Disclaimer: Same as the previous one; this is all Tammy's except the stuff I made up (which isn't that much.)

2. Chapter II

Dinner passed more or less normally. There was fresh fruit and a chicken that smelled marvelous, a warm, brothy vegetable soup, and cider. The only un-normal aspect was the talking, of which there was very little. Yhanisi kept glancing from her father to her mother to Kel, wondering what they were all thinking of about her page training. Neal concentrated fully on his food, dreading the conversation he knew would start soon.

Finally Kel spoke. "So, Neal, I hear your daughter's going to be the next lady page. I assume she's all packed?" Yhani grinned upon hearing this.

Neal's mouth literally dropped open. "Well, um—not officially, er… it's a possibility… has she really packed?" Neal finally saw the trap he'd fallen into, a moment too late.

Yhani nodded vigorously in answer to her father's question. Neal sighed. "Well, if there's no alternative…"

"Nope. You're a beaten Meathead, Sir Neal. I would pity you, but I still fear of being a subject of your speeches," Kel said, the last part with a wide grin at the joke she'd made.

Yhani jumped up, ran to her father, hugged him hardly, and bounded off to gather her bags. A few minutes later, Kel appeared at her bedroom door.

"You owe me big, Page-to-be Yhani," Kel told her.

"Oh, I'll prove to you it was worth it! You just wait and see, I'll be as good as you and the Lioness. And even Father," the young girl said, overly joyous and full of determination.

If not better, Kel thought. She'll prove it, all right.

A/N: Whoa, that was short. Don't worry though; the next one should be a bit longer and more interesting. But, seriously, without this chapter, the story wouldn't really be worth it, so just live with it even though it was kind of dull and boring! (Believe me, I thought that too.)