The body of a bird is very small and light, so that it may glide on the gentle breezes and go where it wishes. The body of a human is much heavier. Changing from one to the other is difficult, very difficult. The bones have to reconstruct the entire skeleton and rearrange all of the organs. All in all the process is anything but painless.

Five minutes under the gaze of a master interrogator can feel like days, and one cannot hope to hold out for long. Those five minutes made Eleni forget the pain of the transformation. She wasn't going to wait for George Cooper to find what he was looking for. He was still staring at her and she decided to act before she lost her nerve.

In less time than it took George to blink, Eleni had transformed into a mass of sleek, black feathers, leaving her clothes on the stone floor, and started for the window. I'll fly away, hideout in the forest. Maybe he'll worry so much about me that he'll make a deal. I just have to get-

George was already in front of the window, Eleni's escape blocked. His wit never abandoned him, and he wasn't surprised, because his daughter had already warned him about all of her children's crow tricks. He didn't try to grab her, scared that he might break one of her fragile bones, but looked into her eyes, seeking the intelligence that he knew was there.

"Change back, lass." The crow tried to fly around him, but George was blocking her way again. "Now, Eleni."

With a shrill cry, the little crow turned away from the window and gruffly landed on the floor. After a second, she cawed again and indignantly flapped her wings. Finally understanding, George turned around to give his granddaughter some privacy to dress.

If the process of turning into a crow was to be considered painful, then there were no words to describe the transformation from crow to human. The bones had to expand exponentially, an Eleni was grateful that she was small. Smaller bones meant less regrowing, and in turn, meant less pain.

When she was decent once more, she stood still, staring a the back of her grandfather's head. Why? He could have caught me, he certainly proved quick enough. Grandfather, at this thought she let out a loud and resigned sigh, let's get this over with.

"What do you want to know?"

George turned around with a small smile on his lips and sat on the forgotten bed. Motioning Eleni over with a pat on the bed, he waited for her to sit still. "I want to know why there was a lass on that ship, when I was told to expect a lad." Eleni' shoulders drooped and George put one arm around her and with his other hand lifted her chin. "Lass, I don't care that you want to be a knight. Gods, I couldn't be more proud, but why lie?"

He's not angry. He's Grandfather. I guess I should have expected him to understand."The Lioness had it easier. She just pretended to be a boy and worried about the consequences after she was revealed. If a girl is to win her shield now, then she is treated differently. They're not coddled, but life is made much more difficult for them, for me, because stuffy conservatives keep interrupting the training." She was trying to keep her voice calm, and was mostly succeeding, but her traitorous violet eyes were shining with unshed tears.

All he could do was stare at his only granddaugter. This small girl, probably only as tall as Alanna wa when she was ten, had really thought things through. She was right, of course. Lady Knight Keladry had to endure much more than the male pages and squires only to be appreciated half as much. And the damn conservatives were still calling her a sham.

"Ellie, I understand what you're feeling, I do, but you can't go around causing problems for the king. No, lass," he said as she tried to speak up. "Jon has enough problems dealing with the conservatives and their animosity towards known female knights. What do you think would happen when they found out you were a girl? No one would believe he'd never known."

"But I want the title of Lady Knight!" Like most ten-year-olds, Eleni hated adults talking down to her. "I know that it'll mean problems for the king, but Grandmother was the same! The problems she caused didn't matter afterwards, because she proved such a great knight. I don't want the title of Lady."

"Are you finished? Good. In my day we respected our elders." Eleni's face clearly stated that she doubted George's words. "Well, maybe not respected, but we didn't throw tantrums. Lass," he sighed,"Are you sure?"

"About what?"

"Are you sure you're up to ding all this? Lying to everyone you meet for the next eight years?"

"You'd let me? Really let me?" Eleni was too scared to believe him. She wanted to, but there was always the possibility that the ex-Rogue was lulling her into a false sense of security.

"If you're sure you can do it, who am I to stop you?" George lifted her chin up with one finger and placed a gentle kiss on Eleni's forehead. "You look like her, people don't lie when they say it. Make me proud, Myles." He knew that to expose her now would be too painful for the girl, but he also knew that her exposure later would hurt more. George could only pray to the gods that his little girl would be strong when the time came.

"Thank you, Grandfather."

"Anytime, lass."

It was an hour later that Alanna found her husband and granddaughter chatting amiably, almost as if George was Eleni's father. A small smile found its way to her lips. Perhaps, perhaps this one will be different. Goddess, watch over Myles.