*DisClaminer: I do not own the characters - they belong to Tamera Pierce
Keladry of Mindelan, or "Kel" to her friends sighed and looked around her room. "One last check" she thought to herself as she roamed the room that she would be leaving far behind. She opened her closet, and looked at the dresses that she could be wearing, but instead would be wearing the uniform of a Page. A Knight-In-Training. Kel sighed again. "Backing out already?" Her brother Innes of Mindelan leaned against the doorframe, watching her. "Not at all." Kel turned and smiled. Innes was her second oldest brother, and the brother she was closest too. Her other two brothers, Anders and Conal, well, she figured that if she claimed them, she was doing pretty well on that day. "Are you needing something? I was just finishing up my packing." Kel smiled a small smile. After years spent on the Yamani Islands, she was trained not to show emotion, but small amounts seemed to creep up around her family. Innes sighed and came into her room. He settled on a chair by the window, and motioned Kel to take the other. Kel smoothed out her skirts - she was wearing a dress for the last time, she thought to herself - and sat down. Innes looked out the window for a few more moments, and then looked at Kel. "Kel. I know that you know how hard this will be. This will be different and more difficult than when we were training with the Emperor's family. On top of that, with all of your training that you have already had, you are already skipping one year of page training. That in of itself will make you a target. You will be the first girl since Alanna to try for her shield, you are 11 and coming into the year a little late, plus starting as a second year." Kel acknowledged his words with a tilt of her head. Innes continued "I just wanted to come and tell you that, if you decide that you don't want to do this, that it is too hard, that you would rather go back to the Islands, all you have to do is write. Your offer with the Emperor still stands. He stated that it would for 1 year." Kel nodded her understanding again, then spoke. "Innes. Thank you. I know that it will be hard. I know that things are already being said. It's not fair, but it is what it is. Dancing, small talk - those don't appeal to me. The super frilly dresses, they have their place, regular day dresses are fine. I WON'T miss trying to keep the hems of my dresses clean in the spring muds!" Kel and Innes laughed. "Honestly Innes, although I am worried, and truthfully, slightly scared, this is the path that I have chosen, and I am well aware of the obstacles that I will be facing. Not only do I have to prove to the other pages that I deserve to be there, that I can keep up and do what they do, I have to prove it to the rest of the realm as well. In Two Years time, if I can pass the end of year tests, I will be awaiting selection to be a squire. People will be watching me all the time to see if and when I will mess up, make a mistake, or give up and come home. None of those are options for me. Kel's voice had started to raise and she had begun pacing while she talked, a sign to Innes that she was more stressed and worried than she was trying to let on. Inness got up, and gave his little sister a hug. "Kel, I know you can do it. If you ever need to talk, you know you can always write and pour it out." Kell hugged him back tightly. She would miss their brother/sister talks. They always had a way of making her feel better. "Love you Innes." "Love you Kel"