A/N: I'm kind of disappointed with the reviews, but I decided to update early. If you want me to update early again, review.

But for those who did review, thanks to ChaosLightning13 and catwraith.

X-X-X

Rothas couldn't believe he had missed the mage's entrance, and he knew it could cost them their lives.

All that for nothing …

Vrail suddenly stood up and glared at the mage. Anger and rage were the only two emotions in Vrail now, as far as Rothas felt. He knew he was about to attack the mage.

"Silveous, where is Darshay?" Vrail said in an anger-laced voice. But beyond the anger was a sense of nobility and power too.

Despite Vrail's obvious rage, the mage—Silveous—just looked at Vrail with amusement. "Do you expect me to take a half-dead mage seriously—though I must admit I am surprised you are even standing."

The anger in Vrail flared, and before Rothas or Lythe could do anything, Silveous threw three bolts of lightning from his hands and one hit Rothas in an eye blink. For a split-second, he felt an immense burning pain, but than he was knocked out and given peace from the very blast that had caused him the enormous pain.

X-X-X

Lythe felt like she was in a dream. She just seemed to be floating in place. It was quiet except for the occasional, indistinct voice here and there. Maybe she was in a dream …

She floated for what seemed like hours until one clear, feminine voice talked to her. No, it didn't talk, but announce.

:My name is Natari, and I have Chosen you, Lythe. Now go to sleep; you still have much healing to do …:

Lythe felt herself fall into a deep sleep, where she floated no more.

X-X-X

There was light. A lot of light.

Lythe covered her eyes with her hand. After spending so long in the dungeon, her eyes were obviously having much trouble adjusting to the change.

What …? Lythe thought, confused. She couldn't be in the dungeon anymore—there was no light in there. All she remember was being hit by a bolt from the mage—Silveous, she thought—and being knocked out.

Lythe opened her eyes suddenly and immediately closed them again. The light was very bright. This time, she slowly opened her eyes and let them get adjusted to the light. When her eye finally did, she looked around the room she was in.

She was lying in a bed covered with plain white sheets and beside her was a small table with a candle, for now unlit. There was another table of to the side of the room beside the door, and on it were some medical supplies—some dried herbs—jewelweed, which was used to treat burns and itches from nettle, if she had learned from Rothas correctly—strips of gauze, a small bowl of water and a few other miscellaneous supplies. Lythe turned to the other side of the room; all that was there was a window with light coming through and landing directly onto her and her bed.

She felt all the blood drain form her face and her breathing stop. The curse. Her curse. She would die if light touched her, and here it was touching her, but she was still alive.

How is this possible …? she thought, still not breathing.

:Because I broke the curse.:

Lythe gasped when the voice that wasn't heard by her ears appeared.

She could not believe this. She must have been dreaming. The curse was irremovable. She was stuck with it forever. And she couldn't hear voices without her ears. She had to be dreaming—or crazy.

:You are neither, Chosen.: The voice was amused.

Lythe felt a slight annoyance at being made fun of—her first emotion since surprise—and the gasped yet again.

Chosen …?

Even though the Heralds had only been around for not even three generations, everyone in Valdemar knew what it meant to be called "Chosen."

:That's correct, Lythe: the voice—no, Companion—spoke again. :I am Natari.:

"This is impossible," Lythe said aloud. "I am not Chosen. When was I Chosen?"

:Don't you remember? I Choose you right when Vrail brought you here, and then I broke your curse.:

"My curse is broken?"

:Yes.:

Lythe couldn't believe it. Ever since she had gotten her curse, she had never believed it would ever be removed. She never even thought it could be removed. She wanted to cry out of joy! She would be able to watch the sunset, go out in daylight, be with other people! She would be able to do so much that she had thought would have been impossible.

"Thank you so much, Natari."

:You're welcome, Lythe: the voice—Natari—said happily.

Lythe just laid back on the bed and smiled. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop for a long time. Her curse was broken and now she was going to be a Herald! She had to tell Rothas!

"Where is Rothas?" she asked Natari, hoping Natari would be able to hear her.

:He is still asleep, healing from the mage-bolt Silveous fired at him: she answered, :but he will be fine. And you don't have to speak out loud. Just think what you want to say and I will hear it.:

"How—" Lythe began to say, but than tried to think it, like Natari had said. :How did I get here? And how can I speak to you with thoughts? And was Rothas Chosen too.: Lythe could feel Natari smiling and than interjected, :What's so funny.:

:Your questions: Natari responded, but she was still smiling. :You have so many of them.:

:So answer them.: Lythe felt very impatient, like she had to move, but knew it would probably not do much if she got out of bed, because at the same time she felt very tired.

:When Silveous attacked you, both you and Rothas were knocked out. Vrail had managed to shield himself in time, so he attacked Silveous back. There was a short battle, and, somehow—I am not sure how—Vrail was able to get you, Rothas and himself away from Silveous' keep, along with Darshay, his Companion.:

That does explain why he asked for Darshay, Lythe thought.

:The reason you can speak to me with your thoughts is because you have the Gift of Mindspeech—the ability to talked to others with your thoughts. You also have the Gift of Foresight and the Mage-Gift. Foresight is being able to see the future—in a way—and you know what a mage is.:

Lythe nodded her head, and had the feeling Natari knew it.

:And you might want to know that Vrail, Ilan and Devren are coming: Natari added.

:What? Who are Devren and Ilan:

:Devren is the Dean of the Collegiums and Ilan is your Healer.:

:What's a Dean: Lythe asked, but just then the door to her room opened. Three men entered.

Vrail, who she knew, looked quite a bit different, now that he had cleaned up. He had quite fine pure silver hair and dark blue eyes that matched. He was a medium-tall height and slightly muscular. Another man—the Healer Ilan, Lythe presumed, because of his green robes—had warm brown eyes and brown hair and was surprisingly short. The last man, Devren, had grey hair with tired dark brown eyes under dark eyebrows.

Vrail was the first to speak up after all three of them had entered the room. "I want to thank you and Rothas for saving me—I would have died if you hadn't intervened. If you know some way to pay you back, I will help."

"Alright," Lythe said, but was confused. How could a simple Herald-Mage say he would help her and pay her back? From what she knew, Herald, while honored, weren't rich at all, as they had to give up any title they had after they were Chosen.

:It is because he is the Prince: Natari said out of the blue.

"What!" Lythe cried. She couldn't believe it. This Herald she and Rothas had saved was the Prince of Valdemar! Not only that, but he was Windrider too, the Prince who had had stories and songs written about him before he had even taken over his father's rule. Then she saw the looks on the three men's faces. She blushed immediately. "Sorry," she said, much more quietly.

But Vrail smiled and his eyes lightened. "Don't worry, I understand. When Darshay first Chose me, I kept saying things out of the blue all the time because I always forgot I had Mindspeech. I think he felt it was quite funny."

Lythe felt suddenly much less embarrassed, especially when Devren and Ilan smiled also.

"I can't say I know the feeling, but I'll take Vrail's word for it," Ilan said.

"I do," Devren added, "and every time some non-Heralds looked at me like I was crazy, I felt like it would have been better to not have be Chosen!"

:You'd better not do that to me.:

Lythe smiled at both Natari and Devren's joke.

Devren spoke up again. "Since you have been Chosen, you are, of course, going to be enrolled in the Collegium. That is what I came here for—to show you around the Collegium and Palace and to set up your schedule for classes and such."

:Why am I going to see the Palace: Lythe asked Natari.

:The Collegium and Palace are the same building, but they're just called two different names.:

"But," Devren continued, "first Healer Ilan has to make sure you're all right—"

The door burst open to revel a young page in blue, who suddenly looked very embarrassed to be there, and whispered something quietly to Devren, still blushing.

Devren turned back to Lythe with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, but there is a problem I have to take care of with some Bard- and Herald-trainees." He swiftly walked out the room with the page right behind him. Lythe heard his voice echo around the hallway, saying how it was extremely impolite to walk into a Healer's room without knocking first, and how he might see some things he'd rather not see. The page asked what the things he'd rather not see were and that launched Devren on a whole new speech.

Lythe, Vrail and Ilan were all smiling at the conversation when Vrail turned back to Lythe.

"I'm afraid I have to go—I only came here to tell you how thankful I am—and now I'll take my leave, and leave you in Ilan capable hands." Vrail mock-bowed and exited the room.

Now it was Ilan who turned back to Lythe. "Would you please get out of bed and walk around the room? You've been asleep for nearly three days."

"Really? Why so long?" Lythe asked, getting up.

"You had been hit by a strong levenbolt—a mage-bolt—and you were quite weak even before that. I'm not surprised you slept so long while you recovered."

Lythe suddenly remembered hat Natari hadn't answered her question if Rothas had been Chosen. She was about to ask again when Natari interjected.

:He wasn't: she said.

:Why not? It seems fair that he should be a Herald too.:

:Being Chosen isn't about fairness, it's about having the right character. Apparently, you have it and Rothas doesn't. Rothas may be caring and giving and a kind person, but he is not suited to become a Herald.:

Even though it sounded cruel, Lythe knew Natari was just saying the truth.

:I'm afraid with you being a Herald, and Rothas not, it might strain your relationship. Especially since you are lifebonded.:

:What? Me and Rothas aren't lifebonded That couldn't have happened to her …

:But it has: Natari said with complete seriousness.

Wow … all of that in just one day …

"What are you so surprised about?" Ilan asked suddenly, and startled Lythe slightly.

"Just—Just everything that has happened to me today. It's like all these different dreams I had when I was younger and they all happen on the same day."

Ilan smiled. "That must be a shocker. Being Chosen, the curse being lifted. I could imagine this must be one of the best days of your life."

"Maybe …" Lythe said distantly, but than she thought about the time she and Rothas had first met. Then it occurred to her she had never asked if Rothas' curse was broken. She felt a wave of guilt that she had never thought to ask about Rothas.

"It was," Ilan said, after she asked. "By the Companions."

Lythe smiled. Today really was one of the best days in her life.

The rest of the check-up passed quickly in silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable one. She was led to a bath by Ilan and some clothes were left there. After taking a short, but thorough bath, she changed into her new clothes and met with Ilan who had been waiting for her the whole time. He led her through the Collegium-Palace and to Devren's office. There, she was shown around the Palace and given some new sets of "Grays" to wear, along with a schedule of classes, but that wouldn't start until the day after the next.

Then Lythe was shown her room, where she would live. It didn't matter that it was small—it was finally a true home.