Welcome to Corus

'You alright to keep going until dusk lass? We can stop at this inn if ya like' asked Marcus rubbing down his horse, Windly. Amelia turned and shook her head at her companion as she too rubbed down her pony Clump, 'I'd rather keep going if that's alright with you Marcus, the sooner we get to Corus the better' she said now re-saddling Clump with expert hands. Marcus had watched Amelia groom and now re-saddle her pony with pride, those hard asses in Corus wouldn't be able to say she could do nothing because he had taught her everything she knew himself. Amelia pulled herself back into her saddle and looked at him with an odd look on her face. 'Why are you looking at me like that Marcus?' she asked organising her reins. He grinned up at her and took her hand in his own,'I'm just happy to be with you to see you go up lass, that's all' he said dropping her hand and mounting up. Amelia shook her head and led the way down the path onto the road.

Two days later after riding hard, Amelia came to a halt at the top of a hill that over looked the city. She had been here before a number of times but each time her breathe was stolen away by the beauty of the sight. Amelia turned to Marcus and grinned, 'Welcome home' she said taking off at a gallop into the city.

Three hours later Amelia was standing in front of Duke Gareth with Marcus beside her, while her looked her over. She wasn't nervous, well not much. The duke nodded and gestured for them to be seated, 'Please sit both of you I'm sure your worn out from your ride' he said in his deep voice. As Amelia and Marcus made themselves comfortable the Duke continued to speak.

'We are pleased to have you Amelia but l must say we weren't expecting the new pages for some weeks. But it is no matter both of your room are being prepared at this moment and l hope you will learn your way about the palace soon enough so you don't get too lost when you start your lessons. As the coordinator of the pages it is my responsibility to tell you that we treat misbehaviour very seriously here as well as your own treatment by the boys. Your rules will be the same as the last girl we had as a page, Keladry of Mindelan I'm sure you've heard of her, when you are in a boys room the door will be open and when a boy is in your room the door will remain open, a breach of this rule will result in punishment' the Duke turned to Marcus, 'Marcus Kinwind its been alone time, will you only be acting as her servant or will you be available for guard duty once more?' asked the duke with the raise of a brow. Marcus bowed in his seat, 'I would be honoured your grace, to serve the palace once more' he said calmly. 'I trust you both both like to unpack and rest now so please do' said the duke rising, making both Amelia and Marcus do the same. 'You and l will speak again soon I'm sure Page Amelia' said the duke presenting his ring for her to kiss.

In there rooms Amelia and Marcus unpacked their things, 'that wasn't as bad as l though it would be' Amelia called through the open doors. In his own room Marcus shook his head, 'That wasn't bad you just wait until you make his grace angry then you tell me if it was bad or not' he called back. Amelia just shrugged and kept unpacking. Once he'd finished, Marcus went to Amelia's doorway and looked in to see her placing her personal items on the mantel above the hearth in her room. 'You cant fight so much here Amelia ok? You'll get into a lot of trouble which will make the little time you have to yourself even smaller' said Marcus seriously, picking up her now empty trunk and pushing it under the bed. 'Yeah ok' came the muffled reply from the dressing room.

The next day Amelia woke before dawn just as she always did, now she thought it funny as she pulled on her running clothes. Maybe she always knew she was going to end up coming, she had always wanted to but never said anything, she also knew from Marcus' teachings and that of other people that it was hard to accustom ones body to lots of exercise. But that was ok, she did lots anyway. She moved out of her room to see Marcus pulling on his boots in his own room, he looked up at her hardly surprised to see her up. 'Are you coming with me are you?' he teased as he straightened his guard uniform, Amelia shook her head. 'Only to a point, l want you to point me out a good place to go running' she said tightening her own boots. Marcus shrugged, 'Sure' he said and walked out side with Amelia right behind him.

Marcus had pointed out a vast lake that she could run around in the mornings, he also said that hardly anyone went their let alone before dawn. This was a good thing because she didn't like to be distracted during her morning run, she set off at a jog around the corner, within minuets Amelia was surrounded by trees and bushes but giving her a clear view of the lake next to her. Enjoying the quite that you couldn't get in a bustling trade port, Amelia didn't hear the crunching of feet on gravel up ahead of her. She stopped for a moment and then continued to walked for a short time to regain her breath, she had stopped to tie the laces on her boot when she heard feet up ahead. Quicker than you could see, she was in a crouched defence position, with her head down, eyes level looking through her hair when the approaching stranger spoke.

'That was very quick l must say, I'd like to see how quick you'll be after you've been training for awhile' said the stranger. Amelia looked up grinning, 'I do my best' she said straightening, looking up at the stranger she saw the it was a woman dressed just like her in exercise clothes, she was tall, very tall in fact. Who's tall and holds them self like a warrior in the palace she thought raking her brains...oh no. Amelia's head shot up again to look at the face which matched exactly to the descriptions she had been given. At the look crossing the girls face, Kel knew that the girl had realised who she was and extended a hand to her which the girl grasped firmly, 'I'm Keladry of Mindelan and unless I'm much mistaken you would be Amelia of Snowsworth' said Kel smiling at the awed look on Amelia's face. 'Its an honour Lady Knight, to finally meet you in person' said Amelia bowing to one of her idols.

Kel walked back to the palace with Amelia relieved that the girl had relaxed not long after meeting her, most people were jittery and that was annoying. 'Do you plan to eat now?' asked Kel and they walked towards the main hall. Amelia nodded, 'Yes Lady Knight'. Kel nodded too, 'Well this is where l must leave you Amelia, l must say it was a pleasure meeting you. Hopefully we will have time to speak in the future' said Kel holding out her hand once more, Amelia grasped it firmly, 'I look forward to it' she said with a grin, Kel grinned back and walked down the past to a cluster of buildings.

After changing Amelia let Marcus guild her to the hall where the pages and squires would eat, thanking him she went inside and gathered herself breakfast. She took a seat down on the end of one of the benches, pretending to focus on her food. Amelia was able to look around at how things went here. The squires that were here for the moment all sat on the other side of the hall and ignored her, that was fine with her. A moment later a boy walked into the hall, he was tall so Amelia placed him with the squires faces in her mind, but after he'd got his things he walked over to her table and stood on the opposite side of it exactly in front of her.

'Can l sit here?' he asked looking at her closely, Amelia nodded her approval due to being in the middle of a mouthful of porridge, once she'd swallowed it she held out her hand which he took. 'I'm Amelia of Snowsworth' she said casually, the boy nodded, 'Mum said I'd find you here', at Amelia confused look he explained, 'I'm Ryan of Mindelan and Masbolle, my mum is Lady Kel you met her this morning, yeah?' he asked no putting large amounts of sugar and cream on his porridge. So this boy was Lady Kel's son, she had heard of him but never thought of meeting him. 'Yeah l did' said Amelia as she watched him mix up the porridge, sugar and cream mess. 'Are you a second or third year page?' she asked as he now ate the mess with enthusiasm. Ryan swallowed a mouthful before answering for which Amelia was grateful, she didn't really feel like being sprayed with that muck. 'Na I'm first year why do l look second or third?' he asked with a grin, making Amelia grin back. 'Yeah you do actually', 'Cool' replied Ryan. Once they had finished and taken their dishes up to the washers Ryan asked 'So do you know your way around and stuff?', Amelia shook her head, 'No l only got here yesterday and l haven't been here regularly enough to remember' she said sadly. Ryan turned so he was facing her walking backwards, 'I could show you around if you like, so you know where to go and stuff when we start in a few weeks' suggested Ryan as he walked down the front stairs backwards with an ease as if he did it everyday. Amelia stopped, it would be good to have someone her own age to show her around, especially someone who lived here. Marcus was good at showing her around and all but some parts of the palace had been changed making him lost. 'That would be great' said Amelia gesturing around her, 'I would never learn it all on my own' she said dramatically. Ryan waved the comment away with a scoff, 'Sure you would but it would just take a hell of a lot longer that's all, come on we'll start with the practice courts and out door stuff then I'll show you classrooms' he said walking down the path briskly, making Amelia run to catch up with him.

After a couple of days of Ryan showing her around the palace, Amelia could safely say she was not going to get lost. Marcus had been busy with the watch so he had not seen that Amelia had not been fighting or getting into trouble but making friends with palace servants and other pages as they arrived back from the summer break. Five days after their arrival in Corus, Marcus was up waiting for Amelia to return. It was not late but this was the first chance he had had since arriving to talk to her properly about how things were going. Not long after he had made himself tea, there were voices outside the door, it opened to reveal Amelia grinning as she walked in. Marcus gestured to the chair in front of him and handed her a cup of tea once she'd sat, 'Thank you' she said gratefully accepting the cup.'Why are you so happy?' he asked her once she'd swallowed her mouthful of tea. 'Oh Ryan fell in a puddle on the way back from the practice court, it was rather funny' she said grinning as if reliving the moment in question. 'And who is Ryan may l ask?' he inquired. After explaining how they had met and that they'd become friends, Amelia felt drained all of a sudden. 'I-l-l think l-I'll go to bed now' she said rising heavily, a frown appeared in Marcus' brows. 'Are you alright lass?' he asked getting up quickly just in time to catch her as she tripped. 'Yeah l-l-I'm just tired' she said yawning loudly, Marcus nodded and put her on her feet. A few minuets later he put his head in to make sure she was ok and found Amelia fast asleep on her bed half into it. Marcus sighed and fixed her up so she was in bed properly, he doused the candle and walked out saying, 'Welcome to Corus Amelia, l hope you made the right choice because it will just be hard work from here on' as he shut the door.