CHAPTER 10

Kodi descended the Grand Staircase, resting an arm on a squire's. She was nervous, but she was not new to court functions. Of course, this was her first Tortallen court ball. The courtier had announced her as Lady Kodiann Salmalín and that had gotten the court's attention. (Kodi had added the –ann onto her name just because it sounded better) Kodi felt eyes upon her and her hands were sweating, but she made it down the staircase without mishap.

Once she reached the floor, the squire escorted her to the monarchs. Kodi had spoken to them before, but all seemed different when she was dressed in a blue gown and the whole court was watching her.

"Good evening, my lieges." Kodi gave an elegant curtsy.

"Welcome to Tortall, Lady Kodi." said King Jonathon. Kodi wrinkled her nose at the lady, and Thayet hid a smile.

"Thank you, your Majesties." Kodi curtsied again and the squire whisked her away. As custom dictated, she had to dance with the one had brought her down the staircase. After that dance a knight asked Kodi to dance, and Kodi agreed. She had missed court, for all her running and hiding. After that dance, Kodi made her excuses and stood with Daine for a bit.

"You looked very nice." Daine's eyes twinkled.

"It was the dress." Kodi mumbled, although she flushed at the compliment.

"No, my dear," Numair spoke like a perfect gentlemen and Daine giggled. "You must have been born for court functions." Kodi was glad that she had an excuse for knowing the way of the court; for the last month, she had taken dancing lessons and etiquette.

"Kodi?" Jasson appeared in royal finery. "You didn't tell us that you had gotten adopted." he accused.

"You didn't tell me that you were going to be here tonight." Kodi shot back. "That makes us even."

Jasson threw his hands up in the air. "Alright, you win! Besides, I only knew that I was going for two days." Kodi snorted.

"Anyway, my brother wanted me to introduce you to him." Kodi looked up interested and Jasson chuckled. "He didn't want me to tell you that he wanted me to introduce you to him, but what are little brothers for?" Jasson offered his arm and Kodi gave it to the younger boy.

Jasson led her over to a taller boy who had the characteristic Conte black hair and sapphire eyes. "Liam, would you care to meet the Lady Kodiann?"

"Would my lady care to dance?" Prince Liam asked.

"I would, your Highness." Kodi took his arm gracefully and he whisked her out to the dance floor.

Kodi watched the prince beneath lowered lashes as they danced. He was very handsome in his squire's regalia and Kodi was interested. She knew that she shouldn't complicate things, but could there be any harm in making friends with the son of a King? Almost guiltily, Kodi thought of Tobe but immediately dismissed the thought. He had gone back to New Hope about a month ago with Neal.

"I didn't catch where you were from." Prince Liam tentatively asked.

"I was born in Hamrkeng, your Highness. I just recently arrived from New Hope."

"Are you Numair's sister?" The prince seemed genuinely interested.

"No, they both sort of adopted me as a sister." Kodi smiled up at Liam.

"Jasson told me that you practice unarmed and fencing with the pages. Can you shoot a bow at all?"

"I can use a longbow, but I have to admit that I'm not any good at it. I bet you are though, squire and all." Kodi wondered if this was flirting; if it was, it was fun.

"I wondered if you might be interested in a hunt. It's tomorrow at dawn if you could come."

"I don't know." Kodi said. "Are you inviting me or just informing me of it?"

"I'd like you to come." Liam said honestly.

"I'll be there then." Kodi told him just as the dance ended. Liam bowed and Kodi curtsied and they separated. Kodi found Jasson at her side once again.

"What did you think of him?" Jasson asked, trying to make it look as if he was uninterested.

"None of your business." Kodi blushed and Jasson fought back a laugh.

"So I guess that you're going to the hunt tomorrow." Jasson smirked.

"Maybe. I might miss practicing with you pages because I have to talk to Daine." Kodi made an excuse and Jasson grinned and shook his head. Jasson's father, King Jonathon motioned to his son. Jasson gave an apologetic look towards Kodi and went to his father.

Dodging whirling couples, Kodi made her way over to another corner of the ballroom where she had seen Kel a moment ago. Kel was still there, talking to Dom and the Knight Commander.

"Hello, Lady Kel." Kodi curtsied, trying not to stare at Kel's huge stomach. Her baby was due any day now, but Kel was tired of resting. She had said that going to a ball was better than resting in bed all day.

"What have you been up to?" Kel asked teasingly. "I haven't seen you since you were announced."

"No where. You should be resting." Kodi accused.

"Nonsense." Kel protested. "I'm fine."

"It seems to me that anyone who is able should escape these balls." Raoul said bleakly. "If I was a woman, I'd plead bed rest and escape from every function."

After Kodi's inquiring look, Dom explained. "Lord Raoul hates these court functions. If the king didn't order him to come, he would be here. It's the same with his wife, Lady Buri. The queen had to order her to come." Kodi and Kel stifled laughs as Raoul scowled.

"How do you like your first Tortallen ball?" Kel asked.

"It's my first ball." Kodi said with wide eyes. "I like it very much, my lady."

"Has the prince asked you for a dance yet?" Dom teased, not knowing how close he was to the truth. Kodi didn't even grace him with an answer. Instead, she changed the subject.

"What's wrong with the king?" She asked, pointing to the monarchs. King Jonathon had a face like stone and he was tense.

"Oh, that." Raoul sighed. "He had to call an emergency meeting about some Scanren matter."

"Some of Scanra's nobles sent a message to him about the Duke who will eventually take the throne. Apparently, they don't like him at all." Buri, the former commander of the Queen's Riders, came up behind the group.

"What can they expect the king to do?" Kel questioned, resting a hand on her large belly.

"They probably want him to support a rebellion if the Duke Traviat takes the throne. Either that or name a better successor." Raoul massaged his temples as he spoke and Buri patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"I thought that all of Maggot's family was dead though." Dom pointed out. "Didn't he kill them all?" Kodi shrank back, trying to look inconspicuous and failing miserably.

"You lived in Hamrkeng." Kel said. "What do you know about the royal family?"

"The royal family was kept hidden, almost. It wasn't like in Tortall. Commoners didn't really know much about the family. All I know was that the queen, prince, and princess died." Kodi hoped that her face was kept honest.

"Commoner?" Dom said. "You're a noble if I ever saw one." Kodi was about to protest, but her defense was interrupted by Kel.

"Look! There's the Lioness!"

Dom grinned amused at the excitement in his wife's tone. "You think that she would have gotten over the thrill of meeting her hero by now. They've talked often enough." He grabbed his wife's arm before she started to walk over. "She's coming, she's coming. Besides, you know what the Duke Baird said about moving any more than you had to."

"I know, but I have to talk to Lady Alanna about something. I haven't had the chance since she and the Baron just got back from Pirates' Swoop." Kel looked reassured when she saw for herself that the Lioness was indeed coming over.

"Hello, Raoul. I thought you'd be hiding over here in the corner." Alanna gave her friend her biggest smirk and then turned to Kel. "My husband said that you left a note. Did you wish to talk?"

"Somewhere private, perhaps." Kel suggested with her Yamani face on.

As the two women turned to leave, another man walked towards the group. When Kodi saw him, she paled visibly, promptly turned a ruddy shade of purple, and went back to white. Dom, Raoul, and Buri stared at her, alarmed at her strange behavior. The man, however, didn't even notice Kodi.

"Hullo, old man," The man clapped Raoul's shoulder. "What have you been up to?"

"George, do you know her?" Raoul responded, pointing at the teenager who was still staring. After George looked at Kodi, he gave a soft 'Mithros.' Kel and Alanna turned around to see what the matter was.

After firmly confirming the identity of the man who stood before her, Kodi bowed. She didn't curtsy as she had to the monarchs, but rather the way she had bowed to the gods. She bent her right knee and rested her left on the ballroom floor. She bent her back and her head almost touched her right knee. Her left hand came up to touch her forehead in the Scanren gesture of respect.

George looked almost as surprised to see Kodi as she was to see him. Realizing that nobles had started to notice and whisper, George grabbed her arm and lifted her up. "Before I started askin' about what in Mithros' name you're doin' here, let's get to somewhere private." he hissed. Kodi nodded slowly. She almost looked completely cowed.

"George," Alanna touched his arm. "Would you mind if I came along?"

"I think that this would just turn into a headache that I don't need." Raoul offered his arm to Buri and they went to prove to the monarchs that they did come as they had been ordered.

"I think we'd all like to know why she just bowed to you like that." Kel said seriously.

"Very well." George said and Kodi mumbled something unintelligible that he ignored.

The group followed George and the reluctant Kodi. Numair and Daine saw them leave the room and met up with them. Seeing Kodi's sulking face, Daine immediately knew something was amiss.

"What did she do this time?" Daine asked, looking sternly towards Kodi.

"I didn't do anything!" Kodi protested weakly.

"Wait." That one word was George's only reply.

Once George, Kodi, Alanna, Kel, Dom, Daine and Numair had found a private room where they wouldn't be interrupted, chaos began.

"What in all that is just are you doin' here?" George yelled.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Kodi fired back.

"I thought I told you not to follow me!" George threw up his hands exasperatingly.

"If you haven't noticed, I've my own life and I wouldn't follow you if the King himself paid me!" Kodi shouted with her fists clenched. The others in the room were trying to look uninterested, although they were following every word.

"You still haven't explained what you're doing here!" George started to pace back and forth in the small room.

"Neither have you, so we're even!" Kodi sneered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt anything that might be going on her, but do we get an explanation?" Daine asked, tightlipped.

Kodi and George glared at each other for long moments. Numair started to tap his leg impatiently.

"I'm sorry. I just…" George was cut off by Kodi.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry." Kodi looked down at the floor. George crossed the floor in three big steps to give Kodi a bone-crushing hug.

"It's good to see you." George's tone was not one of anger anymore, but of friendship.

"How do you two know each other?" Numair asked.

"I had to go to Hamrkeng on some business a couple of years ago. I met Kodi and taught her how to be a street kid."

"You taught her how to be a street kid?" Daine looked confused.

"Well, she was a no…" Interpreting Kodi's glare correctly, George changed what he was going to say. "…a novice and I taught her skills that she needed to know to survive."

"He saved my life, many times." Kodi informed everyone.

"And now, look at you!" George exclaimed. "You're adopted by the Salmalín family and presented to the court like a noble!"

"We're just lucky that she let us." Daine laughed. Kodi gasped, but hid it by a hoarse laugh. A bruise appeared on her arm, half-hidden by the sleeve of her gown.

"Who were your parents?" The sharp Alanna asked, purple eyes piercing. Daine glared at her.

"Um, I don't know my mother or my father. I grew up as a servant in the home of a wealthy noble. That's how I know how many court manners. I learned from the nobles' daughter. We had been friends before she grew up." Gulping, Kodi stole a glance at George. George nodded, a motion so small that you could barely notice it, telling Kodi that he would cover for her lie. Kel knew better though.

"You told us about your father." Kel's mind was hard at work behind her mask. Her eyes told Kodi that much.

"A hostler was near as much as my father as anyone to get. He's my father now."

"A simple hostler wouldn't have the magic that you told me that he had." Kel accused. Daine's eyes were full of pain upon the realization that her sister had lied to her. Kodi felt guilty once again, but she didn't want to tell the truth. She was saved by an unsuspecting servant who came into the little room.

"Lady Alanna, Baron of Pirates' Swoop, Master Numair and Wildmage, your presence is requested at the largest meeting room by His Majesty." The servant held the door open for the requested persons.

"You go on ahead." George's eyes were grave. "I'll catch up in a bit." Kodi gulped at the expression on his face. Lady Alanna, Numair, and Daine followed the servant out of the room.

"Kel, we better get you back to your room." Dom forcefully led her out of the room, ignoring her feeble protests.

"I might not have the time right now, but I will unravel your lies." George said firmly. "Years ago, you told me that you were a noble. I knew it to be the truth. Now, you're making all sorts of stories up."

"No." Kodi laughed. "I try to keep it simple, like you taught me." George ignored her.

"I'm also going to find out about the magical beatings that you get." He left the room, wasting Kodi's innocent expression on Captus, who arrived just as George left.

"What's a dog like you for?" Kodi said woefully. "You're an escort, more or less. You better be at the hunt tomorrow. I haven't spent a lot of time with you, you've been disappearing so often." Captus nodded his agreement and the pair walked slowly down the hall.

The next day dawned crisp yet sunny when Kodi led her chestnut horse out of the stables. For once, she had let out her wild magic without any shields and she loved the change. Kodi could hear the animals near her in her mind and she could talk to them. Her wild magic also helped her with her horse. She had borrowed him from Daine and he was a young stallion who was sure that he knew best. Talking to him and explaining helped, but he reared once or twice.

Luckily the stallion and Kodi made it to where the hunt was to meet without any serious detriment, and Captus even came. Instead of waiting in the pack of hunts-dogs, he came and stood by Kodi proudly.

"I'm glad that you showed." Kodi told him primly, mounting the stallion and arranging her skirt. "I was beginning to think that you had forgotten me." Captus shot her a skeptical look.

Horn calls pierced the air and the mass of nobles on horseback started to head toward the Royal Forest. At first, Kodi didn't know anyone who she was riding by, but in a few minutes, Prince Liam was riding next to her.

"Good morning, Lady Kodiann." he said with a half-bow that he executed with grace upon horseback. "I see that you came to shoot, not just ride." Prince Liam gestured to her unstrung longbow and grinned.

"Yes, your Highness. I thought that I might need more practice."

"Don't expect to get too much. Lord haMinch allowed the pages to come along. They're up in front with bows strung and ready. And call me Liam, please."

"Then you must call me Kodi, your… Liam." They grinned at each other for a moment, before a jealous court lady called to Liam. Grimacing, he plastered a clearly fake smile on his face and slowed his horse. In a moment, Jasson interrupted Kodi's pleasant daydreams.

"We didn't know that you were coming." Jasson informed her. "I just saw you. Why don't you ride with the pages? My lord said that you could." Kodi answered him by nudging her mount into a canter and beating him to the pages.

"Hey, Kodi!" Hartok yelled as Kodi ruffled his straw colored hair.

"She's right next to you, dimwit! You don't have to yell." If Jerom and Hartok could have found a way to wrestle on horseback, they would have done it.

"Jasson told us that you were presented to Court last night." Hanna grinned. "You didn't even tell us."

"It wasn't anything big." Kodi mumbled.

"You're probably the first noble to say that." Ryne said seriously.

"I bet that Lady Alanna and the Protector didn't like being presented at court." Fianola protested. She had fully recovered from her fall. Beron's Dogs had also left them alone for the past month, although that might have had to do with Beron being off with his knight master.

"I don't know." Kodi told them. "That's not exactly what I talk to Kel about. I'll ask her though."

The horn blew and the pages rode out to see if they could shoot the deer.

Tyther, Scanra

The man moved stealthily in the darkness, hiding although no one would recognize him. He was growing weaker and his form might not hold. Slinking through the longhouse, the man didn't notice the royal soldiers. They got him before he could run and a burly officer hit him over the head with a stout staff.

Before the man even hit the ground, he was changed into his tall, white-haired, and cold blue-eyed form: Warlord Maggur Rathhausak.

Corus, Tortall

Kodi and her page friends lounged in a library, bellies full after dinner. They laughed and joked, doing homework at the same time. Burch was the first one to notice Kodi bite her lip in pain and turn an unearthly pale. Fainting, Jerom caught Kodi before she hit the stone floor.

Review or I'll make Kodi die and I have the power. (laughs maniacally)