Once again, I woke up in the middle of the night. This time, there was almost no light - the sky had clouded up as we sailed into Fort Sea Harbour, so even though Maxx and I were sleeping up on the deck of the yacht, there were no stars or moons visible. I could vaguely catch a faint radiance that must be glowbulbs near the Sea Hold, and that was it.

And I heard somebody stumble and mutter under his breath as he stepped aboard the little ship.

Every part of me was immediately wide awake. I could feel Maxx next to me under the furs still, and while there might be some reason that Aless would have left the yacht in the middle of the night and be coming back to rejoin Izabella, there were other possible explanations for this turn of events, and it didn't seem wise to trust that this was my friend. For one thing, I still remembered the Rider I'd seen at dinner the night before - I hadn't heard for certain if he'd left or stayed the night at the Sea Hold. It didn't seem within a dragonrider's dignity to sneak onto a boat in the dead of the night for nefarious ends, but I wasn't feeling like I'd put anything past them now

It was actually quite easy to wait in the dark until the mysterious figure passed our makeshift bed and then take my chance. ~~I lost some time in freeing myself from the sleeping furs and Maxx's arms and just managed to grab an ankle with my arms and bring its owner crashing down to the deck. Immediately I started to worry about how annoyed Aless would be, if it were actually him. But surely he would see that I couldn't have taken the chance, wouldn't he?

Maxx instantly roused as the other man began to struggle and curse, though not really shout. I could tell that Maxx was surprised at being surrounded by such deep darkness, and suddenly had another thing to worry about. Maxx had told me, at some point, I don't remember exactly when, about some of the uncanny abilities that he, Izabella, and Mechall had practiced in the deepest secret, and one of them was the ability to radiate light from their hands, instead of using a fire or glow-basket. Surely, even three quarters asleep, he wouldn't forget himself so much as to use that ability before making sure that it was safe, would he?

Maxx didn't. In fact, before even worrying about light, he first called out to me. "Lizza? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Somebody was sneaking on board, and - well, I've still got ahold of his leg. Aless, please tell me it's not you."

There was a short pause. "If I told you I were Aless, would you believe me?"

"Hardly, stranger," Maxx told him, for the voice was deep and reedy, nothing like Aless' pleasant tenor, to say nothing of the fact that the joke wasn't Aless' type of humor. "Lizza, keep hold if you can. I'll shed some light on the situation." In only a minute or so, he'd fetched the glowbasket from a shuttered cabinet near the tiller, and Izabella and Aless had woken and come out on deck to consider the tall man who'd violated our privacy. He looked to be a few Turns past his twentieth, had a pale and ragged beard and mustache to match his wildly cut hair, and was wearing a seaman's coveralls but no crafter's badge.

"Who are you?" I asked him. "Are you working for the riders?"

"The weyrmen?" he exclaimed, sounding truly astounded at the prospect. Maxx shot me a cross look, and I realized that I probably shouldn't have mentioned such a thing, if we were trying to avoid drawing suspicion. Maybe I was the one who had made a mistake because I wasn't properly awake yet. Oh well. "My name is Gatten," the intruder continued. "I live here at Fort Sea Hold, and am beholden to Holder Bucsan. If you wish to complain of my behavior then it is up to him to pass judgement on me."

Maxx and Aless exchanged looks. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Aless pressed. "Trespassing on another's ship without authority is a crime against autonomy. I cannot imagine that Bucsan would be well pleased to be woken in the middle of the night for this complaint - unless it is on his authority that you are here." Gatten just stared dully at all of us. "We don't want to cause trouble," Aless continued. "What if we promised to not complain to Holder Bucsan or anybody else, if you just tell us what you came onto our ship for?"

There was a long pause, and Gatten's gaze flicked to Izabella, and then down towards the deck. His cheeks seemed to flush slightly in the dim glow light. "That is a very generous offer, but I'm afraid I cannot accept it."

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Izabella muttered. "I'd rather take him to the Sea Hold than let him go."

"Do we even have any idea what hour of the night it is?" Maxx asked. "Will there even be anybody awake at the Sea Hold?"

"I would think, at the least, there'll be a night guard," Aless said. "Who might not be eager to see this kind of trouble, but ~~I'm not sure what other choice we have." He pulled out a belt knife. "Let's move along, Gatten."

#

Sea Holder Bucsan smiled tiredly as soon as he came into the room and saw us gathered around Gatten. "Not again, Gatten." I blinked, not having expected that response. "I'm so sorry - you are honored guests and shouldn't have had to deal with a disruption like this. How bad was he?"

"Umm." I looked around at my friends, and they shrugged as if willing to let me take the lead. In an odd way, that made some sense. "He's been perfectly courteous, except for the little matter of sneaking onto our yacht in the dead of night and not explaining what he was doing here."

"Oh, I see." Bucsan turned to Gatten. "When I told you that you probably shouldn't talk about it to anybody, I didn't mean in a situation like this. These people - you really should admit to why you were there." Gatten just sat there and sulked at him. "Very well. You have one choice as to your punishment. Ten Turns in the Telgar mines, after which you must stand before me and Lord Holder Tangren again before being re-admitted to Fort Sea Hold or any other Hold looking to Fort, or... permanent exile, and we drum your name and your crimes so that all across Pern, any Harper will know what their Lord is getting into if he grants you sanctuary."

Gatten swallowed. "I choose the mines."

"Very well. I'll see about making your travel plans in the morning. My good man?" The night guard hurried over. "See that Gatten is secure for the night." And Gatten was led away. Once the five of us were alone in the Holder's study, Bucsan turned back to me. "I suppose it's up to me to explain what's going on here."

"Yes, I think that you'd better," Maxx said. "Had Gatten trespassed in this manner before?"

"Yes. Once he was caught in a guest's room here in the Hold, and it was passed off as an innocent mistake. He's not the brightest wit, Gatten is, and the guests involved didn't want to cause him any trouble. That was while my father was the Holder, though he was getting too old for some parts of the job. The first time Gatten was brought before me about it, he'd gone further. Not only sneaking aboard a boat where others of my dependents were sleeping, but - touching a woman, as she slept, in a way that she'd not have thanked him for."

I shivered automatically, and looked over at the others. Izabella looked as uncomfortable with that reference as I felt, and Maxx and Aless were both getting angry. "I thought that a Turn in the mines would scare him straight. While he was gone, a few stories surfaced that lead me to think that he'd tried it before and not been caught in the act. But I truly didn't think that - I'm so terribly sorry."

"I... I don't really know what to say," Maxx muttered. "To think of him doing that to Lizza..."

"Based on what little I know of Gatten's - preferences, I think it more likely it was your fair sister he was concerned with," Bucsan muttered. "Not that that makes much difference now, I suppose. If there's anything I can do to repay you for this dishonor..."

Aless shrugged. "I can't think of anything that we need now, other than to enjoy your hospitality until ~~the caravan comes through with the other apprentices, tomorrow afternoon."

"Then the debt shall be yours to draw on, when you have a need," Bucsan told them. "Fair Izabella - will you be accompanying your friends on their journey to the Fort Halls?"

Izabella jumped slightly at the way he had addressed her, but it seemed to be just a kind of formal courtesy. "No, Holder. My father and mother will be riding this way with the caravan, and then father will be assisting with some kind of mediation here before we return to Ruatha."

"Oh! So you and Maxx are the foster children of Journeyman Evans?" Izabella and Maxx nodded. "I hadn't made the connection before."

"Wait a second," I asked. "Forgive me if this was mentioned and I missed it, but how's the yacht getting back to Janus cot?"

"It's not, Lizza," Bucsan told me. "The new owners should be arriving early this morning on a ship from Ista."

"Right, that was part of the deal," Izabella agreed. "The sale was already agreed on, but Jana and her family couldn't spare anybody else to sail it up to Fort and then walk back, and they didn't want to make their buyers find runner-beasts to ride over. So the four of us get an opportunity to take a sale, and everybody else is convenienced too."

"Cleverly arranged," Aless said, taking Izabella's hand in his and kissing it. "Sea Holder, thank you very much for your time, but since I noticed that it's only starting the third watch of the night, we should probably leave off the courtesies and idle questions and return to our beds."

"Yes, well spoken," Bucsan said, standing up.

"Are you okay to go back to the boat, Izabella?" Maxx asked her. "Gatten won't be coming back, I'm sure."

"Yes, I'll be fine," Izabella snapped, then immediately softened slightly. "Thanking you for your concern, dear brother."

I followed the other three back out of the Sea Hold, wondering if I'd be able to get to sleep myself, considering that the prospect of more than one lurking deviant had been added in my mind to my fears about spying dragonmen. But when we got back to the bed and settled to retire again, I can't remember lying awake for more than a few seconds. Perhaps Maxx took it upon himself and his remarkable abilities to help me to sleep.

#

The next thing I remember, the sun was up, and I was lying in the hold of the yacht, not up on the deck where I'd been. Maxx wasn't next to me - in fact, there was nobody around that I could see, and so I splashed a little fresh water on my face, changed into a fresh Healer-green tunic, and headed up the ladder. Maxx immediately looked over and smiled. "Good, you're up. I was a little worried when I couldn't get you awake for the sunrise, or after."

"Be honest with me, Maxx," I said, smiling at him. "Did you - do something to help me get to sleep?"

"Well, yeah. I won't try it that way again, not after this."

I shrugged and decided not to ask any further about that. "So, what did I miss?"

"Well, let's see. Can you give me a hand with some of these lines? Izabella asked me to help out and make sure that the yacht was shipshape and trim before the new owners show up."

"Sure, just tell me what to do," I told him. "And make sure that I break fast before too long."

"Oh, right, you must be hungry," Maxx said. "Eat first - there's probably nothing much available at the Sea Hold, so help yourself to whatever's in the supply cabinet." I did, and began munching on slightly stale pastries. "So, all three of us actually went out on one of the fishing boats for a quick sunrise trawl, and then had breakfast at the Sea Hold - hot gruel and poultry eggs." I shot him a look. "Sorry that you couldn't make it for that."

"I'll survive," I assured him. "Anything else been going on? Where are Aless and Izabella?"

"Still up at the Sea Hold, talking to an uncle of Aless' who he hasn't seen in Turns, who's about to leave on a ship for Bitra tomorrow. He wanted to take the opportunity to get to know Aless' sweetheart, and I couldn't deny them that."

"Cool, that must be Uncle Alem. I hope that I get a chance to catch up with him too. It really has been - um, yeah, three and a half Turns since he was able to visit Ruatha."

Maxx smiled. "Yeah, I think he mentioned you too."

"No other rider sightings?"

"Weyrmen?" Maxx shook his head.

"Okay." I finished off the last edible-seeming morsel. "Should I furl the signalling flags and pack the bags that we'll be taking to the Healer Hall?"

Maxx laughed. "You really are very bright, my sweet. That was just what I was thinking of asking."

I kissed him and went aft to see to the flags.

#

The caravan from Ruatha got to the Sea Hold just in time for a late nooning, which had been delayed about as long as possible on their account. Izabella hugged her parents as soon as they were down off their runner, and I looked around for Master Whitman, but he didn't appear to have come along after all.

There was one Journeyman Harper who was in charge of all the Apprentices, and started to give Aless, Maxx, and I a lecture about how to behave ourselves on the trip, before the Sea Holder told him to let that wait until after we'd all eaten. Izabella wasn't eating with her parents, as I thought she might, and had saved seats for all of us at the same table as the other apprentices. It was a nice little occasion, but I was dwelling on the fact that I'd miss Izabella's company, and that made me think about Mari, and I looked around, as if wondering whether I'd missed her.

I couldn't spot her anywhere in the dining hall. By this point, the meatrolls were nearly finished, and nobody was up and moving around, but still, there were a lot of people whose faces I couldn't really check without getting up and doing a lap of the room. Rather than bothering with that, I whispered in Maxx's direction. "What about Mari? Did you see her as the caravan came in?"

Max's face fell as he was chewing. "I - I completely forgot that she was supposed to be coming too, I was just looking for Niklos, and my parents, and wondering who we should report to."

"I was looking for her," Aless put in. "And I didn't spot her. Do you think that the Fjellgars refused her a place after all?"

"I don't think that's it, but I couldn't say," Maxx admitted. "I'll ask Father after nooning. He should know what the story is."

And so of course, as I waited for news, the rest of the meal seemed to crawl by a little bit at a time. After the Sea Holder had made an impromptu speech welcoming the caravan to his holding, and Raylo Fjellgar said a few words of thanks in return, the sweet wraps were brought out, and Maxx took a chance to slip over to the table where his parents were dining, and had a quick conversation with his Father. When he headed back our way, he had a relieved smile on his face, so I knew that things would be okay for Mari.

"They offered her a position, but Mari's mother wanted her help with an impromptu Gather yesterday, and Raylo pointed out a few things that she should be packing and arranging before leaving Ruatha. Also, she wanted to stay on with your father, Lizza, until he'd found somebody else to help. So, the plan is that she'll start with the next time the caravan gets to Ruatha."

"We missed a gather back at Ruatha?" Aless said, and Izabella shot him a look. "Not that sailing with you wasn't fun too, darling. Anyway, all of that makes good sense, Maxx. We should have thought of all those little details."

"Maybe if I hadn't kept the whole thing as a surprise, she wouldn't have had to wait," Maxx muttered, looking down at the two wraps that I'd put onto his plate.

"And maybe a few more days wouldn't have made any difference," I said to him. "Your heart was in the right place, so don't flog your skin over it. Come on." I made a big and obvious munch out of my wrap. "There might be seaweed or something in these, but they're pretty tasty anyway."

#

I guess I thought that we'd get a chance to ride, when I thought of travelling with the caravan. Maybe we would have, if we'd started with them at Ruatha - three of the other apprentices got to share horses, (two with each other, one with an older man who worked with the caravan.) But Journeyman Riman informed us flatly that we'd be making the trip inside one of the wagons - with him, and one of Aless' fellow apprentice harpers.

It wasn't nearly as fun as sailing with Izabella was, though the five of us tried some games to play the time - riddles, and 'name that bird call', and even 'I'm going on a dragon ride.' It was at that point that I started to feel dizzy.

Maxx noticed right away, though I didn't say anything. "Lizza, what's wrong?"

"Just a bit of trail sickness, I think," I muttered. "It doesn't help that I can't see outside this wagon. Is there any way that I can sit on the back ledge or something?"

"There's no back ledge on this design," the Journeyman said, shaking his head sympathetically. "I think that we can probably tie the back flaps open, if that'll help. Or there''s a seat up front next to the driver; we can see if he'll be okay with you keeping his company for a little while."

"Umm - let's try the back flap," I muttered, finding it hard to concentrate, but knowing that all things being equal, I'd rather stay near Maxx than be out of his sight. So Maxx helped me over to where I could sit cross-legged near the back of the wagon, facing towards its rear, and Aless and Riman got the canvas flaps pulled back and tied to the corners of the wagon frame, so that there was a triangular opening that let me see the trail that we'd just passed over, and the rest of the caravan bringing up the rear.

It was only a few minutes before one of the traders noticed what we were up to and rode up, and I was wondering if he'd castigate us for letting bugs into his wagon or something. But he smiled tiredly. "Somebody got trail sickness?"

"That'd be me, sir," I said, raising my hand. "It doesn't hit if I can see where - well, usually see where I'm going. I guess we'll find out if seeing where I've been does the trick."~~

"Well, just do what you can to not lose your lunch right in the way I'm heading," he muttered, and guided his mount over to the side, so that he wasn't following right behind our wagon.

#

The lead riders of the caravan caught sight of Fort Hold just as the sun was setting, and by the time we got to the Harper Hall quadrangle, the darkness was closing in. A short woman holding a glow-basket hurried down the steps and across the yard to meet us. "Ruathan apprentices?"

"Yes my lady, that's us," Aless answered.

"Harpers and healers both? All accounted for?"

"Indeed, and one trail-weary journeyman on top. Hello again Andraia," Journeyman Riman said to her. "Sorry that we didn't make it earlier."

"Riman? Don't apologize for something that's out of your control," Headwoman Andraia said to him. "Well, come along, one and all - we should go by the Healer's entrance I suppose." She headed off to the side of the yard. "Who all is healercraft?"

"We are," Maxx and I answered at the same time, and young Niklos spoke up too.

"Well, three, that shouldn't be too many for Karalinn to..." Andraia broke off and peered at Maxx and I in the dim glow-light. "Well, don't the two of you look darling together, back there."

I realized just then that she'd noticed how Maxx and I were holding hands. "I - I'm glad you think so, Headwoman," I managed to say without quite tripping over my tongue.

"Will I have to prepare for an apprentices' espousal?"

"No, Headwoman," Maxx said, and I could feel his hand getting warmer. "I told Lizza's father we wouldn't make any plans until after I got my Journeyman's knot."

"That's sensible, healer apprentice," Andraia told him. "What's your name?"

"It's Maxx."

"Oh - Evans' foster son. He told me a lot about you and your sister. Well, it's nice to meet you both, and here's Healer Journeywoman Karalinn to get you settled." I couldn't see much of the journeywoman beyond a slender shape in a forest green tunic. "Three from Ruatha, Karalinn - the lovebirds, and that younger lad in the back."

"Lovebirds?" Karalinn replied as we gathered around her. "I knew that Whitman was sending us a girl without much notice, but a lovestruck lad following her all the way here?"

I laughed. "If anything, I'm following Maxx. He's been an apprentice for Turns, and only suggested a couple sevendays ago that I might have what it takes to be a healer too."

"I see. Well, come on this way." Karalinn led the three of us through a heavy metal door and into a corridor that tunneled under the rocky cliff. "I hope I don't need to mention that we won't tolerate either of you sneaking into the other's dormitory."

"Yes, I assumed as much, Journeywoman," Maxx assured her. "We'll find a way to be content with spending what time we can together during the day-time - in public places, well-chaperoned."

Karalinn burst out laughing. "We're not quite as methody as all that, but it probably wouldn't hurt to toe the line for a sevenday or so, until you get the routine down. Speaking of which - you'll take three meals a day in the great hall with the Harpers, sitting at the apprentice tables. There's no assigned seating, so sit down wherever you find an available spot. There's work detail for two hours after dinner, in the early afternoon, and classes in the morning and late afternoon. Lizza? Do you have a question?"

"Umm, not really." I'd been thrown for a moment by the reference to dinner, and then worked out that they must call the middle meal of the day by that name, instead of 'nooning', possibly because it was heartier than what was served in the evening.

"I'll find you at breakfast tomorrow, and take you to see Journeman Bramahn for your first placement tests, and he'll be telling you more about your schedule after that. Evenings are personal time, except for any assignments that your teachers have given you to complete for class. That's your dormitory up there, Lizza - the door on the left."

Suddenly something else occurred to me. "Is there any way I could get something to eat before settling in for the night, actually? There wasn't much chow on the trail from the Sea Hold."

"Ohh! Sorry, I didn't realize that you rode all that way without a break." Karalinn looked around as if that would help her make her decision."

"Why don't you drop off your luggage and unpack a little while you're here, Lizza?" Maxx suggested. "The good Journeywoman can take us to the boy's apprentice dorm, and..." He ran out of steam a little at this point.

But Karalinn was able to take over for him. "Yes, that's a good plan, Maxx. I'll drop you lads off at your dorms - since you're in different age brackets, and then go by the kitchen to warn whoever's on night hearth duty that there are hungry travellers who'll need a little nibble. The Harpers might beat me there, actually, if they're trail-starved too. Then I'll come back and collect you all in the same order, Lizza first, so that if you each pay attention you'll learn how to get around from place to place. Just don't go in the kitchen door tomorrow morning; but then you can follow your dorm-mates."

"Well, that would be great," I said. "If you don't mind doing so much running around for our sakes."

"Please, I'm happy to," she insisted. "I remember my first seven-day at the Hall, a little girl of eleven Turns, never left my family's cot in the mountains above Bitra, untill the rider came to take me for a Healer's training. I had kind people to help me settle in then, and it's the kind of debt that needs must be repaid onward, not back."

"Thank you, then, Karalinn," Niklos said. "I look forward to the day that I'm experienced enough to be taking on such responsibilities."

"I do too, young man," Karalinn said as she led the way on to my new home. "But two things I should say - one is to beg pardon for not asking your name, and the other is to point out that you should address me by rank - if only to get yourself into the habit."

There were only two other girls in my dorm room, though it held five pallets, and I wondered if there would be other girl apprentices arriving soon. Terrica was Nabolese, had fifteen and a half Turns, and the most recent three here at the Hall, while Garty was of an age with me, born in Igen, and had the tanned skin and bleached golden hair to prove it. She'd only arrived a seven-day before, around the same time that I first went to study with Master Whitman. They were both very friendly and more talkative than I felt after the long day of travelling and getting woken up in the middle of thee night by a sea prowler.

~~But I got some blankets spread over my pallet, and many of my clothes folded up in the press, and took care of a few other things in the private room, and by then Journeywoman Karalinn was waiting for me. I apologized for keeping her waiting, which she said I didn't need to mention, this time, and she took me off to meet Maxx at his new dorm.

He made a big point of kissing me in front of the other guys, as if he wanted to establish that I was off limits. I wasn't wild about being so publicly claimed, but Master Whitman had mentioned that if Maxx and I were obvious about our affections, and Maxx willing to get jealous and possessive about anybody else who tried to court me, it might save me some harassment later on. If this was part of that plan, then I could live with it alright.

And soon, we were sitting around a table in the corner of the big dining Hall, along with Niklos and the Ruathan harper apprentices, and two new arrivals from Tillek who'd also gotten to the Hall too late for dinner, and a few journeymen harpers. Apparently the kitchen staff had decided that there were too many of us to have underfoot in their space, and brought out a few things to eat for us. As I munched on the berry pie, I wondered if it would be any better hot out of the oven, or if I'd be missing the product of my Father's craft for the whole time I was studying at Healer Hall.

"So, Aless, how much do you miss your darling Izabella already?" one of his fellow harper apprentices teased him. It was at that point that I realized I'd been so busy with the excitement of the caravan rolling out from the Sea Hold that I'd paid no attention at all to Aless' and Izabella's goodbye, before she headed back with her foster parents for Ruatha. They should be back home by this point, certainly.

"Quite a bit," Aless muttered quietly. "But we've been doing what we could to get ready for this day. It'd probably have been worse if we'd really known each other for Turns and Turns, instead of just a few sevendays."

"I'm not so sure about that," Ruttan, one of the Tillek lads said. "Then, you've got Turns and Turns of memories to look back on and console yourself with. I don't think I'd have wanted to leave Derrine only a few sevendays after getting to know her."

This distracted everybody from Aless' situation, as all of the Ruathans wanted to know more about Ruttan and Derrine.

Maxx walked me back to my dormitory. "Do you think that we can meet for a long-ish moment before breakfast tomorrow?" he asked. "Out in the yard?"

"Umm." I thought about that. "I'll try, but I'm not sure how long it'll take to get ready to go once I'm up, or when I'll wake up. We've got placement tests right after breakfast, remember, and I want to do as well as I can, even if we probably won't have any classes together anyway. So..."

"I'll look for you, and tell myself not to be disappointed if you don't make it," Maxx said, and gave me another quick kiss. "Nothing to make a big harvest of tears from."

"Okay." I kissed him back. "Do you want to come in and meet my dorm-mates? Just quickly - you've shown me off to the guys, and I think that they'll be impressed with my... hmm. Just what can I call you, Maxx? Are you my suitor? It sounds so old-fashioned and high-rank."

"You want old-fashioned?" Maxx laughed. "How about calling me your swain?"

I shook my head, went into the room, and just called him Maxx. But he introduced himself as my swain.

#

I didn't meet Maxx in the quadrangle courtyard before breakfast today. Everything went wrong - I slept late, even though Terrica tried to get me to wake up, and so I had three dorm-mates in line ahead of me for the private room - and surprised that I had a third dorm-mate at all, but apparently she'd arrived in the middle of the night on dragon-back from Benden Hold.

So, after all that, I only got to the dining hall after the apprentices were let in to find seats, and kept looking around for Maxx. It turned out that he'd been looking for me before sitting down either - and when we found each other, we couldn't find any spot where we could sit next to each other, across from each other, or even fairly close to each other. When the journeyman on order duty told us to stop dawdling and just sit down, we ended up at the same long table, but nearly opposite ends, and I found myself surrounded by girls in fancy Gather dresses - at least, I'd only be wearing a costume so elaborate and delicate on a Gather day, but since this wasn't even a rest day, I had to assume that they had different criteria for what to wear on what day.

It turns out that they were paying students at the Harper Hall - not apprentices chosen by the craft Masters, but some relative had offered to pay the Harpers in marks in exchange for teaching them musical skills. Most of them thought this was a good idea because they hoped that it would help them attract a good spouse, but a few were espoused already. I didn't want to keep prying at them all through the meal, though it was a facet of the Harper Hall that I hadn't thought of before, and they had questions about Maxx and I too. I had to remember to put at least as much time towards eating as chatting.

Which wasn't on account of the cooking - it was very different from the pastry-based breakfast that I was familiar with from Ruatha, whether up in the family Klah Lounge or down in the lower caverns. There were hot griddle cakes with sweet syrup, and greasy sausages that you could cut up and dunk in a sour sauce, and fresh fruit and grilled roots and other vegetables. It was all delicious.

After the meal was done, the order journeyman went up to a podium near the Master's table, and told a few apprentices that they should be reporting to such-and-such with the morning bell. I kept listening for my name or Maxx's, wondering if he'd repeat the instructions that we were to go with Journeywoman Karalinn, but that wasn't mentioned, so I assumed that this might be just for last minute changes and people who hadn't already been given the necessary details. The journeyman then introduced Masterharper Woryel, and Masterhealer Oganach, who each welcomed the new apprentices to the Halls - again. That had become a running joke, apparently, that so many newcomers were staggering in a few at a time that they were giving welcome speeches at every opportunity.

Soon, everybody was dismissed, and I went over to stand close to Maxx. Karalinn got up from one of the journeyman's tables and waved us over, along with several other apprentices in Healer green. I wondered how frequently they were doing placement tests for newly arrived Healer students.

There were only seven of us actually when Karalinn led us into the classroom, which had two deeply set windows that each looked out across the valley meadow towards Fort Hold. "Okay, it looks like there's a slight change in plans, and Brahmin is needed elsewhere, so I'll be conducting your placement tests," she announced. "Get a quill, ink, and one of the spare hides from the sideboard and then take a desk. Conserve space - you won't get a second hide. There are twenty questions in this part of the testing, and if I can't read your writing, I will assume the worst."

That part wasn't so bad. I was fairly comfortable with making notations and not using up too much hide, and all of the questions were in fields that Master Whitman had covered before we left Ruatha, though in many of them I wasn't quite sure how to phrase my answer. Then, the journeywoman called us each up for an oral examination, during which every apprentice but the one being addressed was under strict orders to remain silent.

The testing took several hours to finish, and then Karalinn told us that we had half an hour free until dinner time. Maxx took my hand and led the way down the corridor, around a few turns, and out into the meadow, a little way from the quadrangle. I kissed him, but he started laughing in the middle of it. "What's so funny?" I asked him.

"It's not funny, just... I don't know, I'm so happy that we're both here, and you did great! I know that you're brilliant, but seriously, honey, I could hardly believe some of the answers that you gave."

"Really?" I shook my head. "I was terrified, and I don't think I did that amazing. I mean, I had to pass entirely seven or eight times during the oral, and..."

"Yeah, but that was the Journeyman finding your level, asking questions from the whole apprentice curriculum - even though you told her that you've only been studying for a few sevendays, she had to do it by the book." He kissed me again. "I can't wait to see how well you'll be doing once you actually have been studying Healercraft for Turns!"

"Yeah, that'll be something," I muttered, though I wasn't sure about all this for some reason. Being able to spend time with Maxx in semi-privacy was nice, though it wasn't as private as I'd hoped. A few beefy fosterlings came over along the path from Fort Hold, and they whistled and jeered at both of us a little. I could tell that Maxx was mad, but it didn't really seem like a good idea for him to make a big deal, as they were both physically more imposing and higher-ranked than he was. We just slipped through the quadrangle doors ahead of them and blended in with the other apprentices. The fosterlings went right up to the dining room doors and were allowed in, though they weren't letting apprentices in yet. I had to wonder what these boys were even doing over at the Hall.

Dinner was great, and again fancier than I had expected, roast ovine and baked tubers and greens and fresh bread. Maxx and I were able to sit together, and Aless and Ruttan and Niklos and some of the other Ruathan apprentices found us. I looked around for the fosterlings, and for the girls I'd been sitting with that morning, but couldn't see either.

Among the announcements at the end of dinner was some kind of lottery for which work detail groups had been assigned which chores. Karalinn had mentioned that we'd be on work detail, but hadn't given us group numbers, so that confused me. Should we find her again and ask? Or were we off free until our numbers were assigned?

And then, there was another announcement that caught my attention - Karalinn came to the podium and announced the placements of the new Healer apprentices. I hadn't realized that this was going to be a public announcement. There were three classes in each year, it seemed, and Maxx got placed in fourth year, top class. That meant that he might be walking the tables in only four more months or so! I squeezed his hand, so proud.

And I wasn't even listening for a bit, because suddenly Maxx was saying that he was so proud of me, and hadn't he told me that I did well on my oral exam? "Wait a second - what did I get?" I asked him. "Middle class?" It hardly seemed likely that I'd placed in the top class of first year apprentices, with students who had been learning the Healercraft for two or three seasons.

"Top class - of second year," Niklos muttered. "It seems your with me, my little serving drudge."

Oh, no... this wasn't good at all! I'd be with the second year apprentices? Karalinn must have made a mistake, confusing my last-minute cramming with some kind of real proficiency - but there wasn't any way I could tell her that, was there? How could I manage? Wouldn't all of my new classmates resent me when they found out how recently Master Whitman had taken me on?

Work detail was the least of my problems now.