Like Mother, Like Son by Hsui
Alan of Pirate's Swoop and Kel meet for the first time as Alan is made a squire.
For LadyJenofConte, who requested a story about a character mentioned in canon but not in canon.
~*~*~*~
Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan fanned herself surreptitiously with her gloves in the balmy April heat. Beside her, Sir Nealan of Queenscove shifted restlessly and - Kel thought - irritably.
"Do we *have* to be here?" Neal muttered into her ear, taking care that his voice did not echo around the public room.
Kel elbowed her friend lightly in the ribs. "Yes," she whispered back. "Aren't you interested at all?"
Neal rolled his eyes, clearly indicating a "no". It didn't matter. Keladry was interested enough for both of them. This year's Big Examinations were of special importance to her, for the realm's second female knight-candidate, Inge of Heathercove, was sitting the examinations to become a squire. Though Inge had come to the Palace while Kel herself had been serving as a squire, because Kel was so often away on Border Patrol they had not had the chance to meet. Now, as a full knight and newly returned from the Scanran border, Kel was eager to see what Inge, her successor - as Kel privately indulged in calling Inge - was capable of.
Neal had been brought along largely against his will.
"That's her," Kel's reluctant companion said suddenly. Kel had been too shy to come to the Big Examinations alone, though they were open to the public and largely anonymous. For all Neal complained, Kel was glad to have him with her. Now the Lady Knight peered over the tops of other courtiers' heads - being tall was good for something, at least! - for her first glimpse of Inge of Heathercove as the girl recited on the Immortals War.
Keladry was disappointed. Inge was sturdy enough, with fair hair and a tall, solid frame, but her answers to Turomot the Exam Master were dutiful and straight out of the classroom. She held herself diffidently, hands clasped demurely in front of her waist. Kel hated to admit it, and she put on her best Yamani face to hide it, but Inge was a completely unexceptional individual.
As Inge stepped back, Kel's attention was caught by the page stepping forward to take his turn. He was older than the other pages and tall with it. He carried himself briskly and confidently, with a humorous little spring to his steps. Kel was impressed by the offhanded answers the boy gave to the Exam Master. His tone bordered on cheeky, but his recital was absolutely correct.
Turomot shook his head as the boy finished. "Not lacking for confidence, at least," the Duke said wryly.
The page smiled. "Self-assurance is a virtue, Exam Master," he replied blandly. A brief chuckle rippled through the audience. Neal grinned.
Kel elbowed her friend again. "Do you know him?" she asked.
"Of course," Neal began patronizingly, then stopped. "Oh, that's right. You weren't here." He nodded at the boy. "You'll recognize the name, though. Alan Cooper of Pirate's Swoop, heir to Barony Olau after his mother."
Kel let out a quiet gasp before slapping her Yamani face back on. "The Lioness's son?"
"Yup." Seeing Kel's face, Neal rolled his eyes with vigor. "Don't worry, Lady Knight. I'll introduce you after the exam."
"You'd better," Kel retorted, her eyes never leaving the copper-haired son of the Lioness.
~*~
Alan of Pirate's Swoop proved to be as collected outside the examination room as in it. He greeted Neal as an old friend and bowed graciously to Kel, deeper than to a Lord but not so deep as to patronize her as a Lady.
"Sir Nealan's talked about you," Alan said. As Kel looked askance, he added, "He said you started your pageship late. I started late too - by three years." He laughed good-naturedly. "We've got ourselves a regular little club here." Kel was charmed in spite of herself.
"We enjoyed your performance up there," Neal said in his best, laziest drawl.
"I thought you might," Alan said with satisfaction. "They're a terrible bore, aren't they?"
Kel said, not quite knowing what else to say, "Your mother must be proud of you for answering so well."
Alan shrugged. "Not likely," he said humorously. "Mother's not too big on scholarship."
"Oh." Trying to cover up her unnatural blunder, Kel tried to explain. "It's just that you look so much like her -"
Alan held up a hand, looking comically aggrieved. "Begging your pardon for my impudence, Lady Knight, but you would not believe how many times a day I get compared to my mother."
While Kel, once again unnaturally for her, struggled for a reply, Alan gave another little gracious bow. "If you'll excuse me, Sir Nealan, Lady Knight Keladry, I think Sir Myles is calling me." He nodded to the far side of the room where the King's Spymaster - and Alan's own grandfather, Kel remembered - was waving. Without another word, the red-haired young man slipped off.
"Something wrong?" Neal asked as Kel stared after Alan with dismay. She turned back to him and they started filing out of the exam room with the rest of the audience.
"No, not exactly," she began. "Oh, Neal, I didn't sound *stupid*, did I?"
Nealan chuckled. "You did, a little." As Kel squawked in consternation, Neal added, "I know how much you like the Lioness. But Kel-"
"I know, I know," Kel interrupted him. "He's not Sir Alanna." She made a face. "I'm not *that* stupid, at least."
~*~
The summer passed in a blaze of heat and September followed with its cooling breezes. The newly-made squires returned to the Palace like chattering sparrows, eager to begin the next phase of their training. Some, having been approached by knights in the spring, were whisked away immediately for duty. Others continued with regular palace life, training, serving, learning at lessons, hoping to attract the eye of a potential knight-master.
One fall afternoon, two weeks before she was due back at the Scanran border, Kel trotted down to the training yard, turning an idea over in her mind. As she approached the door leading outside, voices from the courtyard made her pause, one hand on the door.
"Looking more like your mother every day, aren't you, Cooper?" said a young man's voice, not at all nicely.
"Yes, it must be terrible being named after your *mother*," another voice chimed in.
"It's not so bad," replied an easy voice Kel recognized as Alan's. "Once you get used to it."
Somebody spat. "Maybe *you're* hiding something under that tunic too, eh, Cooper? How do we know you're not really your bitch of a sister Alianne?"
"Shove off," Alan's voice said quietly, just a shade less humorously than usual.
Kel had had enough. Pushing open the door, she strode into the training yard, drawing up every inch of her six-foot frame. "Good day, lads," she said, a hint of a warning behind her pleasant words. She did not like what she saw.
Alan was surrounded and pushed against a wall. Typically enough, he was leaning against it almost casually, as if to suggest it was his own idea. Four other boys were fanned out in front of him, cutting off any escape. Hearing Kel come out, they looked up and bowed out of confusion. Alan took the opportunity to push past his taunters and saunter over to her. "Lady Knight," he said, flashing her the briefest of grateful smiles that the others could not see.
The other boys hesitated, then, muttering excuses, hurried away inside the Palace.
Neither Kel nor Alan said anything for a while. Alan seemed to be bowled over by sheer embarrassment. Finally Kel, for the sake of saying something, said, "I've been thinking. I'm heading back to the border in a couple of weeks, and I thought it might be nice to train someone for that sort of life. So I was wondering if you'd like to be my squire." She knew she was being kind. Kel, as a knight, could have simply told the armsmaster her choice without consulting Alan at all - that's how most knights did it. But Kel hated not knowing, and not giving, all the facts.
Alan was silent for some time. Then, smiling with his old good humor, he said lightly, "No, I don't think I would like that."
Kel stared, dismayed for the second time by the self-confident boy.
"Sir Nealan's already chosen me, you see," Alan said. "And besides, you're just as bad as them." He jerked a thumb towards the far door through which the other boys had made their retreat.
"What?" Kel said indignantly, as much about Neal's treachery as about Alan's accusation. "Since when am I as bad as that?" She put her hands on her hips and glared.
Alan laughed. "I don't mean nasty like them," he said, running a hand through his coppery curls. "But you'd always compare me to Mother. Everyone does it," he added quickly as Kel opened her mouth to speak. "But it's worse hearing it from you, because you're her *real* successor."
Kel let her arms drop again. "I'm sorry," she said awkwardly. "I never meant -"
Alan shrugged, all humor gone. "I'm my mother's son," he said flatly. "I'm not my mother."
Kel bit her lip. Maybe she had taken her hero-worship too far. You'd think you'd have gotten over it by now, she scolded herself. After meeting the Lioness and everything! And extending it to a boy four years younger than she was not fair.
"Don't beat yourself up," Alan advised, as if guessing her thoughts. With a start, Kel looked over and not very much down at him. The boy was grinning impudently. "It's better this way, really."
"Why's that?" she asked tartly, half in embarrassment and half in relief.
Alan's grin grew wider. "Can't flirt with you if you're my Knight-Mistress, can I?"
Kel gaped, then took a mighty swipe at him. With a whooping laugh, Alan ducked under her arm and ran. Kel chased after him, shaking her head and smiling to herself.
Finis