No one noticed the figure slip back into the Hall.
She turned around and walked towards the front of the room. As she walked down the aisle she was confronted with harsh memories. Memories of the times she had previously communicated with this ethereal being.
Kel knocked on huge iron doors. They swung open immediately.
He had been expecting her.
"Lady Knight," a voice boomed. "It's been years, and not a word from you!"
Kel replied "I am sorry, but as you certainly know is that I have been completing a little quest which you assigned me. Besides, surely, time isn't an issue for you."
The Chamber responded: "It is true I am not part of your idea of time… but you have to admit that I did not assign you on a quest searching for love."
Kel blushed. "Well I'm here now, and I think I can guess why you asked me in; you had something to do with these books didn't you?"
"Whilst my cousins Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess may claim to have composed the scrolls that detail your life, they are neglecting to mention who gave them the means to compose the scrolls. I once told you that you mortals are like fish swimming in a globe of glass. That globe is your world. You do not see beyond it. I, and only I, am all around that globe, everywhere at once. Whilst my cousins are all powerful, they are neither omniscient nor omnipresent."
Kel nodded, trying to follow; "And the scrolls?"
"Right," the voice continued, "You do not see beyond your time, but I do. I had visions of the future; of a woman who would write a tale of a Lady Knight. She received a quest from me, just as you did. Her quest was to write. I fed her information in dreams, just as I did with you and Lady Alanna. As soon as she was done, I arranged for Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess to arrange this little rendez-vous."
The Chamber continued "Lady Knight, I have already given you a quest once before, and you completed it with vigour beyond my wildest dreams. Whilst Lady Alanna had the patronage of the Great Mother Goddess, you have mine."
Shocked, Kel stood mouth agape. Never before had she heard of the Chamber act like this. Never before in the Human Era had a Knight been given multiple quests by the Chamber. In fact, her and Alanna had been the only knights to receive a single quest! She would need to talk with Master Numair as soon as this was over.
"Lady Knight, you are a figure of fine moral character. You are a once in an Era Knight. You have helped me once to restore the balance of life and death, and you will do so again before your time is up. Lady Knight, you will fulfil your destiny as protector of the small."
Kel's eyes blanked over and her knees buckled. She fell sideways onto the hard, cold stone floor.
Kel had a vision, a vision of a vast barren landscape. She would have thought it to be the landscape of the south of Tortall, in the desert lands of the Bazhir tribes. Then she looked closer; and recognised the undulations of the sand dunes as the hills of Corus, the sweeping valley which the Olorun ran through, she recognised a mound of ruins; a mound which could only be the Palace. Kel's mind was blank.
"I see into your heart, Lady Knight, as I have seen into the hearts of every knight before you, and will see into the hearts of every knight after you. I am neither divine nor mortal, and it is my only role to maintain the balance between life and death. This balance is threatened, and it is on you and the heroes of Tortall to restore the balance. These books, and the books to follow, will enlighten you and your companions on your strengths and weaknesses, and the strengths and weaknesses of your enemies. This is your quest." The voice paused, "I am in your yesterdays and your tomorrows, just as I am in your today, and it all looks the same to me - but for the devastation that Tortall will suffer if the balance between life and death is not once again is your quest." The voice concluded its speech, the dim lighting that had lit the Chamber shut off. The room was dark and cold and empty, apart from the mound of flesh and clothes piled at the door.
Only a blue eyed sergeant had missed Kel's presence at lunch. After wolfing down his meal he stood up and headed back to the Hall. Only a pair of sharp green eyes had noticed Dom leave the mess, and he followed his cousin.
On entering the Hall, Neal was met with a shock. He saw his cousin knelt over a body. It was Kel, he was sure of it. Come to think of it, she hadn't been at lunch. Neal raced forward.
"Neal, she's breathing but faintly. It looks like some sort of magic has knocked her out. We need Numair."
Immediately Neal stood, and looking in the direction of the mess he whispered. Three strands of emerald green magic exploded from his fingers.
Within minutes Dom could hear the unmistakeable noise of feet running down a stone corridor.
Lady Alanna, Duke Baird and Master Numair hurried up to the front of the Hall where Dom and Neal cradled Kel.
Dom explained that the doors to the Chamber of the Ordeal had swung open as he approached them, and he had found Kel collapsed near the door. He refrained from mentioning that he had been frightened out of his wits on entering the Chamber - it was terribly superstitious, he knew, but someone who was not experiencing the Ordeal of Knighthood should not enter the Chamber. He had entered and had a vision, of the woman he loved astride a horse, standing on the peak of a sandy dune. Dom hadn't the faintest idea what he had seen, distracted as he was by Kel's state.
The combined purple, green and black gifts of Numair, Alanna and Baird penetrated Kel's skin. Her eyes flashed open, shockingly haunted. They propped Kel up on the bench.
She croaked "Thank you, I'm fine now. I just passed out, overwhelmed. Please, don't tell anyone of this I don't want to worry them. I will explain once we have finished reading, it is not urgent."
Not satisfied, but unable to ask anymore questions as people re-entered the Hall having finished lunch, Alanna, Numair and Baird returned to their seats on the other side of the room, whilst Neal and Dom sat next to Kel, bolstering her up so she didn't appear so frail to everyone.
Oblivious to the happenings in the room only moments before, Raoul cheerfully reached for the scrolls he had placed under his chair, picked them up and began to read excitedly "The Lance."
What you recognise is taken from Tamora Pierce's works; I do not own nor do I profit from this.
I hope you guys enjoy the twist in plot! I thought I may as well add a bit of action and anticipation to give the story a bit more fibre and direction.
:)