Okay this part is better then the last. The last part was very, very dull.
The Princess Mage 2
Clio awoke early the next morning because birds were singing outside the window. She got out of bed and opened the window. She was on the third floor of the palace and her room had a perfect view of the largest courtyard. The sun was just rising and the little birds Clio had heard singing zoomed away when she opened her window.
"Come back" she called to the birds.
The birds flew around, far below her, as though waiting for something. Clio looked down and saw a window open on the first floor and the birds flew through that window.
Clio giggled and made her bed. Since she was a princess, she had never had much experience making beds. When she was finished, her bed looked disastrous.
Clio sighed and continued to try and make it three more times. When she failed the third time she gave up and got dressed instead. She left her hair down, glad to finally defy her Mother, the Queen of Galla.
"A lady of Royalty must always wear dresses and keep their hair up" she would have said. Clio had hated it. In Galla, she had hardly ever gotten the chance to ride horses or try her hand at sword play, like she had always wanted to.
Clio left her room and walked down to the first floor, where the Squires and Pages were. When she got there, she heard a bell ring. At first she thought it was in her head, but then the Squires and Pages began pouring out of the rooms.
"Hello Clio," some said.
Clio turned to see Kel standing behind her. Clio greeted her and they both walked down to the place they where they ate breakfast.
"I'm allowed to eat with you, the King told me so. I've got lessons with Master Salmalin soon" Clio went on and on. She had never been able to talk a loud in Galla, because of the strict royal protocol. Her new friends didn't seem to mind her constant talking.
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Soon breakfast was over and the Squires went to find their Knight Masters and the Pages went off for training. Clio walked down to the place Master Salmalin was to be teaching her. It was in an old classroom that wasn't used much.
Clio walked right in.
"I'm here" she announced. Numair, who was reading, looked up in surprise. He smiled at her and set down the book.
"Well, we can get started now" he said. Clio sat down.
"The first thing you should know is...." Numair began, but he wasn't allowed to finish.
"Can I learn how to turn people blue, or can I make things raise up in the air, or....."
"We'll get to that, now about that book I asked you to read" Numair interrupted.
"It was too big" Clio announced.
Numair laughed.
"I guess it was to advanced for a 15 year old, wasn't it?" he asked. Clio nodded.
The lesson finally started.
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Clio walked out of the classroom, feeling as though all that information had just been compressed into her brain. She nearly ran into a young woman walking down the hall.
"Sorry" Clio muttered, staring at her.
The girl had curly brown hair and blue-grey eyes, she was carrying a basket of kittens in her arms.
"You must be Numair's student" she said.
"I'm Clio" Clio told the woman.
"I'm Daine Sarrasri" Daine said.
"Your the Wildmage, I heard all about you in Galla. You used to live there didn't you?" Clio asked and Daine nodded.
"I have to take these kittens to my room, it was nice meeting you Clio" Daine told her and continued down the hall.
Clio skipped down towards the Squires wing, maybe she could find someone to show her the Royal Forest.
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Kel was sitting on her bed helping Faleron with Mathematics. Faleron's Knight Master wanted him to be able to do Mathematics for some reason and had given Faleron more work then he needed. Neal was sitting on a chair, staring at his staff, like it was his mortal enemy.
"You'll never get any better with your staff unless you practice" she told Neal. He opened his mouth to reply, when Clio burst into the room.
"Doanyofyouwanttogointotheroyalforestwithme?" she asked in a hurry.
"You want to go into the Royal Forest" Kel said and Clio nodded. Neal and Faleron looked at each other.
"Woman!" they both said at the same time.
Kel and Clio glared at them.
"Do either of you want to go?" Kel asked and they shook their heads.
"We've got to much work to do" Neal said, glaring at his staff. Faleron nodded in agreement.
"I'll help you both after dinner" Kel told them.
"I'll help too" Clio piped.
"Fine, bring a dagger with you though. That forest can be dangerous" Neal told them.
Kel nodded and grabbed her dagger and she and Clio both headed out towards the Royal Forest.
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They walked deep into the forest, both found long sticks to use as walking sticks. They could both tell time by looking at the sun, so they didn't worry about being late coming back to the palace.
After they had walked a long ways, they found themselves near a cliff. At the bottom, sat a peaceful little valley. It was hard to see and darkness was forming around them.
"We better go back, we're pretty far away" Kel said.
Clio nodded and the two turned back to the woods. Suddenly a shriek nearly shattered Clio's hearing. A Spidren flew towards them, flying on the silky strings of it's web. Kel readied herself for the attack.
The Spidren flew at Clio first though. Clio screamed and beat his head with her staff. Kel came up from behind and hit it with her staff. The spidren turned on Kel then.
One of it's long arms flew at her and Kel blocked the blow with her staff. Holding it there, Kel reached for her dagger. The spidren realized what Kel was doing and pulled it's arm back, only to hit her again with full force. Kel went flying over the cliff.
"KEL, NO" Clio screamed and ran towards the cliff's edge.
The spidren noticed her and rushed towards her. Clio shut her eyes. Suddenly, white light flashed in her mind, before blackness came. Clio fell to the ground unconscious.
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Kel felt herself falling, thinking she was going to die.
What's going to happen to me, she thought.
She hit a large pine, thankful that it slowed her fall, but needles dug into her back. She fell through the tree, heard a sickening crack, when she hit a branch. She fell off the branch and soon after, hit the ground.
She felt horrible pain, but only for a moment. Her vision went black.
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Back at the palace, the Squires had finished eating and were retiring for the evening.
Neal and Faleron went to find Kel, thinking she and Clio had been tired from their walk. They thought that was why they hadn't come for dinner.
They knocked on Kel's door. There was no answer.
"Kel, it's us" Neal called. Still no answer. After a few more moments of hammering on the door, they went in. Kel wasn't there.
"Maybe we should talk to Sir Raoul, he's her Knight Master after all...." there was panic in Neal's voice. They headed out to find him.
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"How long ago did they leave?" Raoul asked.
"Nearly 3 hours ago" Faleron told him.
"Gather up some of your friends and search the palace, I'll go talk to some teachers, Lord Wyldon and some others" Raoul told them. The boys ran out the door.
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Nearly an hour later, the girls still hadn't been found.
"We'll have to check the Royal Forest, we best hurry, they could be hurt" Raoul told everyone.
They had a large group of Knights, Mages and Squires. Numair was trying to find them with his Gift.
"I know their to the west of the forest" Numair announced, after some time.
The group walked deep into the forest.
"They're around here somewhere, this is Spidren territory though" Numair told them.
The group split up, some going to the west, some heading North-west, some going South-west. All were wondering if the two girls were alive.
Alright, I'm done this part. Thanks everyone who took the time to read the first part, that one was dull. Well, please Review.
