Discipline

 A/N- Thanks again to the Nerd for reviewing!

Much to her surprise, Rosethorn was awakened at dawn by bird calls. There weren't any dedicates clustered around her demanding to know what happened the night before.

She sat up and wiped as much of the mud off as she could, which wasn't much. She looked around, and not seeing anyone, stood and walked to the garden gate. Her necklace caught on a tree twig and she stared at the blue metal Mila flower.
It winked in the light, teasing her. Rosethorn felt hot fury rising her her throat again, and she ripped the necklace off and let it hang from the twig.

Let someone who wants it have it.

She stalked away with as much grace as she could muster and headed towards Froststar's office. Breaking the rules wouldn't keep her from owning up.


*****

The door was unlocked, but no one was in. Rosethorn slipped inside and sat in one of the chairs, picking the most uncomfortable one. There was no reason for her to fall asleep and be unprepared for someone walking in.

She didn't have to wait long. The door swung open again and Crane walked in. He didn't see Rosethorn in her corner, but strode to a chair near the front of the office and took a seat. He smoothed his robes, flattened the creases in his sleeves, looked up, and nearly fell off his chair when he saw Rosethorn.

"Where were you? I was worried sick- I thought... I thought a lot of things that might have happened!"

She glared at him. "I'm not stupid."

"I wasn't-"

"Yes, you were. And I'm not." She kicked her grimy feet up across the arm of another chair and closed her eyes, arms folded across her chest.

He snorted in exasperation and picked at his sleeve dismally. "It's this whole initiate thing, isn't it?"

Rosethorn gritted her teeth. Partially that, but not completely. There was something else, like your disability to care for the people in the Mire. She didn't say it out loud. It was better for him to suffer her silence.

It seemed like long hours before the door creaked open again. Rosethorn's eyes flew open and she watched Froststar, Moonstream, and middle-aged man with a dark ponytail and mustache walk in laughing. They saw her and Crane and sobered quickly.

Froststar sighed deeply. "Follow us, please." She opened the door to her inner office and everyone filed in. Froststar sat behind the desk, Moonstream and Crane in chairs before the desk, and Rosethorn leaned against the wall. The dark-haired man closed the door and propped himself against it, before glancing at Rosethorn.

Rosethorn glared at him, then fastened her gaze on Froststar. The woman really did look sick, pale and breathless. She hadn't lost a drop of composure, which Rosethorn admired.

The room was silent a moment more, then Froststar banged her fist on the desk. "I know what happened. Now I want to know why."

"It was my fault, truly-" Crane burst out.

Rosethorn snorted. "Stop taking credit for what you didn't do. It's my fault."

"I egged you on-"

"I started it-"

"No-"

"Yes-"

"Stop." The dark-haired man stepped between them and held up his hands. "The easiest way to settle this is just for you two to speak the truth. However, that method doesn't seem to be working. If Honored Froststar agrees-"

Froststar smiled mirthlessly. "Whatever you'd like to do, you may."

"-I'll perform a truth spell and we can get to the bottom of this."

"A truth spell?"

"Sir, can you do that on your own?"

"The kind using a crystal, or are you a mage?"

The man smiled a Rosethorn. "I apologize for not introducing myself. Niklaren Goldeye, truthsayer."

Crane nearly fell out of his seat.

Rosethorn coughed loudly into her elbow. "I'm at your mercy then, Master Goldeye. Please perform your spells so I can get started on my punishment."

Goldeye looked at her curiously. "Punishment, Dedicate?"

"You don't slap an Initiate and use magic on him without having to pay some price."

"Oh?"

"I was a bit tired to begin with, Dedicate Initiate Crane said something that irritated me, we disagreed, and I slapped him before using my magic against him."

"Did you injure him at all?"

"Only his pride, sir."

Goldeye smiled. "Thank you Dedicate." He turned to Froststar. "I believe you've heard the truth."

Crane frowned. "You didn't use magic."

Goldeye nodded. "I was taught to detect lies using non-magical methods and I believe I have heard the truth. That is, unless you have something to add, Dedicate Initiate?"

Rosethorn watched as Crane sought to find a small detail that would soften Rosethorn's actions. Finally, he shook his head. "No, thank you."

Froststar nodded. "Thank you, Dedicate Crane. Now, if you'd excuse us, you may return to your duties." After Crane had left the room and the door had clicked closed again, she turned to Rosethorn. "What possessed you to do something so idiotic?"

 "All right, time to clean up. There's nothing more to be done tonight." Crane began to circulate through the tables, nodding approval or sighing deeply.

Rosethorn sat stiffly, hands frozen on her bottles. "Whatever do you mean, 'nothing more to be done'? There's always something we can do."

Crane came to stand by her shoulder. "We can't save everyone, my dear. We'll save more if we're rested and ready to use magic."

 "People are dying. Maybe if we worked through the night we could have save them. But we won't. Because we never do!" she screamed loudly.

"It was my own fault. I over-reacted. He told us to clean up, and I told him no." Rosethorn looked at her grimy feet. She was tired and she knew she had been defeated. Froststar would probably send her packing back to Anderran in the morning.

"Anything else?"

"No, not really."

"Rosethorn." She blinked; Goldeye was suddenly beside her, finger lifting her chin up. "There's something else."

"I told him-" I'm not stupid. I know you and the other initiates work overtime to try and figure out what's wrong with Froststar. "I said I knew why he was working overtime."

Moonstream sucked in her breath, but Froststar showed no surprise. "It was only a matter of time, I suppose. How did you guess?"

Rosethorn looked away again. "It was just a lucky guess, really."

Froststar nodded sadly. "Lucky. Well, dear, you were right earlier in saying you can't just slap someone for free. To begin with, you're removed from the Dragon Pox research team."


Can't say I'm too upset about that.

"You're also removed from the Earth dormitories."


That caught Rosethorn's attention. "What-"

"You'll live in a cottage in the temple. Until someone like-minded comes along, you'll be its sole care-taker. If you ever gain a student, he or she will live in the cottage with you. Moonstream, what houses are open now?"

The woman flipped open a file on the desk. "There are two; thirty-one and fifty-six. Thirty one is on the north side of the temple, six bedrooms, one indoor workroom, alter, front and back gardens. Fifty-six is near the forges, two bedrooms, two workrooms and a loft."

Froststar stared into the distance for a moment, then- "Thirty one." She turned her attention to Rosethorn. "Now, Master Goldeye will accompany you to your dormitory to retrieve your belongings, then he'll show you to cottage thirty-one. I believe you know the one?" she added.

"Of course."

Rosethorn stood, bowed slightly to the two other dedicates and started to open the door.

"Ah, Rosethorn, one last thing. Since you're the sole caretaker of the cottage, you get to choose its name. Each time a cottage gets a new caretaker, the caretaker may rename it." Froststar paused. "The last caretaker called it....Courage."

Rosethorn twisted the door handle open, taking the moment to think. "Discipline."

Moonstream sighed sadly. "Dear, we aren't trying to discipline you-"

"I know."


A/N- What did you think? I have my own idea about what Rosie means when she says she knows she's not being disciplined, but I'm curious to know what you think. Please review!