"Ladies and gentlemen. Settle down now. That's the ticket! Today I will be evaluating your skill on with the bow. You will shoot five arrows at a target and depending on where you hit, I will place you in a group where I will be able to teach your level. You may talk quietly amongst yourselves and practice until I get to you." Brahm said in a monotonous voice. Adrienne and I talked a bit while we practiced. My shot wasn't as good as I'dve liked, especially compared to Adrienne, who was getting mostly bulls eyes and a couple of twos. I shook my head in dismay and said, "Compared to you I look like someone who's just beginning to use a bow. She blushed and answered, "I've been practicing to make up for my short comings in swords." We were silent for a moment before she asked, "What does your name mean? Adara told me this morning but I wasn't sure if it was true."

"Grandchild of the lordly. Pretty dorky huh?" Adrienne laughed and replied, "Well it's true isn't it?" I nodded in response because Brahm had come over.

"Goldenlake, you first." He called. Adrienne shot 5 bulls eyes. Brahm nodded his approval and said, "Definitely the advanced group. Go Queenscove." I, to my amazement, got for bulls eyes and a two. In shock I found myself jumping up and down, dancing around yelling, "Yes! Oh ya! I am soo great! Woohoo!" until I noticed Brahm giving me an evil glare.

"Page Queenscove, why is it necessary to congratulate yourself out loud? Being a knight is not about winning or celebrating over doing well IN TARGET PRACTICE. It's about protecting the weak and innocent and honoring the crown. Hopefully two hours of extra work will help you."

"Of all the idiotic things to punish a body for this is the worst of em all! You must be pretty insane to do that. I'll be bet you're just jealous old sonofa.."

"MAKE THAT FOUR HOURS. Another word out of I'll have ye doing work for a good long time to come!" Brahm roared. I was just about to open my mouth to say something else when Adrienne put her hand over my mouth and said, "Don't say another word until after class!"

"Wonderful advice Goldenlake, and Tierney, you are in the advanced group as well." I kept my quiet while ruthlessly puncturing the wooden target and mouthing every Yamini curse I could think of. As soon as the bell rang Adrienne grabbed me by the ear and began pulling me towards the stables.

"Tierney, you've got to learn to take punishment with a closed mouth. You'll only get yourself in more trouble by talking. And don't think about talking back to me either. Remember my father is the commander of the King's Own and I learned just about everything I know from him." She said, finally letting go of my ear.

"Uh, where are we going? We have swords in the courtyard now." I mumbled to her, slightly embarrassed at my out burst.

"We're taking a detour to be late to see if you can take any sort of punishment silently. She stopped and turned around. "OK this should make us late enough. Now on to the courtyard." We arrived exactly one minute after for the class to begin sounded.

"Ladies! How kind of you to finally grace us with your presence. One hour of work for lateness, each." He called jovelantly, and then he paused, as if waiting for me to react. I stood quietly next to Adrienne. After recovering from the shock of me staying quiet he continued saying, "Uh now then, when I call you name step forward and spar against the opponent I've selected. Who shall be my first victims? Let's see. Queenscove and.. Cagney. Traditional style please."

Quinian and I stepped forward to the center, touched swords, bowed and touched swords again. Then we went at it. Instead of only going half way in force we went all the way. At first I only used offensive moves when I decided to turn the tables. I ducked his hit and swung hard catching his sword at the base, knocking it out of his hand. I turned to go grab his sword when wham! Out of no where he tripped me! Brahm responded immediately by yelling, "Disqualified! NO TRIPPING IN A TRADITIONAL SPAR! Cagney learn to control your anger. If you had done that in a real duel with a shield to your name, you would have lost your shield. Well done Queenscove but in a battle with an enemy watch your back."

"Yes sir!" I replied grinning that I because I had won, well would've if Cagney hadn't tried to cheat.

"When others have finished you may hold mini spars betweenst yourselves. Keep em clean. ALL OF YE!" Brahm said as he considered who the next pair would be. Quinian and I moved to opposite ends of the courtyard where I began practicing defensive moves against a non-existent opponent. A few moments later Terri came over to me, he watched me for a few moments than looked away, as if deep in thought.

"Care for a spar Tierney?" he asked, already pulling out his sword.

"Sure. Let's go!" I said as we began the ceremony of dueling. It was a tough fight and Terri was better than I expected. In the end, I lost and he got carried away. He held his sword to my throat and nicked my throat.

"Ouch dammit! You nicked me move that bloody thing and help me up!" I yelled at him. After he helped me up I held a hand at him so he wouldn't start apologizing. I closed my eyes and called up a gold flame, my gift. I held it to my cut throat until I felt the skin heal. I waved away Terri's apologies but denied his request for another spar. I went back to my invisible partner until the end of class. When the bell rang me, Terri and Adrienne, as well as some of Terri's friends moved in a group across the cobble stone path to the arena for our last physical class of the day Martial Arts. Mistress Shang, a small but robust Yamini stood in front of us. She looked us over before calling "Line up with someone about the same height as you. I looked about for someone close to my size. TO my great dismay, the person closest to my size is a good half a foot taller than I am. Oh yeah and it's Quinian. Just my luck I thought as I stood next to him.

"OK, like most other teachers will be doing today, I'm just evaluating how well you know the martial arts. We will of course be sparing. Starting with the smallest two and working up. I want nice, clean fights. No groin shots. Girl, I'd be willing to bet anything that you are Sir Neal's daughter, are you?"

"Yes ma'am" I said blushing.

"And you boy what's your name?" she barked at Quinian.

"Quinian of Cagney Mistress." He answered obediently.

"Very good. Good luck to you both." She called as we started. At first we weren't very rough throwing light bows at each other's hardened parts. Then Quinian punched me square in the nose. I gave a startled gasp as I heard the bone crack. I lost all control and flew into a fighting rage. Whack! Wham! Bam! Smack! The blows flowed freely between us until Shang and Terri jumped in grabbing us and pulling us apart. Shang looked us up and down before yelling to Adrienne and Terri to take us to the healers. Adrienne grabbed me by the shoulders leading me and a trail of blood along. Terri grabbed Quinian by the ear leading him along, despite Quinian's string of oaths towards him. When we arrived at the healers' wing Terri told the shocked looking healer that we had been fighting in Martial Arts spar that got too rough. She rolled her eyes and yelled, "Jonah! We've got patients!" before bringing us in. She sat me in the first room and Quinian in the second.

"You two may return to class. We'll handle things from here." The healer said shooing them out.

"Keep em separated, they are brutal." Terri said as he left. She came into me first, since I was still bleeding from many spots on my face, but mostly my nose.

"My name is Minevera of Giancovi. This is my assistant Jonah of Beluga. Let's fix this nose and the rest of you shall we?" she said to me. I sat quietly as she healed my face, a rather painful procedure. I took all my healing without flinching. She examined the rest of me and declared me healthy, with exceptions of a very bruised and battered body. She told em to go rest and that she would have my luncheon sent to my chamber. I left and walked quietly to my room. The bell rang as I entered. The first thing I did was draw up a hot steamy bath. I sat in the tub of hot water for a half an hour before getting out, toweling off changing into a loose fitting white blouse and a pair of black knee breeches. I pulled my hair back with a black ribbon. A knock sounded at the door and a small maid walked in baring a tray of hot food.

'The healer said to be sure and eat it all." She said setting it on my desk and quickly leaving, before I could even thank her. I looked at my desk and decided to write my father for a LARGE container of bruise healing balm. Already, it looked like I was going to need it.

A/N:

Ahh! This chapter is turning out waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. I promise I will finish it tomorrow. Would've had this part up sooner but I got groundedL Hope you all enjoy this part too!

~*AnnaBeth*~