When Briar rose the next morning, it was well after dawn and the sun was up and stabbing his eyes through the window. Groaning as he sat up, he grimaced at the taste in his mouth. After a long night last night, his head tended to pound- it definitely wasn't alcohol, but exhaustion.

He tumbled out of bed to his floor, catching himself on his hands and knees before staggering up and out of his room. Gripping the rail, he stumbled down the stairs and threw open the back kitchen door, nearly sprinting to the pump.

It was with relief that he managed to duck his head under the stream of waters and shook his head like a dog, spraying water everywhere. His head instantly cleared and he sighed in relief. He slowly lifted his head, twisting his back to get all the kinks out. As he opened his eyes, however, he found himself face to face with a complete stranger.

"I don't remember you." He said warily, looking her up and down. She was tall, at least a head higher than him with plain features and short, earlobe length hair. Instead of his usual petite, beautiful, and slender bedfellow, she was built like a smith with the scars to prove it. A women like that… he shuddered. She could crush him like a bug.

The women smiled. "You wouldn't." she smirked, her voice lilting with an accent that pulled on the end of her words, making them sound almost lyrical when they spoke Common. If a women wasn't sleeping in his room, the only other person who-

Oh. That explained it.

The look on his face must've displayed what he was thinking and Kel shrugged, her wrinkled, fancy tunic shifting against her skin. Two spots of blush appeared on her cheeks and colored the tips of her ears.

"M'names Briar." He said, lurching forward to fill the awkward silence that had come between them. "Briar Moss."

Mila the Grain, no wonder his sisters hated it when he brought 'friends' home; it was bloody awkward!

"Keladry of Mindelan." The women said easily. "Just Kel if you please."

Though Briar returned her smile, it was forced. Oh gods, a noble. "Oh, alright then."

Silence fell between them again. "So…" Kel coughed, embarrassed. "what are you to Daja?" Briar felt so uncomfortable when he saw that Kel's blush brightened when she said his sister's name.

"Family." Briar said. "She's my sister, ah- foster-sister."

Kel felt herself relax, slightly. She'd have been highly disappointed if he had been involved with Daja in any way; wouldn't that have made her the 'other' women? She moved past Briar, using the pump to splash her own face, wiping the sweat from her morning practice from her brow.

"Where are you from?" Briar asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"The Tortall delegation."

Briar felt his face fall and turn pale. Oh gods, if Sandry heard about this, she'd have a conniption fit. She'd been going on about how hard it had been to convince their King to send an ambassador and how exclusive trade could keep Emelan out of the economic troubles that most of the surrounding countries were facing. If they offended a diplomat and the Tortallans, Sandry wouldn't speak to them for years-

"Lady Keladry?"

Briar sent his eyes heavenward, looking for a thunderbolt to strike him down and end his misery. When nothing happened for a few long seconds, he turned to face his sister, catching sight of Kels face, which had smoothed into almost frightening blankness.

"Hello, sister dear." He said weakly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Briar!" Sandry looked scandalized from her place on the back porch, glancing from Kel to Briar and then back again.

"It wasn't me!" Briar yelped, eyes wide with real fear. "I swear-"

But Sandry wasn't listening anymore. She gave him a glare that wouldn't made even his hardy shaken wither and he slumped, taking a precautionary step back. "We'll talk later." She said shortly, before turning to the Lady Kel.

"Would you like some tea?" Sandry's offer sounded almost absurd, but she really didn't know how else to put everyone at ease. "I know it's probably not what you're used to-"

"Please, Lady Sandrilene," Kel interjected, stopping the other noble. "Don't worry. I'm not that kind of noble." She gestured at her plain brown breeches and loose crème tunic. "I 'druther not be a bother- I'll be on my way."

She bowed- her breeches would have made the traditional curtsy impossible- and made her way past the two of them and back out onto the street.

Sandry whirled around, setting her eyes on Briar. "Briar-"

"He didn't do anything, Sandry." A calm voice broke Sandry's rant before she could even begin. "And Keladry's not going to break talks over an awkward morning."

"She's a noble, ain't she?" Briar said, mentally excusing Sandry as he turned to face his other sister.

"Her families only been a noble for two generations, Briar. They used to be commoners." Daja said, leaning against the door Keladry had left through only moments before. "She's the least noble noble I've ever met." She gave her siblings a grin. "For one, she's a knight of the realm of Tortall."

Briar's eyebrows went up to his hairline, while Sandry let out a little scandalized gasp.

"A warrior lady?" Briar teased, grinning. "Who knew you had it in you? Or should I say, had it in her-"

"Briar!" Sandry yelped, smacking him on his arm. "Don't be vulgar!" she turned back to her sister, her cheeks red. "Er- it certainly explains her penchant for breeches." She said, awkwardly.

"Yes, well," Daja gestured. "She's rather down to earth, cares about commoners more than any noble I've ever met- yes, even you Sandry- and she's the second women to be knighted in almost two hundred years."

"Second?" Briar asked.

"Well, Alanna of Pirates Swoop and Olau is the first."

"The mage?" Sandry asked, curious. "I could feel her power all the way across the room."

Daja nodded. "She's what motivated Kel to become a knight in the first place."

Sandry and Briar traded and uncomfortable moment while Daja sort of… drifted off. They quickly and hastily shut off their mental connections after seeing a few blurry images of skin and sheets.

They really did not need to see that.