Disclaimer: Jian's mine, but unless I've suddenly become Tamora Pierce, the rest isn't.

Chapter Three - Discipline: Five weeks after Niko bought her from the slave market, Jian left her dormitory at Winding Circle and headed towards the carpentry shops. Not only did she want to see the carpenters at work, but she also wanted to escape Lina, Catlin, and Marisa. Those three girls had done all they could to torment her since she'd arrived. It was like home, like Nadja and her half-siblings all over again. She needed to escape.

So she went to the shops. She watched from the shadows as men and women worked on various jobs. They sanded tables, carved wood, and covered finished pieces with varnish or paint. She could have watched forever, but she was afraid of getting caught, so she went back to her dormitory.

When she got back, she was horrified by what she saw. Lina, Catlin, and Marisa were rifling through her things, tossing around her few belongings. Her books and her mother's journals lay open and face down on the floor and her mothers miniature was lying half under her bed. "What are you doing!" she cried. "Leave my things alone!"

Her shouts brought a dedicate - Dedicate Juniper - running in. She too was upset by the behavior of the three girls. But it was obvious that the scoldings they had received before were not helping. The problem was that, while these three were the obvious ones, the other girls didn't exactly treat Jian like one of them. Juniper sighed as she helped Jian get her things together. It seemed that there was really only one solution.

Later that day, Jian found herself outside of the office belonging to Winding Circle's head dedicate, Honored Moonstream. Her bag was beside her. Juniper had told her that she would most likely be moving to another part of the temple grounds, to a small cottage near the Earth Temple called Discipline. Juniper was supposedly taking care of some details for her.

A few minutes later, Juniper came out. "Come on, Jianara," she said. "I'll take you to Discipline." Jian nodded mutely. She had very little faith that this new place would be any better. It seemed she just was completely out of luck.

They went down the spiral road for nearly ten minutes, before they reached a small stone cottage with a thatched roof. There were two additions along the sides, one made of wood, and one that was cloth stretched over a wooden frame. This was Discipline, her new home.

Juniper went in without knocking. A woman with short, curly black hair and bronze skin looked up from the letter she was writing. "Hello, Lark," Juniper said. "This is Jianara D'Altari. She's going to be staying here now." Lark looked Jian over and then nodded, smiling at the girl. Juniper said goodbye and left.

Lark looked at Jian, an impish glint in her eyes. "So, what awful thing did you do to land here?" Jian looked at her, startled.

"Uh, nothing. I just, well, they thought it would be better for me here," Jian said uncertainly. Lark chuckled.

"I was teasing you, Jianara. That name of yours is certainly a mouthful." Jian laughed in spite of herself.

"It is, and I'm having everyone call me Jian. It's easier." Lark eyed her for a moment, her expression thoughtful.

"Well, then, Jian, do you want an upstairs room or a downstairs one? There are three upstairs and two downstairs."

"I think upstairs would be nice," Jian said softly. Lark nodded and sent her upstairs to pick one. Jian went up the stairs slowly. She was about halfway up when a sharp voice called, "Lark? What's going on?"

Jian froze on the steps, listening. Lark's voice called, "We have a new border, Rosie. Her name's Jian."

"Well, tell her to stay out of my garden," the sharp voice continued. Lark didn't respond and Jian continued upstairs. She picked the room nearest the stairwell in the end, and began to unpack slowly. This was it and she knew it. If things went wrong here, she would be on her own, and she had no idea what she would do then.

A/N: So, Jian is the first to get to Discipline. Yes, I know I added a room, but I had to. But I should warn any purists out there, this is (obviously) an AU, and although I will try to stay as faithful to canon as possible, it won't be exactly the same.