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," a voice said. "You've hit 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.

"This doesn't look too bad, you should be more or less all right 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, "Erm … well … why don't you rest for a while, maybe you'll feel better
after you've had some sleep. That's a nasty bump you have there. You can tell us
more about yourself tomorrow."

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."

"Erm … 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 are on our way to Bel Tinel, for a meeting with Garren and Garrim," replied
Roland, looking a bit less disbelieving than Jorryn.

"Hmm, ok, have you been to Warthford to see Kel ... Ken ... oh damn it, 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 said 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 nodded. "I
suppose could believe 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 sure?" 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 there be?" Jorryn still sounded a little skeptical.

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

"Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose," Jorryn sighed. "We will be prepared for
them 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 in the middle of the
forest with nobody to protect you. After that you may go where you wish. I presume
this is acceptable?" Jorryn replied.

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

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

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 get around?" 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."

"It 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 even
further away and we wouldn't have to get close, so nobody would risk being injured.
Also, we wouldn't have to get close to 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 one of you do
something?"

"Sure. Open my pack over there, 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 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 don't
worry," he added, seeing her dismayed look. "It's no hardship to let you have one,
since at least one of us must be awake at any one time to keep watch anyway. And
the night is warm; sleeping next to the fire won't do us any 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.

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.

"By the way, your grace of Tremedard, the next time you decide to visit us, would
you be so kind as to send more than a one line note?" 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' doesn't give us any idea of when you're coming, why you're
coming, or how many people you're bringing!"

"Well, even if I felt inclined to drag my army all over Lefar, which I don't, you have
plenty of space to stash them while we visit, now, don't you?" retorted Jorryn.

"Now that you've finally 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.

"Well," said Jorryn, "we just came from Cargath. Kelton sent for us, saying that he
had to see us about a matter of some secrecy. He's getting old and it isn't so easy
for him to travel nowadays, so we agreed to go 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 said 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!"

"Exactly," 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."

"Even so, why the sudden rush for Thorne to have so much leather and so many
new weapons? It's not as if they breed at a rate high enough to warrant the sudden
demand for clothes and weapons. Which is why this is particularly alarming, we
aren't sure if he's suddenly got more Tridexes that need them," said Jorryn.

"If he's managed to find a way to speed up their breeding rate, we've got a serious
problem," said Garrim thoughtfully. "They 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's suddenly got a large supply of them to send against
us, the scales tip in his favour and they could be a serious problem."

"Is Kelton sure that this is the reason for Veldid's behaviour?" asked Leola. "I mean,
I don't like Veldid much, but he strikes me as being too timid to dare to do such a
thing, and practically under our noses to boot!"

"He isn't sure, but it's better to be safe than sorry," answered Darian. "We came to
warn you to check on all your defences and to keep an eye out for any strange
things that might happen. Also, it couldn't hurt to ready your troops, just in case the
need for them arises."

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

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 just that you look 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 once." It didn't take
long for the rest to arrive, and after everyone was there, he announced, "Lady
Janelle has something to tell all of us, and I thought it was important that you all
listen. She says that she's been transported here from her own world, in which we
are all people in a book, and she knows what's happening and what's 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 hard story to believe."

"We'll explain that to you later," said Darian impatiently. "She told us more on the
way here, and we believe her. For now let's listen to what she has to tell us."

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.

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. "Guess what?" said
Darian, a mischievous look on his face. "What?" she asked.

"We've got an extra tent 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 where the
spring was.

"It's that way, about five minutes walk," he answered, pointing. She followed the
direction, 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, just a lump, I deserve it 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
coshed me from behind, I don't remember anything till I woke up and you were
there."

"You weren't the one who shot the Tridex?" said Darian in surprise. "Then who did?"

"Well, erm, actually, I did," Janelle spoke up a little hesitantly.

"You shot the first Tridex? Right through the neck?" 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?

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 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 guess something is wrong, then," he said. "Perhaps
you wouldn't mind telling me what is wrong? Perhaps I can help? After all, I can't let
the brave girl who saved my life 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
hadn't been there? And besides, I don't often get to see ladies who are covered in
flour, it's quite a 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 did you learn 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 exactly where you
aimed," she said.

"That's exactly what it's like!" he exclaimed, looking surprised. "I've never met
anyone who feels that way. Most of the archers I know do it to survive – to protect
themselves or their homes, to hunt, to earn a living, or for other similar kinds of
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 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, 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 hard to tell them apart from this distance. If you like, I can 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 tomorrow, if you still feel so inclined, after Bradden
has you shooting at hay bales the whole day and you're aching from head to toe!"

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
today, see you all bright and early tomorrow 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. "So 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 cannot 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. "So, how tired are you really? The main hall is
getting a little crowded, what with the provincial forces being summoned, and I
thought you might like to take a horse, 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," Roland laughed. "The more experienced archers will
take their turn at training in the afternoon, and Bradden doesn't really need my help
with them. Besides, I was feeling rather cramped today, what with all the extra
soldiers arriving, and I could really use a ride. I can go get a 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.

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, and with him a
page carrying a set of light armour. "The armour is for you, and he will help you into
it," he said, nodding to the page. "I'll see you on the walls, I have to go organise the
archers." 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.

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.

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 of 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, relax now Janelle, slowly, that's it, relax ..."
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 druc 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.

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 get you something to eat, you've been unconscious for five days
now, 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, you just need 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 the 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 didn't want to leave you, but we had to go and hunt down the 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 he wasn't sure you would live after the blow to
your head and you were unconscious for three days; I thought I was going to 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, you weren't dreaming," he replied. "I'm not sure when it happened, or how, but
I only realised how much I truly love you at the moment when I thought I'd lost you
forever. I love you, Janelle, I really 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 can't 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.