Author's Note If anyone's having trouble figuring out how Kyia's name is supposed to be pronounced its K-EYE-A. The "yi" sound like "eye". Thanks!
Last Chapter "Cameron, we'll have to send one of the maids with her," Ari said to Kyia's father. "Maybe Briar? Or Annie?"
"Could I take Aylwin?" Kyia cut in. Both her parents turned to her and gave her an wary look. "Please?"
Chapter 1
"Kyi, we've talked about this," Cameron sighed. It could almost be classified as a whine in a less dignified man. "He's a stable boy and a boy. The damn conservatives would throw a fit! They're already against female knights now throw in a new girl page and a stable boy as her servant! You know the things they'll say, Kyi."
"I know, but, please! He's the only servant here who I can talk to as a friend. And Alanna took a man as her servant when she went to the palace!" Kyia protested.
"Kyi," Ari started gently, "That was over thirty years ago and everyone thought she was a boy back then, plus the man was old enough to be her father. When they found out she was a girl... Well I'm sure you've heard the things people said and still say to this day as to how she got her shield."
"Well, yes, but how is sleeping with Aylwin going to help me get my shield?" Kyi asked weakly. The subject made her uncomfortable and she would rather have avoided it all together. She knew there were some people at court who claimed Alanna earned her shield by sleeping with King Jonathan who was, at the time, the prince.
"Kyia!" her mother reprimanded while her father chuckled softly.
"Sweetie, it won't, but that won't stop Court from gossiping," Cameron interjected easily. "You and Aylwin are close already and it just wouldn't sit well with the conservatives."
"I don't care about the conservatives!" Kyia yelled. "You always taught me to ignore what other people thought of me! So how is this different?"
Her father thought for long moments before gently smiling and shaking his head slowly. He looked up at her, a boyish grin plastered on his face. Ari obviously saw the look Cameron gave his daughter, too, because an awed look spread across her face.
"Cameron! You can't possibly by considering letting Aylwin accompany her!" she cried helplessly. She looked at him and he turned his boyish grin on her.
"And why not?" He asked playfully. "She's right. To the realms of the dead with the conservatives and their opinions. We taught her to ignore other's malicious opinions. Now she is."
"Cameron..." Ari demurred uselessly and then sighed, defeated. "Fine! Go tell that boy that he's going with you!"
Kyia laughed and hugged her father. "Thank you!"
"Okay, go on," Cameron said, gently shoving her towards the door. Kyia shot out the double doors and down the corridor, footsteps echoing a heart beat after her all the way out the front doors. The keen September wind churned brown, gold, red, and orange leaves into small whirlwinds around the front courtyard and whipped colour into her cheeks. She trotted into Traveursa's large barn and slowed to a walk. She strolled down the aisle, patting the horse's noses as they appeared over their doors.
"Aylwin!" she called softly, so as not to spook the horses. "Aylwin!" A tall lanky, fifteen year old boy dropped down in front of her from the ceiling rafters, a beaming grin on his face. He had dirty blond hair that brushed the name of his neck and fell in his eyes, pieces of straw stuck in it, and gray-blue eyes. His arms were nicely muscled and his face was friendly.
"Can I help you, milady?" Aylwin teased good-naturedly as he brushed his hair out of his eyes.
"Guess what?" she said.
"You're going off to Corus and leavin' me all by my lonesome to fend off my admirers alone," he guessed and picked a saddle up off of the floor and headed for the tack room. Kyia followed him.
"You're half right," Kyia told him. "And what admirers?"
"The ones you don't know about," Aylwin replied and turned to flicked her nose.
"Hey!" she screeched and covered her nose with her hands. Aylwin laughed.
"Don't scare the horses, now. You're not the one as has to deal with them when they get all riled up! What d'you mean I'm half right?"
"Well I am going to Corus-"
"Congratulations," he interrupted.
"Thank you," Kyia said before continuing. "I am going to Corus but you are coming with me." Aylwin stopped in his tracks and turned around to stare at her.
"What d'you mean I'm goin' with you?" he said.
"I mean you're coming with me! As in your coming to Corus as my servant but you don't really need to do anything," Kyia replied, smiling.
Aylwin laughed. "Your da really said I could go with you? What about the other nobles? They'll talk, Kyi. Then what're you gonna do?"
"Nothing," Kyia replied defiantly. They entered the tack room and Aylwin began switching around the saddles, bridles, halters, and buckets. "They can say whatever they want!" Aylwin chuckled.
"A brave thing to say," he praised and stepped carefully over a bucket, only to step into another one. Kyia laughed and Aylwin groaned. "There's feed in this one. I'll be smellin' like feed the rest of the week. The beasts'll be nippin' at my heels!"
"You'll be okay," Kyia assured him.
"I better, or else who's gonna go to the palace with you? And help you away from the pack of wolves also known as Court?" he said.
"So you'll come with me?" Kyia asked excitedly.
"'Course I will! You're like a little sister to me," Aylwin said simply while stepping out of the bucket.
"Great!" Kyia said, dramatically throwing her hands up in the air. "Four brothers isn't enough! I need one more, hmm?"
Aylwin grinned. "You make a fair point, but how're you goin' to get rid of any fr us?"
"Maybe there will be a couple accidental falls from the north tower," Kyia said dryly. Aylwin outright laughed and hugged her tightly.
"You wouldn't kill me! You'd miss me too much!" he said, smothering her in his chest. He was over a foot taller than her, and still growing.
"Aylwin, you're suffocating me," she said, voice muffled.
"I know," was his only reply. Kyi laughed and tried to push away from him but to no avail. "Good luck." he snorted, amused by her feeble attempt.
The following two weeks passed in a flurry of packing, preparing, and formal arrangements. Amery was taking a maid from Shark's Cove named Connie with him to Corus and she had to make it to Traveursa in time for their departure. Aylwin was preparing their horses' tack and belongings as well as his own. Ari and Serena had been rushing around the castle the last few days before they left, collecting missing and crucial items Kyia and Amery would need. Serena gave Kyia a sauce pan and wooden spoon for waking Amery up in the morning. Kyia didn't know whether her aunt had given them to her as a joke or if she really would need them to wake her cousin up, so she carefully packed them away in the bottom of her trunk where her mother wouldn't find them and ask questions.
Finally the day came and Kyia was roused early that morning by Briar who told her Ari and Cameron wanted to make an early start so they could be in Corus by midday in two days time. Kyia slowly bathed and dressed in a pair of tan riding breeches, a white shirt, and a simple tan tunic. She laced up her black boots and tied her hair back in a leather thong before trudging drowsily down the many stairs and into her father's study where everyone was gathered; everyone except Amery.
"Where's Amery?" she asked groggily, though she was almost positive she knew the answer.
Pierce and Serena looked around the room and groaned. "I'll kill that boy, surely!" Serena yelled and swiftly left the room, an angry glint in her eyes.
"Someones getting a slap..." Kyia said to no one in particular and threw herself into one of the arm chairs by the roaring fire, eyes slowly closing. When she was just about to drift off she heard screaming coming from just outside the room.
"Honestly, Amery! Giving Annie a hard time! I should have given her a sauce pan to smack you over the head with! And have you been picking that cut?" Serena paused. "Then why is it bleeding! You silly child!" Serena entered the study, Amery in tow, a scratch he'd acquired three days ago bleeding afresh. Serena shoved him in the direction of Kyia and the fire. Kyia wouldn't have been surprised if she'd been aiming for the fire itself. Amery stumbled around the armchair beside Kyia's and slumped into it.
"What did you do this time?" Kyia asked tiredly.
"Rolled off the bed, opened up my cut, and refused to wake up," Amery replied sourly. "So of course she smacks me upside the head. I think I'm actually developing a lump there!"
Kyia smiled drowsily, too tired to laugh. "So the usual?"
"Pretty much."
"My lord, we're ready to depart now," a man-at-arms announced from the doorway.
"Thank you, Andrew," Kyia heard Cameron's voice reply and then the man-at-arm's retreating footsteps.
"Kyi, Amery?" Ari appeared before them dressed in a lady's traveling clothes. "Wake up! We're leaving now." Kyia got to her feet and dragged Amery out of his chair.
As Amery followed Kyia out of the study he muttered "If I fall off my horse, please don't let him trample me."
"I'll try," Kyia said, nodding warily. She wasn't completely sure she wouldn't fall off her own mount!
They trudged out the front doors after their parents, Amery's servant Connie, and the foot men who bore their luggage. Kyia was greeted by an overly cheerful Aylwin as soon as they reached the barn yard.
"Good morning, milady, milord," he addressed them enthusiastically, horses in hand. His left hand held Kyia's sandy coloured mare, Akila, meaning 'spirit'. The pretty mare had a white stripe running down its nose and four white socks. Its mane and tail were white and brushed smooth, no tangles to be found. His right hand held Amery's tall, pure black stallion, Kahon, meaning 'death'. It wasn't the most cheerful name for a horse but it suited the stallion well.
"How can you be so happy? How long have you been up?" Kyia asked taking Akila's reins from the older boy's hands.
"Couple hours," was Aylwin's only answer before thrusting Kahon's reins at Amery and bounding away haphazardly between the two horses to fetch his own pure white mare, Nathifa, or 'pure'. The names were all Sarainian; Aylwin, somehow, spoke the language. He had named Nathifa and Akila and Amery had decided to copy Aylwin and name his horse similarly to spite Kyia.
"How can he be so... Awake?" Amery groaned, rubbing his eyes and letting go of Kahon's reins in the process. The big black horse nudged him with his nose, setting Amery off balance and crashing into the mud beneath their feet. Amery cursed angrily as Kyia laughed and patted Kahon affectionately along his long muscular neck.
"Awake now?" a voice asked from behind Kyia. Pierce stood there a giant grin on his face, his horse's reins held loosely in his hands.
"No!" Amery shot back sourly, eyes burning with anger. He brushed off the seat of his breeches, and then scratched his cheek, leaving four long brown streaks of mud on his cheek. Kyia suppressed her cackles until Pierce burst out laughing, startling his horse.
Amery looked puzzled and then asked innocently, "What?" Kyia laughed harder. Aylwin walked past the two of them, Nathifa following freely behind him. He grinned widely and yelled, "You've got a lil' somethin' on your cheek there, Master Amery!" before continuing on his way. Amery looked back at Kyia, who was still chuckling. She nodded and Amery began uselessly pawing at his cheek, only making the situation worse.
The footmen loaded the trunks onto the back of the carriage and helped Serena, Connie, and Ari into it before standing back and yelling "Milord, everything's packed and secured!"
"Thank you!" Cameron called back and then commanded "Move out!" Kyia swung into Akila's saddle and trotted over to Aylwin while Amery moodily swung onto Kahon's back and walked slowly in the same direction.
"Excited?" Aylwin asked as she reached him.
"I am, Amery's not, though," She said with a smile.
"He'll get over it," Aylwin assured her and fell in behind the carriage, Kyia alongside him, Amery and two mounted men-at-arms bringing up the rear. Pierce and Cameron rode ahead of the carriage with two more mounted men-at-arms and one man-at-arms rode on either side of the carriage.
"I wonder what the palace will be like?" Kyia mused curiously as they passed through the Castle Traveursa's outer wall into the village. "And the messenger said that the princess was trying for her shield! And the messenger was going to Queen's Cove! The palace healer is from there, and his son is a knight with Keladry of Mindelan. Do you think we'll ever meet her? Or Lady Alanna?"
The older boy threw his head back and laughed heartily. "So many questions for such a small thing." Kyia scowled at him and he smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Just let it happen."
The day slowly progressed from the gray dawn to a bright and sunny morning and afternoon. At midday they stopped for lunch on a lush grassy patch of earth beside the road. Connie, Ari, and Serena produced enough food for double their company from a monster sized picnic basket they'd been harboring inside the carriage. They ate quickly and then mounted back up, continuing on their way down the worn dirt road. Kyia fell in beside Amery who was normal Amery by that time. The drowsiness that had occupied him that morning had been lost somewhere on the road behind them. He claimed it had 'fallen out of his pocket'. When Amery and Aylwin began a conversation that excluded Kyia she trotted ahead to ride with her father and uncle. Darkness fell at almost six o'clock and the men-at-arms broke out torches to light the way. Kyia grabbed one and lit it with her magical gift. She watched it blaze periwinkle, the colour of her gift, for a short moment before it turned to the normal yellow-orange colour of natural fire. She carried it back to Aylwin and Amery, who had been in the dark.
"I think we'll be stopping soon enough," Aylwin stated as soon as she reached them. "Its getting too dark to ride. I'd say we'll be stopping in the next town with an inn." Kyia nodded and Amery shrugged. He was grumpy and travel worn by then. He'd been in the saddle all day and hadn't gotten up at his preferred time of day. No one else had either, well except for Aylwin, but Amery was just taking it harder. They rode into a small village a half hour later. The road was poorly lit by a handful of burning torches and glowing windows but was otherwise cast into shadows. Kyia watched the dark alley ways between buildings warily and guided Akila closer to Nathifa. Cameron stopped them at a cozy looking inn at the heart of the village and he and Pierce trooped inside to see if there were any vacancies. Five minutes later they came out again and announced they were full. Amery groaned miserably.
"C'mon, Amery," Aylwin said, slapping the younger boy on the back. "Toughen up! Sometimes knights have to travel all night and all day for days straight. You might as well just get used to it." Amery glared at him and shook his head. They rode to the next town, forty-five minutes away. The first inn was full but the second one had a few vacancies.
"They must all be filling up with pages and their companies," Cameron said as they handed their horses over to Aylwin and one of the inn's stable boys. "All the older pages are going back to the palace and all the new ones are on their way."
The inn was cozy with a staircase leading to the rooms on the second floor in the front hall. A few stray men, women, and children occupied the common room and dining room and a bar maid and two male servants scampered around the first floor.
"Kyia, you're sharing a room with Connie and your cousin," Cameron told her. "Your mother and I are just next door." Pierce led the way up the stairs, Cameron, their wives, three men-at-arms, and Amery, Kyia, and Connie following him. Cameron tapped the door of Kyia's room and carried on to the next room. The men-at-arms filed into the room across the hall and Serena and Pierce strolled into the one next to it. Amery threw open the door to their room and stumbled inside, tumbling onto the couch at the foot of the bed. His saddle bags slowly slid from his grip onto the floor under the couch and he began to snore softly.
"Wow," Kyia stated simply and turned to consult Connie. "Are you looking forward to waking him up every morning for four years?" Connie's light brown hair fell into her brown eyes as she smiled and shook her head.
"No, milady," she said.
"Call me Kyia or Kyi," she told the older girl. "Aylwin does. You can, too. You look almost the same age as him."
"I'm fifteen," she said. Kyia nodded and continued in.
Connie walked in after her, shut and locked the door and then set her small bag beside the couch. "What should we do with the young master?" she asked Kyia uncertainly.
"Amery? Call him Amery. He hates the titles as much as I do," Kyia said. "And you can just leave him there. He'll be fine. Sleep in the bed with me."
"Are you certain?" Connie asked, distressed.
"He'll just keep on sleeping if he falls off," Kyia assured her, tossing her saddle bags at Amery. They fell on his legs and Kyia and Connie watched as he groaned and rolled over so that he was facing the back of the couch. Kyia threw a spare blanket over him and began changing into her bed clothes, a pair of loose blue breeches and a white shirt. She climbed under the heavy blankets and allowed sleep to take her. The last noise she heard was that of Connie climbing into the bed beside her.
The next morning Kyia was awakened at dawn by Connie gently shaking her awake. "We are leaving soon and I cannot wake up your cousin," she said distractedly.
Kyia took a deep breath and yelled, "Amery!" Connie jumped back, surprised. Kyia sat up in the bed, untangling the sheets she'd thrown off of herself in the night and tangled her feet in. She apologized to Connie and continued to yell Amery's name and went as far as smacking him once. She got dressed into fresh clothes and went to fetch her aunt to wake Amery up.
"Connie, dear, don't be afraid to yell or slap him if he refuses to wake up," she told the maid after she'd awakened Amery, who was reluctantly changing into fresh clothes.
"He's used to it!" Kyia added. Connie smiled down at her.
As they were preparing their horses Aylwin appeared, straw in his hair. "Where'd you sleep last night?" Kyia asked.
"Barn," he replied shortly.
"Why? You could have slept in the room with the soldiers," she said. "Bend down a bit." Aylwin obeyed and allowed Kyia to pull a few pieces of straw out of his hair.
"I'd rather sleep in the barn with my pretty horsies and fellow stable boys," Aylwin joked and agilely hopped into Nathifa's saddle. Kyia smiled.
The day progressed much the same as the previous day's. The day after that they made it to Corus by midday.
The city was spread before Kyia, full of life and activity. Vendors lined the streets, stalls behind them full of their wares. The merchants' houses were surrounded by gates while the lower class citizens' homes were left unguarded, but occupied. This was Kyia's new home.
Author's Note