A/N: Sorry it's been so long. Onyx & S and I have been working our butts off to get this in shape. Well, here goes. Disclaimers in pervious chapters.

Katie woke up quietly the next morning. She was tired and cold, but she had a plan. She cautiously opened her eyes and saw that Troy had fallen asleep. Slowly she rose, stopping once she was on her feet to make sure he wasn't only pretending. She was able to get past him without him moving, and when she was a short distance away she took off in a run, back towards home. She didn't get far before a horse leapt in front of her, snorting as it was reined in. She skidded to a stop and looked up.

Terror filled her eyes at the sight of the man sitting upon the horse. The man was dressed from head to toe in coal - black armor, the only spark of color being the red sash wrapped around his waist. Panicked, she turned to run to the left but more men appeared. She spun to the right, then to the back, but the men were everywhere. Kate found herself to terrified to think; the men from her vision were surrounding her.

"Where do you think you're going?" One of the men asked.

Kate just froze, wanting to move but she couldn't. Her breathing started to quicken and before she knew it, she had passed out for the first time in her life.

When Kate woke up, she opened her eyes to the unwelcome sight of Troy's face. The man was kneeling next to her. She groaned and rolled over in order to get up.

"I see you've met my men." Troy said as he watched her rise.

Kate just glared at him, still afraid, but unwilling to show it. She pushed herself to her feet and stood still.

"Captain," one of the men said as he walked forward, leading a tall black stud.

"Thank you," Troy murmured absently, taking the reins of the horse.

Kate just stood there, watching everyone within her vision. There were at least fifty soldiers around, and she knew escaping would be next to impossible. While she was distracted watching the men, Troy moved silently up behind her and grabbed her around the waist.

"Hey!" Shrieking with surprise, Katie struggled instinctively, but to no avail. Two soldiers rushed forward, seizing her hands. Within seconds, her wrists were bound together with strong rope. That done, Troy almost casually tossed her onto the back of the black horse, before leaping up gracefully behind her.

Smirking, Troy wrapped one arm possessively around Katie's waist. "Men, I have found what our Lord has been looking for. Let's return to the kingdom with the news!"

Cheers rang out, and the sound made Kate cringe. She struggled to get out of Troy's grip, but it wasn't working. He just tightened it every time she tried to get free. Smirking down at her, Troy pressed his heels into the stallions' sides, urging the horse forward. His men followed, the dull thud of their booted feet sounding like distant thunder.

"You are not going to get away with this, Troy," Kate hissed as she tried pulling free one more time.

He pulled her closer so his mouth was against her ear. "Oh, but I will - and I am," he whispered back, and Kate could not help but cringe.

- - - - - - - - - -

Kate spent an uncomfortable day riding in front of Troy. Aside from being cramped in the saddle with rope chafing her wrists, she was also forced to share his canteen and whatever food his men had brought for him. She also hated the feel of his arms around her.

"We'll be arriving at the castle between tonight and tomorrow morning," Troy explained as they stopped to water the horses at a rushing stream. "Depending upon how much trouble you cause."

Kate just looked straight ahead, willing herself not to react. She couldn't escape now. There were too many of his soldiers, she would be caught in an instant if she tried. Now, she would have to wait for Onyx.

Troy smiled as he urged his stallion across the water. He enjoyed riding like this, feeling the girl wedged tight against his body. He frowned every time he felt her try to move away, but smiled again as he thought of breaking her of that habit.

"Do you know what I am?" He asked her at one point.

Katie turned her head just enough to glare at him. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Troy laughed at her. "I am the Captain of the Kings' army, one of his highest and mightiest warriors!"

"Could have fooled me," she muttered.

Troy let go of the reins with one hand and grabbed her chin, jerking her head so she was looking at him. Katie couldn't help but wince as the muscles in her neck stretched.

"Don't test me, Kate. I know what I want. And when the king is done with the pendants, I'm going to get exactly what I want."

Kate tried jerking her head away, but his fingers held firm. "What do you want?" she finally asked.

Troy grinned before leaning down and kissing her. Kate squirmed and tried to move away, but she stopped when she nearly slipped from the saddle. Instead, she opened her mouth slightly and sank her teeth into his lower lip. Troy jerked back, looking stunned, with blood trailing from his mouth.

"Bastard!" Katie spat at him.

Troy drew back his hand and struck her hard across the face, sending blood spattering from her nose. "You will learn to obey me, wench, if I have to break every bone in your body!"

"I will obey NO ONE!" she snarled back, her eyes watering from the pain.

Troy leaned close to her, his fingers pinching her jaw so hard they would certainly bruise. "You will learn," he told her, his voice deadly soft. A spasm of terror went through Katie at that – she had heard Onyx use the tone to many times not to be afraid.

Troy wiped his bloody mouth on the back of his hand, took up his reins, and urged the horse on again.

- - - - - - - - -- - - -

They rode on for most of the day and finally stopped as night began to fall. Kate was glad when she was lifted down from the horse to rest. She wanted nothing more than to get away from Troy. Being near him made her feel dirty and used, and she hated the sensation. She longed briefly for her rooms, her marble tub filled with steaming water. She wanted to bathe, see if she could scrub away the horrible feeling that Troy left on her skin.

She sat down awkwardly next to a tree and let her mind take her back home. She had no memories from before the age of five, but if she strained, she could recall Veronique being almost like a mother to her. She knew that the Yami had done everything a mother would; raised her, taught her how to read and write, how to use her majic, how to defend herself. Veronique may not have been her birth mother, but she was the closest thing Katie could have wished for.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kate kept her senses alert as she let her mind wander, seeking a more pleasant time, hoping it would ease the stress. Finally, she settled on the day she had first met Neo, over six years ago.

She had been fourteen at the time, and Veronique had essentially forced her to go to Mirai's birthday celebration. Mirai was just turning thirteen, and that was the coming-of-age for young Mages. The celebration itself was out on the big stone platform. Long wooden tables had been moved out to the platform, to hold the feast being brought from the kitchen. The mood was cheerful, and there was plenty of good food, good drink and good laughs. Kate, at that point rather shy and uncomfortable in crowds, had retreated to the meeting-room. She stood near the large windows and watched the monsters and their masters having a wonderful time.

She had left the door partly open, and therefore did not hear it being pushed open the rest of the way, or hear the careful stride of a boot on the floor.

"Amazing isn't it?" came a voice from behind her, and Katie whirled aroundShe turned quickly, knocking over a vase but caught it before it could hit the ground. Standing in the doorway was a monster she had never seen before with long blonde hair and topaz eyes. She stared at him, unable to say anything and feeling for some reason like a kid caught with their hand in sweets jar.

"I…well that is…I um…." She kept stumbling, trying to find something to say as she put the vase back up and kept from looking him in the eye again.

A smile twitched at the corner of Neo's lips as he stepped further into the room. Kate busied herself with running her fingers over the vase. She was quiet and didn't look at him at all. He walked over and leaned against the back of a chair.

"This is a nice place, Sacelon."

Kate just nodded in agreement and continued to run her fingers along the vase.

He watched her with curiosity. "What's your name little one?"

Kate looked up slightly. His topaz eyes were watching her and quickly she looked away, turning her back to him and walking over to the far wall to 'examine' a tapestry.

"You haven't answered me." He said, not moving.

"Kate." She whispered, only glancing over her shoulder at him for a second.

"What's bothering you?" He asked as he moved around to the other side to sit in the chair.

Slowly she walked around the outside of the room, not making eye contact with him. "Nothing is bothering me."

Neo sighed and just sat where he was, taking in the room and watching the young girl at the same time. She looked back over her shoulder at him and quickly looked away when she saw he was looking at her.

"Why won't you look at me?" He asked, curiosity laced in his voice.

"I just can't." She said as she fiddled with a chair on the other side of the room.

He looked back outside. "Please, what is the occasion for the crowd? And why are you not a part of it? Surely someone as lovely as yourself would be on the arm of a handsome male for such a gathering."

She blushed a little and looked over at him. "I-I don't like crowds."

The smile continued to twitch at his lips as he stood up and asked, "I'm not fond of them either. Would you do me the honors of showing me around this place? Surely you know your way around here."

She looked him in the eye and smiled. "I can do that."

"Good." He walked over and held out his arm. Kate hesitated for a moment before taking it and walking with him out of the room.

She smiled as she recalled the way he had acted the rest of that day. He had made jokes and gotten her to smile. Finally, the uneasiness she had felt upon first meeting him had left her body and was replaced with a strange comfort.

Mentally backtracking, Katie focused her memory on the scene on the stone platform. Staring down through the window, she lost herself in the memory of watching the monsters and people below her. Everyone attending the party had worn their best clothes, instead of their usual dueling attire. At the far side of the patio, she could see Onyx and Damus standing together, deep in discussion. The older Yami was wearing a long gown of jet-black silk, the bodice decorated with beads of jet and gold embroidery forming an intricate design. She had looked far different then than she did now – her hair fell only to the middle of her back, her eyes were not so cold, and her face was not so narrow. Damus, standing beside her, was wearing robes of darkest purple, with silver thread and amethyst stones glittering around the hem and cuffs. He was clearly younger, but little else about him had changed. In the midst of the crowd, Mirai could just be made out, proudly showing off the mage's staff to everyone around her. She was wearing robes almost identical to those of her older brother, though in a much lighter shade of purple, and her thick hair was tied up in a high ponytail. She had been so young then, only thirteen. Her body, which now showed the curves of a woman, had been almost boyish then, long and lanky, greatly resembling her brother's. Although she had not grown much taller, her figure had changed considerably.

Katie's mental eyes moved again, seeking other people in the crowd. Her gaze found her Yami first, and she smiled as she saw the woman. Veronique had changed even more than Onyx had in those long years. Her hair had fallen only to her shoulders then, and her face was open, cheerful. Her eyes were wide with the vigor of youth, and her face had shown none of the strain and concern that it held now, years later.

Smiling to herself, Katie glanced around the group on the platform until she found her own counterpart among the shifting crowd. Sarah, young and vibrant at fifteen, was speaking animatedly to Celtos, one hand clasping her drink, the other gesturing animatedly as she described… something. At that point, Sarah had been too young to see the lust beginning in Celtos' golden eyes. They had begun their relationship about a year later, when Sarah's combat training had been transferred to Celtos, who generally fought in nothing more than a pair of loose pants.

Soon after remembering these things, Kate fell into a quiet, yet alert sense of sleep.

- - - - - -

A timid knock on the main door of her quarters lifted Onyx's head from where it sat, bent painfully over decades worth of crumbling parchment maps.

"Come," she called wearily, and heard the door squeak slightly as it opened.

Light, quick footsteps, slightly uneven, made their way over the stone floor of her living room. She could tell by the sound that they belonged to her light - Sarah had a barely-noticeable limp in her right leg that made her strides uneven.

"I'm in my office," she called over her shoulder, picking up her quill again.

She heard the footsteps stop at the office door a moment later and nodded slightly in acknowledgement, although her back was to it.

"What's troubling you, little one?" Even without looking, she could sense the tension in her light. It radiated through their link, crashing over Onyx like waves onto the shore. Carefully, she dampened the link so that her light's tension would not affect her, as well.

"I'm afraid, Onyx."

The admission startled the Yami - Sarah rarely admitted to fear - and she paused in with her quill poised over the half-finished map she'd been drawing.

"Afraid of what, exactly?"

There was silence for a moment, and Onyx turned in her chair to glance at her light. The girl was pale, her jaw set, twisting her fingers together so tightly her knuckles were white.

"Hikari?"

"I'm scared of so many things, Onyx!" Sarah burst out. "I'm scared of leaving Sacelon, I'm scared of the coming battle, I'm terrified at the thought of never seeing Katie again - "

Onyx dropped her quill on the desk and held up her hand, silencing the girl easily. "You are human," she reminded the girl, her dark emerald eyes peircing into the girl's grey-green ones. "It is natural to fear the unknown. It's what keeps you alive."

"Then it's not... cowardly?"

Onyx almost laughed despite herself. "Of course not. I was terrified the first time I rode to battle, and I'd been training for war my entire life. Feeling fear doesn't make you a coward, little one. Only surrendering to it will."

Smiling, Onyx muttered a charm over the quill so that it might finish copying the map without assistance, then pushed away from the desk and stood up.

"Come," she said, dropping one hand on her light's shoulders. "Let's go make sure all the horses are ready."

Down at the stables, Celtos and Gaia walked side-by side down the long line of horses standing outside the barn. Each one was fully tacked and waiting patiently, although none of them were tied. Although there would be not even thirty riders, there were nearly fifty horses there. The extras were burdened with the supplies that would be required for the journey into battle - food and water, extra weapons, maintenence quipment for the animals, tack, and riders. All of them were fine animals, sleek-bodied and fit. Celtos reached the end of the line where his own chestnut stallion, Cadiban, stood silently between Damus' horse, a peculiarity with a black coat and a silver-white mane and tail, and Sarah's stallion Trinity.

From the corner of his eye, Celtos caught a glimpse of movement from the Mansion. Sarah and Onyx were walking down the staircase, both clearly destined for the stables.

"Well, good luck to you," Gaia said, glancing back at the approaching women. "I'm due in the dragon caves."

"With any luck, we won't need luck," Celtos answered. "But thank you."

Gaia shook his head slightly and popped out, leaving Celtos to wait silently as other members of the party began to drift in from the Village. Soon, very soon, they would all be riding into war.