Author's Note: A really long chapter... but I figure that that is better than splitting up a scene. All my writing is coming along smoothly—many chapters are partially written and all are sketched out. Let me take this space to acknowledge my friendly reviewers: inktouge58, LadyReaderofBooks, Shang Leopard, anythingatall, Alicegirl, oirishgoddess, Evilstrawberry, and that anonymous one. I really appreciate you taking the time to type me a few words :)
A Social Life
Laurel and the two Yamanis were led by a palace servant to the apartments of Lady Yuki and her husband Sir Nealean of Queenscove that night. The Tortallan girl slipped a few coppers into their guide's palm when they reached the door, and the boy disappeared. She reached out her hand tentatively to ring the bell cord.
A split-second later, a tall, green-eyed man opened the door wide. "Who have we here?"
Lady Yuki arrived in the doorway only a beat behind him. "They are our guests for the evening, my husband. There are always too many warriors around—I thought I should invite some ladies to keep you boys in line tonight," the Yamani woman chided in good humor.
The green-eyed man, who was now confirmed as healer-knight Sir Nealean, puffed out his chest. "We just got back from a war, my flower. We are big, strong warrior men now, not boys."
"That's what you think," snorted a tall, muscular woman with short hair that stood among the other guests in the room. Dressed in a simple tailored shirt and clean breeches, she could only be Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan. The blue-eyed girl's eyes widened a little—she looked so big and strong, even next to the other fighting men in the room!
The warrior with shaggy dark hair closest to Lady Knight Keladry dramatically grasped his chest. "You wound me, Protector of the Small!" A grin quickly broke out on his face and ruined the quasi-serious intent. The woman just rolled her eyes, and the other two men in the room chuckled, obviously used to such jokes in their current company. Laurel's eyes grew even wider—what informal talk! Convent manners had not prepared her for this! She was taught to act properly with a certain level of decorum at all times, and unlike many of the wilder girls at the convent, the blue-eyed girl had truly listened and had continually tried to live by these rules. She wondered how the Yamani girls were dealing with this group before them. When she stole a glance at them, both had their fans out to cover their faces.
Yuki drew them all in so Sir Neal could shut the door. Introductions were done informally, as it was an informal gathering. All insisted on being called by their first name without title—Neal, Kel, Dom, Merric, and Owen. The noblemen all kissed the back of Laurel's hand, meeting her blue gaze steadily with friendly looks. Sergeant Dom had even given her a wink, and she had felt caught for a few lightheaded seconds in his deep blue eyes. Overall, she felt a little woozy from all their attentions.
The perceptive lady knight seemed to pick up on this effect and shooed the men back from the three new arrivals. With a confiding tone Kel told Laurel, "Excuse them. We've just arrived from the north, and they haven't seen proper ladies in a long time. They've forgotten how to behave."
As the members of the party arranged themselves about the room, the girl noticed that the furniture and décor was a tasteful mélange of Tortallan and Yamani. There was a low table with cushions in one corner but also a set of traditional Eastern furniture to offer comfort to all. Laurel found herself on one end of a sofa. Mitsuko was perched on the other end but engaged in conversation with Yuki in rapid Yamani. A Sir Owen sat in a chair to the left of the blue-eyed girl, and Sir Merric had gone to fetch her something to drink. Laurel had just listened to Owen's account of the jolly ride down from the border when the redheaded knight arrived with a glass of sweet wine for her.
"For you, milady," he said as he handed her the goblet. She accepted it with a smile and he sat down beside her, brushing a lock of red hair off of his forehead. "Are you finding life at the palace agreeable?" he inquired.
The girl took a small sip before answering. "Yes, very much so. Everyone has been so kind, and I made a great acquaintance in Lady Yuki this morning." Laurel sipped at her drink again, meeting Merric's eyes for a long moment. "And the library I visited today was wonderful, though I had a bit of a fright."
Sir Owen broke in excitedly, stealing her attention, "Was that you? My cousin said he startled a lady in there this morning. But he should be here soon to apologize in person." Her blue eyes widened in fear as her face reddened; truthfully, the entire afternoon she had just felt terribly embarrassed for running off like a skittish deer. What sort of impression had she made acting like that? The girl had been hoping to never run into that man again. But now that she had revealed herself as 'the girl from the library,' how could she escape?
Almost as if he had been summoned, a knock came on the door, and Neal let in the man she immediately recognized from the library. Sir Owen had left her side to see to his kin, so from across the room Laurel watched him greet his friends. The two Yamani girls were introduced first, as they were closer to the door. Then, the gazes and the gestures moved on to her, and she stood but remained rooted to the spot as familiar hazel eyes approached with Sir Owen's hand on their connecting shoulder. "Milady," he murmured softly as he bowed with one hand placed over his heart and the other extended towards her. The blue-eyed girl tentatively reached hers out, and the young knight grasped it lightly to kiss the back before standing tall again. "I am Sir Iden of Vikison Lane, milady. I didn't mean to scare you out of the library this morning."
"Not at all Sir Iden," Laurel replied as she curtseyed. "I am Laurel of Fury's Valley."
"Fury's Valley is an interesting name for a fief. Is there a good story behind that?" asked the eager Owen.
Laurel blinked as she collected herself for an explanatory speech; all eyes were on her. "Oh, I believe it's from the story of the old goddess of the wind. She fell in love with a mortal man, and when he betrayed her and ran into the hills, she sent the great winds of all the directions down at him so hard that it split the mountains into a narrow valley. Even today there is talk of winds carrying off unfaithful men when they travel through the passes there."
"'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!'" exclaimed the poetic Sir Neal, delighted that he was able to quote from his repertoire of literature.
"Something like that," Laurel smiled. She too recognized the reference.
The conversation settled back into small groups, and the blue-eyed girl found herself speaking only with Iden. "So, have you all been friends a long time?" she asked politely while adjusting her skirts now that she had reseated herself.
Iden shook his head slowly. "Well, some of them were year-mates in knight's training and have been friends since childhood. Neal and Dom are cousins. I am the youngest of the bunch, but by grace of relation to Owen of Jesslaw, I had an introduction after I won my shield and joined the northern campaign. Then, I was stationed at one of the forts with Neal, Merric, and Owen so we got to know each other there too. On the ride home, this little group formed and I was invited to this party tonight."
"I see," Laurel answered. She sipped at her wine, meeting his eyes over the rim of the goblet. The knight smiled broadly in response. The girl wondered what she had done to deserve that as she gracefully set her empty cup on the table in front of her.
"And how did you get to be invited, Lady Laurel?" he inquired. "I understood that you have only just arrived at the palace as well."
"I am living in the Yamani wing with the two ladies here. This morning I met Lady Yuki at their fan practice and was invited." The blue-eyed girl looked up as another knight approached.
It was Kel. "I thought I would come rescue you from our eager friend," she began in Yamani.
Laurel simply smiled in amusement as Iden looked up at his comrade in confusion. "You honor me, lady knight," she answered with a respectful nod.
Neal had heard the exchange and made his thoughts known… loudly. "Now I see why you invited them, Yuki! You wanted to chatter with the ladies Yamani behind our poor Tortallan male backs." As the company laughed in response, Yuki rapped her husband's arm with the fan she had danced with that morning. With the way the knight rubbed the spot, Laurel knew that it had probably been a harder hit that it looked.
Her attention was drawn back to her immediate company by Kel's voice. "Iden," she began politely. The blue-eyed girl recalled that they were not close friends. "Why don't you fetch the lady a fresh drink?"
"Of course! Ladies." He jumped up with the girl's glass in hand, and the lady knight smoothly took his seat.
"The Yamanis tell me to call you Hitomi—I can see why. I'm slightly jealous that no one uses a Yamani name for me."
"Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan," the convent girl sounded out. "Surely that is recognizable in any language these days," Laurel offered in a courtly manner.
Kel considered her briefly before she spoke again. "Just 'Kel' between us, please. I must admit that I have an ulterior motive to speaking with you. I was wondering if you would like to learn some defensive moves in case any situation should arise… I wouldn't mind personally teaching you if you are worried about what people would think—"
The blue-eyed girl cut her off with a firm shake of her head. "I'm sorry, Kel, but that would be against my nature. I don't want to have to fight anyone. But thank you for your kind offer." She wanted to end this embarrassing talk; obviously the Yamani ladies had said something about her comment that morning. Luckily, Iden reappeared with her full glass of wine. "Thank you," she said graciously as she accepted it, purposefully changing to Common.
The lady knight made her excuses and did not speak to Laurel for the rest of the evening. Nonetheless, the girl had plenty of other conversation partners in the other knights and ladies gathered there. At the end of the night, her head felt a little funny from too much wine, but she was satisfied with her new connections.
Since the next few days were taken up by rehearsals with the other convent girls for the grand spectacle of the coming-out ball, Laurel did not see any of her new palace friends. Even her Yamani hall-mates could only say 'good morning' and 'good night' as she left and returned each day; they were doing their own act for the spectacle and thus had no need to practice with the others. When the blue-eyed girl found herself with a free evening after dinner just the day before the great ball, she decided to make a late social call and stopped by Lady Yuki's suite.
She was more than surprised when Yuki opened the door with a baby in her arm. "Hitomi, what a pleasure. Please, come in." The blue-eyed girl obeyed, closing the door behind her. As she followed the woman into an adjoining room, she saw the large crib with another baby squirming in it.
"I had no idea that you had children," she said dumbly, standing in the doorway.
"They're only a year old, my girls," Yuki told her as she settled the first baby next to her sister. "When you visited last, my parents-in-law had taken them for the night."
"Oh," Laurel replied. Another knock on the door caused them to both look over. Yuki crossed the two rooms quickly to answer it again.
A page bowed to deliver his message. "Her Highness Princess Shinkonami requests your presence in her chambers, milady."
"That is impossible—it is my nursemaid's day off and my husband is working. I can't leave my children right now," the Yamani said calmly. Laurel thought she sensed a slight edge to her words though.
Before the page could respond, Laurel jumped into the exchange from across the room. "I could watch them for you," she offered.
A blank face turned to the Tortallan girl to study her. "You wouldn't mind? I don't want to impose on your busy schedule right before the ball."
"I only have to practice for the spectacle. If the girls wouldn't mind listening to that, we should be fine." The girl met the woman's gaze as confidently as she could.
Yuki considered this only a moment; obviously she wanted to respect the summons of her friend and princess. "I just fed them, so they should fall asleep soon. If you sing a lullaby they should close their eyes. I won't be long." Laurel nodded and the Yamani was out the door in just a minute.
Their mother was right—the twins fell asleep soon after she left. The Tortallan girl set to work on recalling her roughly memorized lines in the main room where she had passed that evening among knights only a few days before. After awhile of her recitation, she heard through the cracked door to the nursery one of the baby girls make a fussy noise. The blue-eyed girl stepped inside the darkened chamber and over to the crib to pick the child up. Carrying her into the other room so as to not wake her sister, the convent girl rocked the child gently and settled herself comfortably on the sofa. Then, Laurel sang slowly and sweetly.
"Sleep my baby, rest my loved one,
Softly slumber now with me.
Clasped in mother's arms so tender,
Warm in mother's love for thee…"
Her voice trailed off as the baby let out a delicate snore to illustrate that she was asleep again.
"You have a beautiful voice," a man said softly behind her.
Laurel twisted her head back to look at the door, trying not to disturb the newly sleeping baby cradled in her lap. She had not heard the healer-knight enter. "Thank you, Sir Neal. Yuki was called away by Princess Shinko, and I volunteered to watch the girls for her," she whispered.
"That was very kind of you, Lady Laurel." Neal walked over to take the now sleeping child from her arms. As their hands brushed during the transaction, a bright, little spark of magic light went off. The healer's eyebrows rose in askance as he straightened with the snoring bundle in his grasp.
"Sorry," said Laurel, feeling—and looking—very embarrassed. "I have a very small Gift for healing. All I can really do is make people calm down. Sometimes I don't even notice when I'm doing it—I must have been helping her fall asleep."
"Did they teach you anything at the convent?" he inquired as he walked into the next room to settle his baby girl back in her crib.
When he returned and closed the door to the nursery behind him, she replied, "As I said, there isn't much there, so they released me from magic classes after a few months. Sometimes the Daughters would ask me to sit with the old gardener and hold his hand to relieve his aches, and he would tell me about taking care of flowers in return. That's all I ever used it for. My three older brothers can do much more than me."
"Come to think of it, there was a Fury's Valley just ahead of me at University…" he thought aloud.
She nodded. "My third brother, Ethan, is a healer. He's probably around your age."
Neal reached out a hand. "Show me what you do."
Gingerly, Laurel reached out and grasped it lightly with her fingertips. She cleared her mind to think only of the lullaby and how she wanted to bring some calm into the world around her. A trickle of white gold light flowed out of her hand and into the healer. After a moment, he took a deep breath. "That is good," he murmured, his eyes closing.
Laurel immediately pulled her hand back and the shimmering fire disappeared with a crystal blue flash. "Sorry, I think I'm putting you to sleep, too."
The knight reopened his drooping eyelids, and a warm green gaze came down to her blue. "If you ever need something to do, we could always use your talents in the infirmary—the healing or the singing."
"I shall take you up on that soon, Sir Neal," she said with a small smile. She was finding new things to do at the palace all the time, but this one would actually be helping people like the old gardener who had always been so kind. When he trimmed the roses, he always gave her one as she passed.
The blue-eyed girl was awoken from her reverie by the knight's voice. "Well, I think I can relieve you here. You seem to have done all of the hard work anyway. My thanks, Milady Laurel," he said with a Player's flourished bow.
She rose from the sofa. "Any time that you and Lady Yuki need a hand, please call on me. You have both been so kind to a girl new to the palace."
Crossing his arms across his chest, Neal shrugged slowly, his green eyes very kind yet still very serious as he replied, "Well, you are an intelligent, Yamani-speaking babysitter with a magic touch, so how could we in any sense turn you away?"
The reddening girl did not quite know how to respond to a compliment as kind as that, so she asked him a question instead. "Will you be at the coming-out ball tomorrow, Sir Neal?"
"Unless something unexpected calls me away, of course. Why?" he asked, expression curious.
"I will be singing again, but there will also be a great surprise. Something that has never been done before," she told him, almost in confidence. The spectacle was supposed to be a secret.
Interest piqued, he smiled, "Then I look forward to it." He watched as the quiet, young lady dipped a small curtsey and slipped out of the room. "Full of surprises, that one," he murmured, staring at the closed door for a moment. His eyelids began to droop again; her healing really did make him feel relaxed…