A/N: Hey guys! Real life completely disrupted all of my plans for Naira. Worry not, however, because this story WILL NOT be put on hiatus. Updates may not be very frequent, but I am working on it. Some people wondered when Naira would be coming in, and here she is. :) Enjoy.
Chapter Two
Naira Crow wanted to be a knight. She'd been hearing stories of the lady knights of Tortall since the day she was born. Her own grandmother was one, Alanna the Lioness, King's Champion.
Naira wanted to be like her grandma. She wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, wanted to use a sword and shield. She wanted them to mean something. She wanted a purpose.
As she looked up through her bangs, Naira let out a soft growl and charged toward her opponent, daggers outstretched.
Nawat waited for his daughter to reach him, a small smile on his face. He blocked her chopping motion with a swipe of his arm, his smile growing. "Don't be so overconfident, Da," Naira said, circling him as she watched for an opening.
Nawat held in his smile and waited for her to attack again. When she did, he was ready for her, knocking one blade out of her hands. She had one left, but she tucked it into her sleeve without taking her eyes from her father.
This time she waited as her father stalked toward her. She launched a kick at his thigh when he was in range, but he caught her foot between his hands. Naira twisted around in the air, making Nawat jump to avoid her other swinging kick, as well as her fists. He dropped her foot, sending her to the ground in a pile of limbs.
She jumped up before Nawat could move toward her, and they started circling again. "General!" a messenger came running into the practice court. "General, Her Majesty wishes to speak to you before the celebration tonight."
Nawat straightened, and so did Naira. "Excuse me," she said. "We're in the middle of a duel."
Nawat cuffed her lightly on the ear. "Hush." He turned to the messenger. "Thank you. Please tell her Majesty I'll be there shortly."
The messenger nodded, shot a wary glance at Naira, and disappeared. Nawat looked down at his daughter.
"They should know better than to interrupt a duel," Naira said, pouting.
He sighed a little. "Try not to get into trouble while I'm gone, little one."
Naira nodded, trying not to be angry at her father's chiding. She watched him go, and then collected the dagger he'd sent flying.
xXx
The party that night was to celebrate the birth of Queen Dovasary's second son, her third child. Naira was expected to attend, although she wouldn't like it. She hated parties, hated the pomp and forced interactions with people she could care less about.
"I don't see why I should have to go," Naira grumbled to her only friend, Crown Princess Sarugani. The Crown Princess was only two years younger than Naira, and they were close despite their age difference, having both grown up in the palace.
"We all have to go," Sarugani said, glancing in the mirror at Naira's vanity. "Come sit down and I'll do your hair."
"I have maids for that," Naira reminded her.
Sarugani raised an eyebrow and pointed to the chair. Naira sighed audibly, but did as her friend asked and sat down. Sarugani pulled a brush through her friend's thick dark hair. "Have you told your mother you want to be a knight?"
Naira shook her head, looking at her friend in the mirror. Because of Naira's crow heritage, the girls were often mistaken as sisters. They both had black hair, though Sarugani's was curly, and their skin was nearly the same dark gold color. Their eyes were different, though. Sarugani had the same dark brown eyes as her parents, while Naira had inherited her mother's green hazel eyes.
"Why? It's getting close to your birthday, and fall is approaching." Sarugani put down the brush and started plaiting Naira's hair. "If you don't go this year, you'll make even more enemies because not only will you be from the Isles, you'll be a year older than the probationary pages." She paused for a moment. "Not to mention a girl."
Naira closed her eyes, feeling the tugs on her scalp. "I'll ask."
"You talk about it all the time," Sarugani reminded Naira. "That's the only reason I'm pressing." She laid her hands on Naira's shoulders, and Naira opened her eyes. They looked at each other.
"I'll ask," Naira said, reaching up to put her hand on Sarugani's.
"Sarugani, shouldn't you be getting ready?" Naira's mother, Aly, asked, coming into the room.
Sarugani smiled at the realm's spymaster. "Yes, Aunt Aly. I was just helping Naira with her hair." She smiled at Naira and then edged out of the room.
"What did you tell Sarugani you were going to ask about?" Aly asked, going to Naira's clothespress. "Which dress do you want to wear?"
"The green one," Naira replied. "If I have to wear a dress."
"You do."
"Then the green one." She turned around in her seat and watched her mother take the light green dress out of the clothespress and lay it on the bed. "Ma," she started.
Aly glanced up, one eyebrow raised.
"I want to be a knight. For Tortall." She saw Aly's shock and continued. "Like Grandma. I'm almost ten now, and I can go. Please?"
Aly blinked in surprise. "Naira, we've talked about this before."
"Not seriously we haven't. I want to be a knight. I've always wanted to, and you know that."
"Get ready for the celebration. I'll speak with your father." Aly strode out of the room without another word.
Naira sighed, and got changed into the simple green dress.
xXx
"Aly, tell me what's wrong," Nawat said, lightly touching her arm. They were standing on the palace wall overlooking the celebration.
Aly rubbed a hand over her face and sighed. "Naira told me today that she wants to go to Tortall and be a knight like my mother."
"She's almost ten," Nawat observed. "Will they allow her to train?"
Aly shrugged and leaned her elbows on the balustrade, watching the celebration. "You aren't worried?"
"Of course I am. But if she wants to train, and if they'll let her, can we stop her?" Nawat reached out and put his arm around Aly's waist, pulling her into him. "Bright Eyes, you can't expect to keep her here if she doesn't want to be." He smiled gently at her. "You wouldn't stay where your ma told you to be, and you and Naira are very similar."
Aly scowled.
"Just write to your mother and father. See what they say." Nawat's voice was reasonable, and Aly knew that he was right. She couldn't keep Naira on the Isles any more than her mother could have kept her in Tortall.
xXx
Aly approached Queen Dovasary's chair from behind, glancing around the room. She checked for her people, gladly seeing them hidden exactly where they should have been. Aly exchanged a glance with Taybur Sibigat, Captain of the Queen's Guard, who dipped his chin slowly.
Everything all right? Aly asked through hand signal. Taybur nodded almost imperceptibly, one long-fingered hand idly fingering the hilt of the sword at his side. She saw the magics in the room, the spells that signaled when hidden weapons were brought into the room by those other than Dove's closest advisors and Aly and Taybur's people. It was a special spell that Ysul the court mage had crafted when Dove took the throne.
"Your Majesty," Aly said, satisfied that everything was going well, and Dove turned her head slightly.
"Aly, you're here! I thought I really was going to have to issue a royal command to get you to attend." Dove's smile was sincere, but she could tell something was wrong with her old friend and spymaster.
"I was up on the wall." Aly didn't look at Dove immediately, instead glancing around the room. The courtiers were dressed in all their finery, with gowns in rich hues, and jewels that threatened to outshine the queen's simplistic dress, maroon with a gold overlay. She wore her crown proudly, as if she didn't notice its weight atop her head.
"I should have known." As always when she spoke to Aly, there was a smile present on Dove's pretty face. Her eyes, though, were worried. "You look upset, Aly. Is everything okay?"
"Naira wants to be a knight for Tortall. Like my mother. I'm going to write her and my father later tonight to see what they say."
"They and King Jonathan will be fine with it," Dove said confidently. "But what if she doesn't get through the probationary period?" The rules that had been in place for Keladry of Mindelan had now been extended to all new pages. They would all be required to go through one year of probation before becoming pages. Since the rule had been put into effect, no prospective knight had died in the Chamber of the Ordeal.
"Then I suppose she'll come home and decide she wants to do something here in the Isles." Aly sighed. "Gods, I hope she wants to be a lady."
Dove let out an unladylike snort. "Doubtful."
Aly's lips twitched. "I can hope."
xXx
Aly went to find Naira later that night to tell her that she would be allowed to make the journey to Tortall, and found Princess Sarugani in Naira's room. Her dark eyes were shining in amusement as she looked up at Aly. "Will you let Naira go to Tortall?"
"Sarugani," Naira said, reaching out to smack at the princess' arm.
Sarugani grinned. "I'm sorry. Duani, have you come to a decision regarding Naira's petition to travel to Tortall for page training?" She used the name that Aly's spy pack had given her during the rebellion, before Dove had ascended to the throne.
Aly didn't smile, though usually her nickname coming from the princess' mouth amused her. "I spoke with your father," she said, looking at Naira. "We're allowing you to make the journey. I'm writing to my parents, asking my mother to take you to speak with the King and the training master."
"Thank you, Ma." Naira started to get up, smiling, but Aly held up a hand, stopping her daughter in her tracks.
"There's something else."
"What?" Naira asked, though it was clear that she didn't care about anything but the fact that she was being allowed to travel to Tortall.
"If you go to Tortall and become a knight, you have to pledge your loyalty to the Tortallan crown. To King Jonathan and Queen Thayet. You might get to visit the Isles, but not often or for very long."
Naira was quiet for a few minutes, obviously thinking this through. She wouldn't be able to see her best friend often, but they would have letters, and Naira knew Sarugani wanted her to go. She'd never been away from her family for an extended period of time, either. Her father would go on campaigns for the Queen, but most of the time he was in Rajmuat. Her mother was always around, and Naira knew that of all the things she would miss about the Isles, her mother nosing into her business would not be one of them.
"I feel like I'm supposed to go," she murmured, glancing up at her mother.
Aly nodded. "Okay. The term starts in about a month, if I remember correctly. Your da will go with you until you're settled at your grandma's. Then he comes back."
"And I'm on my own," Naira said.
"I wouldn't go that far," Aly said. "Your grandma will be around, and so will your grandda."
Naira shook her head. "It's okay, Ma. I know what I'm doing." She put her arms around her mother. "Thank you."
xXx
Two weeks passed, and Aly received two letters from Tortall. She opened the one from her mother first.
Aly, it read.
You did tell Naira that she would be sworn to Tortall and not the Kyprish Isles, right? Because if you didn't, you should. It would be my pleasure to take her to meet Jon and Padraig haMinch, as well as meet her and Nawat in Port Caynn. Your father will find out the necessary information. Hope you're well, and give our best to Nawat.
Your mother, Alanna.
Aly rolled her eyes. Of course her mother would assume Aly hadn't told Naira anything. She sighed and set the letter down before opening the other note, from her father.
Aly. Naira will do well. Your ma and I will look after her, I promise. I'll send reports for you. We all miss you and hope to see you soon. Love, Da.
Aly smiled at this note. It was the shorter of the two, yet it reassured her the most.
xXx
"I'll visit if I can," Naira said softly, not looking at her best friend. She didn't want Sarugani to see her cry.
The younger girl nodded. "I know. And maybe someday I'll be able to visit you in Tortall."
Naira blinked back tears and tried to smile. "Maybe."
Sarugani reached out and put a hand on Naira's shoulder. "It's all right to cry, you know," she said. "It doesn't mean anything bad."
Naira turned and wrapped her arms around her friend. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too, Naira. Gods be with you." Sarugani stepped back, and Naira looked over to where her parents were saying goodbye to each other.
Nawat held Aly in his arms, and he was kissing her gently. When they broke apart, Aly glanced at Naira and held out her hand. Naira took it and let her mother draw her into an embrace.
"Write often," Aly said.
Naira nodded. "I will, Ma."
She boarded the ship with her father at her side, and didn't look back as the boat left the harbor. She swallowed tears; her father must have seen, but he said nothing, just wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
xXx
The week-long trip seemed like a lifetime for Naira. Though the landscape was pretty enough and interesting to look at, with all its colors, Naira was too busy worrying about what was coming. She asked her father for stories about her grandmother Alanna, the King's Champion. Nawat told her what he knew, what he'd heard from Aly and from others in his almost twelve years of living as a human.
When their ship docked in Port Caynn, only a half day's ride from Corus, the capital of Tortall, Naira started to feel nerves pulsing and pounding in her stomach. She could see people milling around the docks, and wondered if she'd know Alanna when she saw her again.
She'd only met the lady knight a few times in her past, and barely remembered her through the thoughts flowing through her mind and the fluttering of her stomach. She remembered brilliant purple eyes, and the stories of Tortall. Stories of the people who populated the realm, like the Bazhir tribesmen, the warriors, the King's own and the Queen's Riders, the knights, lords. She even remembered tales of the king.
Alanna had stories that Naira could never have imagined.
"Come on, Naira," Nawat said, holding out a hand. Trembling from head to toe, Naira took it and let her father lead her off the ship.
"Is she here?" Naira asked quietly.
"Over there," Nawat replied, nodding toward a figure off to the side.
The person was short, with copper hair flowing to her shoulders with strands of silver running through it. One hand was on the hilt of the sword on her belt, and the other was stuffed deep in the pocket of her breeches. Her violet eyes surveyed the small girl holding her father's hand who was looking at her rather shyly.
"Nawat," Alanna said in acknowledgement when they approached her.
"Alanna," Nawat replied with a smile. "Aly sends her love."
Alanna smiled and looked down at the girl, who was gripping Nawat's hand tightly. "Hello, there," she said. The girl wasn't horribly shorter than she herself was. She had Aly's eyes, Alanna noticed, and felt a soft ache in her chest at seeing her daughter's eyes in someone else's face.
"This is Naira," Nawat said. "Naira, this is your grandmother."
"Alanna. You can call me that or Grandma or anything else you like," Alanna said. "But not Lioness or Champion."
The tiny smile on Naira's lips reassured Alanna a bit. She sent a smile to the girl and lightly brushed a hand over Naira's crow black hair before turning back to Nawat. "George will be here in a minute, and then we'll leave."
"Well, well, look who it is," a lilting male voice said. Nawat and Naira turned around and saw the man coming up to them, a wide smile on his face. His green hazel eyes were twinkling at them, and he stretched out a hand in Nawat's direction.
"George. It's nice to see you again."
"You, too, lad. And little Naira, you've grown. She's the picture of you, Nawat," he said to the other man, and then grinned down at the girl. "Except her eyes. Those come from me, true enough."
Naira liked this man and his big laugh. She smiled shyly up at him, and he grinned as he grabbed the little girl to him, hugging her. "Nice to see you again, Naira."
"You, too, Grandda," Naira said softly.
George straightened and looked at his wife. He winked at her, causing a smile, and then turned so his gaze encompassed the others, too. "Shall we be going? We don't want to be too late getting to Corus. As it is, it'll be near on dark when we get there."
"Are we staying in the palace?" Nawat asked as Alanna and George led them through the busy town.
"For now," Alanna said over her shoulder. "We figured it would be easier on Naira if she had some family near until she gets settled."
"Thank you."
"No need to thank us, lad," George said, clapping Nawat on the back. "This is what family does."
They drew close to four horses saddled and tied to a post. "You weren't afraid of anyone stealing them?" Naira asked, glancing around her. The harbor was bustling with people, and Naira even spotted a pickpocket or two working their way through the crowds.
George turned his twinkling eyes on her. "Not at all, lass. I've got some folk to keep an eye out for us."
xXx
The half day ride back to Corus seemed like an eternity to Naira. When they crested the last hill, Naira gasped. The city of Corus lay before her, with the palace on top of the hill.
"Stay close," George called out as he began to lead the group down the lane into the city. "It'd be a shame to lose your purse." He and Alanna exchanged laughing glances and kept going.
Naira vaguely recalled her mother's tales of the Rogue: the King of Thieves of Tortall. That man had seemed so far away from them, but Naira suddenly remembered that her grandfather was that infamous man. She wondered where he kept his collection of ears, and shuddered slightly, watching him interact with her father.
When they arrived at the palace stables, Naira let a stableboy take her horse, as her father and grandparents were doing. She followed them inside the palace and through what seemed like endless hallways.
They approached a door with an engraved nameplate next to it reading: 'Baron and Baroness of Pirate's Swoop', and Alanna reached into her pocket and pulled out a key to open it.
"I hope you don't mind staying with us until you move into the page's wing," she said to Naira, who blinked rapidly.
"Of course not," she said.
Alanna smiled. "Good. Nawat, you won't have to worry about this one at all," she said to Naira's father.
"I'll try not to," Nawat replied with a small smile.
"How long are you here for, lad?" George asked.
"As long as Naira wants me here," Nawat replied.
xXx
Two days later, after tours of the palace and the city, Nawat asked Naira to go for a walk. "Naira, how are you feeling about your grandparents?" he asked her.
"I like them," she replied. She may not be feeling totally comfortable with her grandma yet, but who could blame her? It was difficult trying to live with a legend.
"Good. Do you still need me here?"
"Go back to the Isles, Da," Naira said, waving a hand at him. "Go back to Ma. I bet she misses you."
Nawat smiled and pulled his daughter into a hug. "My brave little chick. Your ma and I will miss you very much while you're here. If you ever want to come home, you let us know, all right?"
"Yes, Da," Naira said, hugging him tightly. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Be good for your masters and your grandparents."
Naira rolled her eyes. "I will, Da."
A/N: Super special thanks to KrisEleven for all the hard work she's put in on this story, and for putting up with me when I'm a cranky girl and when I complain and whine. Lub you, Kris.
PS: The Ficship Competitions is up and running again for the Winter '10/'11 session! The link is in my profile. Nominate your favorite completed Tamora Pierce fanfics! :)