Kara gently took care of Jeth's injuries and helped him through the pain in his head and the dizziness that plagued him for weeks. She also helped him out of his emotional darkness and pain. During breaks between shifts, she sat beside him and talked to him. He told her his story.

"Maldrodn killed my father", he said. "I joined the Knights to get revenge. And I did. I killed Maldrodn. I thought I would get some peace from that, but I haven't. Revenge helps nothing. At least, maybe I saved others from a fate like my father's. When I left my village to join the Knights, Gavin insisted on going with me. We met a man named Aldros. He showed us the way. Now, he is dead. And Gavin is hurt so badly. It's my fault. If I hadn't been so slow, maybe he wouldn't have had to do what he did. He's the most loyal friend in the world. He was always my best friend, but now he's like a brother to me. What if he doesn't recover?"

"He will." Kara said. "His condition has stabilized. As long as we keep him from infection, he should be okay. And it's not your fault. You couldn't help getting injured. And he chose to save you."

At first, she seemed to him almost like an angel. When he had healed some and his head was clear again, he helped her and the other medics as much as possible and comforted those worse off than he had been. Some were permanently crippled.

After a while, Kara grew to trust this gentle young man with the sadness in his eyes. She opened up to him about her own pain, so long hidden because of the necessity of helping others. She told him her own story of how she had come to join the Knights.

"My mother was the healer in the town we lived in," she told him. "My father was a merchant. He sympathized with the Knights. He wanted to help them, so he began hiding them in our basement and hiding them among the workers in his caravans and ships, so that small groups of them could get from place to place unnoticed. But the Empire found out. They burned our home, killing my parents. I only escaped because I was out running an errand. I joined the Knights because my father believed in their cause, and I became a healer. It's been harder than I'd imagined. All the long nights treating soldiers, some of whom, despite your efforts, will die before the sun rises."

"You are so brave," said Jeth, "braver than me. You chose to heal, while I chose to destroy. Maldrodn's death was necessary. But the others I killed were just people, maybe drafted, just following orders."

"I went where I was most needed. So did you." Kara told him. This war was necessary. Now we can go forward as a country free from oppression. As for those soldiers, they would have killed you if you hadn't killed them."

The two of them fell deeply in love. 

Jeth asked her, "where will you go when this is over? When we are all allowed to go home?"

"I have no home to return to, Jeth." She said. "Most of those from my village are dead."

"You could come with me." Jeth offered. "Vrallen said my home is still standing."

She accepted his offer.

Some time later, Arken had been elected leader and a legislative branch had been established. And the villagers of Derlos were headed home to rebuild their lives. Jeth was riding Chauncey with Arlo alongside. Mouser sat in front of Jeth on the saddle. Kara sat behind Jeth. Talon and Rauroc walked along, completely healed, in high spirits at the thought of going home. At this moment, they seemed almost their old selves again, from before the war. The war had sobered them quite a bit and they were no longer perpetually joking. Gavin rode nearby on Ravenwing, who had been given to him after the death of Aldros. Steph walked beside Gavin and Ravenwing, still so relieved that Gavin had lived and been healed, though he would always bear the scar. Vrallen walked at the head of the line. He had gained great respect in Derlos when he had orchestrated the evacuation and led his people to the Knights of Freedom when the Elders had been too frightened to act.

Jeth was very grateful for all his friends, especially Gavin. Without Gavin, he knew he would not be alive today. He was also grateful for Talon for sitting with him on that first long, painful night after he had been injured and for taking care of Mouser. He was grateful for Rauroc and grateful for Kara. He was relieved that his friends had survived. He was glad to be going home, though he had been sad to say goodbye to Ben and Bran.

When they arrived in Derlos, there was immediate work to be done and the villagers set to it with a will. It would take a long time to repair all the damage. But it was their home and they would do it. At Jeth's farm, Chauncey, Arlo, and Mouser were glad to be back. So was Jeth himself. He began preparing a room for Kara to sleep in.

A few years later, the town was rebuilt and the townsfolk hustled and bustled around as if the war had never been, but they would never forget. They had erected a war memorial in the center of town for those who had died in the fight for justice, freedom, and a government that would allow them to live their lives peacefully, without unreasonably high taxes to run them into the ground, dictators to terrify them, or harsh punishments for small infractions. There were elections for leaders. The citizens of every village now had a voice in government. And in Derlos, this was appreciated. Steph and Gavin ran the blacksmith shop. Vrallen still made tables and chairs. Joren still made leather goods, though he was much less whiny and stingy now, having seen real suffering. And Jeth and Kara lived in the brown farmhouse. They had been married earlier that year and were very happy. Kara was pregnant with their first child. They had bought a new cow and chickens. As they sat on the porch together at the close of a warm spring day, they reveled in the sense of peace, confident that they and their children had a bright future. And they did.