Title: The Forgotten Shall Rise
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance
Rating: PG 13
Pairing: Not telling [Can you guess?]
Summary: Keladry finds herself trapped between the threat from Scanra
and Galla. When New Hope is attacked, and devastated, she can't even ride
off to rescue her people, because this time, they were all killed. When she
does something both crazy and extremely stupid, she is ordered away from the
battlefield. A squad of the King's Own is to accompany her on the long ride
back to Corus. But something unexpected is thrown their way. Besides the
obvious, that she wasn't going to go without a fight. Thrown into the lies and
deceptions of everyday life, Keladry has to fight for what she believes in, and
a way back to the front line.
- - - - -
Chapter Title: Awaken and Rise
- - - - -
The countryside blurred together in streams of colors and mixtures of light and dark. It was blinding her, maddening her. She wondered if this was what the mages who read the future saw. And then, as though hooks had sunk into an image that that rushed past her field of vision, the picture cleared.
A man and a woman where in a dark room, the only light coming from the sole window at the back of the room. The man, his hair muddy brown, and his clothes rich, was seated at a desk in front of the window, the light casting his shadow highly distorted on the wall opposite him.
The woman stood defiantly in front of the desk, glaring at the man. Her hair was a dirty blond, falling loosely on her shoulders. She wore a simple dress, but it was clearly finely made. The blue cloth suited her, and the dress fell to her ankles, her leather sandals just visible.
"We have stood on the sidelines for too long Emerish! Why should we watch as these people destroy our home? We must fight!"
"And we will fight Sylvia, but not yet! To fight now would be a slaughter." The male voice was more collected than the woman's but not by much. The same unbridled fury stirred in his heart, he just had more restraint on his emotions.
"They have long ago forgotten us! We must rise again, show them who the true power of this world is!" The woman, Sylvia was getting agitated. Her hands were rested boldly on her hips, and a flush spread to her face.
Emerish sighed and settled back in his chair.
"Sylvia, did you ever think that they were meant to forget us? Do you remember why our ancestors retreated? Don't let it be in vain." His soft voice had a stern undertone as he looked her in the eye. Brown eyes met steel gray ones and Sylvia looked away.
"We are not meant to be forgotten! We can't just disappear!"
"My dear, we already have disappeared. There is nothing now that can be done. You must be patient, the time for us to rise again and reclaimed what is ours will come soon. In the meantime, just prepare for it the best you can. They will not fall with out a fight." Emerish leaned forward again and rested his elbows on the well crafted desk, his hands clasped. "We must wait."
Sylvia's hands dropped to her sides once again and she sighed. "It's already been too long Emerish. They do not believe we will triumph anymore. Moral is falling. There must be something we can do."
Emerish closed his eyes briefly. "I had hoped we wouldn't need to do this Sylvia." He picked up a small mirror from his desk and held it out to her. The picture was of a girl, lying in a bed with crisp white linens. "You see this girl? She is being prepared for the return to Corus, in the country of Tortall as you know, as we speak." The image in the mirror flickered and the vision moved. Now visible was a man with dark hair and blue eyes, sitting in a hard wooden chair against the wall, his head in his hands. "This man and his squad of their army will accompany her."
Sylvia looked at the images in the mirror again, eyes clouded with confusion. "I don't understand…"
"Bring them here." Emerish held out his hand for the mirror and Sylvia placed it on his palm. He set it face down on his desk once again and looked back to Sylvia. "Will you do it?"
"Of course." Sylvia snapped. "She is just a girl, it will not be difficult. We can handle it."
Emerish smiled wryly, his brown eyes sparkling. "Ah yes, did I forget to mention she is the second Lady Knight of Tortall?"
The images started to race again, and Emerish and Sylvia were lost in the blurs of color. Slowly, the vision faded and it was black once again…
- - - - -
Keladry of Mindelan's eyelids flickered. She opened them stubbornly and looked at the ceiling above her. Everything was kind of fuzzy, but her vision cleared quickly when she blinked rapidly. Everything was too white. She groaned, her head ached something fierce. Immediately, a dozen healers rushed over and peered at her.
Foremost in the faces was Nealan of Queenscove, her best friend.
Trying to remember what exactly had landed in the healers' wing, Kel rubbed her eyes. It was still blindingly bright, a sharp contrast from the comfortable darkness of moments before. Her mind was slightly foggy about the incidents that had led to this. And then she remembered.
"Oh no…" She whispered.
Neal was looking at her with concern, checking her pulse every once and a while. He didn't appear to have heard her speak, which was indefinitely a very good thing. She pushed him away. "I'm fine." He appeared like he was about to snap at her, but bit his tongue at the last minute. She didn't realize why until Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak came into her line of sight.
"Is she alright?" He asked Neal, ignoring her completely. Neal nodded, and showed Raoul a chart. Raoul shook his head and handed it back to him. "Means nothing to me. How soon can she be out of bed?"
"Now, if she takes it easy." One of the other healers told the Knight Commander. Neal looked like he was about to argue, but again bit his tongue. Kel knew he wasn't comfortable with her leaving yet by the look in his eye. But he would choose his arguments. He had gotten remarkably wiser in the past years. The Neal she had known as a page would not have hesitated to argue his point, and wouldn't have stopped until he got his way, or was sedated. At this Keladry sat up and brushed aside another healer who hurried to check her pulse. She was still in the same clothes as before, that made things a lot easier. She still felt woozy and disorientated though, probably not a good thing.
"Alright. Keladry, when you are finished here, come straight to my office." Raoul's voice left no room for argument, much like the tone he had taught her for when she needed to be heard during pandemonium, but didn't want to yell. He spun on his heel and marched out of the room. He halted at the doorway. "Sir Nealan?"
"It's Neal." Neal grumbled, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. "Why is that so difficult?!" He looked up. "Yes my lord?" He added.
"Make sure she comes to my office immediately, it is very important, and can't wait." At that he walked out of the room as briskly as he had before. Neal sighed and put down his charts on a stand by her bed.
Pulling the sheets away from her body, Keladry swung her legs over the side of the narrow bed and stood up. She ignored the healers' protests and looked at Neal. Instead of the kind look that was usually on his face when he was around his friends, his face was cold and drawn. "Keladry, I need to talk to you, outside." Kel gulped, he never called her by her full name, it meant something was up, and she wasn't going to like it one bit.
And he walked out in the same way as Raoul. It seemed everyone was walking away from her today. But what was today? She didn't know how long she had been asleep. She didn't know why she had survived. She didn't know anything after she had passed out on Peachblossom's back, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to.
She followed Neal into the hallway, empty of all occupants but them. He turned on her, green eyes blazing. The room spun for a moment before her eyes focused again.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
Keladry had never heard Neal so angry. It shocked her, frightened her even. She looked down, focusing on her boots, still on her feet. They were muddy, she would have to clean them before she went to see Raoul.
"You would have killed yourself it hadn't been for Dom! What is wrong with you?!" Neal's voice echoed in her head, the words not really registering. They kind of passed right through her mind. Her eyelids fluttered as they had when she had first awoken, and her legs gave out. As Keladry slumped against the wall, she dimly heard Neal's shout, and then, it was black once again.