Disclaimer: I guess it's this time again. I don't own any of Tammy's creations, however I do own: Ked, Jhedy, Tait, Salin, Jamil, Lord Parrton, Feran, the little girl with the gift at Mindelan, Judge Tremont (who gets no more than a brief mention), the black haired man that is a friend of Piers and Ilane, Farant, Saul, Ana, Naomi, Lora, Jacey, Essa, Jak, Ortun (a place, not a person), the street urchin, the merchant, Mysh, Adelaide, Kara, Francis, Mandy, Elissa, Arianne and Akred (Essa's brother).

Chapter Twenty-one: Jobs

"I'll miss you, make sure you come and visit as soon as possible," Anders said, hugging Kel tightly.

Kel nodded. "I'll visit as soon as the King gives me leave, I promise." She pushed back from Anders so that she could see his face. "But you must promise me that you'll make sure that the whole of Mindelan is sent to Trebond, including yourself."

Anders sighed, but consented. "I promise."

"Good," Kel replied and she waved to the children who were leaning out of the window to wave goodbye to her. "Bye!" she yelled to them. "Be good! And Ary, make sure you practise those glaive patterns I showed you."

"I will!" the seven-year old yelled out of the window.

Kel hugged Anders and Conal one last time and bowed to their wives who curtsied, but Kel could tell they didn't like her. It didn't really bother her though.

She swung herself into Hoshi's saddle and beckoned to Lachran who guided his mount, Surefire over to Hoshi. Lachran was coming back with them to the palace as his holiday was almost up and if he rode with Kel, it would save Anders having to make the long trip. Together they waited as the Third Company rode past them at a slow walk and then joined the back. Today Kel would have to ride with Lachran, as Dom had to take his place at the head of his squad. The Riders joined the line a little further up the hill and took their places behind Kel and Lachran.

Kel turned in her saddle and waved to her family as they stood in front of the Mindelan house and leant out of windows. She could see Mandy crying and Arianne comforting her. She grinned. Mandy would be fine in a few minutes but maybe Anders ought to consider sending her to join the Players, she would do well there. But Kel didn't think Anders' conservative wife would think it a good idea.

- - -

She lay in the tent she shared with Ana and listened to the silence that had descended over the camp. They were probably a quarter of the way to the capital with only another few days journeying until they got there.

"Lady Kel?" a voice hissed from outside her tent and Kel wriggled out of her sleeping bag and stuck her head out of her tent, being careful not to wake Ana.

"Yes?" she asked and was suddenly blinded by the light of the flaming torch that her guest carried. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could see it was Wolset, the man that Dom shared a tent with. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I hope I didn't wake you," he started. "But I'm worried about Dom."

Kel looked up, immediately alert. "What is it?"

"He just walked off on his own, he seemed kind of depressed. But it's just that there are bandits in this area and if he stumbles upon their camp, he'll have no back up. I figured he'd rather you went with him than me."

Kel sighed. Dom was upset again, and he wouldn't tell her what was the matter. "Sure, I'll just get dressed and go find him."

Wolset nodded and made his way back to his tent. Kel rifled through her saddlebags, looking for breeches and a shirt.

"Don't let him kill himself about Essa's death," Ana said out of the darkness. "I doubt it was his fault. And she knew when she came into the Riders the risk that it carried."

Kel froze, she hadn't thought Ana was awake. "Is that what's bothering him?"

In the darkness Ana shrugged. "I've no idea, but it's a logical guess. He avoids Jak and all us Riders, but especially Jak."

Kel pulled her shirt over her head and slipped on a pair of stout boots. "Thanks," she replied as she sheathed her sword to her waist and grabbed her glaive.

She found Dom sitting on a rock, playing idly with his belt knife.

"If I were a bandit, you'd be dead by now," Kel said quietly.

Dom jumped. "Kel! You gave me fright."

"Good," Kel replied harshly. "I thought you knew better than to go off on your own this close to the mountains."

"I just wanted to be alone," Dom explained as he patted a space on the rock beside him. "Do you want to sit? Or are you going to stand?"

Kel sat. "Now, what's bothering you?"

Dom shook his head. "Doesn't matter."

"Oh yes it does," Kel snapped. "If it makes you go off like this, risking your life, it does matter!"

Dom sighed. "No, I don't want to talk about it."

Kel just folded her arms and stared at him and he broke down. She cradled him and rocked back and forth slightly. "Hey," she said soothingly. "It wasn't your fault she died." She hoped that Ana's guess had been right.

When Dom just continued to cry, she realised that it was.

"What happened?"

It was a while before Dom answered. "We got separated from the rest of you when the first attack came. I knew that there would be no way that we'd be able to hold our own in a fight, so we ran. We got to a part of the docks where it wasn't burnt and found a warehouse to shelter in. Someone must have followed us though, because suddenly the building went up in flames. As Essa tried to get out of the door, she…" he trailed off.

Kel wanted to tell him that it didn't matter, that he didn't need to tell her, that he didn't need to put himself through the pain of it all again. But she knew that he'd never get over it if he didn't talk with someone and she was the best person for him to talk to.

He took a deep breath. "I just saw her fall and then all the arrows in her chest. I crawled over there and dragged her further into the warehouse, believing for some stupid reason that she was still alive. And I expect she probably was. I shoved her onto my horse and I found a back exit to the warehouse. We were going through the streets as fast as possible, I was heading for the hills when a raider pulled her off of my horse. I didn't stop, I could have, but I didn't. I just continued to ride. It is my fault she's dead. I could have saved her!"

Kel sighed. "Dom, she was probably dead anyway. Stopping only would have got you killed. Anyway, even if she wasn't dead then, she would have been soon enough. You know as well as I do that anyone who took as many arrows as Essa did wouldn't survive, a healer wouldn't be able to heal her when she'd lost that much blood."

Dom wiped his tears away. "That's beside the point, I still should have stopped."

"Well I'm glad you didn't," Kel replied honestly. "I wouldn't want to loose another person. It sounds selfish, but it's true."

Dom looked at her and smiled weakly. "No, you don't deserve that."

Kel shrugged. "It's not whether or not I deserve it, I'm telling you, I don't want that to happen. Now come on, shall we get back to camp?"

"Alright."

If in the morning any of the men noticed that Dom had red eyes, they had the tact not to say anything. But Kel thought Jak noticed because at breakfast she saw him take Dom aside and talk to him. Both of them look close to crying but when they had finished, Dom looked a lot happier.

As Kel readied her horse for the day's riding, she placed a hand on Jak's shoulder. "Thanks," she said quietly.

Jak turned and smiled at her. "It was no problem. I wasn't going to let him drive himself mad over her death, I doubt it was his fault and I didn't think she would want him to do that."

Kel hugged the man tightly. "If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

"Well, actually, there is one thing," Jak said nervously.

"What?" Kel asked, eager to help the man who had managed to ease some of Dom's guilt.

"She has a younger brother at the palace, their parents died years ago, he's her only remaining family…"

- - -

Kel strode over to the practise courts where the pages were practising archery under the watchful eye of Lord Wyldon.

"My Lord," she called from the other side of the practise courts. "May I have a word?"

Wyldon nodded. "Certainly."

Kel ducked low and ran under the hail of arrows that were missing the targets. She breathed deeply. "I need to speak with one of your pages, Akred Ibn Cazzir."

"Why?" Lord Wyldon asked almost suspiciously.

"I recently rode with his older sister and we ran into a bit of trouble…" she tailed off, allowing Wyldon to fill in the gaps himself.

He nodded gravely. "Cazzir! Lady Kel needs to speak with you."

Kel watched as a young boy, probably a forth year page set down his bow and walked towards Kel. As he passed Lachran, Kel's nephew clapped him on the shoulder. Kel could see Lachran smile sympathetically and the tears that he fought to stop from falling. She knew he was remembering his grandparents and Kel dreaded giving the young boy the news about his sister.

"You're excused from the rest of your lessons today, Cazzir," Wyldon said solemnly and Kel could see that that scared the young boy and she knew why. Wyldon didn't give you the rest of the day off for no reason.

Kel bowed to Lord Wyldon and then the boy in front of her. "I'm Kel," she said gently to Cazzir.

"I'm Akred. What did you want?"

Kel swallowed. "Shall we talk about this somewhere else?" she asked, eyeing the watching pages.

Wyldon seemed to catch her gaze and he tossed her some keys. "Use my study," he replied and turned back to the pages, shouting for them to get working.

As Kel slotted the keys into the lock, she was reminded of the last time she was here, the time Lord Wyldon forbade her to continue her training. She walked in and closed the door firmly behind the two of them. "Sit down," she said after a moment of silence.

Cazzir sat and Kel saw he was shaking.

"Your sister was Essa, right?"

Cazzir nodded dumbly and Kel could see the worry that lit in his eyes.

"Well, I…" she shook her head and tried again. "I was riding with her a few weeks ago and we got into a battle with raiders. She…" she trailed off again. "Oh, I don't know how to put this."

"Will she live?" Cazzir asked. "Her injuries can't be that serious, can they?"

The look Kel gave him told him everything. "I'm sorry Cazzir, she was dead when we found her."

Kel watched in despair as Cazzir broke down and cried. She didn't know what to say, so she talked continuously about how good his sister was, how she died, when she was going to be buried…

"Shut up!" Cazzir yelled. "You don't know what it's like! You're just some slut who thinks she can fight!"

Kel ignored his insults, giving allowance for his grief but she bit her lip. "Maybe you haven't heard my story," she said quietly. "My father's dead, my mother's missing, the equivalent of my knightmaster is missing, he was probably hung and three of my friends are dead, one by my own blade. I know what it's like."

Cazzir fell silent and he looked towards Kel with horror. "I'm sorry," he uttered and Kel shrugged.

"I'm getting over it. So will you."

"Mindelan," a voice said from the doorway and Kel saw Wyldon. She bowed to him. "I'll take over here, will you go and make sure those pages actually do some work?"

Kel nodded and walked slowly to the practise yards. As she arrived there, she saw most people working, but Lachran downed his bow and ran over.

"How is he?" he asked.

Kel shrugged. "I don't know. I left him with my Lord, but I doubt he's feeling any better than you or I did when we found out about Mama."

Lachran sighed. "I feel really sorry for him."

Kel nodded. "I know. Just…In the next few months just look out for him. Stop the other boys questioning him."

"Of course."

Kel turned to the boys who had been trying to eavesdrop on her conversation with Lachran. "Get working!" she yelled.

"Like we'd listen to anything you say!"

Kel had to hold back Lachran as he tried to charge towards the boy. "I'm in charge here until Lord Wyldon returns," she replied firmly. "So unless you want to be shooting a Yamani long bow, you will all get working!"

The boy's eyes widened at the threat of having to shoot one of the bows that when Kel had first picked it up she had struggled to even pull it and they returned to their shooting practise, discussing Cazzir among themselves.

Kel sent Lachran back to his work and strode up and down the line. One of the boys missed the target every time and she recognised him as Warric, a boy who she had helped with staff work a while back.

"Warric," Kel said quietly from behind him. "You're missing all the time."

Warric nodded shamefacedly. "I know, my Lady, I had noticed."

"And do you know why?"

Warric shook his head. "No, my Lady."

Kel took his bow off of him and unstrung it. "Now put it back together," she ordered, handing him the bow and string.

Warric easily strung the bow and handed it back to Kel. She pulled the bow the opposite way to what it was meant to go and could get the string to follow the curve of the bow easily. "If you can do this it's far to loose," she explained. "You've got a longbow string on a crossbow. That makes it impossible to get the right amount of thrust behind the arrow." She dug into her pocket and pulled out one of her spare crossbow strings. Stringing the bow up, she handed it back to Warric. "Give that a go."

He did as she ordered and hit the target, not the centre, but it was a vast improvement on his earlier attempts.

"Well done," Kel applauded him. "Just next time, make sure that you use the right string."

Warric nodded eagerly and continued to shoot.

"How's you staff work coming on?" Kel asked as she saw Lord Wyldon walking towards the practise courts.

Warric became despondent. "My Lord Wyldon says I may as well plant my staff in the ground and hope it grows because that will do me just as much good."

Kel winced, it didn't seem like Wyldon had changed at all. "Meet me here after your evening meal and I'll help you."

"Really, my Lady?" Warric asked eagerly.

Kel nodded. "Sure." She moved on to instruct another page, despite the fact that Wyldon had returned. She figured he wouldn't turn away the extra help and she had little better to do.

- - -

"Get to the stables!" Wyldon yelled to his pages and Kel turned to walk back to her rooms in the palace. She had promised she would meet Dom for lunch and she wanted to change first. "Mindelan!" Wyldon yelled after her.

Kel stopped and turned to face him, wondering what he could want with her. "Yes, my Lord?"

"You taught well there." The look on Wyldon's face made it look like it hurt him to say it.

"Thank-you, my Lord," Kel replied, inclining her head slightly. "Was there anything else?"

"Two things," Wyldon replied. "Shall we go to my study?"

Kel hesitated. "I'm meant to be meeting a friend for lunch, my Lord."

"It won't take long, I promise."

Kel nodded. "Okay then, my Lord."

As they sat down on opposite sides of his table, Kel ran a hand through her hair, trying to shake some of the dust out of it.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your actions a few weeks ago, it was a very noble thing to do," Wyldon started and he left Kel shocked. That was the last thing she had expected.

"Even if it resulted in the death of a Rider and I didn't even complete my task?" Kel blurted out.

Wyldon studied her carefully. "I thought you especially would have realised that death is something that comes with the job. You tried to sacrifice yourself for your country and that was a noble thing to do whether or not you succeeded."

Kel said nothing.

"Lady Knight, I was wondering if you would mind doing me a favour?" Wyldon said slowly.

Kel looked up, shocked at his use of her title and even more so at him asking for help. "What is it, my Lord?"

"I was hoping that you would be able to become the assistant trainer. With the war with the Yamani Isles coming up and tensions on the Scanran border worsening, I am under more and more pressure to train the pages properly. You teach well and have plenty of battle experience."

"I…" This hadn't been what Kel had been expecting. "I would be honoured, my Lord," she found herself saying whilst wondering what she had let herself in for.

"I had hoped you would say that," Wyldon admitted as he rose and shook her hand. "You'll find armbands to signify your position in your room."

"You knew I was going to agree?" Kel asked, not bothering to hide her amusement.

Wyldon shook his head. "No, Lady Kel, I just hoped."

- - -

"What's this?" Dom asked, fiddling with the armband Kel wore around her upper arm. It was a dark blue with three white spots on it and each spot had a smaller red spot inside it.

Kel grinned at him. "I got myself a new job." At Dom's crestfallen look, she hurriedly added, "It doesn't even involve leaving the palace grounds, well, apart from once a year in the summer."

"What is it?"

"I'm helping to train the pages during the morning."

"That's excellent!" Dom exclaimed, picking her up and spinning her around, ignoring the glances of amusement at the odd sight they made. They were of nearly equal height but where Dom looked purely Tortallan in his King's Own uniform, Kel looked foreign with her now only slightly tanned skin and the curved throwing knife that hung from her belt. "When do you start?"

"Next week," Kel replied with a grin.

"Come on then, let's go out for a celebratory dinner!" Dom exclaimed.

"We're already going out for lunch!" Kel protested.

Dom shrugged. "Then we'll go somewhere really special." He took her hand and led her through the streets until they came to a stop in front of an eating house that Kel had never dared to venture into for fear of the prices. "Like it?" he asked as he opened the door and pulled her in with him.

"It's expensive!" Kel hissed.

"I know," Dom replied casually. "I've got the money though, the King gave everyone who helped to prevent you from getting yourself killed a purse. I'll use part of mine for this."

"Dom!" Kel complained. "You can't waste your money on this!"

"It won't be a waste. Now come and sit down." Dom tugged on her hand and she followed the waiter to the seats. As Kel sat, the waiter handed her a menu.

"Whatever happened to simple food?" Kel asked as she flicked through the menu.

Dom shrugged. "I expect this tastes a lot nicer."

"You would hope it would for this price." Kel looked around her in amazement. The room was wonderful. It was painted in dark red and there were golden lamps lighting the room. Hanging from the wall was paintings of different landscapes, some Tortallan, some Carthaki, some from the Copper Isles and some…

Kel gasped as she recognised one of the paintings. She just sat staring at it. "Look," she whispered, pointing at the painting.

"Yes, it's very pretty," Dom replied as he glanced at the painting.

"No! It's the Emperor's palace. And look at who's standing on the roof!" Kel pointed the painting again. "On the flat part!"

Dom stood and walked closer to the painting. It was a massive painting and did what it was meant to do, glorify the Emperor's palace. He ran his fingers over the canvas until he reached the roof. On it stood two figures, one only a child and the other a young woman. "It's you and your mother, isn't it?" he asked, turning to face Kel.

She nodded, astounded at the painting. But she remembered the occasion perfectly. It had been the day before she left for Tortall to start her first year as a page and she and her mother had gone to look at the view for one last time. They had been standing on the roof of their apartment in the palace when they saw the Tortallan ships coming to take them home. Kel remembered thinking that she should have cried, but she was almost completely Yamani at that time and they didn't cry at trivial things. "Yes, it is."

Dom stroked her hand gently and Kel grinned at him. "I think the waiter wants your order Dom," she told him as she watched the man stand by Dom's side, patiently waiting for him to notice.

- - -

"Well done!" a voice yelled as she walked into the page's mess hall with Wyldon.

Kel turned and grinned at Lachran and grinned further at the disapproving look that Wyldon gave her nephew. Wyldon had announced her post earlier that morning during his last solo training session with the pages. Kel started the next morning.

Wyldon was about to start the usual prayer when the doors opened and the King walked in.

"Your Majesty," Kel and Wyldon said in unison as bowed to him.

Jon nodded to them and clapped to get the attention of the pages in front of him. "I won't keep you from your meal for long. Just long enough to make an announcement."

Kel breathed deeply. She had an uneasy feeling she knew what this was about.

"As of this morning, we are at war with the Yamani Isles," Jon announced, his strong voice carrying easily over the assembled pages. "This won't make any difference to your normal routine, other than to your staff lessons, where you shall be learning Yamani staff fighting. I'm sure I have no need to remind you of this, but you must remain vigilant at all times. If you see anyone remotely suspicious, let either of your trainers know and they can tell me." Jon moved quickly from the podium and out of the mess hall.

As the noise erupted around her, Kel sat slowly. That was it, they were at war.

- - -

A/N: Okay, now I hadn't seen that coming. Well, I knew there was going to be a war, but Kel train pages? Hmm…is that a good thing? What do you guys think?

A HUGE THANK-YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVEIWED! I got past 300! WOW! - Runs around and screams - I can't believe it! Thank-you!

Hannah