A/N: Look at Mara. Again, big thanks to Raider for doing these!
TheRanger'sDaughter: Daniel and Julia definitely wouldn't have let him get off so easy. Tammy may not be a trained soldier like the others, but she definitely protects Maggie.
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. Neither is Raider.
Mara stared out the window watching the gardeners pull at the weeds. She pulled at the hem of her Academy uniform. The uniform was borrowed from one of the smaller students, but it was a little big on her.
A clatter on the lab bench jolted Mara from her daydreaming. She saw Caitlyn's test dishes roll along the table, the latest remnants of her experiment pooling on the tabletop.
Mara moved to clean up the mess before Caitlyn even spoke.
"Thanks," nodded to her as she whipped Little Lina up to her hip. She brought her little girl to work with her about as often as Scout brought Mara, but though the splatter wasn't toxic to the skin Lina didn't need to be left to put it in her mouth.
"It's not a problem."
Mara tried to keep emotion out of her voice, employing her court mask. Mara grabbed the sample dishes and put them in to soak in the basin. She turned back to the table with a wet rag.
Caitlyn leaned against the table frowning. Mara imagined her arms would've been crossed if her free hand wasn't busy trying to get Lina to release her fistful of hair.
"What is it?" Caitlyn demanded of Mara.
Mara gave a court smile and, as if forced by the smile, tears sprung up in her eyes.
"Nothing," Mara answered lightly. She reached around her aunt to wipe down the bench.
Caitlyn put a hand on Mara's shoulder. Mara met her eyes.
"Mara."
Unbidden, sobs broke through Mara's mask. "I know you said it wasn't my fault, it's just…"
She raised her arm to wipe away her streaming eyes.
Caitlyn took the rag from Mara's hand and wrapped her in a hug. Lina moved to play with Mara's hair the moment it came into reach.
"Lina," Caitlyn scolded, lightly slapping her daughter's hand. Lina let go and clapped to herself.
Caitlyn rubbed Mara's back. "I know, honey. It's hard."
Mara pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe her face. She looked at the embroidered initials. These initials that started a fire, burned her cousin's fiancée, and kidnapped Maggie. It was hard not to hate those initials at that moment.
"You did everything you were supposed to do,." Caitlyn told her soothingly and took the handkerchief and wiped her niece's tears.
"Except I talked to that man!" Her sobs turned into hiccups. "I was trying to be friendly. Mama and Papa always said to be friendly."
"Mara. Look at me," Caitlyn said sternly. Mara brought her eyes to meet her aunt's. "You are not allowed to be mad at yourself about this. It is not your fault. It's the guards' fault for not noticing. None of this is because of you. It is because some lunatic had some insane ideas. Everyone is out searching for Maggie right now, and she will be found. Do you understand?"
Mara sniffed and nodded her response. With her eyes to the ground, she walked back to the basin and began washing the dishes.
"Leave it. An apprentice on cleaning duty will mind those."
"Yes, Aunt Kate."
Mara wiped her hands on a towel and the three left the lab. Lina, completely oblivious to her cousin's turmoil, happily sucked on her own fingers while being carried on her mother's hip.
Caitlyn took Mara's hand and led her out of the building. Mason and Scout had sent four guards to watch over Mara on rotation. The two on duty fell in step behind them without a word. The Academy itself doubled its night watch and, though every student there knew exactly who Mara was, they followed instructions to call her Maggie and pretend she wasn't special. The royal family visited the Academy so often that was almost too easy to do.
Caitlyn led her down the path towards the building with her apartment. As they walked, Caitlyn nodded to a gardener minding a bed of flowers.
"Hello Henry," she said cheerfully, hiding all traces of the serious tone she'd had before.
"Hullo Professor!" The man dusted the dirt off his knees as he stood to chat with them. "Ms. Lina, always a pleasure." He nodded to the little girl before shaking her hand. Lina gurgled a laugh, which made everyone grin.
"Henry," Caitlyn began slowly. Though word had circulated to refer to Mara as Maggie, it could never be guaranteed instructions made it to grounds staff. "Have you met Maggie? She's a family friend visiting from Araluen."
Mara put out her hand. "Hello, sir. Nice to meet you. You have a very lovely flower garden."
Mara kept her tone cordial. She wasn't used to offering her hand, to be honest. Usually she was exchanging curtsies and bows when greeting people.
"Well thank you miss. But it's the Academy's garden," he said with a grin.
"And it wouldn't look nearly as good without you," Caitlyn assured him.
Henry laughed. "Thank you," he said as he tucked away the praise. The Academy gardeners were an elusive bunch almost as mysterious as the Araluen Rangers. He turned back to Mara, who was again playing with the hem of her uniform. "Do you know a lot about flowers?"
She grinned and thought of the gardens back in Roscrea. Bringing nature into the castle walls was a priority for both her mother and Kineta before her. "My mama has a nice garden behind our house. I like to draw the flowers, and sometimes the gardeners let me help them."
Caitlyn quickly reached to grip Mara's shoulder. Henry knew who Mara was, but they couldn't trust potential eavesdroppers. She needed to pose as Daniel and Julia's daughter until they got home. Julia didn't employ gardeners, and in Araluen they lived in the Commandant's apartment rather than a house.
"Do you think Maggie would be able to help you sometime this week? I'm afraid my lab is boring her," she quickly covered.
Mara glanced at Caitlyn with a grin and looked back to Henry.
"Of course," he said to Caitlyn and looked back to Mara. "I'll be working in front of the testing rooms tomorrow if you wish to join me."
"That would be great!"
For the first time in a long while, real joy came back into Mara's voice and they both smiled.
On the way back to Caitlyn's apartment she babbled about the flowers she saw and ones from home. Caitlyn would interject and show her which plants she'd used for her research. Tucker, being resourceful, enforced only useful plants be planted among the grounds. The gardeners made it a game to see who could make their beds beautiful.
"Maybe one day you can come to the Academy and learn about the plants."
Mara paused her steps to think for a moment. "I'd like that," she said, then added. "Do you think Maggie would want to come to the Academy too?"
Caitlyn pulled Mara back into a hug, "If she wanted to, I'm sure she could. But we'd have to talk to Uncle Will and Aunt Julia."
"They would say yes, I'm sure."
The three came upon the apartment and Carter ran outside. Mara first thought he was coming to greet them, but noticed his slightly panicked look. "Mom! Come quick! Dad's trying to make dinner again!"
Mara laughed, but Caitlyn put down little Lina for Mara to walk with and jogged into the house.
"Tucker!" Mara heard her aunt call out. "We both know you can't cook!"
Mara walked into the house with Little Lina and saw her uncle grinning. All he'd done to send his son into a panic was chop the vegetables Caitlyn put aside that morning for tonight's dinner. He pulled Caitlyn to his waist and gave her a quick kiss. "How do you expect me to get better if you don't let me practice?"
"Oh, I'll let you practice," Caitlyn told him. She winked at Mara as she came in the door. "Let's start with something easy. How are you at boiling water?"