Kel fidgeted, pulling nervously at the sides of her breeches and tunic. After their eventful return to Corus, she had been hiding out in the little room that Raoul had granted her upon their return. She had been asked question after question about what had happened, and had dutifully brushed off every query. Raoul had spoken to the King yesterday, he said, and it was completely okay for her to go and talk to Daine, the wildmage, to see if she could work for her. Thus, Raoul had apparently talked to the wildmage yesterday, who said that she'd be glad to work with Raoul's mysterious commoner. The wildmage knew that something was up. All of the horses had not gone running over to her. But the fact that Peachblossom of all horses had been the one to go running befuddled her. However, she was very glad to help the poor girl out, especially when Raoul told her about how upset the girl had been, and how he wished that she could stay with the Own but she couldn't. Daine didn't know the entire story, but she figured that there was no harm to caring for the girl for at least a short amount of time.
And so Kel fidgeted, trying not to pace and remind herself of Neal. She was attempting to convince herself that there was no way she would be found out, and if she was, she could just take Peach and run. Raoul had even given her back the glaive and bow and arrows, saying that Daine was a master hunter and was sure to have a few pointers for her. If she and Daine got on, Kel would be moving to quarters near the Wildmage's. After what felt like an age, Raoul knocked on her door. He swept her up into a bear hug as soon as she opened the door, making her laugh and readjust her outfit. "You'll get on fine," he said, "but Third Company will miss you. Don't you forget about us, lass."
She grinned, "I would never. Besides, I'm not gone yet, and neither are you."
He acknowledged that with a grin and began escorting her through the palace. She had a shock when they passed through the page quarters, but she forced herself to resume a relaxed face and ask where they were. Before she knew it, she stood before Numair and Daine's door.
"Good luck, Marikiel. Have fun! You'll be fine, don't worry," Raoul smiled, a bit sadly, and walked off. Steeling herself, Kel knocked three times on the door.
The Wildmage opened it, a pleasant smile on her face. She greeted Kel and let her in. She was finally going to get some answers. She was just opening her mouth when Skysong started chattering to her very rapidly and insistently. Despite her care of Skysong, she brushed the dragonet off, much to her unhappiness, and turned once more to "Marikiel," who was smiling.
"Allright then. I'm Daine, and this is my dragon, Skysong. Raoul told me that you wanted to help me out. Actually he said that you wanted to learn from me, but you don't appear to have any sort of magic. So what's up?" She questioned, getting straight to the point. Kel replied carefully, "I'm Marikiel. You're right. I don't have any sort of magic- no gift, sight, or wild magic- but I do love animals. I've been traveling with the Own, as you may know, but I can't continue to do so. I guess I was hoping to help you out however I could, but I don't mean to impose," Kel said quietly, trying to keep herself from slipping to the familiar Yamani Mask.
Daine smiled gently, still trying to figure this girl out. "I hear you had a bit of a-" she paused "rough time with it, but liked the Own. I'd love for you to be my assistant, and you're really not imposing, but I'm not sure that there's much you can do for me. I'm sure you're good with animals, but without wild magic… Can you explain the sparrows that were perched all around you when you rode in? They didn't seem to be pets per say, but they clearly adored you. And maybe while you're at it you can tell me why Peachblossom charged you, didn't bite you, and was thinking the entire time, "She's back"?
Kel tried very hard to think of good answers to that. She really did. But none were coming to mind just then, her mind instead jumping to Peachblossom and wondering whether she'd have to run off so soon after returning.
Daine raised one eyebrow as to her lack of an answer, before suddenly having a mental epiphany. Well, it really had more to do with finally listening to Skysong, who was still trying to tell Daine that it was Kel, the girl page. Daine's eyes widened for a minute, taking in the common-like appearance as well as all of the strange occurrences. Suddenly it all made sense.
"Unless, of course, you were really Keladry of Mindelan," Daine stated very quietly.
Kel froze. She knew. Daine knew, curses upon curses.
Daine paused, seeing the panicked look in the girl's eyes, which only confirmed her hypothesis. She also saw the look of a fox willing to chew off it's own foot to escape a trap. "Hey, hey, calm down. I'm not telling anyone, and there will be no running away. Do you promise not to run while I tell you a little story?" Grudgingly, Kel nodded.
Daine began, "Once, there was a girl. She was around 13 years old when bandits ransacked her house while she was away. They killed her mother, grandfather, dogs, horses, and even the chickens. The only thing that the girl had left was the horse that she had been riding. When she saw what had been done to her house, she went crazy. She went to a wolf pack and explained to them what the bandits had done and why she needed help hunting them down. For weeks, she traveled with the pack and her horse. Then, one day, they finally took on the bandits. By this point, she was a wolf in all but physical appearance. The bandits were overpowered, and the girl survived, but her horse began biting her whenever she went into wolf mode. Unfortunately for the girl, the townspeople tried to kill her, telling her that she was crazy. For weeks they hunted her until she escaped to a horse fair in Cria." Daine had a very sad, faraway look in her eyes. "At the horse fair, she offered a lady who was looking for an apprentice to be her helper when she took her horses from Cria to Corus. Even though the girl lied to her about her age, and the lady wanted someone older, she took on the young girl despite her strange ways with the animals." Now Daine smiled gently at her. "As they were going to Corus, the girl and lady ran into one of the lady's friends due to a creature that needed help. The lady's friend was Sir Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, and Alanna gave this strange girl her friendship. Later, the girl got a teacher for her magic. One day, she realized that she needed to tell someone about the madness if she wanted her magic to get better. She forced herself to tell the lady and her teacher about the "madness" and was given a solution. Instead of turning them against her, it made her life easier to tell them her secret." Daine looked straight at Kel. "Yes," she said, "the girl was me. Everyone has secrets; nobody is perfect. I'm not about to shun you or tell on you. Most of us believed you deserved a chance that you didn't get. I'm sorry for what happened, but I'd be glad to take you in like the lady took me in, for I'm sure sometime you'll make me proud. Does that sound like a deal?"
Kel's head was spinning like a top as all of the information tried to catch up to itself in her head. After a few moments she looked at Daine incredulously, mask forgotten. "You won't tell anyone?" she repeated, sure she had misheard.
"No one except Numair, who won't tell a soul," Daine replied truthfully.
And so it was that Kel joined Daine and Numair. She continued to act the part of a commoner, and although she enjoyed the work that she did for Daine and Numair, she felt that something was missing. She got to spend a lot of time riding Peachblossom, a fact for which she was immeasurably grateful. Kitten became her best friend, a confidant and a friend, despite the fact that she could not speak. Perhaps that was what made her Kel's best friend: the fact that she could listen in silence, offering up only comforting trills when needed. Kel also picked up a stray dog that was about to be chopped in two by a cook. The memory made her laugh. She had been walking through the courtyard when something small, furry, and white rushed in between her legs. She turned back around in time to see a cook waving a meat cleaver and threatening to cut the dog, which was cowering behind her legs, into pieces. The cook had not been happy when Kel had refused to let him at the dog, saying that she was an ignorant commoner who didn't know anything. But when she told him that she worked for Daine, he had backed off, apologizing, and gone back to work with a slightly put off expression on his face. Kel had given the dog to Daine to take care of, but Daine had said that he had become attached to her. Now, the little terrier Jump followed her everywhere. And yet she felt incomplete, although happy. The only times she felt at ease was when she was riding Peachblossom or practicing her archery, which was improving in leaps and bounds under Daine's watchful eye. Although she didn't possess Daine's natural skill, Kel's archery was vastly better than most full-grown archers, a fact that she took pride in. And yet she hid it, as she did everything. She didn't realize that the animals knew more than she thought, and that they confided to Daine. One day, Daine and Numair finally confronted her about it.
They told her that they would do whatever they could to make her happy, and asked her to trust them and talk to them. They asked whether there was anything that they could do to help her, to which she replied more bitterly than she realized, "There's nothing you can do. Nothing, thank you all the same. The only thing that could be done was not done two months ago, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that. No, sometime I'm sure I will find my way, but for now I'll just keep bumbling along. Thank you both for your consideration." Daine, forever perceptive, could see the undisguised pain in her eyes, and Numair, although often oblivious, could hear the sadness with which she spoke.
They talked about what could be done to make her happy, but came to no obvious solutions. It seemed as though the eleven-year-old was right. But sometime, they were sure that she would find her way. That unfair decision would be forgotten, leaving the determined warrior that she really was behind.