I'm not going to blow the secret. But this chapter is going to be interesting. It only gets better…
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Chapter 5: Cleon and that Dratted Princess
"And this is the library… and one more thing. Don't even try to find your way around without someone who knows this place, You'll get lost in five minutes." Cleon finished up his palace tour.
"Yeah. My father always referred to the palace as a 'miserable rat warren'. I see now that was an understatement."
"Yup. Even if you had a map- which no one does- you'd still need directions to find your way out of the privy."
Kel laughed, following Cleon back into the kitchens where he would attempt to wheedle some food from the cook. He never acted overly mature or with pomp, and Kel could see that the time she would spend here would be fun, if in his company.
Distracted by her thoughts, Kel didn't notice when she bumped into someone. Surprised, she looked at the woman, who appeared only mildly ruffled. She was dressed in an elaborate kimono of the Yamanis, and had her hair piled up on her head like an absurd hat. She wore massive amounts of makeup, and Kel could swear that her nails were fake. Kel heard her cursing under her breath in Yamani.
"I understood every word you said- so don't try to look innocent," Kel told her tartly in Yamani.
The woman looked surprised. "Well," she said, still in Yamani, "I will tell you to halt your rudeness in the face of royalty."
"There's royalty around?" Kel pretended to try and look over the woman's shoulder. "I don't see anyone."
The woman stamped her foot, turning beet red. "I am Princess Chisakami! You will regret the day you ever set foot in Corus!" Turning to Cleon, she said in heavily accented Common, "You should rethink your choice of friends, Sir Cleon." And she stormed down the hall, a velvet cloak trailing behind her.
Cleon looked perplexed. "What was that about?"
Kel stifled hysterical giggles. "She swore at me in Yamani for bumping into her, and I told her I understood every word she said. She said I should be polite in the face of royalty, and I'm like, what royalty? So Chisakami went and vowed revenge." She let go of her restrained laughter.
"Bah," said Cleon, "I got about two words. 'I' and 'face'. My knowledge of Yamani is very sparse. Where'd you learn it? You've got a really good accent."
"My parents lived in the Islands for a while, and I was totally immersed in it for maybe half a year before I went to Shang." Kel explained. "Yamani was the first language they taught, and a friend of mine, Pertro, tutored me in it. His first language was Yamani, and he wouldn't stand for anything but a perfect accent. And I mean perfect."
"That makes sense," Cleon nodded. "They only taught us the basics of the most common languages, just enough to be polite to foreign nobles. But they couldn't exactly teach much more- how many languages plus everything else can you learn in eight years? How long do you go to Shang, by the way?"
"Fifteen years. Plus one in the field. I'm on the field year, and no, I can't tell you what you have to do in the field year." Kel gave him a wink. "Shang secret. But don't worry- I've still got eight months and I'm halfway done, even if it is the easy half."
Cleon whistled. "Did you ever think of just running off and quitting?"
"Yes. In my first year, daily. But once you accept to go into Shang, you're stuck. You have to go through with it, whether you like it or not. For practically all the first month, all you do is chores. It's supposed to build character. But I also have the feeling it's supposed to make you grateful when you finally start the real lessons."
"Reminds me of all those punishment duties. Ugh, you never want to polish armor…"
***
Nearly two months had passed, but Kel never wanted to leave. She spent more and more time with Cleon, just to have conversations, or even a few matches (which Kel nearly always won). He was a really good conversationalist, very funny, and though on the surface he appeared to be shallow, he actually had a deeper side. But Kel knew she had o go. If she put it off any longer, she might not make it back in time.
When Kel knocked on his door, pack over her shoulder, Cleon knew she was leaving. Damn. But I knew she couldn't stay forever…
"Hi," she said weakly. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier- but I'm leaving. I'll come back." Kel was surprised to feel tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Cleon sighed, and his shoulders drooped. "I knew it, I guess. But I'll miss you." He rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it, revealing a gold heart hair barrette. "I hope you'll remember me," he whispered.
She took the barrette, turning it over in her hands before clipping it in her hair. "It's beautiful. And I'll always remember you."
Almost unconsciously she reached forward and took his hands, looking up into his eyes. Slowly, but surely, he leaned forward to kiss her softly on the lips. When he would have withdrawn she pulled him closer to her, salty tears mingling as they ran down her cheeks. They separated, and Cleon took a step back, keeping eye contact as he slowly closed the door, leaving Kel alone in the hallway. She sighed, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and walked towards the stables to saddle Starshine.
***
Galla was uneventful, and the time she spent there was rather boring. She bought a little wooden heart charm (it reminded her of Cleon) to put on her keychain. Then she braced herself for Scanra, turning Starshine northeast and hoping that the stories she had heard about this particular country were exaggerated. They weren't.
Kel slept in covered areas, but still, her mare was a dead giveaway. With no one else with her to take watches, she resigned herself to semi-sleepless nights and dreams of vicious Scanran natives. One time, heavy storms waylaid her journey. She cursed the lighting and the drenching rain, rather agreeing with the saying 'it never rains but it pours'. Leading Starshine well off the road, she found an okay shelter, a log with a human-sized hollow underneath. Tethering her horse to the closest tree, she huddled under the log, and willed herself to sleep.
***
Kel woke to find herself tied by the wrists to a pole stuck deep in the ground. She wriggled, but the rope that held her was firm. Her ankles were also bound, and she could barely feel her feet.
"Shit!" she cursed. "Fucking assholes got me in my sleep!" Wriggling further had no effect, save for raw and sore wrists. Taking note of her surroundings, she noticed two dingy men sitting around a campfire, eating something off a spit. Her horse was tethered to one side, with the bandits' nags. Clasped the pole in her hands and tried to stand up, planning to pull it out and run off, or at least slide the pole out, untie her feet and fight, but as soon as she gave the littlest tug, a flash of deep blue magic burned her fingers.
"Don' try no lift that, lady," said one of the men in Common. "Is a n'old bannit tyin' pole, won't never budge."
She spat in the dirt at his feet. "I can speak your bloody language," she said in Scanran, "But your grammar in mine is pathetic. If you're going to threaten your captives, you might as well do it properly."
"A saucy one, eh?" the other said, walking towards her. "We know how to deal with them, eh Russ?" Russ barked agreement. The man slapped her in the face, hard. Kel didn't move an iota. "We can do much more'n that, bitch. An' I ain't talkin' violence."
Kel glared at him and struck out with her bound feet, hitting him right in the crotch. "I don't take shit from perverts like you," she growled.
The man scowled, even doubled over in pain. "Eh, there's five 'o us 'n' one 'o ye. Ye ain't gonna laugh later." He hobbled back to the fire, and finished his meat. Kel leaned back against the post, but no matter how hard she tried, she was asleep before the other bandits came back, almost five hours later.
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Depressing, eh? Well, don't worry, Kel will get out of this one. Probably… Duh duh duh…