This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to the Protector of the Small series, any of its characters belong to Tamora Pierce… Much to my disappointment. This goes AU about midway from the book Page. Fair warning. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it. This is mostly centered on Joren. This is also a slow build Kel/Joren.
Autumn/Winter 455/456
Joren nearly jumped out of his skin at the noise. In part, because he might have recognized the voice, but also in part because he really wasn't expecting the god to return. He turned to face Kyprioth reluctantly. The god was sitting on his window seat, rather casually, much to Joren's annoyance. The god seemed to be genuinely amused by Joren's unsettled state. Joren glared at the smirking god.
"It took you long enough. I must admit though, watching my sister and brother stare in confusion as you did a complete turnabout in your manners to their little pet was a source of no small amount of hilarity. I am shocked that it truly took this long for you to figure out your feelings though. After all, it has been a full year since we last talked, and I did leave a pretty large hint with that book. Though, you really haven't done your assigned reading, have you?" Kyprioth seemed to be getting no end of amusement from Joren's predicament.
"Why are you even here? I'm not exactly your follower anymore. I haven't pulled any pranks or caused mischief, right? Why are you still interested in me?" Joren decided to completely ignore the God having no respect for his emotional privacy.
"Oh, but you have. You may not have thought of it as such, but you have. That little sleight of hand with your former friend last spring, you used deception. Not in a bad way mind, just caused a bit of mischief for someone who is not worthy of your friendship. It's still mischief though and you always have the potential for more," Kyprioth seemed to be enjoying Joren's discomfort far more than he should. "You really should read that last book though. It is truly enlightening and was written by one of the last Lady Knights around, you know, Lady Sabine of Macayhill was her name," With this, the god vanished and Joren glared at the spot where he had been.
"I really don't get why he keeps coming around," Joren said to himself as he moved to where he had hidden the mentioned book.
"Because you amuse me and are a convenient distraction," Kyprioth's voice wove around Joren causing him to look around for the god before realizing the god was just tormenting him now. This earned him a chuckle before the god's presence faded completely.
Joren sighed and wondered why he put up with the Trickster only to remember the rather dire warning that the god in question had given him. A little bit of perspective went a long way in encouraging him to realize how close he had come to falling into the pitfalls of his arrogance. Vinson was now a prime example of exactly the person he never wanted to be again. He had turned his back on that path but still had a clear view of where it led before him.
Joren had no doubt that even if he hadn't had his eyes opened, he would still have been obsessed with Kel. There was a very real possibility of him following a similar route as Vinson had he lacked the respect for Kel that he felt for her now. He briefly wondered if Vinson would still be an issue but shrugged it off. For now, it seemed that Vinson was setting his sights on Joren, who was fairly isolated in terms of friends, over Kel who had them in great supply.
With this, he opened the book and looked for the advice on gift giving. If he wanted to present himself well, he would want to give Kel something that she would actually like. After a full two hours of reading the intricacies of what to avoid when giving a gift, he threw the book at the wall in frustration. It seemed to almost constantly contradict itself and that was simply on the topic of giving a present. He then had a thought. There was no reason that he couldn't give the present anonymously. After all, she couldn't get angry with him for offending her if she didn't know it was him. With this thought in mind he went to sleep.
Joren quickly found himself caught up in the lessons provided to him by Sir Paxton however and didn't find much time for gift shopping. He contented himself with furtive glances at Kel while she wasn't looking. He realized fairly quickly that he was horrible at concealing his interest but hoped that by watching her, he would get some semblance of an idea of what to get her a gift of. Eventually, it was two weeks before Midwinter, and he decided he would just go to the markets and pick something that spoke to him as being her. He requested the day off for shopping, which Paxton readily granted, knowing that Joren hadn't asked for any free time of late.
Joren decided to first pick out presents for his parents, since they would be simpler, and he wouldn't have to do it later when he got frustrated. For his mother, he got a pair of emerald earbobs matched with a delicate necklace and bracelet. All three were set in intricately woven silver and he knew that his mother would love flaunting them at the coming Congress as green was her favorite color. Thus, they would match many of her gowns.
His father was a little bit more complicated, however he eventually found ornate copies of the Book of Gold and Book of Silver noble houses. He chuckled knowing that his father had often envied Lord Genlith his copy of the Book of Gold and as such would be pleased since this was both books and as such a complete set. It was also a far more ornate version, even if Lord Genlith's was older.
He also got small little trinkets for his siblings. His sisters got ribbons and his younger brother got some toy soldiers. They were simple gifts, but things they would like none the less.
For Sir Paxton, he bought the man a pair of fine riding gloves. Sir Paxton had never been one for the ostentatious like his parents had been and thus would be happier with something that was genuinely useful rather than based on what it was worth. Once he had arranged for the different gifts to be sent to the palace, Joren could finally focus on his true objective.
He had spent only a few hours on the other presents and as such, had ample time to search through the stalls for his gift for Kel. He also decided to buy presents for Faleron and Yancen who he had been training with under the watchful eye of their knight-masters. The three had begun to get along quite well and Joren felt it wouldn't be too presumptuous to get them some small gift. As he suspected, it was far easier to find things for them than it was for Kel. By mid-afternoon, Joren had gotten a small belt knife for Faleron and a new pair of archery gloves for Yancen as he had recalled both mentioning that they would soon need these things, both gifts came from the Raven Armory.
Kel's gift, however, still eluded him. First, he went to a few jewelry shops, hoping to find some little trinket that suited her but to no avail. He was briefly tempted to buy her some ruby earbobs as he had noticed she seemed to favor darker shades of red but at the same time he knew that she didn't wear earbobs. He wandered through some accessory stores and debated over some ribbons that he knew she would never wear and then a rather ladylike fan that she would never use.
It wasn't until he was about to give up that he noticed a small Yamani shop that he had missed while passing between stores earlier. Recalling that she had spent several years in the Islands, Joren decided to go in and hope that he found something that would suit her. A few minutes browsing, he was almost ready to despair when something shiny caught his eye. A set of hair sticks were in a case, what was peculiar about them though was that the sticks themselves seemed to be oddly thick.
When he inquired about it, the shop keeper smiled, "They are Kanzashi hair ornaments. The reason they are so thick is because there are inner and outer sticks. The inner are blades intended for defensive purposes, the outer are sheaths of sorts." The shop keeper pulled out the set and twisted the ornament on top to release the small sharp blade from the sheath. Joren couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. It was perfect, at least the sentiment was. It was the perfect balance between her feminine side and her warrior side.
"Would someone who spent several years in Yamani know what these are and how to use them," Joren asked delicately.
"They would only be able to tell if they could actually see the sticks, which is unlikely as they are typically hidden within the hair. Even then, it would only be a guess as no two sets are identical," the shop keeper responded honestly. Joren noticed that the ornaments were set with garnets which would go well with her preference for darker reds.
In the end, Joren bought them. Unlike the other packages, which were to be sent back to the palace and would arrive within a day if they weren't already there by the time he got back, this present he carried on him. He felt a great deal of relief when he finally reached his rooms. He knew that Kel had no way of knowing his handwriting and thus was safe to write a little note if he was careful of how he wrote it. He had also gotten her and her friends sweets as a sort of peace offering and wrote a more general note that he was careful to ensure didn't look like the same handwriting as his special gift to her.
When Midwinter started, his man-servant brought all the gifts to the head of the servants in the Page and Squire wings, Selma. The man had no knowledge of whom the gifts were for, only that there were far more than usual. The presents to his parents and siblings had already been shipped off to Stone Mountain in hopes that they would arrive by then.
When the presents were distributed, he was surprised to find that besides from his parents, who had both gotten him useless trinkets, Faleron, Yancen and Kel had sent him gifts. Faleron had gotten him an armor cleaning kit, Joren suspected in part it was a joke due to a previous conversation about his trip north that summer but appreciated it none the less. Yancen had given him a book on Yamani etiquette as Joren had admitted to never really paying attention in those classes. It was another jest no doubt, but again, well meant. Kel had sent just sweets but the fact that she had sent anything at all made his heart soar a little.
After Midwinter, as the cold settled in, Joren found that he enjoyed the time he spent with both Yancen and Faleron. More so, perhaps, than he ever had with Garvey and Vinson. The lack of constant negativity that had so plagued his previous friendships made these easier to have. At the same time, he found he was far more honest with Faleron and Yancen than he had been with Garvey or Vinson. He felt no need to establish a superiority over them since the others really didn't care about how long their families had been noble. Nor did he have to conceal his feelings as they were much more liberal minded.
Much to his surprise, Joren's father seemed to pay little mind to who Joren choose to be friends with. Furthermore, his mother seemed pleased by the change in his friends as 'the Lady Genlith is far too arrogant for a noble house that is near destitute and Lady Runnerspring is completely vulgar. Ladies King's Reach and Irenroha were far more tolerable.' His mother's choice of friends based on his own made him a little uncomfortable, but he assumed it had to do with his father's slowly declining health. He had three siblings, of which, two were twin sisters, both younger than him, being fourteen and would be leaving the convent for court the year after next. His brother was a toddler of only three. Joren knew that he would be lucky if his father lived to see him reach his own knighthood. Oliver, Cassie and Margery would likely become dependent on him until they were of an age to be considered adults, Cassie and Margery relying on him until they married.
Joren jolted out of his reverie once more as a knock sounded on the door. It was Sunday night and that meant the battle lessons in the mess hall with Lord Wyldon. Joren had come to both love and hate these. He loved them because they allowed him to get close to Kel without being weird about it. He had noticed that her friends would sometimes frown but for the most part seemed to leave be. He hated them because it still didn't afford him an opportunity to really talk to her.
The rest of winter passed thusly. When March came, and Sir Inness and Cleon returned to the palace, Joren was happy because it meant another friend. A friend that Cleon truly proved to be as well. Both Owen and Neal had warmed up to him a little after the conversation that he had overheard but both Seaver and Merric were cold to him until Cleon showed up and treated Joren as a friend openly.