A/N: Familar faces, Glad tidings, Bad tidings, and girl talk! Oh, and my plot finally showed up! DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. Enjoy!

Fastion

Fastion walked into the mess hall to grab something to eat before he went back on duty again. As he entered the room he spotted Brienne and Willis, two other Weapons, seated in the corner engaged in quiet conversation. Of course, it may have just seemed quiet because he couldn't hear it over the boisterous group of Green Riders sitting nearby. When Fastion saw Karigan's friend Teagan at the center of the group, he understood the reason for the group's rowdiness. The young woman was a well-known trickster and joker who was often at the center of any kind of festivities. Fastion shook his head with a faint smile at the group as he took his food and went to join his fellow Weapons in the corner. They were not smiling, however.

"Fastion," Brienne greeted him with a nod.

"Evening Brienne, what brings you up from the Tombs today?" he asked the woman as he sat next to Willis.

"It's because of the Tombs that I'm up here," she told him grimly.

He crooked an eyebrow at her, "Oh?"

"Brienne was just telling me about some rather odd happenings in the Tombs recently," Willis interjected. "Being a former Tomb Weapon maybe you could shed some light on the subject."

Fastion was not liking where this conversation was going, "What kind of happenings?"

Brienne shrugged, "At first it was minor things, like a relic moved or a torch going out at random. General things that are bound to happen at one time or another. Sometimes we'd find footprints where we knew no one had been recently. Once the business end of a battle axe in the Avenue of Heroes nearly cleaved a caretaker in two when it fell from its mounting on the wall. Then things began to go missing, a piece of cloth here, a ring or coin there. We never could figure out what was going on or who was behind it. Then early yesterday morning one of the caretakers disappeared. Completely vanished. It's not unusual for some of them to get lost every now and then, but they usually turn back up in a couple of hours. When she didn't return we started looking for her. We searched as much as we could, but we still can't figure out where she went."

"What kind of relics were taken?" Fastion asked her. All of his attention was focused on their conversation. Nothing else existed at the moment.

"Mostly small items, but they were all thought to have some kind of arcane ability, similar to a Rider's brooch. The thing that bothers me the most though is that much of what's gone missing belonged to some of Sacoridia's earliest people who had dealings with Mornahvon and the Arcosian Empire."

Fastion really did not like where this conversation was going, "What about the missing caretaker?"

"Amina. Her family has been in the tombs for generations. She's probably somewhere around twenty-five. It's hard to tell with the caretakers sometimes since they age differently down there, what with not being exposed to the elements and all. She's one of the friendlier and more sociable of the caretakers. She and her husband, Avian, have a one-year-old son named Phillip. She's skilled in languages and often assists Agemon, in fact, she…" Brienne trailed off as her eyes widened in shock.

"In fact what?" Willis prompted her.

Brienne looked rather pale, which was saying something for a Weapon. "She assisted Agemon in translating the Silverwood book about the D'yer Wall."

Fastion felt the blood drain from his face at the implications of what she had just told them. Willis looked slightly green. If anyone had looked at the three Weapons just then, they would've been scared for their life because only the most dire circumstances could unnerve a Weapon.

Finally schooling his face back into its normal stoic expression, Fastion stood. "We need to speak to the king immediately."

Zachary

Zachary was poring over provincial reports in his study. It was a failing attempt to bury his mind in matters of the kingdom, to distract himself from recent events. He sighed in frustration as he realized he had read the same paragraph of the D'yer report five times. Apparently paperwork wasn't going to help any. He was married now, albeit it was against his will, but he was married nonetheless. He should be forgetting about her, but instead, now that she was back she just seemed to loom even larger in his thoughts. He had been very careful to keep his left hand hidden during their conversation earlier. He didn't want her to know he was married just yet. He didn't want to add that burden to her right now. Zachary leaned back in his chair and turned his gaze to the ceiling. Just then a knock sounded at the door, interrupting his musings.

"Enter," he called bringing his gaze down to the door as it opened and Fastion stepped in.

"Your Majesty, myself and the Weapons Brienne and Willis would like a word with you if you will," he said standing just inside the door.

"Of course," Zachary said. Something in the Weapon's manner told him that this was urgent. If it was urgent to a Weapon then it was certainly something that could not wait. He put away his pen and ink and cleared away the papers from his desk as the other two Weapons entered the room.

"What's this all about?" he asked the trio. He didn't bother offering them a seat. He had learned early on that it was a futile gesture. Both men turned to look at Brienne. Zachary looked at the Weapon expectantly.

"We have a situation in the Tombs that we thought should be brought to your attention," she began. "Recently several artifacts have gone missing and yesterday morning one of the caretakers simply vanished." Zachary listened to this with a growing sense of foreboding. Of course, all of the other recent times that the Weapons had been concerned about the Tombs, nothing good had ever come of them.

"We have a very strong reason to believe that the Second Empire may have a hand in these events. All of the missing artifacts belonged to people who had dealings with Mornahvon and the Arcosian Empire. Many of them are believed to have some form of arcane abilities. The other strong factor in this is that the caretaker who's missing is skilled in several different languages and assisted Agemon in translating Theandrius Silverwood's book."

By now Zachary was leaned forward in his chair with his hands folded together on top of his desk. His face was one of rapt attention. This news certainly did not bode well at all, especially on the tail of having just learned about Mornahvon's return.

"Have you searched for this person?" he asked Brienne.

She nodded, "Yes Sire, we searched as much as we could with the time and resources that we had."

Zachary heard the implied message there. "I want you to take every available Weapon and as many soldiers as you need to search every inch of the Tombs if you have to, to find them," he said taking out his pen and ink and a clean piece of parchment. He quickly scrawled a message before folding it and sealing it with wax, marking it with the royal crest.

"Give this to Agemon. It tells him that everyone is down there under my orders and they are all to return back to the castle when their task is finished," he said handing her the message. "Feel free to enforce it if necessary. I know what a stickler the old caretaker is for rules." Brienne smiled faintly as she took the paper from him.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him line."

Zachary nodded, the Weapon was about the only one Agemon conceded to. "I'm sure you will. Is there anything else that you wish to discuss with me?"

"There is one other thing Your Majesty," Willis said stepping forward.

Zachary wondered what else there could possibly be. "Go on."

"It's about Rider G'ladheon. Given her record in dealing with the Second Empire and thwarting many of their attempts to take power and her current condition, we believe it may be wise to post a guard at her room for the time being, at least until she's regained her strength enough to fend for herself." Here Willis grinned, "in which case, she'll probably be spending a majority of her time with Drent who's ready to get her training started again."

Zachary pondered the situation for a moment. It definitely made sense that the Second Empire would more than welcome a chance to get Karigan out of the way of their plans. With the current threat of the group being within castle walls again and her being injured it certainly gave them the perfect opportunity to try. She wasn't going to be too thrilled about it though.

He nodded in approval, "Alright, choose one off-duty Weapon and station them at her door. In the meantime, find whoever is in the Tombs and bring them to me."

All three Weapons nodded in unison, "Of course Your Majesty."

He thanked them and they quickly made their way out of the room, ready to set their plans in motion. Zachary leaned back in his chair, staring at the door. That had certainly taken his mind of things.

Alton

Alton D'yer paced back and forth in his tent in the encampment by the breach in the wall that had been built by his ancestors. He had been trapped in the tent a large portion of the afternoon by the massive rainstorm that had rolled over the camp a few hours ago. He had tried to get some paperwork done and such, but there were so many things weighing on his mind at the moment that he finally gave up.

Theandrius Silverwood's book was proving to be tremendously helpful, but mending the breach in the wall was not a simple task and progress (while it was progress) was infuriatingly slow. Having heard from Trace about the Blackveil mission a few months ago and with a copy of Lynx's report delivered to the camp a few weeks later by Peter, one of the new Riders, he was even more anxious to get the wall fixed before any more of that hellish forest could escape.

It was in that report that they had finally uncovered the mystery of what had happened to Estral's voice in the recounting of the young Second Empire girl singing with his beloved's stolen voice. It broke Alton's heart to see how miserable and despondent Estral had become both before and even more so after this news. A minstrel without her music was akin to a Green Rider without a horse. She mostly sat at the edge of the encampment in the fringe of the woods, listening to the sounds around her. Occasionally Alton would convince her to come on a ride with him or to visit the towers and their various guardians. Often times at night she would silently cry herself to sleep in his arms. It made him feel so powerless that he couldn't do anything to help her. Powerless was not an emotion Alton D'yer dealt with very well.

Blackveil seemed to be the root of all his troubles lately. First the wall, then Estral, and now it has claimed the life of one, possibly, two of his friends. Every Rider stationed on the wall and even several of the non-Riders in the camps had been devastated to hear the news of Yates' passing and that Karigan was still missing in action. Alton, Dale, Fergal, Trace, and Peter, had performed the Rider memorial ritual for their fallen friend. Alton knew that it still weighed heavily on both Estral and himself as to how they had left things with Karigan before she had entered Blackveil. Now the possibility that they may never see her again, only increased the guilt and remorse that they felt.

Alton ran his hands through his hair and passed them slowly over his face, sighing heavily. All of this worrying wasn't helping matters at all. What he needed was to get out of this stuffy, humid tent and get some fresh air, to hell with the torrential downpour outside. Maybe it would simply wash everything away for a while. He pulled on his overcoat and drew the hood over his head before pulling the tent flap aside.

No sooner had he set foot outside, than a shrill, piercing whinny from the nearby picket line broke through the constant roar of the rain falling through the trees. Alton froze in his tracks, not entirely sure he had heard correctly. A movement to his left caught his attention as Dale came stumbling out of her tent, pulling her coat on. He and the other Rider shared a questioning look before the same whinny came again. This time there was no doubt about what they had heard.

"Condor!" they both shouted, as they immediately sprinted for the picket line. Karigan's horse had been nearly as despondent as Estral these last few months with his Rider off in Blackveil. This was the first time they had seen any kind of action from him since Karigan's departure. Both Riders knew that when a Rider and their horse were separated, something like this usually meant that something had happened to the Rider.

They arrived at the picket line on the edge of the camp panting and generously splattered with mud. Condor could be seen on the far end of the line, standing at the very limits of his tether, prancing and snorting and tossing his head like he was a newborn colt. Alton had never seen the gelding act like this before. Watching the obviously happy horse, his heart began to fill with hope.

Dale tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her and she pointed to her ear. "Listen!"

Alton listened carefully, trying to hear through the rain beating down on his hood. After a second or so he could make out the pounding hoofbeats of a galloping horse approaching them from down the wall. Another moment later and a horse and rider materialized out of the curtain of rain.

Alton immediately recognized Trace's chestnut paint gelding Devin. The horse was rather distinctive. Trace herself was bent low in the saddle, urging Devin on for all he was worth, her blonde hair plastered to her head and neck. He wondered if she would even see them standing there at the pace she was going. Apparently Dale had the same thought.

"TRACE!" Dale bellowed with enough volume to make Alton jump. It had the desired effect though as the Rider straightened in her saddle and when she spotted them, she pulled Devin to a sliding stop in front of them, splattering even more mud everywhere.

"Alton, Dale!" she cried from Devin's back. "I've just heard from Connly. They've found Karigan! She's alive and back in Sacor City. She just got there a couple of days ago!" Even in the gloom and rain, the two unmounted Riders could see Trace's beaming smile.

Dale whooped and pulled Alton into a crushing bear hug before dancing him around in the mud and rain. Both of them wore smiles as big as Trace's.

"She's back! Gods above, she's back!" Dale shouted to the treetops.

"I figured you guys would want to know as soon as possible. I've got to head back if I want to get any food before the men get to it all," Trace called to them.

"Thanks Trace, and take it easy on the way back. Devin looks about done in," Dale called back.

"Don't worry, I will. See you guys later," she said with a wave before turning Devin back around and disappearing back into the mist and rain at a sedate walk.

Dale slung an arm around Alton's shoulders, "Come on, let's get back and tell the others. I think this calls for a celebration."

Alton rolled his eyes good-naturedly at his friend. "You think everything calls for a celebration, like your Limb Liberation Party. Although I do agree with you that this is a cause for celebration. I just have one thing to do first." He slipped out from under Dale's arm and walked over to where Condor was standing, still snorting and tossing his head. He gave Alton a bright-eyed inquisitive look as he approached. Alton ran a hand over the gelding's muzzle.

"You were right Condor, she really is home. Now to just get you back there as well."

Condor nudged Alton with his head as if to say "Well get a move on already!" Alton laughed, giving the horse one last pat before rejoining Dale and heading back to the camp to share the good news with everyone else.

Karigan

Karigan was back in her room in the Mending Wing. She was actually rather happy to be there as the events of the afternoon had thoroughly exhausted her and she knew that if she had been in the Rider Wing she would have never gotten a moment's peace. As it was she was just dozing off when there was a knock on her door and Mara entered her room. Karigan smiled, genuinely pleased to see her friend.

"Are you aware that there is a very large stone wall blocking your door?" her friend said sitting in the chair near Karigan and propping her feet up on the edge of the bed.

"It's nice to see you too. Please make yourself at home," Karigan said drily, giving her friend and amused look.

Mara stuck her tongue out at her. "It's good to see you too and I will. Now answer the question."

"No, I didn't know that there was a large stone wall in front of my door. It doesn't happen to be wearing black does it?"

Mara tapped her bottom lip in mock thoughtfulness, "You know, now that you mention it, it was wearing quite a bit of black with a few sharp edges. I think it goes by the name of Rory."

Karigan rolled her eyes, "Probably Fastion's doing. Although why he thinks I need someone to guard me is beyond me."

"That's interesting. Rory blocked me from getting in and when I asked him why he said that it was the king's orders to have someone at your door."

Karigan scowled. Why was the king always trying to interfere with her life? Well, really she knew why, but it was still infuriating. She knew it was important for everyone involved that they distance themselves from each other, but he was certainly not making it easy for her.

"Why does he think I need protection?" Karigan grumbled.

Mara merely shrugged. "Don't ask me, although there must be something going on because it seems like all the Weapons and plenty of regular soldiers have disappeared from the castle. I heard some rumors going around about a missing caretaker and a search of the tombs."

Karigan shuddered. She'd had more than her share and then some of tombs and death. If she never saw another tomb or catacomb again for the rest of her life she would be ecstatic. "So how did you get past the stone wall that is Rory?" she asked her friend changing the subject.

Mara gave her a mischievous smile. "I have my ways."

Karigan cocked an enquiring eyebrow at her friend.

"Oh alright fine. I threatened to burn his uniform off of him and he decided he would be gracious enough to let me see my friend who I've been worried about for the last five months. Of course that was after I had to swear to all the gods that I wouldn't cause you any undue excitement." Mara rolled her eyes. "As if I didn't know that already."

Karigan snorted in amusement before collapsing into a fit of giggles as she pictured her friend threatening to burn a Weapon's clothes off. She could easily see Mara doing something like that.

"I don't see what's so funny about it all," Mara said trying to act like she was offended, but there was a smile pulling at her lips.

"Sure you don't," Karigan said once she had subsided, rubbing her bruised ribs. Laughter hadn't really helped matters much in that department. However, Karigan felt lighter being able to talk and laugh with her friends again.

"Okay I do," she admitted with a chuckle. "Although I was half hoping he would refuse. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind seeing a Weapon not wearing black if you know what I mean," she said waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Karigan shook her head at her friend as she chuckled.

"What? I bet they are a work of art underneath all that leather and cloth, all hard muscle and sinew," Mara said staring off into space dreamily.

"I'm sure," Karigan said, thinking back to that morning when Fastion had picked her up off the floor. The Weapon was definitely a solid wall of muscle there was no doubt about that She thought back remembering the feeling of his arms flexing around her and the hard barrier of his chest that her side had been pressed up against. The she started thinking about a different pair of arms, a different chest. Karigan saw where her mind was trying to take her and immediately brought that horse to a screeching halt. She shook her head to clear those thoughts away, turning back to her friend.

Mara was still staring off into space dreamily with a faint smile playing about her lips. Karigan knew that look. She'd seen that look on the faces of her schoolmates at Selium and her fellow Riders before. She recognized that look.

"Who is he?"

Mara startled at her voice and looked at Karigan, "What?"

"Who is he?"

"Who's who?"

"The person you were just thinking about undressing."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I wasn't thinking about anyone," Mara protested even as a blush started to creep up her neck.

"Who is he Mara?" Karigan persisted. By now her friend was well and truly red.

"I still don't know what you're talking about," the other woman said refusing to meet Karigan's eyes.

"Mara."

"Karigan."

"You know, either you could tell me or I can start asking around about your mystery man. I'm sure Teagan would be more than willing to help me," Karigan told her.

Her friend snapped her eyes around to look at Karigan in horror, "You wouldn't!"

"Try me," Karigan said giving her a wicked grin.

"You're evil, you know that right?"

"So I've been told. Now quit changing the subject. Who is he?"

Mara finally threw her hands up in exasperation. "Alright already! Gods but you're persistent. I'll tell you, but you have to promise that you won't laugh and you won't tell anyone."

"I'm not making any promises about the laughing, but I swear I won't tell a living soul. Your secret's safe with me," Karigan said.

"Fair enough," she said taking a deep breath. "It's Donal."

Karigan blinked at her friend for a moment before gleefully shouting, "I knew it!"

Mara looked up from her hands that she had been very deliberately scrutinizing. "You knew what?"

"I knew there was something between you two."

"How did you know?" she said. "Does anyone else know?"

"I guessed from how you were acting during our staff sessions with him. I don't think anyone else knows." She nearly laughed as Mara gave a huge sigh of relief. "Does Donal know this?"

"No, at least I haven't told him," her friend told her.

"Are you still taking those lessons?"

Mara smiled, "Yes, they're so much fun." Seeing the smirk that Karigan was giving her she added, "And not just because of who is teaching me Karigan G'ladheon."

Karigan held her hands up in defense, "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

Just then the girl's chatting was interrupted by a knock on the door. They looked at each other before turning back to the door as it opened and for the second time that day King Zachary walked into her room. This time it appeared that it was just him. Karigan felt her good mood start to ebb away as Mara leapt to her feet and bowed.

"Your Majesty."

He nodded to both of the women, "Rider Brennan. Rider Sir G'ladheon. I hate to interrupt your conversation, but I'm afraid that I need to speak with Rider Sir G'ladheon."

"Of course Your Majesty," Mara said, turning to Karigan. "I'll come back later." Before Karigan could say anything, her friend was gone, leaving her completely alone with the king. She'd rather be facing Mornahvon again. He sat in the chair that Mara had just vacated and fixed those damnable amber eyes of his on her. There were a few more lines around them than she remembered. He was the first to break the uneasy silence.

"Karigan, we really need to talk."

A/N: Honestly when I started writing this chapter the chat between the Weapons was just supposed to be light-hearted banter, but then they apparently had other ideas, but thanks to them I am no longer writing blindly along wondering where I'm going next...for the most part. So what did you think? As always I love to hear what you lovely readers have to say. Leave me a note after this message~Naomi