DISCLAIMER: The Characters are NOT mine - They Belong to Tamera Pierce. I HAVE taken liberty with some ages, and making some things OOC from the book. I hope you enjoy
"Now. I expect you to treat our new page as if she were just another student. She will not be receiving any special privileges, other than a personal room with a wash area for privacy. She will train with you, eat with you, study with you. Now. I DO expect you to act appropriately. No fraternization. Do you all understand?" Lord Wyndolyn looked over his pages, and was ultimately worried. He knew that Keladry of Mindelan was beautiful, even for a girl of 11. Why she wanted to pursue this was beyond his understanding. He had spoken with her parents, and her older siblings, and they all backed her up. Loed Wyndolyn sighed, and then realized the pages were all still there, waiting for him to release them or say something else. "Thank you for your attention. You may have study period until the dinner bell." The pages all stood, bowed, and left the room, quietly talking among themselves.
Dom of Marrisbole and his cousin Neal of Queenscove stood with the other pages, bowed to their training-master, and quietly joined the rest of the pages leaving the large conference room. Cleon of Kent, and Merric of Merryrose, two of their year-mates and friends caught up with them as they were headed toward the library to study. "So - what do you think of this girl trying to be a knight?" Merric of Merryrose broke the silence with the question that they all were thinking. "Well, to be honest," Cleon of Kent started, "I think that she has the right to try. After all, where would the King be without Alanna the Lioness?" Dom and Neal murmured their agreement, still not really talking. "Ok Guys. Spill. What is it that you know that we don't. " Merric watched them closely. "Is the really ugly? Does she have one arm? What is it?" Dom and Neal still said nothing, which irritated Merric even more.
Finally, Dom spoke slowly. "You see, we know Keladry - well, Kel, to her friends. Her father is an ambassador, and when they returned from the Yamani Islands, they had to stay in seclusion at the castle to make sure they were healthy enough to go back home. Kel was the first to be released, so we were put in charge of showing her around. She's not ugly, deformed, or anything like that. In fact, it's quite the opposite. She is actually very beautiful."
Neal spoke up at this point "I think that's why The Stump is so concerned about the rest of us, and making sure that we know to treat her the same as everyone else. She is sure to turn heads, and she is only a year behind us age-wise. Year-Wise, she will be a second year page." Cleon looked up, startled. "But at 11, she should be a first-year, not a second year." Cleon and Merric looked startled, and annoyed at the same time. Neal explained "You see, Kel trained with the Imperial family. She is at our level, even if she is still 11. She is fully trained in Shang-Combat, she already has passed riding with the quatrain, she was working on learning to joust when they moved back so she could start here." Dom, Neal, Cleon, and Merric all got quiet again. They were all thinking the same thing:
Things were about to change at the Palace, and it would be interesting to see just how much