Royal Blue - How to Protect

Mooncycles can fly by and before one blinks, two sets of
twelve had passed.  It was a busy time at the palace, another
one of transition.  The reigns of the Royal Guard and the
military were slowly being handed over to the chosen of Prince
Endymion.  Now between the ages of thirteen and twelve, the
current Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and Jedite had already
experienced most of their training.  As of the seventh sunwane
of the fourth mooncycle, they had most of the training a
functioning avant-garde team needed.  Yet, they had not had
training in linking with other teams that protected the royals
and they had not had their Fineta.

The Fineta was a test, one only experienced by those protecting
a possible heir to the throne.  No other members of the military
had even heard of the test, as Finetas were guarded secrets...and
often did not start out as tests.  In peaceful times, sometimes
Finetas were staged, but this had only happened twice in the
realm's history.  In some more turbulent times, royal guards 
took many a Fineta, none of which were staged or started out as
tests.  You stayed on the guard if you passed your Fineta.  If 
you survived and did not pass the Fineta, you were executed.

The guard of King Telluric had their Fineta when then Prince
Telluric was targeted at a gathering in Atlantis.  Relying
on their wits, the four men had to sneak the ruler out of
the province to save his life.  The guard of Prince Terrius
had their Fineta at the Battle of Calif.  The rebels had
engaged the capital city of AmerWest quickly and without warning
on the sunrise that the prince visited.  In that case, three
men and one woman successfully held off the attack against
the country seat of the Duke of AmerWest, where Terrius was
staying.  They never talked about how they accomplished it
and Lieutenant Gore never discussed the strange scar on her
thigh.

But that sunwane, the newest royal guard would face their
Fineta.  In fact, the whole palace would face a Fineta...and
not all of the protectors would pass.

*****

Four hours after sunwane and the current royal guard sat in
the sitting room just off of the chambers of his royal highness,
Prince Endymion.  As was their habit, they gathered there for
their nightly meeting after their liege had retired for the
night.  After the meeting, the one assigned to moonlight duty
would stay in the room while the others would retire to their
rooms in the palace.  It was because they were among the few
awake at the time that they were among the first to hear the
disturbance.

Jonathan, having taken to the role of Kunzite, was in the
middle of a statement when all four of the teens heard the
crash.

"What was that?" Nathaniel asked after a pause.

"I'm not sure," Jordan replied, "but it sounded like a large
amount of broken pieces hitting the floor.  Maybe a window
was broken?"

"Something doesn't feel right," Treggar said.

Jonathan agreed silently with Treggar.  Something was wrong.
"Treggar, take a look out of the window.  What do you see?"

The youngest of the royal guard nodded, stood, and walked over
to the window.  "Not much.  There is a strange orange glow off
to the west, but-" the young man paused.  It wasn't what he
saw that worried him, but what he didn't see.  "But, I can't
see the nightwatch in front of the palace.  Which is odd.  They
would never move this late after sunwane."

That observation in the room caused the inhabitants to become
very quiet.  After a few beats, Nathaniel turned to Jonathan,
"Jonathan, what do you think is happening?"

"I think," the young man said soberly, "that this is our Fineta."

That one word changed the air completely in the room.  While
they were all scared, they all knew their duty.  The safety
of the prince and realm came first.  Jonathan stood.  He would
make sure that they did not fail.

"Nephrite," the silver-haired boy began in his 'commander voice,'
"Retrieve his royal highness."  As Nathaniel nodded and opened
the door to the prince's room, Jonathan turned to the others in
the room.  "Zoicite, without leaving this room, try to find out
as much as you can about what is going on out there."  
Immediately, Jordan moved to the outer door and pressed 
his ear against it.

As other crashes were now being heard in the palace, along with 
a few screams, Jonathan turned to Treggar.  "Jedite, what tools
do we have with us now?"

Blinking a few times, the boy thought for a moment.  Then he 
replied, "We'd have your sword, which you are still wearing.
The linking system that is on Nephrite, although we still 
don't know how to use it.  And Zoicite's herb bag."

Jonathan sighed.  It wasn't much, and he had a feeling that
they would not have the time to stock up on more supplies.
"Jedite, gather everything from this room that we might 
find remotely useful in the next few days, keeping in 
mind not to weigh yourself down too much.  We and our animals
will have to be able to move quickly."

"Yes, sir," the young man replied as he began to scan the
room.

And, as Jonathan stood there, trying to mask his worry at
the ever growing sounds of chaos, he hoped that Nathaniel 
would hurry.  Pushing down his worry, the thirteen year
old refused to think about the fact that he was having his
first Fineta a good eight years sooner than his father...or,
that if his hunch was correct, his father was having a Fineta
that night as well.

*****

As he opened the door, Nathaniel moved quietly into the
room.  At first he had thought to kick open the door, but
decided against it.  The fact that he and the other members
of the team had been awake at the sound of the first crash
had given them an edge of a handful of moments.  There was
no need to make any additional sounds yet to let anyone
know what they were about.  While Jonathan was correct to
call it a Fineta, Nathaniel was pretty sure what was happening
was a palace invasion.  If the invaders didn't know where the
prince was sleeping, Nathaniel was not going to make a lot 
of noise to alert them of his location.

Walking up to the bed, he shook its occupant gently.  "Your 
royal highness."

Prince Endymion shifted and then slowly opened his eyes at
hearing his title.  "Nathaniel?" he asked as he blinked
the sleep from his eyes, "what is happening?"

That question threw the young Nephrite.  He decided pretty
quickly that he couldn't tell his liege and his friend that
the palace was being invaded.  Endymion had the heart of his
mother and he would immediately worry about the safety of
his brothers, parents, and grandparents.  In fact, Nathaniel
wasn't really sure how Endymion would react to the information.
At the same time, however, Endy needed to be able to trust
them, so he didn't want to lie.  

Deciding on a middle ground that was a combination of truth
and omission, he answered, "We are being tested, your 
royal highness.  And, we shall need to with us to verify
that we have passed the test.  Please come with me."

Confused and still half asleep, but trusting his friend,
Endymion sat up and began to get out of bed.  "They would
test you at this hour?!  The father of Jonathan is very
hard on all of you."

Nathaniel didn't comment, he just drew the young prince
out of the room, not letting him stop even to grab the
top of his sleepwear.  And, as the prince followed his
friend and protector from the room, he did notice that 
Nathaniel surveyed the room and was sure to put himself
between Endymion and the doors and windows.

When the two entered the sitting room attached to the prince's
room, Endymion immediately noticed Jordan by the outer door
and Treggar picking up miscellaneous things from around the
room.

"Nephrite, heads up," Treggar said as he tossed two things 
across the room.  As Nathaniel caught them, Endymion noticed
Nathaniel's stargazer crystal and his own Book of Creationism.
Endymion thought they were strange things to bring on a
test, and, based on the look on Jonathan's face, he agreed,
even thought he didn't comment.

"Zoicite," Jonathan said as he turned to looked at Jordan,
"What have you figured out?"

The merchant's son stood and moved away from the door.  
"Based on the sounds of the crashes and screams, it sounds
like the disturbance has entered the palace.  I can't tell
how big it is or which way it is going.  I do know for the 
moment that the hall outside is clear and that the side exits
are gone.  We have the options of front and back only,"
he finished.

"Kunzite," Nathaniel turned to Jonathan, "if we double
back, we would be in the area near General Hightower.
We would be two teams deep in addressing the issue."
Although Nathaniel's statement confused the prince, the
others in the room understood.  If they headed to the
back of the palace, they could meet up with the Telluric's
guard.  Then, although they would end up protecting three
people instead of one, they would be eight people strong
in fighting off the invading force.

"True," Jonathan agreed, "but if this is what we fear, 
and it has invaded the palace, where do you think it is
going?"  If this was a true palace invasion, well
planned enough to have taken out the nightwatchmen and
the palace gates so easily, they were planning to attack
the royal family, starting with the king and queen.  
Jonathan thought that any hope they had of getting out would
be slipping out of the palace without running into whatever
was out there.  "We'll take the front.  Let's get moving."

And a handful of moments later, five boys raced toward the
east stables in a diamond formation, not processing, much
less commenting on the chaos around them.

******

In another room in the palace, a couple had finally fallen to
sleep.  Much like everyone else in the palace, they had taken
the peace of that sunwane for granted.  That all changed when their
door was kicked open and they heard the shouts of "Your Royal
Highnesses, you need to come with us now."

Jolted awake, Terrius and Adaunde immediately sat up to
face two of the palace military.  The one who leveled the 
shout was unfamiliar to the couple, but the other solider...

"Lieutenant Gore, what-?" the princess began to ask.  

The prince, upon seeing Gore in the doorway, quickly stood
and held out a hand to his wife.

"Adaunde, we shall find out on the way.  Let us go,"
Terrius said more tersely than he meant as he tried to
keep the fear under control.  It had been many mooncycles
since he had seen that look on Shannon Gore's face, but
he had never forgotten that incident at Calif.

Surprised by her husband's tone but sensing his seriousness,
the princess took his hand and allowed herself to be helped
out of the bed and into the hallway.  It was upon leaving the
safety of their room that the prince and princess heard the 
shouts, screams, and crashes echoing through the palace.

"This way," the unknown guard said as he began to lead
the royal couple down the hall at a brisk pace.  Lieutenant
Gore stayed behind the couple, constantly scanning the hall.

"What is happening?" the princess demanded in an extremely
worried tone.

"We are getting you out of here, your royal highness,"
Gore replied with no emotion in her voice.

"We are evacuating?" the princess asked startled.  She was so
startled that she would have stopped running, had she not
been pulled by her husband down the hall.  "But what about
my children?"

"They'll be removed as well, your royal highness," was Gore's
short answer.

Before the princess had a chance to answer, a nearby door
opened and Sergeant Putnam emerged leading a tired and
confused Prince Tremaine out of his bedroom.  "Father?"
the young boy asked as he noticed the party rushing toward
his door.  "What-?"

"Come with me, son.  I shall explain later," Terrius insisted
tersely as he took Tremaine's hand and continued behind the
palace guard in the lead.  

As the group continued in their flight, they rushed by the
door of Prince Arlington.  Noticing that the group did not
even slow, the princess objected, "What about Ling?"

"Your royal highness-" Sergeant Putnam began, only to be
cut off by the princess.

"If you think I am leaving my baby behind, you are crazy,"
the mother in Adaunde practically shouted.  Breaking away from
her husband she headed back toward her youngest son's room.

"Adaunde!" Terrius shouted, the anger in his voice hiding
his fear for her safety and the fear that he might be forced
to leave her behind.

At that moment, the door to Arlington's room burst open, with
a palace guard struggling with an irritated and difficult
young prince in tears.  "Arlington," the princess breathed in
relief as she snatched her youngest from the soldier and 
ran full tilt back toward her husband.  When she reached 
him, Terrius grabbed her by the waist and the party once
again rushed down the hallway.

As they reached a turn in the corridor, they met up with 
General Kyto.  "Gore," he shouted, asking for a report with 
as few words as possible.

"The hall is clear," the lieutenant returned from her position
in the rear.  "We think the front is blocked.  Ivy, Stallion,
Silver Lining, and Laughter are with us," she continued,
referring to the members of the royal family present.  

"Wait," the princess shouted in fear as the party turned the 
corner, making their way to the back of the palace.  "What
about Endy?"

"His guard will get him out," Kyto answered in the front.

"So we are just supposed to leave him here?" the princess
shouted as the party entered one of the gathering rooms.  The
party skidded to a halt as they saw the inside of the room.

Blood was all over the floor as dying and dead palace servants
lay in various parts of the room.  It was truly a scene of 
carnage, as it was clear that swords and fire had been taken
to the occupants of the room.  It was a scene from a
nightmare.  As the youngest prince had his face buried in his 
mother's neck as he cried in fear, he didn't see the carnage, 
but he did hear his mother's pained.  "Oh Creator.  Who would do 
such a thing?" 

"We can't go this way," Gore insisted from the back.  
"We'd be walking right into whatever did this."

"Not necessarily," Kyto countered.  "It has already come this
way; it might not double-back."

At that moment, a crash was heard in a nearby stairwell and smoke
and a ominous orange glow drifted into the room.

Sergeant Putnam let loose a barrage of military foul language.
Lieutenant Gore shouted, "Everyone out!" and the party was
once again ushered into the hallway from which they had 
just come.

"Do we have a way out of here?" Gore demanded of General 
Kyto.

"Bryer's engineered a way off the palace grounds for us,
but I don't how long he can hold onto it with the men he
has with him.  We have to get out and down there."

"Follow me," Sergeant Putnam insisted and he took off running
toward one of the older rooms in the palace.  

The party rushed to follow and soon the group found itself in
a little used library in the east wing of the palace.  As the
last of the guards rushed into the room and slammed and locked
the door, the party quieted within.  Outside the shouts and 
screams became louder...along with a few crashes and the sound 
of footsteps getting closer.

"We don't have long.  Where do we go from here, Putnam?"

"Pull on that ledge by the window, Kyto," Putnam said.

Acting without asking, Kyto did as he was told.  As he pulled 
the ledge, a creaking was heard and a doorway appeared in the 
back wall.  "That passage isn't on any of the maps," the 
general said in surprise.

"And for good reason.  It seems that every exit on the maps
of the royal palace has been blocked off, set ablaze, or
destroyed.  This is why all the passages aren't recorded,
now let's go," Putnam insisted as he crossed the room.

Kyto and Putnam led the way through the tunnel, followed by
the very worried royals.  As the princess disappeared through
the tunnel with Prince Arlington still crying in her arms,
Lieutenant Gore and a young soldier named Martin heard 
footfalls right outside the door and then a pounding on the
locked door.

"That can't be one of our people," Gore whispered

"Probably not," Martin agreed.  "They probably followed
our tracks.  There was no way we didn't track blood back
from the gathering room."

The door to the hallway shuttered as shouts could be heard
just outside.  "Gore, get out of here!" Martin insisted

"Wait!  Someone needs to stay here to make sure they don't
follow us into the passage!"

"I'll take care of that, now go!" the subordinate officer
shouted as he shoved the higher ranking Gore into the
passage and shoved it shut.  Just as the passage closed
the door shuttered again.  The young man figured he had moments
left at best and used them to make peace with his creator.

*****

"Gore!" Kyto shouted as he heard the passage shut.  The violence
of the action had him worried.  Although they all knew that their
first duty was to the realm and the royal family, Kyto refused
to ever have to share with his friend, Colonel Howard Clinton,
that his wife had died protecting the royal family.  That is,
assuming that Howard himself hadn't died trying to protect
his daughter and Lady Anderson.  But Kyto refused to dwell on
that very real possibility.

After a pause, Gore answered, "We were followed.  We 
have moments at best.  We need to keep moving as quietly
and quickly as possible."

With that statement the party still struggled to navigate
the passageway, now mostly in the dark.  Although there 
were stumbles, the party managed to make it through the passage
in near silence, as Arlington's crying had become so
intense that he could no longer voice noises and Tremaine 
had been scared into silence.

As they entered the back courtyard, the quickly found
General Bryer along with a few men and a covered horse
pulled truck. "Let's move," the general insisted and the covered
truck was opened and they began to help the royal family
in.  As Arlington was taken from his mother's arms, 
protesting even without his voice, the princess finally
had a chance to take stock of the destruction. 

The palace was ablaze.  Shouts and screams still sounded in
the air. Broken glass lay scattered on the ground.  Horses
ran loose.  Pandemonium ensued.  "It resembles a war zone,"
the princess whispered.   And, with that one statement, her
eyes widened.

Without really processing her movements, Adaunde began to move
away from the truck and back toward the palace.  She had only 
taken about three steps when Kyto grabbed her arm.  "Your
royal highness, this way," he insisted.

"No, wait.  There are still people in there!  My mother-"

"Someone will get Lady Anderson out," Kyto hoped that
he wasn't lying to the princess, "but we need to get
you out first."

"But we have to go back!  If I leave it to the guards, only
those deemed important shall be saved," the princess
objected.

"Because that is our job!" Kyto returned as he attempted
to pull the princess back to the truck.

"And my spirit cannot accept that," the princess retorted.
"I cannot willingly run off and leave people of the realm
to die!"  Wrenching her arm away from the general, she began 
to run back toward the palace.

From his position in helping to load people onto the truck,
Bryer had seen the entire interaction.  He had also seen the
look on his liege's face as he was pulled into the truck with
his wife still on the outside.  If asked directly, Bryer would
explain all of his actions as part of his job to protect the
royal family without question.  In reality, while part of him
may have even understood the princess' heart, he knew the 
importance of that woman surviving along with her husband and
children, regardless of her “need” to try and save others.

Muttering a string of military curses, General Bryer took 
off after the princess.  Catching up with her, he grabbed
her, threw her over his shoulder and ran back to the truck,
which by this point was almost completely loaded.  Shouting
to a nearby subordinate, the general gave his instructions,
"After we are in, cover the truck and send it on its way 
over the back field.  Then get out of here."

Vaulting into the truck with the still struggling princess,
Bryer shouted the order to move.  Before the flap blocked
out the natural light of the moon and the unnatural light
of the burning palace, Bryer was able to see everyone in
the truck: Braxton, Gore, Putnam, Terrius holding a still
shaking Arlington, Tremaine close at his side, and Kyto.
Clamping a hand over the princess' month and pining her
to his lap with his other arm, he said, "We must stay
quiet until we clear the palace grounds."

And, as the princess made a move as if to object, he
whispered in her ear, "Your royal highness, I have
a sedation liquid on my person and so help me, I'll
use it on you if you don't keep quiet and still."

The threat was enough.  The princess fell silent, but
tears also fell from her eyes.  At some point, especially
given their relationship, Bryer hoped to be able to 
explain his actions.  But at the moment, he just had
to be sure that she and her family survived...for the
good of the realm.

*****

A long time ago someone once joked to Clinton that Military
Father was really a contradiction in terms.  Fathers protected
their families first; military often had to leave their 
families to fend for themselves as they protected the realm.
While nightwatchmen sometimes faced similar issues, many military
men, and some military women, who had families had to balance
the safety of their own families with the safety of the realm.

That sunwane such a conflict of interest faced Clinton, although
he did not process it until much later.

The attack caught them all by surprise, most of the military
in the palace losing precious moments trying to get a handle
on what was going on.  As groups split up to evacuate the
royals, Clinton ran down a familiar hallway, knowing he had
to reach someone else first.

As he opened the door, the object of his concern stirred
from the bed.  "Daddy?" the sleepy voice of his ten year
old daughter floated to the door.  "What is it?"

Watching his daughter rub sleep from her eyes, Clinton
knew he didn't have the heart to scare her with the
truth, but he had to get her out of there.  "Sweetie,
wake up.  Remember how you always want to play soldier
with me?" the colonel found himself saying.  At his
daughter's nod, he continued, "Well, let's go play,"
he said, holding out his hand.

Kay-Leigh smiled and quickly bounded off of her
bed, happy to spend time with her father, although
she was passed the age of wanting to play at being
a soldier.  Still, she was fascinated by the work of
her parents, and she thought her father might have some
other reason for waking her at that hour that he did
not wish to share.  After taking her father's hand, 
he looked out into the hall and then rushed her down 
a corridor.  Once out of her room she could hear the 
confusion, shouts, and screams.  It did worry her a little, 
but, as long as she was with her daddy, she believed 
she was completely safe.  So, she stayed close and 
mimicked him all the way to Lady Anderson's chamber.

The colonel was honestly surprised at how calm
his daughter was in the confusion.  The princess
had mentioned to him, when his wife was with 
Kay-Leigh, that military daughters were different,
less delicate than their counterparts in the 
other classes.  She also said they tended to 
look up to their fathers.  He hadn't really
believed the princess until this moment, and 
he was grateful.  Such calmness may also be
present in the mother of the princess, as she
too was a military daughter.

When they reached Lady Anderson's door, the colonel
debated within himself how to proceed.  Kicking
down the door may startle the lady unnecessarily,
but, he also had to communicate with her that the
situation was serious.  Pulling on old military
knowledge, he knocked on the door with two swift
knocks, followed by a pound.

Responding true to form, the voice of Lady Anderson
came through the door.  "How is the sky?" she asked
as part of the code.

"All clear," the colonel replied.

At this the door opened and the former colonel's
widow stepped swiftly into the hall.  "I heard the
commotion.  What procedure are we operating under?"
the lady asked.

"If only we had a procedure," Clinton muttered under
his breath.  Ignoring the raised eyebrow of Lady
Anderson, he answered as honestly as he could given
their situation,  "A," he replied, giving voice to
the letter that troubled many a military person.  
Not giving Lady Anderson much time to react he took
her hand and with his daughter hanging onto his other
hand, he continued to head toward the back of the
palace.

"A?" the lady breathed in shock. "Oh, Creator!  My 
daughter-"

"Is with her husband.  His guard will get her out,
my lady," Clinton assured Lady Anderson.

By this point, they had reached a T in the hallway.
Although the footfalls and the screams were clearly
increasing behind them, Clinton didn't know which
way to turn.  To go to the left would put him near
General Hightower and the king and queen; it might
increase his resources or it might put him headlong
into whatever was causing this disturbance.  But to
go the right...he wasn't sure there was a way out way.

"The slide," his daughter suddenly said out of nowhere.

"What?" he turned to look at her.

"The slide," the daughter said.  "It's a cool set of stairs
that go out to the garden.  They creak and everything. Can
we take them, Daddy?  Please?" his daughter asked as she 
began to pull him to the right.  Having figured out
from the sounds in the palace that they had to get
out, Kay-Leigh hoped that her pose of begging to 
play a game would get her father to use the little
known exit.  For some reason she had a rather bad 
feeling about heading towards the king and queen's 
chambers.

Not completely sure what was going on, but deciding
to trust his daughter, Clinton agreed.  "Lead the way
quickly."

A handful of moments later, the three had rushed down
a set of hidden steps and out into one of the palace
gardens.  "Clinton, where do we go from here?" Lady
Anderson asked.

"Lord and Lady Morte-Vida's estate.  The royal advisors
actually went home this sunwane with their daughter.  Not
only do they need to know what's going on, it's a good
place to regroup.  Kay-Leigh, you know the way from here,
right?"  His daughter nodded, having walked little
Keiko Morte-Vida back to the estate for her parents numerous
times.  "Then lead the way and be careful.  There is a 
link I have to make."

So, as he followed his daughter and Lady Anderson away from
the unnaturally orange glow of the palace, Clinton reached for
his link box.  Understanding that he might not get an answer
but that people were probably listening, he relayed the
important information in code, "This is Clinton.  Have
Lady Arms.  Going to safe haven.  Will await contact."

After a pause, Clinton realized that someone else may
be listening and that someone else would be greatly
worried about Kay-Leigh, although there would nothing
she could do about it at that moment.  "This is Clinton.
Have Lady Arms and two-thirds.  Will await contact," he
added, hoping that the former Jedite would understand
what he was trying to tell her.

*****

Somehow, the five teens had managed to get out of the
palace.  While exiting, they had heard terrible screams
and shouts, but had not seen much of anything disturbing
on their way out of the front.  Riding in diamond formation,
they found themselves on the somewhat familiar Sporku Hill.

Pausing on that hill, the boys steadied their horses and
began to look at each other.  "What do we do now?" 
Treggar asked.

"We need to find a safe house and we need to think about
linking with the other protection groups," Jonathan said.

"That last may be difficult," Nathaniel admitted.  "I
have the linking system with me and it is on, but I do
not know how to link with the others.  And, I would
rather not try until we are in a safe and less open space."

At this point, the prince cleared his throat.  Shivering
slightly in the after sunwane air, he asked, "What has
happened?  Nathaniel said that this was a test, but the
noises that came from the palace as we left and the fact
that we left at all-"

The four other boys looked at each other.  "It was a test,
a test of our ability to do our job," Nathaniel insisted.

"Your royal highness," Jonathan began as he looked at his
friend, knowing that he would not take this news well, "we
think that the palace was attacked this sunwane.  We don't
know by who or why, but we think they mean...meant harm to
your family."

The prince sat in shock for a moment.  "Oh Creator, my
parents-" he began worriedly.

"Are together and the royal guard of his highness shall
keep them safe.  If Jonathan can get you out, then his
father can assuredly get your father out.  And between
them, his royal highness and General Kyto shall remove
your mother from the palace as well," Nathaniel reassured.

Jonathan threw Nathaniel a dirty look for the hidden
jab, but let it slide as he understood that Nathaniel
was merely trying to reassure the prince.

"But my brothers and my grandparents-" the prince continued

"Are fine, I'm sure.  Lots of people would be working to
get them out," Jonathan replied.

At that moment, the group heard a crackling coming from
Nathaniel's belt.  "The linking," Nathaniel said.  "Someone
must be about to send a message."

Less than a moment after Nathaniel's comment, the five
boys heard the following clearly over the link, "This is
Clinton.  Have Lady Arms.  Going to safe haven.  Will await 
contact."

"What does that mean?" his royal highness asked aloud.

"It means that Colonel Clinton has gotten out and he
has your grandmother, Lady Kyanna Anderson, with him," Jordan
answered his royal highness.

Before the group could comment again, the strong voice of
Colonel Howard Clinton floated out again, "This is Clinton.
Have Lady Arms and two-thirds.  Will await contact."

"Okay," Jonathan turned everyone's attention back to him.
"Obviously, the protection forces are beginning to talk.
Given that Nephrite wants a safe space to figure out how
to relay our information out, we need to find a safe house
now.  Somewhere where the attackers wouldn't think to look,
but where we can hide safely."

"I know a place," Treggar said softly.  "It is not that
far from here and no one would ever think of looking for
a prince there."

"Is it safe?" Nathaniel asked.

"Yes," Treggar insisted.  And, after the go-ahead from
Jonathan, Treggar led the four others to a tavern which
had a stocked barn behind it.  The arrival of her son,
member of the royal guard, was bound to shock his
mother, but a nightwatchman tavern was probably one
of the safest places this side of the capital city.

****

Long moments after a combination of royal and military
persons had piled into the back of a covered truck,
the now Captain Braxton said to the silent group, "We
have finally crossed out of the palace grounds."

"Good," Bryer said as he let her highness go.  Ignoring
the princess' reproachful look as she scrambled off of
him and over to her husband and children, Bryer continued,
"Kyto, about linking,"

The other general shook his head in the darkness, "The
link is open, but I'm not sure if the attackers can
track a sent message.  I'm not going to try to send
any messages until we are military territory.  If they
are going to follow us, I want lots of swords ready to
mobilize at a moment's notice."

"Understood," Bryer said.  He was about to open his
mouth to say more, when the link crackled.  Unnatural
silence fell again as those in the truck waited to 
hear who was contacting them and why.

Finally, over the link came a familiar voice.  "This
is Clinton.  Have Lady Arms.  Going to safe haven.
Will await contact."

Kyto turned in the direction of the royals, not really
being able to see them too clearly in the covered
truck.  "Your mother has been safely evacuated out,
Princess Adaunde."

"Thank the creator," a shaky voice whispered from
the other side of the truck.

"Only Lady Arms is with him?" came a quiet question
from Gore.

The princess' gasp of "Oh, Shannon," was almost 
completely drowned out by another crackle of 
the link.  Once again, the strong voice of
the head of the princess' security rang out,
"This is Clinton.  Have Lady Arms and two thirds.
Will await contact."

It was a small sigh of relief that communicated
that at least one fear was put to rest.

Silence fell again until it was announced that they
were in the military section of the city.  Before
long, they had arrived at the safe house.  While
other nearby military households were waking up
and people were beginning to talk about orders
and mobilization, this party quickly unloaded and
rushed into the safe house through the back.  The
option of sleep was offered to the royal family,
who refused it.

As the royal family sat on the couch in the
front sitting room, the princess next to the
prince, with Arlington clinging to his father
and Tremaine hanging onto his mother's arm, the
guard began to spread out.  Gore immediately 
left the front room to check supplies in the house.
Putnam had stepped outside to assess the activity
in the area.  Bryer stood near the couch, waiting
for Prince Terrius to ask for information.  And,
off to the side, Kyto began to initiate a link.

Taking a deep breath, Kyto linked to the other
protection groups.  "This is Kyto.  Am backed
up by Braxton, Gore, Putnam, and Bryer.  Have
Stallion, Ivy, Silver Lining and Laughter.  At
safe house.  Request Clinton meeting."

Within moments of his finishing, the crackling
preceded a quick response.  "This is Clinton.
At safe haven.  Have Lady Arms, two-thirds, 
Thought, Wisdom, and Conscience.  Leaving for
safe house."

After Clinton's voice faded from the room, Prince
Terrius finally spoke, "What has happened, Bryer?
Kyto?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know much at the moment,"
Bryer admitted.  "We think there has been an attack
on the palace.  By whom and why, we have no idea. It
was a pretty well informed attack; they caught us off
guard and quickly took out many of the exits."

Kyto picked up the narrative as he walked toward the
royals, "This is our safe house for you.  Colonel
Clinton is on his way with his daughter, Lady 
Anderson, and the Morte-Vida family.  You'll probably
want to talk to them about next moves after you
have more information."

Terrius and Adaunde both looked at each other.  Besides
being worried about the lack of information, they were
also concerned about the welfare of unmentioned people.
"And my son?" the princess finally asked in a quiet voice
"What of him?"

"I'm sure he is fine," Kyto attempted to assure the
obviously worried mother.  "Neither Nephrite nor the
others are well versed in using the linking system, but
we'll get information on them very soon, I'm sure.  Your
son is fine," Kyto repeated again, hoping repetition
would make it real.

Tremaine whimpered at his mother's side and she pulled
him into her lap.  "I worry about him," the princess
admitted.  "I shall worry about him until I can touch
him, as I can touch his brothers," the princess insisted
as she patted her middle child on his back.

Before anyone could respond to the princess, the link
crackled again.  Biting off a curse, Kyto pulled his
link box from his belt, trying to hear what was coming
over the link.

"*crack* Neph- *crack* Nephrite-" a familar voice tried
to get through.

After an exclamation, Kyto started speaking into the
link.  "This is Kyto.  Nephrite, listen.  Stop touching
the link box and listen.  There is a small silver disk
on the left of the box, with two sideways symbols for
mooncycle joined at the top.  Turn that disk until the
symbol is at the bottom.  That will tune you to me.
Then talk."

After a pause another crackle was heard.  And then,
"This is Nephrite.  Am backed up by Kunzite, Zoicite,
and Jedite.  Pony is with us.  At alternative safe house.
Will remain until called.  Awaiting instructions."

Kyto allowed himself a sigh of relief before replying,
"Understood.  Condition of pony?"

"Pony is slightly chilled and agitated, but well."  There
was a pause, as if Nephrite was responding to something
in the room with him before the link came to life again.
"Pony is curious about condition of stallion and his
trappings."

"Stallion and trappings are shaken, but fine.  Put pony at
ease."

"Also," the other side of the link added, "Kunzite orders
a round-up team, if one is not already in place."

"Understood. At your pleasure," Kyto signed off before
returning to the royals and Bryer.  Noting that Gore
and Putnam had also just returned to the room, Kyto 
was glad to be able to translate the information that
the whole room had just heard.

"Your royal highnesses," he began, addressing the
worried parents, "your son is safe.  His royal guard
have him in a safe place.  Nephrite reports that he is
a little shaken up, but fine."  Turning to Bryer, but
also being sure that Terrius could hear this next piece,
"Kunzite had ordered that we send a team back to the
palace to try and catch the invaders and take stock of
the damage."

"Understood," Putnam said from behind.  "If Bryer will
grant leave, legion forty is outside awaiting instructions."

Bryer nodded.  "Leave so given."  

As Putnam exited the front, three sharp knocks were
heard at the back door.  "That would be Clinton,"
Gore guessed.  "Your orders, sir?" she asked Bryer.

"Confirm that it is Clinton and then let his party
in.  We have much to discuss."

Nodding the former Jedite set off to the back of the
house.  After confirming that it was indeed her 
husband outside, she quickly let them in.

As the party spilled into the house, and Clinton 
shut the door, it was the cry of "Mommy," that 
captivated the military woman.  

With a shout of joy at seeing her other parent,
Kay-Leigh let go of little Lady Keiko Morte-Vida's
hand and rushed toward her mother, who leaned down
and caught her in a hug.  Her mother just held her
for a moment.  Then she let her go and stood again,
but, because of the tight grip her mother held on
her hand, Kay-Leigh knew that her mother was very
relieved to see her.

"Lady Anderson, Lord and Lady Morte-Vida, it is
good to see you.  Their royal highnesses are
in the front room.  I'll take you there now," 
Gore addressed the group in front of her.  Turning,
she led them back into the front room.

*****

She had let herself worry more than she ought, Lady
Anderson mentally chastised herself as she followed
Lieutenant Gore toward the front room.  Her daughter
was now a royal; she had more protection now than
she had ever had at any time in her life.  Of course
she would be fine.  Her Dawn also wasn't personally
defenseless; she did have some of the best aim in
the realm.

When she reached the front room, the widow scanned
the faces, looking for the ones most important to her.
She noticed Kyto's warring expressions of relief and
worry, held under tight reign as to not concern the
royals.  She noticed Gore and Clinton's relief and
worry that they kept in their eyes.  She saw Bryer's
impassive face, which worried her because, while
she didn't trust him, she knew that commanding officers
only wore that look in the worse of times.  Finally,
her eyes fell on her only child, "Dawn."

"Mama," her daughter whispered as tears began to follow
down the forty-two year old's face.  She was obviously
trying to give comfort and hope to the child in her
lap, but there was precious little of it in her own eyes.

"Oh, Dawn," Kyanna said as she rushed across the room and
gave her daughter a hug.

"You are well," Adaunde said after the hug.  "I was
so worried, with all the shouts and smoke and-" Adaunde's
voice broke slightly.  "I was afraid I would not see you
again."

"Dawn, you know better than that.  I'm a fighter, whether
people insist on calling me a lady or not," Kyanna
said, giving her daughter a small smile.

For the next few moments, Kyanna attempted to reassure 
herself that her family was safe.  She received a frantic
hug from her grandson Tremaine before he quickly buried
himself back in his mother's arms.  He remained unnaturally
quiet the entire time.  She held her youngest grandson in
her arms and calmed his silent, violent tears to mere whimpers
before handing him back to his father.  She was able to 
talk briefly with her son by marriage.  His sad smile with
his greeting of "Mom" nearly broke her heart.  And she
was assured of her eldest grandson's safety, although 
no one in the room knew his exact whereabouts.

As Lord and Lady Morte-Vida were brought up to speed 
by her son by marriage and daughter, Lady Anderson
stepped off to the side, trying to stay out of the
way.  It was from this vantage point that she saw 
young Kay-Leigh entertaining Lady Keiko Morte-Vida.
It was also from this point that she saw and heard 
the whispered conference between Kyto and Bryer.  She
didn't know if they didn't notice her or merely failed
to remember her background and therefore think she wouldn't
understand their concern.  Regardless, she strained to
hear, wanting to know about any threats to her daughter
and her family, even if she couldn't do any about them
herself.

******

With the royals in deep conversation with their advisors,
Kyto pulled his commanding officer aside.  "Bryer, I'm
worried.  We haven't heard from Hightower yet."

"I'm aware of that, but that doesn't necessarily mean
anything," Bryer insisted.

"Yes, it does.  Look," Kyto began, "We aren't talking
about green protectors like Nephrite who wouldn't know
how to link.  We've actually heard from them!  Hightower's
team is seasoned and effective.  They would have sent
word somehow by now."

"He just may be in a situation where it would not be
prudent to link.  You yourself put off linking until
we were here," Bryer pointed out.

"Even if that is true, that isn't a good sign.  Either
he's in a situation where it isn't safe to link, or-"

"He can't link," Bryer finished, not pleased with the
few explanations of why a former Kunzite would be unable
to initiate a link.

"And for Hightower not to have contacted us...that does
not bode well for the king and queen," Kyto voiced.

Bryer shook his head as if to dismiss the concern, "We
have enough burning pile to deal with.  Let's not add
anything else to this mess until we have to."

"Understood."

******

Sometime later, after the house had quieted, he stood 
looking out at the horizon as the sun rose.  Sunrises
and sunwanes were a constant; he had thought that a lot
of other things were constants as well.  After the events
of the past night, the only constants he felt comfortable
in believing in were the presence of the Creator, the love
of his wife, the ability of his guard, and the presence of
sunrises and wanes.

"Terry," a soft voice said as familiar arms wrapped around
his waist.  

"Adaunde," he acknowledged his wife as she returned to
his side.  "How are our sons?"

"Still sleeping.  I am still amazed at how my mother
managed to get all of the children to sleep.  She is
asleep herself at the moment, everyone is resting 
together in one bed."  Adaunde smiled sadly.  "It
would have been cute in any other circumstance..."

"I understand," Terrius said.  "You do realize that
you do not have to check on them every few moments.
We are in a safe house; they are perfectly protected
here."

"We would have said the same thing about the palace
two sunrises ago," the princess responded bitterly.
At her husband's stiffening by her side, she sighed.
"I apologize.  I am still worried, it seems.  And I
check on Tremmy and Ling so much because I cannot 
check upon my Endy."

The prince put an arm around his wife.  "He is fine,
Adaunde.  As soon as the palace is declared safe, we
shall all meet up there and you can see him."

The princess nodded.  "When I see him, I shall give
him a big hug.  And then I shall give everyone in
his guard a big hug for protecting him for us."

At that, Terrius turned to look at his wife.  
"Everyone?  Even Jonathan?!"

"Even Jonathan," Adaunde acknowledged.  "And
then, I shall hit them all, starting with 
Jonathan for making me worry so about the
safety of my son!"
 
Terrius smiled at his wife's threat, but the
smile soon slipped into a pensive look as his
gaze returned to the horizon.

"Terrius, what is troubling you?" his wife
asked quietly.

"What is not troubling me might be an easier
question to answer, given recent events."

"True," his wife agreed, "but something is
troubling you greatly at this moment.  What
is it?"

The prince sighed.  "I am concerned that we
have heard nothing on the condition or
whereabouts of my parents.  General Hightower
or someone on his team should have sent 
word by now."

"Terry, it was pure chaos at the palace when
we left.  Based on the reports filtering back
from the team sent back to the palace, it is
still chaotic now. Word may be delayed or
waylaid, but it is coming."

With a noise of frustration, Terrius broke
away from his wife and turned away from the 
window.  "I do not understand!  Who or what
attacked us?  Why?  What did they hope to
accomplish?  How did they catch us so 
unprepared and unawares? W-"

"Terry," his wife began as she moved to stand
in front of him,  "I know-"

The rest of her statement trailed off as she
noticed her husband's eyes moved toward one of
the doorways behind her.  Turning, Adaunde saw
a serious Kyto standing just over the threshold.
"General, is there news?" she asked.

"We need to talk," is all the general would 
say.

*****

He had been in the kitchen when the word came.
It was his job to watch over the rear of the
safe house.  Gore and Clinton were also in
the kitchen.  Clinton was trying to round
up food to feed the people still awake in the
house; Gore had made and was pouring cups of
uplift for everyone.  No one really thought
much about what made the ground beans and
leaves able to produce an energizing drink
when soaked with hot water, but many stood by
its ability to open up the senses and help one
stay alert.

They had thought to ask the prince into the
kitchen to sit with them, but he appeared
so deep in thought by the window that no
one had the heart to disturb him.  With no
word yet from the team guarding his father, 
many of the decisions normally left to the 
king had fallen into his lap.  As he had also
had no sleep, it was decided it would be best
to leave him to his thoughts.

The loud crackling was startling in the watchful
silence of the kitchen. Kyto immediately pulled
off his link box and Gore and Clinton quickly
fixed their attention to the transmission coming
over the link.

"This is Jamison of Legion Forty Alpha team.  Have
rounded up remaining invading forces and are
holding them.  Have entered the throne room."

"Jamison," Kyto responded, "Have you any
word from Hightower?"

"Not-" suddenly Jamison stopped speaking.  The link
picked up a string of expletives and a voice 
shouting, "Kingston! Report!"

"Jamison! Jamison, what in terra firma is going on
there?!"

After a pause, the link crackled again, "Jamison here.
It appears that we have located Hightower."

"Get him on the link," Kyto ordered.

"That isn't possible...sir," was the response.

"Not possible!  Jamison!"

Before a reply could be sent, another string of expletives
came through the link.  While the first set had sounded
worried and affronted, these sounded downright angry.

"Jamison!  Report!"

"We've" this time the crackling was more in Jamison's
voice than in the link itself, "We've found the king
and queen."  This statement was followed by another
expletive.

"Jamison, what are you saying?" Kyto asked quietly.

After a deep breath, the formal announcement came through,
"Calla lilies are our new flower of the heart; our lion
has passed on."  Then the link was cut.

The reaction in the kitchen was varied.  Gore swiftly
sat down in a chair, clearly in shock.  Clinton, quickly
went to denial, insisting that such a fate wasn't possible,
not with the seasoned team of Hightower protecting the
king and queen.  Kyto just turned away and let out a
string of foul language and a few tears.

Quickly pulling himself together, Kyto turned to face the
others in the room.  "Clinton, wake Lady Anderson and
bring her to the front room," As Clinton blinked and
then left to follow the order, Kyto turned to the other
person in the room, "Gore, where are Lord and Lady Morte-
Vida?"

"Asleep in one of the spare rooms, I think," she replied.

"Find them, wake them, and bring them to the front room."

"Yes, sir," the militarywoman responded as she left
her chair.

After both had left the room, Kyto walked toward the
front room.  Stopping at the door, he saw Terrius and
Adaunde in conversation.  Not sure of the best way to
address them or to announce his presence, he merely 
stood just in the room.  Soon Terrius caught his eye
and Adaunde turned to face him.  He didn't hear her
question; in fact, he barely registered Clinton and
Lady Anderson coming down the steps, Gore leading
the Morte-Vidas into the room, or Bryer and Putnam
rejoining the group.  "We need to talk," was what
he managed to get out.

******

After Kyto's rather chilling statement, the other
adults in the room prepared themselves for serious
news.  Adaunde led her husband over to the couch,
made him sit, and sat next to him.  Lady Anderson
moved to stand to one side of the couch, the Morte-Vidas
stood to the other with Bryer next to them.  All
eyes turned to Kyto.

"You have news, general?" Terrius finally asked.

"Yes, there is news.  Unfortunately, it is not 
good news...your majesties."

The change in title greatly affected those in the
room who did not hear Jamison's original communication.
Bryer froze in shock.  Lady Morte-Vida gasped and was
pulled into the arms of her husband.  Putnam barely
managed to muffle a few expletives.  Lady Anderson had
grabbed the arm of the couch and was squeezing tightly.

Terrius had paled.  His wife clung to his arm, disbelief
and confusion warring in her eyes.  "What?" she gasped.

"What are you saying, Kyto?" Terrius demanded quietly.

Sighing with a heavy heart, the general turned first
to Adaunde and began to utter the traditional phrases
that heralded the end of one era and the beginning of
another.  "The scent of magnolias is past.  We now
turn to the sent of calla lilies to guide us," he 
began.

As tears began to roll down Adaunde's face, Kyto turned
his attention to Terrius and uttered one of the hardest
phrases for anyone to say, "The king is dead.  Long live
the king."

Lady Morte-Vida began to cry in earnest at this 
confirmation of their worst fears.  Lady Anderson
bowed her head out of respect, a few tears hitting 
the floor.  Bryer demanded the status of Telluric's
guard and palled considerably when Kyto confirmed
the death of Hightower and his entire team.

Adaunde turned to look at her husband, struggling
to find a way to comfort him.  Looking at his pale
face and feeling his loss only caused her to cry
harder.  So she sobbed into his shoulder as she
clung to him.  

For his part, Terrius was frozen.  He couldn't seem
to cry himself, so, in a way, he was grateful that
his wife could cry for both of them.  So many emotions
battled within him, but he seemed to shut-down without.
His only thought was that he had to have answers...and
then go on for the sake of the realm.

"Who did this?" Terrius demanded, his voice frightening
in its quiet intensity.  "Why?"

"We do not know, your majesty.  Jamison's team has rounded
up some of the invaders.  After the palace has been cleared
and an area found for the royals to stay upon your 
return, the next task is to interrogate the prisoners.  We
should know who and why then."

"I want to be present at the interrogation," Terrius
insisted.

"Your roy...your majesty, that may not be the best
course of action," Lord Nippon Morte-Vida began.

"It's not safe!" General Bryer objected.

The only indication his wife gave of hearing the demand was
to hug him tighter as she continued crying.  Terrius wasn't
sure what to make of that, but he knew that he was not
changing his mind.  "I shall be there, that is not
a request."

"Understood, your majesty," Bryer conceded.

At that moment a crackling was heard in the room.  Since
the room was wrapped up in their own reactions to the
news, they barely heard the request from the other end.
"This is Nephrite.  Malfunction with link has blocked
intel.  Kunzite wants report from Kyto."

"Kyto, answer the call," Bryer ordered.  "They need
to know what has happened."

Stepping away from the couch, Kyto prepared to deliver
the awful news again.  "This is Kyto.  Awaiting
instructions."

"This is Nephrite.  Kyto, there are rumors flying
everywhere.  What has happened?  Who is with you?"

Kyto detested giving such devastating information 
this way, but he didn't have a choice.  "Am backed
up by Bryer, Putnam, Gore and Clinton.  Have with
us two-thirds, Conscience, Wisdom, Thought, Lady
Arms, Laughter, Silver Lining, Ivy and...and Lion.
Have received report from Jamison."

After a crackle a confused voice came back across
the link, "Wait a minute!  Lion?!  What happened 
to Stallion?  Where is Grace? What report?"

"Yes, Lion.  Stallion is now with you."

"What are you saying, Kyto?" Nephrite's voice demanded
with a hard edge.

Kyto found himself repeating what Jamison had told him,
"Calla lilies are our new flower of the heart; our lion
has passed on.  Pass this along to stallion."

Kyto knew his message had gotten through when a string
of military profanity floated over the airways.  In 
another situation, Kyto thought he might have been amused
at how much military foul language the young lord had
pick up in twenty four mooncycles, but given the 
situation, it was just another reaction.  Kyto delivered
the rest of the information he had after the profanity
ceased and signed off.  He didn't envy his replacement
in the task that was before him, passing the painful
news on to Prince Endymion.

******

An hour after sunrise and Nephrite had felt there was a
problem.  After arriving at the tavern, and meeting
the very shocked serving wench Alissa Lightmaker, who
was Treggar's mother, the five had settled into the
tavern barn as best as they could. They had been able
to send one message and receive several, but the on-going
silence as the night went on worried the young noble
greatly. It was for that reason he attempted to link
with Kyto.

"This is Nephrite.  Malfunction with link has blocked
intel.  Kunzite wants report from Kyto."  The last
part was true as well.  Jonathan was rather antsy 
about not knowing what had be happening over the last
hours.

After a long pause, there was a response.  "This is 
Kyto.  Awaiting instructions."

The young noble quickly replied, firing out questions
hoping for answers for this uneasy feeling he had had
for awhile.  "This is Nephrite.  Kyto, there are rumors 
flying everywhere.  What has happened?  Who is with you?"

There seemed to be hesitation over the link before
Kyto responded, "Am backed up by Bryer, Putnam, Gore 
and Clinton.  Have with us two-thirds, Conscience, 
Wisdom, Thought, Lady Arms, Laughter, Silver Lining, 
Ivy and...and Lion. Have received report from Jamison."

Nephrite blinked.  Based on that report, there were
at least two people missing.  Why would Kyto list the
king as being present, but not the queen?  And what 
had happened to Prince Terrius, who was with Kyto
when he last reported?  Nephrite quickly demanded
clarification, "Wait a minute!  Lion?! What happened 
to Stallion?  Where is Grace? What report?"

"Yes, Lion.  Stallion is now with you," was all
Kyto said in return.

Lord Nathaniel Sato, Nephrite of the royal guard, 
suddenly got a very bad feeling in the pit of his
stomach.  In his last gazing he had seen premonitions
of turmoil for the current mooncycle, but he never
thought that it would be something like this.  Or
that the sign he had seen for regime change meant
anything more than the changing of the royal 
guard.

"What are you saying, Kyto?" Nephrite's voice demanded
with a hard edge.

The reply he received before Kyto cut the line confirmed
everything Nathaniel feared, "Calla lilies are our new flower 
of the heart; our lion has passed on.  Pass this along to 
stallion."

Nathaniel knew that he let some of his anger out in
words that nobles shouldn't know, but this loss made
no sense!  It was wrong.  And he was the one to have
to tell his royal highness.  Through his haze of anger
he barely processed the last of the information Kyto
passed on.  None of it changed the horrible truth or
made easier the task now in front of Nathaniel.

"I assume that we have news," Jonathan's voice floated
over from the other side of the barn, where he sat
with Jordan, Treggar, and Endymion.  

"Yes," Nathaniel rose and he crossed the space between
him and his colleagues.  After he sat down, he looked
up at his liege...and found himself tongue-tied.

"Nathaniel?" Prince Endymion asked, "What did Kyto
say?  Have they heard from Hightower?"

"Kyto related a report from Jamison, who was among
the people sent back to retake the palace.  They have
managed to capture some behind the invasion; Kyto
has reported this information to their majesties."

"To my grandparents?" Endymion asked, confused,
"But why could Hightower not inform them?  And what
about my parents?  Did Kyto not talk to them as well?"

Nathaniel sighed.  "Kyto did talk to your parents.
Your royal highness," Nathaniel paused for a 
moment.  "Your royal highness, I am sorry to 
inform you that Queen Honoria and King Telluric
are dead.  King Terrius and Queen Adaunde have
been informed of the change by Kyto.  That is 
all I know."

"What?" Endymion gasped at Nathaniel's clarification.
Ignoring the various reactions of his guard around
him, the heir to the throne proved he was equally
his mother and father's son as tears ran down his
face as he demanded in a frightening quiet voice,
"Who did this?  Why?"

"We do not know," Nathaniel answered honestly.
"After the palace has been stabilized, they shall
question the invaders that were apprehended.  We
shall know then.”

"I want to be at the questioning," Endymion
said.

"Absolutely not!" Jonathan immediately objected.

"I can order that you allow me to go," Endymion
growled angrily as he turned to face the head
of his guard.

"And I can overrule that order in the interest
of your safety!" Jonathan fired back.  "Look,
Endy," the silver haired teen tried to reason
with his friend, "I can understand that you
want to know why and you want to see justice
done.  But these people are dangerous.  They
systematically took out the palace, practically
conquered it, and killed our king and queen 
before we had completely processed what had 
happened.  We didn't even see them coming!
As we do not yet know what they are capable
of, I don't even want you in the same room
as that slime!  The realm has already lost
enough!"

That seemed to quiet the prince as he nodded
and then seemed to turn into himself as he
continued to cry.  The barn slowly quieted
until all that could be heard were sniffles
as five boys battled with their grief.

******

This meeting was almost a mooncycle in the
making.  It had been several sunrises before
the palace was stable enough for the royal
family to return.  And, though the people
were still horrified about the vicious 
murders of their King Telluric and Queen
Honoria, they managed a cheer as their
beloved royals, Terrius and Adaunde, returned
to the palace.  True to her word, the now
Queen Adaunde rushed to hug her eldest son when
he arrived with his guard.  But there was
little time for reunions, as the former
king and queen had to be committed to terra
firma.

It wasn't until after his parents had been
buried that King Terrius and several other
military officers questioned the invaders.
Two sunrises after that questioning, this
library near the throne room was filled with
people who were to decide what to do next.

The table was headed at one end by the now
King Terrius, who would make the final decision.
To his right sat Lord Nippon Morte-Vida, General
Bryer, General Kyto, Sergeant Putnam, Lieutenant
Gore, and Colonel Clinton.  To the king's
left sat his son's royal guard; Kunzite sat next
to Terrius, with Nephrite, Zocite, and Jedite 
seated on the other side of Kunzite.  Next to
Jedite sat the commander of legion forty, General
Armistad Jamison, with Lady Morte-Vida to his left.

Prince Endymion had been discouraged from attending
this meeting.  Instead, he, along with his brothers
and grandmother continued to receive well-wishes
and sympathy from the people of the realm who
had journeyed to the palace on that sunrise.  
Queen Adaunde was in attendance, however.  She
sat, pale and resolute at the other end of the
table.

After everyone was seated, Bryer rose and began
to give his report.  Although his majesty was
aware of all Bryer was about to relate, the others
in the room were not.  Placing a written copy
of his report in front of his majesty, the general
began.

"They call themselves the Basque.  They claim
oppression and tyranny at the hands of Telluric
and Honoria.  Based upon this claim and other
claims of injury, they plotted to travel to 
the royal city, destroy the palace, and murder
the entire royal family.

"They seem to have built up a strong ideology
to explain this action.  They claim it was
the will of the planet.  They prattled on about
a saving dark force that would rid the planet
of 'Telluric filth.'  They told us they had
no fear in death and that, in the end, they
would be victorious."

Bryer took a deep breath as he concluded.  "We
couldn't get more out of them.  To be honest,
we are unsure of their mental state.  It is
customary to execute people guilty of killing
a royal, but other than that.  I have no
recommendation, your majesty."

"Do we know were they are located?  Where they
could launch another attack from and if they 
could launch such an attack in the near future?"
Kunzite asked of his father.

"We were able to puzzle out that they are from
a backwater area near the province of Atlantis.
Their attack launching capability is unknown."
was the reply.

"How did they know how to attack the palace so
effectively?" Nephrite asked, "And what have
we put in place so this never happens again?"

"Apparently, this attack was mooncycles in the
making," Kyto answered.  "They bought all
knowledge sold on the palace; an advance team
came to the capital city and lived here for at
least two mooncycles.  It is possible that a
few of them may have temporarily worked at the
palace.  We have taken steps to make changes
in the palace as we rebuild the damaged areas
and to limit the public information on the 
palace."

"What do we do about the Basque?" Jedite voiced
the question as everyone turned their attention
to the king.

Terrius sighed as he stood.  He had battled with 
himself over a course of action for the last
sunrise.  In the past, some form of military
action would be taken, but he had seen from
living with his wife that misunderstandings 
had grown up about the royals from those people
and classes that did not have ready access to 
them.  He also remembered the charge he had
accepted from his father by marriage.  "I
propose that we sent a diplomatic team to 
meet with the Basques that are not in our 
holding area and try to work out some 
kind of peace-"

"No!" a shrill cry erupted from the other
end of the table.  The queen had jumped to
her feet in the middle of her husband's speech.
As her chair crashed to the ground, she 
screamed, "Peace?!  You cannot be serious!"

Startled by her violent reaction, Terrius attempted
to calm his wife, "Adaunde-"

"No!  I shall not stand hear and hear that group,"
the queen practically spat, "and PEACE uttered
in the same sentence!"

"What do you propose to do, then, your majesty?"
Kyto asked, hoping that the opening would allow
the queen to calm herself.

"We need to attack.  We need to kill them, make
them pay for what they have done to us!"

Terrius was shocked at his normally peaceful
wife's strong call for war.  As he continued
to stare at his sobbing, emotional wife at the
other end of the table, Nippon spoke up to
say, "Military action is a traditional response,
your majesty.  To protect ourselves from another
attack, it would be prudent to engage their
military."

"No, that is not enough!" the queen shouted.
"I want them all dead."

"All, your majesty?" Nephrite asked.

"Yes, all.  Men, women and children.  The Basque
who knew about the plot and the ones that did not.
Their friends and their heirs.  I want them wiped
off of terra firma, so that the ground shall not
even remember them!"

The entire room was stunned at the violence 
suggested by their normally kind queen.  "Your
majesty-" Kyto began, only to be cut off by the
queen.

"No, do not dare to try to calm me, Kyto.  You or 
Nephrite," she said as she turned her stare on the young
noble briefly.  "We have to kill them all.  Bryer,
surely you at least see the merit in this!  All of
them!  Full Basque, half Basque, Quarter Basque. 
All of them must die.  We cannot leave even one to
rise up an attack us another sunrise!"

"Adaunde," her husband looked on in shock, "What
about restraint?  Mercy?"

"Restraint?!" the queen shrieked. "Did they show
restraint in the way they set fire to our home?
Restraint in how they brutally attacked those
who only worked in the palace?  Did they show 
mercy to Queen Honoria?  Would they have shown
mercy to our children or to me had they caught us?"
Adaunde demanded of her husband.

Turning, she looked at the others at the table.
"Would they have shown mercy to Lady Bella and
Lady Keiko if your family had been in the
palace that sunwane, Lord Morte-Vida?  And
Clinton, Gore, do you not have nightmares of
what these animals would have done if they had
gotten to Kay-Leigh?  What has mercy gained
us but pain?"

"But, your majesty," Lady Bella began, "should
we behave in the same way as our attackers?"

"This is not the same," the queen said, her eyes
blazing.  "They attacked us first with no warning.
They killed our king and queen.  Our parents, our
grandparents."  She growled, "They have attacked
my family.  I shall not stand for them to receive
mercy."

"Your majesty," Kunzite turned to the king, "it
is your final decision.  We'll abide by whatever
you decide."

Terrius bowed his head to think. 

"Terrius!" his wife shouted, almost incoherent 
through her tears.  "You cannot mean for them
to live!  Terrius!"

Terrius took a deep breath and raised his head,
his face a blank slate, masking his feelings.

"Terrius!" his wife pleaded.

After a handful of moments, Terrius finally spoke.
"You heard her majesty.  Wipe them off terra firma."

With his pronouncement, the queen collapsed on the floor
in tears.  Lady Bella rushed to her side and rocked the
distraught royal.  At the same moment, Kunzite rose and
began to give deployment orders, even going as far as to
put the city under military law and to camp a legion in
front of the palace for the protection of the royal
family.  

As the military left to carry out their orders
and the queen remained sobbing on the floor, Nippon
walked over to the king, who stood with his back to the
table and his head bowed.  "Your majesty," he asked
tentatively, "do you know what you have unleashed?"

"No," the king answered honestly.  "I do not think any
of us know."

And in this statement, the king may have been right.  Orders
were given and carried out almost to the letter. Women and 
children as well as men were killed.  Villages and cities
were burned.  The Basque were wiped out...

...except for one little boy that a military ensign discovered
and brought back to the capital city to raise.  A little boy
whose parents had been great believers in the saving dark
power and a boy who would later do anything to unleashed it.

- to be continued -