Kel slept late the next morning but was awoken by Shang war cries coming from outside. Hurrying to her window, which overlooked the practice courts, she saw Leah dressed in breeches and a shirt holding what appeared to be a staff with which she was beating Garvey of Runnersprings- an old enemy of Kel's- to a pulp whilst he cowered trying to get away from her. Kel dressed quickly and, grabbing her sword, ran down to the courts.
Leah's cries and Garvey's whimpers filled the air. Kel spotted Neal amongst the spectators and went over to him.
"What's' going on?" she asked,
"Garvey insulted her, he said the practice courts were no place for ladies- very foolish, she challenged him to a staff duel and now everyone's too scared to go near her to stop her!" He replied laughter dancing in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm, glad to see she's cleared up that little misunderstanding, Garvey is due a beating!" chuckled Kel.
"I yield, I yield" yelped Garvey, Leah looked at him with contempt,
"Do you withdraw your implication that I cannot fight?" she spat
"Yes, yes I do, I'm sorry" she let him go but watched him coldly until he'd limped to the fence. Her eyes fell on the King who was glaring at her from the row of spectators.
"Shalanan1 your majesty" she said with a neat bow, the King raised an eyebrow as everyone else suddenly realised he was in their midst and bowed clumsily.
"I see you are getting to know the residents of the palace," he said sarcastically,
"Yes, they're charming and have excellent manners" she grinned at him, her grin faded as a tall woman came into view behind the king, a snarl escaped her throat.
"Good Morning Leah" she said in the same southern lilt that the mage had albeit a slightly shaky one, no reply was issued, instead a firebolt flew across the courts and only just missed Varice and the King, her dress caught fire which Jonathan promptly extinguished. The King turned back to the mage just in time to see her leap into the air and shape shift mid-jump, into a hawk. Kel watched as she soared over their heads shrieking, she shot towards Varice who cowered, terrified. The hawk flew over to hover above the stable roofs, Numair came into the court.
"Leah, stop tha..." he never finished the sentence. A blinding flash of white light obscured the vision of the spectators for a second, when it cleared, Leah sat on top of the stables,
"Why are you here, murdering bitch" she screamed "I'll kill you this time Varice Kingsford"
It took the King, Numair and three other mages almost two hours to calm her down and get her back on solid ground. Princess Shinkokami hurriedly whisked a very shaken Varice away for a tour of the City.
After the King had supervised calming Leah down and putting her back into her room he hunted out Numair on the top of the curtain wall looking out across the Temple District.
"It's my fault" he said forlornly "I should have taken her with me"
"You weren't to know what she would do, you said it yourself she was only nine" the king replied.
"But even at nine she already had the hang of spells that most twenty years olds can't even do. For goodness sake Jon she learn to shape shift at twelve, even I couldn't do that"
"What are you really worried about?" asked Jon looking at his friend,
"I can't control her, if she decides to do something I can't stop her- instead of my gift binding her she leeches it from me, I've never seen anyone do that- it frightens me. What if she decides to leech every mage in the palace and then go after Varice, no one will be able to stop her"
"Then we shall have to come to some kind of agreement with Lady Leah" replied the King resignedly
"Good Luck" said Numair turning to go, the King grabbed his arm.
"May I suggest that you pacify Daine on the subject of Lady Varice, she already has one dangerous mage after her blood, she doesn't need two"
"Of course sire".
Kel sat in her room chatting to Neal about his upcoming nuptials, every time Lady Yuki's name was mentioned his eyes glittered with the happiness of anticipation- his wedding, already postponed twice, was long over due and since that Spring had brought the Royal marriage of Roald and Shinkokami, Neal had been impossible to live with, for ever mooning about and getting under Kel's feet. A sure sign of his love for his betrothed was that his poetry had got worse. Yuki would be joining Neal in Corus for the wedding in a week before heading to the Yamani Isles for their honeymoon after the Midwinter festivities. Kel was not looking forward to the loss of her friend for two months especially as those months would involve her riding to New Hope; the refugee camp- turned town Kel had helped to build. She was required to inspect it every six months to make sure it was running smoothly. Neal sighed as she told him this.
"Kel you know why Yuki and I are heading to Yamani, so that there's no chance that I'll be called up in the middle of what will probably be the only time I'll get alone with her for a long time. Anyway you got along fine without me when you were a Squire."
"I know but I had an excellent substitute" she replied
"Dom you mean?" he asked a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth,
"Yes, Dom, he kept me entertained and out of trouble like you do"
"Well you'll have no trouble then because I spoke to him about an hour ago and he said that on Lord Raoul's special request Third Company of the Kings Own will be headed up to New Hope with you. Apparently to inspect the safety of it, however I think his Lordship has other motives namely a small, feisty commander who I know just happens to be in the area,"
Kel smiled, Raoul's relationship with Commander Buri had been put on hold over the last year to accommodate the Scanran war and they were itching to see each other again. A knock on the door roused the friends out of their thoughts,
"Come in," said Kel. A runner entered looking slightly flustered,
"My Lady the King wishes to see you."
Meanwhile the King was talking to a sulking Leah,
"My dear, as Numair's sister you are welcome to stay for the Midwinter festivities but I cannot have you in the palace whilst you are trying to murder one of my guests. I realise that Lady Varice has done you a great wrong and that thoughts of revenge are natural but as her Ladyship is not a Citizen of Tortall I cannot judge her nor sentence her to any trial. I ask you now to lay aside your anger with her ladyship for the time being as any kind of incident could easily have you carted back to Cathark to face their justice system, which would almost certainly have you executed and I for one am not willing to face Numair after that. After Midwinter her ladyship will be gone and you can start a new life here." The King looked at her with pleading eyes, Leah sighed and walked to the window deep in thought. If she let Varice go that could be her chance gone, she would never be able to extract revenge. On the other hand she liked Tortall and, try as she might, she could not dislike its monarch. If she controlled her anger here she could stay and forget all about the life she had had in Cathark as Numair had clearly done. Hesitating only slightly she said in a clear voice
"I will try to withhold my feelings about Varice for the duration of her stay in Tortall but if I ever see her again I cannot be held responsible for my actions."
"That is good enough for me, now I have a job for you if you will take it," calling to a servant he asked for Lady Keladry to be admitted. When Kel entered she saw Leah sitting comfortably on the window seat, calm annoyance radiated from her but she said nothing. A sense of foreboding settled in Kel's stomach.
"Lady Keladry take a seat please" said the King, Kel obeyed "I have reached an agreement with Lady Leah regarding Varice Kingsford but now we must reach one regarding her life here and what she is to do to be useful. I propose that she accompany you, Keladry, to New Hope and repair the spells placed upon it to keep it safe." Both women stared at him in shock, what ever they had been expecting it wasn't this. Kel looked nervously over at Leah wondering what her reaction would be. After the first initial surprise the mage considered it, this might be interesting, it would certainly allow her to see the North of the realm and work her magic in a useful way.
"If Lady Keladry has no objections I would be delighted to accompany her to New Hope." Said Leah as politely as she could manage, having been away from the society she had been born into this was harder than it sounded. The King looked at Kel who glanced once more at Leah.
"I have no objection, the spells are in need of replacing and who better to do it than a black robe." Kel supplied levelly – if Leah was prepared to try; so was she.
"Excellent" replied the King, "now Leah all you need to do is give Master Oakbridge a full list of your titles so we can announce you properly at the first ball, thank you Lady Keladry, that is all." Kel stood, bowed and left the room with a feeling of unease in her stomach, she could guess what Leah was capable of but would she be able to control herself?
1 Good Morning in Catharki