This-Is-Not-A-Flame: The joke about Evendim was that it is as far away from Karse as you could get. Kero was being irrational. I've read too many trashy romance novels where the male lead refers to the female lead as "baby". I was just rereading that and I agree. Thank you for the spelling corrections!

I got such violent reactions to my spelling of the Great E-Land that I'm half tempted to leave it, but I figure you guys might kill me if I don't fix it. I'm glad you all are enjoying my story so much. Sorry for the long delays, but school and work come first. I'll get around to the editing slowly but surely. In the meantime, forgive me for my mistakes and don't let it ruin the story for you. Thank you for all the wonderful comments!

Chapter 5

            "How goes it, love?"

            Eldan lay with Kero in the grass that belonged to some meadow of his memory. It was his turn to choose the location and he had chosen a place that was the exact opposite of where his physical body was. Interestingly enough, Kero's hair was still long in this dream, spread out on the grass under her, shining in the warm sunlight. Kero knew she should be amused by Eldan's absentmindedness, but found herself too tired to work up the energy to be amused. Likewise, they were both still fully clothed, Eldan in some loose breeches and a favorite shirt of his, worn soft and bare in spots, Kero in a loose gown that she would not be caught dead in in real life but secretly loved to wear in their dreams.

            "Exhausting. So far we have a mage and a firestarter. Acacia is being, well, like I would be in her position. Sayvil is too busy snikering to be of any help. The baby should be coming back tomorrow morning. And we can't afford to clothe this many growing girls."

            Eldan frowned at the last and wrapped a strand of hair around his finger. "We have the savings. We don't always spend our stipends and you have your income from the Bolts."

            "We talked about this awhile back, remember? When the Healers discovered that a bad batch of moon powder had been delivered to the Collegium? We can afford three children, but no more."

            He sighed and rolled onto his back, contemplating the sky. A brief moment of concentration caused their current finances to appear in the sky and he began to mentally move figures around. Kero observed and made a few comments, but their conclusions remained the same.

            "What we need to do," Kero mused, "is to get a few of them Chosen."

            Eldan snorted. "Keep saying that and it will never happen."

            "One can hope."

            Then Kero was struck by sudden inspiration, followed by a feeling of dread. Eldan, watching the expressions flit across her face, was struck by sudden amusement, then he restrained himself.

            "You look like you're facing Death."

            "I swore I would never pick up a needle for anything other than fixing armor and mending my clothes."

            Curiosity overtook him. "Why would that be of any import right now? You can't make dresses." Then it dawned on him. "Can you?"

            Kero growled under her breath and scrubbed her hands over her face. "Yes, I can make dresses, dammit. It's been several decades, but I could probably put a few basic ones together for them. Buying the cloth would be a lot cheaper than having the dresses made. I'm sure we can supplement with hand-me-downs from other Heralds."

            Eldan grinned. "You crafty woman, you. You'll be embroidering before you know it." Kero paled and Eldan chuckled evilly, rolling on top of her. "Oh yes, I can see it now. Making little nightgowns for the baby. Embroidering the hem of  your gown." He leaned down, nibbled her earlobe, and whispered, "Darning my socks."

            "Oh, yuck!" Kero scissored her legs and flipped Eldan onto his back so she was on top, pinning his wrists to the ground and grinning. "You wish, lover. I might stitch your mouth closed, but I will never darn your socks!"

            "You think so?"

            "I know so."

            It was Eldan's turn to flip them over. "I think you are going to be very domestic by the time I get back."

            He was leaning down again, this time to nibble his way along her jaw. Kero felt a wetness along her cheek.

            "Oh, yuck, Eldan, stop doing that!"

            He lifted his head.

            "Stop doing what?"

            "Stop licking my cheek."

            His expression was a classical study in perplexity. "I'm not licking your cheek."

            Kero frowned as more wetness oozed down her cheek. "Then what-"

            "-is that?"

            Kero's eyes snapped open, the dream dissolving in an instant in the face of a huge head with sharp teeth, a lolling tongue and bad breath.

            "Blessed Agnira!"

            She was reaching for her sword when she heard the giggles. Kero froze. The dog standing over her woofed and leaned down to deliver another slobbering lick to her face. The dog would never pass as cute. Judging from what Kero could see of him, which was not much since his huge head occluded most of his body from her perspective, the dog was the result of one of Daren's hunters breaking out of the kennel and sporting with one of the ladies' lapdogs. He was still a pup, but his large head and paws suggested that he would be monstrous at full size. The color of his fur was indeterminant due to a large amount of mud, which was also splattered liberally over the bedding and the wooden floors.

            "Acacia."

            Acacia wandered forward from the door way and stopped next to the bed. She grinned beligerantly. "We're keeping him."

            Kero raised an eyebrow. "No, you're not." She sat up and pushed the dog out of her face. Once she was standing beside the bed, she hefted the dog bodily and carried him toward the door to their suite.

            "Yes we are!" Acacia yelled. "He came up to the door and scratched it and licked us when we opened it, so he's ours!"

            "Last time I checked, this was my suite, so no, you're not keeping him."

            By now, Kero had reached the door and wrenched it open, proceeding into the hallway, heedless of freezing toes.

            "It's cold outside!" This last was from Caia, trudging along behind her big sister and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her hair was a large knot that Kero was not looking forward to untangling. "He'll freeze!"

            The dog did feel cold to her and she felt herself softening for an instant, then firmed her resolve. "No dog, that's final." By now she had reached the exterior doors, but felt herself faltering once again. The snow was still coming down, but nowhere near as bad as the blizzard of the day before. However, the blizzard had brought temperatures that had not been seen since the Ice Festival years before. The girls stood in the doorway of the suite, yelling on top of their lungs, drawing the other residents of the echoing hallway to the doors of their own suites. Knowing she could not give in to the girls, Kero was faced with a dilemma. She did not want the dog to die. The mutt was staring up at her with big brown eyes and emitting little whines, giving a wag of his tail when he realized Kero was paying attention to him. Firming her resolve once more, Kero used a hip to push the door open, then stopped when the freezing air whirled around her and she realized that she could not do it. Acacia was standing in the doorway to their suite, with the rest of the girls, and Kero could practically feel her smirking in triumph. Then she was struck by a sudden idea. She let the door close and the dog wriggled excitedly, smearing her with more mud. Ignoring it, Kero let the seedling of a plan erupt into full flower. Sayvil chuckled merrily in her mind.

            :Truly wicked, Chosen. Maybe this way she'll be too busy chasing the dog and won't get into as much trouble.:

            : Yes, I do believe this will work.:

            Kero turned around and began to walk back towards the suite, a smug grin on her face that startled Acacia into silence. The girl knew when she had been outthought, and she grimly realized that she was competing with a true master. The dog had worked itself into an excited frenzy now, woofing and paddling his shovel-like paws in the air, tail whacking Kero's side.

            "You want a dog?"

            Acacia swallowed and nodded.

            "You take care of him."

            With that, Kero let the dog slide to the floor, where he promptly barreled Acacia over and covered the girl with mud from head to toe.

            "I mean it, Acacia. You bathe him, you find him food, you take him outside to do his necessaries, you walk him everyday, no matter the weather. You are in charge of him. If you screw up, he will be gone."

            Acacia's eyes widened. She had just been hoping to annoy Kero, not land herself in a position of responsibility. "But—"

            "But me not buts, youngling. You want him, you take care of him. End of discussion."

            With that, Kero stalked through the door and to her bedchamber to change.

"By the gods, she's spawned."

            The horrified whisper echoed in the silence of the mess hall as Kero led the girls down the central aisle to an empty table and gestured for them to sit. The baby, who still had no name, snoozed quietly in the shin'a'in style baby carrier strapped to her back. The girls, eager for food, quickly complied. Caia was as excited about her "new" dress as she was over the prospect of food. Since the girls had gotten her up so early, Kero had taken the opportunity to locate some clothes for the girls until she could make them some dresses herself. Talia had already volunteered to help make the dresses, and Jeri, of all people, had volunteered to dust off her embroidery skills and embroider some simple designs on them. The offer that had most surprised her, however, had been from Selenay. Somehow she had already gotten word of the new additions to Kero's family and given her the run of the Royal Nursery to borrow what she needed. Caia's dress was a cast-off of Lyra's, yet it seemed to be Caia's greatest treasure and she was constantly stroking the soft pink skirt and admiring the embroidered bodice every chance she could. Acacia, on the other hand, had opted for breeches and a tunic. Somehow Talia had scrounged up some of Jemmie's old clothes and Housekeeper had managed to make some quick alterations to make them fit Acacia. Ianthe was sporting another of Lyra's old dresses, this one a practical fawn color with little red butterflies embroidered on the hem. Kero had chosen the dress herself when she had seen the embroidery and it seemed to appeal to Ianthe just as much. Damini was toddling around in a little white shift with an undyed wool over-dress.

            Kero had also taken the opportunity to enroll them in classes with Blues, which they would start this morning. She could only hope the girls would not be harassed about appearing for their first day of classes in royal castoffs. Normally, with any other girls, that is, Kero would have held them back until their uniforms were ready. However, Kero was quickly realizing that she was no match for five active little girls and she needed the help of professionals.

            "How goes it?"

            Talia's voice broke the silence and the Herald Trainees turned back to their meals. She had spent the early morning with Damini, snuggling with the sleepy toddler as Kero selected dresses and reassuring the little girl that she was not angry about the events of the other day.

            "Fairly well. No disasters, but we still have the rest of today."

            Acacia snorted and Kero turned to face her. Blue eyes met and held, then Kero raised an eyebrow. "Do you have something to say?"

            "Why do we have to go to school?" Acacia's voice dripped with disdain. "They'll make me be a lady and all that stuff."

            "There's nothing wrong with being a lady, Acacia." Caia spoke up from the other side of Ianthe, who sat across from Acacia. "It's even a desi…dise… it's something boys like."

            Acacia's nose wrinkled. "Who wants one of those? They're gross, they smell and they're undisciplined."

            Talia was muffling a laugh behind her hand and Kero was rubbing her forehead, then abruptly stopped and briskly clapped her hands to bring the girls' attention back to her. The baby started in her carrier, then sneezed and went back to sleep.

            "OK, we all learned the drill earlier. What do we do first?"

            "Tray!"

            "Very good. Then?"

            "Fork!"

            "Spoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!" It was Damini's new and favorite word.

            "Then?"

            "Food!" All the girls proclaimed this as loud as they could.

            "Good! Everyone up."

            The girls all stood up and assumed a parade ground formation in the aisle.

            "Single file."

            They rearranged themselves in order, Acacia, being the tallest, was in back and Damini, being the smallest and most in need of help was up front, placed right behind Kero. Kero thought she detected another laugh from Talia, but when she turned her head to look, Talia had a perfectly straight face.

            "March."

            Kero started in the direction of the food line with the girls following behind like an orderly row of soldier-ducks. When they reached the stack of trays, Kero handed one to every girl except Damini, who pouted but accepted a spoon Kero handed to her with a grin. The spoon was instantly turned so the bowl of it fit of her little button nose and balanced there with a talent Kero could not help but admire. She did not even loose it while she followed along behind Kero. Each girl managed to acquire a bowl of porridge and several other food articles before they all headed back to the table. Talia tagged behind them, impressed.

            "Wow, Kero, you really managed to get them in line."

            "It wasn't that hard. All I had to do was—" Kero broke off as a lobbed spoonful of porridge hit her in the shoulder, followed by a round of giggling. As she turned to find the culprit, she met Acacia's smug grin. Before she could open her mouth to chastise her, another lob found its mark on Acacia's face. Ianthe erupted in giggles, a porridge covered spoon clasped in her fist.

            "You asked for it!" Acacia scooped up another spoonful and lobbed it in Ianthe's direction, who ducked. The lob found a home on the back of a trainee's tunic. Ianthe quickly returned fire with another barrage. Caia allied herself with Acacia and lobbed yet another spoonful in Ianthe's direction. This one was a direct hit since it was fired at point blank range and made a wonderful splat sound as it hit Ianthe's ear and exploded in her hair. Damini quickly caught on to the new game and abandoned the use of her favorite spoon and began grabbing fistfuls of porridge and hurling it in every direction, heedless of friend or foe.

            "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"

            The girls froze in mid-action. A blob of porridge slid off Caia's spoon and plopped in her lap, causing tears to instantly well up in her eyes. Kero felt a panic attack coming on. Caia loved her pretty dress, and porridge getting splattered on it would cause and crying jag so intense the child would end up vomiting whatever she had eaten. She had learned this from experience earlier when they were all walking back from the nursery. Caia had slipped on a freshly washed floor and plopped bottom first into the puddle of water she slipped in. The water had been perfectly clean, but it had not seemed to matter to Caia. In her opinion, the gown was ruined. The gown really had gotten ruined when Caia had quickly coated it with the remnants of last night's dinner.

            "Oh, no. Oh, no, Caia, don't cry, it'll wash right out, you'll see."

            "I got porridge on my dress!"

            "I know, but it won't stain, I promise, we'll get it out tonight and you can wear the dress tomorrow. You can put on your pretty green dress for today before I take you to class."

            "My dress is dirty!" Tears began pouring down her face. Within the few seconds it took Kero to dodge students and porridge to get to her, Caia had worked herself into a fit of enormous proportions. Then the gagging began.

            "She's gonna blow!" Acacia screamed and ducked under the table, followed by the rest of the girls. Kero swore and heard Damini repeat it from under the table before she managed to grab Caia and raced from the hall, heading for the nearest bathroom. Kero's hand over Caia's mouth was the only thing that allowed them to make it without another disaster.

            A few minutes and several more gags later, they were all back in Kero and Eldan's rooms. The rest of the girls were presumably sitting quietly in the main room under Talia's watchful eye while Kero was helping Caia to change.

            "Caia, why do you get so upset when your dress gets dirty?"

            Kero tugged the pink dress over Caia's head, leaving the little girl in her white shift with pink embroidery, then reached over for the green dress and paused when Caia began pulling her shift over her head.

            "What are you doing?"

            "This shift doesn't match the green dress. I need the other shift."

            "It looks fine to me."

            Caia rolled her eyes in a way that only a lot of practice with Acacia could accomplish. "Warrior."

            "Wench. What's wrong with the pink embroidered shift?"

            "A green dress needs a shift with green embroidery. Pink and green do not belong together."

            "You like pink roses don't you?"

            "Yes."

            "Those are pink with green leaves."

            "That's different."

            "Why?"

            "Because!"

            "That's not much of an answer. And you still haven't answered my original question. Why do you get so upset over a little dirt on your dress?"

            Caught in the act of trying to change the subject, Caia looked down and allowed Kero to pull the green dress over her head and tie up the laces in back. Then she mumbled something Kero did not hear clearly. She placed and finger under Caia's chin and tipped her head up so she could see the little girl's face.

            "Look at me when you want to talk to me. What did you say?"

            "Mama liked it when I kept my dresses clean. She wouldn't be so mean then."

            "What do you mean?"

            "If I kept my dress clean, she might let me eat supper with her and Papa instead of whatever she and Papa didn't eat."

            Kero felt fury creeping into her thoughts and forced it back before Caia could see it.

            "She didn't let all of you have good food?"

            "She said only girls who did their duty, kept themselves pretty and married early and had boys could eat at the table. Acacia never ate at the table."

            "She didn't?"

            "Nuh-uh, she always tore her dresses, I even saw her do it on purpose, once."

            Admiration began to assist in the fight against the fury. "She did?"

            Caia nodded sagely. "Uh-huh. She said she didn't want to eat with Mama or Papa because they were mean and she hoped someone would put poison in their food. She said someone would do it eventually, so she made sure she didn't eat food with them just in case. Then we'd see them get sick and know not to eat the food."

            A grin tugged at Kero's mouth, but she forced it back. It sounded just like Acacia. "Well, you never have to worry about that with me. I'll always feed you, no matter how dirty your dress is. Besides, in a few days your uniforms will be ready and you won't have to worry about getting your favorite dresses dirty."

            "Really?"

            "Mm-hm."

            Caia glanced over to where the dog, freshly washed, was nosing in her pink dress, slopping up the remains of the porridge. The dog appeared to be a brown monstrosity with two white stripes of raised fur running along the top of its head. Acacia had wanted to name the dog "Eldan" but Kero had quickly demolished that idea.

"Auntie Kero?"

            "What?"

            "Can I have a kitten?"

            "No."

            "Please?"

            "No."