Thanks for the reviews! I changed the style at the second part ...

Hi! This is my first fanfic, so reviews are very welcome. Also, as I am not a native speaker, you will probably find some mistakes. They are (of course) made on purpose to amuse the readers :-)

About the rating: It is all talk here, but gossip would be boring without speculations with sexual content. This chapter is rather tame (Daine has not even arrived yet), but we know the gossip ladies will have them in bed very soon. If anyone thinks the rating is inappropriate, please tell me so.

Omegaw

Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns the universe of Tortall and the characters talked about.

Gossip Lady

Gossip Central in the palace of Corus was in a middle sized parlour close to the grand ballroom. This was the usual meeting space of Lady Katrira of Oakvalley, Lady Mathena of Gabin and Lady Sumana of Peon's Hill. Together they were the best gossips at court – or the worst, depending on your point of view.

Katrira was the beauty of the trio with black hair, light blue eyes and a very fair complexion. She had an elegant, willowy figure and danced – as one besotted squire once put it – like a young goddess. Maybe one of the young goddesses out there did not like to be compared to a mere mortal, because said besotted squire got into a fistfight the very next day and none of the healers could explain why his black eye would not fade for over two month. Anyway, Katrira was much admired by the young men at court; many of them would use any excuse to talk to her and stand out among her admirers. Therefore she had many useful sources of news about the pages, squires and young knights. Other than her remarkable beauty and useful connections she had one distinguishing feature which made her irreplaceable for Gossip Central: she had the ability to put the most scandalous spin possible to any bit of information.

Mathena was remarkably unremarkable, not only when compared to her fellow gossiper Katrira, but also standing all by herself. You could sit right next to her and never notice that it was Mathena. She would have made a fantastic spy; but then, she was a lady. The same quality made her a fantastic gossip. If something secret was mentioned in a public or semi-public place within the palace, you could be sure that Mathena had been standing within hearing distance. And while she was not as good as Katrira in inventing scandalous twists, she was not bad. Her hair was mouse blond, her eyes grey and she was of average height, but few people would have been able to give a more detailed description.

Sumana was not a great beauty, but pretty. Her hair was auburn and her eyes hazel; she had a few freckles and her figure was curvy enough to attract gazes. She was more of a junior member of Gossip Central, because she had only recently arrived with the latest batch of newcomers from the convent. But her knowledge about the new girls and the ones yet to come made her useful. Additionally, she was very good at redistributing the gossip. Whenever they came up with delightfully scandalous new speculations, Sumana made sure that at least half the palace knew within the hour.

The three of them prided themselves about knowing everything of importance going on at the palace. But that they were generally know as "Gossip Central" throughout the palace or that more sensible ladies used them as bad examples to warn their young relatives or protégées about the dangers of gossiping, strangely escaped their otherwise all-hearing ears …

Lately, the three had a new favourite topic: Master Mage Numair Salmalín. He was maybe the ideal gossip target: the most powerful mage of the Realm, a mysterious past, some peculiar habits, strange periods of absence from the palace and an eye for beautiful women. The ladies might have been a little less avid to gossip about him, if his taste had not run towards curvy blondes, which neither of them was. Katrira in particular did not like to be overlooked and therefore the palace was flooded with gossip about Numair Salmalín.

"You won't believe what I just heard! Master Salmalís is gone – again! This is the third time within 4 month that he just vanished into thin air." Mathena was still gasping for air after having hurried through 6 long corridors and 3 staircases to reach the little parlour. Katrira raised her eyebrows at this (she had perfected that move in front of her mirror and it now perfectly expressed bored indulgence with the petty interests of others). "Oh? And right after Lady Penile basically threw herself at him at the last ball … maybe he was afraid she would choke him next time? I would be, she gained so much weight since Midwinter."

Sumana smiled maliciously. "Poor little Tally will be devastated, she had such a crush on him. It was just pitiful how she stared at him during the dinner for the Maren ambassador and he never even noticed. Well, she has no curves at all, so he probably sees right through her … " Actually, Poor Little Tally's crush was not worse than any of the other convent girls', but she was Sumana's favourite target. She was not as sensitive as Katrira when it came to being slighted, but after a few years of hearing in the convent almost every day about how perfect Tally was, she was ready for a little vengeance. "Then maybe he was not afraid of Lady Penile's weight, but of poor little Tally's irate father and brothers? They seem to think every male from the newest page to Sir Gareth the Elder is after their little darling's virtue. One has to wonder what she has been up to, to make him so worried!" Since Tally was relatively new at court, inventing new rumors about her was more interesting for Katrita than discussing Lady Penile's weight problems. Sumira sniffed at that. "Well, if she has been up to something she kept it well hidden during convent, little teacher's per!" "Well, those are the worst!"

Mathena had enough about her grand news being ignored. "Oh, stop about boring little Tally. I doubt she has not done anything interesting since she was born the first girl after five boys! Where do you think he has gone?" "Maybe to Pirate's Swoop again? He seems to be making an exception to his 'blonds-with-big-breasts' rule for Sir Alanna." Like many ladies at court Katrira took personal offense with the female knight. "And right under her husband's nose … well, if he was a real man, he would not have married a female knight! He is probably happy to have some other man interested in her for a time."

Sumana, who had only recently been introduced about all the juicy gossip about the Lioness younger days, was still doubtful about it. "I cannot imagine what His Majesty ever saw in her!" As this was one of her all time favorite topics, Katrira jumped at the opportunity. "Well, His Majesty seems to have a weakness for strange woman – look at Her Majesty with her ideas about educating commoners and the Riders and everything. I mean, that woman ruins a ball gown to get a chance to shoot at some filthy bandits, which says about everything!"

At this point Gossip Central went down a familiar path of complains and slight ridicule about Queen Thayet, who was not only a foreigner with strange ideas but – unforgivable – the most beautiful woman in Tortall.