A/N: Woo Hoo, another chapter! Kind of short, but have no fear, I've started the next one and I have a feeling it will be a pretty in depth one. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place that you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. I own nothing. Enjoy!

Karigan

Karigan awoke the next morning feeling like she had not gotten any sleep at all. As she stared around the room, she found herself wishing there was a window. The room felt too small and confining to her and she felt the sudden urge that she needed to get out of here or else she would be swamped by all of her emotions. She had been emotional enough over the last few days to last her a lifetime and then some.

She had tossed the covers aside and was sitting up with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed, waiting for the world to stop spinning when there was a knock on her door and the Rider-Mender Ben stepped into the room. He stopped and gaped at her for a second before recovering.

"Rider G'ladheon, you need to be resting. You can be up and aggravating your injuries," he said stepping towards her. She held out a hand to stop his advance.

"I've been resting plenty. What I need now is to get out of this prison cell of a room before I completely lose my mind," Karigan informed him as she planted her feet on the floor and pushed herself into a standing position. She grabbed onto the baseboard of the bed as the world tilted at crazy angles around her.

Ben moved to go help her, then seemed to think better of approaching her and remained where he was. Karigan almost wished he had come to her aid if only so that he would come close enough that she could wipe that knowing look off his face. It bugged her that he knew she knew he was right. Not that she had ever let things like this stop her before.

"Please, you should not be up and about yet. You're not completely healed yet," he pleaded with her as she started searching for her clothes.

"No, what I need to do is get out of this room, which is something you don't seem to understand," Karigan shot back. "Now where are my clothes?"

He folded his arms across his chest and stood in front of the door. "Not here."

She stopped and glared at him, "Then go get them."

"One, I'm not some Green Foot runner to have at your beck and call and two, I'm not letting you out of this Mending Wing."

Karigan gaped at the obstinate man standing in front of her. How was it possible that the man standing defiantly in front of her was so resolutely terrified of horses? They were far less frightening than some of the things he had to deal with as a journeyman mender.

She took a deep breath and was about to launch into another tirade when the door behind Ben opened enough for Willis to stick his head in. His face remained the customary Weapon's stone mask as he took in the situation, but Karigan could see the amused glint in his eye as he realized what was going on.

"Everything all right in here?"

"Yes," Karigan snapped just as Ben said, "No."

Now the Weapon's mouth was fighting not to tilt up in a grin as he crooked an eyebrow at Karigan and stepped into the room.

She flung an arm out and stabbed a finger in Ben's direction. "He is refusing me leave of the Mending Wing and won't even bring me any decent clothes." She gestured to the old dressing gown they had put her in that barely reached her knees. She saw Ben blush again at the mention of her attire and again wondered what it was about. Maybe he's scared of me now too. She focused back on the topic at hand.

"Karigan, you really should be resting," Willis said, agreeing with Ben. Both Ben and Karigan turned to gawk at the Weapon. Had she heard correctly?

"Willis, is there any particular reason that I can't leave?" She remembered the Zachary informing her of the Second Empire being present in the castle, but she was suspicious that it could have been just a way of justifying her guards without actually implicating himself in the process. They both knew how well that would go over.

Willis dodged her question, saying instead, "Karigan you've been badly injured and you aren't properly healed yet." It was a weak cover and Karigan narrowed her eyes at him. The Weapon managed to keep his face inscrutable, but he wasn't looking at her.

"Willis, you're not a very convincing liar. Does this have something to do with stories of the Second Empire lurking about the castle again?"

His stone-faced expression flickered very briefly, but otherwise remained in place. So maybe there was some truth to the King's words after all. Her shoulders slumped slightly in defeat.

He looked at her, "I can't tell you anything other than it's for your health and safety that you stay here." He held up a hand to cut her off as she opened her mouth to protest. "I'm sorry Karigan, but that's all that I can tell you."

She sighed, knowing that it was pointless to argue with a Weapon when they got like this. It was about as successful as arguing with a stone wall. Something wasn't adding up in her head, but her mind was honestly too exhausted to think about it at the moment. Despite her initial objections that she felt perfectly fine, she could feel her legs starting to tremble.

"Alright, point taken. I can't leave. I'll just lay here in my bed like an invalid, bored out of my mind," she conceded sitting back on the bed.

"I'm sorry Karigan. If I could tell you anything more, believe me, I would," Willis said. She believed him. If a Weapon told you something it was largely true.

"I know Willis."

The Weapon nodded a farewell to both Karigan and Ben before resuming his post back outside. Karigan turned to regard Ben with a suspicious expression.

"So what noxious concoction do you have for me this time?"

"None this time. I just need to examine you and determine where you are in the healing process," he said with a stern look and his arms crossed over his chest. He reminded her of one of her aunts. "Are you going to cooperate this time?"

"I don't supposed I have much of a choice do I?" She took his silence as a no. "Get on with it then."

Ben approached her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Closing his eyes, he focused on accessing his ability. A soft green light began to flow from his fingertips and tendrils of it wrapped around her, seeping in underneath her skin. A pleasant, warm sensation spread across her skin, making it tingle slightly. She felt better, more relaxed than she had in a while. Ben remained this way for a full two minutes before pulling away. He massaged his temples with his fingers to assuage the headache that was a side effect of using his ability.

"So what's the verdict? Will I live?"

"All of your normal injuries are healing quite nicely, however, the ones that you sustained in Blackveil are healing more slowly, slower than I would like. You've been tainted by the wild magic of the forest. We've been trying to get rid of it, but because of your prolonged exposure there's quite a bit, even with the care the Eletians gave you."

Karigan was still trying to reconcile this Ben with the one who couldn't put a toe in the stirrup without quaking in his boots. She knew there was some residual wild magic in her system. She could feel it. She had experience with this kind of thing though. The scar on her shoulder courtesy of Amilton/Shawdell was still numb and would probably stay that way for the rest of her life, however long that might be. Between meddlesome gods, Mornhavon, the Second Empire, her Green Rider duties, and jealous nobility, Karigan though it would be a miracle if she made it through the year. Surely, at some point, her luck would run out.

"I'll leave you to get some rest," Ben said, bringing her out of her musings.

"Alright, more rest it is," she groused, getting back under the sheets as he left the room. Within minutes of her head hitting the pillow, she was sound asleep.

Alton

Alton tried not to pace as Estral examined the page he had been looking at earlier that day. She had been poring over it for quite a while now, making the occasional note on a piece of parchment. Merdigen looked as if he had fallen asleep in the corner. As far as Alton knew of them, the illusions couldn't technically sleep just like they couldn't eat or drink solid food.

Estral finally looked up at him, pointing at something that he had written on the parchment. He came around the table and read over her shoulder.

I think it's a piece of music.

"A piece of music?" Merdigen jumped awake at the sound of Alton's voice echoing around the room.

Estral nodded, writing something else.

Wasn't there a song or something that held the wall together?

Alton smacked himself on the forehead. Of course! He realized that Estral was right. They had found a crux of the wall's construction. If this worked, it would help speed the rebuilding of the wall and strengthen it against any attacks from the Second Empire. Merdigen had come over and was peering intently at the pages over Estral's other shoulder.

"Can you read it?" Alton asked her.

My Old Sacoridian is a little rusty, but I can give it a go. It needs to be sung though, which is something that I can't do obviously. I can play the music that goes with it.

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He knew it had to be hard for her, losing her voice. He missed hearing her talk or sing around a campfire.

"Does it say anyone specific has to sing it?"

She looked through her notes before shaking her head.

No it doesn't say anything specific about it. I know you can sing, but can you read music?

"Normally I would say yes, but seeing as how I had to get you to come in and help me, I would say that I cannot read it in this case."

She looked over at him and gave him an amused half-smile, the skin around her blue eyes crinkling. Her golden hair was held back by a navy blue band of ribbon, opening up her face and showing off the curve of her jawline and the faint birthmark just under her right ear. She was the most beautiful woman in all of Sacoridia as far as he was concerned. Merdigen coughed conspicuously, bringing them both back to the task at hand.

Estral wrote something down and then showed it to the illusion. He thought whatever it was over for a moment. "I can help him pronounce the words, but I am afraid that I am hopelessly tone-deaf. Perhaps you could play the notes on your lyre?"

Estral nodded. For the first time Alton felt the stirrings of hope. They were finally getting somewhere and he was ready to get to work.

He turned to Estral, "Could we start tonight?"

She shook her head. I'd rather we wait till morning so I can make sure I understand everything and we all have a good night's sleep.

Alton was disappointed, but he could see her point. "Alright, we'll start tomorrow."

Karigan

Karigan awoke a few hours later. Her dreams had been plagued by shadows with almond eyes and faceless women with golden hair. She groaned and rolled over on her side. A flash of gold caught her attention. When she focused on it she saw that someone had slipped a change of clothes into her room at some point. Her brooch was pinned on top. She had a strong suspicion that either Mara or Tegan was behind it. Or both. Either way she was grateful.

She carefully eased herself upright. She was still a little on the weak side, but at least the world stayed stationary this time. She swung her legs out from under the sheets and quickly changed clothes in case someone should come in and out a stop to it.

Once she had everything situated, Karigan stepped up next to the door with her back against the wall. Taking a deep breath she called on her ability and promptly screamed as the world faded into gray.

Second Empire

The woman cried out as the man's palm smacked across her face again, the sound ricocheting off of the rough-hewn walls of the cavern. The stupid Tomb bitch wasn't cooperating. No matter what he did she remained silent. He should have kidnapped her son as well. Maybe seeing her precious little boy being tortured would have gotten her talking. He couldn't go back now though. The Tombs were crawling with soldiers and Black Shields. He spat on the ground as he glared at the woman tied up in front of him. Those damn Black Shields. He had wanted to be one of them once, but he had failed that one last test. He was so close and he failed. One failure that's haunted him ever since. So now he's going to make them a failure. First he had to get the information that Grandmother required. The information need to break the D'yer Wall.

A/N: Ohhh, cliffhanger. As always I would love to know what you think. Leave me a message after this note~ Naomi