“Your first bit of advice,” the queen told them the next morning, “is to only kill if you must.”

Cyra had brought them to an out-of-the-way place for their first day of training. Two old stone walls made the sides and the back was a tower. Vell and Senar stood side-by-side facing Cyra.

“Remember that killing is a last resort,” she added. They nodded. “Now,” Cyra continued, “you only have fourteen days to train here, so you’ll need to work harder than most. Are you willing to do that?” They nodded again and she smiled. “I’m happy to hear that. We’ll start with the basics. I trust at least one of you can use a bow and arrow for hunting.”

“I can,” Senar replied.

“I’ve never tried,” Vell confessed, shaking her head.

The queen nodded. “You have your own bow, Senar?” He nodded. “I’ll give you one, Vell, if Senar will agree to teach you himself,” she added. “We don’t have enough time to train you in archery also.”

Vell looked at Senar questioningly. He smiled. “Of course I’ll teach you.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile and turned to Cyra. “Why do I need to learn archery?”

“Not only is it one of the things every knight learns,” she explained, “but in your case it’s for an added precaution. It might become useful for you.”

The queen handed them each a light-weight, blunt sword, explaining that they would get their actual ones before they left the castle. Using her own sword, Cyra showed them how to correctly hold the swords and taught them a couple drills.

Holding the sword made Vell nervous. She wasn’t sure why, but it scared her slightly. Though, as she got used to the feel of it, she became more confident.

They took a break around noon. Well wiped sweat from her face and stretched her tired muscles. Her body wasn’t used to this type of activity. A servant brought them their lunch and they ate hungrily. When they had eaten Cyra told them that they could walk around the grounds for a while.

Senar went to the stables to see Kintec as Vell spotted Arin. He was just walking by and she jogged to catch up.

“How’s the training?” he asked her.

“Tiring,” she said and meant it.

“Most training for anything is,” Arin replied.

“May I ask you something?” Vell questioned as they continued walking.

He nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Have you heard of any sorcerer named Orlan?” she asked.

Arin nodded grimly. “He worked for Yiska. After Cyra took over he swore revenge and ran off. No one knows where he is now, but everyone fears he’ll find a way to kill us all. Some think he was responsible for that fire three years ago. Nothing has been heard of him since, which scares a lot of people. He may be looking for something bigger to destroy Algoma.”

Vell wasn’t sure if she had been expecting him to know of Orlan or not, but she was surprised. “Why did he swear revenge?”

“Supposedly, Orlan was Yiska’s Guardian,” he replied. “He was upset that he wasn’t able to detect the plot to overthrow the king. Where did you hear his name?”

She thought quickly. “Other people were saying things.”

“Not surprising,” he said with a nod.

They stopped at the stables and Arin smiled at her. “I need to see Topaz. I must keep her in here. Some people don’t like mystical beasts roaming the castle area.”

“Poor Topaz,” Vell said sadly.

When they walked in Vell found Senar and Ryo talking by Kintec’s stall. She stopped to see Sparkra, whose stall was beside Kintec’s.

“She really likes you.”

Vell jumped. She hadn’t noticed Ryo come over to her.

“She also likes being a mother but she misses her colt,” he told her.

“I know she does,” she said quietly. “I’ll get her back to him as soon as I can.”

“She thanks you,” he replied. “So how did you get her?”

Vell sighed as Senar joined them. “Well, I took Fira with me last year when we went to the Temple. Remember how I almost fell off the cliff when I was with you and Arin?” Ryo nodded. “Fira spooked when we were on that cliff,” she went on. “I tried to calm her, but she wouldn’t relax. She stepped sideways off the cliff and I had to jump off her.” Vell paused as tears filled her eyes. Senar squeezed her shoulder. She swallowed and went on. “I jumped too late and barely managed to grab a root. Senar was able to pull me up, but Fira must have died. The Sisterhood of the Temple gave me Sparkra.”

Senar smiled and kept his hand on her shoulder. “But they put her with Kintec. That’s the reason Sparkra had Rett, her foal.”

“I’m sorry about Fira,” Ryo told her quietly.

“Thank you,” she replied, drying her eyes. Sparkra nuzzled her cheek.

They walked down to where Arin was and Vell showed Topaz to Senar. He was very interested in the Unine and Arin told him about her. Vell was happy to see the Unine again after so long. She had always liked Topaz.

Eventually Vell and Senar made their way back to their training area.

The sun had set and Vell planned to go to sleep when she realized she needed to tell Senar about Orlan first. She knocked on the door that separated their rooms just to be polite.

“Yes?” Senar asked and she could hear him moving around.

Vell walked in as he was closing the chest at the foot of his bed. “I found out about Orlan,” she told him with a smile.

“What about him?” he asked curiously, coming over to her.

“He was Yiska’s protector,” she explained. “When Cyra came to power he swore revenge and ran off. They suspect him of the fire and no one’s heard anything of him since. Everyone fears him.”

“I fear him,” Senar said frankly.

“I do, too,” Vell admitted. “Simply hearing your story makes me fearful of him.”

He smiled grimly and squeezed her shoulder. “I’m alive though.”

“I’m thankful,” she told him with a smile.

“Want to learn to hold a bow now?” he asked, putting an arm around her.

“Okay,” she said and he kissed her swiftly.

Senar showed her how to hold a bow the correct way, but he didn’t have her shoot any arrows. Vell found it simple enough that she knew she’d remember how to hold and draw it. After fifteen minutes Vell told him good-night and went to bed, trying not to worry about what Arin had said of Orlan.