Chapter 28: Long Overdue

Adalia had enjoyed two days of sleeping in, warm fireplaces, beautiful meals and comfortable beds at the palace. The problem was that her estimation of how long it would take Third Company to return to Corus was up today.

She hadn't even been scolded for turning up without Kel and Third Company; she had simply explained what they had done to her, and Alanna and Jon had both agreed they all deserved what they got.

Adalia was sitting in the mess hall, joking with Rye about what they were likely to do with her when they got back all cold and discovered that she had been lounging around for two days while they had been experiencing the wonders of snow, when she heard loud crow bawls.

Cocking an ear, she grinned in delight as her 'recruits' that were watching the road for the incoming company said that they were almost in Corus.

Rye was looking at her, one eyebrow raised, "What?"

Adalia grinned largely and said, "They're here."

Rye chuckled as Adalia jumped up from her seat and left him with her empty plate. She absentmindedly fluttered her fingers at him in a goodbye while her mind was obviously taken up with other things.

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"Calm Down and stop pacing, squire. You're making me dizzy."

Adalia stopped in her pacing to grin sheepishly at one of the soldiers who were guarding the gate. The man was grinning and obviously amused by her antics. He was part of First Company, and Adalia knew him from when she and Kel travelled with them.

Adalia forced herself to take a deep breath. After she had mastered herself, she jumped up to be sitting on the wall, her legs dangling over the side. She grinned when she saw Kel, Raoul, Dom and Flick at the lead. The soldiers looked mud splattered and miserable, as did the knights. The weird thing was that Kel had a crow on her shoulder.

Adalia jumped straight over the edge, falling the large distance, but landed lightly at the bottom. She grinned wickedly as she ran over to Kel, who was looking more than a little confused. Kel and the company had stopped in their tracks, and Adalia trotted over to be standing in front of Kel and Hoshi. She gave a graceful bow, "I am pleased that you finally got here. I've had all this free time and was looking for entertainment."

She could hear soldiers snort and start chuckling, as did Charlie and Dameon, who were behind the knights. The crow that was perched on Kel's shoulder gave a large caw and flitted over to be perched on Adalia's shoulder.

"What? …" Kel asked. She was confused. As far as she knew, Adalia was the crow that had stuck with them while they were ploughing through the snow. It had certainly been annoying enough.

Adalia grinned wickedly and indicated the crow, "You thought that this was me? You should really learn to distinguish one crow from another. She just wanted to be fed more, and I wanted to get out of the cold. We struck up an agreement."

Kel was looking annoyed, and signalled the company to go. Adalia jumped up onto Sora, who had been trailing with Anika behind Kel. Obviously they had realised that neither would need to be led.

Raoul raised his eyebrows, "How long did it take you to get back?"

Adalia tapped her chin thoughtfully, "As the crow flies, it takes almost an hour. It would have been faster but I had to take a few minutes rest when I was laughing too hard at how long it would take you to plough through the snow."

Adalia grinned as Kel looked murderous, and directed her next comment at her, "I knew you would worry if I didn't come back, so I arranged it so you would think I was still there." The crow that they had assumed was Adalia gave a loud squawk and flapped away.

Adalia crossed her arms, 'It's not my fault that you as good as begged me to go. I mean, come on. Who lifts a tent off of a person this close to midwinter?"

They had reached the stables and Adalia jumped off Sora, giving both her horses the apples that had been concealed in her coat, and then asked them to follow her to the sables. Kel lead Hoshi and Peachblossom to the stables, scowling at her squire. "If I wasn't too exhausted and frozen I would force you to joust with me right now."

She smiled slightly at the look of fright that crept over Adalia's features, even though she knew the girl was mostly doing it as a joke; Adalia wasn't that bad at jousting, it was just that she was too afraid of hurting her opponent, which unfortunately led to her getting beaten. Kel was trying to cure her of it, but it seemed that the day she had smashed the dummy to pieces was still fresh on her mind, and the girl wanted to take no chances of not realising her own strength.

Kel rolled her eyes at the girl, "Lucky for you, I am too exhausted and frozen. I'm going to sleep to thaw out. You can do what you want for the moment."

Adalia cheered in delight and started untacking Sora.

Once both were done looking after the horses, Adalia was starting to skip away happily when Kel called after her, "Oh. When I wake up we are going to joust."

Adalia gulped, and spun on the spot as her knight master, who was looking positively delighted to have got her back, walked off in the direction of her rooms.

Hearing laughter from behind her, she scowled and crossed her arms. She turned to face Kula, Charlie and Dameon. After glaring at them, she walked off to her room.

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That night Adalia was in her room with the door locked, using Shard to talk to her mother, as was her weekly ritual. She smiled, "Oh Ma, I miss you soo much."

The beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and green-hazel eyes smiled at her daughter, and then sighed, "I miss you as well, Ady. We all do."

They looked at each other, and Adalia noticed that it looked suspiciously like her mother was moving up and down. Aly seemed to be arguing with herself about something.

Adalia's brow creased as she thought why her mother would be rocking. "Ma, why are you on a ship?"

Aly's eyes sparkled as she started laughing, "Well, that solves my problem. Ady, you should be proud. Aidan bet your dad that you wouldn't catch on, but apparently you are more observant than he thought."

Adalia grinned crookedly at her mother, "He has obviously forgot that I'm as smart – or smarter than he is. I think his head has inflated too much."

Aly grinned, "Not my fault, he has become quite dashing, and all the court ladies are just swarming at him. I have done my share to deflate it, but that is part of the reason he is coming with us to visit you. He also misses his sister."

It took Adalia a few seconds to process the main point of that sentence, and she blinked in surprise, mouth hanging open. "You are coming here?" She asked incredulous, hardly able to believe it.

Aly grinned at her daughter, "Yes. The Copper Isles have sent ambassadors to cement the alliance with Tortall. And who better to send then relatives of the Lioness?"

"Goddess! That is the best news ever! Ma, I'll be able to see you and Da and Aidan again!"

Aly rolled her eyes, but was grinning broadly, "Well, that was the reason I volunteered. Aidan wants to meet Alanna and George as well, and it has been years since I have been able to see my parents."

Adalia talked excitedly with her mother. This visit was long overdue. Suddenly the five years since she had left the Isles felt like a lifetime.

She ended the conversation reluctantly when she heard the bell that signalled for everyone still awake to go to sleep. She couldn't believe that she would be seeing her family in two days.

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Two days after the exciting revelation that her ma was visiting Tortall, Adalia was fidgeting while standing next to her grandma, who was in much the same condition. It was obvious that she was eager to see her daughter again, and her grandson, who she had never met. The morning after learning that her ma was coming, Adalia had paid a visit to her grandma, who had only smiled sheepishly and said she had wanted it to be a surprise for midwinter.

"There's the ship!" Adalia said excitedly. A squad of the Own, as well as Alanna and Adalia, had come to greet them. Kula had stayed at the palace; Alanna and Kel had temporarily swapped squires so that Adalia could be in Port Caynn to greet her parents. (Kel had said she got the better deal, and had whisked Kula away for some jousting. Kula had said Adalia got the better deal.)

The Temaida docked easily, and Adalia was delighted to recognise some of the Raka that were working on the ship. She and her brother had spent a lot of time all over Rajmuat, trying to avoid being found by her mother. Even though they were usually found quickly, they had both managed to make friends throughout the capital. Everybody was really friendly, especially to the children of the revered Duani. She and her brother would love to spot her mother's spies and then sneak up on them from behind, giving them a freight before scampering off and disappearing again.

She jumped the fair distance onto the ship before it had lowered the gangplank that would allow them to exit it. She swept into a large hug with her mother, father and even Aidan. A few moments later Alanna had boarded the ship and Aly had wiggled out of the hug to hug her mother.

Adalia took a large breath and stepped out of the hold of her father and brother and smiled, "Long time no see."

Aidan and Nawat smiled, "Too long." Adalia jumped in to hug her dad again. Her grandma interrupted by smiling warmly at her da. He smiled and shook her hand, "It's good to be here."

After greeting Nawat, Alanna turned to Aidan. "It's good to meet you, Aidan. Let me get a look at you."

Adalia saw Aidan smile nervously, and draped an arm over her twin's shoulder, reassuring him. When they were younger, the twins were hard to tell apart, except for her longer hair, but now it seemed they had changed; Adalia realised that she looked more like a woman, and he a man. He had the same violet eyes and raven black hair as Adalia, and they were about the same height. The noticeable difference was that Aidan had muscles. Adalia was jealous of those. She had not gained muscle, even during the rigorous training schedule, because she had inherited the crow's abilities. So even though she was about five times stronger than the average man, she didn't look it. Her twin, on the other hand, had only inherited their mother's Sight. The strength of their abilities could only be explained that since they were not divided between them, each respective twin had gotten the full power of what they inherited.

Alanna smiled and hugged the boy. "It's good to finally meet my grandson."

"It's good to meet my famous Grandmother. Is what they tell me true? That Adalia inherited your temper?"

Adalia scowled and hit him on the head, while Alanna just laughed. Aidan had no temper to speak of, but he loved to tease.

Adalia went around and greeted the people she recognised on the ship, and then walked off the ship with her family, her father and mother's arms draped over her shoulders.

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Aly, Nawat and Aidan received a Royal welcome when they arrived at the palace. Alanna and Adalia showed them to their rooms. When they arrived, Aly slumped down on one of the beds and smiled wickedly, "Adalia. Could you go get your friends? I want to meet all the people I've heard so much about."

"Sure." Adalia shrugged, not really sure why her mother was looking slightly evil. She turned around and walked to the door, when her mother called after her, "Don't forget Rye. We've heard a lot of interesting things about him. He sounds really nice."

With the knowing look her mother gave her, Adalia was sure that she had found out about their relationship, 'Does nothing slip by a spymaster? … No, wait. That's her mum side, not the spy master.'

She ran out quick. 'How could she have… I haven't told her.' While racking her brains as to how her ma could have found out, she ran to find her friends. They were in the mess hall, at the squire's table. She grinned as she saw that Nathan, Kaden and Daniel had arrived at the palace as well. She signalled to her friends to go to her parent's suite after lunch, and then turned around and searched for Rye.

She had no idea where in the palace he could be, and searched the Rider's mess, his parent's suite and the stables. After checking a few more places without finding Rye, she cursed and slumped onto a bench. That's when the obvious way to find Rye struck. She furtively looked around, and upon seeing no one, lifted her wrist that had Shard on it close to her face. "Shard, could you find Rye?"

In an instant, Shard said, "Rye with Aly."

Adalia blinked at her darking. Rye was with her ma. "Why is he there?"

"He say he look for Ady. Aly say she come soon, and he say he wait there."

"Well, at least ma didn't go looking for him." Adalia muttered. Jumping up, she started jogging towards her family's rooms. It was then that another obvious thought struck her, and she looked at Shard. 'Duh. Shard told ma. Idiot! Why didn't I realise that before?' Feeling more than a little stupid at not realising her darking would report to her ma, she went to her family's suite.

She knocked on the door, and upon entering, discovered that all her friends were talking eagerly with her family, and laughing. "About time you got back." That was Kula, and she was grinning slightly.

Adalia pushed some hair out of her eyes and glared at Rye, "Well, I was told to find my friends, and I couldn't find one of them. Lucky I decided to check here hey?" Rye smiled sheepishly and returned to a conversation with her ma, of all people.

She went over and sat next to her brother, who was entertaining her friends with childhood stories of her.

"- and she fell into the harbour!" Her friends broke into giggles, and Adalia scowled at her brother and hit him over the head.

"You're back for half a day and already I wish you were mute." Adalia said with mock anger.

He grinned charmingly, "Oh, sis. How I have missed your temper." She responded by hitting him again.

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Adalia and her friends left only when the dinner bell rang. Aidan had made quick friends with them, as did her parents.

They grabbed dinner and sat down at the squire's table. Rye had split off from the group to go eat with his parents. Kula turned to Adalia, "Your bother is nice."

Adalia raised her eyebrows, "If annoying translates as nice, then I suppose so."

Daniel grinned, green eyes dancing, "He told us some very interesting stories."

Adalia scowled, "Which you are not to repeat."

"Oh, but they are so … entertaining." Kaden said grinning wickedly.

"Which is why. I'll have to tell you about his childhood sometime." She grinned and told them some of the more funny things that her brother had done, which had them all in stiches.

After dinner, Adalia retired to her room and snuggled under the warm sheets.

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In the morning, Adalia woke up to someone banging on her door. Suddenly a lock clicked and in waltzed Kel, her mother and her grandmother, all looking wary. Behind them, Flick was lounging against the doorframe. Kel leaned against the closed window.

By this time, Adalia was extremely suspicious at why they had all came. She was still tired, but she realised that they had some news that she probably wouldn't like.

Alanna grinned, "As you know, the King is holding a banquet for the Copper Isles ambassadors."

Adalia rubbed her eyes and nodded. The pages and squires would be serving tonight, because a lot of knights had been ordered to attend.

"You will be attending."

Adalia still looked confused, "Yeah, I know. I will have to serve."

Alanna shook her head, "No, you have to attend."

Adalia was glancing at the exits, and realised that Kel and Flick were blocking them. Her growing horror was evident on her face and in her voice with her next comment, "No."

"Yes. And you will be wearing a dress, and you have to take lessons on curtseys." Said a woman from the door. Adalia looked at the woman, and to her dismay, noted it was the Queen. This was a Royal order.

Adalia swore in Kyprish, and her mother scolded her, although she was looking amused. Adalia turned to her mother and pleaded that she not go. Aly raised her eyebrows, "What's this? A daughter of mine not wanting to wear a dress?"

Adalia scowled, "Of course not! It will be embarrassing! I am a squire. Squire's don't wear dresses."

She had said the last in Common, and to the whole room. Alanna looked amused, "Unfortunately, female squires are sometimes required to. I will be wearing a dress tonight as well, and I'm a knight."

Adalia put her face in her hands. Flick, understanding why the girl was obstinate (due to observations during her page years) walked over and put an arm on her shoulder. "It won't change much. You won't change."

Adalia looked into her brown eyes and showed her how much she didn't want to do this, showed everyone. "I won't, they will."

Although most were confused by this conversation, Alanna stepped up, "Don't worry Ady, you'll be beautiful."

And with that they gathered around and pulled her out of the room, off for the cliff notes version of being a lady. None of them heard the whispered reply, "That's what I'm afraid of."

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Well, I hope you all enjoyed. He he he, the mystery is revealed.

Next Chapter: Of Dresses and Banquets.

Note: If anyone has any cool ideas for what could happen in her last three years as a page, I'd love to hear your ideas. Doesn't mean I'll use all of em, but you guys will probably be able to tell me stuff you would like to read about, which will make the story better. Ok. A big thankyou to all reviewers, past and future.