Hi there! I know it's been far too long…
Thanks for every single review and impatient PM that was left. I finally found time to write and for the last three days have been sitting in a caravan in Wales doing little else!
Anyway, after a long and rather convoluted discussion with myself I have ironed out several timeline issues and have changed the plot slightly from what it was originally –this will make it more interesting, both to read and write! You shall have to wait and see…
Enough nattering –enjoy!
Confusedknight xxx
Disclaimer: I'm just having fun with Tamora Pierce's characters; I own nothing 'cept the plot (as miserable as this makes me feel.) There are some points in here –a bit of Buri's dialogue, and a comment or two from Raoul, that are from the original books and I take no credit for those, I just love them so much and they were clamouring to be included…
When Kel awoke, slipping slowly back into consciousness, the first thing that her mind registered was that it was now dark outside. A gently pulsating mage-light cast a dim glow across the two rows of pallets, that contained occupants as still as Kel.
Reaching her hand down beneath the covers her fingers gently probed the tender patch on her leg. There was still a little swelling and it was sore to the touch, but it was no way near as painful as it had been before her healing.
Kel sat up slightly too fast and waited for the dizzy sensation to subside before sliding out of her pallet. She peered cautiously around, checking that no healer was poised ready to send her back to her rest. Silently, Kel collected her boots and sword, putting both on. This left her with two free hands to gather up her armour. Kel hurried from the healer's tent and out into the warm summer's night.
Crickets chirped and hummed in the bushes, disturbing the otherwise still night. Kel had no idea what time it was, unsure as to how long she'd slept after her healing. Her boots padding softly across the dew-damp ground she sought out the company horses.
Kel whistled softly and moments later Prince's steady footfalls were audible. His bulky form soon became visible through the darkness. Over the fence he butted her gently, reproachfully, as if to reprimand her for going into battle without him.
'I'm sorry,' Kel murmured in Scanran. 'Things work differently over here.'
Prince, liking the tones and syllables of the language he'd grown up hearing, lipped Kel's palm gently. Kel continued to whisper in Scanran, her lips and tongue forming half-forgotten words that drifted into the night. Kel only wished that Alex was there to answer.
The camp was a hive of activity the next morning and Kel found herself hanging around awkwardly with very little to do. She had slept under the stars again and therefore had no tent to pack up. Most of her armour would travel on her person and the rest had been stashed in her pack.
'How's your leg this morning, Squire of mine?' enquired Raoul jovially.
'It's fine,' said Kel, trying to fight down the rising blush.
'Emmet's a good healer,' Raoul commented, 'He patched me up nicely last year.'
Kel's eyes widened slightly; she couldn't imagine a man as big, powerful or experienced as Raoul needing a healer's attention.
'Being a good fighter doesn't make you immune to injury,' said Raoul kindly. 'You took down three enemies yesterday –a notable feat for any Squire.'
'But it was a silly mistake,' mumbled Kel.
'And one which you won't make again,' Raoul pointed out. 'Being a Squire is all about learning. I may not be able to teach you swordplay, but the experience that you gain with the Own is about so much more than just technical fighting.'
Kel nodded, slightly mollified.
'Good girl,' Raoul clapped her on the back and strode away.
Kel turned around to find Dom watching her from a short distance, his normally dancing eyes wearing a troubled expression that did not suit his handsome face. Kel knew that she would have to face Dom at some point; their last encounter had left a lot of things needing to be said, Kel wishing perhaps that some things could be un-said.
Steeling herself, Kel forced her legs to walk over to Dom, confronting the issue as soon as possible. Dom dropped his gaze on the pretence of tightening the girth on his horse's saddle.
Before she could say anything Dom spoke.
'Kel, look I'm sorry about yesterday. Seeing you there, with those men,' he swallowed. 'I know you're a good fighter, a brilliant fighter and you mustn't think that I doubt you in anyway, because I don't, but there were three of them,' he trailed off, 'it was almost instinctual.'
'I'm sorry too,' muttered Kel in the same undertone so that passers-by couldn't hear. 'I shouldn't have shouted at you.' After a pause she said, 'You scared me charging over like that.' She rubbed the mare's neck absent-mindedly.
'I think it's going to take a little getting used to, for both of us,' said Dom carefully.
'It's a lot easier to fight for someone you love than alongside them,' Kel said, meeting Dom's eyes.
'My response to that would be to kiss you,' he whispered, 'But I don't think now is perhaps the best time…' A horn blared across the milling crowd.
'I'll keep it on account.' Kel slipped away, a faint smile visible on her weathered face.
The company rode out of Stonescross in neat formation, Kel in her usual place on Raoul's left. Feeling that she owed it to the horse, Kel was riding Prince today, happy to be back in the familiar, worn saddle. Kel toyed with the bottom of Prince's mane as she rode, her fingers nimbly weaving the coarse hair together and then combing it out.
She listened lazily to Raoul and Flyn who were discussing their next destination. It seemed that the second-in-command felt that they should ride north, rest their for a few days, deliver the prisoners and then ride up to join the Grand progress who were headed for fief Eldorne. Raoul on the other hand thought it better to ride to Irontown, in a north-easterly direction and then back to the Palace at Corus.
'You know we'll have to catch up with the progress at some point?' sighed Flyndan.
'Only once we've all rested up,' replied Raoul gravely, 'and after our charming hunting exploits I confess I could do with a nice-'
Flyndan cut across Raoul and it was all Kel could do to stop herself grinning at her knight-master's antics. Not for the first time she thanked the Gods for a mentor who was not only an excellent commander, but also one of the nicest men Kel had ever met. Raoul was easy-going, with a sense of humour to match.
'One day you and the King are going to come to blows,' Flyndan warned Raoul, 'and boyhood friend or no, you are going to end up with a royal warning.'
'Jon and I get on just fine about the combat work the Own does, we only disagree when he tries to use us as an accessory to dress up the Realm. We're a fighting unit not a troupe of dancing players. We leave only when we're fully recuperated.'
Flyndan shook his head but did not press the matter further. Kel supposed that he knew from experience that Raoul would not back down on this point.
Kel knew really that an elite taskforce such as the King's Own could go for months and months on the road, indeed Kel did not feel in immediate need of rest and she knew that Raoul didn't either. It was more a choice about whether the company returned to the barracks at the Palace for a few weeks, or were launched into the bustle of the Grand Progress.
Kel wholeheartedly agreed with Raoul; she had no desire to ride along at an infuriatingly slow pace to an allocated campsite, watch displays of nobles fighting, serve or dine at banquets and to meet, as Raoul had once put it every 'jumped-up, self-important toady' in the Kingdom. She would rather be training or fighting, preferably fighting. At this thought Kel felt an old stab of impatience. Now their hunt was over and all that remained to be done was deliver the two prisoners to a magistrate, Kel wished that they could be assigned a new task, anything to keep her mind off her nagging worries about Scanra.
Their course was set for Irontown where Kel presumed they would be delayed a couple of days to watch the trial and subsequent executions of their captives.
Kel felt it would've been much simpler to do as she had done –dispatched the bandits quickly and mercifully on the battle field, rather than healing the injured perpetrators only to send them to a near certain death at the hands of the justice system.
The men, unlike Kel, were in high spirits; no longer was their ride a gruelling hunt, dangerous and uncertain. They rode leisurely, laughing and joking in anticipation of the good food, soft beds and hot baths that awaited them.
As they rode Kel's learning took on a different nature altogether as she listened to stories recounted by Raoul, Qasim and even Flyndan; who had toned down his remarks about Kel since the skirmish. She heard about the most recent battles of the Immortals war from the point of view of the men that were inside the battle, as opposed to Sir Myles's overview of the events. Kel sometimes wished that she too could contribute her tales of war to the discussions, but this information, like much else in Kel's past was too important, too secret to disclose.
When they arrived at Irontown Raoul bid Kel to go find the ladies baths and not to come back until she'd had a proper soak. The trial, he told her would be scheduled for the next day at the very earliest and with servants dealing with their packs and hostlers on hand to stable the horses, Kel had no duties to perform.
Gratefully Kel sought out the baths, paid her coin and was soon immersed in hot, scented pool. Underwater, her mouth and eyes pressed tightly shut, Kel pulled the ties out of her hair and teased it free of the knot until it fanned out around her head. Surfacing, Kel swam to a ledge at the side. A bathroom attendant fetched her a selection of wooden combs and Kel sat in the hot water until she had removed all the tangles from her long hair.
She sat in the hot water so long that her skin wrinkled and flushed pink with the heat. Rubbing her prune-like fingers over her now clean skin one final time, Kel climbed regretfully out of the baths and wrapped herself in a large swathe of soft fabric to dry herself.
The round-faced assistant handed Kel back her freshly laundered clothes, dried no doubt by the heat from the large fire used to warm the baths. It felt lovely to pull on clean clothes and even nicer to let her clean, un-tangled hair hang free about her shoulders instead of scraping it back.
When she tracked down Raoul, he too looked considerably cleaner and was lounging in a chair, his shirt un-tucked and feet bare.
'There is an Annexe room through there for you,' he gestured at a door in the corner. 'Of course if you feel that it would be better for your reputation if you slept elsewhere…'
'With respect, my Lord, I've been sleeping in an adjoining tent room to you, whatever people could say I'm sure they've already said it.'
Raoul smiled fondly at his squire. 'Well that's that then. Besides if you did sleep elsewhere the gossip would probably speculate about what lover's argument we'd just had.'
Kel snorted and shook her head at the folly of people who'd believe such things. She peered through the door into her room and found that someone had deposited her pack from the supply train onto the low bed.
'I took the liberty of asking the serving lady to wash whatever clothes she could find in your pack,' said Raoul.
Kel thanked him and set what remained of her possessions on the floor. As she left the tiny Annexe, which was obviously intended for the use of a favoured manservant, she saw that Raoul was spreading a map across the table by the fire. Kel removed her shoes, tucked them inside the door and padded over to Raoul in her socks.
'While we wait for dinner I thought we could go over the route back to Corus,' said Raoul, searching around in a leather satchel for something. 'It never hurts to familiarise yourself with areas through which you are riding.'
And so they launched into another lesson, Raoul testing Kel's map-reading skills, asking her to select a route through the terrain and justify her choice. He made her measure the distance and estimate using mathematical formulae how long she would expect it to take different groups of people to pass along the chosen path.
The relationship between squire and knight, as Kel was beginning to discover was different than between teacher and pupil, and yet closer than servant and master. There was a mutual respect between them, but it did not hinder a growing sense of companionship. Raoul was always keen to hear Kel's opinion on topics but was thankful that she had the sense to sometimes keep it to herself unless asked.
The next day Kel watched Raoul describe the details of their hunt to the chief magistrate and figures leapt out at Kel; twenty four dead, lists of the livelihoods lost; animals taken, stocks of food destroyed. As the gavel banged down onto the magistrate's desk the verdict was unsurprising; both men were to be put to death by hanging.
Kel left the courtroom with a group of men from Dom's squad. Together they found a quiet area of the town in which to train. After a day in court the exercise was a release for Kel, who channelled her confused feelings into energy for her furious sword and glaive drills.
Village boys who'd gathered to watch the men practise gazed in awe as the quiet girl beat soldier after soldier, continuing to train long after the majority had sought out an Inn to eat and drink. When she'd exhausted her repertoire of sword drills Kel broke away from the remaining group and ran into the growing darkness. Although she didn't know the town, she trod a path through the surrounding fields not letting the burning lights from the windows of the buildings out of her sight.
Panting Kel stopped and hunched over, trying to relieve the stitch that was paining her side. She was struggling to think of anything else except for the two terrified, pleading faces of the condemned men as they were taken from the courtroom. Try as she might her thoughts kept sliding back to what it would be like for them, sitting there, knowing that they would die in the morn.
They deserve it, she chanted in her mind as she began to lope across the still night once more. But they didn't know. Had those men in fact killed any of the victims they had found? If they were simple thieves then couldn't they be sentenced to work in the mines instead?
There was only one man that Kel truly wanted dead in this world, and that was Maggur, Maggur of Ratthausak, the man that she had vowed to help bring down. What am I doing here Alex? She asked to the night sky. What did you need me for?
Kel slept badly that night and Raoul was tactful enough not to mention her tired eyes and ashen face when she got up the next day.
It was her knight-master that she stood alongside in the central square of the town a few hours later, Buri joining them shortly afterwards. All around milled happy people, jostling, excited. Some had brought their children, hoisting them onto their shoulders to see above the crowd. She felt it was wrong, did these people not care that two lives were about to end? What was to be celebrated about death?
One man had begun to cry, it was horrible to watch. A rope was placed over their necks, tightened. A hooded executioner was stepping back, his hand reaching towards the lever…
Kel dropped her gaze, deciding that she didn't care if the others thought she was weak; she'd seen enough death. She didn't need to see any more.
The drum roll ended and a great cheer went up from the crowd, people jeering as the souls of the two men departed for the Black God's realm.
As they walked back to the eating house for lunch, Kel felt alone, separated from the crowd who were enjoying the occasion. Suddenly she noticed that neither Buri nor Raoul were smiling. Back at the Inn, Flyn joined them and as Kel waited on the three commanders they completed the written review on the whole hunt and the afternoon passed in serious contemplation and analysis.
As Kel cleared away the last of the glasses Buri followed Kel out, and stopped in the hall outside the supper room.
'We do what we must,' she told Kel, her voice gentle. 'We don't enjoy it.'
'Do you ever get used to it, Commander Tourakom?' asked Kel quietly.
'Call me Buri,' said the no-nonsense K'mir. 'Get used to it? Never. There'd be something wrong with you if you did,' Buri replied. Relief flooded through Kel. 'Death, even for someone just plain bad, solves nothing, but the law says it's a lesser wrong than letting them go to kill again.'
'But we'd kill on the battlefield without a second thought,' pointed out Kel, voicing something that had been bothering her all day. 'Why do we feel so differently about these deaths?'
'There is a great deal of difference between killing someone who is attacking you to killing someone in cold blood. To those who don't fight, killing is killing, death is death. For a warrior,' she shrugged, 'It is inevitable that you will have to kill people. That doesn't mean we enjoy it, nor are we assassins who can kill on command. We fight because we have to; we kill because on a battlefield there is rarely a choice to imprison those who fight against us. Here,' Buri sighed. 'The people of the town can rejoice in death because they themselves have never killed anyone.'
'They've never seen the lifeless faces…' Kel couldn't finish her sentence, but Buri understood.
'The ones you see late at night.' Her black eyes met Kel's gaze directly. 'It's the price we pay,' she said simply.
'It's worth it,' said Kel firmly after a moment's pause, 'To keep people safe.'
'If I believed otherwise I would've given this all up years ago,' said Buri steadily. 'Only a monster would enjoy killing Kel, we do what we have to. Remember that.' She clapped Kel on the shoulder, leaving her with more to think about than the criminal's terrified, pleading face.
Their return journey to the palace was uneventful but educational for Kel nonetheless. For the first time she saw an ogres, unicorns, basilisks and a herd of centaurs that coexisted peacefully with the mortals leaving in that area. Dom also spotted a griffin's nest and while Kel watched eagerly through her spyglass he told her a story of a baby griffin that the second company had raised the previous year.
'Don't griffin parents attack those whom they can smell their offspring on?'
'Daine the Wildmage managed to track down the parents within the month,' he had explained.
The Palace was the emptiest that Kel had ever seen it. There was not a single courtier in sight when the Third Company arrived late one cloudy afternoon. The pages and their teachers were of course still in residence, along with the multitude of servants, but where their majesties went, the nobles followed and the Palace would remain in it's deserted state until the end of the Grand Progress.
Down in the barracks of the Riders and the Own there was still plenty of people around. Although the Second Company was up north manning the northern border, Kel was introduced to the Fiirst Company and their rather snub-nosed commander; Captain Glaisdan of Haryse. Kel could hardly believe that this distinguished man had the same job as Captain Flyndan Whiteford. He observed Kel as though she were nothing more than a beetle on the floor, although according to Dom this was more to do with her lineage than her gender.
On their second day back Kel returned to her room after her private morning training, intent on changing her shirt. She rifled through her half-unpacked bags and pulled out a plain linen shirt. It was only when she pulled it over her head that she realised that this shirt, which fit her about as well as a tent might do, was clearly not her own. She swapped it for another, ignoring the holes where she'd worn through the material at her elbows.
Knocking first, Kel made her way into Raoul's quarters.
'My lord, I think the maid at Irontown mixed up our laundry,' said Kel, handing Raoul the enormous shirt.
He chuckled and threw the shirt down onto an empty chair. Waving a massive hand, he gestured for her to sit down. Kel did so.
'I'd estimate that we have about two weeks or so before his Majesty summons us to join the chaos of the Progress,' said Raoul, running a hand through his unruly black curls. 'On the road, we can continue with your instruction, that is, in between the time that our presence is required at gods-only-knows what social functions! I would also like to learn more from you about the Yamanis.'
Kel nodded, remembering that it was one of the factors that had influenced Raoul to take a Squire when he had rarely done so before.
'Excellent. Today however I thought we would take full use of the empty tilting lanes…'
Kel felt sweat bead on her palms inside her protective gloves, sweat that had nothing to do with just how hot she felt, dressed in a padded jacket and leggings in the sun's merciless glare. She was sitting astride Prince and holding a long wooden lance; a glorified stick. She was about to gallop at full speed towards her knight-master who was also holding a lance. They would then attempt to knock each other off of their horses with the aforementioned sticks…
'Just hit my shield as though it were a quintain target,' Raoul had told her reassuringly. Kel however, was not reassured. She was not confident in her jousting ability. What if my lance is off target and I hurt him? Kel thought, panicking ever so slightly.
She was also concerned about how Prince might react. Had he ever been a part of a joust before? Swordfights from horseback yes, but jousting? Kel didn't think that they even had the sport in Scanra. She prayed that Prince would trust her enough to gallop towards Raoul, who was riding his enormous gelding Drum.
Before she had time to worry any further Raoul gave the signal and Kel kicked Prince into action, lowering her lance as she did so. As they surged forward Kel also noticed that unlike the stationary quintain, Raoul's shield surged up and down on his arm.
Great Goddess above! Kel exhaled, and shoving her panic to a distant recess of her mind she tried to concentrate on nothing but Raoul's shield.
It all happened far too quickly, Raoul's shape loomed ahead. Miraculously she felt her lance connect with the wood of the shield, but a fraction of a second later she was slammed to the back of her tilting saddle, her entire shield arm numb.
'Well done,' praised Raoul once they had both trotted back into the centre of the tilting lane. Up close, Kel could see the mark her lance had made on Raoul's wooden shield; it was perilously near the edge. 'You know most squires don't even get near the shield on their first attempt,' he said encouragingly.
Kel, who personally felt as though it was more luck than anything, asked; 'But Sir, what if I had hit you instead?'
'My dear squire, I'd be a pretty poor knight if I couldn't dodge an off-target lance, don't you think?'
'Oh, uh yes,' smiled Kel, feeling rather stupid. 'Can we have another go?'
As she trotted back to the start line, she took an inventory of her injuries; as feeling was returning to her left side it brought with it a bone-deep ache. Her right side however wasn't much better, jarred from the impact of her lance on Raoul's shield.
On her next run, Kel had but a microsecond to register the impact before she was lifted from the saddle. Instinct took over as she relinquished her grip on the shield and lance, moments later she smacked into the ground, rolling over and over before lurching to her feet, winded.
Kel waited, hands on her knees for the breath to return to her lungs and straightened up. Raoul was waiting nearby, still mounted. 'That looked fun,' he said, grinning. Kel pulled a face, wearily gathering up her shield and lance. 'My lord, you are a bad man.' Raoul openly laughed at this.
'Do you remember how I did that?'
Kel thought back to the moment where she had left the tilting saddle. 'You sort of popped me out.'
'Yes, it doesn't always work, but if you lever at just the right moment…'
'They fly,' Kel supplied dryly, clambering back onto Prince's back.
As determined as ever, she faced her knight-master once again. Eight runs later Raoul called a halt to their fun. 'Drum's done in and I want you to be able to walk tomorrow.'
'Yessir,' said Kel, privately relieved that it had been Raoul who'd called a stop to their practice. She hurt all over but was being her usual stubborn self and pushing herself beyond the throbbing that seemed to emanate from her abused joints.
Wearily Kel patted Prince's sweaty neck, pleased to note that Prince seemed to be coping with the exertions better than Drum.
As Kel hobbled off the tilting lane, a spattering of applause filtered in through her ears. Looking up in surprise Kel saw a small group of spectators that included Dom, Buri, some men from the Own that Kel knew by sight only, and several Riders.
'You're alive!' Dom joked, in mock surprise.
'I wouldn't be so sure,' Kel said weakly, every step an effort.
Raoul, who came up behind her clapped her on the shoulders; Kel winced.
'This squire of mine is going to make a fine jouster,' he announced smiling. 'There's time for you to go bathe before supper. I'll see to Drum,' he told her firmly.
Kel didn't bother to argue and led Prince away, leaving Raoul and Buri in conversation. After a moment Dom hurried after her.
'If you can get away this evening before the ninth bell, meet me in the stables,' and he left, leaving Kel's muddled mind to process this request. She didn't have time to ponder over why he wanted to meet; it was taking all of her concentration and willpower just to remain on her feet, her arm brushing over Prince's chestnut coat.
Somehow, Kel wasn't quite sure how, but she managed to finish off stabling Prince and made her way into the baths. The hot water helped a little with her aches and pains as she floated tiredly, wishing that she would never have to move from the warmth and relative comfort.
A while later, jolted out of her dozing by a large group of serving women entering the baths, Kel signalled for a towel and heaved herself out of the water, groaning slightly as various body parts protested.
Suddenly the chatter stopped and the assistant that was heading towards Kel with a large fluffy-looking towel paused, her eyes wide.
'What?' demanded Kel, too tired for polite conversation.
'My dear,' said a woman that climbed out from behind Kel. 'Your back is covered in bruises and scars.'
Kel's muzzy mind was puzzled, she knew she had scars left from beatings or fights and having just been utterly pounded by Lord Raoul on a tilting lane, she knew that large, angry bruises must be spreading across her back and shield arm.
'You don't have to bear this alone,' said a second woman gently. 'The temple will take you in, they'll find the man that did this.'
In an instant, it became clear what was bothering the woman. Kel reached for the towel and wrapped it around herself, conscious of many pairs of eyes on her battered body.
'I've just been jousting,' Kel explained. 'I'm Squire to Lord Raoul of Goldenlake.' The women looked disbelieving. 'No, really, I am,' said Kel showing the women her green Goldenlake tunic and Courage, that were lying on the bench a few feet away.
Kel dressed quickly and left the baths. As she walked out into the cool evening air, she couldn't help but let a giggle escape from within her at the thought of the temple priestess's hounding after Raoul. Before long, Kel was laughing so hard she had to pause for breath.
Long enough chapter for you all? It took long enough to write… (and to upload; I've been trying for 2 days but ff net wouldn't let me...)
I hereby promise that (unless some natural disaster occurs or we lose our internet connection) the next chapter will be up in a couple of days. It is written. I just have to find time to proof-read :D
I'd love hear your thoughts and comments on the story, suggestions for improvement, where you think it's going, or even just a note to let me know you're still reading –you just have to click below! :P
Muchos love to you all,
Confusedknight xx