and colleagues after her abduction. "As I told you before - no. All I know is that it's my job to help those who need it, and right now they do. Yes, they may be Mendari, but they're also old friends of mine. Besides that, they're human, and it's my sworn duty to protect them."
Cavalont sighed. "I know that. I guess I'm still paranoid. I mean, who wouldn't be? After what happened four years ago?" He shook his head sadly.
"I'll be reasonably civil, but don't expect any more than that from me. People can change in, what was it? Seven, eight years?"
"Nine," she corrected absently. Her mind was on other things, such as the second 'genocide' committed by the Imperium. "I doubt they could change *that* much."
"People's beliefs are never set in stone," he countered. "After all, *yours* weren't."
Kel sighed as the Tortallans began to arrive back in the lobby. When everyone was reassembled, she cleared her throat. "Cavalont here will take you down to Market Square, where you can re-supply yourselves if necessary."
Cavalont's eyebrows rose. "[I am? When was this decided?]"
She graced him with the tiniest grin. "[Just now.]"
He rolled his eyes at her as he motioned for the Tortallans to follow him out the door. As they passed by, Kel motioned Raoul, Alanna, and Neal off to the side. "I'd like to talk to you about Columban. Let's go someplace where we can speak in private."
Neal hesitated before asking, "If my squire may accompany us?"
Kel frowned, and then realized that the girl waited for the just out of hearing. She nodded to Neal briefly in answer then led them back out to their horses.
Kel's home in Columban was a large, six-story mansion that she felt ridiculous living in alone. She occupied only the first two and the top floors, using the rest as a training center for the children of Columban who wished to learn the fighting arts. It was built of stone, much like Bremen's Fortress, the castle in the middle of Columban. It dwarfed the other buildings surrounding it, merely adding to Kel's feeling of ridicule. The expansive mansion was nicknamed Regent's Castle by Columban's inhabitants; a title that Kel could do nothing but roll her eyes at.
She handed Hoshi-lan's reigns to the teenaged girl waiting for her, motioning for the Tortallans to do the same before leading them into the mansion and down an echoing side hall to her large study. She seated herself behind her desk as they did the same in the chairs scattered throughout the room, and waited for the inevitable question.
"Are you really you?" Raoul was the first to pop the question.
Kel gave him a long, measuring look before nodding slowly. "I am the former Keladry of Mindelan.
Alanna frowned. "'Former'?"
Kel again nodded, but said nothing, biding her time.
"Then what do we address you as?" Alanna persisted.
"Kel will suffice." She studied their faces as she continued, carefully keeping her decidedly blank. "But I did not ask you here to reminisce, much as I might like to. I will allow you to stay in the Home tonight, and even longer if Dr. Dasa feels that Alrik should stay abed for longer then a night, but after that you must leave. A patrol will escort you to the Golden Lake. My only condition is this: speak not a word of what you have seen here. The name Columban must never leave your lips. If people start showing up in these woods and hills looking for us, we'll know that one of you let slip, and the consequences won't be pleasant. Columban *must* remain secret."
Alanna frowned. *Who's 'we'?* "Is that why you vanished nine years ago? To live here?" she asked instead.
Kel schooled her face to perfect blankness, thought internally she grimaced and pain flashed through her. "I'm not prepared to discuss that with you. All you need to know is that it was out of my control. And it turned out to be a good thing."
The girl had a confused look on her face. "You're the squire who disappeared two years before I became a page?"
Kel skewered the girl with a piercing look, an instant (and completely uncalled for and unexplainable) disliking for her sprouting in her. "Yes. I see you replaced me." She detected the faintest of blushes on the girl's cheeks and locked it away for further thought. "Good. At least the conservatives weren't able to use my disappearance as proof that the gods disapproved of female knights and forbid girls from training as such."
Neal cleared his throat. "They tried to. However, Harailt of Aili stuck in his oar and suggested that the gods wished to use you for something else for a time. This is Lisan of Avalanche Point."
"If you've been here all this time, why didn't you just come back? Do the gods still need you here? It doesn't seem like it," Lisan asked.
The former squire's gaze intensified. "Though it's none of your concern, I can assure you the gods had nothing to do with it."
"She has a point," Alanna interrupted. "Why *didn't* you come back, especially if the gods had/have nothing to do with it? And if they didn't have anything to do with it, why did you leave in the first place? Tortall and the Yamani Islands were in an uproar for quite a while after you disappeared."
Kel ground her teeth. "Had I a choice, I *would* have. As it is, I've only been here for the last three years. Before that I could hardly hope to live to see the next morning, let alone see home again. Fighting for your life takes up a great deal of time, believe it or not."
Neal blinked. "But you could've come back in the last three years. It's not like you didn't know where you were, as you made quite clear when you said you could escort us back to the Golden Lake. What kept you? And why were you fighting for your life?"
Kel ignored his last question and instead waved a hand to the window behind her. "My obligation to these people. My orders are to guard them with my life, and I can hardly do that as a knight of Tortall. Besides, it's not like I could just waltz into Corus, say "I'm back," and pick up where I left off, not after nine years. I have a duty, a job. I'm not going to abandon that, just as I'm not going to abandon these people."
"Why can't you protect them as a knight of Tortall?" Alanna wanted to know. "After all, that's what a knight's job is - protecting innocents."
Kel let out a small sigh of impatience. "As a knight, my first obligation would be to the Crown and the people of Tortall - not these people. If the king ordered me to go fight a war for him, I would have to, regardless of whether or not Columban was under siege. If I fought for him, I would be disobeying direct orders from my superiors. If I came to Columban's aide, then I would be disobeying the king's orders. Either way, someone loses. I'd rather it not get any more complicated then it already is."
"Aren't these Tortallans?" Raoul asked.
Kel hesitated. "No."
Alanna blinked. "They're foreigners? Living in Tortall without the king's knowledge? Without a treaty or a pledge of allegiance to the Crown?"
"Why haven't you told any one?" Raoul demanded. "What are you doing for them that would make you ignore your obligation to report them?"
Kel turned to the Knight-Commander. "I watch and protect them," she said simply.
There was a short silence broken by Lisan. "So you just don't want to give of your position of the all-wise, all-powerful guardian that everyone listens to, is that it?"
The other Tortallans turned to glare at her, but Kel just froze and stared at her blankly. Her mind flew at slipspeed(4) back to the one day she'd personally met the Deon of the Imperium. He hadn't known that she had sworn loyalty to his archrival and rightful heir to his position; else wise he'd have had her killed on the spot.
She had been spying on Iktaric Navis(5) when he'd shown up on a surprise visit. He'd walked through the city, 'mingling' with his subjects, and had stopped to speak with a human woman who was suffering from a disease she contracted on another planet. She'd begged him to take her back to Heronaie(6) for treatment, and if not possible, back to Earth so she could die among her own kind. The Deon had been solemn and sorrowful as he told her that there was, in fact, no cure for the disease (though there was one in existence, but long and taxing), and no way for her to be returned to Earth. He told her, however, of an uninhabited planet that was almost identical to Earth where she could live out the end of her days in an environment familiar to her. The woman had wept with gratitude and sadness as she thanked him and confessed she had no money to pay her way to the planet. The Deon had 'graciously' offered to take her there personally and free of charge.
When Kel returned to Davonsue(7), she had looked up the planet, Kintalsy, in the database. It was an uninhabitable planet whose gravity was twenty times that of Earth's. Visually, it was identical to Earth. But that was as far as the similarities went. Kel never saw the woman again.
"If it were possible for me to do so, I would. I would give up the position that 'allows' me to see the pain, suffering, and paranoia of a people who have been displaced abruptly after being nearly completely obliterated because one person had a grudge. I'd give up the position that 'allowed' me to kill thousands and 'allowed' me to become the ruthless monster I am now.
"But I can't. I have a responsibility to these people and to the people whom I've sworn loyalty to. When they give me orders, I follow them, and right now my orders are to protect these people at all costs."
"And who are they?" Alanna inquired, her temper boiling.
Kel fixed her with a dead look, well aware that the Lioness's infamous temper was being provoked. "The only people standing between you and the people who made it necessary for us to be put here."
The Tortallans blinked, exchanged looks, and stared at her. "I think an explanation is in order," Raoul finally said.
Kel shook her head. "I've already told you more than I probably should have. I'm not obligated to explain anything to you. The only other thing I need to tell you is that your lives are basically in my hands for as long as you're in Columban. The Columbans aren't the only people I'm protecting. I'm essentially protecting the whole of the Eastern Lands. If I leave here, give up my position and go back to being a simple squire, everyone on this planet will be killed. I *really* don't want that to happen. But all that depends on you. If Tortall learns about Columban and starts to bother them, in any way, then the wrong people could find out, and we'd all be in big trouble. I can't allow that. And if that means depriving Tortall of a couple of knights and a squad of the King's Own, then so be it." The Tortallans stiffened and studied her carefully, looking for any sign of a prank. They found not a one. "If you can't promise not to keep silent about Columban's existence, even to King Jonathan, then I can't let you leave. And yes, that is a threat. Columban's secrecy and safety is more important to me than your lives.
"Because if you do tell someone and I find out - and believe me, I'll find out - I will hunt you down and kill you."
Definitions/Terms
(1) Mediscan. It's a medical instrument that scans a being's body and runs an analysis on the, determining if and how the being is injured. It displays the results of the scan and analysis in a holo-image.
(2) Holo-image. A 3-D, somewhat see-through, holographic image. Usually smaller than the thing it's showing/representing.
(3) Hoversled. A high-tech cart/wagon/wheelbarrow/anything else along those lines. It helps carry heavy and/or light things from one place to another.
(4) Slipspeed. The speed a ship has to travel to enter slipstream.
(5) Iktaric Navis. A planet controlled by the HG Imperium.
(6) Heronaie. Capital planet of the HG Imperium.
(7) Davonsue. Capital planet of the UDR.