A Page In Darkness
In this age in Tortall female pages are not only excepted , but they are found as nothing unusual; that is until Emma of Dunlath decides that in spite of her blindness she will train to be a knight like her idols Alanna the Lioness and Keladry of Mindelan
Chapter One
Emma of Dunlath knocked on the door of the study and waited with anticipation.
"Enter," the stern voice of the training master boomed. "Emma of Dunlath?" asked haMinch the training master for the Pages.
"Yes sir? "said Emma bowing
"Yes my Lord," corrected haMinch.
"Yes my Lord," Emma stammered.
"Don't be pert, Dunlath!"
"I'm sorry my Lord, I wasn't trying to be pert."
"It seems as though things are destined to change a lot." haMinch remarked, ignoring her apology. "Female pages are not only accepted in this time, but now they are not unusual in the slightest. We have many such females that have served the crown honorably and that have been a credit to there training. But you Emma of Dunlath, is this some kind of joke?" haMinch asked. "How will you be able to fight without being able to see your opponent's next move?"
"I have been working on that problem with Master Numair. My gift is ,well, unusual. He is teaching me to look in to the minds of my opponents, so that I will be able to tell which move they will use so I can block it properly. It doesn't require sight at all, my Lord, just concentration, and it gets easier as I continue to practice with Master Numair." Emma explained.
"Well, I can see that you have found ways to compensate for your blindness and I dare say that you and Master Numair will think of other ideas as you need them." HaMinch sighed. "Well I suppose that you should be given a chance just like all the others, even if part of my mind tells me that I must be insane to even consider giving you a chance. Dinner will be in half an hour as for now you can go and unpack and get settled. Well, come and I'll have one of the servants to show you to your room."
As the door closed behind Emma and the servant, haMinch leaned back in his chair. "Please Mithros don't let me regret my decision to let this girl stay."
Emma followed the servant down the corridor tapping her white cane in front of her.
"I'm Carlotta Greendail, Simon Greendail's daughter," the servant explained. "He's head of the palace servants and came to work here about six years ago. Since you don't have a servant I'll look after your things, bring you wash water, do your laundry and tidy up your room if need be."
"Thank you Carlotta," said Emma smiling
"No need to thank me miss, it's just my job. Well, here we are. Your room is the last room on the left at the end of the corridor. Oh, it looks like someone is waiting for you."
"Emma, how did the meeting with haMinch go?"
Emma recognized the voice of master Numair. "I really don't know. He said that he had to be crazy letting a blind girl try for her shield, but he supposed that he should give me the same chance to prove myself as everyone else."
"Well, at least he is giving you a chance. That's one good thing about haMinch - he's fair. Why didn't your mother accompany you today?" Numair asked.
"She got caught up in some mage experiment that she is currently working on," Emma explained. Her mother Elizabeth of Dunlath, cousin to Mara of Dunlath, was one of the most powerful mages in Tortall. Her work often took up a great deal of her time and she was often gone on such exploits, leaving Emma in the care of her long time friends Numair and Daine whom Elizabeth had met while she had been a student at the Royal University.
"Well, I just wanted to see how your meeting with haMinch had gone," Numair said. "I should probably leave you to unpack and prepare for diner. Good luck. Daine and I will probably see you tomorrow."
"Goodbye," Emma said. As soon as she heard Numair footsteps fade to silence, she opened the door of her room and began to unpack her things.
This is my first Fan Fic so I would really appreciate reviews. I'd like to know what readers thought of the first chapter, things they liked and disliked and ways that I could make the next chapter better. So please review I would really appreciate it.