A/N: This is my sudden inspiration chapter. I was watching Beauty and the Beast and all of a sudden it just slapped me in the face. I love it when that happens. Plus it's nice and long, with an enjoyable rant at the end. Have fun.

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

Lady Ribyyn of Hadic

Chapter 11 - The Arrest

It was the first time that Darin had been out of Ribyyn's company in weeks. Mistress Alexzander had recognized the beginning symptoms of a cold with the young woman this morning over breakfast, and insisted that she stay home, in bed, with some chicken soup. Darin could tell by the look on her face that she had planned to sneak out and go haring off on adventures. When Glynice saw the mischievous look in her eyes, she confined the girl to sitting on the couch by the fire in the common room, wrapped in a blanket. That way, there would be no chance of escape, at least not with Glynice sitting there with her.

The Rogue glanced around the marketplace, somewhat unaware of what was going on around him. Busy people bustled back and forth, from store to store. On his right was a bakery with pastries so fresh the steam was still rising from them. To his left was a spice shop. He could see the bottles lined up on display. Cinnamon, paprika, chive, nutmeg, and more, all sitting in a row. Nobles rushed in and out of the stores emptying their pockets of their money and filling their bags with goods. Darin loved the city. He was unsure as to how he'd lived in the mountains and stayed sane, to a degree.

His fingers itched as he strolled past the rich nobles. He hadn't picked a pocket in weeks. Not since he'd left Corus at least. Reaching out to untie a purse attached to a man's belt he stopped his hand a few inches before it had reached it's goal. There were two young girls and a small boy standing next to the man. He recognized the older girl's curls before anything else. This was Lord Alden, who'd known he'd had thieves in the house, but had done nothing about it.

Darin slipped his hand into his own pocket and pulled one of Ribyyn's purple silk hair-ties. He smiled to himself as he casually walked past Jessa, slipping the ribbon into her pocket, purposely bumping her side as he pulled his hand out. She turned to look at him and he winked at her. She gave a small gasp, but quickly turned her attention back to whatever it had been on before hand.

Jessa waited a bit before reaching into her pocket and pulling out whatever Darin had placed in it. When she pulled out the silk hair tie that she had seen Ribyyn wearing earlier that week she gasped again. Orlando glanced at her, but could not be distracted from the magician's trick for long. Not if he wanted to learn it.

Alden leaned down towards his daughter and whispered in her ear, "Next time you see your friend, be sure to tell him to keep his hands to himself. I wouldn't want him to be caught by The Guard." Jessa bit her lip to hide her smile, and went back to watching the magician.

~*~

Hayden was, once again, in the company of Min. He had met her every day at noon at the same tavern, The Dancing Bear. He found that he enjoyed her company. She wasn't like the other girls he knew, Ribyyn excluded. Hayden had slowly come to the realization that he and Ribyyn were far too close to have any type of relationship other than the brotherly-sisterly kind. Of course, he was too stubborn to admit that to her. Not that it mattered, Ribyyn probably wouldn't have listened even if he had tried talking to her.

"Hayden," Min said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Hayden, are ye listenin' t' me?"

"Huh?" Hayden shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Sorry, Min. I was-"

"Distracted? Ye haven't talked t' her yet, have ye?" Min knew all about what had happened between Ribyyn and Hayden.

"No," he said with a sigh. "She's always around Darin. She never wants t' talk t' me."

"Ye haven't even tried. Ye should try, Hayds."

Hayden sighed again, and insisted that they change the subject. He was getting depressed. Min grimaced and wrinkled her brow in thought. Hayden watched her, intrigued. Though Min looked like she was only thirteen, she was in reality the same age as Ribyyn (A/N: seventeen folks). Her small size was made up for by her large mouth, which was constantly flapping. It was only when she was thinking hard that she was silent.

"Tell me more about yer brother," she said suddenly. This surprised Hayden, for he knew that Min was not fond of Slyde in the least.

"What's to tell? Ye know almost everything."

She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her palms. "What's he really like? Ye talk about him more'n ye think, and every time it's always good."

"He's my brother. Why should I speak bad about him?"

"All th' stuff I've heard's been bad. 'Cept fer when it comes outta yer mouth."

"Then ye've been fed a load of bull," he laughed. "I know it sounds soppy, but Slyde's got th' kindest heart of anybody I met. He's devoted his life to protecting Ribyyn, though she doesn't like t' be reminded of that."

"Why'd he do somethin' like that?"

Hayden grimaced and merely said, "Circumstances." Min seemed to accept this as a full answer and the two friends sat in silence. They didn't need to talk. In the span of a few weeks they'd learned so much about each other, it was as if they'd been friends for years.

~*~

Ribyyn heaved a deep sigh and Slyde glared at her for the fifth time in ten minutes. "Sweet," he said, "if ye keep doing that yer going t' collapse a lung."

Ribyyn grimaced and turned pink. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm so bored." She sneezed, and wiped her nose on the already sopping kerchief. She closed her eyes, and rested her head on the back of the couch, wrapping herself up tighter in the blankets. "Slyde," she asked, "could you tell me something?"

Slyde put down the book he was reading. "What would that be, Dear heart?"

"Hayden's always mentioning your sister as if I knew her. But all I know is her name." Ribyyn opened her eyes and looked at the thief, who was studying the stitching of the arm of the chair he sat in. "I don't know much else. Will you tell me what happened to her?"

Slyde bit his lip, and closed the book with a snap. He looked up at Ribyyn, who, though she didn't look much like his baby sister, reminded him so much of Daisy. Looking back down at the chair he shook his head.

Watching her feet with some sort of fascination, Ribyyn realized she had overstepped the lines that had been drawn the day she entered this home. She was asking a personal question, even though she'd promised herself to never get too close with these people. But, she realized, she'd broken that promise long ago. When she'd befriended Slyde and especially when she started a relationship with Hayden. No matter if that relationship was over and done with, or even if Hayden never spoke to her again; she still cared about him in a brotherly sense.

"Daisy was sixteen when she died," Slyde said suddenly, making Ribyyn jump. "She was beautiful, with hair of gold and eyes the color of the sky. And her laugh was like the tinkling of glass. She was smiling all the time," he paused and smirked, "like you when you aren't mad at Hayden." Ribyyn blushed.

"It was late August when it began. I was about nineteen or so and Hayden was about twelve. She started a relationship with some lad. Never told anybody who it was. She was always coming home late, and sneaking in through windows and the like." He paused and Ribyyn saw a faraway look in his eyes. She wondered if she got the same look when she talked to Darin about what had happened to them. "She snuck into my room one night and told me all about how in love she was. And of course, I had to be happy for her, even if I was just pretending. I knew it wouldn't last, she was only sixteen after all."

He paused and Ribyyn waited to see if he was going to continue. He didn't, and she asked quietly, "What happened?"

"I don't know," he said looking at her, directly at her and not through her. "One day my Yellow-Daisy was here and the next she was gone. She'd been out one night, and she just never came back." He stopped and Ribyyn wondered if that was the end.

"I watched her leave," he said, "and I told her to be back before dawn, but she never came back." He closed his eyes, and Ribyyn saw a lone tear slide down his cheek. "All I know is that she was found a week later bloody, and rotting, and burned." Another tear slide down his cheek, and another followed that one.

Ribyyn sniffed, and not from her cold, and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. Her cheeks were wet as well. "You miss her, don't you?" she croaked.

"Desperately. Sometimes, so much that it hurts."

Ribyyn pulled herself off the couch and went over to Slyde, who'd been like a brother to her for the past four years, and wrapped her arms around him, letting her tears flow down her cheeks and onto his shirt. He was crying for his sister, but she was crying for the hurt he felt. Slyde pulled her into his lap and they sat like that for a while, crying, silently.

They didn't move until they heard a knock on the door. Ribyyn climbed off his lap and went to go answer the door. Upon opening it she saw Roank. He looked worried.

"Hi," she said softly, moving aside to let him in. "Is something wrong?"

He nodded sullenly. "Is Slyde around?"

As if on cue, Slyde appeared wiping the remnants of tears off his cheeks. "What is it?"

"We've got a problem." Ribyyn stood there listening to the conversation pass between the two thieves. Apparently, two members of the rogue had been taken by the royal guard. Except one of them was innocent. This had caused problems among the thieves and now they were ready to riot in the square. Roank needed help calming them before more got arrested. When Slyde asked for names, Roank was unable to give them, saying that names had not been released.

Slyde sighed, not wanting to leave Ribyyn alone by herself. He glanced down at the seventeen year old, wrapped up in her heavy blanket, with her red, blotchy, eyes and equally red nose. He smirked to himself, bent down, and kissed her forehead. "Stay inside," he ordered. "Get some sleep. I'll probably be back late, but Mum and Hayden should be home soon." And with that he grabbed a cloak and followed Roank out the door.

~*~

It was late in the afternoon when Darin decided he was lost. I should have just stayed home today, he told himself. He noted that there was nobody around, which he found odd for only fifth bell. The stores never closed until sixth bell, at least.

Taking a left down an alleyway he grinned when he realized that it took him back to Market street. His grin widened when he came out and saw Jessa's golden curls again. If he wasn't careful, her father might think his daughter was being stalked. Walking towards the noble family he saw another familiar figure. Dasher was in the market as well today.

Well, he said to himself. It's nice to know he does some normal thieving things, as well as all the extras on the side. Darin watched the rogue thief carefully, noticing his every move. He was so involved in his observations of the thief that he'd completely forgotten about Jessa and her family.

Meanwhile, Jessa's younger sister, Karoline, had wandered away from her father. Lord Alden had been absorbed with his two older children all day, what with Orlando being his son and today being Jessa's birthday. Quite frankly, she felt ignored, but knew that a new hair clip would make everything all better. Making her way over towards the booth that sold hair ties and other accessories she pulled at the tie of her purse, undoing it and pulling out a few coppers.

Holding them tightly in her hand she picked out a sparkling blue hair clip. As she reached out to hand the woman who ran the stall her money somebody bumped her from behind. She yelped and dropped the coins all over.

"Oh," said a masculine voice, "I'm sorry, miss. Here let me help you." The man bent down to pick up the coins, which was a nice gesture, but Karo did not feel she needed the help, especially after she saw the man slip a few of them into his pocket.

"Hey!" she cried out. "Those are mine!"

He looked up at her, grinned, jumped up, and was about to take off when he was grabbed from behind.

The second man whirled the first around and growled, "Been lookin' for ye, Dasher." Then he punched the man in the face.

Karo shrieked in fear, getting the much wanted attention of her father, who rushed over and pulled her out of harms way. Orlando watched, cheering them on with the rest of the crowd and enjoying the fight quite a lot until his father glared at him.

Karo stared in fright at the two men fighting. The second man was delivering some awfully nice punches on the other man, who got lucky with a few swings. But she knew the fight would not last very long, and she was right. Only moments after it started, three men from the guard strode in and broke the two men up.

"But, sirs," cried the first man, "He's a wanted thief. I saw him try to attack a small girl so I tried to stop him, but he punched me instead. It was only my right to defend myself."

Karo opened her mouth to protest, but Lord Alden silenced her with a finger to her lips and a tightened grip on her shoulder.

The guard who held Karo's defender peered closely at him. "Man's right," he announced to his fellows. "C'mon, thief boy. Let's go." The soldier turned to his comrades and called out, "Take the other as well, we can use him as a witness."

"But he's the one who tried to rob me, Papa!" Karo said to her father. "Not the other way around."

Lord Alden nodded, "Come with me Karo, we'll get this cleared up." He turned to Jessa and his son. "The two of you, go home. No detours." Though he looked at both of them, Jessa knew he was talking only to her.

The crowd dispersed, and Orlando and Jessa made their way back to their home. Jessa was forced to listen to Orlando drone on about what a "jolly" fight it had been. He couldn't wait to tell his friends. Jessa however had other things on her mind. Her eyes scanned the street and landed on a familiar dark mop of hair.

"Hayden!" she cried out, causing Orlando to jump. Hayden looked over at her and blinked, as if trying to remember who she was. Jessa turned to her brother and whispered, "Stay here," before running over to her friend's friend.

"Hayden," she gasped as she came up to him. "Darin's been arrested. He's being charged for attacking my sister."

~*~

Ribyyn was sitting on the couch reading the book that Slyde had left on the table when Hayden burst into the house. The book wasn't all that interesting but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing. She looked up at Hayden, her face emotionless. "What's wrong with you?"

He ignored her question and dashed up the stairs. She put the book back down and stood up, wrapping herself up tightly in the blanket. Walking over to the base of the stairs, she was nearly trampled when Hayden came barreling down them.

"Sorry," he gasped. "Where's Slyde?"

"He left about a half hour ago. Something about an arrest."

Hayden stared at her. "Did he say who?"

"Roank came with the news, but no. He said names hadn't been released." She looked up at her friend. "Why," she asked, "Is something wrong?"

Hayden nodded sadly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sit down," he said, and pushed her down onto the stairs.

"I was at th' Dancing Bear with Min and I heard some commotion outside, but I wasn't really paying any attention to it at all since it was down the street a bit. Anyway, when I was walkin' home I ran into yer lady friend." Ribyyn looked at him curiously. "Jessalyn of Goldenlake," he explained. "She saw the whole thing."

"What is it you aren't telling me?"

"Darin's been caught Rib. He got into a fist fight with Dasher and they got arrested."

Ribyyn turned white and Hayden watched as emotions flashed across her face. "We have to rescue him."

"But ye told me that Slyde an' Roank-"

Ribyyn interrupted him. "They went to stop the rest of the thieves from doing anything stupid." She stared at him intently, her eyes pleading. "Names weren't released, Hayden!" she began to scream. "They won't know it was Darin who got caught! They won't try and rescue him!"

"I know that. But what can we do?"

"We can go and rescue him," she repeated.

"Are you mad?" Hayden yelled at her, quickly realizing that he was asking the wrong person. "Ribyyn, if we get caught we're just as dead!"

"Hayden," she begged, her eyes ready to overflow with tears. "Hayden, please. I lost him once. I can't lose him again!" (A/N: CLICHÉ LINE! ::laughs::)

The boy looked down at her and into her bright, blue, eyes. He tried to stop himself, he really did, but he found he couldn't deny her what she wanted. "Alright," he sighed. "Alright, we'll go rescue him." She shrieked in delight and leapt at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her lips on his cheek.

"We'll go rescue him," he repeated, "But if we die, I'm never speaking to you again."

A/N: I really like this chapter. I really, really, really, do. It's my favorite one so far, cause I think it actually makes my story GO somewhere. Tell me what you think.

Now, before you go and click the lovely periwinkle colored button at the bottom of the page, I would like to say something about reviews. Reviews like flames. I'm always up to constructive criticism. Honest. But reviews like this:
----- this is so predictable.i hate suspense tho..bores me.cliffhangers 2..also boring -----
are unwelcome. Mostly because it's slightly indecipherable, but also because it doesn't help me IMPROVE my story, which is what constructive criticism is all about. Therefore, this is a flame! Now, to the anonymous person who wrote this blatant flame I have only to say this...

I'm sorry you feel my story is predictable. Suggestions for improvement would be helpful. As for your dislike of suspense, there's a simple (and logical) solution. Don't read it. It is clearly stated in the summary that this is a suspense story, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Like you, I dislike cliffhangers, but mostly because they are annoying - not boring. I honestly, didn't think I had any REAL cliffhangers in this story, but I could always be wrong. Lastly I would like to suggest taking some English classes to improve your sentence structure. And don't forget to put a space between the period and the first letter in the next sentence.

I would like to point out that the person only read to the third chapter before telling me how much I sucked. You cannot judge this story on the first three chapters, especially since there are 10 (Now 11). Besides, at least it's easy to read, unlike said review/flame.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Next chapter coming soon...