A/N: New readers: Your 'veteran' counterparts are dancing precariously on the edge of spoilers...use caution if you read reviews.

AER: Well done exercising patience (this is meant with both sincerity and sarcasm)

Aubrey: Maybe you and Alex up there can join forces or something.

Saberin: Details to come :)

Gold: Well done on keeping spoilers quiet :) And yes...was sad for Lina to lose Jarra but Prince is good too :)

Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.

The cart traveled all through the night and well into the morning. Liam and Lina went on the defensive immediately. Their guards' cursing and instant foul mood assured them that their daughter was safe with Will somewhere in the woods. They'd been in these situations before. Knowing Scout was far away from it gave them the focus they needed. Lina spent the better part of her time glaring directly at Finley, who had caught up and made it known she was in charge. Liam studied the teenage girl who had been in their cabin. Rachelle or Mary or whatever her name was had been clapped with chains and seemingly made prisoner alongside the couple and now sat on the opposite side of the cart with her face buried in her knees.

It was several weeks of mostly silence as they traveled. Liam and Lina refused to speak. Finley didn't come near them. Mary sobbed. Guards gave them bread each day and canteens of water each time they stopped. Finally, they arrived at a castle. Lina was chained to Mary while Liam sat opposite in his own bonds. It was clear they planned to separate the sexes.

"Get back to Scout, see that she's safe, and then come back for me," Lina told her husband.

Liam nodded. "You do the same."

They'd both been thinking it. Lina was simply the one to put it into words. Even as they made the agreement they knew they wouldn't keep it. They'd trust Will to keep Scout safe until they could get free.

Will and Horace stalked the carts. Duncan planned to soon step down as King of Araluen and had allowed Horace the freedom to enjoy his last few years as a lowly prince taking missions as they came. The people who took Liam and Lina had gone close enough to Castle Araluen for Will to alert Gilan and recruit his long-time friend. It brought Halt and Crowley out of formal retirement. Crowley rode to Redmont to watch over the fief in the absence of Will and Liam while Halt studied up on the enemy. While Will and Horace tailed the captors Halt and Kane rode around the countryside gathering information. Pauline had been traveling on Courier business and Halt had decided it was time their son get some personal field experience. The task was dangerous but Kane had grown restless and gathering information was a simple job. Halt could always send the boy home. Kane was a remarkable rider and he had a fast horse. Halt had also taught him every tree and rock on that side of Araluen.

"Picta," Horace muttered as they neared the treacherous border. "Why Picta?"

"I don't know but hopefully we find out soon."

The two of them were no match for the large group of warriors. They had no choice but to follow them quietly as they waited for reinforcements. Lina was, after all, a formal representative of Hibernia and their Crown Princess. Duncan was obligated to send a company after them.

They came upon a heavily guarded castle. The chilling banner of the Academy of Sunrise Warriors flew high over it. They saw the prisoner cart be taken through the gate before they closed and seemingly blocked off the entire city.

"This is going to be challenging," Will sighed.

"That it is."

Lina and Mary were taken to a dim room. They were forced out of their clothing and into the uniform Lina despised. It wasn't the immodest design of the dress that bothered her. It was the fact she was forced to that made her cringe. She was given no crutches so guards roughly carried her from place to place. Mary ceased her sobbing and, to Lina's amusement, shot threatening glares at all who made eye contact with her. Finally they were locked in a windowless stone room with two beds.

Lina hopped to the closest bed and sat on it. She watched Mary exchange angry words with a guard before doing the same. "Have you been captive before?" Lina asked. It was the first time since they were at the cabin she'd spoken directly to the girl. Mary shook her head.

"But…I know these captors. They used to be friends."

"If this place is anything like the place I was brought up in then you should learn very quickly that friends are a luxury you can't often afford."

"Did you know very many in the last rebellion?"

Lina nodded. "I hope you never have to do the things I did to end it."

"I think I may have to. Will you teach me?"

Lina shook her head firmly. "You are young. You don't need to know those things."

"I am old by advanced scout standards."

Lina's heart skipped a beat. "What…"

"You heard me. I'm an advanced scout just like you were. I'm sixteen. I'll be dead in less than ten years if the statistics prove true."

Lina remembered when she was sixteen. That was an age of lighthearted rebellion and carefree mistakes. It was the age to fall in and out of love and steal kisses in the moonlight and begin an apprenticeship. It was the age to explore life and be tempted with all it had to offer before settling into society. When she was sixteen she had killed, stolen, lied, cheated, painted her face and twisted up her hair, donned whorish outfits, kept blades on her at all times, spoken a half dozen languages with the fluency of locals, and traveled to so many countries she couldn't keep count. She hadn't been the only Hibernian royalty in the school. Tao, her personal torturer from the days she and Cassandra were captives together, had been the bastard prince of the kingdom that neighbored Clonmel and a man who taught poisons was cousin of the king of Fir Bolg. They were unwanted outcasts that were trained up to be lethal. Just as Lina had been as the unwanted daughter of Ferris.

The door burst open. Finley joined them along with several guards. The guards placed padded manacles on both Lina and Mary so that they couldn't move from the beds and then left them alone with Lina's mother.

"You told me you had a daughter. Since you're not interested in being my heir and you killed Ronan I had no choice but to take her. But the Rangers got in the way," Finley spat. She looked to Mary and gave the teenage girl a sick smile. "Thank you for leading us straight to her. I knew keeping Talia around would prove useful. She's quite easy to manipulate."

"Talia would never fall for your tricks," Lina shot off. She hoped to shift Finley's attention from Mary. She knew firsthand what Finley was capable of and wanted desperately to save the teen stranger from that type of mind-twisting.

"When you knew her she wouldn't but ever since we told her that bastard son of hers died she hasn't been well."

Lina narrowed her eyes. "Do you know what came of that child?"

"I know you took him to some orphanage in Araluen. It works out quite nicely, actually. Now he's untraceable. No doubt you gave him a new name to throw me off. The trick works for anyone hoping to find him."

Lina kept her face vacant of expression. Kane was safe. Scout was safe. Those were facts she could cling to until she found a way out.

"It's a pity you twisted your foot in Fir Bolg. You're of no use to me as an invalid, however you are my daughter. If you chose to follow me I will grant you a comfortable life."

"Why should I follow you?"

"I'm your mother. Wouldn't it break your heart if sweet little Scout turned on you?"

"Strange," Lina said with poison in her words. "You abandoned me as a child and I turned from you. I don't even refer to you as my mother anymore. I left Scout when she was an infant to protect her and when I return she still calls me 'Mama' clings to my skirt and wishes for me to tell her stories before she goes to bed."

Finley frowned. "Scout is a terrible name for a princess."

"While that is true it is a good name for a strong woman. I'd much rather she grows up to be strong than grow up to become a princess."

"You write a death sentence for yourself."

"I've written a book of death for me and still I live."

Finley drew a dagger and pressed its point to Lina's chin. "How tempting to end that book," Finley spat as she drew a faint line of blood, "But I can't bring myself to kill my own flesh and blood."

"Coward," Lina pressed.

"I am a coward for allowing you to live? I thought you valued life."

"It takes more strength to allow your enemy to live than to kill them."

"So how does this make me a coward?"

"You are afraid to claim me as your enemy."

"You are my daughter."

Lina shook her head. "Only in flesh and blood am I your daughter. We have no bond. You taught me no lessons other than to hate the world around me. You did not raise me nor did you treat me with respect."

"I gave you independence."

"I will never give Scout that kind of independence. You sent me to succeed or fail on my own only the challenge I was presented with could have easily claimed my life."

"You turned out alright."

"Can you say the same for Ronan?"

Finley slapped her. "How do you expect me to feel about my daughter being hobbled with an injury that will affect her entire life in the process of trying to kill her brother? Or that the one who succeeded in killing my son is an old lover?"

"Halt told me all about the relationship he shared with you. You could have had a very different life but you decided the comforts of court were more valuable than your love for him. I'm glad he found Pauline. She's a wonderful woman who loves him with every inch of her being." Lina made a face. "You let him go for a life of jewels and privilege."

"That life was only available if I killed my daughters and produced sons."

"Halt would have never put you in that position."

Finley slapped her again. "You don't think I know that?"

Lina kept going, seeing Finley on edge.

"You ruined your life Finley and you refuse to accept the life that could have been dealt you. You could have worked hard and made a living. You could have found love again but instead you held to your hate and it ruined you…and almost ruined me."

"You think that boy loves you? He's a bastard Lina. He hasn't a clue who his father is and has no nobility to speak of. Everything you love about him he acquired through the Academy."

"The Academy didn't teach him modesty, humility, or passion."

"I let you hash it out in Nihon-Ja for those few years so that you could truly see what you were made of. You were young, yes, but you had so much potential. I never meant for your team to be lost. An experience like that should have scarred you but that emperor ruined everything. I tried to give you the drive you needed to become great while at the same time protecting your brother from…" Finley cut herself off. Lina's eyes burned.

"From what? Becoming like me?"

Finley turned. "I don't have to listen to this."

"Mothers listen to their daughters."

Finley paused as she put her hand on the door. "I guess I really am not cut out to be a mother." She stormed out.

Lina relaxed back and suddenly felt ill. The bread they were given wasn't exactly fresh and the high-tension moment easily set her stomach to churning. She concentrated on breathing until the sensation passed. When it did she became aware of Mary staring at her.

"What?" Lina prompted.

"Where do you find the courage to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Defy Finley."

Lina shifted on the hard bed. "Do you know who your parents are, Mary?"

Mary nodded. "I do."

"Are they still alive?"

"My father is. My mother died giving birth to my little brother."

"Where is he?"

"He's a farmer in Fir Bolg. He…he couldn't afford to have so many mouths to feed. I tried hard to earn my keep but I'm not cut out for farm work. I tried really hard to mind my younger siblings but in the end he had no choice but to send my sister and me away. He sent her away first, when I was small, to the Academy outside of Clonmel. When it came time to send me away I was brought to the one in Fir Bolg."

"Is your sister alive?"

Mary lowered her eyes and choked as she answered. "No…my sister…your uncle killed her."

"Did he?"

Mary nodded. "She's quite a bit older than me. She was transferred to the Clonmel Academy and…her name was Tiva."

"Tiva tried to kill me."

Mary shook the feelings off. "I know she deserved it but still she was my sister."

"I understand."

"How were you able to attempt to kill your brother?"

"It's easy when they aren't truly your family."

"But Finley..."

"Finley isn't truly my family either. Family is a subjective term. Family is made up of people you owe your allegiance and loyalty. Family is made up of the people you trust with your life and are willing to dearly fight for theirs. Blood-family is very much different than true-family."

"Have you found true-family?"

"Yes."

"Do you think I can?"

Lina nodded. "Yes I do."