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"What would I ever do without you, Miranda?"

"Let's hope you never have to find out," the mink said in a lilting voice, a gentle smile on her face.

"Indeed," Keritanima agreed with a toothy grin. "Alright, we'll meet on the Knight's field on the first bell after sunset," she told them.

"I'll be there," Tarrin assured her.

"As will I."

"Pray to your Goddess, Tarrin," Keritanima told him. "We may need her help before all is said and done."

"I thought you said this would be easy."

"I said I hope it will be easy. I'm a cynic, brother dear. I'm sure something will come along and ruin my elegant little plan. It's best to be ready for it now, than scrambling to cover it when it happens."

"Things should go well," Miranda assured them. "It's such a simple plan that it can't help but to succeed. I'll have the books you want here when you return, Highness."

"Is everything ready for us?"

She nodded. "The tents you asked for are where you wanted them to be in the maze. I had some trouble getting the waterproof chests in there without arousing suspicion, but they're waiting for you as well."

"What do we need those for?" Tarrin asked.

"We have to put this stuff somewhere, Tarrin," she replied. "We can't very well just stick in our rooms. Nobody ever goes into the courtyard, and nobody will disturb it if we hide our booty in there. Put it in waterproof containers and throw some good waterproof canvas over it, and it'll be just fine. A good thief is as ready to dispose of his loot as she is ready to get it. The longer you hold stolen goods, the better chance others have of pinning the crime to you."

"That makes sense, I suppose," Tarrin said dubiously, noticing the bright, eager look in Keritanima's amber eyes. She liked stealing things.

"Trust me. I've done this before."

"That's what scares me."

"You," she said, slapping him on the forearm.

"Is she like this at home, Miranda?" Tarrin asked the mink curiously.

"No," she replied. "She's worse."

"Miranda!"

"It's the truth, Highness," she shrugged. "You don't have to do all the things you do. I can do it, or find someone to do it for you. You just enjoy the game."

Keritanima gave Miranda a withering look, then she laughed ruefully. "Alright, alright, I do like being a sneak. It's much more entertaining than listening to my father's teachers rant about history and etiquette, and it keeps me ready for Jenawalani and Veranika's assassins." She looked to her maid again. "Do you have my diversion ready?"

Miranda nodded. "They'll never know you left, your Highness," she assured her, scratching her little pink button nose absently.

"What diversion?"

"Oh, just a squad of Royal Marines getting into a very nasty brawl," Keritanima said with an evil smile. "They'll provide us with a good ten minutes to get out of here unseen."

"You're scaring me, Kerri," Tarrin said.

"What?"

"Is there anything you can't arrange?"

Keritanima laughed. "I couldn't get the Keeper married," she said with a wolfish smile. "So I guess there are some things that I can't manage."

"All in all, deshida, I prefer her having the skills," Allia said with a slight smile. "She makes it much easier for us."

"True enough," Tarrin agreed. "I think I want to get something to eat before we go."

"Dar is waiting for us anyway," Keritanima shrugged. "Let's go eat. We have a long night ahead of us."

Miranda halted Tarrin as he left behind his two sisters, and he stopped to see what she wanted. "Watch her," she said in a low voice. "She sometimes loses her head on these little excursions. She can be too impulsive. Keep her focused on the plan."

"I will," he promised. "Why don't you come with us and eat? There's always room for one more."

"Maybe next time," she said with a cheeky smile, a smile that enhanced her almost insufferable cuteness. "I have some errands to run."

"Well, alright. Hope they go well."

"Oh, they will," she said with a smile, letting Tarrin leave the room. She looked to Binter and Sisska, and they all traded a calm, knowing look. Binter moved with surprising quiet as he moved to shadow the Princess, keeping an eye on her, and Sisska closed the door behind him. "We have much to do, Sisska," she said in a calm, businesslike tone.

"Much," the Vendari agreed. "Her Highness needs us, and we must help as we can."

Miranda sighed. Keritanima would not be happy about this. "Do me a favor and go get Jervis, Sisska," she said. "It's time that we had a little talk."

"It is about time," Sisska said bluntly, picking up her massive two-handed axe and setting it on her shoulder, then going out the door. Miranda bolted it behind her, fingering a small dagger she had at her belt.

Ahiriya was becoming an inconvenience. Jervis would listen to her, Miranda was sure of it. They may be at odds from time to time, but at the moment, they were working towards a common goal. She was sure that Jervis would agree to her little plan to get at the truth.

The truth was all that mattered.

Keritanima had taught her well, and unknown to her Royal employer, Miranda did alot more than she would ever know. Talking with Jervis wouldn't be the first time that the cute little mink Wikuni had acted outside her employer's knowledge, but it was always for Keritanima's good. Miranda took Keritanima's well being seriously. It was her duty, it was her role as protector, friend, and confidante.

It was her reason for living.

To: Title EoF

Chapter 17

There was a bit of anxiety wound up in what they were doing, but on the other hand, there was also an undeniable excitement about it.

Tarrin sat sedately on his haunches in the sand near one of the posts, his eyes scanning the dim, misty night, a night that promised frost. His small cat body blended with the shadows of the post, making his sleek black fur blend into the night and turn him into nothing but a pair of intense green eyes. Heavy clouds dimmed the usual light from the moons and Skybands, clouds that helped keep the warmth of the land trapped against it. Clouds that would only work in their favor. Humans had long adapted to the light of the Skybands at night, and when clouds covered the land and threw them into total darkness, they had a great deal of trouble seeing. Even with torches and artificial light. But to Tarrin's night-sighted eyes, the landscape was illuminated by light that the human eye couldn't see, or was too dim for it to use. The field and grass were painted in black, white and gray to his eyes, for it was too dim to see in color, but that black and white view of the world was every bit as sharp as it would have been if the sun was shining down on him. He could see Keritanima's stealthy approach, her feet not even disturbing the grass.

As could Allia. His sister was behind the post, keeping watch. She wore a pair of black trousers and shirt that Miranda brought to her at sunset, and her bright silver hair was bound into a black cloth and tied into a wrapped tail behind her. Her dusky skin helped her fade into the murky shadows. Allia's eyesight was her most dangerous weapon, for she could read an open book from one hundred paces away, and her night sight was just as acute as Tarrin's was. She was shepa, Scout, for her clan, for her unusual eyesight wasn't normal for her people, but did occur with enough frequency for the Selani to have a special word for her type.

Keritanima was an entirely different person. Gone was the meticulous dress and carefully groomed appearance. She wore black trousers, shirt, and boots just like the ones she had sent to Allia, and large leather bracers were tied around her forearms. A black cloth was over her head, with holes cut in it for her fox ears, and her russet hair was tied at the tip of its tail to keep it behind her. Where Keritanima looked soft and pretty before, she looked sleek and deadly in her skulking garb, for it clung to her slim form and accented her in ways her dress never could. Also gone was the vapid expression of the Brat, or the calculating expression of the Keritanima he knew. In its place was a woman with dancing eyes, fully enjoying the danger to come, who moved with the grace of a cat even while those amber eyes took in everything around her.