A/N: Hey all, so sorry I'm updating so late; I have been on a trip and I didn't get a chance to update this before I left. Here is Chapter 3, and I hope to have Chapter 4 up soon! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The things you don't recognize belong to me. The things you do belong to Tamora Pierce.

Silence and Shadows: Chapter 3

"Hush, girl, come on." Kei nudged Whisper onward, deeper into the dark forest. The mare snorted in protest but continued to pick her way delicately through the trees. As the dappled gray mare continued, Kei let her mind wander.

After she had made the split-second decision to leave the palace, Kei had told Alec. The look on her brother's face broke her heart, but she had to leave. She was feeling too stifled in the palace atmosphere, and her ultimate goal was to be a Shang master. After leaving her brother, she had snuck into the stables, where she kept her spare set of clothes. Her saddlebags were already packed for the journey, and after changing out of her ball gown, it was quick work to saddle Whisper and leave through the servants' entrance. She had ridden through Corus in the dead of night, and after stopping at an inn earlier to stock up on supplies, had ridden on.

A twig snapping in the brush made Kei snap back to where she was, leaving the memories behind. Alert now, she swiftly petted the golden tabby that sat in front of her on the saddle as she quickly checked the placement of her daggers. One dagger rested in a flat sheath, which hung around her neck next to her cat pendant, while two others were in wrist sheaths. Four more daggers rested in secret compartments in her saddlebags; whoever captured her would be unable to find the daggers unless she told them where to look. She had one dagger in each boot, and one more dagger hung in open sight on her belt. She was well armed, and wasn't worried about her horse getting stolen; Whisper had been raised from a filly by Kei, and besides, she had been trained to fight.

The noise came again, and Tacy sat up, green eyes wide, scanning the trees around them. Kei silently cursed the conditions she was in. It was the dead of night; no one would be able to hear her. When Tacy hissed warningly at the trees, Kei slid from the saddle, her brown tunic and breeches helping her blend into the trees around her. With one last defiant hiss at the trees, Tacy leapt off the saddle and followed her mistress. Whisper shied slightly, disturbed by the lack of weight, but then she snorted again and stood still, ears brought forward to catch the light sounds of footsteps coming towards her.

Kei watched, hardly daring to breathe as five men exited the woods and headed for her horse. She watched as they stopped, obviously puzzled by the dappled gray mare with no rider. Her eyes still on the strange men, she slipped her hand down her leg and found the hilt of one of her daggers where it jutted up from her boot top. Grasping the dagger firmly, she slid it out of her boot and transferred it from her left hand to her right, even though she could fight just as well with her left.

One of the men stepped forward and tried to grab Whisper's reins. The dappled gray mare shied from his touch, and lunged forward, teeth bared. The man yelped in fright as he hastily backed away from the mare's teeth. His companions' laughter rippled through the clearing, and Whisper snorted and laced her ears back, surprised at the sudden noise. One of the man's companions gazed around the clearing, and a look of confusion crossed his face. He turned to his companion, the one who had tried to grab Whisper. "Where'd she go, Brock?" He asked, his voice a soft but menacing growl that Kei heard from where she was hidden.

"I don't know, Kaleb!" The one called Brock snapped back. "She couldn't have gotten far," he continued, "we saw her right after she stopped."

Kei gripped her dagger tighter and looked carefully. She knew that she couldn't take on all five at once, that much was certain. She would have to make sure she didn't give away her position and take them down one at a time. One of the men had his back directly to her: he would make for an easy target. To her surprise, just as she took aim, he spoke up.

"She might be--" Brock and his companions turned to see what the man had to say, but his sentence ended in a gurgle. He fell forward, a dagger sticking out of the middle of his back.

Kei grinned slightly to herself as she grabbed the second dagger out of her boot. A perfect shot. Her friend Swift would be proud. Kei forced herself to snap out of it at Brock's next words. Her life could still be in danger. Brock spoke to his men, and while his voice didn't rise above a whisper, Kei heard him clearly.

"Spread out," he said, a slow grin forming on his features, "she's close."

At this, Kei moved silently through the trees, Tacy at her side. She was desperate to get to her mare. If she could get to Whisper, and take one or two of the men out at the same time, she could get away. Spotting a man with his back turned, Kei aimed and threw her second dagger at his back. The man turned too late at his friends' shouts, and the dagger buried itself in his back. The man staggered forward, and then collapsed.

Brock turned and glared into the trees, his pale gray eyes seeming to bore into Kei and see right through her, freezing her where she stood. He lifted his hand and pointed directly at her. "In there." He said calmly, and at this, the men converged on the place he had pointed at.

Kei jumped up from where she was crouched and began to run. She was running blindly now, running to get away from the men who were chasing her. If she had been thinking straight, she would have seen the shadow that detached itself from the trees in front of her and placed itself in her path. She would have seen the cloth the man held loosely in his hand. As it was, she did not realize what had happened until the cloth had covered her mouth and nose, and her screams were cut off. The smell of the potion on the cloth numbed her senses, and slowly, everything went dark.

Kaelyn stifled a scream as strong hand closed around her upper arm. A candle was brought close to her face; a moment later, its owner cursed and the candle retreated. Kaelyn blinked as more lights were lit, and seconds later, Jamal's frowning face was in front of hers.

"What in Mithros's name are you doing here, Kaelyn?" Jamal demanded, brown eyes smoldering. Kaelyn blinked for a moment more, then answered her brother.

"Borrowing clothes." She said simply, unable to tell him more. Jamal's expression went from angry to incredulous in a heartbeat.

"You're—you're borrowing my clothes?" He managed, almost doubled over with laughter.

Kaelyn drew herself up taller and gave him a dignified nod. "That's right," she told her brother, "I need your clothes."

Jamal's laughter stopped short: he had caught sight of the breeches, tunics, and shirts that his sister had bundled together. "You really are borrowing my clothes," he said, sounding somewhat surprised.

Kaelyn sighed; her brother could be so thick sometimes. "Yes," she told him, sounding slightly irritated, "I need your clothes. Can I go now?"

Jamal gazed at her for a moment, then motioned to the chair next to the fire. "Sit, Lyn," he told her, "and tell me what exactly you need my clothes for." Kaelyn sighed in frustration, but the look in her brother's dark eyes brooked no room for argument. Silently, she sank in the proffered chair, and as her brother settled into a char opposite her, Amaya jumped into her lap, curling up. The look in Jamal's eyes prompted her to begin, and with a moment's hesitation, she did.

"I'm helping with a rescue attempt," she told him, her soft murmur barely heard over the crackle of the fire.

"Rescue attempt?" Jamal's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Kaelyn hesitated, but decided to throw caution into the wind and continued anyway.

"Yes, a rescue attempt," she told her brother, and when he said nothing, she continued. "Alec and I are going to search for Lady Keianna, because Alec is afraid that--" Jamal interrupted her, brown eyes once again smoldering.

"Alec who?" Jamal asked, his voice a low growl, and Kaelyn gulped. She had called Alec by his informal name, when she should have used his full title. She opened her mouth to speak, but her brother wasn't done yet.

"Who is this Lady Keianna?" Jamal asked as Kaelyn sighed and slumped back into the chair.

"Are you going to let me tell my story or not?" She demanded, green eyes gleaming in the light of the fire.

Jamal sighed and motioned for her to continue. Kaelyn stiffly nodded her thanks, and told him, "Alec is Sir Alec of Cavas Hill, and he befriended me on the night we were presented to the court. That same night, as you have heard, his younger sister, the Lady Keianna, disappeared. He has become increasingly worried about her, and he has had no word from her yet."

Kaelyn's green eyes softened with sympathy and affection as she spoke of Alec's worries. Jamal was not blind to this, and it unnerved him to see his younger sister falling for some unknown knight so quickly. As for Lady Keianna, Jamal had seen her only once, catching a glimpse of her during the ball. She had stood aloof, away from the others, and even from across the dance floor he could tell that she did not want to be there. For a moment, he had thought that she was his sister, they were so alike. He almost went over to her, until he noticed that her eyes, hair and dress were different. She had intrigued him; from what he had seen and heard after her disappearance, she was something of a rebel, wanting to take up the fighting arts.

Kaelyn watched her brother stare into the fire, lost in thought, and after a moment he turned to her. "So you need my clothes to disguise yourself as a boy," he said bluntly, and Kaelyn nodded mutely. Jamal stood up and walked silently over to where his weapons were kept. Kaelyn watched this with wide green eyes, and just as her brother went back to his room to change, someone knocked on the door.

Jamal paused on his way to the bedroom and glanced at the door, an eyebrow raised. Looking from Kaelyn to the door, he nodded shortly and disappeared into his room. Kaelyn made her way to the door, opening it to reveal Alec of Cavas Hill, dressed in riding gear and holding two packed saddle bags. Kaelyn gave him a slight grin, and he grinned at her in reply. She stepped back and let him into the room, where silence reigned until Jamal returned, dressed as Alec was and carrying his own laden saddle bags.

Kaelyn took one look at him and burst out, "You can't be serious!"

Jamal glanced at her and asked mildly, "What am I not serious about?"

Kaelyn glared, retorting, "I thought this was a rescue mission, not a leisurely ride!"

Jamal just stared back at her for a moment before replying, "You need me to come along, and there is no way I am letting you leave the palace without my supervision."

Kaelyn met his determined gaze for a moment, and then dropped her eyes to the floor in defeat. Jamal nodded curtly to Alec, introducing himself as "Lord Jamal."

Alec bowed, replying, "Milord, I am Sir Alec of Cavas Hill."

Jamal let a wry grin creep across his stoic face. "So I've heard."

Alec glanced up, blue eyes twinkling. "You've heard of me?" He asked, face straight, but his tone gave away his amusement as he and Jamal stared at Kaelyn until she blushed.

"Alright!" She snapped, the annoyance clear in her voice. "I'll change, and then we are leaving." She glared at Alec. "We're supposed to be rescuing your sister, not sitting here gossiping!"

At the mention of Kei, the grin slid right off Alec's face, and he nodded shortly. Kaelyn disappeared for a moment, but then she was back, wearing a shirt, tunic, breeches, and boots, while her hair was pinned up and hidden under a serving boy's cap. Both men glanced at her, and followed as she led the way towards the stables.

The three riders came across the clearing just as the sun was breaking over the trees. The light of the sun stained the corpses on the ground a bright red, brighter than the blood that covered the ground. Kaelyn gasped at the sight that lay before her, while Jamal muttered an oath and drew his horse to a sudden halt, brown eyes wide. Alec drew his dark bay stallion to a halt and dismounted. Striding over to one of the bodies, he crouched down and examined the hilt that rested in the man's back before wrenching it free.

"Kei," he murmured grimly, showing his companions the design on the hilt. Alec looked around saw that the other man also had another dagger with the same design in his back. "She was here," he told the other two nobles, "but she was taken," he followed the tracks that he found to an imprint of a body that was still on the wet ground. Alec studied the ground for only a moment before he recognized his sister's form.

"Men took her," he murmured, blue eyes hard. Kaelyn dismounted and came over to him, staring down at the imprint. "I'm sorry," she murmured, laying a hand on her arm.

Alec opened his mouth, about to say something, when a piteous meow came from the trees. Alec grinned suddenly, and turned. Kaelyn turned around just in time to see a cat come trotting out of the woods, tail held high. Kaelyn vaguely remembered seeing the golden tabby somewhere before, but when the tabby looked up at her, she gasped as her hand found its way to the chain around her neck.

The golden tabby was the same as her pendant. The same green eyes, the same imperious stance, and those green eyes seemed to look through her, the same way her pendant did. Alec seemed oblivious to her gasp, and he rushed forward, looking delighted to see the cat.

"Tacy!" He murmured, striding over to gather the cat in his arms. He turned, and the cat's purring reverberated through the clearing. Kaelyn saw that his blue eyes shone, and he looked as happy as if he had found his sister.

"Alec?" Kaelyn asked, curious.

Alec glanced at her, blue eyes gleaming. "This is Tacy," he told the raven-haired woman, "and my sister's constant companion. If she's here, then my sister must be somewhere nearby, along with her horse."

As if in affirmation of this statement, a whinny rang through the clearing, and all three nobles turned to see a dappled gray mare following the cat's trail. Alec's blue eyes dulled and his grin disappeared as he noticed what the others had: the horse bore a saddle and saddlebags, but no rider.

"Whisper," Alec crooned, stepping forward to grab the horse's reins and leading her forward. He lifted the flap of one of the saddlebags and peered inside, and then cursed softly.

As Kaelyn and Jamal looked on, Alec led Whisper to his stallion and tied her reins to his saddle. He turned to Kaelyn, and taking her hand, led her to her black mare. He helped her into the saddle, and then turned and mounted his stallion. Without a word, all three riders rode out of the clearing, following the mysterious trail the captors had left.

A/N: So, good, bad, not so good? Tell me what you think and please review! No flames please!

Purple Eyed Cat