Title: A Crow's Place

Author: icebyrd67

Rating: PG for some violence and possibly language

Disclaimer: This story is based off of books written by Tamora Pierce, so people and places belong to her. The only things I own are June and the plot.

Summary: In tradition of her family, Aly begins to hound her daughter, Junai to find her place in the world. Too bad the place Aly wants her to take isn't what June wants. And too bad Aly never bothered to tell June the truth about her past.

Chapter Two: Flockmates

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"Where is she?" Baron George Cooper of Pirate's Swoop muttered to Captain Jonis as they watched the men unload the cargo hold of the ship. His eyes scanned the entirety of the vessel in hopes of catching his first glimpse of his eldest granddaughter.

"On board. I told her to remain below deck until I smoothed things out and found her a place in your household." The man answered his master. Jonis was one of the Whisper Man's.

"Good. I've sent a message along to Aly about allowing her to stay a while. It'll do the girl a bit of good. Bring the girl into my home. I'll place her with the serving girls. I'd like to have her somewhere where I can keep an eye on her at all times. It wouldn't do to have her run off like Aly did. Her mother and my wife would both skin me alive." George sighed. He could already tell that his eldest granddaughter would be a handful. Why did the girl have to resemble her mother so much? Why did he have to resemble her grandmother so much? Why were the women in his family such a handful?

"Very well. I'll bring her out. Give me a moment, sir." The man bowed to the noble and turned to board his ship. "Milady?" He called, heading below deck to find June.

"Yes?" She sat up straight, staring at the man. "Have you spoken to the Baron? What did he say? Will he take me on?" Her hands shook in her anxiousness, something that wasn't particularly good for an aspiring spy like herself.

"Yes, the Baron will take you. Come along. Bring your things. I am to bring you to the Baron. Now, he likes to be called 'sir', not Lord. And remember that his wife has a sharp tongue, that Lioness does."

"THE Lioness?" She asked excitedly. She hadn't known that she would be meeting a legend. If she had, she probably would have prepared herself a little better. Instead, she was a nervous wreck. What if they saw right through her and realized she really wasn't a common-born girl? She had heard that the Lioness had the Gift and was quite adept at her control.

"Yes, THE Lioness. Not to worry, lass. The woman is a fine one. She isn't nearly as bad as they make her to be. Not as bad at the Queen's Spymaster, anyhow." June rolled her eyes at the mention of her mother. Of course the man didn't know of the connection between herself and the Queen's Spymaster, but that didn't matter to June.

"Well, I hope not." June smiled, following the man off the ship, smoothing her hair as she did so. If she had only thought to do something with her tangled mass of hair. She wasn't exactly the most presentable, considering she spent a few weeks on a ship with nowhere to take a proper bath. She had scrubbed off with some wet rags and a basin of hot water, but it wasn't anything near the same as a proper hot bath in a tub.

"Sir, may I introduce Junai Dodeka?" Jonis used the surname that June had provided. The name belongs to an old friend of her mother. In fact, it was the name of the woman June was named for. According to her mother and the Queen, Junai Dodeka had died in the war for the Queen's Throne. She was supposed to be a great friend of her mother's and the daughter and granddaughter of the Strong One and the Wise One. She was a legend among both the raka and the luarin. She was supposed to be one of the Queen's strongest supporters in the Rebellion. June was constantly reminded how lucky she was to have the name of such a strong woman. Sometimes, June wanted to change her name to get away from such a horrible fate to live up to.

"My lord." June murmured, dropping into a curtsey. George smiled, pulling her to her feet and taking her things.

"Please, my dear. Call me George or sir if you cannot bring yourself to that. Come. You are part of my household now. I suppose you shall want to know the terms of your employment. You are to have a day off every sevensdays. You will be paid ten gold nobles a sevensdays. And you shall be given room and board as well as a drawing of clothing. And of course, as the laws decree, learning to the best of your ability." George explained as he led her towards the castle. "Do you think you can handle that, my dear?"

"Yes sir!" June answered enthusiastically. She hadn't expected things to be so easy for her in Tortall. In fact, she had expected it to be more like home where females were interrogated for everything, no matter how innocent the matter. And she hadn't expected the pay to be so well. She liked this Baron George. He was a nice man and something about him reminded her of her mother. In a good way, of course.

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June grinned, watching the crows flying outside her window. She loved waking up every morning to the raunchy boisterous cawing of the crows. It reminded her a lot of home at Tanair where she spent most of her summers. It was nice to have her people around, even though she had not yet introduced herself to them. A part of her was still afraid that one of them would find a way to report to her father, even though it had been weeks and she hadn't be contacted by anyone.

She was a little surprised that the crows hadn't greeted her as one of their own yet, but that could have been because she was half-human and they didn't recognize the human side of her. One day soon she would find the courage to address them. But until then, she had work to do and she loved the work she did for the Baron.

The majority of the time, she aided him as a secretary. Once he found out that she was capable of reading and writing nearly as well as him, he decided that she would be perfect to help him with his work. He invited her to join him in the spy networks, sorting through reports and such. She kept him a folder, much like her Mother's deputies did for her. She organized everything by urgency, type, and spy. She made it easier for George to work. And he hadn't questioned why she knew so much about spy work or of reading and writing.

Whenever she wasn't in her office, as he had given her the study adjoining his office, she was helping the women sew or cook or helping the Lioness prepare medicines. In fact, she had begun lessons with the Lioness in basic medical care. That way, June would always be able to take care of things in the infirmary if Alanna wasn't about. It wouldn't do to pull the lady out of whatever she was doing every time someone got a cut or broke an arm.

And June had plenty of time to explore the lands surrounding Pirate's Swoop. She'd taken the time to meet many of the animals in the woods near the castle. Any time she had off, she usually spent it running in the woods with the wolves. It wasn't quite the same as running in the jungle on the Isles, but it was close enough.

On those days, June wore her hair down in the raka fashion, but otherwise, she learned to pin it up away from her face in the Tortallan fashion. She felt a bit like her mother whenever she did that.

"June?" George knocked on her door, calling to her.

"Yes sir?" She asked, pulling the door open a crack, hitching the robe closer around her body. She was dressed, but barely, wearing nothing but a man's shirt, which is what she slept in.

"I've got a few reports if you could go through them today. Then you can take the rest of the day off, okay? I've got some business to care for in the village today. Alanna should be in her infirmary with Sir Nealan working on some advanced healing, so don't bother her today unless you want to be bitten or have your ears talked off. The family will have dinner together and you are expected to be there."

"Yes sir." June smiled, nodding her head. She loved it when there was no work for her. It gave her some time to visit the woods. Maybe today she would speak to the crows. After all, it had been a very long time since she had a conversation with one of her people. She missed home and this would help ease that pang. And plus, whenever the family had meals together, it meant that George had brought in some entertainers, tumblers and sort. And there would be pies. Apple pies with whipped cream, her favorite luarin dessert. George nodded and went away as she eased the door shut and turned to find something to wear.

She dressed in a green and brown sarong, so she would be comfortable and wouldn't need to change later. She ran a brush though her hair to work out the knots and began to fix her hair in the raka fashion, taking care to secure her feather tightly with the leather thongs and wooden beads. It had been a long time since she made the change into a crow and she wasn't sure if it was safe for her to do so in Tortall. She didn't want to lose what was possibly the only feathers she would molt in a long time.

She went immediately to her office and worked quickly and diligently through the small stack of reports and left the organized folder on George's desk before heading in search of a breakfast.

"Hello, Hanna." June greeted the cook cheerfully as she invaded the cold store, finding some hardboiled eggs and cheese. She fashioned herself a bite to eat and packed some rolls stuffed with ham for her trip. Then she invaded the dried fruit store and helped herself to a little sack of dried cherries. She wanted to have a gift for the crows when she greeted them.

When June left the castle, she made sure she took along her gaudy necklace, which had been a gift from her father. He had won it in a gamble with the Trickster during the Queen's war. Her mother really hated that necklace for its loud colors. June liked that it was so shiny.

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She was careful, walking into the woods as not to disturb the animals in their business. When she reached the large oak tree that she knew to be the home of many crows, she tipped her head back and gave a call that rivaled only her father's crow-speak. She made the sound for "friend" and proceeded to create the clicks and caws that would inform the crows that she was an ally from the Isles, a fledgling that was lonely.

Immediately, three crows took flight and landed before her, cocking their heads to the sound as they tried to determine if she spoke truth. She smiled and reached a hand out, opening her palm to present her gift of dried fruit.

"Hello. My name is June. How are you?" She spoke softly in crow-speak, mindful not to frighten anyone. She giggled as a crow hopped to her shoulder and began to preen her hair as her flock mates in Rajmuat and Tanair did.

The crows replied, asking her why she chose to take a two-legger form. And why she didn't revert back to her true form and fly with them. As tempting as that request sounded, June had to decline explaining that she was half-human and she usually spent her time as a two-legger. She couldn't make the change because someone would see her and she couldn't risk that.

She sat, leaning against the tree as the crows went about their business, stopping every so often to speak to her. It was nice. Just like at home with her flock mates. These Tortallan crows had even taken to calling her a flock mate, inviting her into their flock. They all took a moment to admire her multi-colored necklace; all calling their envy that they had not gotten one as well.

She was deep in a conversation with a few nestlings about the crows in Tanair when she realized so wasn't alone. She was on her feet with two daggers in her hands before the intruders had a chance to blink. She would protect her flock mates no matter what.

"You do that very well." The woman said, taking a step forward with an outreached hand. A crow somewhere in the distance gave a raucous bawl, greeting the woman and the man behind her as two-legger flock mates like June.

"Do what?" June demanded, narrowing her eyes, moving her body into a better position for defending herself and her friends. There was something about this woman that terrified June, but she wasn't quite sure she knew what it was. "And who are you?"

"Crow-speak. I haven't heard anyone speak it as well as you outside of my family. This is my son, Rikash." The woman indicated with a jerk of her head. She took another step forward, lowering herself to the ground, still reaching towards the nestlings. She glanced up, locking eyes with June. "My name is Daine. Veralidaine Salmalin."