This is a new fan fiction that I have been working on. Since I am very eager to know what you guys think about it, I am posting it earlier than I have planned. Don't worry; I'm not dropping this one. In fact, I already have a bunch of chapters finished! This story is basically about a girl named Christina and how different people and choices influence her life. I don't want to say a lot about it because I want you to read it. So, please read and review! Even if you absolutely HATE it, I'd love to know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tortall or any of the familiar characters. They belong to Tamora Pierce. All the characters you do not recognize are mine, along with the plot.

Without further ado…

Chapter One: The Library

            It was a warm, summer evening in the capital of Tortall, Corus. A group of young pages came in the library and sat down at the long table in the middle of the room. The sun had already gone down, leaving a blanket of darkness behind. A cool breeze came through the open window, carrying the sound of an owl's song.

            "You know, some day, Collin, you'll want to get that in writing," laughed Bradley as he dumped all his books in the middle of the table and slumped down into an empty chair. He was a second year page, average height, with sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and a freckled face.

            "Maybe I will," chuckled Collin, grinning widely at George as he followed suit with Bradley. Collin was also a third year page, a bit taller than Bradley with hazel eyes and dark hair.

            "Hey, hey, hey. I said you were the best archer in the group of us, not in the whole palace. Don't let it get to your head," said George, another third year. Tall for his age, he had bright green eyes and chestnut colored hair. He sat down and neatly pilled his books in front of him. Then he laid his ink and quill beside it.

            Collin and Bradley gave him a sideways glance and raised eyebrows at him. George was an exceptionally neat person, and neither of them could figure out why. George ignored them, as usual.

            The group of five began to pull out their work for the night, when a girl of ten came around a bookshelf carrying a book. It looked like she wasn't able to manage it; the book must have weighed as much as her. She was tall for her age, with mouse brown hair, which was pulled back in a side-ways ponytail that came over her right shoulder. Her eyes were almond shaped, which gave her that look which most girls envied. She wore a light summer dress of periwinkle that accented her clear blue eyes. The fabric was of a rich material that hinted that she was a noble.

            She dropped the book with a thud at the far end of the table, where other books, quills, and inkwells lay dispersed. She gave a startled look at the boys who were staring at her. She hadn't heard them when they had come in.

            "Oh, hello." Her voice was accented in common. She sat down and flipped the book open and began to read. Every couple of seconds she stopped to scrawl something of a piece of parchment. She was so deeply emerged in her note taking that she didn't realize that the group was still looking at her. It was not so common to see a young girl working so hard in a library at that time of night.

            Collin was the first of the group to speak. "Uh… excuse me, but, uh, who are you?" Bradley elbowed him in the arm.

            The girl looked up from the book giving an even glance back at the boy who had so rudely spoken to her. She took no notice of it, however, and acted as if he had been polite to her all along.

            "My name is Christina," and seeing no need to further explain herself she turned her eyes back to her book, and continued writing. But this wasn't enough for Collin.

            "What are you doing?"

            "Collin! You're being rude," George whispered through his teeth across the table. Realizing Christina was now watching them, her turned at her, raised his eyebrows and smiled as an apology for his friend's behavior.

            Christina sighed, seeing that there was no way around this prying group of boys. "I'm researching," she paused, "about the wars."  The pages dropped their jaws at this.

            "Because you want to!" said Bradley. He looked at her like she had three horns coming our of her forehead.

            Christina sighed again, looked at her book and breathed a very audible, "Yes," as she flipped the page over to reveal a map of Tortall.

            "Well, what about them? What exactly are you looking for?" questioned George, obviously interested.

            Christina was startled to see that he was interested in what she was doing, and was not going to poke fun at her for being out of her place. 'Does he care, or is he just setting me up for a joke? But he seems interested. Oh, I don't care what he thinks. I don't even know him, anyway.'

            She looked him in eye and evenly replied in a calm manner, "I'm researching the methods and tactics that were used to win the war, and how they succeeded or didn't."

            George leaned back in his chair.

            "I don't understand. Why are you interested in this," exclaimed Bradley.

            Christina shrugged. She didn't want these pages to know that more than anything she wanted to be a knight. Lately, she was using all of her free time studying things that pages would be learning in their studies. Surely they would laugh at her if she told them this.

            Collin snorted into a laugh. George gave him an apparent look of disappointment. Christina tried not to show she was hurt. She wasn't going to let these insensitive excuses for young men get to her.

            "Yeah, it doesn't make sense! I bet she can't even use a weapon. So why is she studying wars!" grunted Collin.

            Christina felt the anger rise in her. 'Can't use a weapon! I'll show him "can't use a weapon"! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I don't know anything about weapons!' She coolly stood and walked over to stand next to Collin, who was still laughing, with on hand on her right hip. With as much poise as she could muster, she said, "I can too use a weapon. And I'll prove it to you. Pick the time and place." Her face was placid and smooth.

            This stopped Collin in mid-chuckle. He looked up at her, pushing away his chair as he stood. Her head came up to his nose. His posture was loose and easy-going, showing that he found this offer extremely amusing.

            "And the weapon?" he snickered.

            "You pick." This showed that she was serious. Collin straightened a little.

            "This is insane, I could break you in half!"

            Christina has prepared for this remark and put a sly smile on her face. "What, afraid you'll lose to a girl? You're right, better not take the chance." She winked at him.

            Collin's face became smooth and stern. "The bow, tonight, unless its past your bedtime." He grinned at this. Christina narrowed her gaze.

            "Fine. Meet me at the archery fields at dawn. Don't be late." Without another word she gathered her notes, pilled her books, and left the library before Collin could say anything else to annoy her.

            "Collin, you sure you want to do this?" asked George.

            "You saw her!" Collin yelled, pointing at the door she went through. "She thinks she can beat me at archery." He sat down smugly in his seat, crossing his arms. After all, archery was his best talent.

            "Wait. What about curfew. We can't be caught out of the palace that early, can we?" Bradley remarked.

            "No one says you have to come," assured Collin.

            "Ha, I'm not missing this, even if is does mean more work if we get caught." Bradley went back to his work, with a smile.

            George was deep in thought, looking up at the ceiling. "Hey, who do you think she is?"

            "Beats me," shrugged Peter, a second year, who had joined the study group that night.

            "Well, she's obviously a noble," stated Brendan, another second year page.

            "How do you know that?" asked Bradley

            "Well, for one thing, she speaks like she has been educated. Her clothes are not common in the least. And she has to have enough privilege to use the library, and be able to challenge you," Brendan nodded at Collin.

            "Well, it doesn't matter. She's not going to win. You said it yourself, George. I'm the best archer in the group," replied Collin.

            "That doesn't mean she can't beat you," said Peter. "Just because she's a girl. The Lioness and Lady Keladry have both proven themselves. You can't hold that against her."

            "Yeah, well… I don't care. I can't lose to a girl!"

            The bells rang ten times, telling the pages they better be heading for their rooms.

            "Okay, we should be getting back. Let's meet at 4:30 in the main pages hall," said George, "and don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want to get into trouble."

            The other four raised their eyebrows at him, showing that they weren't planning on telling anyone anyway.

            "OK, ok. I just don't want to get caught," replied George.

The pages nodded their response and agreement. They gathered their books and work and headed back to the page's wing to try to get sleep before the dawn came.