Chapter 24:                              New year, new friends.

"My brother is insane." The black haired woman stared intently at her opponent, her moss green eyes nearly glowing with anger. "He doesn't respect the old ways anymore. He took away all my power over my clan. Instead of ruling together with me, he is ruling it alone now. Only a few loyal men and women came with me. He is turning his power against our people. Galina, we have to stop him."

Galina returned her gaze calmly. She didn't seem to be surprised at the news.

The woman frowned and hissed. "You KNEW it. You knew what he was up to. And you didn't warn me."

Galina shook her head. "It was already to late when I found out. You couldn't have changed anything."

"Do you know many of my bravest men died fighting against him, because they didn't want to obey a false leader?" The woman shook her head in disgust. "I want to talk to the queen. NOW. Maybe SHE has some sense in her head."

"The queen isn't here."

The woman's eyes widened. "WHAT? But … where is she? Is she …?"

"No, she isn't dead. But if it was up to your brother, she would have died long ago. That's why we couldn't do anything against him. If we told you everything and you had used this knowledge, he would have known that she's alive. And with being betrayed by the warrior clan, who could have protected the queen? We need her power and her wisdom when time comes. Otherwise we don't have any chance." Galina put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss Tabitha. But I couldn't risk the lives of our people."

Tabitha's voice was just a hoarse whisper. "And the swords?"

"One of them is lost. The other one has a keeper."

"When will the sword and the queen be reunited?"

"The queen will claim the sword when time has come."

"He is killing our people, his own people. And if you think the way you are used handling such things will work with him, you are wrong. He is one of our kind, the head of one of the five clans, AND he is the Warrior. You are just the Priestess. Your clan is weaker than ours. You can't stand up against him. He is more powerful than you, and he has no conscience to stop him. This time the peaceful way won't help. You underestimate him."

"How could I underestimate him, knowing that it was him who killed the king?"

Tabitha paled. "No! That's impossible."

"It is the truth. He killed the king and some of his most loyal men together with their families. Only some of the children survived by luck. They were brought to their mothers' families, but he even sent his men after them to extinguish every witness of his cruel deeds. Some are still alive, though. They can tell you what happened to their families."

Thabita shook her head. "The worst nightmares are coming true. Is the keeper save? And who is he, where does he hide?"

"I can't tell you. The keeper is far away and safe. But your brother is searching for him. He wants his head."

"But he …. he can't. The keeper is sacred. After the queen the keeper is the person with the highest status. The keeper even stands above both of us. He can't …"

"He already killed our king. He wants to kill our queen. He won't stop. Your brother turned to a cruel murderer. Over centuries we tried to protect our people against human monsters, now our enemy is one of us. Nothing is safe anymore. Tabitha, everything is changing now. We are surrounded by treason. We can't trust anybody. You are not in the condition to fight him. You have to think of your unborn child first. Your brother made a bond with forces darker then we thought. We don't have any chance against him. We have to wait and get prepared until the day the Oak comes to show us the right way. I can tell you only one thing: the keeper will never betray the queen, because he's one of the children whose families were killed by your brother."

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It was a worm summer day. Sam was lying beneath a huge pine, enjoying the peace. Ti was sleeping on her chest, a little black ball, snoring contentedly, rising and falling with Sam's breath. Cori was reading a book next to her. She had developed a special liking for those stupid love stories. Sam couldn't understand how somebody like her cousin, who wanted to be knight, loved stories about weak princesses being rescued by princes with golden hair in shining armour. Riding white horses, of course.

Sam heard Cori sighing dreamily. She opened one eye, glaring at her. "Let me guess. Knight killed dragon, rescued lady, both living happily together for the rest of their lives. Am I right?"

Cori sighed again. "He is so sweeeet!"

"He is an invention."

Cori narrowed her eyes and glared at her cousin. "I know that, but …" She sighed again. "He is such a perfect man. The man I will marry one day has to be like him."

"Your future husband has to ride a white horse? You're easy to satisfy."

"Oh shut up. That is not funny. I didn't mean the horse or the wealth. I don't need a prince …"

"Why so modest?"

"… a gentleman, that's what he has to be. A knight, maybe. Honestly, honourable, friendly, tolerant …"

"… and a great kisser."

"Feli!"

Cori's sister giggled. She liked to tease her sister. "What? Don't you want to be kissed? I heard this is very important in a relationship. If he can't kiss, you have to dump him."

Cori stared at her younger sister, speechless.

Sam chuckled, amused. "Look, the little girl is speaking. Of course you are an expert in grown up relationships, aren't you?"

Feli blushed a bit. "Well, I heard some things …"

The older girl raised her eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

Cori simply stared at her. "You are only eleven."

"And you are twelve, grandma. You are the one talking about these stupid love stories all day. I will NEVER marry. I will become …"

"… a warrior maiden. I will fight for those who can't defend themselves." Sam recited the words she had heard all summer, feeling bored like hell. "No man will ever touch me. I don't know what should be so special about being married. Boys are stupid. They …"

Feli rolled her eyes. "Shut up Sam. I've got the message." Suddenly an idea struck her and she traded a look with Cori and grinned evilly. "By the way, what about your plans? Do you want to marry or not?"

Cori got the message. "Yeah, instead of laughing about us you should tell us your dreams and expectations."

"I don't think so."

Cori knew she had to use another tactic to make her cousin talk. "Oh, stupid me. Of course it is out of question for you. You will marry Nat, of course."

Feli stared at her sister, knowing what would happen.

"WHAT!" Sam jerked up, sending a tiny black ball flying, squeaking all the way down. When Ti finally hit the ground, the little mouse started to revile furiously. Sam didn't even notice that. She stared shocked at Cori. "HOW DID YOU GET THIS STUPID IDEA?"

Cori grinned in triumph. "Caught you cousin."

Feli decided to join her sister. "Yeah! Is he good kisser, Sam?"

Sam's jaw dropped. "Are you two insane or simply crazy. There is nothing like that between Nat and me. I'm twelve. I'm too young."

"But if you were older …?"

Sam frowned. "Hell would freeze before I marry Nat. He is my friend, he's like a brother to me."

"Now, but in the future … we will see. But if it isn't Nat, what kind of man would you fall for?"

Sam hesitated and thought about it. "He must be trustworthy. I don't know anything else. I think it's senseless to think about that too much. You can't control love. It simply happens. Nobody can decide who he falls in love with. And if I look at us, I think things will turn out differently than we think now."

Cori frowned. "In what way?"

Sam looked seriously at her cousins. "Well, I don't know exactly. But I can't image that you two would be really satisfied with the ways you want to chose now. Things hardly ever develop as we want them to do."

Cori shook her head. "I don't think so. I know I will fulfil my expectations."

"And I will never fall in love." Feli added stubbornly.

Sam frowned at these statements. Then she noticed Ti standing on top of Sam's boot, staring at her. Sam blinked surprised. "Would you accept an apology?"

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"Okay. Can ANYBODY tell me why on earth it always rains when we are at the camp, but when we are at the palace, it is always sunny." Bery glared angrily at the wonderful blue sky. Not a single cloud. "Not that I want to complain, or anything." She knew she should be content. She had managed to get rid of her mother early enough before she could manage to make a fool of Bery in front of her friends. She really loved her mother, but also thought that she would never understand that woman and her strange behaviour. 'I hope that isn't hereditarily. But when I think of my brothers … I might have been a little child when they died, but I don't think they were like her. But I have to admit that I didn't have much contact with them, because they were between ten and twelve years older than me and already knights in training. I can hardly ask mother if they were as crazy as she or more like my father.'Bery walked into the stables, deep in thought. She had arrived hours ago, hardly any other pages were here. None of her friends yet. Suddenly she noticed some kids standing in there, together with two men, who seemed to be their fathers. "Fresh meat." Bery grinned. "Time for the first contact." She moved slowly towards the nervous looking children, eyeing them curiously. "Hey, you must be some of the new pages. I'm Berenice of Gohman. You can call me Bery. Welcome to the palace." Bery smiled friendly while saying this. 'Even Cori would be content with my greeting. I haven't confused or scared them. Yet.'

"I'm Delilah of Agate Coast. You can call me Deli." A girl with dark brown hair and grey- blue eyes stepped forward, a smile on her face. "I've heard a lot about you."

Bery frowned. "Agate Coast? Hhmm. Is that anywhere near Agate Beach?"

Deli grinned. "The neighbour fief. I know Colin and Quentin very well. And they talk a lot."

Bery smirked. "That's true. I could tell you stories about them … maybe we will exchange some stories someday. You know, you tell me what they say about me, I'll tell you the most embarrassing situations during their stay at the palace. You  never know when you could use such information."

Deli smirked back. "Sounds promising."

"And who are you?" Bery turned towards the others.

"I'm Imogen of Windgate," said a girl with the brown hair and dark blue eyes.

"And I am Aileen of Silversea." The last girl had black hair and emerald eyes. She seemed to be the shyest of the three.

Bery was about to say something when they heard the noise of running horses outside. She turned around and smiled. "That must be the others." She smiled at the girls. "Come on. Let's greet them. I can introduce you, if you want."

They ran outside. In front of the stable they were greeted by a view which reminded her of some old hero paintings. A huge black horse was rearing, the rider was sitting straight in the saddle, one fist raised in victory.

Bery laughed. "Guess Sam has won again."

Imogen and Delilah stared, puzzled at her. Aileen couldn't move her eyes from the picture in front of her.

The sunbeams let the rider's hair shine like molten gold. The moss green eyes were flashing.

A moment later, two other girls and a man arrived at the courtyard. One of the girls also had blond hair, but her eyes were golden, like amber. The other girl had the same eyes, but her hair was black.

The blond girl murmured angrily. "Can't you let us win at least one time?"

The black haired girl next to her grinned. "You always challenge her, sister, and you hardly ever win. You know that. Stop complaining."

"Shut up, Feli. You lost as well."

Bery laughed aloud. "Hello, friends! How are you, you loosers?"

Sam had calmed down her horse and jumped down. "Don't tease them, Bery. You are an even worse loser than Cori."

"Hey! I'm not a sore loser!" Cori yelled angrily while getting off her horse.

"Sure you are." Feli joined them, smiling happily at Bery. "Hey, how are you, great mother of sarcasm?"

"Fine. What about you little child?"

"Fine, thanks. Who is that?" Feli turned her gaze towards the girls behind Bery.

"This is Delilah of … of …"

"… Agate Beach."

"I knew that. And Imogen of … ehm …"
"… Windsgate."

"Yeah. Right. And Aileen of … give me a minute … something with S."
"Silversea."
"I knew that. S like Silversea."

Feli giggled. "You are getting old, Bery. Hi, I'm Felicitas of Kourell, Feli for my friends. That's my sister, Corvina. Everybody calls her Cori. And the one with the black monster over there is my cousin Samira of Pinehollow. The rare moments she will talk to you, you can call her Sam."

The 'black monster' snorted, like it's owner.

Aileen continued staring at Sam. From time to time she blinked, confused.

The arrivals lead their horses inside the stables. Sam frowned and returned Aileen's intense gaze while passing her by.

Aileen couldn't figure out what confused her with that girl. 'It's strange. From time to time I see a flash of green around her.'

She heard Bery and Deli talking about classes. "Believe me, we have a very mixed teaching staff. Some are annoying like hell, like Master Oaksbridge. Ask Sam, she had extra courses for three months with him, etiquette lessons. Some others are simply boring. And other are nice, like Sir Myles, he teaches history. Has anybody of you the Gift?"

Delilah nodded. "I can light fire."

Imogen shook her head. "I don't have the Gift."

Aileen looked shyly at Bery. "I can move things, and I can see magic."

Bery grinned. "Imogen, you will have classes with me and the others who don't have the Gift. Our teacher will be the basilisk Tkaa. He is really nice."

Imogen gasped. "An immortal?"

"Yes, but a really nice one. You will like him. Well, Deli and Lee, you will have magic lessons with Master Numair. He's a bit strange sometimes, but nice. Ask Sam, she once blew up the classroom and he wanted her to repeat it."

"Could you please stop making an example out of me. You make me look like a hooligan."

"According to some of our classmates, you are one."
"Stop teasing her, or she will blow you up." Cori interfered.

After a while, the three new pages returned to their fathers to say good-bye. Sam was talking to the men who had arrived with her and her cousins. According to Bery, this was Sam's training master at home, Che.

After the men were gone ,the girls started to walk to the pages' wing. Deli, Imogen and Lee had already been to Lord Padraig, so they were able to go straight to their rooms.

Aileen were saying goodnight to her horse, when she felt somebody looking at her. When she turned around, she found Sam looking intensely at her. 'It feels like she is looking straight into my soul.'

After a moment, Sam started to walk after her friends, leaving a puzzled Lee behind her. 'There it is again. A flash of green light, which disappears immediately. What is that?'

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You can't imagine how hard it was to start this chapter. I was kind of burned out after chapter 23. But I've developed some new ideas, like introducing some characters to you earlier than I thought before. I hope you like it. With the couples you have to wait a little more. Most of them are only about 12 or 13 years in this chapter, not the age to start heated love affairs.

By the way, I read the story again and I've found a mistake: Colin was supposed to leave after a year. He was in his last year as a page when the girls arrived. I forgot that. Now I have changed chapter 18 and 20. I only replaced the names, and I had to erase a whole sentence.

Well, now the names. I think I will make three old characters and three new characters. How's that?

Nathan:           God has given him [Ahm, yeah, well … sounded good, nice nickname. No, I don't try to give all the boys names with god in its meaning.]

Milan:             the glory loving [Sound. God, most of the boy's name have a strange meaning. By the way, it's the short form of Miroslaw (Russian name) That would have been a name.]

Colin:              victory and people [That's a good name for a knight. At least one of the boys' names. I've read this one in a book and really liked it.]

Aileen:            the bright/ brilliant; the warming one [That translation sucks. Stupid dictionary. I liked the sound and the meaning of the name.]

Delilah:           the longing one [Reason: the sound. Meaning: was no part of my decision.]

Imogen:          innocent [I liked the sound (as usual). I thought it was a noble's name. I would really like to know how you pronounce it in English. I pronounce most of the names in German, and, believe me, that's very different.]

By the way, shall I give you the meanings of the original characters as well? I can't find all of them (like Lachran), but at least some. (That would be a kind of a poll, I guess)

Another poll would be: What would be a good nickname for Imogen? And Lachran? Is there anybody outside who can help me?