[ooc] Yes I have read the books, as for spelling it's hard to spell right so early in the morning after waking up from a nightmare, and I said that was only a prolouge. But at least I know people have read it. What were you expecting? Characters being betrayed? Oh, and please let Mr. Rubber-duckie breathe.[/ooc]
Keladry of Mindelan had never expected it to happen. The Yamani Islands and Tortall had held a treaty and alliance for years, and now, without warning, it had fallen apart. It made no sense. Tortall, it seemed, made far more enemies than it did friends.
Even worse, Keladry felt no more loyalty to Tortall than she did the islands, they had both been, and both were, her home. She had friends on both sides, and wanted to fight against nobody she knew.
But the very worst part was, that she knew she would.
Anybody who glanced at her face just then would have known nothing of her inner turmoil, for her face was a familiar Yamani calm, but Keladry had made sure that there was nobody around just then to witness it. Her face hadn't changed much during the last three years, she still had her hazel, dreamy eyes, her short cut brown hair and determined chin. But now, to add to the list of noticable features, she had a scar across her left cheak which had healed cleanly, but had left a dint.
Kel couldn't work out why this nightmare was coming true, it made no sense. The Yamani's had always been able to survive with just their islands, so they didn't really need to attack Tortall's shore. Also, King Jonathan had the Dominian Jewel, which they surely knew about. Only a fool would order an army to attack a land with the reigning monarch holding the jewel, unless they had some reason or advantage to make it all worthwhile.
She thought back to her days at the Yamani court. There had been something, well, something odd about Prince Tojo. Not exactly odd, more of an unwillingness to change. She had never given him much thought or recognition other that that which the future emperor was due.
Actually, now Kel thought about it, he reminded her of Lord Wyldon.
It seemed like everywhere she went, there was always someone against her. That she accepted as life, but the fact that they were against her because she was a she just wasn't right. Hadn't she proved her worth to all those stupid people who hated change already.
Kel shook her head at her own silliness, she was taking this far too personally. People had always been afraid of change, and Tortall was where all the big changes were happening.
She stopped and sat down, the walk in the gardens of her home had not helped to ease her mind. Most probably the only thing that would ease her mind was knowing that peace had returned and the whole idea of this silly and futile war on the horizon was forgotten.
It wasn't that Kel didn't have faith in her friends to survive against their enemies, it was that her friends were on both sides. She had seen enough fights to make her wonder if becoming a knight was such a good idea, but never doubted her past judgements. Nevertheless, now she didn't know what to do. She knew she would end up fighting in the brewing war, because she would never abandon her friends, but she didn't know on which side, or why.
The people Kel felt the most concerned for were Neal, Yuki, Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami. Whenever there was a war there was always hate for the other side. Having a wife from the enemy side, let alone a princess and future queen, was going to cause trouble. The four of them were all behind Tortall walls, but Kel had to wonder how long it would be before one of the couples at least had to leave.
The war with Scarna three years ago had been more than enough, Tortall was only just now beginning to recover. At least Scarna had far too many mountains so close to their shore for an army to forage easily. The Copper Isles were remaining neutral, being in much the same situation as the Yamanis, and quite likely to jump on the band wagon at a later stage if the Yamani Isles seemed to be winning.
Kel jumped out of her thoughts suddenly when something cold and wet brushed against her hand. This wasn't an unusual occurance, but she hadn't been expecting it.
"What do you want?" she asked the little dog that had jumped up onto the seat beside her. Although still a small puppy, the dog had intelligence behind his eyes set firmly on a brown wedge-shaped skull with one ear pointing up, the other ear flopping down and a tail frantically slapping anything that came within range. All its fur was brown except for a white tip of its tail. The dog yipped and headbutted Kel's arm.
"What do you want Dip?" Dip, as the dog was called because of its tail, was one of Jump's offspring. There was also Rolo, named because he would always roll onto his back whenever anyone looked at him, Rouge, named so because he was always stealing food, Runt, called that because he was the smallest, and Blackie, because he was black and lacked any other distinguishing feature.
"Lady Kel!" Tobe came running towards her. For a change he was without his usually companion, a small, feisty, piebald mare he had named, as people so often do to animals of her colouring, Spot. He had actually grown a lot in three years, and Kel suspected would end up quite handsome and make a fair few girls swoon. That is, if he could stop making horses fall in love with him.
"What is it Tobe?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but your parents would like a word."
"I'm coming."
Keladry of Mindelan had never expected it to happen. The Yamani Islands and Tortall had held a treaty and alliance for years, and now, without warning, it had fallen apart. It made no sense. Tortall, it seemed, made far more enemies than it did friends.
Even worse, Keladry felt no more loyalty to Tortall than she did the islands, they had both been, and both were, her home. She had friends on both sides, and wanted to fight against nobody she knew.
But the very worst part was, that she knew she would.
Anybody who glanced at her face just then would have known nothing of her inner turmoil, for her face was a familiar Yamani calm, but Keladry had made sure that there was nobody around just then to witness it. Her face hadn't changed much during the last three years, she still had her hazel, dreamy eyes, her short cut brown hair and determined chin. But now, to add to the list of noticable features, she had a scar across her left cheak which had healed cleanly, but had left a dint.
Kel couldn't work out why this nightmare was coming true, it made no sense. The Yamani's had always been able to survive with just their islands, so they didn't really need to attack Tortall's shore. Also, King Jonathan had the Dominian Jewel, which they surely knew about. Only a fool would order an army to attack a land with the reigning monarch holding the jewel, unless they had some reason or advantage to make it all worthwhile.
She thought back to her days at the Yamani court. There had been something, well, something odd about Prince Tojo. Not exactly odd, more of an unwillingness to change. She had never given him much thought or recognition other that that which the future emperor was due.
Actually, now Kel thought about it, he reminded her of Lord Wyldon.
It seemed like everywhere she went, there was always someone against her. That she accepted as life, but the fact that they were against her because she was a she just wasn't right. Hadn't she proved her worth to all those stupid people who hated change already.
Kel shook her head at her own silliness, she was taking this far too personally. People had always been afraid of change, and Tortall was where all the big changes were happening.
She stopped and sat down, the walk in the gardens of her home had not helped to ease her mind. Most probably the only thing that would ease her mind was knowing that peace had returned and the whole idea of this silly and futile war on the horizon was forgotten.
It wasn't that Kel didn't have faith in her friends to survive against their enemies, it was that her friends were on both sides. She had seen enough fights to make her wonder if becoming a knight was such a good idea, but never doubted her past judgements. Nevertheless, now she didn't know what to do. She knew she would end up fighting in the brewing war, because she would never abandon her friends, but she didn't know on which side, or why.
The people Kel felt the most concerned for were Neal, Yuki, Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami. Whenever there was a war there was always hate for the other side. Having a wife from the enemy side, let alone a princess and future queen, was going to cause trouble. The four of them were all behind Tortall walls, but Kel had to wonder how long it would be before one of the couples at least had to leave.
The war with Scarna three years ago had been more than enough, Tortall was only just now beginning to recover. At least Scarna had far too many mountains so close to their shore for an army to forage easily. The Copper Isles were remaining neutral, being in much the same situation as the Yamanis, and quite likely to jump on the band wagon at a later stage if the Yamani Isles seemed to be winning.
Kel jumped out of her thoughts suddenly when something cold and wet brushed against her hand. This wasn't an unusual occurance, but she hadn't been expecting it.
"What do you want?" she asked the little dog that had jumped up onto the seat beside her. Although still a small puppy, the dog had intelligence behind his eyes set firmly on a brown wedge-shaped skull with one ear pointing up, the other ear flopping down and a tail frantically slapping anything that came within range. All its fur was brown except for a white tip of its tail. The dog yipped and headbutted Kel's arm.
"What do you want Dip?" Dip, as the dog was called because of its tail, was one of Jump's offspring. There was also Rolo, named because he would always roll onto his back whenever anyone looked at him, Rouge, named so because he was always stealing food, Runt, called that because he was the smallest, and Blackie, because he was black and lacked any other distinguishing feature.
"Lady Kel!" Tobe came running towards her. For a change he was without his usually companion, a small, feisty, piebald mare he had named, as people so often do to animals of her colouring, Spot. He had actually grown a lot in three years, and Kel suspected would end up quite handsome and make a fair few girls swoon. That is, if he could stop making horses fall in love with him.
"What is it Tobe?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but your parents would like a word."
"I'm coming."