The new female member of the court
Your just the girl all the boys wanna dance with and I'm just the boy whose had to many chance- Fall Out Boy
The heat was stifling inside the carriage and Keldry of Midelan couldn't wait to walk out into the fresh air. She wiped her forehead and fanned her face gently as she pulled her limp mess of hair away from her neck. The sun rays beat forcefully through the window and she attempted to create a breeze by pushing the heavy drapes away from the door.
Her breath caught in her mouth as she pushed the drape back and caught sight of the city of Corus: her new home. The red clay of the houses glinted in the formidable heat sending tendrils of light floating in all directions. These smaller houses though were nothing compared to the palace which stood high above the city commanding just as much presence as the human monarchy.
The carriage wound its way through the cobble stone street before reaching the hill leading up to the palace gates. She heard laughter and turned her head to see a group of boys riding behind the carriage on their horses, their hair still dripping from swimming at the water hole.
She watched them closely as they neared making sure her head was hidden by the drapes so she was not to be seen spying on them. She first noticed a boy with coal black hair and blue sapphire eyes riding at the head of the pack on his chestnut mare, followed closely by a tall boy with brown hair and bright green eyes. A young man with red matted hair at the back of the group called out:
"Hey Roald, Neal… look another carriage has arrived with a precious lady straight from the convent ready to fall at your feet." The boys voice sounded amused but Kel was able to note a hint of jealousy filling his statement. The boys she took to be called Neal and Roald laughed (their amusement for real) before pushing their horses to a swift trot; closing the gap between the group and Kel's carriage.
She pulled back immediately and attempted to fix herself so she looked half decent for her first palace visitors; even if it was only to greet her when she stepped down from her carriage. She tousled her hands through her long light curls allowing them to fall back gracefully around her shoulders before pulling at her simple navy travel dress. She made sure the bodice was in place before rearranging the folds of the plain skirt.
The carriage slowed as it passed through the golden gilded gates of the palace before halting in the courtyard. She could hear the laughter of the boys outside as they waited for her to walk out. The herald stepped down and hurriedly introduced her:
" Lady Keldry of Midelan"
Kel stood up and quickly patted her curl draining up the courage to walk out of the carriage in front of all those young men. The stifling heat finally got to her and she stepped gracefully out onto the step blinking shyly in the sudden bright light.
Well well, this is a nice surprise
There's some thing in your eyes makes me wanna lose yourself in your arms, there's something in your voice that makes my heart beat fast, hope this feeling last the rest of my life.
The moment she walked out the boys fell silent allowing their eyes to roam over the way her travel dress accentuated her curves and bust. They noted her long, light tousled hair and the way it framed the delicate features of her face. Her lips were light pink and her high boned cheeks flushed gently as she noticed the way the men's eyes stared at her. Her once shy eyes began to flash with annoyance as they watched changing from a bold hazel to a dark black in a matter of seconds.
"Welcome to the palace", the boy with the brown hair and green eyes stated his sultry alto accenting the vowels. " I'm squire Nealson of Queenscove and these are my friends Roald and Merric. Kel turned her dark eyes to him her eyes brows raised in what they thought was a flirty manner.
" Some welcome this was"' she said angrily, "your all standing their staring at me as if you have never seen a women before. The men jumped and hurriedly assured her that they were only staring because of her immense beauty. Kel sniffed slightly enjoying the boys anxious glances; she fooled them for a moment longer before leaning up against the carriage in fits of laughter.
The boys all exchanged looks of confusion at her sudden change of manner. The young man with blue eyes and coal hair who Kel took to be Roald tentatively asked her if she was alright. This only caused Kel's laughter to increase as she hung on to the door of the carriage. She finally got her laughter under control as she hurriedly whimpered out;
" You should of seen the looks on your faces, I'd just like to point of that as a lady of convent we are extremely used to young men staring at us…"
And at the end of this sentence she collapsed back into fits of laughter.
The
boys stared at her in confusion before the joke dawned on them.
Roald, Neal and
Merric smiled finally at Kel's antic before
helping her down the stairs and asking the herald to bring her things
to her room. She managed to gain some control over her very un lady
like laughter and quickly wiped her eyes as the boys led her to her
room.
"So Kel," Neal asked, " What brings you to the palace?"
Kel laughed inwardly as all the boys nodded together looking like a bunch of puppets with their heads slightly askew.
" Well I am here for my presentation night which is two nights from now." The boys again nodded knowingly there eyes still riveted on her curves and bust. She slowly reached out her hand to Roald and lifted his head away from her bust so his eyes focused on her own.
" Trust me," she stated "everything up here looks much better then any of the stuff down there."
Roald grinned at her vulgarity and as his eyes met Kel's, she stopped. She felt the air rush through her lungs as she stared deeply into his sapphire blue eyes. He reached his own hand out slowly to brush a curl of her flushed cheeks making sure to gently touch her face on the way. Kel shuddered at the electric current that passed through her.
Neal and Merric at this point were getting very huffed as Kel and Roald stared at each other in amazement as if they had never seen each other before. Neal spoke up quickly as he saw Roald's hand brush the women Neal believed was the most beautiful women he had ever seen and therefore HIS women.
" Come on Prince Roald I believe it's time to go…"
Kel's eyes snapped towards Neal and she took an in voluntary step away from Roald. Her thoughts rushed achingly through her mind. "He's the crown prince!".. " oh my why didn't I see this before, he looks exactly like King Jonathan".. " he must think I'm so silly for my little trick before".
Kel quickly grabbed her skirts and with a hurried good bye and thank you but she would be able to find her own room she raced as fast as was a appropriate for a young lady to down the corridor.
Roald watched in amazement at her getaway before turning his bright eyes on Neal.
" Neal my friend, what was that?" Roald said in a menacing tone. Neal sputtered on about how Roald had an appointment or how he might need to practice. Roald stared him down before stalking down the corridor in an opposite direction to our newest female member of the court.
Every flower has a different scent
Baby baby, don't leave, all by myself, I got this burning yearning feeling deep inside me and it hurts so bad- Pussy Cat Dolls
Kel woke up to the sound of movement in the corridor and the bright sun beginning to shine happily through the window onto her bed. The sun might be happy, she thought, but I am certainly not. She untangled her blankets and gently slipped out from under her covers before covering her room in quick paces toward her bags. She pulled out a pair of tan breeches- tight enough to move in but loose enough to not send the squires or the court into a frenzy- ,slipped a crisp white shirt over top and tied a dark scarf around her head to hide her hair. She grabbed her navy cloak and tied it around her swiftly before grabbing a long case which leaned against the wall.
"I can't believe I slept in so long", Kel muttered as she mentally hit herself for not getting up earlier while the practice courts were still empty. She hurried along the corridor hoping that even though it was just after sun rise the courts would be at least quiet.
When she walked in many of the spaces were filled with young men practicing wrestling, sword work, archery or axe work. She moved to a quiet area at the back and allowed her cloak to fall; to the distant eye in her male attire she looked like a young man beginning his practice for the morning. Her long case was unzipped to reveal and very long and a very sharp glaive. She pulled it out and began an easy pattern and slowly increased both the speed and difficulty until her glaive was a whirling blur.
Each strike was a mental hit to herself. "that was for waking up late"…" that was for making a fool of yourself in front of the boys".. " That was for running away from Prince Roald"… " that was for thinking the prince and you had something special"..." that was for thinking Roald was special." At that thought Kel stopped abruptly her mind racing to figure out where that thought had come from. She heard clapping distantly around her and raised her eyes to see a crowd had gathered around her practice area. They cheered and asked questions about where he had learnt those skills.
Kel quickly pulled her scarf further down over her hair when she realised they still thought she was a boy and quickly picked her glaive up and made some hurried excuses. The crowd watched confusedly as "the young man who was good with the glaive" walked as fast as he could towards the main palace.
At the convent Kel had always hidden her skills in the glaive and archery to herself and had chosen instead to wake up every morning before sunrise to practice while no one was awake. When she came to the place she knew this would not be as possible as the knights and knights in training awoke early also so she had hoped to dress her feministic features down so from the distance she would look like a man. She hadn't believed it would work up close as well.
Kel hurried into her room and swiftly pulled her breeches and top off and replaced it with a tight fitting light blue spring dress. She pulled the scarf off and let her fall down onto her shoulders, curling gracefully down her back. As soon as she had finished getting ready she pushed the door open and strode out into the corridors. She could hear some of the squires talking as they came around the corner and she held her breath and attempted not to laugh when she heard what was being said.
" There was this amazing foreigner at the practice courts today did you see him?"…" I did he was brilliant with that glaive, did you know who that was i would love a lesson?."
The squire who spoke the last question came around the corner into sight as he finished his sentence. Kel stopped dead in the middle of the corridor as Prince Roald came into sight his coal colored hair matted from his recent practice. His eyes blazed as he talked about Kel ( though he thought it was a talented foreigner) and he pulled his tunic to wipe his face revealing a hard muscled stomach. Kel could feel herself melting as she took in this wonderful sight but she thankfully managed to pull herself together in time for when Roald noticed her.
His eyes locked with hers and he stopped dead in the corridor staring deep into her emerald green eyes. She felt herself began to melt again as he started pacing towards her. Roald grabbed her hand and kissed it gently:
" I give my deepest apologies lady for offending you yesterday, I should of told you earlier who I was, I just like it when people treat me as if I'm not the prince."
He stood up straight and Kel flushed furiously before curtseying humbly.
"It's okay your highness," she said quietly, " it is me who should be sorry for playing a joke on you then running away."
Roald nodded thoughtfully
" Please, call me Roald."
Neal who?
No don't just walk away pretending everything's okay and you don't care about me- Michelle Branch
Much better Kel thought as she strode out into the practice courts before sun rise. There was still people there but not half as many as the day before. She pulled out her glaive and made a space for herself to practice her dances. Before she could start someone tapped her on the shoulder and she whirled around to find Squire Neal standing behind her.
"Hello my name is Squire Neal and I was wondering if you could tell me about that pig sticker of yours?"
Kel blinked back at him like a startled owl and bowed quickly to him to hide her reaction. When she leaned back up her scarf slipped slightly reveling her light mass of curls underneath. Neal took in a deep breath:
"Lady Keldry is that you? You're the foreigner whose good with the glaive? But I thought you were a man…" said Neal as he dissolved into laughter. Kel's eyes turned to black swiftly and she started a glaive pattern around him never getting close enough to hurt him but still scaring him. She increased the pattern and he watched with fear and amazement at her dance before Kel swiftly cut a lock of his hair off letting it fall to the ground.
Kel grabbed her cloak and stormed off back to her rooms never giving a backwards glance to poor dazed squire Neal.
Neal felt extremely sorry for his antics earlier that day so he made it his mission to apologize to Lady Keldry. He strolled over to her rooms checking his reflection in every window he passed to make sure he looked as good as he usually did.
Kel heard a light rap on her doors so she placed her book down and moved to the door. She opened it to find squire Neal looking very remorseful. He grabbed her hand and in the style of the prince kissed it:
" I give my deepest apologies Lady for offending you earlier this morning it's just everyone knows girls aren't as good as men at sword play."
He stood up straight looking very satisfied with himself as if she had accepted his apology and fallen into his arms. Kel looked at him pitifully before slamming the door in his face. Neal was very surprised at this and proceeded to rap on the door again.
Kel opened the door, this time her face holding her yamani mask.
"Lady Keldry would you do me the honour of allowing me to escort you at your presentation night." He again looked very pleased with himself and Kel's eyes glinted black before slamming the door in his face.
"No."
The sound of Kel's voice floated through the closed door.
Later on that day Prince Roald hurried towards Kel's room hurriedly checking his reflection in the window next to her door. He tried to push his hair down flat but it still looked matted and sticky uppy (A/N: I made a new word Wooh!!) He rapped lightly on the door and I flew opened to reveal a very annoyed very black eyed Kel standing in the door frame.
"What now?" she yelled before letting her hands fly to her mouth.
"Prince Roald I am so sorry I though you were someone else! I'm so sorry.. "
Roald looked at her with amusement as she tried to cover up her mistake. He placed his finger up against her lip to quiet her and then asked:
"Lady Keldry would you do me the honour of allowing me to escort you to your presentation?"
She bit her lip in thought which made Roald whimper because she looked so cute. Please say yes he thought.
"Of course I will Roald I would be honoured." She reached out her hand and slowly ran them through Roald's hair smoothing it down. He closed his eyes loving the feeling of her graceful hands tidying his hair. He just couldn't help him self. He leaned forwards and pressed his lips softly to hers before hurrying away down the corridor.
He turned around at the end of the corridor to see her tucking a strand of hair behind her ears a small smile playing softly across her features.