Chapter 30: Mages

"ADALIA!" Someone yelled.

The girl in question flinched and turned around slowly. She was on the courts, practising her swordsmanship against Daniel. She quickly disarmed him when he lunged for her, by sidestepping his swing and twisting the sword out of his hand.

The pages were practising a distance off, with Lord Padraig calling drills, but with the break in concentration, they all turned around to examine the newcomers.

Adalia was grinning sheepishly at Alanna and Neal who were approaching. She had a feeling she knew why they were coming, as they were looking exasperated. Kaden and Kula, who were duelling close by, came over to stand beside her.

When Alanna and Neal were close enough to speak without yelling, they looked at her, eyebrows raised. Alanna opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Adalia cut her off, "It's not my fault."

"Yes it is, you could just beat them without breaking them."

"But they break so curst easily." Adalia whined.

Everyone who heard and understood what they were talking about laughed.

"You have to stop doing it, Adalia. The infirmary is going to burst, not to mention the healers are getting worn out."

Adalia crossed her arms, "They could stop approaching me, I can't take them. They're so annoying… You would think they would have learnt by now."

Neal threw his arms up. He was the one in charge of the infirmary, and he was obviously annoyed, "They are betting on who you will beat up next. Betting."

Adalia rolled her eyes, "It's not like I started that, but now you mention it, I like it. I've earned a lot of money on betting who I will beat up."

Alanna raised both eyebrows, "They let you bet?"

Adalia smiled cheekily, "Not me personally, but there is no rule against getting other people to place my bets… or if there is, they don't realise I did it."

Neal realised that she had changed the subject, and said, "Adalia. You have to stop breaking all your admirers. The infirmary is full."

"It. Is. Not. My. Fault. They could stop coming on to me. It's disgusting." Adalia said stubbornly.

"Neal, she's right." Alanna said dryly. She turned to Adalia, "But you have to stop breaking them too badly. It took us four hours to straighten out Sir Harley's arm. Four."

Adalia smiled sheepishly, "I didn't mean to do that, he surprised me, and I had just woken up."

Her friends cringed. Adalia was much stronger when tired, because she couldn't be bothered to temper her abilities. That man wouldn't forget his lesson any time soon. You see, after the ball five days ago, multiple men have been approaching Adalia, and she had grown sick of it. Quickly. She was beating them up to deter them from trying again. It was working, but it seemed that she would have to beat up all the single men in the palace before she was left alone.

Alanna turned to Neal, "There's no point telling her off, I told you that before. Adalia, from now on, just try breaking them less, so we can fix them faster. But I don't think there will be many willing after Sir Harley this morning."

Adalia pursed her lips, but nodded. "I'll try."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kel, when are we gonna go?" Adalia asked her knight master. They were lounging around the fire in her room.

Kel looked at Adalia strangely, "What do you mean, go? I am having a nice time without being on the move with the Own. I thought you were having fun. We've only been here a week."

Adalia's legs were hanging over the side of the couch, and she decided to whine, "But it has been boring ever since Ma, Da and Aidan left. I want to go somewhere. I have so much energy I'm gonna scream."

Kel snorted before she could push it under her mask, and Dom laughed unashamedly. She looked at her squire, who was twitching, "They only left a few hours ago."

"I know that! Now there is nothing to do."

"Calm down. We will be here until the Own is needed. There is nothing we can do about that, other than enjoy the time off." Kel rested her head back against her husband's chest.

Adalia jumped up and started pacing.

After a while, Kel was irritated enough to say, "Stop it! Why don't you go for a walk, I'll bet you will find a conservative who will fight you, or try to court you." She finished this with a grin. It was extremely funny watching her squire beat up men who were a head taller than her.

Adalia let out a strangled sound, "You know, usually that would be a great idea, but the bloody problem is they won't do it anymore!"

Kel's head snapped around to look at Adalia in confusion, "Since when do conservatives stop saying women aren't fit to be warriors?"

Adalia laughed sourly, "Beats me. Apparently they have all decided that woman don't want to train just so they can find a marriage, because I have been attacking all men who try to come on to me… and sending them to the infirmary. The men still look at me – which is creepy, I'll tell you – but ever since that Harley dude, none of them have attacked. I lost three silver nobles because they stopped! The conservatives actually compliment my skills in battle, and it seems no one is game enough to claim I have slept with them, because all the other guys would attack him! Gods this is weird. Apparently my reputation has been cleared."

By the end of Adalia's irritated spiel, Kel and Dom were sitting up straight, eyes wide. Kel stuttered, "They've stopped?"

Adalia rolled her eyes, "Yes, and it's at a damn bad time."

Kel blinked, "They. Have. Stopped."

Adalia sighed in exasperation, "That is what I said. Usually you don't repeat simple ideas… I think you're coming down with something."

Kel jumped up, whooping in delight, "Adalia, have you any idea what this means? They've stopped! That's never happened! It would seem as though they have accepted women into the warrior class! FINALLY!"

Adalia allowed herself a grin, I hope you say thankyou, Goddess. But then returned to her current problem, "But there is nothing to do!"

Kel laughed, "You have managed the impossible – getting conservatives to accept women knights – and yet all you can think about is being bored?"

Adalia sighed, "Yes, how horrible. I will give myself a pat on the back when I have something to do, though, if it's all the same to you."

Kel rolled her eyes, although she could not wipe the grin off her face. Adalia put her hands on her chin and stared into the fire. Kel said teasingly, "What about you go find Rye?"

Adalia stayed in exactly the same position, "Usually, I would agree with you, but at the moment he is with his father meeting one of the only other black robe mages. That's boring mage stuff."

Kel rolled her eyes, "So boring mage stuff isn't better than sitting by the fire and annoying us?"

Adalia smiled wickedly, "Nope, not even close."

Kel and looked pointedly at the door. Adalia sighed but jumped out of the chair and run out the door, closing it behind her.

She decided that maybe boring mage stuff would be better than sitting around, especially since she was kicked out of the room. Anyway, I don't know where they are, so it will be fun finding them. Adalia thought brightly.

Abandoning her boredom, she raced down the corridors. She was pleasantly surprised to see Daine walking into the Rider's mess, and caught up to her, "Hello! Daine, could you tell me where Rye is?"

Daine smiled and said, "He and Numair were meeting the mage, Justin Grenike, in the magic classroom, but I think they have gone to lunch in the noblemen's mess."

"Thanks" Adalia smiled and waved as she trooped off. Damn. I can't go to the men's mess. Oh well, I guess I'll go for lunch with my friends… if any are left here.

Adalia entered the mess and grabbed a plate of food. Turning to inspect the squire's table, she was disappointed to see that none of her friends were there. She knew that Alanna left with Kula for Pirate's Swoop the hour after her parents left, and that Raoul was surprisingly found missing as soon as possible after the ball in which she had to wear a dress, anxious to avoid further banquets. Daniel and Nathan had to return to the border two days ago, with their knight masters Merric and Owen. She didn't know if her year mates, Kaden and Dameon, were still in the palace.

She made her way to the table, but one glance at the page's table had her shocked. She instantly made her way over to see this up close. Amongst the boys, there were a total of three girls sitting down, nervously talking with each other. She knew that the year for pages had started, but had no idea that more girls had signed up.

As she approached, one of the girls spotted her and hit another next to her in the ribs to grab her attention. The third was told and they all gazed up at her in awe. Adalia smiled reassuringly and said, "Hello! My name is Adalia of Pirate's Swoop. It is very nice to meet you."

They smiled. A vaguely familiar girl with brown hair and blue-green eyes smiled and offered her hand, "My name is Danielle of Masbolle. It's nice to see you again, Adalia, mum's been telling me all about what you have been doing since you finished your page years. I couldn't wait till I got my go."

Adalia almost hit herself. Of course! That's why I remember her! A few months ago, Adalia had met Danny, as she liked to be called, when Kel had gone to Masbolle for a break.

She turned to the other two girls. A bold redhead with clear blue eyes smiled into Adalia's eyes as she shook her hand, "Pleased to meet you, Adalia. My dad has told me a lot about you, apparently you made quite an impression. I am very thankful to you, other wise I would never have been able to come here."

Adalia looked confused, and the girl continued, "I am Caitlyn of Clearwater." Realisation again came to her. She must one of the daughters of Lord Clearwater, the conservative. Apparently I made an impression after all. She thought with amusement.

She turned to the last girl, who offered her hand and said shyly, "My name is Jessica of Arrowpoint." The girl was small framed, with midnight blue eyes and contrasting dark blond hair.

"You mind if I sit with you? It would seem as though none of my friends are at the palace."

The three smiled and made a space for her. Adalia used jokes to get them all talking, and her presence with the girls drew the now fourth and third years that had known her during her page years. By the end of the meal, Adalia was certain that the girls were on their way to good page years, with friends of both genders. It's good that I can do something to help them. She thought with satisfaction.

When she finished her meal, she put her tray away and made to leave the hall. Before she could, however, Lord Padraig approached her.

The pages watched the conversation with interest. It looked like their formidable training master was asking – asking – the squire for something. She seemed determined to not do it. They were shocked that she would stand up to him, and it sent them into giggles seeing that she obviously wanted to hit him. And he knew it, and moved back a little, repeating his question. This time she scowled at him, and then shrugged and followed him to the front of the room. The pages quickly stood up and formed a line in front of him.

He cleared his throat, "Pages. This is the first week back from the holidays, or the first week of the first year's training. We only have one Shang currently at the palace, so for as long as she is here, Squire Adalia has volunteered to help us. I think you could all learn a lot from her, so be sure to followed every instruction she gives, as if it were my own."

Throughout this speech, Adalia was standing behind him with crossed arms. She glared at him when he said she 'volunteered' to help, and promised herself that he was going to fall victim to a nasty prank very soon. I should be looking for Rye. Wait a second, this may actually be fun! It isn't boring mage stuff. Hmm. I like the sound of that.

Adalia followed the grim pages and their grisly training master out of the mess to the training courts, in slightly better spirits.

She grinned playfully at Flick and went to stand next to the Shang. The Shang sighed and shot a glance at Lord Padraig, which Adalia noticed. "I won't be that bad."

The corner of Flick's mouth curled, even though she wanted to look formidable to the new pages, and whispered back, "Then just how bad will you be, Adalia?"

Adalia grinned good-naturedly but didn't answer. Flick had Adalia look after the first years as she went to take over the older pages. As Adalia taught the pages how to fall, she couldn't help but getting frustrated. It wasn't her job to train people; it was her job as a squire to be trained. Surely this wasn't normally allowed. Something Flick had said came to Adalia, 'You are just as good as any Shang.' Great, so because they have no extra Shang's lying around, they decide to use the next best thing, the only one that can't refuse and run away. At least Lord Padraig the Gasbag acknowledges that I am good enough.

At the end of the lesson Adalia was feeling slightly more optimistic about her stint as a training master. It was fun teaching the pages that would one day be knights. Even better was that she was able to teach the girls for a while. Lord Padraig led to the pages over to the staffs, which signalled that Adalia's task was done.

Flick approached her and said, "They did well. I think you are a natural teacher."

Adalia's face contorted in mock horror and she clapped her hands over her ears, "Do not ever mention that again."

Flick laughed at Adalia's theatrics, but then became more serious, "I was thinking of giving the girls a leg up; take them in the mornings to train them, like I did you."

Adalia watched the three retreating backs thoughtfully, "Good idea. But they are in for hell."

Flick grinned wolfishly, "Don't you know it. I have been missing having someone to torment."

Adalia's eyes widened and as pointed an accusatory finger at Flick, "I knew it! I knew it! You were trying to kill me!"

Flick cracked up laughing, but Adalia kept her face sombre. Once finished laughing, Flick clapped her on the back, "aww, it's not that bad, Ady. Think of it this way. If I was trying to kill you, you'd already be dead."

Adalia's voice was dry as she said, "Such a consolation… Oh no, the nickname spreads! I am going to kill Rye when I find him… or Shard. Hmmm. I don't know if it's possible to kill a darking… should be interesting to find out." She added lightly.

She walked off, leaving Flick to wonder if she should go and warn Rye.

----------------------------------------------------------

Adalia was surprised to see Rye walking towards the forest with Numair and a small man she guessed was the black robe mage Justin Grenike. The man seemed to be almost the complete opposite of Numair. Where Numair was extremely tall and gangly, this man was shorter than her, and round. He lacked hair, except for a short blond beard. He looked to be in his forties.

Adalia had not been expecting to see him, as she was really just making her way back into the palace. She got a shock when Rye turned around and beckoned to her, as if he had known she was there the whole time, or they had arranged to meet up here. Adalia sighed. It was almost impossible to dig up his humour when he was acting all magey.

Numair greeted her and introduced her to Justin. Then he moved on to why they were near the forest, "We are going to have a magical duel, so you stand with Rye a fair way off. He is going to be our monitor." Adalia was confused by the excitement in Numair's voice. Why would he want to duel this mage when there was a risk of death? She smiled ironically at that thought. This was no different than her sparring with an opponent to him; he wanted to see who was better, how he could improve, or gauge the skill level of his opponent.

Rye grabbed her hand a pulled her to be standing beside him a distance away. Adalia looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "So, are you going to tell me anything about this mage Justin?"

An annoyed look flitted over his face, to be replaced with a sheepish smile, and he turned to look her in the eyes, "Oh. Sorry, I forgot you haven't been with us… Let's see. He comes from Maren, but got out to study at the City of the Gods. That's how dad knows him. That's about it, except that he gained his black robe a few months ago, and decided to come visiting."

Adalia rolled her eyes when he quickly turned his gaze back to the two men. Obviously in mage mode.

She sat down on the ground rather than stand up to watch what seemed would be a long fight. She saw both men set up barriers to protect their surroundings, as well as keep any noise from the battle from reaching the palace.

Then she felt something that made her shiver. She could feel the power radiating off both men, and even though she knew none of it would affect her, because of the barrier and her crow side, it scared her.

The air around Numair was tinged black, and the air around Justin was tinged a dirty yellow. The clouds above pulsated and a black lightning bolt split the sky, aiming for Justin. He seemed to stop it with a yellow shield that appeared out of thin air. The shield slammed down towards Numair, but all of a sudden, it was gone.

The battle raged, forcing the mages to do more complicated battle magic. Justin sent a hurricane at Numair, who turned it into thread, which tried to secure Justin's arms. The mage cut it and turned it into a snake, which slithered for Numair, but suddenly it was a harmless log and a black orb, that was radiating power, was behind Justin.

The orb engulfed the man, who sent shocks of yellow lightning out, which only bounced around the inside. Justin caught the bolt and it disappeared. Suddenly grass was winding up Numair's legs, and the mage was forced to fight the yellow magic to stop it from capturing him.

Adalia pulled her legs up and wrapped her hands around them. Gods, I really wish I didn't have to be here.

Numair had successfully broken out of the grass, and walked towards Justin. The other mage had broken out of the ball, only to discover that his hands and feet were bound. Numair walked up and touched Justin on the chest, where his heart would be.

"That signals the end. Da won." Rye whispered in her ear.

Adalia was shocked. She had been so consumed in watching the display of power; she hadn't noticed that Rye was sitting next to her, one arm thrown comfortingly over her shoulder.

After taking stock of his position, she smiled gratefully at him, and by way of explaining said, "That was scary."

He nodded and looked her in the eyes seriously. "It was. Come on, we could do with dinner."

Adalia's brows snapped together in confusion, but he indicated the sky. Some time between the start of the fight and now, it had turned dark. It was indeed dinnertime. Adalia shook her head to clear it, took one last glance at the mage Justin, who looked awfully angry, and walked off towards the mess with Rye.

Since Rye wasn't technically allowed in the squire's mess, they went to the Rider's mess hall. Even though Adalia wasn't really supposed to be there, there was always extra food and they welcomed the odd visitor.

After Adalia finished eating, she was feeling much better. She had told Rye about how she had been roped into training the pages, "I just hope Kel gets called away soon."

Rye smiled, "I don't know. If you get called away, I won't be able to see you, and I'll miss you." He pouted.

Adalia burst into laughter. Rye looked hurt, and she couldn't tell if it was acting or real. She wiped some tears of mirth out of her eyes and sobered. She then asked teasingly, "Really. And why would that be, my most noble mage?"

His expression turned deadly serious and he grabbed Adalia and said softly, "Because I… I love you, Adalia."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

He he he. I know I am being the most evil author on the planet, but I am leaving this as a cliffy. Who knows how Adalia will take this? I'd love the viewer's input. (Rubs hands in anticipation)