They remained like that for a few seconds while the crowd cheered. Kel
blinked back tears - after all that, thinking that this day would never,
could never come, it had happened! She was a knight and a samurai too.
When the royal family left, Kel followed as she'd been instructed
beforehand.
"Kel," Roald said firmly, stopping her in the corridor. "Come up to my room."
"Yes, Highness."
"Roald, you haven't forgotten, have you?"
"No Roald, but you might have changed. After all, you're married now."
"No, I'm fine as I am thanks. The others are waiting for us upstairs. They stayed to watch the knighting of course, but they said they'd run up and still be there before us. Lord Wyldon's given the pages the day off, since its Midwinter."
"I'm coming," Kel said, steeling herself for the encounter. They'd discovered that she'd been lying to them, that she'd been at court for over a year without telling them. She also remembered that she'd never written a single letter to them except for one soon just before she left for the Yamani court saying that she was fine, but was leaving Tortall, and was unlikely ever to come back. It had been true at the time, although it was blatantly untrue now.
Roald pushed open the door to his room in the squire's section of the palace. Kel followed him in, working very hard to keep her face blank. Neal, Merric, Seaver, Esmond, Cleon, Faleron, Yancen, Owen - they were all there, and so were Shinkokami and Yukimi.
"Kel!" exclaimed Cleon. "Come in and sit down." Kel looked around. There were boys everywhere: four on the bed, and the others standing or sprawled on the floor. The Yamani ladies were sitting on the only chairs in the room
"Where?" she asked, grinning. "Its worse than when we studied in your room."
"Oh, anywhere," Neal said. "After all, it's Roald's room so it doesn't matter so much if anything gets broken."
"Tactful as ever," Roald muttered quietly. Kel turned and smiled at him and they both sat down on the floor opposite the bed. "So Kel, sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to you at dinner, but father got talking about the Scanran war and."
"I understand. So, how's Lord Wyldon feeling today?"
"Depressed," Merric said smugly. "Having written you off as a failure and a bad influence on us - he told all of us that after you'd gone - I suppose it must be rather a problem for him to have you come back and be able to beat him, even though you're only fifteen."
"Only just fourteen actually," Neal told him. "Maybe you'd better go back and do mathematics with the babies if you can't add three and eleven."
"Sorry Kel, fourteen." Kel laughed.
"I did it partly to irritate him. I don't think Lady Alanna was very happy with him either. She almost ordered me point blank to go and ask for his blessing when I was inaugurated into the samurai. He couldn't refuse of course."
"Didn't you know?" Roald said. "She returned to the palace as soon as she heard he'd kicked you out, and there was a huge row between her and father and Lord Wyldon. I think Lord Raoul and Sir Myles were there too. We ah happened to be nearby."
"You mean, we'd followed her in and were hiding under the open window," Neal reminded him.
"Yes, and we heard it all. It's odd hearing my father being yelled at by her and Lord Raoul for being an arrogant, stupid prat, but it was worth it. Lord Wyldon got even worse treatment - and even Sir Myles joined in on that one. I think he likes you."
"Yes, and Lady Alanna was the hero of the pages' wing for ages, she still is really. We didn't talk to Lord Wyldon for a month - and we refused to do our punishment work," Owen told her. Kel groaned. "It was jolly! Even the first years like me joined in."
"Don't worry," Faleron reassured her. "We made sure they didn't make complete twats of themselves. Lord Wyldon went on leave for a few weeks and Duke Gareth took over. By the time he got back, everything was pretty much back to normal. Still, why didn't you tell us who you were, Kel?"
"I was afraid to. I didn't know if you'd still want to know me after I left the palace, and then after that, I was embarrassed to tell you that I'd been here and not told you. None of the samurai knew either, apart from Captain Taro."
"But we should have guessed," Neal said guiltily. "It was obvious, if we'd thought about it, that there was a boy, with hazel eyes, who spoke fluent Tortallan and learned our names too quickly and avoided Lord Wyldon like the plague."
"Shut up Neal, you've said this a hundred times in the past few days already" Roald said. " Welcome back to the palace Kel."
"Kel," Roald said firmly, stopping her in the corridor. "Come up to my room."
"Yes, Highness."
"Roald, you haven't forgotten, have you?"
"No Roald, but you might have changed. After all, you're married now."
"No, I'm fine as I am thanks. The others are waiting for us upstairs. They stayed to watch the knighting of course, but they said they'd run up and still be there before us. Lord Wyldon's given the pages the day off, since its Midwinter."
"I'm coming," Kel said, steeling herself for the encounter. They'd discovered that she'd been lying to them, that she'd been at court for over a year without telling them. She also remembered that she'd never written a single letter to them except for one soon just before she left for the Yamani court saying that she was fine, but was leaving Tortall, and was unlikely ever to come back. It had been true at the time, although it was blatantly untrue now.
Roald pushed open the door to his room in the squire's section of the palace. Kel followed him in, working very hard to keep her face blank. Neal, Merric, Seaver, Esmond, Cleon, Faleron, Yancen, Owen - they were all there, and so were Shinkokami and Yukimi.
"Kel!" exclaimed Cleon. "Come in and sit down." Kel looked around. There were boys everywhere: four on the bed, and the others standing or sprawled on the floor. The Yamani ladies were sitting on the only chairs in the room
"Where?" she asked, grinning. "Its worse than when we studied in your room."
"Oh, anywhere," Neal said. "After all, it's Roald's room so it doesn't matter so much if anything gets broken."
"Tactful as ever," Roald muttered quietly. Kel turned and smiled at him and they both sat down on the floor opposite the bed. "So Kel, sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to you at dinner, but father got talking about the Scanran war and."
"I understand. So, how's Lord Wyldon feeling today?"
"Depressed," Merric said smugly. "Having written you off as a failure and a bad influence on us - he told all of us that after you'd gone - I suppose it must be rather a problem for him to have you come back and be able to beat him, even though you're only fifteen."
"Only just fourteen actually," Neal told him. "Maybe you'd better go back and do mathematics with the babies if you can't add three and eleven."
"Sorry Kel, fourteen." Kel laughed.
"I did it partly to irritate him. I don't think Lady Alanna was very happy with him either. She almost ordered me point blank to go and ask for his blessing when I was inaugurated into the samurai. He couldn't refuse of course."
"Didn't you know?" Roald said. "She returned to the palace as soon as she heard he'd kicked you out, and there was a huge row between her and father and Lord Wyldon. I think Lord Raoul and Sir Myles were there too. We ah happened to be nearby."
"You mean, we'd followed her in and were hiding under the open window," Neal reminded him.
"Yes, and we heard it all. It's odd hearing my father being yelled at by her and Lord Raoul for being an arrogant, stupid prat, but it was worth it. Lord Wyldon got even worse treatment - and even Sir Myles joined in on that one. I think he likes you."
"Yes, and Lady Alanna was the hero of the pages' wing for ages, she still is really. We didn't talk to Lord Wyldon for a month - and we refused to do our punishment work," Owen told her. Kel groaned. "It was jolly! Even the first years like me joined in."
"Don't worry," Faleron reassured her. "We made sure they didn't make complete twats of themselves. Lord Wyldon went on leave for a few weeks and Duke Gareth took over. By the time he got back, everything was pretty much back to normal. Still, why didn't you tell us who you were, Kel?"
"I was afraid to. I didn't know if you'd still want to know me after I left the palace, and then after that, I was embarrassed to tell you that I'd been here and not told you. None of the samurai knew either, apart from Captain Taro."
"But we should have guessed," Neal said guiltily. "It was obvious, if we'd thought about it, that there was a boy, with hazel eyes, who spoke fluent Tortallan and learned our names too quickly and avoided Lord Wyldon like the plague."
"Shut up Neal, you've said this a hundred times in the past few days already" Roald said. " Welcome back to the palace Kel."