A/N: So this is just a quick little scene that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to be in the book between Raucus and Tavi. It really upset me that it never happened.
Guias Octavian, First Lord of Alera met the furious gaze of Antillus Raucus calmly. The High Lord and father of two of Tavi's friends looked as though he would like nothing more than to slice him in two, with his sword. Max, standing nearby watched his friend face off with his father nervously.
"What do you mean the Shield Wall will need repairs," Raucus demanded.
"I mean, that there is a hole in it," Tavi responded. "And I didn't say that it needed repairs; that land now belongs to the Icemen, we are only leasing it from them." Tavi noted with a bit a wicked amusement that the High Lord's face turned the color of a prune, he was so angry.
"And how," the High Lord growled. "Did it get a hole?"
Tavi gave him a look, eyebrows raised. "I put there."
"You," Raucus was speechless with fury. Max wished that his friend wasn't enjoying torturing his father this much, he knew Tavi well enough to know that the other man was finding this all amusing.
"The way I view it, we are even," Tavi said carelessly, Raucus' eyes bulged in his head. "Yes, I put a hole in your wall, but you put a hole in my mother's gut." Raucus blinked, some of the rage flowing out of his face.
"Yes," Raucus admitted, bit shamefaced. "But she challenged me to juris macto, and she was healed."
"And that's an excuse?" Tavi demanded. "In that case, it was the quickest way for me to get to Calderon, and the Vord queen. Like I said, we're even. I sure if you ask, the Ice men will let you repair the Shield Wall."
Max had to stop himself from laughing at the look on his father's face at the prospect of asking the enemy he battled for years, permission to rebuild the wall. Tavi swept out of the room, a satisfied grin on his face.