Emma's Viewpoints - "Girls Like That"
Okay, people, I spent half of last night talking to the porcelain god, so you had better realize how much it means that I'm braving soiling this keyboard today to write this. I would REALLY appreciate a couple of reviews. thank you. Now on to the story.
When Emma got to the newly constructed baths, erected because now there were simply too many lady pages to make them go back to their rooms, she was exausted. Amice steered her around the doors with ease, and they settled gratefully into the warm water.
"Don't complain." Amice said. "Think of poor me. I'd just gotten used to doing all that in the morning, and then they go and add two pounds to my back. You people have it easy."
Emma smiled in amusement. Sitting there in the water, Amice's face was the picture of bliss, with her messy copper hair flying up in all directions. Over the past day she had gotten to know her sponsor pretty well, and had learned to keep away from the temper Amice had inherited from her famous mother.
Lunch was simple. The girls sat together at one big table in one corner of the dining hall. Emma noticed that Rhiannon sat at another table with a bunch of boys. Amice caught her gaze. "The betting is that she'll get kicked out in a month. I have two gold nobles on her leaving within a week. She's a flirt, and not fit to be a page, she is."
Emma had to agree. Rhiannon had shown up for practice late, and with all her hair loose, and had then been late for lunch, having to fix her hair from the tangles recieved in training. Already, she was not liked by most of the pages. The boys she was sitting with didn't seem to have any problems with her, though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Afternoon classes sped by. Ettiquite was probably Emma's worst subject, Laylia of Kirgiz Step's reluctant best, and the only one in which Rhiannon paid any attention to the teacher, not the boys. Court manners were confusing; there were bows, as a knight, curtsies, as a lady, and all other bits and pieces that made Emma want to run back to Silvertree, where life was simple.
Emma didn't have the Gift, but she had a strange connection to immortals she told no one about. That was why she feared her lessons in magic. They were taught by an immortal, and there was nothing to keep him from recognizing someone who, inside, was a distant relative. When classes were over, Emma breathed a sigh of relief. After dinner she got her books and joined her friends in the library, in a study group started by Kelardry of Mindelan eleven years before.
Just that thought comforted Emma. Great lady knights like Alanna, Kelardry and all others had all made a beginning here; all it took was desire.
Working together, no one noticed Rhiannon slip out. It wasn't until the next morning they heard the news.
"Caught with Idris of Eldorne, a squire." Amice said grimly. "Her room, door shut, and you wouldn't believe what her maid said they were doing. Lord Wyldon had a fit and sent them both home in disgrace. She left early this morning. The betting was so high, I got five gold nobles in the end. Serves her right. Girls like that are no better than they oughtta be."
All Emma could think was, one down in the first week. How many of us will last?
Okay, people, I spent half of last night talking to the porcelain god, so you had better realize how much it means that I'm braving soiling this keyboard today to write this. I would REALLY appreciate a couple of reviews. thank you. Now on to the story.
When Emma got to the newly constructed baths, erected because now there were simply too many lady pages to make them go back to their rooms, she was exausted. Amice steered her around the doors with ease, and they settled gratefully into the warm water.
"Don't complain." Amice said. "Think of poor me. I'd just gotten used to doing all that in the morning, and then they go and add two pounds to my back. You people have it easy."
Emma smiled in amusement. Sitting there in the water, Amice's face was the picture of bliss, with her messy copper hair flying up in all directions. Over the past day she had gotten to know her sponsor pretty well, and had learned to keep away from the temper Amice had inherited from her famous mother.
Lunch was simple. The girls sat together at one big table in one corner of the dining hall. Emma noticed that Rhiannon sat at another table with a bunch of boys. Amice caught her gaze. "The betting is that she'll get kicked out in a month. I have two gold nobles on her leaving within a week. She's a flirt, and not fit to be a page, she is."
Emma had to agree. Rhiannon had shown up for practice late, and with all her hair loose, and had then been late for lunch, having to fix her hair from the tangles recieved in training. Already, she was not liked by most of the pages. The boys she was sitting with didn't seem to have any problems with her, though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Afternoon classes sped by. Ettiquite was probably Emma's worst subject, Laylia of Kirgiz Step's reluctant best, and the only one in which Rhiannon paid any attention to the teacher, not the boys. Court manners were confusing; there were bows, as a knight, curtsies, as a lady, and all other bits and pieces that made Emma want to run back to Silvertree, where life was simple.
Emma didn't have the Gift, but she had a strange connection to immortals she told no one about. That was why she feared her lessons in magic. They were taught by an immortal, and there was nothing to keep him from recognizing someone who, inside, was a distant relative. When classes were over, Emma breathed a sigh of relief. After dinner she got her books and joined her friends in the library, in a study group started by Kelardry of Mindelan eleven years before.
Just that thought comforted Emma. Great lady knights like Alanna, Kelardry and all others had all made a beginning here; all it took was desire.
Working together, no one noticed Rhiannon slip out. It wasn't until the next morning they heard the news.
"Caught with Idris of Eldorne, a squire." Amice said grimly. "Her room, door shut, and you wouldn't believe what her maid said they were doing. Lord Wyldon had a fit and sent them both home in disgrace. She left early this morning. The betting was so high, I got five gold nobles in the end. Serves her right. Girls like that are no better than they oughtta be."
All Emma could think was, one down in the first week. How many of us will last?