Janiya and her friends are mine, except for Anders and Inness...that's about all I own right now.
Chapter 2 – First Day: The next morning, I woke at dawn, as usual. I had always been a morning person and so woke early. Walking to my window, I watched the sun rise. As the golden light bathed the city, I thought of the last time I'd seen this view.
Daddy was dressed in black. He had out that shiny thing – a...sword? He was playing with it when the Dead-man, the Duke of Conte, came in. "Alex, are you prepared?" he asked Daddy. Daddy replied, "Of course, Your Grace. I'm always ready." He smiled meanly, and then he saw me by the window. "Little brat!" he snarled. He strode over and grabbed my pigtails, and I knew he'd drag me back to the little closet, the punishment place, except that the Duke stopped him. "Wait, Alex. Let me see the girl." I was pushed roughly to the Duke, and I fell. The Duke lifted me by my chin, making me face him. He studied me hard and weird light of an ugly red shone from the hand he kept under my chin. "She has a lot of raw power, Alex, a strong Gift. Impressive." He let me go and I ran to my room, where I stayed. When the ground shook, I hid under my bed, where a servant found me later. She brought me to Grandfather, who was there to fetch me. Then I left Corus, not to return for 7 years.
"She has a strong Gift"...Roger's words were a scar on my heart, my deepest secret. Gifts were uncommon in my family; no one thought to test me and I had also seen little magic. To me, magic was the Dead-man who scared me so much, and if I tried to use it, I'd be evil like him. I knew it was illogical; but then, fear rarely follows logic.
That day, training began. It was harder than I had expected. The morning was filled with academic lessons, mostly taught by Mithran priests. These tough men tolerated no slacking or inattentive students. Reading and writing were easy, as was deportment (thanks to Grandmama, who had drilled me all my life), but mathematics was a challenge.
The most interesting of my morning classes was history, taught by a knight, Sir Myles of Olau. He was a kind man, though slightly unkempt. I knew he was the Lioness's adoptive father, as well as Tortall's spymaster. And I also knew that he knew who I was – that is, a Tirragen. Still, he didn't treat me any differently than the boys. After class, he pulled me aside. "Page Janiya? May I have a word?" I nodded. "Is something wrong, sir?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, I just wanted to see how you were making out. Any problems with bullies or anything like that?" I remembered Shaw of Dunlath, but I was no telltale. I shook my head. Sir Myles frowned, perhaps guessing that I wasn't being entirely truthful, but he let me go.
"What did Sir Myles want?" Jace demanded when I caught up to the boys. I shrugged. "He was just asking if things were going okay, which they are." Anders frowned. "Did you mention Shaw?" he wanted to know. I replied, "No. I'll handle him. Eventually." Galen cried, "He'll kill you, Jani! He's a third-year, and about five times your size!" I shrugged again. "I didn't say I'll fight him now, Galen. I said I'll take care of it eventually. I would like to live to see second year at least." Jace laughed. "You will, Jani. Unless, of course, we stay here. If we miss lunch, the fighting practice this afternoon will be the death of us all." Inness snorted, nodding in agreement. Laughing, we ran to the mess hall.
In the practice yards, my first lesson was how to fall. It took some practice, but I finally got the knack of it. Then we practiced archery. I was a good shot and stood well, but according to my instructor, I had the grip all wrong. So I practiced that for an hour or so. Then we were paired off for an hour of trading blows and blocks with staves.
Riding practice came next. Luckily, Ambra was a good horse and obeyed my commands. I had few problems. At long last, it was time for dinner.
I had been told to wait on Duke Gareth at supper, so I did so. Thankfully, I didn't spill anything. After serving, I followed the other pages to our mess hall. I was starving and wolfed down my supper. Jace, of course, had to remark on that. "You know, Jani, by the time the food gets to the table, it doesn't try to run away." I pegged a roll at him in reply.
We were in the library, working on our mountains of homework when the Duke's manservant came for me. I got up and followed him out, trying to ignore my friends' worried looks.
The Duke was waiting for me in his study. I bowed and waited for him to explain. I did not need to wait long. "Janiya, the King wants to see you."
A/N: Come on, you know I love cliffies. It was just a matter of time. Now, the question is, what does Jonathan want with our Jani? Well, let's just say Jon-haters will have a new reason to hate him soon. Don't worry, you'll find out soon, I have the basic theory planned, just not the details. Sorry I didn't update, by the way; my plot plans took a long hike.