ohh you think it's all happy land now for Jzet, but you my friends are sadly mistaken...
Thanks for reviewing people who review..
skysongjr: yeah cliffes are bad... but I can't help it... it builds s-u-s-p-e-n-s-e
On Top of Cloud 9- thanks for all the reviews.. lol...
Jasimeb- I hope you like it...
nativewildmage- I listened and don't worry Neal doesn't get off the hook that quick...
we've got a new character in this character... yay! and a happy dream... yay!
Disclaimer: when I own something I'll let you know
Jzet closed the door after her father left. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She had actually apologized to him for the biggest lie in a century!
"Why me?" she mumbled to herself getting into bed. "Why did I have to be raised by the Shang's? Why?"
The first thing she was taught by her Shang masters was to respect her elders. Jzet had been drilled that again and again. The reason I apologized was because of my stupid training! I don't feel any better than before. I am still angry at my father. He betrayed my mother and made love with another woman! Jzet knew if she had made a big scene when her father came to the door he would be embarrassed and Jzet would make him look dishonorable. She knew her Shang masters would have been very disappointed.
After a few minutes of lying on her back and looking at the ceiling Jzet slowly drifted to sleep.
That night Jzet was plagued by a bad dream.
Jzet felt very paranoid inside her dream like something was going to sneak up behind her. Even the pleasant breeze on her back made her spine tingle. She looked around at her surroundings and found she was on a balcony. She looked out upon a large city that was similar to Corus, but a little bigger. The sky was grey and it threatened rain.
'Where am I?' she thought inside her dream.
Suddenly a man came out from behind glass doors. He looked similar to the man Jzet saw in her first dream. He had dark purple hair and bone chilling red eyes. But he looked a lot more commanding then the first man she saw and wore a crown on his head.
Another man followed close behind him. He had dark auburn hair and a pair of yellow snake eyes. Hewas a hump-backand had a scar across his face that looked infected.
"Mahwah I am finally king!" the red eyed man said pointing to his head. The other man Mahwah, talked in a whisper voice almost a hiss.
"Yes master things are going just as planned." Mahwah hissed. "What is your next conquest?"
"You know very well Mahwah." said the king. "I will not stop until I conquer every land. So I decided to start with the one that will give me the biggest fight, Tortall." Jzet shivered even though it wasn't cold.
"Isn't Tortall ruled by King Jonathan, Zulch?" Mahwah asked.
The king named Zulch answered. "Yes, so what's your point Mahwah?"
"Doesn't he command the Dominion Jewel?" Mahwah asked again his voice had a quiver of fear in it.
"So what Mahwah, Jonathan didn't use the jewel against the Scanrans ten years ago." said King Zulch. "Jonathan is weak. He is afraid of his own power, because of what happened when he used the jewel to stop his cousin about thirty years ago. It left Tortall in a famine for a year."
"Oh," said Mahwah aimlessly.
"Jonathan will do anything not to see his people suffer, so he is reluctant to use the jewel."explained King Zulch. "I on the other hand only care about power and what comes from it. That is where I am strong and Jonathan is weak. Carthak shall attack Tortall and bring it down with my peoples help."
"The Fitrakis," Mahwah said questioningly.
"Of course the Fitrakis, sometime Mahwah you are such a fool." said King Zulch.
"I am sorry my king." said Mahwah in a small bow. Zulch waved it off.
"As I was saying the Fitrakis are stronger than any other warriors in this world. We will make Jonathan's men tremble at our sight." said the King. "To kill a Fitrakis you must stab them through the heart." Mahwah nodded his expression was bored like he had heard the same story before. "Any other wound will be healed instantly. I possess the gift like all Fitrakis, which makes us so powerful and gives us the ability to heal ourselves. Without it we are nothing, but dirt." Jzet made mental notes in her mind. She had a feeling that in the mere future she might have to spar with a Fitrakis, even kill one.
"So when shall we send our armies my master and overlord?" Mahwah asked looking more pathetic than a small bug waiting to be stepped on.
"In one month after all the ruckus of me becoming king is done and over with." said the king sounding like his words should be recorded in stone. "We shall conquer all my friend… We shall conquer all."
Jzet woke up from her dream with a start. She was breathing like she had just run for miles. Was this dream real? She was uncertain. If she told someone they might think of her as crazy. On the other hand if she didn't tell any one Tortall might be doomed and it would be all her fault. In the end she decided against telling anyone and instead told herself that she would see what happened as time went on. She poured herself a glass of water, drank it, and then went back to sleep.
A few hours later Jzet woke up with a bad headache fouling her mood even more. She bathed quickly and then went down to the mess hall.
She was immediately confronted by Cole who looked deeply troubled himself.
"I see you found out about Chuck." Cole said. Jzet opened her mouth to ask him why he hadn't told her about her step brother, but Cole put his hand up. "I'm sorry for not telling you about him. I thought you knew already. I didn't know you were being lied to all this time." Cole's face was blank; Jzet couldn't see what he was feeling.
"It's ok Cole, I don't blame you one bit." said Jzet letting her arm hang around his shoulders. She pulled him closer to her for reassurance.
"I saw you and uncle last night in the hall." Cole whispered. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard a noise outside in the hallway, so I decided to investigate." He looked at Jzet with a frown. "Jzet he didn't deserve an apology and you know it."
Jzet sighed knowing her cousin was right. "I know Cole," she said sitting down on the bench. "It's just my Shang training kicked in. They told me to respect my elders at all times, no matter what. I was drilled in that for as long as I could remember."
"But Jzet uncle didn't treat you with respect and he doesn't really deserve yours." said Cole frankly.
"He's my father Cole," Jzet snapped. "I can't just go yell at him, I would dishonor him. If I yelled at him in front of everyone I would be just as bad as he was. Normal fathers even would disown their children for such ruthless behavior!"
"I know it's just-" Cole began, but Jzet interrupted.
"Drop it Cole before Kearney and Audrey come around. I don't want everyone involved with my personal life. It's bad enough you're butting into it."
Jzet held her hand to her mouth. She couldn't believe what she just said to her younger cousin.
"I'm sorry Cole, that was uncalled for." she said apologetically. "You are like a brother to me and I just put you down."
Cole just smiled. "It's ok, I would be in a super bad mood too if I just found out I was lied too by my own father."
Jzet gave a fake cough signaling Cole to be quiet because Kearney and Audrey were approaching there table.
"Jzet what happened yesterday?" Kearney asked scooting down on the bench next to her.
"Yeah you looked really upset." added Audrey. Jzet just sighed. She didn't want to plague her younger friends with her troubles.
"Oh just a few family issues," Cole said waving his hand lazily. "Nothing that important," Before Kearney or Audrey could ask what the family issue was someone yelled.
"Hey Cole!" It was just Nolan of Darroch one of Cole's best friends in his year. Cole bid them fair well and caught up with his year mates. Jzet secretly wanted to join him to get away from Kearney and Audrey's badgering.
"So what happened yesterday?" Kearney asked as soon as Cole disappeared.
"Kearney I just don't want to talk about it." Jzet said bluntly.
They finished the rest of breakfast in silence.
The rest of the day went as usual except that Lord Padarig announced that he would teach hand-to-hand combat until the new Shang showed up. Jzet personally wasn't too thrilled with the idea. The Rattler was not easy with the drills and didn't give compliments easily. He worked the pages until Jzet could feel the wind chill her because her shirt was sweat soaked.
Jzet finished the day feeling the same as she did when she woke up, grumpy and now she also felt angry at herself.
Soon it was dinner time and Jzet made her way to the mess, alone. Audrey and Kearney had avoided her since the beginning of the day. She sat down evading her friend's eyes. Tonight Prince Jonathan joined them for dinner and was unaware of Jzet's current mood.
Before they ate the training master made another special announcement the second in a week.
"Quiet!" the Rattler commanded.
Silence.
"Good now I have an annoucement to make." Jzet's full attention was now on the training master. "In three weeks we will be going camping in the north near Golden Lake. There you will learn certain skills to help you survive in the willderness. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior during the trip for this is a great privilege. Now go back to eating and prepare for the trip."
Jzet breathed in a sigh of relief. She was happy to finally be leaving her regular routine. As soon as the Rattler was done talking everyone began chatting about the camping trip.
The camping trip brightened Jzet's spirits and she went to sleep that night feeling a little happier than she did when she awoke in the morning.
The next week went slowly for Jzet. The training especially made it go slower. The Rattler and the other teachers began teaching them new things which frustrated Jzet, who hated things to change so fast. Every class then seemed to take ages to finish.
But Kearney and Audrey began to loosen up and talked to her once more. They never did bring up the 'family issue' ever again.
One more thing bothered Jzet during that week besides the training. Jzet hadn't heard from her father since she talked to him last which bothered her a little. She sometimes lay awake at night wondering what he was doing.
Jzet walked into hand-to-hand combat followed closely by Kearney. The two pages expected to see the Rattler there, but were both sadly mistaken.
When Jzet first saw the new Shang teacher she almost threw up right on the spot. There was the Shang Tiger also known to her as Rae.
"Mithros why?" she whispered.
Jzet knew Rae from her Shang village on the Yamani Islands. He was two years older than her and was the best student in his year. Jzet remembered him well and she noticed he didn't change much except for a few extra muscles he added under his shirt. The Yamani Shang was tall for his age and had jet black hair. Rae's eyes made him mysterious; they were grey with blue specks in them making his eyes look like little moons. His skin was tanner than ever which did not surprise Jzet at all.
"Is that the new Shang?" Prince Jonathan whispered to her. Jzet just shrugged because she had lost her ability to speak.
"Hello I am the Shang Tiger your new instructor in hand-to-hand combat." said Rae stiffly. Jzet could tell he was nervous under his Yamani mask. "Well what about each of you tells me your names and then we'll get going on some drills." He pointed at Cole.
"Cole of Massabole, sir."
They went down the line until it reached Jzet.
"Jzet of Queenscove," she said and then added. "Sir,"
Jzet watched Rae do a double-take. His eyes were full of confusion and uncertainty.
"Um, next?" was all Rae could say.
After everyone said their names to the Shang Tiger, he assigned them a simple drill that Jzet remembered from the Yamani Islands.
Jzet paired up with Audrey, but for some reason she couldn't keep her eyes of Rae.
'Snap out of it Jzet you look like you're falling for him.' she yelled inside her mind.
'I am not!' her more sensible half said. 'I just haven't seen Rae in ages.'
'Watch out Audrey's going to flip you on your butt.' warned her other side.
Jzet snapped out of her trance just in time to stop herself from getting flipped by Audrey.
"Jzet what's wrong I almost actually flipped you?" Audrey asked wiping her brow.
"Sorry I was just thinking Audrey." said Jzet giving herself a mental slap.
The rest of the class Jzet was jumpy and didn't pay attention much.
Finally the bell rang signaling it was time forher staff class. Butbefore Jzet could sneak out she heard a voice say:
"Queenscove stay here for a minute."
Jzet told her friends she would catch up to them later and then stayed behind to talk to Rae.
"Shang Wolf?" was the first thing that came out of Rae's mouth. Jzet nodded.
"I haven't seen you in ages Rae." said Jzet frankly.
"I know- should I call you Jzet?"
"Yes that would be nice."
"So anyway Jzet, I haven't seen you since the party after your initiation to the Shang." said Rae. Then his voice turned serious. "Aria was so upset Jzet. She was disappointed that you didn't stay to see her initiation." Jzet felt the guilt build up in her. Aria was her friend on the Yamani Islands and she was going to be initiated into the Shang the next day after her. But Jzet left before she could see Aria make it.
"You wouldn't understand Rae. I was called away." said Jzet. "That night I got back on a ship to Tortall because my father was calling for me."
"So this is how you got here." said Rae. "You are a daughter of a noble in Tortall."
"Yes I am. I only started page training this year though." said Jzet. "You know I couldn't resist a challenge." Rae grinned.
"Of course not, but you still had me and everyone else worried sick though Jzet." he reminded her.
"Please Rae I'd rather not be reminded of my past anymore." said Jzet.
"So you are telling me none of these pages know you're a Shang?" the Shang asked his gaze narrowing.
"Two do, my cousin Cole and my friend Kearney." explained Jzet.
"You're ashamed of what you are, aren't you Jzet?" Jzet felt another pang of guilt.
"No Rae it's just I don't want to show anyone up." said Jzet. "They would make fun of me."
"Well Jzet I'm just glad you're here and not dead," said Rae bluntly. "Now you better get to your next class." Jzet bowed to Rae Yamani style and then took off for herstaff classmuch more relieved than before. But she still felt a sting right in her heart.
Finally Jzet reachedherstaff classexplaining to Sergeant Torin that the Shang Tiger was talking to her. The sergeant finally believed her and paired her up with Luke of Grotten. Jzet knew what Luke was going to say even before it came out of his mouth.
"So Jzet you finally found another man to sleep with, good for you." said Luke maliciously. Jzet growled and whacked her staff harder at his causing him to drop it.
"Sloppy Grotten, very sloppy," barked Sergeant Torin's voice over the banging wood.
"You little slut," Luke knocked his staff right onto the side of Jzet's face leaving a gash before Jzet could defend herself.
Jzet see the blood on the tip of Luke's staff and began to grow angrier with the boy.
Jzet began to whack harder and harder at Luke, who was just barely blocking her blows. Finally one came down hard and fast upon Luke and hit him straight on the head.
Jzet began to whack harder and harder at Luke, who was just barely blocking her blows. Finally one came down hard and fast upon Luke and hit him straight on the head.
"Never, ever call me a slut again Grotten or I'll make you pay." snarled Jzet.
Sergeant Torin ran over to Luke who was bleeding immensely on the head.
"What happened Queenscove?" barked the sergeant who's face now was a deep purple.
"Luke just wasn't quick enough to block my attack, sir." Jzet said honestly.
The sergeant grunted and then ordered Terrence of Golden Lake to help him bring Luke up to the infirmary.
As soon as the Sergeant and Terrence left with Luke there was silence.
"Who do you think you are Queenscove?" yelled a voice belonging to Craig of Marti's Hill.
"Yeah we'll teach you for messing with us." added Danrizh rolling up his sleeves. Danrizh, Faris, and Craig circled around her looking for a fight.
"Well maybe Luke of Grotten should watch his tongue." snapped Jzet challenging the boys.
"Let me guess he called you a little slut." sneered Faris. "Well he's telling the truth. You probably sleep with all our teachers so you can stay here."
Silence.
Suddenly someone jumped on Faris's back knocking him to the ground. Jzet took advantage of this sudden uproar to swing her staff right at Craig's head who blocked it with his own.
"So want to fight?" Jzet asked ignoring the brawl behind them.
Craig answered the threat by bringing his staff upon Jzet's head. Jzet blocked it and then pushed the boy back Shang kicking him in the stomach. This caused Craig to drop his staff and sent him to the ground.
Not waiting for an opening Jzet threw her staff away and began pounding upon Craig. Before she could punch him in the stomach again someone tackled her to the ground. They rolled on the floor for a minute before Jzet realized it was Michael of King's Reach. She threw him off her.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" she shouted.
"Making sure you don't get in trouble." he shot back and then ran back over to the brawl and began pulling boys apart.
"OK EVERYONE STOP!" someone yelled. The fighting stopped and everyone turned their heads to see Aidan of Hollyrose standing on top of a box.
"This is ridiculous guys! Do you want to get in trouble?" he asked. Everyone exchanged worried glances at each other they didn't all feel like punishment work.
"No!" they chorused.
"So let's get this place cleaned up before Sergeant comes back and forget this ever happened." Jzet stared oddly at Aidan. He was usually so quiet and now he just stopped a brawl. There was something strange about that boy. Jzet knew she could ponder that on a rainy day, but right now she had to clean up.
There wasn't much to clean up, so they began doing drills again. This time Jzet was partners with Prince Jonathan. The Sergeant came back a few minutes later flustered and in a state of awe.
"Good job boys-" he said and then added quickly. "and girls. I'm deeply impressed on your responsibility as pages." They continued the class without any problems and the rest of the day ended up uneventful.
I'll admit I didn't like that chapter myself a lot when I wrote it... I confused my own self with Jzet forgiving her father thing.
Oh and Rae is pronounce as Ri'
so please review... flame me... suggestions... comments... praise whatever
POLL:
Should Jzet hook up with Rae?
1. Yes
2. No
3. someone else
thanks for your time... caiti