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(Day 9, very early morning)

It was beginning to be light outside when Vivien returned to Greywood Manor, walking slowly and covering her yawn with a gloved hand. She was not even slightly disheveled, and the redness of her eyes might have been from not sleeping at all that night.

She slipped inside as quietly as she could manage in her layers of crinoline, making for the stairs and her bedroom.

"A late night or an early morning, sister?" asked Liev from an overstuffed chair in the corner. The Greywood fils had spent the evening and the following night sitting quietly waiting her return. After the rest of the household had gone to bed, Liev had retired to the sitting room slowly paging through a bible gifted to him by the father general.

A data chip could have contained the text, copies of the illustrations and a thousand similar tomes with memory to spare, and would have been considerably less expensive to ship. But there was something reassuring in the weight of the leather bound volume. Liev found the physicality of the book grounded him. Reading, turning the pages, almost meditative.

Vivien stopped moving and turned to regard her brother. A calm, perfectly collected smile began on her lips, but froze as he stood up.

Setting the book on an end table beside a cup of tea long gone cold, Liev stood up. In public his awkwardness and stammering distracted from his size. Alone in the small chamber with Vivien, his height and broad shoulders were almost intimidating. His cold tone did little to reassure his sister.

She lifted her chin, worry entering her eyes which turned to a flare of childish anger in almost an instant.

"Aquila is not the Empire, Vivien, there are no vids watching every dark corner or palandroids hard wired to keep the populace safe from itself," he said. "The protection offered by a minor house like ours is limited and the law of the major houses is do what you will."

"And what exactly are you warning me of, Liev?" Vivien snapped. "You know I haven't been offworld and I haven't the faintest idea what any of that means except that you seem to think I've been misbehaving."

Liev seemed to shrink in place, "No, Vivien, I didn't mean to suggest ... you should do what you ... obviously I only meant," he stammered. "But we don't want a repetition ... I'm not accusing you of anything but an overabundance of trust, Vivien. The control the major houses exert over every aspect of this world and it's people reminds me of the worst of the zaibatsu."

"If a worker looked at you the wrong way, I'm certain the city guard would take, well, an enthusiatic approach to protecting your sensibilities. But a bored son of a major house ... I doubt there would even be an investigation, certainly nothing that would restrain ..."

Liev smiled sheepishly at his younger sister. "Being overprotective is an older brother's prerogative, or has so much changed since I went away to school? You look happy, and that's all that matters."

Liev decided to keep to himself the contents of the letter he had couriered to the Yard during Vivien's absence.

Vivien melted. "Oh, darling, of course you can be overprotective." She gave him a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm just tired. And I promise you, I'm not in any kind of danger. And I am happy... but you? How are you adjusting to being back?"

Liev answered with a smile. "About as well as I adjusted before I left." - Or as well as I adjusted to being off world - he thought to himself. "But you just have to let Liev be Liev, as dad used to say."

"I'm thinking of doing some, uh," Liev stumbled. "Volunteer work in the community, and I may need some advice on dressing to fit in. Nothing too fancy, but appropriate for ... uh ... " Liev fluttered his hands helplessly before continuing. "Visiting and being seen in public."

"Don't worry." Vivien reached up and smoothed her brother's hair back. "You'll be the height of fashion without being prissy or overdressed. Volunteer work, eh? Anything exciting?"

Taken aback by the physical contact, Liev stammered. "Nothing too interesting, I'm afraid, certainly nothing as interesting as the fashion show. We should probably get to bed before grandmother realizes anyone is still up. Or," he added with a smile. "That you've just arrived."

"You're avoiding the question," Vivien laughed, "but I suppose that's your prerogative. I shall try to endure my curiosity... And yes, we should go to bed, but... About the fashion show - have you met any young people who might be interested in modeling for me? I've written an article for the paper, but my in person conversations have as yet delivered scant results."

Liev's smile was answer enough to Vivien's accusation, so he answered. "I'm afraid I haven't really met anyone ... er ... suitable for modelling, though I suppose if you're showing work boots I could ask some of the lads down at the factory. As to the volunteer work, nothing too interesting there. And, who knows, they may not even be interested in my services."

With that, Liev began to climb the stairs leading to the sleeping chambers.

Vivien sighed. "Good night, Liev."

She followed him up the stairs, stifling a yawn behind her hand.

But as they reached the top of the stairs, they saw Olivia, a small black bag in one hand, her hair caught up in a bun that was even more untidy than usual. She was struggling to pull on a long dust coat (designed to protect clothes from the dirt of travelling) over one of her 'working' dresses, despite the lateness of the hour.

"Aunt Olivia!" Vivien stopped and moved to help her dress. "Were you called in to work this early?"

"There's been an accident at an iron smelting works," said Olivia. "Terrible injuries - we won't be able to move them all. I need to go there straight away."

"Oh dear!" Vivien actually managed to make "oh dear" sound perfectly sincere and even expressive. "Well, I'm not trained in any kind of nursing or anything, but I am awake and dressed if you need help with anything. I'd be glad to come with you."

"Would you?" said Olivia. "Ethan must stay here - he has a busy day tomorrow. But if you could come, I'm sure it will be the most tremendous help."

"Of course we'll come, grandmother." Liev said. "Should we bring anything with along? Bed sheets or table cloths for bandages or tents? Anything from the green house?"

"The material from the greenhouse is at the hospital," said Olivia. "One of the on-call doctors will bring that. But sheets, yes. See Mrs Plumb - tell her we need all the old sheets ... Not that we have so very many - they tend to get used up on occasions like this. They'll bring more supplies from the hospital though."

Vivien waited, her attention on Olivia. She was relieved that Liev would accompany them, he'd always been so much better than she in practical situations - and in emergencies.

The floor creaked as Gloria slowly made her way toward the small group. Her head was covered with a pale cotton kerchief, wisps of hair and colorful rags peeking out. A pale purple dressing gown covered her nightclothes. She grasped a quill in her hand.

"What's going on? I thought I was the only one awake."

"There's been a message for me - they used the outside stairs," explained Olivia. "An explosion at the ironworks ... a bad one, I'm afraid. I have to go immediately - Liev and Vivien have volunteered to come too. I'll see they don't run into any danger."

"Ah, good," replied Gloria, bobbing her head and smiling with approval. "I'm sure they will be good helpers."

She looked over toward her granddaughter. "Will I meet you at the greenhouse afterward, Vivvie? I have to make a stop or two on the way, but that blue-green pricklestrife definitely needs to be pruned today."

"Certainly," said Vivien, stifling a yawn. So she wasn't going to get any sleep at all tonight. Oh, well. It would certainly be exciting. Except for pruning. She was never going to adore pruning pricklestrife - even with gloves it was a bit... thorny. "When would you like me to come over?"

By now Olivia had hurried down the stairs and was receiving piles of sheets from Liev. She looked back up to where Vivien and Gloria were standing.

"We should hurry!" she called.

"Got to run, Nana," Vivien called to her grandmother. "I'll see you later."

She practically galloped back down the stairs.

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