A/N: You have no idea how excited I am there's a new chapter for me to share with you after a *cringe* two year hiatus. Although I'm not sure how exciting this chapter actually is. After the thing that was Mirror Sight I got completely lost on this story. However, here is a nice long chapter to make up for you and hopefully it won't be another two years before the next one. Would have had it up sooner, but I'm rereading the books and got to the Battle of Lost Lake and nothing else got done til I finished. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. I own nothing. Enjoy!

Karigan

When Karigan awoke the next morning the first thing she became aware of was the strong smell of pine that permeated everything, giving a sense of familiarity and warmth that she hadn't felt in a while. The next thing she noticed was the warmth of a different kind that seemed to envelope her. She slowly opened her eyes to the sun streaming through the open stall window. Phoebe was dozing in the corner with her nose hanging over her water bucket. Karigan looked around for the source of why she was so comfortable and was more than a little surprised to find Fastion sitting there, asleep with an arm draped over her shoulders and her head on his chest. At some point in the night he had draped his cloak over her.

She vaguely remembered him coming and finding her last night after she had escaped the Mending Wing. He had been worried about the possibility of the Second Empire being back on castle grounds and that they might come after her. Aeryc and Aeryon know she's given them enough reasons to. Karigan was touched that her friend had cared about her enough to come and find her. It was a little embarrassing to realize she had fallen asleep on him though. At least she hadn't drooled on him. That would have been mortifying.

She looked up at him from where her head was resting. Asleep in the morning light he looked years younger and as peaceful as she had ever seen him. Without his face set in its customary granite mask, he really was quite handsome. Karigan blushed as she realized what she was thinking. Mara would never find out.

She settled back against him, enjoying some of the first real human contact she'd had since she'd made it back. It had been a while since anyone had held her like this. One memory came to mind, but she pushed it aside, refusing to ruin this moment. It was rare she got these calm moment to simply breathe and not have to think about anything more important than regular Rider duties.

She looked out the window and wondered what time it was. Judging from the slant of the light it was still relatively early in the morning. A minute later her guess was confirmed when the castle bell chimed that it was the eighth hour.

The last chime was still fading when Karigan felt Fastion begin to stir. She looked up as he opened his eyes and yawned. He looked down at her and gave her a half smile.

"Good morning," he greeted her. "Sleep well?"

Karigan nodded. "Probably one of the best nights of sleep I've had in a while. Of course, I did have a pretty good pillow."

He chuckled and Karigan felt it in the rumbling behind her. "Glad I could be of service."

Reluctantly Karigan pushed herself upright and stretched, feeling her shoulders and a few of her vertebrae crack and pop back into place.

"I supposed I should go and find Captain Mapstone and tell her that I'm alive."

"You don't have to. Willis came and found me last night. I told him to let the others know you were safe. You were sleeping so soundly I didn't feel like making you move," Fastion informed her as he got to his feet. He offered her a hand and she took it letting him pull her to her feet. "However, I was given instructions to take you back to the Mending Wing."

Karigan made a face, "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to. The instructions included the provision that I was to carry you there if you didn't come willingly." Fastion crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really want me to do that where your fellow Riders could see?"

If it had been anyone else Karigan might have taken her chances, but she knew the Weapon would easily go through with that threat. "When you put it like that, I supposed I don't have much of a choice do I?"

"No you don't."

"Alright, I suppose we should go then." She gave Phoebe a pat. The mare had woken and come over to inspect her stall companions when they had gotten up. She gave the mare a promise that she would be back and let herself out of the stall. Fastion followed and closed the door behind him. As they were leaving the stable, they passed by Condor's empty stall again. Karigan hoped he was on his way back from the camp at the wall already. She felt like a piece of her was missing without him there. She followed Fastion out of the stables.

Dale

Dale tightened Plover's girth and double checked her tack. Alton and Estral were hovering behind her waiting to send her off. Alton was holding a thick ream of papers he had hastily bound together this morning. He had stayed up until the bleary hours of the morning completing the report she was taking back to the castle with her. Estral held Condor's lead in her hand waiting to hand him off to Dale once she was mounted. The gangly bay gelding had been given a thorough grooming and was wearing his tack for the journey back to Sacor City. He stood there in the morning light with a sense of eagerness that rolled off of him in waves.

Satisfied that everything was in order, she turned back to her two friends. While she was looking forward to getting back to the castle and sleeping in a real bed and getting back to normal society, she would miss the camp and the friends that she had made there.

Alton handed her the papers. "You'll want to be careful with that. As you can see it's not the best binding job in the world." She took it from him and tucked away in her saddlebag. He pulled two letters from his pocket and handed them over to her as well.

"These letters are for Captain Mapstone and King Zachary." He produced a third one from a different pocket. "And this one is for Karigan." He looked over at Estral as he handed it over. She gave him an encouraging smile and placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. Dale wondered what that exchange was about, but didn't ask. Where Karigan was concerned, curiosity tended to get you more than you bargained for. She took all three envelopes from him and placed them in her bag with the report.

"Do you want a leg up?" Alton offered.

Dale shrugged, "That'd be great. My arm is world's better than it was, but strength wise it's not quite back up to my usual standards."

Alton bent forward as Dale turned to grab the pommel of the saddle in one hand and a fistful of Plover's mane in the other. He cupped her knee and the top of her right foot in his hands.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"3…2…1." He braced against her giving her a bit more lift as she bounced off the ground and into the saddle. It wasn't the most graceful way to mount, but she was on and she was finally going on real message run. It had been much too long.

Estral stepped up and handed her Condor's lead. The minstrel wrapped her hands around Dale's and gave her a warm smile. Even though the woman could no long speak, Dale knew what she was trying to convey.

"Thank you. I hope we see each other again soon, Estral. Try and make sure this one doesn't work himself to death," she said, tipping her head in Alton's direction. Estral grinned at Alton who looked only slightly chagrined.

"Give my regards to whoever's there when you arrive," he told her.

"I'll pass them along," Dale replied, gathering Plover's reins up and arranging them around Condor's lead. Normally she'd hook him to a place on her saddle or bags, but the gelding was growing more impatient by the minute and Dale was half-worried that he might drag her out of the saddle if she hooked him to something.

Alton and Estral retreated a few steps back, giving her room to turn the horses toward the path that led the short distance through the trees to the main road.

"Safe travels Dale," Alton called. Dale waved to them as she nudged Plover forward and the trio walked into the woods leaving the wall behind them.

Alton

Alton watched Dale and Condor disappear into the forest. While he knew he would never elave the wall his ancestors built until it had been fixed, a part of him envied her. Green Riders by definition aren't well-suited for staying in one place for a prolonged period of time and it chafed at him sometimes that once again he was denied the chance to go on message runs like a proper Green Rider. There wasn't much that he could do about that though. His duty and his heart were here at the wall.

He sighed and turned to face the source of all his troubles. He craned his head back as he followed the surface of the wall as far as he could until the illusionary stonework faded into the clouds of the overcast sky. In reality the wall itself was only ten feet tall. It was the magical barrier that stood above it that reached toward the heavens. His ancestors had built one of the finest examples of stonework and masonry in Sacoridia. He just wished they had been as good about recording the process as they had been at building it. There was the Silverwood book, but he was making very little headway with it. Speaking of which…

He turned to Estral who was standing to his left close enough that their shoulders brushed. "Breakfast then tower?"

She nodded her assent while trying to stifle a yawn. They had both been up fairly late and woken earlier than usual to send Dale off just past daybreak. A nice steaming cup of Kauv sounded like just the right thing along with a hot meal to help them with their work on deciphering Silverwood's cryptic book. He offered her his arm and they walked back into camp.

Karigan

When Karigan arrived back at the Mending Wing she found Mistress Elayne already standing there waiting for her. The woman did not look pleased.

"Are you finished gallivanting about Rider?" she demanded as Fastion prodded Karigan through the doors.

"I'll leave her in your care Mistress," the Weapon said.

Karigan spun to look at him. "You're leaving?"

"As much as I enjoy your company, I do have a job and other duties to attend to. Besides, you're perfectly capable of handing the Mending Wing on your own," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. Karigan huffed.

"Fine," she grumbled and turned back to face Mistress Elayne who was watching her expectantly.

"Please tell me you're not planning on keeping me here any longer. I can't stay another day in this place. I'll go mad," she pleaded before the woman could say anything. The Mender held up a hand to stay her arguments.

"Actually I was planning on releasing you this morning if you hadn't vanished this morning."

Karigan deflated a bit. "Oh."

"Now, if you're quite done being one of my most obstinate patients, I would appreciate it if you would allowed me to do one final examination before I release you."

Karigan started to object at being called obstinate, but thought better of it. She wasn't about to push her luck. Not to mention it would only give more merit to the Mender's claims. Defeated, she nodded in assent.

Mistress Elayne smiled, "Excellent. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll have you out of here in no time."

An hour later Karigan was finally free of the Mending Wing. Hopefully it would stay that way for a while. She made her way through the corridors getting her first real look at the castle since she had come back.

It was amazing that despite so many things changing there were still things that hadn't. The same suits of armor still inhabited the periodic alcove. The same sconces still lit the halls. The same tapestries still adorned the stone walls. She realized it wasn't the place that had changed, it was the people in it, her most of all.

As she walked she was acutely aware of the people stopping and watching when they saw her. Some openly stared while others held whispered conversations behind their hands.

"Rider Sir G'ladheon…"

"…part of the Blackveil mission…"

"…a strange business…"

How quickly word spread. Of course being the first knight of the realm in two centuries and just being her normal self garnered quite a bit attention. Trouble and mischief always seemed to follow her wherever she went. To some she seemed a legend out of the history texts. To others she was some upstart not deserving of her title. She just wished she could be a normal person. A Green Rider with normal duties and normal problems and a quiet life not worth paying attention to. Especially if that attention came from a certain monarch.

When she reached the Rider Wing she nearly collapsed in front of the doors and cried. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed this place until now. She managed to hold herself upright and keep her eyes dry as she pushed open the doors.

While very little natural light entered the hall, several efforts had been made to make the Rider Wing warm and cheery in her absence. Several brightly colored tapestries hung on the walls and long narrow rugs covered the flagstone floors helping to ward off the chill and to keep sounds from echoing quite so much. Sconces lined each wall at evenly spaced intervals. The gaps were so symmetrical that Karigan strongly suspected that Ty had had definitely had a hand in their installation.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there, taking everything in when a familiar head of flaming hair walked out of the common room. Mara turned and saw Karigan standing there and grinned. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Karigan in a bone-crushing hug.

"You're finally free of the Mending Wing."

Karigan patted her friend's back. "Thanks Mara, but I can't breathe."

"Oh! Sorry." Mara released her and held her at arm's length to examine her. "We need to feed you up some. You're still too thin."

"Being in an evil, possessed forest will do that to a person," Karigan said and then immediately regretted it when Mara's face fell.

"Sorry Mara. It's been a long couple of weeks. Who else is here?" Karigan changed the subject hoping Mara would too.

Mara paused looking at Karigan for a moment before she answered. "Connly's here. Not that's surprising. He's been staying pretty close so they can receive urgent messages from the wall. Ty is here. He's still helping to train the new Riders. It seems like we get a couple more every week here lately. The captain hardly knows what to do with them. In fact Garth just left on a message run with two of them in tow. Fergal's here. He just got in from a run to L'Petrie. Tegan's here as well up to her usual mischief which, fair warning, has been turned on the rest of us since Garth's not here to be tormented. That's all so far," Mara told her as they walked down the hall and stopped in front of her door.

"Now, I imagine you would like to get settled back in before anything else. I'll try to hold back the curious masses and be back by in a bit."

Karigan smiled, placing a hand on her friend's arm. "I appreciate it."

Mara grinned, "Anytime."

Karigan watched her walk back down the hall before she opened her door and stepped inside. Everything appeared just as she had left it all those months ago. That felt like it had been three lifetimes ago. Someone had been in here recently though to clean because there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere.

She closed the door behind her and crossed to the desk where she pulled the top drawer open. She felt both disappointed and relieved that her letters were still there. Not that there was much left to say anyways after the last couple of days. She sat heavily on her bed, noting the clumps of white cat hair on the pillow. Apparently Ghost Kitty had made use of the room in her absence. She leaned back against the cool stone wall and sighed. It was good to finally be back home.

Fastion

Fastion was still pondering the events of last night and this morning as he walked back to his quarters. He needed to change into some fresh clothes before he reported in. He wasn't due on duty until this evening, but he had been called to a meeting this morning and he wanted to know if there had been any new developments on the Second Empire being in the castle. The search of the tombs had so far been unfruitful. They were nearing the last reaches to be searched with nothing to show for it. Whoever had taken the missing caretaker had been very careful in covering their tracks.

He splashed some water on his face and pulled on a fresh uniform that didn't smell of pine shavings and horses. Not that he particularly minded that smell. There was something comforting about it that made him see why the Riders almost always went to the stables when they were troubled. That and he had noticed that Riders shared a special bond with their mounts that went beyond the usual horse and rider connection. Both of these things let him know where he would likely find Karigan last night.

Fastion left his room and set off for the room that had been selected for this morning's meeting. Willis had informed him of it when he found him last night. He thought back on the events of the previous night as he walked. How worried he'd been with that small edge of fear that had cropped up when he'd been told that Karigan had disappeared. Then the relief that he'd felt upon finding her safe and unharmed. He shook his head at his friend's actions. Karigan was mostly a very sensible human being, but occasionally she would do something rash and it would usually land her in a heap of trouble. Sometimes she never quite thought things all the way through.

He also pondered how completely natural it had felt to sit beside her and tuck her under his arm and how pleasant it was to wake up this morning with her. He wasn't quite sure what that was, if it was anything. It was something to save for further examination later as he had arrived at the door he was looking for. It was in a lesser-used part of the castle ensuring that they weren't likely to be interrupted or eavesdropped on without them knowing about it.

When he pushed open the door he found Brienne and Willis already there. The only person missing was Tallman, the new leader of the Black Shields.

"Fastion," Brienne greeted him with a nod.

"Brienne, Willis."

"How's Karigan today?" Brienne inquired.

"Fine, more or less."

Willis raised an eyebrow, "More or less?"

Fastion was about to answer when the door swung open to admit the fourth and final member of their party.

Tallman cut an imposing figure in black, even more than a normal Weapon. He had to duck to go through the doorway, but his height was the only large thing about him. The new administrator was lean and wiry and tough as old boot leather with a demeanor that brooked no argument from others. He was well-respected by the Weapons and exactly the kind of person the king needed in times such as these.

"I appreciate you all coming this morning," he began. "Has there been any progress in locating the missing caretaker?"

Brienne shook her head. "We're expanding the search into the abandoned sections surrounding the tombs. However, in our search we've determined that more arcane objects are missing than we originally thought.

"Are there any connections between the stolen items?"

Again she shook her head. "Aside to the link to the followers of Mornhavon, there is none that we can tell. Of course, there are very few people left who truly understand the nature of magic so we may be missing something."

Tallman nodded. "Perhaps we can send someone to Selium to see if they have anything that could help. Maybe Rider Sir G'ladheon could help with that since she's familiar with the school."

Fastion nodded in agreement. A normal message run for once might do her some good.

"Speaking of Rider Sir G'ladheon, how is she this morning after her adventure last night?"

"She seemed fine this morning, but she's about to go stir crazy if she sits in that room any longer. Although I believe that Mistress Elayne intends to release her sometime today," Fastion reported.

Tallman nodded, looking thoughtful. "That's good to hear. However, with the Second Empire still in play I'd still like to keep an eye on her. However, I don't want it to interfere with either our duties or hers. Just keep close and watch out for her like you would each other. I know I don't have to tell you that. I've noticed you all hold her in high regard." The Weapons all murmured in agreement.

"Willis, you said you have a description of one of the possible members of this group?" Tallman continued.

They all turned to look at the other Weapon. He shifted in his seat. "Yes, the Green Foot runner who delivered the message gave me a brief description of the man and I got a glimpse of him last night. He mentioned that the man had the tree tattoo of the Second Empire on his hand. Apparently he hadn't bothered to cover it. He was short and thin with pale blonde hair and light blue eyes. Ice eyes Connor called them. He's also an impressively fast runner."

The others took a moment to file away this information. Tallman stood, planting his hands on the table. "Alright. Anyone have any questions?"

All three Weapons shook their heads.

"Very good. Now let's get on with the day."

Second Empire

The man had to give the caretaker credit. Despite using some of his more…persuasive tactics she had gotten very little useful information out of her. At least his people had managed to successfully acquire most of the required items the Empire needed. Grandmother would be pleased. She had sent word that someone would be arriving in Sacor City soon to collect the items and whatever information that had been gathered. He planned on making sure there was something good that he could give her.

He turned back to where the woman drooped in the chair she was tied to. There was a spectacular black and purple bruise forming around her right eye and her split lip was starting to scab over. She was tougher than he had anticipated, but he was tougher and he was going to break her. He stepped over and kicked her. She groaned and lifted her head to glare at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Ready to talk?"

A/N: So what did you think? As always leave me a message after this note~Naomi