Author's Note: Thank you all for your warm response! This will not be a long story, but I hope it sheds light on Kel's work and her far-reaching influence on Tortall. Please excuse my mistaken spellings--it has been a long time since I have read the books. And of course the Tortall universe belongs to Tamora Pierce :)
The Past
It was well after dark before Kel could even glance at the journal. A palace servant had come and gone, bringing a tray of food and lighting the fireplace and a few candles. Riagan had left only moments before, finally finished reporting on his company's rebuilding efforts on the southern coast that had been devastated by numerous strong hurricanes in the past few months. Magic was suspected in the "attacks," but the Lady Knight had no expertise in that area, so she focused on helping the people recover. After that discussion, the captain had asked her for advice and how to settle some disputes among his soldiers.
The First had been the last to introduce women into their lines. Kel had chosen Third to begin integration mostly because she knew Dom and many of the older men personally and recognized that they would treat competent female soldiers fairly since they had worked closely with her so often. That experiment, obviously, had gone well enough that the new policies had spread to the other companies. First was just having a more difficult transition than the others. Reports of harassment and fighting had dropped significantly since Captain Riagan had been promoted almost a year ago. The Lady Knight had learned of his reputation for fairness when he was only a Sergeant, keeping his own squad in line with the changes. The man's sister had joined the King's Own soon after, so Kel felt assured that he would continue to work toward everyone's best interests.
Yet, he had been having problems controlling the hostilities among newer recruits, young people from the ravaged coast who had joined eagerly for the coin to help their families. These smaller towns were less open to change—especially in allowing their daughters and sisters into harm's way—and more than once the men of the Own had been forced to defend themselves from angry fathers and brothers who accused them of stealing young maidens for their own pleasure.
Kel had penned a decree to be distributed in communities throughout Tortall that spoke of her commitment to the equal protection and treatment of all of her soldiers, but in the back of her mind she had already resigned herself to years more of similar conflicts. Until enough women joined and proved themselves as fighters, the problems would remain.
But in some ways, the commoners were changing faster than the nobility. Although many claimed to support her, few would put their promises into action. Only three girls had tried for their knighthood after her; two had dropped out as pages from the stress, and the last one only made it to her squire years before her parents made her leave to get married. Each loss had been a personal blow to Kel but also a spur to work harder for women in the armed forces.
With that thought, she again reached for the leather-bound book on the edge of her desk. Standing stiffly from her desk chair, she moved to the more comfortable seat before the fire, propping her booted feet on the footstool. Delicately, she folded back the cover for the second time and picked up where she left off.
I'm ahead of myself now. Grandmum always said I was too quick for my own good. I should explain how I got here. My life was a simple one—although not an easy one—starting in Port Caynn. When I was seven, my ma died giving birth to what would have been my younger brother if the babe had survived. My da sent me to his mother, my Grandmum, in the northern coastal town of Zephyr near the border with Scanra since he knew nothing about raising little girls. He was a butcher by trade but had a certain fondness for gambling. He ran up more debts than he could ever pay so he eventually chose to offer me as part of his payment. I was given to a mob boss in Port Caynn (I won't say his name here because he really was rather kind to me, kinder than many others have been) and then turned over to his son. I guess my looks were enough to be his wife, so I was married at the age of fourteen. Maybe I should count myself lucky that I was made a wife instead of a whore, but at least with the latter I would have some money.
Maybe I could have been happy—I don't know. Some people are happy with less than I had. It was an easy life, if not a very fulfilling one. The wife of a boss's son doesn't have to work; she just has to look pretty and continue the family line. That was the trouble because after four years I could not produce a child. A healer pronounced me barren. It's funny how a barren mare can be kept to do work. No one leaves it to die because it is still useful to have around. But if a woman cannot have children, she is abandoned and shamed—the same as a death sentence in this world. Her labors can never match the worth of strapping young sons.
Kel sighed in awe. This story was so foreign from her own life but still so familiar. The same conservative attitudes that had held this woman captive had worked against the Lady Knight since her page days. These same old-fashioned ideas caused the Commander of the King's Own so many headaches to this very day. And the words themselves were so entrancing, so frank and honest without a hint of sentiment or self-pity for what Kel considered a more than difficult life. She read on, eager to learn who exactly this woman was.
I was sent home to Zephyr in the boss' coach and left at my Grandmum's door. I soon learned that the elderly woman had found her grave soon after hearing that my da had been murdered by another boss whom he was indebted to—unfortunately for him, I was his only daughter and I had already been traded. Without any other options, I headed for the nearest brothel. I was one block away when I heard the most beautiful words of my life being yelled into the busy street, "Women of Tortall, the Crown needs you! Lady Knight Commander Keladry of Mindelan has opened the King's Own to women. Join up! Ten pieces of silver to start!"
I quickly found the source of those gods-blessed words—a young man dressed in a blue and silver uniform with a sword by his side. In the next few seconds I thought rapidly. I could once again be clean and nicely dressed like him. I could learn to wield weapons and fight since I would be of no use for anything else. I walked up to that man in my ragged, travel stained dress and said that I'd join.
He looked me over. I had no muscles—I already said I never worked as a wife. I was dirty and worn from my recent abandonment. He didn't laugh though. He asked if I had any weapons training and I said no. He asked if I was running from my husband and I said no, that I had no one to miss me. He nodded curtly and gestured to the tavern behind him, telling me to sign up inside. It was that easy.
Now the knight's eyes were straining to read further in the flickering firelight, and she reluctantly shut the journal once again. If she was going to meet Yuki and some other ladies for shusuken practice in the morning, she needed to get some sleep. Kel laid the book back in its place and blew out the candles, leaving the office for her own suite of rooms and her empty bed.