It was high noon when Lady Knight Kelandry of Mindelan finally stirred.
Gods, that last training session did me no favors she thought as she fingered the angry lump on her forehead. Years of experiences with bumps and bruises had taught her that if this one wasn't a brilliant purple by now, it would be in a matter of hours. Outside her tent she could hear the snuffling of camp horses and clinking of weapons being sharpened.
Lord Raul poked his head through the flaps of her tent and eyed her up and down, "Were you planning on lazing about all day Mindelan, or do you want to join the rest of us men?" He asked, eyes twinkling. "I know I told you to sleep in, but I didn't expect you to take me so seriously!"
Kel was up and out of bed before the flaps of the tent fell closed, cursing the deep sleep that had taken her over the night before. Lady Alanna probably never slept in, she berated herself. Kel sniffed her tunic hesitantly before pulling it over her head. I'll have to find some free time this week for a good wash... she reminded herself. Just before breezing out of the tent, she pulled some dried cranberries from a pouch in her bag and set them on the desk.
"Don't get used to this," she warned her sparrow friends, "It'll be seeds for the rest of this trip."
Light pierced her eyes when she left the tent, and Kel had to squint to make out the giant Raul saddling up his horse. Kel sped over to the makeshift posts where the horses had spent the night to greet Peachblossem.
"I don't have an apple, I'm sorry," she said, as the giant horse sniffed her. The two were ready to ride in a matter of minutes, and Kel pushed Peachblossem to catch up with Raul and the small band of 5 men he had taken with him.
"As you all know, it's our shift for the training drills this week," Raul began, taking note of the long faced of the men flanking him. "I think we can all agree, it's preferable to dressing in frills to our gills and playing good little soldiers at all his majesties banquets." The men made no reply. "Okay, maybe not. Looks lads, it's just a week and when we finish out here the worst of the events to welcome the princess will be over and we might be let out to do some scouting on the border."
Kel sighed inwardly. A squire's duty is to their lord she reminded herself and Raul hates social functions. Besides, Neil says this is the best training he's gotten all year. Still, for all her reminders, Kel's heart yearned to see the Yamani women who had arrived only the day before. No one had been able to tell her which Princess was chosen, but odd were that Kel would know either her or her ladies in waiting. It's been so long since I've seen any of my adopted kinsmen she reflected. I know I have changed a great deal, I wonder if they have as well.
"Kel," Dom whispered, "were you listening?"
She broke out of her reverie, starting.
"We are to pair off and scout the surrounding area. We get points for returning to camp with food before dusk, but we get double points for finding and killing an immortal." He looked around, "Looks like you're stuck with me."
Kel smiled. There are worse partners she thought. "Well, which way should we go then?"
Dom eyes the outcropping of rocks ahead of them and the forest to either side. "Well, I'd say forest if you were interested in foraging, but something tells me you're more interested in the double-pointed immortals. Rocks?"
Kel laughed inside, he knew her so well already. "Rocks it is!" As she coaxed Peachblossom forward.
The two had been riding for a few minutes before Dom broke the silence. "So what do you think of these new training sessions?" He asked.
Kel hesitated, though she held her doubts as to King Jonathan's choices, she had learned to keep them to herself. "I think it's a good idea to keep all Knight's skills fresh." She said evenly.
"Maybe," Dom said, "but what good does it do any of us if someone gets injured? I've heard the end of the week can get pretty intense…"
He has a point Kel thought. She had heard from Neil of the close scrapes his party had the week before during their training week. The mages running the training camp had magicked a male spidron, fully grown and full of battle rage directly into the middle of the camp, testing the men's ability to defend their horses and food as well as themselves. The company had done well, under the leadership of Lady Alanna, but it was a close call. Neil's powers to heal had been called upon a great deal. Kel's hair stood on end when she thought of the company's slow and grim march back up the hill to the castle when their week was over. Neil had been nursing a broken nose from the spidron's swipe, several men were bruises and battered, one had lost a horse. Alanna lead the procession, grim faced and refusing to make eye contact with the King during the welcome home banquet he had thrown for the returning company. It was clear to the entire castle that the Lady Knight thought these training weeks to be dangerous and a waste of time.
"I'm glad to get the practice." She finally said.
"Fair enough." Dom replied.
The two plodded on in silence for the rest of the trip.
The next few days went smoothly. Corporal Wolset found an unpolluted stream that provided the company with fresh water daily to drink and bathe in, though Kel and Dom had returned from the first day's excursion with nothing, other companies had brought back rabbit, berries, and a few squirrel. The company would eat well for the rest of the week, and none of the scouting parties had found any immortal tracks.
Kel was almost relaxing into a routine on the morning of the 5th day, training with her glaive in a clearing, when she heard the alarm right throughout their small camp. Breaking out of her pass, and into a run, she headed into the heart of camp. All of the men were clustered around Fulcher who was more green than his normal color. Dom made his way over to Kel, his brows knit together.
"The idiot went out to the stream on his own," He said, shaking his head, "I knew as soon as we let our guard down, the mages would come up with something interesting."
"What happened?" Kel asked.
"Hurrok."
Kel drew her glaive, but Dom placed his hand on her to still her, "It's gone now," He said, but looking as concerned as ever.
"What are you thinking?" Kel asked.
"Well, the mages wouldn't just injure someone and then now follow through, right?" Dom asked. "I mean, isn't the purpose to train us? What is the point in attacking one lone corporal without giving the rest of us a crack at him? Where's the learning in that?"
"Perhaps not to go to the stream alone?" Kel offered.
"Perhaps."
The two looked back over at Fulcher, who was now being carried by the men into their med tent. The Third Company didn't have any healers who traveled with them, so the men were responsible for learning natural medicines to use on themselves until help could arrive. Kel wasn't worried, Fulcher can stick it out 2 more days and then we will head back up the hill to the palace and the healers will fix him right up. Still, the business of the vanishing hurrok certainly was strange.
When Kel reached her tent she sat on her mat and brushed one of her newest sparrows, Star, named for the bright patch on his chest. Gods I miss Jump she thought. Kel always felt safer with the pup near her, but it had been the mages instructions that Jump remain in the castle during Kelandry's training. They had wanted her sparrows to stay as well, but the birds hadn't obeyed anyone but Kel to this point and weren't about to start now. Kel started as she felt a nip on her finger, and looked down to see Star fluffed up by her side.
"What's the matter, Star?" Kel demanded. The bird gave himself a shake and hopped towards the entrance of the tent. "What is it?" She asked again. The bird chirped once and flew out of the tent. Kel sighed, her morning of glaive training had already been interrupted, and she knew she only had about half an hour before Raul's next assignment would be handed down to the rest of the men. The exercises had been strenuous, ranging from a complicated game of capture the flag, to hand-to-hand trail combat with every knight in the company. Despite Kel's height, it was exhausting going up against seasoned members of the King's Own for hours on end. How did Alanna even do it? Kel wondered, I've heard she's barely taller than I was when I first came to the palace. Kel's heart ached that she still hadn't gotten a chance to meet the famous Lady Knight. She doesn't have time for you, she reminded herself. It's not personal, Lady Alanna has a family of her own and she's a hero in her own right. You're just a squire.
The chirping outside her tent had reached an unignorable pitch, and Kel sighed as she pulled herself up to her feet. Kissing her precious minutes of free time goodbye, the squire left her tent and headed down the hill after Star.
The sparrow hopped from rock to rock, always several feet ahead of Kel as he lead her down the path to the river. When the splashing water came into view, Kel paused. "Star, what is it? We can't go down there right now." She said. Star just chirruped a response and flew down to the water's edge, perching on a moss-covered stone. Kel looked around for any signs of the hurrok that had attacked Fulcher just moments before.
"What is it, Star?" she groaned. "Is it something about the hurrok? I know there was one, but Dom said it's gone now. I really don't have time for this, Lord Raul is going to gather us any second for morning exercises." She turned to leave and felt a pinch on her arm, on her shoulder, on her ear. "Star, get off! I know you're worried but I don't have time for this! I promise the hurrok is gone and we'll probably scout the area again this afternoon to be sure." She muttered. The pinches didn't relent and she swung herself around to face Star.
What Kel saw when she turned took all her Yamani training not to turn and run. It was a small man, robed, and pimpled standing by the end of the stream. He peered at her before he broke into a smile. "You're the one!" He exclaimed.
Kel rubbed her eyes and squinted. The knights weren't supposed to have any outside contact during their week for training. Though the site was only several hundred feet from the palace, the mages had put borders and protection spells around the perimeter. Whoever this man was, he must be extremely powerful to be able to break through.
"My lord?" Kel asked, hesitantly.
"No, no, don't 'Lord' me…" the man insisted. "I'm here to see you… are you Lady Kelandry of Mindelan?"
"That I am, Sir." Kel replied.
"Well, you're the exact girl I was hoping to find, you see I've made quite the journey to come and find you," he fidgeted as he talked, rubbing part of his necklace over and over. Kel shook her head to clear it. She wished he wouldn't fidget, it was distracting.
"I've finally found you and here you are!" He cried, still fidgeting. Kel made to respond but found herself at a loss for words. She simply nodded stiffly.
"You're a strong one, that's for sure," He said, with a glint in his eye. "But not to worry, stronger than you have fallen."
Kel frowned, had she heard him correctly? Fallen? She wanted to ask him who he was, what he was doing here, but she felt suddenly exhausted. "Uhhhhhh..." she mumbled.
"Oh, sh sh sh, my dear. Not to worry. Exhaustion is just one of the side effects," He said, still fumbling with his necklace. Kel couldn't stop looking as light bounced off and in the stone that he fingered. "Now you are a very special girl. A very special girl indeed. My specialty isn't seeing the future, but I've been fortunate enough in life to be surrounded by those who are willing to lend their specialties to my cause. I am told by my friends that you have a very bright future ahead of you, Lady Kelandry of Mindelan. Unfortunately, your future and mine are linked and that bright bright future of yours signifies a rather sharp downturn in mine. I'm sure you can understand why I can't have that."
Kel could barely keep her eyes open as she took in the words he was saying. "Mmmmm" she murmured in agreement. It was too bad that this man's future would be disrupted by hers. It seemed almost unfair.
"Not to worry, not to worry. I think I have come up with a solution. It took several months of planning, your King has rather tight security, but I did manage to slip a little laundry maid into his palace. A laundry maid with quite the power of suggestivity. Who would think anything strange of a king ordering more training for his knights? So the only matter became how to get you alone. Well, Star here was more than happy to help out."
Kel's eyes drifted upwards to his shoulder where Star was perched, and then back down to the sparkling gem in the man's hand.
"So now here we are, at the end of my journey here and your journey as well. You've trained well, Lady Kelandry. I'm sorry for my hand in ending that training for you, but at the end of the day it is a dog eat dog world is it not?" He tittered. "I think the hurrok can come back for one more attack, don't you?" The stone in his fingers sparkled and temporarily blinded Kel. When she blinked the light away she found herself face to face with the winged horse she had only read about in books. It opened its muzzle and out came the small man's voice, "Now don't worry, this will be relatively painless."
Kel smiled. Of course it would! How could the small man lie to her? The smile stayed on her face as the hurrok slashed her with its front claws. Kel stumbled back and fell to the soft grass by the stream. Yes, she thought, this isn't so bad. She looked down at the red blooming under her tunic and pressed a hand to it, it's almost pretty she smiled as the ruby blood soaked her fingers. The hurrok pawed its way over to her and sniffed her over.
"One more go," the small man's voice sounded more distant now, "You're stronger than you look, but don't worry, it'll all be over soon."
Yes, Kel thought, It'll all be over soon. I wonder if Raul will miss me? Probably not. He has men to take care of him. I'm just going to lie here for a minute more and get some rest…
She barely felt the hurrok gore her with its horn, or the burst of wind as it flew away. Kel just lay there, eyes closed with a smile on her face as she bled out into the field.