A knight at the front of a column of horsemen stood, perfectly still, on a
tall black horse watching the boat approach. They wore chain mail with
black and silver tunics. Next to their leader was the standard bearer, who
carried the black standard with crossed glaives quartered with the royal
lion. At last, the ship moored, and a small boat was put over.
Niklaren Goldeye sighed when he saw the riders on the hill. Here it was - another new land, more problems with being accepted and more problems with puberty for his students. He'd seen it all before. The aforementioned students sat quietly, for once, with a bodyguard. Sandry, Briar, Tris and Daja were sixteen years old.
"Who's that knight?" Sandry asked. "Do you know them?"
"I'm afraid I don't even recognize the unit, although it resembles what they call the King's Own, King Jonathan's personal guard. The knight," Niko continued, squinting at the knight's shield. "I don't recognize either. It looks like the Mindelan owl, but the coloring is wrong. I'm afraid we'll just have to wait and see."
"Don't worry, Lady Sandrilene," the bodyguard, Earl Vensit, said courageously. "I'll defend you."
"How kind," she said scathingly, then silently to her friends. :Hasn't the twit realized yet that if I wanted I could have every one of those men on the ground before he'd had time to move. Uncle's a dear, but he's so paranoid - I'd much rather have left Vensit behind, and if I had to have a bodyguard, brought someone like Pascoe's uncle:
:Shut up Sandry: Briar chipped in. :You've told us this millions of times already, and we're almost at the beach:
:I bet you can't even count to a million:
"Who are you?" the knight shouted down, his voice ringing oddly because of his helmet. "Answer, or you'll be shot down where you stand!"
"Niklaren Goldeye, black robe mage of Emelan. I was qualified at Lightsbridge University. With me are Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, heir to Duke Vedris and her companions: Briar Moss, Trisana Chandler and Daja Kisubo and her bodyguard, Earl Vensit." The knight signed to a man to come up.
"Fetch Master Salmalin. Tell him we have someone claiming to be a mage here and that I want him to check."
"Yes sir." They waited. At last, the tall mage came hurrying up.
"That's him all right, and you might have warned me he was a black robe," he snapped grouchily. "You've just given me a very bad headache and half blinded me. I hope you're satisfied."
"Thank you, Master Salmalin, I do appreciate it," the knight said quietly to him "Well, I'm going back to my carriage. The sooner we're back in Corus, the sooner someone can see to it." "You can come forwards now, you're under my personal protection, and I give you my word of honor that I will do everything in my power to protect you until our arrival at the palace when that will be undertaken by others."
The knight remained impassive as the mage led them forwards up the hill as their horses were brought over from the ship.
"Who are you, sir knight?" he asked, still puzzled. The knight laughed and pulled off his helmet to reveal a young beardless face, shortly cropped hair and hazel eyes sparkling with amusement. He was a girl! The standard bearer said proudly.
"I present to you Keladry of Mindelan, Samurai of Yaman, Knight of Tortall, Knight Commander of the Prince's Platoon and Samurai Captain of the Princess's Guard."
"A mere girl!" the bodyguard exclaimed. "And you claim to be able to defend my lady?"
"I'll fight you if you want, although I'd prefer not to."
"Very well, girl. With the swords then."
"As you wish."
Earl Vensit drew his sword flamboyantly. Sandry could see that the men behind Keladry had pulled off their helmets too and looked amused at his theatrics. They appeared to be from different nationalities, so far as she could remember from her geography lessons. The dark skinned ones were probably Bazhir, she recognised Yamanis there too, as well as the Tortallans she had expected. It was about a second before her gallant bodyguard was disarmed. A few of the men laughed and Sandry had to contain herself although she was very glad to see him brought down a few pegs.
"I could have killed you then. I didn't get to where I am now because I'm a highly born noble. Please, come with us. Master Goldeye, I expect Master Salmalin would be pleased to meet you. He was here a moment ago, but I fear I gave him a headache when I requested that he confirm your identity."
"Keladry of Mindelan? Didn't I meet you at the Yamani court once?" the mage asked unexpectedly. Kel hurriedly wracked her brains. "It was about ten years ago, you were only about five," he added, seeing her confusion. "You were part of the Emelan embassy? Weren't you the one who made me a wooden dagger to play with?"
"Yes, I was going to give you a doll, but you looked disgusted when your friend accepted one so I changed my mind." "I always did know what I wanted to do."
"Are your parents at court?"
"Yes, they get on very well with Princess Shinkokami, so it works out nicely for her. She'll be glad to see you too - you gave her the doll."
"That was the princess?"
"Yes, apparently her family wasn't in favor at the time." "Thank you for the warning. Did you say Numair Salmalin was here? With your permission, I'll seek him out, if I may. He's very well known at Lightsbridge, and is supposed to be immensely powerful."
"You must be a learned mage yourself, if you're a black robe. Certainly you may, you'll probably find him in the carriage at the back. He isn't comfortable on horseback."
There was an uncomfortable silence as he left. Kel waved for her men to start riding, and waited while the younger mages' horses were brought over. At last, she thought of something that she should have asked a while ago. "Will any of you ladies require a carriage?"
"No thank you, Commander," Sandry replied "We'd prefer to ride."
"So you're Lady Sandrilene?"
"Yes, but please, call me Sandry. I'm here as a mage, not as a noble. These are Briar, Tris and Daja. We're all sixteen."
"So am I," Kel said, rather surprised since they all appeared so self possessed. They were equally curious.
"I thought you had to be eighteen to be a knight?" Briar asked.
"You do, normally, if you follow the standard training scheme. I'm rather a problem. I did most of my training in the Yamani Isles pretending to be a boy so I could become a samurai. When I returned to Tortall, and was promoted to full samurai rank, I had to reveal my name. King Jonathan wanted something to hold me by, so he put me straight into my Ordeal. I was fourteen then. Since my knighting, they've put me through more lessons in diplomacy and when my master returned to Yaman, they formed a new unit, the Prince's Platoon. It's also known as the Princess's Guard - they have joint command - and they put me in command."
"You must be good," Briar commented.
"I trained very hard - I had to since all of the Yamanis I was with were a good four years older than me. Still, you'll see when we reach the palace. Do any of you fight?"
"Daja does a bit with her staff," Briar told her. "And I'm not bad with a dagger, but Sandry and Tris are pretty useless."
"If they're mages, I doubt they need weapon skills."
"I suppose, but its good to know."
"Is there any reason you've come to Tortall?"
"It's supposed to be educational," Briar told her, wincing. "But Niko wants to talk to your king about the invasion threat from Gandur. They're gathering an army, and you're just across the sea. We're meant to help if that happens."
"Thank you for the warning. Merric!" Kel called and her squire came hurrying up. "Tell Samurai Hiroshi to increase the pace. We might have another invasion on our hands."
Niklaren Goldeye sighed when he saw the riders on the hill. Here it was - another new land, more problems with being accepted and more problems with puberty for his students. He'd seen it all before. The aforementioned students sat quietly, for once, with a bodyguard. Sandry, Briar, Tris and Daja were sixteen years old.
"Who's that knight?" Sandry asked. "Do you know them?"
"I'm afraid I don't even recognize the unit, although it resembles what they call the King's Own, King Jonathan's personal guard. The knight," Niko continued, squinting at the knight's shield. "I don't recognize either. It looks like the Mindelan owl, but the coloring is wrong. I'm afraid we'll just have to wait and see."
"Don't worry, Lady Sandrilene," the bodyguard, Earl Vensit, said courageously. "I'll defend you."
"How kind," she said scathingly, then silently to her friends. :Hasn't the twit realized yet that if I wanted I could have every one of those men on the ground before he'd had time to move. Uncle's a dear, but he's so paranoid - I'd much rather have left Vensit behind, and if I had to have a bodyguard, brought someone like Pascoe's uncle:
:Shut up Sandry: Briar chipped in. :You've told us this millions of times already, and we're almost at the beach:
:I bet you can't even count to a million:
"Who are you?" the knight shouted down, his voice ringing oddly because of his helmet. "Answer, or you'll be shot down where you stand!"
"Niklaren Goldeye, black robe mage of Emelan. I was qualified at Lightsbridge University. With me are Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, heir to Duke Vedris and her companions: Briar Moss, Trisana Chandler and Daja Kisubo and her bodyguard, Earl Vensit." The knight signed to a man to come up.
"Fetch Master Salmalin. Tell him we have someone claiming to be a mage here and that I want him to check."
"Yes sir." They waited. At last, the tall mage came hurrying up.
"That's him all right, and you might have warned me he was a black robe," he snapped grouchily. "You've just given me a very bad headache and half blinded me. I hope you're satisfied."
"Thank you, Master Salmalin, I do appreciate it," the knight said quietly to him "Well, I'm going back to my carriage. The sooner we're back in Corus, the sooner someone can see to it." "You can come forwards now, you're under my personal protection, and I give you my word of honor that I will do everything in my power to protect you until our arrival at the palace when that will be undertaken by others."
The knight remained impassive as the mage led them forwards up the hill as their horses were brought over from the ship.
"Who are you, sir knight?" he asked, still puzzled. The knight laughed and pulled off his helmet to reveal a young beardless face, shortly cropped hair and hazel eyes sparkling with amusement. He was a girl! The standard bearer said proudly.
"I present to you Keladry of Mindelan, Samurai of Yaman, Knight of Tortall, Knight Commander of the Prince's Platoon and Samurai Captain of the Princess's Guard."
"A mere girl!" the bodyguard exclaimed. "And you claim to be able to defend my lady?"
"I'll fight you if you want, although I'd prefer not to."
"Very well, girl. With the swords then."
"As you wish."
Earl Vensit drew his sword flamboyantly. Sandry could see that the men behind Keladry had pulled off their helmets too and looked amused at his theatrics. They appeared to be from different nationalities, so far as she could remember from her geography lessons. The dark skinned ones were probably Bazhir, she recognised Yamanis there too, as well as the Tortallans she had expected. It was about a second before her gallant bodyguard was disarmed. A few of the men laughed and Sandry had to contain herself although she was very glad to see him brought down a few pegs.
"I could have killed you then. I didn't get to where I am now because I'm a highly born noble. Please, come with us. Master Goldeye, I expect Master Salmalin would be pleased to meet you. He was here a moment ago, but I fear I gave him a headache when I requested that he confirm your identity."
"Keladry of Mindelan? Didn't I meet you at the Yamani court once?" the mage asked unexpectedly. Kel hurriedly wracked her brains. "It was about ten years ago, you were only about five," he added, seeing her confusion. "You were part of the Emelan embassy? Weren't you the one who made me a wooden dagger to play with?"
"Yes, I was going to give you a doll, but you looked disgusted when your friend accepted one so I changed my mind." "I always did know what I wanted to do."
"Are your parents at court?"
"Yes, they get on very well with Princess Shinkokami, so it works out nicely for her. She'll be glad to see you too - you gave her the doll."
"That was the princess?"
"Yes, apparently her family wasn't in favor at the time." "Thank you for the warning. Did you say Numair Salmalin was here? With your permission, I'll seek him out, if I may. He's very well known at Lightsbridge, and is supposed to be immensely powerful."
"You must be a learned mage yourself, if you're a black robe. Certainly you may, you'll probably find him in the carriage at the back. He isn't comfortable on horseback."
There was an uncomfortable silence as he left. Kel waved for her men to start riding, and waited while the younger mages' horses were brought over. At last, she thought of something that she should have asked a while ago. "Will any of you ladies require a carriage?"
"No thank you, Commander," Sandry replied "We'd prefer to ride."
"So you're Lady Sandrilene?"
"Yes, but please, call me Sandry. I'm here as a mage, not as a noble. These are Briar, Tris and Daja. We're all sixteen."
"So am I," Kel said, rather surprised since they all appeared so self possessed. They were equally curious.
"I thought you had to be eighteen to be a knight?" Briar asked.
"You do, normally, if you follow the standard training scheme. I'm rather a problem. I did most of my training in the Yamani Isles pretending to be a boy so I could become a samurai. When I returned to Tortall, and was promoted to full samurai rank, I had to reveal my name. King Jonathan wanted something to hold me by, so he put me straight into my Ordeal. I was fourteen then. Since my knighting, they've put me through more lessons in diplomacy and when my master returned to Yaman, they formed a new unit, the Prince's Platoon. It's also known as the Princess's Guard - they have joint command - and they put me in command."
"You must be good," Briar commented.
"I trained very hard - I had to since all of the Yamanis I was with were a good four years older than me. Still, you'll see when we reach the palace. Do any of you fight?"
"Daja does a bit with her staff," Briar told her. "And I'm not bad with a dagger, but Sandry and Tris are pretty useless."
"If they're mages, I doubt they need weapon skills."
"I suppose, but its good to know."
"Is there any reason you've come to Tortall?"
"It's supposed to be educational," Briar told her, wincing. "But Niko wants to talk to your king about the invasion threat from Gandur. They're gathering an army, and you're just across the sea. We're meant to help if that happens."
"Thank you for the warning. Merric!" Kel called and her squire came hurrying up. "Tell Samurai Hiroshi to increase the pace. We might have another invasion on our hands."