AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own Valdemar, or any of these characters. They belong to Mercedes Lackey. She created this wonderful world, I'm just playing in it :o)
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Herald Dirk was restless. He assumed Elcarth knew that, and was also willing to bet that's why he was running courier today instead of the regular Herald.
Classes for the new trainees had been put on hold until Rolan arrived with the new Queen's Own. For those fortunate newly Chosen, this was ideal, because it gave them a chance to get to know the ropes before diving into classes that might be overwhelming at first.
For the first year instructors, however, this meant a kind of restless boredom that could only be experienced by those trained for action, not soft Palace life. It had been nice catching up on some much-needed rest, but after that, things tended to get rather dull. Worrisome as well, after all of the excitement following Talimir's death…
Dirk glanced down the road. Was that a rider? He shaded his eyes with his hand, but it didn't help much. :Ahrodie, is that one of ours?:
:Let me check.: Ahrodie's attention momentarily went elsewhere. :It's Rolan!:
"Well, how about that!"
:Rolan says his Chosen is extremely shy and confused right now—she has no idea what's happening to her.:
"In other words, be nice." Dirk chuckled a little. "Poor thing. How is it that she doesn't know about Companion's Choice? Is she an outlander?"
:Might as well be. She's Holderkin.:
The girl was approaching fast. She was just a whisper of a thing; thin and pale with nerves. Her hair was wildly curly, cut short in effort to tame it. The sun caught bits of red mixed in it. Her eyes were hazel and wide with fear.
"By the hand of the Lady! Rolan, as sure as I stand here!" He watched closely for the girl's reaction. "By all the gods, you've finally Chosen!"
The tiny girl seemed overwhelmed and intimidated. "Th…they told me to take him back to the Collegium, m'lord." She couldn't look him in the face, and her voice was barely audible. "I didn't know what else to do, and they all seemed so sure.."
"Woah! You're doing the right thing, exactly right." He said, ending her embarrassed stream of explination. "You mean you don't know? No, of course you don't, or you wouldn't be acting like I'd caught you with your hand in my beltpouch."
The girl looked up, startled, then immediately dropped her gaze again.
Dirk tried to keep from laughing. "It's quite alright. You're doing exactly as you should. Keep straight on the road you're on, and you'll be at the capitol before dinner; anyone there can direct you to the Collegium. Hellfire, Rolan knows the way better than anyone else—you won't get lost. I wish I could tell you what's going on, but it's against the rules. You have to be told the whole of it at the Collegium—otherwise, you'd be getting all kinds of stories about what all this means, and you'd be taking days to get straightened out afterwards."
"But…"
"No buts! You'll find out everything you need to know at the Collegium! Off with you!"
The girl looked like she wanted to say a lot more, but Dirk cut her off by smacking Rolan square in the rump, and send him on his merry way before he ended up spilling the beans.
And there she went—the new, untrained Queen's Own.
:She's very young:
:Rolan Chose her, Ahrodie. She is young, but I suppose Rolan knows what he's doing.:
Dirk hurried to finish running his message and took a shortcut back to the Collegium.
Kris was waiting for him when he cantered through the gates. "Hey! You're back! Right on time—Rolan has returned, not more than a few moments ago!"
"Yes, I met the new Chosen out on the road. Poor child is so confused she's spinning in circles. Doesn't know about Companion's Choice."
"You're kidding!"
"Not at all. It's a little worrisome, her being so young and all. And Talamir…"
Kris sighed. "As the Shin'a'in say, 'May you live in interesting times!'"