I have to apologize for the months of nothing that my loyal readers received. College is never easy or lenient, and this year was no exception. I'll be glad to say that the following couple of months will be filled with updates, AND that we will finally be getting somewhere! Thanks and enjoy!

After a tear-filled goodbye to the staff at The Hearty Hart, Eleni had set out for the palace. Although it had been difficult to do, Eleni had succeeded in freeing herself from Irina's 'goodbye kisses'. Despite knowing the truth, Irina was in no way deterred. It only served to make Eleni blushed a darker shade of red.

Lokejo had been inpatient for her return and made a trip down to the city to escort her back. Upon arriving at The Hart, and seeing what the blonde woman was trying to do to his charge, he silently swore to himself that the child would not be coming back to this place. Safe indeed! Lokejo would be having a word with George of Pirate's Swoop.

All the same, it was obvious to Eleni that her guardian was more than a little frazzled after a two months without her. She smiled at the knowledge that he truly had missed her.

"Did you enjoy your adventure, chick?" he asked her, sincerely curious about the experience.

Thinking back to the days with the overly-boisterous Irina and secretive Avery, Eleni chuckled. "The days were interesting. I met a fine group of people in that house. Grandfather chose well."

"And nothing bad happened? I mean about, you know," here he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "about you being a lass and all."

Despite her natural talent as a liar and a player, Eleni could never hide anything from Lokejo. He instantly caught the subtle tell-tale signs of an oncoming lie. Her shoulders squared and were thrown back by a fraction, purple eyes stared straight forward, and her fingers tightened around the straps of the pack she carried.

"Good gods, don't try to lie to me, chick. I will have you on the first ship heading back to the Islands, if you so much as try." There was no love in his voice then. Worry and his protective nature taking control, because one of them had to be responsible. "Who knows?"

"Two of the serving women at The Hearty Hart. I was careless one night, and revealed. They won't tell, though," she assured him. When his expression remained doubtful, Eleni tried again. "They're Grandfather's people. They're trained to keep secrets. On penalty of death, remember? I trust them."

Lokejo heaved a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair. For the last eight weeks, he had been relaxed, if a little worried about Eleni, now that she was back under his care, he was even more worried and already working up a headache. "I'll take your word for it, little chick, but I will still have to speak with your grandfather about this. You need to remember that you are my charge, and that your safety is my first priority."

"Fine, fine," she acquiesced. "He probably knows about it already. I'd be surprised if I wasn't summoned to his office in the hours following my arrival."

On the way back to the palace, they discussed all the new things that Eleni had discovered about the city. While Lokejo agreed that the exposure to the life outside of the city walls would give her an advantage over the other more sheltered pages, he still didn't like it when Eleni told him that she planned to return to The Hart every summer. He didn't think that he nerves would be able to take it.

Hours later, Eleni was proven right, hearing a knock on her door. After George's personal messenger had dropped off the missive, Eleni laughed. Holding up the note for Lokejo to read, she looked very much like a proud conqueror.

"I told you so," she said.

Tussling her hair, Lokejo had to chuckle. "I promise to never doubt you again. Now go, I think it would be best to not keep your grandfather waiting."

No sooner had Eleni left her room than she heard a fairly unwanted and venomous voice.

"So the runt of the litter wasn't carried off by Stormwings after all."

A few feet from Eleni's door, languidly relaxed against her own doorway and as beautiful as ever, was Pierina of Stone Mountain, the only official female page. Her hair had grown out, softening the edges of her face and giving her ice-blue eyes a more feminine look. However, what was certainly the most drastic change in the page was her choice of attire. For the first time that Eleni could recall, Pier was wearing a gown. A soft charcoal confection made her eyes seem yielding instead of steely, but no attire or hairstyle could transform to scowl she had plastered on her face.

Choosing to take the high road, Eleni ignored the verbal challenge and continued on her way without a word. Thinking twice, she let her crow side get the better of her for just a moment. "Gorgeous dress, Lady Stone Mountain," she shouted out loudly before making a run for George's study. By the sounds she heard, she knew that more than one page had opened their door to see for themselves.

After enjoying a heartfelt laugh, Eleni made briskly made her way to her grandfather's study. The room was as it had been at the beginning of summer, but its owner wasn't. Eleni couldn't say exactly what it was, but there was something different about George. Though it had only been two months, he looked older, more haggard, perhaps it was just a momentary bout of fatigue catching up to him, but it still worried Eleni.

Knocking gently, she made herself known in the open doorway. "You called for me, Grandfather?" At the simple sight of his only granddaughter, it appeared that years were lifted from George's face, that his troubles had been vanished by her presence.

With a kind smile, he beckoned her to close the heavy soundproof door. By the time that she turned back around to face his desk, George had already left his chair and was about to engulf his grandchild in a bone-breaking embrace.

"Grandfather," she managed to squawk. "Fragile bones!"

Letting her go with a guffaw, George led her to a chair before going to his own. Finally able to calm his laughter, he asked what he had wanted to know. "How was your stay with my people in the city?"

The sixth bell rang as Eleni was finishing up her stories. She admitted to being found out by Irina and Avery, knowing that it would be futile to hide anything from her Grandmaster. He hadn't become the king's Spymaster without good reason. He was pleased that Eleni had made friends among the different people who happened his disguised spy house, and assured her that his people could be trusted to keep a secret or three.

"As entertaining as this has been, pet," he said. "I do think that it is time you head back to your room." With a final hug, George watched his daring granddaughter leave. She certainly had made good use of her time in the city, but if she didn't stay aware, she'd expose herself sooner than later. "Gods help," he muttered and got back to his dreaded paperwork.

Eleni noticed that the servants had already started to light the candles and torches around the castle. She hadn't noticed how quickly it had become dark within the castle. Though the sun was far from being gone, there were already parts of the castle that were dimming. The dancing shadows on the walls proved distracting as well as entertaining. It had been weeks since she had been in a palace, and it would take time to reacquaint herself with having servants organizing things away from her sight.

Eleni had almost manage to make it back to her room when an arm shot out from a room, effectively throwing Eleni off balance and allowing the arm's owner to drag her inside.

Like she had thought, it would take time to get used to the ways of a palace again.

I hope that everyone enjoyed the newest chapter, despite the slow progress. Never fear, this is just a warm up and a way for me to get back into the groove of writing this fic!