Saturday morning dawned bright and warm. A gentle breeze was already blowing into the room through the already opened window. On the bed there was a small bump, barely stirring in the morning light. Red, sleep-tussled hair was peaking out from beneath the bed covers, disturbed only by the tiny breeze that filtered through. Truly, this was an idyllic situation.

Some neighboring crows disagreed with the quintessential sunrise, and voiced their opinions, quite loudly. They recognized one of their own brood in the comfortable bed, but couldn't see any reason why a crow would stay indoors.

"What a senseless chick," one female chided. "Who would willingly stay in a stone cage?"

Her friends agreed and joined in on the teasing.

The racket propelled Eleni out of bed like nothing else ever had. Because of what her father had been before choosing to stay with her mother, namely a crow just like those outside her window, she had been blessed with a varied understanding of birds. Their speech was just one of those gifts. Without bothering to put on a robe, Eleni thrust her head through the open window and screeched right back at the murder.

"Who are you calling silly, you turkeys?"

The crows were impressed. They had never imagined that the little chick would of had the skill, let alone the mettle to talk back. The obstinate female flitted over to the sill Eleni was bracing her hands on, her friends following right behind. She fluffed her feathers and pecked at Eleni's left hand.

"Turkey," she cawed. "Just who are you, chick? What parents would let a chick such as you fly about without manners."

Eleni had recoiled from the peck, but not fast enough to avoid the bird's beak. As she moved away from the window to tend her hand, the birds continued to dart around her, taunting her.. The peck had drawn blood and nothing she did would halt the flow. Frustrated at the way her day had begun, Eleni waved off the birds.

"Go away," she cried. "Just go away already!"

The small murder didn't care for her words and continued to peck at her, all the while heckling the girl.

It seemed to Eleni that Lokejo would always have an almost perfect sense of time, because he chose that moment to enter the room. Quickly analyzing the situation for what it was, he set down the tray he had been carrying. Before Eleni could even ask for help, her faithful friend had already driven the crows out the window. By the time Eleni had taken account of the feather-free environment, Lokejo had closed and locked the window shutters.

"Have all of your mornings been this eventful," he teased.

Eleni was not happy. She did not like being teased, especially in the morning. A firm kick to the shin relayed the message to Lokejo, who wasn't really injured. He had become accustomed to her methods of retaliation, and it wasn't like her blows actually hurt. But just to keep her pride intact, he made a show of being mortally wounded. That earned him a second kick to the shin.

Lokejo had to admit that his little girl had temerity, mayhap enough to get herself through her self-imposed ordeal. Sitting crossed-legged on the rug before her bed, he watched her devour the breakfast he had brought in, until he slowly realized what was wrong with the image before him. He got up and spun so quickly that Eleni took notice.

"Something wrong?" she asked cautiously. If Lokejo was going to play games this early, she wanted no part in it.

"My young master might want to put on a robe," he mumbled. As much as he loved the little girl, her oblivious nature to all things concerning herself was going to be the death of him one day.

Eleni blushed scarlet when she realized that she had forgotten to put on a robe over her nightshirt. Not a moment later, she was covered up all the way to her throat. Moments like this one were only too frequent between the two, but still embarrassing.

"Covered up yet?" His cheek earned him another kick, but Eleni was glad that he could difuse the situation so easily. Turning around he gathered up the forgotten tray. "If you're finished," he drawled. The small page was quickly upon the tray once more, making her friend chuckle. "Fine then. I'll go get your bath and clothes ready."

He was already in the washroom, when Eleni had managed to swallow a rather large mouthful of sausage. "Don't bother with the bath water," she called out. "Sir Asher gave me two hours of extra practice today, no point in taking a bath before that."

That made the Raka laugh. The one thing that everyone knew about his little chick was that she was born to wield a bow. "Didn't the fool realize that you'd be doing that today, anyway?"

Eleni knew Lokejo didn't expect an actual response, that it was his way of voicing how silly he found the people of Tortall to be. Brushing the crumbs from her hands and robe, she promptly pushed Lokejo out of her washroom. "Go on, I think I can manage to get dressed on my own."

He let her push him around, if it cheered her up. In his opinion, the little girl deserved all the cheer in the world. Lokejo laughed at himself, as he cleaned up the breakfast who saw how they acted around each other would swear they were father and daughter, and sometimes Lokejo forgot that he wasn't. "I'm going to take this back to the kitchens," he called out.

"Go ahead," was the muffled reply.

"Make sure you go fulfill your punishment."

"Yes, sir." Lokejo didn't need to see her face to know Eleni was rolling her eyes.

"Your eyes will stay that way. Your mother always said so."

"And you're both still wrong! I thought you said you were going to go now?"

"Fine," he said. "If you don't want me around anymore, I'll leave."

As he closed the door, Lokejo was too entertained to notice the willowy boy emerging from the room next door. Schuylar noticed him, though, and couldn't help but wonder who the large, dark-skinned man was. So, being Schuylar "The Fool" of Nicoline, he followed him, intent on getting his answers.

By the time Eleni had emerged from her room, she only had ten minutes to run to the practice yard assigned to the pages. Running as quickly as she could, she started to sprint when she heard the palace bells tolling the ninth hour of the day. She picked up her speed until she was sprinting down the halls. As the final toll of the bell sounded, Eleni managed to slide to a very dusty stop before a flustered Sir Morven of Berm.

When the dust cleared, Eleni was able to see the poor sould in charge of her punishment. Sir Morven was now known to Eleni as Sir Asher's personal servant. Whenever the rotund bigot needed something done, Morven was there to do it for him. As far as Eleni was concerned, Morven needed to grow a spine. He also needed to get rid of the inch of dust covering him from head to toe, more than likely a direct result of Eleni's entrance.

"Just barely made it," he said as way of welcome. As Eleni straightened her tunic, Sir Morven looked down at the small page that had muddied his clothes. Sighing away the headache he know the boy would bring, he pointed at a dozen targets already set up for use. "Sir Asher expects you to practice on these for the next two bells."

Without another word and a single swish of his cloak, he had walked away. Stretching out the bow she had barely remembered to bring with her, Eleni walked over to the targets. They were the same kind that the pages used for training, nothing different about them. Finding no challenge, she gave a small sigh and walked back a few yards.

As the arrows flew, her mind wandered. Sometimes she'd think about her family, reminding herself that she had to start a letter for her mother. She thought about her brothers, what they would be doing without her. Right about the time the next bell sounded, her thoughts had turned to her life at the palace.

I suppose things aren't too bad, now. Another arrow was loosed, perfect like the others before it. Sure, the first few days where tough, but whose weren't. Another perfect shot. I'm almost positive Warren had a tough time getting used to Schuylar. A third arrow. All the sponsors had to get used to their charges. The fourth arrow was off by a fraction.

Then why couldn't Alex put up with me?

Eleni just couldn't understand what had happened with Alexander of Tirragen. He had offered to sponsor her, when she first arrived at the palace, but he had then fed her to the she-wolf name Pierina. After that episode, he helped her find her friends when she was lost, but he showed no sign of relenting. She had been warned on more than one occasion, and by more than one person, of Alex's loyalties. As far as Eleni could see, Alex hadn't done anything too dangerous.

If I ignore that first night, and Pier's little "warning", nothing detrimental has occurred. Artan and Pier are the only real threats. Why does everyone insist that Alex is the problem?

Another bell tolled in the distance, reeling Eleni back to the present. "No point worrying about what I can't change," she murmured. When she went to examine the targets. All but one of the shots had hit the center ring. There was no need to recall what had caused the error. Eleni knew she spent too much time thinking about young Alexander of Tirragen.

If the real Myles were here,she thought, I'd never hear the end of it. He and the twins would swear I had a crush on the boy.

Shaking away the silly thoughts in her head, Eleni set to clearing the targets of the arrows. Her punishment was completed, and a warm bath sounded marvelous. Distracted as she was, Eleni never noticed the blonde squire watching her from the fence. He found the tiny redhead incredibly fascinating, and that did not bode well for Eleni's future.

Sorry if this is not my best work. I've been sick the last two days, and not sleeping too well. I had planned on this being longer, but now I just wanted to get a piece posted.

Tell me what you think about the plot, so far. All suggestions are greatly appreciated!