SUMMARY: A bunch of short stories about Myles's class. Need I say more?
A/N: I love vacation! Too bad it's over.
I'M SIXTEEN! NOT TEN!
Go read the story.
DEDICATION: Temptress...for giving me an idea...and motivation. :D
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Tamora Pierce, except the ones that I make up of course.
Myles's Class - Monkeys and the History of Tortall (Take 1)
By now, Alan had adjusted to the daily schedule. Awake to Gary pounding on his door, go to breakfast and eat whatever Gary put on his tray that morning, sleep through the first three classes, do some work between the bells, and finally - to finish off the morning, go to Myles's class. That's where he was now. A few minutes early, but there nonetheless. Myles however, was not. Gary was perfectly happy with that. He stood up in the front of the room, chalk piece in hand, drawing on the board. Jonathan walked in and stopped, watching his cousin curiously.
He grinned and winked at Alan. Silently he tiptoed up to Gary, placed his hands on his hips and cried, "Gareth!" The voice so closely resembled that of Duke Gareth of Naxen, Gary's father, that even Alan jumped a bit. Gary had wigged out completely; there was the shriek of chalk and long white line ran down the board. Gary turned on his cousin. "Look what you made me do! She was perfect! You messed her up." He gave a final sneer at his cousin and then turned back to the ruined picture. Wetting his finger, he cleared off the large line, and then went back to drawing.
Alan went up to the front of the room and joined them. "What are you doing anyway Gary?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked without taking his eyes off of the illustration. "I'm drawing Lady Karin."
"Lady Karin?" Alex asked, standing up as tall as he could and glancing over his shoulder. Alan and Jon had been watching Gary so closely that they hadn't seen Alex, Raoul, and Francis walk in. Other boys had come in as well, and were taking their seats. Jon decided that it was time to grab his favorite spot for anybody else did. Alan and the others followed his lead. Gary stayed up at the front of the room, finishing the sketch. Then he placed the chalk back on the desk and took a seat next to Alex.
"It doesn't look like Lady Karin," Alan said matter-of-factly. "It does resemble a monkey rather well though." Francis snickered and the others hid grins. Gary simply glared at his small friend.
"You just don't know a work of art when you see it," Gary told him indignantly.
"It would be a work of art if it was supposed to be a representation of a monkey as opposed to Lady Karin of Griffin's Peak. Her arms aren't that long."
"Fine!" Gary cried, and stomped up to the front of the room. Once again, taking the chalk from the desk, he walked up to the board and scrawled 'Lady Karin' underneath the picture. He put the chalk back on the desk and plodded back to his friends. "Happy now?" he asked gruffly, standing in front of Alan.
"It still looks like a monkey. Even with her name underneath it."
"There's just no pleasing you, is there?"
Alan shook his head and grinned as his friend took his seat once again. "No, not really."
Myles chose that particular moment to enter the room. He stopped and starred when he saw the drawing on the board. When he turned back to the class, he had a look of confusion on his face. Alan watched as Gary sank down in his seat, and he tried uselessly to stifle a wave of chuckles. Raoul was turning red from withheld laughter and the grin's on the other's faces were too large cover with a hand. Myles shook his head. "I won't even bother asking."
The shaggy knight walked over to the desk and leaned on the edge of it. "Now then. Let's get down to business. Any suggestions as to what we should discuss today?" No one spoke. "None? How strange. Well then, I guess we'll just have to discuss whatever I want to."
"Is that supposed to be a punishment?" Alex asked.
"That depends on how you look at it." Myles grinned and grabbed a book that was on the desk behind him. "Would someone like to tell me what this is?"
"A book." Alan rolled his eyes. It seemed that no matter how embarrassed Gary was, his mouth never stopped flapping.
"Wonderful Gary. What's it called?"
Gary squinted and tried to read the cover. "The Fuming of the Kinden of Titall?" he managed. The boys in the front row burst out into laughter and Myles hung his head, trying to hide the smile. "What?" Gary cried crossly. "That's what it looks like."
"No it doesn't," Jonathan told him with all his usual arrogance. "It says 'The Founding of the Kingdom of Tortall.' You dumb ---"
"Very good Jonathan." Myles interrupted.
"Maybe that's why Lady Karin looks like a monkey," Alan whispered to Francis. "Gary couldn't see what he was drawing." Francis smiled and Gary glared at him and pinched the boy's arm. Francis jumped.
"His eyesight may not be very good, but his hearing isn't too bad," Francis whispered back, rubbing his arm. Gary snarled at them and pinched his arm again. This time the boy yelped.
"Is there a problem Francis?" Myles asked kindly, shooting Gary a warning look.
"No, not at all," he replied. "Except..." he paused for a moment and then continued. "Myles, when they founded Tortall, were there monkeys here?"
"I beg your pardon?" the knight asked. Jon smiled. Myles was confused for the first time ever it seemed.
"Were there monkeys here?"
Gary reached over and pinched his friend again. "Ow," Francis hissed. "Would you stop it?"
"Only if you shut up!"
Myles was still looking at the boys oddly. "I suppose it's the city atmosphere," he said to no one in particular, "because you lads just get more and more peculiar every time I see you. Might we return to the original topic now?" No one answered. "Good. Now, Tortall was founded in what year?"
Jonathan leapt out of his seat. "Ooooh!"
Alan reached over and grabbed her friend. "Your Highness," he hissed, "sit down and let somebody else answer the question for once."
"Like who?" he asked snobbishly. "Gary?"
Gary glared at his cousin and called out. "Tortall was founded in 236 B.H.E."
"Thank you Gary. From now on, please raise your hand." Gary's only response was to moan and roll his eyes. Myles frowned and ignored him. "B.H.E. stands for what, Alex?"
"Before the Human Era. Which means there were immortals when Tortall was founded."
"But no monkeys," Alan whispered to Francis. Gary shot them a look.
"Thank you Alex. Geoffrey, tell me what an immortal is, just incase nobody knows."
"An immortal," Geoff began, "is an animal that lives forever? Well not really animal, more like a being."
Myles nodded. "Could someone give me an example or two?"
"Dragons and Unicorns," said Douglass.
"Stormwings and Spidrens," suggested another boy.
"What about flying monkeys?" added Francis. Alan gave an ungentlemanly snort.
"It's getting old," Gary whispered to them. The two boys just shrugged.
"Will someone tell me who the founder of Tortall was?" Once again, for the third time that day, the class was silent. "Jonathan?"
Jon shook his head. "Boys, this is disappointing. Usually you talk so much." He sighed and walked around behind the desk, lifting up a crate. "I'm sorry lads, but I have to do this." And then he pulled out a book. Alan's eyes widened. Not another one! Another book was not appreciated. The other one had only turned class into a nightmare. (A/N: See: In Which Alanna Experiences Love For the First Time)
"Come on boys."
"Myles you can't do this to us," Alan said.
"Then participate."
Raoul's hand shot up. "The founder of Tortall was," he paused to think. "Myles, there wasn't really a founder. I mean, wasn't it a war or something?"
"Very good. Tell me about it." Myles smiled. His hand still on the book.
Francis raised his hand tentatively. "There was a king. I don't remember his name. And he had three sons and daughter. And when he died, the sons all wanted to be king, so they had civil war. Am I right so far?" Myles nodded. "So there was this big civil war that covered Tortall, Tusaine, Tyra, and Maren. And," he paused unsure of himself. "I don't remember the rest."
"I do," Alan said. "While the sons were fighting, their daughter went and fell in love with a neighboring prince, who was the youngest of ten boys so he figured he had no chance of ever getting the crown for his country. He got pulled into the war when her brothers refused to let her marry him. So when the war ended, they split up all of the lands. The son that quit first got the smallest amount of land and the son that won got the largest."
"Very nice Alan."
"But then how did the countries get named?" asked Sacherell.
"They named the countries after themselves," Alan told them. "The son Tustin won Tusaine, Tyron won Tyra, and Martin won Maren."
"Well what about Tortall?" one of the boys in the front of the room asked.
"Tortall was named after the daughter. Tortalla."
"Wonderful Alan. See I knew you lads, didn't need books." He turned to the board, "Art lessons perhaps, but not books." Gary turned pink.
"It wasn't me sir!"
"I never said it was," the knight said with a smile.
The bell rang and the boys filed out of the room. "We will continue this discussion tomorrow. I expect more participation!" The boys ignored him, their minds on their stomach, not their education. Gary, Alan, and Francis were the last out.
Myles turned around, intending to erase the picture, and saw the scrawl underneath it. "Lady Karin?" He turned to Gary, who was passing by the desk at the moment. "You really do need to work on your artwork lad. I thought it was a monkey. A very bad one at that."
Alan and Francis snickered from the doorway. Gary whirled around and shot them a death look before leaping at them. The two small boys jumped out of the way and then raced down the hall. "See you tomorrow Myles," Gary said before chasing after his friends. Myles heard him bellowing threats all the way down the corridor.
A/N: I tried to make this one as long as possible. I'm not sure it worked. Hope you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry it took so long to get up!
Notes:
Ash Kinsa: Quite honestly, I would make them longer...but I do run out of things to write and if I make them too long they tend to get stupid.
Daemon: Thanks for the suggestion. Will try. Now, to reiterate about that whole famine thing in the first chapter; I wrote a note at the top. It was like 3 a.m. when I wrote that. It was supposed to be funny. It comes off stupid. If you really want me to try that part again, e-mail me and I will.
Marienne Oakley: Yes, Jonathan I was homosexual. I am a twisted person. I had to get her off the crush somehow, though, making him homosexual doesn't really do that, but I won't have to bring him up again. She'll get over him.
Insane Muses: Your frightfulness has not decreased any.
DarkDracon0: Hurrah for you - because you discovered me. And because you were reviewer #100 (as well as #98 and #101 and quite a few after that as well.) I'm 16, not 10. I wish I was a talented 10 year...but then I might be like that 8 year old phenomenon in my homeroom. So maybe I'm lucky I'm 16. Update YOUR story soon!
Temptress: Look it's up. Are you happy?