Kelton walked across the field with Juno at his side. They were flanked by Verdi and five other guards, giving the impression the two were as much prisoners as guests. It was an intentional act to slow any dissent that may be brewing. The truth of Kelton's lineage may have already begun to leak. Spider's-bite was carried on Verdi's back, upside down and hidden behind a cloak to further the ruse. Juno thought it better to approach unarmed.

"So many," Kelton said as he took in the arrayed force they approached.

"Aragonians all," Juno said. "They will see what I see. You need but remind them who they are."

"Did I tell you how fine that dress looks upon you?" Kelton said. He let his smile free. Better to think on Juno than what was to come.

"Does it?" Juno said as if she had not noticed the attention the clothes demanded. "I only thought it clean, better than my other skirts that have seen more dirt than water." A snicker escaped from Verdi. Kelton noticed the other guards fighting grins as well.

"Clean, you say," Kelton said. "So my desire to hide your visage from other men is a foolish one?"

"Foolish it is," Juno said. "Verdi, you would not give this dress a second look, would you?"

"I watched my prince swing his swords this morn," Verdi replied. "Forgive me, my lady, if I refuse to answer." The other guards chuckled.

"And what of your tunic?" Juno said, her smile no longer hiding. "Mayhap I should be the worrier." She had as much show in her as did Kelton. A good thing because Kelton knew he needed her next to him. Never had he spoken to so many, and all having never seen him before.

"Have no worry, my lady," Kelton said. "There is but one woman whose hooks are set deeply in my heart." He paused, letting the idea sink in, then added. "Mayhap I shall tell you her name one day." His smile was a useless shield for the loving slap on his arm. The guards lost all sense of the seriousness they desired to project.

"Straighten," Verdi ordered, though his chuckle did little to enforce the command. Kelton thought it a perfect release, letting his pent-up solemnness escape into the world. He could never truly be a prince like Sandatic Victalica, at least not all the time. Happiness needs to rule now and again. Nobility demanded constant stiffness - another reason that crowns held no appeal.

The guards shifted almost as one, from lax to rigid soldiers. Kelton saw his father, hands on hips, staring at the group as if they had just burnt down the castle. Even in rebelling, Verdi and his guards were still soldiers. Their pride ruled.

"Your father looks angry," Juno said.

"Aye," Kelton agreed. "Is it not a child's duty to upset their parents? It is new to me, but it seems to come easy."

They neared without further words. The grim King stood upon a makeshift platform constructed of planks atop barrels, in front of which were the organized ranks of the army. There were a group of men off to the side, aged and dressed finer than the soldiers - hold lords. Each of them watched the approaching party, a few with scowls, the others with curiosity. Two lines of men flanking the platform, each armed, unlike the King and the hold lords. More of Verdi's men, or true King's Men now. Perhaps it was not the best time for humor.

Kelton's father looked down at him, his expression bland. "They are gathered as you requested," he announced. It was meant for the Hold Lords' ears. They had been told it was part of the agreement; Kelton desired to speak to the army and would then end the coming battle. "They are true to the Goddess, so your words will fall on deaf ears."

"I say again, it is a foolish agreement, my King," one of the Hold Lords said. A heavy-set man with a full beard of coal-black curled hair that defied the age of his wrinkled eyes. The honorific was spoken with distaste. Kelton could see that some, but not all, agreed with the man.

"Silence, Lord Ungeri," the King commanded. "If it ends needless bloodshed, it will be done."

"End him now," another lord whispered through gritted teeth. A look from the King silenced further dissent. The King's hold was tenuous and secondary to the Promise in some of the lords' eyes. Still, they deferred for the moment.

"Captain, bring him forth," the King ordered. Verdi nodded, then led Kelton and Juno to the platform.

Kelton lifted himself and assisted Juno to do the same. He smiled at her as his stomach began to churn. The words he had prepared seemed weak now that he was about to say them. The smile Juno returned eased some of that fear.

The King turned to the gathered soldiers, row upon row organized like a fan upon the ground. There were more than two thousand standing tightly together. It seemed as if all the eyes pointed at Kelton - or perhaps Juno. It was a distracting dress.

"An agreement has been reached," the King announced. Strategically set men within the ranks echoed his words. It allowed the King not to raise his voice too loud. Kelton had not thought of that, nor did he like the idea. "The false king will speak, then the coming battle will be undone." Again, the words echoed - an excellent way to pass on orders, not so good for maintaining the inflection and tones of ideas. A story would fade using such a method. "Remember your duty to the Goddess." The King signaled for Kelton to come to the fore of the platform as he stepped back.

Kelton looked out at the gathered army, his practiced words now useless. Facts, without context, did not fit what stood before him. He would only be another lord claiming dominion. A glance to the hold lords at his left made him realize that his claim would mean little. Only a man of small origins, one who knew the same strife of the common soul, could truly steer the hearts that were more powerful than any sword. He looked at Juno, who rewarded him with a confident nod as if she knew new words were being formed. He sucked in her faith, and strength grew. An inner Gossamer rose within his mind. It was time for the storyteller to emerge.

"I ask you to be at ease and sit upon the ground," Kelton said. It was done loudly enough that the echoes that followed were useless. The captains among the soldiers looked to the King, who nodded his agreement. Orders were given, and the ranks happily claimed the grass.

"Without echo, raise your palm in the rear if you hear me well," Kelton said, once all had settled. As he expected, a semi-circle of palms at the back of the fan rose high. He smiled. "Rest your voices echoes. I may have need of you later if my throat falters." That caused some smiles among the now relaxed soldiers.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kelton saw Verdi and the guards who escorted him move to the left, reinforcing the guards already near the hold lords. The plan was a simple one, yet now Kelton saw a different path. A longer story was necessary, one that did not trade master for master.

Kelton looked out at the audience and smiled. "I am a thief," he announced boldly, his arms stretching wide in contrition. The confession caught everyone by surprise and mortared all ears to his words. Any boredom that existed in the faces before fled. The King and lords visibly displayed their shock. Juno covered her mouth to hide her smile.

"Or I was if one can be forgiven for such crimes," Kelton continued after the proper pause. "You see, I was reared by a madman," his eyes finding targets in the crowd, sucking in their attention a group at a time, "and the trees my mother." He used his hands as an extension of his words, indicating the forest that surrounded Goddess' Grove. The entire platform became his, and an odd joy, the one Gossamer always claimed, entered his every word and gesture.

"Though not my true father, he was addled, for who else would dare care for an Unseen. It was my fate to die before I was given a name, but nay, this man would not hear of it. Though I knew it not at the time, there was no village where I could be safe. A moment's visit with such luxuries as dumpling stew was all that was allowed me." Kelton paused, then added. "I must admit that avoiding the bath did have some appeal." That provoked laughter, a sound that did much to tie teller to listener.

"I can not tell you the count of times I desired to be you," Kelton said as he walked from one end of the platform to the other, his attention swinging from those on the left to those on the right. "To know my true mother and father. To know a sleeping pallet as my own, covered by a roof against the rain and walls against the cold wind." He stopped in the middle of the platform and pointed out into the crowd. "In the eyes of my boyhood, you had everything, and I was the poorest of the poor. To eat and clothe ourselves, we stole. The land allowed little else for an Unseen and the foolish man who cared for him."

Kelton let his head dip and paused. Then he raised it again, ending one segment and moving to the next. "The last time we stole, it was from a family. The mother confronted us the next day, her wisdom deducing our ruse with ease. There are many things she could have done, yet she demanded her coin returned - nothing more. Stranger still, she invited us for a meal." Kelton sighed with his whole body. "Joycelyn was her name, and she ruled a family I desired to call my own." A short pause to let the minds breathe. "It was a Choosing when I began to understand what it meant to be Unseen. I was not to be there, yet there I was hiding behind a water barrel, not unlike the ones I stand on now. I watched as a Brother chose Joycelyn's daughter and the useless fight that ensued. I thought I chose death by running in, yet the Brother could not sense an Unseen."

Kelton paused again to let the image sink in. When he thought it long enough, his voice grew louder. "I still remember the smell of the Brother's blood. I can still feel the way his body jerked on the end of my blade as life faded from him. Never had I seen such a horror nor been the cause of something so foul. Everything I had ever eaten lurched from my gut and flooded the ground."

"That was when the first fell!" Kelton said. He looked from face to face, seeing the belief in his statements projected back from their eyes. "It was not to save the land. I knew nothing of the story that now follows in my wake. I was but an Aragonian boy who desired a family of his own and chose that over life."

"End this, Gregory," Lord Ungeri growled.

"When the agreement is done," the King responded, his voice stiff. He looked at Verdi, who immediately tightened the ranks around the hold lords. Kelton almost smiled, though the storyteller in him knew it was not the time.

"I desired what you have," Kelton continued, again indicating the collected soldiers.

"I have no family!" It came from the ranks off to the left. Kelton shifted to that side of the platform, trying to seek out the speaker. The man stood.

"Then you know of what I speak," Kelton said.

"Aye," the man shouted back. Many around him began nodding; a connection made with more than the speaker.

"We are brothers in this," Kelton said. A smile grew on the man, and it was better than gold. It was a new bond - a new brother. Kelton could feel it as a few others stood. The orphans of the army made themselves known. "Brothers all," he added.

Kelton smiled, his arms outstretched and embracing the crowd. "Are you not all a family? Though you may call each other friends, are you not brothers to each other in your minds?" That brought out more visible affirmation and whispered quips that elicited local laughter. Perhaps some are better brothers than others.

"The tale of Kushiel's Answer became known to me after the first fell," Kelton said, regaining the full attention of the army. "I became hunted - a rabbit upon a field of wolves. It was for the ones I called family that I fled, for all those found near me would forfeit their last breath." He dipped his head, exaggerated so the soldiers in the back could see. When he raised his eyes, he knew the crowd was with him. The feeling was beautiful, as Gossamer had always said.

"Someday, I shall tell you of how my travels came to be," Kelton said as if he were speaking to only one. "But know this, I found myself across the sea in a land I knew nothing of. The sights, the sounds and the beauty that has been denied us can not be explained in one sitting. There are lands beyond count and people who travel between them with ease. I cannot say their ways are wholly better than ours. I can only say there are better ways to live, and worse ones as well."

"I have met Kings, princes, and princesses. In most of them, I have seen the desire to be better yet a powerful reluctance to deviate from the patterns of the past. Where we fear retribution from some slight, they fear an envisioned disaster that change may bring."

Kelton paused a moment and paced along the platform, giving the impression of deep thought. He already knew his following words, but it felt important to make it look more difficult. Gossamer would be proud. There was more rumbling among the hold lords, silenced almost as immediately as it began by Verdi's men turning inward toward the lords as one. Kelton was sure the hold lords now knew something serious was amiss.

"I have suffered," Kelton said when he began again. "More than some and less than many. In my travels, I came upon a people who live more separate from the world than we do here. A land where elders decide all things, and family is all who surround you. They recognize not a single mother or father, for all become mothers and fathers of the young." Kelton stopped moving and looked out at the soldiers. He smiled as large as he could. "As all those without family can attest, it was an appealing idea." The audience became part of the story again; whispers passed around as they bonded with the teller. Kelton chose the moment just before the talk began to die to continue.

"For those who saw my swordplay this morn, it was these people who taught me," Kelton said with added volume. "They are warriors who breathe only to protect their family, and that means all around them, each person born to their tribe. Rarely, if ever, do they teach their ways to one not of their lineage. It was their gift to me for saving a young one, the most precious of things in their eyes." In a flourish, Kelton removed his tunic. Those close, where distance was no obstacle, gasped. They were as stunned as Kelton had hoped.

"A beast thought the young one food," Kelton said. "A cat-like thing, twice the size of any dog I have come across. I was of a different opinion as to what its choice of a meal should be. We argued, and it left his mark before it died." He patted his scars with his palm. "The beast almost took me with him." As he imagined it would, whispers of the mark of the beast traveled quickly.

"Alas, I survived," Kelton said, tossing the tunic behind him. He changed tone, though not volume. "There were days when I imagined I would remain with these people, but there was much more to my story. A memory, one so strong I was defenseless, demanded I return to where I was birthed." He looked at Juno, trading smiles with her, then back to the crowd.

"I am sure there are many of you who have felt the stirrings, those pangs of wonderment about the idea of sharing all the morrows with only one other." Kelton waited for nods of agreement, participation being important. "I carried those feelings across the sea, and it was that same dream that brought me back. I am an Aragonian whether I choose to be or not, for an Aragonian woman holds my heart." The smiles among the soldiers grew, as did the whisperings Kelton was glad he could barely hear. Men tended to trade such ideas in lurid terms, and this time it involved Juno.

"I returned with one mission, to retrieve my dream and, if I could, those I called family," Kelton said. He walked across the platform and let the memory of his anger fill him. "And what did I find?" The question was allowed time to drift with its projected verbal malice to gather more strict attention. Kelton formed a fist that shook, half show, half remembered rage. "They had ended the one I claimed as mother. Joycelyn breathed no more, for they named her my witness." He turned sharply. "But they erred, for cursed she may have been, her children were twice cursed for being born to her. I chanced upon her son, a storyteller of great skill speaking words that should never be spoken. The Brethren gave me no option or mercy to stall their pronouncement, so I gave them none. Three more fell that day, my claimed brother the witness as he was with the first."

Verdi's men drew their swords as some of the lords tried to maneuver out of their makeshift cage. A short tussle, and they were corralled once again. The King looked down at them and spoke with a stiffness that would accept no debate. "Be still until he is finished, or you will breathe no more." They now knew the King had shifted alliance; fear and anger grew in them.

"Still," Kelton shouted, his hands outstretched. He waited until the soldiers calmed down, and then he repeated the word. "Still, I had little desire to be an ancient tale. There is a place for me across the sea, a place of peace and comfort with a family so large I would need but one other to call my days complete." He held out his hand to Juno. She came forward and took it, a vision twice empowered by the dress she wore. "It is love that asked me to remain. A request I could not deny, for she is my Answer." The last word echoed through the crowd, along with many mistaken claims of Juno being the last-of-the-line. Kelton ignored those.

Kelton held up Juno's hand and displayed the wilted rose on her wrist. "I broke her chains with but a word, and if those words are spoken in unison, it breaks for all. Power in a land should be given by its people, not taken by fear."

An uproar in the audience ensued, men on one side or the other squaring off with rhetoric. The side backing, or perhaps fearing, the Brethren seemingly outnumbered. Like the lords, they now sensed what was happening. Kelton's words were not the contrition they had been told to expect.

"Brothers!" Kelton called out. He had to repeat it two more times to regain attention. Perhaps he had moved too quickly through his reasoning. It mattered not, for this gathering would not occur again. All must be said now. "There are many who call me king. Your king has called this claim false, and I agree. I came upon my true mother a day ago. It was hidden from me, and thus the land. An attempt to give an Unseen babe a few winters of life, mayhap bits of happiness afore he is noticed and his breath taken from his body." He smiled. "And I lived more than the few intended." That caused some cautious laughter to travel through the audience.

The King stepped forward and a couple of gasps emanated from the lords. They had put the pieces together, and different emotions appeared on their faces. Anger, humorous curiosity, and shock were the easiest to identify. It was the curiosity that excited Kelton. Not all given the Promise thought it the panacea it was touted to be. There was hope.

"He is not king, for I still breathe," the King announced, his voice no longer needing an echo. "The Answer is my son, and thus your prince." The chaos was immediate, soldiers standing and order breaking down.