A/N Some shoutouts too...

Warrior of Tortall: I'm glad you like it so much. /.

Danna: Good guess, but you forgot one thing. Novallee has gray eyes. The person in the vision didn't.

cylobaby: Derek knows who Torianna is and how she id related to Robert, but he doesn't know that Torianna is Torick.

Wingrider: Not exactly. But yes, there is magic involved.

Beth: Yes, they'll find out enventually. And she baths and changes either very early in the morning when everyone is asleep, or very late at night when everyone is asleep.

Mage Light: Zahib is a rouge, but they don't belong to the rouge world.

...: glad you like my story

Cherryfairie: thanks for reading and for the ideas. lol

Ephona: Thanks for reading!

incarnated soul: Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoy. And I hope you like my other stories as well.

Gothamin: Thanks for the compliment!

Okay, there you are, and her you go. Enjoy this next chappy.

Chapter Five:

Tori went to practice the next day stiff and sore and with a pale face. Many people noticed, more then she had expected, more then she wanted. She handled it easily though, laughing and joking how Derek had worked them hard the day before. Harlow, the sweet man he was, offered to help her get into better shape, and she knew that he didn't believe her one bit. He could see the shadows in her troubled eyes.

In the practice ring, Derek drilled them hard, with a scowl on his face the whole time. She was nervous and jittery around him, hardly able to concentrate on what she was doing for a moment. They were working on staffs, something that came to her rather easily. But her eyes kept going back to Derek's glaring face. He was angry, deeply angry, and she knew that she was the cause. He hadn't meant for her to escape, hadn't meant it at all. And he was angry with himself that she had gotten away.

It dawned on her as her movements became sluggish that he thought she had murdered Robert. Just like Robert's father, just like everyone. Everyone thought she was a cold-blooded murderer capable of killing her closest friend.

She hissed in pain when Harlow's staff rapped hard against her knuckles. She glared at him, but her mind didn't wander again that day. After lunch, they practiced with staffs on horses. Of course, she was as bad at that as with staff's, but Harlow set about to coaching her. By the end of the practice session, she was certain she was picking up on it. It wasn't as complicated if she made the horse and rider one, the rider just an extra appendage.

Derek motioned her over, and she remembered how she had agreed to extra practice with him. Her stomach gave a quiver at the thought. She couldn't very well concentrate if she thought that at any second he would suddenly turn to her and accuse her of killing Robert, that he would see through her disguise and know who she really was. That wasn't good working conditions, not at all. But she had to do it, or she would be kicked out.

What would she do if that happened? She had nowhere else to go, no one else whom she could trust. She couldn't even trust the people here! She was alone in the world, and that stark fact caused her face to drain and her hands to tremble on the staff that she held. She was truly alone in the world, and what happened in her life depended on her. No helping hand would give her a boost in this world. No one to tell her problems to, no one to ask for advice. No one.

"Are you ready?" Derek's rough voice startled her from her thoughts. Her big emerald eyes latched onto her face and for a spilt second Derek saw straight into her soul, saw the swirling emotions, the terror and the utter loneliness. And he shuddered at the feelings that arose within himself.

But then she was turning away, nodding as she strengthened her hold on the staff. She banished the feelings from her mind and from her heart. She had to concentrate on what she was doing now, had to learn and become better.

She positioned her horse in the starting place and looked at Derek to see him glaring at her. Derek had also banished the thoughts, but not so easily as Tori had shed hers. Derek was having trouble understanding them and comprehending them. He had felt pity… and a need to make the feelings he had seen in the boys (A/N he still sees Torianna as a boy, of course) eyes go away. And it made him scowl, for Torick was just a soldier, and he was the commander. It didn't do well to become personally involved in anyone of his soldier's life. Be there friend, be their leader, but never be there confidant or a person they could turn their problems to, his father had always said. He had followed those words since he had become commander seven years before at age sixteen and he wouldn't start now.

"Right then, lets begin," his voice was hard and harsh, much more so then when they were training with everyone, much more then when he had spoken to her alone the day before. The tone made her blink, wondering if she had done something wrong, but he was moving, swinging at her and she had to block, had to maneuver the horse. Everything she had figured out with Harlow fled as she dealt out blows that missed and felt the bruising sting of the staff hit her in various places when Derek found an opening. He found an opening often.

"Pay attention, boy," Derek growled as he hit her in the shoulder for the… who knew how many times it had been? She certainly didn't, nor did she care. All that mattered was it hurt like bloody hell, as it had every time in the past hour they had been working and she hadn't learned a thing.

"I am," she hissed back, fury rising, making her eyes glow. The ring that rested on her chest began to heat, slowly, in time with the heating of her temper. She swung again, pushing her horse forward at the same time. Derek's horse snorted at the sudden invasion of his face and pulled back. Derek dropped his guard to settle his horse and Tori struck, hitting him, hard, on the shoulder. He grunted before staring at her. She nodded her head in satisfaction as if to say, there, take that.

"Good," the word was snarled more then spoken and she knew she had put her foot in it that time. He was furious, she could read it in his eyes and he wouldn't go light on her, not that he had in the first place. But he would go even harder now. But she was angry too, and she knew that would make her clumsy and uncoordinated. She could have groaned. "Again."

His staff began a furious dance, beating down on her own, catching her fingers more often then not as she forced her horse back and back, away from him. The end of his staff snaked under her guard and clipped her shoulder. It hit the bone with a dull thud and enough force to launch her out of the saddle. Her horse startled and skittered away from where she had landed on her side, the staff tucked under her body, parallel with her ribs. Her head was nestled against her arm, but that didn't stop the pounding headache that had begun. Derek was off his horse, throwing his staff to the side as he stalked over to her cursing the whole time.

He grabbed her by her injured shoulder and jerked her up to her feet where she swayed as the blood rushed to her head. When the dizziness stopped she was able to key into what he was saying.

"…We've been at this an hour and still you haven't learned a thing. You're a half-wit! Less then a half-wit for I'm sure even some one with only half a brain could have figured this out by now. I ask for soldiers and what do the gods give me? A useless little boy that doesn't even now how to fight on a horse. I have half a mind to just through you out now!"

The fear and anger rose at the same to his words and she clung to the anger, using it to banish the fear. She lashed out, her tongue free of all restraints. As she yelled at him, the ring against her chest began to glow, the faint emerald light barely visible.

"Maybe I'd learn something if you bothered to teach me something, you bully! All you've done for an hour is scowl and swing. What was I supposed to learn? Not a single word of advice, not one! At least Harlow tried! He should be commander, not some… bully with a stick!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in order to keep them from lashing out and striking him across the face. She saw his mouth open in a rebuttal and cut him off with more words. "And furthermore, if your angry at something that has nothing to do with your soldiers don't take it out on them! We're not your lackeys or your punching bags! We're your team, and if you ever want to survive in a battle you'll learn to…" a sound reached her ears, one she hadn't expected. Could it be… was it…? Yes it was! She recognized it now. She hadn't at first for it was rusty and low, but she knew what it was now. She could see it in his face. He was laughing at her. "Just what is so funny!"

"Did you…call me… a… a bully with a stick?" Derek gasped between deep bellows of laughter. She stared at him, a concerted look on her face, trying to remember exactly what she had said.

"It's possible, yes," she admonished, still not quite sure. Her answer seemed to make his laughter worse. He was doubling over now, holding his stomach as he continued his helpless laughter.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing," that didn't help him stop and neither did her adamant claim that she was entirely serious. It seemed nothing she could say would make him stop, so she settled for crossing her arms over her chest and waiting.

Finally, he stopped and even managed to stand up straight. The look on her face nearly sent him back over the edge, but he managed to control himself. "Are you quite finished?" she demanded in a tart voice. He nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Torick. You were absolutely right. I was mad, and I did take it out on you. I shouldn't have," that threw her off completely, but she remained quiet, a natural look on her face. "I'm sorry you didn't bring it to my attention earlier. We shall begin again, properly this time. Are you ready?"

She nodded a bit dazed. Had he just apologized to her? And said that he was wrong? She had never expected that of him. As far as she had seen, he had been a good commander and never in fault. This blew her away. He handed her the staff she had previously dropped and even held her horse still while she mounted. By the time he was on his horse, he was calmly explaining the easiest way to maneuver the horse and battle at the same time.

He extended her thoughts of the rider being an extra appendage to thinking that the horse's feet were her feet and she had to think with four feet instead of two. Within another hour, they had called it quits and she had learned very much. It had even become slightly easier to move the horse and attack at the same time.

Derek smiled at her, told her she had done a good job and led his horse from the arena and the building, leaving her gawking in his wake.

Derek entered the barracks late that night after spending much time conferring with his father on things. He saw Torick's back outlined by the faint light and couldn't help but smile. That kid had made him laugh harder then he had ever laughed in his entire life, and for the first time in longer then he could remember.

A bully with a stick, he chuckled just at the thought as he turned from Torick and bent to remove his shoes and climb onto the bed. A flicker of movement from the corner of his eye had him turning. He saw the man standing beside Torick's bed, pale as a ghost and let out a startled shout.

Torick jerked to life, took one look at the man standing over his bed and gave a terrified shout. Derek watched as both Torick's legs flew up and out, striking the man in the chest and knocking him backwards. He was even more amazed at what he saw the small boy do next

Tori launched herself from the bed and onto the man, grappling to reach his hands and gain control on him, never once thinking or noticing how much smaller she was then the man.

The man lurched to the side, but Tori clung and they ended up rolling to the side, through the baths door and into the heated and lit room. She got a clear look at his face as the struggled more. His eyes were brown, but the outer ring of them was turning a deep emerald, the green color slowly seeping into the middle. The whites of his eyes had taken on a faint green tint. One of the man's feet kicked the door closed before they rolled up against it, their combined weight holding the door closed.

"Who are you?" she demanded in a low voice, forgetting about his hands and going for his throat, trying to gain purchase, to squeeze the truth out of him. "What do you want?"

"The ring," he whispered and reached for her chest, for the ring. She smacked his hand away, as she looked into his eyes. At the contact, the green completely took over his eyes, turning them a solid emerald, and he took that moment to roll her off. He gained his feet and drew a knife, lunging for her neck just as the door to the baths burst open. The soldiers from her squad burst through, assessed the situation with rapid speed and took action. The man was dead before Tori had a chance to blink.

She stared at the body as the chance of getting some information slipped through her fingers. She slowly rose to her feet, listening to the babble of voices about her and trying to find anything on him that would give her any clue as to who he was. She found nothing, but knew he wasn't one of the ones that had been there when Robert had died. She had never seen him before in her life. But he had known her, somehow. And he had mentioned the ring.

"Good job, Torick, getting him down like that," the hand slapped her shoulder in respect and she managed a weak smile, to whom, she didn't know. Soon, the excitement died down and the soldiers went back to sleep, Derek to the palace to make a report of what had happened.

It wasn't till hours later, trying to sleep in the darkness of the barracks that she realized, he hadn't recognized her as Torianna. He had known who she was even in her disguise of Torick. The thought made her shiver.

Zahib sighed as he heard the report. The man who had gone for the girl was dead. But he had suspected that would happen. What worried him and the Master was that she had used the ring's power to call the man. He had felt the tug himself, but he hadn't succumbed to it. The other man had. And he was dead because of it.

He sighed as he relaxed back in his thrown at the tavern. The Master never came here and he was the Master. The bowers had as much fear of him now, as they had of the true Master. He chuckled with glee at the thought.

But his laughter soon died. The Master was truly afraid of the girl. He had seen it, seen the terror when the pull had begun. It had lasted several minutes, and as each second ticked by, the Master had gotten paler. It wasn't good, Zahib thought darkly, for the Master to show weakness. If he was Master, he never would.

If he was Master… the thought had a nice ring to it. His eyes darted around taking measure. No one was looking at him, or for that matter paying any attention. "I'm the Master," he whispered, barely able to hear it himself. But the giddy pleasure that swept down his spine gave evidence that he had.

He laughed. Soon, he would make those words into truth. Very soon.

A/N there it was. Hope you liked it. Review me!

Nubia