A/N: Yeah...I plan to have Lost done within the next couple of days...
AER: Glad you have a new friend :)
Aubrey Cortez: Winding down :) The 2nd one 'Found' will begin soon :) There are 6 in all.
HP-LotR-SW-HG: Chap 32 got you right in the feels, huh?
Alice: Halt/Lina are always a lot of fun :) Feel free to PM me your guesses. If you're having the same confusion Raider was having...she can help you out. She was just getting some details mixed up :)
Saberin: Yep. Leader's cray.
Raider: Watch some Master Chef or Kitchen Nightmares. You'll see the real Ramsey in no time. Or, you know...go look for memes.
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.
Will and Alyss looked out over the grounds late that night. Liam and Lina were nearby, but they were too busy staring at each other. The Hibernian couple whispered rapidly in the Toscana language to keep their conversation private. Will and Alyss spoke freely in the common tongue.
"How does a place like this exist?" Alyss asked painfully. A closer inspection of the grounds showcased that it was indeed a training location for elite warriors. However, everything was child-sized. Alyss felt particularly disturbed by the miniature target range.
"That's one we'll have to figure out some other time," Will whispered to her. He glanced to the other couple and noticed they were watching them.
"The monarchs didn't provide a place for orphans and their enemies found an opportunity," Liam explained. Will studied Lina's expression and sensed that the subject needed to change. Luckily Alyss, with her diplomatic training, noticed the same thing.
"We're all getting married," she said. "We should pick our dates."
Liam kissed Lina's cheek. "I'll just do whatever you tell me on this one, alright?"
"No you have to suffer through planning too."
Will smiled. He took Alyss' hand and led her to sit with their backs against the wall opposite of Liam and Lina. He noticed that Lina, at some point, had changed into brown leggings and a purple tunic. Inwardly he felt relieved. The short dresses that were the girls' summer uniform made him feel uneasy.
"Who's to go first then?" Alyss asked.
"I don't care," Liam and Lina said in unison.
"Alright…which season do you want them to be in?"
"I don't care," they echoed.
Alyss seemed frustrated. "Do the two of you have any opinions at all?"
Liam and Lina glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Alyss frowned. Will squeezed her hand. Lina must have noticed too because she offered some comfort. "If you pick a season and set your date we'll go five days before. Ours will be smaller since we're foreigners in Araluen."
"I don't know," Will teased. "Once people hear that the legendary Halt's niece is not only in the country but getting married they'll flock."
"Legendary," Lina repeated curiously.
"You didn't hear?" Alyss giggled. "He's six foot tall and has the strength of three men. He can walk out of trees and survives on nothing but coffee and bread."
"Is that what people think?" Lina giggled with a smile.
Will and Alyss nodded. "You wouldn't believe how surprised I was when most of those were found false," Will told her.
Lina smirked. She perked up, listening to the breeze as it picked up. "Did you hear that?"
Liam and Will nodded. There were light footsteps pattering to their right. "I'd have never thought he was so little," Liam answered. Alyss furrowed her brow and looked to Will. He could read her eyes well enough. Are you three speaking in code? He nodded.
"We know you're there," Will said in the direction of the footsteps. He was certain the key word in Liam's answer was 'little', meaning children. Four of them seemingly ranging in ages seven to twelve stepped out.
"How'd you know?" the oldest, a thin blonde boy asked.
"It wasn't you Ellery. You did great," Lina told him gently. "Ismine however…"
"I do good Neri I didn't talk at all," the youngest, a girl with dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes piped.
"You did wonderful for your age," Lina said with an amused tone. The girl, Ismine, smiled widely. "Why are you four out of bed?"
"We wanted to see you before you left again," the second boy who could be a relative of Ismine's said.
Lina looked to her companions. "I tutored them in Nihon-Ja language and customs."
"Do you have to go to Araluen?" the little one…Ismine…pleaded.
"Yes," Lina told her.
"I'll go too."
"No, Ismine. Your place is here for now. That goes for all of you. You need to finish the studies King Sean set up for you and then see where life takes you from there."
"You're letting Talia's son go with you," Ellery said crossly. "Is that because Talia was your friend?"
Lina gave the boy a warning look.
"Do you really want the answer to that, Ellery?"
Ellery cast his gaze down. "No."
"I didn't think so. Go back to bed."
"But," Ismine began.
"I'll say good bye before I leave."
The little girl didn't ask for reassurance of the promise. She just took Ellery's hand and the four went back the way they came. "You know that's why they wanted you to work with the littles," Liam told her softly. "They needed the Princess Royal of Clonmel alive and you were getting too old for an advanced scout. They wanted you to be like Master Rin, stuck here being a parent to those without them and doing the safer and less-exciting work nobody else wants to do."
"I would have been fine with that if the Academy made sense but it doesn't."
Alyss looked to Will. "Sounds like they'll be the first to have children," she whispered. Will just kissed her cheek.
"I think it's time for us to get going to bed," Lina said. "We've got an early morning tomorrow."
Each couple kissed their partner good night. Alyss tried to redirect Lina to the wedding topic but Lina only walked faster. Will and Liam went back to their room silently and went straight to bed.
Halt, Sean, Will, Liam, Lina, and Alyss all met in a private room to eat breakfast and be on their way. Lina had woken far earlier than the others to say good bye for the last time to old friends and collect belongings she'd originally left behind. She'd also gathered Talia's son, whose name she'd learned from a nursemaid was Kane, and gathered everything she'd need to care for him until they reached Araluen.
"Have you gotten everything set up for the school, Sean?" Halt asked as they ate a particularly good breakfast of rice, fried eggs, ham, and warm milk Master Rin spiked with cinnamon.
"I think so. They'll have to fend for themselves for a few days while I go back to Dun Kilty. I have a few knights in mind that would love the opportunity to come here and see things through." He looked to the younger Araluens. "Officially, it would be irresponsible of me to travel to Araluen just to attend the wedding of a junior Ranger to a Courier. The Princess Royal of Clonmel, though, is a different story. I really hope you've decided to keep your title officially, Lina."
Lina set down her spoon. "I decided to keep it…but only so that I don't have to go to Dun Kilty before the counsel and utterly mad king to formally renounce it. And just so you know, we all agreed to get married within a week of each other."
They went to get their horses. The former assassins-in-training and their teachers lined the walls and waved as they prepared to ride away. Lina found the children from the night before and kissed each of their cheeks. She reached into her pack and took out all of the silver leaves she'd collected in Araluen.
Everyone watched eagerly. Several hands went up to similar leaves that still hung on their necks. Lina took Ismine's hand and led the child to the short stretch of wall that plunged into a river below. "These are from the Sunrise Warriors who tried to kill the King's Rangers of Araluen," she told Ismine loud enough for the others to hear. She let them go over the edge of the wall. They clinked together as they fell before splashing down below. She took another one out. "This one has the name Yudai on it. Yudai is dead." She let it fall. Liam seemed to get the message a second before the others. He took a silver leaf from his pack, dismounted, and jogged to join them.
"This one has the name Nerilina," he shouted. "Nerilina of Clonmel is now Lina of Araluen." He dropped the necklace. At first it was just one by one but soon enough everyone was ceremoniously tossing their leaves into the river far below.
Ismine stood on her toes to watch her own fall into the water. Those that remembered shared their true names. Those that didn't remember and those who were never given a new name shared as much of their personal histories as they could. After several moments Lina drew out her saxe knife and held it in the air. "All hail King Sean of Clonmel!"
The former students and teachers followed suit. Lina kissed Ismine's forehead and said good bye. She and Liam mounted their horses and soon they along with Halt, Will, and Alyss were riding away.
"Are you alright?" Halt asked Liam. They'd taken the lead.
"It just feels strange to be leaving knowing that it is unlikely I will ever return. That place has been my home since I was small."
"What put you in it?"
Liam hesitated a few moments. "My mother was a slave. She had me out of wedlock so I guess my father was her owner. Sardar bought me when I was barely old enough to join training. I never questioned it…it was like being in a fog until I was sent to Nihon-Ja to search for a princess I'd never really met."
"Was that an eye-opener?"
Liam smiled. "The journey back showed me quite a bit. Lina was unlike all the other students. I credited it to her time with the emperor of Nihon-Ja. She always had a smile in her eyes and took pleasure in such simple things. It was like…she could practice hours on end to perfect a weapons skill and relieve stress like every other person there but instead she went to gardens and studied the stars. Not study as in prepare for a master's test but…just…"
"I know what you mean," Halt told him. Once upon a time, Liam could have been describing Finley.
They slowed to a stop. Kane had been crying for almost an hour straight and their own stomachs confirmed the baby's decision that it was mealtime. Everyone dismounted. The sun's setting led them to decide they would camp there for the night so they went a ways from the road. Lina heated goat's milk in a pan before Will set to preparing their dinner and poured it into a bowl. She took a clean cloth and dipped it in the warmed milk. Kane had been fed his whole life this way, however the baby didn't know Lina and sensed her nervousness.
Halt watched silently as his niece tried to get Kane to take the milk. The baby was being fussy. He'd take it, and then he wouldn't…and then he would, but then again he wouldn't. Lina's frustration grew. Halt could see the worried lines crease into her forehead as her patience took hold. However, Kane didn't need patience. He needed direction. Lina's limited experience with babies wouldn't suffice. Halt remembered how his own mother had meticulously involved him in caring for Caitlyn when he was young. He'd surprised himself with how much of those lessons he'd been able to pull back when he found himself caring for Will those long years ago. Seeing that they were getting nowhere, Halt stood and joined her.
"You don't have much experience with actual babies, do you?" he asked her even though the answer was obvious.
Lina shook her head. "They never really came up much."
"Let me try."
Lina surrendered the child, milk, and cloth. Kane stopped crying almost immediately as he looked up at Halt's grim face. Halt dipped the cloth in milk and held it to Kane's mouth keeping his expression firm. Kane took it greedily. Halt finished the task just as Will and Alyss began passing around plates.
"Do all Rangers learn how to care for infants?" Lina asked as he passed Kane back to her. He was willing to help feed the boy. What came next he was all too happy to throw back into Lina's field.
"Of course not."
Lina patted Kane's back until he burped. "Thank you."
Halt nodded. "You're very welcome. Don't worry, Lina. You'll do better next time."
Lina's smile was a small one but Halt could tell she was comforted. He could sense how inadequate she felt when in fact she was doing much better than anyone else in their group could do. Will was hopeless with children that small and Alyss would probably do fine with the actual care but she wasn't a confident enough rider to carry the child with her. Liam would probably do fine with the travel but Halt didn't see that particular companion as one to change the diaper or think to turn his cloak sideways so the baby was sheltered the way Lina had. Halt could tell that, when the day came, Lina would be a good mother…even if she let patience overtake direction.