Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns all yada yada yada… oh thanks for the reviews, I've gotten about 6 in the 11 hours since I've posted chapter 3.
Recap: To her surprise her opponent went flying. She stopped Peachblossom in horror. Everyone was quiet and she slowly dismounted and walked over to her opponent. "May I help you up, Sir?" she asked politely as every one behind her started cheering like mad.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"No thank you Mindelan, I'm fine," her gruff, ex-training master told her. He slowly got to his feet as Raoul came over to the duo.
"Kel… You just unseated him. Even I couldn't unseat him," Raoul said in a reverent whisper.
Suddenly the king was there. "What's going on," he demanded to know.
"Kel unseated Wyldon," Raoul whispered, still looking at her like she was some sort of goddess.
"Impossible, I refuse to believe that," the king told them.
"Actually it's not impossible, she did unseat me, though I'm not sure how," Wyldon told the king.
The king just walked away, mumbling about something no one could hear.
"Raoul please stop staring at me like that, you're making me nervous," she tells him.
"What… oh, right. Well that was amazing to say the least. I mean when was the last time you were unseated, Wyldon?" Raoul asked the legend who was never unseated.
"My knight master was the last to unseat me, and that was at lest 20 years ago," he told them.
Kel looked back and forth between them, then said unsure "Well I'm going to go wipe Peachblossom down now," and with that she quickly walked away.
When she got to the stable she quickly untacked him and wiped him down. She murmured in his ear, telling him what a good horse he was.
After he was munching away happily, Kel went to her rooms and got her practice glaive. She went down to the practice courts and started a complicated pattern dance. She was so absorbed in getting all the moves right she didn't notice that someone was watching her until they started clapping. She shielded her eyes to see who it was, but didn't know the man standing in front of her.
"You're very good with that you know," the tall, dark haired Yamani, told her in Yaman.
"Thank you, if you don't mind my asking, who are you?" Kel asked in the same language, with a small bow, Yamani style, to accept the compliment.
"My name is Hiro Yukemura, and I am the Shang Leopard," the young man told her.
"Please excuse me, but I had not heard that there was a new Shang Leopard," Kel replied with another bow.
"That is understandable, as I only passed my ordeal a few months ago, and have not done any deeds worth mentioning yet," he said with a bow.
"I am sure that that is not correct and that you are just being modest," Kel told him with yet another bow.
"I assure you, I am not that modest. It would please me greatly to know the name of the Tortallian who can wield the glaive with such precision," yet another bow.
"Certainly, I seem to have forgotten my manners, my name is Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, and I lived in the Yamani Islands for 6 years when I was younger," she gave this information to him with yet again another bow. (They seem to be bowing a lot, don't they? That's it no more bowing!)
"You are the famed Lady Knight?" he asked in astonishment.
"Of course, who else would I be?" she asked, not knowing why he was so astonished.
"I thought that maybe one of the Yamani ladies might have taught you. I didn't think that the famed Protector of the Small would be so…" here he trailed off.
"You didn't think that I'd be so what? Please tell me, I wish to know what you think of me. I like to know what everyone thinks of me. If you can't tell me, then I shall take my leave," she told him as she turned away.
"No, please do not leave," he asked of her. "In shang they just told us that the lady knight wasn't very nice, and that you have a very bad temper."
At this Kel started to laugh "I almost never lose my temper, I think that it's the Lioness that they think of," she told the boy, who was very surprised at what she had said.
"Oh dear, I am sorry for my mistake, please forgive me," he asked, WITH A BOW.
"Of course, now if you'll excuse me I would like to wash up before lunch. Why don't you join my friends and me?" she asked politely.
"That would be wonderful, I'll pick you up at your rooms in half a bell," and with that he walked one way and Kel the other, towards her room.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
'I think I'll see if Kel wants to go to lunch' Dom thought, and started towards her quarters. When he was about half-way there a young Yamani man stopped him and asked if he knew where the rooms belonging Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan were.
"Yes, I do in fact and I was just heading there," Dom told this strange young man. "You may accompany me if you like."
The two of them walked along the corridor, both wondering who the other was, and why he was going to the Lady Knight's quarters. Dom stopped when he reached Kel's door, the Yamani a step behind him.
Knocking on her door Dom asked "Kel, are you in there?" and heard something fall and Kel curse. "Keladry, you should not use such language, as you never know who might be standing outside you door with me," he said.
"Unless you have the king standing with you I don't give a…" and the two of them listened to her stream of curses.
Suddenly her door opened, and Dom, who had been leaning on it, fell inside her rooms. But alas, he knocked over the lady knight when he fell. Dom knew that he was in for it. 'THUNK' went Kel's shukusen against his head.
"Hello Hiro, are you ready to go to lunch?" she asked the young man fighting fits of laughter.
"What about me?" Dom asked, forlorn.
"I suppose you may come as well," Kel sighed as Dom jumped up and looked as happy as if he just won a 100 gold crowns. "Wipe that smirk off your face Sergeant, or I'll have to wipe it off for you," she suggested.
"Of course mother," he replied with an exaggerated bow.
"Do that one more time and you have one bell of sword practice against me," she told him, while Hiro just watched the two in astonishment.
"Very well," he said.
"Oh, and the two of you introduce yourselves," she told them. Then seeing as Dom was going to introduce himself to her she added "to each other!"
And with that the trio proceeded to the mess hall.