A/N: I know this has taken so long. Forgive me. I'm at Uni now. You wouldn't think it'd be as busy as yr 12, but it turns out that doing a science degree is one of the harder options out there. Great. Just what I need. I which I had chosen an english degree...

Anyways, here's the long awaited Chapter 11. Big thanks for Zombie Jesus (lol, I love the name) for reminding me to update. Don't worry, I'll finish this one day. I promise.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11 – Sombre Conversations

Sasha sat with her back against the wall, fiddling with the medallion in her hands. Her room was silence, save for the crackling of the warm fire in the hearth. Kel slept soundly at her master's feet. The black and white dog had sensed Sasha's unrest when she returned for the evening and knew that she needed some time to think. Tabby entered the room through the open window, elegantly jumping onto the bed and then to the floor, weaving her way to the sulking human. She rolled her eyes as she saw Kel snoring on her back.

"What troubles you, Sasha?" The cat asked in a soothing voice. She knew how to deal with these situations.

Sasha sighed. "It's the whole Spellcaster situation. The others seem convinced that we've found one."

"Isn't that excellent news?"

"No,"

"Why not?"

"I'm not convinced that she is. I mean, she's a street urchin, for crying out loud!"

"And what would her past as a street child have anything to do with the prophesy?"

"Well…because great Heroes aren't supposed to come from the gutter, they're supposed to – "

"Come from where, exactly?"

"I dunno, wealthy families or something."

"Oh really. Name five Heroes which have come from wealthy families, or indeed, anyone not in the lowest social class?" Tabby asked

Sasha didn't reply.

"Sasha, I don't know what's gotten into you. It's not like you to be so prejudiced against other people, and especially not those from more unfortunate backgrounds. And remember, you're not exactly from any 'High and mighty' family either; just a normal, middle class family in an ordinary town. You've no reason to be so sceptical, especially when Chloe seems to fit the criteria."

Sasha sighed in defeat. "I suppose you're right. I guess I'm just stressed. And it just seems a bit too easy to have found her so quickly."

"Just because you're run into some unexpected luck doesn't mean you should doubt it. Just be glad it happened and move on. Not everything is too good to be true." Tabby said wisely.

Sasha smiled. "Since when did you get so wise?"

"I've always been wise. You just never normally listen." She replied indignantly.

"Indeed. And how did you know about Chloe? I didn't mention her name."

"You know me, I've been watching over you all as usual. And my new friend Jay has been rather helpful too."

"Who's Jay?"

"A blue-bird. He's rather talkative."

"And you didn't try to eat him?" Sasha asked, amused.

"No, I would never eat a blue bird. They're too small. Not enough meat on them for a snack."

Sasha laughed.

"So, do you have any ideas about the remaining hidden spellcaster?" Tabby asked.

"Nope, no idea whatsoever." Sasha replied.

"Well, now that you're not being so elitist about it, maybe it will be easier with a bigger number of possible candidates. Who knows, maybe you've already met her."

Sasha looked critically at the cat. It was an interesting thought; maybe the other spellcaster was someone they already knew. But who?

"Well, whoever it is, I'm sure we'll find her eventually." Sasha yawned. "I think I'll go to bed now. Thanks for the help, Tabby."

"No problem," the cat replied, moving closer to the fire and settling down at a good distance, curling up on the soft rug.

Gunter found himself leading the former prisoner once more. But this time it wasn't to a dungeon; it was to her new quarters in the castle. She had been placed in the same wing as where the other youths stayed, in the spare room nestled between a storage cupboard and Jester's quarters. They arrived at their destination and Gunther fumbled for his keys, unlocking the door. The room hadn't been occupied in years.

Chloe looked around at her new home. It was larger than the cell, and certainly nicer than her home in the abandoned barn, back in the town. There was a bed, a cupboard, a desk, window to the courtyard, and even a fireplace. She smiled and sat on the bed, dropping the bundle of her belongings (which had been previously confiscated) onto the floor next to her.

"It's really nice." She commented.

Gunther was surprised to see her smiling so sincerely for the first time. Perhaps he had been too quick to judge the girl before.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it then. Pepper is serving dinner in a few hours. My friends and I usually eat separately from the rest of the court. You're welcome to join us if you want," he offered.

Chloe smiled again. "Sure, that sounds great."

Gunther nodded, "Meet us at the bench on the other side of the garden, then. You can see it clearly from the doorway." He said, before turning to leave.

A sly smile crept onto Chloe's lips. "Hey, Gunther?"

He turned around, and was startled once more at what he found.

Chloe had undone her buttons again and was sitting very suggestively. "Thank you," she said softly, batting her eye lids.

Gunther blushed and ran out, Chloe's wild laughter following him.

Chloe smiled once more. This was going to very interesting.

Smithy was in his forge, as usual. He looked proudly at the large pile of swords, all gleaming silver, sitting proudly up against a wall. His finest work yet. The King had just left, after coming to see his progress. He had been very pleased. In just a week he had managed to forge just over almost a hundred swords. Smithy had surprised himself. But he had found it soothing after a while, to immerse himself into the steady routine of folding and hammering hot iron. Pig had been exhausted from all the running on the wheel to keep the fire hot enough, so he had decided to send her on a well deserved break for a few days. He watched as she slept calmly on her pile of straw in the corner.

Smithy heard light footsteps as someone approached his forge. He turned to find Mira. He hadn't seen her for a few days now, so was glad that she had come.

"Hi," he greeted warmly.

She smiled, seemingly radiant in her laundry-maid's dress. Smithy was surprised to see her wearing the necklace he had mended, the golden amulet gleaming. She looked beautiful.

Mira giggled. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a picnic." She suggested.

"A picnic?"

"Yes. You've been busy here working away all week; I thought you might like a break."

"Well, I was going to start working on the armour…" he began, before changing his mind, "but it would be nice to get out for a while."

"Wonderful," she said, "Let's go then. I found the prefect spot in the forest, not too far from here."

Smithy took off his lead apron and followed her out, out of the castle grounds, and into the peaceful serenity of the forest.

It was dinner time and Pepper was just bringing out the bowels of stew when Chloe arrived. Jane greeted her warmly, indicating for her to sit next to her. She inched closer to Jester to make room. Sasha sat opposite them, next to Rake and Gunther. The table had been extended once more in the past few days, to accommodate the new additions. Sasha studied Chloe carefully. It was hard to deny that she fit the prophecy well. But her pride prevented her from admitting her mistake.

"Where's Smithy?" she asked, trying to change the conversation from its previous topic; who could belch the loudest.

"I think I saw him walking into the forest with that new laundry maid earlier," Pepper reported,

"He's with her again? If I didn't know any better, I'd say old Leatherlegs like like's her," Dragon interjected from his usual place on the garden wall.

"Smithy and the laundry maid? I dunno. I doubt Smithy's really the courting type," Jester mused, grabbing a roll for his stew.

"Don't be silly. Everyone's the courting type," Jane replied,

"Don't presume you know what everyone is like," Gunther added, stealing a glance at Chloe before turning back to his dinner. He couldn't get the image of her from before out of his head. And it was driving him mad.

"Isn't this the first time in a week that Smithy's left his forge?" Sasha asked,

"Yes, I believe it is," Jane replied,

"Then he definitely likes her,"

"How can you be so sure?" Rake asked,

"How many times have you guys tried to get him to come out? I mean, you're his friends, and if even you couldn't stop him from his work. But she could; it's got to mean something." Sasha explained,

"Maybe he's just done for the week and wants a break," Pepper suggested, "You all know how I can never be pulled from the kitchens until I'm done,"

"Yeah, but you'd think that if the work was that important, nothing would keep him from it. Not that I'm complaining. Smithy's been going a great job on those weapons, but if he keeps working at that rate he'll work himself to death. And a dead blacksmith isn't a very productive one," Sasha concluded, before adding,"…plus, he'd be dead. And that's not good…"

"Yes, I daresay we'll be needing everyone to help in the war. Hear that people; no-one is allowed to die before the first battle," Jester joked.

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Gunther muttered dryly.

"I'm glad you can joke about it. Because I've been in real wars before, and it's not pretty. I'm just glad we have all this time to be prepared, but what is just as important as being physically prepared is being mentally prepared. The battle field isn't like sparring or training. It's kill or be killed." Sasha said sombrely.

Dragon broke the silence, "You really know how kill the mood, don't you?"

"Well, I hate to remind you all about the horrors of the coming future," she replied sarcastically, "but there's no room for hesitation when you're facing a six-foot burly man wielding a battle axe, especially when there's over a hundred others like him just meters away. And that's if our enemy is human. If they're not, it could be even harder,"

"…so you don't even know if our enemy is human? I'm no warrior, but isn't that kind of an important strategic detail?" Jester replied, in all seriousness.

Sasha looked away, "Admittedly yes. I'm afraid I've been too preoccupied with this whole spellcaster thing to think about finding all that out."

"Well now that you've got me, shouldn't you be looking in to things like that? The rest of us can look for the last spellcaster," Chloe suggested suddenly.

Sasha studied the girl cautiously. She didn't want to admit it, but it was a good idea. "Fine. I'll get to work finding out as much as I can. But that means the rest of you will have to work really hard in finding the last girl. It would be nice to have everyone assembled in time to train properly," Sasha agreed, "Oh, and that reminds me, the rest of you who aren't familiar with combat will have to start learning,"

Pepper, Rake and Jester looked alarmed. "We'll have to fight?" Jester asked,

Sasha nodded. "I'm afraid so. We'll need everyone,"

"But isn't that what you spellcasters are for?"

Sasha shook her head. "Ideally it is, but just because a prophesy says we're going to single-handedly defeat an entire army doesn't necessarily mean it's going to come true. Not all prophesies happen as they're supposed to. We'll do what we can, but you lot will have to learn at least some basic archery to cut down anyone we miss on the front lines. And you'll need to know how to defend yourselves if we fail."

"I think I liked it much better before all this impending doom," Pepper remarked.

"I'd agree with you. But we can't change the future…well, we can, but not in that way. But don't worry. I'm sure it'll all be ok. If we're lucky, the army will consist of zombies; then Dragon can just fly down and torch them all."

So that's all for now. I'll try and update in the nearish future. I've got holidays coming up. In about 7 weeks (after my exams). Maybe I'll get some more done then. Fingers crossed.

R&R. Reviews help me update faster.