Chapter IV: Dreams
Zira was at the top of the tallest tower of the palace. As she looked down below her a great battle raged.
"Give me your hand, Zira," her father shouted from beside her. He had been up there since the very beginning; his eyes, hands and entire body were glowing with an intense amber light.
"Eimar, protect your people," he murmured over and over.
"Amane," Zira replied each time. She looked up at him; he was haggard and worn from no sleep and little food, and he was fighting. Fighting something stronger than even he was. She looked down at the battle seething beneath her. Her nine-year-old body shook uncontrollably. She tried to close her eyes but couldn't – she couldn't even blink. She looked downwards as if a magnetic force were pulling her into the fray. Her mother was down there in that sea of people and horses. Zira's eyes searched for her as only a daughter can. Then there she was sword in one hand, knife in the other, helmet lost but her chain mail glittering amber in the sun. She stood over the wounded body of Abi protecting him with the ferocity that is peculiar to a mother protecting her young.
A horse, golden in the sun, gold washed chain mail, a sharp sword met her mother's, the queen, steel blade. A knight, red hair flowing from beneath her helmet, struck again and again. Then suddenly with a sweep of her sword the queen fell, and a golden lioness glittered above her. The knight whirled again never missing a beat to attack the next opponent.
"Mama!" Zira screamed, amber fire consuming her from within. "Mama!"
Zira woke up. The dream kept on returning. She curled up in the blankets and sobbed herself back to sleep.
*~*~*
When she woke the next morning, Shae had lain out the day's clothes and had lit a fire in the hearth.
"Shae!" Zira called. The girl entered the room and smiled. "Shae you shouldn't have lit the fire. I could have done it."
"No need. I am going to have an easy time of it here. You are the one who is going to spend most of the time acting as a punching bag. The least I can do is make your room comfortable."
"But you're not a servant. You shouldn't feel you have to act as one."
Shae shrugged.
"It's what people expect. None of the others will have brought with them their best friend for companionship. I'll stick out less if I just pretend I'm your lady in waiting." Shae nudged Zira. "You don't want to be any more different than you have to."
"Shae I'm glad you came," Zira bowed her head. "I'd feel so alone here without you."
"Oh Zira! Did you have the dream again?" Shae put her arms around her friend, and Zira laid her head on her shoulder. The first bell rang. They jumped. Zira rapidly began to get dressed.
"Shae?" she said as she was putting her hair into battle-style.
"What?" she asked with a smile.
"Do you miss home?"
"Of course but this is just another adventure. We'll live through this just like everything else. I'll be treated like dirt, and you'll be beaten to pulp. It won't be so bad."
Zira laughed.
"We will make it, for Antitheos."
"For Antitheos." Shae agreed.
*~*~*
After breakfast Zira followed all of the other new pages down the hall until they came to a halt in a small rotunda. The corridors branched off into all directions like the spokes of a wheel, creating a disconcerting space where one could never tell which direction one faced. The atmosphere of the room rubbed off on the boys, who clustered together in the small groups that they had already formed to talk in hushed tones. Zira stood alone, but she felt from time to time the eyes of the boys darting over to her small form.
From one of the corridors Lord Wyldon emerged followed by the older pages, who by virtue of their superior position looked condescendingly down at the new recruits before joining them in a line. All of the boys bowed, but Zira simply inclined her head in Antithean fashion. Lord Wyldon looked at her.
"Will some one teach our Antithean friend how to bow properly," he said severely. A tall brunette with curly hair and very blue eyes looked at her mockingly and bowed deeply. Zira met Lord Wyldon's eyes.
"In Antitheos it is disrespect to Eimar if one bows that far to a mere mortal," she explained frankly, yet with indubitable pride.
"And who may I ask is Eimar?" Lord Wyldon asked sarcastically. Zira flinched at the flippant way in which he said the name.
"Why Eimar is God," she replied. "Does Tortall not have a god?" Everyone in the room turned towards Zira horrified.
"Why yes, we actually have many gods, but this is not the history of religion. I do not care what customs you held before you came here, you will bow when the others do and in the manner the others do." Zira met his eyes, but did not say a word. Defeated he turned to the boy at the far end of the line.
"Boy! Your name and your fief." Wyldon said sharply. The boy started, and his black eyes regained focus.
"William of Ikor," he said quietly.
"Will any one sponsor William of Ikor, and teach him the ways of the palace?" A tall blond page walked up.
"I will," he said.
"William, go with Falkin." The small boy smiled shyly at his sponsor and moved to stand beside him. So it went until all of the new pages had sponsors, all except Zira. Her head was held high, she was not ashamed, she met each curious gaze, and sized all of the boys up in a glance.
"Your name and your holdings." Lord Wyldon had come to her.
"Princess Zirabehti, Kouré of Antitheos," she said clearly. All of the boys took in a breath and looked at her resentfully.
"You are no longer a princess, and your family no longer rules Antitheos. Antitheos belongs to Tortall now," Lord Wyldon said harshly. Without the king to temper it, Wyldon could reveal his hatred of Antitheans fully. It was their fault he had led so many of his comrades to their deaths. The boys cheered, but instead of melting under his gaze Zira stood firm, her eyes never leaving his.
"What kind of princess would I be if I gave up when my country was captured? I am a princess as long as my people consider me one, and my people consider me a princess as long as I act like one. I am the princess of Antitheos." She said this fiercely, and her words created a hush throughout the rotunda.
"I will sponsor the Princess," the brunette who had shown her how to bow said mockingly.
"Then Tobit of Hillstead will be your sponsor, Zira of Anitheos," Wyldon said, "and I hope that he will be able to teach you some manners."