Rob Disclaimer Guy: Yeah, ok, everything belongs to Tamora Pierce 'cept for a few characters and the plot. Oh, and Alan somewhat, cause Ms. Piercereally offers no description of him. Sorry its a long chapter, Caila writes when she gets bored during class... which is often. Continuing on.
As the rain pattered down on the slate cobblestones of the royal palace of Corus, a girl sat perched on a windowsill in a room in the barracks, near the stable of the King's Own. With her head leaning against the side of the open window, she gazed down on a stable yard where a lone horse and rider was galloping around in circles, and tapped her fingers on the wood of the sill, a habit she never could seem to get rid of. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into two braids running down the side of her head, and her blue-gray eyes flitted around, glancing at the rider, the forest, the clouds, and then back again. After a few minutes of this, she sighed and tried to turn around to face the room behind her, but due to her being extremely off-balance, managed to fall back into it. Smoothing out her cream colored shirt and dark brown breeches, she got up slowly, and after checking to make sure she still had her necklace around her neck and was all in one piece, looked at the room she fell into. She was tall, just over 5 foot 10, and a tiny sparrow perched on the window sill where she had been sitting, chirping loudly, seeming as if it was laughing at her.
"Oh great." She muttered. "I was supposed to have made her bed and cleaned up her weapons, and I have yet to start on either." After she beckoned the sparrow to come it, she closed and locked the shutters of the window she had just been sitting in, and glanced at the bed, instead walking over to a stand on the wall. Reaching up, she pulled down a large weapon called a glaive from where it hung. As she gently swung it and began a simple pattern dance, she remembered Lady Kel's words that the glaive was a weapon for noblewomen in the Yamani Isles to use to protect themselves. Hah. A noblewoman. Like I'm that, she thought to herself. She started to run a cloth over the glaive, but stopped as she heard a knock on the door to Lady Kel's chambers.
"Yoo hoo! Cai, my darling! Open up the door!" Cai sighed, her eyes sparkling dangerously. I wish I could just run this glaive through him, she thought to herself; but wished she could say those words to his face. If I give him anymore hints that he should stop courting me, he will have to build a new house to store them all.
"Cai! Please, dear, open the door. I have a new piece of poetry I wrote for you!" She groaned, and slowly put the glaive back on its stand on the wall, resisting the urge to unlock the window and make a run for it. As she walked over to the door, she quickly pasted a smile on her face. Cai started to open the door, and almost got impaled by the doorknob as it slammed into her. The sparrow chirped angrily as a man walked into the room.
"My love, if storms were to now tear us apart, our love would cause the oceans to empty and we would find each other." Sir Matthew of Qimat finished his horrible bit of poetry by taking her hand and kissing it. Cai quickly pulled her hand back, to him seeing a shy maiden, but actually to get away from him. She turned away and stood facing the closed window. "My dear, why do you turn towards a shuttered window with no view?
It's a better view that you are, she thought to herself.
"I only wish that the weather was fine enough for us to be outside" she replied out loud. Her fingers started itching to put magic on him. Unbeknownst to her, they started glowing a pale yellow, the color of her gift, and her mind subconsciously was thinking of spells to give him a painful head ache, or more preferably to her a broken leg or arm. Her mind then started showing her pictures, one of such being her in a dark green gown, looking like the Lady Keladry. However, a knock on the door brought her back to reality, and both she and Matthew turned to see Captain Domitan of Masbolle. The sparrow chirped a greeting, and flew over to his shoulder. Cai stared apprehensively at him, since he really only seemed to come here to see Keladry. His longish brown hair hung down, almost in front of his eyes, and his blue eyes always seemed to sparkle with hidden laughter, or mischievousness. Recently promoted after Captain Flyndan was injured in battle, he was leaning against the door quietly chatting with the knight from the field, who was still wearing padded armor and a burnoose which covered his face. The knight nudged Dom with his arm, and Dom turned towards Cai and said,
"Miss, this fellow here has some information to give to the Lady Knight. Would you be so kind as to direct us to her lady's presence?" He spoke with the formality of the court, rather than with the more personal way that they had been talking since Dom came to visit Kel every day. While Cai was not taken in with his charms and looks as a lot of the court ladies were, and as Kel seemed to be, she had to admit that he was a nice person.
"Of course, sir," She replied, glad to be rid of Matthew. The sparrow flew to her shoulder, and perched there. Turning, she started to walk out the door, but as she was squeezing past the mysterious knight she stumbled, almost falling. He wordlessly caught her, and as he set her back on her feet she blushed and kept walking. "This way. She was at the stables last I saw." The sparrow flew off, and walking through the long hallways towards the stables of the King's Own, the group of men sworn to help protect the Kingdom of Tortall, Cai was all too aware of the knight looming over her shoulder, and she quickened her pace until she ran into a door. It opened with a thump, and Cai almost fell on Keladry, the Lady Knight of Mindelan. Kel pulled Cai in with a quick hug, and clasped forearms with Dom and the mystery knight. Seeing a scar on the inside of the wrist of the knight, Kel smiled and announced,
"Alan, I thought it would be you." The knight pushed back his hood, revealing a tall man with hazel eyes, red gold hair, and a broad smile. Cai vaguely remembered seeing him once or twice, then caught her breath as she remembered. Sir Alan of Pirate's Swoop and Olau. The son of Alanna the Lioness, the First Lady knight of Tortall, heir to the Swoop, and the man that every lady of the court had been fawning over for the past few months, ever since he had returned from visiting the Copper Isles, and as Cai knew, his sister who worked and lived there. She bit her lip, remembering how the last time she saw him she went all gooey-eyed like the other ladies and their maids. Not a pleasant experience, considering she had never really liked anyone like that before. "So tell me Alan, what are you doing here?" Kel continued.
"Well, mother insisted I see how you are. You know she favors you over her own children." He sighed, but lost the battle of making it seem like he was hurt and burst out into laughter. "It also could have been due to the fact that Uncle Jon has been trying to set me up with every young lady in Corus." Grinning, he offered his hand to Cai. "But I've never been introduced to this young lady. Have the courtly ladies implored upon you to take a maid? I'm shocked, dismayed, and slightly disappointed. I thought you could stand up for yourself. And how's Tobe and Lalasa?" He clasped arms with Cai, and then turned to face Kel again. "Well? What are your answers?" Laughing, Kel replied,
"First of all, I wasn't forced to take Cai. I picked her up in the north, near Tirragen. She was going to the city to look for work, and I didn't want her to end up there, or stay in her small village forever. So I offered her the job of being my messenger, and helping to keep my rooms in order." She slung her arm around Cai and gave her a hug. "Tobe is fine. He's up at Mindelan now. Anders is teaching him how to run a fief, and the use of weapons. And so is Lalasa. She's being kept quite busy making dresses for their highnesses. And she still refuses to keep all of the money."
"Ah, so I see you've finally found someone who can do laundry. Spectacular! And I hope she can keep your weapons in a better order than you can." Alan replied jokingly. They continued their small talk for a few minutes, but then Dom prodded Kel on the shoulder.
"I hate to interrupt this jolly conversation, but Kel, you look like you're going out for a ride." Kel started to protest, but he pointed to the saddle she had flung over a stall and she gave up. "If you're going, I want you to take someone with you." Kel raised her hands in mock defeat.
"Fine. I was planning on bringing Cai with me anyway, but now that I'm ordered to, I guess I'll just inform and take her with me now." She threw Cai a dark gray cloak, clasped arms with Alan, cuffed Dom lightly on the head, and then towed Cai in the direction of the end stalls. Glancing back, Cai saw Alan wave to her, and she waved back to him and Dom, who was rubbing his head tenderly and making a rude gesture at Kel, who was trying to keep a straight face as she pretended to pick up a spear and throw it at him. Blushing slightly, she followed Kel into a stall, and helped her saddle two of the Own's extra horses. "So Cai, I see you can saddle a horse. I knew that already, but what else can you do? As in, can you use any weapons besides a bow?"
"Er…" Cai muttered. "Well, I can use daggers and I know un-armed combat…. Of course I can use a sling as well, everyone up north needs to know that. I have my gift. I know how to heal and do illusions. That's partly why I was sent to the city. My da wanted me to learn more magic. And I can also use…" She trailed off, and busied herself with checking the tack of the horse.
"Use what?" Kel asked. "The whole list is really impressive, especially since you're from a small village. But what was the last thing?" Cai muttered something. "What was that? I couldn't understand you." She piped up,
"A glaive Lady Kel… I can use a glaive." Kel stopped and stared at her.
"Really? You can use a glaive? I've been looking for someone else who knows how to wield it! You can use my wooden glaive for practice now, and I'll see about practicing with the Yamani Ladies. You can take this horse, and when we get back I'll take you down to the horse fair. If you're going to ride with me you'll need a decent horse. Come on, lets go." She led the horses out of the stable into the yard, and handed Cai the reins to a deep chestnut gelding. Mounting, they rode off towards a path that led into the Royal Forest, each with a bow slung over her back and a quiver full of arrows at her side.
They tramped through the woods, each with the hood of their burnoose pulled up to block the rain. The trees surrounding them seemed to grow until they touched the sky, and they all seemed to do in Cai's mind was just catch the rain and try to fling it back in her face.
"So Cai, tell me more about your father. He sounds pleasant. And where are you from?" Cai thought for a second before replying.
"Well, my father took us to live in Tirragen when I was small. And he is really nice. He was more like my best friend, not my father. He taught me a lot about the woodlands and deserts, the history of Tortall… all of it. I also know some Kyprish, and the Yamani and Maren languages…Basically, everything I know he taught me. Except for a few things here and there… like the glaive. He may not have wanted to teach me anything at all, but I made him. I haven't been able to talk to him in awhile though. I really miss him…" She paused, not meaning to say that in front of Kel.
"Its all right. I'll take you to visit him after the ball for Roald's birthday." Cai smiled, but that smile quickly disappeared when Kel's foot broke through a thin barrier of sticks and both she and Cai fell into a deep hole.
Dom paced down the hallway between his room and Kel's, stopping every so often to rake his fingers through his brown hair nervously. She should be back now, he thought to himself. Its been a full day. Where is she? Turning the corner, he ran into Alan and Nealan of Queenscove, Dom's cousin and one of Kel's best friends. He steadied himself, then tried to step around them, but they blocked his path.
"Meathead, Alan, get out of my way." Dom glared at them, and tried to go around them once more. Alan sighed before replying,
"Dom, we're going to get them. Hurry up and get your horse saddled." Dom's eyes lit up, and he spun on his heel and ran to the stable. Neal looked after him and half-heartedly grinned. "Really Alan, that man should learn that everyone can see he likes her." He motioned for himself and Alan to follow Dom, and without another word they set off in Dom's footsteps towards the stables.
Raindrops spattered on Cai's damp face, causing her to wake up from her faint. She started to sit up, but pain caused her to stop and lean back again. She checked herself for injuries with her gift, and found that she had a cut on her forehead, a few broken ribs, and a big lump that was coming out the back of her head. Other than that, she was fine. Ripping a piece of her now mud-ridden shirt off, she bound it around her cut, gritting her teeth against the pain. She used her gift to take away all the pain, and then grimaced as she noticed the slick sides of the pit, and the absence of roots to pull herself up. Well then, Cai thought to herself. Since I'm not getting out of here anytime soon, how is Kel? She dragged herself carefully over to where Kel lay, and using her gift checked the extent of Kel's injuries. Broken arm, dislocated knee… she had taken the brunt of the fall. Cai sighed, and then got to work to heal her so she could be moved. Before settling down though, she quickly sent a prayer up to the Mother Goddess. Please, let someone get here soon… she started to feel weak as her magic was drawn out of her into Kel. Riding through the woods with Dom and Neal, Alan felt something tug at his mind. He wheeled his horse around, and called out,
"Neal! Dom! This way!" He galloped his horse down a narrow path, slowing slightly as the overhanging branches started to block his way. Seeing two horses loosely tied to a tree, he dismounted and quickly walked over, with Dom and Neal right behind him. He took a few steps past a fringe of trees, and quickly took a step backwards as the area opened up onto a deep hole. Peering down into it, he spied two figures, one faintly glowing a pale yellow, and pointed them out to Dom and Neal as he got a rope out from his pack.
"Is… Is that them?" Dom asked hesitantly. His eyes were focused on the figure wearing a blue cloak rather than looking at Alan when he spoke to him.
"I hope so." Alan replied. "Neal, go back. Get Raoul. Tell him where we are." Seeing that Alan was not in the mood for discussion, Neal sighed reluctantly and walked back to the horses. Alan tied the rope in his hand around a nearby tree, and lowered himself slowly into the deep pit. He strode over to the glowing figure, and crouching beside it rolled it over gently. Looking down into the face of Cai, he sighed gratefully and informed Dom.
"It's them. But don't move Kel. I need to check her over." He put his hand on Cai's shoulder, and his hand glowed white as his power coursed into her. Like his sister Aly, he had the Sight, but unlike her he also had the power to heal. Then again, he wasn't able to tell if a person was a god, sick, etc., but he could tell if they were lying and where people were. He noted a spell against pain that she had put into place, but as he saw no broken bones he slowly drew himself back to the real world. Getting up, he walked over to Kel, and gently nudged Dom from his position. Dom held Kel's hand in a death grip, and was whispering over her,
"It's alright. We're here now. It's alright…" Sighing, Alan started to heal Kel. However, he discovered almost nothing wrong with her, except swelling in her knee and shoulder. He probed further, and discovered pale yellow gift still flitting around her. Looking from Kel to Cai, and back again, he made the realization that Cai had healed Kel. Well then, Alan thought to himself. Cai's gift is strong. I wonder where she got it from… he shook his head, and stopped thinking about it.
"Right. Dom, we have to get them back up there, to our horses. They're fit for travel." He strode back over to Cai, and wrapped her carefully in her dark gray burnoose before creating a sling out of the rope. He scrambled up and straightened it, and after Dom placed Cai in the sling Alan started to pull her up. Once she was near the edge he picked her up and carried her over to a tree stump, where he placed her on the ground and leaned her against the tree. As he started to walk back to the edge of the pit, so he could pull Kel up, Cai's eyes flickered open and she grabbed Alan's hand.
"Hmm? Where am I?" She struggled to keep her eyes open, and tried to pull herself into a standing position.
"Shh, Cai. We're in the woods. Now go back to sleep…" He took his hand from her grasp and cradled her head, and as his gift poured into her she fell back into a deep sleep. Dom put Kel in the sling and Alan pulled her up, and afterwards Dom climbed up and pulled the rope up after him.
"So Alan, what should be do now?" Dom's face was that of a worried husband, and Alan had to fight not to laugh.
"First, we need to get them back to the palace and get Neal to see them. He's a stronger healer than I am, and I want to make sure that Cai… I mean, that they both are alright." He grimaced for that slip, and then continued. "I'll send one of the squires back here to get their horses." Dom nodded, and then bent to pick up Kel. He carefully placed her on his horse, and as he mounted he made sure he had a tight grip on her waist.
"Alan… I'm going to get riding now. Kel's injuries are worse." Alan nodded, forgetting the fact that Cai had healed Kel, and motioned for Dom to get going. Dom nudged his horse forward, and Alan turned his attention back to Cai, who had surprisingly woken up, and was now trying to sit up. He rushed over to her, and stooping slightly picked her up.
"I'm fine! Really!" Alan grinned slightly, and carefully put the protesting Cai on his horse.
"Cai. You are getting on this horse. You are staying on this horse. And we are going back to the palace." He mounted the horse after her, and listened to her protesting as he cautiously guided the horse down the path. But his slightly better mood disappeared as Cai dozed off, and then began crying out with pain. He draped the reins over the saddle pommel, and with his hands free examined her again. Alan cursed loudly as he discovered Cai's spell against masking her pain had shattered, and that four of her ribs were broken. He immediately started to heal them, not noticing that he was being approached by Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and a squad of the King's Own. Raoul, looking at Alan, grabbed the reins and started to lead his horse back to the palace, slowing them down to a walk As they went through the servants gate, Alan stopped healing Cai, and he kept cursing himself. Raoul led them to the infirmary, but as Alan dismounted he picked up Cai and started walking to his rooms.
"Alan." Raoul's cautioning voice rang out, echoing in the near-empty hallway. "Cai should go to the infirmary. She's been through a lot." Alan shook his head, and pushed open the door leading to his rooms. He placed her gently on his bed, and then took her damp burnoose off and wrapped her in the blankets that had been put there by maids. He sat next to her, and made sure that Cai was comfortable as he waited for her to wake up again. Alan didn't have to wait for a long time. Cai sat up quickly, wincing as her recently healed ribs protested her rising. She started to swing her legs out so she could get out of bed, but was stopped by Alan sitting there, looking at her.
"Alan, what am I doing here?" He grimaced, and then replied,
"You don't remember what happened?" Cai thought for second.
"Of course I remember. Well, up until I was riding on your horse to the palace. Did I fall asleep?" Alan somewhat smirked.
"I guess you could say that. You placed a spell against pain. What you didn't realize was that that certain spell masks what areas you've hurt. Cai, four of your ribs were broken!"
"Oh yeah."
"Oh yeah? What do you mean, oh yeah? They could have punctured your lungs!" At that Cai sighed.
"Alan, really. Its no big deal. Lets forget about it. And I'm going back to sleep." To Alan's surprise, she lay back, pulled the blankets over her head, and fell asleep. Alan shook his head, but a few minutes later sleep beckoned him as well, and he leaned back in his chair, not meaning to doze off.
As his head fell forward and hit the bed, Alan woke with a start. He immediately called up a light to make sure Cai was alright, but he saw no one in the room besides himself. He rose quickly, knocking over the chair, and opened the door at the same time that Neal opened it.
"Neal, where is she?" Neal's face flushed, and Alan was sure that he had something to do with it. "Neal, tell me where she is."
"Alan, My father… he wanted her to be in the infirmary. She could have been really injured, and…" He blinked and took a deep breath, and saw Alan rushing towards the infirmary of the Own. Neal knew it was useless to call for him, and so he quickly followed. Alan stormed into the infirmary, and threw open the door, only to be chastised by one of the mages working there.
"Really, Sir Alan, there is no need for you to be here. As it is, you're disrupting everyone." Alan glared at the man, and proceeded to the back of the room where he saw Dom. He grinned slightly as he saw the bed Dom was sitting next to was occupied by Kel, and the one next to Kel's bed was occupied by Cai. He pulled up a footstool next to Cai's bed, and by maneuvering slightly he was able to rest his feet next to hers. The healer glared at him, but Alan merely shrugged, and stared at Cai.
"Oh good Alan, now that you're here, we have to make plans." Raoul strode next to them and motioned forhis former squireto give him the footstool. Alan rose, and sat on Cai's bed gracefully, but she kicked him in the legs and he fell over. He glared at her, and then sat down purposely on her feet. Raoul shook his head and hid a grin, and then kept talking.
"Kel is going to go to Mindelan tomorrow afternoon. A squad of the Own will go with her. Now Kel…" Here he turned so he could see her face. "I think you might protest at the last person who is going with you. Its Cleon." Kel immediately sat upright, and started to yell.
"Raoul. Not him. I swore I would never speak to him again-" Dom put his hand over her mouth, but she kept on yelling. The healer came over and spoke quietly in Raoul's ear, and then left, glaring at Kel. After Kel had calmed down, mainly because Dom was sitting on her and she couldn't get any air, Raoul explained.
"I am not sending you with only a squad. And Cleon was the only knight here who wasn't going to the ball tomorrow night for Roald. So you're stuck with him until you get to Mindelan." Kel tried to get up and convince Raoul that Cleon, of all people, shouldn't be protecting her, but Dom held her down and glared at her. "And he won't be sticking around. Jon's got him on border duty with Scanra. He's taking you on his way there." Kel, under Dom's restraining arm, thought for a second, then reminded Raoul.
"Sir, you forget. I'm supposed to be at that ball tomorrow." Dom, Alan, and Cai nodded in agreement. Raoul chuckled, and then told them his plan.
"Well, you see… we will have a Kel. Just not the original." He looked pointedly at Cai, who turned and looked behind her to see if there was anyone there. She then quizzically looked back at Raoul.
"What are you talking about?" Raoul laughed, and then motioned for Dom and Alan to join him. He put them in his place, and they stared at what they saw, not seeing what Raoul was talking about.
"With a little bit of charms, and slightly darker hair, and different colored eyes," Raoul informed Cai, "You'll be perfect." Alan and Dom still stood there, until Alan nodded slightly.
"This could work." He announced, and then went back to sit next to Cai.
"And of course, Dom, you would be needed to escort Cai."
"No, Sir." Shocked, everyone looked at Dom. He blushed, but continued. "What I mean is, Sir, I'm not leaving Kel with Cleon. So someone else will escort Cai. I'm going with Kel."
"Well since this is so jolly, I'll escort Cai then." Raoul nodded, and then Alan could see the plans turning in his head.
"Cai, is that all right with you?" Cai, still shocked from the fact that she was going to be masquerading as Kel, nodded slowly. Kel turned to her, and excitedly said,
"Thank the Goddess I don't have to go to this ball. I mean, Roald is my friend, but as you know I hate parties. I'll have to start teaching you right away. And I'll get Lalasa to alter my dress for you." Cai sighed happily. That dress was lovely. She and Kel began to talk about what would happen while Raoul and Dom made plans for the trip to Mindelan. Alan leaned back against the headboard of the bed, put one hand behind his head, cushioning it. He closed his eyes, and dozed off, his other hand resting lightly on Cai's.
Matthew of Qimat watched all this from where he stood at the door. He punched his fist into the wall, only denting the doorframe slightly, and spun on his heel to find his father.
Thatcher will pay, he thought to himself. Cai will pay for this.
