The Queen's Champion

A/N Amazingly enough, I am able to put up another chapter sooner then I thought! Anyway, thanks to all that reviewed my last chapter. I really appreciate your comments. This chapter is seen mainy through Thom's eyes, so I hope that this clears up any questions that you might have about Thom's and Kalasin's relationship. Well, enjoy!

Chapter Five: A Champion is Chosen

Thom

She was more beautiful then I had remembered. And she also had an air of command about her that said, "Back off buddy, I'm in charge."

Our eyes met for a moment, and I saw a flicker of fear, but it was quickly hidden with indifference. I had hoped that she would greet me with open arms, as a friend, but the look in her eyes said that she was ignoring what had ever happened between us. It seemed as though she wished to ignore the fact that I ever loved her and had asked her to be my wife.

I swallowed the hurt that resurfaced and stepped away from my mother's embrace. I sketched Kalasin a polite bow, and shook the hand she extended in greeting. I could see that she did it only to be polite, and I didn't say anything about it.

"Princess," I said, acknowledging her and her station. I kept all emotion from my voice, not wanting to betray my feelings to her. I had done that once before, and she had hurt me deeply. I didn't want to risk further hurt.

Mother's hand on my shoulder drew me away from Kalasin.

"Thom," she said quietly, "She isn't a princess anymore."

My face must have shown my surprise because Kalasin stood from her place at the table.

"I have not been a princess for over three months."

Her words stung. The only reason why she was no longer a princess would be because she had married Kaddar or someone else. They brought back the pain of her rejection. It proved that I no longer had a chance, and that I truly never did.

"Then I offer my congratulations on your marriage," I said, hiding my pain with nonchalance.

I saw my words had struck a sore spot when she shot me a glare. I smiled inwardly. She still had the same temper she did six years ago.

"Thom," my mother said as she drew my face into her hands, "She isn't married."

"Then why would she not be a princess any more?" I asked, confused. The only reason why she would no longer be a princess was that her brother was now king. But how could that be? King Jonathan was in perfect health as far as I knew, and I had not been told of any deaths in the Royal family in the past months.

"She's the queen of Tortall," My mother told me.

My eyes widened in shock. How could this be? Roald was supposed to have taken the throne, not Kalasin.

Kalasin snorted. "It's obvious that you haven't kept yourself informed. I expected more of George's son."

I broke out of my mother's hold and glared at Kalasin. "For your information your highness, I was out collecting information from other kingdoms. I didn't expect for Tortall to fall apart in a year."

"A year and a half," my mother corrected. Then before Kalasin could reply to my barb, she gave me the rundown on what happened. "Thayet died over a year ago and Jon decided to abdicate a while afterwards. Unfortunately Roald died in the Chamber, so Kalasin is Queen."

"What about Shinko? Shouldn't she have become Queen?" I asked. I assumed that Shinko would have become Queen because she had been Roald's wife.

"Roald hadn't been crowned, so I was the natural choice," Kalasin confided, the fire she had a few moment ago fading to weariness. "And naturally Joren of Stone Mountain and Garvey of Runnerspring had to give me problems."

I nodded remembering what both had done to Kel in order to get her to give p her dream of becoming a knight. I also remember her defending me when I had been a First-year page and had been picked on by the Third- and Fourth-years because of my age.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother and brother," I said, offering my condolences.

Kalasin offered me a small smile and went on to tell me about the trouble Joren and Garvey were causing. Without knowing it, we fell back into the easy relationship we had had six years ago.

"I have no idea what to do with them," Kalasin sighed.

"Try setting them on patrol duty to the north, under the command of the Own with the order that if they cause any trouble, they will be treated as one of the Own and punished as they are. But only do that after assigning them to two weeks of cleaning the Own's stables," I suggested.

Kalasin laughed. "I think that might work."

"I got it!" mother cried, scaring both me and Kalasin.

"Huh?" we said at the same time.

"Thom can be your Champion!"

"What!" Kalasin shrieked.

"Nope. Never going to happen." I said, trying desperately to get out of this situation my mother had put me in. "I am not a knight either."

"Oh yes you are!" mother said poking a finger into the middle of my chest. "I'm not blind you know. How on earth your father got the idea that he could hide things from me is beyond me. I knew you had split your time between your studies as a mage and as a knight." She glared at me and turned to Kalasin. "He's perfect! Not only is he both a mage and a knight, but you trust him! I never thought that we would ever find a knight that you trusted."

Kalasin looked from me to my mother and then locked gazes with me again. I gave her a pleading look that begged her to listen to my mother. I liked my life as it as and didn't want to end up stuck in Corus for the rest of my life looking after a woman that would break my heart over and over again. I knew that I would never live if she continually broke my heart.

Kalasin let out a sigh of defeat. "If he's the only one you approve of, then alright."

My stomach plummeted to the ground. I could not believe she was actually doing this! Six years ago she had made it clear to me that she wanted no part with me. She had rejected me years before, causing me to become a knight and called me a fool when I was honest with her.

But most of all I felt fear. For the first time in my life I was scared. I knew that If I took this position then I would continually come in contact with Kalasin, and that I would one day see her marry another, someone fit to be the King of Tortall. I realized then that I was afraid of getting my heart broken again, of living my life alone with the pain of knowing that I, the son of the Lioness, and a powerful mage as well as a knight, was not good enough, not strong enough for Kalasin of Tortall.

"B-but, but…" I stuttered, willing my tongue to refuse her, willing myself to back away from the chance of hurt.

My mother cast me a look, and I saw something close to sympathy in her eyes. "Thom, come outside for a moment," she said, grabbing my forearm and dragging me towards the door. Suddenly remembering decorum, she turned to face Kalasin and said, "If you will excuse us for a second, your Highness, I will talk some sense into your hard-headed Champion."

Kalasin smiled. "Go on, but I have a feeling that you will have your work cut out for you if you want to convince him.

My mother smiled back and shoved me out the door.

Once outside, I tensed up, waiting for my mother to start roaring at me like she usually did when she wanted to get her way. My mother was truly a Lioness. Not to mention that I have never seen my father win an argument with his wife. Even King Jonathan was afraid of her when she was in a temper.

But, my mother's soft tone totally surprised me.

"Thom," she said, "You love her."

It wasn't a question, but a statement. How could she have known of my feelings for Kalasin? I had hidden it for over seven years, only revealing my feelings that one Midwinter night six years ago.

"I saw it on your face when you came home from Corus six years ago," she said, answering my unasked question. "And I saw it now, when you two spoke about Joren and Garvey."

When I tried to deny it, she held up a hand to silence me. "Don't try and deny it. I saw the hurt written all over your face when you came back from Corus after you were knighted. And I see the same look on your face now. I won't ask about it because it's none of my business."

She rested a hand on my shoulder. I looked away, fearing that I would reveal what had happened between Kalasin and me.

"But I am guessing that she's part of the reason why you stayed away from court and Tortall for so long."

I swallowed back tears. With every word she brought back the pain and hurt that I had received from Kalasin. I didn't want to break down in front of my own mother. It was degrading enough that she knew that her own son had lied to her. If I lost control now, I would show that I wasn't as strong as I appeared to be. I had worked hard to separate my emotions from me, to make myself appear as unfeeling. I could not let my hold slip.

My mother rubbed my shoulder, knowing the battle I was going though to regain my emotions. Finally my hold slipped and the tears I had dammed up spilled over. My mother wrapped her arms around me, holding me close as I cried. I let the tears and pain I had dammed up go, actually crying for the first time since that awful day.

After a while, I pulled together my tattered emotions and stepped back from my mother's embrace.

"I didn't mean for that to happen," I said, wiping the remains of my tears from my face with the sleeve of my shirt.

"I can tell that you haven't grown up yet," my mother said with a laugh. She pulled my sleeve away from my face and shoved a handkerchief into my hand.

I managed a smile.

"Don't worry about crying," she said, "I cried in front of Jon after the Black City. Besides, crying is an outlet. It also allows for a person to heal. Keeping all that bottled up doesn't help anyone much. And I think that you had to let go before you face her again."

I nodded, knowing that my mother was right.

"You also had to let go of the hurt so that you can do your duty without the pain," my mother continued. "When you become her Champion-"

"If," I said.

"When," my mother insisted, "you may just win her heart."

"Fat chance of that happening," I muttered under my breath.

My mother snorted. "What is wrong with you Cooper men! Why on earth do you all have to be so hard headed?" Looking up at the ceiling she muttered, "May the Goddess help us all!"

"I take offense to that!" my father boomed from his office.

"Of course you would!" my mother shouted back. "Men! Why are we plagued with them?"

"Like it or not, you tried to become one of us!" my father shouted back.

"Yeah!" she shot back, "I realized early on that all of you were insufferable and that the only way to get away from you was to become one of you!"

I tried hard to not smile, but I did anyway, much to my mother's annoyance.

"And I just had to marry a hard-headed man and have two equally hard-headed sons and a daughter that had a skull of steel!"

This time I laughed. Though my mother often criticized our stubbornness, all of us knew that she was more stubborn then us all. She had to be in order to become a knight and one of the most feared warriors in the land of Tortall, as well as the other kingdoms surrounding us.

"Alanna," my father called, "I do believe that your son is laughing at you."

My mother rolled her eyes.

Then, clearing her throat, she began to lecture me again.

"Anyway, you do have a chance with her. It's obvious that she feels something for you, though I haven't been able to put my thumb on it yet."

"And what makes you think so?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"She trusted you with information that she has only confided in me."

"So?"

"So, that tells you that she trusts you as a close friend, a person she would trust with her life if need be."

"And why is that so important?"

My mother glared at me. She hated it when I was blatant.

"Trust is a big issue, because not only are you going to be her Champion, but you are also going to be the person who sees to her safety, no matter the cost." At my blank look, she added, "You're her bodyguard."

"So, I'm supposed to give up a soft bed to sleep in front of her door on the cold stone floor?"

My mother sighed and muttered, "That's not something that is mentioned in the job description." Then, she added in a louder voice, "But yes, that's what you are going to do, look after Kalasin day and night."

"And why should I do this?" I asked for good measure. Inside, I knew that I was going to leap at the chance to be close to Kalasin, but I kept telling myself that if I did, I would get hurt again, and never again did I want to experience the pain of a broken heart.

"You'll do this because you know that it's the right thing to do. And I know for a fact that you would keep Kalasin safe, no matter what the consequence."

I looked away. My mother knew me better than I knew myself at times. She knew that no matter the pain, I would do what was right, and that I would risk my life for those I cared for. She had seen me come home wounded more then once, protecting others without thinking of the cost to myself.

And she also knew that I would so anything for Kalasin. She had struck at a weak point in my armor. She knew that if Kalasin was threatened, I would go beyond my limitations to protect her. Not to mention that she knew my feelings for her.

But I would not let my heart be broken once again. I might still love her and be willing to risk everything for her, but was I willing to place myself in a position where once again I might be the injured party? Was I willing to protect whatever man Kalasin chose as her husband? Was I willing to have my heart broken once again?

I searched inside myself for the answer. I knew that no matter what I chose, I would end up with a broken heart either way; from either separation from her and the knowledge that her life was in the hands of another or from watching her as she ignored me once again and choosing another as her husband.

But deep down inside, I knew the answer. No matter what happened between me and her, I would choose to be with her as her bodyguard, since she did not think me worthy enough to be her husband.

"So, will you do it or not?" my mother prompted.

Looking her in the eyes, I gave her my answer.

"Yes, I will."

And once again, I placed my heart on the line for a woman who had rejected me in more ways then one.