Disclaimer: only my OC's belong to me, everything else belongs to Mercedes Lackey.

Chapter 7

Talia and I took a deep breath, then she slowly reached out and pulled the door open. We tried to creep in unobtrusively, but the minute the door opened, all the eyes were on us. There were 4 boys in there, and no girls. Teren was the teacher of the class. "Be welcome younglings." he said, leaning casually on the desk. "Boys, this is your 5th and 6th year-mates, Talia and Giselle. Girls, the redheaded fellow is Davan, the tall one is Griffon, and the twins are Edric and Drake- I can't tell them apart yet." he said with a grin and a wink. "Maybe I should ask Alberich to give one of you a black eye, then I'd be able to tell you apart until it faded!" he said with a laugh as Talia slid into an unoccupied seat, and I grinned at Teren and followed her example. "Well, now that you are here, I think we are ready to start. First, let me explain what this class is about. I'm here to help you understand what a Herald really means; not the hero tales nor the horror stories, nor the wild rumors of drunken debauchery-" he waggled his eyebrows, and the twins giggled. "But rather what our job really involves. Davan is probably the only one of you that knows- or think he knows- what being a herald is really about. That's because his parents are both Heralds themselves. So I'll start Davan with the question I'm going to ask each of you: Davan, what exactly does a Herald do?"

Davan wrinkled his brow "They dispense the Queen's justice." he finally said.

"Good enough answer, as far as it goes, but how do they do that?" Teren asked

"They ride circuits, in their assigned areas, going through all the towns and villages. They deliver new laws and report on the acts of the Council and the Queen. They see that the people understand the laws and act as judges, and sometimes lawgivers when something comes up not covered by kingdom law or by local customs." Davan told them.

"Bright heaven! You mean that sometimes people have to wait a whole year to get justice!" Teren exclaimed sarcastically.

"No, no there are local judges, too." Davan repudiated.

"So why not use them?" Teren questioned.

Davan couldn't think of an answer, but one of the twins did. "Teren" he exclaimed, waving his head above his head.

"Go ahead, whoever you are." Teren said with a smile.

"Drake. Our town was to small to have a judge." he informed them.

"That's a fair reason. But there's another; sometimes it happens that the feelings of the local people- and that includes the judge- are to worked up for a case to be adjudicated properly. There's one reason for you. Davan, do you have another?"

"Heralds can do the Truth Spell, regular judges have no way to tell if someones lying." he said.

"Good! But that only works if there is someone involved in the case that knows what really happened, remember that. All right, Heralds are judges and lawgivers. What else, Drake?"

"They report on what they see in circuits to the Council and Queen."

"Why should they do that?"

"So that the Queen knows the true condition of her kingdom. Sometimes the mayors and headmen don't always tell the whole truth on their Domesday Book reports. Heralds know what what's been reported, and how to check for mistakes."

"Quite true, Edric, your turn."

"They serve as ambassadors to other Kingdoms. While they're there, they can see if there's something wrong that the Queen should know about, like maybe an army that's awfully big for a country that's supposed to be peaceful. Since Heralds can't be bribed, she can trust what they say."

"That's correct." said Herald Teren "And there's more; the kind of training a herald receives here makes it possible for him to note little things others might miss- thing that tell him that there may be more going on then he is told. Griffon?"

"Heralds are the Queen's messengers. There's no faster, safer way to get a message across the kingdom, then a herald, 'cause Companions run faster and longer then any horse ever born. That why Heralds are called 'The Arrows of the Queen.' And they act as warleaders in an emergency, until the Army can arrive. That's another reason for the name."

"Very good. Giselle, what can you add?" he asked.

"Um." I said, as my mind went blank of everything Uncle Hadrian had taught me.

Hey everyone. Once again you get a midnight chapter! This one was kind of short, shorter then I thought it would be, but it was either you got this now, or Wednesday and have it a bit longer. I thought you would want it sooner. Thanks for reading it, and keep reviewing!