Tiene's first day of official training arrived, and she was both excited and nervous. She had been desperate to take her mother's blades, but her father explained it was early days; she would not be using real daggers. Novices trained initially with foam or wooden ones.

Unable to hide her disappointment, after due consideration, she had to admit it made perfect sense. It wouldn't do if she wounded, or worse, killed one of her trainers on the first day, after all. A small laugh escaped at the absurdity of such a thought.

Rushing about getting herself ready, she had been but a blur in the house. It took her three outfit changes before she finally decided on the appropriate clothing; it had to be practical and nothing to restrict her movements.

Yathas was explaining the importance of breakfast as she shot out the door, grabbing a moonberry muffin and fighting her way into the sleeves of her jacket. She waved goodbye and hurried on along the street towards Murder Row, munching on her breakfast.

Turning a corner, having rammed the last of the muffin into her mouth, she ran straight into - Dar'Khan.

"Ar'aan!" she mumbled through a mouthful of moonberries. "'orry."

The magister grinned. "Why, if it isn't my intended!" He bowed with flourish, then taking her hand and kissing it.

Tiene snatched her hand away and glanced around, making sure no one overheard or saw Dar'Khan's display. This was all so unnecessary now, even though he was still utterly delectable. 

She inched back as he leaned down to look closer at her. She was chewing furiously,  trying to finish her breakfast. But muffins weren't the easiest of foods to swallow quickly. It caked the roof of her mouth and all around her gums, making coherent conversation impossible.

Dar'Khan smiled as he flicked a crumb from the corner of her mouth. "Lucky muffin," he whispered.

She blushed, not knowing why, but sensing some deviant inference from the tone of his voice and look in his eyes. "'Skoosh muh," she managed, nearly choking.

"Squeeze you? Why, Tiene, my lovely! We have not even kissed - yet!" he teased. 

Tiene blushed more, and the food caught in her throat, causing her to cough. Now she was betwixt ejecting the semi-chewed muffin on the ground between his feet or trying to stifle the cough and keeping her mouth closed. Her face was reddening with the effort more than from embarrassment.

Dar'Khan unclipped a flask from his belt and, uncorking it, offered it to her. She furrowed her brow. "It is just water, Tiene. Take a sip. It will help wash that down."

She accepted the flask, nodding gratitude, and drank, very slowly, so as not to make matters worse. 

Gradually, she swallowed the last of the muffin, leaving her palate clean. She ran her tongue around her gums and teeth before attempting to speak. "Thank you," she managed, handing the flask back. She still felt a little embarrassed by the whole situation, but she had to muster enough bravado to maintain her dignity. "Excuse me, is what I said, by the way; not squeeze me."

"Are you sure?" He cocked a willowy eyebrow at her, and the corner of his mouth curled into another teasing smile.

"Quite sure! Now, excuse me. I have places to be." She side-stepped to move around him.

But he caught her on the way past. "Come now, dearest," he crooned, drawing her to him.

Once more, Tiene was flustered. He held her very close. Too close. Suddenly felt like one of the forest squirrels, trapped by a mana wyrm. 

"No dagger today, my lady?" His mouth was inches from hers.

She had to think quickly. Looking over Dar'khan's shoulder, she waved and shouted, "Inaris!"

The magister turned quickly, momentarily loosening his hold of her. 

Inaris was nowhere to be seen. He had just been played for a fool. Again!

Turning his attention back to Tiene, he found he was duped once more. She'd vanished. As he looked down the street, his attuned eyes spied her, stealthed. "Clever girl," he said, low. He chuckled as he watched her heading towards Murder Row.

Finally, outside the Students of Shadow, Tiene stood for a moment or two watching aspiring young rogues already being put through their paces. There was no denying she felt a little nervous. In fact, her heart was thundering.

She was going to be the newbie, which no doubt would be evident to all inside. Hoping not to be completely green, she'd taken her time to find out all the other trainers' and specialists' names the day before.  So, there she stood, with a mental note of who was present.

Zelanis, another male trainer, was present. He was a grade higher than Nerisen. His hair was slicked back from his face and teased out in spikes at the back. Tiene thought he looked particularly odd with his long, equally spiked sideburns, giving him almost a cat-like appearance. He was nonetheless extraordinarily agile and, judging from the way he attacked the dummies at the rear of the hall, also lethal.

At a table near the centre of the hall was Darlia, supplier of poisons. With the variety of vials, oddly shaped glass containers, herbs, pestles and mortars, it was clear she didn't just supply; she manufactured the lethal liquids as well. Tiene silently prayed she also had enough antidotes to counteract any accidents involving budding students. 

While Darlia's speciality was making poisons for coating weapons, she was also an outstanding dagger wielder in her own right. The beautiful high elf's colouring was apt for her profession — red hair, signifying the danger that lurked beneath her delicate but deft fingers.

Tiene smirked as she saw Nerisen engaged in hushed conversation with the stunning Cel. Is he perhaps arranging his dinner date? She wondered. Inaris will be upset.

Behind them was the final trainer in the guild. Quiet, unassuming, Elara. At least, she was until you armed her with daggers and orders - or so rumour had it anyway. Her thick auburn hair was worn loose, hiding her delicate features as she sat on the floor, arms knotted around her knees, waiting patiently for her students to arrive.

Tiene noted how striking the trainers all were, in their own ways, and how personable they all were. The familiar niggle of self-doubt flared. She saw herself as bland and gangly compared to the beauties in the hall. Hell, even the men outshone her! Tentatively, she stepped inside, peeking around a pillar at the door. And quietly, she watched some of the students training.

There was one girl and five boys. The girl was very pretty, and earning admiring looks from two of the boys. Tiene had never experienced that before - a boy paying her attention. Dar'khan didn't count. At all.

She trembled slightly as she remembered Dar'Khan holding her so close just minutes ago. Their dalliance had just been for pretence, but - well, it just wasn't right to feel the kind of things Tiene felt when he was near. Or was it? That unbalanced mix of sheer delight, sweet anticipation, a smattering of fear, constant blushing, all topped with strangely delicious sensations in her lower abdomen - was that normal? She felt her face flush, yet again.

Enough!

But lately, she'd found herself wondering about such things. With no mother to guide her and no one she could call a close friend, she had relied on listening in on other girls' conversations in passing. That was how she found out the necessary things a young woman needed to know. And still, she was none the wiser.

She'd learned, or rather, overheard, about the weaponsmith in Farstriders Square, however, who liked to fool around with his customers' daughters. Tiene always made a concentrated effort to skirt around his premises when making her way home.

 Many felt sympathy for this man's poor, suffering wife who stayed cowed at home, allegedly broken-hearted. But whispers abounded that she was finding attention elsewhere, too. 

Nevertheless, Tiene doubted a man looking for a wife would ever look her way anyway. She was feisty, sometimes a 'moody little miss', quick to rise to anger and always wanting to do more than just humdrum daily things - like chores. She hungered for excitement, to explore new places, meet new people.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons she was so rebellious against her father's vision of her being a stay-at-home type of girl, with a husband and six screaming children running around her feet.

But in here, the world of a rogue, an assassin, a thief... she believed she could excel at something. With sound guidance and proper training, it wouldn't matter that she was dull and uninteresting; it would likely be to her advantage.

Knowing what she did about her parents now, she was even more determined to succeed. It was something she could truly focus on. And, if The Crimson Blades accepted her ...

"You're late, Firefury!"

She jumped. Nerisen stood behind her, arms folded, looking down with a stern expression on his face. Tiene didn't know how to react; this was not how he spoke to her yesterday.

A moment later, his mouth broke into a smile. "Only teasing you," he said.

She smiled a little hesitantly. "Sorry, Nerisen. I bumped into...um, an acquaintance on the way over, and we got chatting."

"Well, you're here now, so let's start your training." He turned and headed out of the guildhall into the street. 

Tiene followed, a little bemused that they were leaving the place where she needed to be. 

Nerisen turned and saw her confused expression. She half smiled, half scowled. "What do you know about rogues, Tiene?"

The question had to be a test, she deduced, so she paused and thought a moment. "Thieves and assassins, who operate mainly for themselves, unless in a guild or employed by someone who pays a good coin." She was pleased with her answer and stood, smiling expectantly, looking at Nerisen.

"And?" he coaxed, eyebrows cocked.

"And what?" she replied, disappointed he didn't congratulate her on her definition.

"What else do you know?"

"Well..." She stared at the ground, thinking furiously, trying to dig through her brain to find a decent answer. "We're ... good at what we do?" she said finally, knowing it was the lamest answer ever.

With a 'here we go again' type of expression, Nerisen sighed. He'd clearly had high hopes that she might have known more, with her parents having been such exceptional examples. Then again, Inaris had informed him that she'd only found out about them recently, and such things had never been part of dinnertime conversation in the Firefury household.

He gestured for her to keep following as he made his way out through the Murder Row gateway. "If you want to be one of us, Tiene, you must proceed with baby steps and familiarise yourself with our history. To be more accurate, with some of the finest rogues that have come to pass, and those that were, and indeed are, pioneers of our craft and abilities. We shall find such information at the library."

Tiene was gutted. Her first lesson was going to be theory? She just wanted to get down to mutilating, garrotting and rupturing the foe. The thought of spending hours trawling through books in the library about dead people really didn't appeal to her. 

Her father's voice echoed in her head, "Sometimes training could be boring."  So, she would just have to persevere.

Once they reached the Walk of the Elders, Nerisen seemed oddly lost. 

Tiene was confused. "The library is a mere ten feet away; why is he looking around in all directions?" This was going to be a long day, she decided. With arms folded, she stood, tapping her foot impatiently.

The rogue trainer glanced over his shoulder at his irritated student. 

Tiene could tell he was suppressing the urge to laugh. She didn't see what was so funny.

A few minutes passed before she finally vented her frustration. "Nerisen! The library is just over there!" she said, pointing at the domed building to their right.

"I know," he replied casually, keeping his back to her so she would not see him grinning.

"Well, I thought we were going to the library!" she huffed.

"Yes. We are." 

She emitted an irritated sigh, made worse when she saw him stifle a laugh.

She was becoming gradually more and more agitated, and soon she started to mutter under her breath, although Nerisen could hear her perfectly well. "Oh for the love of...."

"Dar'Khan! There you are!" Nerisen greeted the magister. The two shook hands, exchanging greetings. 

Tiene huffed again.

"Ahh, Tiene, my lovely," Dar'Khan drawled. "So you are the new student? I wondered where you were off to in such a hurry this morning."

"Oh, you know each other?" Nerisen asked her. She nodded, curt. How did he not know that, when he was so friendly with her brother?

"Yes," Dar'Khan agreed. "She was gulping down her breakfast, running away from me to... well, to you, as it happens."

Nerisen smiled. "Well, if you would be so kind as to portal us to the library, please; time is getting on."

"Are you serious?" Tiene said, exasperated. "It's over there!" Again she pointed to the building to their right.

The two elves laughed lightly. Nerisen turned to face Tiene properly for the first time since they had arrived in the Walk of the Elders. "Did I say it was this library we were going to?"

"You said we were going -" She stopped. Now she understood. He had been testing her patience, something crucial for a rogue, and as such, she reckoned she had just failed lesson one.

Dar'Khan clearly found this amusing; she could tell. He stood, arms crossed with one hand raised to his face, tapping his chin with a long forefinger and grinning. "Oh my lovely, you are so feisty!" He turned momentarily to Nerisen. "That's what I like about her, you know? She has so much - spirit." 

Tiene was fuming, and she struggled to keep her temper at bay. She hated being ridiculed and spoken about as if she were some tempestuous imbecile.

Swallowing her angst, she took a deep breath and, deliberately blanking the magister, asked Nerisen which library they were going to.

He told her it was a surprise and nodded to Dar'Khan, who then conjured a portal in front of them. Nerisen beckoned to Tiene, and together they passed through the blue and purple swirls. It snapped shut behind them, and she was surprised to see Dar'Khan had travelled through behind them. And annoyed.

"Are you coming to the library as well?" she asked, none too pleased at the prospect. He had embarrassed and irritated her enough for one day.

The mage bowed in his usual flamboyant manner. "Alas, no. I have pressing business nearby, however, well, fairly nearby. I am going to visit Dalaran. The young Prince Kael'thas requests news from home."

Tiene's ill-temper dissipated instantly. "The Prince? You know the Prince?"

The magister grinned. "Of course I do, Tiene. Would you like me to pass on your regards?"

The golden-haired elf guffawed. "As if it would mean anything to him," she muttered, feigning dismissiveness.

"He is our future king," the magister replied, "and you will be one of his subjects, my lovely. Of course, it will mean something to him."

Tiene spurned his comment with a wave of her hand.

Dar'Khan laughed lightly and opened another portal before he said farewell to Nerisen. He turned his charismatic smile on Tiene again. "By the way, next time I make you breakfast, dear Tiene, eat it before you run out on me."

She stood, speechless, as he stepped into the portal and vanished.

Nerisen was chortling behind her. She blushed furiously. "I can't," she fumed. "I just can't! He is making fun of me." She looked at Nerisen, imploringly. "I was at home! Ask Inaris!"

Her trainer nodded, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. Turning to face the top of the rise, he indicated the building that sat atop the hill.

"Welcome to the rogue's academy, Tiene. This is Ravenholdt Manor."

Thank you for reading!!!

All comments, advice and suggestions are most welcome. Should you like this chapter, please be kind enough to vote, it would be most appreciated.