Kimi woke groggily to the sound of clanging bells. She wanted to personally murder the mage who invented the system. Slowly she pushed back the sheets and placed her feet on the floor. In a flash her toes were up in the air and Kimi was fishing a long piece of porcelain out of her foot.
"Ow!" she cried and watched as dark blood dribbled down her foot. "What in the…" But she didn't finish her sentence as she stared at the floor. Everything was covered in porcelain and glass. Pieces littered the ground from her bed to the door. Her chamber was an array of color and light as the sun's rays glanced off the sharp material.
"Goddess," she cursed. She blinked slowly, trying to remember why there was broken glass on her floor. She had thrown a temper tantrum after her mother had left, and began throwing things. The box of Yamani things lay near by and all that was left were the few kimonos she had brought and a fan. The teacups, teapot, and waving cats were now shattered on the floor.
It made her sick to look at the mess. I did this, she realized. I destroyed my past and so many beautiful things. I am a murderer. Even if I wanted to, I have no right to call myself Yamani. She wasn't thinking clearly, and everything faded in and out of focus in colors of emotion. An emotional hangover took over her senses and she wanted to cry and scream. She tried to pull her frail Yamani mask into place, but it was now only a dim memory.
Pain brought her attention back to her foot and she reached without thinking for her talisman next to her bed. It wasn't there. Cursing, she healed herself the hard way and carefully got out of bed and got dressed. She knew she ought to clean up the mess before the maids got there, but she was already running late as it was.
She rushed to the Mess Hall and picked out a small amount of food so she could eat quickly and return to her room to pick up the Yamani remains. She stuffed food in her mouth and ate quickly while Patrik stared.
"Hungry? Or just in a hurry?"
"I'm in a hurry," she replied after she swallowed a grape whole. "I – didn't finish all my math work last night," she invented as she stuffed a roll with jam into her mouth.
"We didn't have any math work last night," Jonathan said. He was also staring at Kimi, but without expression: the Yamani way.
"Oh," she gulped some of her fruit juice and placed it back on the table.
"You need to slow down, Kimi," Gary advised. "It's not good for your health to eat that quickly."
"Thanks, Gary. I'll keep that in mind," Kimi said. "I'm done now, so I'll just go." The pages just stared at her as she took her tray back and placed it in the cleaning rack. She waved and smiled, then left the Hall. They'll all think I'm crazy, she thought. Good for them. She smiled to herself, satisfied all her humor had not left her.
She brushed up most of the bits before the bell rang, and decided to be content with her work. She ran to her classes and spent the morning in almost complete boredom. Kimi was a smart girl, and knew she was a smart girl, and the only class she had the slightest trouble in was math. Although she was slightly bored, she could not help but feel relief that she picked up lessons easily: it was the only thing she wasn't struggling with.
After lessons and lunch, Kimi went with the boys to saddle up their horses and ride. Today they were to start learning the art of the joust.
"You're actually excited?" Theo asked when he saw Kimi. "Getting beaten with a stick while on a horse is not as fun as it sounds. Trust me."
Kimi shrugged. "It's Keladry of Masbolle's favorite sport. She's one of the best, you know."
"Of course." Theo took pride in his gossip gathering abilities. "But I think you might have trouble. You're built nothing like her."
"All I can do is try." She led her horse outside and swung up into the saddle. She rode forward a bit and stopped when she saw Frantisek. He sneered at her.
"You ride like a Yamani." It wasn't meant as a compliment.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kimi said. She glared at him.
"It means you look like a whore who's being –"
"Rezek!" shouted Lord HaMinch. He had not heard what Frantisek had been saying. "Can you come here and show the pages how to properly execute a run?" Frantisek leered at Kimi and trotted over to the training master to show off. She wished his horse would throw him. It didn't, and Frantisek's technique was perfect. She hated him.
"Now, the older pages line up and refresh you memory on how this feels. The younger pages come with me, and I'll teach you how to get started."
Kimi lined up with Ulric, Jon, Mortimer, and Jiri in front of Lord HaMinch. "This," Lord HaMinch held up a long, rounded pole, "is a lance. It is your best defense against giants and centaurs. It is starting to gain more popularity at tournaments than the sword duels. My manservant will hand each of you a lance, and I will show you the proper way to hold it." Padraig HaMinch did not like to talk, and it was apparent with every word he bit out of his mouth. He liked to keep things short and simple, and kept relationships with his students very distant. He was an aloof training master, but still showed that he cared for his students and their success in small details.
Kimi took the lance that was presented to her by Machal and almost dropped it. Her eyes widened so much they hurt: it was much heavier than she expected. An idea sprung to her mind.
"Machal, do all these lances weigh the same?" She remembered Kel telling her something about being given a weighted lance.
"Yes, Page Kimi." He looked surprised at the question, and Kimi saw no lie in his eyes. Jon reached over and took Kimi's lance and nodded.
"Mine weighs the same as yours," he said.
"Is there a problem?" Lord HaMinch demanded. He looked annoyed at the interruption.
"I was checking to make sure all the lances weighed the same," Kimi explained.
"Of course they do! Machal checks them all personally." He continued on with the proper way to hold the lance. "Now, the first time we are going to try it slow, so I can see if you are doing it correctly and you can get the feel for it. Licten, you're first."
Kimi thought Ulric was going to faint. He lined himself up with the target and led his horse into a brisk walk. The lance clicked into the cradle and Ulric tried to hold it steady as he reached the target shield. Ulric missed, and the bag swung around and knocked him out of the saddle. Everyone watching was frozen in shock. The bag shouldn't have thrown him out of the saddle that easily, and he wasn't even going that fast.
"Ulric, are you all right?" Kimi suddenly cried out. She rode forward after Lord HaMinch and climbed out of her saddle. He was lying on his back and staring at her. He started coughing harshly and Kimi guessed his breath had been knocked out of him. She knelt before him and began using her magic to find any damage. Luckily there was nothing but a few minor bruises. When she looked up again, Lord HaMinch was kneeling and checking the boy with his own knowledge.
"He's fine, he just lost his air for a moment," Kimi said and got to her feet. All the boys had crowded around now and were watching with fascination.
"Wow," Theo was saying, "the bag barely tapped him and he went flying. I've never seen that happen before."
"And nor will you see that again," Lord HaMinch said coldly. "I told you, Licten, to brace yourself for any impact. You were not sitting properly in your saddle and so you flew." He turned to the other pages. "I will not have any of you make the same mistake Licten made, do you understand?" The first year pages gulped and nodded, and all went back to his or her horse to begin practicing again.
"Queenscove, you're next." Kimi tried to hide her fear behind her Yamani mask but failed to find it. She could feel Frantisek watching her as she moved her horse into the right position and sent Sanda trotting forward. She raised the lance so it was parallel to the ground and her muscles screamed in pain at her. She kept her lance steady and heard Lord HaMinch yell, "Get it in the cradle!"
She had forgotten that part, but snapped it into place at the last moment. It did no good however, for she missed the shield and the bag swung around and thumped her in the back. Luckily, Kimi did not go flying like Ulric.
"Not bad for a first try," he said to her. "Conté, you're next."
"Aw, the Yamani slut has no aim," Frantisek taunted. He was sitting forward in his saddle and waiting for his own turn.
"And the annoying page has no honor. What's it to you?" she retorted tiredly.
"That, was just a practice trial of all the reasons you shouldn't be here."
"At least I stayed in the saddle unlike Ulric." She saw Ulric sitting on a bench nearby, catching his breath. He was listening. "Sorry, Ulric," she said, and Ulric turned pink to his white-blonde roots.
Jon rode past and his lance was too high. It glanced off the target shield. "Keep your lance just a little lower and you'll have it," instructed Lord HaMinch. Frantisek rode away to try his run for jousting and Kimi looked away. On Kimi's next run she managed to hit the shield, but the impact wasn't strong enough to move the shield forward. It caused her to drop the lance.
"Nice work," Lord HaMinch called out while Kimi retrieved her lance. He was surprisingly encouraging to all although he didn't like to get to know his students. "Now we can start going faster." And so the pages practiced jousting for an hour.
Afterwards the pages brushed and took care of their horses, then ran out to do combat training with Hatsumomo and Chiyo.
"I hope this is an easy session, my arms are about to fall off," she confided to Jon as they lined up for stretches.
"You all need to get stronger in your arms," Hatsumomo said. She pointed to the upper arms to show what she meant. "You will do twenty push-ups today. Like this." She lay on the floor and lifted her body with her arms then released half way and pushed again. "That was two. You have twenty. Go."
This doesn't look so hard, Kimi thought and got down on the floor. By her fourth push-up her arms were shaking and she was panting with effort. She looked around and saw that the others were doing fine with this exercise. She did one more and collapsed.
Hatsumomo came over to her and said crisply, "Practice. For you to become a great warrior you need to practice and do dozens everyday. I expect you to do ten tomorrow."
Kimi nodded and drank from her water bottle. It was slightly shaking in her hand. "Practice," Hatsumomo said, and Kimi obeyed. She could only do three more.
A/N:
Hey reviewers! I just wanted to thank you all for reading my story! It's very encouraging to receive praise, and helps me to continue to write on. I will update soon. Thanks again!
RunnerNDA: Yes, she isn't nearly as Yamani as Kel is, but look what Kimi has as a father. Neal is very emotional, but manages to hide it well behind his sarcasm. Kimi isn't nearly as sarcastic as her father, and she wants to appear as un-Yamani-like in front of her peers because of the tormenting she gets from Frantisek. Also, she never lived in the Yamani Islands as Kel did, and has only a few Yamani to leave an impact on her: her mother and Princess Shinkokami. Thanks for reviews, and good insight!