I am so thrilled by the number of reads I've received with this story! I have never had so many people read one of my pieces! And, 5 reviews without even begging?!! It's made my week.
Okay, this chapter is kind of odd, I hope I don't disappoint you, but I didn't originally plan for a travel scene, I just plunked it in because it seemed necessary. I hope yal don't hate it. The end is awkward, and a bit to fast, but I tried… Feel free to leave a review.
The first days on the road were really hard. Having given all her money to Steffan to buy Peachblossom, Kel was hard pressed to find food. All her life she'd never realized how much she depended on other people. Here on the road she was forced to scavenge for meals, and found her skills to be quite lacking. The numerous vegetables she'd learned to recognize like the back of her hand in Practicalities Class were so much harder to find in real life! The little white flowered shrubs of Pennifer that had been so clear on the book page, hid themselves beneath thick bushes. The gold shoot of Rinnel camouflaged itself amongst weeds. Even the uniquely blue veined leaves of Helifre peeked tauntingly from the unreachable depths of prickly berry vines. As it was, the difficult search for food seemed to fill up her entire day yet still she hardly found enough to calm her growling stomach. Kel's recent ills, however, were not from the hunger, nor from her stomachache at having eaten a slightly poisonous look-alike of the Lyne Flower. No, her most annoying ailment was the chronic tingling of one or more limbs.
See, the lack of money meant not only lack of food but lack of a bed. And, as Kel figured out all to quickly, the hard and rocky, or worse muddy and squishy, ground of the outdoor world was much harsher to her than any of her folk-tale heroes. In fact, she'd never heard of a handsome knight traveling until it was too dark to see strait, and plopping down just off the road to sleep - unwarily - right next to an anthill. Kel shuddered at the thought. She could still feel them crawling up her neck.
The folk tales had left out many things, as Kel would soon come to discover. It was only six days since her departure - five days since she left Corus – and Kel had already encountered angry merchants who cussed her out when she came to close, evasive rabbits and squirrels that just wouldn't die from her off-target slingshot, damp wood that refused to light, and a trickling brook that was too muddy to be drunk. Plodding along on Peachblossom, Kel sighed. Living on her own was much harder than she had expected.
Of course, she wasn't failing horribly. She had already, on her very first night while sleeping in the lower streets of Corus, beaten off a young man who tried to take her bags. She and Peachblossom were a good team. Just so long as she was firm… with a strong nudge, she steered him away from the grass that looked so tempting. "None of that," she commanded. "You'll eat when we rest.".
The road itself was empty, and truthfully, quite boring. Kel supposed great knights had down time too, but no one ever wrote songs about trampling along well-worn dirt roads to the sound of a creaking saddle and chirping birds. No, that stuff was usually left out. So was the hard stuff, and things like not being able to find a place to bathe. The road to Corus, or away from if one was walking alongside Kel, was not near any major stream or river. She hoped she would find one soon though because her face was really oily. All over she felt just dirty. Travel grit, ground dirt, horsehair and warm-day-riding-sweat added up to one big need to wash. Looking on the bright side though, Kel added that to the list she was trying to create about why she was glad she was traveling alone. She had two reasons so far.
One: No one was there to see her when she cried about her failure.
Two: No one was there to smell her.
Kel had tried to add that no one was around to see her fail at cooking, but another person would probably help her find stuff to eat. She had also wanted to add that no one was around to interrupt her thoughtful silence, but they'd probably just cheer her up; after all the silence was full of more brooding and self-pitying than actual thinking.
As it was, Kel was alone, and had only walked by two people the whole day: a woman pushing a wheel barrow of cabbages, and an old man and his wife driving a wagon of some sort of fabrics. They had both been headed to the city. So, being alone and in silence, Kel's thoughts were quick to wander. They were even quicker to latch on to something horribly negative and unhelpful to someone trying to cheer them self up. Obviously, her thoughts latched onto the most painful thing – her failure.
She had thought a lot about Wyldon's parting words that week. "Girls are equals to men in many ways," He had begun once she was seated before his desk. It was a neat room, Spartan-like and strictly organized. His desk was blank. "They can argue just as persuasively and learn just as thoroughly things of history and math and of politics. Women can also work well in their trades and they can be firm with children like a father is." She had felt her hopes rise at the unexpected stream of compliments. Coming from Wyldon that was a lot. Perhaps he would let her stay…
"However," and Kel's hopes had plummeted. "Women are not as physically capable as men." So, that was the final verdict. She was too weak. She was too much of a girl. "For a woman, you are very strong," he continued. It was the first direct compliment she'd ever received from him. Somehow though, it stung worse than any insult. "For a man, you will never be better. Women are too small, or too light. You're arms will always be weaker, no matter how hard you train. It is just nature. It's the way things are.
"You are a determined girl," he had told her, gazing strait into her eyes. "But you are also very smart, so I know you recognize the truth in my words. Your efforts, this year, were admirable." Never before had compliments stabbed so violently at her heart. It felt like he was killing her, but everything he was saying was unbelievably kind. "But I will not be responsible for your death. No woman is fit for the battlefield. I will not permit you to train any more."
"But what about the Lioness," she had said, the words slipping off her tongue in a desperate attempt to change his mind. She was clinging on with all her might. She had to stay! Kel took a deep breath to force her mask to remain in place. She wouldn't let him see her cry.
"She should not be a knight. If it weren't for her Gift the differences between her and the men would have been too much." His words were sincere, blunt, and harsh. "As it is, she has depended on her comrades far too many times."
Kel had nothing more to say. His decision was unchangeable. She could see his resolve etched into every line of his face. She stood and bowed formally, stuffing any sorrow or defeat behind her famous Yamani mask. "Thank you for your words, sir." She couldn't bear to call it wisdom. It would be like giving in. He wasn't right. Well, factually he was… but she was an exception! The Lioness was an exception! And the Lioness could hold her own. She had proved it many times before in hundreds of duels! She didn't 'depend on her comrades'!
Wyldon nodded his head back respectfully. "I hope you think over what I have said, Kelandry of Mindelan." It was just Kelandry then, no 'page' before it. She had bowed again with a 'yes sir' before walking from the room. Just walking, not with a stride that might have been present had she been able to stay. Nor did she walk hesitantly, shuffling out with her head down. She had just walked, casually, out the door, letting it swing softly closed behind her. His steely eyes had followed her in unblinking observation until the door shut. Wyldon had wanted to see how she took it; he had wanted to see her weak. It would have been another reason on a long list of why she shouldn't have stayed. But she hadn't shown weakness, and her mind noted that quietly. There was one battle she had won.
On top of Peachblossom Kel shifted in her seat, her rear sore and her heart heavy. There was a certain truth to Wyldon's words. Her arms were weaker; the lead lance for jousting had proved that. No boy would've struggled so embarrassingly. Of course, she had improved, but perhaps a boy would've already added more weight. She didn't know, but none of the other pages had done arm-strengthening exercises every night, and she had done them just to keep up.
But, Kel argued with herself, she was still one of the best fighters. When it came down to competitions, she was always in the semifinals at least. The glaive she carried with her, the hilt propped in her left stirrup, the middle of the staff resting against her shoulder, proved another strength. She had been taught well by the Yamani people, and had still able to best her mother when they had last practiced before she left for the training.
She hadn't practiced all week though. She didn't want to think about fighting, not when her mind was in such turmoil over that very subject. So, instead, she had packed her bow and the practice sword she'd forged herself (as mandatory of all pages) in the saddlebags and demoted her precious glaive to the position of walking staff, which she poked about in vines and bushes while scavenging for food.
As the sun began to near the horizon, Kel dismounted and stepped off the road. Her shoulders weren't slumped. She held her head naturally high as she scavenged, Peachblossom trailing behind. Her mind kept wandering and her shoulders stiffened. She would show them all. She would return one day, road wise and battle hardened, and they would regret letting her go. She smirked inside; the corners of her mouth twitched upwards despite her Yamani mask. She would not be broken or defeated. Eating some Rinnel shoots raw she stopped in the next clearing she came to and settled into a fighting stance. Brandishing the Glaive before her, she cleared her mind as she began to move. She would win. To do that, she would practice, so decided Kelandry of Mindelan.
A/N: I apologize for the late update. PLEASE REVIEW and I'll try to update sooner.