Well, be surprised, I'm updating really quickly. I'll try to keep up better from now on. Thank you to Kasper Lassie, elf warrior princess, Talla Sparks, wAstxd1sYmPhOny, SpaceHead, and iwantaponygal1933 for reviewing! I got a lot this time, and lots of good reviews. OK, so does anyone know how to get a beta reader? If so, please pm or review with answers. Also, who is the page/squire who picks on Alanna in the first book and becomes Claw later on?

James heard to the sound of a bell. He looked around, disoriented. His father's angry face loomed before him saying, "This is no son of mine." In his delirious state, James realized things he hadn't pondered the day before. Gregory had never wanted him as a son. He had always pampered James' sisters, Avis and Clare. He had always been looked down on. Why? Didn't all fathers wish for a son?

James started when the bell rang again. He wasn't sure if he had heard it earlier, it had entered into his dreams, but he didn't know if they were real. He rolled out of bed, feeling as if a heavy weight was upon his shoulders. He washed quickly and pulled on his wool trousers and his best wool tunic. He walked out of his room and nearly bumped into Reeve, who stood in front of his door, and raised. "Oh, hi." said Reeve, "I was just going to get you. Everyone's heading down to breakfast."

James nodded, tension and excitement putting knots in his stomach. "Let's go then." he said, his voice coming out hoarse. Reeve grinned, understanding James' excitement, and led the way to the other boys, who were around the corner. They all headed down to the dining hall, where they met up with their sponsors. Frederick led the way to the plates and piled up on food, and James followed behind, grabbing only a piece of bread and a little meat.

"You're going to want more than that, kid. Trust me." said Frederick, eying James' plate, "You'll starve if you don't get more."

James sighed and plied some bacon and ham onto his plate. When Frederick nodded, they continued on to the table. Once all of them were seated, the boys dug in with ravenous appetites. All except James and Colin. James felt sick to his stomach, maybe he should have gone home with his father! No. A part of him argued, you never would have been happy there. You have a chance here! Still, James couldn't eat. He picked apart his roll and watched the pile of food on Frederick's plate disappear at an alarming rate. Frederick glanced at him, "Eat, kid! I'm telling you! You don't start eating, I'll shove it down your throat!"

James gulped and ate a couple pieces of bacon and his mutilated roll. It helped him feel a little better, and it made him laugh when Frederick force fed Colin, who had a look of utter panic on his face. Breakfast ended surprisingly quickly, and then the sponsors took the first years to the clothing wing. It was where all of the clothes were mended and fitted. Frederick led James to a grumpy-looking man who quickly took his measurements and piled clothes into James' arms. That done James' ran to his room to quickly change clothes and go to his first class, which was starting later that usual on account of the pages who had just gotten there. His first class was Mathematics, a subject James had never studied before. The numbers were familiar though, from when Gregory had shown him how to count once, grudgingly. The numbers all made sense to him, for which he was grateful. Next he moved on to History, and a multitude of other classes. Finally the last bell rang for lunch.

"Wow!" exclaimed James, "When will we ever have time to do all our homework?" Already he felt stressed and overburdened.

"Aw, don't worry. We get time at night, and usually there are study groups."

James nodded and dug into his food. Once lunch was over they headed out to the training area.

The training master, Conall of Villefort directed them to a dirt ring that had a lot of scuff marks on the ground. The boys all got into two lines and waited for further instruction.

"Alright boys, pair up!"

There was a scramble to listen, as boys snatched for someone they knew as a partner. Colin and Carson paired up, Alistair and Frederick, Toly and Turstin, and James and Reeve. James gulped. Of course he got Reeve, the best of all the boys. Oh, well. At least they were friends. Conall walked down the line distributing wooden staffs. James got his and weighed it in his hands, getting used to the way it felt.

"Alright, we are going to start with a high strike, high block. One partner will strike, the other block, and then switch. Now to hold the staff in the proper block. . ." From there he continued to instruct them on the proper way to hold the staffs, and how to shift their hands from block to strike, and strike to block. The boys switched off, and James soon got into the rhythm of block, strike, block, strike. Occasionally, there would be a yelp from someone who got his fingers rapped. As they progressed, the yelps got more and more frequent, when the tempo started to pick up. Strike, block, strike, block. Reeve never faltered, and James did his best to keep up. He felt like Reeve was holding back, not really trying. They sped even faster. James was sweating now, his arms shaking. The blows got harder, or was James getting more tired?

"Halt!"

James sighed and stopped mid-strike. There was a clatter as Toly whipped up his stick to block Turstin's last strike.

"Well, boys not bad. Not bad at all. Next thing we are going to do is ride. I want everyone to go and choose a horse. Choose wisely, this will be your horse all of your page years and most likely during your times as squires as well. Go."

The boys ran, fast as they could, toward the stables, none of them wanting to be the last to pick. James ran with them, debating with himself. Stardust, or another horse? he shrugged and ran faster, overtaking everyone else. He was the first to the stables.

"Yer a page then boy?" Stefan's voice came from above, and James peered into the gap in the ceiling to where the hay was kept.

"Yessir."

"Well, then boy, can I ask ye a favor? Will ye please take Stardust? He's a young'un and I know he likes ye, and ye'll be good to 'im."

James paused for a moment, then made his decision, "Of course!" he exclaimed and ran down the aisle to where Stardust was looking over his stall door. "Hey boy," he said, reaching to pat the horse. Stardust leaned against his hand and nickered in pleasure.

Just then, all the other boys came pounding in, racing to find the best mounts. James walked over to the tack room to find Stardust's tack. FInally, everyone had their horses ready and saddled. Conall called for the order to ride out.

"Alright, boys, this is a test run to see how well you ride. Move on now!"

The boys spurred their mounts on and rode through the forest. It was nice to get the feel of their horses before real combat training on them. James got used to the swinging gait that Stardust had. He was a great horse to ride, smooth and careful, but he kept up easily with long legs.

When they rode back to the stables, James took care of Stardust and went back to the castle for dinner. As they ate James again voiced his concerns about the homework load hat awaited him.

"Stop worrying!" exclaimed Frederick, "You'll get it done. Study time is after this."

They finished dinner and went to study. James went into his room with all of his new friends, and they got most of their work done. They were all stuck on one problem in math, and they went to Frederick's room for help. James smiled as he went to bed that night. He felt he could handle all of the strains that the castle would present to him.