Alyss gave a short, delicate laugh in response to something one of the guards that rode with her said. The day was bright, the sun warm but not overly hot and she was happy to be returning home after a mission to Celtica to gain their ally's help against Morgan.

The mission had been a success, Celtia agreed to provide soldiers should they be needed.

A cry went up from the guard leading the procession. "Seek cover!" he yelled.

Alyss grasped the reins of her mount and spun her horse toward the sparse trees on the side of the road. The guard closest to her was thrown from his horse when an arrow sank into the horse's flank.

The decision she made was instantaneous, she pulled her horse around and went back, jumped from the saddle and helped the man to his feet. "On the horse, now," she ordered.

The man scrambled into the saddle and held a hand out to pull her up behind him.

She reached up and grasped his hand, allowing him to pull her up behind him in the saddle. The man spurred the horse toward the trees. Just before they reached the safety of the trees, a sharp pain caused her to cry out, then they broke into the cover of the trees.

Hands reached up, helping her from the saddle and lying her carefully on the ground. Voices murmured urgently as the men moved around her. The words were indistinct and she couldn't seem to focus enough to grasp what was being said.

The only thing that was clear to her was that the pain was overwhelming and she knew there was no recovering from it. She was dying. Tears made sudden, hot trails down her cheeks. She would never see Will again. Never see Deva become a Ranger. Never be with those she loved again.

The knight who was leading the expedition stared down at Alyss in horror. Red soaked the bright white of her diplomat's dress. An arrow stuck awkwardly from the center of her back. There was nothing they could do for her. They all liked Alyss Treaty. She was a good-natured, bright woman, always with a kind word for those around her.

He turned to his men. "Did anyone catch sight of the archer, do we know where the man is located?"

One of the men stepped forward, his look grim. "Yes, sir, he was in the trees just behind us, I saw him briefly before he stepped back into the trees. He wore the same uniform the men who rode with Morgan wore, same colors."

The captain swore and looked down at Alyss once more. "He wanted us to know exactly who was responsible. There was no other reason for him to make his presence so obvious when he could have fired from the cover of the trees." He dragged a hand down his face before continuing. "He wanted Ranger Will to know exactly who has taken his wife from him." He shook his head staring down at Alyss. She was gone. The one knight with him that had some medical experience had shaken his head and looked grim after inspecting the wound. It had been only a matter of moments before she took her last breath. "We need to ride quickly back and return Alyss home to her family. The Princess needs to know what has happened. It would appear Morgan lives and he has declared war on us." He sighed. "Remove the arrow," he ordered the man who still knelt beside Alyss.

He turned and mounted his horse, directing a man to hand Alyss up to him once the arrow was removed. He would make certain Alyss was returned home to her family.

"Sir, what if the archer is still out there?" one of the men asked.

He sighed. "I don't think he is. This was his goal. Morgan wanted to strike at the heart of things. Remove Alyss and he believes Ranger Will is going to fall apart. It isn't hard to understand how much he and Alyss loved one another. We are not the targets today. If he kills all of us there will be no one to report back."

The man frowned. "It only takes one man to deliver a message.

"Indeed, but he could have picked us off while we were scrambling to get into the cover of the trees and he chose not to. He fired what amounted to a warning shot. Alyss was the only one hit."

The man nodded and turned away to mount his horse, joining the rest of the men.

The captain led the way from the cover of the trees. Morgan had made a drastic mistake by killing Ranger Will's wife. The man did love her to distraction, that was the truth, but it wouldn't break him, no, it would simply make him more determined to bring Morgan to justice for the death of his beloved wife.

He didn't look forward to informing the Ranger of his wife's death, he didn't want to take the brunt of the man's overwhelming grief.

***

Will stared in disbelief at the soldier who held his wife gently while stammering out an explanation of what had occurred. His heart twisted painful and he wept for the woman he loved.

The man stopped speaking when Will gently took her body from him and turned away, crossing the room and disappearing from sight where he could mourn in peace. Without the prying eyes of others.

Deva blinked back tears as she sat nearby, staring blankly at the floor beneath her boots. Her mother was gone. The woman who had brought her into this world, who cared for her even when she and Holly got into endless mischief. Who gave her advice and loved her no matter what. She was gone. In an instant, just gone.

It was because of Morgan. A burning hatred welled up inside her for the man. If given the chance she wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

"Hey, are you all right? No, of course you aren't, I'm sorry that was an exceedingly stupid question. Is there anything I can do?" Mitchell asked.

She blinked back tears and raised her head to look at him. "No, nothing. Unless you can find Morgan and kill him for me in the next five minutes."

Mitchell gave her the barest hint of a smile and took a seat beside her. "I'm not certain that would be possible, but if I could accomplish the task I would if it would erase the pain from your eyes."

She leaned against him, simply soaking in his presence. Her father would take this very hard. Her parents loved one another a great deal. They'd known one another since they were children. He hadn't simply lost the woman he loved, he lost a dear, beloved friend. It was going to devastate him.

She and her mother had been close, despite her choice to become a Ranger and not a Courier. She may have more in common with her father, but she and her mother had other interests they shared. Her mother had been a source of comfort and wisdom.

"That dirty rotten stinking—oh I can't believe him! Can I go hunt that rat down and kill him?" Holly burst out, following it with a litany of curses in several languages.

Deva rose and went to her best friend. "Holly, what is it?" Holly had been studying the arrow that had been removed from Alyss' back. The soldiers had brought it back with them.

Her friend waved the arrow in her face. "That dirty rotten sneak used my arrow to shoot her!"

Deva felt sick to her stomach as her eyes fixed on the arrow Holly waved about in the air. "Your arrow?"

"Yes, I recognize my fletchings. I'm sure it's the arrow I shot him with." She made a sound of disgust, snapped the arrow in half and threw it down on the table.

Deva's eyes remained on the broken arrow. "Somehow he knows who shot him. He's letting us know he can get to any of us anytime he wishes. It looks as if you're his next target."

"He wants a war, we'll give him one. I'm not going to slink away and hide from the danger like some little girl," Holly spat.

Mitchell came to stand near them. "We don't know for certain he's targeted Holly. He may only know the arrow belongs to a Ranger. He picked whichever target was easiest to get to first. It so happened Alyss was returning from a mission. We can't assume we know his next move."

Halt blew out a breath. "No one is going anywhere or starting anything. We stay here and we plan. Mitchell is correct, we don't know what Morgan knows. Both of you are a unique case as far as your arrows go. You already have your own fletchings and they aren't marked to show you're apprentices. Morgan may simply know the arrow belonged to a Ranger. If he wants to come after us we'll be ready, but no one is to go looking for trouble. Is that clear?" He pinned both girls with a hard stare.

Holly grumbled a reluctant agreement, while Deva glared mutinously back at him.

Halt returned her glare. "Is that clear, Deva?"

"I'll be certain she doesn't do anything rash," Mitchell told him as he stepped up beside her.

With a nod, Halt spun away and went in search of Will. He wouldn't leave his friend alone, not at a time like this.Will would need the support.

***

Mogan dropped the short missive from his informant on the desktop with a grin. It had been ingenious to use the arrow of the Ranger that shot him to kill Will Treaty's wife. It yielded him a wealth of information.

It had been a Ranger's apprentice who shot him. Ranger Halt's daughter. He would take great satisfaction in killing the girl. His lip curled, giving him the appearance of a rabid dog. A female Ranger how horrific it was to contemplate the future of their world when women began taking on endeavors meant only for men.

Females in the Ranger Corps. He snorted. Their male counterparts were irritating enough. He simply couldn't imagine how bothersome a female Ranger would be. Then again, perhaps their stupidity in allowing females into their ranks would be their downfall.

His gaze lifted to the captain of his men. "We need to be certain our informant is well taken care of. The information we've been receiving is quite valuable. I do believe placing someone inside Castle Araluen was a brilliant idea."

"Yes, sir. It was something your father never considered and it has paid off."

Morgan nodded in agreement. In most things his father had been brilliant, but strategy was his department. It always had been.

Very soon now, he would show those foolish Rangers exactly who was the superior mind in Araluen.

He'd crossed one target off his kill list. Killing Will Treaty's woman would put a large crack in the man's seemingly invulnerable exterior. The Rangers liked to make those around them believe dark magic cloaked them, making them invincible to the weaknesses of mortal man.

However, he knew they were nothing more than simple men. Quite skilled at what they did, but still just mortal men. He would take advantage of that in as many ways as he could.

To begin with, he'd rip away everything they held dear. Break them down to the point they were useless to Araluen and it was vulnerable. Then it would belong to him. All of it.

"Inform the men that they must be ready to move at a moment's notice. I want to be ready to take those fools down as soon as the time is right."

"Yes, Lord Morgan." The man rose and bowed before heading for the door.

Morgan sat back in his seat, elbows resting on the arms of his chair, fingers steepled in front of him. Everything was fitting into place nicely there was nothing that could stop him now. He would succeed where his father had failed.