"Jen, what's going on?" Duke caught up with her.

"The baby," Jen Lai shot back, "It's hatching."

"What?" Duke stopped short. Jen Lai ignored him and kept going.

"Geez, give me a heart attack," Dive panted, jogging up beside Duke. "All that over a hatching?"

"Over the hatching of the next di Ranshael," Kiran corrected, pushing past. "This is no matter for men," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared through the same doors Jen Lai and Shen Mei had gone through.

"Come," Rian di Lencar was next to appear. "They will be fussing over it until well after the hatching is finished. They will call when it is time for the child to be shown to the clan. In the meantime, all we can do is wait. We are only in the way here."

"This is fact," Mei Jin said shortly, following the other women.

***

"You play with skill," Rian said sardonically. "Are you sure this game is new to you?"

Duke grinned smugly. "What can I say? Thirteen's my lucky number." He tossed the chips again and grimaced.

"It would appear your luck has run out," Rian laughed, but Duke was saved the indignity of replying as a gong rang through the house. Rian stood at once. "It's happened. Come."

The ducks wound their way back to the main audience hall, and waited before the dais with the rest of the awed crowd. Soon Shen Mei appeared Jen Lai at her side. Jen Lai held a small bundle carefully in her arms. Shen Mei stepped forward.

"Rejoice, my people, and welcome the son of Shen Mei di Ranshael!" She turned, and Jen Lai handed her the swaddled duckling. "Lao Kai di Ranshael, your people greet you!"

The roar in the hall was deafening as the entire crowd shouted the pledge at the top of their lungs.

The Lady Ranshael was glowing with pride and joy at her tiny son, and behind her Jen Lai’s rare smile shone just as bright. Duke took care not to let her know she was being watched; he knew her shields would slam into place faster than he could blink if she were aware of how unguarded she appeared.

***

"You never told me you could sing."

Jen Lai didn't turn from where she stood on the wooden deck surrouning the House, looking out over the home she'd lost--or would lose. "This is a fact." Duke made a face, coming down the steps and joining her on the deck.

"You sound like Mei Jin."

"Mei Jin is a wise woman and a brave warrior."

"She's not you, Jen."

"Another fact."

"Yeah, I'm full of 'em tonight."

Jen Lai finally turned to look at him, her eyebrow lifted. Duke lifted his hand defensively. "Hey, no, don't get me wrong, you were good, really good, I was just kind of surprised, is all." He lowered his hands and crossed his arms. "Seems to be happening a lot lately." He expected her to look away, to see maybe just a hint of guilt. She held his gaze coolly.

"I'm not in the habit of pouring my heart out to just anyone." The words hurt more than he cared to admit. So he didn't.

"Telling me you can sing is pouring your heart out?" he asked skeptically. He should have known better. Jen Lai was never one for games. She turned away and stepped closer to the edge of the deck, turning her face back to the starlight. She wanted him to leave.

So he stayed. "That's why your house fell? Crop failures?" He looked out across the terrain, and couldn't see farms of any kind. 'War,' he reminded himself.

"You of all people should know the value of money." Her voice was quiet, calm, emotionless. Duke was quiet for a moment.

"I never did it for the money, Jen."

Her chin lowered a bit. "I know, Duke." They stood there for a while longer, silent, then Duke left her with her thoughts, and went to straighten out his own.

***

One by one the messages returned, and it was estimated that the di Lencar and the di Mencara would arrive within three days. DuCaine had been found on the road and convinced to reverse his course, for the sake of his comrade in arms. It was expected that the hero would reach them only a day or two after the the two di's.

Reaching the House of Sheiling was another matter completely. The northern most province had always been prone to raids by the bandits that frequented the cold northern plains above their range, and the bandits had turned traitor to the Saurians. When the lizards had been defeated, the bandit tribes were furious at being cheated out of their prizes--apparently they'd been promised free run over Gacia and were foolish enough to believe it. But they had Saurian weapons and bad attitudes, and they had set out to conquer Gacia without help. Starting with the hated House of Sheiling.

Shen Mei looked disturbed. "Sheiling was hit hard by the war. They are weak, and the bandits have the Saurian's leftover equipment to work with. The di won't even be able to spare a guard to escort him to our territory." She stood. "We'll have to send him aid."

"I volunteer, Lady," Rian stood, his hand on his wrapped sword hilt. Shen Mei nodded. "It is your right."

"I will fight beside Lencar," Jen Lai surprised them all by standing with him. Duke was on his feet in an instant, and the rest of the team followed without hesitation. She frowned at them. "This is--"

"Our fight too," Wildwing cut her off. He really would have prefered not to get involved, but he was not about to let any of his team out of his sight. Jen Lai looked stern.

"You do not know what you are getting into," she said slowly. "These are not Saurians, Wildwing, they are ducks. You don't want this." Wildwing seemed to pale under his feathers, but he stood his ground. Jen Lai tried a different tactic. "If we all go, and we all die, then Dragaunus wins. I will go, I have pledged to stand by Lencar. Where he goes, I go as well. But you must stay. Someone must be left to go back, and there is no guarantee that any will return from this fight. They are many."

There was logic in that, and it couldn't be denied. Reluctantly, Wildwing and the rest of the ducks sat back down. All except Duke. Jen Lai met his eyes, telling him to stay. "I'm coming with you, whatever you say." Her face didn't change, just her eyes, burning him. He stood fast.

"So be it, then," Shen Mei ended the staring match. "Kiran, you'll go with them. Mei Jin, find the best road for them to take. Kian, help me select the soldiers that will go. Lai, you'll take an infantry contingent to follow them." Everyone nodded, bowed, and moved swiftly. The plans were laid quickly and efficiently. The preperations were made the next day and finished by nightfall. They would ride the next day.

***

"You wanted to see me, Lady?"

Shen Mei turned and looked on the woman that she called daughter, though they were mere years apart in age. "Jen Lai. Sit down, please." Jen Lai did so, and Shen Mei reluctantly laid her new-hatched child in his bed, making sure the blankets were just so before turning to face her guest once more.

"How do you feel, Jen Lai?" she demanded without preamble. Jen Lai's brow creased just slightly.

"I'm not sure I understand, Lady."

"It is not a difficult question," Shen Mei responded. "It is rare that I have to ask at all, for all too often a person's heart is written in their face."

"What is written in one's face is open for an enemy to read," Jen Lai said evenly. "They should see nothing there but courage, strength, and honor. Even if that is not what is in one's heart," she ended heavily.

"Is it not in your heart, my daughter?" Shen Mei asked, studying the carefully schooled expression Jen Lai set before her.

"You would know that better than I, my ancestor," Jen Lai answered quietly.

"How should I better know your own heart? Is it such unfamiliar territory to you?"

"I...have acted as I believed was fit...I have often questioned whether you would think so."

"If you did wrong, Jen Lai, you would have been told." Shen Mei laid a hand on her sword hilt. "This would have told you so. It is older than this House, one of the four who determines what blood will rule. Your heart is your own, but this guides it, in a way that I do not fully understand. But if you ever are about to commit an act that will foul the name of your ancestors, I promise you, you will know. Be certain that I will not judge you where the blade of both our ancestors does not."

Jen Lai sat stock still and silent as she was told this, displaying no outer evidence of the confusion Shen Mei knew she must feel. "Then...what did you wish to speak to me about?"

"Your heart," Shen Mei said with a smile, "Though not in the way you believed. I wish to know why you hide it so carefully from your teammates. From me, though you know you've nothing to fear from me. You must trust them, or you would not have granted them your name."

"I..." Jen Lai seemed to struggle for words. "I was taught that it was dangerous to allow my emotions free reign."

"And so it is," Shen Mei nodded. "But that does not mean that you must repress them completely. You are still mortal, be you di or otherwise. You must know when to hide your emotions, and who to hide them from." She paused for a moment. "Love is not a surrender, Jen Lai, it is an alliance. A partnership."

"And if a partner fails?" Jen Lai said quietly. "I am not sure that I remember how to love, Lady."

"Then you will learn. Go now," Shen Mei set a hand on her shoulder. "You ride in the morning. May your dreams be full of saftey and peace."

Jen Lai rose and bowed slightly, then turned to go.

***

Duke leaned against one of the support posts that held up the deck's covering, staring moodily out over the fields.

"May I join you?"

He started slightly and turned. Jen Lai stood framed by the light of the doorway, still dressed in her Ranshael finery. Duke wasn't entirely sure he wanted company, but he moved toward her in spite of himself and offered her a hand.

"Please."

Jen Lai laid her hand in his as she descended the steps. On impulse he offered his arm when she reached the bottom, and she took it without any visible hint of surprise. They stood together at the edge of the deck, looking out.

"I am...sorry, that I was so short with you last night," Jen Lai said quietly. Duke glanced at her, a little surprised. She met his gaze, offering no excuses.

"S'okay," he shook his head. "I shouldn't have been so pushy..." He trailed off. Jen Lai was silent. Duke looked at her again, and cleared his throat. "So how does it feel to be home, huh?"

"This is not my home," Jen Lai said, and Duke was surprised to hear a hint of sadness in her voice, and more than a hint of pain. "And these are not my people. This is not my world, Duke." Her frustration was so obvious that it startled him. He covered the hand on his arm with his. She looked up at him with an openness that was so uncharacteristic that he didn't know quite what to make of it. "I'm tied to this world, but I don't belong to it."

"I know what you mean," he confessed softly. She smiled a little, looking out and breathing deeply as a wind that smelled heavily of rain washed over them.

"We are two of a kind, you and I. Both belonging to worlds that we don't understand, and tied to others that we can't be a part of."

"Yeah," Duke turned toward her slightly and tilted her face up to meet his eyes. "But I think fate has a reason for putting us where we are, you know?"

Jen Lai held his gaze for a moment, then dropped her eyes as if she suddenly felt shy. Duke couldn't help grinning slightly, and she turned her face away from his hand and pulled back, letting go of his arm as she stepped to the edge of the deck. Duke was still smiling faintly as he stepped up next to her, as close as he could be without touching her. She didn't look at him, but she didn't move away. They stood together in silence while the moon rose.

***

To Be Continued--again ;oP