She woke the next morning and groaned. She only had one more day till she
had to work, and only two weeks until she began classes. That scared her
half to death. Maybe they won't notice me, she thought. That evil part of
her brain that was annoyingly logical told her that they wouldn't. She
sighed, putting up with idiocy wasn't exactly new to her. The people at
her elementary school had hurt her with words badly. Middle school hadn't
been much better. She had a lot of fun in high school though. She smiled,
thinking of all of the football games she had been late for. One in
particular stood out, it was the homecoming game, and she was standing out
side with her friends. The band director had come out and asked them what
they were doing there. She had said that they were waiting for the bus.
It was then that all seven of them had been informed that the bus had
already left. She snickered. Her section had nearly hung her. Yep, she
decided, if I can handle the percussion, I can handle the pages. Getting
up, she splashed her face with cold water (she had had a chat with the
servants, who were quite friendly about it.) and gathered some bathing
matierials. She had been avoiding the womens baths since she got here two
weeks ago. Now it was time to get over it. She stunk and knew it, sponge
baths didn't cut it in this weather. Whistling, she made her way to the
baths, with, surprisingly, little mishap. When she got there, she breathed
a sigh of relief. No one was really about, save for some servants on the
other side of the pool. Or were they servants? She gaped. It was Thayet,
and who she assumed was Buri. I'm not going anywhere, she thought. So she
soaked for awhile and finally figured out where the soap was. When she was
done, she grabbed a towel from the place next to her, and got out. She
dried quickly, threw on her cloths and ran to breakfast. Grabbing a roll,
she smothered a bit of cheese on and went on her way. It was her standard
breakfast when she had an actual schedule. Her next stop was Numair's
room. She had two things she had to do there. Find daine and ask her for
another shooting lesson and ask Numair exactly what classes she would be
taking. Numair answered.
"Hello. What do you need?"
"Umm, do you know what my class schedule will be? I'd like to know what I'm taking so I'm not in the dark."
He smiled.
"Of course, please come in."
She stepped in nervously, then chided herself for it. Stop it, she told herself, it's not like he's going to rape you! He began to rummage around in a drawer.
"Ah, here it is. Let me see. Mathematics, reading and writing, protocol, history, magic, and philosophy."
"Oh dear, who teaches them?"
Numair gave her a strange look at her reaction.
"I teach the magic classes, mithiran priests teach Mathematics, reading, and philosophy, Myles of Olau teaches History and Master Oakbridge teaches Protocol."
She smiled.
"I'm going to drive them nuts."
Just then, Daine walked into the room.
"Yes, you already drive most of us insane."
She smirked.
"Gee thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."
Daine smiled.
"Actually, the ones you're most likely to drive crazy are the philosophy and protocol teachers."
"Philosophy especially. I'm not the most conventional of people."
Daine snickered.
"Neither are most of us, but I suppose you will be the strangest amongst us."
Xlelon shook her head.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Numair laughed and excused himself, saying he had work. Daine grabbed her bow and motioned to Xlelon.
"Come on, I'm not going to let you off."
"I never asked you to, but do you have anything to protect my poor little hands?"
"Oh! Of course, let me get my wrist guards, they'll probably fit you."
"I hope so," she murmured.
~^~
This time, she managed to hit the outside of the target, once. Somehow, she remembered the stance and how to hold the bow. She could shoot, but the only thing she could hit was the broad side of a barn. They worked for an hour, while kitten and the birds chattered and laughed at her. Xlelon had noticed that they considered Daine to be a sort of god, and her they considered a good friend. They never poked fun at Daine, well, save for cloud. However, Xlelon liked it. If the animals treated her as they did Daine, she might have been scared. Muscles sore, but skin thankfully cut free she headed to lunch. When she had tried to return the wrist guards, Daine had smiled and given them back, telling her that she needed them much more than she did. Xlelon glared at her in good humor for the backward gift. Daine laughed and showed her to the rider's mess. They ate lunch with a few of the captains, Evin in particular caught her attention. He had survived the battle at Caynn, and was still himself. He pulled a roll from Miri's ear, another person that was there. Miri had done very well from herself, going from never have ridden to being one of the best. Xlelon hoped she did that well. A few of the other riders were teaching her how to ride better, but really all she needed was practice. At least I can ask them to slow down now, she thought. After lunch, she went to the training yards and watched a few of the older pages spar on the staff. They were some of those that had arrived early. She watched for awhile, amazed at how quick they were. Sometime, she promised herself, ill have to ask someone to teach me how to fight with a dagger of a staff. She had decided that learning to defend herself was in order, she didn't want to be one of the city girls that Garvey would rape. It's strange to know what's going to happen, she thought, I wonder how long it'll last. She was now sure it was about five years, between the books, because Neal was now about ten, and he started his knight training at fifteen. (A/N I don't know that, its an estimate) Joren and his friends would come in four years, Ilane of Mindelan would save the Yamani treasures sometime this year, she thought. That was the one thing she wasn't sure about. When lunch was done, she steeled herself and went to the stables. She saddled a horse, and got on. She asked the horse to please go easy, and it did. She put herself through her paces then unsaddled the horse. She put the tack away and got on, with a lot more difficulty. The horse was patient, but kept a smug horse grin on the entire time, amused at her rider's antics. Xlelon put herself through her paces again, with more difficulty, she never did bareback very well. She had to apologize to the horse multiple times for pulling on the reigns too much. The horse, Blackdawn*, was very patient with her, and by the time she was done, they were friends. She told her to go where she wanted, just so long as she could come. Dawn, as she was known, took her to a small creek in the back of the field. She drank deeply from the cool water and Xlelon soaked her feet and played with the smooth rocks. She stayed there with the rest of the horses until dusk, forgetting dinner. When she finally rose, she walked through the trees. Small darts of green light flitted around, driving her mad.
"Excuse me, could you please stop flitting around like that? You're driving me insane!"
One of the green lights stopped, and Xlelon was startled to find that it was a small girl, all green, and lit up. Good grief, it's a wood sprite, she thought. Her mind rambled that it was impossible, as wood sprites were very shy, so why would they stop for her? The small woman looked at her, and said,
"You are not of this world."
She was obviously very taken aback by this. For one thing, she was quite sure that humans weren't supposed to understand sprites, for another, it was talking to her. And it was right. She just stared at it, trying to make sense of it. The girl smiled.
"Yet you are not an immortal, how is this?"
She finally found her voice.
"How did you know?"
She smiled again.
"We are a people of knowledge and feeling. You do not feel of this world."
"Oh."
She was still staring at the sprite. Her light seemed to be fading into the night, and she realized that she was leaving.
"Goodbye Katrina Nicoli."
And she was gone. Xlelon sat down, hard, on pine needles, she had said her name. Her real name! Running over the conversation in her mind, she realized that it had been just that, in her mind.
"Omygodomygodomygodomygodomygod!"
She shakily got up, and continued to walk. No one she had heard of could talk to immortals mind to mind, especially ones from a human descent. And she said my real name, how did she know? She decided she didn't want to know but still questioned it as she went to bed. She pulled on the same shirt from last night, and tried to fall asleep. It didn't work. She had so much to think about. The shirt reminded her of Neal, where was he? How was Imrah? Was port Caynn cleaned up? Shut up, she told her running brain. It promptly ignored her. What was going on with the wood sprite? How had it known her name, where she was from? Home, gods will I ever see it again? And if I do, what will it be like? Will I remember? She couldn't help it, and began to cry. She missed so much. It wasn't the material, it was the people, the culture. She loved it here, she had a job now. People weren't quite as horrible, so why did she feel so out of place? Because you are, she decided, now deal with it! Knowing that sleep was impossible, she got up and pulled on a skirt. She kept the shirt on, even though it was soaked in tears. Opening her door, she padded around the palace. Somehow, she found the temple. It was beautiful. She stood in the doorway, awed. Why am I here, she thought, am I supposed to worship the ones that brought me here? Still, she walked down the aisle, looking at the stain-glass windows. Some were chipped from the earthquake that duke roger had made. Non-the-less, the moon shone in and cast colorful patterns on the floor. There was only a single candle to see by, but it helped. She took up the candle and walked around, looking at the altar. It was different. For one thing, it was in the back. Turning away from it, she came to stand in the middle of the stone stage. She was sure that this was exactly where Jonathan had been crowned. At a price, she thought, he lost so much to get there.
"Yes, but he gained more."
Oh no, she thought, not more confusion. The voice chuckled, a different one came in.
"Yes, I'm afraid there is more confusion for you."
It was the voice of a woman. It was a strangely musical voice, which was powerfully dark, yet amazingly light. She turned around and was greeted with a strange sight. It was two women who looked to be in their twenties, but Xlelon could tell that they were much older simply by looking into their eyes. One had eyes that were so blue she felt like she was looking into a midnight sky. Looking closer, she found that it was exactly like looking into the night sky, complete with stars. If that wasn't bad enough, the next women's eyes were enough to blow the mind. One of them had every good thing ever done in them, and the other had every bad thing. Each seemed to be a threefold of the other, until you looked at the other again.
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no. Not gods, not you."
The women with two eye colors laughed.
"So you know that we are gods, very good. Do you know who?"
"No."
"I am the threefold goddess, Thaliah, and this is Shakith, goddess of seers."
"The th-"
She gulped, having lost her voice to a squeak.
"The threefold goddess? And Shakith?"
She made a noise, and sat down on the stone.
"Dare I ask why you're here?"
"We are here to give you hope. You are obviously in need, though you deny yourself."
"Me? You? Here? I'm so lost."
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and both goddesses looked at each other and smiled. She didn't catch it.
"Do not lose hope Xlelon Padrifamay. You are not lost, and though it is an accident that you are here, it will prove well."
"Accident?" Xlelon squeaked "It was an accident that I am here?"
"Yes. That is why I am here, it was an accident on my part."
"Oh."
She didn't think to ask why Shakith was here, her mind was already blown away. Thaliah wiped her tears, and Shakith touched her temples softly. Thaliah touched a candle and drew nearer. When Xlelon first looked, it seemed that her tears were still shimmering in the goddesses hands, it was only when she dropped a small silver charm in her hand that she realized that it was solid. Looking closely, she saw it was flat silver with a dragon on one side, and on the other side there was a rearing horse. One side had what she thought was a diamond inlayed in it, the other had a black opal that threw off the whole spectrum in the moonlight. She noted that the opal was with the horse and the diamond was with the dragon. Both were intricate, the designs showing every hair and scale. She looked up to find their light fading much like the sprites.
"Thank you, it's beautiful."
"Go to sleep now, you will need it."
Never one to argue with a much much much higher being, Xlelon shuffled off to bed, still confused but happier. Both then faded into the night, smiling.
Ok, I know that's weird, but it'll all fall into place, I promise. Long! Omg! I'm leaving for europe in like three ::crosses it out:: TWO days!!! OMGOMGOMGOMG!! Well, I'll try to post this, but ff.n has been down soooooooooooooooooooooooo cant promise nething… oh yeah *blackdawn is the name of a song by Amarius Moonsong (did I spell it right, I don't think I did.) Anyway, just thought id give that to her. Ummmmmm as usual, everything goes to tammy. Oh yeah, and if you can guess why the goddesses kept smiling to themselves, ill give you a little rose, with your name on it!!
"Hello. What do you need?"
"Umm, do you know what my class schedule will be? I'd like to know what I'm taking so I'm not in the dark."
He smiled.
"Of course, please come in."
She stepped in nervously, then chided herself for it. Stop it, she told herself, it's not like he's going to rape you! He began to rummage around in a drawer.
"Ah, here it is. Let me see. Mathematics, reading and writing, protocol, history, magic, and philosophy."
"Oh dear, who teaches them?"
Numair gave her a strange look at her reaction.
"I teach the magic classes, mithiran priests teach Mathematics, reading, and philosophy, Myles of Olau teaches History and Master Oakbridge teaches Protocol."
She smiled.
"I'm going to drive them nuts."
Just then, Daine walked into the room.
"Yes, you already drive most of us insane."
She smirked.
"Gee thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."
Daine smiled.
"Actually, the ones you're most likely to drive crazy are the philosophy and protocol teachers."
"Philosophy especially. I'm not the most conventional of people."
Daine snickered.
"Neither are most of us, but I suppose you will be the strangest amongst us."
Xlelon shook her head.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Numair laughed and excused himself, saying he had work. Daine grabbed her bow and motioned to Xlelon.
"Come on, I'm not going to let you off."
"I never asked you to, but do you have anything to protect my poor little hands?"
"Oh! Of course, let me get my wrist guards, they'll probably fit you."
"I hope so," she murmured.
~^~
This time, she managed to hit the outside of the target, once. Somehow, she remembered the stance and how to hold the bow. She could shoot, but the only thing she could hit was the broad side of a barn. They worked for an hour, while kitten and the birds chattered and laughed at her. Xlelon had noticed that they considered Daine to be a sort of god, and her they considered a good friend. They never poked fun at Daine, well, save for cloud. However, Xlelon liked it. If the animals treated her as they did Daine, she might have been scared. Muscles sore, but skin thankfully cut free she headed to lunch. When she had tried to return the wrist guards, Daine had smiled and given them back, telling her that she needed them much more than she did. Xlelon glared at her in good humor for the backward gift. Daine laughed and showed her to the rider's mess. They ate lunch with a few of the captains, Evin in particular caught her attention. He had survived the battle at Caynn, and was still himself. He pulled a roll from Miri's ear, another person that was there. Miri had done very well from herself, going from never have ridden to being one of the best. Xlelon hoped she did that well. A few of the other riders were teaching her how to ride better, but really all she needed was practice. At least I can ask them to slow down now, she thought. After lunch, she went to the training yards and watched a few of the older pages spar on the staff. They were some of those that had arrived early. She watched for awhile, amazed at how quick they were. Sometime, she promised herself, ill have to ask someone to teach me how to fight with a dagger of a staff. She had decided that learning to defend herself was in order, she didn't want to be one of the city girls that Garvey would rape. It's strange to know what's going to happen, she thought, I wonder how long it'll last. She was now sure it was about five years, between the books, because Neal was now about ten, and he started his knight training at fifteen. (A/N I don't know that, its an estimate) Joren and his friends would come in four years, Ilane of Mindelan would save the Yamani treasures sometime this year, she thought. That was the one thing she wasn't sure about. When lunch was done, she steeled herself and went to the stables. She saddled a horse, and got on. She asked the horse to please go easy, and it did. She put herself through her paces then unsaddled the horse. She put the tack away and got on, with a lot more difficulty. The horse was patient, but kept a smug horse grin on the entire time, amused at her rider's antics. Xlelon put herself through her paces again, with more difficulty, she never did bareback very well. She had to apologize to the horse multiple times for pulling on the reigns too much. The horse, Blackdawn*, was very patient with her, and by the time she was done, they were friends. She told her to go where she wanted, just so long as she could come. Dawn, as she was known, took her to a small creek in the back of the field. She drank deeply from the cool water and Xlelon soaked her feet and played with the smooth rocks. She stayed there with the rest of the horses until dusk, forgetting dinner. When she finally rose, she walked through the trees. Small darts of green light flitted around, driving her mad.
"Excuse me, could you please stop flitting around like that? You're driving me insane!"
One of the green lights stopped, and Xlelon was startled to find that it was a small girl, all green, and lit up. Good grief, it's a wood sprite, she thought. Her mind rambled that it was impossible, as wood sprites were very shy, so why would they stop for her? The small woman looked at her, and said,
"You are not of this world."
She was obviously very taken aback by this. For one thing, she was quite sure that humans weren't supposed to understand sprites, for another, it was talking to her. And it was right. She just stared at it, trying to make sense of it. The girl smiled.
"Yet you are not an immortal, how is this?"
She finally found her voice.
"How did you know?"
She smiled again.
"We are a people of knowledge and feeling. You do not feel of this world."
"Oh."
She was still staring at the sprite. Her light seemed to be fading into the night, and she realized that she was leaving.
"Goodbye Katrina Nicoli."
And she was gone. Xlelon sat down, hard, on pine needles, she had said her name. Her real name! Running over the conversation in her mind, she realized that it had been just that, in her mind.
"Omygodomygodomygodomygodomygod!"
She shakily got up, and continued to walk. No one she had heard of could talk to immortals mind to mind, especially ones from a human descent. And she said my real name, how did she know? She decided she didn't want to know but still questioned it as she went to bed. She pulled on the same shirt from last night, and tried to fall asleep. It didn't work. She had so much to think about. The shirt reminded her of Neal, where was he? How was Imrah? Was port Caynn cleaned up? Shut up, she told her running brain. It promptly ignored her. What was going on with the wood sprite? How had it known her name, where she was from? Home, gods will I ever see it again? And if I do, what will it be like? Will I remember? She couldn't help it, and began to cry. She missed so much. It wasn't the material, it was the people, the culture. She loved it here, she had a job now. People weren't quite as horrible, so why did she feel so out of place? Because you are, she decided, now deal with it! Knowing that sleep was impossible, she got up and pulled on a skirt. She kept the shirt on, even though it was soaked in tears. Opening her door, she padded around the palace. Somehow, she found the temple. It was beautiful. She stood in the doorway, awed. Why am I here, she thought, am I supposed to worship the ones that brought me here? Still, she walked down the aisle, looking at the stain-glass windows. Some were chipped from the earthquake that duke roger had made. Non-the-less, the moon shone in and cast colorful patterns on the floor. There was only a single candle to see by, but it helped. She took up the candle and walked around, looking at the altar. It was different. For one thing, it was in the back. Turning away from it, she came to stand in the middle of the stone stage. She was sure that this was exactly where Jonathan had been crowned. At a price, she thought, he lost so much to get there.
"Yes, but he gained more."
Oh no, she thought, not more confusion. The voice chuckled, a different one came in.
"Yes, I'm afraid there is more confusion for you."
It was the voice of a woman. It was a strangely musical voice, which was powerfully dark, yet amazingly light. She turned around and was greeted with a strange sight. It was two women who looked to be in their twenties, but Xlelon could tell that they were much older simply by looking into their eyes. One had eyes that were so blue she felt like she was looking into a midnight sky. Looking closer, she found that it was exactly like looking into the night sky, complete with stars. If that wasn't bad enough, the next women's eyes were enough to blow the mind. One of them had every good thing ever done in them, and the other had every bad thing. Each seemed to be a threefold of the other, until you looked at the other again.
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no. Not gods, not you."
The women with two eye colors laughed.
"So you know that we are gods, very good. Do you know who?"
"No."
"I am the threefold goddess, Thaliah, and this is Shakith, goddess of seers."
"The th-"
She gulped, having lost her voice to a squeak.
"The threefold goddess? And Shakith?"
She made a noise, and sat down on the stone.
"Dare I ask why you're here?"
"We are here to give you hope. You are obviously in need, though you deny yourself."
"Me? You? Here? I'm so lost."
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and both goddesses looked at each other and smiled. She didn't catch it.
"Do not lose hope Xlelon Padrifamay. You are not lost, and though it is an accident that you are here, it will prove well."
"Accident?" Xlelon squeaked "It was an accident that I am here?"
"Yes. That is why I am here, it was an accident on my part."
"Oh."
She didn't think to ask why Shakith was here, her mind was already blown away. Thaliah wiped her tears, and Shakith touched her temples softly. Thaliah touched a candle and drew nearer. When Xlelon first looked, it seemed that her tears were still shimmering in the goddesses hands, it was only when she dropped a small silver charm in her hand that she realized that it was solid. Looking closely, she saw it was flat silver with a dragon on one side, and on the other side there was a rearing horse. One side had what she thought was a diamond inlayed in it, the other had a black opal that threw off the whole spectrum in the moonlight. She noted that the opal was with the horse and the diamond was with the dragon. Both were intricate, the designs showing every hair and scale. She looked up to find their light fading much like the sprites.
"Thank you, it's beautiful."
"Go to sleep now, you will need it."
Never one to argue with a much much much higher being, Xlelon shuffled off to bed, still confused but happier. Both then faded into the night, smiling.
Ok, I know that's weird, but it'll all fall into place, I promise. Long! Omg! I'm leaving for europe in like three ::crosses it out:: TWO days!!! OMGOMGOMGOMG!! Well, I'll try to post this, but ff.n has been down soooooooooooooooooooooooo cant promise nething… oh yeah *blackdawn is the name of a song by Amarius Moonsong (did I spell it right, I don't think I did.) Anyway, just thought id give that to her. Ummmmmm as usual, everything goes to tammy. Oh yeah, and if you can guess why the goddesses kept smiling to themselves, ill give you a little rose, with your name on it!!