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And she refused to allow herself to wallow in self-pity. This was no
longer just about her. It was about these people, their lives, their families.
They needed her. They were all looking to her for help.
    Gwen
thought of her father, and wondered what he would do. It made her smile to
think of him. He would have put on a brave face, no matter what. He had always
told her to hide fear with bluster, and as she thought back on it he had never
seemed afraid. Not once. Perhaps it was just show; but it was a good show. As leader, he had known he
was on display at all times, had known that it was the show that people needed, perhaps even more than the leadership. He
was too selfless to indulge in his fears. She would learn from his example. She
would not either.
    Gwen
looked around and saw Godfrey marching beside her, and beside him Illepra, the
healer; these two were engaged in conversation, and the two of them, she had
noticed, seemed to take an ever-increasing liking to each other, ever since Illepra
had saved his life. Gwen longed for her other siblings to be here, too. But Reece
was gone with Thor, Gareth of course was gone from her forever, and Kendrick was
still in his outpost, somewhere in the east, still helping to rebuild that
remote town. She had sent a messenger for him—it had been the first thing she
had done—and she prayed he would reach him in time to retrieve him, bring him
to Silesia to be with her and help defend it. At least, then, two of her
siblings—Kendrick and Godfrey—would take refuge in Silesia with her; that
accounted for all of them. Except, of course, for her oldest sister, Luanda.
    For
the first time in a long time, Gwen's thoughts turned to Luanda. She had always
had a bitter rivalry with her older sister; it had not surprised Gwen in the
least that Luanda had taken the first chance she could to flee King's Court and
marry that McCloud. Luanda had always been ambitious and had always wanted to
be first. Gwendolyn had loved her, and had looked up to her when she was
younger; but Luanda, ever competitive, had not returned the love. And after a
while, Gwen had stopped trying.
    Yet
now Gwen felt bad for her; she wondered what had become of her, with the
McClouds invaded by Andronicus. Would she be killed? Gwen shuddered at the
thought. They were rivals, but at the end of the day, they were still sisters,
and she did not want to see her dead before her time.
    Gwen
thought of her mother, the only other one left in her family out there, stranded
at King's Court, with Gareth, still in her state. The thought made her cold. Despite
all the anger she still had for her mother, Gwen did not want her to end up
like she did. What would happen if King's Court were overrun? Would her mother be
slaughtered?
    Gwen
could not help but feel as if her carefully built-up life was collapsing around
her. It seemed like only yesterday that it was the height of summer, Luanda’s
wedding, a glorious feast, King’s Court overflowing with abundance, she and her
family all together, celebrating—and the Ring impregnable. It had seemed as if it
would last forever.
    Now everything
had splintered apart. Nothing was as it once had been.
    A cold
autumn breeze picked up, and Gwen pulled her blue wool sweater tight over her
shoulders. Fall had been too short this year, and winter was already coming.
She could feel the icy breezes, getting heavier with moisture as they header
farther North along the Canyon. The sky was growing darker sooner, and the air was
filled with a new sound--the cry of the Winter Birds, the red and black vultures
that circled low when the temperature dropped. They cawed incessantly, and the
sound sometimes grated on Gwen. It was like the sound of death coming.
    Since
saying goodbye to Thor they had all headed alongside the Canyon, following it
North, knowing it would take them to western-most city in the western part of
the Ring—Silesia. As they went, the Canyon’s eerie mist rolled off it in