DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Tamora Pierce's.

I forgot whether George kept his collection of ears in a jar or a box, but I don't think that really matters.

Five-year old Alianne of Pirate's Swoop was a rather inquisitive soul, taking after her father in many ways. She could often be found in places she wasn't supposed to be with things she wasn't supposed to have. She had the bizarre ability to gain access to forbidden areas that were considered to be quite secure, with both physical and magical locks in place.

George had once discovered his only girl amidst the wreckage of what had been his office, digging through his carefully organized papers in an attempt to find her birthday present. He was pretty sure that he had locked up behind him before he had left, but then again, he had been distracted with the coming return of his wife. He had scolded his daughter, who had simply given him her infamous doe-eyes in response, ending with Aly's promise that she wouldn't do it again.

However, Aly had never specified whether she meant that she would not enter his office without permission again or not get caught entering his office without permission.

As it turned out, Aly meant the latter.

-------?-------

"C'moo-oooon, Thom! Pleeeeee-aaaaaase?" Aly wheedled, widening her eyes. "You said that you would show me some of the new magic that Uncle Numy taught you! Didn't he teach you how to open locks?"

"No! Opening locks without asking first isn't nice!" Thom folded his arms, glaring imperiously at his younger siblings. "'Sides, Uncle Numy showed me how to do useful stuff, like making rocks talk, not stupid things like breaking into other people's rooms!"

"That's not stupid! How can you find out anything if you can't peeky into secrets!" Aly retorted, pouting. "And you can't make rocks talk! That's just silly."

Thom gasped indignantly. "You can so make rocks talk! They talk a lot, you know, about all sorts of stuff!"

"Like what?" Alan peered wide-eyed at Thom.

"Um...they like to talk about the sun a lot, since I guess they like being warm," Thom explained, happy to have an audience.

"Wow...can you show me?" Alan asked earnestly. "I wanna ask them if it tickles when bugs crawl over 'em!"

"Fine, show him your dumb rocks! I bet that you can't even open locks, so that's why you said that it's stupid." If there was one thing that Aly was good at, it was manipulating her brothers.

"I can so! Watch; this lock is so simple that I can do it in a snap!" Thom stomped over to the rather unnoticeable closet. He focused on the simple lock, face scrunching up in concentration. After a moment's pause, the door gave a quiet 'click'. Thom grinned smugly. "See? I told you that I could do it!"

"Yay, thank you!" Aly hugged her brother, rushing over to the door. It had only been luck that she had found the closet while off on her regular secret-finding jaunts through the Swoop. She had passed it by at first, since it blended very well into the wall. Aly had never seen a door like this before, so she knew that she was onto something good.

"Why do you want that door open so badly for anyways? What's in it?" Aly turned from her attempt at picking the lock with a set of lock-picks that she had pilfered from her father's office and shrugged.

"Thom! Let's go make rocks talk!" Alan tugged on his brother's arm, pulling him down the hall. Aly watched them go, wishing them luck. Boys were so silly; rocks couldn't make noises. She wriggled the picks around inside the lock, giving a satisfied 'ah!' when it gave way. She swung open the door, rusted hinges shrieking. It was very dusty inside, causing Aly to cough and fan at her face. The closet was empty, save for a few cobwebs and a jar. Aly reached up to grab the jar, nearly dropping it when she discovered that it was rather heavy. She rubbed some dust from the jar, squinting at the contents. It was full of oval-shaped objects, laid all willy-nilly in the jar. The objects looked like...ears. Aly felt one of her own, comparing the shape to what she saw in the jar. Yes, those were definitely ears.

Aly hummed in thought, shifting the weight of the jar in her arms. Now why would there be a jar of ears at Pirate's Swoop? The jar looked old, so it must've been there for a while. Why would someone want to collect ears? There were definitely better things to collect, like bunnies. Bunnies were fuzzy and fun to play with and there were always a lot. Who would have a collection of ears? Ma? Nah, not Ma. Da? Maybe. She'd have to ask. She set off, determined to find some answers.

-------?-------

"George, I just got back. I need to unpack and see the children," Alanna protested weakly. Her husband was busily undressing her, enjoying the feel of his wife after a long absence. "I haven't seen them in months and they must be worried..." She trailed off as George covered her mouth in a heated kiss.

"Just leave the unpacking to the servants, lass, that's what they're here for. As for the children, you don't need to worry about them. I saw Alan and Thom in the courtyard talking to a pile of rocks. They should be occupied for hours yet." George nestled into the crook of Alanna's neck, drawing a sigh.

"Ma, Da!" The pair jumped apart, turning to face the small figure of their daughter. She was holding a large jar in her arms, seeming to struggle with it. The jar was very dusty and looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in quite some time. It also gave off a pungent odour, although it didn't seem to bother Aly. "Look what I found!"

Alanna frowned, bending to take the jar from Aly. She quickly held her breath, holding it away from her face. "Aly, what is this? It smells to high heavens!"

"It's a jar full of ears! I found it in a closet that was locked, but it was really easy to open and it smells funny!" Aly explained enthusiastically.

Alanna turned slowly to fix her husband with an unamused stare. George simply shrugged helplessly.

Aly looked at her parents, confused. Why weren't they happy about her discovery? It wasn't everyday that you found something as special as a jar full of stinky ears.

Alanna took a breath through her nose, stopping mid-inhalation when she remembered the jar's smell. She propelled her daughter out of the room, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. "You go play with Alan and Thom, alright? Your Da and I need to have a talk."

"Mmm, okay." Aly sighed. "Will you play with us later, then?"

"I will, sweetling," Alanna reassured her daughter. Aly beamed happily, running off to find her brothers. Alanna closed the room carefully, facing her husband. She crossed her arms. "You have 30 seconds George and you had better make it good."

Never leave your collection of decapitated ears to rot in an abandoned closet where curious five-year olds can find them, kids.