Hello again! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers and apologies for the long wait—the plots got a little out-of-control and then my sister's wedding came up…This chapter takes place in the middle of summer, several months after the last chapter and a few weeks after Althea's birth. It contains creative materials belonging to Tamora Pierce and potentially toxic levels of fluff. Enjoy!

Dalton was pleased to see several familiar faces when he arrived to take command of the Spidren dispatching troop. He had only left his wife and infant daughter at the urgent request of the crown after the group's previous leader had broken his leg; he hoped to finish dealing with the Immortals and return home as quickly as possible, so he was glad to have competent friends among the knights and the Riders. But he found himself worrying about one of the faces he couldn't see.

He greeted Selena and asked her to summon the other knights to the main tent for a strategic meeting. Then he studied the group of Riders for a moment.

"Captain," he called with casual formality, "a word?"

Karyna tossed her reins to Jess, who waved cheekily, and followed him.

"Hey," he said when they'd passed out of earshot. "Where's Vina?"

"Visiting her parents. She might be a bit of a wreck when she gets home."

Dalton didn't bother disputing the notion that the palace was Vina's home or that Vina would be worse for the wear after any interaction with her father.

"And you and Penelope?" she asked. "How's the baby?"

"Althea's wonderful." Dalton felt a foolish grin stretching across his face. "She's just absolutely—" he shook his head and stopped the incipient gushing. "How was Rissa?"

Karyna tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think the dessert agrees with her. She's full of energy and the heat doesn't seem to bother her—she's outside all day. But I think the evenings are difficult for her. Or they were while we were there, at least. She was routinely out-drinking Vina—"

"Not all that impressive," Dalton muttered, "so would Penelope." Vina rarely drank more than a half-glass of ale and almost never touched brandy.

"And me," Karyna continued, "combined."

Dalton winced. The Rider was a good deal taller than both twins and she never seemed to get hangovers. He wouldn't want to try to outdrink her.

"Any word from Byrn?" he asked.

"Well." Karyna thought a moment. "She wouldn't talk about him, but they're still exchanging letters. She must know he's married by now, but…"

"Rissa has a knack for expressing all sorts of thoughts without revealing her deepest feelings," Dalton remarked.

"They both do," Karyna agreed. "But the desert does seem to be doing her some good."

Dalton nodded and tugged his thoughts back to the business at hand. "Before we go back," he said, "which of the knights—aside from Selena—are you most comfortable running guard duty with?"

She blinked. Knights didn't usually bother considering the personalities and needs of non-nobles under their command. Then again, Dalton, like many of the young knights who'd trained under Mindelan, had developed a bit of a reputation for innovative thinking.

"Keith," she said, leaving off the customary 'sir'.

"Your neighbor?" he asked. Keith lived just across from the room Vina had taken in the palace.

"One of the few I get along with now that he's gotten used to the idea of us." She grinned. "And we've discovered we have common interests in women and horses."

PDPDPD

"What are we going to do this afternoon?" Jarif asked as he and Kefira hurried away from their final (and dullest, since it was etiquette) class of the day.

Fira glanced reluctantly at her books, thinking of the immense essay she was expected to write for a teacher who thought that female pages should master all manner of knightly bows and handshakes and ladylike curtseys and fan flipping. Which made for roughly twice as much material to memorize.

"Instead of homework?" Jarif clarified.

"But—" Fira protested half-heartedly.

"You don't want to get too complacent and set in your routine," Jarif said. "Mother Mindelan"—he was the only one who got away with using this nickname in Fira's presence—"would not approve."

Fira smiled in agreement as they turned past a few old suits of armor that were out on display, quite possibly solely for the purpose of providing extra punishment duty for pages.

"Sorry," she said. "I just hate that class. Especially the actual bowing and scraping parts."

Jarif nodded. "Maybe if we had better models to practice on," he muttered. Then his eyes lit on the suits of armor.

Fira grinned widely as she caught his drift. "Let me run by my room. I've got a heap of outgrown dresses in my wardrobe."

PDPDPD

Penelope was gently pacing about the palace with her infant daughter in an apparently futile effort to lull her into sleep when she came upon two pages busily engaged in a redecorating effort.

"Well," she cooed to her daughter, "isn't this interesting? If I weren't off duty, I might feel obligated to report it to Mindelan, but, at the moment…" she smiled down at Althea and then studied the suits of armor again. "I think the one on the end would look fetching in blue."

Bandit sneezed in agreement and started down the hall again, leading her away.

PDPDPD

Shortly before suppertime, a troop of offended nobles (mostly middle-aged men and women) entered Kel's study to demand that she deal with the latest of her pages' misdeeds. She reluctantly abandoned the lesson-plan she was drawing up and followed them to the scene of the crime, where she had some difficulty maintaining a grave expression. Kel's amusement was only dampened by the fact that she knew immediately which pages were to blame for the "inappropriately attired" armor. She recognized the skirts.

The culprits, when she found them at the practice courts, were practicing cartwheels and handstands, passing time as they waited for the scolding they knew would eventually come. Kefira and Jarif brushed themselves off and came to stand before, hands tucked behind their backs and eyebrows raised.

"I presume you know what this is about," she said. "And that you know better than to offer excuses."

"Yes, lady knight." Jarif and Kefira spoke together, their voices respectful. It was difficult not to be proud of their calm solidarity. Actually, it was difficult not to appreciate their entire escapade, but it was her professional duty to keep them from realizing this.

Kel glanced around the courtyard and found that they had an audience. Wyldon was holding Althea and humming her to sleep, much to Penelope's relief and Neal's consternation.

"It must be some sort of necessary survival mechanism," Neal was saying, "the way they find gruff, curmudgeonly voices so soothing—it's a built in strategy for charming everyone in the room by falling asleep in the least expected set of arms."

"He's always had a certain way with young people," Kel pointed out.

Wyldon nodded sagely, brushed an insect from Althea's blanket, and watched to see what Kel would do next.

"We'll clean it up immediately," Jarif assured her.

"Are there to be any additional consequences?" Fira asked.

"You'll each spend three hours polishing armor and three hours mucking out stalls," Kel decided. "Separately, so you aren't using the time to plot further incidents. And for your cheek"—she pointed at her daughter—"you will owe Penelope and Dalton two hours of babysitting to be collected at any point before you earn your shield."

"Four hours babysitting," Kefira countered calmly, "three hours mucking out, and three hours assisting Jeck in the smithy."

"One hour mucking out and fours hours polishing armor," Kel countered. "And one hour assisting Jeck."

"But I'm better at mucking than polishing," Fira protested, ignoring Jarif's attempt to elbow her into silence. "How about four hours mucking out, three with Jeck, and one polishing? That's more time overall. And I'll do five hours babysitting"

"Deal," Kel muttered before she could stop herself.

Neal put a hand on Penelope's shoulder. "Save your hours up and you'll have a weeklong trip in a few years."

Penelope shook her head. "By my rough calculations, the extent of the damage they'd get up to would be somewhere between catastrophic and devastating."

"All the more reason to be away." Neal smiled and reached to ruffle Fira's hair as she passed. The girl ducked and grinned as she darted away from her mother and the possibility of further punishment.

Wyldon returned Penelope's daughter and walked towards Kel, who swallowed reflexively as though she were still a page herself.

"In my day," he informed her, "pages were not permitted to negotiate their own punishments."

Kel nodded.

"Upon reflection," he continued, "I'd like to add that you and Queenscove were not as difficult and creative as you believed yourselves to be." He glanced at Neal, who looked mildly offended. "You lacked a certain whimsical genius."

PDPDPD

"Karyna and Keith," Dalton called. "Are you good to stand guard again?"

Keith nodded, yawning, and Karyna shrugged tiredly. It had been a long week, but by now only a few very tenacious Spidren were left and they were all holed up in their den and likely to stay there until there were burned out.

They took up their usual positions outside the tent and resumed an old argument about where the best ale in Corus was served while the knights filed into the tent to circle around a map.

"Alright," Dalton said, pointing to the location they'd managed to pinpoint, "the only hard part here is that the den has six entrances so we'll have to spread out over a four mile area to cover all the tunnels."

"But this should finish the job," Sir Elrich said. "Assuming we really know about all the exits, we'll be smelling smoked Spidren soon."

Everyone sighed and Dalton cleared his throat to continue but then Selena, who'd been grey-faced and edgy throughout the morning, vomited neatly on the map before clapping a hand over her mouth and fleeing the tent.

"See," one man muttered, "women are too squeamish to be out doing—"

"You're too squeamish to handle a bit of sick, is more like it," said Elrich. He had four children at home and was already wiping up the mess. "I can finish here," he told Dalton, "if you want to track down…"

Dalton waved in thanks and hurried from the tent.

"That way." Karyna gestured, without waiting for him to ask. "Also, she isn't ill." She paused to let this sink in. "She was just sick."

Jess and a Rider whose name Dalton didn't know nodded. Keith looked utterly bewildered.

Dalton guessed that the Rider women would have good reason for their suspicions and he knew better than to disagree. He nodded and then started down the trail.

He found Selena hunched over in misery a few paces later and passed her his waterskin without comment. She rinsed her mouth out before speaking.

"Thanks," she said. "Sorry about—"

"How late are you?" he asked casually.

She blinked at him over the rejected remnants of her breakfast.

"I'm asking as an old friend," he assured her, "not as your superior officer."

"Three weeks. And that's how long I've been on this mission so it wasn't obvious until..." She took a cautious sip from the waterskin. "You know, most men would be squeamishly backing away and muttering offers to fetch a healer."

"We don't have a healer with us," Dalton said mildly. "And I believe you've met my wife, Penelope—rather forthright and definitely female—and my old squires, Rissa and Vina, and my former mentor, Lady Alanna."

"I suppose you aren't most men," she conceded.

"He doesn't spook easily," Karyna agreed, coming up to join them. "Candied ginger?" she offered, holding a small sack out to Selena.

Selena took a bit and nibbled very tentatively at it. "Does this really ease nausea?"

"Penelope swore by it," Dalton said, "but she's always loved ginger, so she might just have liked the excuse to eat it every morning."

Selena nodded and took another small nibble. Then she narrowed her eyes at Karyna.

"Why are you carrying it?"

"I wasn't," Karyna said. "I asked Jess to fetch some and then didn't watch to see which pack she stole it from. But lots of people use it for scratchy throats and sore muscles."

"That would explain a good deal," Dalton muttered, thinking of Penelope's almost infuriating ability to roll lightly out of bed the morning after an intense afternoon on the practice courts.

Selena snorted and took another bite. "So," she said, once the rock she sat on grew considerate enough to hold still, "what's the plan?"

"That's up to you," Dalton said. "We'll all be leaving soon. I'm not going to order you to go home immediately."

"And if I want to go now?" she asked.

Dalton shrugged. "I'll escort you then." It would be the perfect reason to return to his own family. "I'll just inform Elrich that you're…feeling unwell and have him keep Keith and Karyna as his seconds."

PDPDPD

The entire camp was resting quietly through the hottest hours of midday, though Rissa had been writing rather than sleeping. She paused and re-read the letter she'd written Byrn. It was all about the prank she'd helped her friend Basim pull on his twin, Basit, who now appeared to have spent the morning simultaneously courting three different girls and stealing goats from two different herds. Better yet, the goats belonged to the girls' brothers.

It made for a long letter and a good story. But there were a few details she hadn't included. Like the way Basim had gripped her shoulder in thanks as they parted ways. It hadn't been a particularly romantic gesture, but since most men in the desert respectfully avoided casual physical contact with her, it had definitely been… significant.

And she'd wanted to kiss his cheek, but worried that would ruin both their friendship and the fragile happiness she'd found from being basically on her own in the desert. For now, she'd sworn she was just going to wait and see what came of their companionship without rushing headlong into another romance.

But all she'd told Byrn about Basim was 'he's also a twin, and rather handsome'. This seemed like a fair exchange—or rather suppression—of information, since he hadn't mentioned his wife since telling her about his engagement. She'd also been wary of introducing Basim to Vina and glad that he'd been away during Vina's visit.

"Hey." Basim's voice sounded from a few feet outside her tent. "Want to come hunting?"

"Sure." Rissa hastily folded the letter and kissed it. "Coming." She checked her boots for scorpions and then shoved her feet in before hurrying out to join him.

PDPDPD

Dalton had forgotten to take intuition and appearances into account. Once he announced that he would be escorting Selena home because she felt 'unwell', the suspicion that the Rider women had left unspoken somehow spread through the camp in a swirl of rumor.

Elrich, who'd always treated Penelope politely and therefore gotten along with Dalton, scowled angrily when Dalton came to discuss the command with him.

"Is it yours?" he demanded.

Dalton blinked.

"Is she with child?" Elrich demanded. "And is it yours? Because that's where most of the money is right now." He gestured to a cluster of laughing knights. "You have a wife and child at home and you've been out…"

Dalton knew that interrupting with a protest would only make him look guilty so he let the man sputter to an outraged stop.

"If she has a baby," he said calmly. "I'm sure her husband will be a proud father." He moved to pick up his gear. "For the moment, I am merely escorting her back to the palace as she feels unfit for her current duties."

Elrich sighed loudly, as though partially conceding Dalton's point. "You're acting responsibly. You look either extremely chivalrous or very guilty."

"I see," Dalton said. "And why are we under observation?"

Elrich had the grace to look somewhat abashed by his lack of a ready answer so Dalton nodded politely at him and went to join Selena.

PDPDPD

"Anything I can do for you?" Dalton asked when they stopped to rest and water their horses.

"I'm fine," Selena said, speaking firmly even if she looked a little ragged. "Unless you can transform my horse into a magic carpet."

"Sorry." Dalton mustered a smile. "I wasn't paying attention when they taught that one."

Selena grinned weakly and they both lapsed into silence again.

"Want to talk about the rumors?" she asked finally.

"Not any more than I wanted to camp in the mud all week," he said. But that had been just as necessary.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I never meant for…"

"I know," he said. "I honestly didn't mind when it was just us—it was amusing even—but if our children are going to be dragged into—"

"Althea isn't," Selena assured him. "I haven't heard a single rumor suggesting that she isn't yours. And no one has accused Penelope of being unfaithful. I mean they used to talk about her and Neal before you were married and I sometimes hear claims that the two of you used a powerful love potion or that you sacrifice animals together under the full moon—"

Dalton snorted.

"But basically—and maybe it's because of the baby or maybe it's because nobody wants to risk the embarrassment of losing a duel to her—she's become untouchable."

Dalton nodded in grudging agreement.

"It's funny though," Selena continued, "I think your reputation is worse than your wife's. Or maybe some men would say it's better. I mean, you have seven or so steady mistresses."

Dalton winced.

"And I've had"—she paused to count on her fingers—"eight women—nobles and Riders—come up and ask if you're as good as you look."

"Eight?" Dalton repeated.

"Well, nine, if you count Karyna, but she was just repeating the question to see if Vina would actually be able to shove her ears inside her head."

"I'd like to," Dalton muttered. "How did you answer?"

"I usually told them they should let me know if they found it," she said. "But one time Penelope was with me and she just put her hand on her sword hilt and said that actually you were much better, but that she'd be forced to silence anyone who found it out." Selena grinned. "I think the poor girl almost wet herself."

"I hadn't realized I was such a commodity."

"I think that's part of your charm," Selena informed him.

"So if I started flirting with everyone there might be fewer rumors?" Dalton wondered.

Selena considered for a moment. "Possibly. But I'm afraid that's what most interests the gossipers—who we're attracted to and why." She shook her head and took a long swig of water. "I mean, Penelope's a young noblewoman who married a knight. That makes her fairly boring."

"From a distance, I suppose," Dalton conceded, though 'boring' was the last word he would choose to describe Penelope.

"You, on the other hand, married a lady knight, therefore, according to the law of social insinuation, you must be sleeping with all of us."

"Except Vina," Dalton muttered.

"That's because it's even more interesting to speculate about Karyna now that people have noticed her in the knights' wing." Selena dug out a bit of crystallized ginger and made a face before nibbling at it. "Plus there's always the possibility Vina will have an affair with Alanna or something."

Dalton winced. "That would end…bloodily."

"To put it mildly." Selena nodded. "Then there's me," she continued somewhat bitterly. "I married a common blacksmith, ergo I'm probably willing to sleep with almost anyone."

"They're all idiots," Dalton said. "After everything you've sacrificed to be with Jeck, they should—"

"I know." Selena popped a last piece of ginger in her mouth and tucked the sack away. "If I were ever to have an affair, it would be with you," she assured him cheerfully.

Dalton raised an eyebrow. "I suppose Jeck has nothing to worry about then. You must be pregnant," he added. "You're not usually this brutally candid."

She laughed, looking away. "I know." She shook her head. "But it seems too good to be true." She swallowed. "Jeck and—we've been trying all spring." She shrugged awkwardly. "I'd decided I was going away too often and that maybe Wyldon was right when he told me—"

"You discussed—um, procreation with Wyldon?" Dalton asked, half expecting the sky to turn purple or the ground to spew lightning.

"It was a highly hypothetical conversation," Selena admitted. "He's very capable of indirect hedging if you really unsettle him."

"I'll take your word for it," Dalton told her. Then his curiosity got the better of him. "What did he say?"

"Basically that if I wasn't ready to admit that I would have no real control over the timing then I probably shouldn't be considering children since they're like Stormwings interrupting an organized battleplan."

"In bad weather," Dalton added, "and when you're already low on arrows."

Selena shrugged. "So it just seems unbelievable right now."

"I'd trust in the undoubtedly bad timing of realizing it out here," Dalton told her. " 'Supreme inconvenience is almost as good as indisputable proof'—or so Neal says anyway."

"How am I going to tell Jeck?" she wondered.

"With words," Dalton informed her, "and preferably after making sure that he isn't standing beneath anything that might brain him if he jumps up in excitement."

PDPDPD

Jeck always woke early when Selena wasn't sleeping beside him. He scratched Shadow behind the ears and started down the stairs, thinking that he might get in a few hours work before breakfast. He very nearly collided with Sara as she stumbled up the stairs in a dressing gown.

"Huh—" he managed.

"Um." Sara blushed and glanced back at Jason's door. "Morning."

"Morning," Jeck returned as Jason emerged from his room and shot him a say-anything-and-you-won't-see-bacon-for-weeks look.

Jeck nodded at both of them and continued down the stairs. He didn't say anything until he'd secured ample quantities of porridge and bacon. Then he glanced over and saw that they were sharing a plate of toast.

"I should have known," he said.

"Selena said it would take you several weeks to notice," Sara informed him.

"It isn't really any of my business," he said, as though this explained his obliviousness. "But—" He shrugged, smiled, and reached for another slice of bacon.

Jason nodded at both of them and got up to tend the stove.

Sara glanced nervously at Jeck and then studied her tea.

"You're confusing garden variety early morning glowering with disapproval," he informed her. "But I want to discuss something with you."

Sara swallowed nervously. Jeck couldn't resist the temptation to let her squirm for a few more seconds.

"You've only been here about a year," he said, "but your work is top notch. You need practice to refine your skills—we all do—but I'm not sure that there's much more I could actually teach you as an apprentice."

"Oh."

"That said," he continued. "I'm not sure that Jason and I could manage all our work without you. More to the point, I'm not sure I could manage Jason without you. I mean, he puts on a tough and jovial act, but we both know he's a something of a sensitive artist underneath."

A lump of stale untoasted bread hit Jeck just above the ear.

"I heard that," Jason called from the kitchen.

"I meant it," Jeck called back.

"You're asking me to stay on after…" Sara said finally.

Jeck nodded and she grinned widely.

"If you want the upstairs room back," she offered, "I can move my things to—"

"No," he said, more quietly, so that Jason wouldn't hear.

She blinked warily.

"The room is in your contract," he explained hurriedly. "You have to keep the room or I'm breaking my word. You don't have to sleep in it—or Jason can—but should have a place to call your own, just in case."

"Oh," she said. "And you should find a new outlet for your overprotective streak." Then she mercifully changed the subject as Jason returned to the table. "What are we working on today?"

PDPDPD

When Jeck stopped by the stables to discuss an order of horse shoes, he was rather surprised (for the third or fourth time that day) to find Selena's horse already in her stall a day or so early and before Selena had come to greet him.

"Jeck!" Selena hurried towards him from the direction of the palace.

"You're back?" he murmured.

She nodded, smiling. "I thought it might be best if we came back early." She let one palm rest briefly against her belly.

"We?" He repeated, scanning her face urgently. He glanced uncertainly back at Dalton, who was following with one of her bags. She was relieved to see that just looked puzzled, not suspicious or jealous.

'Words' Dalton mouthed. Then he dropped her bag and darted for an unobtrusive corner.

Selena's vocabulary melted under Jeck's attentive gaze and she had to wait a moment for the words she wanted to return. And they still came out in an excited, overwhelmed scramble.

"I realized—I wanted to be sure. So I went to the infirmary first. But everything's alright, with the baby, I mean."

"You…oh."

She nodded hastily and leapt into the arms he stretched towards her.

"Well." He grinned helplessly, completely forgetting the matter of horseshoes, and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Maybe we'll renegotiate with Sara about that room."

PDPDPD

Two days later, Vina returned from her brief imprisonment—stay, she tried to correct herself mentally—at the Lanton estate. She found the note Karyna had left—she had gotten in that morning and was now at a Rider meeting, but she told Vina to 'go meet your adorable godsdaughter because I want her if you don't'—and plopped down on the floor beside her bags. She didn't even have the energy to get up and change clothes. But closing her eyes did no good; she still saw her mother flinch sympathetically as her father's words echoed across the table.

I should never have permitted this nonsense…If I'd known how your sister would disgrace herself…At least those scars on your arm scare aware the unsuitable suitors with the suitable…

Finally Vina scrambled to her feet and rummaged for the last of her clean clothes. If she sat still for too long, she'd start imagining what he'd say if—when, really, it was only a matter of time—he heard about Karyna or realized Rissa was still writing Byrn. She dropped her dirty clothes on the floor and almost slammed the door behind her as she started down the hall.

Penelope answered Vina's knock. She smiled dazedly over her baby—she was holding Althea with a tenderness that made Vina enviously aware of the fact that she could not expect to have children—and murmured Dalton's name.

He looked up from the cradle whose blankets he was rearranging. "Come in, Vina. There's someone you should meet."

"Here," Penelope murmured, passing Althea into Vina's arms. "Here's you godsmother."

Vina had not held a baby since Mindelan's twins had been infants. It seemed almost strange that there was only one of Althea and she could not imagine what she had done to earn Penelope's calm trust. (After all, Penelope had witnessed virtually all of her adolescent stupidity and clumsiness.) She shuffled quickly towards the sofa so that she could sit in safety with the baby.

Althea, for her part, blinked bemusedly up at Vina and made a cooing, burbling sound. Vina cooed reflexively back and forgot about how angry and exhausted she was.

"Go ahead and lean back," Penelope said as Dalton joined them on the sofa. "She'll probably fall asleep against your chest."

"So she can get a good rest and keep us up all night," Dalton muttered fondly.

Vina chuckled softly. Her father and her great aunt Angraine could say what they liked; she and Rissa had family enough at the palace.

PDPDPD

Vina sighed wearily as she passed Althea back to Penelope.

"You look tired," Dalton said. And he had a new appreciation for what tired looked like, since he'd been up for a few nights running with Althea's colic.

Vina nodded. "Next time I start planning to visit my parents without Rissa, please tie me up or sit on me until I think better of it."

"That bad?" Penelope adjusted Althea's blanket and settled back against the sofa.

"My father's still furious with Rissa for her various transgressions," Vina explained. "But he seemed to think scolding me would have an effect on her behavior."

"Your mother's always been supportive though," Penelope said, thinking of the midwinter meal Lady Lanton had deliberately had ruined so that the girls' father would be too busy chewing to criticize them.

"She still is," Vina said sadly. "Only she's too worried to talk about Rissa, which makes my lack of a love life the default topic of conversation. And I can't exactly tell her that she needn't worry because I'm already in love."

"Do you know she'd react badly?" Dalton asked.

"No." Vina shrugged. "But she'd have to deal with it when my father exploded."

"Maybe," Penelope began, "that's a reason to—"

"I'm not using Karyna to pick a fight with my father," Vina snapped. Then she sighed.

"That's sweet. But I wouldn't mind." Karyna slipped through the door and came to lean over the back of the sofa so that her long hair brushed Vina's cheek. "It's actually sort of tempting."

"Tempting fate," Vina muttered. But she smiled and turned her face up.

Karyna kissed her and then gripped her arms to nudge her upright. "Come on. We're being called out. Nasty crop of raiders in the hills."

Vina slumped disgustedly back against the sofa. "But I only just got back."

"I know, sweetheart." Karyna pressed her nose to Vina's cheek. "Me too."

Vina wanted to pull Karyna onto the sofa and stay there for a century. Or curl up in a ball and cry. Or possibly punch someone. She wasn't sure which.

Dalton caught her eye and tapped his nose—an old signal for reminding her to breathe. She did so and felt a bit better for it.

"And Selena won't be going on this one." Penelope managed to pass them a handful of ginger biscuits without disturbing Althea's sleep. Vina had to smile as she took a few and stood up.

"Why not?"

"She's pregnant."

"But you just had a baby," Vina protested.

"There isn't a line," Penelope informed her. "Or there'd be fewer impatient people."

"Oh," Vina said. "Right." She blinked and tapped her temple. "Good for her." She glanced at Karyna to be sure she could get details on the way.

"Who's leading you?" Dalton asked, leaning forward slightly as though he were about to stand up.

"Sir Locksley," Karyna answered through a mouthful of biscuit.

Dalton nodded. "Alright then. He's old-fashioned at times, but honest. And I'm not going anywhere so I'll be quiet now," he added as Penelope pointedly lifted her legs into his lap and Bandit sat on his feet. "Best of luck be with you."

Althea woke with a sudden loud wail.

"And with you" Karyna muttered, shutting the door gently behind Vina.

So that's all for now—I hope (because I'm naïve and optimistic) to have the next installment up some time this fall. We'll check in with Rissa and see how Fira's punishment duty goes…Thanks for reading!