Chapter two: A New Life Begins



The ashes crunched under her feet. She had come to say a silent goodbye to her old life, once and for all. The fire had consumed everything. The only things she had left were the things she was wearing. Which now looked quite drab with holes where stray sparks had burned through the fabric. Her hair was wind tossed and smelled of smoke, and her eyes were a little red from loss of sleep. She had not gotten to bed 'till early morning and then her sleep had been troubled by nightmares.

The weather could not have been more fitting to her mood, it was overcast and pouring down rain. Mainar came up behind her.

" What are you going to do now?" he asked.

" Join the Riders," she replied quietly. " What else can I do?"

" There are plenty of things you could do," he protested. " Surely you have other relatives and my parents would be happy to have you stay with them-"

" You misunderstand me," she interrupted. " What I meant was what else could I do, now that I have the opportunity, than follow my dreams. I don't see how I could live with myself if I didn't take this opportunity. The Riders' Horsemistress is coming tomorrow, I should get settled in today. Would you come with me?" She looked up at him, her eyes silently pleading with him. It broke his heart to tell her he could not.

" I have to get back to the Own, we're marching out tomorrow. I hate to leave like this."

She nodded understanding her head drooping. He reached for her chin and lifted it gently.

" Listen, I'll come visit you when I'm in town and I'll send you letters while I'm out of town. If you need anything and I'm not here ask my parents, they should be able to help."

She gave him an unexpected hug. " Thanks." She whispered. " You're a real friend." She turned to leave but stopped when her foot hit something hard. She picked up a metal rod with scorch marks on it. She hurried away telling herself repeatedly that she was not going to cry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On her way to the Riders she stopped by a public fountain and washed her hair. Luckily it was still fairly early in the morning so she didn't have to worry about people staring at her. As she neared the Riders she saw the trainees working in the training yards. She made her way to the living areas. No one was in the mess hall or in the other corridors and rooms that Yallara searched in. Just as she was about to go to the training yards, as much as she hated to disturb them, a boy came around the corner. He was a trainee and was limping on a bandaged ankle.

Noticing her look he gave her a wry grin. " Twisted my ankle," he explained. " Good thing the ponies are coming tomorrow. No need to walk then."

" I suppose not," she replied.

" Are you lost or somethin'?" He asked.

" Um, could you tell my where I can sign up for the Riders?"

" You'd want to talk to someone in charge," he pointed out obviously. " Most of 'em are busy but you can try Mistress Kuri, she just finished patching my ankle. She's in the room over there." He pointed. She nodded thanks and proceeded to the room he had pointed out. She entered and found a tall woman with red-bronze hair.

"Excuse me." Yallara said.

The woman looked up. " Oh, hello. I'm Kuri Taylor. Can I help you?"

" I wanted to sign up for the Riders," Yallara explained.

" I see. Well, have a seat. I'll be back shortly," Kuri told her.

Yallara sat down and waited for Kuri. Kuri returned with an application sheet and a writing utensil.

" All right , I just need to ask you some questions," Kuri announced. " What's your name?"

" Yallara Cordel."

Kuri stopped writing.

" Daughter of Capt. Jearrick Cordel?" she asked. Yallara nodded. " We heard about your parents. I'm sorry." Yallara nodded again.

Kuri went back to the application. " Do you have any medical problems or handicaps?"

" No."

" How old are you?"

" Fifteen."

" Have you had any previous experience with horses or ponies, mapping, herbs, extensive history, tracking, use of weapons, tactics, strategy, or knowledge of immortals?" Kuri continued.

" I have learned history and a little mapping from my father. Of immortals I know only the rumors. Other than that, no," Yallara replied.

" Do you have any areas of expertise?"

" I can sew well, an ability I'm not fond of, and I can climb nearly anything."

" Are you married or planning on becoming so?"

Yallara turned slightly pink. " No," she replied.

" Can you read and write?"

Yallara was a little indignant that Kuri had to ask. " Yes."

" Ok, that's everything. Welcome to the Queen's Riders. Follow me and I'll get you outfitted."

Kuri took her to a room lined with shelves that held clothes, organized by size.

" I'll just take your measurements," she said as she pulled out a knotted cord.

" No need," Yallara told her and continued to name off her measurements.

" Well, that simplifies things considerably," Kuri commented, smiling. She went to a shelf and pulled out several pairs of breaches and shirts. " You're not opposed to breeches, are you?" she asked.

" Not at all," Yallara replied. " I've been waiting my whole life to wear them."

Kuri chuckled softly. " Wonder how many girls would say that? Here try these on."

Once they had all her clothes Kuri showed her up to the girl's dormitory.

" See that?" Kuri asked pointing to a yellow door down the hall. " That's the boy's dormitory and off limits to all girls."

Kuri opened the door to the girl's dormitory to reveal beds lining both walls. A trunk was at the end of each bed and bedside tables. There was one thing area that drew her attention. Where a bed should have been was a space virtually empty except for some straw.

" What's that for?" she asked.

" Kala, that's how she's used to sleeping," Kuri replied.

" Why?"

Kuri shrugged a twinkle in her eye. " You'll find out when she gets here tomorrow with Onua."

The rest of the morning was spent setting things up to her liking, and a tour Kuri was kind enough to give her. At noon Yallara went down to the mess hall for lunch. The mess hall was packed. This must be the biggest group of trainees ever. All the noise started giving Yallara a headache. After she got her tray of food she looked for a place to sit and saw Kuri waving for her to come over to her table, which was occupied by two other grownups.

Yallara made her way over to them.

" Whose this, Kuri?" Yallara heard a woman ask once she was close.

" A new recruit," Kuri replied. " This is Yallara Cordel."

Yallara looked at the other people at the table. One was a tall dark skinned man, who she knew by description to be Sarge. The other was a woman who had black hair and looked very elegant, she must have been the woman who had spoken earlier and was unmistakably Queen Thayet.

Yallara hesitated a second, not knowing how to curtsy while wearing breeches. She decided to bow as she had seen her father do. " Your Majesty," she said.

Thayet smiled. " Around here I try to lose the Queen. So there's no need for such formality," she said.

" I wouldn't call that formal," Yallara muttered to herself, thinking about her unpracticed bow instead of the ladylike curtsy she was familiar with.

" You can tell she's a Cordel," Thayet exclaimed. " Straight forward, proper, and stubborn, just like her parents."

Yallara looked down at her food suddenly losing her appetite.

" Now look what you've done," Kuri scolded. Yallara looked up, shocked that Kuri would speak to the Queen like that. No one else seemed to notice.

" I'm sorry," Thayet amended. " We all grieved over your parents deaths."

" Your father was a good man," Sarge told her. " And a great commander."

" Thanks," she said, feeling better. There was a short silence.

" You know, I'm surprised you're here," Thayet commented.

" Why?" Yallara asked.

" I thought your family was conservative. They were against the law that girls could train to be knights, and they stayed away from Sir Alanna"

Yallara laughed. " Well, you probably should let Sir Alanna know that it was nothing personal, they just didn't think they should enforce something they did not believe in. Same with the law the king passed. For me, I wanted to join the Queen's Riders since I first remember seeing one at the age of five. I finally convinced my parents to let me go for a trial year. I doubt they thought I would stay that long." She shrugged. " I have to try anyway." She couldn't bring herself to say that after what happened she hadn't felt that she had much of a choice.

" Ah, I see. Well, we're glad to have you with us," Thayet told her.

After lunch the trainees went back outside. Yallara though technically a trainee now, would not actually start until tomorrow. Instead she spent the afternoon catching up on studies so that she wouldn't be behind the other trainees. After dinner, which Yallara enjoyed better due to the lessening of noise, she joined the trainees in a lesson about edible wild berries and meditation. This was a new experience to her and not an easy one. No matter how hard she tried she could not focus on nothing. It kept drifting to the headache she was getting or how tired she felt, on the good side she didn't fall asleep like some of the trainees because she couldn't sleep sitting up. Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was time for bed. Yallara had just enough time to pull the covers up before she drifted off to sleep.