XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

KM: Hello, my lovies! Enjoying this sudden burst of updates? I hope so.

Daine: Numy comes in!

Neal: And my Yuki!

Yukimi: What do you mean 'my' Yuki?

Neal: Er... Um, Just that... I love you, Incandescent one, apple of my eye, Pearl of my heart.

Kel: -Cough- Suck up! -Cough-

Yukimi: -Wacks Neal on the head with her fan-

Neal: -Whimpers- Why me?

KM: You can have the disclaimer... -waves in front of face-

Neal: Oh! -Snatches- Yay!

Raoul: I hate you, Queenscove.

DdDdDdDdDdDdD

Neal: Oh, you all know the drill. Karissa M. Doesn't own a single little smidgeon of Tamora Pierce's luminescent, glorious, completely amazing characters, ideas, stories, places, or other such whimsical nonesense.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Thom held true to his promise, for the next morning, when Kari emerged from below deck, Tortall was most certainly larger. Much, much, larger.

Before, noon they had docked, and the entire delegation was eager to get off. Pearlmouth was a city of decent size, and because it was a port, it was fairly crowded.

Upon the disembarkment of the ship, kari was nearly knocked over by both Sir Nealan and Daine, as they ran to a group of several, both embracing people. Daine was swept up off the ground and twirls around by a very large man, with long black hair kept in a pony-tail. She looked to Thom questioningly. He nodded at the man, who had now set Daine on her feet. "That's Uncle Numair. He and Daine are lovers. And That's Neal's betrothed. Lady Yukimi."

"No one mentioned that Daine had a lover..." Kari observed, watching the two. The man, Numair was currently staring down at her tutor, as she chattered. The name sounded familiar. Though, she couldn't quite put her finger on where she'd heard it. Her interest for him was lost in her more strong curiosity about the woman who would agree to marry someone such as Sir Nealan. To her surprise, her eyes met an exceptionally pretty young woman, a Yamani lady, who hid her face behind a fan as her betrothed, obviously besotten, made wild gestures with his hands as he spoke. "So...?"

Thom snorted with a bit of laughter. "Yeah. We all wonder how exactly they came about as well. But they do like each other, quite alot. Don't ask me why." He shrugged.

Kari nodded her agreement, and confusion. None-the-less she had to admit, despite the teasing they made of Sir Nealan, seeing him as a bit of a pompous joke, he was good looking, and when he wasn't lecturing, or complaining, he could make a good companion. A a pale man, covered with freckles and with a mess of curly red hair, snorted with laughter when he saw us, "Sweet Mirthos, you've got an extra. Is Mindelan back to picking up every stray that gives her the puppy eyes?"

Upon hearing this statement, Kari ducked her head and felt her face heat up slightly. Thom clapped her on the back, "Don't worry about it. That's Merric Of Hollyose. He must be part of the escort. He's good friends with Kel and Neal. Her friends tend to tease her for her... particular interest in taking in the helpless." He explained.

"No, Hollyose, believe it or not, that would be my son." Alanna muttered, still looking a bit green from the boat ride.

As the delegation merged with the escort, old friends mingling and chatting, and before she knew it, Kari was being passed around, and introduced, bowing left and right. When things had calmed down a bit, Daine dragged her pupil over to Numair. "Kari, I'd like you to meet Numair. He was my teacher when I was your age."

Kari, yet again, bowed, "And honor to meet you, Sir." She told him, craning her neck to look up at him. He had to be at least as tall as Sir Raoul. Maybe even taller. She wasn't sure. Now that she thought of it, Sir Nealan, and Dom were very tall as well. Was it a Tortallan thing?

Numair, seeming to take pity on the much smaller girl, crouched down a bit, so she didn't have to bend over backwards to see his face. "The honor is mine." He grinned, "For my little Magelet to have a magelet of her own is certainly a reason for celebration."

Daine snorted, "I was never so hard to teach as she is. And I've no doubt that now that we're here she'll cause even more trouble. She has the attention span of a squirrel."

"S'not my fault that you teach stuff boringly." Kari muttered. She felt the need to defend herself. Why was she to blame for such things? Just because she didn't have any particular interest in books, or bone-structures didn't make her a bad student. "And I don't try to be trouble. Trouble just finds it's way to me, I s'pose. I do try to pay attention, and to meditate, and stuff like that, but there so much more to do, doesn't there?"

Numair clapped her on the back, as everyone seemed to be doing these days, "Ah. Daine, I think she'll do you good." He laughed. "True, you may have been a bit more eager to learn, but patience is something that comes with age. She'll come 'round."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The road to Corus was long, but the large group of travelers seemed to enjoy themselves. They had little to fear from bandits, robbers, and other such crooks, for not many people had the guts to try and sneak up on the Realm's most powerful mage, the King's Champion, 'The Protector of The Small', The Wild Mage, and Raoul the Giant Killer. Not the mention the other noteworthy members of the party. They did however come across a heard of Centaurs on the road, who, though they didn't attack or give any reason to believe they intended to do so, were a bit less than hospitable.

Much to Kari's displeasure her studies continued on the road as well, and Daine's efforts to make her focus were now joined in by Numair. The battle she had fought with simply the other female, for her right to have a bit of fun, was hardly a fair one now. Though, occasionally Lady Ke,l or Sir Nealan, or thom, or even Lady Yukimi came and snuck her away to play chess, or race horses.

Yukimi seemed to take a special liking in her, after learning that she was in fact originally from the Yamani Islands, and half Yamani herself. They talked about the constant threat of pirates, and the bandits of the island. It was through eaves dropping on these afternoon chats that the other members of the group came to learn the story of Kari's embarkment into slavery.

Ir rather, Thom's eaves-dropping, and telling the story to his mother, who in turn told Raoul, who then told Buri, who told Kel, who told Neal, who told Daine, who told Numair, who was overheard talking to Alanna about it by Sir Merric. Who seemed to be the only one of the lot who knew how to keep his gob shut, for the chain of whispering stopped with Merric.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

-Flash Back-

"Karissa, here! Under here, my love." A woman with dark brown hair, and a blurry face, a face I can't remember any more, grabbed my wrist and forced me under the bed. I was small, but it was still a rather tight fit. I could hear screams from outside my house, shouts and bangs, as well as the sound and smells of fire. My mother's feet, which was the only part of her I could see while crammed under the bed, were scrambling around the room.

Part of me vaguely knew what was happening. A raid. We'd had them before, and I knew other children who had lost a parent, sibling, grandparent, even an aunt, uncle, or cousin to the pirates. But my momma and pa and I had never been so unlucky. I was an only child at the time of the last raid, maybe two years before, but now I had a little brother. He and Pa were out fishing when the raid started. Pa was Tortallan, but Ma was a Yamani. Her parents had cast her out when she told them she was going to marry the Tortallan Trader, my pa, who sold her family, a very well off one, foriegn goods.

Ma's feet were still running around the room, until she kneeled down in front of the bed, pressing her finger to her lips to signal me to be quiet, "Don't be afraid, Love, everything will be fine." She told me in Yamani. I nodded, and watched as she reached past me, to a long box hidden under the bed, pulling out her naginata. Ma had been a noblewoman before Pa. She knew how to use it, and still practiced. I loved to watch her use it.

The wasn't long before the shouts and screams were close. And there was nanging on the door as it was forced open. Boot-clad feet stomped in, gruff voices speaking in different laguages, languages I'd never heard, let alone understood.

I couldn't see what went on, but heard the clang of metal on metal, several dull thuds, and a horrid scream, accompanied by a sickening squelching sound as a bady fell to the compact dirt floor of their house. I had closed my eyes, but opened them now to be sure that it was as I suspected, that it was the bad man who had released the scream.

It hadn't been.

I screamed.

-End Flashback-

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

KM: Kay, guys, I know it's not very long, but it is informative, is it not? I needed to get Kari's past out there. It was way past time.

Love it? Hate it? Review it.

Thanks so much to those who have done so!

You are all the loves of my life.