Yay! I just bought Cold Fire!!! The third Circle Opens book! Of course, that's not nearly as exciting as a new Kel book, but . . . only seven more weeks! *screams excitedly* I can't wait!!! In my Tamora Pierce frenzy, I wrote another chapter. Hope you enjoy! And mucho gracias (I'm taking French, so if that's not spelled right, tough noogies) for all the magnificent reviews!!! They keep me on my toes, so keep telling me if you like what I'm doing here!

Homecoming

Kel and Neal stood in the back of a Carthaki ferry, gliding over the waves as it crossed the Strait of Sijave. They were surrounded by Carthaki soldiers, but no one paid any attention to the them. They were just two more unknown knights, on their way to help with the invasion of Tortall.

The ride to the Strait had taken somewhere close to five hours, so the sun was just beginning to set. Kel was glad to finally be free from the prying eyes of Ahim, even though she hadn't even realized he was watching them. It was nice to be on the road again, going back home, but . . . all those cities captured, she thought sadly. She knew her country was in trouble, but she hadn't realized it was as bad as it was.

The ferry's grinding stop against river silt brought her back to reality. Everyone on board lurched forward with the sudden halt. Byrn, carefully placed inside one of Peachblossom's saddlebags, gave a quick, soft trill of protest, but Kel was the only one that heard. She reached a hand inside the saddlebag as if she was searching for something and gave the phoenix a reassuring touch.

"Everyone off!" called the ferryman wearily. He looked exhausted. Kel thought that he probably hadn't slept in for at least two days. No, he'd been kept up on his feet, ferrying soldiers and siege engines across to make war on her country. Kel sighed bitterly as she led Peachblossom onto what used to be Tortallan soil.

The two Tortallans slowly separated themselves from the others on the barge, walking leisurely behind them. Once the Carthakis had disappeared into the treeline, Kel checked behind them to see where the ferryman was. When she saw that he was a fourth of the way across the Strait, she motioned to Neal, and they both mounted up and cantered along the shore. Both of them understood that they needed to get farther away from the Carthakis before trying to get home to what was left of Tortall.

Kel opened her saddlebag once they had been riding for a few minutes. With a happy chirp, Byrn took to the air, flapping along above them. They continued to ride along the beach for about half an hour. With an unspoken agreement, they turned their horses heads and rode into the forest.

Neal's voice interrupted the normal forest-noises. "So . . . how exactly are we planning to get past the Carthaki legions and back into our country? I doubt they'll just let us sashay back into Tortall, especially since we don't have Carthaki uniforms."

"I haven't quite figured that out yet," Kel sighed. "But it's getting dark. Let's find a place to spend the night and set up camp."

Neal nodded, and they proceeded to slowly walk their mounts, carefully looking for a safe place to spend the night.

"How about there?" Neal pointed off to the left. There was a small clearing, but it was partially hidden in bushes. At night, it would be practically unable to recognize the clearing, and anyone camping in it would have a clear view of the small path.

Kel shrugged. "Seems okay to me." They rode through the small patch of undergrowth and into the clearing.

It took them less than an hour to set up camp, and they Neal had just finished the protective circle when the last rays of the sun faded from the sky. Kel pulled two portions of meat from her saddlebags, and the two knights sat down to a meager supper.

Chewing, Neal suddenly asked, "Where's the bird?"

"You mean Byrn?" Kel looked around, surprised. "I guess she went to go get food. I wonder what she eats," she added thoughtfully.

"I doubt we'll ever find out." Neal swallowed his mouthful and got to his feet. "If you'll excuse me, I'm rather worn out, and I think an early sleep would do me good."

"Really," Kel said sarcastically. "I'm surprised at your sudden worry for yourself, when you've shown no inclination of anxiety before."

Neal grinned. "You know me too well. I'm just too bored to stay awake. I'll see you in the morning." Neglecting to even take off his boots, he slipped into a bedroll and stuck his feet near their small fire.

Kel sat alone for a while, pondering something that had been bothering her for the past few hours. The riddle says that the Fourth is in a tomb of heroes, but I thought dragons were on our side — for the most part at least. And it doesn't make sense that whoever wrote the puzzle could be confident that one rogue dragon would keep separate from its kind for nigh on half a millennia. Besides, Corus hasn't heard any talk of a rogue dragon, much less of anyone trying to kill one! It just doesn't add up . . .

A rustling noise roused Kel from her thoughts. Frowning anxiously — were there spidrens in these woods? — Kel's hand moved to her sword. Then she laughed as Byrn flew in, passing easily through Neal's spell, and landed on a small log. Kel stood up, then let out a soft yelp as her calf cramped. She must have been sitting longer than she realized!

Vowing to study the problem more in the morning, Kel walked to her bedroll, beside Neal's. It was not until she was comfortably tucked into her sheets that she realized how exhausted she was. Feeling safe, she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Kel slept so deeply that not even the noises of a forest at night couldn't bother her. But nothing was a match for the deafening calls of hundreds of birds waking from their sleeps. Kel's eyelids fluttered, and she yawned. Moving to wipe her eyes, she felt her arm stuck under something. Kel looked down and choked on her yawn. She was clinging to Neal's arm as if it were her favorite blanket!

Embarrassed, Kel glanced at Neal's peacefully sleeping form before moving. At least he sleeps like a log! she thought, grateful that he wasn't awake to witness this. Then she almost jumped out of her skin when Neal, his eyes still closed, drawled, "Are you done with my arm yet?"

She blushed and thrust his arm away from her body, sitting up hurriedly. Neal sat up as well, grinning widely and shaking out his arm, saying, "It was starting to fall asleep. I was going to wake you up in a few minutes if you didn't let go of me."

Kel glanced up at him, sheepish. She didn't know that he was staring at her with a grin on his face, waiting for her to answer. She met his eye squarely when she looked up, and was not awake enough to look away as soon as she did. Neal, still shaking his arm out, slowly stopped moving, until they were just sitting there, staring at each other awkwardly. Kel saw something in his eyes that she had never seen before.

Byrn flew in between them, ending the uncomfortable silence. Perching lightly on Kel's shoulder, she grabbed her hair and gave an affectionate chirp. Kel broke away from Neal's gaze, saying, "I guess we should get going."

Neal agreed readily. He took down the protective shield and they set about getting ready to go. In next to no time, they were mounted up and ready to go.

They rode for three days uneventfully, lucky enough to meet no one else on the little used path they had stumbled onto. Kel wished there was some way to get home quicker, but short of sorcery, there wasn't. And since Neal didn't have enough power to transport both of them, plus the horses, they were just going to have to get home with no tricks — riding the whole ten days to the Capital, not counting however long it took them to get past the Carthaki siege posts.

They had just resumed riding after lunch on the third day when a low voice from the surrounding area said, "We've got you surrounded. Don't move unless you wish to die."

Ooooooh, looks bad, huh? Well, you'll just have to stick around and find out what happens next! (If it makes you feel any better, I don't know what will happen next either. I write when my Muse deigns to descend.) In the meantime, read my other two stories, re-read all Tammy's books, and count down the days til Lady Knight comes out!!!