Title: Somewhere Beyond the Clouds

Prompt: Walking on Higher Ground

Character: Gydo

I know that I shall meet my fate; Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate; Those that I guard I do not love. ~ WB Yeats

She had to hurry- the women who oversaw the Palace laundries had eyes like hawks, and even though she had only been working a few days it was clear that they recognized her instantly. It seemed that every few minutes was punctuated by the sharp cry of "Wring it harder" or "You there girl, speed that work". She was just a nameless face in the crowd, but she was a new face and that ensured she was never forgotten. Even if she used getting lost as an excuse, it could only buy her half a bell of peace at the most; and soon she would have no explanation at all. In the Palace service you learned quickly or you lost your place, and there was always someone willing to make the lessons stick in a more permanent manner.

Still, Gydo looked out across the kaleidoscope patchwork of pastures and stables and training courts that swept below her vision, savoring a last frozen moment. She had found this spot high on the curtain wall within a few hours of her arrival at the Palace, and had claimed it as her own; it was one of the few places where she could find peace in the whirlwind of new duties and wrong turns and endless staircases that had been her introduction to a laundrymaid's life. From here she had stolen a moment to watch the Rider recruits choosing their new mounts, some walking boldly among the herd, others hanging by the fence, evaluating with eyes to far to be classified as contemplative or fearful. What would she have done? It was impossible to tell, though the pretty chestnut with the neat gait and the wide white blaze had danced through her dreams that night, and she knew it would have been hers in another life.

Today there were no Riders, just a mass of trampled ground that only accentuated the fact that she had been left behind. The air up here was hazy with the heat and the height so if she squinted she could almost imagine the glint of Tobe's blond head as he held a bridle or the crimson glow of the scarf Loey used to tie up her dark hair, a parting gift from Fanche. They were gone now and she followed the trail of churned dirt with her eyes until it blended with the line of the horizon and dissolved into the clouds.

"You watch your brother, keep him out of trouble, keep him safe. You're a young woman now, and I'm trusting you with this, so don't let me here that you left him alone or let someone else watch him. Meech is your responsibility." They were the words she had heard every morning, without fail, as her mother was leaving for kitchen duty. They were the reason that she had taken a boy of five to spear drills and weapons training, annoyed at having extra duties but secretly thrilled to be left in charge. They were also her mother's final words, on the bright morning that had given no warning of the fire that was to come. Gydo had seen her mother's body, a black Scanran arrow in her chest, as the enemy tied her hands and forced her away with the rest of the children, and at that moment she had vowed to honor the words like her mother's last wish.

New Hope had been their home and it had been a good one, where so many were orphaned that they became one another's family and the world never seemed too bleak to find a smile. But there were few ways to earn a living and many had left in the time following the end of the war and Lady Kel's reassignment, so she and Meech had gone with Tobe and Loey and the other children who were no longer children to Corus. Meech was nine now and able to take care of himself, or at least that was what he told her, but they were all each other had and she couldn't drag him along to training camp and on spidren hunts like she had dragged him to weapons practice years ago. She had kept her vow, and watched as the others rode away, knowing that she had been more a soldier at twelve than she would ever be now. In these moments she hated her brother for keeping her here, where it made no difference that she had been able to outshoot most of the men at camp and a good amount of the soldiers too; but then she hated herself for even thinking that, knowing that he too had a warrior's heart, and they were trapped here together.

She couldn't afford to lose this job, not when her meager salary and the coin that Meech earned running messages was barely enough to keep them fed, so she got to her feet once more and picked up the basket of fresh linens, smoothing her hair with her free hand and tucking in the stray strands that had been blown loose by the wind. Her delivery was bound for the Queen's chambers, so she wanted to look her best- she was young and obedient and well-mannered, and a maid's salary was higher than a laundress's, if she could only catch the eye of a young noblewoman. A small ambition, to be sure, but she was a dreamer and life held no hope without something to strive for. But the room, when she had found it at last after three wrong turns and a near-collision with a towering mage who seemed to have looked right through her, was so full of colorful silks and chatter that she slipped in unnoticed. Who was she to them, who could flirt and dance and shoot and ride, but just another washer-girl who saw the opportunities Tortall presented to be more than that and turned her back on them still?

She had almost stepped out the doorway when a clear voice arrested her step. "You're one of Lady Keladry's children?" The dark-haired woman with the strong face and searching eyes was startling enough when silent, and the surprise of being addressed by a noble caught Gydo off-guard. She didn't see the Queen's reassuring smile in her flustered embarrassment, but she could hear the taste of it in the words, and knew that they were asked with kindness. There was respect in them, and a strange recognition of the pain, like a bond was being formed between them which only a few could truly understand.

"Yes, ma'am". She ducked her head as she curtsied, in deference to the nobles and to hide her own small smile of pride. Maybe she was just a common washerwoman but she had seen the Kraken and been trained to fight by the Lady Knight herself. Someday she would stand on that wall and finally be able to see what the world held in store, and when that day came she would ride and ride and never look back. But for now she watched and waited, dreaming of somewhere beyond the clouds.