A/N: I do not condone drinking, but I used it here for amusement purposes. I'm not so sure about how much I like this chapter, but I needed it to set up relationships between characters. On a personal update, I have finally graduated! I am currently looking for a job and helping my sister care for her little ones, so I should have the odd moment or two to actually write. Look for updates in both "Inner Strength" and "Made For It" in the next few weeks!

If you have not done so, please read "Mercenaries Don't Die". This story is the sequel to "Mercs", so the back story for the sisters is all there.

Thanks for the great reviews! You guys keep me writing!

Oh, and, meet Andreya (an-DRAY-ah).

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Chapter 3

"I think we're out of wine, ladies."

Ianthe raised the empty earthenware pitcher over her head and peered balefully into it while Dami hiccupped delicately. Acacia waved a hand negligently from where she lay on the floor of Aiko's common room, her head pillowed on Caia's lap.

"So get another one," she said, taking care to properly enunciate her words.

"No, we're out."

"You said that."

"We have no more wine, in the room. Aiko is a light weight."

Caia snickered. "Considering we are all quite toasty off what she did have in here…"

"Well. Someone has to go for more." Acacia eyeballed Ianthe, who appeared the most sober of the bunch. "You go, Te. We'll wait here."

Ianthe smiled benignly. "I don't think so."

Acacia mocked growled and glared fiercely. "Are you disobeying me?"

"Yup."

"Well… fine. I'll go get it myself. But if I fall and break my neck, it's your fault."

"Uh-huh." Ianthe sighed and settled back in her pile of pillows and blankets.

"Fine." Acacia struggled upright and finally made it to her feet with the help of Caia, who pushed from her seated position. After wavering for a few moments, she found what was left of her balance, snorting in laughter all the while. Aiko reached out a lazy arm from where she was draped over her armchair, stationed at the end of a low table. A fire blazed merrily in the hearth in front of the table, built before any of them started drinking. Damini had taken over the entire padded bench that was behind the table, leaving the rest of them to fend for themselves on the floor. As Acacia dragged her wandering attention back to her mission, she realized Aiko had opened the thick plank door for her.

"Thank ye, Aiko, m' dear."

"Move quick."

The trip down to the kitchens to retrieve two more jugs of wine passed relatively uneventfully. However, on the way back up, Acacia realized she had left a slipper behind somewhere. Singing merrily, she turned back around to locate the errant piece of foot gear.

"OOOOOOOOOH, thank the gods for my forearm/ for if -hic- my hand were attached to my elbow/ I could not drink any –hic- wine!"

"Looking for this?"

"Huh?"

Acacia turned from her bleary perusal of the floor a bit too quickly and almost fell over before a pair of strong, white-clad arms darted out and caught her. Some of the wine sloshed from one of the pitchers to hit the floor. Acacia hardly noticed. She was once again distracted, this time by a pair of the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen.

"Well, aren't you handsome?"

"Well, aren't you drunk?"

"Awwww, we're in agreement! Always thought that was important in a relationship."

"Do we have a relationship?" Humor sparkled in his devastatingly grey eyes.

Acacia nodded forcefully. "Yep. Sure do."

"And that is?"

"Is what?"

He grinned and all wine-sodden thought processes stopped for Acacia. "Yum."

He snorted in laughter. "You are truly random."

"Mm? Whassat?" Her wandering gaze was finally free to wander from his amazing grin and beautiful eyes to track up his lean features to shoulder length black hair. She was acutely aware of his strong arms keeping her upright and the fact that her legs, which were no longer supporting her, were tangled with his. She sighed.

"I'm taking you home with me."

He arched an amused eyebrow. "You are?"

"Yep." She rocked her head in the general direction of Aiko's rooms. "That way."

"As you wish, my lady."

Acacia snickered as he turned and began helping her down the hallway.

"I'm not a lady."

"You're not?"

"Nope. I'm a merc. Ain't no room in a mercenary company for petticoats, my auntie always said."

"Really? Which door?"

"The wooden one."

"They're all wooden."

"Hey, how about that?"

Derrick stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned her to face him.

"I need you to concentrate for me."

"Oh, I'm concentrating, all right."

One dark eyebrow winged up. "For me, not on me."

Acacia giggled. "You're no fun."

"On the contrary. However, I think you were on a mission…"

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. CAIA!"

"What!"

Acacia gestured in the direction of the shout. "That door."

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Andreya was having a bad day.

The snow was coming down, big wet flakes that stuck to her and her horse's mane. While her black leathers and armor were great for intimidating opponents and helped greatly in her specialty, it did not do much to protect her from snow. It was not as if she were in snow that often. I hope I do not regret this decision, she mused as her horse plodded on. Horse, as he was known, had a personality as dry as his rider and generally took everything in stride, including a snowstorm in Valdemar. He was a large horse, with hooves about the size of her head and enough bulk to intimidate most warhorses. He did have one weakness, however. Horse loved children. Andreya suspected it was the sweets the children inevitably slipped to him as much as the children themselves. It was one of the reasons she had decided to bring them here, far from the warmer climes of where she normally wintered.

Simply put, Andreya was lonely. With their Company devastated as it was, she was finding herself short on company. Not that many people would want to share company with the likes of me, she thought, disgruntled. Horse, as if sensing her thoughts, nipped her shoulder.

"What? I'm not riding you, that's the best I can do until we find a ferrier."

Horse had stumbled in a rabbit hole earlier in the day, and in an effort to avoid further injury, she had been walking beside him down the road. He stared at her balefully for a moment, then snorted at her and picked up the pace, nearly trampling her feet in the process. The reins slipped from her hand to trail behind him in the snow as he trotted forward.

"If you don't slow down, you're just going to hurt yourself more."

Horse slowed back to a walk, allowing her to catch up with him at a trot. He glared at her once more and continued onward.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not much company for you, but it's not like I tie you up at night. You could leave whenever you want to you."

Horse stopped and looked at her as if to say, "You wouldn't survive a day without me, you lug," and started forward again.

"Probably right," she muttered, following Horse. After all, here she was, accepting an invitation that was probably just a charity invite to a person who had no other place to go. That would be just like, Acacia. The girl was too nice for her own good. After all, who wanted an assassin in her home? Especially a bored one…

Stop that, she scolded herself. Enough self-pity.

When Acacia's family became uncomfortable with an assassin in the house, then she would leave and find an inn. After all, it was not as if Haven were a small town. Entertainment could be had, or even the odd job or two.

It won't be that bad.

Andreya continued her pep talk in an effort to convince herself Acacia's family would not run screaming from her. Horse, apparently resigning himself to a grumpy companion, grumbled to himself as he plodded along, then stopped abruptly.

"What?"

Horse glared at her and tapped his right front hoof on the snow covered road, his signal for danger. Almost as if cued, four large men emerged from the swirling snow. One leered at her and grabbed at his crotch as the other three chuckled in a way she thought was supposed to be intimidating.

"Well, lookit here. Aren't you a pretty little thing. And traveling all by yerself."

"By the gods." Andreya raised her eyes to the slate covered sky. "Are you punishing me for not worshipping?"

"The gods aren't goin' to help ye much, little lady."

Andreya rolled her eyes. "I am taller than you are."

"Huh?"

"I am taller than you. This makes me wonder just how it is that you consider me little."

Crotch-grabber ooohed. "Looks like we got us a feisty one."

One of the men, and not the brightest one, from the looks of it, giggled. "I like them feisty, Chief."

Chief?

"You know what? Seeing as how I was already having a bad day, I'm going to try to make my day a bit easier by not having to get the blood out of my leathers. If you turn and leave now, I will promise not to hurt you as you run away."

"You seem to think you're a man, lovey. I think we need ta teach ye a lesson."

"Not that you could teach a lesson to Horse here, but…" Andreya shrugged and removed her cloak, carefully draping it over Horse's saddle. The four men charged, fully intending to overwhelm her with numbers while her back was turned. They abruptly slid to a stop when she drew a pair of matched swords from the sheaths that had been draped over the saddle horn. Their eyes widened as she swung them expertly, gently warming up her muscles to prevent injury.

"You were attempting something?"

---------------

"Oh…head…"

Acacia bent back over the fence in the rear of Companions Field and tried to vomit quietly while several young Companions snickered at her. After spitting out the taste as best she could, she turned to glare at the younglings.

"This is a lesson for all of you. Everything in moderation."

"I don't think they care at the moment."

The voice was familiar, but her brain was still sloshing around inside her skull.

"Please, have mercy. Talk quietly. Better yet, no talking."

She turned to look at the owner of the voice, eyes squinting against the sunlight. He was certainly a handsome man. His face was finely chiseled, framing grey eyes that could make her heart turn and dark hair that made her hands itch to run through it. His broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist and his entire body was encased in a set of worn white leathers. The grey eyes, combined with the white leathers, jogged her memory.

"Well. Hullo."

He smiled. "Ah. I see you remember me." His Companion loped over and settled her head over his shoulder from behind. "My name is Derrick. This is Ilayna."

Acacia grinned, embarrassed now. "Acacia shena Talesedrine."

His eyebrow rose again and his grinned widened. "The Acacia?"

"Is there any other one?"

"Apparently not."

"You know, I told you I was taking you home with me, last night. Come on." Acacia stepped up and looped her arm through his. "Home is this way."

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"Auntie Kero!"

"I'm right here. Don't yell." Kero popped her head out of the nursery. Caution slid into her eyes as she saw Acacia's guest. "Well. Herald Derrick."

Derrick nodded his head. "Herald-Captain."

Kero turned back to Acacia. "You know the rules of this house."

"Yes, Auntie."

"Good. See to them." Then her head disappeared back into the nursery just in time for Acacia to hear an awful crash, followed by Kero swearing and youthful giggles. Derrick turned a questioning glance to Acacia, who shrugged.

"Siblings. Not my problem." She grabbed Derrick by the hand and tugged him in the direction of her room.

"What were the rules?"

"Oh, you know. No dating me unless you can beat Auntie Kero in the salle; Uncle Eldan gets to turn every animal against you. The usual."

"Amazing."

"What?"

"You almost said that with a straight face."

Acacia grinned. "I try. Seriously-" She broke off as someone pounded on the door. Rex, barking as fiercely as he could, bolted from her room and dashed for the door, sliding on a rug but quickly regaining his foothold as he slammed into the door, shaking the windows in their frames.

"Rex! Down!"

Kero emerged from the nursery and opened the door as Acacia grabbed Rex and pulled him back. The messenger, a Guardsman that looked fresh from the farm, blanched at the site of Rex's large teeth and bristling fur. Kero cleared her throat and his eyes went back to her, then rounded again.

"Uh… Herald-Captain Kerowyn…ma'am…uh…"

"Spit it out."

"I have a message for Mercenary Acacia."

"What?" Acacia called from across the room, where she was penning Rex into her room.

"Uh…there is a prisoner being held at the South Gate claiming to know you."

"Who?"

"Apparently her name is Andreya. I'm sorry to trouble you, especially about a prisoner, but the Captain said…"

"Did you say Andreya?"

"Uh, yes ma'am."

"She came! Obviously she came! Why is she in prison?"

"She attacked four Guardsmen."

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The Captain of the Guard sat behind the processing desk, staring through the bars of the cell at the prisoner sitting on the floor, dozing against the wall. According to the law, she could not be harmed, but he had never wanted to hit someone more. Aside from her assault on four--four!--members of the Guard, she was the single most infuriating person he had ever met. The only information he could get out of her was her first name, Andreya, and a person to contact, Acacia. Beyond that, she had simply settled herself against the wall, glared a rat into submission, and dozed off.

Judging from the large pile of weapons that were confiscated, she was a person that could concern any Guardsmen. Judging from her Mercenary Guild tags and the way the Guild Representative had blanched then blurted out an errand he had to run, she was enough to give any poor Guard Captain heart failure. She was a fetching creature, though. Long and slim, she was too thin for his tastes, but probably just right for slipping through small windows in the middle of the night. Her armor had been confiscated, leaving her in a thin black shirt and leather breeches. A long mane of dark hair had been piled up on top of her head, and a few wisps escaped to frame a delicately chiseled face. She shivered a bit in her sleep, and Captain Jeremy Munchous had to remind himself she annoyed him to keep himself from finding her a blanket.

"Captain Munchous?"

Andreya roused herself at the sound of a strong feminine voice to the sight of a woman dressed entirely in white stepping in front of Munchous' desk. The twin swords crossed on her back were of high enough quality to make Andreya envious.

"I am Herald-Captain Kerowyn. You have a friend of my daughter's in your prison. I would like her released."

"Herald-Captain…" Andreya suppressed a grin as the Guard Captain rose to his feet and almost bowed in deference. "I'm afraid the prisoner cannot be released." She felt the urge to grin flit away. "She attacked four Guardsmen and severely injured all of them. In addition, the amount of weapons she tried to bring into the city is inexplicable. She could only be here in a professional capacity."

"She is here in a professional capacity."

Andreya blinked, as did the Guard Captain. "In that case, I cannot—"

"She is here to give the Trainees instruction in the darker arts. I will vouch for her."

"Very well, Herald-Captain. You understand that if she should do something while under your protection…"

"Have no worries, Captain. I am sure Andreya will refrain from using her craft except for teaching purposes within the walls of Haven."

Captain Munchous grabbed up a ring of keys and rounded his desk to unlock the door to her cell. Subtly bracing a hand against the wall, Andreya rose from her comfortable slump and hid a wince as the slash along her ribs pulled. I still can't believe I let that goat-licker get in a hit…

"My weapons?"

"They will be returned to you on your way out."

Andreya managed a stately nod. "Excellent. Herald-Captain."

"Andreya. You're late. I expected you four days ago." Andreya did not blink at the lie.

"The weather delayed me coming through the mountains." Kero's cool eyes assessed her. Now that Andreya realized just who had come to her rescue, she felt almost awed herself. Acacia, however, had told Andreya enough about Kerowyn that it was almost like she had lived in the household for years. "I trust Acacia made it home without mishap? And Aiko?"

They kept up the small talk as they meandered down the hallway and Andreya gathered her weapons. It was not until Horse had been collected and Andreya was riding double behind Kerowyn, once again to prevent further injury to Horse, that she allowed herself to slump. Kero's arm shot back and braced her.

"What happened?"

"I didn't know they were Guards. They looked like highway riffraff and tried to rob and rape me. I gave them a chance to run, they didn't take me up on it."

"How bad?"

"Slash along the ribs. Hasn't stopped bleeding."

"Will you make it back to the Palace?"

"Sure." Andreya slumped against Kero and the darkness washed over her.