Author's Note
Last Chapter The door beside her opened up and out strode a slim girl. She had pure black hair falling to the middle of her back and sapphire blue eyes. Her skin was as perfect as her mother's. She had high cheekbones, a button nose, small pink lips and white teeth. She was very pretty. The princess! Kyia thought excitedly.
Chapter 4
The girl looked down the corridor away from Kyia before turning towards her. They both froze for a moment before am excited skriek echoed down the corridor, drawing attention, and the girl jumped on Kyia.
"I'm so glad you could come!" she enthused. "I'm Amira. What's your name?" She had finally released Kyia from her bone-crushing hug. Kyia wavered unsteadily on the spot momentarily before smiling.
"I am Kyia of Traveursa, Your Highness," she bowed low to the black haired princess.
"Oh no!" the princess cried. "No! Don't bow! Please!" Kyia straightened and gave her a quizzical look. "I don't want to be treated any differently than the other pages. Please, don't bow, don't say 'your highness', don't treat me any differently than you would treat one of your equals." Kyia thought for a moment. What an odd request... A princess who doesn't want to be royalty, or at least treated as such. I don't like being treated like nobility, but royalty refusing their rightful titles and the manners due to them? Craziness! But then again, I have heard stories of her parents... She was the much younger sister of Roald of Conte and the Daughter of King Jonathan and Queen Thayet
"Alright, but then what shall I call you?" Kyia agreed.
"Just Amira!" the princess stated triumphantly. Kyia smiled.
"Okay," Kyia replied and turned to face Amery across the hall. He was smirking at her.
"Who is he?" Amira whispered, eying Amery.
"My cousin," Kyia answered grudgingly. "He's not the smartest person alive but he can think rather quickly I'm not sure that's a good thing for us though..." Amira giggled. Amery raised an eyebrow at Kyia. She shrugged and glanced down the hall at Duke Graham. He was making his way down the hall, collecting older boys as he progressed. A crowd of about twenty boys stood behind him by the time he stopped at the first page, eight doors down from Kyia. A small boy with bright red hair cropped to his head. Freckles speckled his face and nervous brown eyes stared up into the duke's face.
"Name?" Graham demanded.
"Halas of Hawthorn Heights," the boy replied timidly.
The duke turned and asked the boys behind him, "Anyone to sponsor him?" There was silence for a few moments before a tall heavy boy stepped forth.
"I will," he said, "He's my cousin once removed."
"Well family should stick together, shouldn't they?" Graham consented, moving on to the page across the hall. He progressed quickly, never spending more than two minutes on any boy. If a sponsor did not volunteer the duke appointed one. Finally he came to stand in front of Amery.
Oh no! Kyia thought, Don't say anything stupid Amery!
"Name?" Graham demanded.
"You met me just a couple hours ago, my lord," Amery pointed out. Kyia groaned and drew her hands tiredly over her face. Unfortunately Amery continued. "Do you forget my name so quickly?" Kyia couldn't see the dukes face but from the looks on the faces of the older boys behind him and the subtle step they took away from him Kyia guessed he was angry.
"You are the most foolish page I've met in a good number of years," the duke eventually said. "That last one was killed three years into his training." Was Duke Graham threatening Amery?
"I apologize, your grace, for my foolishness," Amery replied with a bow. "I am Amery of Shark's Cove."
"Is there anyone who will sponsor this foolish boy?" the duke asked, a bit more forcefully than he had with the other pages. Amery always seemed to bring out the worst in people.
"I will," a boy's voice said almost instantly. Kyia watched a blond head bobbing up and down in the midst of the crowd and then he stepped up beside Amery and turned around to grin at Duke Graham. He was of average height and skinny. He had bleach blond hair the same length as Amery's that flipped out wards at the tips. The sapphire stud impaling his ear lobe matched the colour of his eyes perfectly as they danced along with his bright smile.
"Athram, you'll get him into more trouble than he's capable of accomplishing himself!" the duke declared.
"I'll be good!" the boy pleaded. "Please?"
"Ha! I'll believe that when I see it!" the duke stated flatly.
"I said 'please'!" he reminded the older man. Graham sighed.
"Fine," Graham consented, "But one wrong move..."
"I'll be good," he repeated. Graham turned to face Kyia and she saw the boy grin mischievously down at Amery. Her cousin returned the grin happily. Oh gods... she thought.
"Name?" Graham asked her. The boys behind him were whispering and glancing at her.
"Kyia of Traveursa," she said proudly, ignoring the whispers.
"I've three of your brothers with me," Graham stated, "And one more is a squire now."
"I'm sorry," Kyia apologized. "They can be... Troublesome." The duke smiled.
"Will anyone sponsor Kyia?" The boys behind him talked amongst themselves and then finally a tall Bazhir stepped out of the fray. He had wiry black hair cropped close to his head and gray-green eyes, abnormal for a Bazhir. He observed her silently as if considering whether she was worth his time. He nodded and slowly strode to her side.
"I will," he told Duke Graham.
"Rebar?" The duke sounded surprised.
"Yes, my lord," the Bazhir replied. "Is there a problem?"
"Not at all, you're a wonderful page!" Graham assured him calmly. "You've just never taken a charge before."
"Well I've decided to this year," he replied calmly. Graham nodded and moved onto Amira.
"Princess," he said, "I've a sponsor picked out for you already! I'm sure you'll find him to your liking. Finn!" A big brown haired boy stepped apart from the group. He was heavily set but muscles rippled beneath his page's uniform. His brown eyes danced at the sight of the princess and a wide grin split his face.
"My cousin?" Amira asked.
"What? Not happy to see me?" the bog boy joked.
"No, no," Amira assured him, flustered. "Of course I am!"
"Shh shh shh!" he laughed, "I was just joking." Amira's face relaxed and she smiled softly.
"You shouldn't tease me, Finn," she scolded.
"It won't happen again, Highness," he said and stepped up beside her. Duke Graham crossed the hall to the boy on Amery's left.
"Name?" Graham questioned. The simple question was becoming annoyingly redundant.
"Cade of Lynox," the boy replied happily. He bore brown eyes, dirty blond hair, and sparsely sprinkled freckles. He was shorter than Kyia but heavier. The duke continued on down the rest of the hallway but Kyia couldn't listen. Her sponsor had addressed her.
"I'm Rebar Saraf of the Bloody Hawk Tribe," he said and smiled down at her. He was much taller than her.
Kyia grinned back up at him. "I'm Kyia of Traveursa, but I suppose you already know that, right?" Rebar nodded and chuckled.
"I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of your brothers too," he said casually. Kyia laughed. If she were anyone else and had met her brothers, she definitely would not have referred to it as a 'pleasure' at all. Silence fell. Kyia glanced around Amira, searching for Duke Graham. He was on the opposite side of the hall at the second from last door. Three pages still remained.
"Do we have to stay here or are we allowed to leave?" Kyia hesitantly asked Rebar. The older boy laughed.
"We can leave but one of my friends is still with Duke Graham," he replied, "Do you mind if we wait for him?" Kyia shook her head. They waited. As soon as the duke had swept out of the corridor the pages immediately filled the corridor with voices, shouts and laughter as bodies mingled. Amira's sponsor whistled loudly, as if he were whistling at a woman in a tavern. Rebar moved to stand beside him, motioning to Kyia to follow him. She maneuvered her way to Amira's side.
"Why is he whistling?" Kyia asked. Amira sighed.
"Its how they find each other in a crowd," she explained as the same whistle cut through the noise. "They have been slapped numerous times on trips to the city. Women think they're actually calling after them when really they're just trying to find their friends. The boys think its funny though so they deserve to be slapped." A third ear splitting whistle sounded and Amira groaned.
"Shut up, Finn!" she cried. Her cousin turned around. "Oh no," Amira said as Finn whistled shrilly at her. Kyia's ears were left ringing. Amira glared at Finn's back as he turned back around. "You are so lucky mother would slice me in half if I used magic on you," Amira mumbled under her breath but loud enough for Kyia to here. She smiled silently. Amira is no different than me! she thought. Amery appeared between Rebar and Finn, his sponsor trailing along behind him
"Hey, Kyi," he said upon seeing her, "And Your Highness," he bowed. Amira giggled.
"I'm Amira, not 'Your Highness'," Amira corrected gently.
"So no formalities?" Amery inquired suspiciously. Amira shook her head. Amery sighed with relief. "Thanks the gods! Formalities get me into more trouble then well... Informalities." He grinned roguishly. Three more pages emerged into the small circle of first-years behind the older boys. They all nervously bowed haphazardly to the princess, murmuring the expected greeting.
"No formalities, please," she pleaded. A hint of exasperation hid in her voice as she repeated her explanation once more. "I don't want to be treated any differently than you. Please?" The boys nodded and introduced themselves.
One was the heavy boy Kyia had seen Duke Graham questioning before: Cade of Lynox. The second was fair skinned with brown eyes and rusty red coloured hair. He smiled cheerily. A few of his teeth were missing where the baby ones had fallen out. His name was West of Enswoth. The third was Nolan of Kaimbrige. He was tanned, hazel eyed, and black haired. He was quiet as the others talked, shaking his hair out of his eyes whenever it obstructed his sight.
"Okay, I've found everyone," Finn announced to the first-years. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Cade inquired.
"Mess Hall," another blond haired boy answered. "Its lunch time. The pages eat in the mess. I think King Jonathan is even joining us today. He usually does at the beginning of the year, when we get all the new pages."
"So what's the point of sponsors?" Amery asked. His sponsor turned around and smirked.
"Well lets put it this way: could you find your way around the palace?" Amery opened his mouth to most likely make a sarcastic remark but figured out the older boy was right so instead he shrugged and nodded submissively. Impressive, Kyia thought, Someone who makes Amery speechless, not an easy thing to accomplish!
They entered the mess hall shielded from view by the older boys who led them into the serving line on one side of the mess hall. The large room was occupied by tables, benches, and pages. A longer table sat upon the dais overlooking the entire room. The duke sat in the middle of the table in a straight-back chair. A man and woman sat to his right, both with black hair. The king and queen, Kyia thought. On his other side two women sat; one with fiery red hair and the other with mousy brown hair. Alanna and Keladry! Kyia observed, a bit more excitedly. A slab of meat was slapped onto Kyia's tray as well as carrots, corn and roasted potatoes. She collected the utensils at the end of the line and followed Rebar and the others into the throng of boys and to one of the long tables roughly located in the centre of the mess hall. She sat down between Rebar and Finn, almost unnoticeable between the two much taller boys.
"Okay, introductions, boys," Finn announced. His full name was Finn of Naxen, a fourth year page, as was Rebar. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. West's sponsor was in his fourth year as well, though he was a year older then the other fourth years because he had started late. His name was Sander of Lendros. He had black hair and dark brown eyes, almost black. Despite his intimidating appearance he was very friendly. Athram of Silver Cavern was Amery's sponsor, Rodney of Trebond was Cade's sponsor and one of the sons of Rispah and Coram of Trebond. He was a dark haired and brown eyed third year. Nolan's sponsor was Craft of Verdon another third year, with light brown hair and hazel eyes.
Kyia's feeling of discomfort quickly faded as she relaxed with these boys. Rodney, Athram, and Craft seemed close, the type of unbreakable friendship thats thicker than blood. Unfortunately for Duke Graham they gave off the same vibe Amery did: trouble. They were certainly pranksters. She didn't know what to make of Nolan or Rebar; they didn't talk enough for her to decide on their personalities. Finn and Sander joked animatedly, leaving everyone else to their own devices.
"Kyia!" someone yelled. She didn't need to look around for who it was, she knew exactly who it was and why they sounded so surprised. They hadn't know she was coming. Another voice joined his. And here we go, Kyia thought, amused, as she rose from her seat and faced the two shocked boys she hadn't seen in four months.
Author's Note