Forgot the disclaimer last time--it's Tamora Pierce's world and characters of course.
I promise, stick with the story and it picks up pretty quickly in the next few chapters.....
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Two days after the, Raoul was working on reports when he heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," he yelled, not bothering to get up.
Lady Jaid walked into the room, dressed in a simple gray dress with a blue sash around her waist and a matching ribbon holding up her blond curls. She dropped a small curtsey, "Lord Raoul, I apologize for dropping in on you unexpectedly, but I was wondering if I could borrow the book you had mentioned before by General Canden?"
"Of course Lady Jaid," Raoul said, standing up quickly and walking across the room to the bookcase.
"Thank you," she said when he handed it to her. "I am going back to Stone Mountain tonight and I will need something to entertain me during the hours I am suppose to be doing needlepoint."
Raoul smiled, "What do you do when you have to produce your needlework?"
"My maid does it for me. She actually likes needlework, and in return I do a lot of the chores she would normally have to do and give her days off when I can do it without my parents noticing. My father thinks servants with spare time get into trouble, which is probably more information than you needed. Well, thank you. I'll bring it back it perfect condition," Jaid left the room as quickly as her words tumbled out of her mouth, leaving Raoul staring blankly at the space she had occupied a second before. Shaking his head, he returned to his desk and resumed working on his reports, an amused smile occasionally spreading across his face as he remembered the girl's visit.
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Three weeks later, Jaid knocked on Raoul's door while he was going doing a lesson on battle strategy with Kel.
"Thank you for the book, Lord Raoul," she said when she entered, nodding cordially in Kel's direction.
"You're welcome, Lady Jaid. Did you enjoy it?"
"I loved it," Jai gushed. "The whole section on the war with the Bazhir was fascinating. I'd noticed less and less knights were using stallions these days, but I totally did not know why until that book. You ride a gelding don't you? If I were a knight, I'd still be tempted to ride a stallion, but I'm totally biased. Lord Wyldon let's me ride this like super sweet stallion named Boots. I named him when I was like seven because he's yelllowish with black up from his hooves and a black mane and tail. Lord Wyldon wanted to give him to me, but my father wouldn't let me have it because ladies only ride fat stupid ponies, not stallions. Anyway, as usual I'm totally off topic, but yes I loved it. I think it's interesting that he thought peace was impossible between the Bazhir and Tortallans because our customs are so different. He did say the Voice was the key that if the King could convince the Voice that peaceful coexistence was possible the Voice could bring the Bazhir around. I doubt he thought the King would become the Voice though. Still, I did find some of his descriptions of the Bazhir as savages distasteful. I mean someone's customs being different doesn't make them wrong or barbaric. I liked all the stuff on the diplomatic talks around the first treaty with the Bazhir. He was smart, if a total jerk that General."
When the girl had finished her speech, Raoul laughed and said, "Here try this one. It's all about the first talks between Tortallans and Yamanis. I've never read it. The battle strategy interests me far more than the diplomatic strategy, but Gary says its one of the best diplomatic histories, and he'd know."
Jaid beamed up at him. "Does the Knight Commander of the King's Own really have time to be my personal librarian?"
Raoul smiled. "I think I can manage."
Jaid curtseyed her thanks then flounced out, pausing at the door to give him once last smile and a wink before she disappeared down the hallway.
After the door closed, Kel look at Raoul and raised an eyebrow.
"Do you have something to say, squire?" Raoul asked.
"Oh, nothing, my lord. Nothing at all," Kel said, a small smile slipping through her normal expressionless mask.
"That's because there's nothing to say."
"You're absolutely right, my lord. Shall we return to the lesson?" she asked, her voice overly innocent.
Grumbling, Raoul resumed moving troops around the map they had been examining before Lady Jaid's interrupted.
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Over the next few weeks, these interactions continued, and Raoul found himself looking forward to them. He began to recognize Jaid's happy footsteps clicking along the hallway and the chipper knock at the door. When he left unexpectedly for work with the Own, he began leaving books he thought she'd like on his desk, knowing he'd get a hilarious, speedy and interesting summary of them the next time he saw her.
"Do you always talk that fast?" Raoul asked her one-day, a bemused smile on his face.
Jaid blushed, "Only when I'm nervous."
"You're nervous?"
Jai looked away. "Thanks for the new book, Lord Raoul. Are you going to the Midwinter ball tonight?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Also, drop the Lord, it makes me feel old."
Jaid giggled. "Then please call me Jai. See you there, Raoul" she said and, as usual, darted out the door.
That evening after dinner, Raoul took up his usual post as out of sight as possible. Looking for Jai, he saw her standing in the corner with her father, who had a firm grip on her arm. She saw him looking at her and smiled, then wrinkled her nose in a clear expression of her distaste over her prisoner status. Raoul smiled and then sent a wink her direction before one of the more pompous nobles cornered him. After nearly twenty minutes defending the more practical uniforms the King's Own wore under his command, he managed to disappear to one of the balconies.
"Trying to escape too, are you?" came a Jai's voice from the corner.
Raoul smiled. "Yes, although I suspect I had an easier time of it then you. How did you get your father to let you go?"
"I had to agree to dance with one of my brother's friends, Sir Ansil. I hate that man, but after the dance I managed to hide over here before he saw me. I'm hoping to stay out of his grips for a little bit," Jai responded, her words far more subdued and slower than Raoul was used to hearing.
Raoul studied what he could see of the girl's face, which was mostly hidden in shadow. "What's wrong?" he finally asked.
The girl shrugged and took a big drink out of the glass of wine she was holding. "Some days it just gets to me," she said softly. "Vinson got the day off today, and I had to spend the whole day with him. He's so…" Jai shivered slightly. "I just can't believe that is going to be the rest of my life."
"I'm sorry, Jai," Raoul responded, his voice equally soft. "Usually, you are so cheerful. I forget how difficult things must be for you."
Jai shrugged, turning her head away and taking another big drink of wine. "It is what it is," she responded. "It's hardly you're fault my family is…vile."
Raoul watched a tear role down the girl's cheek, and he felt an ache deep inside of him. Reaching out, he cupped her cheek with his hand wiping the tear away with his thumb. "It's going to be alright, Jai," he said softly.
Turning into him, Jai wrapped her arms around Raoul, crying into his tunic. Unsure of what to do, Raoul finally settled on awkwardly patting her back and making sushing noises.
After a few minutes had passes, Jai let out a watery giggle. Straightening, she wiped the last of her tears away and said, "You don't comfort crying women often do you?"
Raoul smiled. "My inexperience is that obvious?"
Jai smiled back at him. "Yes, but you didn't do bad for a beginner." Turning, she picked up her wine glass and drained in. "Back in I go." About to walk out, she paused, turned and stood up on her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Raoul. For everything," she said softly, before re-entering the crowded room.
Raoul stayed out on the balcony a while longer, anger washing over him. Finally, he walked back in and saw Jai talking to Sir Ansil again, or rather being talked to. She simply offered fake looking smiles every few minutes and continued drinking frequently. When Kel came over and asked him to talk to Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami, he was glad for an excuse to leave the room. He spent the rest of the evening talking with Kel and her friends, trying to ignore his nagging worry about Jai.
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