Disclaimer: This world and most of the characters are Tamora Pierce's, not mine. The plot and some of the characters are mine and no one has permission to use them except me . A/N: This is set right after Squire. This is my first fanfic so please review.

Chapter one: Fire!

Yallara set the basket she had been carrying on the table " Ma," she called.

" No need to shout, honey," Answered a short, plump lady as she came through the door. " I'm right here."

" Oh. Well, I'm done with those deliveries. Do you mind if I go out now?"

Yallara's mother took on a look of regret. " I'm sorry, Yallara, but I need you to help me fill the orders. I have five dresses due tomorrow and I haven't even started two of them."

Yallara let out a small groan. " Ma, you know I hate sewing."

" I know, I know. But you are very good at it and I need your help. Besides, you need to develop your skills for when you find a husband." Her ma said knowingly.

Yallara wanted to argue that she had no intention of marrying anytime soon, even though she was fifteen and was old enough for such things, but she knew better than to say so. Instead she sighed resignedly and settled into a corner of the shop that was attached to their house. She fixed her green eyes on the dress she was to work on and started setting the small even stitches her mother praised her for.

While she worked she noticed little else. She had no idea how long she had been working when she realized someone had asked her a question. " What?" She as she worked on the last stitches needed to finish the dress.

" I said, Do you like to sew?" replied a male voice.

" Not really, in fact I hate it." She told him as she tied the last not and snipped the thread.

" Really?" he sounded surprised. " You do so well I never would have guessed."

She looked up at him sharply not sure if he was flirting or not. She found herself looking at a handsome young man with dark blue eyes and curly blonds-brown hair. Most girls would have gone all dreamy eyed, Yallara just shrugged delicately, wondering what he was doing in a dress shop. As if he read her mind her pointed over at her mother who was fitting a young girl for a dress.

" I came with my sister," he explained. " Where are my manners?" He said suddenly. " I'm Mainar Lardan. And you must be Yallara Cordel. I heard about you through my father."

" Oh? What does he say about me?" she asked.

" Many things, though I'm afraid he didn't give you full credit. But then, how could words ever express what I see now."

Yallara stood up slowly, and after setting the dress on the chair and lifting her skirts daintily, she kicked him on the shin and stormed up stairs to her rooms.

Picking up the mirror she looked at herself. Sometimes she wished she wasn't so attractive, with her light green eyes, full lips, and long brown hair. If men didn't take such interest in her maybe she'd have more of a chance to convince her parents to let her join the Queen's Riders.

Her parents were conservative, but not as strict about it as some. She had talked to them about her dream to become a Rider before but they said a warrior's life was not the life of a lady and certainly not the life they wanted for their daughter. She still had some hope though and intended to talk to them about it later. Peeking back down stairs she was relieved to see that the Lardan's had left. She picked up another dress and started sewing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

" We'll think about it," her father told her. " Now go get ready for bed."

Yallara left the room with an exited smile on her face.

Her father sat in a chair by the fire. He was a captain of the palace guard, one of the best, and he knew the cost of battle and that was one of the many reasons he didn't want his daughter to have any part in it. But he also knew his daughter.

" I don't think we're going to dissuade her," he said to his wife.

" We can't just let her go!" her mother exclaimed. " My little girl, going into battle."

Father got up and started pacing. " We should let her go for a trial year, to get the itch out of her feet, as you might say. In a few months she'll probably want to come home and she'll turn her mind to marriage and family."

Yallara's mother nodded agreement. They finished their discussion and her mother came up to tell her the news.

Yallara heard the knocks at her door. " Come in," she called. " It's not locked."

Her mother came in to find her sitting on her bed and sat down next to her.

" Well, your father and I have discussed it and we have decided to let you go for a trial year." Her mother barely had time to finish her sentence as Yallara flung her arms around her. " Save your elation until after you hear what I have to say." Yallara settled down.

" There are conditions. As I said this is a trial year, alright?" Yallara nodded. " Also, we have been invited to dinner at the house of the merchant that supplies your father's men. The condition is that you have to be nice to their son." Her mother finished.

" Is that all?" Yallara asked, earning her a disapproving look from her mother. " I will. I will. I promise," she said giving her mother another hug.

Yallara finally calmed down enough to ask the name of the people that had invited them. " Lardan," her mother replied. Yallara froze. " Are you ok, honey?"

" Uh, yeah. Fine, ma," she replied weakly.

" Ok, honey," she turned to leave. " Oh, yes. Yallara, please dress nicely. It is important that we stay on these people's good side."

" Yes, ma'am."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yallara draped her lace shawl over her shoulders, completely ready to go. A quick look in the mirror showed her that her hair was perfectly in it's place, the red lip color neatly applied, that her green dress, chosen to match her eyes, was smooth, not a wrinkle in sight.

A knock sounded at the door. Yallara walked over and opened it. Her father stood there looking dashing in the suit her mother had made him. He had dark hair and beard and dark eyes. Her father was also very tall, Yallara sometimes joked that she had inherited both her mother and father's stature leaving her at a nice average height.

He took one look at her and smiled. " You look just like your mother," he told her. " only taller." He lowered his voice, " Don't tell her I said that." He winked and it was her turn to smile.

" Said what?" Her mother asked coming into the hall.

" Oh, nothing." He replied. " I was only telling her how beautiful she was and how much she resembled her mother." He leaned down and kissed her mother.

Her mother smiled and looked at Yallara. " Oh, honey you look wonderful. You only need one more thing." She held up a necklace. It was gold twined around a shimmering pearl suspended on a fine gold chain.

Yallara gasped. " It's beautiful," she breathed. Her father took it and clasped it around her neck.

" You're father gave it to me on our engagement night," her mother told her.

" Oh, thank you," she said giving them both a big hug.

" Alright," her mother told them. " We can't dally or we'll be late."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night was extremely boring. Mainar kept watching her through dinner, making Yallara blush and her mother wink. After dinner they retired to a cozy study where Mrs. Cordel and Mrs. Lardan discussed recipes and the men talked about politics. Neither issue held any interest for Yallara, so she sat there smiling politely and feeling stupid.

The evening wore into night and at last they left. Her mother talked about how lovely the evening was.

" Wasn't Mainar nice, Yallara?" her mother asked Yallara mumbled something about him being nicer if he didn't stare so much, which made her mother grin and started her blushing again.

" I'm going for a walk," Yallara stated and hurried off, not wanting to hear more.

" Alright, but don't stay out too long," her mother called after her.

When Yallara had gotten far enough away she slowed her pace. " I don't get it," she said to herself. " She urges me to marry, yet if I ever do I bet she'll cry and talk about how her little baby grew up so fast." She shook her head. " Maybe I'll understand when I have children."

" Don't you mean if you have children."

She spun around to find herself facing Mainar her shawl in his hands.

" What are you doing here?" she demanded sharply. " I wanted to walk in peace."

" That's a little rude, don't you think?" he asked.

" Probably. But I think it's rude to stare," she told him. To her amusement he blushed.

" Sorry," he mumbled. " I kind of wanted to get back at you for walking out on me. No girl has ever done that to me before. Speaking of which, don't you think kicking is rude?"

Now she blushed. " Maybe a little, but I hardly feel like being nice to someone who flirts with the first pretty girl he sees. And for your information, I have walked out on every single guy that's ever flirted with me and you're the first guy I haven't slapped for staring at me like you were over dinner. And don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't because I didn't want to. And now, thanks to you, my ma thinks you like me."

" But I do like you," he protested. " Why do you think I flirted with you?"

" No, you don't like me. You like my pretty face and well bred manners. You don't even know me."

" I'd like to know you," he told her.

" You have a strange way of telling me," she replied.

" No I don't. Most girls like flirting and take it as a show of interest, just because you don't is no reason to reject a man completely."

" Tell me, what do you think of me now?" she demanded. " The real me. Under all the polite smiles and dainty curtsies? What do you think of my mind? And spirit? And temper that can match the Lioness?"

" Believe me, your temper is not near as fierce as the Lioness. I ought to know," he said. Yallara stared at him. " What?"

It was his turn to be amused. " You can't be in the Own under Raoul and not at least see the Lioness."

" You've met sir Alanna?"

He nodded. " Keladry too. I've met just about all the famous women warriors."

Yallara hesitated. " Then-then it wouldn't surprise you if I told you I wanted to join the Riders?"

He shook his head. " Many girls want to now days."

Yallara's mind was racing a mile a minute.

" You are just now realizing that you don't know me either, aren't you?" Mainar said in a gentle way that didn't make this humiliating news feel worse.

She nodded.

" Why don't we start over?" He proposed. " Hello, I'm Mainar Lardan."

" It's nice to meet you, I'm Yallara Cordel," she replied and they both smiled.

" Here." He held out her shawl. " I originally came to return this. You left it at our house."

" Thank you, I was getting cold." She rapped the shawl around her. " Would you care to walk with me?"

" I would," he smiled slowly. " You know, you're even more beautiful when you're angry."

" Do you want to be kicked again?" she asked menacingly.

He held up his hands in surrender. " Ok, I won't mention it again."

There was a short silence.

" Did you get to meet Buri?" she asked.

" Yep." And he proceeded to tell her the story about how someone had tried to play a trick on Buri but had gotten their fingers glued to the saddle in the process then the horse had been spooked by a dog and went galloping off, the man still attached to the saddle.

" Poor fellow." Mainar finished, shaking his head while yallara laughed. She wiped her watering eyes.

" Do you smell something?" Mainar asked.

" It smells like smoke," she answered, sniffing the air.

They searched the skies and finally in the darkness they saw smoke rising and the orange glow of fire.

" A building's on fire!" he exclaimed.

Yallara grabbed his arm tightly. " That's in my district," she said and bolted off before he could do anything. He raced after her.

Even before she saw it she knew without doubt that it was her house on fire. At first she could only stare at the burning house and the people throwing buckets of water on it and the houses around it, but then she began searching frantically for her parents. Though she searched everywhere, she could not find them.

She turned to Mainar as tears welled in her eyes. " They're not here," She sobbed. And he held her as she cried into his shoulder.