Chapter 12: Midwinter

Three weeks after her first jousting lesson, Adalia could be found sprinting across a snow-covered courtyard, in red and gold clothes. It was the week before midwinter, and she felt like she was frozen.

Stupid banquets…Adalia thought irritably.

It was the week of banquets that the monarchs held, and she was expected to serve for Alanna's table. To make matters worse, she was running late. She simply hadn't realised that she and Rye had been flying that long.

Arriving in the hall, she sped up to get warmer. Seeing a line of pages in front of the Master of Ceremonies – (who was near suffering a heart attack, from the purple tinge on his face) – she slipped in between Kula and Charlie.

They gave her quick grins, and then turned back to the man. After he had finished warning them of the terrible embarrassment they would bring to their families should they stuff up – ("heavens forbid!") as well as the punishments that they would incur, he told the pages to hurry up and wait for the dishes.

The first years were to be passing dishes from the kitchen staff to the older pages serving. Adalia had not done it last year, as she couldn't sail in the middle of winter, but there were already about five first years that had joined them this year.

Adalia and her friends were peeking out at the nobles, all seated. And then the first years started shoving food into their hands.

Taking a deep breath, Adalia followed the others, being careful to stand up straight. When she approached, she saw that Numair, Daine, Sarra and Rye were dining with her grandparents.

While she passed around the bowl that they could wash their fingers in, she grinned at them each in turn. They smiled back, reassuring her that she would not mess up. When she reached Rye, she noticed that his hair was all ruffled. She almost laughed at him.

He seemed to sense that she was trying not to laugh. He made a face at her, and then winked, stormy eyes sparkling with mischief.

She shook her head, purple eyes sparkling, and retreated to receive the first course.

Rye ended up running late as well. Adalia thought, still trying not to laugh.

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The banquet was over before she knew it, and the Master of Ceremonies called all the pages back. He was totally exhausted, but managed to point out all of the small and numerous mistakes that each of them had made. He then warned them to be punctual tomorrow – at this he looked at Adalia – or they would be passing dishes instead of serving. He then dismissed them.

Adalia had a sheepish grin on her face as she turned to see Kula and Charlie laughing at her.

"You should have seen your face!" Charlie told her in between laughter.

"That guy is scary! He makes every little thing seem like a disaster!" Kula said, exasperated.

Adalia raised her eyebrow at her, "You, Kula are afraid? I think this is a first!"

"Not afraid, worried. Did you see the scathing looks he was giving both of us? I think he was still arguing with himself over if we should be wearing breaches or a skirt." Kula shook her head and but waited for Adalia to respond. She had purposefully needled her.

Adalia's purple eyes became hard, and she obstinately crossed her arms then said, "Well, there's no way I would ever wear a dress!"

Her friends all laughed at her. "Come on, let's go eat." Adalia said, irritated, and then walked towards the mess.

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The week passed without any major catastrophes (if you weren't the Master of Ceremonies) and Adalia was gazing out her window, hands behind her head. I really should go to sleep. It's Midwinter tomorrow!

She sighed, and then walked over to her window. She was brought out of her thoughts when a crow flapped down and landed on her window. She addressed it, "What are you doing, Rye?"

"Can't sleep?" He sent to her.

"Not exactly." She admitted. She jumped up to be sitting on the window, legs dangling over the side.

"Well, why don't we race then? It would probably make it easier to sleep." Rye asked tentatively.

"I suppose." She quickly went back inside then changed into a crow.

He took off and she flew to catch up.

After racing for a while, they split off, and Adalia soared back through her window. She pulled on the clothes she would be wearing tomorrow (very wary of some plot to force her into a dress), then crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately.

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"WAKE UP!" Someone shouted.

Adalia cracked an eyelid, and upon seeing that there were many someones standing around her, she moaned and pulled her blanket over her head.

"We know you're awake! Get up, we want to thankyou for your presents!"

The pages watched Adalia's blanket expectantly.

Finally it moved down, so they could see her purple eyes glaring at them, "Oh gods! What did I do to deserve this?"

They laughed. Adalia rolled her eyes, "See what I mean?" She asked the ceiling. "I am totally not appreciated." She rubbed her eyes and hesitantly sat up.

"We decided to make sure you couldn't escape."

"And why would you think I would want to escape?" Adalia asked suspiciously.

They all had evil grins, as they whipped out presents. "We all know how much you hate making a fuss, so we decided to give you your gifts personally. Oh, and you may not want one of them very much…"

They forced their presents on her. She had left her presents for them in their rooms last night, hoping that this would divert them from waking her up the next morning. Obviously not

Adalia shook her head, and then smiled reluctantly, "If you insist…"

"We do." They all said firmly.

She smiled and grabbed the first parcel. After opening all of them, she was speechless. "T-thankyou all so much." She managed to say.

"You may not want to thank us yet." Kula said dryly. She came forward with one last present. She offered it to Adalia, who opened it. Adalia was staring at the contents, her face turning white.

The others observed her gaze flitting towards the door, and Kaden and Daniel went to block the exit.

"NO!" Adalia yelled, horrified.

"Yes!" Kula said, determination on her face.

The boys started backing away. They held the bag with Adalia's clothes in it. "Um. We will be waiting outside…" With that they sprinted out.

Adalia swore explosively in Kyprish. Of all things, they had to get her one of those. She flung it across the room. She then jumped out of the window, changing into a crow, and flew away.

She heard Kula bellow out the window, "They aren't that bad!"

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Kula had watched her friend grow white. They had all been expecting it. She couldn't help but laugh as the girl who could do extraordinary things flung the present away from her, and dived out the window, as if escaping from her worst nightmare.

As she watched the crow that was her friend swoop away, she thought 'Hmmm. I forgot she could do that…'

Shaking her head, she went over to collect the discarded object. It was a white kimono with purple embroidery. "It's over." She called to the boys waiting outside.

They charged in, eager to tease their friend for being forced into a dress. When they saw Kula standing at the centre of the room, kimono draped over her arm, and no Adalia in sight, they stood shocked.

"Where…?"

"- Out the window." Kula answered.

They all ran to the window, and saw a crow in the distance. "Hmm. We are going to have to remember this in the future…" Kaden mused out loud.

"Damn! I can't believe we forgot the window!" Daniel muttered.

"Oh yeah. It's totally the exit one expects; especially when it's on the third floor." Dameon said sarcastically.

"Do you recon she is going to spend today as a crow?" Nathan asked.

They all rubbed their chins while thinking.

"Why don't we bet on it?" Charlie suggested.

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Adalia was lying low. She had joined some crows, so that she wouldn't be spotted as a lone crow as that would give her away.

She had been with them ever since her big escape. She knew why she feared dresses, which just made her more anxious to avoid them completely. It would make things complicated if they forced her into one, especially if her suspicions were confirmed.

She shuddered to think how differently she would be treated… 'So I won't think about it!' She told herself fiercely.

About two hours after she had escaped, she spotted Daniel, Kaden and Rye walking down the path. What are they doing together?

She saw Kaden point to the crows… "Do you recon she is one of them?" He addressed this to Rye. Adalia silently swore in Kyprish, and then slipped away from them, behind a building.

Gliding around the palace, she found another gathering of crows and joined it. It wasn't long before she saw Nathan, Kula and Sarra ambling along the path. It seems that they are searching for me.

Adalia yet again flew off. This time she flew back to her room, thinking that would be the last place they would look for her. She swerved off her path when she saw Dameon and Charlie lounging in her room. Damn. They're smarter than I thought.

Adalia wracked her brains, trying to think of a refuge where no one would find her.

Suddenly, she felt very satisfied. Perfect!

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"Where the hell is she?" Daniel asked, frustrated. The six pages, plus Rye and Sarra, had gathered in Adalia's room. It was a full seven hours after her spectacular escape, and they had not caught a glimpse of her.

"No idea." Kula said. She had her hands to her temples.

"Do you think she left the palace grounds?" Kaden asked.

"No." That was Rye and Sarra.

"We can feel that she is actually very close to us, but we can't find out exactly where." Rye said, annoyed. He turned on the six pages, "Why the hell did you guys try to get her to wear a dress?"

"We didn't think she'd fly out of the window!" Charlie reminded him.

"No, but she did." Sarra cut in.

"You've got to admit, this is a funny situation. We have been looking for Adalia, who has flown away." Nathan said, after a while of silence.

At this they chuckled.

"Why don't me and Sarra go flying to find her?" Rye asked.

"Good idea. Why didn't you suggest that sooner?" Dameon asked suspiciously.

They all watched Rye get up and stretch. When he straightened up, he replied teasingly, "I didn't want to lose the bet. It's about time for me to win." At this he changed into a crow and flew out the window.

"CHEAT!" Kaden, Charlie, Daniel and Nathan bellowed after him.

Kula and Dameon laughed at the scowls that now plastered their friend's faces. "You are just angry because you have already lost!" Kula accused.

"Of course! Why shouldn't we be?" Daniel replied irritably for the four of them.

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As Rye flew out the window, he was running through a list of all the places that Adalia might be.

Deciding to go with his instincts, he headed straight for the small section of roof that Adalia had practised her swordsmanship.

Sure enough, when he reached the flat piece of roof, he spotted the crow he recognised as Adalia.

"Hey. Don't you get hungry?" He teased her.

She jumped, and then saw him glide down to alight on the rail next to her. "You know, I may be half a crow, but I have no desire what-so-ever to eat bugs." Adalia retorted.

"So, why not come back down to ground and come eat some nice, appetising, human food?" He suggested.

"Sounds…um good. I guess… but…" Adalia hesitated.

"If you're worried the others are going to try to put you in a dress, I don't think you have to. They have actually been worried about you." He reassured her gently.

She was silent. Rye inspected her closely, and realised that she was shivering badly.

"What the hell…Adalia, you're freezing!" He practically yelled at her, silently cursing himself for not thinking she may be cold, what with spending the entire time outdoors. In winter.

"Oh. I'm ok…"

"We are going back. Now." He told her forcefully, and then nudged her off the rail.

He was frightened by the stiffness of her movements; it looked like she was struggling to fly.

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It actually only took the two 30 seconds to glide down through the window into Adalia's rooms, but to Rye it felt like years. He flitted around her, harrying her so she would continue to fly.

He was out of his mind with worry for her life, and the only thing that saved his logical thinking was the constant thought 'She must live! Goddess, please let her live!'

As they passed though the window, Adalia saw that she had probably seconds before she would be forced to change back to human. It was all she could do to crash-land on her bed, and tunnel under the sheets before she lost consciousness.

Before the two even reached the window, Rye contacted Sarra, telling her the situation. Sarra had quickly forced the boys out, and she and Kula had begun to gather blankets.

So when an unconscious Adalia transformed back into human, the two girls quickly covered her properly.

Sarra called to her healing Gift, thanking the Gods she knew what to do. Just before starting, she noticed Rye on the window, "GO NOW! Get a healer!" She watched him jump as if stung, then fly off in the direction of the palace infirmary.

As soon as Sarra reached into Adalia, she swore, and then scanned the room swiftly. Her eyes settled on the emerald green of Kula's and she muttered, "Hypothermia."

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Disclaimer: I am not TP

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