I decided to go out and explore the palace grounds. This palace was intricately beautiful. I found gorgeous hunting grounds, wonderfully stabled horses, and marvelous practice courts. I ran into a courtier who was actually looking for me.
"My lady, the king requests your presence," announced the courtier. I rushed to the king and was breathless once more in his presence except this time it was due to the strenuous running.
"Your majesty," I curtsied.
"Ah, my lady of Skida, I am here to counsel you in your actions from here. I have made some assumptions here, and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that you wish to go to your people's aid," he paused, "I wish to talk you out of this for a couple of reasons."
"Begging pardon my lord, but I shall not desert my people!" I claimed outraged. After listening to this outburst, the king continued.
"One, I think your people will have a greater appreciation for you if you rode at the head of your men. You will need proper training for this. Two, I do not think that your people are in grave peril, they are not being slaughtered. I do not believe that these are typical raiders. I have my agents discovering and finding out more about these "raiders". Three, in this weather, I believe that our attack will be more effective if we attacked in spring." he concluded.
"Oh," was all I had left to say, "in that case, I accept your offer of training and advice."
"Excellent, your personal teacher shall be my most loyal subject, Lord Sean,"
I expressed my wishes that my training was to begin immediately when I was gently reminded that I would need supplies. My "instructor" Lord Sean and I toured the palace.
He brought me to a Lady Lalasa. I was led to a fitting room in the back. As she measured me, she slyly teased,
"Excellent choice," She winked and I blushed.
"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously.
"The physical attraction between you two is almost palpable," said Lalasa in a matter of fact way, "hell, I'll take him off your hands if you want."
"Lord Sean is not my property for me to decide who he should spend his time with, ma'm," I nonchalantly denied. "Are you done yet?" I asked.
"Yes, I can see you're anxious to get to your sweetheart," Lalasa said with good humor. Before I could protest against her words, I found myself pushed out the doors and into Lord Sean. We scrambled apart and found ourselves walking toward the armory.
I was rather embarrassed and walked quickly. Lord Sean of course would never lose his cool. 'I must really learn to control my emotions,' I thought. 'He did have an incredibly charming personality, and he is always so handsome. ARGH! What am I thinking! NO, NO, I must not think like this.'
"And here we are at the armory," announced Lord Sean. "are you feeling all right? You seem really quiet."
"A lady is seen, not heard," I saucily replied. 'WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT! GODS, HE'S SO HANDSOME AND HE'S ONLY TRYING TO BE NICE. STUPID TARYN!' I mentally kicked myself.
"Well, my lady, I have pondered how to treat you, but for your training's sake, I have come to the conclusion that, until your training is over I shall treat you like a page," he said.
"So what do I call you?" I questioned.
"Lord Sean," he replied simply.
"Yes, my lord," I meekly replied.
The rest of the day passed swiftly. I got a used practice sword for lessons, and a glaive that the famed Lady Keladry made so popular. I was to use a longbow and practice lance from the page supplies. We neared our room now.
"Lessons begin tomorrow," announced Lord Sean, "be up at dawn. I have errands to run, but I shall come back to fetch you for dinner."