A/N: Just a small note about this chappie. If you haven't read Squire, Protector of the Small, DO NOT READ THIS NOTE. It';s a spoiler. Well, for those of you that have, the girl named Fianola is actually the girl who was in the chapter Tilt-Silly. Panyin is the youngest of the three girls in that chappie! Happy reading! And, feel free to give me suggestions for the next one -- I'm really stuck... what should happen next?

As Kaden and her brother made their way to Corus, Kaden thought. She remembered her childhood; she recapped on a lot of things that she remembered good. The thing she thought about the most was how much she was going to miss her family (adopted family, but all the same, they were the people she grew up with.) and when she said good bye to them.

FLASHBACK:

Kaden hugged her adopted mother and father goodbye, trying hard not to make the tears roll from her face.

"Now, take care of yourself, Kaden." Dutchess Sada warned her.

"And don't get yourself killed, or we'll never talk to you again." Lalita said, tears already on her face. She was down with her husband for a week.

"You'll see me in 5 days, silly!" Kaden scolded.

"And when will we see you again, Kada?" Kada was Fianola's nickname for her, and she used it often. Now, though, wasn't a time of joking. She stood, pale faced and serious. The rest of her family looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"I, well... I really don't know..." She said hesitantly. "But, I will be back, I promise."

"We'll always be here for you, remember that." Her father told her, smiling weakly. Tamas and Panying klung to her skirt, reluctant to letting go. She embraced both of them at the same time, not wanting to let go, but anxious to leave. At last, she untangled herself from her siblings and walked outside, waiting for Adish to finish hugging everyone. Suddenly, she remembered Galen. Adish walked out slowly, but steadily, to his golden gelding, Goldenrise. She ran over to him.

"Where's Galen? He was here last night." Adish looked at her solemnly.

"He was called out last night. Why? You didn't know?"

"Nobody told me. I didn't get to say goodbye."

"We'll get to see him at Corus along with Lalita and Markus." He glanced at her quickly. "Don't worry, Kada. Now, saddle up, or we'll get there later than I thought." Preoccupied with his horse, he didn't look at her when he talked. She started to get her saddle and put it on her horse.

"Oh, and do you have your weapons?"

END FLASHBACK:

The fall air whipped at her back, and they trotted on down a steep path. Multicolored leaves fell on her shoulders and her saddle, more on her brother. She decided to start up a conversation.

"What do you do in the Own, Adish?" Her brother was in Third Company. He had become a knight and was asked to join the own, probably for his skills in weaponry.

"We either go to wars, serve at banquets, help raided villiages, and other stuff. We do a lot." He took a deep breath. "What do you say we stop here to rest? It's getting dark, and we need to stop elsewise we'd not be able to see." She smiled at him happily.

"Yes, you're absolutely right." She jumped off Moonflower and got the pack off her gelding's back. It contained a tent and bedroll.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah." She said as she struggled with her tent.

"You're not doing that right. Here, let me help." As he straightened the tent out, Kaden got a soup mix out of Adish's pack and started to tend to it. 'I guess I'm gonna do all right. I hope...'