(-a/n- I'm so, so, so, so sorry about the late update, I don't know where the week has gone, but it has flown past so quickly. This chapter was actually completed about three days ago, but I've had mega problems trying to upload this...But someone very kind explained how you can bypass uploading the document by exporting a previous chapter and then copying the new chapter in :D
When reading your reviews, I was surprised to see that the majority of you are from the USA…although now I think about it; Tamora Pierce is an American author, so that would make sense. I was so thrilled to see how spread out all the reviewers are; all over the USA, Canada, Australia, Scotland, England etc. It really is fantastic that I can write and you can read my writing from wherever you live, many miles away! So thanks for helping with my investigation :D
As always thanks for the massive review response, the reviews for the last chapter surpassed my previous record by quite a bit :D so thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm also having to re-do the review answer format as it is taking up too much space each chapter.
Hasamaki, SaphirePhoenix, On top of cloud 9, LadyKnightSusan, epobbp, padfootsposse04, Geminia, I love Fallen!, Bertie Botts, waterdancer15, elvenwarriorgirl, Eclipsa, Elentariel, Nyleve, BubbleGumEcstasy, rootless californian, after.a.hard.day, Sarra's wildchild, Erytha, nativewildmage, Devouring Sarcasm Phantasm, Justanotheraddiction, Lady Highschoolnerd, Cat in a box, ella plain and simple, bookworm-4-ever2012, fjk, BlackWidow12, Dom-Basher CHAMPION, Lady Sapphirea, The Sherberty Lemon, Grace of Masbolle, ShangWarrior, the. dead. addict., Miss Violet Purple, Rosie, All Hail Books, Mrs. Dom Masbolle, Evil Bunny of Death, Aly the Spy, youdontwant2no, insane . . . i don't think ..., InkblotTheDarking, Brokenflamesrebelbrezzybreztruffletruffle01, SeriousPiper, Golden Pantha & Katiebug123.
THANK YOU all so much, all reviewers listed above, I absolutely loved ALL your reviews. But there are so many to answer to, it didn't make sense me writing 'Thanks :D' every time, so from now on I'm going do it in this new format which takes up less space. All those below, are separate because they asked me a question which I'm going to answer. I hope you don't mind the new format, the only other option was replying to all your reviews through the email-thingy, but I prefer to do it this way as everyone can see the wonderfully nice people who review! (P.s. The bold-normal-bold is just so that you can read it easier.) Once again thanks to all the people listed above, you really are very nice people ;D
SarahE7191 Kel has just turned twelve, because she's quite young for her year. But Cleon was two years older than her, and in 'Page' it said that he was made a Squire in May.
Yabberli Yes, the west coast is very, very, very far away! I'm glad that you didn't mind all the explanation ;D
Covered Clouds Really? Lots of boats? I live on the coast too, but the English coast isn't that spectacular…lol. I went swimming in the sea today, it was absolutely FREEZING! Gah. My hands went purple, but it was fun anyway.
Pie of Doomeh I live on the south coast of the UK. I've only really been to France though…lol. I have never been to USA though, but I am in October!!!! I'm so excited; we're doing another music tour to Vancouver and San Francisco!
JaBoyYa As a reader I don't like cliffies at all! Lol, which is why I always feel guilty when I write them, but they are such lovely things to write ;P
SavingSaturn Yeah, it's strange because some parts of the plot I've had planned for months even before I started writing, but others simply jump into my head at unnatural times (the idea of Cleon being in the North with Inness on border patrol being one of them!)
theknightofkonaha cool! Is your boarding school far from where you live? Our school has boarders but I don't board.
Golden23 Really? Did you enjoy being in London? It must be so cool to experience a different schooling system! I would be really scared though if I ever went to school abroad!
Erynfaer Ooh! I'm going to Canada in October, I'm so excited! It's part of a music tour, but I've never been to USA or Canada before, so I can't wait! Do you get loads of snow where you live? I saw some pictures which my cousin took (she went to live there for a year) and I was so jealous seeing all the snow she had!
Me Don't worry I'm not going to stalk you or anything lol, no I just thought it would be interesting to know. Because it is so amazing that you can all read my fics and stuff even though you live thousands of miles away from me!
CIRPG The smallest state? Hmm… American States confuse my English brain! Lol. I'll look on Google… Rhode Island? Wherever that may be :D
alynawatlovers hehehe, nope, Neal and Kel aren't destined to meet yet, you'll have to wait a while for that!
queenoftheostlers You are officially mad…what were you doing in a hobo house anyway?...You should've bought your poor cousin a new egg…lol. Anyway I shall see you soon :D Are you coming to the restaurant on Monday? (If you are then I'll see ya then).
x17SkmBdrchiczxx Hehehe, on the topic of brownies, my Mum made such yummy, yummy choccy ones for easter :D I adore brownies :D Ah well I don't mind, I can hardly talk as I'm so bad at getting distracted nowadays, it is so easy to just start reading something else when I'm meant to be revising…-sighs-…:D
oirishgoddess lol, I can imagine the Charleston costume! Hehee :D So where did you live before the UK? I've only ever lived in the same town, same house. Lol ;D
Kathy I'm going along with the idea that as it was a completely chance meeting, and Kel is Tortallan…that they wouldn't think Scanra to use a child. Also as Scanra has no main monarchy each clan would have to have spies…gah it gets complicated. They are accepting her because the situation in Scanra is desperate and because she's not really being trusted with many secrets anyway…
SlytherinScholar Thanks, yeah I live on the south coast of England :D
Hyperbookworm yay! Two reviews :P I know the song is awesome! You see how much it is possible to love that song and even base a whole fic on it!?! Hehee, I've listened to it soooo much, it's crazy :D Anyways I'm glad that someone else is obsessed too :D
mangolady Thanks, yeah Kel is going to have some interesting escapades in Scanra, it's going to be completely different to how she could've imagined and hopefully you'll all like it :D Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what I can do.
Confusedknight xx
Kel sat, frozen in place her head bowed, desperately trying to come up with a plan of action. She couldn't be seen by either Cleon or Inness right now. With a bit of disguise she could probably fool Inness, whom she hadn't seen for years, but Cleon had seen her less than a year ago, how much had she changed since then?
It took a while for all the men to dismount, and Kel sat idly, acting every inch the innocent village girl, picking daisies for her necklace. A hostler came from the stables to take the horses away and the twelve men entered the pub talking amiably among themselves.
When the last soldier disappeared, Kel got up and wandered up the road. When she was finally out of sight of the village, she ran back to where Alex was sitting.
'Back so soon?' he asked in Scanran, grinning.
'Change of plan,' Kel replied, also in Scanran.
'You had a plan to begin with?' joked Alex, feigning a look surprise.
Kel stuck her tongue out, in a most un-Kel-like way and switching back to Common said, 'There are twelve soldiers. Ten form an ordinary squad in the army; just the regular army and not the King's Own. There is a Sergeant in that squad, but leading the group is Sir Inness of Mindelan and his Squire Cleon of Kennan.'
Alex said nothing as his young charge reported the information back to him. He wondered though, how did she know the exact titles of the Knight and Squire, just from sitting on the bank? From where Alex had been watching, she'd been quite a way away, far enough away not to overhear the conversation. He decided not to press the matter further, but instead filed it away as another 'mystery' that he would one day hope to get to the bottom of.
Kel meanwhile was busy. At a village that they had travelled through Alex had stopped in at some houses to buy Kel some second-hand clothes. It was this bag which Kel was now rummaging through. She pulled out a worn, grubby shift and a brown dress. The brown dress came down to just below Kel's knees and the top half was styled almost like a pinafore. It was perfect, old and slightly too short for Kel, it would give the impression of a peasant girl who had had to wear the dress for several years already.
She rubbed the shift and dress on the dusty ground for a few seconds and then finally she pulled of her shoes and removed the flower from her hair.
'Can I have a couple of copper nobles and a headscarf?' Kel questioned.
Alex fished her out two copper nobles, which Kel carefully hid upon her person, and searched for something which Kel could use as a headscarf. Once Alex had found a suitable piece of material she gathered up the pile of clothes and headed a little way into the trees so she could change into her shift and dress. She tucked the headscarf into her dress for now and returned to Alex.
Suddenly an idea came to her. Kel reached into the bag where Alex kept all his medicines and herbs. She carefully lifted out a small pouch of berries, crushing one between her forefinger and thumb, Kel rubbed the juice around her left eye. Looking at her reflection in a small mirror, Kel smiled as she saw that her eye now looked as it has, on the day when she had first come to the Palace; black and bruised.
Finally she removed her Yamani 'lucky-cat' necklace, for one of the first times since she's left the Convent. It had been the only thing apart from her sword that Kel had left from her previous 'life' and over the months it had become almost part of Kel, a reminder that she had never, and would never give up.
Now however, it would not do for it to be spotted when she went to play 'the starving peasant girl.'
'Can you look after this for me?' asked Kel, her small hazel eyes fixed upon his own. She held out a small, calloused hand and deposited a silver chain upon his hand. There was a strange cat charm hanging on the chain and Alex remembered seeing it once before, the night when they had met and he'd tended to Kel's back.
Alex nodded and stowed the small item in a pouch which was hidden inside his clothes, containing all of his valuable items, spy codes and expensive money.
'Are you going to stay here all night?' she asked.
He shook his head, 'I'm going to ride over to a different town, and leave you a free rein. I'll meet you here in the morning, when the sun rises.'
'Okay, I'll see you then,' and without looking back she set off down the hill, determined as ever.
Kel knew that the next few hours would be vitally important. She had to convince Alex that she was competent enough to be taken into Scanra. If she managed this task then she would disappear into Scanra for the next few years. However it would be disastrous if either Cleon or Inness recognised her; she simply wasn't ready to face her past yet.
Kel took up her position at the side of the Inn. She was looking out over the back yard and stables of the Inn. If Kel wasn't very much mistaken, as soon as the soldiers had had a drink and been shown rooms for the evening, they would come outside to tend their mounts, collect their saddle bags and then probably spend the rest of the afternoon sparring or relaxing in the summer sun.
True to Kel's predictions the men did exactly that and Kel was perfectly placed to watch it all. No one glanced twice at the dirty, skinny, ragged girl who sat in the dust. To Kel's delight, several of the village kids appeared from inside their small, poorly-built houses. Almost as dirty and shabby-looking as Kel was, they recognised a newcomer immediately.
'Ain't seen you 'round 'ere before,' said the tallest and most confident of the group.
'That's 'cause I only been 'ere a day, I'm travellin' through,' replied Kel in a perfect match of their accent. (One of Alex's lessons had been that if you used an accent that a person would be familiar with, you were far less likely to create suspicion.)
'I'm Kirsten,' said the tall, bossy girl, 'This 'ere is me brother Thomas, that's Shona and the little runt there's Kit. He 'ain't got no home but sometimes Ma lets 'im come home with us.'
'Lia,' Kel introduced herself as she stood up, ''ave you seen 'em soldiers, they's only just arrived.'
The four children looked up with interest.
'Ma said she saws 'em comin' in,' said the little black-haired Thomas.
The four children and Kel climbed onto the yard fence, watching the soldiers curiously. The soldiers were apparently used to being gawped at and paid them no notice; it was perfect. Kel was close enough to hear their conversation and she blended in well with the others.
Watching the soldiers sparring against each other Kel noted how sloppy and awkward the moves looked compared to Alex's grace and precision. Her own brother Inness was clearly the best with the sword and Kel found it interesting to watch him in action. She hadn't seen Inness fight properly since before she had left for the Yamani Islands, but she'd heard of his skill. Although he was a good swordsman Kel thought that he relied too heavily on his strength. As Kel's eyes ranged over the sparring men she tried to ignore the red-headed Squire; it bought back too many painful memories of fighting against him herself.
Kel looked round at Kirsten and Thomas, who were sitting either side of her and almost smiled at their wide-open mouths. I wonder what they would think if they knew that Knight was my brother, and that I can fight better than those soldiers. Shaking her head; such thoughts were stupid and irrelevant, she listened hard to the soldier's conversation.
Every time a name was mentioned Kel carefully added it onto the list in her head, carefully fixing the details of each in her mind. After an hour or so Kel had learnt more than she had expected she would in such a short time. She knew all but one of their names and their destination. They had ridden from the Capital, with permission to stop in Mindelan for a few days so that Inness could show his new Squire his home fief before heading on to a small Garrison right on the Scanran border.
After about an hour or so the group disbanded, Kirsten and Thomas needing to get back to help their Ma. Shona left a few minutes later, leaving Kit and Kel alone. Kit looked to be about Kel's age, although with both of them it was hard to tell their ages because they were both so skinny.
'So what'cha doin' now?' asked Kit, as they jumped off of the fence.
'I was gonna ask the people at the Inn if I could work for the evening in return for a meal,' said Kel. She knew that it was not unusual for homeless children to offer to do various jobs in return for a meal or shelter.
'Ma'am might let you, 'cause of all the extra guests,' said Kit, 'I usually get some bread or something if I work all evenin'.'
Together they made their way up the steps into the Inn's dingy kitchen.
'Ma'am this is Lia, she's been wonderin' if she can work this evenin' like I do, for a meal. 'Cause with all them soldiers it's gonna be busy tonight…'
'Ma'am', who Kel presumed was the Innkeeper's wife, like nearly all cooks, was large and imposing.
'Let's have a look at you then,' said the woman, pulling Kel forward and examining her with two beady eyes. 'Hmm…alright then, but just for this evening as we're busy. You'll have to wash your hands mind.'
She released Kel who followed Kit over to a stone basin. Together they both scrubbed their hands clean and Kel tied back her hair with her headscarf. Kit had gone to fetch their brooms when suddenly Kel caught sight of herself in the grubby, tarnished full-length mirror that leaned against the wall, next to the sink. It looked completely out of place, as though someone had just dumped it there, but this was not what surprised Kel.
It was her own appearance. Wearing the too small dress made her look skinnier than ever and her arms were really tanned. The 'bruise' drew the attention away from her dreamy hazel eyes and she had a healing cut on her forehead, from where she'd scratched it the week before.
Her hair was completely covered by the headscarf and that coupled with her brown skin, made her look almost foreign. It made her feel a bit more secure; she looked completely different to the Kel who had left the Palace a year ago.
Kit returned and handed Kel a bucket of water and a cloth.
'We've gotta scrub up the back-room for them soldiers,' he said, and Kel followed him out.
Two hours later the back-room was clean, a large table had been laid up for twelve people and slowly the chairs were beginning to fill with the relaxed soldiers.
However Kel was anything from relaxed and scurried back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, trying to keep herself occupied. Fortunately, once the sun had set, the back-room became quite dingy, lit solely by half-melted, drooping candles. It was perfect, if Kel stood back from the table, she doubted whether anyone would be able to make out her face properly.
Once all twelve men had sat down she began to serve up large bowls of delicious-smelling, thick vegetable soup. The bowls of soup were heavy but Kel's hands remained steady as she set the bowls down in front of the soldiers. Her heart thudded in her chest as she served up soup to Cleon but she needn't have worried, he barely cast her a second glance.
Kit however had no such luck, when serving her brother Inness, he slopped the glutinous soup and some landed in the Knight's lap. Kit hurriedly placed the soup on the table and reached for a napkin to soak up the errant liquid. He was rewarded for his mistake with a vicious slap across the face which sent him sprawling to the ground.
He scrambled up and left the room, his hand held protectively over the sore, pink skin. Kel stood frozen with shock. She had never agreed with the way that nobles treated their 'inferiors' but she had always imagined it to be the work of families such as Stone Mountain or Genlith. Never had she thought that Inness could slap a homeless little boy, right across the face just for spilling some soup.
Kel served up the final two bowls of soup, her eyes fixed firmly downwards, not even wanting to look at Inness. Never before had Kel ever felt so ashamed of being noble. What good was it that Inness was good with a sword and spent his days 'protecting' the realm if he couldn't even show courtesy to a village boy.
Kel knew that if it had been one of Anders' sons, even if they'd dropped ten bowls of soup over Inness, they'd never get more than a few harsh words and never physical violence. She hurried back into the kitchen and came face to face with Kit.
The angry red mark left by Inness stood out in stark contrast to the boys pale, drawn face.
'You gotta serve for the evenin',' he said dismally, handing her a jug of wine.
The rest of the evening flashed past, Kel serving all four courses of the meal, never drawing any attention to herself. Her ears however stayed firmly open, picking up all sorts of details about the men. She discovered the name of the tenth soldier; Seth and also plenty more about the assignment they were on and the other squads who were already patrolling in the North.
When the men finally left to go to bed, Kel insisted that she'd tidy up the room for Kit, as she still felt bad about her brother's violence towards him. The Innkeeper's wife shooed them out of her kitchen at twenty minutes to midnight, each with a large hunk of bread and some leftover ham.
Both ate their meal in silence, munching hungrily as neither of them had eaten anything for many hours. Kit led Kel to a barn.
'Lia, we can sleep in 'ere, the farmer don't care.'
Kel settled down in a pile of hay, untied her headscarf and closed her eyes. She was exhausted but for some reason she just couldn't sleep. Her brother's face swam before her eyes, displaying the indifference with which he had slapped Kit.
Since she had left the title of 'Keladry of Mindelan' behind, she'd had remarkably little to do with any nobles and she now worried how ignorant she had been beforehand. She had grown up with her personal beliefs about equality, but she had never realised the truth.
When people spoke about 'commoners', it was sometimes clearly evident that they regarded them as inferior beings, but Kel had never realised how people exercised their beliefs. Inness had slapped a young boy without so much as a blink of an eye, how far off was that from mal-treating and bullying a servant on a regular basis? How far off was that from the likes of Joren? In Kel's opinion, not far enough.
And as she tossed and turned on her soft but itchy bed, she realised how much it bothered her; the treatment of others. Kel had always hated bullying of any form, or the suffering of others, something which not many nobles did and if they did it was to a lesser extent.
Kel rubbed her eyes, desperately wishing she could sleep. Telling herself that there was nothing she could do (yet), Kel promised that when she returned to Tortall, it would be something to fight for. But Kel knew that to change peoples' ways of thinking was difficult. She would have to be someone they either trusted or respected, and then starting with those closest to her, she would have to slowly change their perceptions of other people. It would take a long time, but it would definitely be worth it in the end. With yet another resolution, she lay still listening to Kit's snuffling and waited for sleep to come.
Rising with the sun, Kel had had barely more than a few hours sleep, and a dark circle ringed the eye that wasn't stained to look bruised. Kit had also woken, though it was near impossible to do anything else with the bright sunlight that was streaming into the barn. That coupled with the noises of the farm's occupants waking up; the soft mooing of cows, bleating sheep and the cockerel's noisy wake-up call, meant that the air was awash with noise and any hope of a few hours more sleep quickly vanished from Kel's mind.
'Don't get much of a lie in 'ere,' he said, grinning blearily at her.
Kel got up, stretching the kinks out of her spine.
'Thanks for gettin' me the job yesterday,' she said, and reaching inside her dress she drew out the two copper nobles.
'Keep these for an emergency,' and she tossed them to him, enjoying the look of disbelief on his face.
'I've never 'ad so much money in all me life,' he said in wonderment. Kel grimaced inwardly; thinking shamefully of the pocket money which she used to be given that was over three times as much as what she had given Kit.
'Well, just spend it wisely yeah? You don't deserve to starve…no one deserves that,' she trailed off.
Kit was still looking at her in amazement and Kel reflected that although it would look slightly suspicious to a stranger; a homeless beggar girl giving money to another homeless waif, but she hoped that Kit had the sense to keep his new found 'wealth' private. Besides, it wasn't as though she would ever return here again.
'I'm goin' now,' said Kel, turning to leave.
'Wait…' he called, and Kel turned around.
Kit crossed the distance between them and without a second's hesitation, grasped her face in his grubby hands and kissed her firmly on the lips. Kel was too shocked to move and after a few seconds Kit pulled away, smiling cheekily.
'Somethin' for the road.'
As Kel walked back up the hill, she reflected upon the strange circumstances in which she had received her first kiss. She would probably never see the boy again, and it had been more a gesture of thanks than anything else, but it had still been her first kiss. Kel suddenly laughed out loud imagining the scandalised expressions that would adorn the faces of the Convent girl's if they had seen Kel then, scantily dressed, half her leg showing and kissing a homeless, dirty boy.
She continued to smile happily, rejoicing in the new day and deciding that she would never forget this day and Kit with his cheeky smile.Aly was right she reflected; kissing can be fun.
Kel also decided later on, once she had reported all the information to Alex and they had begun their journey North again, that her new 'identity' as a commoner gave her much more freedom. She could do things that she wouldn't normally have dared and still get away with them. Kel noted ironically that it was probably this that made peasant people far more easy-going and friendly that the majority of the noble classes.
In her heart she knew that someday she would return to being 'Keladry of Mindelan' but why not enjoy life as it stood now? As much as she knew she would never let her eyes drift for a so much as a second off of her target, Kel made up her mind to make the next few years fun, as well as productive.
And when Kel would look back on her 'Scanran years' in times to come, although there were times and situations which would haunt her forever, there were definitely times when she had thoroughly enjoyed her existence, making the most of the moment.
But now she travelled ever Northwards, unaware that her experiences over the next few years would affect her life forever. She would learn, love, lose, cry, laugh, work and play, though never once forgetting her promises to herself. She would return and when she did it would be with her head held high. She would turn people's heads, she would make a difference.
(-a/n- This is really part II to the previous chapter. Sorry that there isn't all that much action, it's really just Kel gathering her thoughts although she does get her first kiss :P I hope that Kel didn't seem out of character, but I just wanted everyone to be aware that her character will change. Admittedly I'll keep the 'essential' parts, but the situations which she will experience will change her, as they will be vastly different from anything which she saw in the books.
I'm also sorry that it's not very long, but I promise that next chapter Kel will cross into Scanra and her spying adventure will begin. Please review and let me know what you thought :D )
Confusedknight xxx