A/N: Alright everyone, I DID do a few Themes last night. Only, they take part later than this main story is at this time. I'll put them up as the main story catches up, as usual.

Aubrey: Gabby's getting more protective of Russ since she's pregnant. With a high-stress situation, she's bound to be distrustful of Talia, who has shown instability since she had Kane. The main reason she didn't take Kane is because Lina felt it would be best for him to stay with Halt and Pauline. I may have to add some of that to my Themes list to clear it up...it seems to come up a lot.

TheRanger'sDaughter: You will soon see :) But...not this time.

HammyMC: Mm...not those kinds of issues. Yes, you get to learn the new baby's name...later. Yes, you get to see a discussion about Russ's adoption...later.

Disclaimer: I am not John Flanagan.

Gabby tilted her head up as someone on the other side of the door beat their fist on it several times. "Girls, open up! It's over," a strong male voice called out. Gabby sat up straighter and everyone on the floor found their feet. It was Horace's voice. Cassandra and Talia lifted the board over the door and pulled it open. Horace embraced Cassandra tightly. Gabby scrunched her nose at the sudden burst of fresh air.

"Where is William?" Anamaria asked once she was on her feet.

"He'll meet you later. He's assessing damage."

"The little one needs to eat," Gabby spoke up. "Anamaria?"

Anamaria took the baby from her arms and bit her lip uncertainly.

"Kane's with William," Horace told Gabby gently. "Anamaria, your maids are in your rooms. Why don't you and Gabby wait there?"

"Is it safe to go?" Gabby asked as she picked up Russ and brought him to her hip. She could still hear people running around the castle.

"I can go with you," Talia offered. Gabby shifted uneasily. "And right after I can help assess damage."


Caitlyn watched Anamaria, Gabby, and Talia leave with the children. She looked up at Horace as she came out of the safe room. "Where's my father?" she asked. The effort it took to keep her voice steady was overwhelming.

"He's fine," Horace assured her. "He's…"

"Assessing damage?"

Horace shook his head. "Detaining prisoners."

"When can I see him?"

Alyss joined them. There was blood splattered on her dress but it didn't appear to belong to her. "Melody?" she asked immediately. "You alright?"

Melody nodded. "My sister…she…"

"She's detained," Alyss assured her. "How involved do you want to be in all this?"

Melody shrugged, clearly ready to cry all over again. Alyss took her by the arm and pulled her away from the group. Caitlyn watched as they went off and felt awkward still standing alone with Horace.

"Come on," Horace finally told her. "I think I've got a job for you."

Caitlyn realized she had nothing better to do so she followed him. There were guards and medics everywhere. Caitlyn wondered if Gabby would divert back to work as soon as she realized how many casualties there were in terms of injuries. Of course, she'd make sure Russ was taken care of first.

"What's the job?" Caitlyn asked. Horace led her to a man who was dealing out papers to Couriers and secretaries.

"Caitlyn, this is Ryan. He's been put in charge of the paperwork to all of this. Ryan, do you need an extra runner?"

"A runner?" Caitlyn asked unsurely.

"These are sensitive documents, Your Majesty," Ryan told him unsurely. He eyed Caitlyn suspiciously and held his papers as though they were the crown jewels.

"Kate is the daughter of Ranger Liam and Lady Lina. She's used to sensitive documents and…" Horace pulled out a knife and handed it to Caitlyn. "She can handle herself. Can't you Caitlyn?"

Caitlyn took the knife and nodded. "Yes."

"Caitlyn knows the castle better than some of your current runners. She'll be a good help for you."

"Very well then. Take this one to the battleschool and this one to the scribeschool. They need to go to whoever is the highest rank you can find."

Caitlyn accepted the envelopes and looked up to Horace. "A runner? Really?"

"It's better than sitting by yourself waiting for your father, and you do know the castle." Horace paused for a few moments. "Don't use that knife unless your physical person is threatened. We don't need any emotionally driven outbursts. Got it?"

Caitlyn put the knife in her belt and nodded. "Got it."


Gabby dipped the tip of a cloth in milk and put it in Anamaria's hand. The baby cried loudly while Anamaria struggled to feed him. "This no work," Anamaria sighed with frustration.

"That's because you're tense. He can tell."

Gabby could sense the princess was overwhelmed. She found Anamaria's hands and ran her thumb over the baby's mouth. "You need to relax."

"That not help."

Gabby remembered all the times Anamaria had wept over her lack of pregnancies. Being thrown a newborn was too stressful for her. Gabby remembered when Kane threw Russ at her. She'd loved him and she'd fallen into the role of mother without too many issues. But Russ had been older than this baby. He's only needed to be fed milk with a rag for a couple of weeks and then he could have it spooned to him and not too long after that from a cup. This baby wasn't even a week old. He'd need the special treatment a lot longer.

"Anamaria, do you see Russ?"

"Yes. He fall sleep on the rug. You want me to put him in bed?"

"No, he's fallen asleep in stranger places," Gabby shrugged. Now that she listened more closely she could hear his breathing. All the excitement must have worn him out. It'd make bedtime that night stressful but if the baby crying wasn't keeping him up he probably needed to sleep. "Have you picked out a name for him?" she asked.

"No," Anamaria answered. "William and I not had chance to talk about it."

"Right. Do you have any ideas?"

Gabby rested her hand on Anamaria's upper arm while they talked. She felt Anamaria relax the smallest bit. She'd have to keep this up if the princess was going to relax enough for the baby to be comfortable.

"I've got a few but I'm not sure."

"Well now that the attack's over you can get some baby furniture."

"Right. I wonder if that stuff is easy to get fast."

"For you it will be," Gabby assured her. "I'm sure everything you need is in storage somewhere."

Anamaria laughed. "He's eating."

"See?" Gabby said with encouragement. "You just have to relax."

The door opened and two sets of feet came in. Anamaria stood up quickly. Gabby kept pace keeping her hand on Anamaria's arm.

"How are the boys?" William asked. Gabby let go of Anamaria. Two sets of footsteps were coming towards them, and Gabby had caught Kane's scent. Once she hadn't been able to distinguish him from other Royal Scouts because everything about him was the same as all the others. Then she'd done something her brother, also a Royal Scout, had done for her when she wanted to find him in a crowd. Roman had taken to adding crushed lilac from their mother's garden to his laundry so he always had a distinct smell. She was sure he'd gotten plenty of grief over that by those he worked with, but she'd appreciated it. However, she knew making her husband smell like her brother was a bad idea. She used sage for Kane's shirts. It was more masculine in any case, and could be blamed on Gabby's washing his uniforms with hers should someone he worked with notice. Not that Kane cared much what others thought of him.

"Are you alright?" Gabby asked when he held her arms. Kane kissed her.

"William and I are both fine," he assured her. "I see Russ fell asleep."

"The excitement tired him."

"My father is having everyone gather in two hours to give a report on the damage," William told them. "It's probably going to be a long one. My mother recommended we all get some rest."

"Let's go home," Kane told Gabby. "The royal heirs need some privacy, and so do we."

Gabby smiled at his tone. She held her hands to her stomach when Kane let her go to collect Russ.

"Are you alright Gabby?" William asked. Gabby nodded.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Your cane was broken beyond repair in all the action."

"Again?" Gabby sighed with annoyance. She could navigate the castle easily enough but she still didn't like to be without it. It was helpful especially when things were being moved around as they'd surely be after an attack.

"Apparently someone tried to use it as staff. One of the enemies I found in the area had a severe gash with splinters in his head, so I guess it was for a good cause. I'll make sure someone gets you a new one soon. You don't have to go anywhere you aren't comfortable until then."

"Thanks," Gabby told him. Kane came back and took her by the waist.

"Have you eaten since this all went down?" he asked. Gabby shook her head. The few pieces of dried fruit could hardly be called a meal. "Let's go get something then."

"Daddy, why is there blood on your shirt?" Russ asked. Gabby stiffened.

"It isn't mine," Kane quickly assured Gabby. "I'm fine. I just got a few scrapes and bruises."