The Battle of Rosendawn - Prologue

"Close the gates!" shouted Jorryn. The men below heaved with all their
might, and slowly but surely, the massive doors swung shut, and were
barred from behind with thick wooden logs. Not a minute too soon, for they
could hear the sounds of assault from the other side, the swords and pikes of
the Tridexes impacting on the wood. The men at the gates pulled the ropes
that would release hot oil onto the enemy just beyond, before fleeing to the
inner part of the castle. Angry screams echoed off the walls, and the women
and children within the castle shivered with fear where they hid.

Jorryn ordered the inner gates barred as soon as all his soldiers were in,
from where he stood with Roland and Darian on the battlements, watching
the Tridexes move their battering ram up to the outer gates. The doors
shivered beneath each mighty thud, and the wooden logs holding them shut
began to give way, creaking and then cracking till they finally broke in half,
allowing the Tridexes to pour into the outer court, between the outer and
inner walls.

Roland and the rest of the archers released arrow after arrow, each one
finding its deadly mark in the head or neck of a Tridex. But there were so
many of them that the defenders were hard put to make any substantial dent
in their number. The dead Tridexes were beginning to pile up against the
inner wall, and those that still lived climbed over the inert bodies, using them
as stepping stones to try and reach the lower windows.

"This will be the fall of Rosendawn." Darian's face was sober. "We can
hardly hope to kill all of them, when they have so many that they can afford
to fill the moat to the battlements!"

Privately Jorryn thought the same, but as the Prince of Tremedard, for his
people's sake, he had to hide it and look confident, or the soldiers would lose
heart. Unsheathing his sword from its scabbard, he raised it high above his
head, where it shone bright in the late afternoon light. "For Tremedard!" he
cried, and charged down the stairs to the inner court, where the Tridexes
were trying to breach the iron gates. Darian followed him, with his two
wickedly curved knives flashing from both hands. The castle guard, seeing
their beloved Prince hurtling into danger, hastily followed down the stairs in
his wake, reaching the courtyard just as the Tridexes broke through the
door.

The fiercest battle ever fought in the land of Tremedard now raged in the
castle courtyard, where Jorryn, Darian and the castle guard valiantly
defended their home against the invading Tridexes. Roland and about a
third of the archers had turned toward them and were attempting to give
what little protection they could, but theirs was a losing battle as an
unending stream of Tridexes poured in through the broken gates.

Just when they thought that all was lost, the long, clear blast of a horn
sounded from the hill beyond the castle. A hush fell over them all, and even
the Tridexes stopped fighting, startled into silence. The horn sounded again,
and never was there a sweeter sound to the ears of the Tremedardians, as
over the ridge rode the massive army of Lefar, with none other than Garren
and Garrim at its head. Garrim lowered the horn, Garren raised his sword,
and the army thundered down the hill, meeting the Tridexes with a mighty
crash of steel upon steel.

The scene in the courtyard unfroze, and the blades of Jorryn and Darian
flew as they sliced through Tridex after Tridex, till none were left standing
within the inner walls. Then they led the castle guard into the open space
between the inner and outer walls, and killed every Tridex they saw, as the
Lefarian army dealt with those outside. The twins split their men into two
sections, one staying to finish the battle as the other chased down the fleeing
Tridexes and shot them to the ground.

Janelle closed her book and sighed, her mind still lost in the fantasy castle of
Rosendawn, imagining the noble warriors fighting to defend their home. She
rose from her lounging position on the couch, stretching after being curled up
there for a few hours, and then happened to catch a glimpse of the clock.

"Oh no, I'm late!" she gasped in dismay. She was supposed to meet her
archery coach in 10 minutes! She quickly pulled on a clean set of clothes,
tugged a brush through her hair a few times, grabbed her jacket and handbag,
and dashed out the door. She was going down the stairs, trying to stuff her
keys into her bag and her arms into her jacket at the same time, and failed to
see the cardboard box that someone had left on a step.

The world turned topsy-turvy as she tripped over the box and fell, rolling
down the stairs, trying desperately break her fall by catching on to the
banisters. She felt a sharp pain as her head connected hard with the opposite
wall, before everything faded into blackness.
Chapter 1

Her head hurt. And she was lying in a most uncomfortable position, but she
didn't have the strength to move. Then she heard voices, footsteps, and felt a
gentle hand on her shoulder, turning her over. She moaned as the sudden
movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through her skull, and caught a
glimpse of booted feet, before she passed out again.

When she woke for the second time, she was lying on her back, and the pain in
her head seemed to have diminished. She opened her eyes slowly, and gasped
as she saw two strange faces peering down at her. She tried to sit up, but fell
back with a soft cry, blinking back tears of pain, as her head protested
vehemently.

"Don't move just yet," a voice said. "You've hurt your head on something." She
opened her eyes cautiously again, and saw that she was in a tent of some kind,
lying on a padded mat on the ground. The fair haired man was kneeling next
to her, holding a wad of damp cloth in his hand, and the dark haired one had
risen to his feet and was standing near the foot of the bedroll she was lying on.
They both wore armour and looked as if they were dressed to attend a
medieval fancy dress party.

"It's only a minor bump on the head; you should feel better by tomorrow," the
fair haired man told her. Janelle had tensed up against the pain before, but
she managed to relax slowly, as he gently washed away the dirt from her head,
and the throbbing subsided to a dull ache.

"Who are you?" she whispered. "I could ask you the same thing," the fair
haired one answered. "My name is Janelle," she said nervously. "Roland of
Tremedard," he replied.

She nearly sat up again in surprise, but managed to check the movement in
time, before the sudden movement sent her back into oblivion. "Roland of
Tremedard?" she repeated in shock. "And you are ..." she looked at the other
man.

"Jorryn, also of Tremedard," he replied.

"Jorryn and Roland of Tremedard," Janelle repeated. Jorryn and Roland of

Tremedard! The words echoed in her mind. I must have hit my head harder
than I thought, if I'm hallucinating about storybook characters!

"Is something wrong, my lady?" asked Roland curiously.

"Well … I'm not … that is … I'm from a different world. The real world. You
guys aren't real, you're just people in a book. Except now, somehow, I seem to
be in the book too," she tried to explain, sounding ridiculous to her own ears
even as she did.

The two men looked just as bewildered as she felt. "Look, this morning, I was
reading my favourite book, The Battle of Rosendawn. It's all about you guys,
and you're all characters in this book. You're not real …" she trailed off as their
looks changed from bemusement to disbelief. She didn't blame them; if
someone had told her the same thing, she'd have referred the person to a
mental health professional!

Jorryn said, "You should get some rest, perhaps you'll feel better after your
head heals. You can tell us more in the morning."

He sounded like he was talking to a five-year-old child, irking Janelle into

retorting, "Look, I'm not crazy or anything! I've just tumbled into your book
world somehow, and I need to find out how to get back! I know!" she
exclaimed as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Look, tell me what you guys
are doing now, or were doing when you found me. I can prove that I'm telling
the truth."

"We found you when we were fetching water for our camp," Jorryn still looked
like he was trying to pacify her and not like he was even remotely close to
believing what she was saying.

"No, like where you are now, to which castle you're going, something like
that?" she asked impatiently.

"We're on our way to Bel Tinel, to meet with Garren and Garrim," replied
Roland, looking a bit less disbelieving than Jorryn.

"Hmm, ok, have you been to Warthford to see Kel ... Ken ... what's his name,
Kel-something?" She'd never been much good at remembering the names of
the more obscure characters, especially when they weren't common or easily
pronounceable names.

"Yes, we left Kelton's castle the day before yesterday. But it's no secret that we
were going there," he added, with a slight frown.

"Ok, ok, let me think ... hmm ... on the night after you left Warthford, Roland
put a wet fish into Jorryn's bedroll for a joke!" Janelle said triumphantly.

"How did you know that?" Roland exclaimed indignantly, as Jorryn glared at
him, "You told me it was Darian!"

"I told you, I read it in my book," she said impatiently.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Roland shrugged and
nodded. "I suppose there is no harm in believing her for now, as long as no
evidence appears to the contrary."

She suddenly remembered what had happened in the book on the third
morning of their journey to Bel Tinel. "I'd better tell you something important
now before I forget. Tomorrow morning, a bunch of Tridexes are going to
attack your camp. They've been tailing you since Warthford."
"Are you certain?" asked Roland, frowning.

"Well, it happened in the book anyway," said Janelle. "I'm guessing that it will
still be true, that things in the book will still happen the way I read them. Then
again, I'm here, but I'm definitely not in the book, so maybe they will be a little
different. But you should be prepared anyway, in case they do come, because
in the book, Darian got slightly wounded when they attacked. Maybe you can
prevent that if all three of you are on guard before they arrive."

"How many Tridexes will attack?" Jorryn still sounded a little skeptical.

"About ten, if I remember correctly," answered Janelle. "Maybe twelve or

thirteen."

"I suppose it would be better for us to prepare needlessly, than to risk injury,
whether to Darian or anyone else," Jorryn sighed. "We'll be ready if they do
come."

"You should rest now, my lady," added Roland.

The two men turned to leave the small tent. "Wait! What shall I … I mean,
what are you going to do with me tomorrow?" she asked in a small voice.

"You can come with us to Bel Tinel, since we can't leave you here alone in the
middle of the forest without protection. After that you may go where you wish.
I presume this is acceptable?" Jorryn replied.

"I guess so," said Janelle. As if I have any other choice, she thought bleakly.

"Then we bid you good night, my lady."

Chapter 2

Janelle yawned and opened her eyes groggily. Had she just had a really
strange dream about being transported into her favourite book? But even as
the thought occurred to her, she opened her eyes and saw, instead of her
bedroom ceiling, the canvas roof of a tent. Also, she felt stiff from sleeping all
night on the ground. So it wasn't a dream. She was really living in Tremedard,
or Warthford, or Lefar, or wherever in the book they happened to be at the
moment.

But before she could ponder more about what had happened, the tent flap
opened and Roland came in.

"It's nearly dawn, and if what you claim is true, then the Tridexes will be
attacking soon," he said. "We want you to remain in the tent; if we're fortunate
enough, they might not realise that you're here."

"Ok, whatever you say," she concurred. He left the tent, and she got up from
the bedroll. Her head still ached a little, but the rest of her seemed to be fine.
What wouldn't I give to have a bath now, she thought ruefully. She was still
wearing the jacket, T-shirt, jeans, and trainers that she'd had on when she left
the house, but her bag was gone. Her clothes were filthy though, probably
because she'd been lying in the dirt before they'd found her.

Suddenly she heard the twang of a bowstring, and then the yelp of what she
supposed was a Tridex who had been shot. Then the air was filled with more
twangs, and the ring of swords clashing. The Tridexes bellowed their battle
cry, and she could hear Roland and Jorryn (and Darian too, she supposed)
yelling as they fought.

Without warning, a sword punctured the side of her tent, and she jumped up
in shock, backing away. A large, dark monster tore through the wall, and she
knew that this must be a Tridex. Apparently her imagination wasn't nearly
good enough, because this beast was much more horrible than she had
imagined a Tridex to be. It had black, scaly skin, and was vaguely man-shaped,
except for the head, which looked like a three-horned lizard with long, sharp
teeth.

Green slime dripped from its jaws as it advanced on her, with its black eyes
gleaming evilly. She retreated till she could go no more, casting nervous
glances at the door of the tent, trying to judge the distance and figure out if
she could make a run for it without getting caught. But the Tridex kept
coming, and it was now too late to run. She wondered with a touch of hysteria
if she was going to die here, and if she did, would she wake up in her own
world or would she somehow die there too?

When the Tridex had gotten within a few feet of her, it roared and raised its
arm to swing the sword, just as Roland and another man burst through the
tent door. She ducked, falling to the ground and curling her body into a tight
ball, as the Tridex roared and turned to face the two men. Steel clanged on
steel, and a bowstring twanged, followed by a gurgling sound and then a loud
thud. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"My lady, are you all right? Did he hurt you?" It was Roland's voice, and
though she knew the Tridex was dead, she couldn't seem to move, couldn't
seem to do anything but lie curled up there, with her eyes tightly shut. "It's all
right now, he's dead and can't hurt you anymore," said Roland soothingly. "My
lady? Janelle?"

She finally managed to open her eyes, and forced her muscles to unclench.
Roland helped her to her feet, running his eyes over her body to check for
wounds. Finding none, he searched her face again, and repeated, "Are you all
right?" She nodded tremulously and tried to calm her racing heart. "I'm fine,"
she said. He looked at her for a moment longer, then nodded and said, "You
were right, there were ten of them, and they attacked just after dawn broke."

The other man was dragging the body of the Tridex out of the door, and seeing
her glance at him, dropped it to sweep her a deep bow, saying, "Darian of
Tremedard, my lady. I am forever indebted to you, because you have saved me
a grievous injury this morn, according to these two rogues who found you
yesterday!" He bowed again in an exaggerated fashion, with a rascally grin on
his face. She remembered that Darian was supposed to be the youngest of the
five friends, and the most mischievous. It was hard not to smile back at him.

"You are welcome, Darian. My name is Janelle," she said. He grinned and
resumed dragging the body of the Tridex out of the tent. She and Roland
followed him, and she saw that they were camped at the edge of a forest,
beyond which lay an open, grassy plain. Two bedrolls were arranged around
the remains of a campfire, and there was a pile of Tridex bodies just beyond
the camp. Three white horses were tethered to the trees near the campfire.

They set the pile ablaze, then the men packed up the camp. Jorryn told her,
"Roland's mount is the strongest, so you will ride with him, and Darian and I
will take all the baggage." There wasn't much baggage that she could see, but
she decided not to comment.

They untied their mounts, and she walked towards Roland and his white
horse. A little awkwardly, she raised her foot to the stirrup and swung the
other leg over the saddle. Roland leaped up lightly behind her, reaching his
arms around her to hold the reins. He touched his heels to the flank of the
horse, and with a last backward glance, they were off, leaving the blazing pile
of Tridex bodies behind.

Chapter 3

They soon left the forest and entered the grassy plains, riding along at a fast
trot. Janelle couldn't talk to Roland because she kept bumping up and down in
the saddle. Although she'd ridden horses a few times before, she was unused
to riding for long stretches of time, and by the time they stopped for lunch, she
was stiff and sore all over. Roland leapt lightly off the horse, and held out his
arms to her. She swung her leg over the saddle and let him lift her down, but
her legs nearly buckled when he removed his hands from her waist. He
steadied her, and she smiled her thanks shakily at him.

Darian had opened his pack, and he pulled out bread and cheese and handed
some to everyone. Janelle was a little surprised that the Prince of Tremedard
would be eating simple bread and cheese, but thought it would be rude to ask
why. She decided to ask instead, "How long will we take to reach Bel Tinel?"

"We should reach there around midday tomorrow, my lady," said Darian.

"Tell us more about your world," requested Roland. "I would like to learn
more about this place where you live."

"Well, it's nothing like here," said Janelle. "People don't ride horses anymore,
since about a hundred years ago. At least, they only ride for fun, in races and
stuff."

"Then how do you travel long distances?" asked Darian curiously.

"Well, we have cars. They're kind of like a wagon that can move without a
horse pulling it. I don't really know how they work, but they can move much
faster than horses can."

"I am finding it rather difficult t is hard to imagine this," said Jorryn, shaking
his head.

"We also have lights that run on electricity, which comes from a hole in the
walls of our houses. You just press a button, and the light will turn itself on.
Press it again and it will go off," said Janelle, getting more animated as she
told them about her world. "In your world, you use swords and spears and
arrows to fight; well, we use guns. Guns are smaller, and you just need to press
a button and a bullet, that's like a little piece of metal, will shoot out at an
incredible speed and hit your enemy; it can kill him if you hit a vital spot. You
can stand further away than you do with a bow and arrow, and it doesn't take
any strength at all, a child can do it."

"I wish I had one then," said Roland with a grin. "I could shoot Tridexes from
a greater distance, which would decrease the risk of injury. And more
importantly, the further away they are, the lesser the stench of their breath!"
Everyone laughed.

They finished their lunch, mounted their horses and continued on their way,
only stopping again when the sun had disappeared over the horizon, although
there was still light enough to see quite well. They were still in the middle of
what seemed to be a vast grassy plain, but there was a water hole nearby with
a few trees, bushes and rocks around it. It reminded her of a picture she'd seen
of a desert oasis, except this one was surrounded by grass and not sand.

Darian broke some branches from the trees for firewood, Jorryn took the
water bottles to the spring to fill them, and Roland set up the tent, tying
together the parts that had been ripped in the morning's encounter with the
Tridexes. Janelle felt rather useless amongst all this activity, and asked
Roland, "Can I help do something?"

"Of course, my lady," he said. "If you would open my pack and take out the
small pot inside, you can fill it with water so we can make our dinner." When
she'd done this, Darian rigged up a tripod to hang the pot on, and she watched
him take out some dried meat and vegetables from his pack and throw them
in. He then added some powdered herbs and stirred for a while, before leaving
the soup to boil. It tasted surprisingly good to Janelle with bread, but she
thought it might be because she was so hungry.

And exhausted. She was so tired that she didn't even realise her eyes were
closing, until she heard Jorryn saying, "My lady? Lady Janelle?"

She came awake with a jerk, and blushed as she realised that all three men
were looking at her. "I've set up the bedroll inside the tent for you; you can
sleep in there and we will stay outside," Roland told her.

"I, uh, I'm sorry that you guys feel you have to give up the tent for me, I mean,
it's your tent. It's ok if you want to sleep inside as well; it's big enough for four
bedrolls, isn't it?" she said.

"Actually," said Darian with an amused grin, "we only have three bedrolls. But
do not fret," he added hastily, seeing her dismayed look. "It's no hardship to
let you have one, since at least one of us must be awake at all times to keep
watch. And the night is warm; sleeping next to the fire will do us no harm."

"Ok, well, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to sleep now then," said Janelle, too
tired to debate the point. She went to the spring to wash her hands and face,
then entered the tent and fell asleep immediately as soon as her head touched
the bedroll.

Chapter 4

The next day they set off early again, and Roland pointed out Garren's castle,
Bel Tinel, to Janelle about an hour after they left. She could just see it in the
distance, looking like a small rock at first, but it grew steadily larger as they
rode towards it, till she could see the details of the magnificent castle, with a
pennant flying from the battlements. The castle was surrounded by a three-
storey high wall, and there was a moat around it, about twenty metres wide. It
looked rather murky and brown, and Janelle doubted that anyone would want
to try and swim across the dirty water.

"Who goes there?" yelled a voice from the top of one of the two guard towers
that flanked the drawbridge.

"Prince Jorryn, Lord Roland, and Lord Darian of Tremedard!" shouted Darian
in reply. Janelle heard a clanking of chains, and the drawbridge was lowered,
till it thudded to rest just in front of their horses' hooves. Jorryn rode across
the drawbridge into the courtyard, with Darian to his left, and Roland and
Janelle to his right. A groom ran up to take their horses, and there was a
crowd of people cheering and waving. They dismounted and walked up to the
main stairs, where two men and a woman were standing.

As they got nearer, Janelle could see that the two men looked almost exactly
alike, both were tanned with light brown hair, startling blue eyes, broad
shoulders, and identical smiles of good humour. She realised that these must
be Garren and Garrim, although she didn't know which was which. The only
difference that she could see was that one of them had hair that was about
three inches longer than his brother's. The woman was petite, with dark
brown hair and a beautiful smile. Janelle guessed that this must be Leola,
Garren's princess. She looked to be around the same age as Janelle herself.

They reached the steps and the men all embraced, greeting each other noisily,
and the three visitors bowed and kissed Princess Leola's hand in turn.

Janelle felt rather out of place, very conscious of the dirt streaking her clothes,
and of the fact that she was the only woman in the entire courtyard, probably
the entire castle, who wasn't wearing a skirt. She wished that she could back
away and be swallowed up into the crowd, but at that moment the twin with
shorter hair said, "Well, aren't you going to introduce us to your lovely
companion?" He was evidently too polite to comment on her strange attire,
but she could read the curiosity in his eyes, and in those of his twin and the
lady.

Jorryn took her hand and drew her into the group, saying, "May I present the
Lady Janelle of, er, of .."

"San Francisco," she provided quickly, her cheeks turning red.

"Of course, the Lady Janelle of San Francisco," Jorryn continued smoothly.
They'd obviously never heard of San Francisco, but luckily nobody decided to
comment on that. "My lady, please meet Prince Garren, Princess Leola, and
Prince Garrim of Lefar." The two men bowed to her, and the princess smiled
at the introduction, though they looked confused, probably because they had
never heard of San Francisco before. Garren turned out to be the one with
shorter hair, and Garrim had a mischievous smile that reminded her of
Darian. Janelle thought she should maybe curtsy, but she wasn't wearing a
skirt, which would make a curtsy look kind of ridiculous, so she settled for a
kind of half bow.

Garrim led them into what seemed to be a kind of sitting room with couches
set in a rough circle. They all sat down, and servants brought in mugs of tea.

"Incidentally, your grace of Tremedard, the next time you decide to visit us,
would you be so kind as to send a note with more than one sentence?"
complained Garren with a good-natured sigh, as the servants distributed the
tea all around. "Telling us ‘we'll be there in a few days' gives us no idea of
when you're coming, why you're coming, or how many people you're
bringing!"

"My dear Garren, even if I did feel inclined to drag my army all over your
princedom, which I don't, I distinctly recall the new barracks you built last
year, which have more than enough space for me to stash them while we're
here," retorted Jorryn.

"Now that you have arrived, though, perhaps you'd care to enlighten us about
the purpose of your visit," remarked Garrim before Garren could think up a
sarcastic reply.

At this, Jorryn grew more serious, and said, "We've just come from Cargath.
Kelton sent for us, saying that he needed to see us about a matter of some
secrecy. He's getting old and it's a little hard for him to travel long distances,
so we agreed to visit him and discuss it there instead." Janelle wondered if she
should offer to leave the room, since they were evidently going to talk about
this ‘matter of some secrecy'. However, since she already knew from reading
the book what they were going to discuss, there wouldn't be much point in it.
Besides, it's fascinating to see them acting out the word in the book!

"Kelton told us that Veldid sent him a rather large order for leather, about two
weeks ago. He thought it was a strange request, so he sent a few of his men
with the goods, disguised as guards for the caravan train. They spoke to some
of Veldid's leather workers, and found out that Veldid has ordered most of the
leather to be dyed black."

"Black? But Cabinendans don't wear black, they wear green!" exclaimed Leola.
"Only Tridexes wear black!"

"Precisely," said Roland. "Kelton's men also found out that Veldid has been
hounding his iron miners to increase their supply, and that his smiths are
making an astounding number of swords and spears, more than he could
possibly need even if he wanted to fully rearm every Cabinend soldier twice
over. He suspects that Veldid is supplying Thorne with arms for Tridexes."

"And even assuming that this is true, why the sudden rush for Thorne to have
so much leather and so many new weapons? Tridexes don't breed quickly
enough to warrant the sudden increase in demand for armour and weapons.
Which is why this is particularly alarming, we suspect that he might have
recently got a lot more Tridexes that need them," said Jorryn.

"If he's managed to find a way to increase their breeding rate, then we might
have a serious problem on our hands," said Garrim thoughtfully. "Tridexes
don't usually venture into our princedoms in groups of more than twenty at a
time, and we generally manage to kill most of those that do. But if Thorne has
suddenly got a large supply of them to use against us, then the scales tip in his
favour."

"Is Kelton sure that this is the reason for Veldid's behaviour?" asked Leola.
"I'm not particularly fond of Veldid, but he strikes me as being too timid to
dare such a thing, especially with such a lack of concealment!"

"He can't be absolutely sure, but we thought it would be prudent to prepare

for the worst," answered Darian. "We came to warn you to check on all your
defences and to keep watch for any strange things that might happen. Also, it
can't hurt to ready your troops, just in case need arises."

"We will do so," promised Garren. "But you know what this means – if, and I
repeat, if, Veldid is really doing this – it means … war."

Chapter 5

Janelle looked around the enormous room that Princess Leola had left her in.
It was about twice as big as her apartment in San Francisco, and there was a
huge four-poster bed with curtains. A dressing table with a mirror and chair
stood at one end, next to a screen which she guessed was for changing behind.
There were also a few couches with a kind of coffee table next to the windows.

A maid entered, and curtsied. "My lady, would you like a bath before dinner?"
A bath! She hadn't had one in … well, it was only two days, but it felt far longer
when you spent most of your time riding and camping, not to mention lying in
the dirt.

"Yes please," she replied. She watched a line of footmen carrying in buckets of
water, and then the maid showed her into the bathroom. The bath was sunken
into the floor, like a tiny swimming pool, and there were steps going down.
"My lady, I am here to assist you in your bath," said the maid when Janelle
looked at her, wondering why she was still standing there.

"What? No, no, I can bathe myself. If you could just leave the towels there,
thank you very much," Janelle said hastily. Finally left alone, she had time to
think. She wondered how long she would be here in this place, living inside
her storybook. Would she ever get to go home? Or would she have to stay here
in this strange land forever? Strangely, the thought didn't disturb her as much
as she thought it would have. Jorryn, Roland and Darian were nicer than
anyone she'd known at home, and she was an orphan without many close
friends, so there wasn't anyone who would really miss her back home.

Her thoughts turned to the crisis that was looming. She wondered whether she
should tell the men about what she knew of their future. She knew that the
Veldid now ruling Cabinend wasn't the real Veldid, he was someone who had
been magically enhanced to look like him, while the real Veldid was actually
being held prisoner in one of Thorne's dungeons. The reason for the increase
in demand for leather and weapons was that Thorne's magicians had found a
way to increase the fertility of the breeding Tridexes so that they spawned ten
offspring at once, instead of just one. Also, Tridexes only took six months to
reach full growth, so it wouldn't take long for Thorne to increase the size of his
Tridex army, hence the increase in demand for the materials to make armour
and weapons. The end of the story was when this army assaulted Rosendawn,
Jorryn's castle, and killed all messengers sent to ask Garren for help. In the
book, Garrim had been on his way to surprise Jorryn with a visit, when he
nearly rode right into the huge Tridex army camped outside Rosendawn. He'd
ridden back all the way at top speed to fetch his brother and his army, arriving
just in time to prevent the fall of Rosendawn.

If she told all this to the five men, what would happen? She knew that by
changing one event, the future could be changed, and she didn't know how it
would change, for the better or for worse. But I can't just say nothing, can I
now? she thought. That would be rather ungrateful, wouldn't it, seeing as
how they saved my life just yesterday morning!

She luxuriated in the bath, pondering the problem, and in the end decided
that she would tell them, and what they did with the extra information was
their problem, not hers. She finished scrubbing all the dirt away, stood up,
wrapped herself in a towel, then cautiously poked her head out of the
bathroom door.

"Her grace the Princess Leola has ordered these clothes brought for you, my
lady," said the maid. She indicated a beautiful sky blue gown that was lying on
the bed. After a moment's consideration, Janelle decided to forgo modesty and
let the maid dress her. The gown had about a hundred tiny hooks at the back
instead of a zip, and she'd never be able to contort enough to do them up
herself. Thank God this isn't one of those cultures where women wear
corsets! she thought. She combed out her damp hair and left it down, hoping
it would dry soon.

Just as she finished, she heard a knock on the door, and called, "Come in!"
Roland stuck his head into the room, then the rest of his body followed. He
stopped and stared at her for a long moment, and she wondered nervously if
she'd unknowingly committed some impropriety. "Is something wrong?" she
asked.

"No, not at all, it's only that you look so ... so ... so nice!" he finished with a
bemused look on his face. "Well thank you, kind sir," she said with a grin,
dropping into a deep curtsy.

He smiled in return, and offered his arm to escort her down to dinner. The
dining room was slightly larger than her bedroom, and there was a long table,
but since there were only seven of them, they all sat at one end, with Garren at
the head and Leola next to him. They lingered over each course, and Janelle
ate and ate till she thought she would burst. Darian and Roland, who were on
either side of her, kept filling up her plate even when she protested laughingly
that she'd had more than enough.

When dinner was over, she caught Jorryn just as he was leaving the room, and
said, "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course, my lady." he replied.

"You know that I've read your story before, all the way to the end, and I know
things about Veldid and Thorne that you don't. I thought maybe I should tell
you, then you can be one step ahead of them at all times, and you'll be able to
counter their moves."

Jorryn started as if he'd been shot, and exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of that
before? You can tell us all about what Veldid and Thorne are doing, and what
their plans are!" Before she could say anything more, he was dragging her
back through the maze of corridors, so that she had to run to keep up with his
long strides. They ended up in the sitting room again, and Jorryn dispatched
servants to fetch the rest immediately.

"Wait till they come," he told her. "Then you can tell us all at the same time."
It didn't take long for the rest to arrive, and after everyone was there, he
announced, "Lady Janelle has something to tell us, and I thought it important
that you all listen. She says that she has been transported here from her own
world, in which we are all people in a book, and she knows what is happening
and what is going to happen," he added for the benefit of Garren, Leola, and
Garrim.

"But how do you know this to be true?" asked Garren. He cast an apologetic
glance at Janelle. "Forgive me, my lady, but it's a rather difficult story to
believe."
"We can explain that to you later," said Darian impatiently. "She told us more
on the way here, and we believe her. For now I want to hear what she has to
tell us about Thorne and Veldid."

Suddenly all eyes were on her, and she felt a little nervous at having to speak
with all these princes and lords staring at her. "Well, for starters, about what
you were discussing this afternoon when we got here," she said. "The Veldid
now in Cabinend isn't the real Veldid. He was kidnapped by Thorne and the
fake Veldid – his name is Morde – is ruling in his place. Morde was enhanced
by Thorne's magicians to look like Veldid, and the real Veldid is now
imprisoned in Thorne's dungeon."

Everyone else in the room wore expressions of varying dismay and shock, but
none of them seemed inclined to interrupt, so she continued, "You are right
about the leather and the weapons, Thorne wants them for his Tridexes. His
magicians found a way to make one Tridex spawn ten young ones at once
instead of one, so his supply of them is much greater than before, and the
population is still growing. Thorne's ultimate plan is to take over all the
princedoms. Soon he will bring Tridexes openly into Cabinend, since he's
already got control of it through the fake Veldid. Next on his list is
Tremedard," she said, looking at Jorryn.

His jaw was clenched and a dangerous light shone from his eyes, but his voice
was steady. "Please go on," he said tightly.

"He wants Tremedard first because it borders his own land, like Cabinend.
After that comes Lefar, and then the rest of the princedoms. But he won't get
them," she added quickly, when Garren looked like he was going to jump up
and start shouting for his army to make ready to march on Perith. "At the end
of my book, the Tridexes have surrounded Rosendawn, and everyone thinks
that it is the end, but Garren and Garrim, uh, I mean, Prince Garren and
Prince Garrim, you lead the Lefarian army to the rescue and between Lefar
and Tremedard, you manage to kill all the Tridexes. The book ends there, and
it doesn't say what happens to Thorne and Veldid. But it does say that not
even one Tridex remains alive to return to Perith."

They spent the rest of the night questioning her, and she spent it trying to
remember every little detail of her book for them. She also spent a lot of time
trying to caution them, because the change in their actions now would cause
changes in the future they shaped. They were too excited about what she was
telling them, however, to pay much attention to this.

She was exhausted by the time they finally let her go to bed. They had decided
that they should let events proceed according to the book as much as possible,
to lessen the chances of Thorne making unexpected moves. They would ready
their armies, and Garren would make sure that his sentries kept a close watch
on Tremedard, so that he would know immediately when his army should be
sent. Jorryn would step up the number of troops patrolling the Perith border,
so that he would be alerted at the first sign that the Tridex army was on the
move. Other than that, all they could do was to wait.
Chapter 6

They left for Rosendawn the very next day. Jorryn was too anxious to get back
and start readying his army to stay any longer. He had given Janelle the choice
of whether she wanted to stay at Bel Tinel, or go back with them. Bel Tinel was
much safer, he'd told her, and he wouldn't blame her if she wanted to stay
there with Princess Leola. But Janelle didn't want to be left behind, she
wanted to go to Rosendawn, to see the battle that would be played out before
her very eyes. Besides, she was afraid that she might have forgotten to tell
them something that she would remember in the next few days, some detail
that might prove vital to their victory in the final battle.

She had a horse of her own this time, which Jorryn had borrowed from
Garren, citing the reason that they'd be able to travel faster if Roland's horse
wasn't carrying double weight. Leola had also given her a travel pack, into
which the maid had packed five new dresses, and she was currently wearing
ladies breeches and a white cotton shirt, which seemed to be what ladies wore
when they rode. She was glad, since she didn't think she'd be able to put on
any of the dresses with a million hooks without help.

For the first half an hour, riding took up most of her concentration, because
she wasn't very good at it, and having to ride all by herself wasn't as easy as it
looked. But after a while she got the hang of it, and she was able to look
around at the landscape as they travelled. Bel Tinel was in the middle of a
grassy plain, but around midday, they had reached the edge of a forest. Janelle
knew that it was part of the same forest in which they'd found her, and they
had to cross it to get to Rosendawn. It was part of the reason that the Lefarian
army had taken so long to reach Rosendawn in the book, because going
through the forest slowed them down.

When darkness fell over the forest, they stopped and made camp, because it
was harder to traverse a forest by night than the open plains. "Lady Janelle?"
called Darian from where he was unloading his horse, a mischievous look on
his face. "Yes?" she replied.

"We've got two tents now, one for you and one for us!" he grinned, and she
laughed. She helped Darian to set up the tents, while Jorryn and Roland
collected firewood. Then Roland set off to get water, leaving the others to start
the fire. Janelle decided to go and wash her hands and face, and asked Darian
which way the spring was.

"It's about five minutes walk in that direction," he answered, pointing. She
followed the narrow path, and after a few minutes, heard the gurgling sound
of water. But before she got there, she heard a cry and a thud. She broke into a
run and soon reached the edge of the clearing, stopping herself just in time
before she burst out of the cover of the trees. She hid behind a thick trunk and
peered out cautiously.

There were two Tridexes there, and she choked back a gasp of horror when
she saw Roland lying on the ground, not moving. She couldn't tell whether
they'd killed him or merely knocked him out. The Tridexes were arguing
loudly, which was probably why they hadn't heard her coming, but she
couldn't understand them because they were growling and grunting in their
native tongue.

After about two minutes, they started searching Roland's body. She heard him
groan at their rough handling, and breathed a sigh of relief – he was alive! The
Tridexes took the bow and the quiver of arrows off his back, and removed the
short sword at his belt and two knives from his boots. Then, she had a
wonderful piece of luck. The Tridex holding the bow and quiver tossed it away,
in her direction, and it landed just beyond the tree behind which she was
hiding. Did she dare reach out and grab it? She had to, or they would kill
Roland, or kidnap him, if that was their intention. She didn't have time to run
back and fetch Jorryn and Darian.

Janelle took her chance when the Tridexes bent over Roland again, facing
away from her. She stuck out her hand, grabbed the bow in her left hand and
an arrow in her right. The bow was heavy, made for a man, but she managed
to draw it back just enough. Mentally thanking her archery coach for the long
hours of drilling, she aimed at the nearer of the two Tridexes and let fly. The
Tridex was speared through the back of its neck, and fell, clawing at the arrow
and making the most horrible gurgling sounds as it died. The other one
whirled around, and charged at her before she could get another arrow out of
the quiver. She dropped the bow and turned to run. I'm not going to make it,
it's so much bigger than me!

She tripped on a tree root and fell sprawling on the ground. This is the end,
she thought, I'm going to die here. Then two pairs of booted feet appeared
running in front of her eyes and disappeared behind her. She heard steel slice
through flesh, more gurgling sounds, and then the boots reappeared and she
felt a hand on her shoulder. "My lady, are you all right?" It was Darian.

She scrambled to her feet with his help, gasping, "I'm fine, but Roland is hurt!
He's by the spring, they ..." Before she could finish, Jorryn had dashed off, and
she and Darian followed after him more slowly. By the time they got there,
Roland had managed to sit up groggily, with Jorryn supporting him. They
made their way slowly back to camp, with Roland leaning heavily on Jorryn.
Darian wanted to tend to Roland's head, but he said, "It's nothing, only a
bump on my head, no less than I deserve for being so careless."

"What happened?" asked Jorryn.

"I don't really know," said Roland. "I was filling one of the bottles, and I think
they hit me from behind. I remember nothing else, till I woke up and saw you
bending over me."

"Wasn't it you who shot the first Tridex?" said Darian in surprise. "We found
your arrow in its neck."

"Well, erm, actually, it was me," Janelle spoke up a little hesitantly.

"It was you?" asked Jorryn incredulously.

"Yes, I did," said Janelle, a bit miffed at the surprise in his voice. "Roland's
bow is rather heavy for me, but other than that, it wasn't so hard. One of them
pulled the bow and quiver off him and happened to toss them in my direction.
I just picked them up and managed to shoot at the first Tridex, but I didn't
have time to shoot the other before it came charging over. So I ran, and that's
when you guys came."

"But I thought you told us that your people don't use such weapons to fight?"
asked Darian curiously.

"Well, they don't, really. Archery is a sport, it's done for fun, for the enjoyment
one derives from honing a skill," she explained. "It's not for killing people. I
practice it because I enjoy it, not because my life depends on it, like yours
does."

They all stared at her for a moment, then Roland said, "Well, then, I owe you
my life. They would have killed or taken me, if not for you."

"Erm, well, that's quite all right," said Janelle uncomfortably. "Anyone would
have done the same thing." She looked down at her hands, feeling self-
conscious as they stared at her for a moment longer, and was thankful when
Darian changed the subject.

They ate their dinner sitting around the campfire, excellent fare packed for
them by Garren's castle chef, before retiring to their respective tents. Jorryn
and Darian took turns to keep watch that night, allowing Roland time to rest
and recover from his encounter with the Tridexes.

It took them the whole of the next day to cross the forest, which gave way to
gently rolling hills. On the third morning after they had left Bel Tinel, they
were able to see Rosendawn in the distance. The magnificent castle was
nestled in a wide valley, surrounded by lush green fields.

So this is Rosendawn, thought Janelle soberly. This is where it the battle will
be, where the book will end. But what will happen to me after it does?

Chapter 7

Janelle sat in the solar of the castle with the other castle ladies, sewing at a
huge piece of cloth that was supposed to be a battle flag for Tremedard. Or
rather, the rest of the ladies sewed. Janelle sat there, occasionally stabbing the
needle in and out of the cloth without making any stitches, because she was
afraid that she would do it wrongly and then someone else would have to
spend time fixing her mistakes.

Upon reaching Rosendawn, Darian had placed her in the charge of his
younger sister, Danelea, who seemed to be the one in charge of the castle as
well. She had delegated Janelle to help in the sewing room, and Janelle hadn't
wanted to tell her that she couldn't sew to save her life. So here she now sat,
trapped in the midst of the giggling, chattering ladies who were working on
the flag.

As she pretended to sew, her thoughts drifed to Roland, wondering what he'd
been doing since they'd arrived. More specifically, wondering whether or not
he'd thought about her at all since they'd arrived at Rosendawn two days ago.
She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since then, and found herself spending
an inordinate amount of time thinking about him - of the gentle way in which
he'd tended the bump on her head on the first day when they'd found her in
the forest, of the concern in his voice when he'd saved her from the first
Tridex, and of the terror she'd felt when she saw him lying on the forest floor
after being knocked out.

That afternoon, Janelle decided that she couldn't stand it in the solar
anymore, and plucked up her courage to ask Danelea if there was anything
else she could do to help out besides sewing. Danelea brought her to the
kitchen, where she was introduced to "Cook", a tall, thin woman in a starched
apron and cap. Janelle might have been arbitrarily assigned a rank of "Lady",
but here in the kitchen, Cook reigned supreme. She was unceremoniously
ordered, together with three other young women, to knead dough for baking
bread, in preparation for the army which was now being recalled from various
provinces of Tremedard. After about ten minutes, though, Cook decided
Janelle was doing it wrong, and reassigned her to measuring and mixing the
required ingredients instead. When she spilt a bag of flour all over the floor
and herself, Cook threw up her hands in disgust and banished her from the
kitchen.

Covered with flour and trying valiantly to blink back tears, Janelle fled from
the kitchen, and blindly climbed up the nearest flight of stairs till she reached
a door. She opened it cautiously and found herself walking out onto a kind of
balcony which overlooked the practice fields where the soldiers were training
with swords, jabbing spears into bundles of hay, and shooting arrows at
targets.

Watching the archers below, she itched to find out the differences between
their weapons and the training ones she'd used at home. She had been too
preoccupied at the time to get a good look at Roland's bow when she'd used it
to kill the Tridex. Archery was her favourite hobby and pasttime, and it had
been the one thing she really excelled in. Although it had been tiring to go for
training three times a week after a hard day's work, it had been immensely
satisfying to feel the confidence that came with shooting arrow after arrow, all
of which landed precisely where she'd aimed.

It didn't seem like she would be going back to her world anytime soon.
Although she didn't really miss anyone there very much, she did miss having
something to do. In her own world, she was an accountant by training with a
university degree. It wasn't exactly the most fulfilling job, but at least it was
useful, contributing something to her company. In this world, however, she
didn't seem to be useful for anything at all. I can't sew, I can't cook, and I
doubt that even the castle accountant would want my help, seeing as how
he's such great friends with Cook, she thought glumly. She's probably told
him all about the klutz who can't knead dough to save her life. Or anyone
else's, for that matter.

Would anyone miss her if she was gone? Had she ever made or would she ever
make a difference anytime, anyhow? She heaved a sigh, reflecting on how
alone she was, no matter which world she happened to be in.

"My lady?" Oh drat, it was him. Roland. And here she was, all covered in flour.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.

I will not cry, I will not cry, she repeated to herself fiercely. It didn't work, the
concern in his voice sent the tears spilling down her cheeks, and she turned
away in a futile effort to hide them. "I suppose something is wrong, then," he
said. "Perhaps you'd care to tell me what is wrong? After all, I can't leave the
brave girl who saved my life to cry up here all alone, now, can I?" he teased
gently.

"It's just that I ... I spent the past few days with the other ladies trying to sew,
but I'm lousy at that, and the cook banished me from the kitchen because I
spilt flour all over the floor. There doesn't seem to be anything useful I can do
here, and I was just thinking that ... that, well, nobody would even miss me if I
wasn't here, and ... and that nobody is missing me now because I've left my
world ..." she dissolved into sobs again.

She felt him move closer, and somewhat hesitantly slide his arms around her.
"Well, my lady," he said with a hint of a smile in his voice, "I, for one, am very
glad you are in this world, if that counts."

"You ... you are?" she said in surprise, and lifted her eyes to meet his. "Of
course I am," he replied with a smile. "Who would have saved me from the
Tridexes if you had not been there? And besides, I seldom get to see ladies
who are covered in flour, it is rather an interesting sight," he grinned.

She gave him a watery smile, then tucked her face back against his chest,
feeling her shoulders beginning to relax. It felt so good to be held by him, to
pretend for one tiny moment that someone cared about her, that she wasn't all
alone in the world. Her parents had died when she was just four years old, and
she'd lived in an orphanage and then a series of foster homes till she was
eighteen. She'd managed to win a scholarship to university through sheer hard
work and determination, and had moved away from her last foster home,
working her way through the holidays in her bid not to be dependent on
anyone anymore. But being independent wasn't all that great either, she'd
found, because it was a very lonely way of life.

Now Roland was holding her, and surely it couldn't do any harm to pretend
that it was because he cared. She nearly laughed at herself. Harm? She was
going to lose her heart to this handsome man if she wasn't careful.

He kept holding her till she pulled away a little, and then, taking out a
handkerchief, gently dried her tears for her. She smiled at him more easily this
time, and then turned and rested her elbows on the balcony wall. He stood
next to her, and they watched the men down below training.

"So, where was it that you learnt to shoot so well?" asked Roland.

"After I started working, I took up lessons three times a week. I've been doing
it for the past two years, at night after work," she replied, grateful for the
change in subject.

"Work? What kind of work do you do?" he asked.

"I'm an accountant. I studied for three years at college to become one, and
then worked for two years after that," she added when he looked surprised. "I
don't miss it that much, but I do miss my archery sessions. It feels so
satisfying when you have complete control over the arrow, when you release it
and it lands precisely where you aimed," she said.

"That's exactly what it's like!" he exclaimed, looking surprised. "I've never met
anyone else who feels the same way. Most of the archers I know only practice
archery to survive – to protect themselves or their homes, to hunt, to earn a
living, or for other such reasons. None of them actually seems to like it for its
own sake."

She laughed, and said, "Well, I certainly do, or I wouldn't pay someone to
torture me with training thrice a week, now, would I?"

"My lady," he began.

"Janelle," she interrupted him, a little shyly.

"Janelle," he repeated with a soft smile. "And you must call me Roland. But
what I was going to say was, how would you like to spend your time here at
Rosendawn practicing archery, instead of sewing or being in the kitchen? We
can always use another good archer on the walls."

She threw her arms around him again. "I can? I can I can I can?" she
exclaimed excitedly. He laughed. "Of course you can, I see no reason why not."

"I thought that only the men could do it, I didn't see any women down there,"
she said, glancing back down at the field below.

"Well, there are a few, but not many," he said. "They wear the same clothes as
the men do, so it's a little hard to tell them apart from this distance. If you like,
I'll take you down there and introduce you to the armsmaster, and tomorrow
you can start training with the rest."

"Roland ... thank you," she said, smiling happily.

He laughed again. "Thank me after practice tomorrow, if you still feel so

inclined, after Bradden has had you shooting at hay bales the whole day, and
you're aching from head to toe!"
Chapter 8

Roland had exaggerated – Bradden, the armsmaster, only made her practice
against the targets for no more than half a day, though this was only because
there weren't enough targets or space on the field for everyone. She was used
to shooting while standing, but now she also had to learn to fire arrows while
crouching, hiding behind a barrier, and even lying prone on the ground.
Fortunately she was already a pretty good shot from a standing position, so it
didn't take her that long to adapt her style to the changes in position. The
bows and arrows used here were heavier than those she was used to, even
those smaller bows made for the women, so she also had to learn to
compensate for the extra weight.

Roland was also there, but he only spent about an hour in the morning at
target practice with the rest of the archers. The rest of the time he was helping
Bradden to coach the other archers, walking between them, correcting a pose
here and there, or demonstrating a certain technique to one of the men. He
was especially good with training the younger archers, some of whom were
barely thirteen or fourteen, and who were nervous around the gruff
armsmaster, but easily warmed to Roland's gentle manner.

He could be fierce too, though – she'd seen him take to task one of the older
lads who had been teasing a younger boy, poking at him with one of the
practice arrows. Roland strode up behind them and grabbed the offender by
the collar, fixing him with a stare so stern that he visibly wilted. He then
ordered him to the kitchens, to help carry water and firewood for the rest of
the day as a punishment. The boy slunk off with his head hanging and his face
red, unwilling to meet the eyes of any of his comrades, who had been egging
him on previously but now flushed guiltily.

Janelle had caught Roland watching her a few times, as he was going about his
duties. The first two times he had jumped a bit, before quickly turning away as
if a bit embarrassed to be caught staring. After that, though, he gave her a
hesitant sort of half-smile each time, before continuing with his work. She
smiled shyly back at him, her heart thumping a little faster as she did.

Just as she heard a gong sound from the castle, signalling that lunch would be
ready soon, Bradden signalled a halt to the practice. "Well done, everyone!
We'll stop here for today, and continue in the morning!" The archers started
clearing up the practice weapons and moving back towards the castle.

Janelle was pulling the last few arrows out of her target, when she felt a tap on
her shoulder. Turning around, she was unsurprised to see Roland behind her.
"How did you find your first day of training?" he asked with a smile.

"I enjoyed it a lot!" Janelle smiled back at him. "My arms are aching though,
I've never trained for such a long time at once. We only did about two hours at
each practice session at home." They started to walk back towards the castle,
most of the archers having gone on ahead already.
"Do you miss your home a lot?" Roland asked. "I can't imagine being
wrenched from my world into another, let alone one as different as you have
described yours to be."

"Well … I don't really have anyone to miss there," replied Janelle. "My parents
died when I was very young, and I never felt like anyone really cared all that
much about me after that. I mean, I do have some friends, but we're not all
that close. I mean, they'd miss me if I wasn't there, but my absence wouldn't
make that great a difference to them, I don't think."

She could see the sympathy in his eyes, and was thankful when he changed the
subject before things got awkward. "It seems that the main hall is getting a
little crowded, with the provincial forces being summoned, and if you're not
too tired, I thought we might ride out and explore some of the surrounding
areas."

Her face lit up with surprise and pleasure. "I would love to! I've been so bored
in the castle these few days, trying to find something to do, and while I was
shooting arrows this morning, half my brain was taken up with trying to find
something else to occupy my time this afternoon! But," she hesitated, "don't
you need to help Bradden to train the afternoon archers? I don't want to
interfere with your duties."

"Don't worry, you won't be," laughed Roland. "The more experienced archers
will take their turn at training in the afternoon, and Bradden doesn't require
my help with them. Besides, the castle is feeling rather cramped today, with all
the extra soldiers that have arrived, and it would be really good to get out of
these walls for a while. I'll go and get a picnic basket from Cook and meet you
at the stables in an hour, if that's all right with you?"

"Great, it's a date then!" she said without thinking.

"A date?" he queried, looking puzzled.

"Erm … I mean … yes, that sounds great, I'll go get ready now, see you at the
stables later, ok?" Janelle fled before he could ask any more questions.

They rode out in the early afternoon, exploring the surrounding areas of the
castle, and picnicking by a little spring in the shade of the trees. Roland was
fascinated to learn about the many differences between their worlds, and
Janelle spent a long time describing them to him. He in turn told her more
about his world, his family, and himself.

Over the next few weeks, Janelle continued to attend archery practice every
morning. Roland was always there, and she noticed him watching her again
every now and then. He would smile at her each time, and she would smile
back, and they would hold each others' gaze for a moment before continuing
with their task.

In the afternoons, she sometimes picnicked with Roland, but more often than
not, he was busy helping Jorryn with organising the Tremedardian forces.
Lady Danelea recruited her to assist with the stocktaking of the food supplies
for the soldiers, and she was more than happy to help, finding it to be easier
than measuring flour or sewing flags, and glad to have something else to do
that was helping the castle ready itself for war.

Every evening, she dined with the rest and got to know each of them better.
Jorryn was the most serious of the three friends, but as he was responsible for
the safety and well-being of the whole princedom, that wasn't really
surprising. Darian had a wicked sense of humour, and was always ready to
lighten the mood with a joke or prank. Lady Danelea was vivacious and
charming, and very much indulged by the three men.

They had decided that only the Jorryn, Roland, Darian and Danelea should be
told about Janelle's true origins, so as to save her from any awkward questions
and comments that might be thrown her way. In those few weeks of
preparation, they grilled her about every military event that she could
remember from the book, until she felt that she could have recited the story in
her sleep. She didn't begrudge them this, though, because she knew that
Jorryn was trying to find a way to save as many as possible of his soldiers, and
that the knowledge she gave him could make the difference between life and
death for many people in this war.

For war it was indeed. Twenty days after they had arrived at Rosendawn, a
messenger arrived from the Perith border. The Tridexes were on the move,
and would cross the border within the next three days or so.

Jorryn immediately sent messengers on his fastest horses to Bel Tinel, to alert
Garren to start moving his army towards Rosendawn. They would camp just
inside the forest, out of enemy sight. When the Tridexes arrived at
Rosendawn, the Lefarians would move in and the Tridexes would be caught
between them and the Tremedardian forces guarding Rosendawn. This was
move that had been used in the book, and Jorryn had decided that the same
tactics should be used, so as to leave as little to chance as possible. The only
difference would be that the Lefarian forces would arrive much earlier, and
hence end the battle faster – or so they hoped, anyway. Jorryn was
determined that Janelle's quote from the book, that "not one Tridex will
remain alive to return to Perith" would hold true.

Chapter 9

Eleven days later, Janelle awoke to the sound of a long horn blast. Blinking
her eyes sleepily, she glanced out of the window and saw that the first light of
dawn was creeping over the horizon. The horn sounded again, and this time it
jolted her into full alertness. Somehow she knew, without being told, that
what it meant. The Tridexes were coming.

She had changed into her archery gear and was trying to bind up her hair
when a pounding sounded on her door. She opened it to find Roland outside,
already in full battle gear, and with him a page carrying a set of light armour.
"The armour is for you, and Don will help you into it," he said, nodding to the
page. "I'll see you on the walls later, I have to go and organise the archers
now." Janelle nodded, her heart pounding with excitement of the battle to
come. The page entered the room and began to lay out the armour for her.

Roland turned to leave, but after a moment's hesitation, turned back again.
"Janelle …" his eyes held her captive for a long moment, and she felt as if she
couldn't have looked away if her life depended on it. He took a step forward,
till there was less than a foot separating them. "Stay safe," he whispered. His
arms went around here tightly for a moment, and she didn't realise she was
clinging to him too, until he moved back slightly. She freed one hand to lightly
touch his face, and then tiptoed as he lowered his head to kiss her in a gentle
brush of lips. Then he turned and strode off down the corridor, leaving Janelle
behind to get ready.

He had left for her a light chain mail tunic that reached nearly to her knees, as
well as a small helmet suited for her size. A bow and a quiver of arrows
completed her ensemble, and she looked in the mirror, rather surprised. A
month ago she had been plain old Janelle, living alone in her small apartment
in San Francisco, and now she was an archer in Jorryn's army, ready and
eager to fight the Tridexes together with the rest of the Tremedardians!

"My lady, if you're ready, we could proceed?" The page was waiting for her at
the door. "Of course," she replied, and followed him out of the room. He led
her to the outer battlements, where Jorryn, Roland, and Darian were deep in
discussion with Bradden and some other grizzled-looking men in heavy
armour. She realised that these must be the Tremedardian battle
commanders, who would provide Jorryn with their valuable advice, garnered
from years of fighting and training.

Not wanting to disturb them, she turned away and followed the page to a
niche in the wall. She could see the peaceful grass plains outside the wall, and
the Tremedardian army, clad in their bright red uniforms, were lined up in
neat ranks below where she stood. Far away in the distance, a dark grey cloud
of dust made a smudge against the horizon. The Tridex army, she thought.
They're coming.

"Nervous?" asked Roland from next to her. He had taken up his place in the
niche next to hers, and she realised with a start that he had probably arranged
this beforehand with the page.

"Definitely," she replied honestly. "I doubt anyone who's never been in battle
before could not be nervous at all." He looked like he was going to say
something more, but at that moment a squire ran up with a message from one
of the battle commanders and he had to turn away from her to give the boy his
attention.

Slowly but surely, the Tridex army advanced. The dull thud of their footfalls
had grown progressively louder, and Janelle could hear their roars and growls
from where she stood. By late morning, they had stopped a few hundred yards
away, and stood, facing the Tremedardian army. Janelle could feel her heart
pounding and she couldn't imagine how the soldiers below, especially those in
the front row, could stand there calmly looking at the sea of black monsters,
knowing that they would soon have to face them in battle.

A single rider carrying a black flag rode out from the mass that was the Tridex
army. In answer, a chariot drawn by two white horses drove out of the massive
gates below Janelle, through the ranks of the Tremedardian army. She
couldn't hear what the exchange of words, but Roland explained from next to
her, "That's Veldid, or the man who is masquerading as Veldid, if what you
said was correct. He will issue a formal claim on the castle, and Jorryn has to
reject, before he can attack."

The rider turned around and rode back to the Tridex army, while Jorryn and
Darian turned in the other direction and headed for the walls. She heard the
sound of a deep horn blast come from the direction of the Tridexes, and the
sea of black started to advance towards them. One of the Tremedardian battle
commanders, who was now outside the walls with the army, blew an
answering blast on his own horn and the men charged forward unhesitatingly.
The clash as the two armies met was deafening, and Janelle cringed inwardly,
wondering how she could have thought that she was brave enough to fight in
the battle.

It was too late to back out now, though, because she heard Roland gave the
command, "Fire high!" from beside her. A shower of arrows flew in an arc to
hit the mass of Tridexes that were behind the frontlines, who had not yet come
into contact with the Tremedardians. They were too far away for the archers to
take proper aim, so they were just letting the arrows fly en masse towards the
Tridexes, as many as they could, as fast as they could. Many of them had their
second arrow launched and a third nocked even before the first had hit the
Tridex lines. Janelle could hear the screams and roars of the monsters that
had been hit, and could even see a few fall, trampled by their own comrades in
the charge.

As the battle moved closer, the Tremedardians fell back a little, and Janelle
noticed that some Tridexes had now gotten close enough for the archers to
take aim. At Roland's command, the more experienced ones changed stance to
fire downwards at specific targets. Some archers had heavy crossbows, which
fired bolts that could, and did, pierce the leather armour worn by the Tridexes.
Others used smaller bows, with deadly little arrows that found their targets in
visors and between the neck pieces. The younger archers, Janelle included,
kept up their rain of arrows towards the back of the Tridex lines. Squires,
some no more than nine or ten years old, ran down the line, renewing the
supply of arrows for each archer.

Despite Janelle's advance warning and the extra preparations that had been
made, the Tremedardians were still suffering significant losses, and slowly but
surely, the Tridexes were managing to advance. In just an hour or so, some
had reached the bottom of the walls, and were attempting to scale them with
long ladders. So far, the men on the walls had managed to overturn all the
ladders, but Janelle didn't think that they would be able to continue much
longer as more and more of the evil creatures appeared. She wondered
desperately where the Lefarians were, and was terrified that their messengers
might somehow have gotten caught by the Tridexes.

A horn blast signalled a retreat, and the Tremedardians started to fight their
way back to the castle. Rescue teams of four to five men were sent out to bring
back the injured, with two men to carry a stretcher and the rest to defend.
Slowly they retreated until all had reached the gateway, and there were no
more than twenty men defending it.

"Close the gates!" she heard Jorryn shout. The massive doors groaned as they
were hauled shut by the men on the inside. At the very last minute, in a well-
rehearsed move, the twenty defenders suddenly broke off their fighting and
made a sprint for the narrowing opening, with the last man just barely making
it inside before the doors closed completely. Heavy wooden logs were dropped
into place to bar them from the enraged enemy, who hammered uselessly on
the other side with their weapons.

Everyone was ordered to retreat to the inner courtyard, before the Tridexes
managed to break through the outer gate. The last few men on the walls
released vats of hot oil onto the invaders before fleeing inwards with the rest,
causing roars of pain and rage from beyond the doors.

Janelle got caught up in the crowd of fighters and lost sight of Roland. She
followed the rest of the archers down the narrow stairway and out into the
open space between the outer and inner walls. She could see the wood of the
outer gate beginning to splinter under the assault of the battering ram, but
there were still many people outside the doors, and she knew with a feeling of
sick certainty that they weren't all going to make it through before the
Tridexes broke through.

In the book, they didn't break through until everyone was inside and the
inner doors were barred, she thought frantically. How could they do it so fast
this time? Belatedly she realised the reason – there were a lot more fighters
this time round because they had been preparing for weeks rather than being
caught off guard, and supplementary forces had been summoned from the
provinces. It wasn't that the Tridexes were faster, it was that the
Tremedardians were slower to retreat due to the increase in the number of
fighters.

With triumphant roars, the battering ram broke through the gates, and the
retreating soldiers turned to defend themselves from the Tridexes that poured
through the hole. Janelle panicked, not knowing what to do, but someone
grabbed her arm and hauled her towards a group of about ten archers, who
were forming a line against the inner wall. She took her place at the leftmost
end of the row, and resumed shooting at the Tridexes. They couldn't keep this
up for long, though, since the squires were no longer there to run arrows for
them. Janelle fought the urge to flee as she saw a Tridex kill three archers who
had run out of arrows, before it was brought down by a Tremedardian
swordsman.

Jorryn, Darian, and a few other men, fighting on horseback, were being circled
by a thick wall of Tridexes. They must recognise Jorryn, she thought. No
doubt the enemy commanders had promised hefty rewards to the Tridex who
could bring back the Prince's head. For each one that fell, two more pressed in
to take its place. The castle guard were trying to hack their way through to get
to their prince, but it was slow going as more and more Tridexes entered
through the hole in the gates.

Janelle stifled a scream of horror as she suddenly caught sight of Roland, over
to her left, being attacked by five Tridexes at once. He still had an empty
quiver on his back, but had lost his bow, and was now fighting with a sword in
one hand and a shield in another. Without hesitation she changed position,
and took aim his attackers. Her first arrow missed as the Tridex ducked to
avoid a blow from Roland's sword, but her second one found its mark in its
neck. The third arrow hit another Tridex in its leg, and Roland managed to
dispatch it with his sword as it fell to its knees.

She heard a cry from her right turned her head, just in time to see a Tridex
pulling its sword out of the archer standing next to her. She screamed and
backed away as it turned towards her, but before it could swing its sword at
her, it was gutted by Tremedardian soldier from behind. Before she could
thank him, though, he retrieved his spear and charged back into the midst of
the battle.

Turning back towards Roland, she saw that he had managed to kill another
Tridex and was now battling the remaining two. She reached for another
arrow, and realised with a shock that it was her last one. Carefully, she took
aim and fired. One of the two fell, and Roland turned to concentrate on the
last one, not noticing another Tridex coming up behind him with a spear.

"Roland! Behind you!" she screamed, but her warning was lost in the din of
the battle. Looking frantically around for something - anything - to help him,
she grabbed a sword from the hand of a fallen soldier and sprinted towards
Roland. He managed to find an opening in the black armour with his sword,
and as the Tridex fell, he turned to face the new attacker. His sword was
lodged in the dead one's body, however, and even Janelle could see that he
wouldn't be able to pull it free fast enough. She screamed his name as she saw
him bring up his shield to ward off the first blow of the spear.

The Tridex must have heard her, for it turned as she came. This one looked
bigger and meaner than all the others that she had seen at close range, and if
she had been able, she might have stopped, turned, and fled for her life.
However, she was running so fast that her momentum carried her on,
impaling the Tridex on the end of her sword. It roared in pain, and swung the
spear around, which connected solidly with the side of her helm.

She knew she should feel pain but her whole body seemed to be frozen. Time
slowed to a crawl as she saw Roland wrench his sword free and plunge it into
the neck of the Tridex that had attacked her. It fell, taking her sword with it,
and her hands, still clenched around the hilt, pulled her down to her knees.
Roland had grabbed her by the shoulders and was calling her name frantically,
his voice sounding to her as if it was echoing through a long tunnel. Then the
pain finally caught up with her, and her head exploded in a burst of agony,
chasing her into dark oblivion.

Chapter 10

Janelle opened her eyes, and sat up. Surprisingly, nothing hurt at all.
Everything around was white and misty, and looking down, she found that she
was clothed in a soft, white gown. Maybe I'm dead and this is heaven, she
thought, feeling strangely detached.

As she stood up, however, the mist began to clear a little, and she could see
two doors in front of her, side by side. She moved closer to the door on the
left, and realised that if she concentrated, she could see through it and even
hear voices. It's a hospital room, she realised. There was a single bed,
surrounded by doctors and nurses, one of whom was blocking her view of the
patient. Then the woman moved to the side, and Janelle realised with a shock,
it's me! Bits and pieces of the conversation drifted up to her, "The poor girl …
impossible to tell if she'll ever recover …haven't been able to find the next-of-
kin to contact them …"

That must be me after I fell down the stairs, she thought. Is it my time to go
back now? She wondered absently how badly she had been injured; the still
figure on the bed was swathed in bandages and hooked up to many beeping
machines.

Janelle turned to the other door, and concentrated again. She saw her room at
Rosendawn, and herself lying on the bed, again bandaged and unmoving.
Roland was at her bedside, holding her hand and speaking urgently to her.
"Janelle … please, my love, wake up … please, open your eyes and look at me
… Janelle …" his face crumpled and he buried his head in his hands.

Tears rolled down her face as she felt his pain, her heart crying out to be with
him as well. She knew that she had to make a decision now, which door she
wanted to go through. Did she want to go back to her own world, where
everything was safe and familiar? Or could she give that all up and plunge
herself back into the fictional world, just to be with Roland? What if things
didn't work out between them, and she wanted to come back then? She
doubted that she would be given a second chance to make the decision, so
whichever path she chose now, she would have to live with for the rest of her
life.

She looked between the two doors, torn and unsure. Then she took a deep
breath, placed her hand on a door handle, and pushed.

Chapter 11

It felt like some sadistic person was hammering at the inside of her head with
white hot mallets, and another one was digging knives into her side. Niggling
pains from other minor cuts and scratches, as well as muscle strains, all
nagged at her from the sidelines.
Dimly, she heard a voice on her left. "Janelle, please, wake up … can you hear
me? Please, open your eyes and look at me, Janelle, please …" she recognised
Roland's voice pleading with her.

Making a valiant effort against the lead weights dragging her eyelids down,
she managed to open her eyes just a little bit. "Roland?" Her voice came out as
barely more than a breath, but he heard her.

"Janelle?" he whispered, almost disbelievingly. She felt him grip her hand
tightly in both of his, and tried to squeeze back feebly. "Janelle," he spoke her
name again, this time with such relief on his face that she wanted to weep for
him, for the pain and fear he must have gone through. He was wearing the
clothes that he had worn during the battle, minus the armour, and still bore
traces of blood and dirt. There was a bandage around his left arm, and he
looked as if he hadn't slept or shaven in days.

She tried to lift her hand to touch his face, but it was too much effort, and her
arm dropped back to her side again. The movement awakened the dull
throbbing ache in her head, which sharpened into knives of agony, and she
whimpered involuntarily, tears of pain spilling from her eyes.

As if through a deep fog, she heard Roland's voice, and felt his hands on her
shoulders, firm but gentle. "It's all right, Janelle, just relax now, yes, that's it,
just like that ..." She forced herself to listen to his voice, to relax her body
which had tensed up from the pain, and sure enough, it slowly began to
subside.

He took a bottle from the table at the side of her bed, and poured a few drops
of the liquid into a spoon, which he held to her lips. She opened her mouth
obediently and swallowed the medicine, grimacing at the bitter taste. It must
have been strong, though, because almost immediately she felt herself
becoming drowsy and relaxed as the drug chased away the pain to the edges of
her consciousness.

He lifted one hand to her face, brushing away the tears, the tender gesture
speaking volumes. Feeling more safe and secure than she had ever felt, she
smiled slightly at him, even as she drifted off into deep, dreamless sleep.

Chapter 12

The next time she woke up, Roland wasn't there. Instead, sitting by her bed
was Danelea, placidly sewing at her embroidery.

"Janelle! You're awake!" she exclaimed, putting the sewing to one side. "How
do you feel?"

"Aching all over, especially my head, but I guess that will go away after a
while," replied Janelle. At least this time I can move without my head
exploding!
"Let me know if it gets worse; we can give you something for the pain," said
Danelea. "I'll go and find you some food, you've been unconscious for five days
now and you must be starving!"

"I am rather hungry, now that you mention it," said Janelle with a smile.
Danelea grinned in return and left the room, returning shortly with a tray of
food.

To Janelle's chargrin, however, she was so weak that when she tried to feed
herself, her shaking hands caused the broth to slop off the spoon. Danelea
laughed and took over the job, saying, "It's all right, you'll get stronger soon,
all you need now is to have plenty of rest and food as you heal."

She fed Janelle the rest of the food, then left her to rest on her own, saying she
would be back in a few hours with the evening meal.

Janelle spent the next few weeks recovering, not even able to leave her room.
Just getting out of bed to hobble once around the room was so exhausting that
she spent the rest of the day sleeping after the few times that she tried it. She
was attended to by Danelea or one of the maids, and was visited twice by the
castle physician, who came to check the wounds on her head and in her side.
As she got stronger, one of the maids would sometimes help her to the big
armchair near the window, where she could spend an afternoon reading or
looking out at the hills behind the castle.

Danelea had told her that the battle had been won when Garren and Garrim
had arrived with their army. Out of the five messengers who had been sent to
them by different routes, only one had managed to arrive at the Lefarian camp
with the message. The other four were missing, and Jorryn suspected that
they had been caught and killed by the Tridexes. The last one had only
managed to arrive by taking a long, circuitous route out of range of the Tridex
sentries.

Jorryn, Roland and Darian were currently out with some of the soldiers and
the Lefarians, chasing down the stragglers from the Tridex army who had
escaped, and had not yet returned. At least she didn't have to wonder where
Roland was, but that didn't stop her from missing him.

As each day passed, the memory of him at her bedside when she first woke up
became more and more blurred, and she began to wonder whether she had
misheard what he said, misinterpreted his actions, or maybe even
hallucinated the whole thing. I can't go back now, though, I've made my
choice, she thought, remembering the two doors.

On the twenty-third day after the battle, Janelle was sitting in her armchair,
reading a book, when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she called. To
her surprise and delight, Roland strode into the room.

"Roland!" she exclaimed, forgetting all her misgivings about his feelings for
her. She tried to jump up to go to him, forgetting her weakened state in her
delight at seeing him again, then clutched at the back of the armchair as she
nearly fell over. He reached her and caught her, settling her back into the
armchair, then knelt in front of her and took her hands, without once taking
his eyes off hers.

"Janelle," he spoke her name softly. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, just a bit weak and I get tired easily, but the physician said it will
pass soon," she replied.

"I hated to leave you, but it was necessary to hunt down the remaining
Tridexes, and I ..." he broke off as she put her finger across his lips. "Shh, it's
all right, you're here now," she said with a smile.

"I ... I thought that the Tridex had killed you," he whispered, his voice thick
with emotion. "The physician said that you might not survive the blow to your
head, and you were unconscious for three days; I was sick with terror that I
might lose you."

"When I was unconscious ... I heard you calling to me to come back," she said
softly. "Was I dreaming? Did I really hear you say you love me?"

"No, my love, it wasn't a dream," he replied. "I don't know when it happened,
or how, but I only realised how much I truly love you at that moment on the
battlefield, when I thought you were lost to me forever. I love you, Janelle, I
truly do," he repeated, the love shining from his eyes proclaiming the truth of
his words.

"I love you too, Roland," she said, her eyes brimming at his words.

"Janelle, I have never been happier in my life than since the day I met you. I
never thought I could love someone as much as I love you, but I do. I cannot
bear the thought of living without you, and I want to spend the rest of my days
with you, to have children with you, and to grow old with you. Will you do me
the honor of becoming my wife, my lady, princess of my heart and my life?"
He raised her hand to his lips, and this time her eyes did overflow.

"Oh Roland," she sighed, as he lifted his hand to her cheek and brushed away
the tears that fell. "Yes, I love you too, and I will marry you," she said. He
pulled out a small box from his pocket, and offered it to her. With trembling
hands she opened it, to find a simple silver ring, set with a large diamond. He
removed it from the box, and slid it onto her finger, then smiled at her, a smile
of immense joy, matched only by the rapture in her heart.

Epilogue

Two months later ...

The white gown had a graceful neckline that dipped down between her
breasts, and was slightly off the shoulder. Wide sleeves made of thin silk
draped off her forearms almost to the ground, and the full skirt flowed out
behind her in a long train.

Brides of Tremedard did not traditionally wear veils, but after seeing the
gown, Janelle had asked the ladies of the castle if it was possible for them to
fashion one to go with the dress. After numerous verbal and pictorial
descriptions, they had woven one for her out of thread so fine that it floated
gently in the breeze.

She had elected to wear her hair down for the wedding, long and flowing
behind her back. Danelea had woven a wreath of fresh flowers, to which she
attached the veil, before pinning it atop Janelle's head.

She slid Roland's diamond ring onto her finger, and Danelea helped her to put
on the matching diamond necklace that he had given her to wear with it. A
bouquet of fresh flowers completed her ensemble, and she looked into the
mirror, seeing the beautiful bride inside looking back at her.

They had chosen to have a garden wedding, under an old stone arch which
was covered with rose vines. The castle guard were standing at attention in
two rows, lining the pathway leading up to the arch, and behind them were
crammed all the castlefolk who had turned up in their best finery. Danelea and
Darian were standing near the arch, with Garren, Leola, and Garrim, who had
come from Lefar to attend the wedding.

As the musicians struck up a melody, Janelle slowly walked down the path,
her eyes fixed on Roland, who was standing under the arch waiting for her. He
smiled at her, with love and joy shining in his eyes, a smile which she shyly
returned as she came to a gentle halt beside him, and felt him take her hand.
They both turned to face Jorryn, who, as Prince of Tremedard, would be
presiding over the wedding.

Jorryn's voice rang out with the ceremonial words, but the beam on his face
bespoke his joy for his friend. "Who comes before us today, to be joined to this
woman in marriage as her husband?"

"I do," said Roland, "for she has trusted her heart to me, and honors me with
her love."

"And who comes before us today, to be joined to this man in marriage as his
wife?" continued Jorryn.

"I do, for he has trusted his heart to me, and honors me with his love,"
answered Janelle.

"As Roland and Janelle have declared their intention to be joined together in
marriage, I call upon all gathered here today to bear witness to the vows that
they will make to each other." Jorryn nodded at Roland.

They turned to face each other, and Roland took both her hands in his. "I give
of myself unto you, Janelle, to be your husband in the eyes of all these
witnesses here with us today. With all my heart I will love you, with my body I
will honor you, and with my life I will protect you. To you and you alone I will
be faithful in love, today, tomorrow, and forevermore." The conviction in his
voice left no doubt about the sincerity of his words.

"I give of myself unto you, Roland, to be your wife in the eyes of all these
witnesses here with us today. Where you lead, I will follow, where you build
your house, I will make my home, whom you call your people, I will call my
family. To you and you alone I will be faithful in love, today, tomorrow, and
forevermore." As she spoke the words, she thought, it's true, this will be my
home from now on, and the Tremedardians are my people.

"Inasmuch as Roland and Janelle have declared their love before all of us, I
now pronounce them husband and wife!" Thunderous applause broke out,
and smiles wreathed every face in the garden. As it died down, Jorryn
continued, "This part of the ceremony is a tradition from the homeland of
Lady Janelle." Whispers of anticipation circled around the garden, as Jorryn
paused. Then, with a big grin, he said, "Roland, you may now kiss your bride!"

She hadn't thought it possible, but the applause, mixed with good-natured
laughter, was even louder this time, as Roland gently lifted the veil and
smoothed it back over her hair. He lowered his head to kiss her even as she
lifted her face up to meet him. For a moment, her world narrowed to just the
two of them, the strong arms around her and the gentle touch of his lips on
hers. Then he lifted his head and she was suddenly aware of the people around
them again, who were still clapping and laughing.

Jorryn held up his hand for silence, and the people quieted, as he spoke the
closing words of the ceremony. "May the sun shine upon you and your days
together, may the wind chase away all ills that would befall you, and may the
rain bring showers of blessing to you and yours, today, tomorrow and
forevermore." The musicians struck up a joyous tune, as Roland and Janelle
proceeded hand-in-hand back down the pathway, and the people cheered and
the children pelted them with flowers.

The wedding banquet was held in the main hall of the castle, so as to
accommodate as many of the castlefolk as could be crammed in. The rest were
arranged at long tables in the courtyard outside, and the sounds of much
merriment rang throughout the castle. As the last course was cleared away,
Jorryn rose to his feet with his goblet in his hand. "Good people of Tremedard,
let us join together now and give our best wishes to the happy couple! To Lord
Roland and Lady Janelle!"

"To Lord Roland and Lady Janelle!" they echoed, and lifted their goblets
together in a toast. Jorryn grinned, and said, "And now, Janelle, this last
custom is a tradition of our land, one which I'm sure Roland cannot wait to
fulfil! Roland?"

Janelle looked at him, startled, then at Roland, who got to his feet and mock-
saluted Jorryn with a grin. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, then
crushed her to him in a tight embrace and kissed her deeply on the lips. Then,
to the cheers and laughter sounding through the main hall, he swept her up in
his arms, as she laughed in surprised delight, and carried her out through the
big double doors, all the way up to their chambers.

Crossing the threshold, he set her down on her feet, then closed the door
behind them. As he turned to face her again, she took both his hands in hers,
looking into his eyes as she spoke.

"Roland, do you remember how I told you that your world was a book from
my world?" He nodded, and she continued, "The book has ended; it ended
when the battle was won. But somehow I'm still here; we're still here. I think
this means that I'll be here always, and that I can't return to my world
anymore."

"Do you really want to return?" he asked softly.

"No," she answered, with a smile. "I want to stay here - with you."