A/N: For Saberin, who will be away being awesome this week :)
AER: Parades are a good workout :P So long as you follow the correct route!
Saberin: Have fun! Stick to bottled water and wear compression socks on the plane (trust me on that one).
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. And still not Australian.
Meanwhile…
Kane ducked low as he weaved his way through the vineyard. He was supposed to infiltrate a famous Iberion warlord's estate, raise his signal to the army that waited a quarter mile away, and then locate the Araluen prisoners being kept somewhere on the property. They had a general's wife, son, and daughter-in-law hidden somewhere. The Iberion king had assured the Courier sent with them that the warlord was a rebel but Kane wasn't so sure. The royal family allowed their youngest daughter, Anamaria, to go to Araluen for education. She was in love with William and William returned her affection. Kane approved of the relationship because he liked Anamaria. She'd be a good queen. Much better than her older siblings that squabbled over who should be Iberion's next leader like toddlers squabbled over the last cookie.
Anamaria had requested an Araluen education to escape the countless assassination attempts of her family. Everyone wanted to be king or queen and would do anything to get it. Anamaria's own parents were third cousins, though Kane had serious doubt that King Felipe was in fact Anamaria's father. Both Felipe and Queen Isabella had blue eyes and Anamaria's were brown. He didn't know much about genetics but the lack of several shared traits between Felipe and Isabella made him doubt the honesty of lineage of four of their six children. As a whole, the family was vile. Anamaria was their black sheep, proving herself kind and charming.
Kane made it inside. He shot up a firework and then ran for it. Soon the Araluen army would reach them. He just had to hold his own for fifteen minutes as he waited for five hundred men to storm the estate and then he'd be free to search for the general's family. His father had taught him the techniques for this type of work well and he was a better Royal Scout for it. He moved among the darkness keeping pace with the natural shadows that played against the wall alongside his. The Iberion guards picked up pace. They knew about the Araluen army now. A soldier called in reinforcements in the language Kane barely understood but he caught the words 'prisoners' and 'hurry'. Guards ran up from a semi-hidden entry carrying simple spears.
"Perfect," he muttered as he went through the entryway and down the steep stairs. It couldn't have worked out better. He came to a now-unguarded locked door. He opened the small window and peered inside. An older woman huddled with a young woman while a young man sat near a small crowd of other people. He wore an Araluen-marked tunic.
Kane wasted no time picking the lock and sliding the deadbolt. More than just the general's family had been housed there. "Are you Araluen?" an older woman asked warily.
"Yes," Kane answered. "I am Scout Kane O'Carrick. Come with me. I'll get you all out of here."
"Kane?"
Kane looked back towards the shadows of the cell as the family alongside other obviously Araluen people filed out. Kane stiffened. "Talia?"
Scout sat with her mother on her parents' bed. Her father had firmly sent her entourage away after dinner. They had gone to village to stay at an inn while Scout stayed with her family. Lady Melissa had made a fuss about leaving but Liam stood up to her, arguing Scout was in the care of a Ranger and Lady of the Charmed Battalion. Lina combed her hair with the silk flower comb Scout had become famous in Hibernia for. She'd started a trend, something common for a princess to do.
"Well?" Lina asked. "How've you been? You spent the whole night talking about Araluen and nobody ever got anything about Hibernia out of you."
Scout took a deep breath. "It's insane, Mama. Sean and Kineta have me in more lessons than you did. And I'm always with people. Even if I turn a corner too fast and the herd hasn't yet followed I feel like I've got some freedom."
Her mother just smiled. "Well nobody ever said being a princess was easy."
"You didn't say it'd be anything you just said that either I or Caitlyn would go."
"Yeah, well, I didn't really have a good experience when it was my turn."
"You got out of it."
"Thank grace. Do you really see your father and me in that life?"
"No, of course not." Scout turned around. "Mama why did you give it up?"
Her mother set the comb down. "While Sean was unwittingly being slid into the best circumstances to be Hibernia's leader I was running around taking care of national enemies. The general public loved Sean but they'd never heard of me. Once everything was over I just wanted to marry your father and have a family. Sean had bigger plans."
"Do you regret it?"
"Not at all."
Scout grinned. She hugged her mother again. "I've missed you Mama."
"Not that much, I hope."
"Do you ever miss your mother?"
Scout realized she'd asked the wrong thing the moment the words left her mouth. Lina's smile vanished.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that," Scout tried to cover but her mother just shook her head.
"Scout…your grandmother, Pauline, did more for me in the first three months I knew her than my real mother did for me my entire life. She's technically your great-aunt but we let you call her and Halt your grandparents because we thought you needed some. Your father and I got on well enough without parents but we realized we missed out entirely on grandparents. We wanted you and Caitlyn to have everything we didn't."
"When did you do it?"
"Do what, Scout?"
"Kill Finley."
Lina's expression became grim. "I don't want you to be frightened of me. There's no way you can understand what all happened back then and I don't want you to have nightmares."
"Mama you expect me to be the princess of Hibernia but you won't tell me your past?"
Her mother's eyes clouded, as though she were going back to that day in her mind. She squeezed them tightly shut for several seconds before going on. "I was about three or four months along with Caitlyn. I'd just recently been reunited with Kane's mother…Finley tried to imprison your father and me…I think I already told you that part."
"You did."
"She threatened your life. She didn't know about Caitlyn and we were trying to keep it that way. Talia discovered her. I was slow to start gaining the weight but she's the one who noticed. Finley threatened you but once I learned her men weren't truly loyal to her I tackled her from a horse and killed her."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Very…your sister was extremely active for the rest of the day and then went still for almost a week. I worried she'd miscarry but we got lucky."
Scout hugged her mother. It just seemed like the right thing to do. "I never realized how hard your life was."
Lina hugged her back. "It doesn't matter what challenge you go against, Scout, just what you do once you face them. That's when you realize what you're made of."
"I love you Mama."
"I love you too. Now off to bed with you. I believe a couple of Araluen princes will come dragging you away to hunt later."
"You know about those?"
There was no way to deny it.
"There's not much you and your sister do that gets past your father and me. We're trained warriors, remember."
Scout smiled.
"Well then thanks for letting me get away with so much."
"Just be careful."