Just a Glimpse:

Disclaimer: All I own is Eriko, her family, my plot, two dollars, and a Tom in a room but everything familiar is Tamora Pierce's.

A/N: Don't think I ever said how old they were but here it goes: Eri18 Eric21 Mako+Matt22 Kai24

Ishiko means stone and connotes a firm, dependable, enduring character :)


"She did what?" a tall man asked.

"She ignored and completely disregarded me. I've never seen such a impudent and brutish child, Edmond," Lady Lucille reiterated.

The 5'10" and slightly burly man, Edmond, was usually intimidating but today he was lively and straining to hide his chuckles at the moment. He had a few grey hairs but it was swallowed up by his rich brown hair and his sapphire eyes were dancing with mirth. His face was slightly tanned with laughing lines, an aristocratic nose, and a stubborn chin.

"This isn't funny Edmond! That girl of yours is becoming more like those brothers of hers everyday. How is she expected to have any marriage proposals acting the way she does?" Lucille admonished harshly.

"She's not," Edmond muttered quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing Auntie but she's just a child. Let her live a little whi-"

"She's eighteen, Edmond! That thing should have at least one proposal by now."

"Now Auntie, if she doesn't want to get married th-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" the woman growled.

"Ah, Aunt Lucille. I knew it was you I heard," a second woman spoke up.

Entering the library, the woman swept in with all the grace that befitted her. Her long raven hair was set in a simple bun that matched her plain riding dress. She stood at 5' 6" with a slight curvy body, which embodied the complete grace and ease of a court lady. Her sharp dark eyes were pools of black framed by long lashes and her face looked soft with a pert nose and full ruby lips that often found themselves smiling. No matter how much she smiled though, there were few slight creases from where she had frowned one too many times in scolding her children and still does especially where the twins are concern.

"Hello Ishiko," Lucille greeted with disgust.

"Auntie," Edmond growled warningly.

"What? At least I acknowledged her this time," Lucille commented.

Glaring at the elderly woman, Edmond turned from her and greeted his wife of twenty-six years with happiness.

"Hello Ishi. How was riding?"

"It would've been fine if Mako hadn't decided to teach Matt a lesson," Ishiko frowned.

"What did he do this time?" Edmond sighed.

"Let's just say that when I was coming back, one of the boys forgot to tell me that the back wall was jinxed."

"Is there more?"

"I also would've landed face first into the ground if Matt hadn't caught me."

"Oh Mithros," Edmond said exasperatedly.

"But don't worry. They'll be cleaning the stables and helping with the chores for the next month," Ishiko announced.

"Ishi? Is that really a go-"

"If both of you are done, I would like to continue," Lucille cut in.

"And here I thought she'd left," Ishiko muttered inaudibly to her husband.

"Just a few more minutes dear and it'll be all over," he whispered back.

Lucille cleared her throat once more for attention, while Ishiko took a seat by her husband.

"Go ahead Auntie."

"Now where was I? Ah yes, now I've actually found a suitable candidate for her and I-"

"Candidate? What candidate?" Ishiko interrupted.

"As I was saying, I think he would be able to deal with her nonsense before too lo-"

"I am not marrying off my only daughter!" Ishiko hissed.

"Well she's my only grand-niece and I say she should be."

"I don't care what you think."

Edmond sighed and rubbed his temples at the whole marriage business.

This is going to take a while, he thought.

"Don't care? My dear girl, she's wild and needs a husband who will keep her from philandering around," Lucille argued with disgust.

"She does not philander anywhere. We taught her-"

"Yes, you teaching her to be a brute must work very well for you."

"My daughter is not a brute and she is not getting married. End of discussion."

"Fine. If she's not getting married then what do you plan to do about Eric, hm? Or the twins? Personally, I'm more worried about that hussy that Eric has been around."

"Hussy? What hussy?"

"That girl that calls herself a knight," Lucille spat.

"Now what's wrong with Keladry?" Ishiko questioned tiredly.

"I swear that girl has probably been everywhere," she emphasized.

"Now wait a minute. Who Eric chooses to court-"

"Court? Court! That boy had better not be courting that wench or I'll-"

"She is not a wench, Lucille. She's honorable an-"

"Honorable, my fanny. She's a knight and nothing good comes from women fighting. I don't care if you choose to be a barbarian but I-"

"We are not barbarians, Lucille. Choosing to defend ourselves doesn't mean we're barbarians. If Eric wants to court her then fine, Edmond and I have no qualms about it. He's a man now and what he does is his choice, same thing applies to Eri."

"No."

"No?"

"No. Eriko is not a man but a woman and I know what's best for her."

"You know what's best for her? You don't even like her, let alone know her."

"She's my grand-niece and what's more she's a Tortallan. I know what is expected of a lady and that is marriage and bearing children."

"Now who's being barbaric," Ishiko stated.

"I'm not being barbaric. I'm being sensible. If she wants to have a good marriage, she has to start acting like a lady, not like some commoner."

"You're on very thin ice right now, Lady Lucille."

"Oh am I? Well then you must not have heard about your girl's latest show."

"What are you talking about?" Edmond asked finally interceding.

"What? Didn't she tell you? The knight courting her caught her with another man."

Satisfied with the news she brought them, Lucille stood up and smoothed her dress.

"I'll be taking my leave now. The man I have arranged won't be around forever, so I expect an answer in two weeks time, a month at the most."

The couple sat there in silence and shock, watching the elderly woman walk out of the room.


"Hello, may I help you?" a servant boy asked.

"I'm Lady Eriko and I'm here to see Lady Lana. Can you tell me where she is?"

"Of course milady. Right this way."

Handing Dust to one of the stable hands, I took off the bag before following the boy into the townhouse that Kai and Lana shared. Going up the stairs, the boy told me to wait and went to tell Lana that I was here.

"Third door on the left milady."

"Thank you."

Taking the cloak from me, I waved him off before he could ask for the bag and knocked on the door.

"Lana?" I called out.

Opening the door wider, I could see Lana waddling over to me with a huge grin. Lana was barely taller than me, with light brown hair and pale blue eyes that noticed everything. Her small nose and pleasant smile are wonderful features and contrasted with Kai's serious demeanor. Her usual small frame had ballooned since she became pregnant. Even if she is pleasant and kind, her anger isn't something you want to be on the receiving end of.

"Eri! How wonderful to see you again," Lana greeted trying to hug me.

"You're getting a bit big there, when are you due?" I asked.

"I can't remember what Healer Barnes said but I think it was a month or two," Lana told me.

"Then you really shouldn't be walking around so much."

"Oh please don't start, I get enough of that when mother came by last week. Honestly if you ever get pregnant don't come crying to me that they won't let you walk."

"Duly noted."

"Wonderful. Now how about some tea and cakes?"

Nodding my head vigorously, Lana led me to the table with two chairs and two teacups set up.

"So what have you gotten for me today?" Lana inquired while pouring me tea.

Setting the bag on my lap, I took out a rolled up thick piece of parchment and handed it to her. She only looked at it quizzically before untying the ribbon and unfurling the roll.

"Oh my..." Lana started.

"I just finished it yesterday so I thought you'd like it as soon as possible."

"Thank you, it's wonderful," Lana said as she beamed.

It was a portrait that Lana has requested of her mother and herself for a birthday present next week. Lana was a spitting image of her mother with the exception of the hair color. While Lana has light brown, her mother's was a nice straw color that shone in the sun. In the portrait, her mother was sitting down in a red high chair reading a book to a little version of Lana in her lap. Both were wearing similar style dresses but her mother's was a deep burgundy while Lana's was a pale red. Lana always remembered her mother reading to her as a child and wanted a picture of it.

"So what do you think?" I asked, taking a sweet cake.

"I love it and thank you. Now how have you been?" she asked setting the portrait aside.

"Bored. I sit around and listen to ladies gossip while I fall asleep."

"Now it can't be that bad. It was fun when I was at Court."

"Maybe for you. The only time I'm not bored is when I have morning practice with Kel, Yuki, and Shinko."

"Do you still play with those metal fans?"

"Yeah but Kel has been coming and going, following Raoul and the Own since the end of Fall while Shinko has her Crown duties with their Highnesses."

"What about Yukimi and Shinko's other ladies?"

"I don't know the other ladies like I do Shinko and Yuki, I mean we get along fine but the other two are like best friends and hard to find. Yuki and I have been fulfilling our duties as Shinko's ladies, so that leaves little time for any recreation at all. I only see the others at meal time and even then that's short."

"Then how come you're here?"

"I'm missing midday meal to be here."

"Missing midday meal? Honestly, are you trying to starve yourself?" Lana scolded motherly before filling my plate with cakes and biscuits.

I laughed lightly at her antics and grabbed another sweet cake from my full plate.

"So who's this twit I've been hearing about?" Lana asked casually.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You know, the one who asked to court you. Marin?"

"Oh Merric."

"That's the one. I heard you made the poor knight cry."

"I did not make him cry."

"Hm. Kai told me he was crying his poor heart out."

"Kai was just exaggerating and since when did he have any sympathy for Merric?" I wondered.

"Not really sure when it started but it might've been when he heard about Sir Anthony courting yo-"

"You heard about it too? Oh Gods."

"Now dear, there's nothing to be worried about. Eric told me what happened when he came by the other day."

"You didn't tell Kai it was Anthony did you?" I inquired cautiously.

"What? Gods no. If anything he'd scare the poor life out of the boy like he did with Merric."

"Merric was out for a few hours when Kai landed on him."

"Yes, I know. I think he's learned his lesson though."

"What did you do?" I asked curiously.

"I made him sleep in the stables. Oh don't give me that look he deserved it and I was already irritable when he said I was fat," Lana reasoned rubbing her tummy.

I was laughing out loud just imagining Kai rolling off the loft and onto the hay or manure pile underneath.

"But enough about it that. What are you going to do?"

"Me? Nothing really. I told him no."

"Kai talked to him you know."

Seeing me frown Lana continued, "Kai found him one morning and gave him some advice."

"Advice? What advice?"

"Something or other about courting yo-"

"Kai, as in my older, scary, serious brother Kaiden gave Merric advice on courting me?"

"I think so but I would say it was more of a warning on what would happen if that boy did something wrong to you."

"Wonderful. Just wonderful."

We sat in silence for a bit longer when Lana looked up from her tea.

"Do you like him?" Lana questioned.

"He's tolerable," I answered warily.

"Tolerable? That's it."

"Oh no. He's just so handsome and the man of my dreams with the perfect hair and teeth," I added dramatically.

"Alright, so he's tolerable but anything else..."

"Let's see, he's also annoying, infuriati-"

"I meant in a good way."

"Oh well he's just tolerable then."

"Do you plan on living alone forever?"

"Of course not..."

"Good."

"I'll have all of my nieces and nephews to keep me company."

Lana just shook her head in disappointment at my answer before sighing out loud. Noticing the streets becoming crowded again, I realized that midday meal was about to be over. Getting up, I hugged and told Lana that I was leaving.

"I'll come back when I have more time," I told her.

"Okay but you know, you should give him a chance," Lana commented.

I snorted but answered, "Maybe."

Picking up my bag, I took my cloak from the servant and went out to the stables. Tossing the bag onto Dust, I secured it before putting on my cloak and leading him away. Holding the reins in my hand, I walked with Dust on one of the more horse friendly streets back to the Palace. It wasn't until a few minutes later and a few strange stares that I noticed someone was calling my name. Looking around, I tried to find the source but didn't get it until the person came up behind me.

"Hi Eri."

Turning around, I faced Merric who was shyly grinning at me.

"Hello Merric."

"What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I went to visit a family member, why?" I commented casually.

"Did something happen?"

"No, just a regular visit. What about you? I thought you'd left with Neal and Faleron this morning."

"We did but we just got back when I decided to stay behind here and get something to eat."

"Oh."

"Are you going back to the Palace?"

"Yes..."

"Can I walk you back?"

I was about to retort 'no' but figured, what the hell? I'll give him a chance.

"Sure," I answered.

"Really?" he asked.

Merric looked like he could've died from shock but recovered himself and extended his arm. I glanced it warily but looped it through cautiously. He would've taken the reins as well but I shook my head 'no'.

"One thing at a time, Red."

He looked at me when I called him that but shook it off and walked with me back to the Palace. We were pretty much silent the whole way but I could tell Merric was trying to make small conversation every now and then like thanking me for the bruise balm. I have to say that I appreciate his effort but I'm still not forgiving him...yet. Like I said before, he's still has a long way to go before I can be swayed.