A/N: Thinking...I need a vacation soon. Any suggestions?
Aubrey: Hm...I'll add that to my oneshot list for requests.
Olorein: Your reviews at my time of posting this are for Lost but, welcome back! Can't wait for you to catch up! As always, love reading your theories :)
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. And still not Australian.
Once everything was declared safe, Scout returned to the castle with her cousins. She went directly to her rooms and when she saw Kelly she ran to embrace her maid tightly. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine. How about you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Scout replied. "How's Gwen? She ran around pretending to be me, right? That's what I was told."
Kelly nodded. "She's alright. The assassin fell for the plan. He didn't even make it to the room Gwen was in."
Scout felt on edge for a few days after the attack. She suddenly realized exactly what being a princess meant. Other people put their lives on the line for her even though they'd never meet her. Her parents did that but she'd never had a glimpse of what it was like to be on the other end despite her close relationship with Araluen's royal family.
"How are you, Scout?" Sean asked as Scout sat at the dinner table.
"Good," Scout replied. "Sorry I'm late."
"Were you bow fishing?" Kineta asked with a raised eyebrow. Scout silently took a sip from the goblet of apple cider in front of her. "You should take a guard with you when you go. I know you wear different clothes but the assassin knew about your habit. Aren't you close to Warden? You two are friends, yes?"
"Yes," Scout answered.
"Take him with you from now on."
"I will," Scout promised. A serving girl came through to set out their food. Once she was gone each slowly began eating.
"Scout we've got something to tell you," Sean told her. He reached across the table to take his wife's hand. Scout slowed her chewing. She swallowed before replying. Her own parents had said those words to her before. They came before conversations that had been pre-mediated by the adults in her life behind her back.
"Alright…what is it?"
"Sean and I were talking and we decided duty to Hibernia can't get in the way of our family," Kineta explained. "We have formally adopted you but, as we've said from the beginning, you aren't our daughter. You're just the heir for Hibernia."
"What are you getting at?" Scout asked slowly.
"You're our family even though you're not our daughter so we want you to come along and help us."
"Help you do what?" Scout asked.
"We're going to adopt a baby," Sean told her. Scout's mouth dropped. "But for the same reason that kept us from adopting earlier the baby won't be the Hibernian heir."
Scout took a small bite. "So…you two are adopting a baby?"
"Yes," Sean and Kineta answered slowly.
She swallowed, stood, and ran to Kineta. She smiled widely as she hugged her. Kineta just laughed. "This is great!" Scout exclaimed. "When will it happen?"
"Soon," Kineta told her. "When we all go to Araluen for William's wedding we'll have the baby with us."
"Who else knows?"
"Just you," Sean said. "Next week we'll all have breakfast together and then we'll go to the orphanage. Their most recent report claimed they've got two boys and a girl under the age of two."
"You two will be great parents."
"We hope so," Kineta said as she smiled to Sean.
Scout could barely concentrate on eating the rest of the meal but neither could her cousins. "Can I write Mama about this?" Scout asked.
"No. We want to wait until we actually have the baby before we say anything and the message could get intercepted. We'll just let them be surprised at the wedding," Sean answered firmly.
When the day came the three ate bowls of fruit on a balcony where they could see the ocean. Scout enjoyed the quiet moments. They were all too anxious to make small talk so they just watched the seabirds swoop into the water. Scout, as promised, hadn't breathed a word of the upcoming adoption to anyone, including Kelly. Sean and Kineta only allowed a single maid and the orphanage headmistress know about the plan. Scout's history lesson was canceled one day so that she could help Kineta and the maid set up a nursery. She'd deeply enjoyed the process. In a room off of Sean and Kineta's bedroom they'd unrolled a large plush rug softer than anything Scout had felt in her life, assembled a beautifully carved wooden crib, hung brightly colored tapestries, and arranged a trunk, wardrobe, and table.
Another trunk held toys Sean and Kineta had gotten earlier in the week. Because they didn't know the exact age or even gender of the child that would be coming to live in it the toys varied greatly. Scout couldn't wait to watch the baby play with them. A small bookcase held an assortment of storybooks to read at naptime and a large, high window overlooked the ocean. A rocking chair and small stove had put in the window's nook so that Sean and Kineta could heat milk and lull the child to sleep at night when it cried out.
They mounted their horses mid-morning and rode out with just a few guards for the daytrip. It was perhaps the most unprotected Scout had been since coming to Hibernia. When they stopped to water their horses Sean explained the true meaning of their trip to those guarding them. The upcoming adoption had been kept under tight wraps so that families wouldn't push their children into orphanages in hopes of the baby being adopted by the king and queen. They baby they returned with wouldn't be announced until its next birthday. The family would simply appear with a new child but nobody in the castle but their most inner circle would question the child's origin or purpose for being there. Besides, it wasn't totally unheard of for royal families to temporarily take in the motherless children of their knights who were off on grand adventures.
None of them even wore their crowns. Drawing attention was the last thing they needed. Locals simply thought the guarded riders were a noble family of sorts coming to do charity work at the orphanage. At least, that was the story their guard fed onlookers when they went inside and the doors closed.
"Your Graces, I am so happy you have come to adopt one of our children," the headmistress, a hefty matronly-figured woman, said cheerfully. "We haven't had an adoption in some time and it's quite rare for anyone of nobility to come for one. We mostly just get farmers looking for a few extra set of hands. Most orphanages struggle with finding homes for the older children but farmers and fishermen come looking for strong boys and girls to do their work. Most face a grim life once they leave this place. Not that farming or fishing is grim it's just that when the family takes them in for the sole purpose of free labor life is…well…slave-like."
"I wish there was something we could do about that but I'm afraid we can't," Sean told her. "That type of thing needs a local revolution."
She nodded. "Agreed, Your Grace…in your letter you asked that your identities be kept from the children. How shall you be introduced?"
"Lord Jeddrick, Lady Kristen, and their niece Lady Kelly," Kineta answered. The headmistress curtsied.
"As you wish, Lady Kristen. Now, the babies under two are just this way."
She led them to small room with three cribs. A woman rocked a child that couldn't be more than two months old while two boys clearly past their first birthday but not quite at their second played in the floor. Scout smiled at them. They reminded her of her younger cousins and sister so much she suddenly felt homesick.
"Vanessa this is Lord Jeddrick and Lady Kristen. They're here with their niece Lady Kelly to adopt a child," the headmistress said. The woman nodded her head.
"Forgive me for not standing but this little girl will wail to no end if I do."
"Fussy one, is she?" Kineta asked. Vanessa looked sadly at her.
"I'm afraid she's badly weak, my lady. Allergic to milk, she is."
Scout's heart fell. Babies with intolerance to milk were rare but when they came along it was next to impossible to keep them alive. Sometimes goat's milk would suffice but in an orphanage that's probably what she'd been getting. If it didn't work the girl was doomed. Vanessa just kept rocking the baby. "Is there anything to be done about that?" Sean asked.
"Afraid not," the headmistress said in a genuinely sad tone. "We've only access to goat, cow, and sheep milk. We'll keep giving it to her in hopes she'll keep down what she needs but all in all it's a power struggle between her and nature…I wouldn't recommend getting too attached to her, my lord. The two boys there are fine lads. That one has begun talking, he has."
"What are their names?" Kineta asked.
"We don't deal with names until they're three years of age here unless whoever left them with us give them one. I'm afraid these three didn't have that luxury."
Scout noticed the pained look Kineta gave Sean. She understood orphanages a little better because of her family's work with the Redmont Ward but the Wards all had names because when they were left they had to prove their parents had been in the king's service. Sean put his arm around Kineta's shoulders. "What are these boys like?" he asked.
"The blonde one's parents were killed in a fire. He's a little behind in walking and talking and he's got a deformed mouth. If you look inside you'll find his gums and tongue are swollen more than they should…in my experience that means he'll grow up to be huge but mentally slow. He'll be a difficult one, if we're being honest, but also in my experience boys like that are fiercely loyal to those who show them love…but in anger or frustration they can get violent."
Scout shared a glance with her cousins. If they took the boy he'd be loved and part of the family but it didn't seem fair to put a boy easily triggered into violence in castle life. It'd do nothing but cause pain for everyone including him. Even Scout came close to losing her temper from time to time and she, as a huntress, had the patience to usually keep it in check.
"The redheaded boy would look a bit like you, my lady, and he's great. He's talking already and is on track to be out of diapers soon. His mother died of illness and his father's jailed for domestic abuse. Bit of a bum, his father. This boy was taken from the home by neighbors and brought here. We've had a few threats against us claiming that once he's out he'll come for the boy. We're hoping he's adopted and gone by the time the man's out."
"Because of our position we can't adopt a child with an angry living parent," Kineta said firmly before anyone could give reply, "But we will have a guard take the child far away from here to a different children's home with as much digression as possible. Then you can send word that the boy died. We'll give enough money for you to fake a funeral or whatever it is you need to do to convince him."
Scout and Sean stared at her. Kineta, being an orphan brought up in the Academy, would know about such things far better than either of them. Her resolve to improve the child's life seemed soundly firm even though their adopting him themselves had the potential to bring harm.
"I'm afraid these are the only babies we have with us," the headmistress said, "We can alert you if any more are brought in but babies tend to be taken in by family and friends at a steadier rate than older children."
"What about your next age category?" Kinta asked. She sounded desperate.
"The three to five year olds are this way, my lady."
She led them to another room. Four toddlers ran amuck while a single teenage woman changed the diaper of a fifth. She seemed too young to take on five little children alone but none were bleeding and they cleaner than Scout expected so she must be doing a good job.
"Children!" the headmistress shouted. They all stopped to stare at her. The girl caring for them all set the one she'd been changing on the ground and folded her hands as she bowed her head o the visitors. "Line up!"
The children clumsily got into a scattered line as though they'd been trained. Three were girls who all huddled together. A boy stood to their left picking his nose and another boy stood on the right with his hand inside his trousers. Scout was suddenly thankful Caitlyn was a girl even though she'd done similar things at that age. She reached up and played with the pendant holding gooseberry wine to distract herself.
"Now, this is Bobby, Mildred, Jasmine, Rebecca, and Zachary."
"Ouch!" the one called Jasmine wailed. "Becky pulled my hair!"
"Did not!" Rebecca shouted.
"Bobby's picking his nose!"
"Zachy still wears diapers!"
"Ew dirty!"
"I farted."
"I'm hungry."
"I need water."
"I need to go potty."
"I need a cookie."
"Bobby's gross!"
"Ew Bobby wiped his booger on me!"
The high-pitched chaos returned. Sean kept his arm around Kineta and Scout sank back as the overwhelming hectic scene of five toddlers in a small room took hold.
"I'm sorry about this," the headmistress said over the noise. "But you know children…anyway none of them have parents you have to worry over or a known deformity. They're all your typical toddlers. Now, if you'd like to know which is best suited for castle life…"
"Scuse me," the little girl with dark brown hair and pretty dark green eyes framed by thick lashes asked as she tugged on Scout's dress. Scout knelt down.
"Yes? Mildred, is it?"
"I Millie."
"Millie it is then. What can I do for you?"
"You're pretty and so is she." Mildred, or Millie, pointed to Kineta.
"She's very pretty," Scout agreed. "Would you like to meet her?"
Millie nodded. Scout picked the girl up but didn't have time to say anything more. Millie reached over and latched onto Kineta's body before she could. "You pretty," Millie told her with confidence. Sean turned his attention to the girl as well.
"So are you," Kineta told her.
"I Millie."
"Nice to meet you Millie."
The headmistress wretched Millie from Kineta's arms. "Mildred here is four…a bit older than you anticipated I'm sure. I don't think she'll be good for your family, my lord and ladies. She's a little odd."
"She's four years old of course she's odd," Kineta retaliated as she reached for Millie again. The headmistress swung her back.
"Don't get attached, my lady. She witnessed her parents' death, you see. She doesn't get on well with any other children here and picks fights. I fear the castle life would be too much for her."
"What do you mean?" Sean asked.
"She's disturbed. One moment she's sweet and charming and the next…Mildred!"
Millie had bitten the headmistress's shoulder and wasn't letting go. The teenager rushed forward. "Don't pull back, Mistress Wendy. Be still and I'll get her off."
The teen pushed one hand on the back of the headmistress's shoulder and the other against Millie's head. She counted to three and the two separated quickly. She held Millie away from her and began scolding as the headmistress nursed her shoulder. Scout saw older bite marks on the teenager's exposed skin.
"She isn't disturbed she's just different," the girl whispered while the headmistress was distracted with her injury. "She's violent, yes, but we're working on it. I agree she's not cut out for castle life but…please don't think little of her because of that. She just needs to find a family that fits her."
"You seem like you understand her," Sean whispered softly. The girl nodded.
"She's my niece. My older sister was…um…like her. Everyone said she was mad but she wasn't she just had episodes where she'd bite. She was a sweet person, really, just different. Strangers thought her insane but the locals understood. She was so pretty, just like Millie is…a boy disgraced her one night and we got Millie. She died in childbirth and we couldn't afford her so I was told to bring her here. I've worked here for six years now and the headmistress let me work with the children Millie's age once she came here. When she was a baby a couple of people tried adopting her but I couldn't let them take her away without knowing and they changed their minds. Please…if you know anyone that could handle her she really is a good girl she just needs…some…extra…care." As the girl finished the last bit she was expertly wrangling Millie away from her flesh. The bite marks left in the teen's forearm weren't near what had been left with the headmistress.
"Well…perhaps you'd like to try the six to eight year olds?" the headmistress asked as she returned to them.
"We'll have to exchange the crib for a bed," Scout whispered to Kineta as they were led down the hall again.
"Small work I really was hoping for a baby."
"We could try somewhere else."
"This isn't like shopping. I know we've got a child here somewhere we just have to find him or her. I can feel it."
The new age group had five girls and seven boys. They were in a fenced yard rather than a room. Upon seeing the visitors they picked up the pace. The boys racing ran faster and the girls began pinching their cheeks and primping their hair. All but one girl who sat alone in a corner reading a book. She just sat there still as can be.
"Well," the headmistress said as she closed the door behind them, "Here we are. With this group I'll leave you to mingle. I've some papers to fill out and budgets to review. You know the way to my office and should you decide to move up into the nine to thirteen year olds they are in the yard through the last door on the left down the hall."