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and had a right as citizens of Ducaun to serve, with him or with any other Lord of the Land. “I noticed the Royal Guardsmen have removed the blue coats and pants I made to hide their identities from the Pentrosans while we were on their soil. By my count, there should be forty-seven uniforms to choose from if you are all set on joining my muster.”
    A man, perhaps in his early thirties, about five cubits tall with dark hair and a pale complexion, entered the office. “I was told you are ready to see me, uh, Sir Daniel.”
    “Come you two, we have uniforms to pick out,” Miriam Benhannon, the world’s greatest guitarn player told the young couple and ushered them out the door and closed it behind her, winking her eye at her son before shutting it completely.
    Daniel shook the man’s hand and led him to one of the four chairs in front of his desk. “Sit and we’ll get to know each other.”
    The restored-one did so and Daniel went and sat behind his desk. The man’s hair and beard were long and he was in prime physical condition, as were all of the people who had been healed. “The Teki Seer told us your name; even so I would know you are the person who healed me. I feel a strong sense of familiarity with you and seem to have a general sense of where you are. Strange, I didn’t realize that until you went from building one to two. She also told us that you are the Chosen Vessel,” he said in a strong tenor voice.
    “It seems you have the advantage on me, you know my name but I don’t know yours,” Daniel replied.
    “Forgive my lack of manners, Sir Daniel, I mean no disrespect. It is just that I have not quite recovered from the shock of it all, having my body twisted grotesquely, living as a passenger in my head, unable to control so much as my own breathing, and then falling asleep and waking up here in better shape than I was before being Condemned. My name is Chas Herling, former Major, Second Division, of the Pentrosan Sutton Guard,” he stated his rank quickly and in a softer tone than he had been using.
    The man was an officer in Pentrosa’s elite fighting force and possibly responsible for the border raids that had been going on for months. Daniel kept his face neutral, wanting to hear Herling’s story before passing judgment. “Why did Serin Gell cast Condemnation upon you?”
    Major Herling glanced at the floor and his shoulders sagged and then he sat up straight, as if he was at first hesitant to answer and then decided he had no reason to be ashamed. “I was the post commander at Fort Teeman, one span south of Los Collins, and had three captains commanding outposts along the southern border. Our mission was to capture men and women between the ages of seventeen and forty, to work at labor camps in order to help in war preparations,” he spoke boldly.
    “Who is this coming war to be against ” Daniel asked.
    “Ducaun, of course, Prince Xavier reported from your capital that Queen Cleona is dying, chaos is happening all over her realm, and her generals are on the verge of seizing the throne. It is King Jarred’s judgment that whichever general takes control, a war against Pentrosa would soon follow to rally the kingdom behind the new ruler,” Chas answered, clearly believing what he had been told.
    “I healed the Queen, she is in full control of the kingdom, and the unrest happening within Ducaun is because of Serpent Guild activities, not civil disorder. Their headquarters was in Mount Gosian until I brought it down upon their heads. King Jarred is dead and Xavier is on his way to your capital to be crowned, seeing as his two older brothers died in accidents,” Daniel filled the man in on recent events. “You were a good soldier fulfilling your duty, why were you Condemned?”
    Chas took a deep breath, perhaps taking a moment to absorb what he had been told. “General Kall ordered me to transport the Ducaunan captives to the Foothills for processing. I believed some sort of work camp