Lady Gale.
Chapter One: The New Girl.
" Your Majesty, I must say, this deal you've made with these." began a noble " Celtics." King Jonathon Of Tortall supplied, feeling one of his council meeting headaches coming on. " Ah yes, Celtics, although we do get some benefits from this alliance, I'm afraid we got the short end of the deal. Having one of their knights to live here, really!" " And a girl at that!" Roared another noble. Jon pinched the bridge of his nose. The Celtics of Celta kept a long- standing tradition of allowing women to become knights. Jon had made an alliance with the Celtics, with an agreement that he would allow one of their lady knights to serve and live in his land. No need for a royal marriage or anything else, and Tortall would be allied with Celta and receive the benefits of the Celtics animal training, wisdom of immortals, their immortals for some reason never got locked in the Realm of the Gods so they had more first hand contact with immortals. And the Celtics also had talented mages, but they did magic in a practical sense. Magiks for making wood lighter for carrying, then making it heavier again and so on. Jon had thought the Gods were giving him a gift when the Celtic kings, the country was run by two kings, didn't want a royal marriage, just a home for their homeless knight. If only he had known.
" Not only that, but her own people don't even believe that she's of noble blood!" Another noble roared. " I have been assured that she has under gone the test of nobility, and like the Chamber, it cannot be interfered with." Jonathan assured. " There is no way to prove that." Said yet another noble. " Your Majesty, may I make a suggestion?" came Lord Wyldon of Cavall spoke out. Jon looked on this hopefully. Lord Wyldon had taught the first known woman knight and seen first hand that women could fight, so, hopefully, he'll be encouraging the arrival and stay of this new lady knight. " Yes, Lord Wyldon?" " A month after her arrival, before her people leave for home, we will test this Celtic Knight in her knowledge. Tortallan laws and history, reading and writing, mathematics, sword fighting and anything else a knight of the realm needs to know. And, if she passes these tests, during mid winter, she can go into the Chamber of The Ordeal, just like all the other knights have done." Lord Wyldon suggested. Jon could have kissed Wyldon right there and then. He doubted that his nobles could argue this suggestion. " Are there objections to Lord Wyldon's suggestion?" Queen Thayet asked. The nobles were silent. " Then it's settled, Lady Gale of Celta will under go tests of Knighthood one month after her arrival and, if she passes her tests, Midwinter she will enter the Chamber of The Ordeal." Jon stated.
***
Keladry Of Mindelan looked onto the road coming to the castle. Under her calm face she was a bundle of excitement. Finally, another lady knight her own age! Well sort of, from what she heard the knight was a year younger then her, but that didn't matter.
' It'll be wonderful to have someone my age and sex to talk to as a knight.' Kel thought to herself. Kel's mind went over the information she had learned about Gale of Celta earlier. Gale had been found, abandoned, by one of the Celtic nobles after a defending against a bandit raid. Since the noble had few children, all of them boys, he adopted young Gale. At the age of ten Gale under went a test of nobility, to see if she actually came from a noble bloodline. It proved she had noble blood and she began her training as a knight. The Celtic people, mostly the nobles, were not happy with this and demanded that Gale be removed from the Celtic court. As the Celtic kings were looking for a solution, King Jonathon suggested the alliance. Problem solved, for the Celtic kings, anyway, now King Jonathon was the one with the problem.
Kel sighed and straightened her hat a bit. It was a nasty rainy day for ambassadors to come. The cold wind wrapped around all those who stood in its path. Finally, faint hoof beats came from the road. Soon a herald, bearing a flag and badge with the silver unicorn and gold lion on the green field of Celta. Looking closely, Kel noticed that the unicorn wore a gold crown that looked elegant and the lion wore a silver crown that looked, as Kel best described it, war-like. As the troupe rode forward Kel could pick out ambassadors and warriors and a scribe or two. At the very end of the troupe was a lone rider. The horse itself was enough to catch anyone's attention. Most of its body was black, each leg had a white stocking and it's mane and tail was a light, almost silvery, grey. The rider wore a plain light blue cloak with the hood up, hiding his or her face. Oddest of all was the three dogs that stood in a triangle formation around the horse and rider, them in the dead centre. The troupe came a stop and attendants rushed out to take horses. When an attendant tried to take the last rider's rein, he or she dismounted and pulled them from the attendant's reach. The attendant shrugged and led the rider with the other attendants to the stables. Kel followed, curious to see who this mysterious rider was.
***
The rider had chosen the stall farthest from the rest of the Celtics' horses. At this point Kel could tell the rider was definitely female, from the soft whisperings she was muttering to her horse, she still hadn't taken down her hood though. Kel stopped dead in her tracks; she didn't want to intrude on the bonding moment. Jump, on the other hand, had no problem with disturbing private moments and trotted over to the rider and barked his hello. The rider looked around and when the hooded head gaze turned to Jump, a chuckle came from her. " Well Hullo there wee lad. Aren't ye 'ansome." The rider said middle pitch somewhat melody added voice, as she bent low and scratched behind Jump's ear and a half. Kel chuckled inwardly; only someone who was a real animal person would call Jump handsome, even with an accent. Taking her cue Kel walked forward, pretending to look peeved. " Jump! There you are. I'm sorry miss, I hope he's not bothering you." Kel said. " Not at all 'e just saying hullo." The rider said, standing up offering Kel a hand to shake, using the other to remove her hood. " Lady Gale." The rider said. " Lady Keladry of Mindelan." Kel said offering her hand to Gale, studying her. Gale's eyes were a deep leafy green and her hair, done back in a simple braid, was as black as her horse's body. Her nose looked as if it was been broken once or twice and healed a bit wrong. A scar lay under her right eye and another started at the bottom of her lower lip and ended just short of the cleft of her chin. Looking at Gale's hand, Kel saw it was just as scarred as her own. " Ah yes, Lady Keladry, Protector of the Small." Gale grinned. Kel felt a blush creep across her face, " I have been called that, it's kind of silly if you ask me." " Not from what I've 'eard." Gale smiled, " But dinnae mean to embarrass ye." " Not it's your flaut you didn't know." Kel assured. Then turned her attention to the horse, whom now Kel could tell was a gelding. He wasn't as big as Peachblossom, but he was definitely a warhorse " He's a beauty." " Aye, me first horse. Known 'im since 'e was a colt." Gale smiled, picking up the discarded brush and continuing her brushing of her horse, " 'is name is Silverwind." She added. " Lovely name, it suits him. I hope the rain didn't make your ride here to uncomfortable." " Nay, it rains like this all the time during the spring back 'ome." Gale sighed, a bit saddened as she finished her statement. " Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad." " Nay Kel, it's not you. It's this whole bloody situation. I can stay 'ere and always be missin' my 'ome land, with a slight chance of ever making something of me self, always an outsider, or I can fail them little tests they've got for me and go back to Celta, a failure, and for the rest of my life be the 'Nameless Knight'." Gale sighed, " Damned if I do and damned if I don't. Everybody back in Celta expects I'll be back at the end of the month." " Doesn't seem very fair, does it?" Kel said, leaning against a support beam, " But you can prove them wrong and study and train and prove you are as a good knight here as you were back home. And if I say so myself, you look like the kind of knight who was in demand." Gale chuckled, " I'm good with a sword, and I know when ta shut up and take orders like a good little warrior should, if that's what you mean." Kel laughed out right at this, she had a feeling she'd like Gale a lot.
" Ach, where are me manners. Kel, these are me boys." Gale said motioning with the brush to the three dogs lined near the front of the stall. The first one was normal enough. A mix bred looking hound with short brown fur, not as big as a wolfhound, but just a touch bigger then a grey hound. Next was the oddest dog Kel had ever seen. It looked like someone had taken a white dog and covered it in black blots. The last, and the biggest, was definitely like a wolf half-breed. His was mostly white with a silvery grey tinged to him, making him look frosted. Kel wasn't sure what was the dog breed that made his other half but it was certain the wolf side was the most predominate. " The brown one is Mulligan, the Dalmatian, that's 'is breed, is Rags, and me wolf is Blizzard." " Definitely more wolf in Blizzard then dog." Kel commented. " That's what 'is breeder thought. 'Ard to tell with huskies if ye ask me." " Huskies?" " Huskies are a breed of dog bred for snow work. They look a lot like wolves, but there are some differences. It snows a lot up north in Celta and Huskies like, Bliz's ma, do all sorts of work. It seems a wolf 'ad 'is way with Bliz's ma. All the rest of the litter looked liked normal Huskies. Expect Blizzard 'ere, more wolf then dog, nobody wanted 'im. The breeder was just going to leave 'im out in the cold. But I 'appened to be there with one of the castle kennel workers, since the breeder bred other dogs, and I was just another squire to 'elp at the time, and well I saw Bliz and the wee dear won me over." Gale suddenly blushed. " Sorry there, dinnae mean to go into detail like that." " That's alright, I love hearing stories." Kel said, then she noticed the carrier, like the King Own used for carrying their terriers and birds in, on the back Gale's saddle. " What's in there?" Kel asked. Before Gale could answer, a small orange bundle of fur came out of the trap door in the bottom of the carrier. The cat, it seemed to be from its loud purr, rubbed up against Kel's legs. Gale chuckled, " That's Seamus, found 'im on the streets 'alf starved. The little guy loves attention. 'E's about two now, and he won't get any bigger." Kel chuckled to herself. " Got anymore animals I should know about?" She asked, picking up Seamus and rubbing between his ears. " Just one more. As you can see the carrier I got 'ere is too big for just Seamus." Gale smiled walking over to the carrier, taking out a falconer's glove from a saddlebag and putting it on. Opening up the top Gale put her gloved hand in a whistled a soft note. Pulling her arm up Gale had a peregrine falcon perched on her gloved hand. " This is Dive. 'E's the one who scarred me 'ands up so badly." Gale grinned as Dive screeched, " That just 'im saying hullo." " Pardon me lady knights, but would Lady Gale like to go to her room for a bath now?" An attendant said near the stable door. " I'd love that. It's been too bloody long." Gale smiled. The attendant gathered Gale's bags up. " Keladry, I was wondering, in about an 'our could ye take me on a tour of the palace?" Gale asked she headed for the door. " I'd love to." Kel replied. " Smashing! I'll 'ave Seamus wait outside me room so you know which one is mine, it'll probably be in the foreigners quarters or whatever it's called." Gale called as the attendant led her in to the castle.
Author's Note: Howdy folks! Whatcha think of my first attempt at Tamora Pierce fiction? Sorry to any I offended with my bad imitation of an Irish accent. Well any questions, comments and such, just review and put them there and I'll get back to you. Any way, I hoped you enjoyed it. Until next time! ~AquaBolt~
P.S. Anything here that you know belongs to Tamora Pierce, belongs to Tamora Pierce, don't sue me!
Chapter One: The New Girl.
" Your Majesty, I must say, this deal you've made with these." began a noble " Celtics." King Jonathon Of Tortall supplied, feeling one of his council meeting headaches coming on. " Ah yes, Celtics, although we do get some benefits from this alliance, I'm afraid we got the short end of the deal. Having one of their knights to live here, really!" " And a girl at that!" Roared another noble. Jon pinched the bridge of his nose. The Celtics of Celta kept a long- standing tradition of allowing women to become knights. Jon had made an alliance with the Celtics, with an agreement that he would allow one of their lady knights to serve and live in his land. No need for a royal marriage or anything else, and Tortall would be allied with Celta and receive the benefits of the Celtics animal training, wisdom of immortals, their immortals for some reason never got locked in the Realm of the Gods so they had more first hand contact with immortals. And the Celtics also had talented mages, but they did magic in a practical sense. Magiks for making wood lighter for carrying, then making it heavier again and so on. Jon had thought the Gods were giving him a gift when the Celtic kings, the country was run by two kings, didn't want a royal marriage, just a home for their homeless knight. If only he had known.
" Not only that, but her own people don't even believe that she's of noble blood!" Another noble roared. " I have been assured that she has under gone the test of nobility, and like the Chamber, it cannot be interfered with." Jonathan assured. " There is no way to prove that." Said yet another noble. " Your Majesty, may I make a suggestion?" came Lord Wyldon of Cavall spoke out. Jon looked on this hopefully. Lord Wyldon had taught the first known woman knight and seen first hand that women could fight, so, hopefully, he'll be encouraging the arrival and stay of this new lady knight. " Yes, Lord Wyldon?" " A month after her arrival, before her people leave for home, we will test this Celtic Knight in her knowledge. Tortallan laws and history, reading and writing, mathematics, sword fighting and anything else a knight of the realm needs to know. And, if she passes these tests, during mid winter, she can go into the Chamber of The Ordeal, just like all the other knights have done." Lord Wyldon suggested. Jon could have kissed Wyldon right there and then. He doubted that his nobles could argue this suggestion. " Are there objections to Lord Wyldon's suggestion?" Queen Thayet asked. The nobles were silent. " Then it's settled, Lady Gale of Celta will under go tests of Knighthood one month after her arrival and, if she passes her tests, Midwinter she will enter the Chamber of The Ordeal." Jon stated.
***
Keladry Of Mindelan looked onto the road coming to the castle. Under her calm face she was a bundle of excitement. Finally, another lady knight her own age! Well sort of, from what she heard the knight was a year younger then her, but that didn't matter.
' It'll be wonderful to have someone my age and sex to talk to as a knight.' Kel thought to herself. Kel's mind went over the information she had learned about Gale of Celta earlier. Gale had been found, abandoned, by one of the Celtic nobles after a defending against a bandit raid. Since the noble had few children, all of them boys, he adopted young Gale. At the age of ten Gale under went a test of nobility, to see if she actually came from a noble bloodline. It proved she had noble blood and she began her training as a knight. The Celtic people, mostly the nobles, were not happy with this and demanded that Gale be removed from the Celtic court. As the Celtic kings were looking for a solution, King Jonathon suggested the alliance. Problem solved, for the Celtic kings, anyway, now King Jonathon was the one with the problem.
Kel sighed and straightened her hat a bit. It was a nasty rainy day for ambassadors to come. The cold wind wrapped around all those who stood in its path. Finally, faint hoof beats came from the road. Soon a herald, bearing a flag and badge with the silver unicorn and gold lion on the green field of Celta. Looking closely, Kel noticed that the unicorn wore a gold crown that looked elegant and the lion wore a silver crown that looked, as Kel best described it, war-like. As the troupe rode forward Kel could pick out ambassadors and warriors and a scribe or two. At the very end of the troupe was a lone rider. The horse itself was enough to catch anyone's attention. Most of its body was black, each leg had a white stocking and it's mane and tail was a light, almost silvery, grey. The rider wore a plain light blue cloak with the hood up, hiding his or her face. Oddest of all was the three dogs that stood in a triangle formation around the horse and rider, them in the dead centre. The troupe came a stop and attendants rushed out to take horses. When an attendant tried to take the last rider's rein, he or she dismounted and pulled them from the attendant's reach. The attendant shrugged and led the rider with the other attendants to the stables. Kel followed, curious to see who this mysterious rider was.
***
The rider had chosen the stall farthest from the rest of the Celtics' horses. At this point Kel could tell the rider was definitely female, from the soft whisperings she was muttering to her horse, she still hadn't taken down her hood though. Kel stopped dead in her tracks; she didn't want to intrude on the bonding moment. Jump, on the other hand, had no problem with disturbing private moments and trotted over to the rider and barked his hello. The rider looked around and when the hooded head gaze turned to Jump, a chuckle came from her. " Well Hullo there wee lad. Aren't ye 'ansome." The rider said middle pitch somewhat melody added voice, as she bent low and scratched behind Jump's ear and a half. Kel chuckled inwardly; only someone who was a real animal person would call Jump handsome, even with an accent. Taking her cue Kel walked forward, pretending to look peeved. " Jump! There you are. I'm sorry miss, I hope he's not bothering you." Kel said. " Not at all 'e just saying hullo." The rider said, standing up offering Kel a hand to shake, using the other to remove her hood. " Lady Gale." The rider said. " Lady Keladry of Mindelan." Kel said offering her hand to Gale, studying her. Gale's eyes were a deep leafy green and her hair, done back in a simple braid, was as black as her horse's body. Her nose looked as if it was been broken once or twice and healed a bit wrong. A scar lay under her right eye and another started at the bottom of her lower lip and ended just short of the cleft of her chin. Looking at Gale's hand, Kel saw it was just as scarred as her own. " Ah yes, Lady Keladry, Protector of the Small." Gale grinned. Kel felt a blush creep across her face, " I have been called that, it's kind of silly if you ask me." " Not from what I've 'eard." Gale smiled, " But dinnae mean to embarrass ye." " Not it's your flaut you didn't know." Kel assured. Then turned her attention to the horse, whom now Kel could tell was a gelding. He wasn't as big as Peachblossom, but he was definitely a warhorse " He's a beauty." " Aye, me first horse. Known 'im since 'e was a colt." Gale smiled, picking up the discarded brush and continuing her brushing of her horse, " 'is name is Silverwind." She added. " Lovely name, it suits him. I hope the rain didn't make your ride here to uncomfortable." " Nay, it rains like this all the time during the spring back 'ome." Gale sighed, a bit saddened as she finished her statement. " Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad." " Nay Kel, it's not you. It's this whole bloody situation. I can stay 'ere and always be missin' my 'ome land, with a slight chance of ever making something of me self, always an outsider, or I can fail them little tests they've got for me and go back to Celta, a failure, and for the rest of my life be the 'Nameless Knight'." Gale sighed, " Damned if I do and damned if I don't. Everybody back in Celta expects I'll be back at the end of the month." " Doesn't seem very fair, does it?" Kel said, leaning against a support beam, " But you can prove them wrong and study and train and prove you are as a good knight here as you were back home. And if I say so myself, you look like the kind of knight who was in demand." Gale chuckled, " I'm good with a sword, and I know when ta shut up and take orders like a good little warrior should, if that's what you mean." Kel laughed out right at this, she had a feeling she'd like Gale a lot.
" Ach, where are me manners. Kel, these are me boys." Gale said motioning with the brush to the three dogs lined near the front of the stall. The first one was normal enough. A mix bred looking hound with short brown fur, not as big as a wolfhound, but just a touch bigger then a grey hound. Next was the oddest dog Kel had ever seen. It looked like someone had taken a white dog and covered it in black blots. The last, and the biggest, was definitely like a wolf half-breed. His was mostly white with a silvery grey tinged to him, making him look frosted. Kel wasn't sure what was the dog breed that made his other half but it was certain the wolf side was the most predominate. " The brown one is Mulligan, the Dalmatian, that's 'is breed, is Rags, and me wolf is Blizzard." " Definitely more wolf in Blizzard then dog." Kel commented. " That's what 'is breeder thought. 'Ard to tell with huskies if ye ask me." " Huskies?" " Huskies are a breed of dog bred for snow work. They look a lot like wolves, but there are some differences. It snows a lot up north in Celta and Huskies like, Bliz's ma, do all sorts of work. It seems a wolf 'ad 'is way with Bliz's ma. All the rest of the litter looked liked normal Huskies. Expect Blizzard 'ere, more wolf then dog, nobody wanted 'im. The breeder was just going to leave 'im out in the cold. But I 'appened to be there with one of the castle kennel workers, since the breeder bred other dogs, and I was just another squire to 'elp at the time, and well I saw Bliz and the wee dear won me over." Gale suddenly blushed. " Sorry there, dinnae mean to go into detail like that." " That's alright, I love hearing stories." Kel said, then she noticed the carrier, like the King Own used for carrying their terriers and birds in, on the back Gale's saddle. " What's in there?" Kel asked. Before Gale could answer, a small orange bundle of fur came out of the trap door in the bottom of the carrier. The cat, it seemed to be from its loud purr, rubbed up against Kel's legs. Gale chuckled, " That's Seamus, found 'im on the streets 'alf starved. The little guy loves attention. 'E's about two now, and he won't get any bigger." Kel chuckled to herself. " Got anymore animals I should know about?" She asked, picking up Seamus and rubbing between his ears. " Just one more. As you can see the carrier I got 'ere is too big for just Seamus." Gale smiled walking over to the carrier, taking out a falconer's glove from a saddlebag and putting it on. Opening up the top Gale put her gloved hand in a whistled a soft note. Pulling her arm up Gale had a peregrine falcon perched on her gloved hand. " This is Dive. 'E's the one who scarred me 'ands up so badly." Gale grinned as Dive screeched, " That just 'im saying hullo." " Pardon me lady knights, but would Lady Gale like to go to her room for a bath now?" An attendant said near the stable door. " I'd love that. It's been too bloody long." Gale smiled. The attendant gathered Gale's bags up. " Keladry, I was wondering, in about an 'our could ye take me on a tour of the palace?" Gale asked she headed for the door. " I'd love to." Kel replied. " Smashing! I'll 'ave Seamus wait outside me room so you know which one is mine, it'll probably be in the foreigners quarters or whatever it's called." Gale called as the attendant led her in to the castle.
Author's Note: Howdy folks! Whatcha think of my first attempt at Tamora Pierce fiction? Sorry to any I offended with my bad imitation of an Irish accent. Well any questions, comments and such, just review and put them there and I'll get back to you. Any way, I hoped you enjoyed it. Until next time! ~AquaBolt~
P.S. Anything here that you know belongs to Tamora Pierce, belongs to Tamora Pierce, don't sue me!