A horn bellowed loud and long. It came down from the mountains, through the trees and wound amongst the tents. The busy camps, both Keglar and Talbecan soldiers, came to a standstill as the warning sound of impending travelers on the Arina Pass reached their ears.

It wasn't just a one-off call. The horn sounded three times. A sound that indicated immediate support and assistance was required. The morning meals were immediately forgotten, bowls and cups were scattered to the ground, and men who had been training, dropped their wooden practice weapons and ran to take hold of their real ones.

Jale scrambled up and out of the pillows that had been scattered across the ground during the previous night. He scanned the tent to find that Prince Rathner had already left in the early hours of the morning. It was a little disappointing. Jale wanted to ensure the Prince had enjoyed himself. He was confident Prince Rathner had found the evening pleasurable, but mornings could sometimes bring a new perspective to a person's actions that could sometimes lead to a change of heart. Jale shook his head to clear his thoughts. Hopefully he was being paranoid.

Drean sat up and looked around in confusion. "What's going on?"

"There's someone trying to come through the pass. Stay here if you wish," Jale said to him. "It shouldn't take long. We can break our fast together when I return."

Drean blinked, still bleary. "Prince Rathner?"

"He's left already," Jale answered. "He'll be getting ready to head to the pass as well, I’m sure."

Drean rose to his feet and at any other time, Jale would have paused to admire his sculptured naked form.

"Oh well," Drean yawned. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He leant down, picked up a pair of trousers and started to shuffle his feet inside.

"No," Jale answered. He took a step forward, pulled Drean towards him and placed a hard kiss on his lips. "I'll be back soon. Stay here and keep the bedding warm."

Drean smiled. "All right. I'll wait, but I insist that you let me finish putting some clothes on in the meantime. It's freezing in here!"

Jale smiled and as he turned to leave, he managed to deliver a playful slap on one of Drean's bare buttocks. He didn't wait to see Drean's response, instead, he hurried out of the tent and towards his horse.

The mare was waiting, saddled and jittery, picking up on the urgent energy around the camp. Jale mounted the horse in one easy stride, pulled on one rein to turn her and squeezed with his legs to urge her into a canter. As he headed off, Jale gave one last look over his shoulder towards his tent, annoyed at the inconvenience of these travelers and their audacity to interrupt on their fun.

The noises and bustle of the camp pulled Jale's attention back, and he urged his horse on towards the edge of the camp and towards the pass. Surprisingly, Jale saw Trent emerge on the path, cantering his horse towards him. He was supposed to remain at his post and wait for Jale's arrival. Jale slowed his mare to allow Trent to fall into stride with him.

"It's urgent," Trent said, out of breath as if he had been running and not his horse. "There's more than a hundred men and six caravans according to the clansmen."

"What!?" Jale drew in his breath quickly. "How far away?"

"About half an hour," Trent replied.

Jale deliberated on the news before speaking again. "Call the second and third line of both Brelen's and Uleron's regiments to join us," he ordered. "The fourth can stay back and defend the camp. We have plenty of time to ready ourselves."

Without waiting for a reply, Jale spurred his horse on, and he cantered the rest of the way towards the entrance. As he approached, he saw Prince Rathner's men rushing to their places.

Jale was confident. Between the Talbecans and Keglans, they had plenty of men. Caravans sounded like civilians. There shouldn't be too much of a battle, but then, sending one hundred or so civilians to their death was not how he had intended his day to begin.

Hoele approached Jale as he arrived. Sitting astride his own horse, he looked calm and in control.

"We are ready," Hoele informed him. "We have seventy-five men and Prince Rathner has positioned fifty of his. I have sent three men to meet the party about one hundred metres from the entrance of the path as planned in past drills."

"Thank you, Hoele," Jale said. "I'm not going to take any chances, however. I have asked for more men to come up."

Jale turned his horse and searched for Prince Rathner. He was only fifty metres away talking with Menelt. Jale trotted his horse towards the pair.

"There's around two hundred Brandeen soldiers, some civilians from what we can see, and six caravans with an unaccounted amount of people," Jale heard Menelt inform Prince Rathner.

Jale swore. That was a lot more than what he had been originally told and soldiers, this was not good. Thank goodness he had called for extra men.

Prince Rathner nodded in greeting to Jale, no indication or hint of emotion on his face of what had taken place between them the night before. "Much more than we ever expected," he said to Jale.

"Many more," Jale agreed.

The extra troops arrived, and Jale scanned the preparations, pleased by what he saw. It was a long wait. The half hour dragged until eventually a soldier came running out of the pass straight towards Jale, Prince Rathner and Menelt.

"They stopped politely enough when asked," the soldier told them. "Their leader is Prince Tolder of the Brandeen Royal Family. He wants permission to come through," he continued. "I told him that I would pass on his request. It had not been discussed of what we should do if there were any members of the Brandeen Royal Family."

Jale nodded. "Thank you. Please inform Prince Tolder that we need to discuss this before we can make a decision. Ask him to be patient and wait where he is. We will not be long."

"This is not good," Prince Rathner stated once the soldier had run back up into to the pass entrance. "We need to hold council."

"Agreed," Jale said. He waved towards Menelt, Galton, Brelen and two other soldiers. Jale also caught Hoele's attention. The men gathered in close proximity, their heads down while they collected their thoughts.

"Royal Family or not," Prince Rathner started quietly, "we can't let them through. Those were the orders. No one from the Brandeen Kingdom may pass and that includes the Brandeen Royal Family."

"We could create a resentment between the kingdoms that could last for decades," Brelen argued. "It could have huge implications for future generations."

"Yes, but what about our future generations," Galton reasoned. "We could be jeopardizing them as we speak."

"We could isolate the group," Hoele suggested. "Wait and see whether they are sick or not."

"A good idea but where would you put them?" Menelt asked. "You do not have facilities to isolate so many people."

"And even if we did," Prince Rathner added. "If we let one group stay, who says more won't come through and demand the same."

"We don't even know how long it takes for someone to get sick," one of the soldiers added. "Although news by pigeons has said the sickness acts quickly."

"It only takes four days to cross the pass in good weather, that's not long enough for me," Galton stated.

"Yes, but why would they risk coming this way," Prince Rathner asked. "The four days are hard and brutish even with good weather. Why would they come via such a dangerous and long route?"

"Because they are healthy?" Hoele asked, more to himself.

"Or they're trying to hide something?" Galton stated. The group of men looked at him in confusion and he elaborated, "They may have thought that no one would be protecting the pass. They may have thought it was an easy way to slip over the border."

Jale shook his head. "We still can't take the risk of whether they are healthy or not. Think of our futures. Could you face your families if you let them through and they wiped out cities?"

"I still don't know," Prince Rathner stated, his brow burrowed in concentration.

"May I suggest we meet them and get an idea of whether they are sick or not," Hoele suggested.

"I like that idea," Jale said, looking straight at Prince Rathner. "It will give us a better idea of the situation."

"It is a member of the Brandeen Royal Family," Hoele stated. "We can only do the polite thing, and tell them ourselves."

"Just don't get too close," Galton said, looking at both Prince Rathner and Jale. "We can't afford to have either of you getting sick."

*

The entrance to the pass was eerily quiet and empty. It was unnerving to experience it from such an angle after Prince Rathner had seen it from up above from the entrance of the cave. On each side, the rockface towered up towards the mountains that surrounded the path. The sky was crystal blue up above, and the sun was shining although its rays were not able to reach into the pass.

Prince Rathner was sure the temperature dropped even further as soon as they entered. He skimmed the rocks on either side. They were lifeless, a mixture of white snow and grey. The only comfort was that somewhere, amongst all those rocks, Menelt's men also sat hidden, ready to strike if anything went wrong.

They waited in a line. Prince Rathner and Jale in the middle with Brelen, Hoele on Jale's side and Galton on the Prince's. The first carriage from the Brandeen Kingdom group came forward, steered by a soldier. A thin man with large features sat beside the soldier dressed in clothes that had seen better days, reminiscent of a more refined and elegant period. No doubt times had been tough in the Brandeen Kingdom, and the journey had taken its toll.

The man dismounted when the carriage came to a stop, and he approached the men. Two lines had been drawn in the snow parallel to each other. The man stopped on one side of the line, and Prince Rathner and Jale stepped up to the other line.

"Greetings," Prince Rathner spoke in Talbecan.

The man looked confused, and the Prince immediately switched to Keglan. At hearing the language, the man's face relaxed.

"Greetings," he answered with a nervous smile. "I am Prince Tolder of the Brandeen Kingdom, third in line to the throne, governor of the Madrine Sector and avid student in the art of healing." He bowed elegantly.

Both Prince Rathner and Jale introduced themselves before Prince Rathner continued, "We're sorry to hear of the terrible circumstances that have fallen on the Brandeen Kingdom. We hope that the rest of the Royal Family remains well. Does the Royal Family travel with you?"

A shadow flickered over Prince Tolder's face but as quickly as it appeared, he blinked and it was gone. "For the most part, the Royal Family is safe," Prince Tolder responded. "Some have preferred to stay in the palace locked away, some have taken refuge on islands and others have traveled with me." He looked over his shoulder back at the caravans that stood waiting, soldiers standing guard surrounding each one. "It is mainly cousins of the Royal Family that are with me."

"How do they fare?" Jale asked. "Are you all well?"

Prince Tolder rubbed his hands together. Prince Rathner was sure that it was to hide the shake he had seen.

"We are well for the most part," Prince Tolder answered.

Prince Rathner and Jale looked at each other, and the men that stood beside them jittered.

Jale asked, "What do you mean for the most part?"

Prince Tolder laughed nervously. "No one has fallen sick since we left the palace, and we have traveled far."

"That doesn't mean you have not come in contact with the illness over the past couple of days," Prince Rathner said slowly to emphasis his point.

"Yes, I know," Prince Tolder said quickly, before looking over his shoulder again. "I think our situation is best explained by seeing what I have been doing."

Prince Rathner and Jale shared another look, and an immediate suspicion fell over them.

"What do you mean?" Prince Rathner asked, his hand already on his sword.

"It's in my caravan," Prince Tolder said. He took a step back and pointed to the caravan he had been travelling on.

"You want us to look inside your caravan?" Prince Rathner asked in disbelief.

"Yes, it will explain everything." Prince Tolder beckoned with his hand. "Come, take a look."

"Why would we want to?" Jale asked. "Whatever you have inside can surely be brought out. We are not going to step over the line."

Prince Tolder's eyes dropped to the lines drawn in the snow clearly having forgotten their presence. He lifted a hand signaling for two of his Brandeen soldiers to approach his caravan. Meanwhile, Prince Rathner moved his free hand behind his back and signaled subtly for his men to ready themselves. He heard swords being drawn in anticipation.

"There's no need," Prince Tolder stated at seeing the Talbecan soldiers ready themselves. His soldiers opened the caravan door, and they started to pull on something. The men lifted their heads to see what was being retrieved. A stretcher was carried by the two soldiers and as they moved closer, to Prince Rathner's and Jale's horror, they spied the small figure of a child.

"She is a work in progress," Prince Tolder told the men as the stretcher was set upon the ground merely two metres away. "I'm nearly there."

The men recoiled at the same time, taking a terrified step back and covering their faces. The terror of what was before them. The horror of the plague so blatantly there in the young girl's face. The brutality, the pain, the stench of death so imminent. No words were needed between them. It was a joint connected decision. They had been warned. They had been ORDERED. No matter who or how old, if they had the plague, they were to be killed before they infected more.