Chapter Two
Questions
I sat in a small room, waiting for whoever I was waiting for to come. I set my hands on my knees and yelped. I immediately turned them over and inspected my palms. Nothing was wrong with them. Except, except something. I looked at them and saw nothing but felt cuts oozing blood and welts from scratches. I didn't really feel them all that much; they were, just, just there.
I folded my hands in my lap when the door opened and two people stepped inside. I heard the door shut again behind them and stared. The first person, a man, had coal black hair and sapphire eyes. Everything I had read about Tortall suddenly came back to me. He was King Jonathan. The second person, a woman, was shorter than the king with fiery red hair and violet eyes. Alanna the Lioness.
"What is your name?" King Jonathan asked me.
"Kalea." There was no point in giving a fake name. It would just get me into more trouble.
"No last name?" Alanna asked, puzzled.
"I – I," I stammered. When you've gotten yourself inn trouble, not knowing your last name, what happened to you, how you got here, and where you are from is no going to get you out of trouble. I swallowed and tried again, "I don't know."
"What do you mean 'you don't know?'" King Jonathan asked.
"I don't know my last name, Your Majesty," I said.
Alanna's hand went to the sword that hung at her waist and the king looked interested. "The guards said that you didn't know that you were in Tortall when they found you. Is that true?" King Jonathan asked and I nodded vigorously. "Well, how do you know, who I am than?"
"I know a lot of stuff. Like, I know about that King Roald killed himself. I know that Liam Ironarm that Shang Dragon died because he took the arrows meant for you. I know about how Alanna found Faithful. I know about how he died. I know that you courted Josaine just to spite Alanna," I told King Jonathan. Both the king and his champion looked a little bit red. I smiled very sweetly at them.
"How – how do you know all that?" Alanna demanded.
"I just do."
"How old are you?" King Jonathan asked.
"Fifteen."
"Where are you from?"
"I don't know."
"Why are we supposed to believe that?" Alanna demanded.
"Why don't you use your Gift?" I asked.
"Fine, I will," she said, annoyed. Violet fire shot out of her hand and settled on me. I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise and then a sharp, fiery, pain shot up my hands and through my arms. A scream was ripped out of my throat and I toppled out of my chair and into darkness.
***
'That was something I've never seen before. You only used it see if she was telling the truth. Right?" a voice that sounded like King Jonathan's asked.
"Right. I've never seen anything like that before. Maybe we should ask Numair," Alanna replied.
"Maybe." My eyes fluttered open. I was lying in a bed.
"You're awake. Good. It wasn't too bad I guess," Alanna said, peering into my face.
"Where am I?" I mumbled.
"Palace Healers. You fainted when Alanna tried to use her gift on you," King Jonathan explained.
"We need to ask you one more question. Are you trained in any combat skills?" Alanna asked gently.
"Well I can, um, ride, fence, I can do archery, I know some hand to hand fighting, I can climb trees, fences, walls, I can swim, and I can," I paused and looked around, "I can pick pockets and steal things." When they looked at me with raised eyebrows I loudly said, "I am NOT a thief. I swear by – by the Goddess and the Black God!"
"We believe you," King Jonathan said, a faint smile on his lips.
"Good," I said and sighed.
"We've decided to give you a room and then come up with some options for jobs," King Jonathan said kindly and smiled. "Talk to the healer about when you should go and ask a servant to take you to this room," he said and handed me a small scrap of paper on it. "Alanna and I need to go do something, but we'll be back here evening."
I stared at his retreating back and than called, "Excuse me Your Majesty?"
"Yes?" he asked and turned to face me again.
"Why are you doing this for me, a girl with no last name, a girl with no history and a girl who showed up out of nowhere?"
"I like helping people," was all the answer I got.
I lay in the bed for a while, wondering about the day. I sat up, fed up with just sitting there doing nothing. I sat up and got out of bed. I was about to go out when I realized that I was still wearing my shredded clothing. A dress, blue, was laid out on a nearby chair. Seems that they know what size I wear, I thought. And put it on. I wasn't a big fan of dresses but, it would have to do, there was no way in hell that I would wear my tattered clothing a palace.
I opened the door to my room a crack and stared out. There was a room full of people who were likely to stop me on the way out. Lucky for you, you like sneaking, I told myself. I silently slipped out of the small room and into the loud, bury one and silently slipped away.
I wandered through the hallways and ambled around, glancing at everything I could. It was a magnificent palace. Large and even better than I imagined it to be. The halls wound in odd confusing ways. I was lucky to have such a marvelous sense of direction. When I decided that I had had enough of looking at the palace I decided to head back to the infirmary.
I slipped back into my room and shut the door. I turned and saw that I had visitors. Three of them. Wonderful, I thought. Alanna and King Jonathan were there and a stranger. One of them was a short plump man. A pleasant looking man, I thought that I might like him. The other was very, very tall. I looked up at him and saw long black hair pulled back.
"Kalea, I'm glad you finally decided to join us," King Jonathan said in a slightly strained voice. I clasped my hands behind my back and looked down at the floor, smiling slightly. "Kalea, this is Sir Myles of Olau. Myles, this is Kalea. I told you about her."
"I'm honored to be in the presence of the Spymaster," I said looking up.
Sir Myles raised his eyebrows and looked me over. "Kalea, I'm here to offer you a job. We are looking for a new spy to go to the Copper Isles. We decided that you would be the best person for the job."
Note: Ok. I need to know if people are actually reading this. So, please REVIEW people. I need to have some reviews otherwise I have no idea if I should write more. Thanks!
Questions
I sat in a small room, waiting for whoever I was waiting for to come. I set my hands on my knees and yelped. I immediately turned them over and inspected my palms. Nothing was wrong with them. Except, except something. I looked at them and saw nothing but felt cuts oozing blood and welts from scratches. I didn't really feel them all that much; they were, just, just there.
I folded my hands in my lap when the door opened and two people stepped inside. I heard the door shut again behind them and stared. The first person, a man, had coal black hair and sapphire eyes. Everything I had read about Tortall suddenly came back to me. He was King Jonathan. The second person, a woman, was shorter than the king with fiery red hair and violet eyes. Alanna the Lioness.
"What is your name?" King Jonathan asked me.
"Kalea." There was no point in giving a fake name. It would just get me into more trouble.
"No last name?" Alanna asked, puzzled.
"I – I," I stammered. When you've gotten yourself inn trouble, not knowing your last name, what happened to you, how you got here, and where you are from is no going to get you out of trouble. I swallowed and tried again, "I don't know."
"What do you mean 'you don't know?'" King Jonathan asked.
"I don't know my last name, Your Majesty," I said.
Alanna's hand went to the sword that hung at her waist and the king looked interested. "The guards said that you didn't know that you were in Tortall when they found you. Is that true?" King Jonathan asked and I nodded vigorously. "Well, how do you know, who I am than?"
"I know a lot of stuff. Like, I know about that King Roald killed himself. I know that Liam Ironarm that Shang Dragon died because he took the arrows meant for you. I know about how Alanna found Faithful. I know about how he died. I know that you courted Josaine just to spite Alanna," I told King Jonathan. Both the king and his champion looked a little bit red. I smiled very sweetly at them.
"How – how do you know all that?" Alanna demanded.
"I just do."
"How old are you?" King Jonathan asked.
"Fifteen."
"Where are you from?"
"I don't know."
"Why are we supposed to believe that?" Alanna demanded.
"Why don't you use your Gift?" I asked.
"Fine, I will," she said, annoyed. Violet fire shot out of her hand and settled on me. I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise and then a sharp, fiery, pain shot up my hands and through my arms. A scream was ripped out of my throat and I toppled out of my chair and into darkness.
***
'That was something I've never seen before. You only used it see if she was telling the truth. Right?" a voice that sounded like King Jonathan's asked.
"Right. I've never seen anything like that before. Maybe we should ask Numair," Alanna replied.
"Maybe." My eyes fluttered open. I was lying in a bed.
"You're awake. Good. It wasn't too bad I guess," Alanna said, peering into my face.
"Where am I?" I mumbled.
"Palace Healers. You fainted when Alanna tried to use her gift on you," King Jonathan explained.
"We need to ask you one more question. Are you trained in any combat skills?" Alanna asked gently.
"Well I can, um, ride, fence, I can do archery, I know some hand to hand fighting, I can climb trees, fences, walls, I can swim, and I can," I paused and looked around, "I can pick pockets and steal things." When they looked at me with raised eyebrows I loudly said, "I am NOT a thief. I swear by – by the Goddess and the Black God!"
"We believe you," King Jonathan said, a faint smile on his lips.
"Good," I said and sighed.
"We've decided to give you a room and then come up with some options for jobs," King Jonathan said kindly and smiled. "Talk to the healer about when you should go and ask a servant to take you to this room," he said and handed me a small scrap of paper on it. "Alanna and I need to go do something, but we'll be back here evening."
I stared at his retreating back and than called, "Excuse me Your Majesty?"
"Yes?" he asked and turned to face me again.
"Why are you doing this for me, a girl with no last name, a girl with no history and a girl who showed up out of nowhere?"
"I like helping people," was all the answer I got.
I lay in the bed for a while, wondering about the day. I sat up, fed up with just sitting there doing nothing. I sat up and got out of bed. I was about to go out when I realized that I was still wearing my shredded clothing. A dress, blue, was laid out on a nearby chair. Seems that they know what size I wear, I thought. And put it on. I wasn't a big fan of dresses but, it would have to do, there was no way in hell that I would wear my tattered clothing a palace.
I opened the door to my room a crack and stared out. There was a room full of people who were likely to stop me on the way out. Lucky for you, you like sneaking, I told myself. I silently slipped out of the small room and into the loud, bury one and silently slipped away.
I wandered through the hallways and ambled around, glancing at everything I could. It was a magnificent palace. Large and even better than I imagined it to be. The halls wound in odd confusing ways. I was lucky to have such a marvelous sense of direction. When I decided that I had had enough of looking at the palace I decided to head back to the infirmary.
I slipped back into my room and shut the door. I turned and saw that I had visitors. Three of them. Wonderful, I thought. Alanna and King Jonathan were there and a stranger. One of them was a short plump man. A pleasant looking man, I thought that I might like him. The other was very, very tall. I looked up at him and saw long black hair pulled back.
"Kalea, I'm glad you finally decided to join us," King Jonathan said in a slightly strained voice. I clasped my hands behind my back and looked down at the floor, smiling slightly. "Kalea, this is Sir Myles of Olau. Myles, this is Kalea. I told you about her."
"I'm honored to be in the presence of the Spymaster," I said looking up.
Sir Myles raised his eyebrows and looked me over. "Kalea, I'm here to offer you a job. We are looking for a new spy to go to the Copper Isles. We decided that you would be the best person for the job."
Note: Ok. I need to know if people are actually reading this. So, please REVIEW people. I need to have some reviews otherwise I have no idea if I should write more. Thanks!