A/N: Well, classes have taken over!! I didn't think it would take me so long to update, but there it is. Thank you ALL for your reviews! You're very kind! Oh, and to etcetera-cat, regarding updating, coughgrasscoughiscoughgreenercough Pardon me there. Must have been some pollen or something. :-)

Chapter 8

I held Lucia's hand as we walked through Companions Field. "There's someone I want you to meet," I told her. She'd been in my care for several days now, but we'd been so busy doing daily tasks that I hadn't had time to introduce her to Landon, yet.

"Is it a Companion?" she asked, wide-eyed.

I nodded. "His name is Landon."

"Why aren't you wearing white then?"

"Because I'm not a Herald," I replied.

Her little brow furrowed in thought. "But you go to class, and you have a Companion."

I smiled down on her. "Master Alberich is teaching me self-defense, and Landon is my friend, but that's all. I'm not Chosen."

"Oh," came her soft reply. And then, a moment later, "I'd like to be a Herald."

I could see Landon in the distance, and as he noticed us, he broke away from some other Companions and started towards us. "Well," I said to Lucia, "maybe someday you will be."

She shook her head and said, in a very sad voice, "No, I won't."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because," she replied, "the man in the wagon told me they were going to send me to the poor house, and Companions don't go there." And she looked up at me, her eyes brimming with tears.

I immediately stopped walking and knelt down next to her. "That is not true," I said firmly. "First of all, Companions go everywhere, and secondly—" I paused. I hadn't said anything to Lucia about adoption, out of deference to Talia's request, and my own uncertainty on how to broach the subject. But knowing Lucia's fears made it impossible for me to remain silent. "Secondly," I continued, a little more softly, "you don't have to go to the poor house. You can stay with me. I—I'd like to be your mother, if that's alright with you."

Lucia threw herself at me with such force, I was almost knocked backwards from the impact. She wrapped her arms around my neck so tightly, I found it hard to breathe.

"Is this a 'yes'?" I asked.

"Oh, yes," she cried, and squeezed all the more.

Thankfully Landon arrived before I passed out, and Lucia transferred her exuberance to him, clinging to one of his front legs and babbling her news to him in childish glee.

:I take it you told her of your plans to adopt her?: he asked.

"How did you know about that?"

:Everyone knows,: he replied simply. :At least, everyone among the Companions.: He shook his forelock out of his eyes and gazed down on me. :We all support your decision. And, personally, I'm very proud of you.:

I felt my own eyes tear up and I rose to wrap my arms around his neck.

:Lucia,: I heard him say, :would you like a ride?:

That stopped her chatter for a full moment as she digested not only the shock of hearing a strange voice in her head, but also the wondrous proposal before her: a chance to ride on a real Companion.

"Yes, please," she whispered.

Smiling, I picked her up and put her on Landon's back. She grabbed a fistful of his mane, her face breaking into one, huge smile.

"Would you like me to stay with you?" I asked as Landon started walking away.

She shook her head, her soft hair teased by the breeze. "I'll be all right, Mama," she called back to me.

It was a good thing, I realized as she moved away, for I couldn't have budged if a pack of wyrsa were on my tail.

Mama.

I thought my heart would break. In a good sort of way, that is. I watched her and Landon walk, and then trot around our area of the Field for a while. Every so often, her laugh would echo back to me, and I couldn't help but smile in return.

My daughter.

Staying in Valdemar didn't seem quite so bad anymore.

I looked across the Field and saw that Landon had stopped moving. He was staring at another part of the Field, and I followed his gaze to see the other Companions doing the same. A moment later, a deep bell began to toll. It took me a moment to realize that it was the Death Bell.

Landon came over soon after, and I helped Lucia down from his back. Her exuberance was somewhat checked as she dismounted.

"Someone died, Landon said," she told me as I set her down.

I raised my eyes to Landon's. "What happened?" Lucia started off after a butterfly, and I kept one eye on her while conversing with Landon.

I heard him sigh heavily in my mind before he replied. :What always happens. We've lost another Herald in the Forest.:

"What forest?" I asked. The only forest I knew of was Sorrows, and no Herald ever died there.

:The Great Forest,: Landon replied.

The Great Forest? "What Great Forest?" I asked. "I've never heard of that."

:Surely you must have,: Landon stated. :The Great Forest forms a large part of the northern border of Valdemar. It's the most dangerous part of the kingdom. Circuits there are only three months on average, and we never send fewer than two Heralds at a time. Northern raiders are a year-round problem, and we've lost more Heralds in the Forest than in all our skirmishes with Karse and Hardorn combined.:

I couldn't have been more stunned than if he'd kicked me. He must have noticed this, because he stepped forward and nudged me with his nose. :What's wrong?:

"Landon, this is totally backwards," I said. "In the books, what you call the Great Forest is known as the Forest of Sorrows."

:Well, that's certainly an appropriate name,: he interjected.

"Sorrows is the safest place in Valdemar," I said. "Female Heralds patrol there alone for more than a year at a time."

Now he looked like I'd kicked him. :How is that possible?: he demanded.

"It goes back to Vanyel," I replied. "Everything seems to be converging on him!" And I could not keep a touch of annoyance from my tone. "All these differences are focused on him," I complained.

:What does Vanyel have to do with the Forest?: Landon asked. His mindvoice seemed to tremble a bit, and I couldn't tell if it was from fear or impatience. Perhaps both. The perception wasn't strong, but it was real, and with it came the renewed conviction that Landon was hiding something from me, something that would shed some light on this mystery that was growing deeper and more frustrating with each passing day.

"It is because of Vanyel that the Forest is safe," I told him. "Remember I told you that in the books, Vanyel dies? Well, he dies by calling down Final Strike against Laereth in the Forest of Sorrows, and after he dies, he and Yfandes, and eventually Stephen, stay behind from the Havens to guard the Forest. No one intending harm to Valdemar can live for more than a few moments in the Forest. It's the safest place in the entire kingdom."

:I–: Landon started, but then just stopped. If he had looked surprised before, he looked positively shaken to his core now, as much as a horse-like creature could be said to look shaken. Had he been human, I would have bet good money that he'd have been forcibly keeping himself from fainting or losing his lunch.

What was going on behind those troubled blue eyes???

"Landon," I began, "I've known for days now that you're keeping something from me, something more than just your silly Companion secrets. It's obvious that it has something to do with these bizarre differences between our Valdemars."

:I have to go,: he said abruptly, and before I could raise even the smallest of protests, he had wheeled about and broken into a canter, gone from my sight before I'd done more than drawn breath.

Obviously, I had hit the nail on the head. I suppose there was no good way to extricate oneself from such a direct question, but Landon's abrupt departure only served to highlight the truth of my observation all the more. I caught sight of Lucia some ways down the Field and called to her. It was time for her nap, and I had a stack of books waiting for me. I was more certain than ever that somewhere buried in their odd scripts was the answer to the puzzle.

SCENEBREAK

Two hours later, I had only succeeded in frustrating myself. The chronicles of Vanyel and his time spoke in glowing terms of everything about him but the events surrounding his defeat of Laereth. That victory got little more than strict factual reporting in the books. Coincidence? Impossible, I reasoned. His greatest victory, and the pages of history aren't singing his praises??

I suddenly stopped in mid-thought, frozen by the cliche-ic phrase my mind had thrown out.

Singing his praises.

Stephan. He'd been a Bard and he'd had Vanyel's ear in a way that no one else, except for 'Fandes had. Was there a chance that he, or some other Bard, might have put something into song that might not have made it into the chronicles?

Lucia was just waking up, and Selenay had sent for me to come visit her once Lucia's nap was over. I would have to suspend my search for information until later that evening.

Per Selenay's request, I dropped Lucia off in the Royal Nursery and made my way to her office, where she was waiting for me.

"How is Lucia?" she asked upon my arrival.

"She's doing well," I replied with a huge smile. "She called me 'Mama' today." I paused to wipe tears from my eyes. "I don't care what–"

Selenay held up her hand to forestall my protest. "The papers are here. I had them drawn up today. Every Companion of any Herald I've seen in the past few days has had their Chosens tell me that Lucia and you belong together." She smiled graciously. "I've never seen that kind of support from the Companions before."

"Do you think I'm wrong?" I asked.

"Wrong?" she echoed. "If you are, would that all my people would be so wrong!" She favored me with a kind look. "It's not that, Jaelle. We were just concerned that you were doing this from shock, and that once that shock wears off, Lucia would be the one to suffer."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I understand your concern, but I will not abandon my daughter." The resolve I felt filled me, and I wished there was a way that I could have conveyed that to her. Of all the times for Talia to be absent, this was not one of the better ones.

But Selenay seemed to sense this in spite of the absence of her right hand. Whatever worry seemed to be lurking in her eyes flowed away into a quiet joy. "Then I have no objections," she replied, and she reached across and signed one of the many papers on her desk. She rolled it up and tied it with a golden cord and then rose and came around the desk and handed it to me. "I wish you all the joy motherhood brings."

With a trembling hand, I accepted the paper, torn between tears and laughter. With a laugh of her own, Selenay embraced me.

"Why don't you go tell Lucia? I'm sure she'll be delighted," she suggested. "I wish I could be there to witness it, but I have Council meeting in a few moments."

"She will," I confirmed. "She told me this morning that she was afraid she was going to be sent to the poorhouse. She said the man who brought her here told her so."

The joy in Selenay's eyes dimmed a bit at that news. "I promise you, we'll find him. I will not abide such injustice while I have breath in me."

I was put to mind of the Death Bell earlier that day. "I'm very sorry to hear of the loss of your Herald this morning."

What joy was left in her eyes faded to allow the sadness she was feeling to shine through. "I feel like a part of me dies every time I hear the Bell toll," she confessed, and I had the distinct feeling that few people were privy to seeing this side of their queen. Perhaps because I was so foreign and not in any position to exploit her confidence, she felt at ease with me. No matter the cause, I was deeply touched.

But what could I say? I did not have the weight of a kingdom on my shoulders, did not have to make choices that would send others to their deaths. "I wish I could help," I replied quietly.

"Jaelle, you have helped us more than you can imagine," she replied. "If you hadn't brought my daughter home, I would never have had those papers she brought with her. More than one person would have died this morning, and many more would have died in the future that might now be spared."

"But it doesn't make the Bell any easier to bear, does it?"

She smiled sadly. "Nothing eases that pain, I'm afraid."

There was little to say, and so I said nothing as we left her suites together, going our separate ways.