Chapter 3- Start of Training

An hour or so later a slightly nervous Adalia heard the bell that meant she had to line up out the front of her door, waiting for the training master, Lord Padraig to greet the pages and assign her an older sponsor, to show her the ropes.

As she lined up, she caught the inquiring glances from her fellow pages, and was astonished (and pleased) to discover that there was another girl page, although from the looks of it she was in her second year.

Lord Padraig strode down the corridor towards them, and the pages stood to attention. He slowly took them all in, his eyes lingering overlong on herself and the other girl – he was a well-known conservative. He stood extremely tall, but was also muscled, even if it seemed he was approaching his later years. His eyes were black. He cleared his throat – "Welcome everyone once again to the torture that is training the be a knight. It seems that we have new pages joining us. Come here."

He gestured to Adalia and two other boys to stand beside him. He addressed a nervous looking blonde-haired boy first. "Name?"

The boys audibly gulped "Dameon of Naxen, my lord."

Seeming content, he addressed the other pages – "Who will sponsor him?" A few hands went up, and he indicated a short boy with deep brown eyes and hair, "Nathan of Olau, you can sponsor him." The boy gladly escaped to stand beside his third year sponsor.

The other first year page, Kaden of Trebond (grandson of Coram Smythesson) was sponsored by Daniel of Goldenlake and Malories Peak, another third year page.

Lord Padraig went to stand by Adalia. "Name?"

"Adalia of Pirate's Swoop, my Lord" She said firmly. He seemed to flinch as she told him her name, and his eyes met Adalia's violet ones for a brief moment.

"Who will sponsor her?" At this a surprising number of hands rose. I guess being related to a legend overrides the fact that I am a girl Adalia thought, amused at this.

Lord Padraig's eyes lingered on the girl, but he seemed to decide against putting them together. Instead he gestured to a second year page – "Charlie of Masbolle, you can take her in hand. Ok. I expect to see you all on time in half a bell's time for dinner."

At this he abruptly turned around and marched away from them all.

A number of the other pages turned and walked after him, a lot of them glancing at her with a curious mixture of hate, apprehension and mischief. It seems that not all like me. At this Adalia smiled, thinking oh, I really hope they will try me!

Her sponsor approached her, and she could see that he seemed nice. He had sparkling sapphire eyes, a widow's peak and dark brown hair. Adalia was trying to remember who his parents were. Ah yes, Dom of Masbolle and the first official Lady Knight, Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle.

The pages that were left were inspecting her. Adalia stood there and took it, but only because she had no idea where to go if she ran off. Suddenly they were all smiling. The girl broke through the boys, smacking their heads to get through. It was a funny sight.

"Hello, Adalia, I am Kula of Queenscove. Don't mind these dunderheads, I am the only REAL company around here." Adalia looked at Kula. Her eyes were dancing, but other than that she let out no expression. She had pale skin, emerald eyes, a slight widow's peak and black hair cropped short, which was almost as black as Adalia's own.

Adalia did an exaggerated Player's bow, and comically announced, "So it would seem." She gracefully put one arm in Kula's, and then started striding off in Lord Padraig's direction. She then turned back to the boys who were standing stunned, still back down the hall, and cocked an eyebrow. At the same time she stage whispered to Kula, "Not very bright are they? They don't even know when to escort some ladies to dinner."

She lost her control as Kula broke out laughing, and she saw the comical expressions on the boy's faces as they quickly ran to catch up. She broke into laughter. While they were racing to catch up, she counted them. There were 5 boys including the first year sponsors.

Seeming to have gained their friendship, they all introduced themselves to her – Dameon, Nathan, Kaden, Daniel and her sponsor Charlie. She grabbed a table and they seated themselves either across from them or beside. She was sitting beside Kula and Charlie.

Lord Padraig walked in and started eating, after a short prayer.

"So. The Lioness's granddaughter. How's that working out for you?" Charlie asked her mildly.

"It's fun. I can't get over the wonderful welcome everyone has given me. They have either stood gawking at my eyes or ran for the hills, afraid I will scream their heads off."

This brought a laugh from her company, and she looked sorrowfully at the table, twiddling her fork, "You wouldn't be scared of me, would you?" she asked, a sorry note in her voice. Adalia abruptly became brighter, eyes sparkling: "I am not her. I am even worse than her. I do not ask questions when I am angry, I just get straight to punching." She admitted earnestly, an innocent look to her face. (She is Aly's daughter of course. Where would she be if she weren't a Player at heart?)

This brought an even louder laugh from her newly found friends. They continued joking until Lord Padraig got up and dismissed them. Charlie collected her and showed her back to her rooms.

"Today was easy, but tomorrow the lessons start. Get as much sleep as you can."

Adalia collapsed on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It had been a huge day. She couldn't wait to start her training.

Forcing herself up, she began unpack. As she rifiled through her bags, she heard a faint squeak. A small black blob detached itself from her possessions and climbed up onto her hand. It was the darking that her mother had convinced her to bring, to stay in contact.

"Hello Shard." She greeted the darking.

"Hi Ady." Shard used the nickname the darkings had for her, as Adalia was too hard for them to say.

"This boring. Want fun." The darking whined.

Adalia sighed. "Ok Shard, you can come. But could you be a bracelet? If you're around my neck the boys are likely to think me a sissy. I can't be seen as a sissy now, can I?" She said, half joking.

As the darking delicately wrapped itself around her wrist, Adalia could hear "funfunfun."

And with that, she took off her boots and climbed into bed.

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Next time: Chapter 4: Teaching the boys

Note: I am soo sorry that this chapter isn't that good, I promise that the next chapter will be way better – I just had to set the characters ect … but anyways, now the relatively boring stuff is over, the fun can begin!

Character List: (I thought you may get more than a little confused with the pages, so below is a list of her friends.)

Adalia of Pirate's Swoop: (I thought you may like a recap) Raven black shoulder-length hair, bright purple eyes, skin that makes it look like she is tanned all year round, Aly's light personality, complemented by her grandmother's short fuse and fierce temper.

Dameon of Naxen: He is large (in the tall sense) and blonde with blue eyes. He is in his first year of page training. He was sponsored by Nathan.

Nathan of Olau: A third year page, he is short for his age, has deep brown eyes & hair. He likes to joke around with Charlie.

Kaden of Trebond: First year, sponsored by Daniel. Red hair, and light blue eyes that are almost white, he is extremely curious. (Grandson of Coram Smythesson)

Daniel of Goldenlake and Malories Peak: Another third year, dark green eyes and black hair. Mostly quiet, but when he gets to know someone, there is no shutting him up.

Charlie of Masbolle: A second year page, sapphire eyes, small widows peak and brown hair. Always joking around with Nathan, he sponsored Adalia.

Kula of Queenscove: Pale skin, emerald eyes, hair almost as black as Adalia's. She has learnt to use a Yamani mask over her feelings, although she cannot seem to keep it in check while around Adalia