"Oh, yes. He's lost friends already that way. But you asked me how he's changed. He has, but more in his manner than in his looks. There was a bitterness in him back then that I seldom see anymore, though he's still a bit wild. He's been a good friend to us, though, and brought Micum safely back to me more times than I can say."

She left unsaid the fact that more often than not it was Seregil who had led her husband into danger in the first place. This boy was cut from the same cloth as they, and Beka, too, to her mother's sorrow. What could you do but love them and hope for the best?

25 Return to Rhнminee

Alec rose before dawn his last morning at Watermead, but found that Beka was up before him. Dressed for riding, she sat mending a broken catch pin on her bow case in the hall. Beside her lay a few small packs containing all she would take with her to the Guard barracks.

"You look ready to go," he said, setting his pack down next to hers.

"I hope so." She worked an awl through a stubborn piece of leather. "I hardly slept last night, I was so excited!"

"I wonder if we'll see much of each other in the city. Where we live isn't too far from the palace grounds."

"I hope so," replied Beka, inspecting the new catch. "I've only been in Rhнminee a few times. I'll bet you could show me all kinds of secret places."

"I guess I could," Alec said with a grin, realizing how much of the city had become familiar to him since his arrival.

The rest of the family soon appeared and they settled down to their last breakfast around the fire.

"Can't Alec stay a little longer?" begged Illia, hugging him tightly. "Beka still beats him a lot. Tell Uncle Seregil he needs more lessons!"

"If he can beat your sister just some of the time, then he's a pretty fair swordsman," said Micum. "You remember what your Uncle Seregil said, little bird. He needs Alec back."

"I'll come back soon," Alec promised, tweaking one of her dark braids. "You and Elsbet haven't finished teaching me to dance yet."

Illia cuddled closer, giggling. "You are still awfully clumsy."

"Guess I'll go check on the horses," Beka said, setting her breakfast aside half eaten.

"Don't dawdle, Alec. I want to get on the road."

"You've got the whole day ahead of you. Let him eat," chided her mother.

Beka's restlessness was infectious, however, and Alec hurried through his porridge. Shouldering his pack and bow, he carried them out into the courtyard only to find that Beka had put his saddle on

Windrunner. Patch shifted resentfully behind the Aurлnfaie horse, tethered on a lead rein.

"What's this?" he asked. Turning, he saw the others beaming at him.

Kari stepped up and kissed him soundly. "Our gift to you, Alec. Come back to us whenever you can, and keep an eye on this girl of mine in the city!"

"You'll see me at the Sakor Festival,"

Beka said gruffly, embracing her. "That's just over a month away."

Kari pressed a handful of Beka's wild, coppery hair to her cheek. "As long as you remember whose daughter you are, I know you'll be fine."

"I can't wait to join you there," exclaimed Elsbet. "Write as soon as you can!"

"I doubt barracks life will be much like what you'll get at the temple school," Beka said with a laugh. Swinging up into the saddle, she gave a final wave and followed Alec and her father out through the palisade gate.

They reached the city just after midday. It was Poulterer's Day in the outer market, and every sort of fowl-from auroles to peacocks, quail to geese, live or plucked were on display. Each poultry dealer had a bright pole standard mounted over his wares and these, together with the usual strolling vendors of sweetmeats and trifles, gave the market a festive look despite the lowering sky overhead. Drifts of multicolored feathers blew in the breeze as the three travelers rode through the honking, cackling, twittering din.

Alec smiled quietly to himself, recalling his fears the first time he'd entered Rhнminee. This was his home now; he'd learned some of its secrets already and would soon know more. Gazing about, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face in the market crowd.

Same protuberant teeth, sly grin, and moldy finery. It was Tym, the young thief who'd cut his purse at the Sea Market. Taking advantage of the slowed traffic by the Harvest Gate, he'd latched on to a well-dressed young man, evidently cozening him with the same tricks he'd used on Alec. A girl in a tattered pink gown clung to the mark's other arm, aiding in the distraction.

I still owe him a bit of trouble, thought Alec. Dismounting, he tossed his reins to Beka.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just saw an old friend," he replied with a dark grin. "I'll be right back."

He'd already learned enough from Seregil to approach the thieves unnoticed. Biding his time, he waited until they'd lifted the unwitting victim's purse, then came up behind them and grasped Tym's arm. His triumph was short-lived, however, and it was Micum's recent training that saved him.

Newly honed instincts read the thief's sudden movement just in time. Alec caught at his wrist, halting the point of Tym's dagger scant inches from his own belly.

Tym's eyes narrowed dangerously as he tried to jerk free; easy enough to read the message there. The girl stepped in to screen her compatriot's knife hand and Alec prayed that she wasn't ready with a blade of her own. In the press of the crowd, she could easily stab him and disappear before anyone was the wiser. She made no attack, but Alec felt Tym tensing.

"We have a mutual friend, you and I," Alec said quietly. "He wouldn't be very pleased if you killed me."

"Who's that?" Tym spat back, still pulling against Alec's grasp.

"It's a trick, love," the girl cautioned. She was scarcely older than Elsbet. "Do him and move on."

"Shut up, you!" Tym growled, still glaring at Alec. "I asked you a question. Who's this friend of ours?"

"A comely, openhanded fellow from over the sea," Alec replied. "Handy with a sword in the shadows."

Tym glared an instant longer, then grudgingly relaxed his stance. Alec released his wrist.

"He should've told you never to grab a brother from behind like that unless you mean to deal with him!" Tym hissed, yanking the girl to his side. "If you'd done that in a back alley, I'd have you lying dead right now."

Sparing Alec a final scornful look, he and the girl disappeared into the crowd.

"Did you catch your friend?" Beka inquired when Alec reappeared.

"Just for a moment." Alec mounted and wrapped the reins around his hand. It was still trembling a little.

From the market they turned south to the barracks gate of the Queen's Park, where Beka showed her commissioning papers to the guards. Giving her father and Alec a final farewell embrace, she rode in without a backward glance.

Micum watched through the gateway until she was out of sight, then heaved a deep sigh as he turned his horse back toward the Harvest Market. "Well, there she goes at last."

"Are you worried about her?" asked Alec.

"I wouldn't have been, a year ago when there wasn't a war brewing for spring. Now I don't see any way around it, and you can bet the Queen's Horse will be some of the first into the fray. That doesn't leave her much time to get used to things. No more than five or six months, maybe less."

"Look how far I've come with Seregil in a few months," Alec pointed out hopefully as they headed for the Cockerel. "And he had to start from practically nothing with me. Beka's already as good with a bow and sword as anyone I've seen, and she rides like she was born on horseback."

"That's true enough," Micum admitted. "Sakor favors the bold."

In Blue Fish Street, they slipped in through the Cockerel's back gate and went through the lading-room door and up the stairs with hoods well drawn up. Micum took the lead on the hidden stairs, speaking the keying words for the glyphs with the same absent ease as Seregil.