Oh come on!!! I got 89 reviews on this. I know it's all mary-sue based, but I like to think I'm a bit better than that! Sheesh. Hard noses. Ok, how bout this, I give you nice long chapter, you give me…one review? Two? Please? begs It starts getting better here! I promise!
sigh well. Here ya go, either way. If your reading, just review, even if it's just a dash, to show me that I do have readers after all. Otheriwse I would have done fifteen pages of editing and rewriting for my own amusement. glare
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She
looked at him blankly. "Of?"
He nodded, seeming to have
taken on her perspective; nothing was too strange. "Of Green Mountain, in Tortall's
east. To be precise,
near The Golden Lake."
"The Golden Lake?
Tortall?
Oh dear." One word, or rather, name, flashed across her mind. Raoul of Golden Lake.
Now it really made sense. Or, at least, some sense. She looked up; Nealen was staring at her again. "Didn't your mother teach you not to stare?" She said, vexed.
He smiled. "Yes, but do you listen to your mother?"
She sighed. "Point taken."
He seemed a little too amused
by her defeated tone. "I apologize, it's
just, there's no one around here that's anything like you."
"Well, it's a comfort to see
that some things haven't changed." She
grumbled.
He just looked at her again, then began to walk.
"Come on, we need to get you to my captain."
"No! Please, can't we keep
helping?" She didn't want to meet anyone
new just yet. Her mind was already
reeling.
"There's
nothing to worry about, the healers are coming over here now. They'll take care
of them."
"Even the," she fumbled for
the word he had used. "Islanders?"
He turned. "All healers have a code that says they must
heal all in need of help. I can't say
anything for their safety after ward, but for now, they will be helped."
Tight-lipped,
she nodded.
He closed his eyes. "Have you ever ridden a horse?"
"Yes, but it has been a very
long while." She said, thinking of the
days when she had had a friend that rode horses.
"Very well, I'll find a gentle
mount then."
"What about Satina?"
"Oh, is that the dog?"
"Yes."
"All horses are used to dogs, she can run along beside us."
She gulped. Well, I'll just
have to trust that she'll follow, she thought, because I'm going to have to
concentrate on staying ahorse. Just then, two horses
came over at full speed. One was pure black, and the other was a bay.
"Wow."
Neal swung his leg over the
saddle of the bay, and beckoned to her. "Come
on, Kat, let's get you to the fort."
Kat knelt beside her dog,
ruffling the soft hair on her head. "Satina," she said, pleading, "Please run with us, I know it's
interesting but we need to get this sorted out.
And I can't get anything done if I'm worrying about you."
With that, she unclasped the
leash. The dog sped to the tree line and back, the ahead of them. She breathed
a sigh of relief, it looked as if she would at least
loosely stay with them.
"You know, she's faster than
some of our wolf hounds." Nealen commented.
She didn't answer, just
attempted to get into the saddle. It worked, sort of. She hadn't ridden for
almost three years. At first they started at a slow trot, and worked their way
up to a canter. Though she had some problems with the canter, she stayed on
without much mishap. Satina was having a ball racing
the horses, and losing. Finally, they reached a large stone structure. She
assumed it was the fort. Suddenly realizing that Nealen
was slowing down, she reigned in her horse gently. They then both stopped. Nealen dismounted easily. This was the part she hated. She
could never dismount right. Attempting to do it, she slipped over, and
awkwardly fell onto her feet, grabbing Nealen's arm
for support.
"Drat. I never could do that
right." She heard a muffled noise, and
didn't even need to look up to see that he was laughing. Her mood was not in good enough of a
condition to join him. "Yeah, yeah,
laugh it up, I know it looked funny." She
shoved him in taking her arm off, making it look as if she hadn't meant to. He
took one step back in surprise, then regained his
composure.
"Come on. Bring the dog."
"You think I could actually
catch her?"
"Well, she is right behind
you."
She looked, and found that he
was right. Satina was sitting behind her, panting. "Ok, whatever, Satina,
come on."
She followed Nealen in, and Satina followed
them. They were led into a small circular room with two men in it. Nealen immediately stopped and bowed low. Kat looked at him
for a second and followed suit, curtsying as the ladies at the renaissance
faire had taught her. She looked up after a second. The black haired man looked
a bit wind swept, as if he had just taken a ride in a convertible. The other
man was slightly red cheeked, but it looked like the kind of red that was
always there. He had a pockmarked face with washed out blue eyes. The
black-haired man had blue eyes, but they were hard, like a blue diamond. He
looked at her and her blood spattered skirt, a curious light in his eyes.
"Nealen,
who have you brought for us, she does not look like any of the riders."
"No sire, I found her by the
stream."
She gulped. "Sire?
As in King? As in King...
Jonathan?"
All three of the men stared at
her. Nealen gently kicked her, and whispered "Yes
king! Are you deaf and dumb?"
She gulped again, ignoring the
slur on her intelligence, then curtseyed again. "Excuse me for my ignorance sire, I did not
know of your station."
Nealen
stared at her. Jonathan did the same for a moment, and then snapped out of it.
The other man stayed silent and watching.
"All is excused my dear, please sit down."
The other man stood up, he was
only half a head taller than Neal, but the grace and concentration that
radiated from him was enough to make him seem as if he were 10 feet. "Squire Nealen, would you care to give us an introduction...and an
explanation?"
Jonathan stood up, "I shall
leave you to it, Imrah, I
must help the guards."
The man nodded, and the king
walked out. Then he turned his gaze to Neal again. The squire didn't need him
to say anything, so he cleared his throat and started. "Lord Imrah, I
found this girl at the edge of the forest. She had just walked out with her dog
from the stream about 50 feet into the forest..."
"That's all it was? Gees, I
must have wandered around for an hour."
Neal glared at her, cleared
his throat again, and started anew. "She did not know of the battle, and was
very confused. When I asked her who she swore to, she did not
know what I spoke of. She has however helped me to clean numerous soldier's wounds." He
did not mention the arguments about the men of the copper isles. Lord Imrah sat back, contemplating. It was silent for a minute,
and then he spoke.
"Thank you Nealen,
go and stand outside."
She gulped. Great, he's probably
going to grill me or something, she thought grimly. Nealen
stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door after him. Again, it was
silent. She played with the draw string of her skirt, and ended up unraveling
it a bit before she stopped herself. A voice broke her concentration.
"You must excuse my squire, he is a genius, but a forgetful one. I do not
believe I have had the pleasure to know your name?"
She took a deep breath. Best
to keep your story the same, she decided.
"Kat."
He seemed taken aback by the
name. She didn't blame him, it was a bit strange, there was no land or last
name attached, just Kat. He rustled, and reached his hand into a pocket in his
overcoat.
"A unique
name. Are you a noble?"
"I do not own lands, if that
is what you mean."
"Where did you come from?"
She winced, it was a
reasonable question, but not one she really knew the answer to.
"Um...I guess you could say
another world...but I don't really know..."
"What did you say your name
was?"
"Kat." Should she say her last name anyway? She wasn't sure.
He snorted.
"Who do you hail?"
"I do not know. I suppose King Jonathan."
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen,
eighteen in September"
"September?"
She sighed. Figures, she
thought.
"It's a way of measuring time,
where I come from."
He took his fingers out of his
pockets, dusting them of a fine powder. She narrowed her eyes, this was
strange. If she was where she thought, then something was fishy.
"Are you performing magic on
me?"
Lord Imrah
looked surprised. "How did you know?"
She pointed to his hand. "You should be more inconspicuous when using
that."
He raised his eyebrows. "Then
you already realize I have caught your deception. What is your true name?"
"My lord, there is no deception, My full name is Katrina Brianne
Nolen. I'm very confused, and I didn't
think that a last name would mean anything here…wherever here is."
"Ah, I see." He said, not looking convinced.
Sure ya
do, she thought before her nice side told her to shut up before she got herself
killed. She continued to fiddle with her skirt before he talked further.
"Well, since you have lied of
nothing else, I shall take the name that you have given me."
"Thank you sir, you are very
kind." He stared at her for a moment,
perplexed, and then laughed heartily.
"My dear, if you always talk
that well, you will make it far in this world!"
She sighed in relief, glad to
have that piercing gaze not leveled on her any more.
"I don't always talk this way, but I do when I'm trying to make a good
impression."
He cocked an eyebrow. "My dear...Kat was it?"
She nodded.
"Can you talk to your enemies
and friends as such?"
"Words are the best way to
duel and make it far where I'm from."
He nodded. "How much schooling have you had?"
She thought. Obviously he
didn't mean what grade she was in, but what she could do. "I can read and write well. I can do math, I
know some biology, chemistry, and medicine. I know world geography...oh wait. Never mind that."
"Why, never mind?"
She sighed. Ok, I'm going to
have to do this sometime, she decided.
"It doesn't matter here
obviously, I mean you don't have and Africa or an Asia do you?"
He shook his head. "It is true, we are without these places."
"Well, that's one of the
things we learned, it was called world geography...looks like I'm going to have
to learn it all over again..."
"Yes, you will, if you to do
what I am thinking."
"And what is that?"
"Several of our diplomats were
killed in the immortal's war. We are in desperate need of people who can weave
words around someone like a net."
"Erm,
I don't know." She said shyly
"I'm a little blunt, and sometimes a bit quick with said
bluntness. I don't have any training in the etiquette of your country, will you be able to teach me that?"
He nodded. "Of course we will. Only you will not be
learning our etiquette alone, we will teach you seating arrangements of various
countries as well as our own."
A small bird peeped from the
open window. Kat looked and saw that it was a Junko. She loved the small birds,
and wondered that it was sitting so close to her.
"Hello little bird." She said.
The bird peeped in reply,
reciprocating her greeting.
"What
are you doing, sitting in windows?"
A friend asked me to be here.
Kat paused, then backed away her chair so quickly that she nearly fell over. Lord Imrah calmly observed as she bit her knuckle, looking at the tiny bird as if it had just grown three heads. Drawing a breath, she slowly sat up and gained her composure. It was nothing she told herself, nothing but her imagination, she wasn't going crazy. Still…she could have sworn that bird had just…dare she say it?...Talked to her! After a moment of hearing no voice in her head, she looked at Imrah.
"D-do your bird's
normally…just…um." She stopped mid-sentence,
aware that this place probably had as many loony bins as her world. But a stupid question could always be written
off to confusion. "Do your birds
normally carry on conversations?"
Lord Imrah
gave her another strange look. He then grabbed a mirror from the stand. Kat,
was still to annoyed at herself to pay much attention,
but did hear him ask someone if Numair Samilian was available. The mirror replied that they were
looking for him and Daine right now. She heard a soft trill, and a small black
shadow perked up from the man's coat pocket. Darking,
she thought automatically, not sure where the knowledge had come from. Lord Imrah leaned over to the door and opened it. Nealen stumbled in.
"Well Nealen,
now you can stop listening with the birds. And I have a question."
Nealen,
who had turned red, bowed, saying, "Yes
my lord?"
"Did Numair
teach you to see magic within something?"
"He did, I'm not very good at
it though."
Lord Imrah
nodded to Kat. "Can you see any magic in
her? I believe that it might be wild magic, but I cannot be sure."
Neal's eyes widened in
surprise, but he sat and closed his eyes. His breathing slowed, and he seemed
to relax. Then his eyes slowly opened, he gasped and opened them all the way,
losing all concentration.
"She has magic my lord, and it
is wild magic, but it's different, not like mine, or Daine's"
"How much does she have?"
"More than me, but less than
Daine, but it is very strange!"
Lord Imrah
nodded, looking at her with that contemplating look again. She decided that she
didn't like that look, something strange always came from it. He sighed.
"Well, Kat," said Imrah with an amused air, "it looks as if you will have to
stay at the palace for longer than we anticipated, since judging by the look on
your face you didn't even know you had magic of any sort."
She nodded
dumbly, totally speechless. Satina, forgotten
until the, rubbed her head on Kat's foot. She leaned down to pet her out of
reflex. This is the last link to home, she realized, all I have from earth is Satina. She wiped suddenly leaky eyes, trying her hardest
not to cry in front of the two men. Lord Imrah took
the hint, and said, "Nealen, find some proper cloths for her, give her some of
yours if you need to, and get her into bed."
"No sir, please, I wouldn't be
able to sleep anyway. May I help somewhere?"
He considered her request, and
nodded.
"Nealen,
find a place for her, but still get her cloths, she can't go around like that."
She nodded mutely,
glad that she would be able to have some real cloths and something to do.
Rising, she shuffled out, following Nealen.
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