Ok this is my first story. So please write a review! I will be getting more chapters soon!

Disclaimer: I own all these characters and places. They are all made up by me.

All italicized words are thought. The quotation marks come out as Ò! All underlined stuff is dialogue.

It had been a seven-day ride from her hometown of Kigara to the capitol city of Tondor. She knew it like the back of her hand. She had been here many times with her father on market days. Those were the days when everyone came to sell what they had. People came from across the country to buy and sell.

She flicked a lock of brown hair from her face and dismounted. The palace hostlers took her horses and a servant showed her to the training masters office. He opened the door and announced her. The room had only room for a desk and a chair. Lord Duncan sat behind his desk and looked her over.
Elizabeth of Kigara?

Yes my lord. She bowed. Maybe I should have curtsied?

You wish to become a?

I wish to train as a rider.

Ah! Well the recruits start training tomorrow. Have you a note from your guardian He looked her in the eyes. She pulled a roll of parchment from her cloak and handed it to him.

He opened it and read it carefully. He smiled and looked up. Welcome to the riders! She smiled and bowed deeply. Daniel will show you to your rooms. A man appeared beside her, bowing.

He led her down a hall and up a staircase. Boys and girls we crowded in this hallway. These would be her new peers and friends. Daniel took her to a room at the end of the hall and opened the door. He handed her the keys and bowed himself out. She looked around.

There was a bed by the window with a small table near the bed. A desk sat in the corner and a dresser was on the wall opposite the bed. On the wall across from the door there was a dressing screen and a chair on which to place her clothes. Her bags had been placed in a trunk at the end of the bed and a palace uniform had been laid out on the chair. She picked it up. It was at least five sizes too big!

She stepped behind the screen and put on her shirt. She had been right. It was too big. All of a sudden it began to shrink until it was a perfect fit. The breeches, boots, and tunic were the same and shrunk to fit as soon as she put them on. The palace sorcerers had obviously put spells on them.

She stepped over to the mirror and admired herself. The white shirt, the olive tunic, and tan breeches looked good on her. Her eyes were as brown as her hair and her skin was as tan as her breeches. I look good! she thought. She was even so bold as to walk out of her room. As soon as the door closed people crowded all around her.

There were at least ten new recruits. She was introduced to all of them.

I am Gryphon of Hinldar, that was a tiny boy with black hair.

I am Margaret of Maber, a girl with dull blonde hair said.

I am Aiden of Stomry! This was a boy with mouse brown hair.

I am Peggy of Gintindale, was a tall black haired girl.

I am Leo of Yillsak, was a foreign looking boy with deep eyes.

I am Millie of Argledisk, was a pale girl with auburn hair.

I am Salvador of Wanton, was a tall, strong, blonde boy.

I am Frances of Midkle, was a chubby boy from the south.

I am Sora of Renford, was a tiny girl also from the south.

There were two more of them that had not spoken. One was a girl who was looking at her nails the second was a boy with his back turned. He was reading something on a board near by.

Hey Nathan! Come meet the new girl! The boy turned around and smiled.

Hello! I am Nathanial of Draxxus. he looked her in the eyes and smiled. His hair was a light brown and his eyes a sapphire blue. She returned the smile.

Hey! You never told us your name! that was Gryphon.

Mine is Elizabeth, but you can all call me Beth, she said.

I will show you around the castle if you wish. Nathan gestured grandly.

I would be honoured! She replied and bowed

The next day lessons started. They took lessons one day then training the next. First they had reading, which she could already do. The teaching masters requested that she chose a novel and read a chapter a week and be ready to report on it every Friday. She chose a novel about lady knights and read the chapter in just over two hours. Next was writing, which she could also do. She was to then write a poem every week for a month, then be able to report on it on Friday. These classes went by so fast that soon it was lunch. They were given stew and rolls. She sat with Gryphon, Peggy, Leo, Salvador, and Nathanial. They were all twelve. The others were eleven and thirteen.

What kind of weapons do we get to use? She asked through a mouthful. She didnÕt care how unladylike she was being.

Mostly a bow, but also staff, lance, and sword. Leo chucked a piece of roll at Peggy and she threw one back.

The bow is our primary weapon, because we need it most often, but we learn the others just in case. Nathan was very knowledgeable to what went on in the castle. He had lived here his whole life.

Why do you not live in Draxxus? She asked when he told her.

My father works for the king and needs to be here. He looked at the table, his eyes, once dancing, now full of sadness. And Griffins destroyed it three years back. My sister and baby brother were killed. We moved here shortly after. She put a hand on his shoulder and he smiled at her. She knew how he felt. Her Uncle had been killed by centaurs only a year ago.

The meal over, they knew it was back to work. Math came after lunch. She hated math. The teacher was angry when she said she could not do division. He put her to work, learning with Nathan. His father had taught him everything in math. They agreed that if Elizabeth helped him with his writing, he would help with her math. The teacher assigned her a book of problems in which she was to do two pages each week to hand in on Friday.

I think that the teachers here really like the day Friday! She commented dryly on their way to geography.

We work hard in the week and then after Friday, we get Saturday and Sunday off! Aiden popped up behind her.

Geography was her favorite subject. They were to study and draw maps of parts of Odlaborin. She chose to first draw a map of Kigara. She was to complete it and hand it in on Friday.

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That night found her, Nathan, Gryphon, Peggy, and Aiden all sitting on a bed searching their brains.

Elizabeth? How do you spell royalty? Gryphon was miserable at writing and he didnÕt care who knew it.

R-o-y-a-l-t-y. Beth didnÕt mind helping. And call me Beth! Elizabeth is too much of a mouthful! She hated when they were formal. Nathan? Are we the only recruits?

No you train for five years and they keep them pretty much separate. The first years hang around with the first years and so on. But occasionally an older kid might try bullying us.

Oh.

Gryph? WhatÕs twenty-one divided by seven?

The rest of the night was spent laughing and joking.

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