Disclaimer: It's all Lackey.
A/N: Because of my two reviews in less than an hour, I decided to continue the story. Hope you like it!
A/N: Does anyone know Selenay's real hair color, because it contradicts itself in the Arrows books and the Winds books…
The next hour was quite a blur. I was fitted for my first set of Grays, shown to my room, and just guided around the Palace so I would get a "feel" for it. The Herald-trainee who guided me had brown eyes full of laughter, and brown hair centered around his soft, vulnerable face. No matter how vulnerable he may look, I knew that he couldn't be before I even spoke to him because, let's face it, Heralds are tough stuff. He was quite cute, truth be told, and I hoped those looks he gave me meant he thought the same.
My brown-eyed friend had a name, apparently. It was Rob Kestrel. The name had a certain ring to it, a ring that made something flutter in of my chest. I wondered what that meant…
After I had made the rounds of the palace a hundred times, once without him guiding me at all, Rob was satisfied and brought me back to my room. He looked at the door with a certain hunger that I couldn't quite fathom. I asked him tentatively if he wanted to come in, and he nodded vigorously.
Since I had read Winds of Fate several times, I should have seen something coming. The Darkwind and Dawnfire scene was quite enough; I didn't want to have to live through it with some guy I just met!
But luckily this Rob Kestrel was honorable. He didn't pounce on me as might have happened had it been in a real Lackey book. Instead he sat on the floor beside the fire, and gestured for me to follow suit.
Rob stared deep into my eyes as I moved and I was certain my cheeks were a nice rosy red. He wasn't at all like some of the guys from my old life, who couldn't keep their eyes off my chest. I found myself lost in those big, beautiful brown eyes (nice alliteration!) and felt my life fall into place.
I had been infatuated before, by a boy known as Mark. Mark and Rob both had brown eyes and brown hair, yet they looked nothing alike. Rob had kind, humor-filled eyes, while Mark had possessed a pair of dark brown eyes that sent frightening chills down your spine. I had wasted a good six moons on that murderous boy, and it had taken weeks for me to even notice him.
It was so different with Rob. Here I had known him less than a day, and already I was infatuated. It appeared he felt the same way as he leaned closer to me, stopping my breath completely. His lips were drawing teasingly closer, and I couldn't stand the slowness. I pulled him closer and gave him the most intimate kiss I could, which, considering my (cough cough) experience was pretty intimate.
Rob didn't pull away shocked from the vigor in my kiss. He gave it all he had, also. It was the single most enjoyable moment I had had in all my time in Velgarth thus far.
As in most badly written movies of my old world, sex usually precedes such a kiss. But I was in the real world, and after that kiss was only staring contests, although it might have looked as if we were tied. For a candlemark we looked deep into each other, but that was interrupted by a loud knock on my wooden door.
That knock startled the living hell out of me. That was just a beginning though, I hadn't yet seen the person in the doorway.
The most extraordinary clothing I had seen in the whole of the palace was on this Herald (for she was, as Brio so kindly told me). They were a deep ruby red color, with flowing sleeves and a modest skirt. The undergarments weren't hiding as most were; they were indeed a part of her outfit. This stranger wore ruby slippers not meant for much movement, just for relaxation. She smiled broadly, and her rosy complexion was gorgeous with her wavy brown hair.
She looked like the type of person who could be mousy in Whites. I thought that she knew it too, so therefore wore much more alive clothing. That stupid familiarity again! The clothes must have been Tayledras, or Shin'a'in, as both favored clothing similar to that, so I thought. But when I saw this woman's shadow, a man with silver hair to his waist and eyes almost as blue as any Companion, I knew who she was, therefore what type of clothing she wore.
Before me stood my favorite couple in all tales. Darkwind k'Sheyna and his mate Elspeth k'Valdemar k'Sheyna. I was lost for words, which was rewarded with two witty grins.
Rob was apparently as stunned as me. He whispered to me fretfully that he had only seen them from afar, and that he was awed that they would greet me on my first day as a trainee. I felt the exact same way (well, the shocked part anyway!).
"Mother told me that I'd find a good friend in you. She's normally right about such things, so I thought I'd meet you. I'm Elspeth, and this is my love, Darkwind. But apparently you know that already, right?"
My confidence was up at the mention of the Queen. "I've read tales. You two are quite the couple-" two beet red blushes "I'm Ishie Williams, or did the Queen tell you as much?"
The mates nodded in unison. Darkwind spoke this time, saying to Elspeth, "Brightfeather, we have taken no notice in Ishie's friend." Rob was simply fuchsia.
Elspeth's eyes twinkled, and she winked. :You certainly work fast, now don't you? You already have a likely mate!: Little did I know that she had been thinking that it was a lifebond under the tightest of her shields.
I blushed, and wondered at her Mindspeech. Only dear Brio had used it thus far, and it felt uncanny to have another voice in my mind. Elspeth only smiled.
Darkwind and Rob were deep in conversation when I had overcome my embarrassment. But it was all mind-to-mind, and I couldn't hear it; they were blocking me out! I felt better when Elspeth looked frustrated and glowered at Darkwind. Was the conversation about us "women?"
The thought was interrupted by a loud dong, the dinner bell. Elspeth signaled me to follow her, and we walked off to the Court dinner, contentedly happy with silence.
When we entered the room, Selenay beamed with pride to see her eldest child talking to her new friend. It wasn't surprise in the least; she had expected the very same. Acting most un-Queenly, Selenay jumped from her chair at the head of the table across from Daren, and gave Elspeth a motherly hug, and me a friendly one, and whispered, "I trust Rob was a good guide?" She winked, and I could only stammer an incoherent reply.
While blushing from the many comments I had received from Brio after the Queen, I glanced about the room. I got puzzled glances from finely dressed nobles and a few Heralds. I would have endured those glances much better than what happened next.
Trumpets played that annoying tune they always do before a big announcement. Selenay cleared her throat, and said royally, "May I be the one to introduce you to our key to surviving the Eastern Empire's conquests. Our newest Herald-in-training has a completely undetectable Gift for FarSeeing. She also has Adept-potential that rivals ANY mage that may be thrown at us. We have been searching for Ishie Williams for the past year, and are now rewarded with her presence at Court dinner. She was Chosen without being in Haven for more than a minute or two, the most remarkable Choosing in recorded history. Let her be our Guest of Honor!"
I was crimson when the applause started.
:Why didn't you tell me I could do all that stuff?: I asked Brio silently. He didn't answer.
A/N: Because of my two reviews in less than an hour, I decided to continue the story. Hope you like it!
A/N: Does anyone know Selenay's real hair color, because it contradicts itself in the Arrows books and the Winds books…
The next hour was quite a blur. I was fitted for my first set of Grays, shown to my room, and just guided around the Palace so I would get a "feel" for it. The Herald-trainee who guided me had brown eyes full of laughter, and brown hair centered around his soft, vulnerable face. No matter how vulnerable he may look, I knew that he couldn't be before I even spoke to him because, let's face it, Heralds are tough stuff. He was quite cute, truth be told, and I hoped those looks he gave me meant he thought the same.
My brown-eyed friend had a name, apparently. It was Rob Kestrel. The name had a certain ring to it, a ring that made something flutter in of my chest. I wondered what that meant…
After I had made the rounds of the palace a hundred times, once without him guiding me at all, Rob was satisfied and brought me back to my room. He looked at the door with a certain hunger that I couldn't quite fathom. I asked him tentatively if he wanted to come in, and he nodded vigorously.
Since I had read Winds of Fate several times, I should have seen something coming. The Darkwind and Dawnfire scene was quite enough; I didn't want to have to live through it with some guy I just met!
But luckily this Rob Kestrel was honorable. He didn't pounce on me as might have happened had it been in a real Lackey book. Instead he sat on the floor beside the fire, and gestured for me to follow suit.
Rob stared deep into my eyes as I moved and I was certain my cheeks were a nice rosy red. He wasn't at all like some of the guys from my old life, who couldn't keep their eyes off my chest. I found myself lost in those big, beautiful brown eyes (nice alliteration!) and felt my life fall into place.
I had been infatuated before, by a boy known as Mark. Mark and Rob both had brown eyes and brown hair, yet they looked nothing alike. Rob had kind, humor-filled eyes, while Mark had possessed a pair of dark brown eyes that sent frightening chills down your spine. I had wasted a good six moons on that murderous boy, and it had taken weeks for me to even notice him.
It was so different with Rob. Here I had known him less than a day, and already I was infatuated. It appeared he felt the same way as he leaned closer to me, stopping my breath completely. His lips were drawing teasingly closer, and I couldn't stand the slowness. I pulled him closer and gave him the most intimate kiss I could, which, considering my (cough cough) experience was pretty intimate.
Rob didn't pull away shocked from the vigor in my kiss. He gave it all he had, also. It was the single most enjoyable moment I had had in all my time in Velgarth thus far.
As in most badly written movies of my old world, sex usually precedes such a kiss. But I was in the real world, and after that kiss was only staring contests, although it might have looked as if we were tied. For a candlemark we looked deep into each other, but that was interrupted by a loud knock on my wooden door.
That knock startled the living hell out of me. That was just a beginning though, I hadn't yet seen the person in the doorway.
The most extraordinary clothing I had seen in the whole of the palace was on this Herald (for she was, as Brio so kindly told me). They were a deep ruby red color, with flowing sleeves and a modest skirt. The undergarments weren't hiding as most were; they were indeed a part of her outfit. This stranger wore ruby slippers not meant for much movement, just for relaxation. She smiled broadly, and her rosy complexion was gorgeous with her wavy brown hair.
She looked like the type of person who could be mousy in Whites. I thought that she knew it too, so therefore wore much more alive clothing. That stupid familiarity again! The clothes must have been Tayledras, or Shin'a'in, as both favored clothing similar to that, so I thought. But when I saw this woman's shadow, a man with silver hair to his waist and eyes almost as blue as any Companion, I knew who she was, therefore what type of clothing she wore.
Before me stood my favorite couple in all tales. Darkwind k'Sheyna and his mate Elspeth k'Valdemar k'Sheyna. I was lost for words, which was rewarded with two witty grins.
Rob was apparently as stunned as me. He whispered to me fretfully that he had only seen them from afar, and that he was awed that they would greet me on my first day as a trainee. I felt the exact same way (well, the shocked part anyway!).
"Mother told me that I'd find a good friend in you. She's normally right about such things, so I thought I'd meet you. I'm Elspeth, and this is my love, Darkwind. But apparently you know that already, right?"
My confidence was up at the mention of the Queen. "I've read tales. You two are quite the couple-" two beet red blushes "I'm Ishie Williams, or did the Queen tell you as much?"
The mates nodded in unison. Darkwind spoke this time, saying to Elspeth, "Brightfeather, we have taken no notice in Ishie's friend." Rob was simply fuchsia.
Elspeth's eyes twinkled, and she winked. :You certainly work fast, now don't you? You already have a likely mate!: Little did I know that she had been thinking that it was a lifebond under the tightest of her shields.
I blushed, and wondered at her Mindspeech. Only dear Brio had used it thus far, and it felt uncanny to have another voice in my mind. Elspeth only smiled.
Darkwind and Rob were deep in conversation when I had overcome my embarrassment. But it was all mind-to-mind, and I couldn't hear it; they were blocking me out! I felt better when Elspeth looked frustrated and glowered at Darkwind. Was the conversation about us "women?"
The thought was interrupted by a loud dong, the dinner bell. Elspeth signaled me to follow her, and we walked off to the Court dinner, contentedly happy with silence.
When we entered the room, Selenay beamed with pride to see her eldest child talking to her new friend. It wasn't surprise in the least; she had expected the very same. Acting most un-Queenly, Selenay jumped from her chair at the head of the table across from Daren, and gave Elspeth a motherly hug, and me a friendly one, and whispered, "I trust Rob was a good guide?" She winked, and I could only stammer an incoherent reply.
While blushing from the many comments I had received from Brio after the Queen, I glanced about the room. I got puzzled glances from finely dressed nobles and a few Heralds. I would have endured those glances much better than what happened next.
Trumpets played that annoying tune they always do before a big announcement. Selenay cleared her throat, and said royally, "May I be the one to introduce you to our key to surviving the Eastern Empire's conquests. Our newest Herald-in-training has a completely undetectable Gift for FarSeeing. She also has Adept-potential that rivals ANY mage that may be thrown at us. We have been searching for Ishie Williams for the past year, and are now rewarded with her presence at Court dinner. She was Chosen without being in Haven for more than a minute or two, the most remarkable Choosing in recorded history. Let her be our Guest of Honor!"
I was crimson when the applause started.
:Why didn't you tell me I could do all that stuff?: I asked Brio silently. He didn't answer.