(-a/n- Okay, mega apologies on the late, late, late update, but the amount of homework that I've had this week has been incredible because certain French teachers set masses of work so instead of writing my 5000 word fanfic chapter I ended up writing 5000 words of French!! Which wasn't good and it took me hours and hours and hours…grr… mais c'est la vie après tout! I'm wishing you all a HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!! (1st March)…hehehe World Book day is so fun we get to dress up so Queenoftheostlers and I are going as hobbits! Anyway…
As always thanks for the wonderful, wonderful people out there who review :D
x17SkmBdrchiczxxThanks, yeah I love the song so much :D
the. dead. addict.Hehe thanks ;D
YabberliWow! Thanks so much :P
theknightofkonahathanks !
Me thanks ;P
inuyashaswife12 woo! Thanks, um…not quite that long, only about a month and a bit by my reckoning.
Pie of Doomehhehe, love the simile :D I love puppies! hehehe
bookworm-4-ever2012 Thanks ;D
youdontwant2noThanks I love to write, it's just finding the time :D
queenoftheostlersWhoa! Longish review !! Pretend to be normal …!?! That would be very difficult…lol! Omigosh! Thursday is going to be awesome (excluding my 10 hours of rehearsals…) HOBBIT FEET! –sniffs- Percy is well and truly deceased, his DOM still inhabits the bathroom though…muah haha we shall have a Percival II this year.
Golden23Some chapters will skip months and others will be day-to-day. Thanks for reviewing :P
oirishgoddessThanks ;D
Grace of Masbolle There will be more from them later, but for the moment I'm going to concentrate on Kel or I'll never get anywhere with the plot.
Love's a four-letter wordthanks!
alynawatloversYep, you're right :D
SarahE7191The Chamber of Ordeal hasn't met Kel for so the moment just the Goddess, although even that guidance will be limited now that Kel is 'on the road to recovery'.
SaphirePhoenixIt's going to be a long time before we get to the events in chapter one, but hopefully not too long. I will skim over some bits, but others will be detailed for the sake of the plot.
Dom-Basher CHAMPIONThanks ;D
Erynfaeryeah, it was a bit sudden but I didn't want to drag Kel's angst out for too long! Hehe and as you say there is a Goddess involved…
PureElementThanks, yeah those were my original feelings but the Goddess isn't going to be helping all that much, just a few nudges to get Kel back on her feet again. I know that in the books Kel didn't have any help, but in my version of events she has and will be put into tougher situations …anyways thanks for reviewing…
On top of cloud 9I did eat rather a lot of chocolate at my friends house and we managed to spill a chocolate fountain all over a cream carpet…oops!
Hasamakithanks ;D
rosie haha thanks!
Lady Highschoolnerdok…
nativewildmageyeah, I listened to it once or twice. I hadn't even heard of Superchick until a few weeks ago but I really like some of their songs…
katiebug123yay! The seal of approval! ;P teeheehee. I'm glad you like the way this is headed, I'll try not to disappoint!
Mrs. Dom MasbolleYep, don't we all love it when Kel/Alanna proves they can beat the men :D
justanotheraddiction Thanks! (Don't worry, Kel and Dom aren't done just yet…)
Elentariel Thanks :D
Erythathanks :P
Devouring Sarcasm Phantasm Whoa! That's a lot of bones (maybe a whole ribcage?!? Lol) I can't really reply to most of your 'bones' without giving away huge chunks of the plot but still nothing has been ruled out, you may be surprised ;D
brezzybrezhmm.. animals, hadn't really considered that…I don't think so, not at the moment anyway…
Right or RynThanks for reviewing!
Hyperbookworm Well, Kel was asleep-ish, in a dream and the Goddess was talking to her that way, although obviously Kel didn't realise it was her. (Sorry for any confusion.)
NyleveThanks ;D
AJHHr12Thanks!
manicpony24hehe thanks!
JaBoyYaThanks :D
Confusedknight xxx
Kel laid down her sword on the scuffed turf and straightened up with a groan. One hand went to her forehead, wiping away the sweat that had formed there. It was a brilliantly sunny day in mid-April and she was back up in her favourite place on top of the hill. Thinking that it would be very conspicuous if she practised her swordplay right on the summit of the hill, Kel had walked a small way down the other side, to an area where the grass had flattened out and where several trees growing further down the slope concealed her from prying eyes.
Unfortunately the trees did not provide much protection against the elements. Ever since the day when she had taken up her sword once more, she had not missed a single afternoon's practise. Whether it was raining, windy or sunny she was always out there, doggedly exercising.
Her days had taken on a pattern; rise early, help in the mill, eat lunch, practise swordplay, have dinner with Fanche and her family, then go for a run before turning in for the night. Although she had only been following this strict regime for just over four weeks it had already changed the way she looked and felt. At first it had been difficult, her body didn't respond to the exercise as it once had and she tired easily, gasping for breath. The Bandit attack had been a sharp wake-up call as to how unfit she had become. It would take a while to regain her old physique, but Kel's single-minded determination had returned to her and she felt as though she could almost feel the difference.
Each day she forced herself to exercise for a bit longer, run a little bit further. She was still stick-thin after her spell at the Convent, and although Kel never went hungry, food was never plentiful in the North and any weight that she gained was from her slowly growing muscles and not fat.
Re-tying her hair with a leather thong, she picked up her sword once more and began yet another complex move, repeating it over and over until it was perfect, smooth, accurate and above all deadly fast.
Over the past through days Kel had experimented turning the specified sword moves that she knew into pattern dances. She had had varying success, realising that she found it far easier to make up such dances with a glaive. But despite much wishful thinking on Kel's behalf her glaive was still locked away in the Convent where it was likely to remain until either her family claimed it or it was thrown out.
What Kel really needed was a teacher, one who could point out where she was going wrong and teach her all the complicated moves which she would need to be able to perform perfectly to truly master the blade.
With a final flourish Kel sheathed the sword, her chest heaving and her arms aching from exertion. She gritted her teeth and began an exhausting array of strengthening exercises. She started by balancing on her hands and feet, almost as though she was going to perform a press-up and then jumping up and then back down again. Although the move was simple, after a dozen or so Kel's muscles were burning from the effort. She forced herself onward, sweat dripping from her grimy face onto the ground.
Kel banished all thought of stopping early for the day from her mind and changed into her arm strengthening exercises. An hour later, any muscles which hadn't been aching previously were now doing exactly that and Kel sipped thirstily from her leather water gourd.
Next Kel started on her hand-to-hand combat exercises, although this was difficult without a training partner and she had to settle with punching and kicking a hand-made dummy. Kel had borrowed a sack from the mill and packed it tight with earth, which she hung from a tree and attacked ferociously every afternoon.
It was quite late in the afternoon when Kel bundled her sword up in her cloak and headed back to the Weir's farm. Fanche watched her 'adopted' daughter making her way back through the front gate and up the small dirt track to the cottage. Fanche knew that there was something about Kel that made her different from her other daughters.
Kel was often quiet and withdrawn, although she would take part in conversations, replying to questions with careful, well thought out answers in her polite, gentle speech. Kel never seemed to say anything impulsively and gave nothing away about who she was or where she had come from.
Every day now Kel disappeared for the afternoon and returned in varying states of dirtiness. On rainy days Kel returned soaked to the skin and covered in mud. Today Kel appeared to be hot, sweaty and dust-covered as she made her way slowly up the garden.
When Kel had turned up three months previously with a sword strapped around her waist it had surprised Fanche and Gothar had reckoned that she had stolen it. It didn't take a genius to see that Kel took her sword with her whenever she disappeared for the afternoon. Fanche supposed that it didn't really matter what Kel did with the sword as long as she wasn't running around murdering people, but that didn't make her any less curious about Kel's daily disappearances.
Several days later on another glorious day, with the sun shining down, Fanche stood in the kitchen washing up the lunch plates and cutlery when she saw Kel slipping silently out of the farm again. Fanche watched Kel walk along to the end of the lane and slip into a field, which Fanche knew had a footpath running around its edge.
Hurriedly washing the last two plates, she stacked them on a board to drain and peeled off her apron. Her curiosity overrode her and she followed the path she had seen Kel take. The path led through several more fields, over a style and into the wild ground at the base of one of the hills. Glancing around furtively, Fanche started the strenuous climb to the summit of the hill.
She edged forward, into a small clump of trees, trying to spot her adopted daughter. As she peered out of the trees she couldn't see anyone, so she walked a little way through the cooling shade of the trees and this time when she peered out she could see the small figure of Kel who was stretching out her muscles.
Confident that she was well-hidden, Fanche watched in amazement as Kel took up the sword and began to practise with the air of one who knew exactly what they were doing. The blade started off slowly, twirling through the air, its shiny surface reflecting the sun's bright light and speeded up until it became a flashing blur.
Fanche watched fixated as Kel put her body through different types of exercise, slow and exaggerated, then fast and nimble, swinging her sword as she moved around. When Kel stopped for one of her quick rests, she pushed her hair off her sweaty forehead and looked directly at the trees where Fanche was hiding.
'You can come out now, I know you're there,' she stated calmly with no hint of anger or surprise.
Gulping slightly, Fanche stumbled out of the woods. Neither of them spoke, for what was there to say? Fanche could ask how Kel acquired her skills with a sword, or who Kel really was. Kel could ask why Fanche had followed her, but still neither of them said a word.
Eventually it was Fanche who broke the silence.
'Do you do this everyday?'
Kel nodded, 'You don't improve without practise.'
'Are you from Shang?' blurted out the older lady.
Kel shook her head, a smile twitching the corners of her mouth. 'I'm not nearly good enough to be from Shang.'
Fanche exhaled a breath suddenly understanding, 'That's how you fought of the bandit, you know how to fight hand-to-hand as well…' she trailed of and Kel nodded in confirmation. Kel was hoping against hope that Fanche didn't ask the inevitable question of how she knew how to fight, as she disliked lying to people who had been so kind and generous towards her.
Another silence reigned between them.
'Well I don't mind what you do in your spare time. You've been such a help to Gothar and if fighting is what you enjoy I say keep practising. Goddess only knows what would've happened if you hadn't fought off that bandit.'
Although they both knew exactly what would've happened Fanche couldn't bear to think of the unpleasantness of it all and to Kel it served as a painful reminder of the past.
'I could always show you a couple of moves which you could use. Nothing complicated mind, just a few basic self-defence moves which you could teach Fern and Layla.'
Fanche looked surprised, 'I couldn't, I'm no fighter.'
'You and I both know that unpleasant things happen to women who can't defend themselves and although it won't hold of a bandit for very long, it may provide enough time for help to come or you to get away.'
Unpleasant things can also happen to women who can defend themselves, pointed out one half of her brain sardonically.
Well I certainly hope that Fanche, Layla or Fern never meet a Tauros, the other side reasoned.
And reluctantly Fanche agreed to let Kel show her some simple self-defence moves. That too quickly settled into part of Kel's routine and after lunch everyday Kel tutored Fanche, Fern and Layla. Whereas before Layla wouldn't have dreamed of punching someone, the experience with the bandit had taught her otherwise; the weak were targets. Soon they had grasped the basics of how to throw a decent punch or kick to sensitive parts of the body; the nose, groin, stomach, jaw. Had learnt how to dig their nails into an attackers thumb or twist their own thumb painfully into someone's eye.
Kel stressed that they wouldn't be able to take on a man in a fight; they only knew a few moves, but a well placed punch to the nose, or kick to the groin would be enough to make the attacker release their hold.
Although Kel never said anything, Fanche could sense that she was restless. With every day that passed the weather became better and better. Soon Kel was coming in from her practise sessions, her arms, legs and face pink, burnt and sore.
There was nothing that could be done except to rub a cooling cream on the burnt skin and soon Kel's skin began to take on the brown, weathered appearance of all northerners. The sun also slowly bleached her ever-lengthening hair into a lighter shade of brown. Despite still being small and skinny for her age, Kel's arms and legs were well toned and her hands callused from hard labour in the mill.
Fanche knew that Kel didn't belong in the isolated village and began to mentally prepare herself for the day when Kel would announce that she was leaving.
One evening after her daily run Kel was back in her favourite place on the hill, this time watching the sunset, gazing out over the beautiful landscape. She was thinking of her family, of Neal and Lucie, wondering what they were doing at right that very minute. Neal would be nearing the end of his second year of page training.
Kel wondered whether he thought of her as much as she thought of him. Kel missed his steadfast presence, his wicked sense of humour and his flare for dramatics. Despite the fact that she longed to see him again Kel knew she had changed. The past year had been the hardest of Kel's life; would she ever be able to face him with the truth of what had happened?
Kel didn't feel like she was ready to face anyone or talk about what had happened and was content to be just 'Kel' for a while and not Keladry of Mindelan. She hoped that maybe things would get better in time, although she doubted whether she would ever be rid of the nightmares that haunted her sleep. Kel found ways of dealing with it though. If she exercised herself to the point of exhaustion during the day then she would often sleep through a night untroubled as her body was too deeply enveloped in sleep for her mind to recreate that fateful day.
Deciding it was time to get back to the farm she picked herself up with a sigh. When she was ready she would return, but until then 'Keladry of Mindelan' would disappear without a trace. As soon as she left Goatstrack she would take up a different name and travel, maybe finding someone who would be willing to continue her instruction in the art of fencing.
Kel set a date in her mind, by next Saturday she would be gone, she couldn't live upon Fanche's generosity anymore. Kel would make her own way in life; if you didn't depend on anyone then they couldn't let you down.
She sighed, it wasn't taking on the world just yet, but it was a step in the right direction.
(-a/n- Sorry this isn't amazingly long but it'll have to do. I'm really, really busy at the moment, not only with school work, but also sports fixtures and many hours of rehearsals, (tomorrow I have over TEN HOURS …eesh)… Please, please review it'll help to up my moral and will give me something to look forward through all my rehearsals. Anyway I must go to bed, toodles xxx)
Confusedknight xxx