For the past year, Kel had been off fighting Scanrans, mostly working with the Own. Frankly speaking, she thought she thoroughly deserved a rest. Of course, with Lord Raoul, you could never tell. So, after much whining on her part, something, Kel noted, she never would have done in the Yamani Islands, Raoul had let her leave to spend the summer down in Corus.
"Not too long, though," he had said. "We need another decent knight. Alanna's off taking care of some sort of nonsense in the south, so never mind her."
"What about you?" she had asked.
Raoul smiled. "Sorry, I should have said another lady knight."
""Why?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Kel, women are better at strategy than men. Saving my own presence, sir," he had said ruefully. "I could do with another two Kels."
So now, under the shadow of the once-dreaded tree, Kel attempted to write to her former knight-master about Vereiwing of Citadellyan.
Whom, in fact, she had been watching.
She had watched the girl fenced with the older boy, Soran. Verei was perfectly capable, and more. Kel had learned Soran's fief, Anak's Eyrie, and learned the names of all the other boys that were friends with Verei was friends with – and those of which she wasn't.
Not that she planned on becoming the girl's fairy godmother, or anything. Kel fully expected the girl to fight, give Lord Wyldon the age-old, absolute crap excuse about how she had fallen down, and then receive detention for "falling down."
But what if something truly nasty happened to the girl? Not to get overly explicit or morbid, Kel thought to herself, but for example, sexual assault? Five against one? It would be like Joren all over again. "Knight master," Kel said aloud. "Please forgive me for the terrible letter I am about to write." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N – faithful readers, please forgive me the terrible chapter I just wrote. I know. It's not going anywhere.