Amongst the many rooms in the palace, was a girl in a squire's room unpacking her saddle bags, a long staff-like weapon, known as a glaive, leant against the wall. She was neither a maid nor a lady. She was the ordinary looking, first publicly known female squire in a century, Keladry of Mindelan. She served her over lord Joren of Stone Mountain, who was her former rival.

In the past two months they went on a journey blindly looking for something to help the gods against a destroyer. They fought in tight situations against assassins, and in a great battle which no mortals ever witnessed except the two. They met a man so perfect yet so ambitious in destroying the balance of nature, which was to destroy all Gods and the way the world had and would, evolve into.

Amongst the cry of fights of deaths, came Kel's friend and Joren's lover. The friend was cunning as she was breed by the Rogues who passed her off as a noble lady as soon as she came of age to be sent to convent. Her name was Felix Rose, the Tusaine legend of the beautiful yet deadly female, the Rose of the Rogue, the daughter of the present Tusaine King of the Rogue.,

She learnt advanced street fighting, which saved the Knight and the Squire from some cornered tight situations in alleys. She rode well, had a particularly good aim with a crossbow and was a genius at knife throwing and throwing stars. She had a delicate face, which many to underestimate her strength. She was a common sight as she dressed like a normal city girl and could pass as a noble or a common girl, a handy practice.

Though she was such worthy companion to the knight and the squire, she did not live through the God's Pugna. Worried of her safety, though she knew she was capable of looking after herself, Joren sent her to hide within a tree and shoot the enemies from there, while Kel and he went into the centre of the battle.

In the end someone must have realised where she was and sent an outnumbering group to see to her, they tortured her to almost death. She died in Joren's arms.

In the present Kel had just settled in her rooms and was feeding the Sparrows who she had dearly missed whilst away, when a distinctive knock sounded on her door. She opened the door to find some of her friends who have come back early with their knight masters.

She smiled and welcomed them in; none of them spoke and was looking at her expectantly. She was indeed confused; she was the first to speak.

"I haven't seen you all in a long time, so why giving me expecting looks?"

"Well we thought you might tell us where you went in the past two months in such a mystery." Said Faleron.

Kel sighed, she wasn't sure if it was right to tell them now of the chaos which was going to happen and the Gods Pugna, especially things about Felix.

"Maybe later, now tell me about what happened whilst I was away."

The conversation changed, much to a relief of Kel. She was glad that for once she could go back to her normal routine, where talking to goddesses and making sure assassins were not about to kill her all the time was a tiring routine. The group was so absorbed in their talk; they didn't register the lean blonde sliding into the room and listening.

"Why don't you want to tell us what you have been doing Kel? It's not like you would die from telling," Neal whined.

"Maybe I could arrange that Squire Nealan."

Kel put up her blank mask at the sarcastic remark, and she put a hand on Neal's shoulders as he stiffened at his name, since nobody except his worst aunt called him that.

"No one asked for your plans on getting rid of Kel from the palace."

"On contrary I want to ask for your plans of the up coming war. There is a war conference being held, and I see most of you are required there."

One by one Kel's friends left the room as they went to attend the important war conference, and left her to tidy up her room. When she finished rearranging her bed, she saw Joren still standing where he was before.

"I thought you were going to attend the conference?"

"I can't go without my squire can I?" He replied with the slightest curve at the corner of his lips, which Kel didn't notice. They slipped out of their quarters and sprinted to the conference room.

For the past few days, Kel has seen wagon after wagon being loaded and sent on its way to Outposts for the up coming war. The palace buzzed day and night. Everyone, their Majesties, the army of the kings own, knights, Lords, servants and messengers were as busy as bees. Knights who were not been given a post were called for constantly to receive their orders. Joren and Kel waited for their orders anxiously. Certainly they were not needed by the God's directly, but being sent away by their majesties was a different thing.

Instead of lounging and waiting to be called for, they were mostly found at the eventful practice courts sharpening and improving their skills at different weapons and hand to hand combat. They practiced even when they were weary to the bone, and when their light clothing stuck to their skin by the sticky sweat of toil.

It was the tenth day of harsh practises with the glaive, and Kel leant against the wall panting for breath after the second hour using the vicious weapon. A messenger entered the practise court which she was in, and walked towards her. A jolt of excitement came to her, though she kept her face as calm as possible. Finally she had somewhere to go and help people; she didnt like to be helpless.

"Squire Keladry, Sir Joren of Stone Mountain asked you to return to your quarters urgently." The messenger said with the hint of desperation.

Kel picked up her practice glaive and sprinted to her rooms despite her screaming muscles. She almost ran into a couple of servants who stepped aside rapidly at the sight of her glaive. When she arrived to her room, she saw her saddle bags out on her bed. She laid aside her glaive and went into Joren's rooms.

Despite his great wealth, Joren had few decorations in his rooms, and even those few cushions, furnitures and a vase costs a fortune which was the equivalent to many of Kel's weapons from Raven Armoury. His main room was between his and Kel's sleeping quarters. It was furnished with his weapons on one wall, an elaborate rug and a plain table with a couple of chairs in the corner.

She found Joren's saddle bags opened on the table and almost packed, as well as a frustrated knight who stuffed a couple of shirts into it.

"Didn't your mother tell you shirts get really creased if you put them in that way?" She said sarcastically, but then put on a serious tone.

"Where are we going?"

Joren emptied the bag leaving all the items sprawled and scattered on the table. "The crown sends us to Pirates Swoop where we will be training people into the Army. We will also be doing some patrol duty. Sleep early tonight, we are leaving at dawn. Since you are so good at packing, pack my clothes into my saddlebags."

Without another word Joren locked himself in his sleeping quarters, leaving one furious squire. Kel was indeed mad at how he could leave his things for her to pack when she had to pack her own as well! She thought of a calm lake and she became the lake. She felt better and began to pack Joren and her own things. She finished fairly quickly and ran to the women baths, where she cleansed herself thoroughly for she didn't know when the next time she would be clean.

At dinner, she told her beloved friends who was still in the palace where she would be going, they wished her luck and she bid them goodbye. That night she prayed to the Great Mother Goddess and Shineal for Joren's and herself safety and that they would end up in one healthy piece.

In the heart of his fort, the Master was troubled. His perfect face frowned and his hands fingered the hilt of his sword which hung from his belt. Certainly he had built a fine army which could travel as fast as Mercury, as strong as Hercules and more importantly, they were single-minded.

However his worries were not over his powerful forces, but on a knight and a girl. They looked like ordinary mortals, but there was something special about them that the master had no knowledge of yet. Why would the gods choose a beautiful and skilled man to fight amongst them? He was deeply fascinated that a girl could fight well, he heard about the female knights in Tortall but had never seen a true female warrior in action.

He released the golden hilt of his sword and reached in his robe for small white quartz which hung from a thin silver chain. He pulled the quartz off and threw it into the air with ease. The quartz didn't fall; it exploded mutedly and revealed a misty moving picture of a brown haired girl fighting with a glaive. Her hair whipped across her face, her lips were determined and her eyes darted like a hawks. The master memorised her face, her movements and everything about her. He rememberd searching through her eyes and saw the great strength she had as a person. The master always had a desire for divine beauty and the powerful, and he knew Keladry of Mindelan had both such qualities. He wanted her.