Here's chapter 3. What's gonna happen… Oh, yeah, I'm sick of doing disclaimers so this will be the disclaimer for the entire story: I don't own any of Tamora Pierce's characters, situations, or plots. The rest is mine. On we go. Oh, I just forgot. I put here that they go to Shang for fifteen years and then go out into the world for a year to receive an animal title. If they stay at Shang more or less than that, then well whatever because I don't really care. And another thing. I forget the names of Kel's sibs and Morgen still has like half my TP books. So I'm just going to say "Kel's brother" and "Kel's sister".
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Chapter 3: Trickster Unveiled
Hendil Insse, a twelfth-year, rolled over and sighed. The wakeup bell wasn't going to ring for five blessed minutes. He sat up, cursing as he bumped his pillow off the bunk. Dammit, he thought, have to climb down and get it. He jumped down without making a noise and picked it up, then hoisted himself onto the bunk again. He was going to replace the pillow when he noticed a sealed letter was lying on his bed, right where his pillow would have been. He picked it up and put his pillow down, and opened it.
***
Keladry woke up before the others, as usual, and stretched before getting dressed. Then the wakeup bell rang, and she made her bed while the others rubbed sleep from their eyes. Renna was acting particularly benign, so Kel made sure to keep her under watch for the rest of the day.
It seemed to be a day like any other. That is, until she went downstairs for breakfast. A large, muscled boy walked up to her, a piece of paper in his hand.
"'S this yours?" he asked.
But before she could respond, he punched her in the jaw. "Whore!" he said, and by the time he was done with her, she didn't think she was ready for breakfast, much less her morning lessons.
***
Kel woke in the infirmary. Xenophanes was sitting by her bed, reading a piece of paper.
"How'd you get out of lessons?" Kel rasped.
Xeno chuckled. "I said you'd need someone to make sure you don't try and get out of bed, and to explain it all once you woke up. Though the situation is pretty self-evident." He cleared his throat. " 'Dearest Hendil, I think about you all the time. Oh just to see your sweet face makes me want to rip off my clothes and-' then it gets descriptive. I will assume this is Renna's work. She's an amazing forger, you know. It is signed with a perfect copy of your signature. Simply brilliant. She should work in the intelligence. She must know all the tricks."
Kel thumped her head pack on the smothering pillow. "Damn, damn, damn. Another enemy. I will make Renna regret this for the rest of her very short life…"
"Oh, don't worry about that. Pertro told the masters all about it, and both Hendil and Renna got punished, though Renna really got it. But Hendil should know that there is no unattended fighting on grounds. He got double-chores for a month. But Renna…"
"What?" Kel asked eagerly.
Xenophanes suppressed laughter. "First she had to go up to Hendil and say she wrote the letter, but she was too embarrassed to sign it with her own name, and used Kel's to see what his reaction would be. Then she was put on Dawn-Dusk Chores for four months! DDC!"
Keladry felt much better. DDC was when you had no free time whatsoever- and that meant no time to do your homework except in the middle of the night when you're too bushed to even think about the square root of 67, 944. And the DDC masters tended to give the worst jobs- such as cleaning out the privy or scrubbing the masters' casserole dishes. And Renna deserved every bit of it.
***
Way, way, later…
Keladry gulped nervously, her mouth dry. It was the end of their fifteenth year, and now…
She hadn't seen her parents since she was five, and now she was seeing them. They were there, her parents, even her siblings. She wasn't quite sure how to react. Fifteen years…
Her father saw her. "My little princess…" he said, and she rushed into his arms. "I missed you."
Kel let a few tears escape from behind her eyelids. She had never realized how much she had missed them. "Dad. I missed you too."
She gave and received hugs from all of her family. Then she went into the Acceptance Office. They only used it for graduations. She saw, sitting at the desk, was the Unicorn.
"It's been a long time since I saw you," she said. "But I will cut the gab. I hate suspense. You passed."
Suddenly a huge load was lifted from Kel's shoulders. "Phew." She had been pretty sure she would pass, but there was always that chance…
"Don't look so relieved. The hard part hasn't even arrived." The Unicorn put her feet up on the desk. There were gray streaks in her hair, but she was still as beautiful as ever. "You've still got your year in the field. Here's the thing that people don't tell you about that year. You have to bring back tokens from four countries, and Tortall doesn't count. And if you really want to challenge yourself, don't do the Yamanis. This is to how that you didn't just lie around sipping tea the whole time. You get bonus points if it's from Scanra. But I wouldn't advise going there." Kylaia al Jmaa winced. "I did- it wasn't pleasant. Here." She tossed Kel what looked like a giant key ring with four chains. "If you're in the country, pick up or buy something that originated there. Then put it on one of those chains. Once it is on there, we know you didn't just get it from some vendor in Corus. Got it?"
Kel nodded.
"Well, then you're all set!"
***
Soon all tearful farewells were done and Kel was packed and ready. The Unicorn had said not to go to Scanra, but the temptation of danger was too much. First, though, she'd go to Tyra since it was far closer. The Yamani school was not really in the Yamanis- it was on the mainland, in southwestern Tortall. So Kel shouldered her pack, mounted her golden mare, Starshine, and started the lost trek east. It was pretty uneventful- though hot. Kel had prepared for that, and dressed in the loose burnoose of the Bazhir, the southern desert tribes. She was confident that she could fend off any bandits and such, and was slightly disappointed when nobody attacked her.
Tyra was, undoubtedly, the most beautiful place that Kel had ever seen. There were flower baskets hanging off lampposts, brimming with exotic flowers and tended by cheerful gardeners. The merchants were prosperous; the city was simply marvelous. She suppressed the urge to spend a few months there; she probably wouldn't have the time. But oh- what a wonderful place.
She bought a small trinket from a walking vendor, a little carved pigeon with a hole in it for a string. With a pair of pliers she fitted it into the keychain. There was a brief flash of light, and the pigeon was stuck on the chain as if it had been welded. Shrugging, Kel went north to Tusaine.
Tusaine wasn't exactly hostile, but it wasn't the best of allies either. So Kel kept a low profile, buying a little string of glass beads to put on her keychain. She hurriedly left, with the constant feeling that someone was watching her. Since only four months (if four months of hard travelling) had passed, Kel decided to go to Tortall and see the wonders of the capital. The few bandits who decided she was easy prey soon found the error of their ways. When she got to Corus she found it was everything she had heard about. Loud, bustling, and yet- it was the capital of what may be the strongest country in all the eastern lands. Rumor went that the Court was full of hunks as well.
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Leave it on a cheerful note. Remember… R/R!