Disclaimer: You know, this is a 36-chaptered story with a disclaimer on each page…I think if you don't know I don't own Valdemar by now, you'll never get it, so I don't think I need to do this anymore for this story!
Notice: LTM's earlier chapters are in terrible need of an intensive rewrite. I'll get around to this sometime. –shifty eyes- I'm rewriting several other things too, so bear with me!
Muse responsible: Krathnae!
thoughts :Mindspeech:
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Kamaria was in the middle of History the next day, answering a question, when she stopped short as a mindvoice cheerfully intruded. :I'm back, Chosen!: said Sitara, :I'm going to get unsaddled and find something to eat. Come see me soon!:
"Kamaria?" said Herald Kyra, cautiously, after a moment. The Trainee blinked. "Oh, sorry," she said, "Sitara just got back. Anyway…where was I?"
"Elspeth the Peacemaker," prompted Tara, who was sitting next to Kamaria.
The class finished and the Trainees exited for lunch and afterwards, Gift-training. Kamaria bolted her meal and rushed outside, intent on seeing her Companion again.
Sitara was nibbling at the grass near the fence as Kamaria ducked under it, but she put her head up as her Chosen flung herself at the mare. Sitara's blue eyes gleamed with affectionate amusement as Kamaria hugged her neck and scratched along her crest, murmuring endearments. :Miss me?:
"Oh, yes!" said Kamaria, vehemently. "Foxfire's nice and all, but he's huge! And his gait isn't nearly as smooth as yours. I still ache from yesterday's equitation."
Sitara whickered in amusement as Kamaria produced an apple. :Well, I was pampered and treated generally like the queen of the stables at your place,: she said, :But I rather wanted to get home.:
Kamaria grinned.
:So, what's been going on around here?: said Sitara, with interest, :Have I missed any scandals? Terilee floodings? Falls down the stairs?:
"Nothing in particular," said Kamaria, still speaking aloud, draping an arm over Sitara's back. "Court's been quiet, except for the inquiries as to Mother's poisoning-nothing's turning up, I'm afraid-and nothing much has been happening among the Trainees. Well, I did get my Gift-teacher, but that's about it."
:Who?: said Sitara, as the pair began to amble towards a stand of trees.
"Herald Kenan," said Kamaria, "Partnered with…Kalena, I think. Yes, Kalena's her name."
To her surprise, Sitara began to snicker-whicker, looking rather odd as she continued for several long moments. :Kalena's a good jumper,: she said, calming herself, :Good endurance, but I've always managed to beat her in speed.:
"What's so funny?" said Kamaria, suspiciously. "Alain had an odd reaction, too."
Sitara blinked innocently. :My dear, Alain is rather odd on occasion,: she said, blandly, :In case you hadn't noticed.:
Ignoring the slur on her lifebonded, Kamaria slipped her arm from Sitara's back and put her hands on her hips. "You're avoiding the subject," she said, "What's so funny?"
Sitara sighed and gave up trying to divert her Chosen. :Kenan…he's got red hair and blue-violet eyes, doesn't he?: she began, :Well, he's considered one of the handsomest men in Court.:
"He is rather striking," admitted Kamaria, remembering her first sight of Kenan, "But what has that got to do with anything? He's not a patch on Alain."
Sitara found this amusing for some reason, and snicker-whickered again before she continued. :My dear, go to a Court function sometime and watch how the Court butterflies all fling themselves at him,: she said, mindvoice colored with amusement, :Think about it. He's got long red hair, eyes almost as vivid as a Companion's, is probably the finest swordsman in the Kingdom, and he's a Herald. Red hair looks good with Whites.:
Kamaria considered this. "Well, I suppose I can see why," she said, after some consideration.
Sitara flicked her tail absently and tilted her head to look at Kamaria. :You lifebonded types,: she said, teasingly, :It takes forever to explain who else is handsome and why. I know you think, if he's not Alain, what's the point?:
Kamaria glared at Sitara and aimed a swat at her, but the Companion danced out of the way, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "That wasn't very nice!" she accused, "I did understand you!"
:After a lengthy explanation,: said Sitara, smugly. :By the way, where is Alain?:
Kamaria, knowing she was being needled by her Companion, folded her arms and sniffed. "He has an essay to finish," she said, haughtily, "He's in the library."
:Figures you'd know,: replied Sitara, voice still mischievous.
Kamaria did not even deign to reply to the comment.
Someone coughed behind her, politely. Sitara's ears flicked forward with interest. Kamaria turned-and saw Herald Kenan, leaning against a long-legged Companion mare. "Am I interrupting something?" he said, with a smile.
I just can't win, can I? thought Kamaria, before answering. "Sitara and I were just having a discussion," she said, "And she was teasing me rather unfairly."
Sitara snorted in derision, coming to stand beside her Chosen. "Oh, yes," said Kamaria, hastily, reminded of her manners. "Herald Kenan, this is my Companion, Sitara. She returned just a little while ago. Sitara, this is Herald Kenan, my Gift-teacher."
"Pleased to meet you," said Kenan, bowing to Sitara and straightening, "This is 'Lena." He indicated the mare beside him. "Now that we're all here, shall we find somewhere to begin our lesson?" he added.
"You're the teacher," said Kamaria, with a smile.
Kenan nodded. "That I am," he said, thoughtfully, "It's been a while. All right-let's sit down over by those trees."
After a few minutes walk, Kamaria seated herself on a branch about twelve feet above the ground, while Kenan contented himself by sprawling on the ground, leaning on a root. "We're going to try a different tack, today," he said, cheerily, "You'll link in with me, and I'll show you a place as you ride along. Yesterday's mirror-exercise was a success, so we'll try you without one today, but if you don't manage it, it's quite all right."
Kamaria nodded in reply and draped herself over the branch, securing herself by linking her ankles and sliding her hands up opposite sleeves, holding her wrists loosely. "I'll link," she offered, and received a grateful smile from Kenan.
It wasn't difficult to link with the Herald, as Kamaria now knew the shape of his mind, and Kenan took control after she set it in place. :Right, Kamaria, now remember the exercise I showed you yesterday? Do that one, but focus inwards first.:
Kamaria, knowing what he meant, obediently cleared her mind and focused first inwards, then-
:I'm ready.:
In reply, Kenan focused his own Gift and sent it out, in a straight line rather than a spiral pattern. Because of this, Kamaria assumed he knew where he was going.
Sure enough, a picture suddenly appeared in Kamaria's mind-sharp and clear as if she were standing there, and she gasped in surprise.
She was looking at the librarian's desk as if she were standing just in front of it-though, now that she thought of it, she was actually at a higher standpoint than she normally was. It seemed like she was looking through another, taller person's eyes.
Kenan's mindvoice interrupted her musings just then, laced with amusement. :Kamaria, you're limiting yourself by assuming you can only see as a human can. If you'll let me, I'll show you how I see it, rather than you looking with my Gift.:
This made little sense to Kamaria, but she surrendered, and took another sharp breath as the view suddenly expanded. She could see all around her-the front, the sides, even behind where she was "standing"-without any effort at all.
Kamaria grinned. This lesson was going to be fun.
A candlemark later, Kamaria was rather wobbly as she climbed down the tree. Kenan stood and helped her down the last few branches, shaking his head with slight amusement. "Wasn't that uncomfortable?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as Kamaria landed on the ground and shook out her arms.
"I didn't notice," she said, truthfully. Kenan raised the other eyebrow. "Mm. What's your next class?"
"Weapons," replied Kamaria, taking a few cautious steps forward and almost falling-only saved by Kenan grabbing one of her arms.
"I suppose I should make sure you don't hurt yourself," he said, with a mock-sigh, "I'll walk you to the salle."
Sitara and 'Lena followed the still-wobbly Kamaria and the amused Kenan as they meandered towards the sale. Rhi was outside, replacing one of the archery targets, and he waved at Kenan, grinning. "Hello, Kenan!" he called, "Finally stopped wearing out saddle-leather, did you?"
"At last!" called Kenan back, "And I get to stay here for a while, because I've been put on teaching duty."
Rhi raised an eyebrow. "Really. Who?"
Kenan clapped Kamaria on the shoulder, and she smiled sheepishly. "I'm teaching Farsight to this lovely young noble," he said, smiling, "And since she's lifebonded, she won't chase me."
"Always a good thing," agreed Rhi. A slight gleam appeared in his eye, and he continued. "So did all that riding weaken your arms?"
Kenan snorted. "Not hardly. I saw plenty of bandit activity."
Rhi smiled wickedly. "Then you'll take me on?"
"Oooh, you walked right into it," observed Kamaria, as Kenan sighed.
"That I did," he agreed, "Got the special sword?"
Rhi blinked. "I thought you never went anywhere without your real one," the Weaponsmaster said.
Kenan shrugged. "I'm not really going to be in much danger here, am I?" he asked, "Besides, if I walk around with a sword on, I'll have the young nobles keep challenging me again."
Just then, Wren walked out of the salle. "Rhi, I need your help with one of the mats-oh. Hello."
Kenan bowed to Wren. "I am Herald Kenan," he said, respectfully.
"Kenan, this is Wren. She's teaching an acrobatics unit at the moment," added Rhi, with a smile. "Wren, before we put down the mats, Kenan and I are going to have a match."
Kamaria, as the only Trainee present, was sent to gather two specific pot-metal practice blades as Rhi, Wren, and Kenan chatted. She brought them out, thoughtfully hefting Kenan's-the other was Rhi's normal practice blade-as she walked. There was only one "edge," and the blade was very slim. The hilt was longer than normal, but even with only a practice-blade, Kamaria could feel the good balance.
She handed the blades to the Weaponsmaster and her Gift-teacher, and Kamaria and Wren went to stand near the wall as the men set their stances.
Kamaria watched Kenan carefully-he was a bit shorter than average and rather slender, whereas Rhi was tall and powerfully built. How's he going to pull this off? she wondered, as both men took a few practice swings with their swords, I mean, Rhi's one of the best I've ever seen, other than Father…
But as soon as Rhi took the offense, it became apparent to Kamaria. Her jaw dropped as Kenan dodged, faster than she had ever seen anyone move, and struck at Rhi.
The metal blades clashed together, but Kenan disengaged quickly and moved backwards, staying on his toes.
As the two fought, Kamaria gained a sense of Kenan's style-it was similar to the way she was training with the rapier, but strangely foreign in the way the sword was wielded.
It was also apparent to her that both men were masters of their respective styles. Rhi's strength gave him an edge, but Kenan dodged when he could not meet the blade-and the blows were useless if they simply did not connect.
Kamaria sneaked a glanced at Wren-the acrobat was slackjawed with astonishment as she watched the master swordsmen combat. At last, Kenan lunged in and flipped Rhi's sword out of his hand, sending it flying towards Kamaria, who dodged.
The sword hit the wall and tumbled to the floor. Kenan presented the tip of his pot-metal blade to Rhi's throat, grinning. Rhi raised his hands in surrender. "You win," he sighed, "I really thought catching you right off-Circuit would let me score a win for once, but alas, it is not to be."
Kenan merely grinned.
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OK, OK, this is a shortish chapter, but….live with it. Yeah. Anyway, review response time!
Dark Hermit Kaelin: It's Herald Kiril, actually. I didn't think about Nessa, but well spotted anyway!
Queens Own: And you get pie for spotting Kiril/Kyril. Here's Sitara!
Lurks in Shadows: Yup. It's Kiril.
Lizai: At first, your review kind of pissed me off, but you are completely right about the beginning. I wrote it in seventh grade, and it makes me wince to think about how bad my writing was then. This is kind of a chart of my writing abilities, actually! (I really do need to rewrite the first few chapters. . ) But you've got a few errors there. Amaya didn't betroth Kamaria to the Earl because she chucked wine at another noble. She betrothed her to him because he's influential, on the Council, and she wants power but isn't quite clever enough to use it. The whole first part is bad, actually. I don't like the early Kamaria either.
I just have one question for you: If you didn't like the story, why the bloody hell did you keep on reading it?
Oceanmate: Hmm. I actually didn't consider Alain and Kamaria linking and going up against Kenan…might be interesting, though! Thanks.
Herald Jacquelle: Nope, it's Kiril/Kyril, the Seneschal's Herald in Selenay's time.
Myuu-Foxgirl: Holy crap, that was a long review. –blinks- And no, I'm not bringing in a Kaoru…at least, I don't think so. I don't plan to. And the reincarnated Herald was IN the Arrows trilogy. Kyril. Anyway…yeah! Get some sleep!
Jerry Unipeg: Thank you for being brave enough to read all 35 chapters in one go! -head spins-
Blade of Fire: Hopefully, this shall stave off lacko'newchapteritis. And Kenan IS cute, I based him sort of off Kenshin! And Kenshin's awesome! Whee.
Shahanna: You like 'em? Good. You'll be seeing more of both! Kenan because he's Kamaria's Gift-teacher (and I think he's awesome, so he'll be hanging around) and Kiril. You don't get to know why, though. At least for a while.
Thank you for reading, hope you liked this chapter, and reviews are muchly loved! Kudos!
-Fireblade K'Chona