Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. They belong solely to Tamora Pierce. I just happen to be borrowing them

A/N: This takes place in Squire, after Neal shows up on the progress and tried to catch the Yamani fan, but before Kel's first joust. If you want a better reference it occurs at the beginning of chapter eleven ("Cleon"). Basically while "The progress crawled south, then east."

Chapter three: A New Friend

Spring, the 18th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 457 H.E.

Kel was in a relatively bad mood. She could not pinpoint an exact cause, but her day, thus far, had not been great, to say the least. The moment she woke up things seemed to have been going wrong. When practicing her glaive she nicked herself. There was no serious injury, but she hadn't cut herself on the blade in years. Later, when feeding the griffin, she'd nearly lost a finger because she was too busy fretting over her glaive practice to pay attention.

Lord Raoul then had to send her to a healer. Unluckily for her, when she arrived at the healer's tent the only healer with the progress that was advanced enough with tricky areas, like fingers, was out. Another healer patched her up enough so that when Duke Baird did show, he would be able to care for her finger. She did appreciate the irony of the fact that she was waiting for Duke Baird to fix her finger when just a few days ago she was telling Neal how Duke Baird would not be able to reattach his fingers if the fan had cut it off.

After Kel was assured she would regain full use of her fingers, she spent two hours waiting for Duke Baird, who was, apparently, with another patient. A woman in the nearby town had gone into an early labor last night and was having problems. The midwife was visiting a relative and wasn't due back for two days.

When Kel was finally healed, she left the tent, she was both tired and hungry. Knowing she'd regret it if she slept first, she headed off to find something to eat. That, at least, was uneventful. It wasn't until after she woke from her nap that she began to feel sick. She was abed for a good while, waiting for her stomach to settle. It didn't. When a healer from the own was brought in, he assured Raoul that Kel would be fine, but someone had slipped some sort of poison into her food. Not early enough, he said, to even risk killing Kel, but enough to keep her feeling miserable for a day or so. He suggested she go outside, where the fresh air might do her some good. Kel took his advice and grabbed a book that Lord Raoul had suggested she read. She headed out of the cam and settled against a tree at the edge of the nearby forest.

Now Kel, only a quarter of the way through the book, was desperately wishing her friends were somewhere nearby. As it happened the only squire friend that didn't have a rather busy workload was Neal. However, Neal, who had arrived just a few days ago, was off trying to apologize to Yuki for scaring her when he first arrived. Kel knew that Yuki wouldn't forgive him just yet, and tried to tell him as much but he refused to listen. She may cool off pretty quickly, as Kel had told her friend, but it did not mean she would forgive him without making Neal sweat a little.

Kel decided, finally, to just head back to the tent. She used the tree she had been leaning against to get up, and as she stumbled to her feet, she hit something. Or rather, something hit her, sending her to the ground. Looking up, she saw a young man, her height, with light brown hair. He wore a brown tunic and brown leggings, with a white undershirt. In one hand he held a thick book. The other hand, which was empty, was extended to Kel. She grabbed it and he pulled her up. With a slight smile he said "I'd like to apologize. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," he waved the hand with the book in it, "I was slightly distracted."

"A bit more than slightly." Kel said with a frown, in no mood to play nice.

The smile slipped off the young man's face slowly. He blinked a couple of times before replying . "Yes, you're quite right." He said, once he realized that Kel was not taking the hit as lightly as he was. "I'm sorry, again." He whispered almost dejectedly, before continuing on his way.

Kel groaned lightly, feeling worse than she had before. She trotted after him, when she caught up, she saw that his head was bent over his open book. "See," she said quietly, by way of apology for her bitter mood, "that is why you're crashing into people." The man stopped and looked her in the eye. He didn't say a word. Kel sighed inwardly. "I apologize for being so rude. I've been in a dreadful mood all day, and I just let it take control of my tongue."

The man smiled. "Well, then, that is alright I suppose. Everyone has those days every now and again." Suddenly he turned to face her, and said mockingly, "Just don't go making a habit of it." It reminded Kel of a lecture she had received from one of her aunts, about proper conduct. Despite herself Kel smiled a little, she wasn't sure why, as she didn't think it was all that funny. Nonetheless she started to laugh. She stopped almost immediately and groaned as she threw an arm over her upset stomach protectively. "Ah, you're stomach then? That is enough to throw anyone into an off day." Kel only hummed in response. "Aiden, by the way." He said, holding out a hand.

"Kel." Kel replied, shaking the hand lightly.

"Very nice to meet you Kel. So where were you heading before I ran right through you?"

"Back to my tent."

"This early?"

"I'm not feeling very well. And I've got to return my book to my Knight Master before I go anywhere else anyhow."

"Knight Master? You're Keladry of Mindelan?"

"Yes to both." Kel said.

"Oh." There was a long pause. "So…what are you reading?" He asked. Kel could tell it was a desperate attempt to keep the conversation going. She was almost insulted that he seemed to get on fine with her until he found out she was a squire. Even so, she held out the book for inspection. "I'm reading the same thing!" He held out his book proudly in both hands with a grin. He reminded Kel of her nieces and nephews presenting a drawing. She giggled a little at the thought. She noticed that he deflated a bit as she did.

"You like history then?" She asked.

"More than life itself. Well maybe not more than life itself, because I'd rather be alive, you know? But that isn't the point history is great it's… it's great. No, it is more than great it's…" He spoke rapidly, jumbling words together in his excitement. As he stumbled over a way to describe history, he suddenly blushed a little, then continued on in a more sedated and composed manner. "I tend to ramble at times. The point was I like history. I'm studying it, at the University. I find history of all sorts interesting. But stuff like this, military history, battles and such…Those are fascinating. Nothing better."

Kel did manage to refrain from showing that she was amused by his chatter, and managed to answer in manner matching his new, collected state. "I'm not a big fan of history in general, but I enjoy military history as well. I could spend forever going over every "what if" I can think of."

"I know exactly what you mean. Like the battle at Port Legann, it's not described in this book, obviously, but…I'm sorry, I was about to start in on history. You'd not have been able to shut me up."

"Think nothing of it," Kel replied, "It was actually the battle at Legann that first got me interested. Lord Wyldon began these, Lord Wyldon of Cavall that is, the Training…"

"I'm familiar with him, continue."

"Oh." Kel said, "Well, Lord Wyldon began these lessons during my third year as a page. The whole of the lessons were basically discussing tactics and strategies of past battles. Port Legann was the first. I loved those classes. None of my friends really like them but," she shrugged, "I did." Kel was desperately wondering why she didn't just close her mouth. She never talked this much. Granted, Aiden didn't seem to be bothered, bu Kel was beginning to picture him as overly optimistic. She, as of this point, couldn't see him as getting worked up or upset over something like a girl who talked too much. Kel decided talking couldn't hurt; besides, Aiden shared her interest in military history. Kel's love of this sort of history was one few people she knew seemed to share. Few people she had met were willing to discuss the topic with her, either being much older than her, and therefore unwilling to socialize, or they were just not interested in the topic. So long as he didn't mind talking, Kel didn't mind either.

The battle at Port Legann was dissected some before the two started in on the book. It was one of the most interesting things that had occurred as of late, in Kel's opinion. She had, during the discussions, forgot how sick she truly felt. They had also managed to move the discussion from the edge of the forest to a group of boulders not far outside the campsite. Before either person knew it, the camp had settled down for the evening, people were crowded around glowing fire pits, chatting, and the sun had set. "I'd better go." Kel told Aiden, "It was nice meeting you."

"And you." Aiden said, "Perhaps…" He dragged out the word.

"Yes?" Kel prompted.

"Nothing." Aiden said, shaking his head. "Good night Kel."

"G'night" Kel said, stifling a yawn. "I didn't realize I was tired."

"It happens."

"Yeah, well, good night." Kel said, once more, intending to turn back to the camp, but she never did.

"The same."

"Yeah." Kel said.

"One of us should probably head back, else we'll be here all night and eventually have to start wishing each other a good morning. Which it wouldn't be, because we would have stayed up all night, and would, as a result be very grumpy. Being the wonderful gentleman that I am, I will make the sacrifice and take the first step." And he did. Kel laughed and fell in step beside him. They walked back to the camp in silence. Once they reached a parting they wished each other good night for the last time and went their separate ways.

Kel went to bed that night hoping, for the first time, that the Own did not get called off. She, without a doubt, intended to go looking for Aiden tomorrow ifshe had time. It was then that she realized that she had no idea who he was and how to find him. She desperately hoped that he had enjoyed the conversation as much as her and would, perhaps, pay a visit, as he knew how to find her.