A/N: Thank you to my darling reviewers! I appreciate that you still want to continue with me on this story, and I am glad that I get such compliments. :) I'll name you all because I adore you all so much! Thanks to RunnerNDA,you should never give up faith;-) , to crouchingbunny foryour three reviews thatI didn't get to reply to yet, toKaysin for your encouragement and for your love of my characters (I love them too!), and King's Lioness, for your patience. ;-) Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!
The year was drawing to a close as spring shifted into warm summer. The End of the Year Tests were coming upon the pages like a tsunami – sudden and frightening – and soon the pages were only seen in either their rooms cramming all they learned in a year within one week, or on the practice courts perfecting a martial art. The new Shang Boar proved to be a helpful and much needed addition to the staff. He came down with the nervous pages during the breaks and coaxed them and encouraged them, like one would deal with skittish colts, until they felt comfortable enough and secure in their abilities to perform.
The Shang Boar was a gentle elderly man who had originated in Carthak. He was surprisingly tolerant of the different races and genders seen among the pages, but Kimi concluded he learned that from his travels. He got off topic often and told many amusing tales of his time in Galla or Scanra, or any other place that might amaze the young pages. It was the reason for his delay, he had been in Maren when the Shang Falcon had contacted him about taking the position of teaching the pages hand to hand combat, and it had taken three months to get his affairs in order and travel back to Corus.
At first glance the pages were unimpressed with the short and thin-haired man, but they all grew to respect him in their own ways in the final two months before the summer break. He was very strong and very patient, and he soon became a favorite instructor of many pages.
One night after dinner, Kimi was preparing to read an entire Etiquette book in one night. She was now regretting her laziness and procrastination, and she needed to know all of it in three days. Luckily it was a Saturday night, so she did not have as many responsibilities on a Sunday than any other day.
She was settling comfortably in the third chapter when she heard a call down the hallway she hadn't expected to hear for another few months. It sounded like Gary's voice echoing up the stone hallway, and she could hear a few doors yank open as a result of the call.
Kimi tossed her book to the side, slightly out of relief for a diversion, and also flung open her door. She ducked her head out the door and pulled her long black hair out of her face so she could see both sides of the corridor.
There, a few feet from her door on the left, was Regiana of Phoenix Peak. Surrounded by boys, who were all gleefully hugging her, she returned their eager embraces with happy laughter.
"It's so good to see you again too, Theo," Ana said fondly to the sandy haired boy that had a friendly arm around her shoulders. "I assume you know of my duties from gossip?"
He grinned at her and nodded. "Of course! How else was I supposed to know what you were truly up to? Some things are not safe to send by letter."
The younger girl stood back and watched the reunion of friends. She studied the older girl critically and examined every flaw. Her eyes were two big and her mouth too thin; her freckles hid some unbecoming pimples. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were too light in color and brought attention away from her blue eyes, and her red hair looked like copper wires that had burst from their coils and tangled together. She had a large bosom for a girl of fifteen and she was much too tall and thick to be a shapely beauty. Kimi was comparing Ana's character to a siren for what she did to Patrik when the female squire noticed the half-Yamani female page.
"Kimi!" she cried out with joy. She hugged Kimi, and Kimi returned the gesture lightly. "It's so nice to see you! You've received my letters, I hope?" As Kimi was being swept up into this warm greeting she felt ashamed of herself. Ana was a lovely girl, and although she wasn't astonishingly beautiful, she was quite pretty. And while she was being honest with herself, Ana was not liken to a siren; both Patrik and Ana made mistakes in their relationship that they regretted.
Kimi relaxed and hugged the girl with joy. "I did receive your letters, and I thank you for each and every one." She smiled kindly at the only female squire. For all their similar dreams, the girls were very different, and not just in their looks. Kimi appreciated the difference now.
Ana looked past Kimi's ear to the distant end of the corridor and saw something that caused her smile to fade. "Hide me," she whispered. Kimi glanced over her shoulder and recognized Patrik walking toward them, oblivious to the commotion down the hall. Kimi dragged the ashen girl into her room and shut the door firmly into the other pages' stunned faces.
"Ana," Kimi turned to the other girl. "I rescued you this time, but you cannot avoid him forever."
Ana sighed and looked away so she wouldn't have to meet Kimi's exotic eyes. "I know," she admitted. "I shouldn't have said that, it was pure instinct, that's all. We should probably go out there so I can face him, shouldn't we?" She looked so forlorn about the idea that Kimi was tempted to refuse her.
"Only if you're ready…"
"That's the problem. I'm not." Ana regarded Kimi with a look that was sad and full with regret. She blinked it away and shook her head. "He says he loves me, Kimi. And I love him too, but I can't. People don't fall in love at fifteen and fourteen. It's not practical."
"So that's the problem?" Kimi blinked and jerked her head to stare at Ana. True, she had never really understood what the fight was about, but she didn't think it would be this. "I thought it was because he was overprotective or something."
"Oh, no," she said distantly. "I always thought that was sweet of him."
"Right," she said slowly. Kimi was beginning to think Ana was crazy. Jonathan was always protective of Kimi and it irritated her constantly. Thinking about Jonathan, she remembered the other pages. "Shouldn't you go outside? There is a whole host of pages waiting to see you."
"Of course," she answered at once and tried to smooth her frizzy hair. "Aren't you coming?"
Kimi shook her head sadly and then pulled a piece of hair that had gotten caught in her mouth. She gestured toward the Etiquette book lying abandoned on the bed. "I need to finish reading this by tomorrow," she muttered, reluctance apparent in her voice. "But tell me all about it later," she continued eagerly. "I will see you tomorrow, right?"
"Yes," Ana said, and a smile lit up her face more than sunshine ever could. "We aren't leaving until after the tests. I get to see the fourth year pages become the new squires."
Whether it was practical or not, it was obvious to Kimi that Ana really did love Patrik. She shrugged mentally and opened the door for Ana to leave. The pages had gone, all except for one.
"Patrik," Ana said breathlessly. She took a step back and Kimi bit back a cry when she felt a heavy pressure on her foot. Her foot started to throb.
"Regi Red." His voice was quiet and the two girls barely heard him.
"Can you get off my foot, please? You're not heavy, but after a while it starts to hurt," Kimi complained.
"Oh!" Ana jumped forward and bumped in Patrik. "I'm so sorry Kimi! Does it hurt a lot? Do you need to see a healer?"
"No – Yes," Kimi stammered when she saw Ana give her a desperate look. "In fact, I think you're going to need to help me." She took a step forward, leaned precariously, and fell against Ana's shoulder dramatically. "Nope," she announced. "I can't walk. Isn't that something?"
Patrik did not look impressed by her performance. "She stepped on your foot, she didn't cut it off. Even if she did injure it, you're a healer. Heal it yourself." He turned his attention to Ana and sighed. "Look, I don't want Kimi to get involved in this, but if you try to use her as a way to avoid me she will be. Why can't we talk?"
Ana hesitated for a moment then decided to be cowardly. "I think you're really hurt, Kimi, I know that I hurt people unintentionally all the time," she dragged the girl down the hall while Kimi feigned injury and tried to keep up. Patrik followed behind with his arms crossed as if this was some mildly entertaining show.
"You need to give it a little less weight," Patrik suggested as they continued their way down the hallway. "It's not realistic the way you're doing it, because when you break any bone in your leg it's very painful to put any weight on it." Kimi broke character for a second and grinned at him. She held her leg up and hopped. "Much better," Patrik approved.
"Kimi, you're not helping!" Ana cried with exasperation and dropped her. "Whose side are you on?"
Kimi dropped ungracefully and landed on her backside. "Ow! You could have warned me before you just let me go. I could have really hurt myself."
"You're a healer! How hurt could you get that you couldn't fix yourself in a few moments?" Ana rolled her eyes. She froze when Patrik laughed. "Look, Patrik…"
"Ana, please?" It wasn't the tone of his voice that caught her attention nor the gentle touch of his hand on her arm; it was the use of the name she wished all the boy pages would call her. The name she wished Patrik would always call her and not Regi Red.
"I'll go…" Kimi motioned to the two who just stared at each other. She rubbed her backside as she walked away and glanced once behind her. Ana and Patrik were holding hands and walking slowly away. They were talking animatedly to each other, and Kimi was thankful. Perhaps this would be the last of the drama? Later, when she looks back at that thought, she laughs.