A/N Well, my loyal fans, I'm here to give you another chapter. Thanks for the review's

Balloonfuzz- you will soon find out.

Yamani- I'll do the best I can.

Great Merciful Goddess- I'm seriously thinking about it.

Dragon Shadows- he is a book knight, but his woman was in danger! What can I say? I love the damsel in distress scenes, even if the damsel is infuriated at being treated like an invalid.

AngstWolf- your pour computer.

jollyrancherj2k- sorry about your broken clavicle. What is it exactly?

Mage Light- it is kinda like breeding animals. In the end it was Cameron that got the crap beat out of him

Chapter twenty: Roark

Burdock took her to the castle, sheltering her body with his. Every breath was a burden and she was reduced to pathetic whimpers with every step. All she wanted was relief from this agony. And in the hubbub, no one noticed that Carlyle was nowhere to be found.

Burdock was so consumed with his worry over Novellee, his common sense fled on him and he barged into the throne room, Novellee crippled with pain in his arms. The doors hit the walls with a deafening bang, startling the two people who were in an intense conversation.

Novellee buried her head in her hands as her face colored with shame. How could it get more embarrassing then being beaten by a guy that was in love with her but she had turned down, then being carried around the castle and market square like an invalid, not to mention being seen by the king in this kind of distress.

"Jon, where's Alanna?" Burdock demanded as he strode to the throne. Novellee would have gotten up and walked away, but by now, her brutalized muscles would cramp if she tried to move them.

"She's...Novellee? What happened?" Jon demanded as he got of the throne and motioned for Burdock to set her down. She whimpered when her thigh muscles cramped painfully.

"I—"

"That bastard beat her up in the street!" Burdock yelled viscously as he slammed his hand down on the armrest of the chair. "He smacked her a few times in the face before throwing her onto the ground and kicking the hell out of her. I tackled him and took him out. But she's hurt, and it could be serious."

"It's not that bad, Burdock," she winced as she took to deep a breath and her broken rids begged for mercy. "Really."

"Burdock, go get Alanna. She's in the training area with George. They're working on knifes. And try not to scare her too bad, okay?"

But his last words fell on dead ears because he was already hurrying away. Novellee breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad that Burdock had come to her rescue, but really she was gladder that he was gone. His hovering over her was not helping at all.

"Are you okay?" Jon asked as he worriedly looked into her eyes. Novellee nodded and looked around the room. She saw the slightest movement from behind her and yanked around to see him, causing excoriating pain in her side.

But that wasn't why she gasped like a fish sucking for air on dry land. Morrison. Her blood ran cold. He was standing behind her and she could do nothing. Absolutely nothing. She had agreed to the terms within the chamber and she could not make the first move.

"Rib," she gasped as she clutched at her side, her eyes falling to the floor. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't just sit here and let him walk away. He had been the reason her brother was dead, more or less. He had been the one to give the orders to kill them.

She couldn't act either. If she acted, she would be breaking an oath. She had to wait, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be prepared. She would squeeze Jon for information on who he thought this man was.

Another thought occurred to her. What if Jon knew whom he was talking to? What if he was in on it? What if every one was in on it and this was some kind of conspiracy against her?

Wow, calm done Novellee, she told herself, wrapping her arms around her stomach and taking shallow breathes. She motioned her head towards Morrison, "Who's he?"

"Oh, Roark? He's one of my oldest friends. He just got back from spending four years in Scanra doing damage control," he held out his hand and Roark, a.k.a. Morrison, clasped his hands stepping into her line of sight.

"Novellee, is it? The woman from Serinda that Jon was telling me about?" he asked. Novellee nodded and stuck out her hand to be clasped also. She looked into his dark brown eyes and saw a conniving glint in them.

"I've been to Serinda. Spent almost four years there. Helped them fight a battle against the rebels after taking on Tortall's help. Learned a lot about their culture. Very interesting culture it is indeed."

Novellee remained silent. She didn't want to say anything that would set him off. She did not know what he had in mind, but this line of conversation was not appealing to her at all.

"Novellee is an interesting name. It's not one that us given to peasants is it?" she slowly shook her head no. "In fact, it's not even a common noble name. Novellee was once a famous queen and the name is only to be given to royalty."

"Well, I guess my father just didn't know," Novellee said sweetly with a deceivingly charming smile.

"In fact, when I was there, there was a young princess named Novellee. She had a brother who showed great potential. Which wasn't hard to top with the father that she had. What a screw up."

"Really? I was never current on who was on the throne," she looked down at her hands and realized they were twisted in a tangled knot in the perfect imitation of her stomach.

"Huh. Well, they're not there anymore," he said, wonder apparent in his voice.

Deep breaths, that's all that she needed. Deep breaths and I will be fine. Long, deep, breaths and everything would be okay. "Really... wha...what happened to them?" she stammered out. Her eyes were glued to a spot on the floor. It looked like a scuffmark.

"They were found dead one morning. Slaughtered in their sleep it seems. The brother had his face horribly disfigured. The nurse was taken swiftly with a stab through the heart. The father, well lets just say that he was separated from a limb that he was highly proud of."

Each word was a jab in her heart, but she couldn't stop. She had to hear the rest of it from him. "And the girl?"

"The blood was found and it had her signature mark of the Gift that she carried, but her body was never found. What's even stranger is that it's rumored that she escaped the castle alive."

"Yes, strange," she whispered. She suddenly realized that she hadn't blinked in quite a while, which was the reason that her eyes were tearing up. They were simply dry.

"Signature Gift mark?" Jon questioned.

"Yes. In Serinda, about twenty years ago it was discovered that the Gift runs through the blood once it is accepted into the system. And when the blood is spilled, the Gift lingers. A spell can recover the Gift and make it shine. And as you know, every Gift is different and so it's all a matter of matching the Gift to the person to find who died."

"But that wouldn't work," Jon protested, turning away from Novellee to face Roark/Morrison. "Not everyone has the Gift, so those who don't have it and die can't be matched."

He was smiling smugly until Roark/Morrison explained. "In Serinda, many more people have the Gift then here in Tortall. It is very rare that a child is not born with out the Gift, that is why Serinda has focused so much on advancing it."

"And what was her Gift's color?" Jon inquired after a short silence. Novellee knew it was pure curiosity that made him ask, but she could have strangled him in that moment.

"It was angelic white. That's why they named her Novellee. It means sent by the angels."

Jon turned to her, surprise written all over his face. "But, your gift is—"

The banging of the door interrupted them. Burdock, Alanna, and George rushed into the room and Novellee gave an agonized cry, even though she was no longer capable of feeling pain. All she felt was cold. Roark/Morrison was on the verge of uncovering her deepest secret. Had probably revealed it already.

Alanna rushed to her, already working to heal all her bruises and bumps and broken bones. It would have been painful but she was numb. The only way the escape the mountain of questions was to faint, so she did, allowing her newly healed body to take over and let her mind completely shut down.

When she came to next, she allowed her body to remain lax and her breath to stay slow and even like a person who was asleep would breath. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck were standing up and she knew that she wasn't alone, but she didn't know who was in the room with her.

"Novellee, the queen of Serindain. Who would have thought?" she heard someone whisper and knew it to be Carlyle. His voice was a lot like her fathers had been; mild and higher pitched, like a woman's.

"Obviously not you," that was Morrison. She would recognize his voice anywhere. She remained limp on the bed as the carried on a conversation.

"She just seemed like a tasty whore that Jonathan had left for me to sample. I never thought she was of importance. Or that she could ruin all of our plans," he gave a soft chuckle. "Wish I'd slept with her now."

Like I would let you, she scoffed in her mind. He would have been lucky if she allowed him to kiss the ground she'd walked on.

"She's not a whore. She's an assassin. And a very good one at that," Morrison said as he gazed at her face. She could feel his eyes trace across her face. How did he know that she was an assassin? Ellie didn't even know she was an assassin and they lived in the same inn.

"An assassin? Why would Jon hire an assassin to follow me around? Oh my gods, he's going to have me killed by her and you were just going to let it happen. And you knew about this Morrison?"

She heard a scuffle and knew that Morrison had attacked Carlyle. "Shut you trap, Carlyle," he hissed dangerously. "I'm Roark, got it? If anyone knew my real name everything would be ruined. Now lets get out of here before that Burdock comes back. I swear he wouldn't leave this room if he didn't have to pee. That man his head over heels in love with her."

He left with Carlyle following at his heels like a dog. Novellee got right to her feet and edged to the window, taking stalk of were she was in the castle. It seemed she was over the pages wing, which was strange because the guest rooms were in another wing of the castle.

She heard the door open and turned to find Burdock standing in the doorway holding some clothes. He dropped them as he rushed to her and swept her into his arms.

His body heat seeped into her and she blamed that for the reason she hugged him back, just as fiercely. He buried his face in the hollow between her shoulder and neck. He breathed deep in her scent.

"I was so worried. Alanna said you were fine, but you were so pale, so weak. You weren't even this weak when you'd been stabbed twice," his voice was quiet, as if he thought it would quiver and break if he spoke to loud. She felt fine trembles shake his shoulders and an emotion she hadn't felt in years welled up inside her.

Love.

Love was welling inside her and she knew it was for this man that showed such kindness from the beginning. This man who had looked at her like she was a person even when she had murdered someone in cold blood. He was everything that she could ever want.

She couldn't have him, though. She didn't deserve him. She had killed, lied, cheated, and stole. He was too pure for her and she knew that one day she would give him up. As it was supposed to be, as she had always thought it would be in her corrupted ideas of love.

But he was hers for now, so she clung to him, wallowing in his heat and his love. It was a feeling that she wasn't likely to forget, a feeling that she didn't want to forget.

"I'm alright now, Burdock. The knife wounds hurt more. I just didn't get enough sleep last night so I was susceptible to pain and being defenseless. Burdock, I'm glad that you helped me out," she kissed him on his cheek and patted his back. She would do no more and she wouldn't lead him on.

She knew now the depths of her love for him and because of it she wouldn't deliberately hurt him. Life would continue as it had, the only difference being that she would look forward to every moment and would cherish it forever. And that was all she could do.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, pulling away to be able to look into her eyes but keeping her in his embrace. She smiled like she did everyday and nodded.

"Of course. Did you think I wouldn't be? I'm tougher then that," She laughed and gave him a push on the shoulder and he let her go.

"I brought you some clothes to change into before you talk to the king. He wanted to ask you some questions. Mainly about your past. He asked me if I knew anything, but I told him that I was in your confidence and that I wasn't open to tell anything I knew. But I also told him that I would make sure that you wouldn't leave without speaking to him"

Novellee shrugged though her stomach was tied in knots. She didn't want to talk about her past, didn't want to share the fact that she was a princess. To her, being a princess was a disgrace. And she knew that if she was made to take control of Serinda as Jon had to be thinking would be the worst thing to ever happen to her.

Burdock turned his back as she flipped her shirt off and slide into the other one, which smelt like Burdock. Great, just what I need, she thought sarcastically, to smell Burdock all day so I won't be distracted by thoughts of him.

She shook her head desolately as she slide her trousers down her legs and into the new pair Burdock had brought. His again she thought with a silent groan as she rolled them at the waistline so they weren't long. They were too big around the waist, but they caught at her hips. She would defiantly be thinking about him all day, and these clothes would only enhance the amount of times she thought about him.

"Okay, lets go," she told him as he turned around. He came to her and gave her another hug. She had to resist getting lovey on him. If she gave him any impression that she felt anything more then friends for him, it would make it that much harder to let him go.

Giving him a laughing push, she stepped from his embrace that became harder to resist each time. "I'm fine really. You don't have to worry. Alanna fixed me all up."

He looked deep into her eyes, green searching gray. "Okay, let's go."

Taking a deep breath to sooth her nerves, she followed Burdock into the throne room and into an interrogation that could be the end of her life as she knew it. But she would be prepared for it because it wasn't like this hadn't happened before.

In an unusual since of light thinking she realized that this was a frequent occurrence in her life. It always seemed, lately, that she was going through a life changing experience. She was getting quite tired of it.

"Ah, Novellee. You're awake it seems. And up for some questions?" Jon asked as he looked up from some papers he had been reading. She nodded, but her since of light thinking was gone. She was not going to go about this lightly, she knew. She would most likely make it difficult and fight like hell against giving him a straight answer.

"Good. Is your father the king?" Jon asked. Novellee gave him a confused smiled.

"How could he be? Carlyle's the king."

"Was he the king then?"

"Not in my opinion, he wasn't," she said with a sardonic smile.

"Was he in other peoples opinions?" Jon's voice was carefully controlled and she knew that she was beginning to bother him.

"I don't think many people thought of him as a king. No one in fact. Where are these questions going?" she gave him another smile, this one as cheery as it was false. Jon slowly exhaled.

"Let's just cut right to it. Are you the princess of Serindain?"

"Not at the moment."

"Were you the princess of Serindain?" Jon's voice was tight with tension this time and he was seconds away from loosing his temper.

"I never thought so."

"God's above," he whispered as he looked away breathing heavily as he fought for control. "Did other's think of you as the princess of Serindain?"

"I wouldn't know what others think. Why are you asking me this?" she demanded, her voice betraying her as it quivered and broke on the last word. She swallowed and steadied.

"Because if you're the princess of Serindain it's my duty to put you back on the throne and get that dumb ass Carlyle off of it. So let me ask you again, are you the princess of Serinda?"

"Not at the moment, no," her voice was as slow and controlled as Jon's had been.

"Just answer the question!" he yelled.

"I did!" she yelled back. She gritted her teeth in anger. She hated being so difficult with Jon. But she did not want him to know that she was indeed the princess of Serinda.

"Let me ask Jon," she heard someone whisper. It was Burdock. Damn him! she screamed in her head. How could she deceive the man that she loved? She couldn't, all she could do was tell him the truth. So she'd save face, in a way, and just tell them without having Burdock ask her.

"Fine, I'll tell you. Yes, my father was king of Serinda. Yes, I was the princess of Serinda and yes they were cut down when I was nine. They were mutilated and killed by Tortallan soldiers. I was left to die, but I healed myself and left. And since I left, I have not considered myself as a princess. If I did, I don't think I would kill for a living. Any other questions you care to ask?"

"Yes," came a voice from behind her. Novellee turned to see Alanna, George, Numair, and Daine standing in the open door to the throne room. Behind her she saw four other people she did not recognize but knew to by knights.

"What was you brother's name?" Alanna asked.

"How did you know I had a brother? I never mentioned him," Novellee was immediately on guard. After all, Jon had been conversing with the man that the chamber had warned her of.

"Jon told me about it while you were sleeping. He briefed us all on what Roark had said so that we would know what to expect when you answered the questions. So what was his name?" Alanna's temper was close to snapping also, Novellee knew. But this was one question that she would not answer. Never answer.

"It is the greatest dishonor to speak his name aloud. You asking me is an insult and in Serinda I would have permission to kill you," her voice was soft, deadly, and heavy with accent.

She saw the three youngest of the newcomers' serge forward, but the oldest held them back with a murmured word. Her gray eyes turned to them, blazing fires of hate visible even from their distant and they took a step back.

"Don't threaten me Novellee. I know you wouldn't do it. Now tell me his name," Alanna's eyes were as fierce as Novellee's. But hers were alive with determination.

"No," she said crossing her arms across her chest like a spoiled brat. And indeed, that was Keladry's first impression of the assassin that everyone had been raving about for weeks on end.

"Novellee, I know everything about you. You want to tell me, so just tell me!" Alanna had gone for another tactic, but apparently, this didn't work either, because Novellee slowly began to back away from them like a cornered rat. Keladry looked around and saw that she was heading for the open window. But how could she know where it was? Her back was to the wall that had the window.

"You don't know me," Novellee hissed as she edged backwards. Kel motioned to Neal and Dom to be on alert and they, too, began to edge toward the window, but at a faster pace so as to beat her to the window.

"Yes, I do. I know that you are a very powerful mage, very strong assassin. That you rescue horses and humans who need your help. That you can't stand possessive people, like Cameron. You are very tolerant to pain and you are very religious. Face it, I know you a lot and you want to tell me your brother's name."

Kel was now ahead of Novellee in the race to the window, thanks to Alanna who had distracted her.

"No, I don't. I don't want to say his name, because to do so would be a disgrace to myself. So I'm not inclined to tell you, and I'm not inclined to stay here, so if you could tell that girl to step back, I'll be making my way home," her smile was anything but cheery. It was deadly.

Kel was amazed that the woman even knew that she was behind her. Novellee hadn't looked away from Alanna once.

"I can't do that Lee," Alanna was trying the friendly approach now and it was getting on Novellee's nerves. "I can, however offer you some paper so you could write down his name, if you would prefer that?"

Novellee hissed in anger. "Would you mind telling me why you continue to insult me?"

"I've been having dreams about a god. His name is Misiki, the god of destiny. He has been asking me in these dreams to ask you to say your brother's name. It has been bugging me, so I have brought it to your attention that the god's want his name."

Everyone watched Novellee's face intently as Alanna said the name. They all had spoken of Alanna's dreams and it was known that Alanna had commented on the fact that Misiki, who did not have Novellee's coloring, had her features. Alanna had also said that she thought Misiki could be Novellee's brother if he was a real person. But Novellee's face did not change and it seemed that the name meant nothing to her.

"Your gods and mine are not the same, so I have no obligation to do as you wish. And if your Gods were so all powerfull and knew everything, then they would also know my brother's name. So if you'll excuse me, Bennie will be worried by now and I do not wish to prolong his pain."

With that, she turned and ran to the window, swinging out and grabbing onto the ledge before crawling like a monkey down the stonework. Once on the ground, she turned to see the four newcomers leaning out the window and gaping at her. She waved and blew a kiss before running away.

She left through the gates as she had numerous times, smiling at the guards. When she was in the crowd, lost in the noise and confusion of hordes of people all moving in a different direction, she allowed herself to tremble.

A/N Review! Please and Thank you!

Nubia