A/N: Meds are wearing off so let's see how this goes...

Saberin: Oh how much happens as a result of their being kidnapped...:P

Rebel: Welcome to account-status :)

Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. And still not Australian.

Talia leaned back into the corner. Scout drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them as she waited. Perhaps listening to Talia would help her ignore the hunger pains.

"I didn't know I was carrying Kane until after everyone headed for Redmont. I was disgraced just once but apparently it was enough. At first I was scared but I came to my senses. I knew what would happen to both me and the baby so I started taking steps to leave the Academy. However my support of the rebels, your father's group, came to light and I was taken captive. They kept me in a cell chained to a bed the entire time.

"When I had him he made no noise. I thought he was stillborn. They let me believe it too. Then Finley, your grandmother, saved me from execution and…I didn't know he was actually alive until much later, after you were born. See, some people had taken your parents and my old friend Mary captive. The people aligned with Finley, actually."

"I know that part of the story," Scout said quickly. She didn't want to hear it again. Talia nodded.

"Your mother discovered Kane when they beat down the Academy and took him to Redmont's Ward until she could find a better arrangement for him, but Halt and Pauline stepped in and adopted him instead. When I saw him that day a decade later it took so much to keep from taking him and riding off. I spoke with both Halt and Pauline. We all agreed they were his parents now. I couldn't take a child from the only home he knew nor could I do that to your grandparents. He was all they had."

"Well," Scout whispered after a while, "You've got this one now."

Talia grinned and looked down. "I suppose I do."

The ship jerked suddenly. Scout collided with Talia. Her sleeping cousins rolled over one another. They jerked their heads up as the door was flung open. "Up!" one of the black-uniformed women ordered.

"Can you climb, Talia?" Sean asked.

"I think I have to."

Kineta put Elizabet on her hip as she stood. "You go first," she said to Talia. "Sean will go behind you in case you fall."

Talia moved slowly and relied heavily on Sean as she climbed the steep steps but she made it. Scout went up next while Kineta carried Elizabet behind her. The ship had been anchored in the dead of night. They pushed them towards a longboat. Two of the uniformed women helped Talia in. They sat down and people in uniforms took up oars. They were lowered down to the water and rowed towards a dark port. Kineta held Elizabet's face against her shoulder.

They were taken to a building and led below ground. The man in the lead opened a heavy iron door and stood aside. "Go in," he ordered. They had no choice but to comply. Scout felt chills as the door shut and locked behind them.

"There's a bed," Kineta said. "Talia, lie down."

Talia obeyed. Kineta went to the cell's corner and sat down with Elizabet in her lap. She whispered comforting words to the girl but Elizabet still began crying. She was terrified and rightfully so. Scout swallowed hard. She felt Sean's hand on her shoulder and looked up at him.

"You know," he said softly, "Its times like these people prove their worth."

"Will we be out of it soon?" Scout asked.

Sean shrugged. "I don't know but I do know that we've got the best on our side out there."

Sean left her to join his wife and adopted daughter. Elizabet leaned into his arms and buried herself into his chest. Scout remembered doing the same with her own father when she was frightened as a child. For some reason Liam's arms had always seemed the safest place for her to be when there was a storm outside or she mistook a shadow for a monster. Scout turned away and went to join Talia on the bed. Talia sat with her feet up trying to cushion her swollen middle with her arms. Scout sat next to her.

"You're so much like your mother," Talia whispered to her.

Scout shrugged. "I guess."

Talia took Scout's hand and squeezed it. "If anyone had the right to be bitter and full of hate it was her but she always went out of her way to make sure others were taken care of too."

Scout smiled a small bit. "Do you think they'll find us?"

"They always do. Besides, this isn't just a mission for them. You're their daughter."

Scout shrugged. "I guess."

Once off the ship everyone fell in line with Lina. Liam spoke a fair amount of the language but he didn't sound local. The people would trust Lina's dialect. Will gave Daniel, Kane, and William a crash course in Nihon-Ja culture while the Leaf couple asked around. It didn't take long for Liam to figure out which way they'd taken their family and begin tracking. Lina leaned against a wall as she watched her husband sulk off with his cloak drawn up. It wasn't often she cursed her disability but she wanted badly to go after their daughter.

Will and the younger men caught up. "Where's Liam?" William asked.

"He's tracking them. Kane, you should catch up and give him a hand."

Kane nodded. He pulled his hood up and set off in the direction she pointed. Will put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry we'll reach them," he promised. "Now that they're on land we can make a move."

Lina nodded. William and Daniel exchanged glances. Out of nowhere a young man wearing a Hibernian uniform stepped up to join them. "Um...Rangers, Prince, Lady Lina…I'm…"

"Warden," Lina finished for him. "You're part of Scout's guard."

He nodded. "Yes, my lady. I was sent to assist all of you."

"Your intentions are noble but a palace guard doesn't have a place with this work," Will said firmly. He may as well send the boy on his way before something bad happened.

"Sir…I was chosen for Princess Scout's guard because of my father's connections. My mother wanted me somewhere safer and I had no say in it. But…I was just about to graduate as a search-and-rescue agent."

"About to as in didn't," Daniel said. "You weren't sent. You came on your own, didn't you?"

"Technically I am to accompany Princess Scout wherever she goes," he retaliated. Will and Lina glanced at each other. "Ranger...my lady," he added quickly.

"You…" William began but Lina held up her hand. Will nodded.

"The second you slip up you're going back to Hibernia, understood?" the older Ranger said firmly.

"Yes sir," Warden replied.