Book Two of Keladry, Lady Knight
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Chapter Two
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November, 460
On the Road to Corus
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The days slowly passed back into their rhythm. Duty rotations, lessons with the refugees, and meetings with the complaints council. Neal returned a few days behind Kel, and in a fine mood. The war settled down into its winter lull, and Kel had time to think ahead.
Midwinter would soon be upon them, and with it would come Owen's Ordeal. She had once promised the boy that if he survived that long, she would attend, but that was before she was knighted and sent to New Hope. But despite her post, Kel still wished to keep her promise.
She wrote a short note to Lord Wyldon, asking for a temporary replacement so that she could travel to Corus. The letter went out among the dispatches that afternoon.
Kel had thought that it would take a few days before she even received a reply, but it came much sooner than this indeed. A short while after the messenger departed, a man rode through the gates late in the afternoon, Merric at his side. He bore a familiar shield; it was Quinden of Marti's Hill, Kel's year-mate. He handed Kel a letter with Wyldon's seal.
This letter informed her that she was temporarily relieved of her duty and hereby ordered to report to Corus to give an official report to King Jonathan. It was unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome news. Now Kel was certain to be present for Owen's Ordeal, and she would get to see her parents as well.
Kel and Tobe rode out the next morning, before dawn's light touched the eastern sky. Kel always liked riding south. Somehow, it felt much more exhilarating than the slow progress she always made when heading north. And she could set her own pace.
Halfway to Corus, they were hit by an early snowstorm. Kel and Tobe rode together on Peachblossom, huddled under Kel's cloak for warmth. Appleflower's lead was tied to Kel's saddle, to keep the mare from getting separated from the group. Jump sat in Tobe's lap, huddled with several sparrows. Finally Kel saw lights from a small village, and she made her way there. She was relieved to see an inn.
The innkeeper, Akrin of Videre informed her that the storm would pass by morning, and they could be on their way. His wife brought Kel and Tobe mugs of hot cider, and they sipped it together while Kel gave Tobe a writing lesson to pass time. The boy slowly dipped his quill into the ink jar and then penned his name with a shaky hand. Kel surveyed the final product.
"Tobeis of Niw Hop."
"That's very good, Tobe," Kel said. She didn't have heart to point out his spelling mistakes. A year ago he would have written 'Tobeis Boon' instead. Now the boy thought of New Hope as his home.
After a hearty supper, Kel and her boy hurried across the courtyard to the stables. The snow was blowing so hard that they couldn't see more then ten inches in front of their faces, but a rope stretched between the main building and the stable, and Kel kept from getting lost by using this as a guide.
She and Tobe checked on the horses, and gave them each an apple. Kel made sure that the shockingly cold weather wouldn't effect her old gelding too much, placing a thick warm blanket over his back.
On the way back to the big house, Kel heard a small whimper. She barely made out the tiny shape through the blizzard. It was a little girl who couldn't have been any older than three. She was wearing only a thin; worn dress; no cloak, no shoes. Kel quickly snatched her up and stuck close to Tobe as he led the way into the inn.
Kel carried the girl over to the hearth, and placed her close to the flames. She placed her big, warm cloak around her shoulders, and set Tobe to rubbing her toes, which were the same shade of blue as her lips.
"Pardon me, my lady, but I wouldn't do that if I were you," an older servant woman said from nearby.
"Excuse me?"
"Her master won't like to be seeing the girl in here," the maid said, pointing across the tavern to a man, obviously very drunk, with a full mug of ale in hand.
"Where would he like to see her?" Kel queried.
"Alls I know is that she sleeps outside," the woman answered, continuing to clear the table she was standing near.
"In the snow?" Kel asked, horrified.
She only had to think for a moment before she knew what she had to do.
Kel squeezed the girl's hand, then stood and walked over to the man.
"My Lady Kn-ight," he said, slurring. "Would you ca-are for – for a drink?" He was a short man, with a small, wiry frame. A whip hung from his belt, and Kel instantly knew that he had used it on the tiny girl.
"I wish to address the matter of that girl," Kel began, pointing. "She is an indentured servant, no?" The man's beady brown eyes narrowed more than Kel had thought possible.
"Yes, My Lady."
"How much do you want for her services?" Kel asked, keeping the process as simple as possible for the drunkard.
"Not for sale," he said quickly.
"How much?" Kel repeated shortly.
"Well no, my lad-thy, if you want the cur that badly, mayb- maybe we could wo-ork something out," he said, winking and taking a step closer to Kel.
"Or you could cooperate and I'll leave the local magistrate out of this," Kel said firmly, keeping his gaze. After she finished, the man reached for her arm and pulled her towards him, eyes gleaming, as if he was to kiss her. Kel reacted quickly, thrusting her palm upwards into the man's face, breaking his nose. Two other men, his friends, Kel assumed, jumped up and grabbed her arms before she had time to respond. In protecting herself, Kel had inadvertently started a bar fight.
The first man recovered quickly and began to send hard, steady punches to Kel's stomach. As she gasped for air, but preparing to send one of the men toppling over the others, Kel heard a high-pitched whistle ring out. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Innkeeper Akrin, who had two fingers in his mouth. He stepped aside for a tall, balding man.
"I am the magistrate, Beoul of Videre. I will not tolerate this." The magistrate looked at Kel, noting the crest on her tunic. "What quarrel have you, Walken the peddler, to assault a knight of the Crown?"
As Walken fabricated a tale of how Kel was trying to steal the young servant girl from a commoner, Kel herself looked across the room for Tobe. He was still at the girl's side, though he was no longer rubbing her cold toes. His hand was on his belt. Kel sighed inwardly, knowing that he had a dagger hidden there, against her orders. She shook her head ever so slightly, and Tobe lowered his hand.
Kel turned her attention back to Walken and the fantasy story that he was telling.
"She probably stole the whelp that's with her as well," Walken finished.
"That's a lie!" Tobe shouted, jumping to his feet. He walked a few paces forward. "My lady paid for me, fair and square."
"Quiet, Boy," one of Walken's cronies growled. The magistrate shushed him with one icy glare. He seemed to be weighing the situation in his mind.
"Sir Peddler, you have assaulted a knight of the realm of Tortall. If she wishes to press charges, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
"That will not be necessary, Sir," Kel piped up.
"Well, in any case, I hereby award the girl's services to Keladry of Mindelan. I want her indenture papers, now."
"But my lord," Walken began, "you can't just take a man's-"
"Now!" The magistrate yelled. Walken fumbled with a leather purse that hung at his waist. From within, he pulled a crumpled, folded piece of parchment. The magistrate leaned on a table, and smoothed the paper, then made a few changes to the words, using pen and ink supplied by the innkeeper. Magistrate Beoul signed the papers, and handed them over to Kel.
"Sir, I am a lady of honor. I am not comfortable accepting her services without paying," Kel said.
"Very well," the magistrate said. "Two copper nobles." Kel reached into her own belt purse and handed him the coins. The magistrate, in turn, put them into the palm of the innkeeper.
"Add these to your fund for Midwinter gifts for the orphanage."
Walken stalked angrily back to a corner of the room. Kel held the drunkard's gaze until he looked away. It was clear that he was not going to cause her any more problems. Not while the magistrate was around, anyways.
Kel thanked the magistrate, then turned and crossed the room. She knelt before the girl, Tobe at her side, and looked into the girl's eyes. They were the clearest, purest shade of green, with flecks of pale blue.
"What's your name?" Kel asked gently, though she knew full well from the girl's papers that her name was Lillan.
"Lilla," the girl answered, barely audible. Kel studied Lilla. Her clothes were rags, but her face, thought dirty, was beautiful. Her cheeks were thin and drawn, but rosy, and she was thinner than a twig. Her hair was dirty and brown, and matted into thick bunches of knots.
"I'm Tobe, and this is my mistress, Lady Keladry of Mindelan and New Hope," Tobe said, once more rubbing the girl's cold feet. "She's a good lady, and she'll help you. Folks call her 'the protector of the small.'" Kel placed a hand on the boy's shoulder to quiet him.
"Lilla, what happened to your family?" Kel asked.
"Me mum died birthin' me," Lilla said with the sweetest accent. "Pa say tha' we 'ud always be togeth'r, but he died too. He got the sum'r fever."
"I'm sorry," Tobe said. "I'm an orphan, too. We'll take care of you."
Kel picked up Lilla and carried her up to her room. She had a bath drawn of heated snow. Kel scrubbed the girl herself, having Tobe practice his reading behind a screen. To ensure that he wasn't peeking, she made him read aloud from a large tome of battle records.
Kel thought that she would never get through Lilla's tangled hair with the single wooden comb that she owned, but the innkeeper's wife brought an oily solution, and together they gently coaxed the knots smooth. Kel pulled it into a long braid, and then slipped Lilla into one of Tobe's extra shirts. The smock billowed out around Lilla's tiny form, but at long last, the girl was clean and warm.
Kel found another pallet and placed it beside Tobe's. When the two children were tucked into bed, Kel stood near the window, thinking. The storm had stopped, and through the cracked shutters, she could see that the world outside glistened with the moonlight on the fresh snow.
Kel wondered why she was such a soft touch. She had proven to herself once again that she was 'the protector of the small.'"
The light from her small candle flickered over Lilla's face. The small girl's body was covered in bruises and lacerations, some old, some fresh, one atop the other. Kel knew that leaving Lilla with the peddler would be to sentence her to death.
"Oh well," she whispered to herself. She blew out her candle and slipped into bed. A dream-filled sleep overtook her.
Keladry of Mindelan, are you prepared to be instructed?" asked the duke. He would not sit this night out shoeless in thin cotton. Over his clothes he wore a heavy velvet robe with a fur collar and lining; on his head was a velvet cap with flaps that covered his ears. He even wore gloves.
"I am," Kel replied firmly.
Ritual dictated each man's words. First Lord Raoul spoke, telling her that if she survived her Ordeal, she would be a Knight of the Realm.
Next Turomot cleared his throat, then said, "To wear the shield of a knight is an important thing. You may not ignore a cry for help. It means that rich and poor, young and old, male and female may look to you for rescue, and you cannot deny them."
Kel awoke with a start. The dream of her Ordeal, and Duke Turomot's words echoed in her head. She gazed once more at Lilla's sleeping form, and smiled, finally at peace about the new stray she had picked up.
…..
In the morning, they set out early. Kel even skipped her morning exercises, anxious to get on the trail, and far away from the Peddler Walken. Kel helped Tobe mount his mare, but she held Lilla protectively when Peachblossom snapped his teeth at her.
"This is Lillan," she sternly told the gelding. "She is Tobe's friend. Be nice." The horse whinnied and let out a sigh that blew Kel's bands. She wasn't sure if this was an agreement or not.
After Lilla was settled on the saddle in front of Tobe, they were off. The snow melted before dusk, and the rest of the trip went without incident. Tobe was even livelier than his normal self. Kel figured that he was showing off for Lilla. She, on the other hand, scarcely said a word. She did as she was told and was well behaved, but she mostly kept to herself. This broke Kel's heart. Any small orphaned child should be loved and cared for, but Lilla had fallen into the wrong hands, and she was abused until she thought that neglect was the way of life for all.
Soon Kel and her small ones were overlooking Corus. The Olorun River ran through the city, with the palace on the southern heights. It was built on ruins of one of cities of the Old Ones, the people who sailed across the oceans to build a civilization north of the Inland Sea.
Kel looked at the familiar stone wall, and the tall tower, Balor's Needle. She knew that height very well. Lilla's eyes widened, as did Tobe's. Neither one of them had ever seen a city as large as Corus. Kel smiled and ushered Peachblossom onward.
…..
Servants settled Kel into a room in the palace. There was a common room to be used as a study, a small dressing room, and two bedrooms. The larger one would be Kel's, and the smaller would hold the trundle that Tobe and Lilla shared.
While Kel and Tobe unpacked, Duke Baird took Lilla to check her over. She was returned to Kel, lice-free and sleepy-eyed, with a clean bill of health.
Kel was amazed at the change in the girl's appearance from when they had first met. Clean, Lilla's hair was not brown, but auburn, and when Kel let it out of the braid she had woven, it fell gracefully around her face from a widow's peak. Kel had purchased clothes for Lilla from a woman who had once been her maid, Lalasa, who now owned a dress shop.
From the skin that she could see around Lilla's spotless white nightgown, her bruises and scrapes were healed. Tobe whispered something in her ear, and she giggled, the first smile her lips had formed since her father died.
Kel thanked Neal's father, and then settled Lilla into the trundle bed. She then went into the dressing room to ready for sleep herself.
Tobe thought that his lady could not see him, but Kel caught his reflection in a small mirror that hung on the wall as he tucked Lilla's blanket around her, and then kissed her forehead. Kel smiled to herself, as Lilla raised her arms to hug Tobe before he climbed into his own spot. Jump jumped up between the two children, and turned in four circles as he plopped down.
Kel waited until both were soundly asleep before she gave them her own goodnight kisses. Then she retired to her own room and looked over the notes she had prepared for her report to the king, several sparrows sitting around her. Finally, Kel blew out the single candle she had been reading by, and rolled over, immediately falling into a deep sleep.
A/N: Let me gather my thoughts. (There's so many of them, and they are floating out of a hole in my head. I'd better get my butterfly net.) Okay.
I meant to update much sooner, but I didn't have time before we went on a road trip from upper Wisconsin to the eastern coast of North Carolina. I finished this chapter on the road. Part of it was even written in the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel, near Bland, Virginia.
What all that means is that this is a pretty long chapter. I kind of feel like it is rambling on a little. I promise more action, but first I have to carry events to that point.
Sadly, I cannot promise quicker updates, because we are planning on moving next month, and I have a part-time job, which I will spend most of my free time at. I will try, however.
Review Returns-
Ayve- I'm glad that you are enjoying this. I try to keep the characters in anything that I write true to the original story. Please keep reading.
Cloverluck11- I, on the contrary, found it hard to believe that Kel could be so very in love with Cleon, and then the romance was suddenly gone? I don't know, I suppose it's possible, but I'd like to think she still loved him.
Arcadia- I'm so glad that you like it! Thank you kindly for your time.
Kerowyn-Dawnfire- Thanks for your review. Please keep reading.
Angie Kirk- Thanx. Please continue to read.
Miss Lyss- I'm sorry! I just am a K/C fan. I hope you can forgive me!