The winter was harsh that year, but Iliana was a mountain girl and was used to harsh cold. Secretly, she was disappointed when the snow began to melt and winter bloomed into spring. Her training was coming along very well, and all of her teachers told her that she was very advanced for her age. Even Numair, Daine, and Alanna were impressed with how quickly she caught on to the concepts they taught her. By the start of spring, Iliana had learned many advanced spells from Numair; to communicate with, heal, and share minds with animals from Daine, who was now teaching her how to become them; and Alanna had taught her so much about healing that Iliana was often called to help with patients at the infirmary. Besides that, all of the Mithran priests praised her work, as did many of her other teachers (except for Master Oakbridge, but he was convinced she should curtsey, so he was a bad teacher anyways.)
Alanna had also started teaching the young girl how to fight, with various weapons. Iliana proved to be a quick hand with a sword (though Alanna was pleased to note, not as quick as herself), and a natural with a bow. Whoever had taught the girl hand-to-hand fighting was a genius, as Iliana could easily put Alanna in the dust, though Alanna had never really taken to that sort of thing. The girl was not as good with a dagger, and Alanna made a mental note to ask George to teach her when he was at court. It was an art he had been perfecting all his life.
Iliana worked hard to perfect whatever her teachers gave her. She had taken Chioke's words to heart, and would not let countless people suffer in the future for her laziness now.
Her relationship with Neal continued to blossom, and she found herself needing to be with him more and more, and she thought he felt the same. They had told Kel, and she had been very happy for them, even when Iliana privately asked if she was sure she was fine with it. Iliana could have sworn that Kel may have had feelings for Neal, but Kel insisted that she and Neal were just friends.
Kel and Iliana had grown extremely close in the time they had known each other. Iliana spent almost all of her free time that wasn't with Neal with Kel. One night, when Kel and Iliana were wandering the halls together, they came upon what seemed to be a normal sight for Kel, but was a first for Iliana.
Joren of Stone Mountain and his cronies were sitting in a small library, laughing as they pushed various items off tables while a first-year boy she didn't know cleaned them up, struggling to keep up with his tormentors. Sighing, Kel stepped into the room.
"Again, Joren? And just when I thought you'd grown up. Clearly I need to learn my lesson," Kel said in a loud, clear voice. Iliana crept up behind her, peering around her friend, curious as to the appearance of the boy she'd heard so much about. He was definitely one of the most attractive boys she'd ever seen, but cruelty and hate distorted his features into an ugly mask. Iliana stepped to stand beside Kel, pulling her hair up in a bun, tying it with the ribbon that she always kept around her wrist. She knew from experience that loose hair was an ideal anchor for a determined attacker. The movement caught the older boys' attention, and they turned their cold gazes on her.
Iliana felt their eyes looking over her inch by inch, examining every part of her being. She knew immediately that they had never seen her before from the looks on their faces. Obviously, they were caught off guard by her appearance. She smirked, knowing then and there that she could use her beauty as a weapon against them. Boys like that always hesitated to hit her, scared they would bruise her or whatnot. Like I'd be in a fight if I cared, she thought.
The boy called Joren stepped forward to address the girls. "You should learn your place, Kel," he spat her name, trying to make it an insult. "This is none of your concern, and this is no place for a girl. Leave now, before we make you leave."
Kel laughed and shook her head. "If you think I'll listen to that, you're even more stupid than I thought."
Joren snarled and took another step forward. Both girls move into a fighting stance. This caught Joren's eye, and he stopped. "Who are you?"
"Iliana. And you must be the idiotic oaf that I've heard so many things about," Iliana said, offering a sweet smile.
"You should leave now, before we ruin that pretty little face of yours," Joren smirked, and Iliana knew that this boy may be different. His cronies wouldn't touch her, at least not hard, for fear of harming her appearance, but Joren wouldn't hesitate to break her nose and give her a black eye. OH well, Iliana thought. No pain, no gain.
"You must be dumber than everyone thought, if you think I'm going to back away from a pretty boy like you," Iliana taunted, and Joren's face twisted more with rage.
"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug before leaping at Kel. Behind him, Vincent and Zahir jumped to help. Vincent, who Iliana had guessed-correctly-would go to help Joren, did just that. Zahir, on the other hand, came at Iliana immediately. He leapt at her, but her training with Alanna was starting to show. She grabbed his outstretched hand and ducked, twisting. He went flying over her to hit a chair. Deciding to make use of his absence, she grabbed the back of Vincent's tunic and yanked, hard, sending him to the floor. He had a horrible stance. This freed Kel's arms, and she quickly threw a punch which connected solidly with Joren's skull. Iliana felt a presence behind her and ducked as Zahir's fist whistled over her head. She grabbed it and spun, twisting his arm behind his back. She held it, pulling it farther then was comfortable, then threw him into a rising Vincent.
Kel's yelp drew her attention. Joren had her pinned and was about to punch her in the face. Iliana tackled him, easily pushing him off Kel. Kel jumped to her feet and spun, lashing out with her foot to kick Vincent in the belly. Iliana landed on top of Joren, thankfully, and she quickly knelt on his arms so he couldn't move them. She slapped him once, hard, then jumped off of him. He laid there, dazed, before pushing himself off the floor with a growl. Kel and Iliana backed up until they were back to back.
Grimfaced, Kel landed a solid kick to Zahir's thigh. "So, what do you think of your first fight?" she asked Iliana.
"This is great," Iliana answered. "I'm loving it."
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Iliana stood outside Lord Wyldon's office. Kel was in there now, getting her punishment from him. The three older boys had already been, and they had left, though not before giving both girls cocky smirks.
Kel opened the door and stepped out. She had looked better. A black eye was rising under both her eyes, her nose was probably broken, and a large amount of bruises were beginning to appear on every patch of skin visible to Iliana. "He wants to see you," Kel's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Thank you," Iliana said. Kel had already explained what she should and shouldn't say to Lord Wyldon. Kel held the door open for Iliana, giving her an encouraging look before closing the door.
"Come in." Iliana walked forward until she was standing right in front of Lord Wyldon's desk. She knew she didn't look too good either. From what she could feel, she had a large number of bruises, a black eye, a bloody nose, several still-bleeding cuts on her being, and probably two broken fingers. She had figured that Alanna could help her heal them all herself later. It would be great practice.
"Yes, Lord Wyldon?" Inside, Iliana was scared out of her mind, but she presented a calm manner.
"Would you care to tell me what happened?"
"I fell, sir," Iliana said, straightening and holding her head high. She would not let herself appear weak in front of him.
"I figured as much. Since you are not under my authority, I cannot punish you as I would the others, but I have written a letter those who's authority you are under," he said, handing her a sealed letter. "Please deliver this to Daine, Numair, and Alanna immediately. Dismissed."
"Of course, Lord Wyldon," she bowed and exited the room. Kel had waited for her outside. "I need to go find Daine, Numair, and Alanna. You can come with me if you want. They're all in Daine and Numair's room."
"Lord Wyldon told me to go to a healer," Kel said, falling into step with Iliana as they walked down the corridor.
"Well, Alanna is a healer. And I need to get myself healed too. I think I broke a couple fingers," Iliana said, giggling. "I think they got off worse though."
Kel laughed. Joren had walked away with a broken nose, several pulled muscles, and a sprained wrist, along with the common cuts and bruises. Vincent probably had a broken foot and two black eyes,
while Zahir had a broken finger, two broken toes, a sprained ankle, and a bloody nose. Kel and Iliana clearly felt that their opponents had gotten the worst of it, and were proud of themselves for causing it.
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When they arrived at Daine and Numair's rooms, both girls had already agreed that they could tell the three older people exactly what had happened. Alanna and Daine would probably be proud of them, and Numair would just be exasperated. Timidly, Iliana knocked on the door. It was Daine that came to the door. She gasped when she saw who it was, which quickly brought Alanna and Numair to the door.
"What in the gods' name happened to you two?" Daine exclaimed while ushering them into the room.
"We got in a fight with Joren and his cronies. They were picking on some first-year again, and we put a stop to it," Kel explained. Alanna shook her head, and sat the two down.
"Alanna? Can I try to heal myself?" Iliana asked eagerly. Alanna nodded, knowing the girl could easily fix whatever she was broken or bruised, and turned her attention to Kel. "Oh, and Lord Wyldon told me to give this to all of you," Iliana gave them letter to Numair, then closed her eyes, calling upon her Gift. Numair read it as the pain in her fingers, eyes, and nose faded and her eyesight came back. After she had fused her broken fingers, Iliana went to work on the cuts and bruises she had acquired, making quick work of them. Finally, she eased the pain in her back, probably a result of a pulled muscle.
Opening her eyes, she saw Alanna had finished with Kel, who now looked much better. Iliana gave her friend a toothy grin, before turning somberly to her guardians. Numair had finished the letter and was now sitting with his head in his hands, rubbing his temples as Daine and Alanna read the letter. Iliana and Kel sat patiently, waiting for them to finish.
"Is this all true, Iliana? Did you two really fight with Joren?" asked Daine.
"We already told you that we did. They were picking on a first-year, and not how older pages are supposed to, either. They were deliberately pushing things off tables and making the boy clean it up. That's not right," Kel said, clenching and unclenching her fists. This was always a sore topic for Kel. Iliana just nodded and looked down, scared that her mentors would be angry with her, that they might forbid her from seeing her friends or maybe even stop teaching her.
"Well, I think you did the right thing in stopping it, however violent your methods," Alanna said, beaming. "What I need to know is how badly did you get the others, if this is what they did to you?"
"Oh, they're much worse off. In fact, if you hurry to the infirmary, you might get to see them before Duke Baird fixes them," Iliana giggled. "I'm pretty sure I caused Joren's sprained wrist, gave
Vincent one of his black eyes, and gave Zahir his broken finger and bloody nose, along with a number of cuts and bruises."
"And I broke Joren's nose, Vincent's foot, and I gave him the other black eye, and broke two of Zahir's toes and helped him with his sprained ankle," piped Kel. Both girls were clearly pleased with their efforts, and could do nothing to hide it.
"Good work!" Alanna exclaimed. Daine nodded her approval, and Numair continued to rub his temples.
"This is not good!" he said, startling the women. They had forgotten he was there.
"Why not? It's not like what we did was a big deal. Kel said that she's gotten in tons of fights with them before, and I won't let people be humiliated for some stupid thing like this," Iliana said, knowing she was about to get quite angry with Numair.
"Lord Wyldon obviously expects us to punish you for this, and it's quite obvious that even if I wanted to, I would be outnumbered. And you can't keep going around picking fights."
"But it's good fighting practice, and then I can work on healing after," Iliana said earnestly, earning chuckles from all of her companions.
"She has a point, you know. And she could fix Kel too. It would be good practice," Alanna said, fighting back more laughs when Numair glared at her for encouraging their pupil.
Numair sighed and held up his hands in defeat. It was no use arguing with any of these women, especially Alanna and Iliana. They would win anyways, and at least he could save some of his pride. "If you're going to fight, we'd best teach you some better combat skills then," Alanna chirped, pleased with the outcome of the verbal battle.
"Ok! Let's go out to the practice yards now and get started!" Iliana said, jumping out of her seat. "Can Kel come too?"
"I can't," Kel protested, sighing inwardly. She wanted to go so bad, but she couldn't without Lord Wyldon finding out, and he would just punish her some more. "But I'll let you know when it's safe for me to join you without risk of punishment."
"Well then, let's go, before all the practice yards fill up. Come, Iliana," Alanna led her pupil out of the room, with Kel right behind them.
"You're going to have a worse time trying to tame her than you did me, dear," Daine said, perching on the arm of Numair's chair, where he was once again rubbing his temples in frustration. "She's a free spirit. You'll never get her the way you did me."
"I never changed you," he protested weakly.
"You didn't mean too, but our love, well, it did change me. But I think it did in a good way," she smiled softly and leaned down to plant a loving peck on his cheek. "Just…don't change her too much. A tame Iliana will be much less powerful, and fun, than the wild Iliana."
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Well, I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I had a meet this weekend, and I wasn't really ever home. My schedule is getting busier as my season comes closer to ending. Plus, as I said, I'm writing this off the top of my head, so it's taking me longer than the first six or seven chapters. I'll try to update more, and as always, reviews, comments, concerns, criticism, and ideas are welcome.