Chapter Two

At the end of August, Maddie and her family went to the palace to see the monarchs and Sir Neal's father. Maddie visited with the oldest princess, Mariko, who was exactly her age. Mari wistfully said she wished she could train for her shield as well, but being princess, her father wouldn't let her. None of the other countries were really interested in having female knights and if she were to be married to a prince of another country to cement an alliance, she couldn't be a knight. However, Mari was being trained in the fighting arts, so it wasn't all bad.

Soon it was time for pages' training to begin. Maddie was taken to the study of Sir Robert of Rosemark, the training master. He was tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a stern expression. "Welcome, Madeleine of Queenscove. Are you sure you wish to be a page?"

"Yes, Sir Robert," responded Maddie, bowing a little. "That is what I want."

"Fine, then," said Sir Robert. "Life as a page is hard. I will not favor you over the boys. You will be expected to keep up and do your best. Also,when a boy is in your room, or when you are in a boy's room, the door must be left open. The only exception is if your brother is in your room or you are in his. And it must only be the two of you. If you have a chaperon, the door may be left open. Do you have a servant?"

"Yes, sir," replied Maddie. "My brother and I are sharing one."

"All right, Page Madeleine. However, the servant you and your brother are sharing is not chaperon. If a boy other than your brother is in your room, the door remains open. Is that clear?" Maddie nodded and Sir Robert said, "Good. You may leave now."

Maddie left the room to see a servant leading Sabine and her father, Sir Merric of Hollyrose, toward the study. Maddie smiled and waved to Sabine, who returned the smile and wave. Sir Merric smiled at her as well and whispered, 'Good luck, Maddie," as he passed.

A few minutes later, Maddie arrived at the pages' wing. The housekeeper, Salma, handed Maddie two keys and explained how to unlock her door and warned her to always lock the door and shutters so nobody could get in and make a mess of her room.

Inside her room, Maddie began unpacking her things. She had just finished when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to Corrie and two other girls. One had blonde hair done in a braid and grey eyes,while the other had short brown hair and blue eyes like Corrie. "Hello," said the girl with blonde hair. "I'm Lianne of Jesslaw. You must be Madeleine of Queenscove."

"Hello, I'm Gwendline of King's Reach, Gwenny for short," said the other girl. "Pleased to meet you, Maddie."

"You don't look very Yamani," said Lianne. "Your hair is black, but your eyes are green and your features don't look Yamani at all, except that your eyes are a little slanted, Maddie." She blushed, then asked, "Was that rude? Mama says I can be very frank like Papa."

"It's all right," replied Maddie. "Is your father Sir Owen of Jesslaw? My father said that Sir Owen was a friend to him and Aunt Kel."

Lianne nodded. "Papa told me stories about his time as a page and squire. He said on the whole, his page years were 'jolly'. He was pleased when I expressed a wish to become a knight. Grandpa wasn't so happy about it, though. He's gotten used to the idea of female knights, but he still doesn't really approve of them. Though he admits that they can fight and lead. Lady Keladry proved that to him."

"Who's your grandfather?" asked Gwenny.

"Lord Wyldon of Cavall," answered Lianne. "He was Papa's training master and his knight master, as well."

There was another knock on the door and Sabine came in. She had red hair and green-hazel eyes. "Hello, Maddie and Corrie. I'm Sabine of Hollyrose," she said to Gwenny and Lianne, who introduced themselves in turn.

"Did you know that there's a fourth new girl page this year?" asked Sabine. "She's Rosabel of Nicoline. I don't know why she decided to be a page, unless it was because her twin brother wants to be a page as well and she didn't want to be separated from him. I never thought of her as the type to be interested in becoming a knight. Though she does have some skill in weaponry."

Maddie had met Rosabel and her twin brother Royden once, when Aunt Kel had taken her to visit Lord Esmond of Nicoline, one of Aunt Kel's yearmates. Maddie recalled that Rosabel had no interest in playing with her dolls, unless it was to pretend that they were the Lioness and the other female knights saving villages from bandits or fighting in a war. She couldn't recall much else, other than that Rosabel had curly black hair and brown eyes.

Several minutes later, there was a third knock and Maddie opened it to Rosabel. Rosabel's curls had been cut short. "Hello, everyone. I'm Rosabel of Nicoline, Rose for short. I knocked on the other doors, but nobody answered. It looks like all the girls are in this room."

The others introduced themselves and Maddie saw that Rose was the shortest person in the room. She was about an inch shorter than Lianne, who was the second shortest. The six girls sat down on the bed and the two chairs in the room and began talking and becoming better acquainted.

After two bells of time, all the pages were told to gather in the hall. Sir Robert greeted everyone and asked the new pages to introduce themselves. Sponsors were assigned to each new page. First was Edward of Tameran and Adian of Tasride became his sponsor. Next was Kyle of Disart and Stephan of Nond was his sponsor. Third was Royden of Nicoline and the prince, Brian, became his sponsor. Maddie was next and Corrie became her sponsor. Gwenny was Sabine's sponsor, Jasson was Lianne's, and Jasson's friend Kelan of Irenroha was Rose's sponsor.

All the pages were then told to go down to the mess hall for dinner. On the way down the stairs, someone pushed Maddie and Rose. They would have fallen down the stairs if Corrie and Jasson hadn't grabbed their arms. Rose whirled around and glared at a boy with blond hair, who was smiling wickedly. Corrie sighed and said, "It's Derran of Stone Mountain. He doesn't like lady knights and blames us for his uncle's death in the Chamber of Ordeal."

Maddie had been told about Joren of Stone Mountain and how he had been found dead after his Ordeal. Rose snapped, "Derran, you'd better learn to behave or you'll end up just like your uncle. And get used to female pages. My father didn't much care for lady knights before, but Lady Keladry changed his mind and they're good friends."

In the mess hall, Maddie got a tray of food and sat down at a table. All the girls, their sponsors, Edward, Adian, Elric, Royden, and Brian sat at the same table. Brian was a third year like Elric and Jasson, and Adian was a second year and a friend of Gwenny and Corrie. His father was Seaver of Tasride, who had been one of Aunt Kel's yearmates and friend. Edward was the son of Propser of Tameran, a friend of Aunt Kel's and a yearmate of Sir Owen.

Sir Robert said grace, asking Mithros and the Goddess to watch over everyone and have the pages succeed. When he finished, everyone said, "So mote it be" and began eating.

During dinner, Brian didn't talk much, preferring to listen to the others' chatter. Royden, Roy for short, had black hair and brown eyes like his twin, but his hair was straight rather than curly and his eyes were darker. He was also very serious and didn't smile or laugh as much as Rose.

After supper, Maddie went up to her room, where she did some reading and talked with Sabine about tomorrow, when classes and training would begin. When the bell rang for bedtime, Sabine returned to her room and Maddie got ready for bed.