Um…I'm very sorry about the long wait on this…but I took a trip of a week and a half, and before that trip I decided that I would finish my NaNo. So I did. Hurrah! Now it's time for the editing process for it…anyway. Have story! Lots of story!
And if you spot the very small Wildean reference I put in this chapter, say so in your review and you'll get virtual author-props!
"Do you have any idea why my Fetching lesson is being held in Companion's Field?" Kamaria asked Alain as they left their Religions class together.
"It is?" said Alain, with a puzzled frown, "I don't know, my Fetching really wasn't strong enough to bother with after the basics. After they decided I really couldn't Fetch anything out of my line of sight, they let me stop the lessons."
"It's my fourth lesson," Kamaria told him, "Usually I meet Kiril in the library, but today we're in the Field for some reason. He told me to meet him where I meet Kenan."
"How's the Farsight coming?" asked Alain, as they entered Companion's Field. At this time, he had Equitation, so they were headed in the same direction for a while.
Kamaria answered with a heartfelt groan. Alain winced. "Still unshield every time you look past line-of-sight?"
"Yes!" Kamaria moaned, "I don't know why, we've tested my range and I can See for leagues, but every time I try and look behind a wall that I am standing next to, my shields fly open for all and sundry to wander into my mind!"
Alain patted her shoulder sympathetically. "For what it's worth, if I'm there I'll shield you," he said to her as they reached their parting point, "Let me know if I can help in any way."
"I will," said Kamaria glumly, and squeezed his hand before turning to walk towards the usual spot for Farsight lessons.
The week before, Herald Kiril had descended upon her during one of her free candlemarks and informed her that they would be having Fetching lessons twice a week until she could use it to its fullest extent. Somewhat to her surprise, Kamaria had picked it up fairly quickly; the concept came easily to her, although they'd soon found that she couldn't Fetch anything heavier than a short dagger.
She had absolutely no idea what was going on today, though. Perhaps Kiril was bored with meeting in the library. It would make a great deal of sense.
The blond Herald was sprawled comfortably near the riverbank, and looked up at her approach. "Good to see you," he said jovially, "Have a seat. Today, Kenan and I are joining forces for your edification!"
Kamaria sat down and looked around. When she found a serious lack of short red-haired Heralds in the general vicinity, she raised an eyebrow and looked at Kiril. The effect was spoiled when she saw him looking at the sky with apparently vivid interest.
"What, then?" she asked, perplexed.
"He's in the gardens. So is Tara, heavily shielded. She is holding a handkerchief. Use your Farsight to find her and the handkerchief, Fetch it, and that will be her signal to go find Kenan. See how ingenious we are?" said Kiril, grinning at Kamaria.
"You would make me use Farsight and Fetching on my fourth lesson," muttered Kamaria, sitting down on the ground, "And she's shielded? I've never-"
"Exactly, and this is why you're starting now!" said Kiril jovially, "Don't mind me, I'll just be contemplating the universe."
Kamaria added Kiril to her mental list of 'people I know who are completely mad', noted with alarm that the list was growing rather long, and shut her eyes.
For quite a while now, she had been 'soloing', as Kenan put it, on her Farsight quests. Kenan had taken to writing little messages and leaving them in odd places, which Kamaria then had to discover and relay to him aloud. It was nothing new to be alone in her own mind, but this time she was looking for a person, not a paper, and what was more, Kamaria had no idea where Tara was.
She started with the Healer's gardens, hoping that she wouldn't have to spend her entire lesson on this one task, and searched it with her Farsight. When it yielded no Tara, Kamaria 'turned' to the rose garden and began mentally walking the paths, at a speed unknown to anyone on foot.
Kamaria stopped dead when she 'ran' into Kenan, who was sitting on a bench, and drew back in confusion. This wasn't Tara-
And Baron Radan was sitting on the bench as well, talking to Kenan with an oddly earnest expression on his face.
"-is all I'm saying," said the Baron, holding Kenan's eyes with his own.
Kenan shifted a little, clearly somewhat uneasy with the conversation. "Baron, I'm afraid you mistake me-" he said, softly, "I'm not-I'm sorry, but I'm not shaych."
Kamaria mentally jerked backwards. Oh, she was not supposed to be hearing this conversation-but-
The Baron was speaking, and without thinking Kamaria transferred her 'gaze' to him. "Neither am I, technically, Herald," he said, still speaking in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "Men, women-what I'm attracted to is beauty, and-"
Kenan jerked back, looking unmistakably hurt. "So I'm just another conquest?" he spat, "Just a-good gods, man, you look at my face and fling yourself at my feet like any Court butterfly?"
The Baron flinched. "That's not what I mean!" he said, urgently, "I…oh, gods, this sounds trite, but beauty only goes so far."
Kenan opened his mouth and shut it several times, clearly unable to think of what to say. Radan continued to speak. "Look, I know I don't know you well-but-well, we've spoken before this, and-"
"Yes, for about ten minutes total," said Kenan, acidly, interrupting the Baron. "Oh, I won't deny they were amusing conversations, but to have them littered with comments about the latest tailor you had hired, even if we were discussing nothing of the kind, was enough to-"
"I'll stop," said the Baron, dropping his eyes to his knees, "Kenan, if you want me to, I won't refer to them anymore, I'll, I'll stop the flippant remarks, I-"
"What are you saying?" asked Kenan in exasperation, standing up sharply. "You're behaving as though you're making vows, or-well, not vows, but promises not made to anyone except a lover-" he stopped abruptly.
Oh, shit, Kamaria thought, as Kenan rapidly paled, then flushed, then paled again. I really, really shouldn't be listening to this. But I can't let Tara walk in on them, Kenan doesn't teach her-it'd be all that's talked about, Tara means well but she wouldn't see any harm in mentioning it to Rain and then Rain would tell Vera and the next thing you know the whole Circle would be a-buzz and I can't let Kenan face that, it's bad enough being lifebonded! Heralds are wonderful people, but they really don't know when to give the gossip a rest-
But Radan was speaking again, and the uncharacteristic earnestness with which he was speaking grabbed Kamaria's attention and held it.
"Kenan, I've…please. You agreed to hear me out," he said, standing up. The Baron was a good six inches taller than the Herald, and much broader across the shoulders, but his entire demeanor was pleading. "I've…had conquests, over the years, many of them-"
"A good several dozen, I've heard," interrupted Kenan, and Kamaria wanted to smack her teacher with something. The Baron was opening himself here, and if Kenan carried on with the acid comments he was going to hurt him.
Gods, these pronouns are confusing, thought Kamaria, as she reviewed her thoughts.
A faint smile flickered over the Baron's face. "You can't believe everything you hear, Herald," he said, with a shadow of his usual flippancy, "I assure you that many of these reports are greatly exaggerated. It does no harm to have a reputation as a fop; people will talk, and say far, far more than they mean to."
Kenan hesitated, but before he could say anything the Baron pressed on, the levity dropped. "That's not important now," he said, earnestly, "Just…consider my request?"
The Herald seemed to be at a complete loss for words. Then again, the Baron tended to have that effect, no matter what he was saying. Kenan stared at the ground, without saying a word, for some long minutes.
Radan reached forward and tilted Kenan's chin up, meeting his eyes. "Please," he said, softly, and let his hand fall.
Kenan opened his mouth, then shut it.
:Why, Kamaria, I didn't think you had it in you, said a voice slyly in her mind.
Kamaria shrieked and opened her physical eyes, badly startling Kiril. "Sitara, you little-dear gods, don't do that!" the Trainee yelped, leaping to her feet and whirling to face her Companion, who stood a few feet away.
Sitara tossed her head a little, acknowledging her little joke, then fixed Kamaria with a sober expression. :Kamaria, frivolity aside…you shouldn't have stayed.:
Kamaria went beet-red, which contrasted interestingly with the blue ink which still dyed her white-blonde hair. "It's not like you and Ramya are any better with Alain and me," she muttered, dropping her eyes to the ground.
"What did I miss?" said Kiril, raising an eyebrow, "Run in on a canoodling couple? Tsk."
Kamaria's second yelp apparently took him completely by surprise. "Wait-Kamaria, you don't mean to say you actually-" he started, but Kamaria cut him off, waving her arms.
"No, no, no!" she said, "No, I-look, I didn't find Tara, and-look, um, can we not talk about this?"
:We'll be talking later, said Sitara, with a sort of mental sigh, :Go back to your lesson.:
Kiril raised an eyebrow at her. "Go ahead, then," he said, "It's taking you longer than I had anticipated, I must confess."
Chagrined, Kamaria closed her eyes again. This time she sent her Farsight above the gardens, taking a birds-eye view, and 'dove' when she saw someone in Grays far below her. On her way down, Kamaria noted the Baron walking briskly down a different path, and gave a huge mental sigh of relief; Tara wouldn't stumble in on anything.
Tara was practicing cartwheels in a small stretch of grass, but said, "Heyla, Kamaria!" and waved vaguely at the air when Kamaria, with a bit of concentration, Fetched the handkerchief. "Took you long enough. See you in Weapons," her year-mate continued amiably.
Kamaria opened her physical eyes and mutely held out the handkerchief to Kiril.
The blond Herald was looking at her with a pensive expression. "Kamaria…what was it that you saw, before?" he asked, after a long moment, "I hesitate to ask, but…Sitara clearly isn't happy with you."
The Trainee fidgeted with a fraying thread on one of her sleeves. "I'd tell you, sir, only…" Kamaria began, uncomfortably, "Only it was…well, I wasn't supposed to see it, and it was supposed to be a…private moment. If I say anything, it'll be like betraying a confidence."
Kiril gave her a long, searching look. At last, he said, slowly, "Very well. I'll trust your judgment, but I must insist that you talk to Sitara later, and follow her advice, should she have any to give."
Kamaria opened her mouth to say something, but Kiril forestalled her with a raised hand. "And I know that Alain is probably going to learn about this as soon as you run into him, since you've said often enough that you're useless at hiding anything from him, so just keep him quiet too," he said wearily, "Go on. There's not enough time for the rest of the lesson."
Kamaria nodded, taking her dismissal and walking briskly off towards the salle.
Sitara fell in beside her, walking slowly. She did not speak for several minutes. At last, frustrated, Kamaria turned to her Companion and spread her hands wide. "What?" she asked, helplessly, "What was I supposed to do? I knew I shouldn't have stayed, but-they kept catching my attention, and you know if Tara found them she'd tell Rain and then it'd be all over the Circle! I can't let Kenan face that!"
The slender Companion mare sighed, turning to look at her Chosen with a slightly weary expression. :So you would rather be a completely invisible spy, instead of allowing Kenan and the Baron to deal with any accidental encounters in their own way?
That shut Kamaria up. Sitara pawed at the grass with one hoof just a bit, thinking about what she would say next. After a moment, she continued. :You could have left and taken a good long while to find Tara when you realized you weren't supposed to be there. Or you could have let Kenan know of your presence.:
"I know I should have, and I didn't!" said Kamaria, her face flushing again and her voice rising, "Look, I am sorry about this, but what's done is done! So are you going to continue to stand there and make me feel guilty about it-and gods, I feel bad enough already, I don't need you to start, and I shudder to think of what Alain's going to say, or are you going to, I don't know, help me resolve this?"
Sitara continued to simply look at her Chosen, then heaved a sigh. :So long as you know that what you did was wrong…I'll let you be. What do you mean, resolve this?
"I don't know," said Kamaria, calming down a bit and resuming her walk, "Talk to Kenan. Talk to Radan. Lock the pair of them in a dark room by 'mistake' so they can work it out."
It took Kamaria a moment to realize that Sitara wasn't with her. When she looked back, she saw her Companion regarding her with a faintly disapproving expression.
:Kamaria…that isn't your place. You are Kenan's student. He is the teacher, he is an adult, and he can and will work through his own issues without your interference. If he initiates the subject, you may speak your mind, but unless he does such a thing, you must stay silent. The Baron…well, the same holds for him, except you do not even have the bond of student to teacher with him. He is a kind, generous, brilliant individual, but whatever good humor he has towards you may evaporate completely if he learns you are trying to interfere with his personal affairs.:
Kamaria stared at the ground in front of Sitara, and said nothing. After a moment, Sitara heaved another sigh, stepped forward, and nuzzled Kamaria's cheek lightly. :Besides, she added, with a touch of humor, :Do you honestly think the Baron is going to give up? He's as brilliant in politics as your father is in military strategy. Were I Kenan, I would keep an eye out…:
This won a weak giggle from Kamaria, and Sitara tossed her head in satisfaction. :If your angsting is over, then, I suggest you come and give me a good grooming.:
"Anything for you, my lady," said Kamaria, and followed her Companion to the tack room.
Their Weapons class was fighting in groups, now, and currently Rhi was instructing them on how to best protect someone lying wounded on the ground. It was Kamaria's turn to be the victim, and she was lying artistically arranged on the floor of the salle, occasionally groaning dramatically, as Edim, Maverick, and Tara fought to protect her from Jakob and a few other Bardic Trainees.
Rhi didn't mind a bit of playacting as long as the weapons-work was well-accomplished, so every once in a while one of the Trainees would make some sort of theatrical pronouncement to try and throw their opponents off-guard. Predictably, the Bardic Trainees were best at this, but Kamaria, since she wasn't distracted with fighting, could occasionally come up with something suitably overdramatic and make them all burst out laughing. She was considering how best to phrase her next valiant declaration that the other 'soldiers' must leave her where she lay and fight on without her when Kenan burst through the salle door, looking wild-eyed.
Rhi whistled shrilly, the combat halted, and everyone turned to stare at the redheaded Herald.
"Is Herald Jasen in here?" demanded Kenan, "Someone told me he was at practice."
"No," said Rhi, nonplussed, "Why?"
"Some little twit has challenged me to a duel," snarled Kenan, "Actually, he challenged Lord Enrick to a duel, but as Enrick currently has a broken arm, he picked me as his proxy before I had a chance to object and I need to find a way out of it."
"Can't you just refuse?" asked Kamaria, sitting up from her 'wounded' position.
"In these circumstances, not without a royal command," snapped Kenan, "Why they can't just change these gods-cursed, hidebound, outdated traditions is completely beyond my understanding-a noble has the right to call upon a Herald of their choice to fight in their place, it's a law that's been there since King Valdemar's own time!"
"Never heard of that one," muttered Edim, looking startled.
"It's rarely used," said Rhi absentmindedly, "Most people don't even recall the law exists, it's mostly obsolete."
"I did have to go walking in the gardens just as a scholar rounded the corner," muttered Kenan venomously.
"What's the fight about?" asked Tara, swinging her staff up across her shoulders, "I mean, what are they dueling over?"
Kenan rolled his eyes extravagantly. "Lady Vanessah," he said.
Kamaria bit her tongue in surprise. "What, Vanessah?" she said, incredulously, "They're fighting over her?"
"Why are you surprised?" asked Kenan sourly, "Just because she's fluttery and air-brained to the extreme doesn't mean there aren't idiots who won't fight over her beauty. Considering your own mother had no less than five duels fought over her, I really don't understand why you're shocked, Kamaria."
"Oh, come on now," protested Jakob, as Kamaria gaped, half in surprise, half in outrage at what Kenan had just implied about her mother. True, she had called her worse in her time, if only in her own mind, but to have Kenan say this-
"Kenan!" snapped Rhi, his eyes flicking from Kamaria's face to his friend's.
Kamaria's teacher looked at the Weaponsmaster, then at Kamaria. Abruptly his eyes flew wide open and he clapped a hand over his mouth. "I cannot believe I just said that," he said, his voice muffled, "Kamaria, I extend my apologies-"
"Save them for when you mean them," said Kamaria, stung, and got to her feet.
Kenan dropped his hand and opened his mouth again, scowling, but Rhi took a casual few steps forward and blocked Kenan's lips again. "You deserved that," he said, sternly, "And if you show any more incivility in front of my poor defenseless students, I'll pick you up and dump you in the Terilee. Can you be nice now?"
Kenan looked stubborn. Rhi, implacable, did not remove his hand. "Oh, yes, and I'll be telling Kiril about this if you don't agree," he added, in a rather offhand manner.
Kamaria's teacher started nodding instantly, then looked furious that he had been tricked in such a manner, but it was too late. "Right," said Rhi, taking his hand away from Kenan's mouth, "I don't know where Jasen is right now, but I do know his parents and the King's Own are in a rather sensitive negotiation with the Rethwellan ambassador. However, I'm sure that if you can find, hmm, Baron Radan, say, he can concoct some sort of scheme to delay the duel until you can find someone royal."
Kamaria instantly turned bright red and began retying her shirtsleeves with a close attention to detail. Kenan, luckily, didn't seem to notice. "Very well," he said, grudgingly, "Sorry for interrupting your class."
"When's the duel scheduled, by the way?" asked Rhi, idly.
Kenan actually ground his teeth, which the Trainees watched in fascination. "Two candlemarks after noon, the Guards' practice ring," he said finally, "Unless I can find one of the royal family before then. Gods, I wish I had better Mindspeech."
That said, Herald Kenan spun on his heel and stalked out of the salle. Rhi watched him go with some amusement.
"He could have asked me, you know, but that's Kenan for you; when he gets angry all other thoughts fly out of his head," he told his class, turning around. "My main Gift's Mindspeech. And-hold on-"
Rhi shut his eyes for a few moments, then opened them, smiling just a bit evilly. "Kamaria, on your behalf, Jasen is going to evade Kenan. A duel won't do him any harm, and maybe this will teach him to mind his tongue in front of my students."
Kamaria blushed again at Rhi's air of fond protectiveness. "Right," continued the Weaponsmaster, "Kamaria, get back down, this duel isn't over. Make your groans a little more heartfelt this time. Jakob, for the sake of the gods stop turning your left foot in. Tara, the acrobatics are lovely, but really unnecessary. Maverick, I want you to switch to the short-sword. Also, all of you go to the Guards' practice ring two candlemarks after lunch, because I doubt any of you have ever seen a duel before."
After Weapons, Kamaria hobbled with the rest of her year-mates for lunch, holding her side. Edim had been knocked off-balance, had landed very heavily on her ribs, and she hadn't recovered yet.
"Kamaria!" someone yelled as they neared the fence, "May I speak to you for a moment?"
"Go on," said Tara, "We'll save a spot for you and your poor, abused ribs."
"Thanks," said Kamaria, "Some liniment wouldn't go amiss either, but leave that in my room, please."
She turned and went towards whoever had called her, and found that it was Kenan, standing beside his Companion, looking sheepish.
"I really am very sorry about what I said in the salle," he said, earnestly, as soon as his student got within easy speaking distance, "Honestly, I am. I really didn't mean to imply-"
Kamaria held up a hand. "Don't overdo it," she said, with a sigh, and managed a smile. After all, he did mean it.
Kenan still looked somewhat anxious, but some tension went out of his shoulders. "Thank you," he said, and paused for a moment. "Kamaria, this is very much changing the subject, but…are you familiar with the flower-language at all?"
Kamaria groaned, and winced when her ribs stung. "I got landed on," she explained, at Kenan's questioning look, "Anyway. Yes, I am. Sivan and I, and occasionally Mandel, have been known to send each other insulting bouquets; Mother insisted that we learn all about flowers, and that was the only useful thing we could think of to do with the knowledge." Kamaria paused, then added, meditatively, "Then again, I was only about ten."
"Ah. Good," said Kenan, and paused for a moment. "Then…could you tell me what this means?"
Kamaria's teacher held out a white flower which had been dyed green. There were ribbons around the stem in Radan's colors, but Kamaria pretended not to notice them and looked carefully at the flower.
"Well, the carnation generally means fascination and regard," she said, slowly, "Also affection. The green color, however…how was this sent to you?"
"A pageboy," said Kenan, "He seemed to find it…amusing, but I can't tell why."
Kamaria forbore comment, and looked at the flower again. "The green color most likely means that it was sent by…well…" Kamaria hesitated, "It appears you have a…male admirer."
Kenan's Companion tossed her head in satisfaction as Kenan stared blankly at the flower. "You can tell all that from green?" he said, at a loss.
"And the carnation," Kamaria said, "May I go have lunch now?"
"I'll go with you," said Kenan rather desperately, "How am I supposed to respond?"
Kamaria did her best to hide her amusement. "Well, you can send back flowers indicating some interest, indifference, outright rejection, or acceptance," she said, keeping her tone level, "There's a lot more to it than that, of course, but I can jot down the basics if you like."
"That won't be necessary," said Kenan, too quickly, "Er…what should I do with it?"
Kamaria was suddenly faced with a furious dilemma. On the one hand, she could get a bit of her own back at Kenan for what he'd implied about Amaya, but on the other, she was a Heraldic Trainee, and thus should be virtuous-
Damn being virtuous, this opportunity was too perfect to resist.
"Upon receiving a token of someone's affection, it is customary to wear it unless you wish to give the impression of outright rejection," Kamaria said, with a perfectly straight face, "To conceal the flower from the sender, even if no one knows who sent it save you, completely cuts off relations between you."
"I don't want to do that," muttered Kenan, looking at the flower in bewilderment, "It wouldn't be politic. What do I do with it?"
Kamaria debated for a moment telling him he should wear it in his hair, then said, "Pin it to your collar on the left side. That means a cordial acceptance of the flower, but not necessarily that of the affections."
"Oh. Oh. All right," said Kenan, who was looking flustered. Kamaria debated questioning him further, but she really was hungry, so finally she asked,
"Can I go eat lunch now?"
"Begone with you, then," said Kenan absently, "I still can't find Jasen."
Jasen, as it turned out, was in the common room eating lunch when Kamaria got there. She altered her course towards her usual table to ask him what he was doing.
"Oh, you should know," said the Heir, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "I'm avoiding Kenan on your behalf. A duel won't hurt him."
Kamaria flushed. "Well, um, thanks," she said, "Has the other noble picked a proxy?"
"Count Fared has no proxy. Count Fared needs no proxy," said Jasen, sounding like he was quoting someone, "In his own words. Go eat lunch, you're not going to want to miss this duel!"
Kamaria's table was buzzing with the news. As soon as she sat down, Vera and Rain began pelting her with questions about what Kenan had said to her.
"Very little about the duel," she said, trying futilely to reach the bread, which was being viciously withheld by Lani, "Almost nothing, in fact, and will you please just give me the bread?"
"'Course not!" said Lani indignantly, "At least…not until you tell us how good Kenan is in action! Have you ever seen him fight?"
"Yes, of course," snapped Kamaria irritably, but instantly regretted it as the table clamored for details.
"What does he do with that strange sword?"
"It's so small! How can he block a broadsword?"
"Did he fight Rhi? Did he win?"
Kamaria glowered at the bread she wanted, being held far out of reach, and concentrated.
With a small pop, a slice appeared in her hand. "Finally!" she said, and snatched the butter before anyone could take it from her. "Yes, he fought Rhi, he has a weird style which involves dodging because broadswords are meaningless if you can't hit anyone with them, and all your other questions are useless because the duel is still on, so stop bothering me!"
There was a pause.
"Wow, you're tetchy when you don't eat," said Tara, thoughtfully.
Afternoon found most of the Heraldic Trainees and not a few Companions gathered at the dueling grounds. To her surprise, Kamaria found her father there, standing with Kavin and Jare, talking quietly about sword technique.
Kamaria remembered what Kenan had said earlier, grinned, and sidled up to them. "Hello, Father," she said, in the particular singsong voice that meant she was going to tease him, "Remembering days past?"
Garethe raised an eyebrow at his daughter. "Meaning?" he said, his tone light. Beside him, Jare began to grin, realizing where this was going.
"Oh, nothing in particular," said Kamaria, casually buffing her nails on her sleeve, "Just…they're tussling over a lady. I seem to remember Mother telling me she'd had no less than five duels fought over her. I was wondering which of them you won."
Garethe's flinch was barely visible. "The third, the fourth, and the fifth all went to me," he said, "Not that your mother cared; she sided with the loser three times out of five."
"Hopefully not during your duels," said Kamaria, straight-faced.
Garethe raised an admonitory finger. "I'll have you know that she agreed to marry me when I won the fifth duel," he said sternly, "And I never fought by proxy."
"Good for you," said Kamaria, and turned to the field, where the duelists were stepping into the light.
Count Fared was tall and broad-shouldered, and strode to the center of the grounds with an easy swagger. His second was a lord Kamaria didn't recognize, who looked vaguely apprehensive.
Kenan came from the other side, wearing a faintly sour expression disguised as a warrior's stony calm. Beside him, Lord Enrick walked with his arm in a sling, looking smug.
Kamaria's teacher had no second. "I guess he was too busy throwing a tantrum to find one," muttered Kamaria without thinking.
Her father tried not to snicker.
The four men turned to a chair where Vanessah was sitting, not bothering to try and hide her excitement. Kamaria noted with some jealousy that since she had thrown a drink in the girl's face, Vanessah had become a real beauty, her every movement delicate and graceful.
"It's all surface," said Alain, materializing beside her and patting her arm. As always, he knew the direction of her thoughts without needing to ask. "And I always see her with liquid dripping down her face."
Kamaria snickered, and shut up as the duelists bowed to Vanessah-Kenan with reluctance-and turned to face one another, Fared's second and Lord Enrick moving to the sides of the field.
"Draw, challenger!" said Fared, unsheathing his own sword with a flourish.
Kenan took his peculiar stance and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, removing it from its sheath without fanfare. "Let's just get this over with," he said, clearly enough for anyone to hear him.
Fared went on the offensive, charging the shorter man with an overhand swing, but Kenan foiled him by dodging out of the way.
"Stand and fight!" shouted the Count, his face going an interesting shade of red as he furiously yanked the tip of his sword out of the ground. Kenan waited for him to do it.
"Fine, then," said the redhead, and darted in with a flurry of blows.
Kamaria watched them move with slightly narrowed eyes, noting the way that Fared moved to counter Kenan's style. Silly lines notwithstanding, the Count was clearly a fine swordsman.
Then Kenan's foot lashed out, caught the Count's ankle, and dumped him on his back in the middle of the grounds. Flicking Fared's sword from his hand using a move Kamaria could barely follow, Kenan presented the tip of his sword at the Count's throat.
"Yield," he said, his arm not wavering.
"Foul!" cried Fared's second from the sidelines, "Foul!"
Kenan looked at the second with undisguised annoyance. "My sword is at his throat," he snapped, "Do I honestly have to-"
"I'm afraid so, Kenan," said Jasen, at last making his appearance at the edge of the dueling grounds, "Stop impugning the dignity of the Heralds, will you?"
Kamaria watched as Kenan restrained himself from saying exactly what he wanted to. Instead, he resheathed his sword, briefly bowed to the Heir, and returned to his starting position as Fared scrambled to his feet and grabbed his sword.
"You'll pay for that," he growled, returning to the starting spot across from Kenan.
Kamaria's teacher said nothing, and merely adjusted the flower he was wearing-Kamaria noted it was the green one he had received from Radan, and hid a grin-before drawing his sword again.
This time, Kenan engaged in the 'proper' moves with almost satirical grace, his every blow and parry speaking his annoyance with the approved dueling format. It took quite the swordsman, mused Kamaria, to make every ring of steel sound derisive.
When she voiced this thought in Alain's ear, her lifebonded choked as he tried to refrain from bursting out laughing.
:You're quite right, he said into her mind, fighting down his snickers as Kamaria's father looked at them for a moment, :Gods know how he does it.:
Kamaria nodded, and returned to watching the duel.
This time, since Kenan was sticking to the approved forms of a duel, albeit with his own particular sword-style, it took a while longer to conclude. After a little bit, Kamaria let her eyes wander around the audience.
Most of the Heraldic Trainees were there, she noticed with amusement, watching Kenan avidly. There were at least six Heralds there as well, Rhi and Kiril among them. Filling out the complement were a few curious Companions along with a fairly large subsection of the young Court members. Kamaria looked at them with a curious feeling of detachment; once she had been one of them, yet she felt no sense of connection with them at all.
She noted with some surprise that Baron Radan was there. Weren't there more important things for a Council member to be doing?
Then Kamaria noted the way the Baron was watching Kenan's every move, his eyes flicking to the flower whenever it was in view, and her heart went out to him.
"What?" murmured Alain, sensing the sudden shift in her attention and mental state.
Kamaria hastily looked back at the duel. "Tell you later," she muttered, and cheered with the rest of the Trainees when Kenan disarmed the Count and again presented the tip of his sword at Fared's throat.
Yeah…um…I really don't have any excuse for the way I've been dawdling. So…sorry!
Oh yeah. And that epic Harry Potter fic I'm working on? Hah, there's no way I'm going to be able to finish it before book 7…so…I'll just slap an AU label on it and have done with it! Yep.
Toodles!