"I ended up with a broken fiddle-
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret."
~"Fiddler Jones," Edgar Lee Masters

"DUCK!"

At a direct order that was roared from behind, I flattened myself against the grass as swiftly as I could, my eyes widening as a chunk of splintered wood went flying through the area where my torso had just been. I rolled over a bit to peer over my shoulder, beginning to question what was going on.

"What in the name of—"

"Catapult malfunction," Rolith interrupted in way of explanation, coming to a stop by my knee and reaching out an ungloved hand. It never occurred to me not to grab it, and I noticed again with some amusement how small my hands were compared to his.

Figures he'd be helping with chores or fixing things on one of our days off, I thought fondly, noticing with a faint flush how he held my hand in his fingers slightly longer than was necessary.

"Anything I can help with?" I questioned, glancing back over his shoulder to see Sir Vivor and Sir Casm doing 'percussive maintenance' on the catapult—also known as beating it savagely with random heavy tools even though it wasn't going to fling itself over again. By the looks of things, that's what had happened. I brushed my bangs out of my eyes as I looked back at him, awaiting a reply.

"Well… not exactly, no," the Captain admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. My little hyperactive mind decided to be distracted for a moment, watching his forearms flex. You had be freakishly strong to wield a hammer as heavy as the one Rolith did, and after a while (by the looks of things) any flesh changed to corded muscle. Normally, all of this muscle was covered up by armor plates, so I was going to make use of this situation.

Wow. Bad Calliope. BAD!

"I can tell you're lying," I sang, lightly holding my left wrist with my right hand behind my back. Maybe that would give me something else to concentrate on. I did not need to be thinking about him like this!

Rolith chuckled, his lips quirking up on one side again. "I'm not lying," he defended, after appearing to think about it for a second. "I said not exactly, which is true. We can always send someone else."

"Send?"

"To Falconreach," he clarified, and I nodded, watching him intently.

"Why would someone need to go to Falconreach? The catapult?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I could never do that one-eyebrow trick everyone else seemed to be able to do, despite my best efforts. I peered over Rolith's shoulder once more at the seemingly smashed war machine, and it seemed to me that while they had been trying to fix it, the arm had flung itself forward or something, and something else broke off and went flying.

Hence why the shouted order to duck.

"It's not a problem, I'll go," I offered with a shadowless grin, shrugging one shoulder, but Rolith was already shaking his head.

"You don't need to, I'll have one of the other knights go," Rolith protested.

I pulled my hands from behind my back to poke him in the chest, punctuating every third or fourth word. "No. I'll go, because I can ride faster than them without armor on. Plus, I can be gone in six minutes and back in a little over an hour, because that bridge is fixed."

Put like that, he couldn't really argue. It was surprisingly logical coming from me. Besides, I needed to pick up some more painting color stuff, and that could be easily found in Falconreach, so I could grab it on my way to find Cysero. Also, it was my day off, too. I could be just as helpful, and even six months after my arrival at the keep I still was trying to prove myself, despite the fact that my subconscious told me I already had several times over.

"You really want to do this?" Rolith asked, running a hand through his hair as was his habit.

"Well, sure. I can't do any more painting until I go to Falconreach for paint stuff, so I have nothing productive to do around here. I need to go anyway, I don't mind."

Rolith gave me a speculative look at my transparent honesty, and I blinked innocently, already toeing my way around the Captain in the direction of the stables. His gaze changed to a dry look, and I grinned a little crookedly, flashing my eyebrows. The last glance he gave me was submissive, and that had me scrambling for the stables, giving the catapult a wide berth.

I snatched Contesse's bridle from the peg where most of them were kept, grabbed a saddle blanket on my way to her stall, and lifted her saddle from the small ledge with a grunt. As I struggled to unlatch her stall door one-handed, I felt the weight from the saddle suddenly vanish, and looked around to see Rolith hefting the black leather contraption onto his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. And after carting that hammer of his around, it probably didn't.

"Thanks," I commented, glancing automatically at my feet for a moment before entering Tessa's stall. We lapsed into a comfortable silence as I swept the worst of the dust and loose hair off of the middle of the dapple gray's back, greeted her with a swift pat to the neck, and lifted her saddle blanket up.

Half-turning to accept the saddle from Rolith, I was caught by surprise when he merely stepped past me to set the molded saddle on top of the saddle blanket himself, saving me the trouble. I offered him a quick smile, then reached under Tessa's belly to catch the end of her girth.

Twice, I opened my mouth to say something random, funny, unexpected, or confusing, but thought better of it and maintained my silence. It wasn't that the silence was uncomfortable or anything… but with a bit of a shock, I realized that being around Rolith had shown me that there was such a thing as a comfortable silence. And I'd fallen into several around him in particular without even realizing the gradual shift.

Wait… was I… thinking logically? Darn, Rolith really had me screwed up. And I had worked so hard on my little random attitude.

A smirk quirked my lips at the thought as I tightened the caveson on Tessa's bridle, and turned on my heel to lead her out. Rolith backed out ahead of me so I had room to get out, and wordlessly held her head while I stretched my left foot up to her stirrup and heaved myself up with my arms before swinging my other leg over. Mounting a horse from the ground wasn't easy, and especially not one as friggin' enormous as the warhorses in Oaklore Keep.

Reaching down to tighten the strap that held the chest straps to the saddle, I gathered her reins up in my fingers, grinning briefly at Rolith. "Thanks. And don't worry, I'll be back before you know it!" I chirped optimistically, blowing my bangs out of my eyes as Tessa shifted, ready to go.

"Be careful," he cautioned as he walked next to us at Tessa's left shoulder while we made our way to the gates. "The bandits—"

"Are too slow to catch me," I broke in with a short-lived grin as the huge wooden doors began to open. "Don't be so worried, I'll be fine."

I'd never admit it. I had some pride after all. But… I was worried, despite my carefree words to Rolith. Nobody'd ever guess that, though. Everyone expected me to be smiling all the time, always in a good mood. I certainly wasn't going to let them worry by thinking otherwise.

"They might be restless," Rolith continued with a warning look. "After the hunt, they'll be looking for revenge or something." I was nodding before he'd finished, ready to roll, but nearly jumped when I felt a hand on my calf, warm through the fabric of my breeches, keeping me from heading off. Looking down in a bit of confusion, I felt my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth when I met Rolith's gaze. Who thought that hazel eyes couldn't express themselves as well as brown, blue, or green? 'Cause they were dead wrong. "Be careful, Calliope."

I nodded, regaining my lively grin and directing it at my friend before I faced forward and lightly dug my heels into Tessa's sides. Needing no more motivation, she sprang forward, every muscle surging beneath the saddle. It was impossible not to feel the copious amounts of energy being expended in every stride, and I could only imagine the power my mare had to have to be able to hit full stride within six yards.

I automatically leaned forward in the saddle, keeping my butt glued to the saddle. I felt my sword in its sheath bumping rhythmically against my leg, and fervently hoped that I wouldn't need to use it.

You probably won't, my mind scolded. At this speed, the only way they'll catch you is on dragons or something. Some animal that's faster than a horse over ground. And I don't think they've got anything of that caliber.

I slitted my gaze against the flashes of sunlight that flew by, trying not to lose my train of thought with the speed that the light was alternating between being in my eyes and not. If you've ever been going at high speeds and lights were flickering or switching faster than you could properly comprehend, you'd understand. All conscious thought more or less flew out the window, and all that was left was instinct.

It sucked, because you would wind up missing clues or stuff that your rational mind would easily capture. Such as, for example, pretty obvious footprints that hadn't come from steel boots, soft-soled shoeprints that were going perpendicular to your line of travel, or a glimpse here or there of dark cloth between the trees that didn't quite match the foliage color. Maybe a slight echo of hoofbeats to one or both sides through the trees.

With the way the light was flashing, I had enough sense to register an intensely painful feeling similar to getting myself hung over a branch and pulled clear out of the saddle. And, just like every time prior to now, it hurt when I got the breath knocked out of me, landing shoulders-first on the path.

I scrambled, trying to push myself up with my hands, and managed to get to my feet an instant before they were swiped out from under me. For the second time in as many seconds, I was on my back once again, reaching for the hilt of the sword that wasn't on my hip.

A hard, booted kick to my head later, I was out like a light.

Hallo, my freaky darlings!

And, at a bit of short notice, we're now down to a few chapters left. As in, count them on one hand. Might be five. Might be three. Probably four. :) But we're winding up just to wind down. I'm probably not going to be doing too much writing after this is finished, for reasons listed below.

Keep in mind, if this isn't as positively thrilling and riveting as you anticipated when you started, I did warn you that this fic would be more happy-go-lucky and less serious than Zhi Lao'Hu. Also, please remember that this is my senior year of high school and I'm doing my level best to keep from falling behind in classes first. Creative writing comes third, and what I'm working on to go to college to get my Master's for is second (that would be art in general). I'm honestly trying here. :)

I don't have a whole lot of time to write anymore, and I'm often missing update days. :/ After this fic is finished, I'm probably going to stick to oneshots for a while, because school is taking up most of my time now. But this WILL be finished.

Later, darlins! Tell me if you spot any inconsistencies, typos, or anything, etc.!

Juliet