Disclaimer: Only characters belonging to me are the Falcons and Arielle's family. The rest is Tamora Pierce's.

A/N: I know it's been a loooong while, but try not to hate me too much. Hopefully if I'm extra good, I'll get something else in too before break is over. Who knows. Oh, and if any of you guys are old readers who actually stuck with me, erm, there have been some changes (esp names – I thought maybe I'd make them more Tortallian) that you might want to take note of. Major changes: Iris is now Irissa (aka Rissa), Katalina is now Katalynne (aka Lynne), and Victoria is now Valona (aka Val). Minor changes: Andy is still Andy but his real name is Andorielle, Lily is still Lily but her real name is Lilith, Ariel is now spelled Arielle and Jason is now spelled Jayson. That should be it. Okay, I'm making this longer than usual to make up for sucking at updating.

Chapter 6 – Confinement

I plucked at one of the numerous loose strings in my blanket and rolled over onto my back before breaking the silence and announcing that I was so bored even Mithros sprouting butterfly wings and learning how to juggle wouldn't amuse me.

Andy didn't so much as twitch. I think he was probably trying his very best to ignore my existence, which made me want to strangle him with the long beige thread I'd just pulled out of my blanket. Before I even finished that thought, I remembered that it was his birthday, after all, and as much as it was completely not my fault in the slightest, I had played a hand in ruining it.

So I rolled back over onto my stomach and got a face full of rough wooden floor.

I'd forgotten that the straw mattress wasn't particularly wide and had gone and rolled off it, creating a not-so-quiet thump and not quite managing to hold back a surprised yelp. My twin ignored my antics completely and continued staring at nothing.

Elspeth's face appeared in the doorway, a small line of concentration etched between her brows, and asked me if I could please keep it down, the kittens already had pneumonia as it was and didn't need some hooligan doing tribal dances upstairs.

I opened my mouth to tell her I couldn't care less if the kittens had nummynumma or whatever, in fact, if she was going to call me a hooligan, it wouldn't bother me if she came down with it herself. Then I remembered that she had given me a handsome, if underappreciated, birthday present and shut my mouth, effectively managing to ram my nose into the floor. Besides, it wasn't as if she would have heard my retort anyway, she was already on her way back down the ladder, probably thinking of how she was going to spell whatever disease the stupid stray blobs of fur had come down with so she could record it in the journal Andy and I had gotten her last year.

It was about then that I realized I still hadn't given Andy his present. So I, being the brilliant person that I was, pushed myself off the floor and literally vaulted out the window, ignoring the muffled protests of my brother who had finally decided to acknowledge me because I was ignoring Mother's orders. I'd been in the stuffy room for more than a candlemark, I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't go out. Besides, I was going to get the little fart his present. Why on earth was he complaining?

---

I found George leaning against a stall full of Midwinter trinkets, engaged in a heated argument with Eddie. Well, it was heated for Eddie in any case. George was simply throwing a snowball up and down while Eddie was stamping around and hollering about something. "I don't see how it's fair at all! I mean-"

I slipped in next to Jayson, who was standing to the side, tugging on his earlobe. "What's going on?" I asked.

He flashed me a smile and I almost wished I didn't like George half as much as I did, "Nobody knows."

"But somebody has got to know."

"Yes, sugar, but this is Eddie we're talking about."

I grinned, he had a point. Nobody really knew how Eddie's head worked. I hesitate to say brain, because honestly speaking, I'm not sure if he had one. He thought with his, well, with that. "Or maybe it's just because you don't have brains enough behind that silly face of yours to figure out," I teased.

"Well, little-miss-I-have-a-sister-who-can-read, if that's the case, why don't you find out and tell me?"

"Alright, fine. Watch me," I moved in closer.

"-that you get to do whatever you want to and I can't!" the redhead whacked the side of the stall, causing a pile of dried dates to wobble precariously and the owner of the stall to shriek in alarm.

I took a step backwards, not wanting to get hit as Eddie caught his breath again and started waving his arms though the air energetically. George, seeing me move out of the corner of his eye, looked over at me and grinned, still tossing the snowball into the air.

"It's not funny! What-"

I retreated to Jayson's vantage point and said somewhat superiorly, "Eddie's upset that he can't do what he wants."

"Sugar, that's only half of it."

Crossing my arms, I looked up at him, "Care to tell me the rest?"

He grinned again and I tried very hard not to melt into the ground, "I hate to burst you bubble, but that'll be for me to know and you to find out," he tapped me on the nose and went back to watching the scene between George and Eddie unfold with amusement.

I grumbled and debated with myself over whether of not I ought to threaten to beat the information out of him. Then I realized that he was probably testing my patience, the Goddess knows I had and still have slim to none. So I clamped my jaws together and tried very hard not to let my curiosity get the better of me.

George, apparently tired of listening to Eddie rant, finally cocked his arm and threw the snowball straight into his friend's face. The face full of cold snow shut him up immediately and I realized just how much quieter the street had suddenly become. Granted, it was far from silent, as the entirety of Corus was doing their Midwinter shopping, but it got quieter by comparison.

Eddie opened and closed his mouth several times before George spoke, "Look over there," he pointed a long finger towards me.

Surprisingly obedient, Eddie did as he was told and then flushed so red I thought his entire head was going to catch fire. Then, as suddenly as it had changed color to match his hair, his face regained its normal pale, freckled complexion and he sauntered over to where Jayson and I were standing. "Jayson," he nodded at the older boy who returned the gesture and then turned his attention to me. "Elle, darling, how are you on this fine, cold, grey, and utterly depressing day? I was beginning to sink into the utter depths of darkness and had been contemplating submitting myself to Ganiel, but am feeling much better now that you're here," he announced melodramatically and tried to sling an arm around my shoulder.

I batted his arm away, pretending to be upset, "Don't touch me."

He grinned his little impish grin and held up his hands, "Wouldn't dream of it."

I snorted, "Yeah. Right," and had to bite my lip so as not to grin back. The kid had an infectious smile.

"Why would I need to dream if I could do it in real life?" he moved to place his arm around my shoulder again.

"Eddie," George had decided to join the fray with a warning voice and an arm around my waist. Jayson noticed the gesture and winked at me, miming the pose of a lovestruck girl. I glowered back at him and wriggled a little in George's grasp, his fingers were resting lightly on the side of my stomach, where I was the most ticklish.

The accused scowled and failed miserably, especially since scowling wasn't in his nature and he didn't really know how to do it properly, so he changed gears and grinned instead. "Well," he said brightly, "I'm off to buy yours truly a nice present," with that, he executed a perfect cartwheel and jogged off.

"Bye, Eddie," I called after him.

He turned and waggled his fingers at me, almost flipping backwards over a large cart filled with what looked like rolls of wrapping paper.

"I should be going too," Jayson's soft, gravelly voice sounded in my ear.

I looked away from the blundering Eddie, who was apologizing profusely to the owner of the cart, and into Jayson's chest before remembering that I had to tilt my head up to look at him. "Okay," I poked him in the chest, "I don't want to see you until you feel like telling me what it is that you know and I need to find out. Now go away," I gave him a little shove.

"Until tomorrow," he tipped an imaginary hat my direction and tweaked my nose before clapping a hand on George's shoulder and whispering something into his ear.

Once Jayson walked out of earshot, I tugged on George's sleeve, demanding to know what he had just been told.

"Arielle," he said in a scolding tone, "you should know better, curiosity killed the cat."

I spun so I was facing him, "I'll have you know," I poked him in the chest much in the same way I had done with Jayson, "I am not a cAT." The last bit came out as a squeal because George had remembered my ticklishness and had decided to accost my sides instead of allowing me to wrest the information from him because I surely would have.

"Sorry," he let me go and looked around innocently, "my hands slipped."

I crossed my arms, "Uh huh."

"Like this," he reached out towards me, but I had anticipated this and ran off in the other direction, shrieking like a girl.

He chased me around for a little bit, but eventually caught up, having the advantage of longer legs. "Gotcha," he proclaimed and then pounced on me, knocking me face-first into a snowbank and before I even had a chance to catch my breath, he was tickling me again.

"Get…off…me," I managed between gasps and fits of laughter.

He stopped abruptly and rolled off the huge pile of snow, "Look, they did it again," he said, all innocence.

Breathing hard, I stood up and promptly sunk into the snow that was up to my knees. As hard as it was, I still crossed my arms and tried to look intimidating, wading through the snow until I reached the edge of the pile and broke free, scattering snow all over George's feet. "Because you did me a favor by holding onto Andy's gift for me," I began, "I'll forgive your wayward hands. But next time…" I trailed off, allowing him to imagine all sorts of horrors that I could instill on him.

He grinned even wider and didn't respond to my unvoiced threat.

"Speaking of which, that was why I came to find you. I need to give Andy his present."

"And here I was thinking you sneaked out to see me," he took my hand and began pulling me through the crowded streets.

"Aren't we a little stuck up?" I retorted, grinning my little crooked grin and twisting to avoid being trampled by a bay mare that was apparently protesting the large load her owner was placing on her back.

"Well shouldn't I be? Just a little?" he hollered over the voices of people haggling.

Thankful for the crush of people that kept him from looking at me, I allowed myself to blush and called back, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

His answer was lost in the sound of a high-pitched whinny, thundering hooves, and a frustrated scream; apparently the mare had managed to throw off the bundles and escaped in the opposite direction. Smart girl.

We reached the door to the Dancing Dove and walked in, only to be greeted by smoke and a noise louder than that out in the streets. George led me to a corner and told me to stay put and try not to get into any trouble before trotting off, presumably to find Solom.

I let my eyes wander around the room, watching two men, obviously drunk, climb up onto a table and begin singing and dancing. One of them, with a misplaced high-kick, hit one of the observers in the face and disappeared from view as the injured man pulled him down with a roar. 'Fingers was jumping around animatedly in a corner, looking for all the world like a very hung-over very overgrown rat. I rolled my eyes, only Mithros knew what he was doing and the god probably had little to no idea at that. A skinny hawk-like man sat in a high-backed chair by the fire and watched the goings-on, absentmindedly eating what looked like nuts from a wooden bowl that was being held at his side by a questionably-dressed woman. Someone bellowed for another mug and a serving-girl who wasn't much older than me and carrying a basket of flowers thunked two in front of his face, laughing the entire time. Then my eyes turned towards the counter and saw Solom talking to one of my Lord Provost's men who nodded and then turned and scanned the room. I instantly recognized him as one of the men who had been chasing me and Andy all around Corus and sank down onto the ground, hugging my knees and begging whatever god was listening not to let him see me.

George returned with Andy's gift wrapped in brown paper and nearly tripped over me. "By the Trickster! Arielle! What are you doing down there?"

I looked up and stood, thankful for once that I was so short; nobody would be able to see me over George's head. "My Lord Provost has one of his men in here," I told him as quietly as I could, "and he's one of the men that was chasing me this morning."

His eyebrows flew up to his hairline and he pushed me out the door and into the cold air. Once we were what he considered a safe distance away from the Dancing Dove, he pulled me into an alleyway and handed me the parcel.

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks George."

"You know," he placed a hand against the wall above my head and leaned on it, "you never can stay out of trouble, can you?"

"Can't you just say 'you're welcome' like any ordinary person?"

"I could, but I'm not exactly ordinary, am I? In fact, I think one would call me 'extra-ordinary'," he smirked.

I tried raising just one eyebrow at him and failed, so had to resort to raising both, "Or they could just call you 'stuck up,' it means the same thing."

His smirk got wider, "Why thank you for such a compliment."

I rolled my eyes at him and then remembered that I should be getting back home; I didn't want another ear-lashing from Mother today. "Anytime. I have to be getting back, I'm not even supposed to be out right now," I tried to slip out under his arm, but he moved it down, trapping me. "George."

"Arielle."

"Can you please let me go?"

He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on my nose, which I wrinkled in response. "Alright, run along now. We don't want you getting in any more trouble than you already are in," he gave me a shove and I stuck my tongue out at him before turning and hightailing it back home.

---

My mother was not happy.

Andy, still upset with me for ruining his birthday, had gone downstairs and informed my mother of what exactly had transpired almost immediately after I had made my escape out the window. My mother, in turn, had placed a chair directly in front of the door and waited for me to come home so she could explode in my face, which, I think she rather liked to do. So I was stuck with another moon of confinement while Andy was given my bag of Midwinter sweets.

This, of course, made me so upset I moved to throw Andy's present into the fire but jerked back when I remembered just how many silver nobles the thing had cost. So I tossed it into the floor and told him to have a nice birthday before making my way back up to our cramped little room.

There was silence downstairs for a long moment before I heard a chair scrape on the floor and the sound of ripping paper. I flopped backwards onto my mattress and closed my eyes, which fluttered open almost instantly when my twin crashed into the room. "Mithros," he whispered, "Arielle. How? Thank you."

I closed my eyes again.

"Arielle, I'm-I'm sorry," he moved over to my side and threw his arms around me and nearly suffocated me with a hug, so of course I had to reopen my eyes and tell him not to worry about it.

He went over and picked up his present again. It was a supple leather belt with holes almost all the way around so it could fit both the fattest count in Tortall and his own stick-like frame. Attached to the sides were pouches for and containing flint and steel pieces, a small grindstone, money, string, and just about any gadget a person could think up. There were two slits, one for a small dagger and the other for a larger throwing-knife (which I had gone out and bought) and finally, in a tiny drawstring bag, there lay a smooth, egg-shaped piece of tiger eye. He pulled it out and examined it quizzically, "What's this for?"

I took an identical stone out from underneath my shirt, where it hung on a long chain and told him that my stone would warm up and emit any feeling he sent through it to me. The mage I had bought it from had told me that one we got used to the "feel" of each other through the stone, we would even be able to send entire scenes and descriptions through. Andy looked at me with wide eyes and I told him to try it out. He held the stone in his fist and squeezed his eyes shut.

In the blink of any eye, I felt mine warm up and a wave of remorse and guilt washed over me. I looked over at Andy and without thinking, launched myself at him, bowling him over with a hug and breaking the connection. "Andy. I'm not even mad at you anymore, alright? Just give me my bag of sweets back and we'll call it even."

He grinned, "Alright."

"Hey," I had an idea, "If you make sure to send me fun when you're out, it won't even feel like I'm rotting in this blasted room."

"Hey. Maybe you're right," and he sent me the feeling of slipping and sliding across the pond and I almost fell flat on my face for the umpteenth time that day.

A/N: okie pokie! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who stuck with this even though I haven't updated in like a year. R&R! you know I'll love you more if you do! D