"There's a rumor about a Scanran rebellion pillaging a small village in
Galla in the name of Maggur. I think we should send a division there to
check things out," Alanna the Lioness suggested as she read the latest
report from the Queen's Riders.
The bright blue eyes of Evin Larse, the next highest leader beneath Buri, Raoul's one time lover, watched the king pace around the imperial study as he swirled his cup of wine absently.
King Jonathan of Conté ran his fingers through his blue-black hair, now striped with white, nervously and worriedly. "Another report of a Scanran rebellion? When will this ever end? That bastard was defeated a year ago!" and he slammed his fist on the desk of his personal study.
Alanna's piercing violet eyes stared into Jonathan's own sapphire eyes. "I know. We all know. But last year had been the first time the Scanrans had any decent leader to unite the tribes and had the firepower to shake Tortall deeply. You think they're going to back off that easily when they were so close before?"
Jonathan sank into his seat and sighed heavily. "I don't like the fact that these rebels have to choose a helpless village to plunder and murder in order to get their voices heard. I don't like the fact that I have to send a division there and risk another bunch of lives because some rogues won't back off."
Alanna laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's part of being king. You have to take actions now before they gather more force."
There was a moment of intimacy between the two legendary figures. Evin Larse could only stare at the two entities that had shared a past feeling of love.
Jonathan stood up and stared at the moon past the window. "Who do you suggest we send?" he asked Alanna.
"Keladry of Mindelan and the King's Own."
"Raoul too?"
"Yes."
"Very well. I would hate to lose two good soldiers in one day. May the gods watch over them."
8
There was a series of loud banging on her door. Kel, with her hair sticking all over the place, groggily woke up and opened the door. To her surprise, she found Raoul in his sleepwear and wide awake, holding an opened parchment that had been sealed with the royal seal. Kel guessed it to be a command from the king about where she would be stationed.
Raoul smiled brightly, being the wonderful morning he is and said, "Guess what I have in my hand?
"My freedom?" she asked groggily.
"Your long awaited freedom," he elaborated happily. "Joy..." and she went back to sleep.
"We're being assigned to patrol the borders near Scanra," Raoul said, giddy with joy like a boy who receives a gift for his birthday.
Kel could relate with how he felt. He, like Kel and many other knights, hated being cooped too long behind the castle wall. They had a duty to do, which consisted of being outside the safety the walls provided, protecting the unprotected and righting the wrongs. It left them helpless and useless to be in the Court, listening to the chatters of scatterbrained ladies of the Court and the sly wheedling of the aristocrats who attempted to curry favors from those above their status.
However, the thought of spending time with Raoul dampened her spirit of adventure. Would it really better the situation she was in?
She sighed heavily and covered her face with her blanket.
"Oh go be a baby then. I'm going to get ready," Raoul said cheerfully and left, his steps a little lighter than his usual trudging.
All she could do was blink underneath her sheet. She was too wide awake now to go back to sleep. Muttering colorful languages that she picked up from the soldiers from the forts she had worked in, she got dressed quickly and grabbed her glaive.
She breathed in deeply and exhaled. There was nothing better than the morning air. She started to warm up with a slow circular motion. Her feet then started to follow the age-old pattern of intricate footsteps that imitated a crane in a dance while her arms drew complex circles and swirls with the glaive. By the time she was finished, her clothes were soaked in sweat.
"Very nice! I can never get tired of watching you guys swing that glaive around," a feminine voice said.
Kel swirled around to see a pair of violet eyes that were smiling at her with admiration.
"Lady Alanna!" Kel exclaimed in surprise. Her idol who had sent her so many useful and EXPENSIVE gifts mysteriously stood before her now, commenting on how she admired HER.
"Oh come on now. Don't be so stiff. We were so comfortable before. Call me Alanna."
"But my Lady... It makes you feel so..."
"Normal? Kel, I'm just a person like you. A lady knight. You don't need to elevate me to a status of a goddess or something," and she made a face in disgust.
"Of course not. You never wanted to be anything more than a lady knight... like Keladry," a voice that sounded like a huntress leading a pack of hounds commented out of nowhere.
Alanna stiffened, recognizing that voice immediately. Kel looked around frantically to try and pin point the voice, embarrassed by being caught off guard again. A tall hooded figure walked up to them. She pulled off her hood to reveal a pale eerily beautiful face, complete with long black tumbling locks, a pair of emerald eyes, and full red lips.
"It's been a while, my Daughter," she said to Alanna as her scarlet lips curved into a smile.
"My Mother," Alanna said begrudgingly and kissed her hand, wincing at the jolt of power she felt from the touch.
"Mother? THE Great Mother Goddess?" Kel exclaimed.
The goddess smiled once again and nodded slowly. "I came here not to greet you but because I have a new mission for the both of you. I'm sure Keladry will be glad of this because she wants to avoid a certain someone."
Kel blushed at that statement.
"As for Alanna, once again you must separate yourself from your doting husband and children in search of something that disturbs the balance of good and evil once again."
"A new evil? Can't we be left alone for at least a decade?" Alanna complained.
A new mission! Away from the palace AND the problem it brought. Kel smiled in relief. This would definitely give her some breathing room and time to think. She would have time to sort her feelings about Raoul and her best friend.
She kneeled before the goddess and kissed her hand. "As you wish, my Mother."
Alanna muttered under her breath about how she had experienced enough evil to last her past her death. "I don't like the idea of leaving my family for some ambiguous evil but it looks like I don't have a choice."
The goddess smiled placidly. "Perhaps you'll find more than just your adversary." In a blink of an eye, she disappeared.
"See what I have to deal with?" Alanna asked Kel exhaustedly.
"This is the stuffs that made you a legend!"
Alanna rolled her eyes and trudged back to pack.
Kell stood alone in silence for a brief moment. Then like Alanna, she went off to pack, her mind tranquil as it had been the day she arrived in the palace the first day of her goal to be a knight.
The bright blue eyes of Evin Larse, the next highest leader beneath Buri, Raoul's one time lover, watched the king pace around the imperial study as he swirled his cup of wine absently.
King Jonathan of Conté ran his fingers through his blue-black hair, now striped with white, nervously and worriedly. "Another report of a Scanran rebellion? When will this ever end? That bastard was defeated a year ago!" and he slammed his fist on the desk of his personal study.
Alanna's piercing violet eyes stared into Jonathan's own sapphire eyes. "I know. We all know. But last year had been the first time the Scanrans had any decent leader to unite the tribes and had the firepower to shake Tortall deeply. You think they're going to back off that easily when they were so close before?"
Jonathan sank into his seat and sighed heavily. "I don't like the fact that these rebels have to choose a helpless village to plunder and murder in order to get their voices heard. I don't like the fact that I have to send a division there and risk another bunch of lives because some rogues won't back off."
Alanna laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's part of being king. You have to take actions now before they gather more force."
There was a moment of intimacy between the two legendary figures. Evin Larse could only stare at the two entities that had shared a past feeling of love.
Jonathan stood up and stared at the moon past the window. "Who do you suggest we send?" he asked Alanna.
"Keladry of Mindelan and the King's Own."
"Raoul too?"
"Yes."
"Very well. I would hate to lose two good soldiers in one day. May the gods watch over them."
8
There was a series of loud banging on her door. Kel, with her hair sticking all over the place, groggily woke up and opened the door. To her surprise, she found Raoul in his sleepwear and wide awake, holding an opened parchment that had been sealed with the royal seal. Kel guessed it to be a command from the king about where she would be stationed.
Raoul smiled brightly, being the wonderful morning he is and said, "Guess what I have in my hand?
"My freedom?" she asked groggily.
"Your long awaited freedom," he elaborated happily. "Joy..." and she went back to sleep.
"We're being assigned to patrol the borders near Scanra," Raoul said, giddy with joy like a boy who receives a gift for his birthday.
Kel could relate with how he felt. He, like Kel and many other knights, hated being cooped too long behind the castle wall. They had a duty to do, which consisted of being outside the safety the walls provided, protecting the unprotected and righting the wrongs. It left them helpless and useless to be in the Court, listening to the chatters of scatterbrained ladies of the Court and the sly wheedling of the aristocrats who attempted to curry favors from those above their status.
However, the thought of spending time with Raoul dampened her spirit of adventure. Would it really better the situation she was in?
She sighed heavily and covered her face with her blanket.
"Oh go be a baby then. I'm going to get ready," Raoul said cheerfully and left, his steps a little lighter than his usual trudging.
All she could do was blink underneath her sheet. She was too wide awake now to go back to sleep. Muttering colorful languages that she picked up from the soldiers from the forts she had worked in, she got dressed quickly and grabbed her glaive.
She breathed in deeply and exhaled. There was nothing better than the morning air. She started to warm up with a slow circular motion. Her feet then started to follow the age-old pattern of intricate footsteps that imitated a crane in a dance while her arms drew complex circles and swirls with the glaive. By the time she was finished, her clothes were soaked in sweat.
"Very nice! I can never get tired of watching you guys swing that glaive around," a feminine voice said.
Kel swirled around to see a pair of violet eyes that were smiling at her with admiration.
"Lady Alanna!" Kel exclaimed in surprise. Her idol who had sent her so many useful and EXPENSIVE gifts mysteriously stood before her now, commenting on how she admired HER.
"Oh come on now. Don't be so stiff. We were so comfortable before. Call me Alanna."
"But my Lady... It makes you feel so..."
"Normal? Kel, I'm just a person like you. A lady knight. You don't need to elevate me to a status of a goddess or something," and she made a face in disgust.
"Of course not. You never wanted to be anything more than a lady knight... like Keladry," a voice that sounded like a huntress leading a pack of hounds commented out of nowhere.
Alanna stiffened, recognizing that voice immediately. Kel looked around frantically to try and pin point the voice, embarrassed by being caught off guard again. A tall hooded figure walked up to them. She pulled off her hood to reveal a pale eerily beautiful face, complete with long black tumbling locks, a pair of emerald eyes, and full red lips.
"It's been a while, my Daughter," she said to Alanna as her scarlet lips curved into a smile.
"My Mother," Alanna said begrudgingly and kissed her hand, wincing at the jolt of power she felt from the touch.
"Mother? THE Great Mother Goddess?" Kel exclaimed.
The goddess smiled once again and nodded slowly. "I came here not to greet you but because I have a new mission for the both of you. I'm sure Keladry will be glad of this because she wants to avoid a certain someone."
Kel blushed at that statement.
"As for Alanna, once again you must separate yourself from your doting husband and children in search of something that disturbs the balance of good and evil once again."
"A new evil? Can't we be left alone for at least a decade?" Alanna complained.
A new mission! Away from the palace AND the problem it brought. Kel smiled in relief. This would definitely give her some breathing room and time to think. She would have time to sort her feelings about Raoul and her best friend.
She kneeled before the goddess and kissed her hand. "As you wish, my Mother."
Alanna muttered under her breath about how she had experienced enough evil to last her past her death. "I don't like the idea of leaving my family for some ambiguous evil but it looks like I don't have a choice."
The goddess smiled placidly. "Perhaps you'll find more than just your adversary." In a blink of an eye, she disappeared.
"See what I have to deal with?" Alanna asked Kel exhaustedly.
"This is the stuffs that made you a legend!"
Alanna rolled her eyes and trudged back to pack.
Kell stood alone in silence for a brief moment. Then like Alanna, she went off to pack, her mind tranquil as it had been the day she arrived in the palace the first day of her goal to be a knight.