Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, places etc. They all belong to Tamora Pierce. I own the plot though! Anything you might find familiar is probably a quote from TP's books. Hang on, I own: Ked, Salin, Jamil and Ked's Warrior Lord, Lord Parrton.
A/N: Right. This is a corrected version of the chapter. I've been going through correcting the chapters, so if you find any mistakes, let me know! I've completely changed Kel's reactions because everyone was saying that she was completely OCC, and quite frankly, I agreed. On with the story…
Chapter one : The Yamani escort
Four years later
It has been four years since that fateful day, Kel thought to herself as she smiled at her best friend Ked. And who would have thought that I could have got so far in that time? One of the Emperor's chosen Warriors in training! But it's also surprising how long you can hold a grudge. I still can't believe Lord Wyldon did that to me! He's a male chauvinist pig and a conservative who can't stand for anything to change!
"Kel!" a voice shouted.
Kel spun around to see her Warrior-master, Warrior Lord Jamil of the Yamani Islands. He was the equivalent of a Knight-master.
"My Warrior Lord, do you want me?" Kel asked, bowing.
"Yes. I want you in my study after you have cleaned your armour," he said and walked away.
Kel shrugged, and turned back to her day dreams.
After she had left the palace, she had returned to Mindelan. But her sisters-in-law made her life a misery and Kel had left for the Yamani Islands. There she had enrolled in the training system for his Imperial Majesty's Chosen Warriors. She had become the equivalent of a page, a narwabi. Then she became the equivalent of a squire, a calawabi. In four years, she would be taking her Tribulation of Warriorhood. She had no idea what it would involve. Those who had survived it would not talk of it. Kel shook her head. There was no point worrying about that now.
"I'll meet you after I've been to see my Warrior Lord," Kel called to Ked.
"Sure," he replied and she ran to the armoury to find her armour.
A bell of time later, Kel rapped on her Warrior Lord's door.
"Come in," he called and Kel entered.
Jamil placed down his quill, and ran his hand through his black hair.
"You wished to see me my Warrior Lord?" Kel said politely.
"Yes." He motioned for her to sit down. "I have had word from the Emperor."
Kel said nothing, but instead concentrated on keeping her feelings hidden.
"We are to leave immediately for Tortall. I am in charge of the army guarding the peace delegation and her most Royal Highness Princess Shinkokami."
Kel gritted her teeth. She was perfectly happy being at war with Tortall, it meant she didn't have to go over there. She didn't hate Tortall, but she was far more at home in the Yamani Islands. She would love to refuse to obey the orders, to refuse to go over there. But that wasn't the way of a Yamani, so she couldn't. Kel hid her feelings behind a mask of stone.
"While we are there," Jamil continued. "You and the other calawabis shall attend training with the Tortallan squires."
Kel drew a sharp breath. Her old friends would be squires now, she didn't want to face them, not after she had run away and failed to get into her second year.
"Is anything wrong Kel?" Jamil inquired, lifting an eyebrow.
"No my Warrior Lord," Kel replied hastily. A brain wave suddenly came to her. "Only, while are there, would you be able to call me something other than Kel?" she asked nervously.
If Jamil thought the request was odd, he didn't say anything about it, his Yamani training would allow him. "Certainly, what?"
"Em..." Kel struggled to think of a name. "Would Jhedy be okay?"
"Of course. Meet me in the courtyard at ten tonight, we sail at eleven." He dismissed her with a wave.
Kel ran to where she was meeting Ked.
"I can't believe this!" she commented calmly. She felt like yelling.
"What's the matter?" Ked asked evenly.
"They're sending me to Tortall! And while I'm there, I have to train with the squires. My old friends are squires now!" she cried in despair.
"I'm going too," Ked said quietly. "My Warrior Lord Parrton of the Yamani Islands is in the army."
Kel stared at Ked. "Good, then you'll be able to help me avoid them. Oh, and while we're there, call me Jhedy so they don't recognise me."
Ked sighed. "Kel, you can't avoid them for ever."
"Can too. All I have to do is make sure that they don't recognise me on this trip and then I'm safe. I'm mean, it's not like I'll be living there once I'm older. I belong here."
"No you don't Kel." Ked held up his hand to stop her protesting. "You belong in Tortall, it's your home country, you just can't face going back to meet your friends when you failed."
"Stop it Ked," Kel growled warningly. "Or I'll dump you in the Emerald Ocean on the way across."
"Hey, that's not fair," Ked protested, pretending to swat her.
"Tough."
---
"Neal! Come here!" Alanna hollered. "I've a message from Jon at Corus."
"Why me?" Neal asked, running towards his knight-mistress. "Why do I have to get the King's favourite knight and the worst knight-mistress in history?"
"I heard that squire. Shut your rude impertinent tongue up, or I'll do it for you," Alanna joked.
"Yes," Neal replied with a calm that made it clear that those threats were commonplace. "What did you want?"
"Jon says that the Yamani peace delegation is arriving in a few days, and we're expected to be there to greet them."
"Me?" Neal asked. "They want to meet me? What is the world coming to? Who would want to meet a lowly humble squire?"
"Knock it off Neal," Alanna said. "I've got to meet them, and you've got to meet their squires, or the equivalent of them. You should be good at that; you knew a Yamani girl once didn't you? You must have learnt something from her."
Neal noticed that Alanna avoided saying Kel's name. Ever since Kel had been sent home, Alanna had refused to talk to Lord Wyldon or mention Kel's name.
"Yes. I did know Kel. Can't say I remember much about the Yamani's though. Apart from the fact that their squires are called calawabis, not squires."
"All right show-off. Go and pack. We leave tonight."
---
Kel gritted her teeth, and clenched her teeth.
"Hey Ke...sorry Jhedy, take it easy!" Ked said. "They won't recognise you. All you have to do is act fairly civil for the next few months. It isn't that hard." Seeing Kel's face, he added, "Is it?"
"Yes." She gripped Hoshi's reins, and led him off the boat to the waiting Tortallan delegation. Ked followed, muttering to himself about stubbornness.
Kel stood in line, waiting for her turn to be introduced.
"And this is my calawabi, Lady Jhedy of the Yamani Islands," Jamil said in common.
- - -
Neal stared at the last person to be introduced. She was the only female in the group. Her skin was tanned a golden peach colour but quite as dark as the rest and unusually for a Yamani, she had long brown hair that reached to her waist. It was tightly braided, and had colourful beads attached to it. She was different to the rest, and for a brief second, Neal thought he recognised her. She caught him staring at her, and turned to look at him. She gasped silently, and her eyes widened at fraction, then her expression became blank again.
- - -
"Ked!" she hissed. "It's him! Neal's here!"
"And?" Ked hissed back.
"What if he recognises me?" Kel asked anxiously.
"Relax K-Jhedy. You'll be fine. You've changed since you came to the Islands, he won't recognise you," Ked assured her.
Jamil caught them whispering and spun around to face them.
- - -
Neal saw the Captain of the Yamani army spin around to face the girl and a boy next to her. He had shoulder length curly hair and had a cheeky grin. Neal cringed when he saw the look on the Captain's face.
"What were you doing?" he roared, making Alanna look really friendly compared to him.
Neal was surprised when the girl didn't jump in the slightest.
"I was talking my Warrior Lord," she replied.
"Why?" He demanded.
"Because I felt like it." It was a quiet response that she made, barely audible against the steady lapping of the waves against the boats and shouts of the fishermen as they hauled in catches.
"If we were at home, I'd send you up the mountain twenty-two times, but we're not."
Neal breathed a sigh of relief for the girl, running up and down a mountain twenty-two times did not sound like fun.
The Captain continued. "But I hear there is a place called Balor's Needle here. You can go up and down that twenty-two times instead!"
"Yes my Warrior Lord."
The girl didn't look in the slightest bit concerned, but Neal's eyes widened. Up and down Balor's Needle twenty-two times, that must be some sort of torture, Neal thought. Balor's Needle was a tall thin tower; it was the tallest point in the castle. Spiralling around the edge of the tower was a fragile iron stair. He turned to Alanna and said, "That has to be a new form of torture in the Yamani Islands and I hope it doesn't come over here."
Alanna grinned. "I like that idea. Do you want to run up Balor's needle?"
Neal's eyes took on a look of extreme horror. "Mithros curse it! Not under any circumstances! I wouldn't do it if you paid me."
"I might make you squire," Alanna joked.
Neal clucked to his mare. "And I'll refuse," he said, riding to catch up with his friends, Cleon, Seaver, Faleron, Owen and Merric.
- - -
"C'mon Ked, I'll race you!" Kel yelled.
"Sure thing Jhedy. I'll win!" Ked replied with merry laughter.
Kel kicked Hoshi into a canter, and went flying down the road, not realising that she had passed Neal and all her old friends.
- - -
The dust flew up, causing Cleon to cough violently.
"What was that?" Cleon asked, staring after the cloud dust in amazement.
"I think that was the Captain's squire. The only girl in the Yamani army," Neal explained.
"Oh, her. Jhedy, or something like that," Cleon said, not in the slightest bit interested. Then he thought of something. "Kinda like Kel was."
"Will you ever shut up about her?" Merric asked cheekily.
Cleon swatted at him, "Shut it sap skull."
- - -
"Jhedy!" Jamil yelled. "Stop it, or you'll run up and down Balor's needle sixty-two times instead of twenty-two times."
Kel brought Hoshi to an abrupt stop.
"How come he always spoils my fun?" Kel muttered to Ked.
"I think that's his hobby. I heard rumours that he only ever gets a calawabi so he can torture them and spoil their fun," Ked declared as he pulled his horse to a gentle stop.
"So, Jhedy," a voice said from behind her.
Kel spun around to see Neal.
"Excuse me, but I have to go," Kel said calmly and she started to move away, but Ked grabbed her.
"Your Warrior Lord will not be pleased with you. You heard the lecture he delivered on the boat. We're representing our country and all that. Try and keep a civil tongue in your head," Ked said.
"And what if I don't want to?" Kel asked fiercely in the Yamani language.
"Well that's tough!" Ked snapped. He turned to Neal and said in common, "I apologise for K-Jhedy's behaviour."
"S'okay," Neal replied good-naturedly. "So Jhedy, are you going to run up Balor's needle?"
Kel looked surprised. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
Ked turned to Neal. "What she means is that her Warrior Lord would not take kindly to her refusing to do it."
"Of course he wouldn't," Kel said, cursing all the gods for them allowing her to get into this situation. She had to stay, etiquette demanded it, but she didn't want to face Neal. What if he didn't want to know her? He might just think that she was a failure and not worth knowing.
"Jhedy!" Jamil called. "I want you to tend to my horses. Once you've done that, I want you to serve me my food. After that, I want the book on Tortallan Etiquette read and summarised, once you've done all that, you may tend to your own horse clean your own armour and weapons then eat."
"Yes my Warrior Lord." Kel saluted sharply.
Neal whistled in awe under his breath. "What a slave driver!" He turned to Kel. "How do you put up with that? I mean, I thought my knight-mistress is a slave driver, but she's nothing compared to him!"
"Knight-mistress?" Kel asked in surprise.
"Mmm. Yeah, the Lioness." Neal said.
"The Lioness is your knight-mistress?" Kel asked in total surprise. "Who would have thought..." She trailed off as she saw Neal staring. "I've got to go, I have work to do. Bye Ked!" Kel galloped off, cursing softly in Yamani.