A/N: Reviews: A cyber-cookie for FelSong for being my one and only reviewer. You also get another cyber-cookie for being my first reviewer! I, too, hope I develop the persistence to finish this, as I really like the story.

Chapter two: Snowstone bets

Somehow, life continues. Even as Ermliana grew prettier and quieter, and Alaerec retreated more and more into his Court mask, I managed to coax them to relax sometimes.

I did this by challenging them to a bet. The first time I did it, I was nine, and Ermliana ten, and Alaerec fourteen. However, the most memorable one happened about two years later.

The truth of it was, all three of us were competitive, and we all liked to win. A lot. And it wasn't hard to challenge Alaerec during a sword practice.

. We all began to learn to swordfight when we were five, and Alaerec was (and not just because he was the oldest) the best. I was the worst.

I was short, scrawny, and not coordinated. On top of that, my hair, which was sort of a dark-ish brown color, was constantly in the way. I was a horrible swordswoman. But I was in a bout with Alaerec (who was beating me badly) when I said, "I'll make a bet with you."

His eyes lit up with amusement. "Oh?"

I nodded, breathing hard. "I'll bet three gold pieces and my snowstone hair gems that I can beat you in a race."

He was desperately trying not to laugh. "Horses?"

I did laugh, at least as best as my lungs let me. "No! Renselaeus has the best horses in the world. No, on foot."

"When?"

"This afternoon. During Court. In the Residence hallways. From the kitchens to the library and back, any path you want."

By this time Ermliana had finished her bout, and had been watching me lose with amusement. Ermliana wasn't much taller than me, but she had a natural skill with a sword I lacked. Alaerec and I finished (he won, of course), and he said, as he put away his practice sword, "It's a wager."

We shook on it.

Ermliana was to be the judge. We started at the kitchens, where we got water and some food just before green-change. Ermliana had thrown in a few coins, and Alaerec had added his knife sheath, which was carefully tooled and beautifully detailed. My brother's governess (really Norilse, the maid who had caught me when I was four) had my brother had toddled down to the kitchens, as had a collection of others. Wonderful, I thought. So now the whole world will know I lost.

(Actually, I loved to run. When I ran I wasn't worried about my parents or my brother or the books in the library or playing my harp or how badly my swordfighting and embroidery was. I was free.)

Alaerec and I stretched out, and Ermliana began to collect bets from the servants, grinning like a cat. She loved this, I could tell.

Alaerec chuckled softly. I glanced at him questioningly, and he said, "She loves doing this."

I nodded, smiling as well. "Ought to be a Player, that one."

We laughed, and I touched my nose to my knees.

But all too soon, the race had to start, and I was nervously twisting a ring I had gotten for my first Name Day around my thumb. Ermliana had borrowed a pan and wooden spoon from the cook, and now held it in her hand. "On your mark," she said, her eyes happier than I had seen in ages. "Get set....GO!" With that she banged on the pan. We took off, and instantly took different service passages. Mine wound through a few gardens, which I cut through; ruining my sword practice clothes, and came out in the memoir archive of the library. I rushed across it, and touched the wall that held the picture books as Alaerec rushed through the main library door. We waved briefly at one another, and then ran off again.

This time, I tried to run even faster.

I was going to lose, I knew it. Alaerec was just as fast as I was, and he had probably reserved his energy, unlike me. But I did like to run. And I liked to win. But I knew when I got tired, and I knew when I slowed down.

On second thought, I really liked those snowstone gems. I put on an extra burst of speed, and threw myself into the kitchens, landing flat on my brother, who merely laughed.

Ermliana helped me up. "What? Where's Alaerec?" I asked. She grinned at me.

As if to answer my question, Alaerec himself burst through the door.

The dessert cook handed me a glass of water. I took a sip, and said something along the lines of, "Hey! I get to keep my snowstone gems!"

And I got enough money from the servants as a whole to buy a new dress.

Interestingly enough, that afternoon over dinner, we heard about the birth of the crown prince. It was Alaerec's mother who said the prince was ill, and might not pull through.

Alaerec paled slightly, and Ermliana and I glared at him. "And when," Ermliana said, "were you going to inform us there was a crown prince?"

Alaerec said, "He's two weeks old, and he's been sick since birth. I didn't say anything, because if he dies, the King and Queen will be ridiculed. You know it's tradition!"

"Stupid tradition," I muttered. Alaerec snorted.

"He's got a sister, right?" Ermliana asked.

Alaerec nodded. "Arthal. She's almost three. Pretty little thing, except for the eyes, which are very—er—creepy. They're cold, you see—sort of harsh."

"Why isn't she crown princess?" I asked.

"Oh--" Alaerec said, and thought for a moment. "They follow the Marloven tradition of the son inheriting, don't ask me why."

My mother heard this, and muttered, "They're Merindars, that's why."

There was a collected laugh around the table. I asked, "So what's the crown prince's name?"

Ermliana nodded fervently, and a glance went around the table, ending at Alaerec. Every adult's eyes said, You shouldn't have told them that. I winced for him. Alaerec, of course, didn't flinch. My father said, "Galdran."

"Galdran," I whispered. The name sounded foul in my tongue.

"I know," Alaerec muttered. "What were they thinking?"

He wasn't looking in my eyes. He was, rather, staring at my hair, which was carefully arranged with the snowstone gems. I knew he didn't really want the gems, but they were the only unisexual hair gems I had.

Ermliana glanced at my face, and followed Alaerec's eyes to my hair. Something flickered in her own eyes, but I didn't catch it.

As I left the table, I wondered, What is it with my hair and those gems?

Post-A/N: I suppose a lot of you are wondering, "Why doesn't Alaerec hang out with people his own age?" He does, some of the time. When the story gets a bit more steady, and not just random memories, you'll see. Also, I figure that anyone not married is kept mainly out of sight. After all, Nee says in CD, (pg. 245) "...my grandmother talks of how old the Court leaders were, and how very, very formal." (While Ermliana is not Nee's grandmother, her older brother (who has yet to come into the story) is her grandfather.) Anyway, I figured that very few young people were at the palace, or that they rarely saw other young people because there were kept out of sight.

Also, you just witnessed a bit of Elestra/Alaerec pre-fluff.

Please review if you read. I'd like to know what you think.