Madison shoved her dirty blond hair out of her face, looking at her new clothes in the mirror. She had just arrived that day to become a page at the palace in Corus, capital of Tortal. Her maid had been more excited then Maddy.
"Just think, we could see the Lioness, or one of those great mages, or the king!" the list went on and on. Thankfully, said maid was currently finding… things. She'd scampered off very quickly. Maddy just shook her head, scowling when the hair fell back in front of her eyes.
The room was clean- she hadn't been there long enough to make a mess. The clothes were a little big, but she didn't mind. She shoved on her boots, remembering what her father had said before letting his daughter become a knight.
"Your fiancée's family approved it, so we will let you go. But if you do see Matthew, be sure to thank him."
Maddy wasn't sure if she wasn't sure if she wanted to see them man she was going to marry, but he was kind enough it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world. So she buckled on her belt and left the room, stepping out into the hallway.
It was mostly boys in the hallway, with a few girls here and there. They all looked over the new kid as she stood in front of her door, hair over her eyes. A few people snorted as though betting she'd drop out within a week. Two boys however came up to her.
"I'm John," said the boy with jet black hair and shocking blue eyes. "This is David. We're both first years too."
"I'm Maddy," the girl introduced herself. Her voice was quiet, almost shy, but his was the same. "Are you the prince?"
John nodded. "Don't get formal on me though. We should-."
A bell rang, causing Maddy to jump.
"You'll get used to it," David told her. "We need to go help serve supper now. Just make sure once we're down there you do as we do."
Maddy nodded and followed the two to the kitchens. Both wore the same outfit as her, and with their hair all cut short, Maddy was willing to bet she looked a lot like a boy.
The thought made her lips twitch.
The trio just had to hand plates off and so they got a lot of time to talk.
"Where are you from?" asked David.
"About a day and a half ride from the Dell River Valley," Maddy answered, handing a plate to a servant. "What about you?"
"About two days north of here."
"Did you talk with my uncle Liam?" asked John. "He's the training master here."
Maddy nodded. "I did, but as we were talking, a servant came in and he had to go do something. I was only told to get the clothes."
John nodded. "Normally, you would get a page sponsor to show you around but…" his eyes flicked to a page that was walking away from them. "There have been a few issues."
Maddy almost wanted to ask what issues, but a page who was a good head and shoulders taller then her came up, and she fell silent. Once he was gone again, John resumed talking.
"The bell will wake you up tomorrow. David and I will show you around. First we go to breakfast, then morning lessons, all book work, and in the afternoon is weaponry. The classes are well enough but the fighting… well, let's hope they don't pair us up against the older pages."
"Someone is jealous that you're the prince?" asked Maddy quietly.
David was the one who nodded. "Plus, neither of us talks much, judging by how interesting you find the floor, neither do you, so we get called weak. So we've been having a few issues in the week we have been here."
Maddy nodded. "Any rules I should be aware of?"
John handed off a plate. "Don't leave your room after hours and if you do, don't get caught. You're not allowed to be in a room with only boys with the door shut. That one isn't too strict."
"Informally, if you get hit, say you fell," David told her. "Or you'll get beat worse."
"Take care of everything that is yours- room, clothes, horse. Make sure you get as much of your work for the classes done as possible, but you won't be able to get it all done. You get too much."
"Sleep when you can," David said.
"Almost everything else you should know will come up as you need to know it."
After what felt like a few hours of passing dishes, the trio went to supper themselves. They sat at a table which also got claimed by five fourth year pages. Maddy studied the pattern of the wood when she was looked over.
"You three shouldn't separate too much," one girl told them. "It'll make sure you don't… fall as much."
David and John both nodded, Maddy still not looking up. The boy next to her snorted and the fourth years started talking about knight masters. The first years stayed silent.
After supper, David and John both went with Maddy to their rooms.
"We have problems to do," David told Maddy. "Just go to sleep- you'll need it."
Maddy bowed and entered her room, locking it behind her. She took off the clothes and folded them, leaving them in a pile on a chair. She crawled into a night shirt and looked around for her maid. The woman, Allie, had been her sister's maid before being told to help Maddy. Allie hadn't taken nicely to the change, and Maddy suspected she would have to do most of her own cleaning.
The next moring came with a loud clanging that made Maddy try to fall out of bed. When she realized it was only the bell, she sighed and got dressed, and then grabbed the bag she had been told to bring to carry around her things for the classes. The ink and quills had been provided for her. It was only because of the fact she wasn't in her own bed at home that she put on her boots- normally, Maddy went almost every bare foot.
John was waiting in the hall for her, and David showed up about five seconds after her. The other pages were also leaving their rooms, most half asleep. John lead them down to the same hall they'd had supper in, this time for breakfast.
The ended up at the same table of fourth years, who still didn't introduce themselves, but talked with Maddy, John, and David.
"How do you like the palace?" asked one of the two girls.
"It's big," muttered Maddy.
"And yet another one to add to the silent club," snorted one of the boys.
When the meal ended, the older five herded along the younger three to the lessons. The first class, protocol, had everyone sit by age group. Actually, all the classes had that. So for five classes, history, math, protocol, literature, and the class that would change daily but was then learning how to fight against or use magic, Maddy, John, and David all sat in the front row of the class, studying the desks.
The protocol teach was not amused, saying nobles should always look up. The math teacher didn't care so long as they spoke loud enough he could hear them.
Sir Myles, an old man with a cane but a friendly smile, found this amusing.
"Ah, our silent page club has grown!" he chuckled. "Would you be Madison?"
"Yes, sir," Maddy answered, just loud enough for him to hear.
"Well, then, do you know much about history?"
Maddy glanced up. The man was looking at her kindly. "No, sir."
"Then you are in the right place."
"I like him," Maddy murmured later as they left that class.
"So does everyone else," John said. "And not only cause it's more interesting then protocol or math. Which you will have to teach me."
Maddy had picked up on the math very quickly. "Only if you help me with protocol."
"Done."
Literature was almost as bad as protocol, but the magic class was interesting. Daine Salmalin, the wild mage, was waiting for them. She smiled at Maddy and greeted John by name informally.
"She's a great friend of my grandfather's and father's," John told Maddy quietly. "She has a son and a daughter. The son is our age, the daughter is two years older then us."
Daine went to the front of the room and called for attention, which was given instantly.
"I am here today to lecture the first years on wild magic," she informed the class. "The rest of you have the hour to do what is listed here." The chalk board had instructions written on it in a scrawl that Maddy could only barely make out.
Lunch was louder then breakfast, which the three went two after dropping off their bags in their rooms. The fourth years were still following them around, but after the meal were split away from the rest to go do something else.
The training master was a man who had retired from the army a few years before, Maddy learned. He scowled at the first years.
"Bird feed," he grumbled. "Alright, you're training with the Shang master today. The rest of you, sword and staff work. I need to go deal with a few things, and I expect to see you all practicing when I get back."
He shuffled off. Once he was out of sight, Maddy met Lionel of Hawksreach and his friends.
Lionel was a third year boy, who seemed to have it in his head that the prince should bow to him. Honen was a scrawny little thing that looked like a rat and seemed to follow Lionel around for some sort of protection and power mix. Sander was just generally stupid. Thorne was Lionel's cousin, and Foster seemed to just be there because the rest were. John and David later explained all that later, but Maddy only knew that a boy much bigger then her looked ready to hit her.
A staff was shoved at her by Lionel. "Well, you heard the man, time for staff practice."
Thorne and Sander shoved John and David out of the way when they tried to grab the staff to take the beating instead of Maddy. She braced her feet, her eyes only raised to his shoulders to see how he was going to move.
Lionel swung at her left arm, so she dropped and landed a blow on his shin, but with little force behind it. In return, she had to figure out quickly how to block a blow to her head. She blocked it, but was thrown back several feet.
"What is this?" demanded someone. Maddy looked up, and saw a man with a symbol she didn't recognize. "I was told the older ones were to be practicing staff fighting, not teaching it."
"Sorry, sir, but she asked," Lionel said.
The man gave him a look that had Lionel shrinking into the ground. "I'm sure she did. Now get back to practicing with the rest."
Lionel left with the rest of his group, and David helped Maddy to her feet as the man approached.
"Good enough for your first time, I suppose, but I think you've only held a staff once or twice. I am the Shang wolf, and I will be teaching how to actually fight. Your first lesson is falling."
Maddy was relatively sure she wouldn't be able to move her wrist again after the lesson. The afternoon had been spent being thrown and learning how to stop a throw, roll, and running.
"You three are pipsqueaks right now," the wolf had informed them. "So, you had better know how to get away from an opponent you can't face. Three laps, now."
Maddy was assigned that night to serve Prince Liam. She didn't drop anything, which seemed to be good enough for now. After eating her own meal, David and John lead her to a library to do their work for the night. Maddy got most of it done before falling asleep on the table, to be woken by a servant when it was time for lights out.
Ally wasn't there when Maddy got into bed, but the maid had been their earlier, so she didn't care. The bed was too comfortable.