Laughter echoed across the courtyard, along with the solid thwack of wood hitting wood. Two girls, the younger with fiery red hair flying, the elder’s curly golden locks braided into a coronet with star-like white and yellow flowers, were having a mock-battle with wooden swords.

“ ’Lena!” shouted the redhead (who’s name was Shawna). “You’re s’posed to try an’ stab me! I’m the enemy!” Blonde ’Lena (her name was really Selena, but nobody really called her by her full name) called back,

“But these swords are hard! What if I hurt you?” She half-heartedly swung the stick at Shawna, who swatted it aside with her own.

“Like you could actually hit me,” she countered, grinning.

Stung, Selena put more effort and concentration behind her strokes, her wooden sword meeting Shawna’s with a sharp crack. Her fingers tingled from the jarring impact, but she ignored the pain and, with just the same little twist Shawna had been trying to teach her (with little success), sent the other girl’s sword spinning away.

Shawna stared at the blonde in shock, and then a smile spread over her freckled fea-tures. Catching Selena by the hands, she danced her around in a circle, all the while shrieking,

“You did it! You did it!” Selena found her own cheeks dimpling into a smile to rival Shawna’s.

“I did, didn’t I?” she murmured softly, and let Shawna spin her around and around un-til neither of them could see straight and were introduced (rudely and abruptly) to the cool, red-brown flagstones.

Once her eyes would focus properly again, Selena glanced over at Shawna. The seven-year-old was sprawled on the flags, following feathery mertsa* seeds with her bright, brown eyes. Her red hair was straggling every which way.

“Your hair’s a mess,” the blonde commented. Shawna tugged impatiently at it.

“Bother. I’m thinking of chopping it all off again.” Selena sat up, distressed.

“But you promised me you’d grow it out, at least until Tyrel got back.”

As soon as she’d said the name, she regretted it. Tyrel, Shawna’s seventeen-year-old brother had been off fighting raiders at the Hevalran border. The party had been ex-pected back several weeks ago.