The great hall was covered in bodies. The place smelt of death.

Siegfried lay on the floor, his head hurt and he felt the warmth of his own blood beneath his tunic and armor. He moaned softly and opened his eyes, and looked out at his entrance hall; oh the mess his servants would have to clean! No one stirred, all around him were dead. He tried to get up and couldn't, a wound in his back tore at his strength. He tried to remember what had happened and all he remembered was the feel of his sword against Meeks' throat. They had gotten away! The realization hit him with a bolt of emotional pain that kept him to the floor even more than his wounds.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over top of the Elector; Siegfried closed his eyes and figured it was a soldier come to finish him off, "Are you alright, my lord?" A quirky voice asked from above him. Siegfried recognized the voice as Tymari's and it calmed him, "I can't get up and my head hurts! I'm wounded on my back." He said drearily. Tymari looked down at his master and frowned; Siegfried had been stabbed in the shoulder and he had lost a great deal of blood, "I'll help you sir." He said matter-of-fatly and tore his tunic to begin to bandage Siegfried.

"You better." Siegfried said under his breath.

***

A month and some later, high up in the Ikchis, in the court of Rovylern's Citadel:

"Ow! That had ice in it!" Rovylern yelled at Meeks; he wiped snow off his face and irritably shot a glare at Meeks. The general pointed at him and burst out laughing, "Loser!" She cried, her voice almost echoing off the frozen walls of the mountain. The Duke bent to pick up more snow, and when he got up, he looked down at his home province. It was beautiful, and it was his. No one would ever take it away from him, now that his arch rival was gone. This thought struck Rovylern as unbelievable; he and Siegfried had been sharing the lordship of these lands for too long...he found it difficult -yet pleasant- to tell himself that the Elector was gone. It had crossed Rovy's mind to think of himself as King now, but something told him that someone over at Siegfried's Citadel had already claimed power. I fact, he hadn't even bothered to talk to officials about lands claims.

Meeks stared at Rovy, "What are you thinking of?" She asked. The Duke snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Meeks, "Hmm? Oh, nothing." He said and smiled, aware that the act would satisfy Meeks.

After whipping a last snow ball at Meeks, Rovylern led his lady inside the Citadel and headed for his office. Many new recruits had been hired, for Rovylern's army was as good as nothing in the past month; papers and agreements had to be signed, and Rovylern was the one to do so. When he had settled into his desk and Meeks had plopped down in a chair to stare out the window, there came a diversion.

Kay, still a commander, stalked into the room and headed for Rovy's desk, "Your lordship, this just arrived." He declared and held out a sheet of paper before the Duke. Rovylern snatched the paper and frowned, he just loved it when his subordinates didn't knock, "Where's it from?" He asked, keeping his eyes on Kay. The Commander moistened his lips, he seemed nervous for some reason, "A messenger from Siegfried's old lands, sir." He replied, this being the reason for the uneasiness. Rovylern ran his fingers through his hair and wondered if he dared look at the paper in his hand; who would be sending him a letter? An important towns representative wondering about lands affairs?

He looked down at the paper, read it, and froze. Immediately, Meeks jumped out of her chair and came up beside Rovylern, concerned; Kay did the same. The two read the letter and reacted much as the Duke had. The letter read:

"No one attacks me with impunity.

Elector Siegfried V'Lan-Reyl"