"Papa," Leanne breathed with relief.

Numair smiled at the small child. "Leoni-"

"Leanne," she muttered.

"I'm a little busy. Could you come back later?"

"No, Papa. No, I couldn't." She glared up at her - very - tall father. He was ridiculing her, and she hated it. "Veralidaine Sarrasri?"

"What about her?" He was listening now. Biased idiot.

She took a deep breath in, the picture of the trunk wedged firmly in her mind. Goddess, how did she say this? "Her body's down in the cellar."

"That's impossible!" Numair, who had been patronising her by kneeling so he was her level, rose up.

"Come and see."

Her eyes flashed into his.

Daine...

"Papa, she's in the cellar."

"She can't be," he whispered brokenly.

As much as she looked up to him, she looked down on him. For ignoring her, she viewed him as a self-absorbed idiot with no emotions. She prefered proper people - Sirs Keladry, Nealan, Alanna, Owen... Sir Alanna's husband was always kind, and the Prince was friendly. They just proved that people did act normally. So, she had no sympathy for her false parents.

"Mama killed her."

"That's impossible! Is this a cry for attention?" He peered into her mask of fury. She spat in his face.

"I hope she kills you, you weak-willed fool," she scorned. He scowled - well, she thought he might have done. By then, she was running out of the room, so she didn't know. She slumped on a tree stump. What could she do?

"Leanne." The sharp voice caught her attention. "You told him." Jeannett's cold eyes flickered in Leanne's mind, so she couldn't tell if her mother was there or not. Until the hand reached out.

--

Back in his study, Numair set down his quill, musing. Obviously, his daughter had been struck by some wild fancy - some flight of the imagination caught by that picture he had shown her earlier.

Perhaps she was just trying to get his attention. He winced at the thought, wondering if he had been too caught up in his work of late.

He would try harder, he decided. Right after he had finished this set of scrolls, he would - take Leanne riding, or whatever young girls liked to do.

--

Sorry it's so strange. I wanted to get a fic up, cos I'm gonna be away next week. Oh the advantages of being British. Half-term... I might not come out alive; a week with the family! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!