Alternate Endings
Chapter One
Reading the letter from the training master for the second time, she fought to keep her face from showing how upset she was.
At ten years of age, Keladry of Mindelan was the youngest of her diplomat parents' children. With three brothers serving the realm of Tortall as knights, it had also been her dream to follow in their footsteps and train as a page, then squire, to become a knight.
Piers and Ilane of Mindelan, her parents, respecting and encouraging her wishes, had written to Lord Wyldon of Cavall, the training master at the palace. The man had replied to the letter with one of his own, stating that since she was a girl, she would be on probation her first year as a page, and liable to be sent home at the end of her first year.
"It is not the reply we expected," Baron Piers said at last. He was a short, stocky man. Keladry had his build, delicate nose, and dreamy, long-lashed hazel eyes. Her brown hair was several shades lighter than his. When Kel did not reply, he continued, "His declaration of ten years ago was that girls could become pages. Nothing was said of probation then."
"Keladry?" Asked her mother. "You can say what you feel. We are no longer among the Yamanis." She was a thin, elegant woman, taller than her husband by nearly a head, with hair that had gone al white very early in life, and a deep, musical voice. All Keladry had from her was height. At the age of ten the girl was already five feet tall and still growing.
It took Kel a moment to register what her mother had said. She tried a smile. "But Mama, I don't want to get into bad habits, in case I go back with you." She looked at Lord Wyldon's letter again. She had expected to be a page when her parents returned to the Yamani Islands in eighteen months. From the tone of this letter, perhaps she ought to not count on that.
"It isn't right," she said quietly, even fiercely. "No boys have probation. I'm supposed to be treated the same.
"Don't give your answer yet," Baron Per said quietly. "Take the letter with you. Think about what it says. You're not hasty Kel - this is a bad time to start.
"Reflect as if you have all of time, even if time is short," added her mother in Yamani. "Be as stone."
Kel bowed Yamani-style, palms flat on her thighs. Then she went someplace quiet to think.
First she considered her room, but it was next to the nursery and she didn't want to have to chance dealing with her nieces and nephews that lived at the fief. Then she peeked out a door to see her sisters-in-law and their maids in her next choice of reflecting place - the fountain in the castle garden. Her third place was one where she had to eliminate it immediately. It was a tower where she used to go every day until; right before she left for the Islands, her brother Conal had dangled her over the balcony.
By this time, she was almost out of possibilities and too angry and frustrated to think at all, let alone straight for a matter of such importance. She finally settled into a corner in a small courtyard.
'If I don't train as a page, I could still join the Queen's Riders when I'm fifteen, or I can hope that I'm asked to be a Queen's Lady.' Kel thought to herself. 'Oh, what am I thinking? If I can't be treated equally and fairly, I'll just go back to the Islands with my parents. What kind of knight would I be anyway, representing a nation that acts such.' Although Kel had little interest in a lady's arts, at least in the Yamani Court, where she would be, everyone was treated the same in such training, and the ladies learned some fighting arts - defensive and traditional. She rose and sought out her parents to tell them her decision.
She found them conversing with a servant about some matter or another. When her parents saw her, they silenced, finishing the conversation quickly, and dismissed the servant, watching their youngest expectantly.
"I'm not going to do it. She told her parents. "If you look at it in the light of learning self-defense, we learn that in the Islands. I can stand up for myself well enough with my hands alone, and when I have a glaive or shukusen, I'm sure to be all right. That is my decision and I will return to with you to the Yamani Islands in eighteen months time."
Her father nodded his head. "If that is truly what you would like my dear. I trust your judgment."
"It is."
Ilane gave her daughter a hug. "Some habits I don't mind forming," She whispered to Kel, who rewarded her with a brief half-given and half-felt smile.
~~~~~~~FIVE YEARS LATER IN THE YAMANI ISLANDS~~~~~~~
Keladry was playing a game of fan-toss when the messenger rode up, bowed in his saddle, gave her a rolled piece of parchment, bowed once more from atop his stallion, and rode away.
Chapter One
Reading the letter from the training master for the second time, she fought to keep her face from showing how upset she was.
At ten years of age, Keladry of Mindelan was the youngest of her diplomat parents' children. With three brothers serving the realm of Tortall as knights, it had also been her dream to follow in their footsteps and train as a page, then squire, to become a knight.
Piers and Ilane of Mindelan, her parents, respecting and encouraging her wishes, had written to Lord Wyldon of Cavall, the training master at the palace. The man had replied to the letter with one of his own, stating that since she was a girl, she would be on probation her first year as a page, and liable to be sent home at the end of her first year.
"It is not the reply we expected," Baron Piers said at last. He was a short, stocky man. Keladry had his build, delicate nose, and dreamy, long-lashed hazel eyes. Her brown hair was several shades lighter than his. When Kel did not reply, he continued, "His declaration of ten years ago was that girls could become pages. Nothing was said of probation then."
"Keladry?" Asked her mother. "You can say what you feel. We are no longer among the Yamanis." She was a thin, elegant woman, taller than her husband by nearly a head, with hair that had gone al white very early in life, and a deep, musical voice. All Keladry had from her was height. At the age of ten the girl was already five feet tall and still growing.
It took Kel a moment to register what her mother had said. She tried a smile. "But Mama, I don't want to get into bad habits, in case I go back with you." She looked at Lord Wyldon's letter again. She had expected to be a page when her parents returned to the Yamani Islands in eighteen months. From the tone of this letter, perhaps she ought to not count on that.
"It isn't right," she said quietly, even fiercely. "No boys have probation. I'm supposed to be treated the same.
"Don't give your answer yet," Baron Per said quietly. "Take the letter with you. Think about what it says. You're not hasty Kel - this is a bad time to start.
"Reflect as if you have all of time, even if time is short," added her mother in Yamani. "Be as stone."
Kel bowed Yamani-style, palms flat on her thighs. Then she went someplace quiet to think.
First she considered her room, but it was next to the nursery and she didn't want to have to chance dealing with her nieces and nephews that lived at the fief. Then she peeked out a door to see her sisters-in-law and their maids in her next choice of reflecting place - the fountain in the castle garden. Her third place was one where she had to eliminate it immediately. It was a tower where she used to go every day until; right before she left for the Islands, her brother Conal had dangled her over the balcony.
By this time, she was almost out of possibilities and too angry and frustrated to think at all, let alone straight for a matter of such importance. She finally settled into a corner in a small courtyard.
'If I don't train as a page, I could still join the Queen's Riders when I'm fifteen, or I can hope that I'm asked to be a Queen's Lady.' Kel thought to herself. 'Oh, what am I thinking? If I can't be treated equally and fairly, I'll just go back to the Islands with my parents. What kind of knight would I be anyway, representing a nation that acts such.' Although Kel had little interest in a lady's arts, at least in the Yamani Court, where she would be, everyone was treated the same in such training, and the ladies learned some fighting arts - defensive and traditional. She rose and sought out her parents to tell them her decision.
She found them conversing with a servant about some matter or another. When her parents saw her, they silenced, finishing the conversation quickly, and dismissed the servant, watching their youngest expectantly.
"I'm not going to do it. She told her parents. "If you look at it in the light of learning self-defense, we learn that in the Islands. I can stand up for myself well enough with my hands alone, and when I have a glaive or shukusen, I'm sure to be all right. That is my decision and I will return to with you to the Yamani Islands in eighteen months time."
Her father nodded his head. "If that is truly what you would like my dear. I trust your judgment."
"It is."
Ilane gave her daughter a hug. "Some habits I don't mind forming," She whispered to Kel, who rewarded her with a brief half-given and half-felt smile.
~~~~~~~FIVE YEARS LATER IN THE YAMANI ISLANDS~~~~~~~
Keladry was playing a game of fan-toss when the messenger rode up, bowed in his saddle, gave her a rolled piece of parchment, bowed once more from atop his stallion, and rode away.