A/N: Hello, I went back and revised the previous chapters, not much just some spelling, left out words, and a few additional things for my plot to actually make sense. I'm not all that sure about this chapter, it seems more like filler, but here it is. It's also seems a bit short. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. Enjoy!

Karigan

The next morning Karigan awoke not sure what time it was. The room in the Mending Wing didn't have any windows to let in the outside light. That was one of the best nights of sleep she'd had in months. When she opened her eyes, she saw that someone had come in and relit the lanterns in the rooms. The oil-burning lanterns, though more expensive, kept the rooms from becoming too smoky. She also noticed that she was clean, someone must have washed her off last night after she had gone to sleep. It was nice not being covered in dirt and muck.

Karigan went to stretch, but froze when she saw a large shadow sitting by her bed. Karigan yelped and tried to scramble away from it, only managing to succeed in falling off the other side of the bed, bruising herself even more.

"Karigan? Are you all right?" a distinctly male voice said as a familiar face peered over the edge of the bed at her.

Of course, she had mistaken Fastion's black uniform for the looming shadow that had been sitting by her bed. It had been Fastion, her friend, sitting there, not some dark creature waiting to pounce. She vaguely remembered asking him to stay with her after having one of her nightmares. Apparently he had. Karigan passed a hand over face as her heart rate went back to normal.

"Not really. Hitting this stone floor did not really help my other injuries all that much. That truly did not feel good," she said from her sprawled position on the floor.

Karigan was surprised when Fastion snorted in amusement as he came around to the other side of the bed. It was rare for the Weapon to show some kind of emotion.

"No," he agreed, "I don't imagine it would. Here let me help you." He crouched down next to where she was struggling to get up. He took one of her arms and hooked it around his neck. One of his arms went around her waist and the other hooked under her knees. Karigan squeaked in surprise as he picked her up off the floor and gently deposited her back on the bed. Normally, Karigan didn't like feeling completely helpless, but this wasn't a normal situation. Well, okay, maybe for her it was normal. She seemed to spend a remarkable time in the Mending Wing since she became a Green Rider. She looked up and her blue eyes met Fastion's gray ones, which were only inches from hers. She had never noted the color of his eyes before.

"Thank you." Fastion pulled back and sat on the edge of the bed.

"You're welcome. You want to tell me what that was all about?" he asked her.

Karigan propped the pillows up against the headboard behind her so that she could sit upright. "It was just a reflex. I saw your black uniform out of the corner of my eye and after everything I've been through, I automatically assumed the worst and tried to get away from what I perceived as a dangerous threat." Karigan fought back a yawn as the adrenaline began running out of her system, leaving her to realize that she was still rather exhausted.

"You've been through a lot, but you're only human. It's normal for that to happen, in fact, I would've been surprised if you didn't have those reflexes."

"Am I human?" Karigan asked quietly as she drifted back into oblivion.

Fastion

Fastion sat there for a minute pondering Karigan's question. Was she human? She looked and acted like everyone else. Fastion had seen her wounded enough times to know that she bled just like everyone else. Surely gods didn't feel as frail as she had when he had picked her up a few minutes ago. But there was something about her. She always seemed to through incredible situations that would've killed anyone else. She's a friend of sorts with the Eletians. She was considered an honorary Weapon and had been one of the very few uninitiated to wear the Black. Then there were the aspects of her that even Fastion couldn't comprehend.

Her ability to not only completely fade out, but the ability to travel in time and even through the layers of the worlds. She had harbored both Mornahvon and the spirit of Lil Ambriodhe, the First Rider in her, carrying Mornahvon somewhere into the future to buy Sacoridia some more time to deal with his threat. She had somehow ended up inside Queen Estora's future resting place with Theandrius Silverwood's book that would allow them to repair the crumbling D'yer Wall and that didn't even begin to cover half of it. Not to mention her reluctant involvement with the gods who seemed to have taken a particular interest in her. Fastion looked at Karigan with a mixed look of amazement and respect. If she was human, she certainly wasn't an ordinary one.

His thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door before entering the room. Captain Mapstone entered the room, followed by the king who was trailed by Donal and Jakob. Fastion stood as the group entered the room.

"Your Majesty, Captain Mapstone."

King Zachary looked surprised to see him there. "Fastion I thought you had the day off?"

"I do Your Majesty. I just came by to check on Rider G'ladheon." He saw Zachary glance towards where Karigan lay sleeping. Fastion thought that the king looked disappointed to see that she was asleep, but when the Weapon looked again, his King's mask was back in place.

"Of course, I know you have been worried about her," the king said. "Would you mind giving myself and the Captain a few minutes alone with her? That goes for you and Jakob as well," the king said addressing the last part to the other two Weapons.

"Of course Your Majesty." Fastion followed the other two Weapons out of the room. Donal and Jakob took up their posts outside the door. Donal looked like he wanted to say something, but it would have to wait for later since they were on duty. Fastion nodded at them both before heading off into the castle.

Zachary

Zachary had been surprised to find Fastion sitting on Karigan's bed in the Mending Wing. He had thought the Weapon would have been getting some rest, having been on duty all day yesterday. Although, now that he thought about it, it really shouldn't be that surprising. She had somehow earned the respect and even admiration of the normally exclusive Weapons. They all treated her as if she was one of their own. Zachary couldn't remember of ever hearing of another person who had managed to do that. Karigan was nothing short of extraordinary, but he already knew that. Despite the fact that he was now married to Estora, Karigan was still the one who owned his heart.

He had been disappointed to find that she was asleep, but Mistress Elayne had warned him that she probably would be. After the Weapons had left he stood there for a moment and looked at Karigan, shocked by how pale and thin she was. He could see freshly healed scars on her hands and forearms. There were dark circles under her eyes that stood out in sharp contrast to her pallid complexion. She had lost quite a bit of weight as well, her cheekbones were more prominent and her collarbone could be seen clearly where it poked out from under her nightshirt.

Captain Mapstone cleared her throat from where she stood beside him, giving him a warning look. Some days he really desired nothing more than to not be the king. He turned his attention back to Karigan. He hated to do it, but they had to wake her up. They couldn't wait any longer to hear what she had to say. Captain Mapstone reached out and shoved her shoulder.

"Time to get up Rider."

Karigan mumbled something unintelligible and tried to roll over. Captain Mapstone shoved her harder so that she was in danger of nearly falling off the bed.

"Come on Karigan, up and at 'em. It's nearly midday."

Karigan slowly opened her eyes, "Alright already, I'm up. What's so important?" She looked at her Captain then saw Zachary standing there. "Oh."

"Sorry to wake you, but we really do need to hear your version of the Blackveil events and where you were before you finally returned," he explained. Karigan nodded looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Do you think we could go outside? I really would like some sunlight to tell this story in. It's not exactly pleasant." Captain Mapstone stuck her head out the door and sent one of the Weapons in search of the Mender.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Zachary asked her as they waited.

"Better, now that I've had a good night's sleep and I'm clean." Zachary was glad to see that she still had her sense of humor with her. Mistress Elayne knocked on the door just then and entered.

"You sent for me Your Majesty?"

"Yes, I was inquiring if we might be able to remove Rider G'ladheon to the gardens for the afternoon?"

She fixed him with a hard look, "Is that all she's going to be doing?"

"Yes, of course. We just need to hear her side of events and she requested if it could be done outside. I thought I would check with you first," he said. He knew the Mender had every right to be concerned. Green Riders were notorious for not being the best patients and often trying to do things before they were supposed to.

Mistress Elayne turned to Karigan, "Do you feel up to walking?"

"I think so. I'll be probably be stiff and slower than a dead slug, but I can manage," she said, already pushing herself upright. Before he could move to assist her, Captain Mapstone was already there. Karigan gratefully took her proffered arm and slowly stood with a grimace. Mistress Elayne shooed everyone out of the room so that Karigan could change into something more presentable to walk through the castle. When she came back out, Karigan was dressed in a simple blue tunic with a pair of brown breeches and well-worn boots. She looked more like herself now, even if the clothes weren't green.

"Yes, definitely sore, but I'll be fine. I've walked in worse situations." No one could argue with her. They had all heard the stories. It still didn't do anything to stop Zachary from worrying as they made their slow progress from the Mending Wing. Servants and courtiers alike, all paused and watched them make their way past on their way to the gardens. Two more Weapons had joined them, walking in front of the Captain and Karigan so as to make it easier for them to get through the crowds. He saw more than one Green Rider come towards them, only to be warned off by a look from Laren. One or two of the younger ones looked to be in complete awe of seeing her in person. Zachary smiled to himself. She was quite the legend even if she was mortified to hear it.

It was another twenty minutes before they reached the gardens. The sun was streaming through the trees and birdsong filled the air as Sacoridia shook off some of the last vestiges of winter and moved into a true and proper spring. Karigan led them to a secluded pool where they could talk. Having seen her there before, Zachary knew this was one of places she came to be alone or to think something through. She gratefully sank down to the ground next to the pool and leaned her back against one of the trees. Zachary was about to protest that she take one of the benches, but realized that she seemed to be most comfortable there where she could stretch out her legs. He and Captain Mapstone sat on the two remaining benches across from her. The Weapons took up discreet positions around the area.

"Before we begin, can you tell me anything about the others?" she asked them hesitantly. Zachary's heart sank as he realized that she had no idea about what had become of her friends and traveling companions.

"When I stayed with the Eletians, I asked them, but they couldn't tell me anything. Please, I've been in the dark for nearly two and a half months. I have to know."

He heard Captain Mapstone take a deep breath, "This isn't easy to tell you Karigan, but Lynx, Tealgioth, and Ealdaen were the only survivors of the Blackveil mission."

Karigan only uttered one word before she broke down sobbing. "Yates." Zachary's heart broke for her and he wished more than anything he could go to her, but he was a king with a queen and she was only a Messenger. He could do nothing for her and it absolutely killed him.

A/N: If you see any discrepancies in regard to Blackveil, please let me know. It's been a while since I've read the book and since I can't get my hands on it right now, I'm going off what I remember. My main concern is what did you think of Zachary's POV? I'm not sure I really got it right. As always, please let me know what you think~Naomi

To my guest reviewers that I cannot reply to via PM:

: Thanks, and don't worry, this story is nowhere near it's end yet. Keep reading.

GracieFox: Glad you like the start!

goupdates: Don't worry there will be plenty more updates. It will probably start out as k/z just for the benefit of my plot, but eventually it will evolove into k/f. And I agree, there really aren't enough of these fics out there.