Sorry it took me so long to get this one posted. Anyway, hope you enjoy. R/R
I don't own anything etc etc.
When Kaia woke up the next morning, she hurt in so many places she couldn't count them. Her ribs ached, her head ached, and she was quite thoroughly bruised.
At least I don't have a black eye, she thought. The three of them will have that and more. She sat up quite suddenly as there was a knock on the door. She was about to just yell "Come in" until she remembered the locks. Sighing, she climbed painfully out of bed and walked over to the door. Opening the door, she saw a shy servant girl on the other side. She groaned and almost shut the door, but decided that if she didn't want to clean up her room, she'd have to let the girl in. She opened the door all the way, and the servant stepped into the room. As the fire blazed to life, Kaia got dressed, and as she left the room at the first bell for breakfast. As she entered, the murmur of conversation stopped and everyone turned to stare at her. She ignore the hostile looks and moved over to where Dennith sat. This time he had some friends with him and he smiled slightly as she came to sit.
"Kaia, this is Samith of Naxen, and his sponsor, Liam."
Kaia recognized Liam as the Prince, and bowed a little to him, and to Samith, who looked to be her age exactly.
"They all sat down and waited for the rest of the boys to file in. Before long, they were chatting like old friends, and Smaith, Liam and Dennith seemed to have forgotten that she was a girl as they argued good-naturedly over which kind of hunting bow was better for spidren: Yamani, or Tortallan. Before long, Lord HaMinch came in and said the blessing. Then all the pages set in to their breakfast woth great enthusiasm. Kaia was just finishing the wonderful porridge, when the Prince and Dennith decided that it was time to school their charges in the rules and the schedule. Kaia and Samith, who after ten minutes told her to call him Sam. They listened avidly as the older boys told them about teachers, and how to please them, rules, and how not to break them, and all about their classes.
"Etiquette," stated Liam with a groan. The most boring subject in the world, and the one with the crabbiest Mithran priest." He sighed. "Nothing we can do about it, of course."
As they all finished eating, Lord HaMinch stood, and held up a hand for silence.
"Today is your first day of classes. You will be courteous and obedient to your teachers. And there is to be no fighting in the palace grounds. If any are found fighting, we now have the option of expelling you." He stepped down from the dais and left the room. Kaia looked guiltily at her feet.
"I wonder what happened to make them do that," said Prince Liam thoughtfully, "There really hasn't been that much fighting around here as a rule. Must have been one of the new guys." He playfully punched Sam's shoulder. Kaia felt her face go red. Dennith studied her thoughtfully for a moment and she wondered how much he guessed.
After taking their plates up to the kitchens, they went down several halls, and Kaia was soon thoroughly lost. The first class was mathematics. Kaia was so bewildered by all the numbers and letters that she was quite ready to leave when the time came. The other classes confused her too. She wasn't much good at etiquette, and although she knew how to read and write, the book assigned to them was simply huge. By the time she got to history, she was ready to quit.
Luckily, this was the class that Liam and Dennith had been so happy with. The man teaching it was very old, and not very tidy. He had a long gray beard, and Kaia could hardly believe that he was a knight, or had ever been. They all sat down wherever they wanted. Kaia waited for a moment on the edge of the room. On the left side where the boys she had beat up, looking very colorful, and glaring murder in her direction. She hastily looked over to the other side of the room, and found a seat near Sam. Sliding into it, she waited for the class to begin. When it did, she was surprised. The boys called put opinions that were actually listened to, and responded to. They got into several cheerful arguments, and thoroughly thrashed out the situation in Saran, and why they would want to over take Tortall, from the Queen's lineage to the lack of natural resources left after the civil war. She had fun for the first time that day.
After that class they walked out to the practice yards. She was very tense, and unsure of what to expect. She had heard that two Shang taught the class, and she wondered for a minute if they would be anything like the Falcon.
The two teachers came out of the stables and walked towards the students. The woman looked at the pages like they were nothing so much as a bunch of frozen rabbits, and she was a very hungry hawk.
"Ah," she said, grinning, "Here they are. The new ones. Well Haukin? What do you think?"
The Shang Horse walked around the group, grinning widely. He looked hard at each and every new page, who looked terrified. "I think that they'll do." He said at last. "We should get them started right away." He smiled mischievously. "Let us hope that this bunch survives." He looked at the Wildcat. She nodded.
"All the rest of you, come with me," she called. "We need to practice your staff work." The rest of the pages stifled groans, and shuffled away.
Haukin looked them all over. "Now then," he said, "We will begin with the fall. You fall forward when I throw you and hit the ground with your hand. Lime so." He toppled forward, smacking the ground with his hand and causing dust to rise, making the fall look more serious then it was. Kaia felt like groaning herself. She had learned how to do that when she was three. A dilemma ran around in her head. She didn't want to look bad, but she knew that she would be given a hard time if she showed that she could do it correctly. She thought about it while the other boys went down one after another, hitting the ground and collecting bruises. Finally when it was her turn to be thrown, she had decided. When she hit the ground, she twisted so that she wouldn't get hurt, but she pretended to forget to hit the ground, until it was too late. When she stood, the Shang looked at her closely. She gulped, wondering how much he had guessed. Head down, she silently took her place in line to be thrown again. She did the same thing every time, until finally, one of the other boys got it right. Then she felt safe enough to do it correctly too.
By the end of the class, about a third of the boys were hitting the ground correctly. Finally, the Shang was pleased enough to let them go to choose their horses. Kaia knew that a horse was important to a knight, and she intended to get the best possible one. However, she got to the stables, she found that the older pages were standing against the stalls of the best horses, waiting for the younger ones. She saw the other younger boys run over to their sponsors, and their horses. She looked around for Dennith, and finally saw him in a corner stall. The other boys were glaring at him, but he looked very pleased with himself. She drew nearer, and saw that there was a horse in the stall behind him. She looked through the shadows, and saw a rather ugly gelding finishing off an apple. He was brown, but not the sort of sheeny brown as the other horses. He was the color of mud, with gray spots on his ears. His head was too big, and he looked too skinny to hold up anyone. She dubiously put her hand under his nose, and he smelled her curiously, lipping her palm enthusiastically.
Seeing her doubt, Dennith smiled. "Here she is. The best horse in the stable." Kaia looked at him, and then at the horse.
"The best horse." She repeated flatly. The thing looked like tomorrow's dog meat. Dennith nodded.
"Look at them," he said, gesturing at the older pages giving them angry looks. "They're all furious that I got to him first. They've seen him at work. The Lioness herself rode him into battle once. He may not look like much, but he's trained as a warhorse. And he is obedient to only his rider, once he gets to know you. He must be worth about as much as the Crown Jewels. Not only that, he is the fastest beast on four legs." Dennith ran a hand through his hair. "Wish I had got 'im when I had a chance. But I'll live. And something tells me you'll need him."
Kaia stepped into the stall with the horse, and looked him over. Despite his appearance of fragility, he was strongly muscled, and built for endurance. She looked him in the eyes, and saw immense intelligence looking back at her. That, if nothing else, decided her.
"He's perfect."