Disclaimer: All Characters and places recognized belong to Tamora Pierce :D

Dom shivered. He was getting more and more tired of their prolonged stay up on the Scanran border. When they had first moved out, he would be lying if he said it had been fun, but it had at least been bearable. True, the only women up here were riders or refugees, not the normal court ladies, but it wasn't the women who made the stay and war. It was Kel. All of the men loved to watch the young squire grow and learn under their care. She was, after all, the King's Own squire, theirs to train and teach. It was only a technicality that she was Lord Raoul's squire. But now she had been called back to Corus and even Raoul seemed to have disappeared off the face of the mortal realms.

He was broke out of his thoughts when he heard shouts rise. His hand automatically went to his sword. He then relaxed when he heard the horn for friends. A few minutes later he heard a sound knock on the closed door. Calling for the unknown person to enter, Dom straightened up in his seat and shuffled some papers on the desk in front of him, trying to look like he hadn't spent an hour day dreaming.

"Captain." A currier entered his office. He quickly shoved aside his fleeting thought of how he wished to tell Kel of his promotion that had arrived two months after her sudden departure. You could always tell her you know his mind could not help but scold him. Without much thought he took the heap of letters and dismissed the travel worn rider. He knew that it was true; he could have at any time over the last eight months sent her a letter stating his new command, along with Wolset's. But he hoped to do so in person.

He blinked once again coming out of his gloomy thoughts. A letter from Corus holding the King's seal. Could they finally be going home? Was this the letter that he had been secretly looking for? Without any more hesitation, he broke the seal and stared at the letter before him. After a minute he let a smile spread across his face. Stuffing the letter into his breeches pocket he left the now stuffy office to go to the mess.

Stepping through the door, he couldn't help but look around at the men milling around. After getting his food, he started looking for a spot. "Captain! Over here." The burly voice of Wolset reached his ears. Changing directions, he settled with his old squad.

"So anything of interest come?" Wolset asked as soon as Dom took his first bite.

Swallowing quickly, Dom shrugged, "Still no word from Lord Raoul, the Lady Knight seems to have fallen off the face of this realm as there is not even a whisper of court gossip. But I did get one interesting letter today." The men at the table paused to look at him. "Apparently my darling cousin Meathead has had some kind of…situation with the refugees…" he trailed off letting them wonder what happened. "He has had some kind of rebellion. He wrote to tell me that he was called for a 'healing emergency' in the stable, but when he got there, they somehow manage to rope him upside down above the newest testy pony. He claims that our behavior has ruined those under his care. We are now banished from New Hope." He sighed dramatically before standing and waving his hands to get all of the men's attention.

Once the mess was quiet he started to speak, "I'm afraid that we have been banned by the commander of New Hope. The camp no longer seems to be in need of the Own's aid. I happened to receive this devastating news today. But don't despair, for I have some more news. We are to be relocating our base." He paused as a collective groan arose. "I have been assured that we do not have to build our own home, we are returning to Corus!"

Dom's smile grew as the men's groans turned to cheers. They had all been wishing to go home, even if very few of them had actually left their posts. He banged his cup on the table to cut off all the chatter that had broken out. "Our orders have come from the King, Third Company is to ride out in about a month to recruit and train in Corus while the army takes over our post. We will also meet our new knight commander…" Dom had to raise his voice to be heard about the calls of dismay coming from the men, "as it seems our sneaky farmer commander retired officially four months ago. Unfortunately, the letter did not tell who is now our feared leader."

The days had seemed to blur past Dom as Third Company started to gather their belongings. He found this time to be more stressful than he had thought. Upon the news of their approaching departure several men had turned in their resignations effective the day that they arrived in Corus. At the rate the men were leaving, Dom was looking at refilling a quarter of the company due to resignations; he had already been down by fifteen men. They were to be riding out tomorrow so there could be even more resignations. He rubbed his forehead as a headache grew.

Just then horns blew. He cursed their luck. The Scanrans had decided to strike one last time, even though things had been quiet for the last few months. As he rushed out he looked at the advancing war party. There were only thirty or so of the advancing party, but by now he knew better than to judge the Scanrans by their numbers.

The skirmish was finished two hours ago. True to his thoughts this small party put up quite the fight. Dom winced as the healer saw to the gash in his arm. He still needed to check the other men who had been injured. And he thought to himself, you still need to see how many we lost. With his thought on duty he walked around the infirmary chatting and joking with the men on the cots. A few of the men told him of their intent of leaving once in Corus. His heart sinking, Dom quickly went to the resting place of the dead. He saw only five dead, but one had turned in his resignation to marry his sweetheart. The others ranged from men who had just joined not that long ago to fill in the ranks to men he had trained with, and one who had trained him. It was now official, when they returned to Corus; Dom had to replace half of the company. He only hoped that the new commander was a patient and understanding man, otherwise they would also be looking for a new captain of Third Company.

It had been a week since the surprise Scanran attack and third was finally moving out. While Dom had initially wished to ride out the day following the attack, he reluctantly decided to stay for a few more days to perform proper burials for the men who had fallen and allow those who were wounded a few days to regain some strength. What he had not expected was a surprise visit by General Vanget. The General had come to inspect the fort that the army was about to take over. As he was still the commander in charge, it had been three days of Dom going over every detail on the defenses in place, possible improvements, that he thanked the Gods, the army would make. The list continued leaving him feeling drained.

"Everything's ready Captain." Dom was broken out of his brooding by someone behind him. Turning he found Vanget behind him. "I know that your orders are to ride straight to the capital but I would like you to swing by New Hope. We have received word of a possible uprising. Also, there is…someone special there that I would like you to escort back to Corus. She is one of my nieces. Somehow she managed to slip away and find herself there. She will be quite a handful."

Dom chuckled, "No offense General, but could she possibly be any more difficult than Lady Keladry?"

To Dom's amusement, the General cracked a smile. "You have a point there Captain. Her name is Valarie." At his curt nod Dom knew that he had been dismissed, so he quickly walked towards his men to break the news.

"Mount up men, we need to visit my darling cousin Meathead and recue a fair maiden from his clutches." A mixture of groans and laughter rose from the men awaiting his orders. In an orderly fashion they left the fort they had called their home for so long.

Their stay in New Hope was longer than they had planned. The girl, Val as she liked to be called, proved difficult to identify, and then to convince to leave back to Corus and her distressed parents. Dom cringed when he heard her voice, "Captain Domitan? How much longer, I swear it took me less time to get to New Hope than this. And you are supposed to be the elite. If my Uncle Vanget were in charge other than that great oaf Lord Raoul, you would be more efficient."

Keeping his tone level he calmly answered her inquires. "It wouldn't surprise me my lady that it took you a shorter amount of time, as you were traveling alone, not with a company."

"A depleted company." She scoffed.

"We will be in Corus later today." He continued as if she had not interrupted. "And seeing as you are displeased by my Lord Raoul, it should please you to hear that he retired from command six months back. Before you ask, no I have not been informed as to who the new commander is."

"It doesn't matter; we all know that a conservative will be put in his place. Six months you say? Shame it's not Uncle."

Dom quickly rode towards the back of the line, excusing himself as politely as possible. "What's this? The Captain can't charm a small mite of a court lady?" Wolset's voice spoke above the din of horse hooves.

Dom smiled. "Careful now Wolset, else I'll put you in charge of that small mite till we reach Corus in a few hours." And with that the company finished their ride in a somber mood.

AN: I know that it's been a while, but like I stated in the previous chapter, this is a story that I will be randomly work on as I'm planning on finishing my other story Out of the Pot and Into the Fire before focusing on others. You guys just got lucky that I decided to write this chapter during one of my classes otherwise you'd be wondering where it was going, and in all truth at this moment, I don't know either, however, we have now caught up with all almost all of the events from the prologue :D