Alternate Endings
Chapter 7
Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!!
*Elspeth: You bet I'll keep going! I haven't written in forever, though, so tell me if I seem rusty.
CrystalRose: You've got to remember that these are two totally different stories that we're dealing with here. In the one, she might be with Roald but have an affair of sorts with Cleon, or maybe she won't. In the other, she'll either be with Joren, Neal, or Cleon.
Princess Freak: Roald knows on the even chapters. In the odd numbered chapters, which is a totally different story, they are not to be married.*
Setting off the next day with the prince and Lord Imrah was awkward. Kel felt odd after asking the prince such as personal question the day before. He didn't seem to mind, in fact, he was quite polite to her, but more so in a friendly sort of way. Most of the time Kel rode in silence, but sometimes the silence was breached by the soft conversational voice of lord Imrah's lady.
She very kindly filled Kel in on some of the styles sported by the roses that were the queen's ladies. All the young women wore as practical clothes as would pass for a respectable queen's handmaiden. Sometimes, they even went so far as to wear breaches under their skirts if they thought a real threat was imminent during a formal occasion. They mainly, though, served as the queen's bodyguards and bandit disciplinarians. The rough-and-tumble noble girls of the realm.
At one point, the heir of the throne startled her by confirming his hunch that Innes of Mindelan was indeed her elder brother. As he had thought, so it was.
"Might I ask as to why you inquire, your highness?" She asked him carefully so as not to be too invasive again.
"Roald." He reminded her. "Sir Innes' Squire is a year-mate of mine."
"Oh! Are you friends with Cleon?" She looked at him hopefully, but was dismayed to see his face tighten.
"Cleon of Kennan and I are year-mates." Roald spoke carefully and deliberately, so she would not repeat her mistake.
Kel did the smart thing and shut up. If she was going to (perhaps) be on friendly terms with the prince, she would have to learn to be a little more careful. She took her shukusen from its place in her belt and opened it, toying with it.
"What is that?" Roald asked, "It doesn't look quite like a normal fan." She supposed that he'd seen the sunlight glinting off the steel.
"A shukusen." Kel told him. "How did you know it wasn't a simple fan?"
"I saw the light reflecting off something. Could you explain what it is a little more?"
"This is a lady's fan; used in the Yamani islands. If a lady feels that she may be in some kind of danger, she carries one. There is also a very fun game played with them." She smiled and twirled the lethal weapon between her fingers. "Would you like to look at it?" Kel offered the fan over the space between their horses.
Roald accepted the offered weapon and Kel say his eyebrows rise as he felt the weight of it. Examining it, he looked more closely at the foreign object with interest.
Suddenly the prince's horse stumbled inexplicably, causing him to momentarily toss the object into the air. He snatched at it unwisely to keep it from falling into the road. He cut his hand up badly and bled profusely.
"Goddess Roald!" Kel exclaimed, pulling her mount closer to his. Gently, she opened the damaged hand that was still clutching the source of its ruin and removed the shukusen, placing it blood and all back into her belt.
Kel's cry had caught the attention of Lord Imrah who rode back to see what the commotion was about. He found his lady-guest wrapping his squire's hand with a handkerchief. Blood was quickly soaking through the scrap of cloth.
"For Mithros' sake Roald! You know better than this! Heal yourself! Then tell me what happened here!" His eyes caught sight of the blood-covered steel of the shukusen that Kel was wiping off before it could have a chance to stain the silk. The man frowned deeply.
Out of the corner of her eye Kel saw this and her breath stuck in her throat. What if the lord of Legann decided that she had hurt Roald? It didn't seem likely, as she had tried to bandage the wound, but one could never tell how a person's mind would work when it, literally, came to royal blood.
"Yes." He said. "I would be most interested to know what just happened here."
Chapter 7
Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!!
*Elspeth: You bet I'll keep going! I haven't written in forever, though, so tell me if I seem rusty.
CrystalRose: You've got to remember that these are two totally different stories that we're dealing with here. In the one, she might be with Roald but have an affair of sorts with Cleon, or maybe she won't. In the other, she'll either be with Joren, Neal, or Cleon.
Princess Freak: Roald knows on the even chapters. In the odd numbered chapters, which is a totally different story, they are not to be married.*
Setting off the next day with the prince and Lord Imrah was awkward. Kel felt odd after asking the prince such as personal question the day before. He didn't seem to mind, in fact, he was quite polite to her, but more so in a friendly sort of way. Most of the time Kel rode in silence, but sometimes the silence was breached by the soft conversational voice of lord Imrah's lady.
She very kindly filled Kel in on some of the styles sported by the roses that were the queen's ladies. All the young women wore as practical clothes as would pass for a respectable queen's handmaiden. Sometimes, they even went so far as to wear breaches under their skirts if they thought a real threat was imminent during a formal occasion. They mainly, though, served as the queen's bodyguards and bandit disciplinarians. The rough-and-tumble noble girls of the realm.
At one point, the heir of the throne startled her by confirming his hunch that Innes of Mindelan was indeed her elder brother. As he had thought, so it was.
"Might I ask as to why you inquire, your highness?" She asked him carefully so as not to be too invasive again.
"Roald." He reminded her. "Sir Innes' Squire is a year-mate of mine."
"Oh! Are you friends with Cleon?" She looked at him hopefully, but was dismayed to see his face tighten.
"Cleon of Kennan and I are year-mates." Roald spoke carefully and deliberately, so she would not repeat her mistake.
Kel did the smart thing and shut up. If she was going to (perhaps) be on friendly terms with the prince, she would have to learn to be a little more careful. She took her shukusen from its place in her belt and opened it, toying with it.
"What is that?" Roald asked, "It doesn't look quite like a normal fan." She supposed that he'd seen the sunlight glinting off the steel.
"A shukusen." Kel told him. "How did you know it wasn't a simple fan?"
"I saw the light reflecting off something. Could you explain what it is a little more?"
"This is a lady's fan; used in the Yamani islands. If a lady feels that she may be in some kind of danger, she carries one. There is also a very fun game played with them." She smiled and twirled the lethal weapon between her fingers. "Would you like to look at it?" Kel offered the fan over the space between their horses.
Roald accepted the offered weapon and Kel say his eyebrows rise as he felt the weight of it. Examining it, he looked more closely at the foreign object with interest.
Suddenly the prince's horse stumbled inexplicably, causing him to momentarily toss the object into the air. He snatched at it unwisely to keep it from falling into the road. He cut his hand up badly and bled profusely.
"Goddess Roald!" Kel exclaimed, pulling her mount closer to his. Gently, she opened the damaged hand that was still clutching the source of its ruin and removed the shukusen, placing it blood and all back into her belt.
Kel's cry had caught the attention of Lord Imrah who rode back to see what the commotion was about. He found his lady-guest wrapping his squire's hand with a handkerchief. Blood was quickly soaking through the scrap of cloth.
"For Mithros' sake Roald! You know better than this! Heal yourself! Then tell me what happened here!" His eyes caught sight of the blood-covered steel of the shukusen that Kel was wiping off before it could have a chance to stain the silk. The man frowned deeply.
Out of the corner of her eye Kel saw this and her breath stuck in her throat. What if the lord of Legann decided that she had hurt Roald? It didn't seem likely, as she had tried to bandage the wound, but one could never tell how a person's mind would work when it, literally, came to royal blood.
"Yes." He said. "I would be most interested to know what just happened here."