The Dagger, Sword, Shield, and Lance

Disclaimer: I don't own anything by Tamora Pierce!

This is just another fanfiction idea I had for an original character in the Protector of the Small Quartet by Tamora Pierce.

Lemont regretted his outburst. Phineas had always taught him never to lose his temper and to always contain his emotions until he was in a more proper location. His anger had largely dissipated at this point, he had been caught off guard completely. Lemont had never thought that Keladry would be shown any more or less attention than any of the other pages. Sure the conservatives hated her, but Lemont had always believed that the king would wholeheartedly support her try for a shield.

Lemont glanced back at Phineas saying, "I'm sorry."

Phineas hesitated before responding. "Be sure that it does not happen again. Such things cannot be said so freely. Now come." This was odd for Phineas, usually Lemont's actions would have earned him a real scolding from the older man. It seemed that Phineas agreed with a few of the sentiments that Lemont had voiced.

Lemont looked at Phineas' face in an attempt to discern his mood, but the man strode by him too quickly. They were already late and neither had been paying much attention to the direction. It fell to Phineas to lead him to the place where he would meet Keladry. They arrived outside the entrance of the great hall just in time for the rest of the boys to march past them. Lemont regretted not arriving early now, his cloak was heavy and he didn't much look forward to having to wear it any longer.

"I will be off to your quarter's my lord. I will ensure that all is in order and then return here for you." Phineas said quickly.

"Thank you for guiding me Phineas."

Phineas bowed and made his leave as Lemont turned towards the great hall just in time to see one of the pages step up to the door. Lemont knew this page, or rather, this probationer. It may not have been so clear to some other members of the court, but the one stepping through the door was a girl. Lemont could see it clearly in her features, the delicate nose, longer eyelashes, lips full, her brown hair had been cut just by her earlobes, he could see that she was a female.

This was the one he had waited so long to meet. Lemont hesitated a moment before moving towards the doors as well and making his way through them. The boys were all standing about waiting for the knight-master to arrive. Lemont watched Keladry closely, but did not yet move to introduce himself. Lord Wyldon burst through the doors just behind Lemont, the man had been behind him and he hadn't even noticed.

Wyldon stood silently for a moment looking about at each new pages, staring at Keladry the longest while barely glancing at Lemont. "Your time here will be difficult. You will work. You will never stop working. You will not stop when you are sick, not when you tired, and you will be assigned more work if you fail or do not live up to our standards."

Wyldon stopped there for a moment before continuing. "While on the topic of punishments. Lemont of Legann, you will spend the next month cleaning pots."

Lemont simply bowed to the Lord in acceptance and the man continued his speech by pointing at one of the smaller boys. "You, your name and fief."

Merric of Hollyrose gained a sponsor in his kinsman Faleron of King's reach. Lemont was watching Kelardy again. He had known that she had spent time in the Yamani Islands, but seeing her face had made it much more obvious. She kept all emotion off of her face and truly embodied the "stone" principal of the Yamani's. He found himself wondering what else she had learned from them.

It was then that Wyldon turned to her and asked for a volunteer sponsor. It gave Lemont a dark feeling when the blond in the back volunteered, but another boy had quickly volunteered as well.

After mildly insulting the blond, Joren of Stone Mountain apparently, the greened eyed boy named Neal was dressed down by Wyldon. In the end a punishment was given, "you will be joining Lemont for the first three weeks of his punishment."

At this the boy glanced for a moment at Lemont with a question in his eyes, clearly wondering what he had done, when Keladry spoke up. "I'll find my way on my own. Nobody has to show me. I'll probably learn better, poking around."

Wyldon was quick to snap at the girl, but he was diffused by Neal quite efficiently. It was quickly concluded that Neal was to be her sponsor. Wyldon left soon after that. Neal and Keladry left as well and Keladry immediately questioned Neal's intentions. Lemont passed through the door just after the two. He wanted nothing more than to speak with the girl whose mother was responsible for saving Phineas, but he lacked the resolve and turned towards Phineas, who was waiting off to the side.

"Wait." The boy, Neal, requested. "What was it that you did to offend the Stump so thoroughly on the first day?"

Lemont hesitated for a moment, surprised at being addressed, before responding. "We had a disagreement. I said something that I would have been better advised to keep to myself." Lemont didn't particularly want to share his exact words. He didn't know how either would react.

"How mysterious, I am Neal of Queenscove. Who are you? And why don't you have a sponsor as well?"

Lemont responded more quickly this time, "Lemont of Legann, and my manservant Phineas knows the palace and will serve as a guide me for as long as I need one." Lemont extended his hand and clasped arms with Neal before taking up the initiative and flattening his hands to his legs and giving a quick Yamani-style bow in Keladry's direction. Her return bow was immediate and clearly an automatic reaction. Lemont held his face in way of the Yamani stone, barely resisting the brilliant smile that threatened to break free. "It was a pleasure to meet you Neal of Queenscove and Keladry of Mindelan."

Keladry's surprise was evident on in the widening of her eyes, but was quickly masked. Lemont left before she could ask any questions. Phineas came to join him then and they both made their way to the dining hall. Lemont walked in and sat with the nearest bunch. He very much wanted to sit nearby Keladry, but he held himself back. Lemont wanted nothing more than to talk with her, but he wanted to take his time to get to know the girl. No need to rush things.

After dinner Lemont observed Keladry being led off by Neal, no doubt to teach her the palace. Lemont felt no need to explore, it was Phineas' purpose to teach him and the man would have plentiful time to do so. It was far more important to Lemont that he finally be able to fight against a skilled combatabt after so long without one. The few bodyguards that had escorted him to Corus had not wanted to risk harming the heir to Legann. Phineas was the only one he could count on to be ruthless.

The two stopped briefly in Lemont's room before making their way to the training grounds. There were a few pages outside as well. The blond from before, Joren, a Bazhir, and one other red-haired boy.

"Page, come over here." Beckoned the blond. "I'm feeling the urge to go riding, go ask Stefan to ready my horse. Tell him Joren wants to take a ride."

"Why would I do that?" Was Lemont's only response.

Joren was surprised for a moment before smirking and saying, "I didn't catch your name. I am Joren of Stone Mountain. The Book of Gold has had the Stone Mountain name in it for centuries. You would do well to do as I say."

Lemont was sure that the only reason the conversation had not already devolved into a fight was due to Phineas' presence, but he was not about to step down. "The Book of Gold. Is that all? Legann was named as one of the four great families which act as the shield of Tortall in the Scroll of Salute. Your nobility means nothing before Legann. One as lowly as yourself should pause to consider their manners before speaking so openly to their betters."

Joren had turned an unholy shade of red at this insult to him and his family. The boy let out a sound that could only be defined as a hiss before brushing past Lemont. The Bazhir followed him, but the redheaded boy simply smiled, let out a laugh, and walked the other way. Lemont knew that he'd be forced to deal with Joren at another time, but he was confident that, despite the other boy's older age and help, he would be able to deal with the problem.

Lemont and Phineas finally arrived at the practice field only to find it empty. This didn't bother either of them in the slightest, Lemont in particular had hoped that he would be able to go all out without any interruptions. They both stepped away from one another and Lemont removed his cloak, letting it fall with an audible thump to the ground. Phineas followed suit immediately after, with a considerably louder thud as a result.

With a sharp snap Lemont stretched and cracked his ribs before turning to Phineas saying, "The weights are torturous. I've been waiting to pay you back for making me wear them."

Phineas simply stood facing Lemont. The two were unarmed, the knives and short sword were their morning exercise. Phineas had a Yamani education in hand to hand combat, as did Lemont. Phineas' style reflected his favorite weapons. With knives he needed an attack that could reach an enemy with longer weapons, so kicking was his primary strike. Getting in close is an important thing for someone who fights with knives, but grappling isn't all that helpful to a person who doesn't have his hands free. Quick punches and kicks were what Phineas relied on.

Lemont was a bit of an odd case when it came to unarmed fights. He had known he was to be a knight for a very long time. Knowing that he would either be fighting from horseback, or in heavy armor, led Lemont to avoid kicking techniques. He instead focused on his punching, footwork, grappling, and general strikes requiring the upper body. The two made an odd pair, but still they threw themselves into their daily fights.

Neither of the two said a word as they stared at one another. They stayed this way for a few moments before suddenly launching themselves each at the other. Lemont started the fight with a solid punch at Phineas' lower ribs. The older man slipped back and launched a kick at Lemont's head in retaliation. Lemont slipped off to the outside of the kick, allowing it to brush his shoulder and push him into a fast rotation. With the added momentum he was able to grasp the man's heel with his left hand and push on his knee with the right, taking him to the ground.

Phineas recovered with a quick withdrawal of his leg and somersaulted out of Lemont's range. The man was up just in time to evade another punch from the boy. A low kick from Phineas nearly served to drop him, but Lemont shifted onto his other leg and lifted his left to guard against the initial attack. Phineas was quick to pull his right leg back and enter the air as he launched a second kick at the chest of his opponent, this time succeeding in knocking him down.

It went back and forth in this way for some time. Lemont managing a good throw here and there, but never connecting with his punches and Phineas falling back into a reliance on his kicks, reluctant to get too close. Both hit the ground their fair share of times, but eventually Phineas' superior endurance won him the day. Lemont was simply too small and too young to compete, despite having an impressive repertoire himself.

The two called it a day as the sun set to their backs. They would fight with their blades in the morning. A few random castle folk had noticed the bout, but continued with their business as Phineas and Lemont finished.

Lemont fell asleep thinking of the girl he had met earlier in the day. She had been very interesting, sand obviously had a Yamani background. Keladry clearly valued the Yamani, so much so that she consciously conducted herself as one. She had been with the delegation, which implied to him that she been taught under the training mistress Nariko. Phineas had learnt from her as well, the only throw he knew came from her education. Lemont found himself eager to meet her again, and to discover the extent of her training.

Keladry of Mindelan had proven herself more interesting than he ever could have dreamed, and she had done it with a single bow.

Here's the second chapter!

I hope nobody is too disappointed with the introduction of Keladry. Her only line so far is actually a direct quote! Lemont has NOT changed anything yet, but he'll start soon.

I thought long and hard about where Lemont should be from. In this chapter you can see the reason. Lemont is in the perfect position to put Joren in his place. His nobility will serve a few more purposes that will been seen later.

The fight scene here was just something I put together in order to test the waters. I really like writing detailed fights, full of blow-by-blow action. This fight was really broad in comparison to what I plan on writing. If you liked it, or hated it, please let me know!

In the next chapter, Lemont will being the schooling process from the book. Keladry will notice him a bit and vice versa. Most importantly, you will learn in the next chapter just how far along Lemont is with his GIFT! I have plans for that as well.

My computer stopped working earlier this week and I just got a new one, so this is a very rushed chapter. Please forgive any mistakes I may have missed!

Thank you for the review! As always I hope you enjoyed it and give me some feedback!