Chapter Four

Rurik woke some time later and wrapped the blanket at the foot of his bed around himself to ward off the chill as he closed the balcony doors with a sigh. Quite frankly he could not believe himself at how often he found himself in his wife's arms. It was as if something pulled them together. He turned to watch her sleep as he leaned against the doorframe. Well, this is a refreshing change from the past few weeks, he mused. I'm watching her sleep instead of the other way around.

And he was well aware of the fact that she would watch over him. Sometimes when she thought he was asleep he'd just lay there, feeling better just knowing that she was sitting in the room by the sound of pages flipping in a book.

Rurik sighed again before finally shrugged the blanket off to dress himself. With one last glance at his wife he left the suite to walk down to the war room where he knew Duke Barradin would be. He needed time to be alone but he could not afford it if he was to rebuild Ascalon. He entered the war room and Barradin looked up, mildly surprised, from the table, which showed a miniature lay of the land of Ascalon. Before the war had ended it had been used to plan attacks against the Charr and track their movement. Artisans had been called in to make it as accurate in each detail as well as make the trees of the forests and forces of both sides capable of being moved around as Adelburn had saw fit. This map was old and showed Ascalon as it had been when the Searing struck.

Rurik looked down with a frown as Barradin explained, "We brought it back in to compare to the new map," he pointed to the second one made, one that showed the post-Searing Ascalon from when Rurik had been leading the Vanguard, "and to find where the cities were."

On the new map were some of the forests from the old, and new stained glass had been made to show where the tar had given way to water. Green paint-washes marked where the land was recovering. It was still an ugly map, but it was far better than the mid-Searing map. Rurik looked it over, "And?"

"Well, we've managed to put these flags on where the old cities of Surmia, Drascir, and Nolani were," explained Barradin. "We've also put these simpler flags where the small towns, such as Ashford, were."

"So many towns burned to the ground," mused Rurik. "I see the priority appears to be those south of the wall."

"Indeed, my prin… er… my king," Barradin corrected himself, and then looked at Rurik who had suddenly gone extremely quiet. "Rurik? Are you feeling all right?"

Rurik looked up suddenly, the expression on his face carefully blank although the expression in his eyes was haunted. Barradin swallowed, uncharacteristically nervous suddenly, at the deep pain in those eyes. Rurik was a man that had not recovered from what had happened after the Frost Gate. Barradin didn't even want to guess at what had happened. He was quite frankly happy in the knowledge that Rurik had been returned from the Ember Isles. Rurik blinked and then focused on Barradin suddenly, "I'm sorry, old friend. I was… thinking…"

"Brooding is more like it," snorted Barradin.

"Indeed I was," Rurik sighed as he looked over the changes in the map. "But at least the damage to Ascalon is receding. There is still much work to be done, however."

"Quite," agreed Barradin.

They both started in surprise at the crash in the halls. Looking at each other, they frowned and it was Barradin who drew his sword and Rurik a short moment later. Barradin ran into the hall first and Rurik followed him out, sword held at the ready. Outside was chaos as servants and guards ran around almost in confusion. The guards were taking swift charge of things and soon there was order among the confusion as the civilians were herded into safe areas while the army and guards began to sweep the grounds for the threat within the palace walls. Rurik boomed, "What goes on here?"

"Your Majesty, you should take cover," called Warmaster Riga as he ran down the hall to meet them, and he took Rurik's left arm in hand. "This way your majesty…"

"Now wait just one minute here!" protested Rurik as he shook his arm out of Riga's grip. "Have you forgotten who I am, Riga? I may be King shortly, but I am still the same Rurik that everyone remembers. Now, what is going on and where is the threat so that I can meet it on my own terms?"

Riga sighed, "Warmaster Grast said you'd be that way. Very well, your Majesty. Someone, or something, has made it past the perimeter guards. A few were found slain on the walls, and somehow they have also eluded our search—"

Rurik blinked, and then he went pale as he breathed, "Selena… Salamar… Gods no!"

With that Riga and Barradin were left to blink over the sudden departure of Rurik as the man ran towards his suites that he shared with his wife and son. Seeing their King run full tilt as fast as he could through the halls—almost sliding around corners, and then taking stairs two at a time—made the guards jump out of the way of him, and then follow him as Riga and Barradin both were. They came to a stop when they finally caught up with Rurik as he stared into the broken doors of his suites, the sound of a child wailing in fright loud and clear from within. With a dark and somber expression on his face Rurik then walked into the room, his sword at the ready.

Barradin followed, and could see a shadow move almost before he saw the person step out of it with twin daggers raised to stab deeply into Rurik's unarmored back. Barradin took a breath, but thankfully, Rurik's battle honed instincts had never dulled over the years as the man spun, sank to one knee as the blades came down, but as he had moved, this threw the woman's strike off balance. She needed time to recover but as Rurik already had his sword drawn time was something she never had as Rurik's upswing and slash cut her stomach open. She cried out as she dropped her daggers and fell to the floor, clutching at her belly in a vain attempt to hold in her insides as the blood splattered over Rurik's clean white tunic and the marble floor.

Standing up, his sword at guard, Rurik moved around the room to make sure no other assassins were waiting for his guard to be lowered to strike. Barradin, Riga and a few of the other guards did the same. Barradin nodded as Rurik lowered his sword, then dropped it to jump onto the bed and uncover the lump within.

The only living soul in his bed was his two-year old son, Prince Salamar, whom clutched at his father in terror. Not wanting to stain his son with the would-be assassin's blood, Rurik pulled off the blankets and sheets to wrap the boy in as he took him out of the room to also immediately take him away from the death and carnage. With a sigh, Rurik realized that certain events had begun to repeat themselves.

Selena was missing.

The word spread all through Rin about the missing Queen within mere days. Once their suite had been cleaned thoroughly after a few investigators had combed through it to make sure that when Rurik slew the assassin that absolutely no clues were left unfound. One investigator walked into the war room with trepidation with a package in his hand. Rurik looked up and beckoned the young man forward, "I have this feeling that you bring news about your investigation."

"I do, your Majesty," the young man bowed, then when he stood, he presented the package.

Rurik unwrapped it to find a Charr carving as he looked up in confusion, "This doesn't make any sense!"

"I believe it does, your Majesty," the investigator interjected. "Please forgive my rudeness, but I believe that another party is trying to have the blame of her royal Majesty's kidnapping on the Charr. In so doing, it would cause us to retaliate and provoke the Charr. This would lead us back into a war and weaken us further now that we have begun to recover. The real question is who knows enough about Ascalon history to know to do such a thing. Not only that, who knows enough of us to know where to find your young Queen and your son, the Prince."

The lords within blinked in surprise as Rurik frowned even deeper. "Who indeed? And who would have the most to gain if the Queen disappeared?"

"Indeed, my King," answered the investigator. "For your son still lives…"

"Queen Selena still lives," Rurik corrected.

"Hope is a wonderful thing, your Majesty, but in situations like these, I must prepare you for the worst…"

"She is still alive. I know it," Rurik sighed as he set down the Charr carving. "I would know if she was not. And so would all of you."

Darrin looked over at Barradin and Grast and shook his head. Barradin sighed. Clearly Lord Darrin felt that the new King was grasping at straws while history repeated itself. One lord said quietly, but since the room was silent, his voice carried, "I am sure Lady Althea and Queen Selena will get along in the Rift swimmingly. The Gods care for them until we meet them again."

Rurik turned to that Lord and glared, "You don't know that she is dead, yet, Lord Gabin."

"The chances are, given the way the assassin tried to kill you, is that she is dead already, your Majesty, I am sorry for your loss but—" Gabin was cut off by Rurik.

"Everyone out. Now. Except you Gabin, and Duke Barradin and Warmaster Grast, would you kindly remain behind as well?" he saw a few curious looks, as well as pitying ones on Gabin… and just as many on him as well. Once the door closed, he continued, "Perhaps you should know of how I know she is alive still. I am still alive."

"I don't follow," began Gabin but Rurik held up his hand.

"You will. I know that you have at least a passing knowledge of the Monk tradition?" asked Rurik while looking over at Gabin.

"I do, it's my secondary," Gabin looked around at the table but both Grast and Barradin shrugged helplessy.

Neither of them knew. Rurik had a sinking feeling that Selena had been far too careful with whom exactly learned of the Soulbond and the three who should have known the truth did not. "Warmaster, I don't expect you to know this either, given your secondary," Rurik pointed out. "I did not, but I know Duke Barradin will and he will help me explain the gaps I don't understand myself."

Barradin and Gabin were both Monk secondaries while the unfortunate Grast was a Ranger secondary. While Rurik himself was Elementalist secondary, having it explained to him was his only advantage. "I have been Soul Bonded to Queen Selena. We are one soul in the eyes of the Gods. If one dies, so does the other. So, I do know very intimately that she still lives for I am still here with you."

"Gods… and the Rift below," swore Barradin colorfully. "Why in the Underworld did she feel that was necessary?"

"I don't exactly understand what a Soul Bond is or is not," admitted Rurik. "But I do know that the situation had been grave for it to be necessary. Extremely grave, although I would have rather remained dead—"

"Dead?" asked Gabin. "Wait… I heard you were a prisoner of war."

"I was not. In fact, I had been killed in the Shiverpeaks and spent a good couple of months rotting in the open before I had been found. By all rights, I should not have been able to be brought back," Rurik stared down at his fingers. "I remember bits and pieces but not much else. I am guessing the Gods do not want us to know what the Rift is like until we get there… I remember seeing Althea… I think…"

Gabin put one hand to his mouth, "But months? You were missing for years…"

"I was," Rurik paused and looked up, the haunted expression on his face again. "I have not told anyone this but for my mother and Selena. No one else would have understood nor needed to know. The truth of the matter is that Selena was not the first person to find me, nor bring me back… in a fashion. If she had, she may have not needed the Soul Bond. Maybe just a really experienced Monk."

"I don't follow," said Grast. "And I don't like where this is leading either."

Rurik smiled grimly, "You won't. Vizier Khilbron found me first, but instead of Resurrecting me—he animated me instead as an intelligent lich. I was bound, as all undead are, to my creator as little more than a slave to his whim. My soul began to degrade and had I not been destroyed as an undead by Siuil La Rune, I would have been nothing more than the mindless and soulless undead that used to haunt the Catacombs of Ashford."

For a long moment the three other men were silent in horror. "Sweet Gods above…" muttered Barradin as he ran a hand over his face. "So that's why when the Portal opened from the Fire Ring Islands they brought you with them. But wait a minute, that means that the undead of Orr that were invading Kryta were…"

"The same. I was not with them in Kryta until the very end, but when I was I was as a macabre general of sorts," answered Rurik grimly. "I was not the Lich Lord, but I was his second in command. Whether I wanted to be or not."

Rurik sighed deeply, "When these heroes tracked us down in Hell's Precipace, they had figured out a way to both destroy Khilbron once and for all, but also to seal the Door of Komalie again. Unfortunately, Khilbron figured it out also just before they arrived and to demoralize them and give himself time to raise his own defenses he sent me out to face them." He closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. "I still can't remember this. I… was told by Cynn who was there and saw me fall again. She was going to stay with Selena, but Selena would not let her and Cynn followed Siuil and Arya who faced the Lich Lord, Khilbron. When they defeated Khilbron, Cynn tells me that when the volcano started to erupt everything went silent and a beam of light swallowed the entrance area. I think it was at that very moment Selena used the spell that Glint gave her, True Resurrection. I remember a searing heat and pain. I barely remember waking up to Selena's insistence and having to cast a Portal to Droknar's Forge. I don't remember much past that. I don't even remember much of the time I spent animated. I think the Gods may have blanked that… or my own mind did to protect itself."

"Exhaustion," Grast answered. "Also may have played a part. Never could figure out when they brought you out of that portal why you didn't wake up for a better part of a month. That explains it."

"But the Soul Bond?" asked Lord Gabin.

"Part of the cost of True Resurrection," answered Duke Barradin. "Among a few other things. For her to cast that to bring you back means that she loved you too much to live alone and without you. It also means that she does not see herself being able to live without you should you leave this world for the next before she does."

"I know," Rurik rubbed his face. "That only makes it feel worse. Granted, I feel the same but my health, thanks to the stresses on my body in the past few years, will never be the same as it was before the Frost Gate. I have likely cut her natural life span down by a few decades, let alone years."

The three other men regarded their King for a few minutes, and finally Lord Gabin broke the silence with a simple and curt, "Well, she's still alive which means that we must somehow rescue her. It is our duty. I will mobilize my troops to track down the kidnappers immediately, my King. With your leave."

Rurik, with a dismissive wave of his hand, then turned to Duke Barradin once Lord Gabin left the room. "What do you think, old friend?"

"He doesn't believe you," answered Grast instead. "Then again, I'm not entirely sure if I believe you either. However, because you are King he has to give you the benefit of the doubt as I do."

Rurik looked up at Grast and shook his head, "I suspected as much."

Barradin hadn't moved. "I do."

They both looked at Barradin in surprise, and Grast asked, "Eh?"

"I believe that she did indeed cast True Resurrection and did indeed give half her soul to bring you back to us," Barradin sighed. "It explains so much that was left unexplained by her. I knew she was hiding something… even Adelburn suspected it and he voiced such to me when you all reappeared in Droknar's Forge. Something did not add up. He was glad to see that you all had survived the Fire Ring but he didn't think that her curt explanation had revealed everything. However, due to the fact that she had bore you a son and that you came back alive he had to respect her far more than he had to before in Ascalon when she was your mere ward. He dared not question her or have her interrogated as he might have done had you not married her. But he knew something had been left unsaid. Now I know what—and he should have been told. I should have been told far earlier. I do not know her reasons for keeping her silence but it may well cost her, and you, now, my King."

Rurik shook his head, "I don't agree. If it became too widely known then she would be targeted instead of me for assassination. Why aim for me when killing the Queen kills the King as well?"

"There is that," agreed Grast. "But it would have been nice to know so that we would have kept closer tabs on her. But… and excuse me for saying so… I had been going through the logs of the Ascalon Academy and Lady Selena La Rune was a member of the Vanguard for years before the Searing. There is little we could have done to keep her within the palace walls if she felt her duty lay outside them. After all, she was trained by us—and you—to do no less."

"In a way, that should be your solace," mused Barradin. "Your Majesty, I have no doubt the reason you are both alive is because perhaps her captors have stolen far more than they bargained for. I have no doubt that she has already escaped and is coming back here with more information than we could have gleaned by interrogating that damned assassin."

"Perhaps she is also leading them to believe that she is the typical noble woman in order to lure them into complacency to spy upon them," Grast added.

Rurik frowned and they were silent for a moment. He looked out the window, closing his eyes for a moment. Opening them again he answered them, "All of that is mere speculation. Selena, if it is within her power, might be doing as you say. And I see what you are trying to do." He sighed. "However, it's not working. This is as bad as when Althea went missing on me. Althea was also able to take care of herself and had far more than Selena in defenses… she had a few of our own men to guard her but that came to naught. Selena was stolen. And I fear for her."

Barradin's expression grew dark as he stood and loomed over his new King, taking the younger man by the shoulders and standing him up to make him look out the window. Grast left quickly, not liking where Barradin was likely to tread. "Get up man!" shouted Barradin. "Snap out of it, damn it."

Rurik looked him in the eyes. "What right have you to tell me—!"

"What right?" Barradin fumed. "Your father was my best friend, and so are you. He may not be here to smack sense into his wayward son, but by the Gods, I am. And, in case you have forgotten, my King, my great-grandfather and your father's great-grandfather shared the same mother, if different fathers. My line is the elder, yours is not. Remember how your father became King and tread lightly, Rurik. If I wanted to push things it could very well be me wearing that crown and not you! Come to think of it, I was supposed to be King, not your father. Remember well why you were betrothed to my daughter in the first place!"

For a long moment they simply glared at each other, then Barradin's expression softened, "I love you as any man would love their son. In many ways, you are more my son than even Adelburn's. Who taught you to fight?"

"You did," murmured Rurik.

"That's right, and who fostered you each and every school year while your father campaigned in Kryta during the Guild Wars?"

"You did."

"And who—"

"All right already!" Rurik threw his hands up in the air, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Barradin…" Rurik looked back out the window, leaning on the sill. "Too much change. I used to think that change was a good thing but more the years march on, the more I see my father's point. Gods—I must be getting old to admit that."

"Not really," Barradin pointed out, a hand on Rurik's shoulder. "It just means…"

Rurik looked at him obliquely, "I'm getting old. Come on, old friend. Admit it. That's exactly what you were going to say."

Barradin shrugged.

A rattle in the boards of the cart woke her as her head connected with the front of the cart. She cracked open one eyelid, and realized that her arms were tied painfully behind her and she was also gagged. Likely to prevent me from spell casting, she knew.

She looked around, trying to get her bearings. With surprise she noted that, given the same wood above her—that she could see by rolling herself on the side from off her stomach like she had been—she was in a false bottom cart or wagon. She rolled back onto her stomach and leaned her forehead on the cart floor with a silent groan. Now what? Now if anyone looks in all they'll see is what they want any guards to see, Selena concentrated. Not all her magic required speaking or the ability to move. As her hearing attuned to the noises around her, she began to hear voices outside, measured boot steps… and an unfamiliar language.

However, as unfamiliar as the language was to their captive, the two Kurzicks that had been contracted to take alive the Queen of Ascalon could speak the language of Cantha as all those born to Cantha could. The younger turned to the elder, "But she is very powerful in Ascalon, fallen nation or not… and you seen their defenses. There is no way a fallen nation would have so much in so little time."

"You doubt my wisdom in taking this contract, Izumo?" asked the elder one. "You saw as well as I the massive sea turtle not far from Lion's Arch. You know what that means—our enemy that we thought we left behind in Cantha, the Luxons, are here as well. If we are to repell them we must make our money where we can. And these White Mantle pay well. Princess or not, she has angered them enough to have a price put upon her head."

"I do not question the wisdom in taking of contracts to pay for what we need," Izumo answered. "I question the wisdom in taking a contract that could very well lead to having an even larger contract upon our heads! And that of all Kurzicks if we were unsuccessful in leading the Ascalons to believe the Charr were responsible as they wanted us to. Ping did not meet us as the rendevous point, and we waited far longer than we should have. What if she was caught while trying to escape Rin?"

"Ping would not allow herself to be caught," the elder Kurzick frowned, although he too worried at the fact that Ping had failed to meet them when she had supposed to.

In the ten years he had worked with her, she had never missed a meeting. Never failed to show up. It was odd, and even though she would know of the return trip and what general route he and Izumo would be taking, she still had not shown up. It was troublesome. The Ascalons were famous in that they all were bred for war but for very, very few. And even they were considered support. Ascalon as a nation had been fighting with the Charr for generations and so their fighting prowess was as famous as the Luxon and Kurzick.

Finally they came upon the last checkpoint between Ascalon and the Shiverpeaks. Soon they would be on the river to the sea in between the stark opposites of the Crystal Desert—where a dragon was rumored to maraud its searing heat—and the Shiverpeaks—the domain of the Deldrimor Dwarves. This last set of Ascalon guards stood on watch outside the small outpost that was shared with the dwarves and man. One guard held up a hand and Izumo brought the horses to a halt to allow the man to inspect the cart. It was the first time anyone had actually questioned them, and the elder Kurzick by the name of Ise asked, "Greetings, men of Ascalon."

"Greetings, men of the Kurzicks…" the guard said as he looked up at Ise. "Leaving Ascalon so soon?"

"I am pleasantly surprised to find that it is recovering," Ise mused, scratching his chin. "I will have to tell the others of my clan that chose to come to Tyria to escape the wars on Cantha."

"Indeed?" asked the other guard. "You see anyone else of your clan?"

"No, why?" asked Ise.

"Because King Rurik killed a Kurzick assassin in Rin after she tried to kill him in his own bed chambers. The Queen, unfortunately, was not so lucky…" the guard drawled. "Was there anyone else in your party?"

"No…" answered Ise, damping down the rage that Ping had been killed in Rin.

He caught the subtle, but yet mildly panicked glare from Izumo. Like Ise, he had known and fought beside the deadly Ping for years. No one had ever thought she'd ever be killed in battle. She was simply too fast and too skilled. But to learn that she had fallen to only the King himself was an honor. Rurik's prowess in battle was near legendary. It was unfortunate, even tragic, that Ping had died, but her own legend would live on once Ise and Izumo returned to the camp in Kryta.

Selena's eyes opened wide in surprise as she felt a thrill at knowing both who her captors were and that Rurik had taken one of them down before they could fully escape. It meant that what was left of the Vanguard and possibly her old guild would soon be on the hunt for her and would know exactly who to look for.

She prayed that they would find her in time. She had heard clearly the words White Mantle in these two's conversation. If they intended to give her to the White Mantle it would not matter how quickly all of Ascalon searched for her—Salamar would shortly be King and perhaps Barradin would be regent because both her and Rurik would die.