Obviously, all of the characters and the location belong to the brilliant and much-beloved Tamora Pierce. Thanks again, to all my reviewers, you guys are incredible motivators and I wish you all a Merry Monday. To imakeladrygirl and Pink Squishy Llama, I'm glad to hear that I was able to turn my anguish over my sister's Koko the Kitten toy into something entertaining.

Mid Summer at the Palace.

"I don't think Jon has been properly considering the letters we've sent him," said Alanna as she sent Raoul's sword clattering across the practice grounds.

"Curse it," he said, holding his hands up in defeat. "You're difficult enough to fight when you aren't trying to distract me."

"I wasn't trying to distract you," she said as she sheathed her sword. "I just happened to think of it right then and I wanted to mention it before I could forget. Luckily, we are finished now so we can go talk to Jon right away. Thayet usually visits him in his study at this time of day."

Raoul held up his hands once more in defeat. "I suppose it is time to make a stronger suggestion—in person, now that we're both at the palace. I've just never been good at political manipulation."

"I'm not any good at it either." Alanna grinned and then looked around to make sure there was no one within earshot. "That's why I've, erm, had a few words with Thayet to, um, enlist her aid."

"You do realize that—even when she isn't pregnant—Kel is considerably larger than you," Raoul reminded her. "And that her glaive has a much longer reach than your sword."

"She'll be grateful in a year or two," Alanna said confidently. "And Thayet swore to keep Dom's secret. Though she didn't seem very surprised to hear it, apparently she'd had a little chat with Buri a few days earlier." Alanna began walking quickly in the direction of Jon's study. "What I still don't understand," she said innocently, "is how Buri might have known anything."

His cheeks turned bright red. "Well you see," he sputtered, "I'm actually bigger than Kel, and I can still beat her at jousting." He stared in horror at Alanna's evil grin. "You won't tell Kel will you?" he asked in alarm. "Buri's a bit smaller than Kel."

"How could I? I'm not very good at political manipulation; I prefer to leave blackmailing people to George."

"Ah, so the old thief knows more than he ought to." Raoul grinned in relief and hurried to catch up with Alanna. I will never understand how she goes up stairs so quickly on such short legs, he thought.

They found Jon hidden behind the mountain of paperwork on his desk and Thayet sprawled across the carpet studying a map of Rider troops' locations. Raoul, in an attempt to let Alanna begin the little chat, plopped down beside her. This made the entire room shake and dislodged a heap of letters from the desk, bringing the king's head into view.

"Ah, no wonder you haven't responded to our letter yet," said Alanna as she scooped unopened documents off the floor and saw that the letters she and Raoul had sent had not been read. "You're a bit behind aren't you?"

"Yes," Jon snapped. "With Roald's wedding, the Spidren attacks just outside Corus, the little scandal surrounding Lady Knight Keladry, and now with so many men retiring from the Army and the King's Own—I did read that report at least…"

"Good, then you'll like the suggestion I was coming to bring you," and Raoul standing up and offering a hand to the queen, who grabbed it and swung herself up gracefully. Raoul continued after a wink from Alanna and a nod from Jon. "I would like to propose that you allow men from the forces of the King's Own, or at least commanding officers, to marry and remain in the Own."

"But I've already let you marry," said Jon absent-mindedly as he signed a document. "and admittedly it cost the Queen's Riders an excellent commander, but I don't understand what your fuss is about, unless those rumors about you and the Lady Knight are true, in which case you are duty bound to—"

"Dear," Thayet interrupted after a glance at Raoul's infuriated face, "I think you are forgetting that Buri doesn't seem to believe the rumors. You are being unfair to your old friend."

Her words did nothing to prevent Raoul's explosion. "Mithros, Jon. What kind of monster do you think I am? Kel is like a daughter to me. And this has nothing to do with Ke—me and Buri, other than the fact that maybe I've decided marriage has been good for me."

"What, my court's most determined bachelor is now a proponent of marriage? Buri truly is an extraordinary woman." Jon gave an apologetic shrug and sighed. "I promise I'll try to be human again when I finish with this dung heap," he said, gesturing to the mess of papers before him.

"Anyway," said Raoul, after Alanna elbowed him, "a number of the best officers in the Own have retired in order to get married and start families. Others are discouraged by the fact that they have no families to come home to after battle. The men don't say it, but I think some of them wonder what they are fighting for. If they were allowed to have families they might be stronger, better warriors for it because they would be fighting to defend their loved ones. Yes, we would have too give the men more leave time, but we could do that if we didn't have to spend as much time recruiting new officers."

"Think about it, Jon," Alanna said. "Lots of the commanders in the King's Own are nobles; some of them have obligations to produce family heirs. Many of them fight as hard as knights and they should have the same rights as knights."

"You have a very valid point," the king admitted. "But not everyone sees it that way. Many worry that having wives and children would distract the men of the Own from their duties. And, then think of the families that would be destroyed when men were killed in battle."

"What about the families that never get to exist at all because men of the Own aren't allowed to marry?" asked Thayet. "Shouldn't that decision to risk so much loss be left up to the families, and not dictated by government."

"The times have changed, Jon," Raoul pointed out. "When the King's Own was established, Tortall wasn't looking at long-term fighting with the Immortals. There was no way of knowing that fighting would go on without a break for generations and generations. We need warriors for the long term, so that we don't have to keep retraining them as they retire. And the best was to do that is to let the officers of the Own have families."

"You're all right," Jon admitted. "I just don't see how I'm going convince all the conservative councilors of the wisdom of my decision to change the law. They're all very angry with me at the moment because of what they are calling "The Mindelan Affair"."

"Jon," said Thayet in a mildly exasperated tone, "the three of us have just given you your counterargument. All you have to do is tidy it up and have it written down."

"Yes, dear," said Jon, looking completely cowed. "I'll make the proclamation first thing tomorrow morning then."

"And he wonders why I took so long to get married," remarked Raoul.

"Oh, you and Jon have it easy compared to George," said Thayet.

"What I don't understand," said Jon. "Is why Kel isn't married. She'd be quite capable of managing a husband even if her temper is not quite as explosive as that of some women we know."

Thayet, Raoul, and Alanna glanced at each other in alarm. And then inspiration struck.

"What I don't understand," said Alanna. "Is the fact that you are letting yourself be buried alive in paperwork on a beautiful day even though you are clearly in dire need of a break."

Jon blinked at this. " I haven't the foggiest."

"Which is precisely why the four of us are going for a ride," said Thayet as she took a firm grip on his arm and pulled him from his chair. They all nodded and smiled as they listen to Jon fine-tuning the law in a mutter while they walked to the stables.

Raoul and Alanna waited until Thayet and Jon had ridden out of earshot before slowing Drum and Darkmoon to a walk.

"Well," said Raoul, "that was easier than I expected. I know it will probably take until next year for the new law to go into effect. And then it sounds as though Dom will probably have to apply for permission to marry, which, as Knight Commander, I will grant immediately. Still, we've gotten things moving. They should be able to marry fairly soon."

"Still, I'd advise Dom not to ask her right away." Alanna spoke quietly.

"But—" Raoul began to protest before Alanna cut him off.

"Kel's still very worried about what this will do to her career and even though she loves Dom, she's ambivalent about settling down and being married. I think she's worried that being married will change the assignments she gets from the Crown. And having a young child will change her deployment; I don't think she'll be sent on any long campaigns in enemy territory for five years or so. She just needs time to realize that being married to Dom will actually make things easier, because he'll be able to help take care of the baby."

"You couldn't have managed without George could you?"

"Without George, I never would have had children," Alanna pointed out.

"So, you think they'll be able to manage two fighting careers and a baby between the two of them."

"Oh, I imagine they'll both run into some surprises along the way. Dom might even inspire his commanding officer to settle down and star—"

"Knock the Lioness off her horse, for having such a glorified notion of parenting."

"Well, to be completely honest, George did do most of the diaper changing."

"Maybe you'd better not share that with Dom until after they're married."

"I think we'll leave Kel and Dom to figure that out for themselves." Alanna grinned and hurried to catch up with Jon and Thayet.

"Oh, Mithros," said Dom when Raoul explained the coming change in policy to Raoul. "I don't know what to say; I could kiss you."

"Please don't, people have only just stopped gossiping about me and Buri and Kel." Raoul grinned. "And don't even think about hugging me," he added as he saw Dom rushing towards him with open arms.

"You're right," said Dom. "There's no way the two of us could survive a joint attack from Kel and Buri." He was so delighted with the news that Lerant found him sitting in the corner humming and grinning (A/N: behaving much the way Silverlake does when she gets reviews) when he stepped in to deliver a letter to Raoul.

"What was that about, my lord?"

"Madness has always run in Domitan's family Lerant," Raoul said quickly, shooing Lerant back out the door. The letter from Buri, at Goldenlake, and he was eager to read it.

Dearest Raoul,

I am writing you with some very startling news given my age and temperament, but I hope that you will be as pleased as I am. I would have contacted you magically, but I wanted you to hear before all of the gossiping servants at Goldenlake. Here goes: I'm pregnant and the baby is due in later winter. What can I say? Young Keladry is an inspiration to all of us. I'll let you share the news with Alanna and Thayet as I wouldn't want to deprive them of the immense pleasure they'll get out of teasing you. I hope that you will have time to stop at Goldenlake before you take the King's Own to Steadfast.

Love,

Buri

Raoul blinked in surprise and then threw the letter up into the air. "Buri's pregnant," he informed a startled Dom. He grabbed the Sergeant's arms and pulled him off his stool.

"That's wonderful," exclaimed Dom, as Raoul began leading him around the room in a clumsy jig. After a few moments they realized that they were humming two different tunes very loudly. Their dancing improved a great deal when they both settled on The Fishseller's Daughter.

Lerant cleared his throat loudly as he stepped in to deposit another letter on Raoul's desk.

"I'll just leave now, shall I?" he said quietly when there was no response from either Raoul or Dom. He tiptoed carefully out the door.

When they were both breathless and dizzy—a state they reached quickly given their excited humming—they stood together and read the second letter.

Raoul,

In answer to your question, I believe that the baby will come in two months time, but this is Kel we're discussing so it might be best to expect the unexpected. I'll try to let you know as soon as she goes into labor via magical communication. You'll be the second person I contact, as the Lioness gave me orders to contact her first weeks ago. Don't worry; I'm following orders from a surprising number of powerful individuals and keeping Kel from doing anything stupid. (I can't believe I just wrote that; it appears that the laws of nature are reversing themselves.) I feel only slightly guilty going behind Kel's back like this as I think she'll appreciate having Dom there later. I think pregnancy might actually be doing her some good as she is learning to express herself more. It's also doing me some good as I'm getting better at ducking the objects she throws at me. At any rate, she's truly an inspiration. She's convinced me to invite Yuki and the baby to come to New Hope—maybe you can escort them when you come up. I wish you and Alanna the best of luck in your political endeavor, thought I wouldn't trade places with you for all the gold in Corus—which admittedly isn't much at the moment given that the war has really depleted the treasury.

Your humble servant,

Neal

Reasons to go to a women's college:

You get to sing "sisterhood" instead of brotherhood in America the Beautiful

You can buy "undefeated football" t-shirts

Thanks for reading; I think you're all very brave to have come so far on this crazy adventure with me. More antics—and Kel's baby—will be arriving in the next chapter.