The mild breeze stirred her long white coat as Leyla counted the cases stacked on the other side of the garden with dismay. This was not the way things were meant to turn out.

"La-La, smile. The Leader is going to be here soon," Michael warned in Asch.

"But eight guards?"

"Be thankful it isn't eighty," Michael said. "It took Raphael and the Book Keeper half the night to convince Leader to allow us to leave at all."

"That's another thing," Leyla frowned as she watched even more people turn up along the bridges that connected the gardens. Dressed in flowing gowns and embroidered robes, all of the Land of Light's gentry seemed to be gathering to watch a spectacle. "Why in Gaia are you coming with me? You spent six years whining about how much you missed your parents..."

Michael held up his hands in protest, "I do not whine!"

"Hah!" Leyla snorted, then her expression turned serious, "You should stay. Your parents will be sad."

"The Book Keeper said it was an excellent idea for me to accompany you, and father is...not around."

Leyla raised her brows, but Michael's father's whereabouts obviously fell under the Land of Light secrets which she was not meant to be privy to.

"So anyway, stop fussing La-La." Michael rushed on. "I go where you go. End of discussion."

"When did you get so stubborn?" Leyla grumbled.

"I learned from my sister," Michael grinned.

Hearing him call her sister warmed her heart, making it difficult to continue her protest. It was futile anyway...By Tevvuk's Beard! Turning away from his foolishly happy expression, she looked at the eight guards and lady that were waiting beside the luggages. Innocent brown eyes set in a heart shaped face, the lady looked as fragile as the flowers that had been arranged into her hair. "Alright, the guards I can understand, especially since you are coming too, but why is the Leader insisting on sending a lady?"

"Lady Delphine is the daughter of the Minister of defence. She's highly educated and very well respected, so the Leader asked her to teach you the ways of our future Queen." It was obvious from Michael's tone that he was leaving something out in his explanation. Leyla wanted to ask more questions, but the guards in the gardens were suddenly at full attention and then the Leader appeared at the top of the stairs leading to the Dome. Excited whispers filled the inner keep as the gentry bowed.

Surveying the onlookers with an indulgent smile, the Leader descended into the gardens with Raphael and the Book Keeper behind him. The gentry inched closer.

"My dear." The Leader approached her, his warm tone surprising prying ears. The Book Keeper caught the gaze of the closest guards and in the next moment the men were all headed in the direction of the gathering crowd, moving them back to ensure that no spectator was close enough to hear the royal conversation.

"Good morning, Leader," Leyla touched her forehead to his outstretched hands the way she had seen Michael do.

"It disheartens me to see you go so soon." The older man sighed. "However, I understand you have things to take care of before beginning your life with us."

Leyla nodded, "Thank you for allowing this journey, Leader."

"If you feel you must do this, then you must." The Leader stroked his short beard, the purple jewel on his ring finger catching the sunlight. "I am sure you have been told that anything you have seen inside these walls must be kept secret. Naturally that also includes your...crossing."

Reveal information under threat of death; Leyla understood the message, loud and clear. "Yes, Leader."

"And since you will not be able to explain how you have aged six years in a few short weeks, travelling with your previous identity is naturally, impossible." The Leader looked at her, his blue gaze arresting. "Not that you would have wanted to return with your previous identity even if you hadn't aged. After all, the Warrior King did exchange the life of Leyla of the Kings wards for a few fruit trees, did he not?"

Her lips thinned at the obvious censure in the Leader's words. He was making the trees sound inconsequential, but the truth was, those fruit trees would mean a lot to the Warrior people and Leyla was not bitter that she had been exchanged for them. She believed her King had made the right choice even if she wished she had been given the chance to make the decision herself. Of course, Leyla knew she shouldn't say any of that out loud if she wanted to be allowed to leave. Forcing a smile, she remained silent.

"You look as though you have something to say?" The Leader asked politely. Michael bristled behind her.

Was the Leader deliberately bating her? Was he looking for a reason to get angry and go back on his word? It was definitely best to stay silent... She raised her head, her shoulders square as she looked the older man in the eye, "It was an honour to be able to serve my Kingdom."

Raphael who had been avoiding making eye contact, now looked at her with surprise. The Book Keeper's face was impassive. The Leader of the Land of Light was quiet for three heartbeats, before he burst forth with laughter.

"I expected nothing less." He continued to laugh, drawing every eye in the inner keep. "Kneel!"

Had she gone too far? Leyla saw Michael's eyes as she moved to obey the command; he seemed more shocked than afraid.

The Leader motioned the guards to allow the gentry to come closer, then he slapped Raphael on the shoulder. "Go on!"

What was happening?

The Prorex stepped forward, his usual haughty look firmly in place. He stood in front of her, then took a ruby ring off of his left hand and held it up for all to see: "As you wear this ring, you carry my voice and my heart." The words had an ominous quality to them, and the gasps from the gathered gentry told her that something big had just happened. Raphael placed the ring on a silver chain, then clipped it around her neck.

Before Leyla could so much as ask a question, the Leader stepped beside his son and touched the top of her head: "Rise and accept your new name." She took the Leader's offered hand, feeling like she had been struck on the back of the head. What in Gaia was happening?

"You are Lady Alessa," the Leader's voice had risen to be heard across the gardens. "Consort of the Prorex, future Queen of the Land of Light. May you be guided by the light and spread it where you walk."

Leyla stood frozen as Michael, the Book Keeper, the guards and everyone within sight raised their hands to their hearts and bowed their heads: "Spread light!"

Lady Alessa? Did the Leader mean that was her name now? And all that about carrying his voice and heart, had Raphael gone mad? She glared at the man in question, willing him to make an explanation. Thankfully, he seemed to get her message.

"Lady Alessa, as we are now engaged, it falls to me to protect you. My brother and the guards will accompany you wherever you need to go to accomplish your task." He held her eyes with his, willing her to understand. "I give you permission to leave the castle and go where you must, until such time as I call you back."

By Tevvuk's sword, she was engaged! Those words, that feeling, it was all a part of an official ceremony. She would have punched Raphael for not warning her about this little show, but she understood why he had done it. By becoming his official fiancé, Raphael had been put in the position to dictate how long she could be away for. That mean, he could provide her with more time away and himself with more time to absolve their marriage. Although an official engagement seemed like a drastic move in the wrong direction, she understood the strategy.

"Thank you," she managed at long last.

"We will be on our way then," Michael chirped pulling at her arm. "Don't worry about La-, I mean Lady Alessa. I'll take good care of her."

Raphael raised a brow, the Leader looked on with a tolerant nod, but it was the Book Keeper who stepped forward.

"Lady Alessa, I have asked more from you in this life time than I can repay." She took her son's hand, and looked apologetic. "But since Michael has decided to leave me again so suddenly, I can only ask that you take care of him for a little while longer."

"Book Keeper, we are in the Four Kingdoms. I am more than capable of handling myself here," Michael frowned. Then he gave his mother a cheeky grin and pulled at Leyla to get moving. "Let's go before we lose more daylight!"

Leyla let herself be dragged by Michael, trying to get her mind around everything that had just happened. The keep's guards kept the curious gentry back, while their escorts guided them across the nearest bridge to the outer keep. The ring around her neck felt like it weighed a ton, the ruby catching the sunlight as they made their way to the castle gates.

"What just happened?" Michael kicked at a pebble beside her. Now that they were far enough away from the Leader, he was letting his frustration show.

What just happened? In the last few minutes she had been given a fiancé, a title and a new name. "Alessa" she whispered it, listening its unfamiliar sound.

"It means protector of humanity. At least they chose a name that suits you," Michael grumbled.

"Raphael will find a way to break the engagement," Leyla said more to herself than her companion.

"Yes, he will." Michael nodded. "He better. I wont' have you being forced into anything."

His naiveté snapped her back to reality. Leyla straighten her back and raised her head a notch. Alright, what was done was done. So what if she was engaged and had a new name? It was all temporary anyway. Now it was time to focus on things she could actually do something about.

"I just wish they would have let me wear a uniform," Leyla said casually.

Michael's eyes widened, then he was hooting with laughter. "That just figures, that out of everything, wearing a dress is what would bother you the most."

Her lips twitched; he had never been able to hold onto anger.

The guards at the top of the lookouts saw them approaching when they came out of the keep. The men called out to guards on the main gates. Leyla counted them instinctively and stored the information in the back of her mind. A few moments later, the outer doors opened wide, revealing the carriages that waited for them under the bright blue sky. If the horses were as fast as they looked, they might make it to the Warrior kingdom in a handful of days. Of course, if the drivers knew the short cut Ageus had taken when she was first brought to the Land of Light, then it should take them even less.

"Lady Delphine can take the second carriage. Lady Alessa and I will travel in the first one," Michael told the guards.

"Yes, Curator." They bowed.

"Curator?" Lady Delphine approached from behind. "It is not seemly for Lady Alessa to be travelling in an enclosed space with an unmarried man." It was the first time Leyla had heard the girl speak and despite looking Michael's age if not younger, she sounded like a much older woman.

Michael's response was a snort: "It's a little late for those kinds of considerations between Lady Alessa and I."

Delphine lowered her eyes, her face flushing at the implication of his words.

"Don't let him get to you, he likes to shock people" Leyla told the girl, narrowing her eyes at Michael. "Why don't all three of us travel together? I believe you have some things to teach me, Lady Delphine, and I have some questions of my own."

Delphine nodded and stepped into the first of two carriages, a not too happy Michael on her heels.

Leyla watched their guards load the bags onto the vehicles and let her mind turn to their destination for the first time that morning.

The Warrior Kingdom. How was Tia? Isabelle? Alec? Had anything changed? Did anyone feel her absence? Would anyone recognise her? Her hands went up to her face, her fingers trailing across her smooth skin to her long hair. The Warriors had known her as a scarred seventeen year old mixed-blood. Now she would appear before them as the twenty-three year old Lady Alessa of the Land of Light.

Maybe the Leader was right.

Maybe Leyla of the House of Kings Wards was truly dead.