YAY FOR REVIEWS!!! :D ::sings:: I killed Darin! I killed Darin! Lalalala! And everyone HATES me for it! But that doesn't mean you stop reading! You know us authors...we LOVE plot twists ::winks at Temptress:: And who says that just because Darin is dead there won't be another love interest? ::lightbulb:: OOOH! NEW IDEA! Must consult e-mail buddy (you know who you are...)

Anyway...go read the new chapter (be happy it's up as soon as it is)

DISCLAIMER: I own the characters but Tortall and it's surrounding areas are owned by Tamora Pierce.


Lady Ribyyn of Hadic

Chapter 4 - A New Home

Raindrops dripped through the leaves and branches of the trees, occasionally hitting Ribyyn on the head. She didn't care; didn't even notice. She had only one thing on her mind. Revenge.

The idea had hit her after sitting on a tree branch for about an hour. Marauders had slaughtered her family. They had burned her home. They had killed her friends. And now, they took away the last person in the world that cared about her. This time, she was not going to let them get away with it.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and then shouldered her quiver and bow. It was going to be a long night.

~*~

Roank sat on a log staring into the fire. For the first time in his career as a thief he felt guilty. Slyde seemed to be taking the murder badly as well. Goethe was the one who didn't seem to have a problem with the killing; he'd done it before. Killed a boy that is. Slyde had killed only once; to avenge the death of his sister. Roank however had never killed. He found it wasteful.

Images flashed through his head. How the boy was squirming when they'd tossed him in the river. How they watched him get washed away in a strong current. How his gag had loosened and they'd heard him scream. He'd cried out, "Ribbon," and then was silent.

Slyde sat down next to him. "I know I've said this 'afore, but I gots a bad feelin' 'bout this whole thing."

Goethe snarled at him from behind. "I told'ja, ya worry too much." He snorted and sat down across from them. "Ain't nothin' a lil' g'rl can do to us. She's prob'ly too scared outta her wits to do anythin' 'bout it anyway."

"What d'ye think ribbon means?" asked Slyde. Roank just shrugged. Goethe opened his mouth and Roank cringed, knowing what he was going to say, but the words never came out. When he looked back at the man there was an arrow in his throat and he was gasping for air.

"It means," came a quiet whisper from above, "that you should run while you still can." There was a rustle in the branches, and moments later a small girl with loose, fly-away braids dropped down to the ground. She took a step forward and raised her bow, aiming the arrow to Roank's face. "Oh well," she whispered darkly. "Too late."

Roank raised his hands, showing how they were empty. "Lass, ye wouldn't kill us without a fair fight would ye?"

"You killed my friend. Why should I spare your lives when you didn't spare his?"

"He," Slyde began, "he may not be dead. He was livin' when we threw him in the water."

"He was bound and gagged. And even if he weren't, he didn't know how to swim," she paused for a moment, "At least not very well. Speak fast, and your lives may be spared."

Slyde dropped to his knees. "Lass, ye already got the killer." He nodded his head towards Goethe. "Twas him that threw the lad in the river. I ain't never killed 'afore. I ain't never wanted to. I swear it from Mithros above to the Dark God below. Please, lass, please don't do it. Ye don't want to end up like him."

Roank watched as the girl lowered the bow. Her eyes flicked from Slyde to Roank, and then quick as lightening she raised her bow and loosed the arrow.

It hit a nearby tree and Roank could see that the entire arrow head was now embedded in the trunk. He took a deep breath and looked back at her. And then, without thinking, he he lowered himself to his knees next to his companion and bowed his head to her. He wasn't quite sure what made him do it, but he felt it was necessary. And then he spoke, "In return for the life that was taken from ye, and the lives that ye spared tonight, I devote mine to ye."

Slyde blinked and looked at his friend, then back at the young girl in front of him and said, "As do I."

~*~

Ribyyn could hardly believe her ears. Here were these two men that had assisted in killing her only friend, and they were promising to serve her for the rest of their lives. She took a deep breath as a dizzy spell swept over her. She shook her head to clear it, but that only made it worse. So she simply said, "I need to lie down." And with that she fainted.

~*~

Ribyyn awoke to the sound of a woodpecker and the smell of a fire. She tried to shift herself into a more comfortable position but found that her legs were stiff. She groaned softly and opened her eyes. Sunlight poured down on her, making her squint. Slowly she sat up, her body protesting.

"Well," said one of the men. "'Bout time ye woke. Hungry?"

She stared blankly at him trying to recall how she knew him. He was young, in his twenties, with floppy blonde hair, that would have been nearly white were it not so filthy. His skin was tanned and his face, especially his nose (which was neither too big, nor too small), was dotted with freckles. Gray-green eyes sat below thin brows.

"I'm sorry," she said groggily, "but I'm not sure-" She trailed off.

"Ah, I see th' problem," he said. Taking a tin cup out of a pack he scooped it into a bucket and handed it to her. When she hesitated to take it he said, "It's only water lass. From th' creek nearby."

She took it and sipped. "I still don't know your name."

He grinned, showing her a row of perfect white teeth. "I'd be Slyde. My friend Roank is out fishin' for our lunch ye see."

"Lunch?"

"Yes'm. Ye slept fer near three days child." He looked at her and saw realization cross her face. It hadn't occurred to him that she had forgotten that night so quickly. "Ye do remember what happened don't ye lass?"

"He killed my friend," she said, though more to herself than to him; as if she needed to convince herself what she did was alright.

At that moment another man entered. He had short cropped brown hair, a well tanned face that needed shaving, and dark eyes. He looked to be at least ten years older than Slyde, though it may have been his large nose that made him look that way. "Well, well, well. Sleeping Beauty awakes." He dropped four fish onto the ground. "Gut 'em Slyde." He turned back towards the young girl. "M' name's Roank," he told her and she nodded.

"Mine's Ribyyn."

"Ribbon?" Slyde said looking up at her from the fish.

"Yes. R-I-B-Y-Y-N." She hesitated and then added, "Ribyyn of Hadic."

"A noble lass?" Slyde asked, shock clearly written all over his face. Roank seemed to have trouble controlling his shock as well.

"Ex-noble lass," she told them.

"Did ye run away?" asked Roank. "Cause if ye did we'd best be careful where we go. If we're caught with ye-"

She shook her head. "Scanran raiders attacked us. My whole family's dead. I saw them." Her eyes glazed over and Slyde felt his heart sink. "They burned down the town as well. No doubt, there's nothing left. The whole place was aflame when we ran off."

"Lass," Slyde began, but Roank put a hand on his shoulder.

"Fish," the older man whispered to him before turning back to the girl. "So you've no place to go?"

"No place in mind. Darin," she paused, choking on her words. "Darin didn't even know where we were going. We were just running."

"Well then, as soon as we eat, we can pack up and go to where we were headed before ye dropped in."

"And where was that?" she asked as she crawled over towards the fire. She grabbed the fish pieces and tossed them into the pan.

"Just west of Corus," Roank said as he watched her cook the fish. "Ye up to it?"

She shrugged. "I've nowhere else to go."

"Good." commented Slyde. "But first," he took the pan from Ribyyn and pulled the fish out. "Lets eat!"

~*~

Ribyyn let out a big sigh. "Are we there yet?" Cause my bum is SORE! she wanted to scream, but didn't. She didn't know her traveling companions that well. If it had been Darin...

She stopped that thought before it could go any further. Thinking about Darin only made her heart ache. It was so strange not seeing him everyday, and the thought of never seeing him again hurt more than the thought of never seeing Kalvin again. She didn't know that her older brother's friend had meant so much to her.

"No," Slyde said, in answer to her question. "Now stop asking. It'll be at least three more days."

"Three?" she said with a whine.

"Yes. Three," and he smiled at her. "Now stop whining."

"Mayhaps we should stop fer a break," suggested Roank. "A five minute stretch. What'cha think Slyde?" He looked over his shoulder to the younger man. Slyde nodded in assent and they pulled over to the side of the road, tethering their horses to a low branch on a tree.

Ribyyn excused herself and ran into the woods a bit. Meanwhile the two men spoke quietly to each other.

"Why'd ye tell her three days?" asked Roank. "Ye know very well we'll be there by sundown. At least if we keep th' pace."

"Why'd ye think? Te shut her up," Slyde told him.

Roank laughed heartily, "She'll never trust us at this rate."

"She will in time. Th' lass needs someone t' trust." Slyde became quiet after this comment and Roank saw his friend get a faraway look in his eyes. He'd seen it happen before to the young man. He was thinking about his sister.

"I s'pose ye'll tell me what happened t' her one o' these days?" Roank said quietly, cutting into Slyde's thought. Slyde shook his head, making his hair flop over his eyes. He gave the older man a small smile and said, "Yeah, one of these days."

It was about that time that Ribyyn returned. "I think I need to change."

"Change what lass?" asked Slyde.

She picked up the skirt of her dress daintily. "This," she said. The skirt was tattered at the bottom, full of mud and prickles. Great, thought Slyde, just our luck t' get stuck with a g'rl that doesn't like th' dirt. "It's too hot," she told them.

Roank let out a laugh, having had the same thoughts as Slyde. "We'll make a short stop at th' next town and get ye a lighter one lass."

"Actually," she said, "I'd prefer breeches and a cotton shirt. If that's alright."

The two men blinked, dumbfounded. After a moment Slyde said, "Ye'r outta ye'r wits lass. But if that's what ye want."

"Really?" she sounded excited. "Oh yes! It would be wonderful!"

"Well," said Roank, "we don't have any yer size, but there's a town not far ahead. Lets go."

~*~

"My stepmother would have an apoplexy if she saw me now," Ribyyn said with a grin as she tied a new pack to the horse and then mounted up. "She was always trying to get me to wear new dresses. It was absolutely horrid! I'd much rather wear these. I used to steal my brother's clothes, but then he grew. And Sienna, my stepmother, took all of his old ones and threw them out. She didn't even save them for the young ones, which Kalvin said was stupid, cause they'd need them in a few years. But she knew if she kept them around, that I'd find them and ruin them."

"Did I know ye could talk this much?" asked Slyde from behind her.

"Of course not. You'd never devote your life to me if you did."

"She's prob'ly right 'bout that," added Roank.

Ribyyn only snorted. "Can we go now?"

The two bandits sighed an mounted up, trotting their horses behind her. "I can't believe I've let m'self get led 'round by a ten year old," commented Slyde.

"I'm thirteen, thank you very much."

"Ye don't say," said Slyde sarcastically. "Well that makes such a difference."

"Are we almost there?" she asked him suddenly.

"I thought I told ye..."

"It's just over this ridge lass," interrupted Roank.

"Really?" she sped up and stopped at the top of the hill. "Wow." The sight was amazing. The colors. The crowds. The architecture. She was stunned.

Roank and Slyde road up beside her. "Welcome to Pourt Caynn Ribyyn. Your new home."

(A/N: I was really unsure of where to stop this. So I stopped it there, and I have some of the next chapter written. Hope you enjoyed this.)

P.S. Thanks for all the reviews last chapter. Sorry about the whole Darin thing...but it was necessary for the plot movement. If you're unsure of where this story is going, go read chapter nine of Myles's Class. And don't forget to review.