A/N: So, here it is. Hope y'all like it. But even if you don't, I'm going to keep writing. This is so much fun to write. I love Neal, don't you?
Disclaimer: Rae is mine, and forever shall be. If I had the rest of the characters, I'd use the money to but tropical fish. But I don't. Sadly.
Rae spent the rest of the day in her room, wishing that her friends were here. She missed Lanna, Koshi, Maze, and Kay. But she might never see them again. Her eyes stung. She picked up a book and began reading. There was nothing she could do now. She would just have to get her shield. Then she'd see. With a sigh, she turned back to the world of battles fought long ago, trying to drown herself in a sea of stories.
She ate sometime later, when her stomach growled, pulling a piece fruit bread from her packs. She lazed around on her small bed for a while, not wiling to roam the halls and risk getting lost. The fourth bell rang. She sat up, pulling her legs off the bed. Her clothes were mussed from sitting in the same spot for almost six hours. She got up and stretched, kneading her muscles out of their knots. She pulled her tunic over her head and shook it fiercely, trying to get the wrinkles out. She looked in the mirror and stared at her reflection. Staring back at her were the same golden-brown eyes, bushy eyebrows, and freckles. Her hair, which she had so neatly tied up this morning, was frizzing out of its hold. She combed it until it lay flat again, using cupfuls of water, and tied her headband around her forehead.
She slipped into some soft shoes, wondering what supper would be like. Who would be her sponsor? Would anyone sit with her? She knew that Keladry of Mindelan had friends, including Crown Prince Roald, but that didn't give anyone cause to like her. Just because she was a girl didn't mean that Kel had to like her, or would like her. What if everyone thought she was strange or that she was just a silly girl? I AM a silly girl, Rae thought, mocking. Many times she had been scolded or taunted, because unlike Kel, who hid her emotions behind her Yamani mask, Rae outwardly shrugged everything off. She let smiles, jokes, and laughter show, while inside she was sad, angry, and hurt.
With a sad sigh, she looked at herself in the mirror one last time. Was this who she really wanted to be? Yes. I want to be a knight. And you don't have to have friends to be a knight; Rae thought forlornly, you just have to be good. So that's what I'll do. She turned away from the mirror and opened the door without hesitation, without looking back. This was her choice; this was who she wanted to be.
She stepped out into the pages' wing, lit by oil lamps that cast a warm yellow glow that was both cheery and somber. The other pages were gathered at the end of the hall. From the number that stood there, it appeared that more pages had arrived during the day. There were definitely more here than there had been during breakfast. She stood at the edge of the crowd, unsure and nervous. She saw at least two or three other pages who looked small, scared, and unsure, and guessed that they were first years, too.
Rae was waiting silently, wondering what she should do, when the tall Training Master strode down the hall. "First years, assemble yourselves in a line," he snapped. The pages hurried to do as he bid, some more gracefully than the others. Rae was the third in line. She barely paid any attention as the two boys ahead of her were chosen by their sponsors. She didn't even catch their names. As they were led into the crowds by their older sponsors, Rae realized that she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was thirteen, three years older than the other first-years, and it showed in her height. She was 5'6", and at least a head taller than the others.
"Name, and fief," Wyldon said coolly when he turned to her. His brown eyes were sharp.
"Raecell of Corvidae Peak, milord." Rae said, hoping that she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.
Kel watched Raecell from the middle of the crowd of pages. Rae stood nervously, her hands clasped behind her back, yet she addressed the stern Training Master without faltering. She was tall and slender, with thin shoulders and well-muscled legs. She was tall, and looked older than ten. Her voice was medium-high, with a slight, squeaking after-tone.
"Who will sponsor Raecell?" the Stump asked. He looked over at the pages. From the corner of her eye, Kel saw Quinden, the last of Joren's cronies, open his mouth to speak. Kel faked a cough, and whacked him with her elbow as she covered her mouth. Wyldon glared at her, but said nothing. She would not let anyone drive Rae or herself away. She sent a pleading look at Neal, who began to shake his head. She glared at him, and he relented.
"I will show her our ways, my lord," Neal said, keeping the sarcasm in his voice to a bare minimum. Kel saw Raecell gape at Neal, very much like she had three ears ago. Didn't Neal know not to bait the Training Master?
Lord Wyldon watched Neal with a look of contempt. "You, Nealan of Queenscove? I had hoped—" the formidable Training Master stopped, looking from Rae to Neal with a haughty glance. "Very well. Page Nealan, I hope that you will not instruct her in your rebellious ways, for I will know of it if you do."
Neal bowed deeply to him "Very good, milord, thank you, milord," he said mockingly.
"I will stand for none of your insolence," Wyldon snapped. "Mend your ways or you will not see much of you free time for the next year."
"I am sorry, my lord, I will try to hold my dreadful tongue if it so displeases you," Neal said sarcastically.
"Page Nealan, one of the great virtues of a knight is politeness. You will spend from the first to the second bell on Sunday sharpening swords. Hopefully work will dull your tongue."
Kel glared at Neal. Couldn't he just stay out of trouble for once? Rae just stared. Was this handsome boy, with his dark brown hair and emerald eyes, mad? Or had he cracked under the training required to be a knight? He certainly didn't look young enough to be a page. Had he had to repeat some of the years? She didn't know.
"Very well, my lord Wyldon." Neal said. Faleron elbowed him, and he bowed, saying no more.
Rae watched the exchange with gloomy good humor. She had a mad page-sponsor who lived to torment the training master. She was doomed. Her mind spun as Wyldon assigned a sponsor to the remaining page. What was she going to do? How was she going to escape this crazy boy, who seemed determined to get himself-and her, into trouble?
Rae listened to Wyldon as he told them how more pages would arrive in the next three days, the first years needing sponsors. Their classes and training would start in a week. He turned, and headed towards the mess hall.
Rae was watching the Training Master's back as he walked down the hall. Her sponsor, Nealan of Queenscove, walked up to her. He was tall, with fair skin and firm muscles built up from the sessions of page training. His emerald eyes glinted with a mischievous light.
"Come, page," he said lightly, "We journey now into the halls of your new home; where you shall be educated into the torturous, rough-and-tumble ways of the glorious knights of Tortall."
Rae gaped at him. "What?"
Neal smiled, and patted her shoulder. "Welcome to Corus, dear. Now, c'mon we're going to be late for dinner. The Stump hates it when we're late."
"Umm… Nealan? Who's the Stump?" Rae asked quizzically. This boy could not be speaking Common. What in the world was he talking about?
"Call me Neal. Anyway, the Stump is our lord and Training Master. I swear that if he was any stiffer, we use him for firewood on cold winter nights! Now, Raecell, lets go!" He started off briskly down the halls.
"Call me Rae," she huffed after him, keeping up easily once she go the rhythm of his pace. "What year are you? And how old are you. Pardon me for saying it, but you look older than 14," Rae said bluntly.
"I'm a third year. And no, I'm not fourteen. I'm eighteen. I was at the university before I came here. I started five years late. And pardon me for saying it," he copied her voice almost exactly, "But you don't look ten, either. Not even Kel was that big when she started, although Cleon, could have been, maybe,"
"No, I just turned thirteen this summer. I took me a while to convince Papa that I really wanted to go, even if it meant staring late. You know Kel? What's she like? Do you think she'll like me?" Rae asked, breathless.
"We're going to see her now, so you can see her for yourself. You know, she's a whole year younger than you are," Neal replied.
"I know, but she's so brave. It's 'cause of her that Papa let me come. She's a hero, like the Lioness,"
Neal chuckled, speeding up their pace, so that they were back in line with the other pages. This girl was very different from quiet, reserved, Kel. But she had a lot of heart. "C'mon, Rae," he said, and they walked into the mess hall.
A/N; If you don't review, I will send Owen the Jolly Garden Gnome after you. All flames will be used to toast marshmallows and small rodents.