17 days till Christmas!
Just so you know, I'm going to Minnesota tomorrow, so Confusedknight will probably be writing quite a few chapters in my stead. Isn't she a darling? Haha! She is lethal with a hockey stick! Never cross her path when she's in either, clever-insane alien, or hockey winning mode! Ooh.. and yes, Chocolate Dips are heavenly!
Haha, I'll be writing today's and tomomrrow chapters, but I have to pack soon so Im sorry if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes!
xx
CitrusFruit
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews!
nativewildmage : haha, I orginally didn't even know there was going to be a literal rebellion of shorts until Confusedknight told me! lol. I thought she wasn't literally saying a rebellion of shorts and parades, but instead like the trend just kept being spread round!
neurotically yours : Happy Birthday on December the 9th! (I won't be posting on the ninth, I'm just writing it and Confusedknight will post it) :D
Hope you like the chapter!
imakeladrygirl : Thanks! Haha, you'll meet a character here who doesn't look to be too thrilled about this new trend!
wildace keladry2005 : Aw! No fair! It's so freezing cold here at the moment! And I'm going to Minnesota wher it's high of -10 degrees celcius! (sp?) At least there's snow there!
SilverCrystal Tears : Ah, I know, don't you just love blackmail? You can get away with almost anything! (I've had experience with it with my brothers ;P)
pinky : Thanks!
anonymous girl : haha, you like to do a lot of hola dancing, don't you? LOL There will be a LOT of fluff coming up in later chapters as a side plot!
squishyllama4 : Thanks!
x17SkmBdrchiczxx : Hm... we'll see if we can have Dom and Neal duelling again... smirks We may consider putting another duel in, but reviews help ALOT ;) hint hint
Enjoy the story, and please review!
Oh wait! Before I forget, neither me or Confusedknight own the TP books, as much as we'd love to own the talent of Tamora Pierce.
Both of us forgot to put in disclaimers on our chapters :D
Lord Wyldon of Cavall paced about his room nervously. He had heard about this new "news", and how those two lady knight had started to wear something called 'shorts'. Oh Gods! It may spread round Tortall! The realm even! he thought. Commoners always like to copy the nobles! The sight of tortallan women walking around town in such... such... inappropriate outfits haunted him.
He sat down, by the window and watched as the gardeners trimmed the Royal Gardens. He watched in earnest as the gardeners skillfully trimmed the roses down into a beautiful wall, and laughed when one gardener accidently pricked himself and swore something rather rude. He had the window open, the breeze, brushing past his face, listening eagerly to the gardeners gossiping.
"Paul!" he heard one shout, "Hav' ye heard? Sir Alanna and Sir Keladry have both gotten the Queen, the Wildmage and Buriram Tourakom to support 'em! The latest is that they've been plottin' a rebellion!"
"I heard someone said that they got the Queen wearin' shorts! And the King don't like it, but what can he do? He'll be sleepin' on the couch if he do sumthin' wrong!" he laughed.
"Nah!" Another interjected. "I heard they got the Queen's Rider to wear e'm. Now THAT'll spark a fire!"
"Last I heard, the Wildmage got Master Salmalin to promote wearin' shorts in Tyra!"
The first gardener, called Andrew called out. "Nah, Master Salmalin won't stand fer it! Although..." he added with a though. "Those tyran women sure'll get kicks outta it!" They all laughed.
What was this? Lord Wyldon asked himself. Was it true? He always knew that Sir Alanna and Sir Keladry had powerful friends, but he had not thought that they would actually support them! No! The King would not let them do that! That could not let them do that! Although.. the Queen, as they had said did have quite a lot of power over him...
It couldn't be! He couldn't hear the gardeners speaking anymore. His calm past time, looking out the window was forver tarnished. His mind, in turmoil over the destiny of Tortall.
Could it really be that these two lady knights, the only lady knights to live at this moment, one, the girl who dressed up as a boy, the other, the probationary page...
How could these two, mentally deranged -in his mind- people hold so much influence on Tortall?
Was he really that old that the world had changed so much? For the better or for the worse?
He tapped his fingers desperately on the table, struggling to resist the only possible answer.
Tortall was a modernising land and he couldn't do anything to stop it, because it was bound to happen... Next thing, commoners would beable to come to parties hosted by the King. Women would be wearing outrageously small outfits and scampering around like wild dogs. But he knew, in his heart it was inevitable...
After all, how bad could it be? Actually, no, don't answer that.
He had to admit, Sir Alanna and Sir Keladry had come far from when he first met them. And, they were some of the best knights in the realm. Who else could say they killed Immortal with almost gold-like powers, killed mages who enslaved children and killed them for machines, saved the present King several times from near certain death, avenged the late Queen by killing the evil Duke Roger of Conte AND won some of the most hardest battles and wars for Tortall? Not very many... Indeed, even he couldn't begin to achieve what they had.
He admired Alanna and Keladry. He admired them with all his heart, but he, as the old grouchy conservative too, had to play his part. He smiled. The world just wouldn't be the same without people like him. Valiant and noble knights needed some sort of person to dislike and grumble about. Tortall needed some sort of person to dislike and grumble about. Sir Keladry and all those other knights under his name would not have become what they had become if they had not experienced hardship. That Nealan of Queenscove in particular. Sir Nealan would almost certainly have become a weak, soppy, crying wreak. He smiled. Well, he still is a weak, soppy, crying wreak, but.. .Who cares?Tortall is changing for the better.