Chapter Ten

"No, if you want to trade me off for money go ahead, but don't expect me to like it!" The second voice was female, and very close.

"They're dying! This is our only chance!"

"Why can't you get more healers, medicine, something?"

At that exact moment, Kel strode into view on one of the adjoining trails, followed by a taller, but obviously related, man. She stopped at the sight of them, her face instantly becoming blank, and asked, "What are you two doing here?"

Faleron was staring. No one said anything, but the three nobles were staring at one another as if they were all wishing that they could forget that this encounter had ever happened. Kai finished wrestling with her crutches, then stood slowly, looking from one person to the other; they all seemed so wrapped up in some inner struggles that they had forgotten she was there.

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she curtseyed as best as she could with a pair of crutches, and smiled at Kel as if she had completely missed overhearing the conversation and the resulting quietness.

"Good morning, Lady Kel," she said politely. "We were just taking a walk in the woods. I've never seen them before; are they this pretty all the time?"

Kel started slightly, then grinned back at Kai, obviously relieved. "I don't know, I'm not outside the city walls that often myself. In spring, though, in the Yamanis, is beautiful when all the cherry trees are in bloom. They have a big celebration for it every year." She nudged her companion. "Faleron, Kai, this is my brother, Anders."

"Nice to meet you," she said with another curtsey.

Faleron and Kel's brother immediately began some discussion of weapons training which Kel apparently was uninterested, as she turned to Kai.

"I thought you were going to be away for a while," Kai commented.

Kel looked surprised. "Did Lalasa say something to you?" Kai nodded; Kel rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry if she said something…inappropriate to you, but she's just such a loyal person that she expect everyone to be like her, too. Loyalty to a fault, I guess."

"Well, she was right. I shouldn't have been ungrateful like that and it was my fault."

"That you wanted to go back home?" Kel asked, raising an eyebrow. "If I could go back to the Yamanis and still be able to train like they are here, then I probably wouldn't have left. But now I got used to it, made some friends, and I wouldn't leave for all the trees in Galla."

"So you came back here to tell me that?" Kai asked with a smile.

"No," Kel said expressionlessly, her lips pressing together. "I came back because my parents…just recently…were in a riding accident. There have been a lot of landslides this summer, and it's been fairly common. There are whole villages in the mountains separated from the rest of us by huge rivers of mud. They've destroyed the crops. It's horrible. And I was going to the funeral. But Anders met me on the trail going out; he said it's all but impossible to get through, and if we did, then we might not be able to get back. We got into the city this morning."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Lady Kel," Kai said, even in sympathy not forgetting why she was here.

"Not Lady," Kel corrected quickly, as Kai had guessed that she would. Though there were very few nobles out there who considered themselves equal to commoners, if you ever did chance into meeting one, you could always tell the difference.

This small gesture of friendship encouraged Kai to ask, "Did they arrange a marriage for you?"

"Yes," Kel said, voice bitter. "The curse of being born noble."

"Not all noblemen are so awful," Kai said tentatively, then remembered the majority of those she had seen on the streets. Though the people here were proof that stereotypes weren't always accurate, it was a safe bet how most men treated their wives: same as the people they shoved and shouted at in the city.

Kel's lips grew even whiter at the edges as she pressed them tighter, showing how well she believed Kai.

"Did he tell you who it was yet?" Kai asked gently.

"No, but that doesn't matter," Kel said grimly. "If you're marrying for money then you'll always end up with some man old enough to be your grandfather because they're the only ones with anything to spare. Most likely, they'll just shut me up in some far estate no one's ever heard of because I'm too 'outspoken' or 'headstrong'," she said like the words were curses.

It was that moment that they heard the wings.

Stormwings. A whole group of them, circling over the city.

Kel saw them and cursed in a most unladylike fashion, then started running. "Come on, we need to tell the king."

Anders took off after her, which left Faleron doubtfully eying Kai's crutches.

"Aren't you going with them?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure they can handle it. Unless they get lost on their way there, but I'm sure some nice, friendly citizen will point out the huge towers. They'll get there eventually."

"You're such a nice friend," Kai told him, her eyes still on the Stormwings. "Why are they so worried about a bunch of Immortals?"

"Bad omen," he said simply. "They always go wherever they think there will be bloodshed. Not good."

"What happened to the smart government we always hear about that's so much more informed than us common folk?"

"We don't ignore signs from the gods," Faleron replied ominously, shooting her an appraising look, "And you shouldn't let them tell you that you're inferior because of where you were born."

"Tell that to the rest of the world," she said, rolling her eyes.

They came back to the gate into the city, and soon they were back in the courtyard, practically a whole different world, Kai thought. By now the servants were openly hurrying through the corridors, people had long since woken up, and the building had sprung to life once more.

A/N: Ok, I know, it's been a record-long delay, and I'm really sorry, especially since this is wicked short, but I have reasons, even though I know no one wants to hear them. Oh, yes, is anyone actually waiting for me to update Cerulean Translation? Unfortunately that may not happen for a while. (Sniff) Up side, I'm working on a new fic. Down side, it's harry potter. Err, other than that, sadly, my only excuse is major writers' block + lack of free time + lack of computer time + lack of time when free time and computer time coincide. Well, I'm having trouble with this story, so ANY IDEAS AS TO PLOT/CHARACTERS IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. I love writing in all caps. Makes it look important, doesn't it? O wait, anyway, more caps: PLEASE REVIEW! End caps.

Thanks to Ace Ryn Knight, maliaphire, seabiscuit0810, sarahelizabeth, Wildphire, Keeran Amytha who all reviewed!

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