Here's chapter two- enjoy!
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"First things first." Kel said, sitting on Hoshi's back, Peachblossom just beside her. "Roll call."
Someone groaned. Kel felt the corner of her mouth flicker. "This is just barrack one, correct?"
"Yes sir!" The men said back.
Kel nodded. "The entire barrack?"
"Yes sir!"
She smiled. This would be easy. Give the men something to think about. "Your beds are in alphabetical order, and you should be now, as well. Check. Is the person who sleeps above you here? Is the person who sleeps below you here?"
She saw all the men look from side to side. "Sir, yes sir!" They said in unison.
Kel sighed. They had been at war too long. They were going home, for gods sake. "Very good. Let's move out. And we're not at war any more. We're all friends here." She paused. "Mostly." She added quietly at the end, so no one but her could hear. "No more formalities. I'm Lady Kel, or Kel, which ever you prefer. Now let's go!"
The days passed slowly for Kel. It was a twelve day trip back to Corus, and she found herself passing much of it alone, riding in the front of the group, with only her animals as her companions. She found herself talking to them often.
"Only two days until we reach Corus, Jump. Are you excited?" She said one morning as they set off.
The dog barked and jumped in the air as he ran along beside the horses. Kel smiled. A few of the sparrows were flying ahead for watch, but the ones who stayed back played in the sky, dive bombing Jump and flying circles around Peachblossoms head, who snapped at them playfully. At least her animals were happy.
"Lady Kel!" She turned and saw Damon ride up to her.
"Morning Damon." She said. She was glad to have someone to talk to.
"The gents are wondering when we're reaching Corus." He said. "Many of them live in the west, they have even further to travel past Corus, you know."
Kel nodded. She could see the happiness in the young mans eyes at going home. He hadn't been at Tagnot very long. Only a year, at the most, but he was young, and he would probably be an apprentice, or a worker. Kel could tell he missed what ever it was.
"We'll be there by sundown tomorrow, if not earlier. We're making very good time." She said.
Damon nodded and repeated the information back to all the men. They cheered to Kel, glad that they would only be spending one more night outside.
"What are you going home to?" Kel asked Damon.
He looked down for a second, almost embarrassed to say it, but he seemed to get over his embarrassment when he realized he was talking to Kel. "My fiancée. I know I'm young, but we're to get married when we turn twenty and I turned nineteen last month. I do miss her so."
Kel smiled. "That's wonderful, Damon. It's good to go back to someone who loves you."
He patted his horse on the neck. It whinnied softly. "Do you have someone to go back to?" Damon asked, not looking directly at her.
Kel sighed a deep sigh. Did she? There was no one she knew that she was sure would be there for her. "I don't know, Damon. I haven't been home in six years. I hope I will have my family to go back to, but you never know how far the ravages of war can spread."
He nodded. He seemed to understand what she meant. He looked very sullen for a moment, worried almost.
Kel smiled. "Don't worry, I do know the war hasn't reached Corus. Your lady friend will be fine."
He looked up at her and grinned sheepishly. "Thank you, Lady Kel." He then fell back to join the other men.
They feasted that night. All the food they had left over, save enough for breakfast and lunch the next day. It wasn't the best of food, beef jerky, oatmeal, stale bread. But it tasted good to men who had been on the road for so long. Kel ate her food pensively, thinking about home again. Her family. She hadn't even thought about that. Would her brothers, her brother in laws, her cousins, still be there? Would they still have Mindelan as a home? She was being silly, she decided. Mindelan was no where near the Scanran border. It was closer to Corus, no where near any of the towns that got attacked.
She felt her breathing return to normal.
* * * * *
Corus. It sounded beautiful in her mouth. Corus. She closed her eyes and she could see it. The dusty streets, the bright grass by the palace, the wonderful practice courts. Corus. She could smell the sweet scent. The scent of the markets; the beef, the venison, the rabbit and pigs, the fish.
She opened her eyes and looked up. The sun was setting, turning the sky a beautiful pinkish gold. There was a hill in front of her. She felt her heart beat faster when she realized that when she crested that hill, she would be able to see Corus.
She reached the top of the hill, and it took her breath away. There, to the south of her, was Corus. She could see the Palace, high above everything else. The sun shone brightly on the city, and it seemed to sparkle, like every mirror in the city was pointed towards her.
She turned back to her men. "Are everyone's belonging secure? Nothing is going to fly away?"
Everyone checked their bags, and a moment later, she heard a resounding "ready, sir!" She smiled. Old habits never die.
"Alright. Prepare to gallop!" And just as she came to the long, generous downwards slope, she galloped. It was a difficult gallop for the tent and pack on Hoshi and Peachblossom, but it was fast enough. By the time the sun reached the horizon, the were at the city limits.
When she was young, there had been no wall. The start of it, when the king knew war was afoot. But it had never been completed. She had heard of it, true, that it had been finished almost four years ago. It looked strange and intimidating with all the gates closed, like a fortress, or a prison.
"Oy!" A guard called from the wall. "Who goes there?"
Kel stood up in her stirrups. "Keladry of Mindelan, and some of the men from Tagnot!" She called back up.
The man disappeared. She heard a voice carry over the wall: "Aye! Open the gate!"
The great wooden gate opened slowly. As if by magic, the city was revealed. It was just as she'd remembered it. She could see the market from the gate. Fish mongers, wrapping up their now rotting fish, warm and smelly from being out all day. Butchers, washing the blood off of their stalls, cleaning them for the night, so that when they came back for market day the next week, they would be ready. Vegetable stalls, packing their potatoes and carrots carefully, so not to bruise the more delicate foods.
Kel had rarely shopped at the market. She lived at the palace, so they were given foods, but the few times she had been shopping in Corus, she found she preferred the produce from the stores. She didn't always trust the food from the market, if she did love walking through it.
She could not see the palace, only the very tip of Balor's needle above the city. It was too far away.
She rode into the city, and a wave of relief swept over her. She was home, and she didn't have to worry about anything any more.
Except, she thought as she groomed Hoshi when she got to the stables, my friends. What will the think? Are they still my friends? Again, she shook the thoughts off. She quickly finished brushing the horses, and picked up Jump. Who seemed to be having a battle with a wasp. She tossed him back on the ground when she got outside. It was dark. She could barely see anything, but she could see the palace, and the area near it, because it was very well lit. She trekked up the hill with her pack on her back, Jump walking beside her now.
She pushed open the door and sighed. It was beautiful, just as she had remembered it. She realized then that she had no where to sleep. Why would there be a room for her? She had been away for so long. She went to the knights chambers and found the clerk at the entrance to the hallway.
"Good evening, Lady Kel. Your room is ready, if you wish to occupy it."
Kel raised her eyebrows. "Thank you." She wasn't expecting it to be ready for her.
"Excuse me," she said on a whim, "can you tell me what other knights are back? Only the ones from my year or the year below, please."
The man scanned over the lists and read out a few names. Not many she knew, but she heard Merric and Neal in it. She felt her heart flutter at there names. It had all seemed like a dream, now finally coming true. She was going to see her friends. She really was.
She thanked the man, and jogged down the hall to her room, where she immediately dropped her pack. She looked down at herself. "I can't go to see them like this." She muttered.
She ran out to find a maid to fill her bath tub. Fifteen minutes later, she was bathing in the hot water. She sighed. She hadn't had a proper bath, with hot water in such a long time. But she didn't have time for dilly dallying. She quickly washed and stepped out of the tub, and dressed herself in a tunic and breeches, which she had left in her room. She loved that about the palace. Knights always had their own rooms, unless they chose to give them up. Then, they would be set up in a guest room whenever they came. But Kel loved it. She had a closet filled with clean tunics and breeches, and even a few old dressed, even if they were horribly out of date, and probably too small.
She was just brushing her hair when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." She said.
She closed her eyes for a moment. Her hair was long enough that it flicked into her eyes as she brushed it.
"Hello, Kel." A voice said.
Kel opened her eyes. She was doubled over, trying to brush her hair. She was looking at the upside down image of her best friend.
"Neal!" She said. She brought her head back up and grinned.
He smiled. "How was Tagnot?"
Kel waved her hand. "That doesn't matter!" She leapt forward and gave him a hug. "I've missed you so much!" She couldn't help it. She felt tears well up in her eyes.
Neal pushed her away softly. "What is this? Long hair, hugging, crying, who are you and what have you done with Keladry?"
She shook her head. It was true, she was crying now. "I'm sorry," she said, sitting down on her bed. "it's just a lot." Neal sat down beside her. She wiped her eyes, and didn't feel any more tears come, thankfully. "I've missed you all so much. It was so hard! There was no one I knew, and I didn't seem to connect with very many people, and I missed my friends so much!"
Neal smiled. "I know how you feel. I missed everyone too!" He shot her a nasty grin. "I had Merric with me. We had some fun."
Kel raised her eyebrows. "What did you do? What havoc did you wreak?"
He shrugged. "Just your normal, every day havoc. Nothing fancy."
Kel smiled and gave him another hug. "I'm glad to be back." She chuckled self consciously. "I was afraid you wouldn't want to be my friend any more."
Neal smiled and put his arm around her. "Now why on earth would you feel that way? What kind of an idiot are you, feeling exactly the way I did?"
Kel looked up at him. She just shook her head, laughing. She suddenly felt very tired. Like she had seen her friend, she was ready to go to sleep.
"I have to go to sleep, Neal." She said, yawning.
He grinned. "You're just a wimp, Mindelan." But he stood up and walked to the door. "I'll see you at breakfast."
Kel nodded. "Good night." She said, stifling another yawn. As soon as he was gone, she got changed, and fell asleep instantly.
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Well, there it is. And it's going to be so good!
Holly: Well, I have an excuse. I started out with a very different number of men, but I changed it, so I had to go back and change every number. The part when they were fighting: no excuse for that. I just completely missed it. Thank you. My excuse is that it was late and I was very tired. I'm glad you like the writing. That's really what I'm concentrating on in this story. My other stories are based entirely around dialogue, but I'm trying to make this story almost dialogue free. I've got the descriptions down pat, but I need to work on metaphors and all those stylistic elements. Man, I suck at writing.
PsychoLioness13: thanks, I was very proud of it...
Miliko01: thanks!
Ossini: what does the bump mean?
Well, that's all for now. Please review! I got four in one night- if I get that every night, I'll have a hundred in 25 days! Come on, people, lets try for twenty! That's five reviews a day, you can do it!
-unolimbo
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"First things first." Kel said, sitting on Hoshi's back, Peachblossom just beside her. "Roll call."
Someone groaned. Kel felt the corner of her mouth flicker. "This is just barrack one, correct?"
"Yes sir!" The men said back.
Kel nodded. "The entire barrack?"
"Yes sir!"
She smiled. This would be easy. Give the men something to think about. "Your beds are in alphabetical order, and you should be now, as well. Check. Is the person who sleeps above you here? Is the person who sleeps below you here?"
She saw all the men look from side to side. "Sir, yes sir!" They said in unison.
Kel sighed. They had been at war too long. They were going home, for gods sake. "Very good. Let's move out. And we're not at war any more. We're all friends here." She paused. "Mostly." She added quietly at the end, so no one but her could hear. "No more formalities. I'm Lady Kel, or Kel, which ever you prefer. Now let's go!"
The days passed slowly for Kel. It was a twelve day trip back to Corus, and she found herself passing much of it alone, riding in the front of the group, with only her animals as her companions. She found herself talking to them often.
"Only two days until we reach Corus, Jump. Are you excited?" She said one morning as they set off.
The dog barked and jumped in the air as he ran along beside the horses. Kel smiled. A few of the sparrows were flying ahead for watch, but the ones who stayed back played in the sky, dive bombing Jump and flying circles around Peachblossoms head, who snapped at them playfully. At least her animals were happy.
"Lady Kel!" She turned and saw Damon ride up to her.
"Morning Damon." She said. She was glad to have someone to talk to.
"The gents are wondering when we're reaching Corus." He said. "Many of them live in the west, they have even further to travel past Corus, you know."
Kel nodded. She could see the happiness in the young mans eyes at going home. He hadn't been at Tagnot very long. Only a year, at the most, but he was young, and he would probably be an apprentice, or a worker. Kel could tell he missed what ever it was.
"We'll be there by sundown tomorrow, if not earlier. We're making very good time." She said.
Damon nodded and repeated the information back to all the men. They cheered to Kel, glad that they would only be spending one more night outside.
"What are you going home to?" Kel asked Damon.
He looked down for a second, almost embarrassed to say it, but he seemed to get over his embarrassment when he realized he was talking to Kel. "My fiancée. I know I'm young, but we're to get married when we turn twenty and I turned nineteen last month. I do miss her so."
Kel smiled. "That's wonderful, Damon. It's good to go back to someone who loves you."
He patted his horse on the neck. It whinnied softly. "Do you have someone to go back to?" Damon asked, not looking directly at her.
Kel sighed a deep sigh. Did she? There was no one she knew that she was sure would be there for her. "I don't know, Damon. I haven't been home in six years. I hope I will have my family to go back to, but you never know how far the ravages of war can spread."
He nodded. He seemed to understand what she meant. He looked very sullen for a moment, worried almost.
Kel smiled. "Don't worry, I do know the war hasn't reached Corus. Your lady friend will be fine."
He looked up at her and grinned sheepishly. "Thank you, Lady Kel." He then fell back to join the other men.
They feasted that night. All the food they had left over, save enough for breakfast and lunch the next day. It wasn't the best of food, beef jerky, oatmeal, stale bread. But it tasted good to men who had been on the road for so long. Kel ate her food pensively, thinking about home again. Her family. She hadn't even thought about that. Would her brothers, her brother in laws, her cousins, still be there? Would they still have Mindelan as a home? She was being silly, she decided. Mindelan was no where near the Scanran border. It was closer to Corus, no where near any of the towns that got attacked.
She felt her breathing return to normal.
* * * * *
Corus. It sounded beautiful in her mouth. Corus. She closed her eyes and she could see it. The dusty streets, the bright grass by the palace, the wonderful practice courts. Corus. She could smell the sweet scent. The scent of the markets; the beef, the venison, the rabbit and pigs, the fish.
She opened her eyes and looked up. The sun was setting, turning the sky a beautiful pinkish gold. There was a hill in front of her. She felt her heart beat faster when she realized that when she crested that hill, she would be able to see Corus.
She reached the top of the hill, and it took her breath away. There, to the south of her, was Corus. She could see the Palace, high above everything else. The sun shone brightly on the city, and it seemed to sparkle, like every mirror in the city was pointed towards her.
She turned back to her men. "Are everyone's belonging secure? Nothing is going to fly away?"
Everyone checked their bags, and a moment later, she heard a resounding "ready, sir!" She smiled. Old habits never die.
"Alright. Prepare to gallop!" And just as she came to the long, generous downwards slope, she galloped. It was a difficult gallop for the tent and pack on Hoshi and Peachblossom, but it was fast enough. By the time the sun reached the horizon, the were at the city limits.
When she was young, there had been no wall. The start of it, when the king knew war was afoot. But it had never been completed. She had heard of it, true, that it had been finished almost four years ago. It looked strange and intimidating with all the gates closed, like a fortress, or a prison.
"Oy!" A guard called from the wall. "Who goes there?"
Kel stood up in her stirrups. "Keladry of Mindelan, and some of the men from Tagnot!" She called back up.
The man disappeared. She heard a voice carry over the wall: "Aye! Open the gate!"
The great wooden gate opened slowly. As if by magic, the city was revealed. It was just as she'd remembered it. She could see the market from the gate. Fish mongers, wrapping up their now rotting fish, warm and smelly from being out all day. Butchers, washing the blood off of their stalls, cleaning them for the night, so that when they came back for market day the next week, they would be ready. Vegetable stalls, packing their potatoes and carrots carefully, so not to bruise the more delicate foods.
Kel had rarely shopped at the market. She lived at the palace, so they were given foods, but the few times she had been shopping in Corus, she found she preferred the produce from the stores. She didn't always trust the food from the market, if she did love walking through it.
She could not see the palace, only the very tip of Balor's needle above the city. It was too far away.
She rode into the city, and a wave of relief swept over her. She was home, and she didn't have to worry about anything any more.
Except, she thought as she groomed Hoshi when she got to the stables, my friends. What will the think? Are they still my friends? Again, she shook the thoughts off. She quickly finished brushing the horses, and picked up Jump. Who seemed to be having a battle with a wasp. She tossed him back on the ground when she got outside. It was dark. She could barely see anything, but she could see the palace, and the area near it, because it was very well lit. She trekked up the hill with her pack on her back, Jump walking beside her now.
She pushed open the door and sighed. It was beautiful, just as she had remembered it. She realized then that she had no where to sleep. Why would there be a room for her? She had been away for so long. She went to the knights chambers and found the clerk at the entrance to the hallway.
"Good evening, Lady Kel. Your room is ready, if you wish to occupy it."
Kel raised her eyebrows. "Thank you." She wasn't expecting it to be ready for her.
"Excuse me," she said on a whim, "can you tell me what other knights are back? Only the ones from my year or the year below, please."
The man scanned over the lists and read out a few names. Not many she knew, but she heard Merric and Neal in it. She felt her heart flutter at there names. It had all seemed like a dream, now finally coming true. She was going to see her friends. She really was.
She thanked the man, and jogged down the hall to her room, where she immediately dropped her pack. She looked down at herself. "I can't go to see them like this." She muttered.
She ran out to find a maid to fill her bath tub. Fifteen minutes later, she was bathing in the hot water. She sighed. She hadn't had a proper bath, with hot water in such a long time. But she didn't have time for dilly dallying. She quickly washed and stepped out of the tub, and dressed herself in a tunic and breeches, which she had left in her room. She loved that about the palace. Knights always had their own rooms, unless they chose to give them up. Then, they would be set up in a guest room whenever they came. But Kel loved it. She had a closet filled with clean tunics and breeches, and even a few old dressed, even if they were horribly out of date, and probably too small.
She was just brushing her hair when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." She said.
She closed her eyes for a moment. Her hair was long enough that it flicked into her eyes as she brushed it.
"Hello, Kel." A voice said.
Kel opened her eyes. She was doubled over, trying to brush her hair. She was looking at the upside down image of her best friend.
"Neal!" She said. She brought her head back up and grinned.
He smiled. "How was Tagnot?"
Kel waved her hand. "That doesn't matter!" She leapt forward and gave him a hug. "I've missed you so much!" She couldn't help it. She felt tears well up in her eyes.
Neal pushed her away softly. "What is this? Long hair, hugging, crying, who are you and what have you done with Keladry?"
She shook her head. It was true, she was crying now. "I'm sorry," she said, sitting down on her bed. "it's just a lot." Neal sat down beside her. She wiped her eyes, and didn't feel any more tears come, thankfully. "I've missed you all so much. It was so hard! There was no one I knew, and I didn't seem to connect with very many people, and I missed my friends so much!"
Neal smiled. "I know how you feel. I missed everyone too!" He shot her a nasty grin. "I had Merric with me. We had some fun."
Kel raised her eyebrows. "What did you do? What havoc did you wreak?"
He shrugged. "Just your normal, every day havoc. Nothing fancy."
Kel smiled and gave him another hug. "I'm glad to be back." She chuckled self consciously. "I was afraid you wouldn't want to be my friend any more."
Neal smiled and put his arm around her. "Now why on earth would you feel that way? What kind of an idiot are you, feeling exactly the way I did?"
Kel looked up at him. She just shook her head, laughing. She suddenly felt very tired. Like she had seen her friend, she was ready to go to sleep.
"I have to go to sleep, Neal." She said, yawning.
He grinned. "You're just a wimp, Mindelan." But he stood up and walked to the door. "I'll see you at breakfast."
Kel nodded. "Good night." She said, stifling another yawn. As soon as he was gone, she got changed, and fell asleep instantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, there it is. And it's going to be so good!
Holly: Well, I have an excuse. I started out with a very different number of men, but I changed it, so I had to go back and change every number. The part when they were fighting: no excuse for that. I just completely missed it. Thank you. My excuse is that it was late and I was very tired. I'm glad you like the writing. That's really what I'm concentrating on in this story. My other stories are based entirely around dialogue, but I'm trying to make this story almost dialogue free. I've got the descriptions down pat, but I need to work on metaphors and all those stylistic elements. Man, I suck at writing.
PsychoLioness13: thanks, I was very proud of it...
Miliko01: thanks!
Ossini: what does the bump mean?
Well, that's all for now. Please review! I got four in one night- if I get that every night, I'll have a hundred in 25 days! Come on, people, lets try for twenty! That's five reviews a day, you can do it!
-unolimbo