Celi wasn't sure what Master Numair expected her to say to Lord Darcy – she'd never spoken to the man. She took a deep breath and knocked on the heavy wooden door.

"Come in," a stern voice sounded. Celi opened the door and bowed to her training master.

"You would be Page Celiene, would you not?" Celi nodded. "I've heard a lot about you. Well, spit it out, what do you want?"

Celi was taken aback. He was so – casual. "Master Numair said that I am to inform you that I am moving to the fourth year magic class, at Master Numair's request."

Lord Darcy nodded. "Very well." He didn't look ready to let Celi leave. He looked at her for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "I have a daughter," he said. "I don't think she'd ever survive in a place like this. It's a lot of work."

Celi didn't know what to say. "Thank you, my lord."

Lord Darcy smiled. "You are dismissed, Denaia. Spread the word that I'm not as bad as I seem."

Celi smiled, bowed, and left.

-----

Celi found herself enjoying her third year as a page. Training was finally a real challenge. She practiced for hours every day. Nothing frightened Celi more than the idea of falling behind. The year passed slowly, with little excitement. At Midwinter, it was announced that Lady Keladry would replace Lord Raoul as Commander of the King's Own. Raoul went back to Goldenlake. Lady Buri joined him.

James sighed as he watched them leave after the first thaw. "I've always had the place to myself for most of the summer. I guess not so much any more."

Celi smiled. "Now you have someone to train with!"

James looked at her in disdain, then changed the subject.

One morning in spring, as Celi rushed through her bath after training, she heard a commotion outside.

"It's happened," Angus said grimly. "War. With the Copper Isles."

"It was them," Gregory said. "The spying. It wasn't rogues."

Kasi nodded. "It was the Isles. They were planning war. With what you uncovered last year, King Jonathan beat them to it."

Celi nodded in return. She didn't know what to say. She went back into her room and sat down on her bed. Within the week, men would be shipping out. They would go into battle. They would kill, and they would be killed.

Somehow, she felt responsible. Was saving her friend worth all the deaths? The women without husbands, the children without fathers, the mothers without sons? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe she'd been selfish. It was only one life, after all. Why couldn't she have thought of the consequences?

There was a knock on the door. Leroy poked his head in. "Did you – what's wrong?" He asked, seeing her face. "Celi, why are you crying?"

Celi quickly wiped her eyes. She hadn't even realized she was crying. "It's nothing," she said with less confidence than she'd hoped, turning away from him. They boys had left the hallway. They were probably on their way to lunch. Leroy sat down beside her.

"Tell me," he said. Celi told him. He frowned. "Celi, you're not responsible. You saved James. And everyone else/ And if you hadn't, the Isles would have had much more time and then we would be under attack. You are probably saving many Tortallan lives. Come on, lets go to lunch before Lord Darcy kills us."

Celi shook her head. "I'm not going," she said.

He looked at her, then sighed. "Fine. I'll tell Darcy you're sick. I'll bring you some food, okay?"

Celi nodded. "Thanks," she said, as her friend disappeared through the doorway.

Having time to herself, Celi knew not to waste it. She took out some work she had been assigned the night before and not completed yet. Normally the pages at a leisurely lunch and had little time to work before their classes – Celi could do the opposite today.

Leroy returned half an hour later and handed her a roll, an apple, and a piece of meat. "Feeling better?" He asked.

"Peachy," Celi said, biting into the roll. "Thanks. I needed that."

"What are friends for?" He said with a shrug, and disappeared to do his own work. Fifteen minutes later, with a full stomach and the last of her homework done, Celi went to her afternoon classes. All the boys could talk about was the imminent war. None of them had been alive for war: the war with Scanra had ended fourteen years ago, a year before Celi was born. Lady Keladry had played a major role in this war. Only a year into it, she had killed Blayce, the mage with the killing machines. Two years later, King Maggur was killed. The Scanrans scrambled around for another year before being beaten completely.

One of Blayce's killing machines was on display in the Royal Museum. Celi had never been to the museum, and the thought of a killing device on display in a Tortallan museum was chilling. But Celi knew how much the device had helped mages in their study of Blayce and his devices.

Scanran war or, no, the boys were excited. War was an amazing thing. "You won't be seeing the glories of battle any time soon," she said to the boys. "The Copper Isles are small. They may be planning, but I doubt they're ready. They won't be needing pages."

Angus shrugged. "Some of us are squires in three months time, Miss Celiene. Knights will certainly be going to war!"

Celi sighed. "Just don't get yourself killed, Angus."

Kasi rolled his eyes. "Why on earth would you want to be a knight, Celi? You don't seem to like war very much."

Celi frowned. "I want to be the best I can be, Kasi. I want to help people. I don't want to be a knight just to see everyone I care about get killed."

"Never mind," Kasi said with a sigh. He knew better than to argue when Celi was in a foul mood. "Lets just get to class."

Soldiers were sent to the Western ports, but no ships were sent. Forts and walls were built to protect the shorelines. Knights went. Mostly green knights who were treated like soldiers, but also leaders who would command forts and walls.

The pages, on the other hand, continued their training and studies. Lord Darcy knew that many of them would end up at the front within a few years. Ella stepped up Celi's Shang training, as well. "You're almost done," the woman told her pupil. "I won't have you losing everything before you complete it." Of course, Celi couldn't finish her work by the end of the year – Ella felt that Celi would be done her training by the time she became a squire. All that was left after that was a journey. But Celi wouldn't know what that journey was until she took it. Part of being a Shang was knowing when one was ready to truly be a Shang.

So Celi trained. As hard as she could. She rarely saw her friends, spending time with them only at their evening study sessions. She knew they weren't seeing much of each other, either, but she still felt badly. Three of her best friends would be squires in less than three months, and she was barely going to spend time with them before they left. She sat in between James and Leroy at every meal, but they usually ate quickly and went to do work and thus didn't get to talk. Celi hoped she would be able to just sit down and talk with James during the coming weekend.

Though war had been announced, they heard little from the front. As far as they knew, there was no front. No ships had yet left port. If an attack was planned, it was not for any time soon.

Early in June, a message came to the palace. The Isles had breached the shores of Tortall. Two ships had snuck past the Tortallan patrols, landing north of the Isles themselves. They ravaged two large towns of their homes and people and burned nearly four hundred acres of farmland before the Tortallan army caught up with them. Six hundred men were killed or captured, but little of the town could be saved. The first refugee camp was made just west of the eastern seaboard.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Gregory asked one night in study session. Some of the boys were out chatting about the war, but a small group remained in Celi's room, working quietly and watching Celi in her Shang practice.

James shrugged as Stripe rolled over in his lap. "No one knows. Its assumed that we will defeat our enemy."

Everyone made the sign against evil on their chests. They worried about their future.

"My uncle, Seaver of Tasride, told me at Midwinter that he would take me as a squire, if I liked." Leroy said. "He's waiting for me, and then going out to the front."

Celi collapsed beside him, exhausted from a long day and a difficult workout. "Good for you, Leroy," she said. "We're all nervous, but this is good. We should all see combat. We should all understand how hard being a knight is."

Gregory smiled. "Too bad we've got another year before we're squires."

Celi shrugged. "Hopefully the war will be over by then."

In fact, Celi was hoping the war would be over by the time she was a squire. She would be only the second female squire in a hundred and fifty years How was she supposed to know if someone would take her, especially if they were at war? She didn't have any family members to take her like James and Leroy did. Lady Keladry had received an offer from Lord Raoul – and he was retired now. And Lady Keladry was notorious for not taking a squire, ever. Lady Alanna would be retiring soon, as well, and would probably not take a squire, as she so rarely did. Who would take Celi? She could eliminate most of the older knights – they were mostly conservatives, or they were out of field work and were desk knights. Did that leave her with only green knights? She could live with that. But one of those knights would have to ask her first. As of now, they were off at war.

In mid June, only a few days before the pages test, more news came to Corus. The Navy had set out. There was an attack; Tortallan ships met with four attacking ships met with four attacking Copper ships. While the Copper ships were defeated, the Tortallans still lost two ships and nearly two hundred men.

Celi didn't recognize any of the names on the death roster. She didn't know any soldiers personally, but she had been away from Denaia a long time. It was possible that some of them were soldiers now.

"This war worries me," Celi said one night as she and James sat in her room. Stripe was tightly curled in James' lap, and curious birds where checking through open windows for food and company.

James nodded. "You want to be a knight, Celi. War is a fact of life."

Celi shook her head. "It's not that. I understand war now. We've been taking all of these tactics classes, and, well, it's got me thinking. There's something off."

James frowned. "Off?"

"Attacking from the sea is ineffective. There's nowhere to hide, and shooting down one ship kills a whole lot of men. They can't get many men to the ground easily and they just waste them."

James nodded. "That's why everyone is so sure we're going to win."

Celi shook her head. "We knew they were planning war. But what if there was something more?"

James sighed. "I believe you, Celi. You know I'd trust you with my life a thousand times over. But sometimes a horse is just a horse. Why would anyone else believe you?"

Celi frowned. "I found out about the spies. The king thanked me personally."

James shrugged. "In the eyes of these leaders, that's a fluke. You were brave, yes, and smart, but…"

Celi stood up. "I saved you!" She said, her voice getting louder.

"That was magic, Celi, not strategy." He looked down. "I believe you. You're my best friend. I'm just trying to tell you what they'll think."

Celi sat down on her bed with a thud. "Don't patronize me, James."

James frowned. "I'm not. I'm being honest. Isn't that what friends do?"

Celi opened her mouth to argue, but found herself with nothing to say. She closed her mouth slowly and began to cry.

James looked shocked. He obviously did not understand why she was crying. She certainly didn't. But her monthlies had started the day before, maybe that had something to do with it. Stripe, sensing his master's dismay, jumped off of James' lap and into Celi's.

After a moment, James shifted from his chair and sat down beside Celi. They sat for a moment, James with his head down and with Celi's quiet sobs the only thing to break the silence.

"I'm sorry, Celi, I didn't mean to make you cry."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault," she said. "you were right."

James slung his arm around Celi's shoulders. "You're allowed to cry. You're a girl. It's better than punching me."

Celi chuckled as she wiped away the last of her tears. "I could do that, if you'd prefer."

James smiled. He hugged her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "We should do some work, you know."

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow is your last day as a page."

James shuddered. "Oh yeah."

"Who do you think will take you?" Celi asked. Apparently work was not on the to-do list.

"I don't know. It could be anyone."

"You'll get a good knightmaster. The best."

James smiled. "Except for the ones who are waiting for you."

Celi smiled and looked up at him. "I'll miss you," she said quietly.

James pulled her close once again. "I'll miss you, too, Celi." They sat in silence once again. "Celi, why were you crying?" Celi sighed. Did she know? If she did, could she tell him? "Please, Celi, you're my best friend. You can tell me."

Celi sighed again. She could fight and she could do magic and she could even do math, but why couldn't she just talk to her friend? Was she not capable of emotion? Of friendship? Of love? "Do you remember how I told you everything I told you last June?" James nodded. "I left some of it out." She took a deep breath. "You - he – he tried to get rid of me."

James nodded again. "You told me."

Celi looked at him. "But I didn't tell you how. He – you – kissed me." Even though she was no longer leaning on him, Celi felt James stiffen. "I didn't understand it. I mean, I liked it, but – it didn't feel right. And then it wasn't you. I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

James didn't say anything.

"I didn't want it to be like this," Celi muttered.

"What – what did we do?" James asked, blushing.

Celi blushed in return. "Nothing!" She said quickly. "I thought it too odd – it wasn't very long – I'm only thirteen!"

James nodded quickly. "Right."

They sat awkwardly for a moment, until Celi laughed. "I'm sorry I made such a botch of things," she said. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."

James shook his head. "I'm glad you did. Can we get some homework done now?"

Celi grinned. "I would certainly suggest it."

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Okay, so apparently this is a REALLY lousy chapter. Sorry about that.

Asdfsdfas: thank you?

Atlanta Enchanted: thank you very much! I happened to be reading Pride and Prejudice at the time, so that's where the name came from… and I am afraid that I can't give any of that away, of course!

Seirien: haha, thank you!

"I think a good product would be "Baby Duck Hat". It's a fake baby duck, which you strap on top of your head. Then you go swimming underwater until you find a mommy duck and her babies, and you join them. Then, all of a sudden, you stand up out of the water and roar like Godzilla. Man, those ducks really take off! Also, Baby Duck Hat is good for parties."

Until next time!

-unolimbo