*    *   *
Tamar.

Caspian led her to a library, seating her on a cushioned settle. She was dimly aware of Caspian whispering to one of the servants. I just killed a man. She stared a the cobblestone floor, somehow unable to tear her eyes away from the stones.

She didn’t know how to react. That man had been among Damon’s men. He was partially responsible for all she’d been through. But to kill someone… She swallowed. It didn’t matter who she had killed, it didn’t change the nastiness of it.

Her gaze shifted slightly to stare at her hands. The hands that had held the weapon. The cushions shifted slightly as Caspian sat down beside her. There was silence as she stared at her hands, not daring to glance at him.

Slowly, he reached over and covered her hands with his own, blocking them from her sight. “Don’t.”

She blinked in surprise at the quiet order. “W-what?” Her voice was empty, holding only a hint of surprise and nothing else, reflecting the numbness.

“Don’t let your thoughts go there.”

She slowly tilted her head, finding calm eyes waiting for her. “Why not? I-” He stopped her words, placing a finger on her lips. He shook his head.

“No. That man was attacking you, and he nearly killed Isidro. He was out for blood, and you stopped him.”

“He was after my blood! It was my presence that brought him here.” She shot back.

“We don’t know if he was after you. But we do know that he wanted to destroy the only one who can rule Adrelawin.” He paused, letting that sink in a moment. “You are the only one that these people will accept as their Queen. You are the only one who can raise this Kingdom from the darkness Thaddias brought upon it. If those men had killed you, they would’ve destroyed the last chance this Kingdom has.”

She swallowed, trying to grasp what he was saying. Just then, the servant returned, carrying a tray with a kettle of steaming hot tea. Caspian stood and walked over to the table the servant placed it on, dismissing the man.

As he poured a cup, Jamaal walked in, hand resting on his sword as always. “There is no further sign of intruders. We are tracking the one who escaped, but it appears Herschel is the only one likely to capture him.”

Caspian nodded. “Let me know if anything changes.” Jamaal bowed and disappeared out the door.

Things seemed too quiet, like silence after a thundershower. Suddenly she felt cold, and began to shiver. Caspian handed her the cup of hot tea, and she savored it’s warmth. He located a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders before taking his seat again.

“Is it always like this? After a battle?” She surprised herself in asking, needing to fill the silence.

“Sometimes, depending on the person and situation. Most young soldiers are like this, some worse.” He thought a moment. “It’s always the first battle that defines how a person is going to handle the life of a soldier or knight.”

“What about for you? What was your first battle?”

He averted his gaze slightly, and she immediately knew that he was still disturbed by it. “It was a simple skirmish, didn’t last too long.” He leaned back a little, relaxing. “It took a couple days to stop thinking about it constantly. But it does get better, you get a little more used to it every time.”

She shuddered slightly, and he didn’t comment. After a few more moments of silence, she stood and placed her cup on the table, keeping the blanket. “I think I’d better get some sleep.” She said quietly, turning back to him.

Caspian hadn’t moved, just nodded. “Make sure Isidro knows where you are.” He reminded her. She nodded, leaving the room.

*    *   *
Isidro.

“Find out who made the mistake, and bring them to me.” Isidro ordered one of the knights, who quickly bowed and left the room. He turned to the remaining Royal Knights. “Storm the army camps, bring me every soldier of Adrelawin. No one can be missed!”

The men bowed and rushed out of the room. He could hear them running down the castle steps. He turned to Jamaal and Hiram. “We need to interrogate each of them, make certain there are no secret tunnels that may have been missed, no alternate ways into the city.”

“Agreed. I will oversee the interrogations tomorrow while you two see about speeding up the clean up.” Jamaal suggested.

Isidro nodded. “Sounds good. I want the interrogation of each prisoner to be overseen by one of us. I don’t want more torture then necissary. Some of these men could still become loyal to the Princess, but not if we torture them unneccissarily.”

“Agreed.” Hiram said, leading the way out of the room. As they exited, Tamar appeared, walking down the hallway toward them.

The Three exchanged glances, silently agreeing. Hiram and Jamaal left without another word, disappearing to their tasks. Tamar didn’t seem to notice, her expression blank. He studied her a moment. There was no fear, just a certain dullness of someone unable to process the night’s events.

He stepped closer. “Are you alright?”

She slowly nodded before looking up at him. “I need sleep.”

Her words were empty, as if she didn’t really want to go to sleep, but didn’t know what else to do. He recognized the coping method. Sleep was mindless, a way of avoiding thinking.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your new room.” He said quietly, leading the way. He listened to her footsteps behind him as they walked down the hall. The guilt hung heavily on his shoulders. If he hadn’t taught her, hadn’t made the mistake of letting his guard down…

He knew that teaching her is what saved her in that moment, and that he had only let his guard down because he was checking to make sure she was alright, but somehow it felt like he could’ve done better.

He stopped at the door to the empty bedroom and opened it, stepping back to allow her to enter. She started to pass, but paused, turning to look up at him. He met her gaze, unsure of what he should say. Her gaze shifted and she reached up, gently touching the place above his eyebrow where he’d been cut.

“Thank you.” She murmered, hugging him.

Isidro stood stiffly in shock. He’d seen many things as the right-hand man to the King, but this was something entirely new. Princesses don’t thank or hug their bodyguard, they expect protection from them regardless. She released him and turned away without another word.

“Sleep well, Princess.” He said as the door slowly closed. He stood there a moment, processing. Finally he shook his head and went to the room across the hall, where he would be staying so he could hear if there was any more trouble. What an unusual Princess…

*    *   *
Caspian.

The pressure was building behind his dry eyes, but he had one more thing on his to-do-list before he could get some sleep. He quietly entered the room which had been broken into earlier. The room was empty, and a board had been placed over the broken window. The bodies had been removed and the blood wiped up.

He scanned the room, noting the shredded curtains and messed up bed. He closed his eyes, bringing the image of the room immediately after the battle back to the front of his mind. He opened and closed his eyes a couple times until he was sure he had the positions of everything memerized correctly.

Caspain frowned and moved to the window, turning around to face into the room. One of the barbarians had been lying on his stomach just two feet in front of him. The fatal battle wound had been in his back. He wasn’t focused on the battle.

He moved two steps forward, angling himself to face the direction the body had been facing. Nothing immediately caught his eye, but he knew that people tended to angle themselves directly towards whatever they were focused on, so he walked directly forwards to the wall.

There wasn’t much there, just a small table and a mirror on the wall. He studied the table’s contents. A vase of flowers, a tablecloth, and a small box meant for jewelery. Opening the box, he found nothing.

He looked up at the mirror. It reflected the bed behind him, but it didn’t make sense for that to be what caught the barbarian’s attention. “What would a man on the run need from the castle? What would be valuble enough to enter a city occupied by your enemy, and break into the castle in which the enemy lives?” He asked himself quietly.

He reached up and felt the frame. It wasn’t mounted on each corner like castles usually did. Memories of his life as a knight filled his mind. He remembered a time when he was acting as a spy for the King, and was searching the home of a man suspected of possessing a stolen signet ring.

He carefully lifted the heavy mirror off the wall, carrying it over to the bed where he lay it down and flipped it over. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he studied his findings.

He quickly located a paper and quil, making a copy of it. “Well well well. Isidro, my friend, you are getting sloppy.” He murmered, studying the copy to ensure it was perfect. Then he hung the mirror back up and left the room, satisfied he had found what the barbarians were after…
______
Author note;
Whoa! Okay, any guesses on what the barbarians might have been after? Was it Tamar or something else?    \_/