This would be the big fat revamp number 7! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own the characters and plot line! That's all!

Muse responsible: Krathnae.

Dedicated to Midnight.Star cause I feel like it and she's reviewing all the chapters all nicely.

The pair of fifteen-year-olds sat in the wagon, not looking at each other. Kamaria was shell-shocked; lifebonds were rare enough, but to happen to her? Alain had his eyes closed, trying desperately to reach Ramya again and failing. He had no idea how long he'd been knocked out, though it probably hadn't been more than a few candlemarks; it was still dark.

But he also had no idea where they were or where they were headed. Kamaria had an inkling, but she wasn't sure…

The wagon jolted to a stop after a time, and someone flung open the back of the wagon. A burly man walked in and grabbed Kamaria by one arm, and Alain by the shoulder. Roughly, he shoved them out of the wagon, and-

"You didn't tell me there would be two," said a coldly smooth voice Kamaria had the misfortune to recognize. Alain looked up blankly, but Kamaria seemed to crumple in fear, until the guard was all that was holding her up.

"My lord, one of them's a Heraldic Trainee!" came another voice, this one anxious. Kamaria recognized the Frethatsa seneschal vaguely, but this didn't help matters. She hung limply in the guard's grip as the Earl came forward and grasped her chin.

"You're a quiet one," he remarked, turning her face back and forth in the dim pre-dawn that was now lighting the landscape, "I trust you'll be more vocal when we're married. Still, you're rather pretty as well, if a bit pale, and prettiness can make up for…other lacks."

Kamaria shuddered all over, her insides a cold ball of fear, and Alain broke out of the guard's grip upon seeing this-this-man­ treating his lifebonded as if she were a prize horse.

"Get him!" roared the Earl, as Alain launched himself with a snarl at the noble, kicking him first in the shin, then the stomach. He then grabbed at the Earl's sword, but got it only halfway from the sheath before three guards grabbed him and started beating him.

The Earl Frethatsa was doubled over, gasping for breath, as his retainers pummeled the Trainee. Kamaria returned to her senses and tried to break free of the one holding her, but he maintained the grip on her arm and laughed at her efforts. "Look, she's feisty enough when you threaten him-"

"Stop!" Kamaria shrieked, as she saw Alain curled on the ground, covering his head with his hands as the retainers kicked him. "Don't hurt him-leave him alone-" dimly she became aware there were tears streaming down her face.

"Halt," gasped the Earl, at last standing upright, "He's a Trainee, we'll have a hard enough time covering as it is-"

The Frethatsa seneschal came forward and said, "Put them in the southwest tower; it's just a study in there. They'll be secure enough."

The guard holding Kamaria frog-marched her towards a door she hadn't seen before, while another dragged Alain unceremoniously after. Kamaria was too absorbed in looking back, trying to see if Alain was all right, to note where or how far they went. Before she knew it, almost, first Kamaria, then her lifebonded were pitched into a room, which was then locked.

Kamaria staggered up from where she had sprawled on the floor and went to Alain's side, trying to see in the dim light. "Alain, are you-did they-"

Alain looked up at Kamaria and tried to smile. The effect was rather ruined by a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. "Just bruised, I think-" he panted, uncurling very slowly. "Don't think anything's bro-no, I broke a rib."

Kamaria slid an arm around his shoulders and helped him sit up, gingerly. Alain winced with every movement, and clutched at his side. "How do you know?" she asked, before realizing what a stupid question this was.

Alain gave a sardonic 'hah.' "Fell off a horse-when I was eight," he said, through gritted teeth, "Feels the same way, not much you can mistake for a broken rib."

Kamaria bit her lip and looked around the room for anything to make him more comfortable. There wasn't much, she judged by the slowly brightening light leaking in the window. It looked like this had once been a study, but had been left unused for quite some time. Kamaria stood and went to the desk, but there were no papers atop it and only a few pens and some mostly-dried up ink in the drawers she tried. The others were locked.

Other than the desk, there were a few chairs and an elderly tapestry, not to mention a vase on a little table of long-dead flowers, but nothing to use as a bandage or cushion. Kamaria went to the door and tried it, but predictably, it was locked.

She returned to Alain's side and said, "There isn't much in here, just a desk and a few chairs."

Alain's eyes remained closed from where he lay prone, but he sighed and said, "No benches? Ornamental bows and arrows on the walls?"

"No."

"Well, damn." Alain slowly hauled himself upright, wincing every time he moved. Kamaria bit her lip and helped him up.

"Help me to the window?" Alain gasped, as he clutched the side with his broken rib. Kamaria and Alain slowly hobbled over the stone floor to the window, which was crusted with grime.

"Have any idea where we are?" said Alain, leaning hard on the windowsill and breathing hard.

"Um…it could be one of the Frethatsa hunting lodges," Kamaria offered, trying to help him, trying to think. "I saw woods beyond the walls."

"Also the road here was dirt, which suggests you're right," replied Alain, and at Kamaria's surprised look smiled wryly. "I spent the first thirteen years of my life in wagons; believe me, you learn the different paving surfaces fast. Anyway, the dirt wasn't packed down all that well, though that doesn't mean much, since it could have rained or something. Also that means this place is remote, since if-as you say-it is a hunting lodge, they would want to be pretty deep in the wilderness to get more game, and the dirt road argues that there isn't a village around here."

Kamaria gaped at Alain's powers of deduction. Alain saw the incredulous look and a corner of his mouth twitched. "They teach you this in the Collegia," he said, "When you learn about roads, trails, and whether or not bandits are on it. Stuff like that. Can you open the window?"

Kamaria looked dubiously at the grimy glass, but tugged on the rusty lever and shoved it open, inch by inch.

The window was small, but could possibly accommodate a climber. It wasn't more than two stories above the ground, though two stories was also too far to jump. There weren't any guards, but on the other hand, there weren't any trails, which meant the pair probably wouldn't get far before being caught, if they somehow managed to escape.

Alain looked out of the window, squinting in the still-dim light, and smiled as he saw acres of forest. "What is it? Isn't forest bad news?" said Kamaria, looking at him.

"It is, unless you have Animal Mindspeech," said Alain, the smile turning into a grin, "Which I happen to have, and fairly strongly as well."

Kamaria wasn't much in the mood for this. "So you can talk to animals. So what?" she wanted to know, as she brushed some hair behind her ear and her fingers contacted the tender lump on her head.

"There were pens in that desk, right?" said Alain, "Try to find a paper."

"The bottom drawers were locked," said Kamaria, as she went back to the desk, "There might be papers, but I don't know why they would lock them up here-"

"So use a pen nib and pick the lock," said Alain, closing his eyes and leaning against the window frame, "And be quiet for a minute-birds are shy."

Kamaria took out the three pens and the bottle of ink, though the ink didn't slosh, and picked the pen with the longest nib. Kneeling by the desk, Kamaria picked a likely-looking drawer and gingerly inserted the pen.

Nothing happened when she pulled the handle, so Kamaria poked around inside the lock awkwardly. "Come on," she muttered to herself, twisting the nib this way and that, "Open, you stupid-"

There was a click, and Kamaria was able to open the drawer. Excitedly, she pulled it open and looked inside-

There wasn't any paper in it. Kamaria swore under her breath, took the pen from the lock, and went to the other side.

"Anything?" called Alain, in a low voice. Kamaria poked her head above the desk and saw the Trainee had a bird sitting on his finger, with a few more sitting on the windowsill.

"No paper," said Kamaria, in the same quiet tone, so she wouldn't scare the birds, "I'll try the other."

"Don't bother," said Alain, "I can see a birch tree."

Kamaria stood up, feeling slightly cross that Alain kept making cryptic utterances without explaining. "Which means…" she said, a bit more impatiently than normal.

"Birch bark can be used like paper," replied Alain, "I wish I could find a crow; they're smarter than sparrows and finches. Even a magpie."

Kamaria sighed again as Alain shut his eyes. I suppose I'll just have to wait.

And wait she did, for nearly half a candlemark, as the light slowly brightened. Alain managed to explain to the birds that he needed birch bark, but the pieces they brought back were all too small to write on. After a while, he gave an exasperated sigh and set the birds he had free. "I'll have to call all over again," he said in a faintly irritated tone, "The birds I got just didn't have large enough brains."

Kamaria came to the window and looked out. "You said a crow, right?" she asked, squinting.

"Yes, they're clever, though a bird of prey would be more willing to fly far enough to find a Herald-it's hard to keep a crow on the same course for longer than it wants to go, and they like their flocks."

Something occurred to Kamaria. "This is a hunting lodge-surely that means mews?" she said, a bit of hope rising.

Alain stared at her and smacked a palm to his forehead. "Of course! Give me a minute-"

A minute came and went, and Alain found the mews. "You were right," he said, in a detached voice as he considered the birds he found, looking through the eyes of a duck hawk. "Let's see-"

Alain found a red-tailed hawk whose mind was slightly 'deeper,' though that wasn't quite the right word, than the others, and he slid into her mind. Though he had been taking Gift-lessons for barely half a year, Alain could communicate surprisingly well with animals already, particularly the predators, in their strange thought-forms.

Delicately, he 'said,' :Fly/drop/free:

Alain Sensed the hawk absorb the information, that she would fly, drop something, then go free. He waited patiently as she pondered, though 'ponder' wasn't precisely the right word. From her mind, he had gathered the hawk was annoyed by humans, and hated the jesses around her ankles which caught and tangled on things.

Kamaria, meanwhile, watched as Alain communicated, a faint frown on his face. "Convincing her," he breathed, after a long moment, sensing Kamaria wondered what was going on.

Within a few minutes, the hawk 'agreed' to the terms, and allowed Alain to take momentary control of her body.

Though he liked talking to them well enough, and looking through their eyes worked very well, Alain hated what he called 'possessing' animal shapes. It always disoriented him, and made him feel rather nauseous after returning to his body. Still, when it was necessary, he could and did control an animal's body.

I am going to have one hell of a reaction-headache, he decided, as he assessed the situation. However, this tidbit of information was shoved aside when he saw how and where the jesses were tied-to a loop on the front of the perch.

Alain measured the distance with the redtail's eyes, then hopped off the perch to dangle upside-down. Instead of crying out in distress, however, he contorted the hawk's body up and managed to seize hold of the jesses with the beak.

A moment's furious sawing cut the leather, and Alain/the hawk fell with a thud to the floor. Immediately, he relinquished control of the body, though he continued to give directions, and the hawk took flight.

"Stand back," said Alain, in the study, and Kamaria backed away from the window.

The redtail landed barely thirty seconds later, and Alain opened his eyes to remove the jesses from her legs. Kamaria eyed the bird nervously. Though she had been hawking before, she'd always had the proper equipment, and besides, she usually flew a far smaller bird. After untying the jesses, Alain held out part of his tunic, which the hawk bit and tore.

"Pen and ink, please," said Alain, spreading the cloth in front of him on the ledge. Kamaria brought them, opening the ink and peering inside.

It was dry. She reported this to Alain, who held out his hand for the bottle, and when she handed it to him, spat in it.

Kamaria couldn't see what he wrote on the cloth, being too busy staring at the bird. The hawk regarded Kamaria regally, hardly moving from her spot. Alain finished the note and held it for the hawk to take in her beak.

He stared at it for a moment, and the hawk took off. "That's taken care of," he said, with a sigh, "She's to look for a Herald, and when she sees one, stoop and drop the fabric right on top of them. I warn you, I'm going to be fairly useless after this-I can already feel the reaction-headache coming on."

Alain shut his eyes and took hold of the sill. "And now, I think I would like to sit do-"

He never finished his sentence, because just then he collapsed.

Well, that was…slightly odd. Still, I like it better than the old version, because it's better-written! If very weird. Anyway, hope you liked!

Reviewer-thanking time!

Etcetera-cat: You were right. You get cookies AND pie cause you guessed. And, if I may point out, Kamaria is several dozen leagues NORTH of Haven, whereas the Companions are IN Haven. Yeah.

Midnight.Star: You get cookies and pie cause you guessed. Thank you for reviewing so nicely!

Faeborn2930: Thank you, thank you, and thank you! Have cookies!

I'm happy that people like this story! Thankees!

Fireblade K'Chona