"I don't want to go." Xanthe said as she strode out of the dining hall and into the kitchen.

"You need to spend more time with children your age! It isn't right staying in your room all day." Kel nagged chasing after her.

"I'm not going to the palace!"

"You will."

"No, I wont."

"You will."

"No. I wont."

"You are not admitted to an opinion here. You are going to Corus and that is that. I already have spoken to Neal and you will be staying with him and Yuki." Kel said in her Raoul voice.

"This is not fair." Xanthe said knowing she had lost.

"I never said it was."

*~*~*~*

"You're actually trusting her to ride alone?" Dom asked as he and his wife watched their daughter trot away.

Kel looked up at him. "The sparrows will come back here if she tries anything."

"Ah." He said as he lightly kissed her forehead.

"She's growing up you know."

"That's what scares me."

*~*~*~*

As soon as she was out of her parent's view she nudged Blaze into a gallop. Soon her horse would wear out and she would be forced to rest. It will take longer to get there if she galloped and rested then if she were to trot the whole way.

Sure enough she stopped an hour later.

When she finally got to the gates of Corus she came to a halt. She had arrived earlier then she thought she would. Instead of riding into town, she walked her mount into the forest. The sparrows protested, but Xanthe insisted that she wasn't leaving.

She was dressed in her riding dress with the top skirt cut at her waist on the sides and the underskirt cut in front and back giving off the illusion of a regular dress. She had on a long, brown, leather, riding jacket that was cut in the back. With her dress white and the jacket brown she looked common, but if you looked at the Raven sword and dagger, you'd know that she was anything but.

It's true that her parents weren't the richest in the world, but they were respected among the realm and earned more then plenty.

Xanthe never wanted to be a knight and her mother didn't want her to go to the convent, so she stayed at home, never making any friends. She spent most of her time reading and started to resemble Neal, thus she was called 'Meathead the Younger' by her father. She had her father's eyes and her mother's long, brownish hair that was somehow silky.

Now at the age of seventeen she found herself jumping over logs ever so gracefully. She snorted in laughter.

"I am a meathead." She whispered to herself.

The trees were tangling her loose hair, and the bushes grabbed at her dress, she decided that she must look awful. It was true that her dress was spell against dirt stains and her jacket, which was a little bit longer the her dress, was just leather, the dress was torn and muddy and she was in no position to go to the palace. She would have to take a side trip to Lalasa's shop.

She let Blaze graze and walked around. The forest was beautiful, but she couldn't shake off this feeling. She was being watched. She turned around slowly to find a wolf sitting on a rock behind her, staring at her. Something it it's eyes made her hand drop from her dagger's hilt. Its eyes were human.

"Do you understand me?" she asked cautiously.

The wolf nodded.

"Can you speak?"

The wolf shook his head.

"Why are you staring at me?" something in the wolf's face made her quickly add, "Right, yes or no questions. I forgot."

She took a step forward.

"Do you have any friends?"

No.

"Neither do I. Can we be friends?"

Yes.

"Will you let me touch you?"

The wolf walked over and licked her out stretched hand. Xanthe scratched behind its ears.

"You're truly amazing. Do you know that?"

Yes.

She laughed.

*~*~*~*

After Lalasa touched up her dress and Xanthe brushed her hair, she walked up to Neal's living quarters. She didn't need to knock on the door, because as soon as she walked up the door sung open and Maya came running out. She nearly knocked her down when she jumped and hugged her.

Neal came out laughing as he pried the nine-year-old off.

"Xaneeeee!! You're here!" Maya said happily.

"Come on in my fellow meathead." Neal chuckled letting her in.

Maybe this trip wasn't going to be so bad.

*~*~*~*

Aynsley walked down the hallway passing Neal's noisy door. He must have company, he thought.

As he walked he ran his fingers over the back part of his right ear where Xanthe had scratched him. She had told him her name when she was petting him. When she left, he turned back into human form and found his clothes.

Xanthe. X-A-N-T-H-E. It was a beautiful name-almost as beautiful as her. She was kind, friendly, and perfect.

He was in love with Xanthe.

Xanthe.





A/N: This is my first attempt at a Tortall fic. Be kind. If you have any title suggestions please tell me.

Also check out my COM fic. Thanx!!! ^_^

I also want to thanks to Lady Katharine Heartspark for the details. I am always open to suggestion.