(I'm awarethis chapter hasbeen going up and down and up and down but I keep goofing up....anyway so R/R...you know the drill...oh and please don't kill Adarian...)
"Mama, I don' wanna stay he'e. I wanna go wit' you!"
"Lyssie, you can't come wit me. I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous."
"T'isn't too dang'ous, Mama. I's gonna be a La'y Knight just like you when I grows up. I wanna p'actice now."
Alanna sighed, her youngest was quite the handful and appeared to be the only one who had inherited her mother's temper in full. She took the little one by the hand and led her to the nursery.
"You can practice with these, Lyssie, until you're older."
Alanna handed Lys a wooden sword and shield.
"If I p'actice, can I come next time?"
"Someday you can come, I promise."
Alanna turned and left the little girl alone in the nursery. Silently, she walked to the stables, mounted up and rode to the gate. She turned and waved her farewell as she rode off to Scanra.
George's hazel eyes scanned the horizon as the children played. He wished Alanna would come back soon. Then he heard the children shouting as they played their favorite game.
"Su'mit to my sword, Duke Conte!" shouted Lys.
"Fool!" It was Thom's turn to play as the Duke.
Lys thrust in with her little wood sword and caught Thom under the arm. Thom slashed out with his own wood sword and caught the side of her chest. Aly and Alan gasped in false horror and then all four children began to laugh.
Out of their view stood a young man, absentmindedly brushing his dark hair out of his sea-green eyes. Behind him stood a small ragtag band of Scanrans. They were in Tortall for one reason and one reason only, to find a way to break the Lioness.
"Remember, keep the guards and the baron busy."
The raiders nodded, smiling viciously.
"Adarian," voiced one of the raiders, " What'll you doin' while we keep them all busy?"
"I'll be grabbing the girl, now get ready."
Adarian crept further down the path so he had a better view. He could see the baron and the children. Almost immediately, he spotted his target. She had a little wooden sword tucked in her belt and was showing her little wooden shield to an older boy. Painted on the shield was the Lioness Rampant, the symbol of the reason he was here. He turned back and signaled the raiders, it was time. The charge took the gate guards by surprise and while they were occupied, Adarian snuck down and grabbed the two year old. Lys tried to scream, to cry out, to get her Da's attention but Adarian put his hand over her mouth. A mist of blue-green came over her and she fell into a magical sleep, dropping her shield to the ground just as Adarian ran out the main gate.
"Come on! Retreat!"
The raiders followed, running haphazardly in a fake retreat. One raider's foot suddenly met the little wooden shield and left it smashed. Almost as soon as the scanrans had disappeared over the horizon, the beat of a horses' hooves was heard coming up the road. The lady of Pirate's Swoop rode in a smile on her face expecting to see her family. Suddenly, something on the ground caught her eye. A shield, Lys' shield, smashed. She picked it up and stared at it. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Lassieā¦"
"George, what happened?"
"Raiders, from Scanra I think."
"Are the children-?"
"Thom and the twins are inside."
"And Lyssie?"
George looked away, off across the horizon.
"They took her."
For once, the Lioness said nothing as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Adarian stood on the deck, cradling the two year old in his arms. Once again a blue-green mist surrounded her as he used his gift to erase her memories of home and give her new memories. Slowly she awoke and looked up at him.
"Da? Where're we?"
"We're on our way home, little one."
He placed her on the deck and she stood beside him peering over the side at the water.
