Heart's Desire
Chapter 2- Squire Matthew of the Palace
Author's Note-
Well, as you can tell, Kelsie is now at the palace. From here on out there should be more familiar characters. Please review!
Disclaimer-
I own Lady Kelsie of Tirragen and Squire Matthew. I also own Ladies Jennifer, Jessamyn, Amelia, Penelope, and Melissa. Tamora Pierce owns the rest of the characters (probably, unless I make up more as I go along!)
As soon as Kelsie was escorted to her room, she went to sleep. She was far too exhausted from putting up all the horses (the other girls had insisted that they were 'not capable') to babble about the nights ball with the other girls. However, Kelsie didn't sleep long before she started to dream.
In the distance, there was a woman standing alone. No, not a woman. A girl. A girl with brown hair and greenish-brown eyes. Kelsie.
She was standing alone, a storm of wind surrounding her. No one could penetrate the sand if they weren't meant to. There had to be a reason for anyone to penetrate it, but no one tried. The girl was far too angry with the world and everything on it for anyone to want to penetrate her storm. Then, through the dust came a woman with red hair and a knight's shield- the Lioness. She was followed closely by the King, George Cooper, and a tall boy with black hair and black eyes to match. He looked no older than 16. No one spoke. And then the Lioness spoke three words- "You were right."
Kelsie smiled, as did the King and the tall boy. The only one that didn't was George. Suddenly, the dust storm wrapped itself around the former King of Thieves, and he was thrown airbound. He continued to rise, and he never came back down.
"No!" The real Kelsie woke up screaming. Sweating, she went down to the barn.
"Jazz," she murmured, and then told her horse about the dream.
Hush, small one. Your dream is not coming true, I can promise you that. The Lioness and George are in town for tonight, you'll see them, I promise. They're staying here a while. And you will see that George is perfectly fine.
"All right, then, the dream doesn't show the future? But could it have been just a simpler way of showing the future? And that boy- I've never seen him before."
Do you want to see him?
"What? I have no interest in boys, Jazz, you know that!"
Well, your dream seem to think that he is someone important in your future.
"Enough about the boy- what did the Lioness mean, I was right? Could she have meant about Jonathan?"
She could have, but things can change, Kelsie. It could have meant anything. You'll just have to wait and see.
With around two hours until the ball began, Kelsie decided it was probalbly best for her to begin getting ready. She returned to the palace rooms that were now hers. Talking to Jazz had not only not made her feel better, it had made her feel worse. Now she was nervous, anticipating something awful in the future. She didn't want anything bad to happen to George Cooper- she just wanted Alanna to love the King, not him. Shaking her head, Kelsie busied herself preparing for the ball, sure it would take her mind off of her dream.
First she soaked in a bath, making sure that she was fully clean. Only once she had dried off did she look at the dress that had been placed on her bed by the mistress for her to wear that night. She frowned. The dress was peach, which would not go well with her. She liked the dress itself, it was a beautiful dress, noting this once she had tried it on, but she knew it didn't suit her. She had seen this in the mistress' bag, along with five other dresses, a purple, a midnight blue, a sky blue, a black, and a white. Kelsie had thought then that none of those colors really suited her, and now once again was a time when Kelsie was glad for her secret.
None of the mistresses at the convent were aware of the fact that Kelsie of Tirragen possessed the Gift. She had been trained some before leaving Tirragen, and older girls at the convent had trained Kelsie further. Now she was a fairly good sorceress, and a decent healer. When she snuck out and ran freely outside the convent walls, she often bruised or bloodied herself, and she had had to heal her own wounds. Now Kelsie pointed at the dress, and a ball of emerald green fire arose at her fingertips. She pointed at the dress, and suddenly it was the same emerald green as her magic. Smiling, Kelsie looked into the mirror. She was satisfied with the way the dress looked on her- it was much better suited than the peach. The emerald green one made the green in her eyes stand out. She had always liked clothing, or anything, for that matter, that made the green stand out in her eyes. Kelsie loved the color green, and it was obvious, as her magic was green.
Once the dress was fully adjusted, Kelsie, rather than doing it by hand, which took to long and never worked quite right, magicked her hair into ringlets that framed her tan face. Then she magicked her make up, too lazy to do it by hand. Lastly, she fixed her shoes, turning them from peach to emerald green. Kelsie was glad that she hadn't had to do any more than that- she had always been afraid that the simplest of magic would make her overextend herself and faint, and that wouldn't be good. She didn't need to faint- or even be exhausted- right before the ball.
There came a knock on the door.
"Lady Kelsie, it is time for us to go to the ball," her mistress ordered. Kelsie sighed and opened her door, stepping out into the hallways of the palace. Then Kelsie looked at the other girls. Amelia, who was incredibly pale, looked even paler, almost a sickly pale, in the sky blue. Jessamyn looked okay in the purple, as did Jennifer in the midnight blue. Melissa looked terrible in the white, but Penelope in the black looked stunning. Kelsie felt as though Penny were the only one that looked as good as she did, then Kelsie wondered why she was thinking these things. She didn't want a husband- but she had a feeling that there was a more important reason. Perhaps the boy in her dream would be there. He had seemed quite handsome, after all.
The six girls, along with their mistress, descended down to the ballroom.
Kelsie gasped as she saw all of the people in the room. She had never seen so many gathered in one room before, ever. She probably shouldn't be, but she was.
The mistress led them up to a small stage, where a handsome man with black hair and sapphire blue eyes stood next to a pretty woman. So that was the King.
Kelsie listened quietly as King Jonathan announced the new arrivals from the convent, then called them up one by one. Amelia was called first, and all the young men in the crowd seemed disappointed, but they clapped all the same. Then they called up Jessamyn, and Penelope. Many people stared at Penny, and she could tell that her 'friend' had many boys entranced with her appearance. Kelsie frowned while King Jon called up Jennifer and Melissa. Then..........
"Lady Kelsie of Tirregan." Kelsie walked slowly up onto the stage, and she noticed that people were staring at her the same way they had stared at Penelope, except even more so. Kelsie was not quite sure how to explain the looks she got, but they did make her feel good. The mistress had always made fun of Kelsie for being short, tan, and having highlights. It wasn't her fault that she loved the sun, loved the outdoors!
Finally, the girls were sent out into the crowd and the music started. Kelsie looked about, seeing if she could spot the Lioness. She was there, in a corner with George Cooper. She looked stunning in her violet dress. Just like Kelsie's own dress, it made Alanna's eyes stand out. George, spotting Kelsie, smiled and pulled Alanna over to where Kelsie stood.
"Lass, there's someone I want ye ter meet. Her name is Lady Kelsie of Tirregan," George said.
"So I heard, George. You don't have to repeat things that Jon has already made perfectly clear," she muttered.
"Well, ye don't always listen ter the things Jon says, do ye?" The redhead shot him a furious glance, and Kelsie was tempted to laugh, but decided not to when Alanna began to speak.
"I'm Alanna of Trebond. It's nice to meet you, Lady Kelsie, although I am not quite sure how you know my betrothed," Alanna said.
"We met about six years ago when I was on my way to the convent. We've been friends since. I enjoy hearing all of his stories about you! Between him and my Bazhir friends Kara and Kourrem, you couldn't even imagine all of the good things I've heard about you!" Kelsie knew she was beginning to babble, but it was working, because the Lioness seemed to like her.
Before Kelsie could say anything, Alanna was whisked off onto the dance floor by George. Sighing, Kelsie looked around some more. Not too far from where she stood Jonathan was dancing with the woman she assumed was Thayet, the future queen. It was the same woman that had been up on stage with him when he had introduced her, alongside the other girls of the convent.
Someone tapped on Kelsie's shoulder. She turned around, and she would have gasped, but she knew now wasn't the time to forget her manners of do something stupid.
"Would you like to dance?" the boy asked.
"Of course," Kelsie said in her sweetest voice. How could she say no? She was now face to face with the boy that had been in her dream.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Matthew of Golden Lake. I'm a squire here at the palace."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Matthew. I am Kelsie of........"
"I know. Everyone knows. Haven't you seen all of the people staring at you? Even the youngest of the pages and the oldest of the knights. They're all entranced. Even King Jon, in his own way. I'm very much suprised that you weren't being swarmed by men when I came up to you. I suppose it was because you were with the Lioness and Old Man Cooper." Kelsie found the boys statement to be the most shocking thing she had heard all day, and she wanted to ask so many questions. She nearly forgot her manners and asked them all at once, then decided that the matter of all the men that were supposedly entranced by her wasn't as important as finding out why Matthew had called George Old Man Cooper. He wasn't old, not really. He was only in his late twenties, or early thirties. Kelsie wasn't really positive.
"Why do you call George that? Old Man Cooper. He's not old, at least, I don't think so," Kelsie said.
"You know what, Kelsie of Tirragen? I have a feeling I'm going to like you. You're not like the other girls that they send here from the convent. It seems as if you actually have a personality of your own," Matthew said, and then, seeing the look Kelsie gave him, he said, "Oh, all right. Not any others call him that, Old Man Cooper. Just me. But it's not safe to explain it to you here. As it wouldn't be proper to invite a lady to my room, especially not at night, what do you say we go for a little walk after the ball? Or will your mistress miss you too much?"
"Are you saying that I always do what I'm told? She's not the boss of me, I'll do as I please. Yes, a walk after the ball sounds fine to me." Matthew smiled.
"That's the spirit, Kelsie. I'll see you later," he said, vanishing into the crowd as the song ended. Once he was gone, Kelsie finally had time to think about what had just taken place. She had just met the boy from her dream. And to be honest, she quite liked him. Not to mention she was curious about what Matthew had to tell her.
The ball seemed to drag on forever, and now and then she caught a sight of Matthew. Toward the end of the ball, she even saw King Jonathan dancing with Alanna. This lifted her spirits quite a bit.
Finally, the ball ended, and Kelsie felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Follow me," Matthew whispered, and Kelsie did as she was told.