Disclaimer: All characters and places that you recognize are not owned by me.

Chapter 4

At dinnertime Kel and Neal slowly walked towards their table at the back of the mess after a long tiring day on the practice courts and in the classroom. It was Kel who noticed that the table was empty.

She and Neal exchanged a look of surprise and Neal said, "Well…this must be a first eh?"

Kel nodded in silent agreement.

"I wonder where they are…" She mused.

They sat down across from each other.

Neal sighed and looked longingly at his tray of food. His hand inched towards his blueberries but Kel leaned across the table and slapped his hand away, scowling at him.

"You know how much trouble you'd get into if My Lord caught you eating before he had said the midday prayers, don't you?"

Kel raised an eyebrow. Neal sighed.

"Fine then. You win, but," he leaned forward, Kel's breath caught in her throat, "I think I should be kind enough to point out to you that the Stump isn't here yet so he can't catch me, can he?"

He smirked at Kel and leaned back in his seat with his arms folded across his chest.

"Gotcha there haven't I?"

Kel smirked at him and pointed towards the door where the rest of their friends had just walked through, chatting loudly, followed by none other than Lord Wyldon.

As soon as Lord Wyldon had stepped up onto the dais everyone watched silently as the pages and squires that had just walked in quickly grabbed their food and hurried towards their friends. Neal half stood in his seat and waved them over.

As soon as they had placed their trays on the table Lord Wyldon raised his hands and said, "Oh Bright Mithros, please bless this food that we have before us, grant us luck in the areas of life that we need it most and help these young bo-" He paused, "…people on their life's journey."

He brought his hands together signaling the end of the prayer.

"So mote it be." Chimed all the pages and squires.

After Lord Wyldon had sat down at his usual table at the very front of the hall everyone else sat down and hastily started eating. After a few minutes of silent eating Neal's curiosity got the better of him.

"So why were you guys so late? Usually it's me and Kel that are the last ones here…"

Kel glanced up from her food with a look of interest on her face.

Roald and Faleron exchanged smirks as Seaver said, "We were meeting a new court lady," he whistled, "and boy she's a beauty…"

Neal looked putout and Kel looked back down at her food, disinterested. She hardly ever listened when her friends talked about the ladies at court but for some reason she couldn't seem to block out this particular conversation.

"What does she look like? What colour hair does she have? Is she betrothed? When's she being presented to court? What's her name? Is she courting anyone?" Said Neal in one breath.

Roald laughed, "whoa whoa one question at a time…ok…well…she's got brown hair, the most dazzling brown eyes…"

Kel purposely bent her head trying to block out the conversation. She wasn't in the mood to hear her friends saying how beautiful all the court ladies were.

Kel liked pretty things, unlike most females that liked to fight. Kel probably wouldn't have minded going to the convent either.

The only problem that she would have had would've been the fact that her least favourite cousin Camellia of Blue Grass went there and Kel and 'Ellia' as she liked to be called, couldn't be in the same room as each other for more than a minute without a fight breaking out.

***#***#***FLASHBACKS***#***#***

A ten-year-old Kel was sitting nervously on her bed, awaiting the arrival of her best friend, Matthew, from a neighboring fief and his three older brothers, Jeremy, Daimon and Lachlan.

They were all coming over to say goodbye to her because in two days time Kel was heading off to the palace to start her knights training.

Matthew was incredibly handsome; he had darkish blonde hair and beep blue eyes, ones that any girl could fall into. Except, it seemed Kel. That was probably the reason that Matthew started to like Kel in the first place.

She didn't consistently try to get his attention or prove that she was better than any of the other girls…and when he discovered the true personality that lay behind the Yamani mask his liking for her grew as hers did when she discovered that his personality didn't run on his ego, which was supplied from his manyadmiring female "fans".

They first met when Kel was about eight, just after she had come back from the Yamani Islands with her parents. Kel had been out 're-discovering' her home fief of Mindelan, for the last time she had been at Mindelan she had been two years old, too young for her to remember anything of importance.

She met Matthew as she was exploring the left side of the river that separated Mindelan from a neighboring fief and he had been sitting on the right.

She had spotted some stepping-stones on the river and was attempting to cross them when Matthew called out, "I wouldn't go any further if I were you."

Kel froze mid-step.

"Who are you?" she called, "Where are you? And why can't I go any further?"

Matthew stepped out from behind a tree and said, "The next stone sinks if you step on it."

Kel gave him a questioning look. He grinned.

"My oldest brother Jeremy has the Gift and he put a spell on the next three stones to make them sink if someone was trying to cross it from the other side." He paused, "the only way you can get across it is if you are holding hands with either me or one of my three brothers."

He grinned again and then with mock seriousness said, "Now if you would be so kind as to explain to me why you are trying to get onto my father's land?"

Kel stood very still. Even though she had been studying maps of Mindelan the past few days she still couldn't remember which fief the river separated Mindelan from. Genola was a friendly fief according to her parents but the Lord of Falonara didn't like trespassers.

Suddenly she asked, "What fief are you from? Falonara or Genola?"

His face went blank and suddenly he drew himself up to his full height and took the air of a proper noble.

"I am Matthew of Genola the youngest son of the Lord of Genola and you are?"

Kel looked at him and rolled her eyes, "You couldn't have just said Genola could you?"

Matthew grinned, "Nope," he said.

When Kel didn't reply he said, "I'll make a bargain with you. You tell me who you are and I'll help you across the river."

Kel nodded in agreement. Matthew moved out onto the stepping-stones. Stopping when there was one stone left between them. Kel couldn't help but notice that up-close he was very handsome. He was the sort of guy all girls liked.

She had heard her sisters talking about him, apparently he was three years older then her, the same age as her sister Oranie, and could win the heart of any girl he wished. It seemed that Oranie had indeed fallen for him.

Kel gave a small curtsy; silently thanking the gods that she had chosen to wear a dress today and said, "I am Keladry of Mindelan, the youngest daughter of the Baron of Mindelan. I've done my part of the agreement now you do yours."

She daintily held out her hand and waited for him to take it and lead her across. He sighed thinking that she was just like all the other pretty ladies, grabbed her hand and lead her across. Kel noticed that neither of them made and attempt to drop hands even though they were well past the three hexed stones.

They were three-quarters of the way across the river when all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, it started pouring rain.

In unison they both swore under their breath looked at each other and grinned.

"I know where some shelter is on the other side," Matt yelled over the noise of the rain, "we can stay there until the rain dies down."

"Fine." She yelled back.

For the next few hours Matt and Kel sat huddled together chatting and getting to know each other. By the end of the first 5 hours they were best of friends. After that they started to get bored so they tried to get to sleep which they did.

By the time they woke up the next day it was still raining lightly so they made they're way carefully and very slowly, so as to not slip in the mud back, down to the river. But, to Kel's dismay, the river was flooded and there was no way for her to get across.

Matt smiled gently at her and said, "Why don't you come back to my home fief with me? My mum's probably worried sick about me."

He gave her a wry grin. She nodded and silently followed him.

When Matthew's mother opened the front door of his home she gave a cry of relief and threw herself at her son saying, "Look at you! You're a mess! Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you. Your father was thinking of sending a search party out for you!"

Kel stood awkwardly to the side. After a few minutes Matthew's mother finally noticed her. She looked from Kel to Matt and back to Kel.

"So who do we have here?"

Kel was suddenly aware how awful she must have looked. Her dress had somehow got a tear in the sleeve and the hem of the dress was soaked with mud and some of her hair had gotten loose of her horsetail. Matt who had suddenly realized just how bad she looked, started shaking with silent fits of laughter behind his mothers back.

Kel gave Matt a stern look he instantly stopped laughing as Kel sank into a low curtsy and with impeccable grace and manners murmured,

"Forgive me, my lady, I am Keladry of Mindelan, the youngest daughter of Baron Piers of Mindelan. I was crossing the river when it started to rain yesterday and your son very kindly offered to help me and showed me where the closest shelter was."

She smiled sadly, "But unfortunately, when we made our way back to the river this morning the river was flooded and I was unable to cross. I am afraid that my parents will be missing me terribly as they have not seen me since just after breakfast yesterday morning."

Matt's mother Lady Aria said, "Oh you poor dear, come inside and we'll fix you a nice hot bath and we'll get you some new clothes."

She pointed to one of the guards in the hall, "You, go find Maria and tell her all you've just heard and tell her to come to the practice courts when she has readied everything."

"Of course Lady Aria." The guard replied.

Over the years after that Kel and Matt grew closer and closer and had taken to giving each other a kiss on the check every time they departed from each other's company for a prolonged amount of time.

In the first Autumn holidays after Kel had become a proper page Kel spent nearly all of her time with Matt who was well on his way to becoming a Shang warrior.

Matt admitted that he didn't feel nearly as comfortable around other girls, at any age, then what he did around Kel. She and Matt had talked and decided that they should stay as friends, at least until Kel had got her shield. For all they knew they might fall in love with someone else.

He promised that as soon as he had done the Shang Ordeal and received his naming he would come to Corus to see her.

"But what if you forget?" asked Kel in a small voice looking down at her feet.

Matthew cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him, "Me? Forget? Never."

He gently placed his lips on hers but withdrew them quickly when he remembered that they were out in the courtyard in front of the Mindelan Castle and that they had eight court ladies currently staying with them, all of whose windows were facing the courtyard.

All of them were extremely jealous of Kel who seemed to capture all of Matthew's attention but it was they who failed to notice that it was Matthew that was ignoring them.

Kel's cousin Camellia of Blue Grass was also staying with Kel and her family, as her parents were both away on business. She was by far the most jealous of Kel.

She had met Matt a few times before at family gatherings where Kel had been allowed to invite Matt and had immediately wanted to 'capture his attentions', but Matt had continued to ignore her thinking that maybe if he showed no interest she would leave him alone, but to no avail.

'Ellia' had decided that this time she would get his attentions no matter what. She had absolutely no idea what Matt saw in Kel as she only saw the flaws, like her muscularly arms and legs, her height, which in Ellia's opinion was too tall and the fact that she was in Pages training and hardly knew how to act ladylike. Or so she thought.

She had been sitting in her room, which was across the hall from Kel's, waiting to hear her and Matt's return. They had left hours ago saying that they were to go practice. She didn't go watch like she had every other day with the other ladies.

When she heard them return she swiftly got up and opened her door and said, "Ahh…there you are! I've been bored out of my mind for hours."

She shot Matt her most flirtatious smile and said in a silky, almost seductive, voice, "But now that the most handsome man in all of the kingdom has returned, I'm sure I'll be more than entertained."

She snaked her arm around Matt's elbow and latched on tight, steering him into her room. Matt threw Kel a look that said 'help me' over his shoulder.

Ellia was about to close her bedroom door when she asked Kel in a sickly sweet voice, "Cousin Keladry be a dear and fetch us some drinks would you?" and with that she shut the door leaving a fuming Keladry struggling to keep her emotions hidden behind her Yamani mask.

"Why of course Cousin Camellia." She said in a sarcastic tone before giving a mock bow to her cousins closed door.

She then stalked to the kitchens muttering curses under her breath.

She returned a few minutes later, walking noiselessly towards her cousin's door. What she saw behind it made her drop her tray with a loud crash. As soon as she had opened the door Camellia had hurriedly closed the distance between her and Matt, who was backed up against a wall and kissed him square on the lips.

Matt broke away instantly and tried to run after Kel who had fled as soon as she had opened the door and seen what was going on inside but Ellia stopped him and said in a low purr, "Come on Matt…forget her…you have me now…you don't need her."

"It's there your wrong Camellia," he spat her out name scornfully, "Kel is my best friend and it's you I don't need."

With that he left a stunned Camellia in his wake as he pushed his way through the growing crowd at the door pausing only to ask which direction Kel went before sprinting in the direction that she had gone.

He found her sitting on the ground next to the river with her head in her hands crying her eyes out. Matt's my best friend...he would never hurt me on purpose...and he knows how much I dislike my cousin...Kel's heart went cold...especially that one

Matt's heart lurched when he saw her. He hurried forward and put a comforting arm around her. She instantly tensed.

"Kel, don't cry please…I'll explain…"

She spun around, her expression hard, and growled, "Yes, I'd like to hear the excuse that'll get you out of this one."

Her expression softened as he told her the truth and what Camellia had really done.

He looked at her with pleading eyes and said in a soft voice, "Kel, please forgive me…"

She gave him a watery smile and said in an equally soft voice, "Of course Matt, of course." With that she threw her arms around him and gave him a huge hug that he gratefully returned.

He whispered against her hair, "I don't know what I would have done without you…"

Kel and Matt both knew that it would take a miracle and a half to get either of them to ever trust Camellia again.

***#***#***END FLASHBACKS***#***#***

Kel shook her head to clear it. What am I remembering that for? I haven't thought about that in years…oh well… I wonder…if I had to choose between Matt and Neal who would I choose?

I guess that's something to ponder on a rainy day…but...Matt at least knows that I actually like pretty things and am a true girl at heart, not some warrior maiden that goes pale at the thought of wearing a corset.

Kel mentally snorted. Yeah right, she thought, as if any of the people at this table would ever actually picture me in one of the dresses that the court ladies wear. Low necklines, frills, ribbons, face paint, those are all things to do with court ladies nothing to do with Kel.

Tomboy Kel. Plain old Kel. Kel could never even think of liking those sorts of things, let alone wearing them…she sighed.

Roald looked at Kel's bent head and hesitated but before he could continue Cleon cut in saying, "and the most amazing body ever!"

Roald glared at him and gestured at Kel's bowed head. They always expected Kel to be quietish while they talked about court ladies, which they tried to limit in her company, but she was never usually this quiet. Neal however was unaware of Kel's strange behavior and was demanding more information.

Faleron shook his head exasperated and said, "No she's not betrothed, she's being presented in two days and her name is Camellia of Blue Glass."

Kel's head snapped up and the spoon that was halfway to her mouth dropped with a loud clang back onto the table. Everyone at the table but Neal who was probably daydreaming about how beautiful Camellia was, stared at Kel who had gone a deathly pale.

She then in pretence of calm picked up her spoon and tried to continue eating but found that she couldn't because she was shaking to hard to hold her spoon properly. She then set her spoon down as quietly as she could and leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

"Kel…are you OK?" Asked Roald nervously.

Kel didn't answer. Instead she brought feet up in the lotus position, rested her palms face-up on her knees and started meditating. Roald and Cleon exchanged looks over the table as Seaver shook his head muttering, "Girls."

A few minutes later Kel calmly placed her feet back on the ground and continued eating. When Kel was nearly half done, a knock sounded at the mess hall door. Lord Wyldon frowned and gestured to the boy closest to the door to open it and bring the person behind it to him. The boy opened the door and his jaw dropped, as did most of the boy's jaws in the hall.

Standing there was no other than Camellia of Blue Glass wearing a midnight blue shift with a tight bodice and a skirt that flowed out and swirled around her ankles. Purple flowers outlined the hem of the dress and the sleeves. She had on a touch of lip rouge and had a light blue shimmer sprinkled over her face and hair, making the over all picture stunning.

She smiled prettily at all the boys, most of who, sighed longingly, accepted the arm offered to her and gracefully made her way to Lord Wyldon's table.

As she reached it she thanked her escort and curtsied deeply to Lord Wyldon before saying, "If you will excuse me, my lord, I have only just arrived at the palace and as you most probably know," she shot him a dazzling smile, "the ladies of the court dine earlier so I am afraid that I have already missed their eating time.

Daughter Sandra told be to come and ask your permission if it would be all right if I dine with the pages and squires, just for this one time."

She shot him another brilliant smile.

"Well I don't see what harm one meal could do…uhh…MINDELAN! Show this young lady where to get her food," after a moments consideration, "and she can sit at your table as well."

Kel who had frozen as soon as Camellia had come through the door stiffly rose and moved to the front of the hall.

She gave a bow to Lord Wyldon and murmured, "As my lord wishes."

She straightened and slowly turned to face Camellia for the first time since 'the incident'.