Disclaimer: All the places and the main characters belong to Tamora Pierce (basically anything you recognize). I take credit only for the plot, the Gennature and a few unimportant people. Thanks
Prologue
A nine-year old Keladry of Mindelan opened her eyes with a startled scream. She sat up in bed and took deep breaths as her confused mind recovered from her nightmare. It took her a moment to remember where she was as it always did after she had a nightmare. You're in you room in Yamani, she told herself. Memories flooded her already hazy mind. A people called the Gennature had attacked Tortall. The war had been long and costly, raging even in the Divine Realms, and had ended with Tortall's fall. Kel and her family had remained in Yamani and her older brothers, Iness and Conal, had fled there as well. The Yamani had granted them a permanent home and treated them as their own, but with some expectations.
Today, on Kel's ninth birthday, her family was bound for the harbor to help the Yamani turn away two shiploads of Tortallan refugees. Such excursions always gave Kel nightmares. The Yamani had taken in the first few refugees but now they turned them away, fearing aggressions from the belligerent Gennature, who had already conquered most of the eastern lands. Two weeks ago, the refused refugees had started a riot.
"Kel! Breakfast is ready!" Kel's sister, Adie, called. Kel got hurriedly out of bed, pushing all thoughts of the nightmare to the back of her mind and taking on a much-practiced mask of calm.
A few minutes later Kel entered the dining room where the rest of her family already sat eating. A plate of food was set in front of Kel and she used the cover of eating to look around at her two sisters, two brothers and parents. Kel was silent through breakfast but no one seemed to notice. She got half-hearted birthday wishes and it was clear that everyone's thoughts were on other things. Kel didn't mind.
The trip to the harbor was as subdued as breakfast had been. The docks were already crowded when the Mindelans got there. Kel stood between Iness and her mother, Ilane, while one of the two refugee ships was tied so that its nonhuman cargo could be unloaded. The other ship, which carried only refugees, hadn't even been permitted into the harbor.
"Wait here." Kel's father, Piers, told them all and went to talk to some Yamani officials, Conal at his heels. Yamani soldiers tried to keep the refugees aboard the ship but they fought to get on land.
"Please! We had a hard enough time getting out of Tortall." Kel heard someone yell from the ship. "We've got no place else to go." Someone else screamed. The crowd of refugees surged forward down the gangplank. Iness drew Kel and her sisters further away. Kel peered around her brother to see what was happening.
The refugees had managed to get off the ship and were now milling around the docks, yelling as the Yamani soldiers tried to hold them back. A tall figure caught Kel's eye. It was a woman in a black cloak with equally black hair and emerald eyes, her face perfect in its beauty. Kel watched as the figure moved through the crowd, unable to pull her eyes away until they were drawn by a will of their own to the small figure at the woman's side. A toddler clung to the woman's hand as they walked unnoticed to the edge of the crowd of refugees. Unlike the woman, the toddler's hair was a light, reddish blonde and her eyes were a vibrant violet. Her battered breeches and shirt contrasted with the woman's sleek coat and silk gown. The pair walked to the edge of the crowd near where the Mindelans stood then the woman bent down to kiss the child's forehead and was gone. Kel looked around but couldn't find the woman in the crowd anymore. The toddler now stood by herself, blinking innocently around at the rest of the world. Kel looked up and found that her mother was also watching the toddler, a frown in her eyes.
"I'll just be a moment." Ilane said as the refugees were forced back to the ship and the ropes were cut.
Ilane of Mindelan walked over to the girl and knelt in front of her. Kel couldn't hear what was said but Ilane walked back with the child's tan hand in her fair one. The argument between Ilane and Piers about the child was brief and that night she had a warm bath and full meal in their home. She was quiet and couldn't answer any of their questions about her past. The only identification she had was a thin, gold necklace with a flat pendant. The front was inscribed in a language Kel didn't know but there was an engraving on the back written in Common and reading "May the Gods always watch over you and bless you, my Kitten." So, although they named her Andera after Kel's oldest brother, who had died in the war, it was the nickname Kit that stuck with her.