I don't own any of the Tamora Pierce characters

Sorry I killed off Owen, but I had to kill someone that would mean something! If the words are stuck together, its the silly editing programme on here...I keep going through to check my grammar, but words still stick together :( apologies all round...


Matthew stood on the hill overlooking the camp that had been his home for the last two months. It was raining, just as it had been for the last week. He could see from where he stood the cluster of green tents in the distance, with men bustling around with their horses. Carthaks camp was heaving. Over 15000 men lay just two miles away, and another 30000 men waited back in Carthak. Rageo was among those stationed in the camp. Matthew had caught his first glimpse of him three weeks before, when Carthak had tried and- Matthew was pleased to say, - failed, to attack during the night. Had Gavin been left in charge of the defence for the camp, Matthew felt certain that the Tortallan camp and every man who was in it, would have been burnt to death as they slept. Luckily, Matthew and Numair had put five Knights on watch, who had alerted them to the oncoming 5000 men. Gavin had stated as he had gone to bed that the men needed there rest and should not be left awake in the middle of the night. It had been with a feeling of great triumph that Matthew had sent a man to wake up 'General Git' as was now the popular name for Gavin whilst he was away from the men, though all were careful not to use it around Gavin, for it was guarunteed to earn them at least a month of latrine duty. Matthew was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of a man running up the hill, panting. He whipped round, hand flying to his belt, only to see that it was the messenger.

"Sir, I have a letter for you, from your..."the man stopped and frowned, "Squire? She asked me to deliver it in person."

Matthew nodded, trying to hide the sudden leaping in his chest. She hadn't forgotten him! He held out his hand, showing an air of patience which he was definitely not feeling. Why wouldn't the man just hurry up and give him the blasted letter? After what seemed like an hour, the man pulled out a thick envelope from the bag which was slung over his shoulder. "Thanks." he murmured, then ripped it open. Only as he read the first line did he realise that the man was now standing and watching as he read. "Yes?" Matthew snapped, much more fiercely than he intended. The man jumped back.

"Sorry Sir... I'll be going then!" The man ran down the hill. Matthew watched, then looked back down at the letter. Only as he unfolded the parchment, did he realise that it was very heavy and that there was something strangely solid between the pages. As he opened it up, a round, golden object on a thin chain slid through the parchment. If it hadn't been for years of practicing his hand-eye co-ordination, it would have slipped to the floor. However, he managed to slip a finger through the chain inches above the ground. Matthew lifted it and placed the gold medallion on his hand. It was a circle, about the size of a gold noble. Engraved on it, in the centre, was a heart, containing the interlinked letters 'I' and 'M.' Matthew smiled and went to put it over his head. Then he noticed the note, attached to the chain with a thin cord, which was punched through a scrap of parchment. He took the parchment in his hand and read;

Matthew,

I miss you

Love

Ivy x

Matthew blinked away the stinging in his eyes and carefully ripped the cord away and placed the chain over his head. A shout from the bottom of the hill reawoke him. He shoved the letter into his breeches pocket, and ran down the hill. He'd read the letter later.


It was noon the next day. The rain had cleared and now the Tortallan camp was for the first time in two months, seen to be moving. For the last two months the Knights and men of the Own had been hunched in their tents, except for when they were fighting and training. Now the camp seemed over-crowded, and almost every single knight was out in the fresh air. Matthew however, sat in his tent, reading and re-reading Ivy's letter, wishing more than ever that he was home with Ivy. He absently fingered the gold medallion that hung round his neck, as he began to read it once again. Only when a voice sounded from the flap of the tent did Matthew look up to see Raouls face poking through.

"General Git wants to see you. He doesn't look happy." Raoul ran a hand through his hair then stopped. "Is that from Ivy?" Matthew instantly shoved the letter away.

"No!" He said, far too quickly. Raoul frowned. Matthew took in a deep breath. "I mean it is, but... you don't want to read it do you?" he asked, hoping that the answer was no. There was far too much personal content in this letter, contents that Matthew did not want Ivy's father to read. Raoul shook his head.

"No, its fine, I just got a letter from Buri yesterday saying that Ivy was rather depressed and missing you..." he shrugged. "Oh well, you should hurry, General Git really is not in a good mood." Raoul disappeared and Matthew put the letter safely in the pocket of his breeches before leaving the tent.


Gavin was sat, as he usually was, in his tent, surrounded by the whole population of women in the camp, excluding Keladry and Alanna. As Matthew entered, the women left, leaving Gavin and Matthew alone. Gavin gave Matthew a careful look, then grinned crookedly.

"Did you know I have someone censor all post that my men get before they are given to them?" Gavin swirled the contents of a large glass and smiled. "I happened to personally censor your letter before that delightful messenger gave it to you... you do know that men can't have women visitors while they are out here? Somewhat of a distraction isn't it? By all means play around with the cooks if needs be, but your little girlfriend shall not be visiting! She is not capable of defending herself and I can't waste men trying to defend her if Carthak decides to attack."

"Shes perfectly capable of defending herself! She's a squire, and both of us know you have to be able to fight to pass the Page examinations!" Matthew stood up and went to walk out, only to find that two big and muscly knights grabbed him and threw him back down.

"At least meet some of them Tirragen!" Gavin said sweetly, still swirling his drink. "I'm sure we'll find one to suit you!" Instantly, as if the women who had just left had been listening to their conversation at the mouth of the tent, they returned and stood next to Gavin. Several of them began preening Gavins hair, while two took up a position on his knee. Matthew rolled his eyes at them, then looked at Gavin who had just begun to speak again. "Take your pick then Tirragen, I've got eight at the moment, and eight women in one night is hard work. If Carthak come, I won't be able to fight properly. How about we split them, half and half?" Gavin grinned as the women seemed to instantly grope him. Matthew looked at the women. Most of them, except one, were very attractive, but they just weren't Ivy.

"Keep them." Matthew said, standing up. "It's your fault if this army gets screwed up, I don't want to be a part of it." He looked in disgust at the women, now kissing Gavins neck and face. "I don't want your whores either."

As Matthew reached the tent flap, Gavin spoke again. "You're a disappointment Tirragen." He stated. "I heard so many rumours when you became a Squire, that you were a womanizer, more so than me, that you pulled a different woman every night... funny how rumours fly around isn't it?"

Matthew stopped. "You know what, I was like that, and it sucked!" He left the tent, but not in time to nothear the "you're on latrine duty for a month!" that came from within the tent.


"What did General Git want with you?"Raoul asked over the bowl of soup that they had all been given.

Matthew hesitated, then said, "Wanted me to start screwing the cooks for him!" Matthew put his bowl aside.

Raoul choked on his soup. "Wh...What did you... s... say?" he managed, trying to dislodge the crust of bread that had stuck in his throat.

"No." Matthew said shortly, then sighed. "I've got latrine duty for a month though..."

"What? Just for not sleeping with the cooks?" Alanna said in disgust.

Matthew nodded, then stood up. "I have to go and finish this letter to Ivy."


Ivy was mounted on Thunder and overlooking the mass of Tortallan tents that made up their camp. She'd left almost as soon as she got Matthew's letter. Luckily it had been the day before she started her monthlies, and the day she arrived was the day that she finished. She hesitated at the top of the hill,wondering where Matthew, her Uncles, Auntsand father would be. She had agreed to tell Numair that Daine had had the baby already, instead of trusting it to a letter or speech spell, it wouldn't do for the letter to be intercepted and for someone to find out that the leader of the Tortallan defence had just had another child. She'd also agreed to bring the letter from Buri to Raoul, as the man delivering the letters to the camp had not been due to leave until three days later. Ivy took in a deep breath, then rode down the hill.
Matthew had just returned from latrine duty, when the knight on watch called that there was a lone person on horseback. Matthew grabbed his sword and whistled for Magic, who ran towards him instantly, unsaddled. Matthew jumped onto his back and kicked Magic into a gallop, running past the men standing around trying to get a glimpse of the rider. He thought about yelling at them and telling them to get themselves sorted, but decided against it. When he reached the bottom of the hill he stopped and looked up at the rider on a palomino gelding. The rider wore a pair of brown breeches and a loose shirt. Their blackhair hung down past their shoulders, and a sword hung at the riders belt. Matthew went to draw the sword at his own belt, then saw a glinting of sunlight on something that Matthew couldn't see around the riders neck. Suddenly Matthew realised who it was and dismounted with a smile on his face. The rider looked up, then kicked their horse into a gallop, jumping from the saddle when they were a few metres from Matthew. Before he could prepare himself, he was knocked backwards onto the floor as Ivy flung herself at him. He laughed, but it was muffled by Ivy's mouth being pressed to hers. He kissed her fiercely, for several minutes, before a voice called out from somewhere nearby.

"Hey everybody, look, Tirragen's got himself a lass!" Instantly, Ivy pulled away, blushing, and stood up to let him stand. Matthew smiled at her, then looked at the man who had spoken, who was now at the front of a vast amount of men trying to see what was going on.

"Shut it Irontown!" Matthew growled. The men laughed, but slowly began to disperse. After a while they were all gone, and Matthew instantly picked Ivy up and spun her round. By the time he let her go, she was dizzy and had been thoroughly kissed.

"I missed you!" Matthew whispered. Ivy smiled and buried her face in his shirt.

"I missed you too!" she murmured, her hands finding her way to his buttons and beginning to undo them. Matthew felt the first creepings of desire, and grabbed her hands.

"Not now!" he said quietly. "Your family will want to see you!" he kissed her softly on the forehead, then smiled. "Later." he promised.

Ivy nodded. "Ok..." she said, then offered her hand. Matthew took it and brought it to his lips, before leading her to her families tents.


"Ivy?" Raoul said, looking up from polishing his sword. Ivy smiled and ran over to meet him, hugging him tight, before letting him go, only to be pulled into several more hugs from Gary, Alanna, Kel, Numair, Dom and George. Finally, she sat down next to Matthew, settling herself on his knee and resting her head on his shoulder. Numair left almost as soon as Ivy told him the news of his son's birth, to write a letter to Daine, but not before hugging every one of the people in his company. Soon afterwards, Raoul and the others found other things to do and other places to be, leaving Ivy and Matthew alone, and, in Matthews opinion, the moment couldn't have come soon enough. He had thought it would be rude to continuously embrace Ivy whilst in the presence of her family, who had also been missing her over the past few months. As soon as Raoul and the rest of Ivy's family were out of sight, Matthew turned her round and pressed his lips to hers, feeling a sense of warmth and comfort that felt like it had long been buried. Within seconds, both Ivy and Matthew were unbuttoning the others shirt, and quietly murmuring in the others ear. They sprung apart at the sound of Gavins voice.

"Tirragen! I thought I told you that you were not allowed women visitors whilst at war!"he growled. "Take another month of latrine duty and send your wench back home!"

Ivy, who was laying on the floor as a result of springing away from Matthew, went to jump up, but Matthew beat her to it and within seconds had laid his hands on the General's shirt and was shaking him. "Don't call Ivy a wench ever again!" he shook him for punctuation then shoved him away, turning his back on the General and lashing a foot out at a tree stump. It was supposed to relieve some of the anger he felt to the General, but it only caused a sudden throbbing pain in his foot.

"Alright... send your whore back home then!" Gavin laughed, straightening out his shirt. He had apparently not noticed that Ivy's family had chosen this moment to return and were now standing behind him. At the Generals latest remark, Raoul, George, Gary and Dom all grabbed Gavin in fury, cursing at him and telling him to keep his 'dung-errupting mouth' shut.

"Put a sock in it mister or I'll have your guts for garters!" Raoul growled.

Gavin laughed -shakily, but it was most definitely a laugh- and said, "I wouldn't advise it Giantkiller, you wouldn't like to go before the Court of Mithros now would you?" Somehow he managed to shake free of the four men's grips and smiled. "For accosting your General, you can all have a month of latrine duty with Tirragen!" he turned to look at Ivy, now stood next to Matthew and glaring at Gavin. "I don't want to see you here again, I want you out of here by tomorrow..." he then grinned at her. "Unless of course you wish to spend some time with me in my tent... in which case we may be able to come to some kind of agreement!"

"Eat stormwing dung!" Ivy spat - quite literally - and a line of saliva landed on the General's boot, much to the amusement of Ivy's family. "And don't think I'm leaving just because you 'say-so' you're not my General, and quite frankly I don't know how you got given the job in the first place!"

Gavin stared at her coldly for several seconds, then his mouth broke into a cruel smirk. "Fine!" He said. "Stay as long as you like! But keep away from me and my men! And don't start calling for help if we get attacked!" Gavin turned to leave. Ivy grabbed the knife that she kept at her belt and threw it deliberately so that it cut a long gash across the Generals arm, before it buried itself in the trunk of a tree. Gavin turned to her with a look of rage, whilst George -who had taken several months teaching Ivy to do that trick- grinned with pride.

"You filthy whore!" Gavin growled. Matthew and the others all moved to run and punch Gavins face in, but Ivy shook her head at them and waited for Gavin to go on. He glared at her with a look of deepest loathing, then drew his sword. "You want to fight? Fine! Right here! Right now! What are you waiting for you little slut? Not to keen on the idea any more?"

Ivy shrugged. "Fine. I'll fight you..." she turned to look at Matthew who was giving her a look which said 'dont fight him he'll kill you'. She ignored it and offered her hand. "Later... after dinner..." she hesitated, then said, "In front of all your men!" Matthew looked at her and shook his head, then took her hand and led her away from Gavin's calls.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl either!"


Ivy stood next to a tree, stretching, as Matthew tried to persuade her for the hundredth time not to fight with Gavin.

"Listen, he's a cocky git, and I hate him, but he's a good fighter and I don't want to see you cut up by him! Just say you want to postpone the match because of monthlies or something and then avoid him for the rest of your time here!"

Ivy shook her head. "All that will get me is a reputation as a wimp and a coward who makes empty threats!"

"You didn't threaten him!" Matthew said despairingly.

"I threw a knife at him though!" Ivy pointed out. "That kind of counts as a threat!"

Matthew groaned. "By the Gods, why is everything in my life so bloody complicated!" He grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me! You mean the world to me and I am not going to let some Git like him cut you up! He's an idiot whos just got a way too big ego! Don't get so worked up about him calling you a whore! He won't touch you ok! Not while you're with me so just..."

Ivy covered his mouth and shook her head. "I've got my pride. He called me a whore... he deserves what's coming to him!"

She walked off without another word and Matthew kicked the tree in anger. Looking over to Gavin, sat surrounded by several tall, muscular knights, he glared. "Touch her Stone Mountain and I'll blow you to bits!" he growled. He kicked the tree once more then ran after Ivy.


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