A cool breeze swept through the open balcony overlooking the courtyard. Leaves had a subtle orange hue today. The warmth of the sun heated only skin deep on King Edwards. He placed his hands on the smooth stone railing and peered over at the training below.

Evangelica, Kerian's daughter, spared with General Hycut. The pair clashed swords with improving grace as they went. For the last sixteen years, her laughter was all the lit the cold silent halls. She'd grown up to be a stubborn, skilled, and strong-willed woman. Just like her mother. The thought no longer hurt, instead, Edwards just felt cold inside.

Kieran strode up beside him and glanced to the courtyard. His long black cloak dusted the stone floor. As usual, he wore lightweight black leather armor. Ever since the night his wife died he was always battle ready.

"It is odd to teach a woman swordplay," King Edwards remarked.

"Mages need to be well equipped and independent, no matter if they are a man or woman," said Kieran.

Swords clashed making a metallic clang echo across the courtyard. Their attention focused back to the pair below.

"Elbows up," General Hycut snapped.

Ev corrected herself and swung towards Hycut again. Her form was still rough, and she lacked grace. She wore a leather chest plate over a long blue tunic, leather bracers that were too big for her, and brown leather boots over her tights. They didn't have armor made for her slight frame and curves.

King Edwards had thought of making her armor, but deep inside he did not want to encourage the matter. Julia, her mother, was a battle mage. The fiercest women he knew. And that got her killed. He lifted his head, making sure his face was blank of emotion.

"It is gracious of you to allow General Hycut to take time from his day to train my daughter."

"It is good to have him in different situations," said Edwards in a flat tone.

"I want her to handle anything that will be thrust upon her. She..." Kieran trained off.

An unspoken understanding passed between them through their bond of friendship, grown over King Edwards entire life time. Ev, one day, would take her father's place as royal mage, and he doesn't want her to get killed.

It was a painful notion that Edwards also shared. If Kieran would fall tomorrow, Ev would take his place, and she was far from ready.

"My King!" came a scream from the far side of the courtyard. A messenger boy rushed in and tripped as he tried to bow. "My King, there are reports of Orcs raiding villages near Heartwood."

"What?" King Edwards snapped.

"Orcs have not entered our lands in ages," said Kieran. "Are you sure?"

The boy nodded. "Other messengers have seen this with their own eyes."

General Hycut looked up at King Edwards. He had only one dark eye, and a black patch over where the other was. "My King, shall I dispatch a squadron?"

"Yes, and ready my horse. I shall ride with."

General Hycut bowed and put his fist to his chest.

"My King," said Kieran, "if that wise?"

Edwards raised a brow. "You question a King's duty to ride with his men when his people are in danger?"

"No, my king."

Edwards and Kieran turned to go in the castle.

"My King!" called Ev.

Edwards glanced to the side. Kieran had stiffened, and his jaw tensed, showing his displeasure at his daughter's intrusion. Edwards turned and looked back down.

Ev was staring up at him, her blue eyes bright and wide. Her long reddish-blonde hair had worked loose from her bun and hung in unruly strands around her face.

"Yes?"

"Please take me with you."

"Nonsense!" Kieran snapped. A furious red hue washed across his pale face.

"The battlefield is no place for a girl," said King Edwards. Even as he spoke he felt Kieran's eyes turn to him. He cleared his throat. "Not until you are well trained and ready."

"But I-"

General Hycut grabbed her elbow. "Do not talk back to your king."

Her pale face flushed, and her eyes widened. She pulled back while lowering her head.

"That is why you are not ready," Kieran snapped.

He turned his back to her and faced Edwards. Edwards gave him a quick approving nod and headed down the hall with a brisk pace. The castle held a slight buzz from the news. His soldiers, accustomed to mundane patrols, scrambled through the halls to the ready.

"Forgive my daughter," said Kieran. "She is still young and foolish."

"Weren't we all at one time," said Edwards. A very long time ago. Edwards ascended the throne when he was thirteen. His father was killed during an invasion from a nearby kingdom. The villages laid in ruin. His father had five royal mages; Kieran, Luna mother of infant Gallion, Shatner, Julia, and Horatio. Only Kieran, Julia, and Gallion survived.

Kieran started as a mentor and grew to be Edwards best friend. Gallion, who Edwards grew up with, became his worst enemy. Forced into the rules of adult life at a young age like Edwards, he grew jealous and bitter.

Edwards didn't remember a time that he was truly a child. He never had time for play or leasiurment. He was a king. He protected his lands and served his people. Despite the dark cold void in his chest, Ev remained the tiny sliver of hope and memory of a time when things were whole. When he had a family and still felt love. Of the innocence of someone so young. He shook his head and doubled pace to the stables.

King Edwards mounted his stallion. The pure white horse saddled with fine leather and royal purples easily showed Edwards regality to any onlookers. Kieran mounted an all-black horse that stood a hand taller than Edwards'. General Hycut and the other soldiers saddled and mounted various colored quarter horses bred for speed and travel.

With the thundering of hooves, they rode out across the countryside. It had been a long time since Edwards left the castle. The open and fresh air filled his lungs creating a slight dizziness in his head. He felt the power of the stallion beneath him. A shred of life came back into him only to be smothered by the thought of orcs in his land.

Orcs! They have never entered my lands, even in my father's lifetime. What happened? The unknowing ate at him for the hours it took to ride towards the edge of his kingdom. Edwards' lands were oblong with the northern border following the sea. It took weeks to ride across his kingdom one way and only days the other. Heartwood lay only a day's ride away. If they moved through the night, as he planned, they would be there by midday.

When the sun set two scouts rode ahead of the group with lanterns. King Edwards moved to the center of his men with the ones furthest out holding more lanterns. This strategy allowed them to ride through the dark and keep the King safe. Edwards felt smothered by them. Each sweaty man riding within arm's reach. He could hear each one breathe. Hear the thinks and clicks of the metal of each saddle and sword.

The dawn did not come soon enough. With the first light, formation changed and Edwards took the lead again. He quickened pace, trying to make a gap between himself and his men. A thick sweat coated his horse's fur. He still felt smothered. Irritation wound up inside of him.

They spotted the smoke over the treetops. The company paused for a moment, all going quiet. Maybe all of them realized something was truly wrong.

"So, it is true," Edwards mumbled. He turned to his men. "Ride swiftly men!"

The thunder of hooves overtook the forest until they burst into the open expanse of what once was Heartwood city. The tired horses snorted as pushed past fatigue shown with the thick lather on their fur. The houses lay in burnt piles of wood and rubble. The inn, still barely standing, smoldered. Pieces of the wall were visibly caved in. Bits of ember within the foul smells of smoke drifted before him. Crying drifted in the air like a broken-hearted bird's song.

The villagers all spotted them and began to move towards them. They were covered in blood and soot. Most were old men and women. A few of the younger ones stood along. He noted there was only two children in the crowd.

General Hycut rode to the front and called out to the crowd. "We have gotten word that orcs have pillaged through this area. Is that true?"

"Well, it sure wasn't our imaginations!" A young man stepped from the crowd. He had long dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes that were reddened with dark bags beneath them. He wore typical peasant garb; brown tunic, tights, leather boots.

"How dare you speak out of line, peasant! Do you not know whose presence you're in?" General Hycut snapped.

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. The people who are supposed to protect us and are to late. Where were you before these things got this far into the land? Where were you before our families were- slaughtered." He choked on the last word.

The small crowd turned to the boy, nodding in agreement. Edwards looked at the boy again. He'd obviously been crying and from his words, he lost family last night. The vein in Hycut's neck bulged. His jaw tensed and relaxed several times. His hand began to drop toward the hilt of his sword. Edwards rode forward and tapped Hycut's elbow on the way by to encourage him to move away from the sword.

"You are right. We were not able to be here in time. But our scouts were able to witness the orcs and get word to us so that we can stop them before anyone else gets hurt."

A few heads lifted, and eyes sparkled with hope.

A woman walked into the crowd and to the boy's side. Edwards paused, breath caught in his throat. She was far from a village peasant. A black and white thin cloth wrapped her breasts, showing her bare shoulder and the flat lines of her stomach. Instead of tights, she seemed to be wearing some kind of skirt that stopped just above the knees and was comprised of several flat leather strips that resembled something that should be on light armor. Two sheathed weapons were on her thick black leather belt along with a large pouch. Her lips were light pink. Eyes deep dark brown. Hair blonde, long, and pulled back as if she were ready for battle. Spots of dirt covered various places of her exposed pale skin.

"And what of the hostages?" the boy snapped.

"Hostages?" General Hycut questioned.

Edwards pulled his head back, fighting to focus. The boy seemed familiar while the woman was as much a stranger as he'd ever met. Hostages? The word finally registered.

The boy pointed at the trail leading north. "The orcs took my father and many of the villagers. What are you going to do about that?"

General Hycut grunted. "Orcs do not take hostages. Never in the history of our lands has that happened."

"But orc raids happen every day?" the boy spat back.

This time the woman, a petite girl especially compared to the boy's tall lean body, put her hand on his shoulder. She whispered something in his ear that quieted him. He crossed his arms and fixed a scowl on Hycut.

Kieran suddenly chimed in. "Boy, what is your name?"

The boy lifted his chin. "Bastian."

"You live on a farm here?"

Bastian turned and pointed towards a smoking pile of boards on the far edge of town. "They killed my mother and my... brother."

The woman tightened her grip on Bastian's shoulder for a moment and then released.

"What of your father?" asked Kieran.

"He was taken by the orcs. Many of us saw the barred cart they hauled out of town."

A few villages nodded in agreement.

"That is impossible," General Hycut snapped. His horse laid its ears back and tossed its head.

King Edwards lifted his hand to silence Hycut. "If they have seen this with their own eyes we must investigate. Send a scout party."

"Scout party!" Bastian yelled. "Those orcs killed our village. You think they won't wipe out a few scouts."

General Hycut's horse lurched forward. He grasped the hilt of his sword. "You need to learn some manners when speaking to your king, boy!"

The woman sprang with unnatural speed in front of the boy, both hands on the hilt of her weapons. Her eyes narrowed into a fierce glare.

Kieran moved forward as well and put his horse between Hycut and the woman. "Get the scouts deployed now. The orcs cannot be far."

The general growled and turned his horse around. The woman dropped her hands from the hilts of her weapons and stepped back, forcing Bastian back as well. She turned to him. "Our family is buried. Let's go after Warrick."

She grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him away from the crowd.

"And where are you going?" asked Edwards.

"To save my father!" Bastian snapped.

She gave him a hard tug and then shoved him so that he was a pace in front of her. She glanced back at Edwards with deep sad brown eyes. She had the same dark circles. The same signs of deep heartbreaking loss.

A pained sensation spread across his chest. The sudden emotion after so many years startled him. His face warmed. His heart picked up rhythm. Was it just the scenario? Seeing loss again? Or more? Her?

"What is your name?" he asked before she could turn away. The words burst out faster than he could control them. That was out of line for a King. Out of character.

Her sad eyes gave him a questioning look. "Melinda." Her voice was mid-tone soft, yet strong.

The warmth spread through his body.

She turned and moved towards the forest with Bastian.

Kieran rode up next to Edwards, his eyes fixed on the pair fading into the distance. He tilted his chin up and lifted a brow. "He's a feisty boy."

"Something about him is familiar."

"Have you met him before, my king?"

"No."