Chapter 3

A/N: I have been having so much trouble with this story. So I'm SO, SO sorry for not updating!

Irnai, Élan, and his mother rode to Corus the next morning with Sheila of Blue Harbor. Nicknamed the Raven, Sheba was silent as they rode, her golden gaze firm and solemn. Her shield, a raven in flight against a purple background, rested on her left arm and her sword was by her right hand for easy reach. Ahead of them, the city and the castle loomed in front of them and Sheba's expression softened into a smile.

As the four led their horses to the stables, Sheba met Amyl by the outdoor practice courts and the Raven went to find rooms for Irnai, Élan and his mother. A maid gave them the keys for the room and Sheba left them to unpack.

Walking aimlessly down the hallway, Sheba suddenly found herself walking through the pages wing, unconsciously remembering the good times with her friends. She didn't watch where she was going, and suddenly she bumped into a young girl-page who looked at her with worried blue-green eyes. "I-I'm sorry," the girl stammered, bowing her head as Sheba offered a hand to help her up. "I wasn't watching, Lady Sheba. I should be careful next time." The page picked herself off the floor as Sheba chuckled, "No formalities now."

The lady knight smiled, "What's your name?"

"Page Samara, of Blue Harbor if it pleases you Raven." The page bowed formally.

Sheba smiled, "I knew you when you were just a little one, Samara…" Sheba bent down to the girl's level, "I was a page too, once and the boys used to bully me and my friends all the time. Don't let them do that to you, stick up for yourself and for your friends."

The girl smiled, nodding, "I will."

Sheba grinned. "Good."

Amyl pulled the string of her bow back, aimed, and fired grinning as she heard the arrow smack the target's center. She had mastered the bow, that's for sure. Tucking a strand of red hair from her face, she sighed and reached back to her quiver for another arrow. A distinctively male voice made her jump slightly and she turned around to see a stranger, face hidden in the shadow. "So," the stranger began, "They say you are the master of the bow and arrow?"

Amyl put a hand on her hip, "Do you wish a round?"

That made the stranger smirk, "They also say you killed Denvar eleven years ago, by the Defender's order."

Amyl felt a sting of grief in her chest when she realized that he referred to Midori by her title, and nodded, "I did."

"Don't you feel guilty that your friend died?" The man's brown eyes seemed to penetrate her as Amyl frowned, "I do. I do feel guilty but it was by her order."

"I understand." The man grinned, "And I accept the challenge."

Amyl nodded, briskly. "Get your bow, then, whoever you are."

The man laughed, "Call me, Ivor of Irontown."

"Your name means bowman doesn't it?" Amyl asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ivor chuckled, "Now your beginning to understand me, Lady Amyl."

"Please, it's just Amyl."

Ivor nodded.

Oriana smiled as her children rode beside her on their ponies. "Are we there yet, da?" the seven-year-old girl, Nina, asked. Nina looked more like her mother with blonde hair and her grandmother's dancing hazel-green eyes. Nina was shy like Oriana, unlike her brother who was emotionally strong like their father.

Emrys chuckled, "We're almost there."

Nina's older brother, Talen, scoffed "Corus is just over that hill if not closer." He brought his horse into a canter to ride beside his father. Talen was thirteen and had his father's black hair and mother's golden eyes.

They rode through Corus, to the castle, and put their horses in stables. Oriana sighed heavily and smiled as Emrys wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Glad to be home?"

"Yes, yes it's good to be back in Corus."

Nina tugged on her father's sleeve, "Come on!"

Oriana just laughed and followed Emrys, Talen and Nina to the castle.

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Selinè looked at her mother and down at her book and back again. "Ma, why are you pacing?"

Midori looked up from the floor, "No reason."

Selinè glared at her mother, "There is a reason, I know there is."

Midori sat on the end of the bed with her daughter. She bit her lip, composing herself, "In three years you're going to stay with your aunts and uncles in Corus."

"Why?"

"You have a job to complete. The Great Mother, I'm sure, will explain when it is time. But for now, don't worry my little one. "

Seline ducked her head, and blushed, "Ma! I'm not little anymore."

Midori kissed Seline's forehead, "I know."

Midori stood and walked from the room, meeting Kalen in the hallway, "I told her. I don't think she took it very well…"

Kalen put a finger to her lips, "We'll find out when it's time."

Midori nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling the black ands red feathers that grew at the nape of his neck. Her own were golden like the sunrise.

"Midori?"

"Hmm?" Midori faced Kalen. She was surprised to find tears in his brown eyes.

"She could be killed." Was all he said and Midori realized the horror of what they were going to put their daughter through, in three years time. She felt a heavy weight in her chest suddenly and choked back a sob, trying to summon the Yamani calm.

"She won't be killed." She thought, stubbornly. But her Yamani calm cracked as the image of her daughter, face bloodless and body mangled, her expression forever one of a horror appeared in her mind. "Gods no." she whispered, leaning into Kalen's embrace, feeling hot tears fall down her face. "Please, no."