The Title-less Wonder! (looking for suggestions)
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it isn't mine!
A prologue, of sorts:
"Kel! Wait up!"
But Keladry of Mindelan did not
want to wait. She was sick of waiting; after four years of being a page and two
of being a squire, sixteen year-old Keladry was fed up with waiting. It was
Neal's own fault that he had been blind, and she was ready to move on. To whom,
or what, she wasn't certain, but she wanted to go there, and immediately.
Her day had
started out normally; she joined her friends for breakfast and then went to
lessons, which proceeded normally as well. The problem had reared its ugly head
at dinner that evening.
Earlier:
Kel's best
friend Nealan of Queenscove had been mooning over the newest court lady,
Seralina of Dmara Point. She had grown accustomed to this as to him she was
just his best friend, and he had no idea that she had such a huge crush on him.
In fact, she doubted that he would ever become aware of the fact.
Neal
sighed. "I wonder if she will ever notice me…hey, Kel, do you think I should
make a move? Do you think she could ever go for me?"
"I don't
see why she wouldn't." Kel's face was Yamani smooth and her voice did not
quaver, as she was afraid it would.
He turned
to face her. "Don't you ever wish you had that feeling? You know, that…longing?
Or that someone would feel--"
"What would
you know about what I feel? You have NO clue! No idea! Don't even ponder
it. And don't give me that incredulous look, either, and get out of my private
life." Her voice was ice cold, and completely destroyed the romantic mood Neal
had been in. Kel took a deep breath and announced, "I'm done. Anyone want the
rest of my food?" She got up and threw it all out, though, before anyone could
even say yes. Then she stormed out, with absolutely no idea where she was
going. As soon as she left the dining hall, she started sprinting. She wanted
no followers.
"Kel! Wait
up!" Yes, it was Neal, no doubt wondering what was wrong with her. She turned
several corners, just trying to get away. Across the hall, she spotted an empty
room and dashed in, slamming the door behind her. A few moments later she heard
footsteps pass, but they didn't stop to investigate this closed door. Kel
expelled a long sigh, and looked around. She was in someone's bedroom! It was
very drab looking, no color, and not very organized either. The occupant of
this room defiantly had some cleanup to do! Clothes were strewn everywhere, and
looked both dirty and clean. The bed was a mess, sheets crumpled at the foot.
She didn't even want to look in the bathroom, but it looked like she
would have to.
Voices were
becoming louder; someone was approaching the room! Kel didn't know if they
would just be passing, and she didn't really want to find out. She looked for
somewhere to hide. There, across the room…the bathroom! Suddenly, she realized
that her feet were glued to the floor, and she couldn't move!
"Yeah,
sure, I'll see you then. Bye." She knew that she should know this voice, but
she just couldn't put a face to it. Well, it looked like soon she wouldn't have
to, that would be solved for her. The door creaked open, and all she could do
was stand and watch like it was all happening to someone else. There was a
murmur on the other side of the door, and then the voice she recognized spoke
again.
"I told you
already! Yeah, I'll be there! Now go away. I'm tired."
More
shuffling sounds, and then one set of footsteps faded away. The person sighed,
talking to himself, eyes to the ground.
"I can't
believe—KELADRY?!? What the hell are you doing in my room?" yelled Joren of
Stone Mountain, stunned by her presence in his room.
Kel was
speechless. She gaped open-mouthed, appalled at her horrible luck. She finally
found her feet again, and tried to run out the door.
"Not so
fast, Mindelan. You will explain to my exactly why you are here, and what you
have done. Now. If you satisfy my curiosity, I may not report this horrible
breach of privacy to Lord Wyldon. Talk." His voice was cold, his face
expressionless.
"I-I-I-I
dunno. Just..was walking…running…ended up here. I'll-I'll just be leaving now!"
she squeaked.
"I think
not. What did you do? Why are you in here? I don't like repeating myself."
Joren was surprised by his own lack of nervousness.
Keladry
took a deep breath, and put her Yamani face on. "If you must know, I was
running from someone, though I don't see why you'd care. This was the first
room I came across. Sorry. I promise you that I didn't touch anything. Not that
I would want to, but that's besides the point. I'll leave, if I may," she
replied coolly.
Joren was
again surprised, but this time by actions of Kel's. He didn't know how she
could have possibly composed herself so quickly, but he certainly would like to
know how! He had no choice but to move aside and let her pass.
Over the
next week or so, they both watched each other carefully. Kel's confrontation
with Neal had all but been forgotten. Now, she just hoped that Joren would not
report her to Wyldon, for if he did, she would certainly be suspended, if not
expelled from the knight school. Joren also kept his eye on Kel. Their meeting
had aroused his curiosity about the girl, and he wanted to see how she would
act before he reported her. He would indubitably report her; this was the
perfect opportunity that he had been waiting for all these years! He could kick
her out, and no girl would ever try for her shield again. Alanna and Keladry
were just oddballs, and he was sure that no females would want to come here as
a page after Kel was expelled. Still, though, he kept his eye on her.
Kel hoped
with all her heart that he would remember the un-written rule among pages and
squires never to tattle. She was still worried, though, and found it quite
difficult to concentrate on her lessons when her whole life could so easily
shatter just by Joren talking to Lord Wyldon. Kel finally decided that if Joren
approached her about it, she would be nice to him, as if he had never done
anything to offend her in the past. She knew it would be difficult, but she
could do it if she put her mind to it.
Joren began
to notice the aspects of Kel's personality as he watched her. He was looking
for flaws, but could find few. She was so damned good at what she did! She
could joust, she could fight, she was smart, and she had many friends. There
had to be a fault somewhere! No one is perfect, he told himself. No one is
perfect, and especially not the girl squire. Well, hardly a girl anymore. She
was growing up quite nicely…Suddenly, he was nauseated by his thoughts. Keladry
of Mindelan? Pretty? He supposed it was true. In fact, she could even be
described as beautiful! Ugh, he thought to himself, must stop that train of
thought… he was disgusting himself. He just blamed extreme boredness, his
knight-master, Sir Paxton of Nond, hadn't received an assignment for quite some
time. Nor, he had noticed, had Sir Raoul of Goldenlake, Keladry's
knight-master. Oh well, he thought, that's irrelevant. What do Kel and boredom
have in common? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Raoul?
Could I have a word, please?" Jon asked as Raoul opened the door to his
study.
"Of course,
Your Majesty, what do you need? I am ever at your service." Raoul said to his
royal friend.
"Don't get
all impersonal on me, Raoul. I'm alone, so you can cut the "Your Highness"
act!"
"Sorry,
Jon. What can I do for you? New assignment?" Raoul was obviously ready to do
something. "My squire and I are bored to tears. We need some action!"
"Well,
that's actually what I came to talk to you about. It seems that some immortals
have decided to be a burden to us. It's nothing big, but it would get you out
of here and you would definitely have something to do. There's not much new
with Scanra, we're really just waiting for them to do something. Would you like
to take a few knights out with you and hunt down these nuisances?"
"Sounds
good! Who'll I be taking? Quite a few men around here are bored," Raoul replied
to his King.
"Hmm…I
suppose I can send you out with a few knights, I doubt you'll need the whole
Third Company to kill some Immortals. Let's see…I'll send you with…" and Jon
named a few knights, some with squires, some without, about 15 people in all.
Finally, he said, "Paxton of Nond, and Rikter of Damonsport. Is that enough
men?"
"Yes,
that'll be good. Thanks for the assignment!"
Jon gave
him a quizzical look, only so many people rushed into battle. Evidently, Raoul
was one of them. "Do you think you'll be ready to head out tomorrow morning?"
he asked.
"I believe
so. I'll just go let everyone know, and I'll let you know how things progress
on the trail."
The king
nodded affirmatively and they each went their separate ways.
"What?
We're leaving tomorrow? Yay! Finally! Where are we going, what are we doing,
who are we going with?" Kel asked her knight-master in a rush of breath.
"First
things first: We're going immortal-hunting, in eastern Tortall, near the
Tusaine border. It'll be a nice change for us, don't you think?"
"Yes! I
don't really want to say it, but sitting around the castle has definitely lots
its thrill."
"Kel, will
you deliver the message to these people? I'll take a few, you take a few, it'll
get done a lot faster."
Kel didn't
know any of the knights she had to deliver messages to, and none of them had
squires. She didn't mind, though; it would probably be easier to work with
fewer distractions, and other squires could be rather distracting.
She had had
a lot of trouble getting to sleep the night before, and as a result, she was
very tired now. She was half asleep as she rode Hoshi behind the other knights,
very close to the back and the supply wagons. Even her sparrows were having
trouble making her keep her eyes open and on the trail, but eventually they
gave up. They had flown ahead shortly after the monotony of the ride had become
evident, and that's where they still were. Kel came abruptly awake, however, as
she heard a voice behind her.
"Sleeping
on the job, are we, Mindelan?" Kel may not have recognized this voice the last
time she had heard it, but it was impossible to not know it now.
"Joren?
What are you doing here?" she asked, still fatigued.
"Oh, I
don't know…maybe it's that I'm working? As you should be, possibly? You
know, you can't slack off, just because your knight-master is the Knight
Commander," he said, his voice full of malice. He was very mad that Lord Wyldon
had not believed him when he said Kel had been in his rooms. Wyldon had wanted
proof, and Joren had none to give him.
If Kel had
had more energy, she would have done much more than just sigh and wish he
hadn't come. But that's all she did, so he continued to torment her. After
awhile, when she stopped responding to him, he fell behind her, thinking. Why
should he be wasting his valuable time on Keladry of Mindelan? He didn't know,
but he continued to stay behind her, pondering life.
She knew he
was there, but she didn't really care. Was he the only other squire on their
little field trip? She wondered. That could be both good and bad. Be
optimistic, she told herself, what good is there in that he is here? Well, for
one…there is no for one. I'll just ignore him, I'll be Yamani smooth, and maybe
he'll grow sick of bothering me. Hopefully.
Soon, they
reached camp. Kel washed down Hoshi and fed her for the night. When she was
done, she ate some trail mix and went into her tent. She tried to fall asleep,
and again, it evaded her. After an hour, she gave up and went outside to look
at the stars. They sure are bright tonight, she thought and sighed, leaning
against a tree trunk. Her eyes closed and she rested, somewhere in-between
sleep and consciousness.
A dark
figure approached her from behind, holding a knife. At the sound of a cracking
twig underfoot, Kel shifted, and he dropped the knife. In the darkness, it was
impossible to find it again, even with the aid of the moonlight. The figure
turned towards Kel, and saw that the female squire was so peaceful, so void of
worry. He wanted some of that for himself, he so wished that he could ever be
that rested. He bent to look her in the face, and couldn't help himself. His lips
brushed hers, and they both awakened.
Joren was
just as stunned as Kel to find their lips locked. Joren wanted to know how the
hell he had gotten out there, and Kel was just as curious as to why Joren was
kissing her. However, neither of them broke contact for awhile. Then, they both
curled up and fell asleep under the stars.
A/N: Wow, my first ever semi-cliffie on my first ever fic!
Go me! Well, does anyone want me to continue? I have a plot, I just need inspiration!
People, please review, regardless of whether you liked it or not, just please
don't flame! Thanks!
