I think this is a good chapter. I had writers' block for a third of it, so if it's not as good as it could be, I'm sorry. I still think it's good.

CHAPTER 11 – November – Remember

Kiyra rolled over listlessly on the dirty straw, stopping when she hit Luth. It had been almost three weeks since they had brought here. Since then, they had not left the cell. A guard brought their food and changed their chamber pot. For the first week or two, Kiyra had taught Luth to fight unarmed in their cramped quarters. Luth had learned fast, practicing even when Kiyra wanted a break. They had become too weak though, and had only sat up and talked.

"Can you tell me a story?" Luth rasped.

"About what? I've already told you about meeting Geoff, Cart, and Julie. I've told you everything up until when you started to hear the stories about me."

"They were rumors." Luth coughed. "I want to hear the truth."

"It started when I was stealing on Market Day, almost two years ago. I saw the Baron George and his full belt pouch. I had to steal it. I pretended to knock into him, and got his pouch."

"Was it full of gold?" Luth asked, eyes wide.

"That's what I thought. I opened it though, and a rock was in it."

"Why would he carry around a rock?"

"That's what I thought. So I kept it. Later, me, Geoff, Cart, Julie, Merci, and Toady tried to figure out what it was. Bam! There was a flash of magic and the stone was opened. Inside was a piece of paper that said to go to the Temple of the Goddess."

"Did you go?"

"Geoff didn't want me to. He said it was too dangerous. He and Cart had to tie me to my bed, but I got out of it. I barged right in, and got captured."

Luth laughed. "That wasn't smart."

"No, it wasn't. I had a little talk with the Baron George, who threatened me with dangerous torture before I would tell him anything." Kiyra failed to add that the torture weapons were really face paint tools. "I told him only about myself though. Nothing that would incriminate my friends. That's the unspoken rule of the Rogue. Tell on no one."

"I'll remember." Luth said.

"So then I spent three days in the dungeon and went home and that was that."

"A street kid told me that Geoff was mad at you and then he kissed you."

"Something like that." Kiyra hid a grin.

"What happened next?"

"Save the stories. I don't have much more of them and we'll be here a while yet."

"When are we getting out?"

"I don't know, Luth. I told you to leave. That's what you should have done."

"I said I would stay. It's not like we could change it now."

"I know, I know. I just miss Demi."

"Is he your real son?"

"No, adopted. He thinks I'm his real mother though. I miss the Goats and Geoff too."

"You'll see them again." Luth assured her. "Are they going to hang us?"

Kiyra started to laugh at his attempt to cheer her up, but at his serious face, she stopped. "If anything, they'll hang me. You didn't do anything."

"I'll say I did."

"But you didn't."

"Whatever." Luth frowned, but smiled again. "We can weasel our way out of anything."

Kiyra sighed then, lost in her own thoughts. "I miss them."

"Who's them?"

"Oh, everyone." Kiyra squinted to hold back the tears. "Demi, the Goats, Lalasa….Geoff."

"Don't worry." Luth slipped his small hand in Kiyra's. "Geoff will get us soon."

"I know." Kiyra said and cleared her throat. "Do you want to hear about the time I started the brawl?"

"I never lost hope, you know." Luth said. Kiyra sat up to look at him.

"Come again?"

"I never stopped believing that you'd come back. Mattie thought you wouldn't and Jonny kept telling me you'd forgotten. Do you remember when I was just a kid and you told me stories?"

Kiyra smiled. "You must have only been four."

"I can remember some of them that you told." Luth grinned. "Most of them involved the Lioness. Things got a lot worse after you left."

"Jonny told me that Ma used the money for drugs."

"She died. Sometimes she gave us some money, but sometimes we had to beg. And then when she brought men home, they'd beat us. Once one wouldn't leave Mattie alone. Nothing happened but she was so scared. When Ma got pregnant, she couldn't get out of bed. I guess it made her sick. Mattie took care of her and helped with the birthing. Jonny told me you helped with mine."

"I did. I can still remember. That was the first time I'd delivered a baby alone. It was snowing out and the woman Ma had to help her wasn't in her house. I just did what I had seen the midwife do and hoped for the best. You were born easy. Your eyes were the clearest, lightest blue and you cried the whole night. I didn't get any sleep at all. Jonny and Mattie slept through the whole thing and were so surprised when they found a baby in the morning. The midwife came to check up on Ma and I told her that there wouldn't be a need for a midwife anymore."

Luth laughed. "But my eyes are sort of greenish now, like yours."

"Babies most often have blue eyes. Then they change."

"Oh. Did you teach Mattie how to deliver babies?"

"Maybe. I don't know, I guess she watched and learned for herself. I should have come back for all of you. I should have known that everything wasn't good."

"Why didn't you?" Luth asked.

"I don't know. I hated Ma, but I loved her at the same time. There were times when I felt like her daughter and wanted to be with her. Then there were times when she hit me and I felt like killing her. I just wanted to turn my back and forget. Now I wish I hadn't, for you and the others."

"I think I reminded her of you." Luth said. "She hit the others, sometimes. She never hit me, not since you left. I stole some of Ma's drug once and tried to sell it. I guess I was too little and another street kid stole it away. I didn't get anything for it, except a black eye. Ma must've known it was me, but she didn't hurt me. She let the men hit me though. They hit me a lot, 'cause it took a lot to make me cry. Except for Jonny, the others cried right away. Jonny was like me, only he was older, so I guess it wasn't as much fun to beat him around."

"I'm sorry." Kiyra didn't know what to say.

"It's alright."

"Ma fed us when I was there. Well, she was sick a bit, so I took care of the money, which there wasn't much of. I would buy the food, but she'd give me the money. When she didn't give us money, I'd beg too. I didn't have to beg that often. I had a friend and I used to pretend that she was my mother. Now she's more like a sister though."

"Ma didn't like that we listened to the stories about you. She got mad when we told them to the younger children. She told us that the stories were lies. I guess some of them were. I knew a pick and he said he'd met you once. I got the best stories from him. I caught Ma listening to me tell the stories once. I think she missed you."

Kiyra started to sob. Luth stared at her in alarm.

"I wish I hadn't hit her so hard. I was so angry, but maybe we could've patched things up a bit. Maybe she could've been proud of me."

Luth patted her back awkwardly. "Don't worry about it. Maybe she did miss you, but she didn't care enough."

"I know, but I didn't care enough either." Kiyra sobbed out. "I was as bad as her."

"You never used drugs!" Luth said, hoping it was true.

"No, but I still didn't care enough about her. And now I killed her."

"C'mon, Kiyra, stop crying. Forget about it. It doesn't matter anymore."

"I killed my own mother."

"You didn't mean to." Luth hugged Kiyra. "I told you, forget about it. She would've let her own children starve and get beat to death. Forget about her."

Kiyra wiped her tears away. "I know. I still feel bad about it. I should've…"

"But you didn't. Live with the way things are now."

"I should be the one comforting you." Kiyra laughed quietly.

"Aw, but I bet I'm much better at it than you are." Luth teased.

Kiyra softly cuffed him.

Kiyra began to lose track of time after that. Days passed without event and sometimes she and Luth didn't talk once for days. Most of the time they lay so still that they appeared dead. They only moved for the food and for the chamber pot. Sometimes Kiyra thought that she had died, and just hadn't realized it.

Kiyra went for the food one day and Luth didn't move with her.

"Luth?" Kiyra whispered and he didn't stir. "Luth!"

Kiyra scrambled over to him, as well as her stiff limbs could move. She bent down to listen to his heart and was relieved to hear a weak beat. She pulled him onto her lap and hand fed him. She had to rub his throat to get him to swallow. She took the smaller portion that day.

One day, when Kiyra was asleep, Luth disappeared from the cell. The guard couldn't tell her what happened to him, even though Kiyra begged and pleaded with him. Kiyra knew the worst had happened.

Kiyra woke up from a nightmare to see Geoff kneeling beside the cell. She thought he was another hallucination.

"Kiyra can't I leave you alone for more than a day without you getting into trouble? You promised me."

Geoff's eyes were bright with unshed tears when he looked at the filthy and sick Kiyra.

"I tried, really." Kiyra's voice was a rasp. "I don't think."

"I know." Geoff slid his arms through the bars and tried to reach Kiyra. She pushed herself closer, using her arms. Geoff pulled her as close to him as the bars would allow.

"I'm scared." Kiyra admitted. "Will they hang me?"

"I wouldn't have let them." Geoff said fiercely.

"But Geoff…" She looked sadly to the ground. "Where were you?"

"I was in Port Caynn. Like I said I would be."

Kiyra turned to look in Geoff's eyes. "Tell me the truth."

Geoff sighed. "I lied about going to Port Caynn. I had to go somewhere else, somewhere I couldn't tell anyone about. No one knew where to find me. By the time my friend got contact with me, two weeks had passed since you were put in prison."

"Can you tell me now?" Kiyra asked curiously.

"No." Geoff grinned. "Sorry."

"Right." Kiyra squeezed his hand.

"I got back here as soon as I could. Their Majesties have been really busy with foreign business and couldn't see me until last week. Then they had to find a loophole. Your brother told them the whole story."

"Luth?" Kiyra said hopefully.

"No, Jonny. They told me Luth was here with you."

"He was, but then he wasn't."

Geoff wiped the tears off of her face. "Don't worry. I'm sure we can find him."

"How's Demi?" Kiyra asked.

""He misses you a lot." Geoff hesitated. "He thinks you left him for good."

She winced visibly. "What'd you tell him?"

"That you were coming back. That you would never have left him. I think he believed me."

"Can I come with you now?" Kiyra said. "I want to come home so bad."

"I want you to come home, too. If you hadn't been locked up so many times already, their majesties could probably let you off easier. They have to follow the rules they make."

Kiyra smiled. "The Rogue always was simpler."

Geoff laughed. "They did find a loophole though."

Kiyra's spirits rose. "You tell me now?"

Geoff shrugged. "I wasn't sure about it. See, they know about Demi. Thom must have told them how powerful he was."

"I'm not giving Demi up!" Kiyra spat out. "Never! What do they think of me?"

Geoff shushed her. "Calm down. That's not what they ask. They only ask that you raise Demi loyal to the Crown."

"Not to the Rogue?" Kiyra asked. "Not to you?"

"I think we could raise him to be loyal to both. It's your decision though."

Kiyra was really tempted to accept the offer immediately, but she held back. "Help me think about it."

"What do think?" Geoff asked.

"Well, I think we could do it too. Having him loyal to the Crown would give him a safer situation." Kiyra bit her lip. "I don't like to think about it, but what would happen if you lost your throne? Demi wouldn't be safe unless he had a place with the Crown, too."

"That sounds right." Geoff said, careful to let Kiyra do the thinking and not influence her decision.

"But he might have to make a decision when he's older between the Rogue and the Crown. That would be hard. We could help him choose though. I think we should accept the offer, as long as they don't make him swear a blood oath. It would be too easy for a little boy to break it."

"I assume they wouldn't ask that of him." Geoff assured her. "Is that your answer, then?"

"Yes. I think it will work out for Demi." Kiyra said firmly. "I'm sure it will."

Geoff beamed. "George is waiting at the top of the stairs. I'll go fetch him."

"Is he going to let me out?" Kiyra called to Geoff. "Can I take a bath before I go home? I feel so dirty."

Geoff and George returned, laughing at Kiyra's need to bathe. "I remember, three years ago, Kiyra, you wouldn't even have dared to bathe once a month."

Kiyra stuck her tongue out at Geoff. "Never got this dirty."

"Oh yes, you did."

"Do you have my dirk?" Kiyra asked the Baron.

"Yes, it's in my office. I'll send a page for it while you're washing up."

"We better stop by the healers' too." Geoff commented. Kiyra was having trouble getting her stiff muscles to bend, and her breath was catching in her throat.

"As long as it's fast." Kiyra agreed. "We can ask about Luth where we're there."

Geoff supported Kiyra up to the infirmary. Kiyra was glad that there weren't a lot of people around.

It only took a couple of minutes to fix her lungs and heal her muscles. The healer's let her use a private bath. Kiyra relaxed in the hot water and washed herself with scented soaps. Geoff was waiting outside of the room with a fresh change of clothes from the palace suppliers. There was a long skirt and a blouse. Geoff blushed when Kiyra saw the clothes.

"I like you in skirts." He explained.

After she felt and looked a lot better, Kiyra asked to speak with one of the healers.

"Have you seen a boy, about this high? I don't know when he was brought here, but he was brought here from the dungeons." Kiyra explained.

"Ah, yes." The healer nodded. "He kept arguing with the healer who was trying to heal him."

"Where is he?" Kiyra asked eagerly.

"That was a couple days ago. We usually take the younger children to a holding room, until someone claims them. If no one does, the child is taken to an orphanage."

"Is he there?" Kiyra pressed.

"He should be." The healer answered and gave her directions to the holding room. Kiyra was about to rush off, but Geoff stopped her.

"Kiyra, if he's been there this whole time, he'll still be there. Calm down."

Kiyra was glad that Geoff had made her wait, because a minute later, Merci walked in the infirmary. Her eyes scanned the room until she saw Kiyra. Merci abandoned her page-like manner and flew across the room.

"All of us were so worried! Rye came in the passage but we haven't seen anyone since and we didn't know what was going on!" Merci hugged Kiyra, then stepped away. She bowed, while offering Kiyra's dirk to her. Kiyra grinned and took it.

"I guess you can tell them I'm fine." Kiyra laughed.

"What happened?" Merci asked. "All Rye told us was that you went and killed someone."

"I did, but it didn't happen exactly like that." Kiyra said ruefully.

"We all thought that you were going to go to the mines or something." Merci said. "We wanted to break in and rescue you, but Tyrell told us that that was stupid and we wouldn't have a chance."

"Smart of him." Geoff put in. "The boy's got a head on his shoulders."

Merci gave Geoff a dirty look. "We were caught up." She explained. "I better get back before I get punishment work."

"Send my love to the others." Kiyra told the retreating figure, then turned to Geoff. "Can we go find Luth now?"

It only took Geoff and Kiyra a couple of minutes to find the holding room that Luth should be in. Kiyra took a deep breath before pushing on the door.

"Kiyra!" Something small hit Kiyra's middle with enough force to knock her over. Geoff grabbed her arm to hold her up, laughing.

"Luth, I was so worried." Kiyra hugged him. "You could've died."

"I was more worried about you." Luth said sternly. "You were still in the pit and they wouldn't let me out to see you."

"But you were sick." Kiyra argued.

"No, I was healed. You were still sick."

"But I didn't know that…"

Geoff interrupted Kiyra. "How about we get something to eat before we go home?"

"Can't we eat at the Dove?" Kiyra begged.

"I haven't seen it yet, sir." Luth put in.

Geoff shook his head. "No. I want to eat at a fancy teashop and waste time away and…"

Kiyra hit his shoulder. "Geoff!"

Geoff grinned.

The Dove was mostly empty when Kiyra, Geoff, and Luth entered. Kiyra had enough time to take everyone in before they realized who came in.

Demi was sitting on Lalasa's lap in a chair by the counter. Julie was rocking Anna and softly singing. Kiyra's youngest siblings, Lamie, Allan, and Sadie were around Julie, so that they could listen. Cart was leaning against the counter with his hand on Julie's shoulder. Mattie, Emma, Wren, and Dann were huddled together on the bench by the table in the corner. Rye was sitting cross-legged on the table, along with Jonny and Dinny. Lord Thom and Master Numair were talking in low tones on one table.

Demi was the first to see Kiyra. He threw himself off of Lalasa's lap and ran to Kiyra. Kiyra lifted him up and squeezed him tight. He kept repeating "Mama" over and over again.

The entire room erupted. Lalasa hugged Kiyra and scolded her, but Kiyra couldn't hear what the older woman was saying. Julie handed Anna to Cart and hugged Kiyra, who hugged her back. Emma, Rye, Wren, and Dann were bouncing around Kiyra, holding on to her skirt and her arms. Jonny, Mattie, and the rest of the brothers and sisters clamored around Luth, who was enjoying the attention.

"They said you were going to hang!" Emma said, hugging Kiyra.

Geoff touched Kiyra's hand. "We wouldn't have let her hang."

"Reassuring." Kiyra grinned. "I wouldn't have let them hang me either."

"When are you going to start behaving?" Lalasa asked.

"You should have come with us." Jonny told Luth. "I told you to."

Cart stood by Geoff. "We've been waiting all day. I'm glad it's over. Glad that she's home too. You gonna ask?"

Geoff shrugged. "Maybe."

"Momma, can I stay with you forever?" Demi asked.

Kiyra laughed, a light, joyous sound. "Yes, Demi. As long as you want."

"Kiyra taught me how to fight!" Luth bragged. "I learned from the best."

"Did they feed you?" Dinny asked Luth.

"Thanks for bringing Luth back." Jonny said to Kiyra, a bit awkwardly.

Geoff stuck his head in. "Well, she didn't want to, said she'd rather take him to an orphanage, but I put my foot down. She brought him to jail, she'd bring him back."

Kiyra and Jonny laughed, but Jonny grew serious again. "Kiyra, I have to talk to you."

Kiyra handed Demi to Geoff and extracted herself from the crowd. "What is it, Jon?"

Jonny fidgeted. "What's going to happen to us?"

Kiyra knew what he meant.

"I mean," Jonny continued. "We could live alone but I think the children need a mother and father."

Kiyra nodded. "I know what to do." Kiyra led him over to the table where Numair and Thom were watching the children and friends with smiles on their faces.

"Master Numair?' Kiyra asked politely. "Do you remember back when I took care of Sarra for a spell? It was a long time ago…"

"Yes, I remember." Numair said, unsure of where this was going.

"Well, you promised me that if I needed anything, I could come to you."

"Yes, I did." Numair remember. "Do you need something?"

"Yes." Kiyra said. "Is there a place for my brothers and sisters? I don't want to send them to an orphanage and I don't want them growing up around here. It's not stable enough for them."

Master Numair thought, but it was Thom that came up with a solution. "I have godparents in the country. It's Coram and Rispah of Trebond. They have ample room and I'm sure if I wrote to them, they'd welcome children. They had been saying how it was too quiet around Trebond lately."

"Oh, yes sir." Jonny stepped forward. "I can promise you that it wouldn't be quiet anymore."

The adults laughed.

"I won't go!" Luth protested, stepping next to Kiyra. "I won't."

"Luth, it'll be better for you." Kiyra said.

"It'll be fun." Jonny wheedled.

"No. I want to stay with Kiyra. I'm not going." Luth put his hands on his waist.

Jonny grabbed his brother. "I'm not going to let you stay behind. The family's not going to be broken up."

"Kiyra wouldn't be going with you." Luth argued. "It'd already be broken."

Jonny and Kiyra shared a look. "That isn't fair. I haven't been there for you. Jonny has. You need to stay with him."

"I want to stay with you." Luth jutted out his small chin. "Please?"

Kiyra looked at Luth and saw herself. He had the same stubborn expression on his face and the same light behind his eyes.

"I'd take care of him." Kiyra told Jonny. "He'd be safe."

"Not you too!" Jonny protested. "I'm his brother. I can take care of him."

Luth looked up at Jonny. "I know you can. I still love you Jonny. It's just, I want to be with Kiyra. I don't know her that well yet. But I love her. I know that. I want to spend some time with her. I've spent my whole life with you. I can still visit, it's not like I'll never see you again."

Jonny bit his lower lip. "Fine." He murmured. "But only if you visit."

Kiyra felt a rush of emotion and hugged both her brothers, who tried to shove her off.

"Girls." Jonny spat out, before grinning.

Later that night, Kiyra was alone on the kitchen roof. Geoff slid out the window to be with her.

"Hi," He said. "What've you been up to?"

"I'm always up to something, then." Kiyra teased. "I was finding the stars with Jonny, for old times' sake. We used to do it when we were children. I still know more than he does."

Geoff laughed. "I put Demi to bed. All the children are in the Hovel, supposedly sleeping. You can almost hear them shouting from here."

Kiyra moved closer to Geoff and he put his arm around her.

"You know, Kiyra, I had something to talk to you about…" Geoff began.

"If it's about what I did, I'm sorry. He was coming at me with a chair leg. I was mad. And I didn't mean to kill my mother, but I got carried away."

"It's not about that." Geoff put a finger to her lips. "I…well…never mind."

Kiyra looked at him curiously. "Geoff?"

"What?"

"What were you going to say?"

"It was nothing important."

"Oh. Do you suppose I'm doing the right thing, keeping Luth here with me? I thought so, but now I'm not sure. Maybe he'd be better off with Jonny. What do you think?"

"Will you marry me?"

Kiyra gasped. "Are you joking?"

Geoff looked at their clasped hands. "Not really."

Kiyra smiled, one of those huge, beaming smiles. "Yes."

"You'll marry me?" Geoff asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, you idiot, I'll marry you." Kiyra threw her arms around him.

"I have a ring." Geoff said, reaching into his pocket and slipping out a thin gold band with an ever thinner silver band wrapped around it. He slipped the ring around the finger on her left hand.

"It's beautiful." Kiyra said. "Thanks."

"Where do want to live?" Geoff asked. "You used to say that you'd never leave the Dove, but now maybe you want our own place."

"I think I want our own place, not too far away though." Kiyra answered. "Close enough to be with the Goats in an instant if they need me."

"I can't stop leading the Rogue." Geoff said.

"I know. I just worry about you. Sure, you do things different from any other Majesty, but that doesn't mean they won't end the same for you as any other."

"I'll be careful." Geoff laughed. "Usually you're saying that to me."

Kiyra laughed with him. "I'm always careful. It isn't my fault, all these things that happen."

"When do you want the wedding to be?" Geoff asked.

"I don't know. Maybe in a month. Is it going to be a big wedding?'

"I think it'll have to be. I am the Rogue Majesty."

"You have a big head." Kiyra smiled impishly up at Geoff, who smiled evilly back and began to tickle her. Kiyra began to squeal and try to wriggle away. Geoff leaned down and kissed Kiyra, who deepened the kiss.

"Mama?" Kiyra and Geoff broke apart with a sigh.

"Yes, Demi?" Kiyra looked over to where Demi was trying to climb out the window.

"They're being really loud."

"Jonny and the Goats?"

"All of them. I can't sleep."

"I'm sorry. I'll go and tell them to be quiet."

"I want to sleep with them tonight. Please?" Demi begged.

"Alright." Kiyra laughed as Demi flew from the window and out of the door.

"You're a natural mother." Geoff commented.

Kiyra looked nervously at Geoff. "I know you want to be a father."

"I am already, if you count Demi."

"Yes, but you probably want one of your own. More than one."

"Sure." Geoff said slowly.

"Is it alright if we hold off on children for a while? I don't want to have babies yet. I'm scared."

"Whatever you want." Geoff said.

"The moon."

"What?"

"I want the moon." Kiyra held back a smile. "You're a man, you can get it for me."

"You can have the moon in my eyes."

Kiyra's laughter rang out clear as a bell. "This is one of those times I can't doubt you were a Player."

Geoff looked woefully at Kiyra. "I thought it sounded good."

"Good for a frog." Kiyra began to laugh even harder.

"You don't appreciate my talent." Geoff complained. "You don't take me seriously."

"Should I?" Kiyra thought. "Alright. I will from now on."

"Thanks."

"Geoff, will Luth live with us? He is my brother, but he could live in the Hovel."

"It's okay with me either way. Let him choose."

"Lalasa can help me learn to cook. It would be nice to cook for you. I haven't cooked since I burnt all those biscuits last year. Randy wouldn't let me near the kitchen after that."

"Everyone thought the Dove was burning down." Geoff hooted. "Those were the worst biscuits ever to set the tables."

Kiyra's face fell and her lower lip trembled. "I tried. I'm sorry they stunk."

Geoff looked confusedly at her. "Kiyra…I'm sorry….are you crying?"

"You said you wanted me to take you more seriously." Kiyra's lips twitched and she giggled. Geoff looked relieved that she wasn't upset.

"I take it back. Kiyra, I love you exactly as you are. Nothing can change that."

Together, they watched the stars move across the sky.

I'm going to skip a couple years for the next chapter. It'll just feel right. Anyway, review me with your thoughts and stuff.