"Avesa?"

"Yes Sire?"

"I haven't seen Fynna lately."

"No Sire. You've not."

"Blue hair?"

"It would seem so, yes."

______

AS ONE WOULD embark upon a wondrous journey, so it was for young Fynna. The day, with its soft breezes, golden sunshine and singing birds beckoned to her soulful heart and soon she was beyond learning the tiresome study of herbs and potions. 'What was to be gained by all of it,' she demanded of her frustrated tutor right before she burst forth from the Arboretum and out into the fantasia scenery of Hannelora.

So it was very unfortunate for Fynna that today, her father requested her presence in the Antechamber.

Again.

She didn't even bother to hide her blue hair which now glint like blue cap metal against the flickering light of the wall sconces in the hall. Avesa waited patiently while Fynna gathered her wits.

When one was confronted by Neris, one needed wit. She chanced a look at her TsuTomu nursemaid but if it was comfort, she sought, it was sadly lacking at the moment.

Avesa raised a woolly, taupe tinted brow. "The longer you wait the harder it will be," she trilled with a hand on her hip.

"I know," Fynna sighed.

Avesa threw open the massive Larch Wood double doors and Fynna marched in bravely though she was feeling anything but brave. Her fathers booming voice rattled her knees.

"Daughterrrrrr!"

Fynna held her breath and braced for battle.

"Come closer daughter," he roared pointing to the incredibly open area between them.

She didn't want to but Avesa prodded her forward.

"Daughter, how old are you?"

"Old, father?"

"Yes girl! How old?!"

"Fhiwl, and some months." She was quaking inside.

Her fathers face was devoid of expression which she hated. She watched mutely as he took to a round of pacing before coming to stand directly in front of her.

"Where did you go yesterday, Fynna?" He asked straightforward.

"Yesterday?" she answered with feigned ignorance.

Her father, who was by now familiar with his daughters' outbursts and rebellions toward apothecary learning, waited with a nerve-wracking silence. He knew exactly where she had gone but wanted to hear her confession. Discipline always had better results with a confession.

Finally, Fynna expelled a great sigh.

Had she been holding her breath, she wondered? "Oh yes," she drawled lazily, cocking her head to one side as if just remembering something very uneventful. "Yesterday. Of course."

His one brow rose over his left eye, and if possible, arched higher than Avesa's telling Fynna he was growing impatient with her lackadaisical behavior.

"Oh fine," she blurted out with a shrug. "I was at Blade Shield Keep. In the stables. But I suppose you already know that." She sulked. "It's just that I hate-"

"Science!" He finished for her with a loud grunt. "But you cannot just break the rules because you don't like something Fynna!" he shouted. "So. I have decided to suspend your studies for a time, daughter."

She stood frozen in place not sure she had heard him correctly. A glance at Avesa proved she had.

"But just for a time," he added giving her a direct glare. "Until I return."

He looked over her shoulder and Fynna knew that Avesa had given him a disproving squint because his expression softened. Fynna knew that squint. It made Avesa's face pucker up between her eyebrows until she looked like an old wrinkled up grain-sack.

Fynna giggled a little bit from the thought of it. Her father tried not to smile and walked over to stand by the cavernous stone hearth.

His ornate robes swirled around his legs with a dramatic flair and he addressed Fynna as he had so many times before, pointing out the same dangers he had warned her of on countless occasions and topped it off with a most unusual declaration.

"So, in light of this recurring problem I have decided to send you to Hannelore." He looked long and hard at her blue tinted hair but made no mention of his feelings regarding it.

And she certainly wasn't going to.

"Are you listening girl!"

"Yes father!" She nearly fainted.

"Good then. You will be travelling to Delthir Pel with Avesa. Whilst you are there you will understudy to Tarn Mogeimm. He will begin teaching you to use horse and spear. See that you give him no difficulties, Fynna."

He glared at her insistently until she was forced to voice her understanding which she did with more gusto than she felt. As if to acknowledge what she had just heard would cause her to awaken from some kind of mean spirited dream.

"Very well then," her father nodded. "Let us go to the dining hall and I will share news that I have received from Odric Grald regarding our military delegations on Emeralding Coast. There is to be a meeting of the Blade Forged. Riagon Nor has made an incredibly significant discovery," he said strolling out of the Antechamber and leaving them in his wake.

Fynna barely heard anything her father had said beyond the amazing announcement he had made. She was going to Delthir Pel! She was to become understudy to Tarn Mogeimm! And no less than this, it was her dream come true!

Suddenly she was wrapping her arms around her father's ample waist, crying like a baby into his satin robes of gold and azure blue charmeuse. Her face pressed against his waist length gray beard, the crunchy bunched up strands acting as a sponge against her damp cheeks.

Neris gave her a fatherly pat on the back and when she had spent her tears, he put her away from him and put a finger under her chin lifting her face and his eyes were tender with emotion. "Am I to see this as an apology daughter?"

She nodded profusely.

Neris smiled with a sincere love that reached his startling amber eyes. He couldn't fault her. She had never been silent about her desire to join Riagon Nor's army. He couldn't understand it, but he knew all her rebelliousness rested squarely on that one fact. So, he had decided to give in to her childish yearnings. Hopefully, she would soon get it out of her system.

The evening meal consisted of stewed mutton with scallions, boiled vegetables, wild fowl pâté in crispy scones and warm bread with thick, sweet honey. Her father talked as they ate but Fynna still barely listened to a word as she stuffed down one tasty dish after another. All she could think about was the upcoming trip to Delthir Pel and becoming a steward of the Oath. Her father would see. She would make him proud, she promised herself.