This chapter brought to you by my niece, my niece's birthday, my nephew and Coldplay.

Please press the little button that has the words "submit review" somewhere near it and write me a message! Flames will be used to light a fire for Andreya to toast her toes near.

Disclaimer: you know how it goes.

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Chapter 5

The pounding on the door to her room jerked Acacia awake. From the sound of the pounding, it was Kero, no doubt trying to rouse her out of bed for an early morning workout. Acacia, however, had no intention of getting up this morning, especially after dealing with the assassin and the late night conversation with Derrick. She had only gotten to bed a candlemark or two before. Knowing Kero would take the hint when she didn't answer, Acacia rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head. Movement on the other side of the room indicated Andreya was disturbed by the pounding, but the movement quickly stopped. A peek out from under the pillow showed Andreya had done the same as her and gone back to sleep. Kero, it seemed, was not going to take a hint.

"Open the door!" Acacia bellowed it out from under the pillow.

There was fumbling at the doorknob, then a child's voice bellowed back, "I can't!"

"Sariah?"

Andreya grumbled on her side of the room, rolled onto her stomach, and used both hands to anchor the pillow over her ears.

"Yes."

"Sariah, go away. I just got home and I'm trying to sleep."

With the thud of a small body hitting it, the door finally opened and Sariah wandered in, impossibly bright-eyed for having woken up at dawn. Andreya, now happily sprawled out and one hand hanging limply over the side of the narrow bed, did not even twitch when Sariah wandered in and climbed up on Acacia's bed to sit on Acacia's back. From the sounds of the rest of the household coming in from the open door, everyone else was still asleep. A glance out the window told her the sun was only just now beginning to clear the horizon. Sariah bounced on Acacia's back.

"Hey, Acacia?"

"What?" Her voice was muffled from the pillow.

"Guess what?"

"You're going to go away and let me sleep?"

"Nope. Guess again."

"What?"

"Guess!"

Acacia slapped the pillow aside and turned her head to glower at Sariah. "What?"

The glower did not faze her. She smiled. "It's my birthday."

"Happy birthday, now go away." Realizing her pillow had fallen to the floor, Acacia made do with pushing her face into the sheets and fiercely closing her eyes.

Sariah made no move to leave. "Hey, Acacia?"

"What?" It was more of a moan.

"Who's that?"

"Andreya."

"That's Andreya?"

"Yes."

"The lady with the black hair is Andreya?"

"Is there any other lady with black hair in this room?"

"Are there lots of ladies with black hair?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"No. Let me sleep!"

There was silence for a moment, and Acacia felt herself start to drift back off, in spite of the squirming weight on her back.

"Acacia?"

She sighed. "What."

"Is she going to sleep forever?"

Andreya abruptly raised her head from under her pillow. "I'm not sleeping at all right now, thanks to you. Go away before I make you disappear!"

Sariah froze, then screamed and scrambled off Acacia, running straight for Kero and Eldan's room.

"Auntie Kero!"

Acacia swore as she heard sudden movement across the common the room and Kero's door jerking open. She pressed her face back into the sheets.

"Thanks a lot, Andy. You just earned me a week of chopping wood. I hate chopping wood."

Andreya rolled back over as Kero stormed across the room, placing the pillow lightly over her face. "I'll do it for you. Just let me sleep." Her voice trailed off at the end.

"What is going on?" Kero stood in the doorway, hands on hips, clad in her nightshirt and the hilt of her sword tucked into one hand.

Acacia rolled onto her back and propped herself up on an elbow, rubbing her face and shoving hair out of the way.

"Sariah woke us up and wouldn't leave us alone."

"So you threatened to 'make her disappear'?"

"That was me." Andreya waved a hand, her face still covered by the pillow.

Kero turned and pointed at Sariah. "You, leave your sister alone. You know you aren't allowed in her room." The finger turned to Andreya. "You, never threaten my children again or I will make your life a misery." Andreya made a gesture of acceptance. The finger moved to Acacia. "You, one week of chopping wood."

"But…"

"No use arguing. You are responsible for your guest. Wood, one week." Acacia sank back against the bed, groaning. Sariah smirked from where she stood next to Kero. Kero turned back to Sariah. "Since you are up and about so early, you can help Acacia chop wood."

As Sariah's mouth dropped open, Acacia sat bolt upright. "Wait, right now?"

Kero cocked an eyebrow. "We do need wood to warm this place, don't we?"

"But I just got home!"

"Not my problem. Go. Now."

Growling, Acacia dragged herself from bed and reached for the nearest shirt. Sariah's gasp froze her hand. Acacia had been so tired last night, Or was that this morning?, that she had just pulled off the dress, laid it over the back of a chair, and crawled into bed bare. She had completely forgotten that she now shared her quarters with someone other than Andreya. Her body was now bare to the women in the room with her. Kero and Andreya had seen it all before, but Sariah had never been exposed to what war did to a person. Acacia's body was liberally creased with scars, but her back was the worst. It was ridged in scars that had silvered over the years. Those had been courtesy of being a prisoner of war. It had happened the first year Acacia fought with the Hunters. She had been fresh from the Bolts and cocky after training with one of the best Companies in the Guild. She had gone to sleep one night and woken up a captive. The next weeks were a nightmare that occasionally haunted her even now, a full two years later. Ethan, the Captain of the Hunters, had not had the resources to rescue her and the other scouts in her group that had also been captured. They were deep inside the Keep that the Company had surrounded. The other Captains that had been hired had not been willing to join forces to rescue five mercs that had been too stupid to sleep with one eye open, even in camp.

In desperation, he had gotten a message to Kero through the Guild, knowing she would bring the Bolts. The actual message did not reach New Bolthaven until after they had returned from rescuing Acacia. The message runner had been intercepted by Ianthe, who had been on Circuit at the border. Her partner had used Mindspeech to relay the message to a Herald farther north, who had written the message down and used his Fetching Gift to transport it to the next Herald down the line and so on until it reached Kero. The muster call had gone out and the entire force of Bolts had poured out of New Bolthaven, leaving behind only a skeleton guard to hold the border. The Bolts had been accompanied by the rest of Acacia's sisters, and, of course, Kero.

Within a day of the Bolts' arrival, the siege had broken. The Bolts' specialists had started the process of weakening the morale of the soldiers inside the keep by merely starting campfires and roasting fresh meat, just outside of arrow range. Under cover of the general carousing that was keeping the soldier's attentions, other specialists had scaled the walls and generally caused havoc within the walled town. The soldiers in the Keep had surrendered after Dami simply walked to the gates, arrows bouncing harmlessly off her, pulled off her armored gauntlets and flicked her fingers. The portcullis had simply fallen apart. That, as Dami liked to say, was just the warm-up. Instead of bouncing off her, all of the arrows that were fired after that simply froze in mid-flight, hanging in the air while Ianthe, brilliant in her Whites, stalked up next to her sister. The arrows had burst into flames and were incinerated in an instant. Aiko had stepped up, looking particularly wild in her armor that had come straight from Kata'shin'a'in, ready to wield her Gift, but had never gotten the chance because the soldiers were busy throwing their weapons down.

Acacia had spent the rest of the season in Haven, recovering. She and the other lone survivor had needed more care than the Hunters' healers could give. The Bolts had hauled them to Haven, where they had spent weeks at Healer's. The other scout had left as soon as he was Healed and returned to the winter quarters, but Acacia had stayed in Haven until the next campaign season, when she had returned to the Hunters.

Now Sariah stood in her doorway, mouth hanging open in shock.

"What happened to your back?"

Kero put a hand on Sariah's shoulder and answered for Acacia, who was hastily pulling the shirt over her head. "A very bad person whipped her."

"What happened to the person?"

"Now that I think about, I don't think that person lived very long after he whipped her." Kero had made sure of that.

Acacia turned to Andreya, who was hauling herself out of bed and looking for clean clothes in the saddlebags that had been put next to the bed. Kero turned her attention to Andreya as well.

"How are you feeling?"

Andreya looked up at Kero and squinted. Daylight had never been Andreya's element and she tried to not be awake when the sun was up. "Better. Thank you."

Kero shrugged. "You can pay me back. I told the Captain you were up here to teach Trainees. As there are people up here who would love to hire your services for reasons other than training," Kero did not even flick a glance at Acacia, but she felt the scrutiny anyway, "we need to keep track of your whereabouts at all times. That way, if someone does mysteriously die, we can prove you didn't do it."

Andreya nodded. She did not like it, and she knew Kero was not implying that she would use her talents while in Haven, but she would be the top of any suspect list should someone die by foul means. "How do you plan to do that?"

"You'll be conducting classes. When not teaching, you will be accompanied everywhere you go outside the cottage by Acacia or one of her sisters, or by any Herald. If you want to go somewhere, there is always someone who wants to get out of the Palace and would be willing to go with you. Heralds are unbeatable alibis."

Andreya thought about it, then nodded. "Very well."

Acacia was aghast. "I can't believe this! Auntie Kero, she won't go around killing people. I can vouch for her!"

Andreya raised a hand. "This is the life of an assassin in a city. It's why I usually stay with the Company. Your aunt isn't accusing me, she's protecting me. The Guard knows who I am and where I am. If it weren't for this, my life here would be miserable."

"I don't have to like it."

Kero snorted. "You don't have to like anything. You just have to deal with it. Go chop wood."

By now, Acacia was fully dressed and Andreya was picking the lock on the wardrobe so she could get her favorite axe out. "Come on." She grabbed Sariah's arm on her way past Kero and dragged the little girl with her. Andreya followed behind, carefully sliding her hands into thin gotten gloves, then finely made leather gloves. Andreya had several sets, as she went through both the cotton gloves and leather gloves quickly, wearing them out on the hilts of various weapons. Andreya had many personae that she could assume in a minimal amount of time. One of those personae was a fine lady. A fine lady did not have calloused fingers or a tanned complexion, so Andreya took care with hers. Whenever she needed to be tanned, she dyed her skin. The shaft of her favorite ax was tucked underneath her arm and she gripped it properly once her gloves were on.

"Practice or chopping?"

"A bit of both."

"When you practice, you need to go to the salle. Today's a rest day, so Auntie Kero will have to let you in, or I can let you in later. Rules of the salle are only non-edged weapons can be practiced with the door unlocked. Padding is optional depending on your skill level. Littles have to wear it, but advanced people can opt out. If practicing with edged weapons, there always has to be someone nearby, armor must be worn and the door must be locked."

Andreya raised an eyebrow at the rules. "Why so strict?"

Acacia smiled. "I keep forgetting you're not from around here." She pointed to the Palace complex. "There's the Palace, with all the Personages that implies. That's the Heraldic Collegium, where the baby Heralds live. That's Healer's Collegium, where the baby Healers are and there is Bardic Collegium where the baby Bards are. Notice, that's a lot of babies. That's why we're so strict." They stopped in the clearing in front of the cottage, where a Companion foal had stopped to graze. The little one had obviously gotten away from its mother and somehow gotten out of Companion's Field.

"Well." Andreya stopped, regarding the foal. "Some Lord or Lady is going to be angry their prized foal got out of the stables."

Sariah rolled her eyes. "It's not a horse."

Andreya raised her eyebrows at Acacia, who shrugged. "He's not."

The foal raised his head from grazing and trotted over, gently butting Sariah with his nose and then coming over to Acacia for a scratch.

"He certainly looks like a horse."

"He's a Companion," Acacia explained. "They're people that happen to have four legs."

"Is this a Shin'a'in thing?"

"Hardly." Acacia turned back to the young Companion. Cupping his muzzle in her hands, she gently raised his nose so she could look him in the eyes. "Where's your mama?"

He snorted at her and nodded his head in the direction of Companion's Field.

"Does she know you're out here?"

His tried to look innocent and adorable.

"That doesn't work on me."

He looked contrite.

"Come on, let's go find her."

They were walking along the fence to Companion's Field, heading for one of the gates, when Ianthe came trotting up on the bare back of her Companion, Merlyn.

"There you are, Aryn! We've been looking all over for you!"

Merlyn nosed at Aryn, making the foal turn and checking for any signs of damage. Satisfied he was not hurt, Merlyn met the foal's eyes. After a minute, the fool drooped, looking appropriately chastised.

"What you are doing up?" Ianthe's words drew Acacia's attention. "I know you and Derrick got back to the palace rather early last night, but you didn't leave his room until this morning."

"How do you know that?"

"Please." Ianthe waved a hand. "Whose foal do you think this is?"

"Merlyn's."

"He's the father. Who's the mother?"

Acacia shrugged. "I don't keep abreast of which Companions Merlyn frolics with. He gets around."

Merlyn nipped at her in retaliation, which Acacia dodged easily, laughing.

Ianthe rolled her eyes. "Aryn is the son of Ilayna, Derrick's Companion. Merlyn was watching Aryn last night so Ilayna could go into town with Derrick. She told Merlyn that Derrick told you everything and you guys were plotting late into the night. What are you two up to?"

"Nothing that will get him Repudiated."

"Really? You talked him out of it?"

"I offered him a compromise. Does every Herald know his business?"

"Every Herald knows every other Herald's business. That's the joy of living in a Gifted community. We've been worrying about Derrick for awhile now. He's getting close, we all know it. What's the compromise?"

"I need to talk to Andreya about it, first."

"Oh." Ianthe looked disappointed at not finding out what the compromise was, then realization struck. "Oh."

Andreya turned a neutral look on Acacia. "I'm guessing you might have a job for me?"

"Wait," Ianthe said. "We can't do this without evidence and an order from Selenay. Otherwise, it's murder."

"Do you really think Auntie Kero had evidence when she sicced the last assassin on that guy?"

"Auntie Kero can cover her tracks and probably had an unofficial order from Selenay. You don't."

"I need to talk to Andreya about this before anything can happen. Let's not borrow trouble."

"I can solve all of this for you." They turned to Andreya, who had corralled a very interested Sariah by grabbing hold of one braid. "It's not going to happen."

"I haven't even told you-"

"After that discussion your aunt had with me? It's not going to happen. This is my chance to have a quiet winter. I'm not going to ruin it by angering one of the most powerful mercenaries in the Guild, not to mention the little matter of being brought up on charges."

"No one has ever traced anything to you."

"And I'm under watch not only by the Palace and City Guards, but by your aunt. I could slip out without them noticing, but I'm sure they would notice that I was gone the amount of time necessary to do a job. No. If it becomes a sanctioned hit, I'll do it. I might even do it for free. But not until it becomes sanctioned."

Ianthe turned level eyes on Andreya, not missing the broad axe. "She hasn't told you who it is and you're willing to do it?"

"I trust Acacia."

"Well." She turned back to Acacia. "We don't have to worry about anyone targeting you anymore."

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That afternoon found Acacia and Andreya at the market, looking for a present for Sariah. Kero had not said they would be celebrating tonight, but it was tradition for a special dinner and presents the evening of birthdays. Acacia, Caia, Ianthe, Damini and Aiko had a special day of their own coming up. Soon it would be the anniversary of their coming to live with Kero. They always had dinner as a family on that night and told stories. Friends of the family also usually dropped by and the occasion inevitably turned into a party.

Acacia held up a toy Companion. "Do you think she would like this?"

Andreya looked up from the stiletto she was examining at the next vendor over, then looked back to the stiletto. "She already has one."

"How do you know?"

"Aside from the fact that she lives within feet of real Companions and her foster parents are Heralds?"

"Oh. Yeah. I have no idea what to get her. I've only known her for three days."

Andreya put the stiletto down and joined Acacia at the toy vendor's booth. "Nothing here." She pointed at a craftsman's booth that featured ribbons and fabric. "There."

"Really?"

"It's that or a book."

"Can't afford those."

"Then ribbons it is."

A few minutes later, Andreya had helped her pick out several embroidered silk ribbons. After Acacia had paid for them and they were being wrapped by the old woman running the stall, Andreya turned to Acacia. "So, who's this Derrick and what is his story?"

"He's a Herald." The old woman's ears seemed to perk up at the prospect of overhearing Heraldic gossip. "It's not my story to tell."

"Is he good in bed?"

"Andreya!"

"Your sister said you were in his room all night."

"Talking. We were talking."

"So that's what they're calling it up here."

"I've only known him for two days."

"That didn't stop you with what's-his-name…Jonathan. Or Eryc. Or Ethan, for that matter."

"I did not know he was my Captain at the time. We were both surprised the next morning when he asked me why I was in town."

Andreya paused. "Was he any good in bed?"

"Andreya! The man is dead! Have some respect!"

"Ah, Andreya. I am pleased to see you on your feet."

Both women turned, hands on sword hilts, to find Captain Jeremy Munchous standing behind them. He was out of uniform, clad only in a clean white shirt, brown breaches and a dark woolen sweater, with a thick cloak swirling around him. Andreya gave him a slight nod and a chill look.

"Captain. What brings you out here on this cold afternoon?" Even as Andreya asked, a snowflake settled on the shoulder of his cloak.