Disclaimer: Same as before. Blagh, blagh. All that stuff. Yeah, I don't own Tortall.
Hey, I'm updating fast! *pats self on back* Anyway, I thought the last chapter made things more interesting, yes? And now you finally get to see someone from the real story! (Briefly) Yay!
~Chapter 3~ Keladry of Mindelan Comes In
Kel frowned groggily as she sat up (to many cries of protest from the creatures lying on her bed). Suppressing a grin, she stood up. She'd been dreaming about the Chapel of Ordeal again. Dreaming…right. Nightmare is more like it. She sighed. "I must look like a wreck," she mumbled, running her fingers through her earlobe length hair. She was not pretty, and she knew it. Much to tall for a normal girl. Not to mention that she was a squire…
The reminder caused her to beam happily. The first girl page, and now the first girl squire! Despite the nightmare, she felt wonderful. Of course there was the little problem about her Knight-master. "I will do my duty, no matter what it is," she said fiercely as she dressed. But I want to do real squire work. I want to fight. She shook her head. No one wanted a girl as his or her squire. So she was stuck with Sir Gareth. And with endless papers to copy, piles of them it seemed. "I don't mind the papers really," she said with a laugh to Jump, her odd battered dog. "I just want to get the ink stains off my hands." He barked, as if he understood. Which he may have. With the Wildmage around, all the animals seemed to understand things better than normal ones.
In Lenora's house
Lenora's father had left the house early before most people would be out. He'd told Lenora to tell Margery that he'd gone to get cloth.
"He could have had you go get it," her mother had said tartly. Lenora nodded sullenly hoping her mother would leave it at that. Naturally she didn't. "He could have stayed here and done something other than work. Perhaps talk to his other daughter. Or perhaps even his wife?" She stamped one booted foot on the ground irritably and left the room.
She didn't tell me to do anything, Lenora thought feeling pleased. After debating for a moment, she walked into the store and outside. The store was closed again. No one would miss it. Truth, they had so few customers, it didn't matter. She gazed happily around her enjoying the lingering warmth left over from summer. She loved Corus. She loved the business and the stores. She couldn't afford anything, but just looking through the windows was satisfying.
She knew where she was going. She headed to her left and then down a couple blocks. If she were lucky, some of her friends would be around their favorite tavern, the Prancing Pony. If they weren't they were somewhere else, where she'd never find them. They knew the city better than she did.
Her mother had warned her once that the people you associate could spread their reputation onto your own. No worries then, Lenora thought acerbically. She liked these people. They were her friends. And if they were a little shifty (as in the Lord Provost hunted for them) then it just made them more fun to be around. Besides, they didn't treat her like a child for all that most of them were 2 or 3 years older than her. They treated her like one of them. Which, according to her mother, was not a good thing.
They aren't bad people. Not really. A little unusual maybe. I think Edge might have killed someone last week, but he'd never hurt me. She grinned. There were people she'd known since she was less than 8. Even they had been innocent kids. Or at least they'd been more innocent than they were now. They'd grown up together. And none of them had ever pressured her to join them in their various crimes…
She was in front of the tavern now and she gazed around cautiously. The last thing she needed was for someone to tell her mother that she'd been around the tavern again. She didn't see anyone, and grinned. Good.
"Hiss! Lenora!"
Lenora whirled around to come face to face with Rags, one of the newer people she'd met. Rag's real name was Ragnell, and Lenora couldn't see why the older girl would prefer Rags. All the same, she liked Rags. She was clever and fun to be around. She also liked fine things, which had caused some trouble with the stores in the area. At the moment, she was wearing a dress she almost certainly couldn't afford. Her clothing was slightly at odds with her sharp appearance. Her face was pointy and narrower than it should have been. Like most of Lenora's friends, she wasn't well fed.
"What?" Lenora asked. Rags looked angry about something, but surely not at her. I only just got here. What's made her so upset?
"Get out of here!" Rags whispered urgently. For the first time Lenora noticed that Rags had been hiding (or in the process of hiding). She didn't move. "Will you hurry? Oh…come on, you stupid wench." The thief broke into a run, dragging Lenora behind.
Rags was angry with her now, or she wouldn't have said that. Though they cursed at least once a sentence, her friends rarely cursed at her. She took it a whole lot worse than they did, just as she veered away from getting drunk.
Lenora yanked her arm away, but kept on running. Rags might have been malnourished, but she wasn't slow. Lenora was hard pressed to keep up. There was no time for questions (but Lenora was bursting with them). They were passing by some of her favorite stores, too, which meant they were headed towards her house. But why would Rags want to come to my house. Goddess, if mother sees me with Rags, I'll be in so much trouble…of course, I think Rags is in trouble. It's only fair to help her. They've helped me often enough.
Rags was slowing down, allowing Lenora to catch up. Both girls were breathing hard. And like Lenora had suspected, they were only a block away from her house. Lenora opened her mouth to say something through the pants. "What…Goddess…what's….go…ing…on?"
Rags grinned a little and shrugged, still trying to get her breath. She jerked her head towards Lenora's house and looked questioning. Lenora knew what she was asking. She shook her head.
"Mother's home. I think." She muttered feeling ashamed. "If you really need to though…only can I ask why first?" Rags was still panting, harder than she should've been after that run, Lenora noticed. What's wrong with her, she wondered as Rags leaned forward shakily. She was about to ask out loud if Rags was all right, when the thief fell forward. Lenora gasped, and jumped forward to catch her.
I got a review! Thanks Lyra! Um…Lenora's the main character though. Or at least she's the main character for the first bits. Kel is going to get more into the story sooner or later. But first I have to trot off and reread the Protector of the Small stuff. Bye!
Oh, yeah, I love the name Lenora (and Rhine only she's not a prominent figure in the books). I got Lenora off a baby naming site, and Rhine I made up since I didn't like how Rinie was spelled. (And as for the title, I want to wait till the story goes somewhere and then I'll know what to name it hopefully).