A/N: The language gets a bit colorful in a few spots.

Helm, Aelfrid, and Cearo were loudly singing 'The Lumberjack Song' when they arrived back home, not noticing Algar and Rheda were standing by the pasture gate until they were a few dozen feet away. "Oh. Crap," Aelfrid said under his breath as he stopped Osric. "We. Are dead."

"What?" Cearo asked and then remembered Aelfrid had probably snuck out tonight. "You're in a lot of trouble if they're waiting out here for you."

"More than you know."

"Cearo, go inside," Algar said stiffly as he strode toward Osric.

"Yes, Pa," she replied, already dismounting. Whatever was going on, she didn't want to be around for it-at least, not where she could be seen. She walked toward the house until she heard Algar start yelling at Aelfrid before changing direction and heading up to the large tree not far from the pasture, making sure to keep to the shadows, and pulled up her tunic and shift, shoving the extra material into the belt, before grabbing a low-growing limb and hoisting herself up into the branches.

"We told you to stay here tonight," Algar was saying angrilly to Aelfrid as he paced in front of the brothers. "And you!" he said to Helm, stopping suddenly in front of him. "You, of all people, I would never expect to be helping him get around me and sneak around!"

"How interesting," a low voice said from above Cearo. Surprised, she nearly fell off the branch she was sitting on but managed to keep her grip and her balance.

"Hello, Brego," she said flatly, not surprised he was out here. If there was trouble, Brego was rarely far away and it was usually of his devising, though he was good at making it look like someone else's fault. She loathed him with a passion and was looking forward to when he married and moved out. Too bad that meant some poor woman would be burdened with him. The only person he cared about was himself and getting what he wanted and he didn't care who he hurt in the process. "So what's your reason for getting your brothers in trouble tonight? Couldn't find any small animals to torture?"

"What makes you think I had anything to do with this? They can find trouble good enough on their own."

"No one needs to find it when you're around," she shot back. "You're always making sure it finds us." Cearo ground her teeth when Brego laughed.

"That's not always true," he chided

"But it usually is."

"So you say."

"We both know it's true. Now shut up so I can hear what Pa is saying." She lay forward on the branch and scooched forward on her belly so she could hear better. Aldric was ranting on about Aelfrid disobeying him and ignoring him as he paced, saying how he should take a thick branch to Aelefrid's backside until he bled, with Rheda and Helm trying to get a word in when Algar stopped long enough to draw breath. Aelfrid was still on Osric and while she couldn't see his face, it was easy enough to imagine the sullen, petulent expression he must have been wearing. The whole scene looked comical and Cearo had to pinch her lips together tightly to keep from laughing. Now if Algar would only get to the good stuff and start going on about why he'd told Aelfrid not to go anywhere tonight. Above her, she heard Brego chuckling and making the occasional comment under his breath. She rolled her eyes and wished she knew of a way to unseat him from the branch. That would shut him up and get him back for ratting out Aelfrid.

Finally, Algar stopped pacing. "Well?" he snapped, standing in front of Osric. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Aelfrid was silent, which only made his father angrier. "I have a good mind not only to take a branch to you but to send-"

"Algar," Rheda said loudly, placing a hand on his arm, "it's late and dawn comes early this time of year. We can talk about this tomorrow." She glanced back at the house then added, "We also have an audience." Cearo looked to see what she was talking about and saw Tellan and Grindan standing not far from the doorway. She smirked slightly. Between their parents and the younger brothers, Aelfrid wasn't going to have a moment's peace tomorrow. Poor boy!

Algar said something in a low voice Cearo didn't catch, but whatever he'd said, it set everyone into motion. He and Rheda walked back toward the house, Helm led Sherwyn toward the barn, and Aelfrid wheeled Osric around and took off at a gallop.

"I told you, they need no help from me," Brego said, his voice now coming from directly behind her. "Nice legs, by the way." Startled, Cearo began to sit up and turn around and promptly lost her balance. She felt a scream start to rise in her throat as the ground began to rush up at her but it was cut off when her fall was abruptly stopped by something grabbing both her ankles. "You're lucky I'm here," Brego said dryly as he pulled her back up into the tree.

"I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't surprised me," she retorted with as much pride as she could muster. "How did you know Aelfrid would be in trouble unless you were behind it?"

"Because, silly girl," he explained as he helped her get her seat next to him, "I heard Pa telling Aelfrid to stay here tonight and I heard him later asking where Aelfrid was and the way he was cursing out here by the pasture when he looked to see where Osric was."

"Oh." Yeah. That made sense. She felt rather stupid now and Brego's laughter at her expression wasn't helping. Of all the people to look stupid in front of….

"I'm not the monster you seem to think I am, Cearo." He gave her braid a gentle tug.

She jerked it out of his hand. "You're an selfish ass and what is it with you all thinking it's fun to pull in my braid? It's not a freakin' toy!" She glared at him for a long moment, then rolled her eyes and looked out at the horizon beyond the pasture, searching for any sign of Aelfrid returning. "I wonder what Pa's so uptight about?"

"What?" Brego asked, and Cearo realized with a start she'd been thinking out loud in English. In Rohirric, she said, "I said, I wonder what Pa's so upset about."

"You heard everything Pa said tonight and you don't know why he's upset." Disbelief hung heavy on his words. "I knew you were dense, but-"

"Not that Aelfrid snuck out," she snapped. "Why he wanted Aelfrid to stay home in the first place. I'm pretty sure it's because Aelfrid is sweet on some girl and Pa wants him to stay away from her" next to her, Brego made a sound like a cough "but no one will tell me anything so I have no idea what's really going on." She looked over at Brego. "You always seem to know everything that's going on. Why is Pa so upset? Aelfrid is old enough to start calling on girls so it can't be that."

Brego was smiling slightly. "The girl isn't old enough yet."

"I knew it!" she cried triumphantly. She looked over at Brego. "So, who is she?"

Cearo could've sworn a look of predatory triumph flashed across his face but it

came and went so fast she wasn't sure it wasn't just a trick of the shadows. "Ask Aelfrid."

"Don't play games with me, Brego. You've always been only too happy to make everyone else's secrets public knowledge so don't start playing secret-keeper now. Tell me."

"I'm not sure you really want to know." The patronization and condescention in his tone made her want to slap him.

"Yes, I do," she said hotly. "I'm the only one in this family who doesn't know what's going on. Helm refused to tell me, saying I should ask Aelfrid. Ma asked me if I knew and looked worried sick until I said I didn't and then she practically collapsed with relief. I asked both Aelfrid and Helm tonight when we were out and neither would tell me a single thing. I'm not a child anymore and I don't want to be treated like one!"

"You really should ask Aelfrid."

"Right." If that was the way he wanted to be…. "I'm sure Pa would love to know what i you /i say and do when you're on patrol. I heard the most i interesting /i things about you and a woman near the Gap." She smirked, certain he wanted that kept silent.

"Pa already knows." He laughed at the way her face fell. "Good try, though. You're getting better." He was silent for a long moment. "It's you."

"What?" She couldn't have heard him right.

"The girl he talked about on patrol. It's you. I'm serious," he said when she glared at him and smacked his arm. "It's you."

"You are so full of shit," she said disgustedly. "I should've known you'd just mess with me. Get out of my way. I need to climb down."

"Cearo, I'm serious. Why do you think no one would tell you anything? Why do you think Ma was so worried and so relieved when you told her you hadn't heard

anything?"

"Oh, fucking hell," she exclaimed softly, his words making a terrible kind of sense.

"They wanted to wait until your birthday next month, when you're twenty, to tell you," Brego said in a low voice.

"Then why did you tell me tonight?"

"Because you insisted," he teased gently. "And you deserve to know."

"You're the only one who seems to think so," she murmured, looking down at her lap, where her hands were playing with her bunched-up skirts. "I'm his sister. You can't love your sister that way."

"You're not our sister." Cearo looked up at Brego, blood frozen in her veins. He still saw her as an outsider, and intruder. She should have known. "You are, in a way. But you came to us when you were sixteen. You're more like the cousin from another part of the Mark we say you are than a true sister." He gave her a smile. "Maybe if you'd been a plain little stick it would've been easier to see you as a sister. An annoying sister who drives us crazy and can kick our butts now when we're practicing with short swords and daggers," he teased, making her crack a smile. "You're not a plain little stick, though. You never have been." His tone became serious again. "You're a very pretty girl. Woman," he corrected himself quickly. "Or you will be next month. It's very hard to see you as a sister. Very hard," he repeated and Cearo felt her mouth go dry.

"I need to go," she said, or would have but she only got out "I need" before his mouth was on hers. She stared at him, wide-eyed, wondering what the heck had gotten into the guys all of a sudden and what the fastest way out of this nightmare was. This was not how she'd pictured her first kiss being. She thought she'd be kissed by a guy she liked, a guy she wanted kissing her, and she'd be kissing him back, maybe on a bench somewhere or on her parents' deck, not stuck up in some tree in Rohan being kissed by a quasi-brother she considered to be walking slime who'd just told her another quasi-brother wanted her and then decided to make his own feelings known by kissing her. She thought she'd be putting her arms around his neck or something, not frozen stiff with shock like she was right now and her eyes wouldn't be open. This was all wrong!

To her great relief, he stopped kissing her a moment later. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done that. Aelfrid was enough shock for one night. I'm sorry." Cearo just stared at him mutely, no idea what to say and not sure she could get the words out even if she did. Her mind was a jumble of a million and one thoughts, all zooming around and crashing into one another. The only thing she was sure of was that she wanted to get far, far away from this whole mess as quickly as possible. She'd get out of the tree as soon as Brego was gone and she'd get her horse and she'd ride into town. She'd go to Elfhild and promise to tell them everything in the morning. Elfhild could act as a go-between for her and the family and things could get worked out that way. "I should go," Brego said, breaking the long silence that was stretching between them.

Cearo nodded stiffly and looked down at her lap, eager to be alone.

Someone was yelling. She looked up in the direction of the voice as Brego climbed up into the higher branches to get a better view of who was coming and saw a rider galloping toward the house, his tone full of alarm and fear. She felt a chill crawl slowly across her skin with prickly claws. The only thing she knew of which would have someone yelling like that was

"ORCS!" the persons yelled, now close enough to make out what he was saying. Cearo's stomach plunged and she felt like throwing up. This was the second time in three months. Rheda would need her. Wilone and Tellan needed to be kept safe. She needed her dagger. Where was Aelfrid? Oh, he was the rider. Why hadn't she recognized his voice before? She needed to go and get Tellan and Wilone and-

"Stay here," Brego barked at her as he scrambled down to the ground.

"The kids. I need to get them."

"Stay here. We'll bring them to you."

"No. I'll get them." She started to shift around to start climing down. "You and your brothers and Pa have enough to do. Ma and I will get the kids."

"Stay. Here," he snapped, obviously furious to still be talking to her. "Ma will bring them out here."

"Brego-"

"Shut up and do as I say." Before she could argue with him further, he dropped off the branch to the ground below and sprinted to the house. Cearo, miffed at being told to just sit and wait, moved so she was sitting against the trunk and straddling the branch, legs dangling, and watched Aelfrid thunder up and ride into the barn. A short time later, Aelfrid was galloping out of the barn with the family's horses and breeding stock behind him. Cearo watched them head south and hoped wherever Aelfrid was taking them, it would be far enough away. The last time orcs had attacked, they'd made off with several of their best mares, all of which were pregnant. Thank Bema, most of the pregnant mares and the stallion were in the barn that night so while things would be tight due to fewer horses to sell in two years' time, they would still have horses to sell and trade. Since the last raid, they'd kept all the horses in the barn at night. None of the horses this year were black and Cearo wondered if the mares still would've been taken if they had black horses or if they'd have left the mares and only taken the blacks. Probably not. The idea of their horses being used by the Dark Lord sickened her. Poor creatures. His defeat wouldn't come soon enough.

The sound of clamorous male shouting brought her back to the present and she saw Rheda hurrying toward the tree with a fussing Wilone, Tellan jogging close behind her, his face paler than usual, though that could've just been a trick of the moonlight. Three months ago, when he'd been told to go with Cearo to hide, he'd whinged loudly about not being allowed to fight and being treated like a child. He continued to grumble when they were up in the tree, stopping only when he what his father and brothers were fighting with out in the pasture.

"Those are orcs?" Tellan had asked Cearo, voice shaking.

"Yes." She heard her own voice crack and squeak from fear.

"They're big."

"Yes."

"Why do they want our horses? Don't they have their own? Why don't they buy them or trade us something for them?"

"Because orcs are evil and their master is even more evil and they don't see anything wrong with taking what they want."

"I hope Pa and Grindan will be okay."

"So do I." Wilone had started whimpering again then so Cearo turned her attention to the little girl, her words meant to soothe herself as much as Wilone.

Now they were back again for more horses and this time, Tellan hadn't said a word as he hoisted Wilone up to Cearo and allowed himself to be boosted up to the lowest limb and currently on the branch above her, humming softly.

'Sweet Bema,' she thought to herself as she held Wilone close, 'let this be over soon'. At least this time, though they'd had warning the orcs were coming and had the chance to gather up the horses which were out to pasture and take them elsewhere.

Grindan, riding bareback on a chestnut mare, was about to lead the remaining horses out of the pasture when the leader of the orcs, now close enough their stench on the breeze was gagging, let out a roar and veered in Grindan's direction. Cearo grabbed Wilone tighter and began praying to Bema and Eru under her breath. 'Ride fast,' she silently implored her brother. 'Be safe.'

It was over quickly. Grindan had enough of a lead on the orcs he and the horses were able to get away. Cearo was surprised he hadn't fallen off the chestnut with as fast as the terrified animal had been galloping. Algar, Helm, Brego, and Kenric gave chase to the orcs and managed to kill a few without sustaining any serious injury. Through it all, Tellan continued to hum the same tune over and over, his feet swinging rhythmically to the beat, and Wilone kept her face buried in Cearo's chest, whimpering about something which might have been how scary the orcs were but it was hard to make out her muffled words. Where Rheda had gone, Cearo didn't know, but when the men had managed to drive off what orcs were still able to run, Rheda reappeared and assisted them with moving the carcases of the two they'd slain before coming over to the tree for Wilone.

"Are you all okay?" she asked as Cearo lowered Wilone into her upstretched arms.

"Shaken but fine." Cearo would've smiled but with the danger past, she was feeling as if someone had pulled a plug at the bottom of her energy supply and drained it dry. "I'm glad it was over quickly and the horses are safe."

"We all are," Rheda said with emotion. "I'm worried about Aelfrid, though. With orcs raiding tonight…."

"He's fine," Cearo said. "He's the one who shouted the warning and he took all the horses from the barn somewhere to the south."

"Bema be thanked," Rheda said, leaning against the tree. "I was so worried about him." Pause. "I hope he comes back soon. Eru only knows if he'll run into orcs coming back."

"If he took the horses where I think he did, he's not far away and the orcs are going to have to run for awhile before they find another farm to raid so they won't be around here. Go inside and go back to sleep."

"We all need to." She adjusted Wilone in her arms. "We'll talk about why you were in the tree and what you heard tomorrow." She looked up at Cearo for a long moment, then turned and started back to the house.

A dark shape appeared next to Cearo on the branch. "You heard what her and Pa were yelling about?" Tellan asked, punctuating his question with a yawn.

"Yes. Move. I need to get down." In the excitement, she'd forgotten about all of that but now it was rushing back and all she wanted to do was get on her horse and ride far away. Too bad Aelfrid had taken Cwen with him or she probably would have, orcs in the area be hanged. Ma was right. Tomorrow, they'd talk about what she'd heard.