Eurgain put her hand to her mouth. "Lady Kel," she whispered, "this isn't good."

"I know!" Kel snapped. "I'll work it out."

She took Perrin by the arm again and walked her back to headquarters. "Eurgain, go get Merric for me. I need him and two guards who do not speak Scanran. I want them at headquarters now." Kel turned away, but before Eurgain had time to leave, she turned back again. "Maybe you should bring Neal and Dom as well. All my commanders."

Eurgain nodded and rushed off towards the soldiers barracks. Kel sat Perrin down in her office. "Talk." She said.

Perrin looked up at her. "What do you want me to say?"

Kel looked at her. She was scared, Kel knew that. But she was related to Maggur. Was she his daughter? Did she have information about him? The war was over, but as far as Kel knew, Maggur was still alive. Maybe Perrin knew something about him.

"What do you know about Maggur?"

Perrin shook her head slowly, tears welling in her eyes. "I can't, I can't-"

Kel pulled up a chair and leaned closer to her. "I need to know what is happening. I can help you if you tell me." She sighed. "I need to know what you know."

Perrin shook her head. "I can't, he'll know I told, he'll know where I am and he'll be able to find me!"

Kel shook her head. "No he won't. Maggur cannot just get into Tortall like that."

"I did."

Kel smiled weakly. "You are just a child. Few people would see you as a danger. Maggur, everyone knows who he is. He wouldn't get far."

Perrin stared at her. "I don't know what you want me to say." She said after a moment.

"Anything. Everything. Who you are, what you know about Maggur, what you know about the war." She stood up. "But wait just a moment. I need Eurgain here to record everything, and I'm sorry, but I need to have guards here. This is no longer a matter of letting you go."

Perrin nodded. "Does this mean you'll never let me go to Corus?"

Kel sighed. "I really don't know. I'd like to say you can, but it all depends on how well you cooperate."

Perrin nodded. "I will tell you whatever you want to know." She said, sitting up straight and looking at Kel.

A few minutes later, Eurgain came in with four guards and Kel's commanders. "Sit down." She said before turning to the guards. "One of you at the door, one of you in here. Anything you hear stays here. I hear one word of any of this from anyone other than these three," she pointed to Merric, Eurgain and Perrin, "and both of you spend the week in the stocks. And I am not exaggerating."

The guards looked frightened for a moment, then bowed. One man went outside and the other stood at attention at the door.

"Alright. Perrin, talk." Kel said as Eurgain took out her book and quill. Kel sat down with a sigh as Perrin prepared to speak. This day was going to be memorable, that was for sure. She ran her hands through her hair and settled down to listen to Perrin speak.

"My name is Perrin Rathhausak. Maggur Rathhausak is my uncle. My mother; his sister; and I have lived at Castle Rathhausak ever since he came into power when I was very young. I barely remember the town mother and I lived in before. I didn't want to go to the castle, it terrified me. Maggur terrified me, but he loved my mother more than anything, and she told me that he loved me. When I was at the castle, I learned things. I learned that Maggur was joining all of the tribes together. I thought it was the first good thing he had done.

"But then I learned that he was using those ties to attack Tortall. I didn't understand why. I knew that Tortall had never done anything to us, never attacked us. But I was young. As much as I disliked Maggur, I trusted him, and I trusted what he was doing. I believed that he had a good reason.

"But then war came. It never came to us, of course, but we felt it. We felt the rush of poverty that came over our people. We noticed that there were more people coming to the castle to ask Maggur for help. To ask for food. Many of them spoke of lost children. At first I thought it was because they had no food. But I heard other things. I spoke to the staff in the castle, was friends with their children. And soon their children disappeared as well. After a while, I was the only child left in the castle. I asked Maggur, but he didn't know why.

"Then, about three years ago, I heard about Blayce and his creatures. I also learned when Blayce was killed. Maggur was upset. Very upset. He practically went mad. He ordered more troops to go to Tortall, but they weren't ready.

"Maggur found another mage to make the creatures, not two months ago. They are not the same, but they operate on the same basic principals, the same magicks. They're not as powerful, but they still do a lot of damage. The mage he found is not as powerful as Blayce was, and along with being less powerful, the creatures needed more spirits. Maggur was running low on children, and one day he came for me."

No sound was made, other than the rapid scratching of Eurgain's quill as she raced to get down everything Perrin was saying.

"Being friends with the staff had its advantages. I was warned that they were coming for me in the morning. I wasn't supposed to know what I was going for, I was to be told I was going on a trip or something of the sort. But I knew what it was, and I was warned that it would happen. I stole a dagger from Maggur's room and when the lone guard came, I was ready. They only sent one because I wasn't supposed to know. But I got rid of him.

"I knew that now Maggur would be sure to come for me, not just to use me, but also because I had killed one of his soldiers. I had to leave Scanra. I took the dagger and ran. It was all I had. I didn't have time to get food or clothes, I didn't even get to tell my mother. I had never really had that much of a problem with the war. I mean, I didn't think it the best thing to do, but I tried not to think of it.

"But now I knew. Now I knew that Maggur wasn't trying to help our people, I knew I was in the wrong place. I had nothing to lose. I had to get to Tortall. I had to warn the king about the new creatures and the new army that Maggur was making."

Everyone stared at her for a moment. She had said so much. If she was right, then they did indeed need to warn the king.

Kel leaned forward towards her. "Do you know if he is planning on attacking again?"

Perrin nodded. "He is, I think. I don't know why else he would create more creatures and have more armies. I don't know when, but I think it should be soon. I think he was almost done when I left."

Kel nodded. "Thank you. Merric, I want you to send a messenger to Corus. The fastest rider you've got. We have to tell Wyldon about this, we have to tell him that this war is not over. Before you do, I want Eurgain to copy it into triplets, and I want two more messengers to go out afterwards, separately. We must make sure that they hear about this at the palace."

Merric and Eurgain nodded and left. "Perrin, you have those scrapes on your knuckles." Kel said calmly to the young girl. "Where did those come from?"

Perrin lifted her hand and turned it round to see her knuckles. She clenched them and unclenched them with a little wince in her eyes. "I forgot about that. There was a soldier near the border at an inn. There were a lot of them, a squad, I guess. One of them found me sleeping in the stables, and I hit him to stop him from calling out." She looked down. "I used my dagger again." She whispered.

Everyone in the room made the sign against evil on their chests, and Kel glanced at Neal. "Perrin," Kel said softly, "Neal needs to check you over for other injuries. He's going to take you to the infirmary."

Perrin nodded slowly and stood up. Neal beckoned her to the door, and put his arm around her shoulder as he led her out of the room.

Kel looked up. Dom leaning back in a chair across from her. She turned away from him quickly and closed her eyes. She wasn't ready for this, she hadn't had time to think. She realized now that she had not even thought of Dom since she had woken this morning. It was already getting dark, they had been talking for hours. She had eaten almost nothing all day, and she was stressed to no end.

She didn't want to deal with Dom. Kel sat down in her chair with a sigh and put her head in her hands.

"Kel-" Dom began, but Kel put up her hand to stop him.

"Please, Dom, not now. I need time to think. I need time-" She shook her head. "I don't know what I need to do."

Dom didn't say anything. Kel knew he wouldn't leave, and she chose to ignore him. She thought for what felt like hours, and by the time she finished, she didn't even remember what she'd thought about. When she opened her eyes, Dom was still looking at her.

Kel frowned. "What are you doing?" She asked.

Dom shrugged. "You told me not to speak."

"But I wanted you to leave." Kel said, exasperated.

Dom looked at her in all seriousness. "No you don't. You need me here. You're stressed out and you're scared."

"I don't!" Kel shouted, standing up. "I don't need you here, I told you that! I won't deny that I'm scared or I'm stressed out, but I do not want you here." She sat down again and put her head down on her desk. "I can't deal with you right now."

Dom leaned forward to her. "I don't want you to deal with me, Kel, I want to be here with you."

Kel looked him in the eye. "This is what I was talking about. Here I am, worrying about you. I should be worrying about Perrin and this inevitable war at my doorstep. I don't have time to think about all of this."

Dom stood up. "Fine. You want me to leave, Kel, I'll leave. Maybe I should be that messenger. Maybe I should take my entire squad and we should just go back to Corus. We're probably needed more there than we are here!"

Kel glared at him. "This is exactly what I am talking about! You cannot just leave. I am your commander! You leave when I dismiss you! I cannot let my heart guide me in this, Dom. And neither can you. I need you by my side, Dom." She said, rising and stepping towards him. "As a commander, not as a lover." She took him by the hand. "Please, Dom. Trust in me. When this is all over, fine. Do whatever you want. But for now, I need you to fight with me. To lead with me."

Dom stepped close to her. "I love you, Kel."

She closed her eyes and looked down. When she raised her head again, she had determination in her eyes. "You are dismissed, Sergeant."

Dom looked at her for a minute as she stood so tall, then turned and walked out the door.

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I hope you all enjoyed my tension and information filled chapter! I really enjoyed writing it, even though I have taken about eight hours to write it… it still made me happy, even though I just couldn't get enough emotion into it.

Mage Light: thank you!

Lady of Masbolle: Nope, not daughter. I knew I didn't want to do that, straight from the start. Too clichéd, I think. She's not evil, though. As I'm sure you could tell… but those guesses were pretty good!

Alenor: I was actually not very happy with the way it turned out. Oh well, you liked it, that's what's important!

Alannalovingwriter: I do love my suspense.

Rowenhood: thanks!

HeartLioness: cool, I was just thinking, 'who is this? Have I seen this name before?' That's exactly why he is in it so rarely. I wanted him in it in chapter 7, I believe it was, maybe 8 – I don't remember – because I wanted his skepticism, I wanted him. And of course she wouldn't behead him. That would be mean, and as Kel said, she's just a kid.

AJ 4EVA: thank you!

Annmarie Aspasia: Haha, that's true. But you know, just like writers always ask for people to review, people always ask writers to update! I know, the ending was difficult. It drives me crazy too, except that I know what happens next! Yay!

Atlanta Enchanted: I can always appreciate Monty Python, though I don't know enough of it to notice it at normal situations… it's usually just if…

CRAP. I LOST. BLOODY HELL. Okay, sorry about that. If you are wondering what just happened, I just remembered the game, and thus lost. Confused? Let me explain. You lose the game when you remember that you are in the game. As long as you don't remember you're in the game, you're still winning. If you remember it while doing anything that involves winning or losing (games, sports, etc.), it doesn't count, and there is a half hour waiting period after you lose in which you cannot lose. When you lose, you are not kicked out, you just start again. If you do lose, you must say it, and everyone around you who is in the game thus loses as well, and anyone not in the game is now in it. So… you're all in the game! This thing is international, people. It's BIG. No idea why, it just kicks ass. Tell all your friends.

Anyway, back to what I was saying: it's usually just if someone mentions it.

Smiles 28: yeah, she's not bad or anything, she's just scared and in danger. You know.

Lady-kitty: wow, that's a good response! Thanks!

PsychoLioness13: Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm going a bit slow with this. I want to make sure I'm actually happy with my plots before I write them. And I'm glad Tobe was Tobe-like, that was what I was going for!

"If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did.""

This is possibly one of the funniest things ever, I love it.

Enjoy!

-unolimbo