Disclaimer- I don't own the Protector of the Small characters and settings. They belong to the wonderful Tamora Pierce.

Savior

Ch. 1

The skies above the capitol of Tortall had never been so black. They could not be called grey because they were pure black. No rain came down and a guard along the castle wall called out the time telling the people of the court that it was midday.

It wasn't midnight yet the skies were so dark because of the enemies that moved toward King Jonathan's kingdom. They were many years past the awful war with Scanra but a new threat came closer.

Jonathan did not want to look out of the huge window in the great hall anymore so instead he sat still in his throne. He didn't move or speak. He was frozen. It wasn't until a clerk came in to give him a message.

"The message has been spread that the King has ordered all individuals to move into the capital, Corus, and leave behind everything of unimportance. The order was strict."

The clerk was anxiously waiting for the king to move just slightly to see if the message had gotten through. He was saved from anxiety when another messenger entered the hall announcing the arrival of some of the King's closest friends. Both clerks then left running to their master's to see what else needed to be done.

The king still hadn't moved and it wasn't until Alanna, the King's Champion threw a dagger at him. Jon snapped out of it and looked at his Champion with a mixture of disbelief and alarm.

She shrugged. "I had to make sure you were alright."

"Well I won't be if you continue to throw sharp objects at my head."

The king moved his stiff joints and looked at his companions for news. Lord Raoul was the first to speak.

"The King's Own have moved in much of the outer villages into the capital but it wasn't without a fight. People don't want to move and we've never had to alarm the masses so much by moving them this far into the kingdom."

"We've collected all the Knights and are focusing on battle tactics." Alanna started to put in when the doors opened once again and her husband George of Pirates Swoop entered with her adoptive father Sir Myles. Her face showed surprise but she gently shook it off and turned back to her friend Jon.

It was still for a moment with no one speaking until he finally said what had been weighing in his head for so long.

"I don't know what to do." He shook his head and looked utterly broken. "We won the war with Scanra and we were the heroes fighting evil but this time…"

He paused for a moment collecting his thoughts and stood. He moved back to the window and looked at the dark sky.

"We lost men already in a war that hasn't even been officially declared. We don't know who makes are skies so violent. We're been beaten down upon and I don't know how to help my kingdom." He turned around and looked at the faces of his friends. They had helped him in so many ways throughout the years and the thought of putting them to their death made him sick. It didn't help that their sad faces were their only reply.

But instead Myles stepped forward. He looked back at George for a moment and it seemed as if they spoke a secret language. He turned back and cleared his throat.

"My lord we do have information that we need to share with urgency."

Alanna and Raoul shared a look between. They always found the information that the spies gave to the court interesting. They kept the kingdom informed on many of the enemy's moves but the air felt tense in the room. Myles usually told the King the truth straightforward with no hesitation but today he walked on egg shells.

The King himself barely felt a difference and instead looked at the man waiting.

Myles sighed and his whole body sagged. "I don't know where to begin really. You two should sit down." He spoke to the Raoul and Alanna.

"What for Da?" She replied. "Just get on with your news."

"Alanna," George started. "You have to promise to not rush out of here and start anything."

"Why would I?" She looked between her husband and dad.

The men looked at each other and Myles finally spoke.

"It's so hard to explain," he started to put on his cloak and nodded to the rest of them to do the same. "We'll have to show you."

"Is this really necessary?" Jon started but was cut off.

"Lord," George started in a deep voice that caught the room in surprise. He was a man that was good at his job but he always tried to lighten things. But his voice told them he meant business. "Do you want to win the war?"

Once again this caught the room by surprise. Nobody dared to speak and the King just nodded and followed the men. George and Myles led the pack with the three knights behind them. They left the castle and the three friends wondered more when they were led out past the stables. After a mile of walking they came to the edge of a forest. It was just where the castle's land came to an odd edge of territory.

Most of Corus was a port city but if continued in this direction a person would head east on a major road that could lead anybody to the border by Galla and Tusaine. The group headed to a patch on the edge of the forest. It was pitch dark except for a lantern that Myles held up in his hand. It glowed into a wide slab of white stone tucked into the grassy ground.

"What is this?" Jon questioned.

Myles pointed at the engraving. A blossom and a peach. Alanna said it first.

"Peachblossom."

Myles nodded gravely and then pointed the way they came. "This is the closest a person could really be on the land meant for that castle. Nobody notices it much though with the corner on the land tucked just so. No guards, not many people from the court nearby, but still technically part of the castle."

"How long has this been here?" Raoul asked.

"We noticed it five months ago." Answered George.

"Five months ago." Alanna's neck started to bloom into a red color. "How come nobody was told of this." She looked around furiously while continuing her rant. "Do you know what this could mean? She could be back."

"We couldn't have been sure." Reasoned George. "We had to make sure."

Myles nodded in agreement. "Alanna we didn't even know if she was alive. After all the nastiness that followed Kel giving up her shield we tried to follow the Mindelans. Piers is dead but the rest of her family now resides back in the Yamini Islands."

"We all suspected she would return to the Islands." Raoul spoke for the first time since seeing the stone. "It was the only place that she could really go to for shelter."

Myles shook his head no. "She never made it to the Islands. At that point we tried to track her down and everybody in the King's Spies agreed that she must have died. There was absolutely no record of her anywhere."

The group didn't speak. Alanna looked back down at the stone.

"Until now," she spoke quietly.

The King was speechless. Things were crashing around him and he suddenly was faced with a mistake he made years ago. "I still don't know what this could mean."

Myles and George looked at each other again and Myles spoke lightly and gently. He didn't want to say anything that could anger his King.

"We didn't know what it meant either at first. But then we did something." He broke off the sentence and George took over.

"We've been sending messages back and forth." This caused the group to look shocked but he went forth. "We can't be sure if it's from her or perhaps somebody that knows her but…"

"But what?" Jonathan snapped slightly. "What does she want?"

Myles looked taken aback. "She doesn't want anything." He retorted. "It's what we want."

That silenced Jon for a moment and Raoul had to finally ask the man to go on.

"We need her back." He stated as a fact. "Even if it just boosts the men's moral we are about to enter some type of war that we don't have any idea about."

"The men listen to her." George put in.

The group stood there. Nobody moved or spoke. They watched the King who was still in thought. He finally nodded his head just slightly.

"Alright," he gave in. "Try to get her to come."

Hi! So this is just me saying hello to anybody who decides to read this. I hope you will give me feedback. This might seem a little confusing but short story is nobody in Kel's family lives in Tortall anymore for certain reasons that will be explained later, but Tortall itself is on the verge of collapsing with a terrible war on the way. Guess who might save them?