Authors Note: I have been thinking (which I do a lot) and I believe that this fic will be anywhere from 10 to 20 chapters long. If you really like it and I get lots of reviews, there may be more. Be sure to let me know if you want fluff, and I will see if you can guess who it will be between. Hint, hint, they both have already been introduced. You know the routine by now, I love getting reviews and there shall be no more chapters after this and you will never know what it was that made Sarra faint!

Disclaimer: I can dream that I own all of these characters, but all the ones you know belong to Tamora Pierce. The unfamiliar ones and the plot are of my mastermind.

A few days later Sarra was finally released from the infirmary much to her delight. The People had been going crazy, demanding to know why she hadn't answered for some time. Daine had tried to calm them down, but their voices still pressed at Sarra's mind until she finally gained strength to talk to them all at once.

All of the palace healers had told Sarra again and again not to try and shape-shift for at least a week. She wasn't planning on listening, until her father placed a spell on her to prevent her from shifting.

Rikash had begun his training as a knight again, this being his second year as a page. A week into the new year, he came home already complaining, as usual, Sarra would always be the one to listen to him after he was done sobbing to Daine and Numair.

That particular day, however, Sarra was feeling especially moody. She had managed to explode two candles while trying to light them, and had somewhere acquired a headache, and while trying to find Catharin, she had found every girl in the whole palace except for her. When Rikash came into her room, she felt every muscle in her body sign.

"Sarwa," Rikash said in a pitiful, heart wrenching voice. "I had a bad day." Sarra raised an eyebrow. "Really? What did you do to someone today?" And besides, it's only noon."

Rikash glared at his sister. "Nuthin. Da picked on me in class. He was all showing me as an example. He made me get up in class and tell about what I had done this summer to exercise my Gift."

"So?" Sarra replied. "He could have asked you to try and turn into a mermaid! TRUST ME! He has done it to me before, but I always turned into a sparrow and hid in a nest outside of the window. You'll be fine Rikash," she said, patting him on his head. "And if not you can always let me know." With that final note Sarra shimmered with her Gift, and was gone.

She reappeared in a long hallway, where some of the knights would stay. Hopefully Mistch of Dovani, Catharin's father would not have left yet. Sometimes her best friend would stay, and other times she would go with her father. Sarra hoped that Catharin would be in her quarters, because she just wanted to talk to someone other than Rikash, someone human who could relate to being a 13 year old girl.

A footstep sounded. One that was quiet, like the person was trying to keep their presence a mystery. Sarra spun around, her Gift already forming pools in her hands. Catharin of Dovani stood there. Sarra slowly let her Gift subside. "You're not supposed to sneak up on me!" Sarra exclaimed.

Catharin looked almost hurt. "It's okay. I'm just kind of tired. My father said that he was going north tomorrow and he asked me if I could pack for him. He has a squire, but he went to go visit his dying mother so he's going to be meeting him up at New Haven."

"Is he gonna pay your Ma a visit?" Sarra asked, trying to cheer up her friend. "Cause isn't Dovani on the way?"

"I dunno," Catharin replied while walking to her chambers. "I've just been so bored lately before coming here. And now everybody is so involved in doing… nothing." She opened the door and walked in, beckoning Sarra to follow. "But mainly I'm just mad at my Da for picking the squire he did."

"Why?" Sarra asked. "Who did he choose?"

"Juslein of Mevwaht," Catharin replied, clearly irritated. "My Da said that he is good, and he came late because of the flood that blocked the southern roads. He was one of the last to choose a squire, and apparently he was the best choice." Collapsing down on her bed she sighed. "It's just that he acts like he has walked before Mithros himself. He's Giftless; he shouldn't even be allowed to walk through this palace. He and his mouth are filthier than Stormwings!"

Sarra bit her lip in sympathy. Juslein was one of the few pages, now squires that Catharin and Sarra couldn't stand. He and his accomplices, Axton of Lampuan and Bronwyst of Gavrin were always bullying on the younger pages, including Rikash. Sarra was constantly having to show those three boys who was boss, and it was her. Most of the other pages and squires were smart enough to figure out not to irritate Sarra, but there were still the ignorant ones that never learned.

Catharin let out a deep sigh and rested her head back on the pillow. "I'm sorry Sarra, I know you were wanting to talk, but I'm not in the mood. I'll probably be happier in the morning, don't take it personal. And just to let you know," she turned her head to look at Sarra, "I'm not going with my father. I'm an innocent girl and I don't want to live with Juslein's blood on my hands a 'cause I know that if I spent one day traveling with him I would have him begging for mercy."

Sarra let out a laugh as she headed for the door. "I'm glad that you haven't lost your sense of humor."

"Now what are you talking about Sarra?" Catharin asked innocently. "My sense of humor comes and goes. If you ever quit being sarcastic for long amounts of time, then we definitely know that the order of the cosmos has definitely changed."

Sarra smiled to herself as she exited Catharin's quarters. Between the two friends, there was hardly ever a moment of silence, unless Sarra was talking to the People. Other than that they were always talking and laughing.

Sarra absentmindedly just let her feet carry her to wherever she liked. Without watching and noticing, she somehow ended up in the same section of the palace that Alec usually walked. He was almost always in one of the rooms of his friends, doing some sort of work. With a sigh she realized that he would still be in class for at least another few candle marks. Drat. Sarra thought, silently cursing at herself for being so foolish. She could always talk to him because, like Catharin, she had grown up with him. Fine then. Considering that all humans my age are preoccupied I think the only person left with time to themselves is Da. She had a feeling that her father would be in a talking mood, and today she felt so bad and crummy that she might even let her father ramble on about all of his scholarly interests. She might not even protest to his tests that he might try and accompl-

Sarra's head split open again, right before she reached her father's classroom. She bolted for the door, it taking all her strength just to work the simple knob. She burst into the room, trying to make sense of the spinning world. Numair stood up from his desk, looking across the empty room at his anguished daughter. Sarra raced/stumbled to the front of the room, where there was a large empty space for demonstrations. She lay down in the middle, her body now wracking with spasms. Her father's image spun before her, making it look like he had 7 heads. "Back o-o-off Da." Sarra struggled. He looked at her as if she had started speaking fluently in Raka. Without warning she shifted into a wolf, then into a tiger. Sarra just lay limp on the floor taking the shape changes as they came. Duck, horse, pigeon, river horse, lion, cat, eagle, hyena, any shape that was possible Sarra was taking it without any control of the matter. Her cries rang throughout the palace. Numair kept trying to interfere, but then decided it best to let her wear herself out, for fear that if he did otherwise he would hurt her. Sarra was near vomiting however. All of the different eyesight's of the animals, in different shades and clarity was giving her headache a turn for the worst. Without warning a dark hole yawned in front of her, and she followed peacefully into the arms of night.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

All of the visions that Sarra were seeing were slowly coming to a halt, focusing on just one scene. A man sat huddled in the corner of a damp dark cell. The cell door opened and a young woman came in, followed by an older man. They helped the prisoner to his feet. Only when he staggered to his full height of six-and-a-half feet did Sarra realize who that man was. Her stomach churned as she saw her Da in that state. She had always known that her father had been imprisoned by Ozorne, but she now realized that her parents never did tell her exactly what it was like. Thankfully, because her father looked horrible. He hadn't eaten good food in what looked like weeks, and his face was sunken in. Sarra slowly moved away from the scene into the darkness. The next scene she found herself in was in some place high up in the mountains. Smoke curled upwards from a burning ruin of a house. Sarra heard weeping and went to investigate. She found a young girl, probably her age kneeling over a body. Sarra crept closer, wanting to see who lay dead on the ground. When she saw the face she gasped in shock. It was the same woman that she had seen in the last dream. Taking a look at the girl, Sarra almost vomited in shock. It was MA! Veralidaine Sarrasri Salmalin! The Wildmage of Tortall, husband to black robe mage Numair Salmalin! No way. That couldn't be her mother. But… it was. Sarra found herself sliding away from the horrid scene in front of her. The next place was familiar. It was Pirate's Swoop. The door opened of its own accord, and Sarra walked in. There were many healers running about, but there was no mistaking the man clutching the patient's hand. Daine was in labor and Numair was not leaving her side. With one last effort, the babe arrived. It was a baby girl, but it didn't stay that way for long. As she watched it shift, it was obvious that Sarra was looking at her own birth as she left the scene yet again.

With a start Sarra awoke, sweat pouring from her face. She glanced about the room, her turquoise eyes falling on the odd couple by the door. The man with the antlers and the woman who lay dead by Daine's side stood looking at Sarra.

Daine looked worried as she glanced to and fro. "Well, Sarra, meet your grandparents."

The blackness opened up once again, and Sarra happily obliged to follow.

Author's Note: I know, it's a bit of a cliff hanger, but if you have read the Immortals Series then you know who these people are. Just to clarify things, Sarra has no idea who her grandparents are, and doesn't know all of the details about her parent's lives before they came to Tortall. Oh, and Juslein's name is pronounced like "juice" like orange juice and "lean" like lean meat. Please read and review! Think of it as an early birthday present if you do. I make awesome cinnamon rolls so if you review I will make you some! Not really but you can imagine you taste them!