Dislcaimer: I do not own any of the character or places.
Kel snapped right into her commanding set of mind. She grabbed her necklace that Lord Raoul and Lord Wyldon had given to her and activated it. She turned around to see all the knights assembled behind her.
"My Lady" someone said beside her.
Looking at Fanche she raised an eyebrow. She did not have the time to spare. Fanche pointed toward the field where the scarans were amassed. Riding in forward was a man waving a white flag asking for parley.
She asked Seafas to raise a white flag in answer.
"Dom prepare your squad we'll go see what they want. I don't want anyone firing one arrow until I command you" She said as she mounted Peachblossom in full battle armour.
Escorted by Dom and his squad she reached the center of the future battlefield and waited for the man on a stallion to come forward. They both dismounted. She signalled to Dom to stay where he was. She stepped forward to the man.
"I am Sir Balin of Dyracluse" he said "I command this army"
"I am Lady Knight Commander Keladry of Mindelan, and I command New Hope"
The man raised his eyebrow in surprise "You are the wench who killed blayce?"
"I do not know what you have heard. But I did nothing of the sort. The fall of the killing devices are due to our new very powerful mage" she replied Yamani smooth.
The man faltered. Apparently he was believing her. "But we had heard that a wench had storm Castle Rathusaak and killed Blayce and Stenmun."
"Well, your King is very afraid of our new mage" she replied calmly.
He shook his head then. "No you are the one they call the Protector of the Small. But this is beside the point, We will offer you an offer wench."
Kel raised her eyebrow "I'm listening"
"Give up the fort and we will let everyone walk out alive"
"No" replied Kel.
"You will regret this wench" he said. She saw his intention a second before it happened. He had taken his sword out and swung it at her head. She had dropped and rolled, saving her from being beheaded. She took her Glaive out and blocked his next attack. She saw Dom moving in, on the squad the Sir Balin had brought.
"Do not kill anyone, this is a parley, we will honour it even if they do not" she yelled at them.
They started to retreat.
While this was happening all the King's Own was assembled in the camp awaiting the orders. Owen was bouncing in his saddle, happy that he was going to be in the 'jolly; fight. Conal and Inness sent prayer that their sister was going to be fine. Cleon, Esmond, Seaver and Faleron were all worried sick about the battle to come.
Neal was on the wall with the villagers turned into archers. The mounted knights were looking up at Neal, knowing that the signal would come from him. Jump was getting restless, along with all the dogs from third company.
Neal was looking down at what was happening below the white flag. When he saw Kel and Dom's squad starting the retreat his eyes met Kel. She nodded.
He looked down at the knight and locked gaze with captain Flyn. "Move out. Follow Kel's orders" he yelled.
Kel saw the Third company come out of the gates.
"I want a two line formation Now" she yelled.
They all lined as she said this bellow the wall. They saw the scaran army start to march forward. She looked up to Neal and nodded. She heard him yell "Fire" and she saw the arrows come down.
She turned to the men "This is it, boys. This is what we were trained for. This is the day we show them that we will never be cowed into submission. We need to teach them that we can make them regret that they ever came here. Fight for your family, or for your lover. Fight for Tortall and save her!" she yelled. Just as the scaran approached closer still she raised her glaive and brought it down. She heard the avalanche of hooves behind her.
The moment she hi the enemy front she felt them crumble below her. Her glaive was merciless and so was Peachblossom. She lost the sense of time has the battle wore on. She was aware of the sun climbing in the sky. She was aware that some of her men had fallen. She was aware that it was no longer Neal that was in command of the Wall but Fanche. Neal was probably in the infirmary.
She was also very aware of the presence at her back. She knew without looking who it was. When she got unhorse, he dismounted. He sent the bird to Tobe who called their horse to the side of the woods to wait for their riders.
She was aware of his back pressed to her as they fought together. She realized that they moved in perfect synchronization. When she stepped to the side so did he. When he swung away from her she took a step back to compensate.
A few hours after the start of the battle she heard the horns. Lord Wyldon was here. She saw his army come down from the side of the field and barrel into the scarans. A few minutes later Lord Raoul had arrived and engaged the scarans.
Kel then heard the horns. Knowing that Tortall had no more reinforcement she looked up. She saw it then. More Scarans. By the looks of it, New Hope was going to fall. Tortall fought in desperation. The sun had started to dip the next time she looked at the sun. She looked at the battlefield. Deads were everywhere. Scarans and Tortallans mixed together.
"Dom where are the horse" she asked to the man who was still dutifully guarding her back as she was guarding his. She was well aware he was the reason she still survived. Someone would have killed her from the back if he wasn't there.
He angled his body sideway and slowly taking them towards the forest. When they realized they were at the edge of the battle they hid in the wood.
They got on their horses. They moved around the woods to the small hill overlooking the devastating field. She was quite surprised to see what she saw. The scaran had to have been close to a thousand. Yet the 350 Tortallan held their ground. Of course New hope was about to be overrun, but they had lasted longer than what was expected. Frowning slightly she thought of the commander of that army, Sir Balin, and the squad they had seen. They had all seem extremely young and green. Keeping those thoughts for later, she angled her warhorse towards the scene.
Peachblossom reared and she held her glaive above her head. She was aware of Dom behind her, the sparrow around her face and Jump beside Peachblossom. "For Tortall" she yelled. She signalled the remaining Tortallan to try to get in line formation behind her as she swept down the hill. She signalled Raoul to amass the men closest to him and take formation. She did the same to Wyldon.
When she reached the scarans she saw fear in their eyes. What were they afraid of? She did not pause to ponder that question. She kept on going. She saw Raou and Lord Wyldon force their way in. "Raoul, Wyldon" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Her voice thankfully carried over the clang of the battle. "Close in on them. Raoul sweep them out from the east. Unbalance them from the side while Wyldon go around and keep them from retreating. "
Uh-Oh I just called them by their first name and ordered them around. She thought before she let herself take the battle in.
The fight froze for a second or so. Everyone looked up. What we saw made one man very proud. Keladry sat atop a rearing horse, her eyes wild, sparrow around her head, deadly dog at her feet, the sun was setting behind her, giving her an air of war goddess. She came down the hill in a killing rage. He saw the men flock to her and fall in behind her.
"Wyldon go around and keep them from retreating. " she yelled at him. He obeyed without second thoughts.
They had won the battle. Against all odds they had won. He still couldn't believe it. Two hundred and fifty four Tortallan soldiers stood up while a thousand dead Scarans were lying on the ground. In the middle of the field she stood. He looked at her awed. He had seen her fight many time but this is the battle that he realized she wasn't just a knight. She was one of the greatest knight he had ever seen. She had stood out. She had, during the battle, been a sign of hope. She had rallied them all and led them to victory. All the men bowed to her. He saw her brothers pound each other on the back saying "That our little sister". He saw all her friends and year mates look at her in awe. He saw Lord Raoul burst with pride. But one thing that held his attention was a young man. He was from the King's Own, he had the bluest eyes he had ever seen and a resemblance to Nealan. He looked at Kel with a look of such pride, awe and... love. He remembered now the picture he had seen, the picture of Kel rearing on Peachblossom and remembered the man who had stood behind her. Was it the same man?
Now she stood, ordering people around. The soldiers were removing the dead. The scaran were left in a pile to burn while the tortallans were carefully handled so that they could be given proper burial and honour. She had already ordered a carver to find a stone and carve the name of all of the men who had fallen. They were going to be buried here and their name would be honoured.
She now had one of the most horrid task of war. All the injured tortallan were brought to her. There she decided if they could be saved and sent to the healers who were already exhausted or if they were beyond saving.
He went over and tapped her shoulder as she told a man that his wounds could not be salvaged. She asked if he had any wishes or words he wanted sent to someone. After she had written down his name and his last words to be sent to his sister, she turned to face him.
"I'll take over" Lord Wyldon said to her.
She nodded and gave him her papers. She then went to the task of finding the names of all the fallen warriors. Night had set in. Tobe went to find her and gave her some food to eat. They had now buried all the men and set the scarans on fire. Apart from a tall stone with names engraved into it, the field looked just like it had in the morning.
Kel said the prayers sending the souls of the fallen men to the black gob peacefully. They went back to New Hope has the day began to dawn. Lord Raoul, Keladry and himself then spent a few hours writing a fast report of the battle from all three point of view. They told the King, General Vanget and Lady Alanna of the casualties and the dead and the repairs that would be needed.
"My Lords?" she asked quietly
"Call me Raoul"
"Call me Wyldon" they said in unison.
"Did any of you notice how young they were?"
"What do you mean?" asked Lord Wyldon
"None of them was over 25 years old. They were all green. Heck the commander of the army had a parley with me, he was barely 20. They were close to a thousand, we were three hundred and fifty, yet we came out on top. Doesn't it seem odd?" she asked
They pondered on that. "You are right, now that I think about it" said Lord Raoul
When the people would usually get up, they left for bed.
Breakfast the next day was tense. Everyone remembered the events of the previous night. Kel, Lord Wyldon and Lord Raoul, were now singing letters to the family of the deceased and their personal belonging as well as last words if they had told any.
Then they received a letter from General Vanget. Once everything was in order again he wanted Neal, Kel, Wyldon and Raoul were going to Mastiff. The King, Queen, Buri, Lady Alanna and General Vanget were already there.
Her sisters had left right after the battle to Mindelan because they did not want to stay in a war zone. Before leaving however they had tried to get a kiss out of Dom, unsuccessfully.
That night everyone went to bed early. Kel tossed and turned for a while unable to fall asleep. She slipped out of bed and walked discreetly across the town. She stopped in front of one of the barrack and sent Nari in.
Nari came back out a few minutes later followed by a certain blue eyed sergeant. He smiled when he saw her. They walked quietly back to her room. Aware that on one side of Kel's room Lord Raoul slept and on the other Lord Wyldon slept they kept quiet. He just held her in his arm as she relaxed.
"Thank you" she whispered
Knowing perfectly well why she was thanking him he smiled and said "Well thank you too, we couldn't have survived the battle if we weren't together."
"I feel so bad, so many men were killed" she replied
"Do not think like that! Those men fought for what they believed in. Honour them, do not regret it" he whispered "Everyone forgives you, even if it wasn't your fault, actually you are the reason so many of us still live." He said gently to her.
He lifted her chin gently and looked in her eyes.
"Kel, you were so amazing, I love you so much"
"Whaat?" she replied
"I love you" he said
She looked down at her feet "I love you more" she whispered back.
He laughed, "No, you can't" she looked up with a raised eyebrow.
Seeing the argument about to come up he bent his head to touch his lips to hers, smiling he said "Hush now, go to sleep"
He sensed her watch him has he left, but as he closed the door he could hear her soft snore.
Neal had exhausted himself trying to heal everyone. Yuki had to smack him with her shukusen to get him to go to bed. Kel thought that she also heard the Yamani promise her husband a few things to get him in bed. Which after she had whispered something quite indecent in his ear he had run out of the infirmary and was waiting in bed for Yuki to hold her up to her promise. But he was now feeling better.
Kel found out that she could not sleep if Dom did not come see her at night. He once had a night duty from the evening to the middle of the night. She had not slept that night and the next morning he had seen her pale with dark circle under her. Once he figured out she couldn't sleep when he didn't come he always made sure he came over.
Reports came and went nothing really happened on the border. New Hope had been in three little skirmishes. The other forts also had a low number of attacks.
A month after the fight they went to Fort Mastiff. Kel, Tobe, Neal, Lord Raoul, Lord Wyldon and Dom's squad, Kel had asked for his specific squad, spotted Mastiff.
Entering the Fort they were led to their rooms. A few hours later they were in a meeting room. General Vanget, Daine, Numair, Duke Baird, Roald, Shinko, Lady Alanna, Queen Thayet and King Jonathan listened to the four different account of the battle. Neal and Kel had already said their reports.
Lord Wyldon had started his. Even though he spoke of the same battle that Kel had describe it was clear that at a certain point the story differ. Kel's account had not bragged nor said she had rallied the troops. However Lord Wyldon's did. He spoke of how she had been a beacon of hope and how she had turned the battle over. Lord Raoul was much the same. They all nodded and went into the process of changing the troops around. Third company was going to be stationed with Kel. However Kel was not to be stationed at New Hope. She was now the commander of Giantkiller. Seven squad and all the knights stationed at New Hope were going to stay there. Merric was to be the commander alongside Inness. Their new assignment were taken place the next month. Neal was posted with her, again.
When the meeting was over, Alanna asked Kel for a sword match, the lioness against the protector of the small. Everyone wanted to see the fight. They went to go get their sword and came back to a cheering crowd and the bets were in no ones favour. The fight started. Alanna and Kel started to circle each other. Kel's eyes never left the Lioness sword. The fight had gone on for a while. "Go Kel" Dom yelled from the sideline "Youth and Skills"
Lord Raoul laughed "Age and Treachery" he bellowed.
Neal laughed and yelled "Youth and skill, don't let that old lady cut you up Kel!"
"What side are you on?" Alanna asked "You were my squire" Alanna flipped her eyes to Neal. Kel took advantage of it and moved in. Kel had moved in on Alanna and was bearing her down. However Alannacame up faster and smacked Kel in the ribs.
"You've been using that pigsticker of yours so much, you've forgotten how to yield Griffin! You've gotten Lazy!" Alanna taunted.
Kel moved in and used her superior height and weight to bring the Lioness back and down. "Lazy is it? I'll give you laziness, shorty!" she replied
Alanna laughed and sprang free of the tangle, darting around to swat Kel on the behind with the flat of her blade. "Age and treachery"
Kel saluted Alanna with her sword "I guess I need to work on my sword skills after all lioness" Then she nodded towards the gate "I think we have company"
Then a tall grey figure came in. It was a basilisk. His name was Tkaa and he had been one of her teacher as a page. Alanna went to greet him and then they had a whispered conversation. Alanna then stormed off. Everyone kept out of her way. The look on her face said clearly she did not want to speak to anyone.
"Please tell me you have good news" said Lord Raoul "Whatever is it, she's been jumpy as a horse covered in ants all summer"
"I sorrow to hear it" replied Tkaa "I can tell you that the diplomats from scaran are in Corus to negotiate a peace treaty"
Everyone cheered at his new. It was time this war ended.
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