Well, I've had something like this planned for a while, just never got around to writing it. I've always wanted the tortal and summersea characters mixed, because their styles of magic is so different, so here we go.

Anyone with a brain knows I don't own anything by Tamora pierce.

Title: Memories of a Solemn Hour
Rating: T for language and crude humor
Summary: Briar takes on a bet, but it goes terribly wrong and snapps his already-fragile relationship with Sandry. The girl decides to go on a much-needed shore leave and starts toward the coast to start a new life. On her way, she meets Evangeline Savole, a mysterious young woman who travels with her dog, Chocolate, and carries a weapon called a gun. The two of them start traveling together and their travels take them to a wonderous country called Tortall...Meanwhile, Briar is frantically searching for Sandry. With the help of his two foster sisters, he tacks down a mercenary named Aurora to help him find Sandry, not knowing that Aurora isn't all that she seems to be...

Chapter 1. Letting Go

"Y-you know, I-I-I've al-always liked you…" A young man with dark brown hair and jade green eyes stuttered to the blushing young blonde before him. He mentally kicked himself. When this was all over, he was going to hunt down and hurt the bastards who made him do this.

The group of females behind the young lady squealed as the young blonde smiled and said, "R-Really? I-I've always admired you as well."

Briar Moss blanched. This was NOT supposed to happen!

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The girls chanted, and before Briar could protest, the girl had reached up and lip-locked the eighteen year old.

Briar, we've been— A clear, female voice sounded in his head.

No, wait, DON'T! He protested, but the connection had slammed shut on him, but not before he felt the searing hurt and anger from the other end.

"Damn it!" He shoved the startled blonde away and bolted away from the courtyard and towards the citadel.

Damn the bastards who had dared him to do this! Damn his bad judgment especially on a day like this! But most of all, damn himself and his over bloated pride that had caused him to take on the bet in the first place!

As he neared the Duke's building, he saw a plump but tall figure standing at the doorway, her arms crossed, a scowl on her face, with lightning sparks flying through her hair. "You. Dumb. Bleater!" She snarled. "What in the name of Mila POSSESSED you? As if your arguments for the past few months weren't bad enough, you go and do something as stupid as THIS? Tell me why I shouldn't just fry you on the spot!"

"Please, just tell me where she is. She's completely—"

"Cut you off?" A new voice, this one lower, interrupted Briar. At tall, well-build black girl stepped from the shadows behind him. "She's done the same to us. But honestly, what did you do this time to get her all riled up like this?" Daja Kisubo raised an eyebrow, her face showing more curiosity than the fierce anger on the redhead's face.

"I-I just-I never wanted—it was a mistake." Briar searched for the right words to describe what he had done, but failed to find any.

"Damn right it was," Trisana Chandler, the redhead, snapped. Anger had clouded her judgment, for she was yelling with language that would usually send her into several shades of red. "You're going to owe her one HELL of an apology tomorrow."

Duke Vedris IV sighed heavily as he looked at his favorite grand-niece. "Are you positive about this, my dear?" He asked tiredly. "After all, you are my heir and could just easily—"

"With all due respect, Uncle, I do know," Lady Sandrilene fa Toren interrupted, her usually sparking blue eyes now somber and brimming with tears. "We've been talking about this for a while now, and I think now would be the best time for me to take that particular course of action."

The duke sank in his armchair a bit. "Of course. I know you would not ask of me something you do not think is dire, especially when Emelan is involved." He took a deep breath on got up from his seat, taking a deep breath. "I will personally see to it that a spare mount is prepared. I will see you in the stables in an hour."

Sandry bowed to her Great-uncle. "Thank you, uncle."

A tall figure draped in a long black cape sat atop a tall Arabian horse. All that could be seen of the figure were the calf-high boots that stuck out from underneath the cape. A dog slunk up to the figure, his eyes glowing.

"Yes, I can hear them, love." The voice from underneath the hood was distinctly female. She pulled something from her belt. "And we're here to settle things our way."

Seconds later, a group of twenty five men burst from the surrounding trees, weapons raised, screaming war cries.

A smirk appeared on the girls lips. "Heh. Amateurs." Really, when you try to ambush someone, screaming war cries is usually not the brightest tactic. She aimed her weapon, and two loud sounds tore through the air before five figures dropped from their horses. The dog growled before leaping onto one of the footmen's chest, knocking him over. Gleaming white teeth flashed in the moonlight and the man voiced an ear-piercing scream, which was cut off abruptly.

Within minutes, the entire clearing was littered with dead bodies.

The young woman blew off her smoking weapon and smiled, showing off a set of perfect white teeth. Her long blonde hair had fallen from its ponytail, releasing strands of hair that brushed over her crimson red eyes. She patted her horse on the neck affectionately. "Good girl," she whispered, and the mare whickered in pleasure.

Just then, she heard the sounds of hooves pounding behind her, and she grabbed her sword, sheathed at her waist, and whirled her horse around, swinging the weapon in a controlled arc.

Something flew through the air and landed at her dog's feet.

Her sword stopped inches from the arrival's neck.

At first glance, the new arrival wore plain riding breeches and shirt, along with worn boots and a frayed cape, but when she took a closer look, she saw that the girl was actually wearing a richly embroidered dress over silk undergarments, and fancy, black leather boots. Her cape was blue and fur-lined, and her chubby horse was actually a well-built mare.

"What's up with the masquerade?" The blonde asked, putting the sword away, sensing that the newcomer was no threat.

The fierce, defiantly challenging look on the other girl's face faded into complete shock. "You can see through the spell?"

"Yeah." The blonde got off her horse and looked up at the blue-eyed brunette. "I'm probably the only person who does, but I can see through it nonetheless." She bent to scratch behind her dog's ears, but her eyes never left the brunette's face. "It's not safe for young women to wander around at this hour," she pointed out.

"Yes, but that doesn't seem to bother you," Sandry pointed out.

"Yes, but I ain't the nicely dressed rich bitch," the tall blonde replied, smiling crookedly. "Not saying that you're a bitch or anything."

Sandry frowned at the strange words this girl used. She obviously wasn't from around here, because the vocabulary she used was quite different than what was used in Emelan, but the language was the same. "Um, excuse me, but I'm not quite acquainted with the word 'bitch.'" Sandry said politely.

The other girl looked uncomfortable. "Oh, never mind. I was just trying to say that you're the rich girl, and I'm the poor girl with nothing worth stealing, except a dog and a horse, but they'd probably kill the thief before he got anywhere with them." She grinned.

Sandry didn't quite understand why, but she found that trusted this young woman, despite the fact that her hands were currently speckled with blood. "Who are you?"

"Evangeline Savole, traveler and, well, I suppose you could call me an explorer. I'm technically a runaway, but that was a while ago." Evangeline stuck out her hand. "You can call me Eve. This here's Chocolate." She bent to pet her dog. "He's a German Shepherd. What's your name?"

"San—Sandra fa…Tanalin." Sandry said hastily, scrambling to find a name.

Eve gave her a look. "Right." She clearly didn't buy the whole name thing, but she let it slide and raised an eyebrow. "Got any destination in mind?"

"Not particularly," Sandry said. It wasn't a lie, not really, anyway. "Just want to get as far from here as possible."

"I see." Eve bent down and picked up the object she had cut from Sandry's neck. "Sorry I cut this off." She held a palm-sized crystal shining with light. "Here."

Sandry looked at the crystal nightlight for a second, then said, "Leave it. I was planning on getting rid of it soon."

"Alright. If you insist," Eve said, throwing the crystal over her shoulder randomly. "Oh, and I'm guessing you're a witch?"

"A what?"

"A witch. You know, magic-wielding folks."

The brunette frowned. "You mean a mage?"

"Oh, is that what they call them here?" Eve looked thoughtful. "Interesting. But yes, you're a mage, aren't you? 'Cause you've got three strands of magic leading behind you, like someone's tying you to them. If you're planning on leaving here, don't you want to get rid of that stuff?"

Turning, Sandry saw the strands of magic that connected her to her foster family, as well as one she had connecting her to her uncle. She got off her horse and looked back down the road, holding the three strands that connected her to Daja, Tris and Briar. Questions flew through her mind. Was she doing the right thing? Could she really leave her family behind like this?

Her questions seemed to be answered when the brightness of the strands flared, then went out. She frowned it had never done that before.

"I can help with that," Eve said, pulling out her sword. "Sandra, do you want me to do it?"

Sandry hesitated for a second longer, then nodded.

Eve muttered something under her breath and then raised her sword. "Et hinc proripias!" She yelled, then slashing down. The threads snapped, nearly knocking Sandry over. "Sorry," Eve apologized, sheathing her sword. "I think the exorcism spell was a bit strong with this type of magic." She bit her bottom lip. "Actually, I con't think I actually needed the sxorcism spell, but hey, better safe than sorry."

Sandry shook her head, amazed at the strange things this young woman was capable of.

"Well, we have a lot of land to cover, and very little moonlight left," Eve said, mounting her horse. "Come on, let's get moving."

"Indeed," Sandry said, following suit and urging her mount forward and pulled level with Eve. She smiled. Here was the turning point in her life. Here was when Sandrilene fa Toren would leave and Sandra fa Tanalin would start her adventure.

"Hey!" Eve yelled. "Stop staring into the distance like an idiot!" There was an amused smile on her face despite her condescending tone. "Let's get going!"

Sandry smiled again and nodded. Then she nudged her mount into a trot.

Well, there you go. Eve was actually a character in a seperate story I was writing, but that story started after I wrote this one, so yeah. I guess if you were to read both stories, this would be like the sequel to the first one, but don't worry, her origins and past will be revealed in this book as if the first story has never been written.

Please review~