A/N: Sorry for going MIA, going to try to keep up with posting but I'm a college student and its the end of the semester so wish me luck lol. But anyway still not Tamora Pierce. R/R pls

When Daine returned to the Stormy Inn and stabled Cloud handing her off to a stable boy, she walked into the dining room with her mind racing, she didn't even notice that Addy was running over to her until she was directly in front of her. The young blonde girl was near bursting. "So?" she couldn't wait any longer for Daine to speak up, "Did ya do it? Are you workin for em?" Daine simply nodded and then her face broke into a huge smile, the girls hugged and started jumping around, Daine told Addy everything, from the minute she left the inn to when she finally left the Beneklan home. They sat at a table, pausing only to ask for drinks from a waitress, but their chatter was soon drawing some of the off-duty servants to their table, Daine telling the story of her day many times to many people, they all congratulated the young girl, impressed that she was able to get a job in one of the richer, older, more esteemed houses. Daine also listened to the stories the locals had to share, they knew a good amount about Lord Thomas and his house. They were an old family with close ties to the king's, Lord Thomas was a duke, so technically his proper honorific was your grace, he was also a knight even though he hadn't been in active duty for almost 2 decades, he was 4th in line for the crown, he worked as the king's treasurer and sat on his council, his family was renowned for breeding horses and dogs, and he leaned pretty conservatively but his wife was more progressive (in comparison). Lord Thomas' parents were quiet and kept out of court staying at their estate and lands for most of their marriage only visiting court when requested there by the king, he is the oldest of 4, one brother and 2 sisters, all who had married other high up ranking families, the youngest is his brother, Sir Adam who is basically the opposite of Lord Thomas, Sir Adam is in his 20s and newly married, he travels from the estate doing heroic deeds coming home as often as he can to visit his young wife. The Duke's children are more like Sir Adam in the aspect of how they view the world, the kids were outspoken and energetic, all caring deeply for others.

Daine listened intently to what everyone had to say until those who worked in the dining room had to get to work, Addy and Daine stayed talking until Gerald and Sir Gavin found them for dinner, they saw their smiling faces and had heard the rumors of Daine getting the job but wanted to hear it for himself. Sighing, and with a smile and roll of her eyes she began again. It's nice to see her acting her age, and showing a bit more of his personality, Gerald thought as he listened to the young girl talk, Addy jumping in to add things that Daine glossed over thinking them unimportant, they shared smiles and laughs, they talked through dinner. Sir Gavin gave his congratulations, commending her on her impression that Daine made on a very difficult man, even though Lord Thomas begrudgingly gave her the job, he was impressed with her extensive skills, which Daine smiled and laughed at. Sir Gavin told some stories of what the Lord was like and the previous interactions that he had with the Duke, and his family, mostly some fun blackmail about Sam. Finally, when Daine finished eating and the conversation had died down she bid the pair goodnight, promising to see them in the morning before she left, and headed to the stables.

She was stopped briefly to receive congratulations from Percy who gave her reassurances about his uncle Alfred who Daine would meet the next day. The two parted ways to go to their respective sleeping areas. When Daine got to Clouds stable she saw that someone must have given her some fresh bedding, she smiled and laid down next to the pony, quickly drifting to sleep.

xxx

Daine fell asleep quickly and her dream brought her to that fateful cave where the bandits had once been, sitting next to a fire, Daine saw a flash of silver-white light, bringing the Badger god to her. Hello kit, I wanted to see you before you go into that house. The god walked toward Daine and sat next to her by the fire, Daine reached over and stroked his head, Don't be afraid kit, but everything is not what it seems, you will soon see that, be careful, but the boy is to be trusted, but you face a great change soon, don't fight it, no matter how hard you want to, it is for the best. Daine was increasingly more skeptical of what the Badger was saying but didn't want to risk the Badger striking out at her again. "Thank you, will I see you again soon?" The badger shook his head I'm afraid that I have already come to the mortal realm too often too close together, but we will see each other again. Don't fret kit. The Badger nuzzled Daine's arm, and she caressed his head, "Thank you for all the help, I will be careful." She took a deep breath and bit her lip to stop the tears that threatened to come. He gave her one last head butt and walked to the mouth of the cave, disappearing in a flare of white silver that hurt Daine's eyes. The scene slowly faded and opened on a view of a field full of flowers, there was a hill that at the top Daine could see a woman with blonde hair, light skin, wearing a simple dress, and a tall man, brown hair, with olive skin, and when the light shifted it seemed as if there were vines of green throughout his skin, the thing that stood out to Daine most was the huge antlers that stuck out of his curly hair, he only wore a loincloth and held the smaller woman, both radiated love to one another, but with their backs to Daine she couldn't see who these people were. As quickly as the scene changed to this, did the scene change, dragging Daine away from the confusing scene.

Daine fell into a deeper sleep and didn't dream the rest of the night, she slept soundly, and when the morning came she woke, like usual, surrounded by a variety of animals. The kittens and their mother were still residing in Clouds stall and Daine was greeted by a tired but excited young mother who presented her day-old kittens to Daine for inspection. Daine gave her praise for each and everyone, and the cat beamed at her.

After Daine dressed and left the stable, walking into the dining room, sitting down with Gerald and Addy, they quickly dug into their breakfast of porridge, fruit, honey, and milk, it was rich, but Daine would be working hard all day, and Gerald and Addy were going to deliver their goods and go to market, so for everyone, it was to be a big day.

When they finished their meal, they headed up to the room, Daine walked over to where she had set her spare clothes and supplies, she would be able to get more but at this point, she would have to just take good care of what she had and what she recently bought from the market. "Alright, so what do you want from the thieves' bags?" Gerald stood with his hands in fists on his hips, head slightly cocked, as if daring Daine to argue. She started to open her mouth but when she saw his face, she rethought it and looked down, she walked over to the spare bed and picked up some rusty daggers, the bag that was in the best condition, a spare cloak, and a couple other random things. Finally, Daine had collected all her things and the trio headed down to the stable, when they reached Clouds stall, Daine finished putting all her things in her bags and started to saddle Cloud. There wasn't much that Daine had but it was going to be a bit awkward of a fit on the pony and lucky for both, the ride wasn't long at all.

Daine was sad to say goodbye to the two people who saved her but knew she'd likely see them again, Addy gave her a huge hug, the younger girl fighting back tears, "don't worry Addy, I'm sure we'll see each other soon, it's not like you don't know where I'll be." Daine smiled at the young girl and stroked her hair.

Gerald gave Daine a bone-crushing bear hug, making her laugh, "look at you lass, off to work in a swanky noble house, don't forget about the little people." The trio smiled and walked out of the stable with Cloud, Daine mounted up and with one last wave, she was on her way to the Beneklan townhouse.