I had hoped to have more of this done by now, but it's been a looooooooong school year, and my family moved to Las Vegas in the middle of it. Plus I had mono (we think), plus I've been healthy all of two weeks since then. I'm really sorry it's taken this long, but I assure you it's my priority when I don't have school and work and my health to worry about. I will be posting more of this within the next year (that sounds pathetic, I know, but it's better than making you wait until I've got it done, and the first chapter should be up within a couple weeks, actually). But they're going to be very sporadic from here on out, because it's the middle of June and I'm still in school, and I start back up again in August, and various other things I'm going to have to deal with at home. Suffice it to say, life in my household has been very Brady Bunch-y lately. So without further ado, your post.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce. Most everything else and the plot are mine.
Rhys
What Once Was Lost
Prologue
Keladry of Mindelan was gone.
The news spread like wildfire in the wake of the Scanran War. According to Sir Merric of Hollyrose, the lady knight had taken Peachblossom and gone for a ride in the forest surrounding New Hope early in the morning. She'd just regained enough of Tobe's trust that he let her go alone, and she had told Merric not to expect her back for several hours. She had taken her sword, glaive, and bow, with a quiver of arrows, and wore her chain mail over her shirt.
Search parties had been organized in the late afternoon, but there was no sign of her until early evening. That was when a party stumbled across an arrow piercing a tree. Following back along its assumed flight path, they discovered an impromptu battlefield. It had been a battle the lady knight had lost.
Peachblossom was dead, shot in the head and chest by an unknown weapon. The old warhorse had been moved, as evidenced by the dark trail of blood leading from him to the place he had fallen. It seemed as though he had fallen on one of his mistress's attackers, for there was also a pool of green blood, and the horse's right side was smeared with it. But aside from the horse, there were no bodies, and Kel's bow and arrows had been leaned up against him.
New Hope mourned, and couriers were sent to Fief Mindelan, Corus, and Steadfast. Tobe became the ward of Anders of Mindelan, though he was allowed to remain in the refugee camp-turned-village under the watchful eye of Saefas. There had been no body, and many hoped that she was still alive and would soon return. But days passed into weeks, passed into months, and as years started rolling by, even Domitan of Masbolle felt his hope slipping away.
She was never coming back.
xxxxx
Bzzp.
A long, lithe form twitched ever-so-gently in the padded armchair it was curled up on, and a dreamer's hazel eyes lifted from the book in its lap to rest on the computer console built into the wall on the far side of the room. The sternly-pretty visage scowled, and slender, scarred fingers put a slip of old-fashioned paper in the book to mark its place before closing it and setting it aside. The figure uncurled and rose from its nest, revealing it to be a tall, shapely human woman garbed in simply black trousers and a russet-red shirt, with shoulder-length brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. Long, muscular legs carried her swiftly across the cabin to the console, and she depressed one of its many grey buttons. "Yes?" she asked with a soft voice that would have been well-given to poetry recitation, had she been able to find any that made sense when translated into her native tongue from the language to which she now lent her voice, called Unilang.
"Ambassador Mindelan, Bridge. Admiral Roboak has asked me to inform you that we have just reverted to hyperspace, and to extend an invitation to join him on the flag bridge at your earliest convenience."
She nodded, even though the comm. Officer could not see it. "Thank you, Bridge. Please inform the admiral that I shall join him shortly."
"Very good, Ambassador. Bridge out."
The woman was silent for a moment after the communication circuit was terminated, gazing unseeing at the console before her, thoughts and memories tumbling through her head like a Davonsue cyclone. She blinked, and turned to look behind her at the viewport, which now displayed the molten blue-green fire of hyperspace. She studied it for a moment, then turning again, this time to the door, and drawing a deep, fortifying breath, Sir Keladry of Mindelan, formerly Lady Knight of Tortall, now simply Kel Mindelan, UDR ambassador and official liaison to the Terran refugees, emerged from her suite aboard the RNS Sol and set out for the flag bridge, to join her uniformed counterpart and give her wards a second chance; as always, even galaxies away from her home, the Protector of the Small.
xxxxx
meep meep: Sorry about the teaser. I just wanted to let people know that I am continuing Ruthless, after a fashion. And I wanted to give them a chance to digest all the lingo, because I won't be posting glossaries after each chapter anymore. Speaking of which, the glossary's been updated, if you want to take a look. Bunch of time conversions and whatnot, plus a few more important places/governments.
annoyedpersonwhoisdeniedwhatsoundslikeagoodstory: You'll still be waiting, unfortunately, but not as long anymore. I'm glad you think it sounds good.
Allycatracy: Yeah, I've been known to read a fic or two on occasion. Haven't had much time for it lately, though. If I have time, I'll drop in on it. Love and miss ya too! Tell everyone I said hi?
Commander Rhade: It's right here.