Disclaimer: I do not own any of Tamora Pierce's characters.no matter how much I want to. *sigh* A/N: okay this is my first story so I hope that u can R&R so I know weather or not to write more....this chapter is really short cause I wasn't sure if I should write more so yeah...like I said before R&R!!!

Chapter One
Aly looked around the stone courtyard of Pirate's Swoop. She could see her mother Alanna up on the south/west tower of the wall. Climbing up the stairs to the curtain wall, Aly saw that Alanna was peering out at the cove, heedless to the fact that her daughter had joined her. Gazing out passed her; Aly saw a ship coming towards the village dock. From the way Alanna was grabbing the wall she knew that her mother was feeling sea sick just from looking at the boat. While she had been preoccupied with her mother, the ship they were watching had docked and was starting to unload. Leaning forward to get a better look, Aly saw that there was a man standing oh-so-familiarly on the dock helping unload the ship. On a guess, she gave her Gift a mental twist; she sharpened her Sight focusing on that one man. Aly nearly laughed out loud. It was her father, George Cooper, Baron of Pirate's Swoop.

Tapping Alanna's shoulder, Aly pointed to the dock. Her mother looked around startled, but Aly didn't notice because she was running down the stairs, across the courtyard and out to the village. When she reached the docks she was caught up in the whirl of people there to help unload the ship. Searching through the crowd Aly tried to call out to her father, but the call was lost in the noise of thudding and creaking of crates and the grunting and cursing of the men carrying them. Ducking to avoid being hit with a swinging crate, Aly ran strait in to a man's coat. Looking up she saw that her father was only a few feet away embracing her mother. Wanting to say hello to Da even if it meant waiting forever, her parents could on with their hugging and kissing for ages, Aly went and stood near by.

By the time George let go of Alanna the dock was deserted with the exception of the three of them and Aly was very bored. Moving so that she could get a better look at her parents' faces, she saw that her mother's face was streaked with tears and Da's eyes were red as if he had been crying too. But that wasn't right, Da never cried! Slipping up towards them, Aly could easily hear what her parents said.
"Didn't you find her George? I thought that you would be able to find her! Where is she?" asked Alanna wetly.
"I found her, she's keeping some raka safe in the Copper Isles. She didn't want to come home." her husband replied.
"She didn't want to come home? You should have bashed her on the head until she came to her senses! Goddess I should go there and bash her on the head bring her home in a sack!" Alanna said, her tone with only the barest hint of a wail in it.
"I know, but I think that no amount of bashing would have gotten her to come home dearest. Kyprioth has got her under his wing."
"Isn't he the trickster god that owes you a favor? Why didn't you just use that to get her to come home?"
"But I am home!" Aly insisted figuring that she was the one they were talking about. Neither of the adults seem to be able to hear her, just to be sure, Aly brought her mouth close to George's face and said "Boo!" Da didn't even flinch. Just out of curiosity, Aly began to jump up and down waving her hands in front of her parents' noses. All Alanna did was swish a hand in front of her face as if there was a fly there. Worried Aly looked at herself. She could see right through her hand.

About to scream in horror, a firm hand clasped around her open mouth and a familiar voice said in her ear "That's enough noise from you Alianne. Do you want to arouse suspicions at Tanair? Besides it's almost time to get up." As the voice spoke, the picture of her parents at the docks of Pirate's Swoop began to rapidly fade. Aly struggled against the arms that held her captive; as if she could get free she could return to her parents. She slowly stopped fighting when she found that she was standing in completely black area? Room? It was too dark to tell. When she had stopped fighting entirely, the arms that had held her captive released her. Turning around she saw a man dressed in the clothes of the raka, with the look of someone in his mid-forties and bottomless eyes that danced with wicked jokes and tricks.
"Kyprioth! What did you do that for?" Aly demanded. The Trickster God shone in her Sight.
"I made it possible for you to not be heard or seen in the mortal realms, but in your dream state, if you screamed as loud as you were about to, you may have drawn the attention of my brother and sister. And that would completely ruin my greatest trick ever if they found out," replied without sympathy.
"Yes but you could have let me at least tell Mother not to worry!"
"I could have, but what would have been the fun in that?" he asked wickedly, "Besides, I told you that it was almost time to go back to Tanair. The Balitangs are about to get up."
"All right, but try to be nicer next time please," said Aly rubbing her neck where her slave collar had been and where the god had been holding her. The darkness faded as she opened her eyes to the room she shared with Dove and Sarai.

A/N: Okay, well that was my first chapter. I hope that you liked it. Please send me reviews for it and try to remember that this is my first ever story. Thanks.