Frankly, she was amazed. Keladry of Mindelan had gone, in six years, from the expelled girl page, the Yamani Lump, the probationer, to one of the most feared Shang warriors, the Shang Phoenix, with recognition from the Emperor of Carthak and the Empress of the Yamani Isles, her own student, and legends being written about her every day. The apprentice in question, Miya, also known as 5th rank princess, Miyabati don Fuginato, was sitting beside her, meditating on their long ride from Port Caynn.
Requested to teach at the palace in Corus, Kel was uneasy at what she might find there. When she was banned from continuing the page's studies she had so longed for, she left for the Yamani Islands, hoping someone at the Imperial Palace could teach her. She had spent a few months working there, trying to watch weapons practice, so she could learn something. Finally, her old training master, Nariko, had spotted her lurking on the edges and, after a long and hard interrogation, asked an old friend if Kel could be taught. The Shang Tigress was willing to train her, despite her age. With the Empress's approval, the Tigress began teaching her. The grueling pace, coupled with unending exhaustion from the long hours, soon began to shape her into the battle-hardened warrior expected from a Shang called the Phoenix.
About four months after her instating, she was approached by Miyabati, otherwise known as Miya, asking if she could be taken on as a student. Miya was 8 years old, but had been a Shang apprentice since she was three. Her master, the Eagle, had been killed in the Immortals war, at Port Legann. After wandering for awhile, the girl had gone to her father for a home, but he would not accept her, as she had gone to the Shangs without her father's consent. Now, she traveled with Kel, as her loyal student, and had been doing so for about two and a half years.
They were currently heading to Corus, as the Phoenix had been asked to teach some of the pages more advanced hand to hand combat. She was nervous, for she hadn't told anyone where she was going after she had been kicked out, and had sent only occasional letters every couple of months to reassure them she was still alive. However, she had been careful to never state where she was going or where she was. Her friends and family had not been able to communicate with her in three and a half years. They had no idea she was the Phoenix, or even that she was a Shang.
Seeing the palace, she roused her student, and she stirred from her meditation for the first time in half an hour. Eyes concerned, Miya asked her teacher, "Why are you so tense?" All she got in reply was silence. Miya was used to this. Kel had never talked about her past other than occasional mentions of what knights did, or how pages were trained, things anyone from Tortall could have known. Despite this, Kel had once been overheard talking to the Empress about her history, and Miya knew the basics. She knew that her teacher had been expelled from page training at the palace, but not why she had been expelled. For Miya, though, it was enough to know that her trainer was one of the best Shang to ever live, and that she disliked Corus. She idolized Kel, the woman who had saved her from life as a homeless, half- trained beggar. Miya would have gone to the death for her teacher. A royal invitation was a little hard to ignore, though.