Disclaimer: Ok folks, everything here is Tamora Pierce's propriety, except my own characters. I only say this once in this fic: I do not own anything. Got it?
Ok, here is the first part of the new version of 'A Lady's Destiny'. I'm really busy at the moment, but I try to work on it as much as possible. Please tell me what you think about the changes and if it's better or worse…
Chapter 01: Invasion
"I can't believe it." Lady Alanna looked at the letters she was actually reading, an expression of complete disbelief on her face. "This must be a joke or something like that." She looked at King Jonathan. He was just as confused as his Lioness; he just hid it better beneath a calm face that oozed royalty.
"No joke. The letters are authentic." Jon sighed; his eyes were calm and serious. "I can't explain it myself." He hadn't expected that to happen, and he didn't like things which came out of the blue. After all he had spent a lifetime watching and studying the nobles in his country, he needed to know what they were planning before they themselves did. It unsettled him that he couldn't find a reason for this new development.
"It's an invasion!" The Lioness had finally managed to tear her eyes away from the letter shaking her head in utter disbelief.
"You're exaggerating." Jon suppressed a chuckle. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one who felt confused.
"Jon! After years of telling Kel and I that we are the most unnatural human beings on earth, three of the most conservative noble families are sending their daughters to the palace. Not to marry. To become knights! How would you term this different than an invasion?" Alanna looked at the letter again, as if it would change its contents any moment. "I can't understand the world anymore. How long was I gone exactly? Last time I checked these people were the last to ever even think about the idea of women fighting."
Now Jon really started to grin. "I thought you would be proud. It seems that Lady Knights are now accepted, even by conservatives. This year five young ladies are travelling to Corus, to follow your footsteps. Be proud Lioness, you've got what you wanted to achieve."
Alanna looked doubtfully at her king. "Do you really think they are coming here to follow my footsteps? Maybe that's what the girls want, but … what about their parents? Why did they give the permission to them? Why don't they send them to convent without discussion? That would be the normal procedure. And don't give me that times-have-changed nonsense, because these people live still in the past century, and you know it."
"I don't know. They didn't explain themselves to me. They don't have to, you know. It wouldn't be an equal treatment if the parents of female pages had to explain their reasons the others don't have to."
"Wait a minute! You said I've achieved what I wanted. What about the probation?" Alanna stared at Jon, wariness gleaming in her eyes.
Jon sighed deeply. Please, not again. "I will have to talk to Lord Padraig. But I think he would get huge problems with the girls' families if he insists on the probation. But please, Alanna, at least try to understand that it isn't completely up to me. Last time we had this discussion I hardly ever saw you for years!"
The Lioness just frowned deeply and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a stance that clearly said: Don't get on the wrong side of my temper, you'll regret it!
Lord Padraig haMinch started to hate his job. Today was the day the new pages arrived. Today the girls would arrive. He had already met four of them. Three might be a problem.
First, there were the sisters Aidan and Ariadne of Crystal Lake. They had arrived with their brother Aaron. The three were triplets, veeery active triplets, unable to sit still one single minute. Wearing the same clothes and having the same haircut, nobody would be able to distinguish them.
Then there was Berenice of Gohman. She didn't look happy becoming a knight. Not. At. All. That made life much harder for him. The girl's mother was a bit ... difficult. When he had tried to explain to the girl the difficulties knighthood, Lady Damaris nearly throttled him. 'How could he dare to frighten her daughter!' His problem was that he was related to Lady Damaris. They were quite close relatives. It could happen that his aunt, the family dragon, would join in the debate. That could become … ugly, for him! 'Those bloody relatives!'
At least the last girl seemed quite normal ... for a young lady who wants to be knighted. Corvina of Kourell was calm, obedient and willing to learn, or at least she appeared that way. But she still was a girl.
Lord Padraig buried his head in his hands. 'Oh gods! What have I done to deserve this?'
Suddenly somebody was knocking on the door. Lord haMinch head shot up. "Come in!"
A servant entered. "Lord Victor of Pinehollow and his niece, Lady Samira of Pinehollow."
Immediately a man in his mid- fifties entered the room. He was an impressing person. Tall, grey hair, almost yellow eyes and a sharp edged face made him look like a hawk. A hungry hawk. Lord Padraig couldn't prevent gulping.
After the man a girl entered the room. At the first it was rather difficult to believe that these two were really related. The older man was a hard and severe warrior, known in Tortall for his absolute loyalty to the royal house, his strict yet fair rule of his fief … and his lack of a male heir. The fact that he had chosen his niece as his heiress, after her return from abroad, had caused uproar in the whole country. And the fact that he expected her to become a Lady Knight left all the other conservatives, whose most fierce comrade he had been for quite some time, confused and deeply shocked.
Were her uncle was rough and slightly bony built, she seemed to be soft and delicate. She was of slender built and pale golden complexion. Short blond hair, that seemed soft and silky, a delicately shaped face with soft full lips, a small nose and what had to be the most expressively shaped eyes he had ever seen. Seemingly huge eyes of a dark moss green colour, oozing strength and vulnerability at the same time.
What uncle and niece had in common was the mixture of sadness and determination in their eyes. It made Padraig wonder what had happened to put this expression in both their eyes. Maybe the same thing that had got Lord Victor to make his niece a knight in training.
Lord Padraig cleared his throat. "Please, sit down." After exchanging the usual pleasantries with the Lord, he looked at Samira. He was surprised to be faced by a direct and piercing glace, not wavering in the least. "Well, Samira. You came here to become a knight. I hope you don't think it will be easy. Four years as a page, four years as a squire and the Chamber of Ordeal are standing between you and your knighthood. The classes and the training will grow harder with time. You will need physical and mental strength. Do you really think you will be able to do this?" 'As if she'd really consider saying no.'
"Yes, sir," was the calm reply.
'I knew it.' Lord Padraig was feeling very uncomfortable under the piercing glare of Lord Victor, who eyed him like some kind of insect. 'Please gods, let me survive this.' "I have to tell you that you will be treated like all the other pages of your age. There are no privileges because of your sex. If you can't keep up with the boys, this is the wrong place for you."
Now Lord Victor looked really angry.
'I live dangerous. He looks like he wants to eat me. Gods, please help me!'
Samira herself looked as calm as ever. She didn't seem to be easily influenced.
'I hope she'll make it. Lord Victor will hold me responsible if she fails.' "If everything is clear, you can go now." A few more polite pleasantries and they finally left Lord Padraig alone with his relief. 'Thanks to Mithros. That's it. That was the last page. This year will be very hard. How could I've been so stupid to take the job as the pages' training master? I must've been completely insane. Now I need a drink!'
"I can't believe that I'm here." Berenice of Gohman looked at her new bedroom in the pages' wing. It was furnished more plain than she was used to. A bed, some chairs, a table, and a cupboard. That was everything. Her suitcases were on the bed, only half the things she would have liked to take with her. She felt lonely and frustrated.
'Why did I agree to come to the palace? Why didn't I just go to convent where noble girls like me belong? I'm a complete idiot, that's it,' she thought. 'Only because Cori and Sam wanted to be knights... They talked me around. That's it. Without Sam, mother would have never agreed to anything like that.' Grumbling she started to clear away her clothes. 'Boys' clothes. I will make a fool of myself. They will beat me up. The girl who thought she could keep up with boys. They believe that I don't belong here. I saw how they glared at me when I arrived. And they are right.' Bery sat down. 'What am I supposed to do?'
Suddenly somebody was knocking on the door.
"Who is there?"
"It's me."
Bery groaned. "Come in." 'If it's necessary,' she added in her mind.
A smiling young girl entered the room. She had short blond hair and gold brown eyes. Corvina of Kourell.
'Why is she always that happy? It drives me crazy! I would kill for her looks. And she risks her pretty face in fights.' Bery herself had brown hair and dark brown eyes. In her own opinion, she looked much too ordinary for a noble. "What do you want?"
"Are you in a bad mood?" Cori asked, still smiling happily.
'How sagacious she is.' "I would describe it differently."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see your room. Did you know that it's next to mine?"
"Oh really, how pleasant!"
"I don't like it when you talk like that." Cori started to frown lightly, her happy radiation fading.
"And how do I talk, my lady?"
"Ironic … aggressive…"
"Oh! Yes, now that you're mentioning it... But why on earth should I be ironic? I mean, being here ... following your stupid dream ..."
"Wait a minute. My dream? You wanted to become a knight, too"
"It was you that brought up that stupid idea to me. No. It's Sam. She is the reason we are here."
Now Cori was really angry. "Sam has nothing to do with your presence. It was your own decision. If you didn't want to be here, why didn't you say something?"
"And look like a coward! I knew both of you would have liked it ..."
"Hey! Don't attack me. If you are not courageous enough to say what you want to do, it's not my fault."
"I knew I would find both of you here. I just had to follow the noise."
Both girls turned to look at the girl leaning in the door.
"Sam!"
Samira of Pinehollow eyed her cousin and her uncle's godchild with mild annoyance. "OK. What or who is the problem? And does it really interest me?"
Suddenly Bery's rage cooled down rapidly. Arguing with Cori was something completely different than with Sam. Sam was direct and honest, even if she hurt other people. Normally she didn't care about people much, mainly remained alone, valuing her privacy above anything else. But sometimes ... Even Bery, who had a quite sharp tongue, was afraid of a discussion with her. "It's ... it's only ... because of you," she stammered, trying hard to regain her angry posture. "Only because of you we are here."
Sam looked bored, completely unfazed by the accusations directed towards her. "Cori. Please, leave us alone."
Cori looked a little surprised and worried at her cousin. "What ...?"
"Please."
Cori still hesitated. "Don't be too ... uhm… severe…" She left the room, carefully closing the door behind her.
Sam looked at Bery, narrowing her eyes. "Now. The truth. At once. What frightens you?"
Bery startled. "I am not afraid!"
Sam went on staring at her. Moss green eyes can be very irritating. When Sam looked like that, nobody was able to lie, at least in Bery's opinion.
"I want to be home."
Sam nodded. "Why?"
"I'll fail. I know it. I'm just a girl. I'm not strong enough. They'll hurt me. They'll make my life misery. I can't do that." Bery almost cried.
Sam snorted and shrugged. "If you say so, I suppose it's true. You will fail, of course."
Not exactly the answer Bery had expected. "W...what?"
"Without faith in yourself you will fail. If you want to fail that is. "
"How can you … even think that I want to fail?" Bery was shocked.
"All you know is how to be the perfect court lady, isn't it? Most members of your family are dead, except for your mother and some distant aunts. No male role model to show you what being a knight is supposed to mean. You are afraid that you agreed to be something you can't live up to. You are afraid to take over a responsibility that is too much for you, to make promises you can't fulfil."
Bery frowned deeply in confusion.
After a while Sam continued. "Remember. After the burial of your father, you told me that you wanted to protect your mother. Nobody should harm your family anymore. Your father and your brothers are gone. Nobody can do this, apart from you. Do you want to wait until you are married to some nobleman who might or might not be brave and clever enough to protect and to manage your fief with success? Or do you want to be the master of your destiny?" Sam sighed again. "Bery, this is the first and the last time I'll say this to you. You are strong enough to do this. You are stubborn, you are brave … most of the time … and you are clever. Choose your destiny. It's in your hand."
Bery looked up hopefully. Somehow the fact that her feelings seemed to be an open book to the girl in front of her seemed to comfort her, in a very strange way. "Choose my destiny? Like you?"
A sad shadow passed Sam's face before she whispered: "No. I don't have a choice."
