Kindness – Joren
"Mindelan! Hold up. I'd like a word, please."
Kel tenses up even as she stops and turns around in the corridor. Her stomach is churning with a sick, awful feeling but at least her face is expressionless. She clasps her hands tightly behind her back and takes a deep breath for steadiness.
"Keladry, isn't it? I am Joren of Stone Mountain."
Kel gives a polite half-bow, not trusting her voice. She remembers this boy from the first meeting when Lord Wyldon addressed all the pages. Surrounded by many friends he had looked cold and proud. Up close he is even more handsome than she had thought: hair so fair it is nearly white, and a noble's elegant bones and hauteur. Are his cool blue eyes unfriendly? Kel can't tell, distracted by long blond eyelashes.
"I know Nealan has taken you on as your sponsor, but I like to greet all the new pages and see how they are settling in. It can be a little overwhelming to adjust to page training and life at the Palace all at once," Joren says. "How has your first day gone?"
"Not very well," she says. Kel was determined to see this through without letting anyone know her own doubts and fears, but this handsome boy's kindness following so closely after the awful interview makes her want to speak out for once.
"I don't know if I'll be allowed to settle in."
Joren gives her a puzzled look.
"I had an interview with Lord Wyldon," Kel says reluctantly. "I'm on probation for one year. To stay, I have to pass to his satisfaction."
Joren seems genuinely shocked. "I had no idea. That doesn't sound like my Lord. Are you sure you took the meaning of his words correctly?"
"He made himself very clear," says Kel evenly. She can still feel the disbelief and humiliation she felt under the Training Master's severe dark eyes.
Joren's brows are furrowed in thought. He considers intently for several moments before meeting Kel's gaze again. "I know Lord Wyldon well, Keladry, and he is a fair man." Looking at her face, he insists, "No—You feel unjustly treated, and you have reason, but this is not the Lord Wyldon I know. He is my godfather," Joren says. "My parents died when I was young and Lord Wyldon and Lady Vivenne raised me as their own. Lord Wyldon is a man who loves his daughters and his wife very much. Lady Vivenne would make him sleep in the stables for a month if he ever made them feel unfit on account of being female! I can only think that being the kind of father who would die before putting his own daughters in danger has clouded his judgment with you. Prove yourself Keladry," says Joren, "and Lord Wyldon will come around."
Kel hadn't considered that the stiff and cold Training Master might have personal reasons for not wanting to train a girl. If Joren is right, then the problem is with the Training Master's own feelings and nothing to do with whether she, Kel, is suitable. She feels unexpectedly hopeful.
"Do you think so?"
"Of course," Joren says. "His exterior can come across as strict and harsh, but underneath he is a very kind man. He is just reluctant to show it."
The thought makes Kel smile. If it is true, then Lord Wyldon's behaviour is unexpectedly Yamani-like for a Tortallan. Kel proved herself worthy to the Yamani in the end, even though it took time and effort. She can do the same again.
Joren smiles back. Kel decides that her first impression of him was wrong. He is a little too stuck on his dignity as a noble: that is what made him seem unfriendly at first. But he is actually a kind person.
"Come on Mindelan." Joren claps Kel on the shoulder. "Let's go find the others."