Many thanks to xDarklightx, HPLUVR71495, Tishica, R0ki, and xMxRosex. Thanks for the reviews and comments!
Can anyone believe that the story has received over 100 reviews? I can't! I never thought the story would become so popular.
By the second day of February, Eleni was certain that it would take all of her willpower to survive winters in Tortall. There had been a week long blizzard, and the skies had cleared only the night before. Eleni had skipped out on the day trip her friends had planned. She had a feeling her Sunday would have been better spent expelling her frustrations.
Archery practice appealed to her, and it would allow her time to think. A few hours of practice were all that she would need to feel at peace again. The idea of peace lsted only as long as it took her to arrive at the archery yard. The entire thing was covered by snow! Growling, Eleni trudged her way through ankle-deep snow.
"At least the tragets are free of this white plague," she grumbled. She just couldn't wait for winter to be end!
The arrows flew with the clean precision of a master marksman. This was her arena, and everyone in the palace knew it. Even Sir Asher had been forced to admit that "the boy" had talent when it came to the bow. She had taken pride in his acknowledgement, though it had clearly hurt him to say it.
When the arrows in her quiver ran out, she would recover them, all on the target's center. It proved to be a repetitive, but relieving task. Eleni would simply repeat the entire process all over again. Loose an arrow, loose another, walk to the target, recover the arrows, and start again. The routine proved comforting.
Eleni spent the entire morning, until the noon bell, firing arrow after arrow. The palace bells were the only indicators that any amount of time had passed. She ignored the bell, until her stomach insisted on lunch. Chuckling at herself, Eleni made one last trip to the target.
Despite having walked the path over a dozen times already, and in a rare moment of gracelessness she managed to trip. Failing to catch herself, she fell face first to the cold ground. Eleni had never noticed the rock when she had walked the path, but she noticed it when it met her lip.
Pain flared and Eleni fought to stifle her screams. Eleni forced herself back up, but what she found was not pleasant. Her knees were surely bruised and the split lip she had wouldn't stop bleeding. She could only be thankful that no one was around to see her fall.
She was wrong.
A certain dark-haired older page had just entered the yard, intent on passing through to get to the pages' stables. His golden eyes had seen her stumble and then fall. When the tiny redhead took his time getting up, he knew something was not right. He swore his feet moved of their own volition, but he didn't really mind.
"That seems to be a favorite color of yours, Myles." He knelt down beside, barely minded the snow.
"Go away, Alexander." Eleni could only groan in humiliation. Of all the people who could have witnessed her one moment of idiocy, Alexander had to be the one? The gods hate me, she thought desolately. And her lip was still bleeding. Her fingers tried to wipe away the blood, but Alex's hand stopped her.
"Now, now," he chided. "We don't want that cut to get worse, cub." His hands were gentle as they held her face. "Just as I thought," he said. "Bludgeoned yourself pretty badly here."
Eleni didn't recall the moment that he had leaned in so closely, but she didn't care. What she couldn't overlook was the red staining her cheeks. Her eyes strayed to his, watching how the golden color deepened in the light of his Gift. She vigorously berated herself for thinking such ridiculous thoughts.
"I thought you said you weren't going to help me anymore." Eleni could be stubborn, and it would help keep her sillier musings at bay.
She was hushed by a very upset Alex. "You speaking isn't making this any easier."
"But-" A firm hand on her jaw made her stop. He wasn't going to hurt her, but she'd probably do some damage herself if she didn't stop soon.
"There," he whispered. Tender hands wiped away the drying blood with a black handkerchief. Alex started to walk away from her before she realized it. "Try to keep from hurting yourself so much, lion cub."
As she watched his back, Eleni finally took noticed that her lip was fully healed. She pushed herself up and shook her head. Alex became more complicated every day. Her fingers touched her lips, and the memory of his own caring fingertips made her smile. She gathered up her quiver and set to gathering her arrows.
I might need to see a healer, if I don't get a firm hold on my mind. Alex is dangerous. Don't forget it, Eleni. Dangerous!
Her arrows safe in their quiver, she went straight to her room. Hunger and fatigue had crept up on her, and she was ready to vanquish both.
Without Eleni knowing it, Perci had made a slow return to the world of the living. It wasn't too long before he went back to the Green Library for study sessions, or he spoke to them. His eyes didn't wander again, and neither did his mind. He acted as if he had not avoided his friends or their questions for the better part of two months. No one brought up his past behavior, fearing he would confine himself.
March began with a cordial Perci helping the younger pages with their sword practice and horsemanship. Eleni saw no reason to bring up Cerid, because, to be honest, she hadn't seen Cerid since the day she had received the letter. Perci was back to normal, and there was no need to bring up the past.
There was a new worry on her mind: the Examinations. She had listened to the older pages talk about them when the snows had begun to melt. It wouldn't be long, they had said, before it was time to take them. It was one of the reasons Perci had renewed his efforts to train Schuylar, because they all knew Schuylar needed the help.
"Again!" Perci's voice reverberate through the abandoned practice yard.
Perci and Herne had devoted their evenings to weapons practice, dead set against letting any of the younger pages fail the exams. The weather was still cool at night, but the humidity and the bugs were almost intolerable. Sweat made everything sticky, and the physical activity did not make anything better.
"Do I have to?" Schuylar was about ready to collapse where he stood. "I've already done the drill five times!"
Perci gave him a sharp jab with the pommel of his sword. "You'll do the drill, until you can do it in your sleep. Again!"
On the opposite side of the yard, practice was quieter. The only sound that could be heard was the clang of metal hitting metal. Herne did not need to do much coaching for Devin and Eleni, their skills were above criticism. In half a year, Eleni's skills with the sword had elevated to the point where they matched Devin's. Now they were evenly matched with the sword and it showed in their practice bouts.
Devin swung his blade in a wide arc to parry Eleni's sword. Faster than lightening, Eleni had stepped back and lunged, thrusting her blade below Devin's and straight to his heart. The sword tip stopped an inch from the boy's chest. No one said a word, even Perci and Schuylar had paused to watch.
A moment later the scream came.
"Halt!" Perci yelled.
Herne had forgotten to stop the match. Though they all knew Myles was quick, none of them had ever seen him move that fast. Devin was frozen in place, his arm still holding up the failed parry. It wasn't until Eleni recovered her stance and bowed to Devin that he came back to his senses.
"Wow," he whispered. Then his eyes lit up. "That was amazing! Where did you learn a move like that?" His enthusiasm boiled over and reached the others.
"Myles, I never knew you could do anything like that!" Schuylar had grasped the excuse to leave his own practice. "Well? Tell us!"
"Go on." Perci was interested, too, but he wasn't going to pounce on the boy to find out.
Blushing scarlet at her actions and at the cause behind them, Eleni couldn't speak. The truth was that she had watched Alex perform the maneuver on Artan just the day before. While she had executed the move well enough, it would never compare to the flawlessness of Alex's motions. His sword had moved with him, almost as if it was an extension of him. He was an excellent swordsman, and it wasn't hard to see it.
The blush on Eleni's cheeks intensified.
"I saw someone do the move. It worked for him, and I wanted to try it, that's all." She hurried through the explanation and hoped no one noticed her pink cheeks.
"Well," said Perci. "I'm sure he was impressive, if your movements were only an imitation of his."
After a few more minutes of congratulated Myles on his stupendous maneuvers, Perci forced Schuyar back to the other side of the yard. Just as Eleni thought that she would get away without anyone mentioning her red face, fate proved her wrong.
"Herne, you might want to take those two back in. Myles' looks like the cold is getting to him, his cheeks are red." He had mistakenly excused her blush as a simple result of the cool night.
Gods, preserve me.
Eleni had no choice but to allow Herne to lead her and Devin back to their hall, the shock wouldn't let her do much else.
Sorry if this took a while. My kitten shredded most of my right hand and everything is a little harder with bandages...
Tidbit Time! Feb. 2, according to old Gaelic tradition, is Imbolc. The holiday sounds the beginning of spring, and is very important for young girls and maidens, eager to be brides. I found it corny, but had to find a holiday in February for the two lovebirds. That and the coming of spring signalled the return of darling Perci. Don't worry, you'll all find out what happened with him soon enough.
Anyway, it seems that fencing has finally come in handy for something outside of the sport. I might actually be able to describe bouts as more than "they fought". Sweet. Tell me what you think, I love hearing from you guys!