This one is for Emily who reviewed almost every single chapter and made me smile. Sorry I can't answer all of your questions, you don't have an official account I can respond to.

It appeared to the already sitting pages that only a grandchild of the Lioness could run around and look dignified. Little did they know it was the crow blood in her veins that let her flit around so gracefully.

Eleni had barely sat down with her friends before Lord Padraig began his nightly speech. After the usually schpeel about how honorable it was to follow the warrior's way as set down by Mithros, surprisingly free of too much chauvinist dribble, the training master added a new segment to his speech.

"May you all come to serve our great kingdom the way our esteemed guest has. To serve one's country is the calling of all loyal knights, and I know that none of you would ever dishonor our ways."

Eleni, whose eyes had glazed over during much of the speech, came out of her trance at the mention of a guest. She had a sinking feeling she knew who the guest was, but didn't want to admit it to her frayed nerves. Her grandmother was an intimidating woman, and Eleni felt every time the Lioness looked at her.

Her friends were less than intimidated by the legend. Though only Perci had ever seen her in person, and that had been years ago, they all knew that the stout redhead at the high table was none other than Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, the Lioness and King's Champion. All of the pages in the hall were in awe at having such a legend with them.

All of the pages except three.

Eleni was merely scared out of her wits that her grandmother would see through her ruse any moment.

Alex was quietly fuming while he ignored the great hero. He had heard more than enough tales about the woman. Since the day he was born, his grea grandmother had told him of his grandfather, the late Alexander of Tirragen, and how the lady knight had slain him in cold blood and slandered his noble name. Alex wasn't sure how much of the old woman's story was true, but he knew enough from the reception he received upon his arrival at Corus. Tirragen was a cursed name, and it was all that woman's fault.

Pier, for her part, had never been as subtle as Alex, and her rage was clearly visible. Her once fair face had turned a less than lady-like maroon. To her, Alanna was the root of all of her family's woes. She was the instigator of the progressive movement and the reason that families like hers were frowned upon.

Despite their own worries, Eleni and Alex managed to put on a show of continuing their meal. Pier was not as skilled and would continue to stare at the Lioness for the whole of dinner.

Alanna was uncomfortable, to say the least. She had never eaten a meal in this hall since her own days as a squire, and those days were long gone. But she had to admit that it was refreshing to see so many eager, young faces ready to try for knighthood. Though she could not she her own grandchild's face, she saw a full head of red hair at a table with other pages. Alanna was glad that her Myles had made some friends, she knew they would make the trials of page training easier to deal with.

What was not easy to deal with was the fidgety lord on her left. Throughout the entire time she was in his company, he had squirmed uncomfortably, much like a caught rat. Alanna was starting to wonder just what Lord Padraig was guilty of.

"My lord," that made him jump, though only Alanna was close enough to see the movement. "Is anything amiss?"

The man started to sweat profusely. Proud conservative or not, the Lioness intimidated him, and it was easy to see. Though the sweat was now falling into his eyes, he made no move to wipe it off. He would not show weakness before a woman.

"Nothing is wrong, milady." He was not going to back down too easily. If the lady knight was going to fight, he would fight right back, even if he had to fight dirty.

Now the Lioness knew something was wrong. "You're nervous, Padraig," she whispered into his ear. "What have you done." There was no room for the scared lord to escape. "Speak."

"The table by the far wall. Look at the boy next to the girl." He had never thought that the Lioness would know what he had done until it was too late to change anything. Now he berated himself for letting her see Tirragen before he was a full-fledged knight.

"What are you babbling about," she mumbled while looking intently at the specified page. "There's nothing about him that would-" Her words failed her. Alanna's mind reeled back decades, back to the day she had no choice but to kill a man that had been her friend. Her mind was fogged instantly by the memories of the day, of the people who had died. "What have you done, Padraig?"

He was caught, and there was no point in lying to her. "Lady Cyne insisted that the boy be allowed to training for knighthood. The king had no qualms with it." The elderly matriarch of Tirragen was a formidable woman, and had demanded that her great-grandson be treated as any other son of the nobility.

Barely keeping her peace of mind, she responded, "Why was I not informed? Why did the king allow this!" The last question was a harsh whisper, the only outer indication of her inner turmoil. She couldn't wait for his answers. "What is his name." At his silence, she insisted again, "His name, Padraig!"

"Alexander, Lady Knight." He knew the battle was lost. Rather than scare the woman with the ghost, he had inflamed her. And Lord Padraig did not want to be burned. "I was told Lady Cyne raised him as a replacement for the son she lost. I was to ensure he became a knight at all costs, or she would proclaim the king as biased toward old wounds."

"How long has he been here?"

"This is his second year, and," here he hesitated. What would the Lioness do to him once she found out what else he had allowed?

"Speak." It was a command, and the training master's true personality showed.

"He sponsered your grandson." He was a dog, and this woman was barely controlling her rage. He knew it was only a matter of time before she lashed out.

"You allowed it?"

"Yes, Lady Knight."

Sensing his apprehension, she knew there was more to tell. "What else, Padriag? I suggest you tell me all. Now!"

"He is no longer sponsoring the boy. There was an altercation-" The Lioness had growled at his vague description of the event. "A fight, where Myles was injured. Warren of Dunlath now sponsors the boy."

She was content with what she knew, though far from happy with the situation. How Jonathan had allowed any of this to occur without telling her, or without George knowing, was beyond her understanding. Both men would receive a few choice words from the knight.

The palace bell rang and Lord Padriag dismissed the pages. Left alone in the dining hall with the apoplectic Lioness, he prayed that she would leave and take her fight to someone else, anyone else.

The gods were on his side, for once. When he turned to adress the lady knight, she had already disappeared.

I have to apologize for how long all of my updates are taking. Though I'm trying to get a monumental chunk of this story finished before I have to go back to school, I'm afraid I left my notes in a box in a city four hours aways. So, currently, part of my writing time is dedicated to reconstructing my story notes. :( Sorry again.