Disclaimer: If this was all completely mine, I wouldn't be posting it at , now would I?
A/N: Many thanks to my betas.
Footnotes:
Excerpts from the Memoirs of a Lady Knight
In the year 456 HE, the Eldorne family reopened long closed rooms that had long been locked in order to make space for visitors during the Grand Progress. In one of those dust filled rooms they found the remains of Larriane of Eldorne's journal. These remains were donated to the Royal Library with promises to search for more fragments. Selected excerpts dealing with the decline of lady knights are shown here.
April 16, 258 HE
Elaine of Naxen's funeral is today. I'm not overly grieved, as she and I were never the best of friends. I'll go the funeral because that's what one does when a member of your training group dies as well as for Gareth's sake. The poor man might need some comforting now that his wife is gone. I'm surprised that I outlived her. She was always so organized and careful, with well laid plans. Not like me, Larraine "the Reckless" of Eldorne. It was always expected that I would be the second to die right after Willem of Cavall, who is still just as abrasive a personality as ever. At least I had—and still have—enough charm to talk my way out of any trouble I got myself into. Perhaps we won't disappoint the other prediction made, that the two of us would kill each other someday. He's been making noises about retiring to raise dogs, so it would have to be soon. I'll have to remember to visit him. Verbal and physical sparring with him is one of my favorite entertainments, after all. As was what came after that. It was such a pity when he got married and decided to embrace monogamy.
People would be so shocked to hear me say that. Court—all of Tortall really—is becoming increasingly conservative. This new group of pages is a perfect example of that. Not a girl among them! I fear that female warriors are a dying breed. I hear that even the Shang are getting fewer girls every year. I can see with my own eyes that there are fewer and fewer females who attempt knighthood. I can't fathom what's causing this shift. Perhaps it's this fascination with Carthak. We're importing their foods and fashions, why not their views toward women as well?
What galls me is that most of the women are doing nothing to fight this. They seem content to meekly accept this reduction of their power, leaving only a few of us to counter act it. Most of our group are Lady Knights, and we are growing smaller by the year. sElaine's death means that we have lost someone willing to speak out against these injustices and it has happened at a time when we need every voice! We have little power left in Court. Should the Queen bow to pressure from her Goddess cursed foreign born husband we will have none, and those wishing to make illegal for a woman to become a knight will win.
Larraine
August 29, 260 HE
Goddess be praised, the latest page group includes a girl! The training master, Lucan of Goldenlake wrote to me with this information yesterday, though I did not have time to read the letter until now. This squire of mine is more trouble than he's worth. I should've listened to Lucan's warnings. According to him this Felicia of Hollyrose is also troublesome, as she is apparently quite vocal about some things and doesn't care who overhears her. He hopes to temper that with the wisdom of thinking before you speak before her tongue makes enemies that are too powerful for any page or squire to stand against. I think that she will have already made those enemies simply because she is daring to attempt to achieve her shield and they want no more female fighters. This at least will silence those such as Micah of Stone Mountain who argue that there are no more girls who want to become knights. It was a stupid argument for passing that damned law anyway.
Larraine
January 3, 2681 HE
Felicia of Hollyrose, the only female currently training for knighthood, faces her Ordeal tonight. She was squire to Thema of Trebond, who at thirty-three is the youngest Lady Knight. I'm amazed that she survived, as she and Trebond are both known for their sharp tongues and sharper tempers Felicia might have had an easier time with a less sharp-tongued knight master who has better people skills. Trebond is almost as bad as Willem when it comes to interacting pleasantly with people. However, Hollyrose wanted a younger knight master as well as one who was female and it's tradition for the girls to be Squires to the women and the boys to be Squires to the men. None of the female knights are very young now. Most of us are past the time when we roam around, seeking adventure and glory as Hollyrose wished to do.
No girls have started their training since her. It seems likely that Felicia Hollyrose will be the last Lady Knight.
Larraine
Later that night
January 4, 268
Hollyrose is dead. People are saying that it's a sign from the Gods; that They are against women as knights. We will be meeting to discuss this in only a few minutes as This will add support to that damned law that's being discussed. Goddess curse it.
February 23, 2761 HE
That damned law was passed. It is now illegal for a woman to try for her shield. Micah of Lucien of Stone Mountain actually suggested that I and the other remaining Lady Knights—the last Lady Knights—feel lucky that we did not have our shields taken away. If he had attempted his knighthood, he might have been able to dodge or block my punch. He is in the minority, though. More popular are those such as Brendan of Nond who counsels that people just wait until the very last of us are dead. After that they'll be able to bury records of us and forget about us until we are nothing more than a footnote in some obscure history text.
Larraine
October 8, 274 HE
Brendan of Nond's prediction in being proven correct. The few female knights who are still young enough to fight are being killed in battle at a suspicious rate. Some of those who value their survival and wish to live past forty are talking of perhaps retiring to their fiefs to lead quite lives. Trebond is one of those. She says that her sister-in-law could use her help running the fief since her brother is so often out of the country on diplomatic missions. I never thought the day would come when she would tire of fighting.
I never thought that the day would come when I would tire of fighting. My generation is looked on as being the relics of another time. Young women are amazed that my peers—those of them that are still alive—and I ever fought alongside their grandfathers. Not that we get the respect that our male counterparts are given. We are ignored. It is pretended that we do not exist. There are no ballads being sung about our heroics. Children are not being taught that it was a woman who commanded and won the battle that pushed the Scanrans back past the Grimhold mountains and broke their army. People seem almost ashamed to admit that we ever existed.
Larraine