The smells of a late breakfast being cooked wafted down the halls of the Dancing Wind's Palace. Mally had taken control of the maids and directed them to make breakfast and prepare the hall for a lazy day. In all honesty, the royals would need some sleep and with the guard increase they actually could. The task of taking care of them distracted Mally from the boy who had yet to wake up.
Kendrick sat on the roof of the palace, his eyes closed. His aura covered the place in an invisible blanket. Every muscle in his body was stone still as he surveyed the land around him. Nothing could move without interrupting the flow of aura, which closed around their forms and interrogated their intentions. No one so far had evil intent on the grounds.
He frowned as the gates opened and a mass of people entered. At least five people invaded the space, and yet the guards seemed unworried. Kendrick opened his eyes and stood up, looking down from the clay shingled roof. The people walking into the yard were clearly shifters, wearing the traditional Green and Brown of the Forest Knights. He felt his curiosity peek and began climbing down from the roof. The shifters noticed him far before his feet reached the ground and stopped.
"HO there, Brothers. Why do you seek Princessa Kyera?" Kendrick called out as he turned to face these men. Most of them he remembered from childhood. He wondered if they would recognize him… most likely not. Father had aged his human body to his true age and they had buried him. The old wolf leading the pack however, seemed to scrutinize him.
"Kendrick?" Daxin asked tentatively, his eyes and nose would not deceive him. He knew the youth who had launched off the roof. Kendrick laughed.
"Yes, Daxin?" Kendrick asked and Daxin smiled. The others looked confused staring this man over.
"You were…" a man he knew as Lan spoke up. He wasn't surprised, Lan had been one of his dearest friends as a child. He had even dated Lan's little sister for a while.
"I gave up my chance at reincarnation to rejoin my sister. The King on Moria's throne is neither blind nor deaf. The plot of the Dark Ones threaten the balance of Moria as it does the destruction of our species. Sending a soldier back comes at a heavy price, but the one I was willing to pay." Kendrick replied, his explanation was strange but sounded oddly plausible. If anyone would do something so… final it was the most decisive of the four brothers.
"Welcome back, Kendrick. We will be glad for the help. Praise be to Moria for her guidance, and thanks be to the man on her throne for his assistance." Daxin bowed at the waist, his elderly body still strong, but showed signs of recent work out. It appeared as though he had been training hard recently.
"I agree. Now why were you…" Kendrick reminded when two people approached. He recognized as the Soft Paw General and his beautiful wife. Both appeared in enough distress to stop Kendrick's words. "General, My Lady?" He opened the floor to them rather than asking his question. The attempt to stay polite was pressure both of them were feeling, their hearts wanted to scream and interrupt but dignity demanded otherwise.
"Kendrick did you see either of our sons? Verone or…" the mother began but her words faltered. Neither of them wanted to face that Talis was balanced on that edge.
"Talis… our sons…" The general finished his wife's thought as strongly as he could but his own voice choked. Kendrick knew why they asked, and why the guilt they felt was so clear. One would rather believe their eldest dead than face their eldest child killer their younger child.
"The fate of Verone… you know within you he is alive. Lady Kyera would never lie about this and he left a mark as deep on her as he has on your family. I am sorry it came to this." Kendrick replied, knowing it was best to face that one head on. That headstrong tiger had no idea what havoc he had created out of his own treachery, of that Kendrick was sure. Otherwise, how did the beast live with himself?