"Come on!" shouted Lord Padraig. It was the first day of training. They were on staff practice. After the first five minutes Kila was already tired. "Faster, probationer!"
Kila groaned and tried to work faster, ignoring the looks of her fellow pages. Everyone also knew what Keladry of Mindelan had been called.
"Blue Harbor, you are doing poorly," said the training master. "I want more strength in those strikes! Conté, block those strikes!" Will groaned.
The pages had been paired with their sponsors. Kila hoped Armen had no relation to Joren of Stone Mountain. She didn't see Liz.
She felt a sharp pain and yelped. Will had hit her fingers, which held the staff.
"Blue Harbor, get back to work!" yelled Padraig. Kila groaned.
After staff practice, she ended up having a bruised behind, ribs, and collarbone. Her fingers ached. It seemed as if the pain throbbed all through them.
Next was archery. Kila did well.
After that was lance work. Kila did horribly.
And after that was swordplay. Kila did badly.
Finally the noon bell rang, and the pages ran to the mess hall for lunch. Kila was relieved. She would have no more weapons work that day. All that was left was the afternoon classes on mathematics, language arts, and the like. Pages with the Gift would have magical classes.
"What about the people with Wild Magic, or the Sight?" asked Kila.
"They go with the Gifted people," answered Will.
"What about you? Do you have any magic?"
"Wild Magic."
"Oh!" Kila was surprised.
"And you have the Gift, right?"
"Yes."
Mathematics, language arts, and the law and history classes went by. Finally came the magic lessons. Kila looked forward to those with special enthusiasm. She looked forward to learning how to use the magic that her parents had never taught her how to use.
The pages walked into the classroom, and separated into their magical groups. Kila no longer had Will at her side, and she thought that she missed that. What! her mind screamed. You miss him! But she could not dismiss the feeling. The class went by slowly. Kila's eyes somehow kept finding their way to Will. She pulled them away, blushing each time. After class, the boy who had sat next to her, Manuel of Malorie's Peak, a fourth-year who was very focused on his studies, said,
"Why did you keep blushing?"
Kila walked past him, making herself appear as if she hadn't heard. But she felt Manuel's gaze follow her. She ran to her room.
