(A/N: A review I read the other day asked why Sandry and Briar don't mind-speak in my fanfic. To tell the truth, I had actually forgotten that important detail (so much for being a Tamora Pierce fanatic...sniff my dream is ruined!!). I considered changing the story to fit the mind-speaking in, but now that I think about it, it would change the some of the situations dramatically, and I don't want to do that. So, I figured that since we are so into the story already, we could just conveniently forget that they can speak through their minds and enjoy the story regardless. Well, on with the chapter!)

Lady Zenadia chuckled warmly, real amusement in her voice. "My dear pahan, if nothing else betrays your youth, this does! Young girls cannot be allowed to order their own fates! They have neither the experience nor the fixedness of purpose of their elders. This is why I would be more fit undertake her education. I have raised three daughters, and each married well. Once Evumeimei is under my roof, her childish attempts to order her life, rather than fit obediently into her proper place, will end. She will thank us both for that, one day."

The bleakness of the vision-of the life- she had just proposed made Briar's breath catch in his throat. She wants to break Evvy to the rein like a, a horse, he realized, suddenly furious. Battling his temper, knowing he would kick himself later if he opened his mouth now, he rested the larch on its original earth and me the woman's large, dark eyes squarely. "My lady, if you bought this tree because you thought I would force Evvy to live with you in exchange, I'd better take it home," he said, his voice flat. "She's settled with my teacher Pahan Rosethorn, and me. We're headed to Yanjing in the long run, and we're going to take Evvy back to her home province when we do." They'd discussed no such plan, but Briar thought it might give this high-and-mighty pair an excuse to back off before things got truly ugly.

Lady Zenadia sat up straight and planted her feet on the ground. Bracing her hands on her thighs, she asked in a cold, chilly voice, "Do you think to defy me, boy?"

Briar didn't even blink under her hard stare. "Shall I take the larch home, my lady?" he inquired, rather than answer so foolish a question. Of course he was defying her. He would do it with pleasure and an overturning of all her carefully raked and planted greenery, if it came to that. It was time she learned that people who came from poorer homes were not toys to play with. (Another excerpt. Once again, I didn't write it!!)

Briar's eyes opened. "Not another dream about what's already happened." He threw off the covers. "This is getting ridiculous." Briar swung his feet over the edge of his bed, and went outside. Tiptoeing through the hallway, he made his way to Sandry's room.

As he opened her door, he saw the soft glow that was her globe nightlight. Briar remembered when, almost six years ago, he, Tris, and Daja had created it using their powers to fill a small stone Tris had found with light. Briar smiled at the memory and quietly walked into the bed chamber.

He had barely taken two steps in the doorway when a sleepy voice mumbled from under the blankets, "Can't this wait until morning?" Briar flinched; he hadn't expected her to hear him enter.

"How did you know I was here?" he whispered.

Sandry sat up. "You don't honestly think that after years of with you, I wouldn't know your tricks?" she said between yawns.

"Right. Sorry, I forgot." Briar pulled up a chair and planted himself in it. "I wanted to ask your advice about something."

Sandry sat a bit straighter while her eyes brightened. She loved giving people advice, listening to their problems. "What's the situation?" she asked him cheerfully.

"It's about these dreams I've been having." Sandry's smile faltered a little. She'd hoped he'd wanted to ask about a certain stone mage she knew.

Ah well, she thought. Dreams are fun to decipher too. Briar told her of the dream he'd seen the other night.

When he was done, Sandry tugged one of her braids, deep in thought. "Hmm, didn't you say you've had dreams like this before?" she asked.

"Yeah, but they weren't the same," Briar answered.

"How so?" she questioned.

"Well," he scratched his head, searching for the best way to explain it. "In the other dreams, I was trying to bury these corpses. It was a nightmare. But the dreams I'm having now are different. They only show things that have already happened. Like," he paused. "Like it's trying to make me see something that I'd missed before."

"Tell me about your other dream," Sandry requested.

He then told her about the dream about Lady Zenadia that he'd just seen.

Sandry rested her hand on her palm. "These dreams of yours aren't ringing any bells in my mind," she said. "Do you remember saying or thinking something particular? Can you recall exactly what happened before you woke up?"

He looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Let's see. In the first one, I don't think I said anything at all."
"Thoughts?" she asked.

"I think I was trying to convince myself I shouldn't be guilty about killing that mute because he was after me in the first place."

"Do they want you to feel remorse now?" Sandry said to herself. "But that doesn't make sense. It also doesn't add up with the other dream."

"I think I thought about Evvy also," he mentioned. Sandry's ears perked up.

She scooted closer to the edge of her bed. "What precisely did you think about?" she asked, trying very hard to mask her curiosity.

"I told myself that I shouldn't worry about the mute; I had to get Evvy first, because she was what mattered the most."

Sandry thought about this compared to the other vision. Realization dawned on her.

She felt her mouth twist up in a large grin. So it's true, she thought.

Briar frowned. "What're you so happy about?" he inquired.

Sandry's eyes went wide with shock. "You don't know what that means?"

"No," he replied.

"Not a clue?"

"Nope."

"Not even the slightest idea?"

"No, is there something you know that I don't?!" he demanded.

Sandry opened her mouth to say that she did in fact know something he didn't, but thought better of it. Instead she responded, "I'm just as stumped as you are." Maybe it's better if he finds out on his own, she thought. I just hope that that will be sometime this year.

A couple hallways away, Evvy walked, desperately searching for a privy. Unlike most of the rooms at the Citadel, her bedroom did not have an attached bathroom. Sandry had apologized profusely, and, while Evvy had reassured the older girl that her room was fine, she couldn't help but imagine how convenient it would have been to have the place already there when she woke up, instead of having to hunt endlessly in this maze of a palace.

As she turned a corner, Evvy heard voices coming from down the corridor. She stopped, listening for who was there. Evvy then heard the voice break out in laughter. She almost bit her tongue when she realized who the voice belonged to.

Pahan Briar? she thought. What's he...? Evvy peeked around the corner. She blinked; there was no one there. Instead, she saw a small gleam of light through a crack in a nearby door. Evvy crept closer. She gasped as she recognized whose door it was.

Briar started to laugh. "You always were the worst liar," he said.

"That is where you are wrong my friend," Sandry said, wagging a finger. "Tris was always worse than me," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed. "Anyway, why aren't you telling me what's going on?"

She sighed. "I know you are going to hate me for this, but I think it would be better if you figured out this particular predicament by yourself." At Briar's less-than-pleased expression, she put her hands in front of her. "It's just that, in your situation, I've experienced that people are better off to solve it on their own."

Briar raised an eyebrow. "So. What kind of situation am I in exactly?" he inquired.

"Oh no you don't," Sandry said, crossing her arms. "You have to do this yourself, remember?"

Briar sighed, exasperated. "Some help you are," he remarked.

Suddenly he heard a slight squeak in the direction of the door. His head swiveled to stare at where the sound had come from.

"What is it?" Sandry asked.

Still intently looking at the door, he replied, "Someone's out there."