Disclaimer: If you believe that I am Tamora Pierce, it goes without saying that you have a brain the size of an olive pit.
Reviews: Reviews are always welcome. I am a Lioness that doesn't bite most of the time, so don't worry…
The More Things Change
Looking around one of the ballroom that was filled with musicians, dancing courtiers, and servants bearing trays of wine and finger foods deftly navigating their way through the clumps of waltzing nobles, Alanna scowled. It was Midwinter again, which meant that she was another year older, and probably not a bit wiser. Still, at least she hadn't gotten any dumber, if the fact that she still despised parties like this was any indication.
If it were up to her, she wouldn't have been here in the first place, because she would have preferred to be along the border or at home in Pirate's Swoop for Midwinter rather than at the Royal Palace, watching nobles smile at each other's faces and stab one another in the back. However, it hadn't been up to her. That is, Jonathan had decided that her presence at the Midwinter celebrations in the Royal Palace would be a nice supplement for the peace talks that were beginning to unfold now that Kel's mission to Scanra had done away with the vermin who had created the monsters that had allowed Scanra to fight Tortall effectively. It was times like this, Alanna grumbled to herself, as she strode over to a refreshment table stationed along one wall, that she hated being the King's Champion, and would have settled for being his privy cleaner, instead.
Her mood was not improved when she saw that Lord Wyldon was standing alone by the table. Though his back was facing her as he selected a glass of champagne, she thought that it looked even more taught than usual, which meant that Wyldon wasn't delighted about attending this festivity, either. Glowering at the notion of having anything in common with such a stuffy conservative, Alanna snatched the first goblet of wine that she saw. She hoped that this would allow her to escape before she was forced to engage in any pleasantries with Wyldon.
Unfortunately, Wyldon, as always, wasn't on the same page as her, for he glanced up from his champagne to remark coldly, "Happy Midwinter, Lady Alanna."
"I would be happier if I weren't here," Alanna, in no mood to attempt to be polite to a man who had a tendency to rub against her every nerve, grunted, waving a hand around the crowded and noisy ballroom. "Jonathan wants me around to intimidate the Scanran ambassadors with my tongue and my sword, so here I am."
"I imagine that you are very effective at that," Wyldon observed, deadpan.
"At least my presence here serves some purpose," retorted Alanna, annoyed at the barb. "What's your excuse for being here?"
"Conventions of society," he answered smoothly. "I know that you value few of our country's ancient traditions, but surely even you are aware of how important a role a knightmaster plays in preparing his squire for the Ordeal, and surely even you know that it is exceedingly bad form for the knightmaster not to attend the actual knighting."
"I seem to remember such things from when Neal underwent the Ordeal, yes. I just don't devote my spare hours to memorizing which knights have squires that will be taking the Ordeal in any given year," Alanna snorted. Before Wyldon could reply, she added, "I seem to remember now, though, that it was your squire who was knighted last night. I suppose congratulations are in order."
"Not really." Wyldon shrugged. "I wasn't the one who went through the Ordeal, after all. Owen was."
"It feels like you are undergoing the Ordeal when you are waiting for your squire to come out, though," Alanna pointed out, sipping her wine.
"Waiting for a squire to emerge from the Ordeal is nothing compared to waiting for him to return from behind enemy lines," responded Wyldon dryly.
"I had forgotten that Owen was one of Kel's companions on her mission to Scanra," Alanna commented. "Speaking of that, I guess I owe you a thank you for not bringing Kel up on a charge of treason."
"I don't expect you to perform the impossible," returned Wyldon, "and I think we both know that you could never thank me for anything."
"We both know that you haven't done much to earn my thanks," Alanna volleyed back. "Still, it was surprisingly fair of you to not charge Kel with treason."
"I have spent much of my life trying to be fair," Wyldon replied tightly. "Given that, I don't see how my being fair could be shocking to you."
"You weren't so fair when you put Kel under probation." Alanna's amethyst eyes narrowed into menacing slits.
"Maybe not," sighed Wyldon, his eyes shadowing, and Alanna felt her own eyes widening, since she had never anticipated that the man would admit that he might be wrong, and especially not to her. "Yet, I was fair enough to permit her to stay when many men in my position wouldn't have. I did my part in making her training more miserable than any boy's training, and that is part of the reason why I did not punish her for running off to Scanra to rescue her people. Conservative does not equal monstrous, however much you would like to believe that it does. Us conservatives do not awaken every morning with the raging desire to do evil and make the lives of others difficult."
"And I suppose that us progressives do?" Alanna sneered into her goblet.
"No, you just fail to understand that there are often good reasons why we possess the traditions that we do, and, as a result, you end up throwing the baby out with the washwater," Wyldon countered in a clipped voice.
"But you just said that putting Kel under probation was immoral," exploded Alanna. "If that's the case, then not all change must be wrong."
"I am not an idiot; I don't believe that the past was an idyllic era of bliss for everyone." Wyldon paused and swallowed some champagne before continuing, "The past was flawed, and it can be improved on in the present. I admit that much, but, since society needs stability, in my mind if you want to change something, the burden should be on you to prove that custom is wrong and that your new method would be an improvement."
"You worship at the altar of our ancestors too much." Exasperated, Alanna shook her head. "You think somehow that because they lived before us they are wiser than us. While you remain still or take the occasional tiptoe forward, I stride forward, because all around me I see beings locked in the chains that your precious traditions have forged for them. To me, the burden will always be on the customs to prove that they don't pointlessly deny someone an education or an opportunity to do what they want with their lives."
"I imagine that is why we stand the way we do on issues." As he established as much, Wyldon emptied his glass. After setting it down on the table, he offered her a slight bow. "Well, it was a pleasure speaking with you, Lady Alanna."
"We shall never be friends, and, no matter how fairly you treat Kel from here on out, we will never like each other," Alanna pronounced, deciding to display her usual knack at bluntness. "You don't need to pretend to be polite for my benefit."
"Pretend?" Wyldon's eyebrows arched. "I am always genuine with those I respect."
"You expect me to believe that you respect me?" Alanna didn't know whether to laugh or snort.
"Why shouldn't I?" Wyldon asked. "We agree on very little, but I have to respect someone who stands by her principles however misguided they may be, and I have always believed that even if your successes were just due to your Gift that doesn't lessen their importance."
"I suppose I have to respect a good warrior who tries to do what he thinks is right even if I know that he is wrong a vast majority of the time." Alanna was surprised to find that getting this sentence out was harder than most battles. It took a lot to admit that there was anything admirable about so cold and hard a man as Wyldon of Cavall. Pinning her purple eyes to his dark ones, she warned, "This changes nothing, Cavall."
"I wouldn't want it to. Baiting you at parties like this keeps me occupied for a good half hour," Wyldon answered, turning on his heel and walking over to dance with his wife.
Watching him, Alanna scowled again, as she realized that she was bored again. Perhaps conservatives did have a purpose, after all—to provide her with free entertainment at stupid festivities tyrannical kings forced her to attend.