Rob-sings- I'm Rob the disclaimer guy, and i'm here to save the day!
Me: Rob, you're not saving anyone by singing. Trust me. Get on with the disclaiming.
Rob: Fine, M'dear. Disclaiming notice: You should know the stuff that belonds to Tamora Pierce, and the stuff that belongs to my dahlink here. So.. yeah, thats bout it. And Caila's updating now, with a short chapter (Short for her, longer compared to everyone other fanfic, lol tuttleh xD) becuase tuttleh was complaining. And we can't have that. But sheesh, what happens when I complain?
Me: I say "Go take a walk! And anyone else so much as breathe, and you're down in I.S.S!"
Rob: Hey, no, thats what your spanish teacher said when you guys asked to open the window in the prison cell called your spanish room.
Me: Hey... have you been stalking me?
Rob: Nooo...
Me: Rob, tell the truth -picks up Raoul the spiffeh umbrella-
Rob: Oh boy... -runs around-
Me: Read this now, and review! Cause the review box ish still emtpy -tear-
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Apounding knock on the door behind him echoed in Alan's aching head. His eyes flickered open, and as his vision cleared he slowly got up. He swayed from side to side, putting his hand on the bed to steady him, and after a few moments the realization of what had happened dawned on him. Acknowledging the knocks on the door for the first time, he opened the door and looked into the hazel eyes of his father, Baron George Cooper of Pirate's Swoop.
"Da… she's gone." Alan's voice stammered.
"I know Alan, but you don't know where she went. She could be somewhere in the palace." He grabbed Alan's arm and towed him back into the room, sitting him down in a chair. Seeing the cut across Alan's right brow and the welt on the back of his head, he muttered, "Or maybe not. Stay here. I'm going to get your mother." George walked out of the room, closing and locking the door behind him. He returned a few minutes later with Alanna in tow. Alan watched as his mother's famed purple eyes glittered dangerously.
"Alan, are you alright?" She put an arm around his shoulders, and he grimaced as pain wrenched through him. He was put into a slight trance as Alanna's magic coursed through him, but was able to make out a slight conversation between his parents.
"Love, Raoul says Keladry hasn't arrived at Mindelan." Alan felt his mother's concentration waver.
"Is Raoul sending people to find her? Are you sending people? Was the squad with her found?"
"He's sending two squads of the own and two rider groups. They leave within the hour." Alan fell from the chair he was sitting in, rolling as pain hit him like a brick. His mother crouched by his side and asked,
"Alan, what is it?" He looked up and incredulously whispered,
"She's hurt…" Both his parent's faces went pale.
"Aly?" George asked, referring to the magical tie he had with his twin, and Alanna tried to pull him closer to finish healing him.
"No." Alan said, still trying to work out what was happening. "It's Cai." He got up and left the room, walking first to his room to get boots, his having disappeared, and then the stable. As if in a daze he saddled his horse and grabbed a pack from the shelf in the stall. He put it in the saddlebags and rode toward the gate that led to the Great Road North, his hazel eyes sparkling dangerously, almost like his mother's, as he rode off to find both Cai and Kel.
"Masbolle, are you alright?" Dom's eyes flickered open as he recognized the younger man's voice. He took Alan's offered hand and pulled himself up, absentmindedly rubbing the bump on his head and the bruises on his wrists and legs where he was bonded, and examined his shoulder where there was now a bandage, but when he tried to look beyond Alan the knight blocked his way and turned him back to the tents. Looking at Alan's cut brow and the swelling on his head that still hadn't gone down, he replied jokingly,
"Alan, are you sure you're alright?" Alan glowed slightly, and the cut vanished and the swelling went down.
"Forgot to heal it. Er… Dom …" Alan's voice trailed off as he stared off into space.
"Alan, what?" Sensing it was about the scene behind him, Dom whirled around before Alan could stop him. His face went blank and tears formed in his bright blue eyes as he saw the bruised and battered body of Kel on the ground, and Cai's body not too far away. Looking back at Alan, for he did not believe what he saw, he saw tear trails on the younger mans cheek's. Dom ran over to Kel and knelt beside her, taking her now cold hand in his, with his tears falling on her pale face. Alan crouched by Cai, and stared intently at her, noticing an arrow in her chest and a dagger cut on her leg. His eyes roved to her neck where he saw her swirl necklace, and he impulsively pulled it off of her neck. Busily pocketing it, he turned back to Cai's face and stared in shock at a man's tattooed face.
"Dom!" Alan yelled, and Dom looked up, his jaw dropping in shock as he saw it was not Cai. He gave one hopeful look before Alan scrambled over to Kel, and as Alan pulled off a necklace on the girl's neck Dom quietly cheered, for it was not Kel. Both jumped as they heard a man cough behind them, and they turned to see Lord Raoul, Knight Commander of the King's Own. Both racing for their horses, for the enemy had not taken any horses and had left the men bound and gagged in the tents, Alan quickly explained,
"They're not here. We're going after them." Raoul tried to interrupt him, but Alan was mounting his horse. "Get the men ready to ride, send those who can't back to Corus, and then follow us. We'll meet you further along." They rode off, Alan shuddering with pain every time he tried to magically locate Cai.
The girl in question was stumbling through the woods at the side of the Great Road North. Cai's hands were scratched by thorns, her feet only whole because she wore Alan's boots, but they had large blisters due to Alan's feet being several sizes bigger than hers. She was weary, having kept running after she fled the wagon, but dared not to stop in case Matthew was following her. Cai's body ached, and she vaguely remembered both Matthew and his father beating her soundly, all for not choosing Matthew. Shaking her head, which brought tears of pain to her eyes, she shook the image from her mind and kept walking as quickly as she could. Cai broke through the trees lining the road, and stood still as she watched the sun starting to set.
How long have I been running? Cai thought to herself, and remembered that the men had been stopping for lunch when she ran. That would be… four hours? Hesitantly, she glanced around, and scurried back into the trees as the sound of galloping horses reached her ears. As the first rode past her, she glimpsed dark brown hair, and the second rider had red-gold. Tripping over the tree roots that were hindering her progress, she screamed,
"Alan! Dom!" before falling to the ground. She tried to gather her strength to stand and run after them, or magically contact Alan, or at least heal herself, but the toll of being beaten and then running had caught up to her, and she could barely move.
Alan slowed his horse a bit farther down the road, and Dom turned back as he failed to hear the sound of the man's horse.
"I heard something back there… it could be them." Trying to find Cai magically, he felt immense pain and almost fainted before pulling himself out of his gift. Dom looked at the road, eager to continue on, but replied,
"Alright. We'll go and look." Alan looked at the rapidly darkening sky, and sighed.
"Dom, when we're done here we should camp. We won't be able to follow them through the dark." He created a globe of light to hang over them, and then he rode down the slowly back down the road.
They came upon Cai, who was lying on the ground unconscious. Alan immediately dismounted, with Dom following, and then he crouched beside her, much like he had done before in the clearing. He reached out his hand, and his gift poured into her, giving Cai the strength to wake up. As she tried to sit up, Alan picked her up gently and carried her to where he could prop her against a tree. He slowly sat next to her, and checked her for injuries, wincing as he noted her re-broken ribs and battered outer shell. He bit his lip and raised the back of her shirt gingerly, gasping as he saw a crew of bruises that matched the ones on her face and arms. Immediately Alan placed his hand on her forehead, planning to place a healing spell on her, but before he could Cai struggled and tried to get up. He tried to hold her still so she wouldn't hurt herself further, and at that Cai hit him.
"Matthew, get away from me!" She shouted deliriously. "Don't come near me!" Cai screamed as Alan cautiously put his hand on her cheek, and he jumped a few steps away. As she took deep breaths, calming herself, she muttered, "He'll find me. He found me before." She corrected herself. "No, find her. Go find her."
"Cai?" Alan whispered softly, and sat next to her. Cai's eyes opened, and she seemed to notice him being there for the first time.
"You found me? Did you go get Kel?" He started to shake his head, but Cai was already fainting again. Alan cupped her cheek in one hand and placed the strongest healing spell on her he could, healing her bruises, her cut hands, her blisters, and her ribs before placing her into a dreamless sleep. He wrapped Cai in his cloak and laid her next to the fire Dom had built, saying,
"We'll wait here for Raoul. He'll take Cai back when she wakes up." Dom nodded, but replied,
"If she'll go back. You know she won't give up searching for Kel. Do you know what happened to her?" At that Alan grimaced and shook his head, and went to sit by Cai, his hand brushing the hair away from her face.
Cai woke up as the smell of cooking meat reached her nose, and she gingerly rose. She tugged the cloak more snugly around her, and stumbled over to where Alan and Dom were sitting with Raoul, Buri, and various men and women she recognized from the Own and the Rider's. Sitting next to Alan, she rubbed her eyes sleepily and asked him,
"What time is it?" Alan glanced at her, and he grinned before replying,
"The sun rose an hour or so ago. You sure took long enough to sleep." Cai was prepared to retaliate, but she saw that he was joking. She also saw that he had no cloak, and shrugged out of the one she was wearing.
"Here, take this. Is it yours?" She pushed the cloak into Alan's hands, only to have him sling it back around her shoulder's and fasten it.
"No, it's alright. You've been through a lot." Cai had a puzzled look on her face, and memory suddenly flooded back to her mind.
"Qimat… that scum." She growled. Seeing the curious looks on the faces of the men, she explained. "He was the one who grabbed me, and afterwards took Kel." Dom clenched his fists, but Cai kept on talking. "Both of them,Daniel and Matthew,beat me before they attacked you, because I refused to go along with the plan. And mar- well, that doesn't matter. And then after he took Kel, she found the dagger in Alan's boots, because they had thrown the boots into the wagon with me, and cut me free and told me to run…" She glared at Alan. "And I'm guessing you haven't sent anyone after her?" He was about to reply, but Dom interrupted him.
"Raoul, we want you to take Cai back to the palace, or at least to Mindelan. We're going to follow them and stop at Qimat to try and locate where they are. We'll meet you either there, or we'll send you a location." Cai quickly stood and released her anger on Dom.
"What are you talking about, I'm going back? There is absolutely no way I'm going anywhere that's not to find Kel. Right Alan?" He turned his head away, and Cai got even angrier. "Well, I don't care if you decide to tie me up and bring me back. I will go and find Kel."
"Cai…" Alan said quietly. "Please?"
"No." She replied flatly. "It's my fault. And I'm going to find her." Alan stood, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face him. She defiantly looked him in the eyes, and demanded, "Alan, I'm going with you to find her." Alan sighed and set himself for battle before simply replying,
"No."
"No? No! I am not taking that Alan. You are going to let me go with you."
"Cai, will you listen to me?" He steered her away from the campfire and the men, and started to explain. "I don't want you going anywhere near any of the Qimat's. First, the last time you and Matthew crossed paths, you were beaten. He would have killed you." Cai shook her head, but he kept talking. "I am not going to let that happen. And second, if you get near Matthew, you'll try to kill him, and then where does that leave Kel?"
"Alan, you're making no sense. Let me make it simple for you. Would you rather I go with you, or when I'm forcibly taken back I sneak out to find her on my own?"
"You wouldn't dare." She looked at him fiercely, and he looked back at her with eyes like steel. "You wouldn't."
"Alan, you know I would. I'll bring my daggers and I'll go and rescue her on my own. Who knows what would happen? I could get injured, Matthew could kidnap me again… or I could get killed, and then what could you do?" Surprisingly, she said this quite cheerfully. He sighed, and after a few minutes of Cai defiantly staring at him he reluctantly nodded.
"Fine. I'll take you." Cai grinned, and then threw her arms around his neck.
"Thank you." She whispered in his ear. He blushed slightly, because she was too close to him for comfort, and then said,
"Come on. We should inform Dom and Raoul that my plan didn't work." But Cai wouldn't let go of him. "Er, Cai? I need you to let go of me." He turned his head to face hers, and was startled to see Cai trying to wipe her tears on her sleeve. "Cai, are you alright? Are you still hurt?" Cai sniffed, and then quietly replied,
"It's all my fault Alan… he kidnapped Kel to get back at me. If I had never met her, she would still be here. She would be fine, probably courting the Captain, and I would be home, helping my father, instead of caught up in this mess…" Alan shushed her.
"It is not your fault. Matthew and his family are idiots. Believe me. He was in my year. And if it could be possible, his father is worse than he is. So stop blaming yourself." He untwined her arms from around him, and then he pulled her back to where the men and women were sitting.
"She's coming with us. She can double with me until we find her a horse." At that Raoul snorted, remembering the stubborn streakboth female knights had, and that Cai seemed to share,and Buri elbowed him.
"Continue on Alan." He sighed.
"She threatened to come on her own, and I'm not putting her in that danger." He felt a tapping on his other hand, and turned his head to see Cai absentmindedly tapping her fingers. Alan covered both their hands with his free hand, and kept talking. "We'll go with a squad and a rider group, and take Trebond Way. Dom, you and the rest will follow the Great Road North. We'll meet at Qimat." He rose, and after brushing the dirt off his pants walked over to his horse, with Cai following. Alan saddled his dark colored gelding named Anton, and then gave Cai a leg up. He settled himself behind her, and turned to go back down the road towards Trebond Way and Qimat.
"Alan-" He turned to see Dom mounted on his horse, and waiting. "Leave Matthew for me." Dom grinned viciously, and Alan pointed at Cai.
"Dom, you'll be up for a fight. This lady here would beg to differ about who gets the rights." He tightened his arm around Cai's waist, preventing her from falling off, and said in her ear,
"We'll stop at Trebond for another horse for you. And then we'll keep going." Cai grinned, and then leaned back against him.
"I dunno… I could get used to this." Alan bit his lip, and then pushed her forward gently.
"Cai, none of that on this trip." She looked mortified.
"Alan, I was just kidding! Mithros! Why can't men take a joke!" Alan grinned slightly, and turned her face so she could she his.
"You know you weren't…" He patted her cheek, and then wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. In the distance, beyond the short stretch of forest and the fields, they could see the towers of Trebond fortress. Father along, he knew, they would come across Qimat, and hopefully Kel. Alan shook his head at the though that they wouldn't find her there, and rode forward determinedly.
