A/N: Just wanted to let you know something; in this chapter and probably from now on, I'll be using abbreviations (y) for younger and (o) for older to differentiate between the two Devic's...*sigh* whoever made them have the same name is crazy!

~Tom peered over the top of his newspaper, making an exasperated face towards Alex, who was fidgeting with his napkin, "If you don't cool it, she'll notice something's wrong before you can even ask her..."

"I know! I know...It's just...I'm really nervous all right? What if she says no?"

"Then she'll say no. Don't worry about it, relax."

"Easy for you to say." Alex quickly shut up as the door to the restaurant opened and Phi walked in, glancing around looking for them.

Tom noticed his friend's silence, "Alex, breathe."

"...I think my heart just stopped beating..."

"Shhh!"

Phi spotted them and walked over, dodging the other tables before sitting down, "Hey, sorry I'm late...I didn't expect the traffic to be as horrible as it was."

Tom nodded to her, "No problem, we haven't even ordered yet...You look nice today."

She smiled shyly at the compliment. Alex gulped. She did look beautiful that day, her hair down, wearing a pale green sweater with some capris, and he tried to find the voice to agree, but was just able to manage a "Hello Phi."

She smiled at him, "Hi Alex. Going out to lunch is such a nice break from school! Of course, you two with your real jobs now; I suppose you get to do this all the time."

Tom grinned and returned to reading his newspaper, "Not as often as you might think..."

The waiter came by and they ordered their food, Phi joking to Alex, who tried to return the banter, and Tom talked about an interesting article he was reading. Their meal came and the conversation lulled. Alex desperately tried to choke down his sandwich, but found it impossible, so he gave the rest to Tom. As he passed his plate across the table, he noticed that his hands were shaking and quickly hid them under the table. Tom gave him a pointed look that clearly was telling him to calm down, and Alex took a deep breath. After Phi had finished her lunch and was leaning back in her chair, Alex reached into his pocket and placed a small box on the table. Carefully, he scooted it across to Phi, who stared at it curiously.

"What's this? Alex, you really shouldn't have gotten me anything!"

He smiled, swallowing his insecurities, shrugged with a small grin on his face, "I saw it, and I thought you might actually like it."

She picked it up gently and opened the top after throwing Alex another curious glance. Inside was a small black box. She blushed and cautiously opened the lid, letting out a small gasp as she saw a delicate gold ring set with a small, but beautifully cut diamond. Before she had time to react, Alex had slipped out of his seat, bent down on one knee, and taken her hand. Tom had abandoned his paper and smiling happily as her blush spread and began to grow on Alex's face.

Alex took another deep breath, looked Phi in the eyes, and softly asked, "Phi, will you marry me?"

Shocked, she stared at him for a moment; glanced over at Tom, back at the ring, then at Alex again. The whole restaurant had gone silent and everyone was turned to look at her, but she didn't even notice them. Finally, she threw her arms around Alex's neck and kissed him, "Yes, Alex, I'll marry you!"

He laughed as everyone in the building broke out in applause and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. She sighed happily and buried her face into his shoulder. Tom was smiling broadly, leaning back in his chair, and paid for their food before standing up and tapping Alex on his other shoulder, "Hey Romeo, our lunch breaks ends in twenty minutes..."

Alex glanced up at him, then back down at Phi as she pulled away. He kissed her "If you want, you can come over to my house and we can talk about it."

She nodded and held his hand as they both straightened up, trying to wipe tears away from her eyes with her other hand.

Tom clapped her on the shoulder, "Weren't expecting that, were you?"

She laughed and shook her head, "No, I didn't suspect a thing!"

Alex grinned at Tom, "See, I wasn't that uptight!"

Tom just shook his head and followed the newly engaged couple out the door, his newspaper rolled up under his arm. ~

Alex awoke with a start from his dream and rolled over to stare at Phi as she lay sleeping on Luke's bed. He himself had fallen asleep on Devic's empty bed, and now sat up and gazed blinkingly up at Tom, who was standing near the edge of the bed, seemingly staring at the wall next to his eldest son's bed, "Find anything?"

Tom glanced at him, surprised, then turned back to the wall, "It's coming along...I be able to trace the Gift trail soon..."

Alex nodded, stood up and sat down on Luke's bed softly, lying down next to Phi. She frowned in her sleep, but didn't wake, and Alex sighed sadly, wondering if his children were okay.

*In Tortall*

Devic (y) peered through the underbrush out into another clearing and groaned, murmuring, "Not more of them!"

Luke pulled on his brother's pajamas, "Maybe they have more food!"

"And maybe there'll be more guys who want to kill us!"

Luke shrugged as if that small matter didn't matter half as much as getting more food and started to step out into the clearing. Devic cursed under his breath and dove for the small child, but missed and instead fell face first into the bushes. Luke glanced back at him, put his fingers to his lips, and then continued to walk forwards innocently.

Devic scrambled to his feet and was about to grab Luke and tug him back to the forest, when he heard another man's voice from behind. He whipped around, and saw a young man sitting in front of a campfire with an innumerable amount of papers on his lap. He said something again, this time a little louder. It sounded like a question, but Devic wasn't going to take any chances. He grabbed Luke and tried to dash back to the forest.

The man leapt up, calling out something loudly, and began to chase the two boys. Luke let out a shriek, and ran along side Devic, but before they could reach it, the man had cut in front of them and blocked their escape route. Devic spun around and took off blindly in the other direction to find that more men had began to pile out of some tents and were chasing after them too. This time, it was Devic's turn to scream as he dodged a tackle from a large man in a loose shirt and pants, and ducked as another made a grab for them. He began to sprint around the outskirts of the camp, looking for a way out through the thickets, dragging Luke behind him.

Suddenly, a young man with curly dark brown hair seemed to appear in front of them out of nowhere and managed to snatch Luke up. Devic tried to stop, but he was going too fast and slipped on some mud, tumbling right into the hands of an older man with broad shoulders. Luke screamed and shrieked, flailing his limbs wildly, forcing his captor to hold him up at arms length to try to avoid the light but vicious attacks from the first grader, as Devic tried to free himself from the man who had pinned him down against the ground.

The first man walked up to them, a small, amused glint in his eyes, and crossed his arms, saying something else. Devic scowled, "I don't understand you, you freak! Let us go!"

The man, who was wearing a tunic with some sort of shield on it, looked surprised, then quickly regained his composure, saying more words in his language, slower this time.

Devic stared defiantly up at him, "That doesn't help any! Let my brother go!"

This whole time, Luke had continuing to squeal and kick, seeming to amuse some of the other men who were snickering at the man holding him, who was beginning to wince. The man in charge, the first man, who Devic noticed had a scar on his left cheek, turned to his men, gave them what sounded like an order, and motioned towards the two who held him and Luke. They picked up the two boys and carried them over to a tree, and quickly tied them to it. The ropes weren't tight, but they kept any thoughts of escape from coming to Devic's mind.

The older boy sighed and leaned his head up against the tree, closing his eyes and ignoring a different man who kept trying to talk to them. Luke was staring blankly at him, and finally he seemed to be so exasperated at their behavior that he shut up and just began to guard them. Suddenly, Devic felt a small twinge in his head, almost like a headache, and he shook it, trying to clear his mind.

Instantly, he could understand them all all of a sudden, and his jaw dropped. The man with the scar was yelling out orders to his men as the sun slowly began to rise over the treetops, "Come on! We need to get moving as soon as we can! I have reason to believe that the Scans are developing a plot that could do us or our country some serious harm. Will! Get those tents down and put someone in charge of extinguishing the fires. Peter, have the children said anything yet?"

Their guard shook his head, "No sir. Not a word."

Just then, Devic cleared his throat and called out, "What do you want?"

Peter and the man with the scar turned to stare at them, along with the man they called Will, the same man who had captured Luke. Devic motioned towards Will to continue and walked over to the tree where they were tied up, shooting a dubious glance at Peter before continuing, "Who are you strange child? And who is your companion?"

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

The scar-man looked affronted from the lack of respect and crossed his arms across his chest, "My name is Devic, and I am in command of this section of the Tortaillan soldiers. I want some answers and you, boy are going to give them to me, one way or the other. Do I make myself clear?"

Devic's (y) jaw dropped, "You-your name's Devic?"

The man raised an eyebrow, "It is, now answer my questions. What is your name, who is your companion, and what was your purpose in my camp?"

"Um...my name's...Devic, that's my brother Luke, and we wanted food. Could you let us down now? I think Luke has ta go pee...he's wigglin' an awful lot..."

Devic's other eyebrow shot up and he nodded towards Peter then turned his attention back to the two boys as they were untied, "But know that if you try to run away again, I will have no choice but to have you shot. We need answers."

Devic (y) nodded and turned to Luke before he could run off, quickly realizing that his little brother probably hadn't understood a word of what had just been said, "Luke! Don't go that way!"

Luke glanced back at him, and tugged on his sleeve as Devic (o) walked away to go help ready the camp for departure, "What did that guy say to you, an' how did ya talk ta him?"

"He jus' asked me a few questions, an' I don't know how I talked ta him. It just sorta came out."

"Do you think I could talk to them?"

"I don't know!" Luke dropped Devic's shirt and began to pout. Devic sighed and scuffed his foot, "But he doesn't seem that mean, so I think we should stay with him for now, because we don't have nowhere else ta go."

Luke nodded and Devic turned back towards Peter to talk to him again but found that when he went to talk to him, the words wouldn't form. Devic (y) frowned and tried again, but all he could manage was English. Peter turned to stare at him, then looked away as Devic flopped to the ground, cross-legged and thoughtful. Why couldn't he speak their language anymore? It didn't make any sense, he was speaking it just as few minutes ago! Sighing, he continued to watch as the Tortallan soldiers packed up their camp and got ready to leave.