EMMA

"Run, rabbits!" The man bellowed, striding across the field. "I know you play harder than this!"

I huffed and puffed, my legs beating into the ground. I could almost keep up with Alak and the others, if I ran with everything I had.

"Faster, faster!" The man could walk as fast as I could run. "When you get to the fence, I want to see you up and over it!"

I was falling behind. The older children were already a quarter of the field's length ahead. The children in my class at our little school had either already stopped running or were about the same as me. I wished I could stop running too, but Alak told me that it was important to do everything the man said, and I knew that if I did well, my Da would be proud of me.

When the older children reached the fence, they scrambled over the top rail, using the middle as a step. I knew I was too small to easily climb it the way they did. I'd have to use the bottom as a step, then the middle as another step. It would be much slower, and I would lose more time to the older children.

As I reached the fence, I stopped thinking. I didn't slow down at all, grabbing the middle rail and swinging through, feet first. I landed on the ground unsteadily.

The big man was looking at me, eyebrows raised.

I realized that I hadn't done what he'd said at all. "Sorry." I whispered.

"Don't be sorry." He growled. "Do it over, and do it right."

I returned to the fence, face beet red. I reached for the middle rail and hoisted myself up. Then I reached for the top and lifted myself until my knees were against the wood.

"Faster!" He barked.

I realized that I was high off the ground, for one as small as me. I closed my eyes tightly and jumped, arms and legs out. I landed like a squirrel, and quickly stood so no one thought I was clumsy.

The man gestured back towards the group. "Crawl under."

Now I knew he was teasing me. My lower lip stuck out and I knew my face was redder than the tomatoes my mama used to grow. Still, I dropped to the ground and crawled under. I had to keep low to the ground, so my bottom didn't knock against the rail.

The man nodded once I was through. "Back with the group."

I returned, deliberately standing behind Alex and another tall boy so that I could not be seen. I'd shamed myself, and my Da, and probably our whole village.

When I finally found the courage to come home, Alak was sitting on the rock near our front door, scowling and kicking his bare heels against the dirt.

"What's the matter?" I squatted on the dirt next to him, but far enough away that he couldn't kick me if he felt the urge.

"The Shang came." He grumbled.

"But you wanted to go with him!" I frowned, not understanding. "Now you don't want to?"

"He didn't come for me, Emma." Alak glared at me. "He came for you."

My jaw dropped. "But I was slow! And I couldn't climb the fence proper!"

Alak sniffled and wiped at his eyes. "It's not fair."

I felt guilty. It was hard to be happy about anything when my brother was mad at me. "I won't go. I want to stay here, with you."

Alak rolled his eyes, and glared again. "Don't be an idjit."

"Emma, come inside please." My da called from inside our house.

I stood slowly, walking reluctantly into the house.

"Hello, Emma." The Shang man looked solemnly down at me. "Do you understand why I'm here?"

I shook my head.

"I want you to come with me, so I can teach you how to be a Shang, like me." The big man knelt down to my level. "I picked you out of all the children in this district."

I stared back, matching him for solemnity.

"No," Da reached for me, holding my hand in his. "She's only a child. She's not five yet."

"It's the perfect age for a child to begin training." The Shang man said calmly.

"She's too young to be away from her family." Da insisted. "She hasn't finished her first year of schooling, she hasn't learned to hoe, or harvest..."

"She will never need to know those things if she becomes Shang." The big man looked down at me and I leaned behind my da's leg so I didn't have to look back at him.

"She's too young to leave." Da gripped my hand even tighter.

"If you keep her here, you are being selfish." The Shang crossed his arms. "You are sentencing her to a life of a farmer's wife, if she doesn't run away as soon as she's old enough to join the Riders."

I'd seen the Riders in our village once, when bandits had hit the town next to ours. They had had pretty ponies with pretty manes and tails.

Da looked down at me, his face sad, and that's when I knew I would be going with the Shang man.

RILEY

"Is this what you call a stew?" Hiram peered into the iron pot and made a face.

"I cook up what you get for me." I raised my eyebrows. "You want meat, find me meat."

Hiram scowled. "Don't give me lip. Cookin' is your responsibility."

I didn't answer back, hoping he'd just leave off.

"You have to take care of your responsibilities." Hiram lectured, sitting back on the rotting porch. "If I didn't do my responsibilities, where would we be?"

"Right where we are." I said, before I thought about it.

"Bitch." Hiram glared darkly. "I'd give you a good slap if I didn't have to come over there to do it."

I continued to stir the watery stew, not meeting his eyes.

Hiram glanced down at the ground, where Tucker squatted playing in the dirt by the fire. "What happened to him?"

"Some of the older boys were shoving him around." I tried to keep my voice from trembling. It infuriated me that someone would try to hurt my little boy and saddened me that I wasn't there to keep him out of trouble.

"Come here, boy." Hiram gestured. Tucker obediently stood and trotted to his father. Hiram grabbed his hands and examined his knuckles. "Didn't fight back, did you?"

Tucker nodded, bottom lip quivering. "But they were bigger'n me!"

"Don't be soft!" Hiram barked. "Fight back even if there's twenty of 'em! Next time you're in a fight, if you haven't caused some damage, I'll damage you!"

"Hiram!" I snapped, quickly crossing the ground to seize my child. "Don't you dare."

Tucker's tears wet my shoulder, but he raised his face to look at his father. "Yessir. I'll try next time."

"You're doing him no favor." Hiram looked like he was going to get up, but he settled back onto the porch. "Coddlin' won't help him get on top in this world."

I let Hiram have the last word, for now. I knew he was right, but I hated the idea of my little boy having to fight his way through the world.

A knock at our door brought Hiram slowly to his feet. He lumbered to our wooden door and opened it. "Etan! What brings you here?"

"A place to stay and a warm meal." Etan smiled, inviting himself in. "I've brought my new wife."

I perked up. The nearest cabin was at least five miles away, and the nearest village a good twenty. It'd been ages since I'd had a womanly conversation.

The girl who timidly followed Etan into our cabin was no woman. She was pretty, for sure, blond and fine-boned, but just a child, really.

"Come, Hiram." Etan clapped my husband on the shoulder. "Come look at my horse. She's a beauty, for sure."

They left, and suddenly, my small cabin seemed a lot larger. The girl still shrunk back against the wall.

"Are you alright?"

The girl trembled, eyes tearing.

"You scared?" I felt for the young girl. I was no older than her when I was given to Hiram to wed.

She nodded.

"My name's Riley." I pulled a chair near the fire for her. "Sit, if you'd like."

"I'm Miriam." She whispered, sitting and tucking her feet under the chair.

"Etan stays with us from time to time. Maybe we'll be friends, yah?" I smiled at her, trying to be friendly.

"I hope so." Miriam glanced to the door warily.

"He hit you?" I asked.

Miriam didn't answer, but her eyes told me that he did.

"It gets better when you get older." I reassured her. "Just wait it out."

"Mama, Mama!" Tucker skipped up to the fire with something clutched in his hands.

I backed up warily. "Tuck, if that's anything creepy or crawly, you'd best keep it away from me."

Tucker giggled. "No, Mama, it's a caterpitter. They inch."

I peered into his open hands. "You found a pretty one, Tuck."

Tuck nodded, then turned to Miriam. "Wanna see?"

She leaned forward and he opened his grubby hands. She made a quiet sound of appreciation.

"Tuck loves all sorts of little bugs." I ruffled my son's hair. "Snakes too, and lizards, and everything that's not allowed in this house."

Miriam smiled tentatively.

I took that as a hint that she was warming up. I turned my back to fix up the stew. "You've no idea how nice it is to have company. It gets real lonesome sometimes, just me and Tucker. Hiram, too, of course. He's just away so much. If he and Etan go hunting, you'll stay with us."

"Riley?" Miriam interrupted me forcefully.

I turned back around, startled at the change in her.

"Riley." Miriam leaned forward, her face pale and eyes widen than dishpans. "Riley, Etan took me. We weren't married. My parents don't know where I am."

My blood ran cold. "Etan stole you?"

Miriam nodded, tears running down her cheeks. "Don't tell him I said anything, please. He'll hurt me if he finds out."

"Took you from where?" My voice dropped instinctively, and I checked to make sure Tucker wasn't listening.

"Fief Andret." Miriam was trembling like a leaf. "I want to go home."

"Fief?" I looked at Miriam, really looked at her. For the first time, I saw her well-made boots, dirty as they were, and her lacy petticoats. "Mithros save me."

"Please, Riley." Miriam begged. "Please."

I touched my finger to her lips. "We'll leave tonight."

ERLIE

I swung my legs into the open air, one arm around the support beam to keep me firmly on the rafter. I had a spectator's view of the heated debate going on beneath me and I wasn't liking what I was seeing. The King's Own knew we had the poppy and it was only a matter of time before they started killing to figure out where we'd hid it. When they did, I was going to be safe up in the rafters. Maybe they wouldn't even notice me.

"Erlie." My ma called up to me.

I didn't like the look on her face and I trembled.

"Erlie!" My ma reached for the broom. "Don't make me swat at you!"

I slowly slid down until only my chest held me on the rafter. My feet still dangled a tall man's height above the floor. I closed my eyes and prepared to drop. My ma grabbed my leg and yanked.

I couldn't hold myself on and I crashed to the floor. The captain and our men paused momentarily to glance over at me, then resumed their argument.

I stood, wincing at the ache in my shins.

"Come help me with the bread." My ma gripped my shoulder tightly and led me to the kitchen.

I felt very small up against the soldiers. Even though we had plenty of our own men about, they still outnumbered us two to one. And even the smallest soldier outsized me, three to one. I eyed their broadswords warily and followed my ma.

My ma didn't want my help with the bread, I guessed that. I knew it for sure when she knelt down to my level and twisted my ear close to her mouth.

"Ouch." I whimpered.

"Hush." My ma was unsympathetic. "Listen close to me, now. You've got to go get it for us."

I did not look at the fireplace, even though I wanted to. "But there's the fire..."

"I can't put it out, it'll draw their attention." My ma shook her head, still whispering. "I've been letting it die down. You have to do it. Quick now! Pretend to help me with the bread and I'll tell you when."

She pushed me towards the hearth. I knelt, feeling the heat of the flames on my face. I shuddered. "Please, Mama, pleeease-"

"Now!" My ma lifted me swiftly and boosted me up into the chimney.

I scrambled, my bare feet briefly seared by the flames. I hoisted myself up as fast as I could, only stopping when I'd reached the narrow opening of the chimney. I shook, trying not to breathe in the dark smoke.

I closed my eyes and felt my way back down the sooty stone walls. Halfway down, I braced myself with my legs and pressed my back hard against the stones. My hands free, I tugged at the loose stone and gripped it in both hands. I slowly made my way up the chimney, afraid to drop the stone and afraid to slip down into the fire.

I lifted the stone over my head and set it out onto the thatched roof. I inhaled deeply, trying to clear my lungs of the stinging smoke. Holding my breath again, I returned to the hole and pulled out the burlap bag of poppy.

All of a sudden, the bag was ablaze and in my face and in my hair and flame was all around me. I dropped from the chimney, shrieking fearfully, and landed in the coals below.

I couldn't see, but I felt myself being pulled from the heat and wrapped up in a cloth like a corpse.

"I'm not dead, I'm not!" I tried to shout, but my voice was muffled in the cloth. I started to cry. They were going to put me in the ground and I wasn't dead.

KADY

I screamed, letting the sound rip through my throat and escape raw into the air.

My maid pressed a wet cloth to my forehead. "Hush, milady, it's alright."

I shook my head, tears escaping from the corners of my eyes. I was trying hard not to sob.

"One more push!" The healer urged. I briefly remembered my humiliation at being forced to expose a part of me that was more comfortable hidden. "Lady, one last push!"

I gritted my teeth and bore down with all my might, gripping my maid's hand so hard that I could feel the bones in her finger shift.

I felt a release of pressure, though the pain lingered, and the healer made a small noise of exclamation. A tiny wail filled the air.

I raised up as much as I could, trying to see my child.

"You've a son." The healer held him up for me to see.

My baby was covered in slime and blood, nose scrunched as he squalled, fists shaking frantically.

"He's perfect." I said in absolute wonder. "May I hold him?"

"In a moment." She began to clean and dry my infant's skin. "Lay back down, if you please. You need to rest."

I obliged.

"Oh, milady." Grilda's eyes were wide with wonder. "He's beautiful."

I squeezed her hand gently. "Thank you."

She winced and extricated her hand from mine.

"Here's the little lad." The healer placed my swaddled child into my arms.

"His little nose..." I breathed softly, feeling a powerful swelling within me. "I didn't know he'd have hair."

"It will fall out." The healer told me, beginning to clean up the birthing mess. "It'll grow back, but it may be different."

I brushed my son's cheek and he turned towards my hand, opening his mouth and sticking out his pink tongue.

"He wants to nurse." Grilda gestured towards my child.

"How do I do it?" I had seen it done, but only at a distance.

The healer returned to my side. "May I?"

I nodded, unsure of what I was agreeing to.

The healer began to unbutton my nightgown and pulled the top aside to expose my breast. "Bring his face towards you and he should find it on his own."

I gently brought my son closer. Once his face touched my breast, he turned and latched on. He suckled fiercely, gulping down the milk.

I was amazed. "How did he know to do that? And how do I feed him without thinking of it?"

"Instinct." The healer told me. "Same as every newborn animal."

I frowned suddenly, biting my lip.

"Is he hurting you?" Grilda asked.

"Is his head supposed to be shaped like this?" I worriedly cupped the odd, oblong shape of my son's head. "I don't want him to be teased."

The healer tried to hide a smile. "Infants' skulls shift at birth. In a day or so, your babe's head will be normal."

"Oh." I nodded. Then, I frowned again and clutched my stomach.

"It's the afterbirth." The healer explained, resuming her position between my legs. "It's the sac that holds the baby inside you. You don't need it anymore, so your body flushes it out."

"Oh." I felt another wave of pain, then the healer moved away from me, clutching something in a towel. "That's it?"

"Yes." The healer replied cheerfully. "You had a very good birth for your first time."

I nodded, beginning to feel the effects of my labor.

"Let's let her get some rest." The healer patted Grilda's shoulder.

My maid stood. "I'll be outside if you need anything, milady."

"Thank you, Grilda." I smiled tiredly.

As the healer left my room, she turned back and smiled at me. "Goddess bless your child."

She wasn't gone two minutes before I began to hear hushed whispers outside my door.

"Don't go in."

"But I want to see."

"Let her rest."

I sat up weakly and covered myself so I was decent. "You can come in."

The door slid open and my two step-children entered, trying hard to walk slowly and not run to see the new baby.

Lucia leaned over the edge of my bed. "He's like a little doll!"

"Is he awake?" Matthias asked curiously.

My child opened his eyes in response, yawning widely.

Lucia cooed, beaming. "Can I hold him, please, Kady?"

I patted the bed next to me and she scrambled up. I carefully set the wrapped bundle of blanket and baby in her arms. She laughed happily.

"Does he have a name yet?" Matthias asked, leaning closer to get a better look at his face.

I shook my head. "I haven't decided."

"Are you going to wait until Papa comes home to name him?" Lucia wondered.

I started to think of a tactful way to answer, but Matthias beat me to it. "No, silly. Papa might not come home for months. He can't go without a name that long."

"Oh." Lucia didn't look bothered.

Matthias sat on the edge of the bed and gently wrapped my little baby's fingers around one of his own.

The door opened and Ellyn stepped though, glaring at the children. "Out!" She whisper-yelled. "Leave this poor new mother alone! Have you no shame?"

Matthias flamed. "I'm sorry, Kady. Come on, Luci."

Luci carefully handed my little son back to me.

"It's really alright." I protested weakly. "Ellyn, they can stay."

Ellyn didn't pay me any attention and shooed the children from the room. "Lady Kadrin, you should be resting, not socializing with children who should be at their studies. I'll bring you up something to eat for supper, but until then, no visitors, understand?"

I nodded compliantly.

"Make sure to keep your blanket on." Ellyn insisted, pulling it up around my chin. She took my son and set him in the bassinet, tucking another blanket around him, leaving his face sticking out like a wrinkly pink mushroom. "And you too, little man."

Ellyn began to sing a soft lullaby in her deep alto and I drifted off.