CHAPTER 3:
Disclaimer: Please note that all the characters presented are not my own, those that are not original belong to Tamora Pierce.
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Keladry sat outside the kitchen in a small garden. She had been home at Mindelan for a month now, not really knowing what to do with herself. She often wrote letters to her friends but their replies did not come often enough to keep her entertained. Five cats walked proudly out of the kitchen and began to circle the sitting girl. These were her favorite animals to be around and talk to since she was home. The first time they had meet Kel had saved their lives from a hungry Spidren by the river. Just thinking about her first encounter with these immortal creatures made Kel shiver. A Spidren was a large spider of almost 5 feet in length with a human head. Being immortal they were immune to disease and old age. It is possible to kill these creatures physically but even that is hard to do because their stomach area is able to shoot out a sticky substance, like that of a spiders web which could be used to trap and entangle their intended victims or attackers.
As the cats lazed around her, Kel thought about her life at the palace, her friends and what she was going to do now. Kel knew that marriage was not an option and joining the convent then being shipped off to Corus to be eventually courted would crush her. Even after her treatment at the Palace, Kel still planed on becoming a warrior, even if it meant waiting until she was 15 to join the Queens Riders or become one of the Queen's ladies.
Kel pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her arms around them. Keladry tried to empty her mind so that she could think about her dilemma rationally.
"Lady Keladry?" a serving girl asked softly, scaring her slightly. She had not heard the girl sneak up behind her. "You're parents have someone they would like you to meet. They ask for you to please meet them in the observatory" the serving girls curtsied quickly and backed away.
Kel stood and smoothed the few creases that were in her breaches and shirt. Although she did not have to wear 'boy' clothes any more Kel still did, finding them more comfortable and easier to fight in. Kel did not have the desire to remind the people around her that she was girl as she did at the palace. She sometimes considered whether that was part of her downfall.
Though she did not have a training master on her back about her training, Kel still practiced all that she had learnt from the palace each day.
The only good things that Kel could find about leaving the palace were that she could sleep in past dawn, spend as much time as she wished with her parents, could ride Peachblossom for enjoyment, not as part of her training, and she could have proper training with her mother and the Yamin weapon, the Glaive, which was basically a staff with a bladed end.
Kel knocked timidly on the oak door that led to the observatory. A servant opened the door and lead her to Baron Piers, Lady Ilane and a tall dark stranger.
Disclaimer: Please note that all the characters presented are not my own, those that are not original belong to Tamora Pierce.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.
Keladry sat outside the kitchen in a small garden. She had been home at Mindelan for a month now, not really knowing what to do with herself. She often wrote letters to her friends but their replies did not come often enough to keep her entertained. Five cats walked proudly out of the kitchen and began to circle the sitting girl. These were her favorite animals to be around and talk to since she was home. The first time they had meet Kel had saved their lives from a hungry Spidren by the river. Just thinking about her first encounter with these immortal creatures made Kel shiver. A Spidren was a large spider of almost 5 feet in length with a human head. Being immortal they were immune to disease and old age. It is possible to kill these creatures physically but even that is hard to do because their stomach area is able to shoot out a sticky substance, like that of a spiders web which could be used to trap and entangle their intended victims or attackers.
As the cats lazed around her, Kel thought about her life at the palace, her friends and what she was going to do now. Kel knew that marriage was not an option and joining the convent then being shipped off to Corus to be eventually courted would crush her. Even after her treatment at the Palace, Kel still planed on becoming a warrior, even if it meant waiting until she was 15 to join the Queens Riders or become one of the Queen's ladies.
Kel pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her arms around them. Keladry tried to empty her mind so that she could think about her dilemma rationally.
"Lady Keladry?" a serving girl asked softly, scaring her slightly. She had not heard the girl sneak up behind her. "You're parents have someone they would like you to meet. They ask for you to please meet them in the observatory" the serving girls curtsied quickly and backed away.
Kel stood and smoothed the few creases that were in her breaches and shirt. Although she did not have to wear 'boy' clothes any more Kel still did, finding them more comfortable and easier to fight in. Kel did not have the desire to remind the people around her that she was girl as she did at the palace. She sometimes considered whether that was part of her downfall.
Though she did not have a training master on her back about her training, Kel still practiced all that she had learnt from the palace each day.
The only good things that Kel could find about leaving the palace were that she could sleep in past dawn, spend as much time as she wished with her parents, could ride Peachblossom for enjoyment, not as part of her training, and she could have proper training with her mother and the Yamin weapon, the Glaive, which was basically a staff with a bladed end.
Kel knocked timidly on the oak door that led to the observatory. A servant opened the door and lead her to Baron Piers, Lady Ilane and a tall dark stranger.