Through the journey, Zia noticed Jay kept stealing glances at her with a curious expression on his face. The main reason she noticed was because she was doing the same, quickly looking his way when she thought he wasn't looking. She knew that Jay must have many questions for her, like how she became a Thief and where she had disappeared to after Daxtor's failed execution. But every time she stole a glimpse at the Captain, she couldn't help but remember what had happened last time they had met.

The small company made good time to the entrance of the Pass, just as Will had said, and they decided to make camp at the mouth of the canyon.

The fire glowed brightly in contrast to the dark blackness of the night. The warmth that emanated from the flames made Zia's skin tingle with relief. It had been a bitterly cold day, and the wind howled through the entrance of the Westfell Pass as though a pack of wolves were lurking within. Zia stared into the flames. The logs crackled and parted, spitting out a spew of glowing ashes that floated through the air.

Zia was pulled back to reality when the dark form of Heath sat down next to her, rubbing his hands in front of the flames to rescue them from their chill.

"Quite the ride, huh?" Heath said, blowing hot air on his hands before returning to rub them over the flames.

Zia did not reply, she just continued to stare into the bright fire.

"You are awfully quiet," Heath observed. When Zia made no move to answer, he said, "What's the matter? You're never this silent."

"Shut up, Heath," she said distractedly.

"Come on, Zia," Heath said. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Talk to me."

She turned to face him. He was no longer rubbing his hands, but instead his full attention was on her, studying every inch of her face. His eyebrows were drawn in a look of concern, and Zia relented.

She looked back into the light of the dancing, flickering flames. Taking a deep breath, she whispered, "I'm scared, Heath."

"What? Why?" He lowered his voice. "Did you smell Ike's boots too?

Zia wanted to laugh, but she didn't seem to be able to. "I fear that my past is coming back to haunt me."

"How so?"

"You remember the Guard I told you had brought me back to Daxtor after my trip to the market?"

He nodded. "Of course. How can I forget when my friend's fate was changed by him?"

"That Guard was Jay, the Captain," Zia whispered.

Heath was shocked by this. Zia hardly ever talked about her past, and most of what Heath knew had come from the lips of Arch or Ike. "It was him?" Heath looked across the camp. There stood Jay just a few meters away, conversing with his two men and Will, the navigator. They were no doubt planning the journey from this point on. As though he could feel unseen eyes on him, Jay looked up from the map he was poring over and his eyes fell upon Heath.

Heath didn't know whether to feel angry or grateful to the Captain. He had been the one to return Zia to her father, and when Daxtor beat her that night, Arch was able to rescue her, which ultimately led to her being beside Heath today, but Jay was also the person who had condemned her to feel such pain.

Looking back at Zia, Heath asked, "And why are you scared of him?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. She couldn't explain it, even to herself, but somehow she felt that if Jay turned up after twelve years, what would stop Daxtor from doing the same? Even now she was still his prisoner.

"Would you like me to make certain he keeps his distance?" Heath offered. He tried to look tough by cracking his knuckles.

"No," Zia said, staring across the camp at the shadow that was the Captain. "It's not him that worries me. It what him showing up after all these years might mean."

Heath didn't like Jay, not if his mere presence was enough to get Zia rattled up like this. He tried to refrain from judging the Guard too harshly; it wasn't Jay's fault Daxtor Myrna was an abusive drunk. Yet, some part of Heath wanted Jay gone. Zia was the bravest person Heath knew, and if just being around the Guard made Zia nervous, he wasn't sure he trusted him.

"I can still beat him to a pulp if you'd like."

She smiled gently and said, "Thank you for caring, but I can handle it. I just can't shake the feeling that if Jay's come back after all this time, who's to say Daxtor won't too?"

"I understand," Heath said. "If he does bother you, though," he added in a more cheery voice, "I'd be glad to steal an ear or two of his"

A small laugh escaped Zia. It was just a little huff, but it was a laugh. Heath had long ago discovered that if one could still laugh, they would be alright.

Zia looked out into the Westfell Pass. Rocks and small trees lined both sides of the canyon walls, and there was a small dirt path leading through the vast canyon.

The company was packing up, feeding the horses, and stomping out the last ashes of the warm fire. The day was even colder than the one before, and the wind was loud and seemed to be coated with ice that latched onto Zia's exposed hands and face.

Zia threw her cloak over her shoulders, hoping it would protect her from the chill.

Ike joined her at the mouth of the Pass, shivering at her side. "Are you alright?" he inquired. "You look a bit pale."

"I didn't sleep much," Zia replied. "It was too cold."

Ike let out a violent shiver. He could concur with that. He had slept very little as well, but he knew that Zia was trying to hide something. Heath had hinted to him that something was bothering her. After Heath spoke with her by the fire, Ike had questioned him. His friend's only reply was, "You will have to ask her yourself, Ike. It is not my place to tell you."

"Well, I think that was noticeable enough," Ike said, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. "But what is bothering you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Zia asked, staring into the canyon.

"Only to the people who know you," he answer, bumping her shoulder with his own. It was a small gesture of understanding that had become a custom for them over the years.

Zia let out a small smile, but it faded quickly. They stood in silence for a while, until finally she confided in Ike her fears and thoughts. He was a good listener. He never interrupted, and he didn't exclaim that she was mad for thinking her past life would become her present one.

When Zia finished, Ike was silent for a while, pondering over her words, thinking of some comfort he could give his sister. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough, as though he hadn't had a drink of water in weeks. "Zia, I can't pretend to know what you went through living with that beast, but I can promise you that he won't hurt you again. Not if I can help it. I won't let anyone hurt you; you're too special to me."

Zia was so touched by his words that for the first time in a long time, she found herself choking up with tears of relief and happiness. She couldn't express her emotions through words, as she seemed to have lost the ability to speak, so she wrapped her arms tightly around Ike and embraced him. She felt calmer than she had since the King had turned up, and it was all thanks to her brother.

The company started out on their journey through the Pass the moment they had all rolled up their cots and had erased all signs that they had been there. The sun was just peaking over the horizon as the dark night retreated. However, the cold wind remained, and it seemed that no amount of sunshine would drive it away.

Zia sat astride her horse, riding at a slow canter behind Heath. In front of him was Jay along with the bulk of their traveling party, including Ryker and Hamish, the large brothers. Zia was surprised when she realized that the brothers had not bothered her so far on this trip. Not that they had much of a chance considering they had been traveling all day the previous day.

Will rode in the front, the brothers behind him, and Archibald behind them. They did not speak- no one did. They were all too busy pondering what events might take place on their quest and if they would make it back to their families alive.

The only soul who rode behind Zia was Ike, who kept turning around on his horse to glance behind them. It grated on her nerves, but Zia knew it was necessary to look for anyone following their party.

Zia rode silently, appearing not to be looking around at the large mountains that surrounded her. But do not think she was ignoring the world around her. Quite the contrary, in fact. She had spent years practicing taking in every detail of her surroundings while upholding the appearance that she was staring blankly ahead. Her job was made slightly easier by her cloak's hood that she had pulled up over her face.

Heath looked back at her and smiled. "You look bored. How can I entertain you, m'lady?" He made a gallant bow, which was quite the feat considering he was turned facing the rear end of a moving horse.

Zia smiled slightly. "Are you sure you're not the bored one?" she asked.

He smiled wider. "Alright, I admit it. My brain feels like it will die if I don't give it something to do."

"After nineteen years its finally decided to do something, huh?" Ike asked.

Zia snorted and Heath rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what would be amusing? that I could do? I'm throwing it open to the group," Heath said.

"You can find a bog and jump in it," Ike suggested. "that would be fun to watch."

Zia laughed. "While I am sure that would be most entertaining," she said, "I'm afraid we won't be finding any bogs in the Westfell Pass. I'm afraid I will have to amuse myself by other means."

"He could roll down one side of the canyon," a voice called back.

Zia looked around for the speaker until her eyes found Jay turned around on his horse, smiling. Zia stared at him, and Heath turned around to do the same. Zia was willing to bet her left leg that if she turned around she would find Ike following their example.

Slowly, the smile slid from his face and his cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red as he turned forward.

Jay's obvious discomfort was so humorous Zia could hardly hold back her laughter, along with a shout of giggles. She laughed loud and hard until she heard her own laughter being shouted back at her off the Pass walls.

She instantly stopped. While hunting a Skilae army in a large canyon, one does not want to give one's position away because of a girly giggle.

The last of the echos died down and not a soul moved. Even the horses, usually so eager to move and always pounding their hooves, didn't moved; they must have sensed the sudden need for stealth.

All their party was silent for a few more moments, but finally the horses relaxed and went back to pawing the ground and snorting. Upon seeing this, Zia relaxed. The horses would sense an unwanted event long before the humans would, and she had learned to trust the animals' judgment.

Finally, Will led the party back into a slow canter and they continued their journey.

"Wow, Zia, I'm impressed," Heath said. "I knew you were a big mouth, but I didn't know you were that big of one."

The rest of the party became thoroughly confused when Heath's horse suddenly spurred ahead of everyone else, Heath yelling and struggling to slow it down on its back. When he finally gained control of his horse, he turned around to glare at Zia, who was looking innocently back at him.

"What?" she demanded. "I thought you wanted something exciting to do?

Ike snickered behind her

"Amusing!" Heath corrected. "I wanted something amusing to do!"

"I don't know about you, but I feel very amused," Ike told him and Heath fell back in line in front of Zia.

Heath shot her another angry glare, which she returned with a sugary sweet smile.

"You all alright back there?" Will called from the front.

"Just fine!" Zia called back. "Just keeping one another entertained."

"Good, then. It's still early in the mornin'. Let's see if we can go a bit further before the midday meal, shall we?"

The group sat silently around the large, warm fire, the Guards sitting together and casting distrusting glances at the Thieves, eating their meal of dried meat. Zia met the eyes of Archibald across the fire. The man would smile toothily at her and send her a wink, his bright blue eyes twinkling. She would smile at him and wave a little, but other than these small exchanges, there was no merriment in the camp.

"You know," Heath spoke through the silence, calling the attention of everyone, "it's strange that we are all here, risking our lives to save a kingdom that we all love, yet we don't even know each others' names."

"What does it matter?" a Thief spoke up. "We're never going to see each other again once this is over, so what's the use in knowing everyone's names? Besides, some of us might not even make it back alive."

There were some grunts of agreement, but this just made Heath smile. "What an excellent question, sir!" he said enthusiastically. "Think on this for a moment: What if we got separated, hmm? How would we know who was with us and who was missing if we did not know one anothers' names?"

"You have a fair point, my friend," Ike said, who was seated between Heath and Zia. "I think we should all go around the circle and tell our names and... oh, well something about ourselves: Our skills, our likes, our dislikes-"

"Our favorite stew; where we grew up," Heath continued. "Superb idea. I guess you're not as much of a dolt as you look, Ike," he teased. "Alright then, who wants to go first?" He looked around the fire, but all the men were adverting their eyes. "No volunteers?" Heath said when he could find no one. "I'll go first, and we'll go in a circle to the right." He stood, drawing all eyes toward him again. "Right then. Hello, my name is Heath Rockhower."

"Hullo, Heath," Ike said in a deep, nasally voice. This caused a few snickers out of the Thieves, but the Guards just stared at the two young men as though they had fallen from the sky.

"I am nineteen years of age, and I'm an excellent shot with my bow. Isn't that right Zia?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Oh, wonderful," Zia said, playing along. "Just last month he managed to shoot the target instead of the horses."

This brought up more snickers from the Thieves, a full grin from Archibald, and a reluctant smile from Jay. The other Guard, however, remained stone-faced.

"Alright then," Heath said to the Thief next to him as he sat down on the log beneath him. "You next."

The man looked startled, but after much encouragement from Heath and Ike, he stood, and said, "Um, my name is Wilson Freeder, and I-"

"Hullo, Wilson," Heath and Ike said in the same deep voice.

The man appeared flustered at the interruption, but he carried on shakily, "I-I... don't have anything to say."

"Oh, sure you do!" Heath said. "What are your talents? What's you family like? Have you got a wife, kids?"

Wilson nodded. "That I do. A lovely missus and two little ones."

He started to sit down again, but Ike called out, "What are your children's names?"

"Rose," Wilson said. "Rose and Arthur." Then he sat down, looking quite relieved.

The next man stood without coaxing. "Good evening. I'm Alowishus Louis Marie Teldo, but you can all call me Ed."

"Hullo, Ed." Ike and Heath were joined by some of the Thieves, and even Archibald, who smiled like a little boy receiving a present.

"Ed?" the grim-faced Guard asked. It was the first time that Zia had heard him speak. "There's not even an Ed in your name!"

The man look embarrassed, as if having second thoughts about standing up.

"Well, Master Sunshine," Heath said, "why don't you take that up with his parents? Ed's a fine name. Might name a boy of mine Ed," he finished thoughtfully.

This just pulled more laughs from the group, including Zia, who had been trying her best to be silent and listen carefully.

Ed smiled and continued, "Right then. Yes, Ed's my name, and I'm going to be a healer one day." He sat down, looking very proud of himself.

It went on like this for a while. A man would stand and state his name, being greeted with the same silly voice. He would state something about himself -whether it was his children's names or that he had named his favorite tunic Wesley- and then sit down to much laughter and smiles from his companions. Zia joined in the laughter and snickers, and even making a few snide remarks on what her companions shared.

In the back of her mind Zia kept wondering how Heath could have gotten this started. Not only were they bonding and learning one anothers' names, but the lightness in the air also lifted a burden of solemnity that had plagued not only her, but the group as a whole. It also kept her mind from the gloomy thoughts that had started to fill her mind.

Finally, after Johnathan Diggle sat down, Jay stood, looking uncertain of himself. "Hello," he greeted. "I'm-"

"The King's Pretty Boy!" Will called out. There was much laughter from Guards and Thieves alike. Zia was glad to see that Jay also took part in the laughter.

"Hullo, Pretty Boy!" the men jeered.

"Yes, well, I'm glad we've gotten that out of the way," Jay said once things had calmed down. "My name is Jay Holden, and... I'm not sure what to say," he admitted.

"Tell us about your family," someone suggested.

Jay shook his head. "No one but my mother."

"Why don't you tell us how you became the King's Captain?" Will suggested. "You're very young for a Captain."

"Alright," Jay said. "Let's see. Why, it was nearly twenty years ago now, wasn't it? My father died when I was very young, leaving me, a mere boy, to do a man's job. I grew the crops on our farm and fetched the water from the well every morning. My mother helped out where she could, but she was very sick for years and she would have deep pain from too much strain on her body.

"But after my daily chores were done, my mother would allow me an hour before supper to practice my sword fighting. My father had taught me before he died, and as it was the one thing that connected us, I was determined to be the best swordsman I could.

"I'll spare you the details, but I foolishly challenged one of the King's Guards to a duel."

"Let me guess," Heath said. "He beat you."

Jay shook his head. "I bested him, actually. The Guard went and complained to the King. I thought I was done for. I thought he would burn me at the stake for embarrassing one of his knights. Imagine my surprise when he offered me, a twelve-year-old boy, to begin training to become a Royal Guard."

All was silent for a while. Then Will called out, "So a Pretty Boy and a show-off!"

This caused the loudest laughter of all, the men chortling and snorting like hyenas. Even Ryker and Hamish were laughing. In fact, they were the loudest. The only one to keep a strait face was the grumpy Guard. The Guard refused to stand when his turn came, but they were able to get the man's name: Percival.

When Archibald's turn came, he leaped to his feet in excitement. "'Ello. My name is Archibald Buchanan."

"Hullo, Archibald," was the men's reply.

"As ye can probably tell, I'm no' from 'round here. I come from Scullin." He sat down, looking extremely pleased with himself.

More men stood and spoke until it was Zia's turn. Slowly, she stood and looked around at all the eyes staring at her through the dark. "Um, hello," she said. "I'm Zia, and I-"

"Hullo, Zia."

Brushing off the interruption, she started again, but stopped. What should I say? she wondered.

The men took her hesitation for what is was and started to suggest topics that might relate to her. "Tell us yer best dish," one man said. "Women love to brag about their cooking."

"Are you mad?" Ike asked him. "Zia's best dish is no dish at all. She'd burn down the whole forest before she'd make anything edible. Ouch!" He gave out a cry of pain as the back of Zia's boot caught him in the shins.

"My bad," she said.

"Tell us how you came to be a Thief," Jay's quiet voice said from across the fire. He was looking straight into her eyes, trying to pry all the secrets of her past from that look.

"Zia doesn't really talk about that," Heath told Jay pointedly with a hard look that clearly said, Leave it alone. The look did not go unnoticed by Jay, the Guards, or the Thieves, and a thick silence fell on the camp.

"I apologize," Jay said. "I was only curious."

"It's fine," she told him. Zia was starting to feel uncomfortable when the awkward silence continued. It was only broken by Archibald.

"Well, then, tel' us abou' yerself," he pressed.

"I'm alright with a sword," she admitted.

"Oh-ho," Will said, looking back and forth between Zia and Jay. "I think you've got yourself a challenger, Pretty Boy."

Zia smiled. "Oh, I'm not challenging, Will, merely stating a fact."

"What, are you scared?" Jay asked, smiling smugly. He was obviously trying to make up for the awkwardness from before.

Zia cocked her head. "I would think you would have the most to be scared of, Captain. After all, there is always the possibility I could beat you. Think of the shame. The legendary Captain of the Royal Guard beaten by a simple little girl from the woods."

Out of the corner of her eye Zia saw Heath smile as a chorus of "Oohs!" went around the camp.

The Captain smiled. "Of course there's always that chance, but I don't think that will be a problem."

"Ooh," men said again.

Zia lifted an eyebrow. It was the same look she had gotten when Ryker and Hamish had insulted her. In fact, it was the same look she got when anyone insulted her.

Zia gave Jay a fake smile. "Well, I would offer you a challenge, but I doubt you'd accept it."

"And why do you say that?" he wondered.

"Well, you see, you would mess up your hair. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? As the King's Pretty Boy, you have to look your best at all times- not that your best is even that good."

"Ooh!" came the chorus again.

"Best sister ever," Ike cheered in a whisper to Heath.

Jay laughed, and pretending he had long locks, he flipped an imaginary length of hair behind his shoulder in a very feminine way. "You're just jealous."

This caused an eruption of laughter from all the men, even a grim smile from Percival.

Zia gave a laugh full of disdain. "Oh, please. If you fight half as good as you look you'll be lucky to still have your sword in hand after two minutes."

Ike burst into laughter and nearly fell onto the ground. He leaned heavily on Heath, who was laughing too hard to care.

"That's enough for tonight," Percival said. He stood and all laughing and jeering suddenly ceased. "It's been a long day and I'm sure tomorrow will be also. We best be off to bed."

With that he left, leaving the rest of the camp in silence. Slowly, one-by-one, everyone else followed his lead and went off to bed.