AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, my long lost ones,

Five years is a long time. Truly, a long time. However, I do believe I'm back, if only for a moment and a half. After accidentally discovering a lost file and finding a sweet old comment last night, I couldn't sleep until I'd written this note as a promise. Because I know: I have been gone. How it's been five years, I don't know. Between romance and heartbreak, moving and learning, hard drive failures, lost stories and frustrations, as well as a myriad of experiences, I return to you as the prodigal author.

While I long ago lost the original notes and plans I'd composed for the future chapters of Ballad, and cringed slightly at my youth, I bring you this chapter with the humblest of apologies.

I post it sheepishly with the belief that it is far better late than never; better lost than forgotten, so as to be found rather than erased. For those of you who are new, I welcome you to this immensely drawn-out ride. And for those of you who may read on in staunch loyalty and -I imagine- exasperated frustration, again, please accept my humblest apologies and the highest of praise. You are a faithful few.

Thank you for the comments and excitement over the years. Finding this and them was a strange surprise. You have given me much, and I hope to return the same. Read on.

Xoxo,

-Mintermist

Clang! Steel sounded against steel, a cacophonous choir of angry shrieks echoing from beyond the tent. Jester's eyes locked on the pitiful man in the corner. Caked in blood and mood, the flesh was stripped from parts of his skin. Dark eyes glared up at him with hazy venom.

"This is your fault." The man spat a mouthful of grit. "If you hadn't saddled us with your foolish hero's quest, we'd've been halfway to the coast."

"Maurus" Jester muttered, coolly looking down his nose at the bog weevil, shaking his head. "You've brought this upon yourself."

"Wait….he's your cousin?" Jane exclaimed, swaying slightly as she rose uneasily to her feet. She winced, rolling an ankle tentatively, wobbling like a newborn filly. "Maggots…" She breathed, clenching her teeth against the rolling pain. At their feet, the man groaned incomprehensibly. "But…does this mean…you've found your family?"

"By the old gods, this one is no kin of mine," Maurus grumbled into the earth. Jester closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Yes and no…it's a long story, Jane. I'll tell you that and more, as soon as we get clear of this, well, this clearing."

"But first we need to find Ava…Jester, you don't know what they'll do to her…" Jane said, her voice tinged with urgency. Jester's mouth tightened into a thin line, the bleak shadow of his nightmare clouding his eyes. He knew.

"I understand, and I...hesitate to argue with a lady knight… but you're in no position to fight, Jane," Jester shook his head. "We need to go; one of the others will find your friend."

"I can't! It's…it's my fault that she's in this mess to begin with," she muttered, an obsidian hue of guilt coating her words. She shook her head, matted red curls bouncing. "You…you don't know what he's like. What he'll do…" she murmured. Something rippled in her voice, elusive and void.

With a rustle, the flap tent flew open behind them, and Jane drove an elbow into Jester's rib, pushing him aside. "Who are you?" Her eyes narrowed, she hobbled on one leg. A voice chuckled.

"Peace, Lady Jane," Ippolito smiled tightly, slipping into the tent, hands raised. He tucked a dagger into his belt. "Or so I presume. Rest at ease; I wouldn't dream of harming Jester here. Or his lady. Don't fear."

"And save your elbows and name calling for Gunther in the ring at home, please," Jester gasped, rubbing his side.

"I…oh. Sorry," she muttered, hesitantly eyeing the gypsy. "But who are you?"

"Ippolito of—"

"We'll explain it later," Jester said emphatically. "My friend…what's happening out there?" Ippolito grimaced.

"It's chaos. Some are scattering, others are fallen. Some of Cliff's men are sobering up. Tiberinus has drawn their attention south, but we'll be outnumbered as soon as they realize he's led them on a chase. Lucian took down many, but he's been struck. We managed to get him out, but there isn't much time before they return. Can you ride, Lady Jane?"

"It's just Jane," the redhead replied quickly, "And I…I'm not sure. I can't leave without Ava- another prisoner. I promised I would get her home."

Ippolito's eyes darted to Jester quickly. His mischievous gaze had grown grim, and his mouth twisted gravely.

"About that…" He shook his head.

"Ippolito?" Jester asked slowly. "What is it?"

"Milady…things for your friend are… not what we would hope," Ippolito said, his voice slow and gentle. "I'm afraid that she has…disappeared. As has Cliff."

"No…no, I swore I would protect her," Jane faltered, stumbling slightly on her injured foot. "I gave her my knight's oath."

"I'm sorry, my lady, but Cliff took off, no doubt with a handful of men. We've checked the main tents. He took the girl with him."

Jane froze, eyes wide and haunted, a candle spluttering out in the darkness. Jester placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. She flinched.

"You don't know what he'll do…" she breathed. Tremors shook her body, shallow quakes of shock and horror. "I…I made an oath… I can't just abandon her…"

From beyond the tent, someone screamed.

Ippolito eyed the entrance of the tent, shaking his head.

"Come. There isn't time. We can help your friend better in safety, milady. But we are no good to her as corpses or prisoners," Ippolito urged, casting a harrowed glance at Jester. Tension carved a deep crevasse between his dark brows, and a tendril of fear shuddered over Jester's back. The blond nodded in agreement, gingerly placing a hand on Jane's back.

"He's right, Jane. We need to leave. And we need to figure out what to do with that one," Jester inclined his head to Maurus. "For all that it would be simpler to leave him, I don't think Linota would forgive us…." Ippolito nodded, heaving a bitter sigh.

"I'll take the weevil. You two...go. Quickly. If you turn right and cut through the thicket, the horses will be waiting."

Without a word, Jester slung Jane's arm around his neck, barreling into the night. Rain fell in droves, the water blending darkness and earth into a shadowy panorama. Thick and oily, it resembled a cataclysmic battle. Bodies were strewn haphazardly, and mire squelched beneath Jester's boots, thick and marshy, dragging his steps downwards.

"Hurry, Jane," Jester murmured, arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her against the wind. Beside him, Jane's face shone like a ghost in the darkness. Disbelief and dread painted shadows in her eyes, and Jester shuddered to imagine what they saw.

The camp was a disaster. Tents bowed to the might of the storm, fires extinguished by the rain and scattered. The pair pressed on into the night. Ahead, a copse of thick trees rose through the torrent, a shadow of hope.

"Almost there…"

"Jester, look out!" Ippolito hollered from behind them. The man lurched forward, the force of his body knocking the fool and Jane to the ground. Jester tumbled, his body arcing with a dancer's grace, rolling on his shoulder into a crouch. Mud coated his skin, slick and foul. He pushed the hair from his eyes, blinking grit from his eyes, an icy blast of rainwater stinging his face.

Ippolito swayed in front of him unsteadily, before falling to his knees.

A wicked gash of crimson gurgled at his chest, a bloody bloom of scarlet pooling from the deadly axe imbedded into his flesh.

"Go…" he rasped, eyes ablaze, before the man fell into the mud.

"No," Jester gasped. "No, no, no…"

The light of Ippolito's impish eyes went out, casting the night into shadow.