Kaffrey

Kaffrey sat on the back of her horse looking into the countryside. This was not her idea of fun and she felt more comfortable back at home with all her predictable friends, even if calling them friends was a stretch of the imagination. But there was safety in numbers and one was definitely not safe. A whoosh past her ear made her grin. Kaffrey looked up into the sky at the little red and blue specs that brought her on her journey. She sighed, knowing she had made the decision when she set off to take care of the drakes.


A click of her tongue and a squeeze of her knees sent the plodding pony down the hill and into the valley where there had to be other drakes waiting. What would they make of her? Would she fit in or would it be more of the same? Taunting, teasing, loneliness? Kaffrey rode steadily south and out into the mountainous regions that were not always covered with snow. This was her third day of the trip and she and the drakes were falling into a bit of a pattern. She found a good place to sleep and they found something to eat for themselves while she boiled the little bit of grain that she had brought along for food. It was not the best thing that she had even eaten, but at the end of a long day warm food was good food.

She pulled her knees up as the little fire crackled, blackening the bottom of her little pot further. Then slowly as she waited, they began to arrive, one by one dropping to the ground in front of her. The first was a dark sapphire blue, wrongly called Garnet by her little sister. But the name stuck and arguing with a three year old was less effective than trying to take down a barn with your head. Garnet stretched her little wings and looked at the fire longingly.

“Not yet little princess,” Kaffrey told her soothingly, “My dinner is not done yet.”

Garnet squawked her discontent, but curled up as closely to the flames as she could manage. As soon as she was settled Kite came in after her, a burgundy red, who would have managed the name Garnet without so many odd looks. He hissed softly at her before taking his place by her. When they were both settled, the other four came toppling over each other out of the sky. They were all lighter than Garnet and Kite, lightening as they showed less dominance in the group. Kiran stuck her tail in the fire and sighed happily; Korin snapped at her and then lay down over that tail to show his disapproval. Fillipa ignored them and came to lay by Kaffrey’s leg and Gurin stayed grumpily in the cold shadows.

“Oh Gurin, don’t pout,” Kaffrey grinned putting her arms out to the drake.

He looked at the others, who for the most part ignored him, and then skulked over to climb into Kaffrey’s arms. He was big to hold, like a large lamb, but to soft and plush. His scales were still smooth and pliable, but that was already changing as they were slowly replaced by harder adult ones. Gurin was the least dominant, and thus tolerated being treated like a baby more than the others. He was a fine powder pink, which was unnaturally dull even for a completely subservient drake. At last the porridge bubbled and looked thick enough to not have any crunch left, so Kaffrey set the irritated like Gurin down and set about eating and blowing on her fingers.

All six drakes took the opportunity to quash the fire and hum happily laying over the coals. Kaffrey shook her head at them, glad that she would soon have them in a warm enough place to keep them happy. The dust bowl was not a highly inhabitable place unless you were a dragon and then it was paradise. Luckily for those who maintained the company of dragons, there were nearby hills and stream that kept people at least only mildly miserable in the hot weather, or so Kaffrey had been told. She hoped it was a good choice. There was no way that her drakes could have survived much longer in the cold mountains where she lived. But it had been hard to leave her parents and little sister to go off with the wing of drakes. They had coaxed and cooed at her, until she was brave enough to speak with her parents, who had smiled and told her they had been expecting this conversation for weeks.

That had not been the reaction Kaffrey had been expecting. She had expected that Mam and Papa would let her go, but she had also expected a little more dragging of feet through the process, but as it had gone, they had all but kicked her out the door with a wave and a smile. Little Kenzie had sobbed and pulled on her dress as she saddled the pony, but she had stilled when Kaffrey had promised she could visit the grown dragon any time she wanted. And so she had ridden out of Stobalt, through the thick lumber stockades and away from the miles of pens to the open countryside. Kaffrey was a city raised girl and grateful for the help of the drakes as they waited for her plodding progress Southward. It would take no less than three weeks for them to reach the edges of the desert where they might have their first sighting of full grown dragons.

The very idea thrilled Kaffrey enough that she bolted down the rest of her food and snuggled down at the heads of the wings where it was warm, but not scalding hot. Everyone sighed in contentment and was asleep in moments.



Chapter 1



The land stretched out flat for further than Kaffrey could imagine. It must have been so very deceptively far to the hazy shadows on the other side of the sand. And sand it was. They had come down out of steep snowy mountains, which had slowly given way to scrub land, and then sand. Vast and flat. The drakes were whistling happily on one of the warm updrafts while Kaffrey sat on her pony seeking the nerve to ride out across the nothing, with no idea of where to go. It was not so dangerous at this time of year as it would be in the high heat, but she had no idea of the things she would need to bring to find her way to the dragons lair. And part of her was terrified to think it might be on the other side of the vastness. So she sat there, not willing to allow her pony onto the sand.

Kaffrey swung down, and the drake’s happy songs changed. They winged down to her and made concerned noises in the backs of their throats. She looked at them with teary eyes.

“I don’t know where to go. I haven’t a clue what to take, and that place scares me.” She pointed out across the land.

Most of their heads swiveled to look the way her finger was pointing, and they made encouraging sounds.

“I am sure you know where we’re going, but I am still little and this…” She sat down on the shockingly hard ground, beginning to cry properly.

Her pouting was swiftly interrupted by a heavy gust of wind. Kaffrey looked up at the descending magenta dragon. She was far darker than any of her little drakes, and huge. They pony shied, pulling hard on the lead rope. It took all of Kaffrey’s concentration to keep the pony in place, which pulled her mind away from her worries of where she was to go.

“Hello little one,” I pretty female voice chimed.

Kaffrey looked over her shoulder at the dark skinned golden haired lady on the back of the dragon. She nodded at her, pulling the pony again to try and keep control.

The rider chuckled.

Kaffrey looked up at her again.

“Horses don’t get along with carnivores all that well.” She suggested unhelpfully.

“And what do you propose that I do with her?” Demanded Kaffrey.

The woman chuckled again, “I think I am going to like you. You have spunk. I just came here to give you supplies and a map to get to the lairs. I will meet you there and your beast will be placed with the others where she will feel safe.”

Kaffrey nodded over her shoulder, aching with a hundred things to ask, not to mention the burning desire to stare. But the stupid pony was taking all her attention, and she had no idea where her wing was. A few heavy thuds hit the ground behind her made her look back at the parcels and pouch on the ground, but then she had to guard her eyes as the dragon took to the air. It pumped the loose sand across her, giving her instant windburn. Finally when they were high enough in the sky for the silly pony to relax, Kaffrey looked up, gleeful at the sight of the circling predator. She sighed, well at least someone knew they were coming. She glanced over to see her wing crouched low under the scrubs, all looking lighter than usual.

“Cowards,” She scolded, holding her arms out to them. “You would think you were as brainless as my pony here when you hide like that.”

They made sad noises in their throats, trying to coax petting and comfort out of their makeshift mother. She cuddled and played with them until their color was mostly back and then went to pick up her bags. There was lots of water and white powder, which turned out to be salt, and a map. It was not like any map that Kaffrey had seen before, so she sat down to look at it and try to figure out which marking meant what. In the end she gave up and just went looking for one of them. She figured the triangles were water, and there were only a few of them and the exes were trees sufficient to shade her wing, which left the big circle which must be the Lairs. But they were discouragingly far.

Kaffrey sat down under one of the large trees panting in the heat. The little drakes all lay out in the sun their wings stretched to their full extent, while Kaffrey stayed as close to the deep shade of the trunk as she could manage. She waited for a long time there looking at her map and deciding if it was worth it to try and make it to the next tree. Finally she decided that she was going to have to try otherwise she was never going to make it there.

“Come in Drakes I need to talk to you.” She called and they lumbered into the shade looking irritated to have to leave the warmth they were enjoying. But still they sat down obediently and waited for Kaffrey to speak.

“I am going to need your help if we are going to make it to the Lairs this week. Can you all try to fly between me and the sun to keep me in shadow? I know it will be hard and you will have to work together, but I think I am going to melt here.” She sighed, looking at each of their airs of perfect eyes. They bobbed at her and took to the air. Kaffrey waited for a moment as they got into a spiraling formation before she stepped back out into the blistering heat. Somehow they twirled and moved keeping the sun off her which did a lot to improve both her temper and temperature. Kaffrey took licks of the salt and swigs of the water, shuddering with every lick and wanting to throw it back up, but the rider must have known what she would need. The pony, on the other hand, was not at all displeased with the salt when she offered it and lapped it up happily. When at last the sun began to head toward the horizon, Kaffrey and her wing were near a water marking. It stood with two palms and she would normally have passed it by without another thought. But the wing landed happily and everyone drank until they could not stop drinking.

Kaffrey unfortunately went too far and ended up emptying her guts into the sand.

“That is usually something you want to avoid in the middle of the sands,” an amused voice teased.

Kaffrey jumped to her feet and glared into the darkness. The drakes rushed to her and hissed as well.

“Interesting,” the voice continued.

“Show yourself,” Kaffrey demanded, sounding far more brave than she should have been given the situation.

The voice chuckled and a match struck, the smell of sulfur thick as the desert bugs began to sing. The other voice belonged to a young man, not that much older than Kaffrey, but definitely having a few years on her. She was hesitant of this stranger, especially with his handsome smile and carfreeness. This was not her home and she was not sure of how to behave here. Kaffrey took a step back from him and he chuckled again, his black hair falling into his face as he did.

--came over hissing at him and was soon followed by the rest of the wing, unwilling to be outdone by a female. Kaffrey let her hand hang down so that she could rub their dry scales. She noticed that the amusement was gone from the boy’s face, but it gave her courage enough that they must now be on opposingly unequal ground.

“So you are off to join the monsters huh?” He demanded, not as friendly as before.

Kaffrey nodded, “I am. And you?”

He shrugged looking away, “Too bad, I thought you seemed nice enough.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged and looked away, “Nothing I…” he looked away again. “It was nice to meet you, I must go.”

His sudden shyness made Kaffrey want to know more about him, suddenly he had gone from terrifying to illusive. “Why? Am I not supposed to even know your name?”

The boy stopped, his hair, flipping forward as he halted suddenly. He turned grinning at her, “And what good would knowing my name be when you will spend all your days doing the bidding of the dragon masters?”

Kaffrey worried her lip, “I am sure to have some free time, we might still be friends of you live close.”

He chuckled, “You have no idea how things work around here do you? The dragoneers have little if nothing to do with the rest of the sands people. That is unless they have a bone to pick with us and then they exact their own justice. You and I cannot be friends because someday you will be asked to punish me for something.”

Kaffrey looked away, “I won’t.”

The boy laughed, turning about the rest of the way to face her again, “You are young and from another part, but with your pack you will be set high tasks. I am sure you and I will cross paths in an unfortunate way in the future.”

“What exactly do you do?” Kaffrey demanded, wondering if she had made the wrong assumptions about him.

The boy laughed, “I am a nomad, what I do, I do.”

Kaffrey did not like that response. “Well I suppose if you do not want to know me then that is your choice.” Kaffrey went back to the water and began sipping it more slowly.

He smiled, walking up by her side and handing her dried meat, “I will be your friend Kaffrey, but know that we are much like the Hinds and the Hounds or will be in the future.”

Kaffrey nodded taking the offering.

“I am Asif.” He smiled looking at her with his teasing grin again.

The drakes were more accepting of him and did not hiss once Kaffrey had decided to be brave. But the crowded around her just incase she changed her mind.

“Hello Asif, I am Kaffrey.” She looked down and away, still a bit intimidated by the certainty in his eyes.

“You are from a long way Kaffrey?” He asked sitting carefully in the sand.

Kaffrey nodded, “A large city in the North. With lots of people and lots of things to buy, nothing like this place here.”

“You would like the bazaar here Kaffrey. It is full of smells and colors and things to look at, maybe it would make you feel not so much lonely for this Northern city of yours.” He grinned biting into another piece of meat.

“Is it always open at the same time?” She imagined what it must be like all kinds of shops painted nicely like in the north.

Asif laughed softly, “It is a city of tents that moves with the seasons, but it will come here soon and I am sure that even your dragoneers will allow you to come there.” He looked into the sand.

Kaffrey nodded, “Then where shall I meet you?”

Asif grinned back at her, “I will meet you in the spice merchants’ row. I am sure with your friends you will not be that hard to find.”

Kaffrey smiled stroking -- fondly.

“Now you should get going, it is better travel at night, even if the drakes do not like it that well. You have a long way to go and your pony will be able to hold you in the dark. Be sure to feed yourselves well with something warm, then be off. A watering hole is no place to spend too much time, even with your drakes it might bring you more trouble than you are prepared for.”

Kaffrey nodded and Asif made her a small fire before disappearing into the darkness, humming an oddly dissonant song. Kaffrey made hot mash for herself and the pony, then swung up and amidst the complaints of the drakes made their way further into the sands. The night was full of other sounds that were unusual to Kaffrey, there were small chirping bug, odd flying birds, and the rustle of the drakes walking in the sand. As they passed things would silence, but the animals could be heard out in the distance. Kaffrey tired to imagine what they were all like, but found that her mind kept wandering in one of two directions, the first was her destination and how the dragons would be housed; the second was disconcertingly Asif. She could not keep the image of his grin, his laughing eyes, or his predictions out of her mind. What was her destination like that local people would not have the best of relationships with the dragoneers? Where she was from they were the most well loved of people and they were treated like royalty. It appeared that things were not the same here in more ways than she had expected.

By the time the sun finally began to cast light on false dawn, the whole party was dead on their feet. Kaffrey led them to a shaded place and they all flopped down, taking their rations of salt, water, and food before passing out from exhaustion. The drakes inevitably lay where the sun would warm their wings in the coming hours, while Kaffrey and the pony lay as close to the tree as they could manage, hoping for shade and a long sleep. But the long sleep was cut to a short one as the day became unbearably hot again and Kaffrey woke. Her dreams had been no better than her waking thoughts, but as she sat sipping water and looking at the map, she was sure they were more than half way there. Asif had been right, traveling at night was a far better choice and she was glad he had given her such good advice. Maybe he would turn out to be a helpful friend and not what he assumed, a dangerous opponent.

Hawks Keep

Epilogue


I stood next to the now burnt out pyre of my father, the Baron of Hawks’ Keep sworn knight to the King of Wynsha, and fierce warrior in all the wars that our king so casually declared. Now he was little more than a pile of ash and logs. Nothing more than any of the other men, noble or common, that had lost their lives to stupid war. I shook my head at him for the fifth time in so many days. Our fief was in a very poor condition. We were on the verge of starving everyone in the barony. Now I was going to have to take drastic measures to even keep our subjects alive.

“Father,” I told the ashes, “I am not going to let this continue. I will not abide watching them all starve to death. I know that you planned on leaving me with a fine husband to take care of this land but I have no husband and you have not bothered to teach me a thing that would be useful at this point. I know that when mother died you threw yourself into the service of your king, but I was not dead Father. Now I am left with a rotting barony and a conscience to settle.

“I hope you don’t hate me for doing something to make this right. I know there is no way to manage this without disappointing you some. Oh well, you’re dead and I’ll fix your mistakes even if I come to meet you in death for trying.”

I was hashing out my ideas as I stood there lecturing my father’s bones. Finally, all the pieces of planning managed to fall into place as turned from him to the holding wall at my back.

I had the servants call for the town’s scribe. While he was sent for, I went to my room to take off my fine silk dress. To make this work all such things had to be set aside. I smoothed my soft cotton under-dress and made my way to the Baron’s office where the old, far too thin scribe, was waiting for me.

“Hello Calleb,” I greeted him. Calleb had been good to me when I had been a little girl and I had loved to play with his son, but like so many, his son had died from a lack of food while we ate to our heart’s delight here in the hold.

“M’Lady,” he greeted me deep sorrow still bending his shoulders.

“Calleb things must change here.”

He nodded.

“I am going to need you to scribe for me significantly for quite some time. I promise to pay for each word.”

He nodded again.

“I will take care of your family’s meals since I know they are hungry.”

“My Lady, you don’t have to…” he began.

“Calleb,” I looked at him seriously, “Kevlin never should have died and I take it upon myself to guarantee that none of us looses another friend to hunger while I am the guardian of this place.”

The old scribe nodded with tears in his eyes at the mention of his son’s name, “Anything your Ladyship needs.” He whispered.

“Calleb, you’ve known me since I was weaned, please, we have bigger things to worry over these days, drop the titles and call me Cadence.”

He nodded.

“Alright, now to business,” I sat in my father’s chair, still discomfited by the weight of the office which had been laid on my shoulders. “We are going to first change a few points on the tax law and I need these posted across the barony.”

His eyebrows raised as he picked up his pen, but still he said nothing.

“First, taxes from the barony shall only be paid on excess and shall be waived completely for all the are hungry or without housing.”

“Cadence!” he gasped having stopped writing after the second phrase.

“It’s alright. I have more.” I waited for him to finish writing what I had just dictated before I continued, “Secondly, every family is entitled to a man’s weight in meat from the forest every month, to be taken by their own hand. This must be taxed and a tenth portion brought to the baronial or mayoral offices to be redistributed to all unable to hunt…”

“Your Ladyship!” He interrupted again almost rising to his feet in shock.

“Calleb. Are people starving?”

He nodded.

“Are there too many animals in the forest and no predators to keep the population in check?”

He nodded again and prepared to write on, but still looking a little wild about the eyes.

“Thirdly, Taxes may be substituted for labor or goods of equivalence, but no tax shall be more than a tenth of a person’s time or product.

“Lastly, baronial taxes shall be taken on a per household basis and not dependent on individuals. Any household needs such as shelter, food, or transportation as well as excesses shall be reported to the baronial offices that such needs may be met as such supplies or services become available.”

Calleb finished writing, “Beggin’ your pardon, I think you will bankrupt the barony with this plan.”

I smiled sadly, “Will we have any less money when all the fief dies of hunger and overwhelming taxes?”

He nodded with understanding and milling thoughts as he tried to work out which one would take less time as I had.

“I’ll send for food and you just work. I’ll check on you and when you are done with the postings I have more for you to write.”

He nodded and set to work. I left and went down to meet with the cook for more than just breakfast. She was up to her ears in the first meal of many that I had instructed her to make.

“How are things going Franchi?”

She laughed over the pot of mash she was stirring, “Reminds me of the good old days when I was feeding the army.”

I was glad of her good nature and her knowledge; I frankly had no idea about how to manage on my own in a kitchen.

“Can I get a tray for Calleb?” I called over the din.

She spooned out a bowl of mash, cut him a piece of bread, and found him a few slices of ham. I thanked her and remembered to ask as I found my way out, “Estimated time to finish?”

She smiled in triumph, “Soon as you drop that off, you go get them boys.”

I nodded and went back to Calleb.

He had finished a pair of the notices when I arrived. I traded them for the food and went to find the pack of young men that my guard had rounded up. I could not help but be amused as I watched their restlessness at having to wait for me in the courtyard. Not that their anxiety was their fault, we had just ended a long war and they were worried that I was about to begin anew.

“Alright, young men!” I called as I stepped into the light, “We begin a large undertaking today.” That did little to comfort them, “Who is the fastest among you?”

A tall boy in the back with flaming red hair raised his hand as he tried to come forward.

“Your name?” I asked.

“Terrin ma’am,” he replied even though we were about the same age.

“Alright Terrin, I need you to post these in the town square and as fast as you can, call everyone there.”

He nodded, taking the last few steps to retrieve the scrolls from my hand.

“Everyone else, to the kitchen, I need help with transport.”

The boys seemed to calm, but not quiet as we got closer to the good smells of Franchi’s cooking.

“Alright Franchi! Here is your troop.”

She smiled to me and then turned on them, green eyes snapping, “Now, I’ll have none of you dippin’ fingers in, lickin’ the sides, or thievin’ for yourselves. All yall’ll get fed in good time. An’ if I catch any of you misbehavin’ then you’ll be scrubbing the latrines for a week.”

I tried not to smile as this soft woman brought out her tougher side.

She got the boys in order and filled their arms with the makings of an army’s breakfast.

“Now march to the town square and no dilly dallying!”

I took a deep breath and followed her up the stairs behind the line of salivating boys.

“No, worries lady,” she said putting a solid hand on my slight shoulder, “You’re doin’ a great thing and this’ll save our people.”

“I hope so,” I replied, “I sure hope so.”



Chapter One- The beginning of all great things

I sighed and rubbed my face, determined to make myself get out of bed. I had to make sure that breakfast was done and got it delivered to the square on time. I slipped my only dress on and brushed at the dark and the thin spots on the front. The soft cotton was looking almost as worse for wear as my blankets were. But we had gotten the first payment of coin taxes in the day before. It was good to see that the people were making the prayed for slow recovery with the work of the last five years.

I met with Terrin in the courtyard, now eighteen, his lanky frame had filled out with daily meals until he was one of the largest men in the village and easily a foot taller than me.

Everyday, fewer people came to eat at the town square. Not like five years ago when every member of the town had gathered for each meal. To my glee, now we only fed about twenty. Most of whom were fatherless and widows.

As we walked next to the horse cart, between the pristinely repaired homes and down the clean streets, I got up the courage to ask something of Terrin, “Do you think we might move meals to the keep?”

He smiled at me, “Cady you are our Lady here and you can do whatever you want. We will agree because you suggested it.”

I smiled back, “What I was asking was do you think it would be a hardship on anyone?”

“I am pretty sure that our people don’t have any idea what a hardship is these days.”

I shook my head at his teasing, “I think that was the point.” I patted the nice old bay as he pulled the cart along.

“I heard that you got gold crowns for taxes in yesterday from the coast,” Terrin tried to make conversation with me to cover my silence.

“Yes!” I exulted, “It was far more exciting to me than I would have thought.”

“So, what’s the plan at this point?” He pulled the gelding to a stop in the square and began unloading breakfast.

“Don’t tell your father just yet, but I had the builders finish that building next to the church to be used as a school.”

He smiled in disgust with my big ideas, not that he did not approve, but he acted like he should have guessed, “You’ll have us all living like aristocracy if you keep this up,” he laughed.

I stopped putting my hands on my hips. “What exactly is wrong with that?”

He laughed and shook his head again, “What are we to learn?”

We dished out food to the now familiar faces of the poorest of our town.

“Reading, writing, arithmetic, and weapons,” I replied as I plopped a pile of hot mash onto a small boys plate.

Terrin stopped, “Weapons? What weapons?”

I shook my head as I handed a plate to a little girl in a fine pink dress. “I spoke to an old weapons master from Caley and he has promised to be here in a few months. He told me he would begin with the staff.”

“Cady why are you doing all this?”

I had asked myself that and gone over the answer so many times in the last few years and, there had been so many different answers. “I just can’t not,” I finally replied, which was the most honest thing I had been able to come to.

He chuckled.

Trumpets blared as we finished serving breakfast. My eyes snapped up to see a pair of the finest dressed courtiers arrive under the king’s family pennant. I sighed; these were not the kind of guests that I looked forward to having. I had many letters from the King demanding to know how I had managed to get all my peasants to pay their taxes, and after telling him, he would write again demanding the truth. So, now he had sent some one to see for themselves. I brushed my hands on my skirt and told Terrin to take the cart back up to the hold and have Calleb write another notice that meals would be moved to the keep in the morning.

I curtseyed for the riders who eyed me with disgust. “How may I help you today my Lords?”

The thin irritated man to my right responded, “You can get out of the way, we are sent to see Lady Cadence from the Hawks’ Keep hold.”

I smiled, “That would be me.” I replied.

He scowled again appraising my attire and my filthy state.

“I do not believe you,” he replied, nose in the air.

“Well, believe me or not, I am still the same person.” I turned and began to walk up to the hold while they sat there looking frustrated.

I had not managed to get far when they began to follow. An amused young man offered me his hand. “If you would be so kind as to allow me to help you up we will arrive at the keep much more quickly.”

I looked up into his mocking green eyes and sighed defeat. I nodded and while pulling my skirt up with one hand I offered him the other and climbed on behind him, swinging my leg over the horse’s rump.

He laughed, “You are more than a little uncommon, aren’t you. You don’t even ride like a lady.”

I pursed my lips and held onto his belt softly, “In days like these I have little time for such courtly niceties.”

He laughed again a merry rolling laugh and pushed his horse ahead towards my keep.

“I couldn’t help but notice the look of the barony. It appears that everyone is well fed and the buildings, even the out buildings, are in amazing condition,” he noted.

“Thank you that has been my goal.”

“How have you managed it?” he inquired as he swung down and offered me a hand.

“Tax credits,” I replied. “They do work for the barony instead of giving me money and we all do better.”

He looked as if he were trying to see through me, or tell if I was lying. I shrugged. He could believe me or not, it mattered little to me.

The other rode in, dismounted, and looked around for the grooms.

I shook my head, “We have no grooms at the present, we sent them all off when my father died, and you will have to curry them yourselves. I am sorry.” They looked appalled as I walked off to leave them to their work.

I ran to my rooms calling orders to the few servants left. I had Franchi begin making refreshments and I went up to my room to make the best of the way I looked. I sent the hold’s only page to Calleb to warn him that we might need all the edicts of the last five years as well as all the tax accountings prepared for our guests. As soon as I scrubbed down and pulled a brush through my now soaking hair I went down to meet with our guests again. The page, Drew, had led them to the only sitting room left in the hold. All other furnishings and pretty things had been sold to abutting nobility to pay for the taxes that could not be covered by the people without starving them. I took a deep breath and walked in to speak with our guests who were munching on the last of the summer fruit preserves from the year before. I curtseyed and sat down in my chair.

“Now, what brought you all the way from Caley to our little neck of the woods?” I smiled.

The tax official with the pinched face replied, “We have come to review the tax records and assure that all that which should have been paid to the King has been.”

I nodded and sent Drew for Calleb and his records.

He arrived shortly with a stack of books, each bound in exchange for taxes by the year. This impressed the sour man and he took Calleb aside to begin the painstaking review of all available records.

The young man with the sarcastic looks then spoke, “We also would like to review…”

I nodded, “The edicts I have written.” I went to pick up the other books that Calleb had left for me on the small table at the entry of the parlor. “Here they are in the order they were written.”

His eyebrows raised, “So many?”

“We had a lot of problems and I had to address them all as quickly as possible. I found that edicts managed to cover my bases.”

He laughed, “We are going to be here forever, aren’t we?”

I smiled, “No offense, but all these things I wrote to His Majesty, you will find everything just as I told him.”

He shrugged, “When the man speaks we have to listen, no matter what ridiculous things flow from his maw.”

I was surprised as the lack of respect he showed our sovereign and was sure that as much was apparent on my face.

He laughed again, picking up the pile of edicts, “You obviously haven’t had much opportunity to meet our king.”

I shook my head, “He never seemed like the kind of man one would want to spend time chatting with.”

The man smile, “That is an understatement, Father is dry and boring and selfish.”

“Father?” I asked, swallowing hard.

“Yes, but no worries, I am the youngest and by far worst mannered of all the children of our king and so I am here to read your edicts and enjoy your lush lifestyle before going back to the house of our royal boringness.”

I frowned, “We have no extravagant lifestyle here. You will find nothing lush about the keep. This is by far the finest room in it and this,” I continued touching my ragged dress, “Is my only dress. But enjoy your reading all the same; I have a meeting with the town counsel to gauge the needs of this and the other towns of the barony at the present time.”

I curtseyed again and left the appalled prince with copious amounts of reading ahead of him.



This barony was one of the strangest I had seen. Unlike the rest of the kingdom, all the homes and farms were in pristine condition as if the war had not touched their peace. I looked deeper hoping that the Lady of the hold had only fixed the facades and all was the same as in the rest of Wyrnsha. But looking only made me more uneasy.

Not only were all the houses in working order, but so were the outbuildings, and the roads. Even the peasantry was well clothed and plump. Everyone looked happy and pleased with life, much to my dismay, when we rode into the baronial keep city of Hawks’ Keep.

There in the middle of the immaculate square stood what must have been the only poorly dressed woman in the entire fief with a tall red haired man, and a shaggy cart horse feeding a few of the more properly dressed city folk. The royal scribe, whose company I had been enduring for the last few days, and whose name I hadn’t bothered to learn, spoke rudely to the woman who was surprisingly beautiful for all her unkempt looks. The defiance roused by his words brought a blush to her cheeks and a light to her eyes that made what had been nice looks become magnificent.

This was the Lady of the keep. Now more intrigued than ever, I watched only for a moment as she stormed away up the hill towards the hold, before offering her a ride. She looked up at me and I found myself lost deep in her brown eyes.

As she rode with me, I couldn’t help but feel the warmth of her pressed against my back. I tried to make casual conversation, but could not help smiling in irony. Father had sent me here to banish me from his court and thought this small place to be my best exile. He thought it the one place backward enough that none of my brothers would want it and I would be sufficiently humbled by being sent here that I would mind my manners at his palace. Yet, here in what he considered a backwater, was this woman who in moments became the most tempting, pleasurable puzzle that I had ever come across.

I thought foggily as I climbed down and offered her my hand and she demanded that I curry my own horse. Even in her anger, her scarlet hair and endless brown eyes called to me as if she were that part of myself that had been missing.

I curried Darkness carefully and sent him into an unused, albeit clean, stall. Father had set me a task that I must finish before I could seek out the woman and I was duty bound to obey him.

When she met us again in a shabby sitting room, she listened with unmasked irritation to the pinched scribe’s words and directed him about his work. To me she behaved in the same manner, but I hoped I was right to see she was a little more flustered, especially when I teased my father. The leather bound volumes she produced were appalling not only in their quality but in their quantity.

I had thought to spend a few days reading tedious edicts but this promised to take much longer than I had. At this point, I wished this Lady to never meet my brothers, no doubt she would interest them as well.

When she excused herself a second time, I could no more than watch her go. I asked the little page for help, not believing that this was the most comfortable room, once I had regained my composure.

“Can you take me to somewhere bright and comfortable where I can read these?” I motioned to the heap of edicts.

“Like our Lady said there are only two such places here in the hold, this room and Lady Cady’s balcony.”

I shook my head at a loss. This place was such a contradiction of luxury amongst the commoners and scarcity among the nobility. I had hundreds of questions for this Lady Cady already and I had not so much as looked at her edicts.

“Well,” I shrugged to the boy, “It seems that you should take me to Cady’s balcony, this place will not be enough.”

The boy nodded, uncertain whether or not he should listen to me, but he led on all the same. Even in the Lady’s own room, nothing seemed to be anything but common. Her bed was old, still sturdy, but nothing sufficient for the Lady of a Barony. I shook my head going to the balcony.

Now this was more like what I was used to, this was a place suitable for such a Lady. She could look out from her balcony across the expanse of her holdings, at least most of them. In the far distance, the ocean glimmered and a cool breeze brought with it the smells of the trees and cool mountains.

This might just be the finest place in the entire world.

I sat and began to read. I blinked after the first line and started over. She had revoked local taxation. She had sold all the holding’s goods and it appeared given everything she received for the care of her people. She had begun to feed them with the money from the sale of her own goods.

I kicked up my feet to think. This woman was not a thing like the selfish bubbleheads that I had flocked to court. What would bring a noble lady to give up all the things for her land? What had she gained by doing this? If she really had no tax revenue for years, how had she lived?

I pondered and found that with each edict I had more questions and fewer answers. I was broken from my reading and questions when she stormed at me one more time. Again, her beauty and poise startled me. How she might look in well cared for clothes. Father had sent me to prepare the barony and I decided then and there that she deserved some preparation as well. If only for my benefit.

“Come, sit with me, I have a million questions for you and I have not even gotten through the first year of your reign.” I asked her as soon as she appeared.



Chapter Two- Prince Preparations

The town counsel meeting was as encouraging as any I had been to since I had taken over running the barony. In Hawks’ Keep, there was a shed in need of repair and the blacksmith could use a new bellows. In Eagles’ Rest, the herd had produced eighty-five new lambs. The harbor city of Osprey was beginning to send tax money since the fishing fleet had been fully repaired and a fishing school set up for the fatherless and fearless. The other townships reported equally reasonable progress and all seemed to be going according to plan.

“Alright gentlemen, I am going to make you aware of the next step in our barony recovery plan. There have been school houses built in all corners of the barony and beginning with the first frost all children, and any adults that choose, will be attending school in which they will learn reading, writing, arithmetic, and weapons.”

“My Lady, all children will learn to wield a weapon?” Asked Terrin’s father Olaf.

“Yes, Olaf, all children. A war will kill our women as well as our men and I would rather not risk any of you to it.”

They nodded, pleased with the complement. The old men had seen far too much of war and were understanding of my worry.

“Will you send your children?”

They nodded, “Good, then we will continue to prosper as we have. Have a good day my friends I must hurry back to the keep to watch over his majesty’s men who have come to audit my work.”

This worried my counselors, “Do not fret,” I tried to comfort them, “I have kept the best of records, they will find no fault.”

Still, I fussed over it as I walked back up to the keep. Maybe I had missed something, or there was some law that I had overlooked and would be fined for it. I hoped not, we had so little else to give, at least I did.

I went up to my bower and found the door to the terrace open. There sat his Majesty with feet propped up and book open on his lap, enjoying my sunshine. I scowled, this was my place, and he had not asked. Not that he had to; I reminded myself he was a prince.

He turned and smiled as me as I walked out into the light, “Come, sit with me, I have a million questions for you and I have not even gotten through the first year of your reign.”

I pulled up a small stool and sat down.

“This says that you stopped taxing your people.”

“Well, not exactly, I just changed the amount of the tax and then made taxes of kind allowable.”

He scowled, “But I don’t see how that would work.”

I smiled sadly, “If the baker needs a new roof to keep working and the builder needs to pay his taxes then I assign the builder to put a new roof on for the baker and for every day he spends on the roof, he had paid his taxes for nine other days.” I replied, leaning back onto the sun-warmed brick at my back.

“But then how is the baker taxed on the benefit he receives from the new roof?”

“He’s not,” I replied, “As the holder of the barony; it is my job to keep things in order and to maintain humane conditions for the people of my fief is it not?”

He looked confused, “Yes…”

I did not wait for him to finish, “Then in essence I am maintaining the conditions of the village through the work of the builder and thus assuring that all people have available bread.”

He looked confused, “And you feed any who need it three times a day?”

I nodded.

“Where do you get the money? It is not a self sustaining program.”

I looked down, “Not at the beginning no, it was not, now it is close to being such.”

“So, where did you get the money?”

I sighed, “From the hold. I sold everything to feed and clothe the people. Other barons and their families bought our fine furniture, my beautiful dresses, my father’s horses, and the bobbles that father had given to mother.”

He looked aghast, “So you gave up all the wealth of your name to care for the commoners of the fief?”

I smiled, “Don’t they deserve to be cared for?”

“At the cost of your comfort?”

I frowned, “Why not? Why am I such a more important person?”

He frowned as well, “How do you intend to keep this going since you have nothing to support it now?”

I smiled, “We made it through the bad parts already. I received my first full gold payment just this last week from the city of Osprey. They have managed to repair and advance their town so much that they have more than sufficient for their needs and can pay with the excess.”

“So things will get better?” He asked leaning towards me.

“I hope so.”

“What are your plans for the taxes?” He continued looking at me in earnest.

“Schools,” I replied, playing with a worn spot in my dress.

He looked confused again, “For whom?”

I looked up, “Everyone. If they are all educated, no one will be able to scam them and they will be skilled enough to endure another war without the losses we incurred the last time.”

He frowned, “How have you decided all theses things?”

“I read a lot as a child and was taught by the best business men and small nobility, as well as spending much of my time with commoners. I lost quite a few very good friends to hunger while we ate well. I decided that I would allow nothing like this to go on when I ran the fief.”

He thought about that for a time looking up at the sunlight with his eyes closed. “And did you think that you must marry to keep the rule of your fief?”

I blanched, “Yes,” I whispered, “It had occurred to me, but I hoped that we were a small enough fief that his Majesty would over look us until I was older.”

The prince laughed, “His Majesty has not, but that may be your fault as well. When your father died, we received less than a hundred gold crowns a year from your fief and more than half of your peasants owed more than a year’s worth of taxes. In the last five years we have receive no less than five hundred crowns each year and all, I mean each and every one, of your peasants owes the king nothing.”

I smiled, “They have done well.”

“So my Father had to stand up and take notice.”

I nodded, maybe that was my fault, “But the people have pride in themselves for being able to make their payments, Your Highness.”

He smiled, crookedly at me, “Can we be a little less formal?”

I smiled back, “All the people of the keep call me Cadence or Cady.”

“Well, Lady Cadence, I am Cooper. I must say that you are not a thing like any other person that I have ever met.”

“I think I will take that as a complement.”

He grinned crookedly at me and drawled, “I think you should.”



We ate dinner in the town with the other peasants that were in need of food. I pulled the wife of the deceased butcher aside and spoke with her, while her children milled about.

“Annalyce, I think that you might be able to help me with a problem that I have been considering.”

She bobbed a bow to me.

“I am worried about the few kids that have lost their families in the war. I know it is the end of summer and this winter will be the loss of them. I would like to know if you would be the school director and be willing to mother them in the school house.”

She blinked, and quieted her children.

“You would be paid to care for them and to teach. Of course that would mean I would have to teach you to read and write before fall sets in. Would you help me in this?”

She smiled, tears building in her eyes, “Yes my Lady, I would be honored. Thank you.”

I smiled back. “I was thinking that since we moved meals up to the hold, you can stay over between the morning and noon meals or the noon and the evening meals and I can teach you. There is lots of space for the kids. What do you think?”

She smiled hugely, “I think I will see you in the morning.”

I nodded and turned to see Prince Cooper watching me. I gave him a little curtsey and began walking back to the hold.

“Tell me Cadence,” he called after me as he hurried to catch up, “Where is your horse?”

I smiled sadly, “I sold her last year to cover costs.”

He shook his head, putting his arm through mine and turning me about, “Come then, let me buy you a horse. What is a lady without a fine mount?”

I looked at him sadly, “I cannot promise you that I will not have to sell it again to pay for things around here,” I replied.

He laughed at me, “My Cady,” it rolled off his tongue by mistake and he did not bother to correct it, but that made me blush all the harder, “it seems that you would be someone else altogether if that were not the case. Still, if it comes to that point, send me a letter first and I will try to salvage your gift.”

I laughed, “You don’t have to do that. I can manage.”

He smiled, “Yes, but your generosity needs to be repaid in some way and with all the taxes your people have managed to send in this last year, my Father can afford it.”

His servants glared as him as he steered me into town. Most of the shops would have been closed, but the keepers opened them just for us. At first, I was confused as Prince Cooper knocked on the tailor’s door. Cynthia came down from her home above the shop to let us in.

“I am sure that Cynthia does not keep horses,” I told the prince. He looked down at me and smiled.

“I am sure you are right.” Then turning to her, “Our Lady is in drastic need of a new dress. This one is so threadbare that it makes me blush.” He told her flirting as best he could leaning on the door frame.

“You are not buying me a new dress!” I contradicted him taking a step back and feeling insulted by his implications that my dress was immodest.

He frowned at me, “Well, Miss Cynthia it seems that we have an ornery noble on our hands. I think you should take measurements anyway and we will fuss over whether or not she wears it later.”

Cynthia tried to hide a smile as she shooed us inside, but got out a knotted rope and began measuring and taking notes. I glared at the prince the whole time.

Cooper handed her a silver crown when she finished, “Nothing too fancy mind you, and we wouldn’t want our Lady here looking like a Baroness or anything.” He winked at her and again took my elbow to direct me out of the shop.

He took a deep breath of the evening air, “This is a fine place in deed. And my nose says the livestock master must be in this direction.”

“You saw him on the ride in,” I accused, not sure whether to like or distrust this show of kindness.

He smiled, “Well, maybe I did.”

Terrin and his Father Olaf smiled at me under their scruffy shocks of hair as they turned the stock in for the night.

“How can we help you tonight, Cady?” Terrin asked.

Cooper raised his eyebrows at the informal way in which he addressed me and leaned on the intervening fence.

I pointed my thumb at Cooper, “This one thinks I need a horse.”

Terrin smiled, “Then I like him already. I think you need a horse as well, at least one. A cart horse is good for pulling meals to and from the keep, but you need a Lady’s horse.”

Cooper smiled, “Now that is what I wanted to hear.”

They both laughed and I scowled. They walked off into the stables and I stayed put arms crossed.



As we got near the stables, the tall redhead stopped me and looked at me with all seriousness, “My Lord, I mean no disrespect, then again, maybe I do, but our Lady is not to be trifled with. What are your intentions towards her?”

I grinned and shook my head, even now it was so hard to understand how these people loved her so well. They reacted as my friends would. “I promise you I have the best of intentions towards your Cady.” I grinned and realized I had used the same possessive name for her a short time ago, but how it really fit her, “My Father sent me here to be sure that all was well.”

“And you swear on your honor that you will not take advantage of her?” He demanded, green eyes still intent.

I laughed, “I will swear that to you as few of my brothers will. I swear that I will never take advantage of your Cady, unless and until she marries me.”

The red haired Terrin leaned back and whistled, “So that’s why you’re here.” He led me to a fine pale golden horse with the most remarkable blue eyes.

“Is she blind?” I asked, rubbing a hand down her fore led to pull up her hoof.

“Nope,” He shook his head, “She just came from Baron Rodger’s herd. I was thinking that Cady needed a good horse. Would this make the kind of overture you were looking for?”

I looked over at the Lady’s friend, “Are you saying that you approve?”

Terrin shrugged, “So far.”

“Then I’ll need your help convincing the Lady. I find myself at a loss with her most of the time.”

Terrin chuckled again, “I think you should just get used to that. Cady is hard in places that most women are never required to be hard, like her head. And she still manages to surprise me and take my breath away. Even I am not immune to her goodness.”

I nodded, “But you will help me?”

Terrin smiled, “As long as I think it’s best for Cady.”

That was good enough for me.



“It seems you have an admirer.” Olaf pointed out as he shoveled hay into a stall.

“I am not sure. I think the King has his eye on our little fief.”

Olaf looked up concerned, “But just this morning you said…”

I nodded my head, “This just makes me uncomfortable.”

Olaf nodded, “Don’t worry Cady; we are a small piece of land.”

I leaned on the fence, “Yes and the King has far too many sons.”

Olaf smiled, “Are you afraid to marry one?”

I nodded solemnly, “Yes, I think I would be afraid to marry one that had his own ideas of what was good for our people and have him undo in a matter of months what we have struggled for all these years.”

“Cady,” he told me leaning his pitchfork on the gowned, “You are old enough to be married. You should be. You are no little girl anymore. We would all be at peace if you were to settle down and have babies.”

“Even if it meant going back to the way things were?” I demanded of him standing up in shock.

He thought that one over, “I am sure you can find a way to keep things from going that way. Now stop fussing and go get yourself a horse.”

I nodded, but still worried what marriage would mean for both me and the barony. The last thing either of us needed was another blind, selfish leader that we were bound to follow. I hesitated to go to where Prince Cooper stood not so far away laughing with Terrin.

He turned as he caught the feel of my stare and smiled in his most reassuring way, “Don’t tell me you are afraid of horses?”

I laughed, ice broken, “Of course not.” And crossed the remaining distance to put my hand out to the beautiful creature that he was speaking softly to.

“Are you open to me asking something I probably shouldn’t ask?” I spoke to Prince Cooper as I petted the horse, golden creature that so closely matched the bronze highlights in my hair, afraid to look at the prince.

He hesitated, I asked anyway. “Why are you here really?”

There was a long pause, “I think you need the truth, but I am hoping that it does not scare you away from me… My father wants us all married off and or busy with one of his fiefs and out of his hair.”

I nodded to the horse, having guessed as much. “And this place?”

I heard the whisper of his fine shirt as he shrugged, “One of the possibilities for my brothers and me.”

“So you were all sent to go over records from softly held fiefs and find ones to your liking?”

He gave no response, finally I had to look up. There was a war behind his eyes, as he looked at me, “I suppose that is one way to look at it.”

I nodded, “So the horse is mostly just a placating gift?”

He tried to say something and I waived him off with my hand. He hushed at my grim look, “I understand. At least you are good enough to leave me with something. You did not have to.”

He looked pained.

“Do me one other favor?” I asked, looking at his shoes, unable to bear the look in his eyes as he looked so sorry for me.

“Try not to destroy everything I worked so hard to rebuild in the first year you take this place over?” I waited for no reply; but walked away, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders even more. I had given everything to heal my people from the wounds of war and selfish rule and yet here I was with nothing and would have nothing and probably be forced into a marriage without my consent to boot. Such was the life of a noble lady and yet I had held onto hope for so much more. I scuffed my boots as I walked up the long road to the keep. No one bothered me as I felt sorry for myself, not even His Highness. I was glad of that, already being so close to tears, one more look at him right now would have sent me over the edge. I went to my room and bolted the door, sliding down the inside of it to sit weeping on the floor and cursing the hard years I had endured.



I stood flabbergasted as I watched the Lady go. She had every reason to distrust me and even to dislike me now. I should have softened the blow more than that. Things had been going so well.

“You told her?” Terrin asked from the other side of the horse.

I just nodded, watching her retreating form.

“Well, at least she took it well,” he replied.

I looked over to him, “That was taking it well?”

He laughed, “No screaming, no hitting, no calling names, I think it went as well as could be expected, don’t you? I mean for all her calmness she is female.”

I laughed, “I see why she spends all this time with you.”

He laughed, “She liked Kevlin better when we were little, but he died and I was there for her.”

I wondered if this Kevlin was the reason that Cady was hard in places that a woman should not need to be hard. I paid Terrin and thanked his father, then walked my gift up to her hold. I stabled the new mare next to Darkness and told both ladies to behave.

I walked up to Cady’s room and heard her crying through the door, so I did not knock. I sought out the kitchen below the main floor, and the cook who had made such lovely breakfast and lunch. She made me something warm to drink and left me to my thinking.

Somehow, I had to get Cady onto my side tomorrow. Today had not gone as planned.

Magnus

A New Beginning


“Please Father, just let me try,” A small dark haired girl pleaded clinging to the frail hand of an old man who reclined in the bed under her.

He chuckled deep and low. “And what good would it be when you are found out?”

Her long dark hair shook back as she looked at him with tremulous hope, “I’ll be careful. What harm would it be? At worst they send me home with a good education and a fine sword arm.”

He chuckled again closing his eyes as the dreaded crease appeared between his brows. “I won’t lie to my king and tell him that you are my son.”

She shrugged again, not noticing the thin veil of his lids closing her actions from view, “So say that you are sending your child and leave out my name.”

He reached out for my hand, “Oh my Hayleigh, you should have been my son, cunning child that you are. You would have been a fine Baron.”

She laughed a warm ringing note that was deeper than most girls her age, but not so deep as to be manly. She softly patted the hand in hers, looking down at it with loving consternation, “No Father I would be miserable at sitting in audience all day.”

He chuckled again, “Then stay away from that prince.”

Her eyes went round and the sound of her breathing, which was the loudest in the room up until that point, stopped. She was not willing to move even a single muscle to upset the possibility of what had just passed from her Father’s mouth.

“I’ll send the letter, but don’t dishonor your family, and still look for a good husband that I would have liked.”

She swallowed hard, but no longer argued the point of the dwindling length of her Father’s lifespan. Finally she nodded, “I’ll see what I can do,” she replied, but there was a sarcastic turn of her full lips.

The not so old, but extremely frail man, closed his eyes again, “I love you little girl. Now go back pack and send in the scribe. I’ll never create a legible note on my own.”

With an audible swish of her heavy silken skirts, she rose from the bed and curtseyed to the old man, “Thank you.” With quiet dignity she minced out as was expected of a Lady of her station, but as soon as the door closed, she grabbed up her skirts in both hands and ran down the halls all breathless and thrilled at the prospect of eight years of trousers and tunic, of sweaty men and the tang of polished swords.

Once the heavy door to her room was closed behind her she stood panting, gazing about her room. None of the little pretty things that she had been given but visiting nobility or family seeking to be named the next in line would go with her, all of them gave her away as a young, not yet betrothed daughter of a Baron. She glanced at the little wooden practice sword and shrugged, they would have nicer ones at school as well. Finally, she came to her closet and the clothes she was going to need. She smiled hugely with a wicked kind of glee as she shoved the dresses aside. She was going to trade her corset for a sword belt and never think twice.

When after a moment or two she was done it occurred to her that there was so little that she could take with her, abandoning all the trinkets of femininity. There in the middle of the bed was a pair of packed saddlebags, but none of them reasonable clothing. It occurred to her that as she took on the role of her Father’s son, she might need to invade the sanctum of a real son to take with her all the things that would make her convincing.

When the door opened with a creak, she shirked back, but the hall was empty. They room across the open landing was locked, with a heavy bolt that had not been pulled back in far too long. Leland’s door creaked it’s protest as her picks threw the latch open without the oil a cast iron piece should have to keep it in normal working order. Inside the room was thick with dust, but otherwise just the same as she remembered it. The bed’s thick linens had not been smoothed down as they should have been and things were piled on top of every available surface. Hayleigh pulled the door closed behind her and tried to think of the things that defined her brother in her recollection. She went to his closet thinking that his things would have to be taken in to fit her, but it had been a long enough time that they pulled appropriately across her shoulders and did not hang badly over her hands.

She carefully picked through the clothes and set some aside near the door. She gathered a few of the things Father had given him for his birthdays. It hurt a little to look at them, but they had their place, a set of sleeve knives, a brass compass, a hunting dagger, and a book with basic code breaking. Father had hoped that Leland would be his heir in all ways, including the intellegencia. Leland had been nice, but purposefully forgetful of his tasks in that area. Eventually Father had given up. Now, Hayleigh would play the part of the dutiful son and have a useful avenue for all the things she was not supposed to have learned in her brother’s stead.

Since Leland had never made it to his twelfth birthday, there was no baronial sword to take with her, but his childhood blade would have to do. It still had the coat of arms on it, but it was small and a bit bent with misuse. Hayleigh looked over her small pile of treasures with satisfaction; she might be able to pull this off after all.

She glanced up at the ceiling and sent a small prayer of thanks heavenward. ‘I hope you are not too angry with me for taking your things. All the same, thank you for giving me this chance. I always wanted a way to become that something more that I feel I can be. So, thank you.’

In the morning, the lean dark haired girl would be Lee heir of Sonjan Keep and no longer Lady Hayleigh. She was grateful that her Father had not bothered to submit the official documentation to give Baronial rule, at his death, to cousin Herrin, thus letting the kingdom officially know that Leland had died with his mother. Sonjan was a small enough backwater that no one bothered enough to check the blood lines that closely. For that Hayleigh was pleased as well. Her barony was prominent enough to merit a place in the Knights’ college, but not so well known as to not be able to get away with a little deceit. Which was probably why her Father had so readily accepted the holding.

She snuck all the pirated things back into her room and tucked them into bags on her bed. As soon as that was done, a knock rang out on the door making her heart race and her shoulders straiten involuntarily. She smoothed her dress front and swallowed before opening to let in the pinched faced Scribe, Landrall, who looked more than a little irritated. “His Excellency has asked that I bring this to you myself and give you care of his signet.”

There was a moment of tension filled silence as she waited to take the parchment and ring. The pulse had again quickened in her chest and her stomach had filled with the fluttering sensation of anxiety. Once her fingers closed around the two gifts, and she had whispered, “Thank you,” the scribe bowed very stiffly still looking pinched and disapproving.

Hayleigh stared at the ring and all it implied. Father was going to die and Hayleigh was to stand as his son. He had accepted his demise and her choice to seek for an unfeminine life of glory and honor, whatever that was supposed to mean or encompass.

She turned the thing in her hand a few times, thinking, before she was willing to try it on. The ring was too big. She bit into the side of her bottom lip, then ducked and pulled a long loose string from the bottom of her full skirt. She sat on the edge of her bed and began winding it around the inside of her ring. Long moments drew out as she worked to make it fit snugly around her finger.

She sighed, turning it on her hand, and lay back. This was the jumping off point and Hayleigh was going to jump. She stripped down to only fine underwear and climbed under the thick covers of her plush bed, having left the window open to let in the night air. Tomorrow was a new day and tomorrow Hayleigh would become a new person.

In the middle of the night, when no one bothered to roam the hold hallways, I snuck into the dust covered room that had been my brothers. He had a wardrobe full of clothes that were a bit out of date, but would serve fine until I could manage Most of all I took his coveted leather vest. Right now I could wear it pulled in tight, but in the future it would be too revealing. But it felt like a hug from – and I was glad of his ghostly company as I slipped back into my room.

‘May tomorrow bring with it adventure and excitement,’ She prayed for herself drifting off to sleep to dream of all the challenges Sir Lee would face.



A Painful Reality

The hills wove constantly and magnificently down from the mountain valleys that stood between Sonjan and the Capital, but the ride was long and hard especially since Hayleigh had never ridden like a boy. The first night she stopped at a hotel and with a stiff upper lip faced the innkeeper, who noticed, but did not comment on the tears standing in her eyes. He, in his compassion sent up a crock of salve. Hayleigh smiled politely at the maid and closed the door, limping to the bed. She cried in bitter discouragement as she rubbed in the numbing concoction.

She was disappointed that she had not even gotten as far a she had hoped to ride. If she had been riding her sidesaddle as she was used to doing, she would be miles ahead of herself. Worse than that, she was beginning to feel badly for herself that she was going to get back up on that wide horse in the morning. With that thought, she flopped back onto the lush pillows, tears creating streams down the sides of her face and tried to rest. But her churning thoughts would not let her alone.

‘I am soft and pampered and nothing like a knight should be.’

She flopped over on her side trying to avoid the self-doubt.

‘One day of riding has told me that I am soft… How am I going to manage the next eight years?’

She flopped again.

‘Am I ready? Can I ever be?’

With such unhappy thoughts, she drifted off to sleep, but fought her doubts through the night as they invaded her dreams in all available forms.

When she finally awoke, it was with great relief that she saw the dawn. She skulked down to the bathroom, dark hair falling into her face and scrubbed, groaning as the hot water touched her sore skin, and resigning herself to sit on the side of the tub and wash from there. That was not Hayleigh’s idea of a nice morning. She was a clean kind of person who liked sitting in warm water and scrubbing every last inch of her skin until it tingled with clean. That was not easily accomplished with blistered thighs. Not that a page would get that kind of luxury. In the next few years, Lee could only expect to bathe in the public baths, which meant no long baths and trying to avoid the other students. She hadn’t exactly figured on how she was going to deal with that. The ride to the city was hard enough as it was. As she got back into her clothes she was grateful got a loose tunic and breaches, which at least kept her walking unencumbered.

With determined steps, Lee went out to the courtyard where the big warhorse was standing impatiently by the Stable master. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and decided that this was not going to be very much fun. Her breath began to tear out of her lungs more quickly, and her hands began to shake as she grabbed for the reigns. With a great wince, she swung her leg up over his thick back and tried to breathe as she just sat there.

‘I am going to have to toughen up in more ways than one,’ she informed herself and turned his head out for the duration of the long day.

The day was long and hot with many stops to walk out my cramping muscles. Lee should have been there by noon, but it was almost dinnertime when she finally crested the hill to see the sprawling mess of a city and the near frothy filthy waters that were the capital. Father had given her documents for king and court as well as less reputable people in the city. He was a noble man for sure, but in his day father had known more than the king himself about the inner workings of the kingdom and outlands. He had friends in all places, many of which would have been considered unacceptable for a man of his rank, but father had never cared about rank, only usefulness. Maybe that was why he had decided to allow Hayleigh to stretch the rules as she was. He was more amused by the laws than obedient to them although fiercely loyal to his King.

Until his recent sickness, he had been the hand with which the king had moved when official channels or methods were unavailable. Now the king was bound to tradition and propriety. Neither man was better for the lack of a replacement. Father’s sickness had killed Mother and Leland, Hayleigh’s brother. Maybe Father was counting on the King’s lack of credible information to get her over that hump. Or maybe he was counting on the King desiring a replacement enough that he would not look too closely at the child that had been sent.

The new recruit slipped off her saddle with a groan and walked the length of the valley. With every step she bit into her bottom lip more to keep from complaining. Knights did not complain and Hayleigh was not planning to start now. Once inside the city, she was amazed by the number of eyes on her. Lee tried to walk as she imagined a knight would, with spine strait and chin tilted up, but felt silly so gave up and just kept putting one painful foot in front of the other until she came to the gate into the palace compound. The guard held out a hand for Lee’s documents and scanned them over carefully. He nodded and pointed inside.

“Your horse, you can leave with the stable master who will care for your tack, but the rest of these documents need to be given to the king directly. Once you’re done at the stable go to that big white building and ask one of the other pages to lead you to the king.”

Lee nodded, wanting to curtsey, but bowed stiffly. She took the time to brush Machiavelli down carefully and checked his hoofs. Once satisfied with the shinning coat of my horse, Lee was filthy. This was no way to meet a page let alone the King. She sighed, it was time to change her thoughts, and they were far too female to suit a boy her age. Lee had never known a boy to care what his clothes looked like, or the amount of mud caked on his shirt, no matter the situation. She shook her head and made her way over to the white building, still trying not to limp. It was late, but probably not late enough that court was over. The doors, to which she had been directed, erupted with a herd of boys, of varying heights and breadths. They stopped in their tracks and looked at Lee, all colors of eyes appraising me.

She swallowed hard, “Are you pages?” Lee finally managed to say.

A few of them looked over each other and laughed. “Don’t we wish!” guffawed the short dark skinned boy slapping his leg with amusement.

“Are you here to present your papers to the king?” A taller, more serious faced blond asked.

Lee nodded, “That is where I was sent.”

A few of them laughed as little boys often do, for unknown reasons to girls. They turned back to the heavy mahogany doors and swung them wide, which seemed a feat from their sheer size and resplendent decoration. As the chattering mob walked down magnificently tapestried corridors, each work of art covering deep reddish grey stone, Lee listened, trying to place where she was within the palace and where these boys ranked to one another. It was more challenging for her to just walk with them than she had expected, seeing as how walking was a challenge at a plodding pace, but the excited gallop of young boys was by far harder to manage. At odd intervals, there were guards standing in the hall, dressed in bright blue or green or orange, not matching uniforms. Not a single one of them seemed to notice, or care about the boys milling down the passages. These must be the chambers of visiting Lords, or merchant meetings, nothing to bother a bunch of trainees. When finally they twisted their way into larger, higher ceilinged, halls a pair of far more intimidating doors loomed up ahead of them.

These doors were of the same mahogany, but they carried a massive set of pulls. If put in their proper place, they would have been far more suitable on the entrance to a giant’s house. They were burnished until they shone with gold and silver gilt. Almost a whole detachment of guards lounged about the outside of these doors, dressed exactly in the deep purple of the king’s house. Hayleigh’s heart seemed to flutter to a stop as she stood there only for a slit second. After this, there was no turning back. Once she was presented, she had committed herself, no matter what the outcome. The papers Father had given her crumpled a bit as she fussed with them and the boys announced they needed the doors opened.

Hayleigh followed her mob into a room full of chattering, brilliantly dressed creatures. The high walls hung with house banners, shields, swords, maces, and pole axes- all too far up to be of risk to the monarch- and at the front of the hall a dais with throne and waiting king.

An old man and his smiling mischievous son stood at the front of the room looking amused at the appearance of a crew of young men.

“Is the mob here for a reason?” The Monarch called out to Lee and the boys.

“We found another straggler!” Called one of a pair of similar looking boys.

Lee swallowed as the Kings eyes dropped to her. She strode as fluidly as possible up a few steps and bowed. Unfortunately, it was obviously stiff, which made his eyes sparkle all the more with hidden glee.

“A long day in the saddle?” He asked pleasantly.

Lee tried to hold in the Lady-like blush that threatened, and simply nodded, handing over the documents that Father had drawn up.

He looked them over and his eyebrows rose with amusement “Sonjan's child huh? Are you as enterprising as your father?”

Lee shook her head, “I would not presume to think I am as capable as my father,” she replied, automatically demurring.

He laughed, “Humility was not a quality I expected out of you.”

Lee smiled and tilted her head to accept his complement, “I thank you for that Majesty.”

“I accept you to the page program and leave you to the care of the other students, who are to get you settled in a room, with your uniforms. You think you can manage that?” He asked the others.

“Anything you ask Majesty,” the short dark haired one with a big grin replied with a mocking bow.

“You will learn manners, Marcum, before you make squire.” He replied.

The boy bowed, “I wait on training from my king.”

Their unseen force tugged me out of the hall, followed out by the rolling chuckle of an amused King.

Once the cavalcade made their way out into the halls, they clapped Lee on the shoulder and greeted her, pummeling her with far too many questions, and almost knocking her to the ground more than once.

“Hold on men, the man must be starving, he’s been in saddle all day,” the lighter haired twin interrupted.

Lee nodded, grateful for the reprieve.

“To Cookie!” he informed the others, with the gusto of a commanding field general.

“Maybe not,” the oldest of the group disagreed putting his hand on the other boy’s chest. “Luken and Marlon, you go get uniforms. I’ll go down to Cookie’s to get food. Ophir you go talk the maid’s into a bath in Lee’s room. I think if we parade Lee around any longer he’ll fall flat on his face in exhaustion.”

Lee nodded her thanks. Glad that tonight she would be clean without all the difficulties of figuring out how to keep all these friendly boys out of the way. She liked them for the most part. They seemed like nice enough creatures. All bluster and a herd of fun, and yet she was afraid of them for the thing they did not know about her and how she was going to keep those things a secret for such a long time. They were far too smart to be easily fooled.

The last of the group left with Lee was ordinarily brown haired and thick in build. I turned to go back down the hall and ran into him. He chuckled, “Wrong way my friend. I’m Marcus. Let me get you pointed in the direction of bed.”

Lee nodded and he walked down the halls to the quiet corridors with closely spaced doors. He pushed one open for Lee, without another word. The room was small, no, very small, but Lee’s packs were set on the bed. Lee grinned guardedly at Marcus and began to hang all the things in the small wardrobe and unwrapping things to place them on the dresser and desk. When Lee took off her sword, she slung it over the bedpost with a shrug.

“Good enough. I’m Magnus by the way,” The blond who had taken charge earlier appraised the small space. In his hands was a tray of food that’s smells wafted up to Lee’s nose, making her swallow involuntarily. Lee had not realized just how famished she was until the food had come within smelling distance. He plopped the tray down on the desk and Lee sunk down, eating as quickly as her female upbringing would allow. She licked all her fingers and mopped the plate with her bread.

“You’ll have to eat more meat as you grow,” Magnus informed me as Lee as she stood up and began looking blearily at the plate.

Lee nodded, maybe she would. But right now, she was having a hard time thinking strait.

“Sit Lee, before you fall over,” Magnus ordered. Lee obeyed, glad for the chair that was near to her. “We’ll leave you to it,” he continued as a knock rang out on the door.

The door pushed open and a heavy tub and a herd of servants began to parade in with steaming water. The last in and therefore out of the room, was a very pretty maid. The guys laughed at her and teased her that she was to go back to her chores immediately and not dally with a tired noble. Lee managed to get up enough energy to glare at them as they guffawed out the door. To the maid’s surprise, Lee waited until she left before bolting the door and undressing. The water was warm, but not too hot to soak sore legs. Lee scrubbed every inch, the warm water giving her energy, and making her gleefully happy. Not only had she made it to the city, but she had also gotten through the first day with her classmates, and her meeting with the King. It must have been the maid who had slipped a letter onto Lee’s bed while she was distracted by the bath, but she frowned at it when she wrapped up in a towel. It was from Father, detailing the palace and grounds. Lee all but propped her eye lids open to be able to read it all before re-dressing. When she was covered in her brother’s nightclothes, she tucked it into a special lock box that Father had gifted her on her fifth birthday. She knew he could open it, but the series of locks were hard to pick and it was extremely secure.

Once the box was locked, Lee had nothing left, but the energy to climb into bed and fall deeply asleep. Only vaguely did she notice the servants come in to take away the bathwater while she slumbered.

When Lee later woke to find this, she berated herself that she needed to be more on her toes. Considering the web of lies she was already weaving, Lee was going to need to be alert to survive here.



Day One

Someone pounded on Lee’s door. She rolled over ignoring them.

“Get up!” someone yelled from the other side of the door, “We’re hungry!”

She grinned, ‘I loved men’s natural attraction to food.’ Lee yawned and opened the door. Today already felt like a better day. Her legs were still raw, but not as bad as they had been with a good cleaning and lots of sleep. Lee ripped on pants, hissing as they pulled over her thighs, and a shirt.

“It wasn’t locked,” Lee informed the band of boys outside. She must have been the last guy there. They were all in different stages of wakefulness, hair still tousled from the night. Yet there they were, accepting Lee as a boy and one of their comrades. For the first time, Lee thought this might be a workable plan. At least for a time. With those ideas in her head, she quickly brushed hair and teeth then joined the all male cavalcade moving down the hallway.

Breakfast smells wafted down the corridors as we neared the mess hall. The normal raucous noises that usually emanated from such rooms were obviously missing, and were replace the quiet shuffle of servants and soft crash of platters as they were placed on the long table in the middle of a cavernous room. There was a head table, but it looked strange considering the little troop were the only boys their age in the room, but what were they to expect being the first year of a new royal knight’s school. Lee smiled thinking of all the testosterone around, knowing that all the other females within any distance were serving food.

Ophir clapped Lee on the back, “It’s okay little man, they’ll bring food to you still.”

Lee nodded, letting him think that food was what she was interested in. Lee was elbowed out of the way as a platter was placed in front of her. She rubbed her arm and looked with irritation at the woman who had jammed into her. The maid glared back and Lee was tempted to stick her tongue out at her.

“Relax scrapper, you need to make nice with the ladies that work in the kitchen, not make them hate you in particular,” Markus waived a knife at Lee, holding utensils at the ready

Lee shrugged, “I don’t mind annoying women, even if they have food.”

Nicolau laughed, “I like most women when they have food.”

“Spoken like the true stomach that you are,” Lee teased back, raising her glass to him in a mock toast.

He shrugged and we sat waiting for the signal to allow us to begin our meal.

After food, Lee was assigned to help bring dishes down to the kitchen. There in the middle of the melee of cleaning stood a man who could only be Cookie, with sweat pouring down his face, shouting orders to everyone there and directing with corrective slaps from his wooden spoon. Lee grinned at him, knowing exactly who this was from my father’s detailed accounts of the palace staff. She was glad to see the happy grin under the roar of his orders.

“Come on Trainee move,” another woman pushed Lee from behind. She growled at her and went to the sink to drop off her dishes to the washers for the day.

Lee thought with great irritation, ‘It will be good when I am a page and excused from these kinds of mundane things.’

“You!” Called Cookie from the midst of the tornado.

Lee looked at the man and grinned.

“Lee?”

She laughed, throwing her head back, “In the flesh!” He knew as much as my Father had said he would and Lee didn’t need to remind him of her name.

He nodded, “Come see me when all these,” he motioned to the staff, “Go to bed.”

Lee nodded to him and went out to find her class mates who waited impatiently in the middle of the hard packed dirt yard. They looked at each other and wondered who was going to kill them, at least Lee did, and who they could manage to kill. There were not so many of the latter in Lee’s calculations. Lee was the shortest of the boys and thin, but most of them were relatively thin. A few of the guys had significantly harder muscles than Lee did and they made her swallow hard with anxiety. The teacher was even more terrifying. He was older and lean in the way that only the best of athletes can be lean. He had the permanent frown lines in his mouth, which bespoke the number of grim looks that would fill the rest of her days. He demanded that the students stand in a line as he walked before and behind them detailing all the things that they lacked.

Lee wanted to be brave and glare back like a few of the others did, but he was the meanest looking man that she had ever known and looked down at her feet as would be expected of a proper girl. He was not impressed. Lee felt stupid, and sure she would make an even bigger mess of this before it was done. Orders were yelled and Lee really did try her best to keep up with everything, but kept tripping over her feet or someone else’s. Gone was the happy carefree feeling of the morning. She was miserable in swordplay and slow at running exercises. In general, Lee was a total failure when it came to arms class. She dragged off the field, feeling useless and altogether as though she was not possibly going to succeed. The tall blond, skinny guy clapped her on the shoulder.

“No worries little man. I’m Nico? Anyway, you’ll catch on, most of us have been being pummeled by our fathers just like this since we could walk. You have just had the luck of escaping that kind of Father’s love for awhile.”

Lee smiled, “Not me. Father stuck knives in my hands and taught me to pick pockets.”

His look brightened, “Really, now that is something that I could use a hand with.”

Lee chuckled back, the warmth of acceptance spreading through her again like spring sunlight, “If you teach me how to use that long pointy thing, I will teach you how to pick pockets.”

“What about locks?” He looked shrewdly down his two inch advantage.

She shook her head, “No I think I will save that lesson for another trade. Besides, I hear there are new kinds of locks I need to learn on here in the palace.”

Nico shook his head, short blond hair flopping as he did so. “Alright, but I hold you to your promise. You have to teach me.”

”Nothing of value, promise? And nothing from the poor?”

Nico nodded, “I think this will be the best lesson of them all.”

She put her hand on his shoulder, “I think you may be right.”

Dinner had been amazing and Lee wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep it off, but she had a meeting to attend. Once the evening bell tolled, she hauled herself up from her place at the desk and motated down the unending stairs to the kitchen. There in the empty room sat the big cook.

He pushed a steaming mug and plate of cookies at Lee. She sat quietly across the counter from him and smiled.

“Hello Tanamair,” Lee greeted him using his birth name.

He grinned wrinkling the corners of his eyes, “Hello Hayleigh,” he replied equally amused.

“Are you planning on sharing that little bit with the court?” She inquired.

He chuckled, “What good’ll tha’ do me? ‘Sides you’ll need a few of us on ye’re side to keep tha’ secret for ye. There’ll be days when ye canna contain it. Like I said to yer pa, I owe him a lot an’ have no problem caring for ye to fill tha debt.”

Lee smiled back with a little bow of her head, “I am sure that he would accept that.”

“How is ‘e? ‘E says no worse far the weir, but I know ‘im.”

“He’s doing badly. Tired often and weak regularly. He’ll probably never get better. Whether that is from the sickness or the deaths of Mom and Leland, I’ll never know. I hazard to think the second did the most damage.” She continued to relax in the comfort of his company.

He nodded. “You expect him to live long?” He picked up a snack in his massive hand, dwarfing the sweet.

Lee shook her head and quietly sipped her drink. It was warm and sweet and heated that part of her heart that had begun to chill with the conversation.

“Who’s running the place, really?”

Lee shrugged, “The house keeper and the spymaster.”

He grinned with unsuppressed mirth, “Darren ruling a barony is actually funny.”

Lee smiled and nodded. The skinny rat faced spy frequently balked at the domesticity of the job, but he kept on because father had loved him as his son. Darren had stopped frequent attempts on Lee’s life when she was little. He had given Lee her first set of knives and taught her how to use them. (Have Darren come when Magnus chooses Keelin) “He doesn’t do the job because it’s fun.”

“No,” agreed Cookie, “He counts ye and yer da as Kin.”

Lee nodded, “And we love him for it.”

Cookie chuckled, “Had you known him when he was young you’d find this conversation amusing too.”

Lee shrugged and quoted her mother, “What do I know when I stand here at the beginning.”

He nodded to Lee, “Ye have much of yer mother in ye. Humility an’ quiet wisdom are things your father never acquired.”

“Oh Father is quiet with what he knows regularly.”

Cookie smiled, “Maybe, but I am certain that he was never humble.”

Lee snickered at her cookies.

“Little one you can always come to me. I will always stand with you so long as you stand in places where your father would be proud.”

She smiled sheepishly, as the heat rose in her face, “My father doesn’t always obey laws.”

Cookie’s eyes twinkled, “Aye, but h’ was always careful to only break silly laws an’ hurt no one accidentally.”

Lee understood, “Thank you.”

“Now get to bed little pup. Ye’ll need lotsa sleep to outgrow these lads shortly.”

I stood and bowed to him deeply, “Thank you and good night.” The silence of the night clung to me as Lee made her way back to her room, attempting to imagine a younger father and Darren. She bolted the door, pulled off clothes and snuggled into bed. Glad of a strong ally. Somehow having someone to guard her secret made her feel all the more safe.

Discovery- Chapter one

Eva sighed rubbing her neck; it was kinked from sitting in the car for so very long. Her brothers were bopping along to music and her sisters were snoring softly as the car plodded along yet another stretch of highway on its way to their new home. Mom was in the front seat with oldies music playing softly so as not to disturb the differing tastes of her offspring. Dad was in the passenger seat reading the paper from home. The van was not only carrying all of Eva’s family, but a small trailer of the mom’s best paintings, which she had been unwilling to entrust to the moving company.
Eva was so excited for the new house, which would be bigger and afford Eva her own room, though not necessarily for the new town. This was a small place, nothing like the big open skies of New Mexico. They were driving to Washington State where all the horizons were hemmed in by trees and mountains. Eva sighed pulling at a piece of her rust colored hair and noting how much more frizzy it was managing to be in the humidity. ‘Yuck, who likes humidity?’ She was sure that no hair looked better in this kind of weather, and if some did, well, she inherently disliked that person’s hair.
What had woken her was not the change in barometric pressure or anything of great note, just that Mom had turned off the interstate onto a less perfect road that led into the woods. The view opened up to a little town and too many more trees. Mom pulled off into the parking lot of a hotel and everyone began to rouse from their revere, glad to get out of the car.
“No, no,” Dad chided, “Stay by the car, I need to check us in first.” He swung his long legs out of the door and stiffly made his way to the little lit office. Eva watched the silent movie of him laughing with the keeper, almost hearing the conversation in her head.
A commotion broke out between her sibling and mother shushed them with a glare.
“Don’t ruin this trip now. You have done so well for so much of it.”
Eva grinned, that was such a mom thing to say, but like always, it worked. Dad came back with the room keys and began motioning people out of the car. Caleb and Joshua climbed out and began teasing. Katharine and Christine just gazed away from where they were standing eager to go back to bed. Mother grabbed Frankie and Dad grabbed the complaining baby Gertie. Dad motioned the boys into the first room and they plunked down their packs as close to the door as possible. Then he sent Eva, Katharine, and Christine to the last and placed mom and the babies in the middle.
“Now, we are all tired. I expect that you will all get in your pajamas, brush your teeth, and go to bed. We have been driving a long way and the little kids need to sleep. So please, don’t make me come talk to you tonight about being loud.” Dad pleaded.
Everyone mumbled a reply and all the doors closed. The girls were asleep quickly, having not really woken up. Eva did not bother to remind them to brush their teeth, since they had both plopped down into the same bed so she had the other to herself, which was worth any irritation from dad. Eva pulled out her jammies and tooth brush and hummed to herself as she got ready to turn in.
There was a knock on the door. It was dad. He looked at her sisters and shook his head. “Hey I was thinking that you and I should go in the morning and make sure everything is ready at the house. Before everyone else gets up, whad’ya think?” Dad’s grin was undeniable. He looked like a movie star and as the oldest, Eva enjoyed the attention.
“I think I can manage.” She replied.
“Alright then I will only knock on the door once. See ya early.”
Eva grinned, she loved doing things with Dad, and he always made sure that she did not feel the weight of having to help with that many kids. He made everything fun. Eva hopped into bed with a grin pleased with the prospect of the morning. Tomorrow was going to be the start of new and great things. Maybe she would even stay at the house and make cookies so it smelled really good for all the little kids that would no doubt be grumpy about having to get into the car yet again. Maybe senior year in a new place would not be so bad as she thought. At least it was a good jumping off place for dreams.
Dad’s knock in the morning was very early, but Eva was energized and excited. She hauled her hair up into a ponytail and dressed quickly. Dad was smiling when she pulled open the door and slipped out.
“I thought you could use some breakfast just the two of us what do you think?” He grinned putting his arm about her shoulders.
“You know I love breakfast.”
“Huh,” he replied, “I must have forgotten that.”
Eva grinned, Dad never forgot anything.
Breakfast was pancakes at a little café. They were good, but did not hold a candle to Moms. Not to mention that the syrup was not exactly high quality. Like they had mixed syrup with water and heated it until it was barely runny.
Dad polished off his hash brown and looked up expectantly. “You ready to go?”
Eva nodded and they were off again in the misty morning green. They pulled up to a long drive and an appealing house at what seemed to be the edge of town. It was nice, much bigger than the place they had lived before. Eva might actually have some peace and quiet here without her siblings all being pilled on top of her all the time. She bounded in the door behind Dad and began talking over with him where all the paintings that Mom had created would hang. They laughed and joked as they worked, getting everything in place in short order.
“Alright Muffin cup, let’s head out to get the family,” Dad offered holding the door.
Eva shook her head, “No. I think I want to stay and try out the kitchen. I figured the babies will do so much better with fresh cookies.”
Dad grinned, and kissed her on the top of the head, “You are such a good big sister. I am so proud of how you look out for them. Now no flirting with boys while I’m gone, remember we expect you to be a doctor.”
Eva laughed, “Dad I think I would have to walk five miles to find another living soul and who knows if they’d be male. Besides, I am going be in the kitchen. Oh and by the way, I love moving companies.”
Dad nodded, “Me too, it would have been a mess to pack and unpack all of you by ourselves.” kissed her one more time, and drove off.
Eva hummed through the batter, grinning as she imagined what they were going to say when they got there. She looked out the window a few times, across the magnificent turquoise water that lapped at the small fishing village below, wondering what was taking so long. Then Eva decided maybe Dad was taking them all out to lunch as well and stifled her worry. Eva was bored with the wait, so she went outside to weed. The constant thumping of the water against the break-water soothed Eva and the brine smelled somehow familiar. There was so much to do, but she was already concocting great plans for a garden and flowerbeds. A few places in the tiny town boasted bright roses beds and bright pink peonies. The doorbell rang and she dusted off her pants, glad Dad had given her enough warning to meet them at the door. When she swung wide the door she did not find the expected big van and a herd of family. It was a lone officer, dressed in the most horrible color of forest green.
“Hi,” she greeted him, apprehensive of new people when she was alone as all good city girls should be.
“Are you one of the Homesteaders?” He asked.
Eva nodded, “Yes Sir. I’m Eva.”
The man looked all the more chest fallen when she confirmed her identity. He swallowed and Eva began to really worry. Something was really wrong.
“What?” She demanded.
He looked away, “I need you to go for a drive with me. Your family has had a bit of an accident.”
Eva swayed. “A what?”
“If you’ll just go for a ride with me. I promise you’ll be safe.”
Eva nodded, terror flooding through her veins. “Are we going to Forks? The hospital is in Forks?”
The officer shook his head and opened the car door for her but did not reply.
Eva rocked herself in the back of the car lumbered down her steep hill and on through the unchanging green. When they arrived at the hospital at Forks Eva was relieved. But the officer shook his head. Her stomach fell again. They went inside and a hush fell even among the nursing staff. Eva began shaking. They took the stairs not up to the patient rooms, but down to the basement. Eva wanted to retch. When the officer directed her through the doors with the big letters M-O-U-R-G-E on them she began to cry. The workers did not so much as ask her for anything, but led her into a foul smelling room with a metal table in the middle.
“You need to tell us if this is your family,” the officer said softly.
Eva nodded, tears still pouring down her face.
The first was dad. “Richard.”
Then mom, “Marie.”
“Caleb.” “Joshua.” “Katharine.” “Christine.” “Frankie.”
Eva dropped to her knees when they showed baby Gertie. There she sobbed, rocking on her knees for what seemed like hours. The world had stopped turning. Time slowed and pulled out like some painful kind of taffy, leaving her in an abyss of confusion. She stood there for a long time, as moments ticked by like hours. Eva was not sure what to do next or how to breathe let alone proceed with her normal life. What must have been hours later someone spoke to Eva.
“Come on Eva. Let’s get you out of here.”
Eva blinked shocked that she was still in the same place, let alone the same world, but nodded to whomever the voice belonged to. She could not see through her tears. A hand pressed her down into a seat and a softer female voice began prattling at her.
It took her some time to understand that this was a social worker who was trying to tell her she would be placed in a foster home.
She glared at the woman, “I have a house thank you. I was there when your officer so graciously picked me up and destroyed my life.”
The woman took her irritation in stride, “Yes, but you need someone to look after you.”
Eva shook her head, “Thank you, but no thank you. I am eighteen and I can take care of myself. Now if you will leave me to my grief.”
The woman frowned and stood up.
The officer asked her to sign papers and told her the police report would be out in the morning if she wanted to read it. She just looked at him, glazed.
“I want to go home, please.” She pleaded. The doctor put a small bottle into her hand saying to take it if she needed it. She took it, uncertain what it was or what else to do with it.
He gave her one nod, walked her back out to the car, and drove her home. It was a long drive through breath taking vistas and thick temperate rain forest, Eva’s mind numb as it tried not to believe. She stared out the window without seeing. Eva wished he would just always drive so that she would not have to go on with life alone.
“Do you have other family that I could call for you?” The officer asked as the car stopped.
Eva shook her head, looking down the long drive .
“Are you going to be alright?” He asked.
That was the stupidest question in the whole world, of course she wasn’t. How was she ever going to be all right again? “I’ll be fine.”
He nodded, unconvinced, but almost understanding.
Eva stood in the drive while he drove off, the red tail- lights fading behind the trees. She fell to her knees again, sobbing. Finally, she pulled herself into the house and made herself eat. Mom would have made her eat. She brushed her teeth. Dad would have made her brush her teeth. She curled up in the middle of their bed and after more tears, fell into a peaceful sleep, feeling oddly comforted and not as alone as she had been.