It was extremely early when the wake-up call, via Fu, came. The small gray dog pounded on the door.

"Agoo," he howled at them. "I know you're both in there. Wakey, wakey, Rose and Jakey."

"Permission to kill the dog?" Rose mumbled, her head aching as she began to feel the effects from her late, but incredibly satisfying, night.

"Permission to kill the dog," Jake granted, also feeling the effects from the night.

Fu knocked again before saying, in a slightly lower voice, "I will send the old man in there to see your nakedness if you don't come out in the next, oh, five minutes."

Justified fear in their eyes, both Jake and Rose threw themselves from the bed. Jake scrambled for his jeans, kicking his boxers under the bed whereas Rose slipped into her clothing (impressively including her undergarments) in record time. A confident smile on her face, she gave Jake a kiss and sauntered out the door.

"So I wanted to ask you something," she mentioned to Fu.

"What's that?"

"I don't know what I'm supposed to wear. I was thinking that I should wear my Huntsclan formal robes but I don't want to be offensive."

"What do you wear the formal robes for?" Fu inquired.

"For meetings," Rose explained. "It's for when I have to meet with the Branch Heads. It's also what I wore when I first greeted the Branch Heads when I first met them. That's why I thought the formal robes would be appropriate."

"I agree. I think it would be a mistake to try and hide evidence of the Huntsclan while you're here – you can't. It's best to flaunt it and show the new positive sides because that is the whole reason we're here."

"You're so smart," Rose cooed, giving him a quick pet between the ears, which Fu eagerly leaned into.

"I know," Fu shrugged. "So what's the kid doing? He clothed?"

Rose's eyes glinted mischievously. "Maybe," she sang in a lilting voice as she headed down the hall, hearing a slight movement from Brigh so the elderly dragon could keep the young Huntsmistress in her sights.

Fu shuddered but let himself in the door, nevertheless.

Rose knocked once on Nicholas and Kyle's door, but hearing no protests that it wasn't a good time to enter, waltzed in. They were both on their respective beds in their pajamas, looking like they'd been expecting her.

"What are we wearing?" They chorused.

"Formal robes," Rose answered automatically. "I just asked Fu about it."

"Okay," Kyle said with a nod. "We guessed that it would be formal robes, but we weren't sure."

"But," Nicholas broke in quickly, "what we really want to know is how we're supposed to act? What if they ask a question that we don't know how to answer? What if they ask us bad things about you? I mean, I know honesty but there are some things that I just don't know if I can say."

Rose smiled at him, leaning back against the door as she thought over her answer. "Obviously what you said is right – honesty. It's the key here; we're not going to get anywhere by lying to the Dragon Council, especially since we don't know how much they know. If we say something that they know not to be true, then their trust in us is shattered."

"Not that we're lying," Kyle added for her.

"No, exactly. My game plan is to try to keep them talking so that we can see more of what they know. Keep your answers short and to the point. If a question comes up that you really don't want to answer ask them to rephrase it. Other than that, just be as honest as possible because that's what we're here for."

"You know, this whole honesty thing is a little strange after being raised by a Clan that instructs you to lie all the time," Kyle joked.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "All the time? You would have tried lying to the old Master?"

Kyle gaped while Nicholas snickered at his friend.

"He's not that stupid," Nicholas assured Rose.

"I don't know, you're my best friend," Kyle sniped in return.

"That's as insulting to you as it is to me," Nicholas countered.

As the two began to bicker, Rose slipped back out the door with a reminder to get dressed – they were due in front of the council in an hour. The thought made her stomach erupt with nerves. An hour. She'd been working for a year and a half and that work, her past, and god knows what else would all come to a head in an hour.

It was such a small amount of time but she also knew the seconds would tick by slowly – tiny inches of eternity crawling along at an infuriating sluggish pace.

Rose quickly dressed herself. She brushed out her hair before securing it back into the long braid she always wore when dressed for Clan life. It was much easier to do battle with a braid than it was with loose hair flying around her face, and one never knew what would come up when one was part of the Huntsclan. (Also, a braid was a surprisingly effective weapon when whipped in an enemy's face.)

She applied light make-up and deemed herself ready.

Rose slipped outside her door and was surprised to find that everyone was loitering outside her door, apparently waiting on her.

"Are we ready to go?" Lao Shi asked as soon as she was outside.

Rose nodded crisply. "Do we have any idea what we're going to be asked?" She wondered of him.

Lao Shi shook his head. "I have gotten no hints, though I did spend the evening with Councilor Omina. She was very careful to reveal nothing, though I could hardly ask much her, for fear of being seen as impertinent."

Fu snorted. "Since when have you cared about that?"

"Since so much is hanging in the balance," Lao Shi growled, eyes turning to steel as he stared at the dog.

Fu shook his head, but wisely decided not to say anything.

Together they carried in on silence. When they reached the meeting spot, Rose felt a lot more anxious than she had yesterday. She didn't like the unknown and she was not looking forward to venturing inside. She didn't know what they were going to ask; she didn't know what they knew about the Clan; and, most importantly, she didn't know anything about them. She had no idea how they acted, she had no idea how they thought … Usually before she faced an enemy, she'd had time to take stock of who they were: she knew how they thought and she knew how they were likely to attack.

But these Councilors were people that she didn't know anything about and who she had grown up thinking were the enemy because they were dragons.

They were led into the chamber.

"Jacob long, Lao Shi, Rose, Kyle, and Nicholas; you have all been summoned here to the Dragon Council for three reasons: the purpose of defence, character witnesses, and discussion of unity," Councilor Andam began in a loud, booming voice. "Please take a seat in the chairs provided. When it is your turn to speak you will move up to the witness box. If you must ask a question before you are moved to the witness box, please raise your hand and we will answer you at the soonest available opportunity. Is that understood?"

"Yes," the small group below the Councilors chorused.

"Excellent. Councilor Kukulkan, if you would like to begin."

The Central American Dragon stood up and cleared his throat, shuffling a stack of paper he had in front of him. "A little over one and a half years ago, perhaps a month before Huntsmistress Rose took power, we were able to get a spy into the Huntsclan. He was also the first spy to come back alive from the Clan. He was only in for sixteen hours but in that time was able to collect an extraordinary piece of information, which I have in my hands now."

Rose struggled to hold in her gasp. There had been a spy in the Huntsclan! She was, at the very least, relieved that it had not been under her watch. It had been under the old Master's … Rose allowed herself a smug grin over that piece of information.

Still, she leaned forward in anticipation as Kukulkan continued on. What kind of information would they have stolen from the Clan? She could think of numerous things that the Clan's enemies would have been interested in – none of which were missing.

"The Huntsclan keeps records of all its members. Our spy was able to get into this room and steal one of the records of, indisputably, the most important active Clan member to date." He met Rose's eyes. "Our spy stole the file of the current Huntsmistress."

Rose nearly choked on her tongue. That was where her fucking file was?

She nearly tossed herself from her seat to run to Kukulkan and snatch the papers from his hands. She wanted to pore over the notes written about her, find out the truth about her past and what Master had done before it was read aloud in the Dragon Council meeting. She was barely able to contain herself – she gripped the side of the seat until her fingers ached. She needed to stay grounded.

"It is based on this file, and the information contained within it, that we have to interview the Huntsmistress in this fashion. We are doing it for the protection of the magical races. We want unity among the Clan and the magical creatures; do not misunderstand us. But we want to make sure that it is done right, and to make sure that it is done right, we have to trust one another completely. Do you agree, Huntsmistress Rose?"

"I agree completely," Rose murmured. "I'm glad we're having this meeting so we can come to trust one another."

"Will you please come into the witness box?" Kukulkan requested.

Rose left her seat and moved into the witness box. She folded her hands neatly in front of her and looked up at the Council, awaiting their next move.

"Have you ever read the contents of your file?" Kukulkan asked.

"No," Rose answered. She wanted to add more – perhaps explain that it was inappropriate for any member to read their file and she hadn't had the opportunity until she was Huntsmistress but hadn't been able to find it for now obvious reasons – but didn't say a word. After all, she had told Nicholas and Kyle to say as little as possible and she shouldn't defy her own rules. What kind of a leader did that?

"What do you know of your past?"

"I'm sorry; my past? All I remember is the Clan. That's all anyone in the Clan remembers."

Kukulkan paused, taking in her words. "I was speaking more of your birth. Do you know of your parents?"

"No."

He flipped to a page. "Did the Master tell you anything of your birth or conception?"

"No, he mentioned nothing."

"There are notes in here concerning that very subject. Did you know that the former Huntsmaster planned your birth? He created you in a lab – genetic alterations to make sure you were perfect. Did you know anything about that?"

It felt like a blow to discover that it was true.

"I have had reason to suspect that he had done something of the sort, but I had never known for sure."

"You were in born in New York on May nineteenth to a Chicago-native woman. She was not part of the Clan as the old Master, named Theron, thought it would be too risky. The male part of the equation was from a now-deceased Clan member. You were part of a twin set. You, however, were the only twin to carry the mark. Your sister was destroyed shortly afterward; she could not be adopted into the Clan due to her lack of mark but, with her abilities, she could not be allowed to live." Kukulkan looked at Rose's shocked face. "I was going to ask if you knew any of this, but looking at you now, I can see you didn't."

"No," Rose whispered, "I had no idea."

Thanks to my beta: Gift Of The Dragons. I own nothing recognizable.

As yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day, I just wanted my readers to know that if you are ever having any problems – any kind of problem, not just suicidal feelings – I am here for you if you need to say anything and I will try to help you in any way you want. Stay strong.

~TLL~