“Yippee. I’ve been promoted from fire lighter to delivery boy. I’ll write a letter home to Mother. She’ll be so pleased.”

“If you don’t come back to the Keep, then I’ll be right. And every time you see me, I’ll be insufferably smug.”“And how’s that different from now?” He laughed and I could see the young carefree boy he had been in his eyes. “You’ve only had a small glimpse of how insufferable and annoying I can be. As the older brother, it’s my birthright.”

“I shook my head at Janco. “I’ve got the situation under control. Go back to the Keep, I’ll meet you there.”Janco stared at me in astonished silence. Ari, though, trusted me. “Come on, she doesn’t need our help.” Ari sheathed his sword. Janco recovered. He flashed me one of his mischievous grins. “I’ll bet you a copper that she’ll be free in five minutes,” he said to Ari.Ari grunted in amusement. “A silver on ten minutes,” he countered.“I’ll bet you both a gold coin that she kills him,” Valek saidfrom behind them. They moved aside and he entered, still dressed in his Adviser Ilom disguise. “The only way to take care of your problem. Right, love?”

“Well, Valek, any new promotions?” the Commander asked“No. But Maren shows promise. Unfortunately she doesn’t want to be in my corps or even be my second.She just wants to beat me.” Valek grinned, delighted by the challenge.“And can she?” the Commander inquired. His eyebrows rose.“With time and the proper training. She’s deadly with her bow; it’s just her tactics that need work.”“Then what do we do with her?”“Promote her to General and retire some of those old wind-bags. We could use some fresh blood in the upper ranks.”“Valek, you never had a good grasp of military structure.”“Then promote her to First Lieutenant today, Captain tomorrow, Major the next day, Colonel the day after, and General the day after that.”“I’ll take it under advisement.”

“My cape caught fire. I dived to the sand and rolled on the ground to snuff the flames. So much for my grand entrance.”

“Move back,” the man on the left ordered Valek. “Or I’ll skewer your friend.”Valek considered the threat. “Do you plan to wound, maim or kill him?” he asked the guard.“Threats should be specific in order to have the maximum impact.”The man just stared at him.“Skewer is just too vague. I think if you say, ’Stand back or I’ll stab him in the stomach,’ then I have an idea about how serious you are. After all, Leif’s stomach is his favorite body part so that’s a decent threat.”

“I’ll have you know that the most delicate flowers often produce the strongest scent when crushed.”