I made a mistake that Alaia Skyhawk pointed out, if the ship went Northeast they would have run into the land, so pretend that I said out into open sea and then northeast.

Disclaimer: I spelled disclaimer right on my first try. Yeah! Well, anyway I don't own the Circle cause if I did, I sure wouldn't be placing it on the Internet for FREE!

Chapter five: Rearing to go

There was something warm and… fuzzy on her. It couldn't be Little Bear for her beloved dog was now at Discipline with Glaki. Blearily the weary mage opened her eyes and looked down at her lap, where the fuzzy feeling came from. Glacier was still in it, her furry chest rising up and down with each breath, but that was all she could see, and only because of the whiteness of the polar bear's fur. Everything else was complete and utter blackness.

Sandry hurriedly reached for her magic to at least see light inside herself, if not call light into her clothes, or her guards'. But something stopped her from reaching it. There was a glass wall between her and her magic! She was alone in the dark, and with her magic blocked from herself there was no use waiting or praying for help from her friends.

He numbly took the ring out of Lark's hand. She had taken it off. She had promised never to do that. She was on that trail because of him. Did she hate him? Did she even want to be rescued by him?

Yes she would want to be rescued whether it was by him or not. She would want to be here to tell him her feelings. Sandry wasn't one to run away from anything.

"Calm down Sandrilene!" she scolded herself. She thought and thought of ways out of her current predicament. She couldn't find any. Her friends couldn't rescue her, Kwaben and Oama were most likely in a different room/cell, her light stone… Her light stone! She had put it into her pocket before these dirty jishen had grabbed her.

She quickly pulled it out of her pocket, accidentally hitting Glacier on the head while doing it. The sudden glare of light woke the polar bear and stung Sandry's eyes. Sandry stood up, sending Glacier tumbling off of her and scrambling into a corner, to better see her surroundings.

Everyone in the household, to Gudruny's children to Duke Vedris, stumbled out of their rooms at the sound of Lark's shouts and toward the sounds. Rosethorn quickly took her place by the woman and muttered soothing words. But Lark was too upset to be calmed down by her old friend.

Briar ignored all that went around him, Tris and Daja coming over and staring at the ring with tears in their eyes and when Lark started to pound on his chest demanding to know what he had done, he took it without a complaint. His world, his Duchess… was gone. There was no more happiness only pain.

The floor swayed a little and it was only then did she realize that they were on a boat. There was only one door, a thick wooden one made to hold people. In a corner a foot from the door lay the unconscious Kwaben with Oama curled tightly up besides him and half on him, for a moment she was jealous before she erased all those thoughts from her mind. She could be jealous later. They were the only things in the room; there wasn't a box to seat on or a mouse to make noise. This place was a cell.

Glacier glared at the light and stumbled over to where Kwaben and Oama lay and plopped herself on his chest. He grunted like he was about to wake up but fell back in an uneasy sleep. Sandry went to the wall farthest from them and sank down till she was sitting. She drew her legs up for warmth, placed the light stone on the floor by her, and laid her head on her knees, urging herself to sleep.

"What happened? What happened?" Lark began to shake him screaming wanting to know why he and Sandry were fighting and… blaming him. He blamed himself too, but, well, it was one thing for you to know you did wrong then when your whole family knew you did wrong.

"Lark, shush!" Rosethorn managed to pull the dedicate away from him, but Briar didn't move, didn't say a word, didn't breath. It was like he was dead. "Boy before I can't hold her any longer you better explain. That girl loved that ring and only you could make her tear it off." Briar didn't answer her, but turned around and entered his room holding the ring tightly in his fist like it was a talisman.

How come she was here? She vaguely remembered Briar reaching up to cut her down, but everything thing else was foggy at best. She racked her mind for the answer. It came to her then, he had backed away from her. But why? Right before her mind went completely blank Sandry vaguely saw something fall over the cliff. She closed her eyes and imagined that part over and over again till the memory became sharper, it wasn't something it was someone.

Sandry had no idea who it truly was but she had an idea it was that girl that was pregnant with his child. Sandry started to cry lightly as she said to the ground, "He had saved that girl instead of me. He chose her, now it is really over between us. There is no going back." She tried, again, to fall back asleep, but her mind wouldn't… couldn't. She replayed over and over the scene from earlier.

Tris and Daja quickly summarized the day's events to Lark and Rosethorn before slipping into the room after Briar. They heard Rosethorn calmly lead Lark down the hall and into Rosethorn's room. They heard everyone return to their rooms and to their beds.

"Do you think she hates me?" came the boy's voice from the balcony. The two girls smiled sadly at each other before joining their brother on the terrace. Briar's hands were folded behind his back and he stared deep at the starless night, tears running slowly sown his face.

It's possible. Tris said through their connection, coming to his right side and placing her pudgy hand on his shoulder. But I severally doubt it, she loves you so deeply and truly and she wouldn't give all that up without a fight.

Briar smiled at his favorite sister and stared out at the sky with renewed hope. "We should go to bed, now." He sensible Daja said quietly from the doors."

The future will be long. and the three friends split up for the night, eager to start looking for their friend.

The door slowly creaked open and a rotten stench reached the young nobles nose. It smelled like decaying flesh, rotten eggs, and my brother's dirty socks or his clean ones if it comes to that. Sandry picked her head up and resisted the urge to vomit. Standing in the doorway were three very grubby men, wearing soaked furs coated in grim, their hair was matted to their heads. The smell of decaying flesh was easily explained, each man was carrying raw meat.

"Well, well, well. Lookie 'ere boys the whittle princess is finally up." The "cleanest of the three growled to the other two men. He had a grubby fur vest thing on and black breaches that were cut off at the knees, his boots were fur-lined. He had long blond reaching to his shoulders and dark green eyes. Sandry hated him instantly. "Me name ez Paschal Kiers. Yeh are?"

She didn't like the look in his eyes as he looked her up and down, their was a hungry look in his eyes, she didn't need to read his mind to know what was going on in there. "Dirty jishen." She spat at the base of his boots. The men at his side started to draw his sword.

"What did yeh call 'im whelp?" the man on the right asked. Subconsciously Sandry realized the man was their captain.

She set her chin at it's most mulish angle and said, loudly and proudly, "Jishen; a leech, a parasite, something who lives off of another."

The third man drew a rusty blade from its scabbard and started to move forward, the second man right behind him. Then Paschal raised a hand, "Enough Troika, Oswald. Leave the room, me more then enough for one measly girl, even if she does 'ave magic." The two men grumbled and left the room. The captain turned towards the mage. "Yeh never told me your name." She didn't say anything. "Why yeh steal me bear?"

At the mention of Glacier as a Thing and not a living creature the young noble lost her tightly controlled temper. "Dirty jishen, pavoo…," the girl continued to rant at the pirate captain with colorful language that would make most men cower in their boots, but the captain wasn't just any man he was a pirate. He laughed that such a pretty girl would know such words. When she calmed down the man raised an eyebrow at her, demanding that she answer his question. "I don't steal, only dirty jishen, pirates like you do."

"Pirates!?" the man said, laughing at the girl in open surprise. "we be not pirates, we be Titans."

"Titans?" it was Sandry's turn to sputter in surprise. She had heard of the country of Titans, it was a country boarding the artic, and it would help to explain these "pirates" dirtiness., the water up there was freezing cold and took over a day to warm and costly to do, so they only bathed once a month if they were nobles and rich, once a year if they were poor. It meant that her enemies weren't just pirates, who her uncle could fight and win, but a pretty big country he couldn't. She was truly lost to her family forever.

"Chime, get it!" Tris yelled at her glass dragon as the papers saying she was allowed to board the ships went flying out the window. The girl's arms were filled with clothes and thing she would be taking with her from the house on number 6 Cheeseman Street, so she couldn't use one of her winds to stop it. The strange thing was all of her winds new better then to scatter her paperwork and she had sent them all throughout the city to gather the gossip on Sandry's disappearance and wouldn't be back till she got on the ship, there weren't any of Summersea winds here either. What, then, had caused the paper to go soaring out the window, like it had not a care in the world?

Wearily Tris folded the clothes Sandry had made her and placed it on top of the few books, which were placed neatly at the bottom of the cedar trunk, she was bringing and on top of those place the ones Sandry didn't make and were known to get wrinkles. She looked up when she had finished placing a piece of lightning for a lock that no thief would dare to try to break, Chime had yet to return. The girl scowled. It's probably a bird, she thought, they hated Chime, and she hated them.

"Chime get your butt back in here and bring the papers I se… " Tris broke off as she caught sight of an old friend from Tharios. He lifted his hand and waved, smiling impishly at her, for in his hand was her paper work and on his shoulder was her glass dragon. Smiling Tris dashed through her plain room and down thee hallway till she was at the top of the stairs. The maid was just showing the man in, but before she could help him out of his jacket Tris had thrown herself at him, he barely had enough time to catch. The two of them crashed to the floor in a jumble of arms, legs, and glass, laughing their heads off as Chime screeched in dismay.

I know this chapter was leaning on the short side but… well I'm sick and don't really want to type a lot, not that I like typing when I'm not sick, but…

What did you think? You like? You dislike? What did you like/dislike about it? Review please! Oh and if any one can guess who it is I'll dedicate the next chapter to them.