A/N: Just so there's no confusion I thought you might want to know this
takes place long before Alanna and everyone. R/R, people! I'll love you
if you do!
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The moon was starting to set, a sign that the night was over and the morning coming. In a small town deep in the hills, only a few people were beginning to stir. In a few hours, it would be fully awake soon to be bustling with trade.
At this time, the community was still tiny and a stranger was noticed in an instant. People knew everyone else and a villager couldn't walk from one house to another without stopping to talk to half a dozen others. It was growing steadily though, and in a few years the homely little community would be too big to know everyone. The town stood at two major roads, one led over the hills, straight into the desert, where the tribes of the Bazhir reigned without any regard to the Kingdom of Tortall. The other hugged the coastline to the north and south, and would lead the wanderer north to the capital of Corus.
It was there that a newly dubbed knight and her squire were preparing to ride at that hour. The knight had been given specific instructions from the King himself, which was unusual in such a basic task. He had treated it like the sake of the world was in her hands.
The young woman scoffed as she walked toward the stables. She had been one of the best squires before being sent into the Knight's Ordeal. She had come out like all others squinting at the people, tired but grateful to have survived. Two squires had died in there this year, one of them her friend. Is that why he had sent her on such a simple mission? Did the king think she would be too busy mourning her dead friend to do a real assignment properly?
She thought about it. It couldn't be, squires were taught that casualties were a part of being a knight. She was sad about her friend's death but that didn't mean she couldn't fight. But an order from the king was not something one disobeyed lightly, and she would have to do what he told her. She sighed as she walked into the castle stables where her squire had prepared the horses.
"Lady Mirian, the horses are ready." She thanked the boy quietly. Douglass was quiet and took orders. He came from one of the newest fiefs, Golden Lake. His father had saved the last king's life and was given some of the new lands that Tortall had gotten from the war with Tusaine. He was small for his age, but worked hard and would make a good squire for the next four years, until he would become a knight. It was her job to prepare him for the trials of knighthood. But how she was suppose to do that if the king wouldn't even give her a decent assignment!
She mounted her stallion, Black Pearl. The horse had been given to her as a present from her wealthy father upon being knighted. She sighed as they rode out of the palace. He had never thought she would make it when he sent her away to Corus. It wasn't until the midwinter of her 18th birthday approached that he realized she would become one of the great warrior maidens.
He, like a growing number of lords, had believed that women could never be real warriors. Those people believed that women should stay home and act like what they thought of as proper ladies. Most girls were sent to be trained to sew and dance. A diminishing number of fathers would allow their daughters to be trained as knights. Her father had been one of the majority and refused to let Mirian study as a knight until her mother had spoken to him. He had reluctantly allowed her to, still unsure, but his confidence in her ability to fight for Tortall grew with passing time.
He never told her he was proud, it would be like admitting he was wrong, but the stallion was his way of telling her secretly.
The city of Corus had yet to wake up as the knight and her squire slipped out of the southern gates and no one noticed their departure. No one save a beautiful mage, who, cloaked in the darkness of the night, watched them leave the capital.
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The knight stopped and dismounted as they reached the sea. The squire, surprised, grumpily halted as well. The sun was high in the sky already but the unhappy pair hadn't spoken to each other all day. Mirian was afraid that if she did she would have to explain their journey to the squire. Douglass held respect for her, not only as an elder but also as one of the finest of the king's new knights. She couldn't explain to him she was sent on such an easy assignment. He would lose his respect for her. Sooner or later his curiosity would prompt him to ask her about the task.
"We will rest here, then make it to the village of Nirewn at dusk." The squire dismounted but glared at the knight. He would have liked to know why they were going to a little village by the coast, but if Lady Mirian didn't want to tell him she wasn't required to. Didn't mean he couldn't ask.
"Lady Mirian, if I may ask what is our task in Port Legana?" The question she had been dreading. She didn't have to tell him but felt an obligation to tell him. She couldn't drag him half way across the country without telling him anything. She didn't have to tell him that even she didn't know everything.
"Well the king has given me very specific instructions," the knight began as she dug through her saddlebags for provisions, "He has instructed us to ride to the village to find a young woman. Her name is Gwenivere. She is thirteen and of great importance. I can't tell you anymore." The squire seemed impressed, thinking that it was secretive, not that Mirian herself didn't know. He accepted the food she gave him and they sat down to eat their small meal.
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A/N: Hope y'all like this. It hasn't got much of a plot yet but I had fun writing it. R/R, please! Oh and thanks again to Jean for the name of the story.
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The moon was starting to set, a sign that the night was over and the morning coming. In a small town deep in the hills, only a few people were beginning to stir. In a few hours, it would be fully awake soon to be bustling with trade.
At this time, the community was still tiny and a stranger was noticed in an instant. People knew everyone else and a villager couldn't walk from one house to another without stopping to talk to half a dozen others. It was growing steadily though, and in a few years the homely little community would be too big to know everyone. The town stood at two major roads, one led over the hills, straight into the desert, where the tribes of the Bazhir reigned without any regard to the Kingdom of Tortall. The other hugged the coastline to the north and south, and would lead the wanderer north to the capital of Corus.
It was there that a newly dubbed knight and her squire were preparing to ride at that hour. The knight had been given specific instructions from the King himself, which was unusual in such a basic task. He had treated it like the sake of the world was in her hands.
The young woman scoffed as she walked toward the stables. She had been one of the best squires before being sent into the Knight's Ordeal. She had come out like all others squinting at the people, tired but grateful to have survived. Two squires had died in there this year, one of them her friend. Is that why he had sent her on such a simple mission? Did the king think she would be too busy mourning her dead friend to do a real assignment properly?
She thought about it. It couldn't be, squires were taught that casualties were a part of being a knight. She was sad about her friend's death but that didn't mean she couldn't fight. But an order from the king was not something one disobeyed lightly, and she would have to do what he told her. She sighed as she walked into the castle stables where her squire had prepared the horses.
"Lady Mirian, the horses are ready." She thanked the boy quietly. Douglass was quiet and took orders. He came from one of the newest fiefs, Golden Lake. His father had saved the last king's life and was given some of the new lands that Tortall had gotten from the war with Tusaine. He was small for his age, but worked hard and would make a good squire for the next four years, until he would become a knight. It was her job to prepare him for the trials of knighthood. But how she was suppose to do that if the king wouldn't even give her a decent assignment!
She mounted her stallion, Black Pearl. The horse had been given to her as a present from her wealthy father upon being knighted. She sighed as they rode out of the palace. He had never thought she would make it when he sent her away to Corus. It wasn't until the midwinter of her 18th birthday approached that he realized she would become one of the great warrior maidens.
He, like a growing number of lords, had believed that women could never be real warriors. Those people believed that women should stay home and act like what they thought of as proper ladies. Most girls were sent to be trained to sew and dance. A diminishing number of fathers would allow their daughters to be trained as knights. Her father had been one of the majority and refused to let Mirian study as a knight until her mother had spoken to him. He had reluctantly allowed her to, still unsure, but his confidence in her ability to fight for Tortall grew with passing time.
He never told her he was proud, it would be like admitting he was wrong, but the stallion was his way of telling her secretly.
The city of Corus had yet to wake up as the knight and her squire slipped out of the southern gates and no one noticed their departure. No one save a beautiful mage, who, cloaked in the darkness of the night, watched them leave the capital.
************************************************************************
The knight stopped and dismounted as they reached the sea. The squire, surprised, grumpily halted as well. The sun was high in the sky already but the unhappy pair hadn't spoken to each other all day. Mirian was afraid that if she did she would have to explain their journey to the squire. Douglass held respect for her, not only as an elder but also as one of the finest of the king's new knights. She couldn't explain to him she was sent on such an easy assignment. He would lose his respect for her. Sooner or later his curiosity would prompt him to ask her about the task.
"We will rest here, then make it to the village of Nirewn at dusk." The squire dismounted but glared at the knight. He would have liked to know why they were going to a little village by the coast, but if Lady Mirian didn't want to tell him she wasn't required to. Didn't mean he couldn't ask.
"Lady Mirian, if I may ask what is our task in Port Legana?" The question she had been dreading. She didn't have to tell him but felt an obligation to tell him. She couldn't drag him half way across the country without telling him anything. She didn't have to tell him that even she didn't know everything.
"Well the king has given me very specific instructions," the knight began as she dug through her saddlebags for provisions, "He has instructed us to ride to the village to find a young woman. Her name is Gwenivere. She is thirteen and of great importance. I can't tell you anymore." The squire seemed impressed, thinking that it was secretive, not that Mirian herself didn't know. He accepted the food she gave him and they sat down to eat their small meal.
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A/N: Hope y'all like this. It hasn't got much of a plot yet but I had fun writing it. R/R, please! Oh and thanks again to Jean for the name of the story.