Lord Wyldon came to the lectern."I know you all wish to pack. Get to it. Keladry of Mindelan, report to my office at the next bell.
Keladry of Mindelan walked down the hallway. She thought about how she would miss the sparrows that flew in through her window and Peachblossom, the stubborn old horse that she had began to enjoy riding him. She would ask Daine if she could take him with her. Or buy him even.
Not noticing where she was going, she had nearly walked into the training master's door, Kel felt tears well up in her eyes. This was it… she would never be able to return. She opened the door and stepped in.
"Sit down Mindelan. You have not proved to me that you can keep up with the other pages." came Lord Wyldon's harsh voice. It wasn't your year was it? she felt like screaming at him, but she didn't. She would not show how she felt.
"So I can't come back then?"
"No. You may not come back." Voice cool but controlled, Keladry of Mindelan said:
"Fine I will leave, but I can guarantee you that you have not seen the last of female knights." And with that she gave a stiff bow and turned on her heel, to pack and leave.
When Kel got back to her rooms she found her bags already packed by the palace staff. Lovely, she muttered sarcastically to herself. Quickly and rather hastily she scribbled a note down to her friends:
Dear Neal, Roald, Cleon, Seaver, Faleron and Merric,
As you may have heard by now, I will not be permitted to train come September. I am dreadfully sorry that I cannot say goodbye, but I fear I must leave immediately before anyone suspects. I promise I will see you all again some day. Goodbye and I will miss you all.
Best Regards,
Keladry of Mindelan
She left a waving cat for Neal and some of her sketches from the Yamani Island for Roald. She also left them all with an owl pendant for the owl is the symbol for Mindelan. These would be to remember her by.
Already she could hear Joren, Vinson and Garvey in her head: "We knew you wouldn't be good enough! You should go to the convent to train as a proper young lady!" They were taunting her. In her head. She would prove them all wrong! All of them! With purpose and determination set in her mind, she knew she had a purpose in this world, she could do it. She would come back a Yamani knight and they would be sorry that she wasn't on their side (Not that she was hoping they would go to war or something. Only a fool would wish something like that on them-self.). She would show them. She would be the best. The best knight in the Yamani Islands. The best knight in the world.
That night she quietly slipped out her window after taking a last look around the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything and to sink the image into her mind. She left a letter to her parents at their town house in Corus and left for Port Caynn. She got to the docks just as the ship for the Yamani Islands was leaving. She paid the captain 10 gold nobles for the delay and boarded the ship. She would be a warrior if she had to go to the end of the world to find a way. As the sun started to rise over the horizon Keladry of Mindelan was taking her last look at Tortall for a very, very, very long time.
The End