Thanks for sticking with me, people! You've all been awesome!

Sorry it took me so long to finally get all of this up. I got back to school to discover that graduating takes up a lot of time. Hope it was worth the wait!

Music: Audioslave's Shadow on the Sun and Bring 'em Back Alive, Sibelius' 2nd Symphony in D

Disclaimer: endoplasmic reticulum

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Chapter 13

The courtiers laughed and glittered and twirled with the music as the evening of festivities progressed. The perfume was beginning to overwhelm Faram, but he had one last thing he needed to do before he retreated to the quiet of the Royal Suite. Something that he dearly wanted to do and would most greatly enjoy doing. His eyes lit on the laughing couple standing off to one side, enjoying his fine wine and the company of their fellow nobles, and he ambled in their direction, talking with other nobles as he made his way over, to all appearances merely riding the natural flow of the conversational groups.

"Ah, Roderick! And your lovely lady, Angelina." Faram bowed gallantly over Angelina's hand and slapped Roderick hardily on the back. The younger man, a man Faram had always privately thought of as rather pasty, coughed on the wine he had been sipping, then bowed as Angelina hastily curtsied. Faram waved their gestures of respect aside. "No need for that among family!"

"Family, Your Highness?" Roderick appeared as startled as the rest of the courtiers.

"Why yes, Roderick, in a very distant way. I just happened to converse with my brother Daren today by way of my niece, Elspeth; she's an Adept mage, now, did I tell you? Always knew she would be a handy girl to keep around." Roderick and Angelina nodded as if the news that Elspeth had made Adept class was indeed news to them, and Faram hid his inner smile. "Anyway, Daren mentioned to me that you are related to Herald-Captain Kerowyn. Neice and nephew or something like that?"

Roderick and Angelina nodded. Probably would have still agreed even if they weren't related, Faram thought sourly.

"Well, I've always considered Kero family since she and Daren have been so close for decades now. Daren told me that you have sent your little girls up to foster with their famous Great-Aunt. A splendid idea, I might add. The Captain is a wonderful parental figure and has managed to keep those troops of hers on a fairly straight course."

"Sent up-" He broke off abruptly. "Uh, yes, Your Highness. We felt that children as rambunctious as our foster daughters really needed the sort of tough love my Aunt could give them."

"Foster children? Really? They aren't yours?"

Angelina fluttered her fan nervously. Her brown hair was swept up in perfect ringlets and her gown was made of the most expensive silks, a fact that did not surprise Faram in the least, even though his investigators had turned up the surprisingly small amount of gold in their coffers.

"No, I'm afraid not, Your Highness. Their parents were killed quite tragically, I'm afraid. I begged Roderick to let me take the poor things in." She simpered at Roderick. "After a few months with them, we decided the trauma of the loss of their parents was simply too much for us to deal with, so we sent them up to Roderick's wonderful Aunt."

"I see. How generous of you."

Angelina fluttered her fan more. "Really, Your Highness, it was nothing."

"Apparently," Faram demurred, then shook himself. "Well, I think a toast is in order. A toast!" The court herald took the cue and rapped his staff three times on the marble floor. Silence fell as the musicians quickly cut off.

"His Highness wishes a toast!"

Faram raised his glass to Roderick and Angelina. "A toast, Lords and Ladies, to the fine Lord Roderick and Lady Angelina, who became members of my family recently when they fostered their darling little girls, all five of them, with the heroic Herald-Captain Kerowyn, friend of Daren's, as well as myself, and saver of my Royal Backside too many times to count. No better parents could anyone have!"

The courtiers raised and clinked glasses as Roderick and Angelina flushed.

"Now, I'm afraid I do have some business to conduct with you, on behalf of Herald-Captain Kerowyn and Herald Eldan."

"Herald Eldan?" Angelina asked before Roderick could stop her.

"Yes, Herald Eldan." Faram did not elaborate.

Angelina blinked, then drew in a sharp breath at an unobtrusive pinch from Roderick. "Oh, yes, Herald Eldan! How could I forget him. Honestly, my mind seems to be slipping, what with the arrival of little Roderick. How is he?"

"Doing well, I believe. Anyway, apparently life would be much easier on the Captain and Herald Eldan if they could formally adopt the little girls. I've had my Court Scribe formally draw up the documents of your releasing your parental rights and I believe a Special Heraldic Messanger from Valdemar is waiting to transport the documents to my brother and his lovely wife, the Queen of Valdemar so that they can personally oversee the adoption process. We just need your signatures."

"Of course, Your Highness. Right away." Roderick fairly bounced out of his shoes in an effort to please his king.

"Excellent. Oh! I have one more matter that fair slipped my mind as well. What is the baby's name? It would be a bit hard to adopt a nameless baby!"

"Baby?" Once again, Angelina's tongued escaped her brain.

"Ah, I believe he means the toddler, Angie. Damini."

"Oh, no!" Faram brushed the remark away. "I meant the baby! The one that is only a few months old." Faram knew the name the little girl now carried, as it had been brought with the special messenger. "Although, why you would want to send a baby that small to foster is beyond me. After all, we all know what wonderful parents you are. And no one would lie to me about something like that, would they?" Faram's last words held a weight that made Roderick gulp and caused Angelina to flutter her fan nervously. "As you know, the penalties for lying to the king, as well as for harming or neglecting a child, are fierce."

"Ah, I believe the baby is without a name, Your Highness," Angelina provided a bit too quickly. "I'm afraid she was brought to us right after she was born, and we sent her to dear Aunt Kerowyn with the other girls because we were worried that she too suffered a trauma that only the type of lifestyle the girls would have with Aunt Kerowyn would heal."

"Excellent, then. Why don't we step into my study, and you can sign the documents. Also, I wanted to talk about stationing some of my Army on your lands. You will have no need to worry, I am sending one of my most trusted officers…"

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"I don't understand."

Kero lay in her bed at Healer's, propped up by a mound of pillows, and regarded the documents on the lap desk in front of her. "Faram knows the baby isn't from Roderick and Angelina. Why did he include her in the adoption papers as 'Baby Jane, whose name shall be referred to hereafter as Aiko shena Talesidrine'?"

Daren leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. "Faram was just making your life easier, Kero. This way you won't have to go through the hassle of all the forms required for adopting a child of unknown ancestry. The fact that the Shin'a'in ambassador signed off on Talesidrine claiming her means that she falls under an inter-clan adoption, which is the same as an aunt adopting her niece. Much easier paperwork."

"But what if she still has family out there?"

"Elspeth checked, love." Eldan sat in a chair on the other side of her bed, reading over her shoulder. "The only relatives she could find were extremely distant relations that had enough of their own problems. Aiko would not have received the care and attention she needs, not to mention putting an already financially burdened family into even more trouble. When a Herald told them about her, then told them we were willing to adopt her, they jumped at the opportunity, especially since we are Heralds and we could get around them signing any paperwork, which would cost them taxes for the year, by the way."

Kero sighed, then winced as her various wounds pulled. "Well, everything else looks like it is in order. I suppose Faram had an excellent time putting the fear of…well, His Highness into them."

Daren grinned. "Most definitely. His last letter to me was fair cackling."

"Good." She held out her hand and Myste placed a pen in it. Her hand was a bit shaky, but she managed to sign her name somewhat legibly. Eldan signed his named in a bold scrawl, then handed the papers to Alberich and Myste, who signed as witnesses. Daren affixed the Royal Seal to the document, making it official. He rolled the papers up and tossed them negligently on his cloak, which was piled in the corner.

Then he laced his fingers behind his head and grinned happily as Alberich and Myste congratulated the two new parents on their recent good fortune.

"You know…" he drawled. "This may have gotten you out of a wedding for now, but Selenay and every other female member of the Heraldic Circle, not to mention the Bardic Collegium, are dying to see you and Eldan tie the noose."

Eldan laced his fingers through Kero's and smiled as he conducted an unobtrusive survey of her. She was still extremely weak, even two weeks into recovery and tired very easily. Even now, she was drooping into the pillows and the shadows under her eyes were deepening noticeably. Kero had also lost a lot of weight during her ordeal, which included, much to his dismay, her heart stopping. Eldan's white stripes had grown noticeably wider during this stay at Healer's, and he hoped he would never have to deal with anything like it again.

"I think we're going to be waiting a while on that one," he replied.

"A long while," Kero said, her voice weakening.

"Well," Daren said, slapping his knee briskly and rising, gathering cloak and documents. "I'll be leaving you two." He smacked a kiss on Kero's cheek and dodged Eldan's mock fist of protest. "Get some rest, Kero. Those demon-children of yours are driving the Royal Nurses crazy. Even worse, I think Aiko is learning from Acacia and is doing her own part to drive everyone nuts."

Kero smiled, but her eyes were already drooping closed. Alberich and Myste quietly said their goodbyes to Eldan, then slipped out the door. When they were gone, Eldan gently removed the pillows until she was lying mostly flat, then laid his own gentle kiss on her forehead. She smiled.

"We're a family now."

"We sure are. Official and everything. Love you."

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"Where the hell am I?"

Ardana spun in place, taking in the bleak landscape, then scratched her head in confusion. Last thing she remembered, she was fighting Kerowyn in the snow. Now she was here, in a dead meadow with not a weapon to spare.

"‛Hell' being the apt word, Ardana."

The familiar voice caused her to freeze, then slowly turn.

"Lerryn?"

"That's Captain, to you."

"You're dead."

"And so are you. What a coincidence." The coldness of his tone and gaze finally penetrated her cloud of confusion.

"I'm dead?"

"Most definitely."

"She killed me!"

"Oh, yes. I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time, Ardana."

"What do you mean?" Fear began to register.

"You mostly destroyed my Company, Ardana. That made me very mad. So mad, I'm afraid, that I pestered the Bright Lady for a chance to come down here and make your afterlife…well, hell." More people began materializing from the dead grass, all members of the Bolts who had died under Ardana's command. "Oh, and I brought a few friends along with me."

"You can't do this to me!"

Lerryn smiled grimly. "As you like to say, Ardana, 'Tit for tat'."

-----------------------------

Several years later…

"Do you have to pull that any tighter?"

"Hold still, Auntie Kero! This dress won't look right unless I get this laced properly. You wouldn't want your dress to look bad on your wedding day would you? Especially one this pretty."

"I'd rather not have a wedding dress," Kero muttered, then cursed at a wicked pinch. "Watch it, you impudent wench!"

Caia looked at Kero in the mirror from where she stood behind her aunt. "That's Acacia. I'm the hopelessly spoiled wench."

Kero sighed. "That's right. You're all such wenches I keep getting you all mixed up."

Caia grinned as she finished lacing up the simple and elegant cream silk gown, then stepped back to regard her aunt. Kero had aged little over the years, surprising many people when they saw how much havoc the girls had managed to wreak as they grew. She still stood as proud and ageless as before and her figure was enough to make young court butterflies envious. Her hair, for the first time in Caia's memory, lay long and loose down her back, unconfined and uncovered, against tradition of elaborate styles and veils.

The dress was a style that few court butterflies could pull off. The cream silk fit close to her body to her hips, where it flowed gently to the ground over only a single layer of petticoats. No decoration had been added to the long, close-fitting sleeves and the hem of the gown, much to the disappointment of the Court seamstresses, but a delicate line of seed pearls had been stitched along the top edge of the gown, where it traced straight along Kero's chest and off her shoulders. As if to taunt the female members of the Heraldic Circle, Kero had gone to an armorer and ordered two thin lengths of gold-washed chainmail to be used as delicate straps for the gown.

Kero held her hands out from the gown. "Well? Do I pass inspection?"

"You look beautiful, Auntie Kero." And Caia meant it. "Oh!"

Concern clouded Kero's eyes and she stepped forward as Caia's hands went to her rounded belly. "Trouble?" Kero's hands covered Caia's own, then the concern melted away as she felt the strong kicks of the babe. "Ah. Someone is getting some sparring practice in."

Caia grinned. "I'll say."

Caia had grown up quite nicely, in Kero's opinion. For today's big event, she had shed her Healer's robes for a gown of a rich hue of earthy red that emphasized the beauty of her pregnancy and brought out the glow in her face. Pregnancy agreed with Caia, and Kero once again breathed a mental sigh of relief that she was having an easy time of it. Caia's blonde hair had darkened to a rich brunette over the years, and it was now piled on her head in an elaborate style that was now in fashion at Court, and her blue eyes twinkled merrily.

"Ready to be a grandmother?"

"Not in the slightest. Where's that man of yours? Doesn't he know he's supposed to be coddling you?"

Caia grinned. "I'm sure he's busy keeping Eldan from hyperventilating."

"I told you not to marry a Healer. Now you two won't have time for anything."

"We managed to fall in love, get married and make a baby, Auntie Kero."

Kero plugged her fingers in her ears and hummed loudly to herself. "I don't want to hear anything about you making babies! Any of you!"

"Are you terrorizing Auntie Kero again, Caia?"

"Thank the goddess. Acacia, rescue me from this fiendish sister of yours."

Acacia stepped into the room, closed the door and leaned back against it, grinning. She had retained her blonde hair, which was now sunbleached to a white that was very similar to Kero's. Like Caia, she was dressed in her best. Unlike Caia, her best was a fantastic set of armor that was known to instill envy in Kero. Currently a scout leader in the Skybolts, Acacia had followed right in her aunt's footsteps, although she occasionally let herself be sidetracked by a lusty man or a good adventure. "What's the joy in merely climbing the ranks? I have my whole life to make Captain and I'm going to enjoy the way up," she would say. At her current pace, she would make it at about the same age Kero had.

"What are you going to pay me for a rescue?"

"I'm still your Captain, impudent wench."

"And I'm still a mercenary. How much?"

"I won't wallop your bottom later."

Acacia grinned and opened her mouth to reply when a flurry of pounding at the door, then a hard shove dislodged Acacia and the rest of her girls piled in. The source of the hard shove, Damini, tripped on the hem of her mage robes, then quickly caught herself and stood up straight.

And there is so much "up" to her, Kero mused.

Damini towered over all the women in the room. If that was not enough to distinguish her from the rest of the female population, her flaming red hair that was ruthlessly secured in a bun would have done the trick, not to mention her broad shoulders and muscular build. After all, it took strength of body as well as strength of Gift to become the best Smith-Mage of Valdemar. Even now, her face was suspiciously smeared with soot, and, much to Kero's relief, rumor had it Dami would not recognize an interested man if he changed himself into a hunk of metal and hit her over the head with himself.

Like her two biological sisters, Ianthe appeared to be a bit of a changeling. She, too, had inherited red hair and height, but that was where the similarities between her and Dami ended. She took after Caia, with her twinkling blue eyes, glossy hair and willowy figure. Also like Caia, and, for that matter, like her older sister Acacia, Ianthe had discovered the opposite sex early and enjoyed it with great frequency. Fortunately for Kero, Ianthe was a Herald and had access to moon powder, so Kero did not have to worry about any other "grandchildren" popping up unexpectedly.

Aiko was the odd-girl out of the group, at least when it came to looks and personality. She was as much loved, doted upon and teased as the rest of the girls. However, Aiko appeared to have unwittingly lived up to Faram's false claim of being Shin'a'in by exhibiting Shin'a'in physical and emotional characteristics. Not only was she a natural on a horse, but she loved the Shin'a'in way of life, the Shin'a'in people and even the Shin'a'in sense of humor and fashion. She loved Shin'a'in fashion so much that she flat out refused to where Trainee Greys, which, according to her, did not at all bring out her exotically dark coloring. Today, she was decked out in her finest Shin'a'in finery, as well as her Companion, who loved the colors as much as she did and insisted on having her saddle redone by the leatherworkers of Talesedrine, as well as having ribbons and beads braided into her mane and tail.

Taking them all in, the realization that the cottage, which had once been so noisy, was now quiet more often than not sank deep. The realization that she did not like that was close on its heels.

"I need more kids."

"What!" Acacia's shock was akin to her own.

"It's too quiet with all of you out and about and being grown up. I need more kids."

"Auntie Kero," Caia began. "You are getting older now, and we weren't exactly good for your health in the beginning-"

"I'll be sure to find some kids without a maniacal ex-mercenary on their trails. Maybe I'll find some that have regular criminals out to get them or something."

"Auntie Kero, maybe you should think about this a little bit more, maybe talk it over with Uncle Eldan…" Ianthe was trying to reason with her.

"Don't have time right now!" Kero said gleefully as Talia opened the door and Caia hastily handed Kero her bouquet as the girls gathered up their own. "I have to get married!"

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Eldan grunted as Dami's heavily muscled weight dropped into his lap and she looped her arms around his neck. He knew what was coming next. She kissed his cheek, then laid her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Uncle Eldan."

He sighed. "How much?"

"Does he realize that she has more money that he does now?" Acacia asked Caia as they both stood to the side, sipping fruit juice.

"Probably. It's more fun for the both of them this way, though."

"Mmph. Do you think Auntie Kero is serious about finding more kids?"

Caia chuckled. "Jealous, Cacie?"

"No," Acacia mumbled into her juice. She wished it was something a bit stronger, but she was deferring to Caia for now and knew the good stuff would be coming out once the children were all in bed. "It's just, we all go back there plenty. I don't see why they need more kids."

"Really, Cacie. Do you really think we were the only kids who needed saving all those years ago? We just managed to make an impression. Besides," she said, grabbing Acacia's hand and placing it on her belly where the baby was currently practicing a particularly good kick, "Baby will need playmates to harass her like we did Aiko. No sense in depriving the poor thing of the wonderful childhood we had."

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Life is good, Kero mused as she stretched luxuriously amid piles of warm, soft blankets, avoiding Eldan's sprawled limbs with practiced ease. Warm blankets, warm man, and warm food if I want it. Sure beats a tent in a winter campaign. Not that I have to worry about ending up in a winter campaign anymore. Nope. Life is good. She rolled her head on her pillow and stared out the window of their room to observe the whiteout conditions howling outside and snuggled further under the blankets. Her movements disturbed Eldan, who rolled over with a grumble and wrapped himself around her.

"Classes back on today?" His voice was rough with sleep and slightly slurred.

Kero angled her head towards the door where the faint shrieks of jubilant trainees were leaking through.

"Nope."

"Good." Eldan's voice dropped off at the end of the word as he drifted back towards sleep.

Not a bad idea, Kero thought and was letting herself drift back to sleep when someone pounding at the door of their cottage rudely awakened her. Unfortunately, her reflexes also awoke with her and she automatically reached for her sword with one hand while swinging with the fist of her other hand at her "assailant". Eldan grunted and rolled back over so his back was to her.

"Answer the door." The multiple layers of blankets pulled over his head muffled his voice. Kero made a face at his back before pulling back the blankets covering her legs, making sure to yank the covers off Eldan's feet while she was it. His muffled curse as the cold air met his toes alleviated some of her grumpiness, but it quickly returned with her own toes met the freezing wood of the floor. She hissed and hobbled towards the common area where she had left her slippers the night before and slipped them on with a sigh of relief. Then she wandered over to the door, scratching her head and yawning as the early morning visitor pounded again at the planks.

"What!"

"Take the brats!"

Kero jumped back as the fellow in snow flecked Whites fair tossed a pair of squabbling youngsters on the rug in front of the fire, then tossed in another youngster for good measure.

"Good luck, Herald-Captain! You're going to need it."

With that, he dashed away before Kero could ask any questions. The sounds of quiet prickled the instincts from raising five fractious little girls, and she caught the cup that came flying at her head without looking. She carefully closed the door, then looked up as Eldan came stumbling in from their room. He froze, regarding the fire-headed little girl standing before him and the twin boys who began squabbling again on the rug in front of the fire.

"Who are you?"

"Well, who are you?"

Eldan grinned at Kero. "This'll be fun."

Kero grinned back and grabbed one of the twin toddlers as he tried to bite her leg. "Oh, most definitely."