Hi, me again. A note I forgot to add to the last chapter, I wrote this before I read Trickster's Queen, so I didn't know the real names of Daine and Numair's kids, and I'm too lazy to change them. Also, I just made up a height for Numair, someone pointed out to me that it was wrong. I grew up with really tall people, so what's tall to me is really, really tall to others, also, I'm pretty tall myself.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine. Except for Myles, and you can't have him. He's mine.

Chapter One

The weather was sweltering hot, as mid-June usually was. Not only was it hot, but it was also humid, abnormally so, even for Corus. This odd weather made everyone's temper short, even, no, especially mine. I wanted to leave the capital, travel to someplace cool, maybe even the Roof of the World. I really wanted to spy for the crown. I asked my parents, for the last time, if I could go.

"No." They said at the same time.

"But, Mother, Father, why?"

"You know how dangerous it is out there." answered Father.

"What if you get caught?" added Mother.

"I'm not stupid enough to be caught" I said under my breath, hoping they wouldn't hear. It didn't work.

"What did you say?" Father asked in a dangerously low voice.

I was not afraid of my father. I squared my shoulders and repeated "I am not stupid enough to be caught."

He exploded. "None of the many brave men that have been spies and captured were stupid! Much of the time, it's an accident that makes them get caught! He would have continued ranting like this if Mother had not interrupted. "Myles. You are-"

"Not old enough" I finished, snootily. I had heard that many times. "I'm older than Aram was when he finished his training.

" Aram has wild magic and was trained in Shang fighting. And do not interrupt your mother." Father bellowed.

"So sorry" I replied with just a hint of sarcasm. "It's not my fault I wasn't born with-"

"No, but it is your fault you don't practice your weapons."

"Actually, it's your fault, Father. You keep me home, for my safety, because you are afraid I might get into trouble."

"Myles. You cannot go, and that is final." Mother said quietly. I turned to leave.

"Don't touch that door!" Father pointed at it. The lock clicked. I tried to open it any way. The doorknob shocked me.

"Numair." Mother said.

"What, Daine." Father said wearily.

"Let him go." The door opened. I ran out, slamming the door behind me. I continued running as Father yelled "Don't slam the door!"

That was the last I heard of either of them for a very long time.

People yelled at me as I ran past. I knocked someone down, but kept running without a backwards glance. I ran away from my family's rooms, out of the palace, toward the city. As I left the palace gates, I slowed to a walk. Gods, it was hot out there. As I walked through the temple district, I considered my options. I couldn't go back to the palace, and I had been kicked out of the Dancing Dove by the reigning king of thieves. I finally decided to go to a new cafe in town, the Robbin's Basket. I had heard that their cold drinks were the best in town, and that was what I needed just then.

As I drew near the cafe, I heard someone behind me calling my name. I looked back. It was the very ugly, rude, and stupid leader of the Lightnings, the gang who liked to make things difficult for me when I went into the city. His name was Henry. The entire gang was running after me with their head idiot in the lead. With a growled curse, I started running again. They chased me around a couple of corners into the alley behind the Robbin's Basket. I dashed around the corner of the wood building, in an attempt to hide from the gang. I leaned against the building, trying to get my breath back, and wishing fervently that I was anywhere but in a dirty back alley. After a moment of not hearing anything around the corner, I looked to see if they were still there. They were. The last thing I remember is the sneering, dirty face of Henry as he knocked me unconscious with a wooden club.