It was late in the evening when the Duke and his people entered the gates of the Bryerstone Kingdom. The wounded were directed to the main public courtyard, and people from the village came out intent on helping those in need. Quickly they set to work bringing out cots from their own homes, buckets of water, sheets to use for bandages, food, torches for light and whatever else they could think would help.
Katreena and her aunt were spending the evening together in a sitting room by a fire. Katreena was trying to read a book her uncle had recently given her, and her aunt was working on a painting which she often did to relax. The book Katreena had was a favorite of hers about a young girl who saves a Brickle cat as a cub and raised it to become her protector. Her uncle had taken gre
