-To MiSS CLAiRE: Thanks for your encouragement -To Trickstergal33: Thanks for pointing out that I repeated myself (I mean Lord Wyldon) I was finding it hard to put words in his mouth.

-Chapter Two:

One of Lord Wyldon's servants came to fetch Keladry Mindelan during her archery lesson, telling her to go to the palace courtyard. The other pages were surprised that the archery teachers did not scold the girl for missing parts of the lesson; in this way Kel knew that whatever was happening was about the princess: the girl she was sponsoring. Her friend Neal, who was right beside her said,

"The Stump's calling you from class again?"

"I guess."

"That the third time over two days! Even I don't get in trouble that much!" Neal Queenscove was rather proud of his criminal record with the Stump. His quick tongue and wit caused his punishment work to pile up so fast that it was just taken for granted. "Have you been getting fights without us?"

"I'm just sponsoring a page who signed up late."

"This page must be someone real important. Let me guess...is he the son of Duke Langstin or Baron Jurgon?"

"Actually," answered Kel. "It's a she." She waited for his reaction and was not disappointed. The news actually caused Neal -who was just as good at archery as quick talking- to miss the target and veer dangerously off course.

"What? A girl?!" He asked, pushing his long blonde locks out of his eyes as if by seeing Kel better he could tell if she was lying or not.

"You have something against girls?" She asked with a smile.

"No, but...but." Knowing that she had already wasted enough time she turned and left Neal to tell the news to their other friends. Kel knew the Princess -the New Girl- would sit with them during meal time and she didn't want her friends to be unprepared. She set down her bow and before going towards the courtyard she quickly splashed some dirt off her hands and face from a horse trough in the stable. She knew that the princess was undercover and should not be treated like royalty, but still Kel wanted to at least look a little clean. In the rippling water she smoothed her hair and then trotted past the stables, the archery courts, and the tilting area into the courtyard. A small caravan of carriages and wagons pulled up through the two-tower gate and stopped before the steps into the palace; on these steps stood Lord Wyldon. Kel joined him.

"His Majesties King Jon and Queen Thayet wanted to be here to greet the princess," he told her. "But I told them it would be a bad idea. Wouldn't be against have Prince Roald here except he's down with a bad cold. So we'll be the only people here to greet them." He paused, watching a small carriage -drawn by two bay horses- pull up and stop at the front of the stairs. Four guards on horseback guarded the front and back of the carriage. "I was afraid that the King and Queen of Norwestia would send a whole army of soldiers to guard the princess of her way here. But apparently they knew that would attract too much attention...still, I wonder how we are going to keep her presence here secret."

Kel barely listened as her training master rambled on and on; obviously he was just talking to himself. She was busy thinking about how her schedule would change now that she had the duty of sponsoring a page. Many third and fouth year pages sponsored new pages, but none of them were princesses and even though they were to keep the Princess Mitzi's identity safe, you still had to be extra careful. Already things had changed. The student who had stayed in the room next to Kel's had been moved and in two day several crates and boxes -shipped from Norwestia- had been unpacked into that room. Kel was given a key to the princess's dorm so she could help the girl day and night; Kel didn't have the heart to tell Lord Wyldon that a regular page didn't have silken and perfumed sheets, a whole wardrobe of dressy-occasion clothes, or a large set of make-up jars.

A foot man came around to open the carriage door. Another officer, one of the princess's escorts, came over and announced. "The arrival of Mitziarianna Yunshard, Princess of Nor-..." the official stopped himself.

"Fool!" Lord Wyldon hissed at the official. "The girl is known as Mitzi Gurshew from now on and as long as she is here. The Baron and Baroness of Gurshew have agreed to claim the girl as their orphaned niece." The official nodded his head dumbly. But conversation was stopped as the footman escorted the princess was the inside of the carriage. The girl he escorted out was about the same age as Keladry. She had long reddish-brown hair that was braided and coiled around her head and gold-tinted skin that matched the ruffled yellow dress she wore.
"

Sir?" she asked Lord Wyldon. Her voice was soft and regulated. "Is this the Tortallan Palace."

It is indeed my lady," the training master answered.