A.N. Hi, everyone! I'm a new Fanfiction author, and this is my first story, so if you would review with constructive criticism it would be welcome. So here goes:

James looked up wonderingly at the majestic castle before him. He would be living here! James was a slight boy of eleven, with black hair and unusual golden eyes. He lived in Tortall under the reign of King Jonathan and Queen Thayet.

"He was going to be a knight!"

The thought struck James like a ray of sunshine, filling him with pride, finally, he was going to show his dad that he was strong enough, that he would earn his place among the knights.

"Hurry up boy," shouted Gregory, James' father, "Get a move on! I want to be home by tomorrow."

James sighed and trekked forward slowly, following his father to the soaring gates of to castle keep. Gregory stomped into the courtyard, and began to look for someone who looked to be in charge. Seeing no one he snapped at a stable hand and sent him running for the looming castle. James sighed and looked away, he didn't like how his father bossed people around. A minute later the stable hand came back into the courtyard. Following him was none other than the great Lord Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak. James suppressed a gasp of astonishment. He smiled to himself, knowing from the stories that this man could bring his father down a notch, if anyone could.

"Hello," Raoul boomed, "I was told that someone was waiting for me, I assume that was you, sir?"

"It was! I had to wait a good deal of time before you came, and I demand and explanation!"

Raoul winked at James, and for a minute he looked like a mischievous child.

"Well, sir, I was simply going to talk to the King about some very important things, and you have interrupted me. No problem I suppose, I'll talk to Jon later. . . " Raoul let his sentence trail off.

Gregory seemed shaken by the knights casual use of the King's nickname, used only by his closest friends. Apparently, he had not known that he as in the company of a close friend of the King.

"Oh, I- well. . . sir, I didn't know. . . my son. . ." Gregory gestured inarticulately at James.

"Ah! New page! Are you excited?"

James nodded vigorously, "Yes, sir! Do you know when lessons start?"

"They start once all of the pages get here. Now, What is your name?"

"James."

"Nice to meet you James," Raoul shook James's hand with a huge hand that engulfed James's. "I will show you to your quarters, and if your father would like to join us he may."

Gregory looked at James for a long minute, debating. Finally he nodded curtly, and James almost leapt for joy. However much his father lacked, when he did little things like this, it made James happy, because it was so rare.

James followed Raoul eagerly into the castle. He entered into a grand entry hall, and James was sure he had never seen something as large as this. The hall was made to be welcoming for guests, but the big wooden gate, and the iron portcullis showed strength, and clearly the castle could defend itself. Raoul led the way purposefully through the castle, weaving around people, animals, and through a maze of hallways. James was soon lost, and Gregory looked completely baffled. Eventually, the throng of people lessened, until they came to a completely empty hallway.

"This is it. And don't worry James, it'll get more crowded."

James grinned sheepishly, wondering how Raoul had known exactly hat he was thinking. Along the doors in the hallway there was a board on the wall, with names written in chalk on them. James walked eagerly along the hallway, looking for his name, Raoul smiled and turned to Gregory, "Sir, I know not your name, but I can tell by the way your son looks at you that he adores you, but he thinks you are a bully, which is very correct from what the stablehand told me. Let me tell you that you will have a bad influence on him if you continue to act in this way. James is a good boy, don't taint it."

Gregory looked affronted by this accusation, "No such thing, sir! I don't care who you are! I will not be insulted in this way!" James looked up, intrigued, as his father continued to shout. "If you want to insult me so I shall take my son and be gone from here!" Gregory roughly grabbed James's arm and began to drag him away.

"No." James said the word to his father for the first time in his life. Gregory stepped back, startled.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said, no. I want to stay here. I like it, and I want to be a knight."

Gregory took a step back, staring at James in shock, "James, come with me, right now."

James swallowed, "No, Father. I like it here."

"Fine then. I see how it is." He looked to Raoul, "This is no son of mine. He shall be disinherited, and his title shall be stripped from him." He turned his glare one last time to his son, "Goodbye. Never look to come back. I never want to see you again."

Gregory spun on his heel and stormed down the hallway. James watched him go, tears streaming unchecked down his face. Raoul looked at the boy with concern in his eyes, the boy was only eleven!

"Is there anything I can do, James?"

James shook hid head, "No sir, I'll be okay. I- I suppose it had to happen eventually." He wiped the tears from his face and sniffed. "Which one is my room?" He asked, his voice still glum.

Raoul pointed to a door at the end of the hall, opposite from where James had been looking earlier, "Right there. James. . . I'm so sorry."

James shrugged, "It's alright. He was always bossing me around. I just don't know how I'll pay for school. Is there anything I can do? Could I work in the stables after lessons, to pay for my keep?"

Raoul shook his head, "No. I shall pay for your school. This is my fault, so I will pay."

James looked surprised, I don't think so, sir! I will work, it's no problem. . ."

Raoul sighed, "If you feel you must, I will let you work."

James nodded, "Thanks you, sir, I wouldn't feel comfortable if you paid."

"You needn't call me 'sir' all the time, to you I will be Raoul."

"Alright. . . Raoul. If you don't mind, I might get my things all settled. What shall I call myself? I can't go by James of Greenvale. . . ah, well, I'll just go by James, and not give a surname. . ."

James walked slowly into his room, with Raoul watching the boy with pity and a hint of pride at James's braveness, then he sighed, and walked down the hall to talk to Jon.

James walked into his new room, which was very bare, but he knew that once he put his own touches, it would become home. I guess this is home now, as I don't have another one. One last tear ran down his face, then he wiped it away, and vowed to never shed another tear for his lost family. James looked up when he heard a knock at the door. "Hello? Are you a new page, too?" The voice came from the door.

James spun around, "Um, yes. What's your name?"

"I'm Colin of Whitehorn. What about you?"

I'm James."

Colin looked a little confused, but he said nothing, just reached out his hand to shake James'.

"So, how far did you come?" Colin asked innocently.

So maybe he's more curious than he lets on, James thought.

"I come from between Naxen and Trebond." James said.

"Oh, cool." Colin cleared his throat, "Have you met any of the other boys?"

James shook his head, "No. I wasn't aware there was anyone here yet."

"We must have been at lunch when you arrived."

James heaved a sigh of relief, realizing that no one had heard the quarrel that lost him his name. "Well, I may as well come with you, Where is everyone?"

"This way." Colin waked out into the hallway, "Let's see, there's Alistair, he's kind, a bit gruff, but good hearted, there's Carson. he's pretty quiet, Drew, he's the prankster, and he's also pretty smart, me of course, then Reeve, he's strong, already had some combat training, he's on the border, can you imagine? Fighting before you are even trained? Here we are. Time to meet the rest of the pages!"

Colin pushed open the doors into a big library. There were tables in the middle of the room, two long ones and four or five smaller ones. Along the walls were more books than James had ever seen in his entire life. Around one of the smaller tables, four boys were gathered over a book, reading over each others shoulders. One was brown haired, with light gray eyes and a slight smile playing across his lips. Another, beside the first boy, and he had untidy blonde hair, serious blue-green eyes, and a very lean, well muscled body. James guessed that this one was Reeve, the fighter. The third boy had reddish brown hair, with deep blue eyes, his face was calm, and immediately James thought he would be the underdog. The last boy was sitting in a chair leaning back on two legs, he had very dark brown hair, almost black, and dancing green eyes. James was uneasy, here came the introductions.

"Hey, guys. This is James. He's a new page, too." Colin walked over to the other boys. "James, this is Reeve of Dunlath." He gestured to the blonde boy.

"Hi," said Reeve, "Where're you from?"

James swallowed, "Between Naxen and Trebond."

"Well, nice to meet you, James." Reeve shook James' and and sat back down.

"OK," Colin continued, "This is-"

"Colin, I think we can introduce ourselves," said the dark haired boy, his green eyes glinting jokingly, "I'm Drew of Malmstad."

"I'm Carson of Whitehorn."

"I'm Alistair of Nalicot."

James nodded to them, "Nice to meet you."

"So," said Drew, "You didn't really tell us where you are from. 'Between Naxen and Trebond' isn't good enough! I can't yell, 'Hey! You! Between Naxen and Trebond!'"

Everyone laughed, but James felt uneasy, he felt like he had to tell the truth to thee boys if he was going to have friends.

"Nowhere. I don't belong anywhere anymore," James stated quietly.

The laughter immediately stopped.

"What do you mean?" asked Carson.

James swallowed, "My dad and I arrived at the castle not an hour ago, and my dad was pretty upset because the ride took longer than he thought it would. Then Raoul came out and made my dad feel guilty, I think, for making him feel like he was a bad father, and he just got very angry. He told me to come with him, but I refused. I really want to be a knight, you know. He told me I was to be stripped of my titles, and that I was no son of his, so I should never go to my home again."

The other boys stared, then Carson smacked Colin on the back of the head. "You dolt! How did you not see that he was upset! You made him come meet us, too!"

Colin looked around, "Well, I didn't know!"

"Settle down you two. James, I'm sorry. You will always be welcome in Malmstad," said Drew.

James face turned red, "No, no. I can't put this on you. I will be able to stay here and work. Don't worry about me."

The boys all protested, but James finally convinced them that he would be alright. He could tell that the others still weren't convinced, but they seemed to know that James wouldn't budge.

"Does anyone know then lessons start?" James asked, changing the subject.

"I think they start in three days. I wonder who'll sponsor us?"

It was Reeve who answered, "I honestly don't know who the older pages are."

Everyone laughed, "I don't really either. With Kel of Mindelan just being knighted, I've completely lost track."

"Well, I guess we'll see, huh?" said Carson.

Everyone agreed then left the library to check out their new rooms.

Colin walked over to James, "Can you get back?"

James nodded, even though he knew he'd get lost. "I'll be fine, I want to walk around a bit anyway."

James emerged into the bright sunlight, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. He wanted to visit the stables, for he had heard they were wonderful. Apparently the pages even got to pick their own horses! James sighed. I probably will get last pick. He trudged his way to the stables anyway.

When James finally reached the stables, he looked around in wonder. So these were the stables, James felt immediately at home. He walked up and down the aisle, looking at the horses that were in the stalls. He assumed that these horses were for the pages, there were only eight of them. James wondered idly who the other two boys were. He walked farther down the row and saw a ninth horse. This horse was beautiful. James didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, but judging by the soft brown gaze looking at him, e guessed it was a mare. This was the most perfect horse James had ever seen, with a pale gold coat, and a black mane, and black socks on all four feet.

"Careful there, boy! That stallion c'n be wild!"

James looked around for the speaker.

"'M up here, boy!" said the voice again.

James looked up, and there in the hayloft, was an old man. "Hello, sir!" called James, "Do you mean this horse here?"

The man nodded his gray head, "Aye. When he wants ta, this'n c'n be wild."

James looked again at the kind eyes that were still gazing at him, "Huh. I wouldn't have guessed."

The man climbed down the ladder with surprising agility, "Sure. He looks right kind now, but 'e c'n get a wee bit testy."

James smiled to himself, amused by the man's street accent. He reached out to the horse, and the horse leaned his proud head down to be patted. James stroked him gently, murmuring to him, "It's alright, boy, I won't hurt you."

The old man abruptly stretched out his hand "Name's Stefan. How'd you clam down that horse so quick, boy?"

James shook Stefan's hand, "Dunno, sir. I like animals." James shrugged, "He was looking pretty friendly anyway."

Stefan nodded slowly, "Alright. Well, mebbe you better get goin'"

"OK." James said slowly. He headed toward the door, and when he was almost out of earshot of Stefan, he heard him mumble something that sounded like:

"Well, Stardust, mebbe that'n will keep you from the dogs, eh?"

The horse, Stardust, snorted, and then James was out of earshot. Huh. That horse is going to the dogs? That's so sad! But why did the old man talk to him like he was a person? Do all people do that? Maybe I don't know enough about animals. James shook his head, and walked back into the castle to meet his friends.