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."