Woohoo, chapter three! I took longer to get this one finished because I temporarily took on a second job for the season, and I've barely had time to feed myself (been eating a lot of takeout) but it's finally done!
As always, any character or location that you recognize belongs to the wonderful Tamora Pierce.
New Home, New Faces
September, 474 HE
The training master's office was bright with the midmorning sun that shone through the window, illuminating the faintest trace of dust in the air. The large desk in the corner, covered in papers; the bookshelf full of thick tomes; even the three high-backed chairs, all spoke of how hard the man worked at his job. Kellie peeked through her lashes at him as he spoke with her papa.
She had met him before, of course. Sir Merric of Hollyrose had been a year-mate of Neal and Kel's, and they had both remained good friends with him in the years since. As a page and squire, he'd been known for his red hair and quick temper. While his hair hadn't changed much, save for a few gray strands among the red, she'd heard Papa remark that his friend's service in the Scanran War, and his marriage to Aveline of Kendrach a few years later, had served to mellow his temper considerably. He'd become training master three years ago.
If she remembered correctly, he had two sons, aged four and six or so, and a daughter of seven or eight. She wondered what it was like for him, to have to spend so much time away from his family. She hoped they lived in Corus, at least for part of the year, so he would get the chance to see them every now and then.
"Kelanna."
The sound of her name brought Kellie's attention back to the two men at the desk. She bowed to them hurriedly, before straightening up and clasping her hands behind her back, standing ready to respond to whatever might be said.
"Page Kelanna," Sir Merric repeated. "As a page in the palace, you will be living in the pages' hallway. Have you brought a servant with you?"
"No, Sir Merric," Kellie responded quietly.
"Very well, one of the general palace servants will wait on you." Sir Merric regarded her seriously. "I know that you have the Gift and you will be trained in its use; however, one of the things introduced by Lord Padraig before his resignation was the importance of even the unGifted learning how magic works. Rather than add another class, the decision was made that every page spend the final bell before supper as a sort of apprentice to one of the masters. This is a more individual learning time, based on the page in question's abilities. I have placed you in basic magic lessons with Master Irial until Midwinter, at which point you will be taking a different lesson at that hour. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir Merric," Kellie said again, although she was not entirely sure she understood. Her Gift was healing and little else, she knew that already; why did she need basic magic lessons? But she was hardly going to contradict him. He would learn soon enough that her ability was limited.
"As it has been for many years, the royal family dines in their own wing of the palace." Sir Merric tapped his fingers on his desk thoughtfully. "The pages take turns waiting on myself and any guests I might have, beginning with the first years, as practice before serving at banquets. A servant will inform you the day before you are to serve." He paused, waiting for her to nod, before he continued.
"If there is a boy in your rooms, the door must remain open; the same goes for if you are in a boy's rooms." Kellie scowled at that; she was certain the training master saw it, but he didn't comment on it. She couldn't for the life of her see how this man had ever been as quick-tempered as she'd been led to believe; she might have disregarded Neal's description of him, since her father had a flair for the dramatic and often exaggerated, but Kel almost never did.
"Have you any questions?"
Kellie thought about it a moment. "Are there… many girls among the pages?"
"A handful," Sir Merric answered. "You are, however, the only girl among the first-years. Now then… you will be assigned a sponsor before supper this evening. I ask that you not leave your rooms until that time; the palace is a veritable maze of corridors. A servant will bring your midday meal to you." He rang a small bell on his desk, and a thin man hurried inside a moment later. "Please show Page Kelanna of Queenscove to her rooms at once."
Kellie bowed to the training master one more time, before being ushered out of his office.
xxxxx
The living quarters had to be the same for each page, Kellie thought, surveying the rooms that were to be her home for the next few years. The main room contained a bed frame and mattress, desk, chair, large clothespress, night table, and a squat bookshelf. A door on the wall opposite her bed led to her dressing room, with a small mirror set on the wall and a curtain in front of the privy. The pair of rooms were bare of anything personal, except for the large trunk in the middle of the floor.
Kellie tapped her foot against the floor, considering. The bookshelf, squeezed into a space between the desk and wall that she could have sworn was too small for it, would have to be moved. It could go next to the clothespress, she decided, and then her desk could be pushed into the corner, allowing her to reach her window more easily. She rolled her sleeves up and began to drag the wooden shelf across the room, grateful that none of the larger pieces needed to be moved.
A knock sounded at her door as she was shoving the desk the last few inches. "One moment!" she called out, huffing out a breath as the cumbersome thing clacked into place. Crossing the room and opening the door, she was greeted by a plump woman of perhaps seventeen, dressed like a palace servant and holding a tray.
"Good afternoon, miss," the woman said in a cheerful tone, somehow managing a curtsy with her one free hand. "My name is Tessa, and I've been assigned to tend your rooms. I've also brought you your lunch." She held the tray out.
Kellie motioned the young woman inside. "Please, come in, Tessa. I was just in the middle of moving some things before I started unpacking."
Tessa set the tray on the desk, staring with eyes wide as saucers at the rearranged furniture. "You moved that heavy desk by yourself, miss?" she questioned. When Kellie nodded firmly, she pursed her lips in disbelief. "If you had waited a few minutes, I would have had some men servants move them for you."
"But I like doing things for myself," Kellie answered, shrugging. "And I didn't know when you'd be coming by, so I didn't want to waste any time." She sat in her desk chair, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. She hadn't had anything to eat since leaving the Queenscove family's Corus house early that morning. The first afternoon bell rang as she picked up the hard roll off the tray. Tessa opened the shutters and began laying the fire as Kellie quickly downed the food.
"Anything you need, you just tell me," Tessa informed her. "Or, if I'm not around, go to the first door you passed on your way into the hallway. That's where Bria lives; she oversees all the servants in the pages' wing, although she's off visiting her daughter in Corus for a few days."
"A few days?" Kellie questioned. "Doesn't training start tomorrow?" A pages' wing servant being away during the training period seemed odd.
Tessa nodded. "Yes, miss, but Bria's daughter is due to give birth to her first child any day, so Bria was given leave to attend to her. Don't worry, she'll be back soon enough. Now, do you need any help unpacking your things?"
Kellie considered. "I could use some help with my clothes," she said at last.
"Then I'll start with that." Tessa briskly shook out each garment before either hanging or folding it. Kellie was impressed with her efficiency, and started to unpack her other things.
The first thing to be unpacked was her collection of a half-dozen ceramic cat figurines. Yamani waving cats were quite popular in Tortall these days, and it had become the fashion for each individual cat to represent a specific person. Lifting out three cats that were identical but for their size, Kellie smiled. Each of the three was painted jet black, with emerald eyes; they were meant to be her and her sisters.
"Those are nice, miss," remarked Tessa. "Are they your family?"
Kellie nodded distractedly and pulled out the other three. "This one is my papa," she explained, looking over the brown spot painted onto the cat's head, its emerald eyes, and its paws, which were painted the same shade of green. "This one is Mama." The Yuki-cat had a black spot on its head, and was clad in a Yamani kimono in the Queenscove colors of sky blue and emerald. "And this one is Aunt Kel." The final cat had green-hazel eyes and a collar with Kel's coat of arms, the Mindelan owl hovering over two golden glaives. Rubbing her sleeve over the Kel-cat's brown head to brush off some dust, Kellie set it down next to the others and surveyed the line of figurines on her desk. Each one smiled and waved at her, and Kellie suddenly felt much more confident.
She wished she'd had a few more of them, though. She didn't know her Yamani or Disart relatives well, but Kellie would have liked to have had a cat for her friend Gwen, the daughter of one of Queenscove's hostlers. Gwen had overseen most of Kellie's riding lessons, until she'd left for Corus back in the spring to join the Queen's Riders. And perhaps one for her uncle Dom, who wasn't really her uncle, being Neal's cousin and not his brother, but who had always insisted she address him as such. He was a captain in the King's Own, and Fourth Company spent a lot of time in the south, allowing for frequent visits. Last time he'd pulled a silver noble out of Della's ear, making the maid blush and stammer despite being old enough to be his mother. Kellie giggled at the memory, wondering if her uncle would be in Corus anytime soon.
Tessa assisted her in making the bed and unpacking the remainder of her things. The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as they worked in companionable silence. A couple of times, Kellie had opened the door a crack and peeked out, hoping to catch a glimpse of her fellows, but hadn't had much luck. She'd only spotted two other pages, one a rather tall young man with brown hair who had smiled and nodded at her, and one a chubby blond boy. The blond was her immediate neighbor; his room was to the right of hers, and she had waved to him, but he had ducked into his room so quickly she couldn't be sure if he'd seen her or not.
The sun was much lower in the sky when Tessa curtsied and left the room, leaving Kellie to sort out another dilemma: what to wear for supper. Kel had advised her to bring a few dresses, in case any of the boys needed reminding that there was a girl in their midst. Kellie had followed the advice and brought two gowns, one pale blue and the other a deep cream with burgundy trim. But did she really want to wear a dress to supper every day? Her hair was in a long braid, something no boy would be caught wearing, so perhaps wearing a dress to supper one day a week would be enough.
With that resolved, Kellie did her best to smooth the creases from her tunic, brushing away as much of the travel dust as she could, then took a quick look in her mirror. I suppose I'm as presentable as I'm going to be, she thought, smiling shyly at her reflection. She wasn't sure who Page Kelanna was just yet, but she liked what she saw there.
The sixth evening bell sounded, and Kellie let out a startled yelp, her composure shattered. Hadn't the fifth bell rung only a few minutes ago? Smoothing the brown fabric once more with suddenly sweaty hands, she gave one last tug to the Queenscove-green trim at the hem and stepped outside her door, letting it close behind her with a click.
The new pages were all lined up in the hall, the older pages in a cluster at the end. Kellie carefully arranged her face into Yamani calm to hide her pounding heart, never so grateful that her mama had taught her the skill.
Sir Merric had not yet arrived, so Kellie distracted herself by sizing up her new year mates. To her right was the boy she'd seen earlier, chubby and blond. She couldn't tell what color his eyes were at the moment, but she did notice there was a slight tremor in his hands.
To her left… Kellie blinked, momentarily startled out of her calm state. Sir Merric had said that she was the only girl among the new pages, hadn't he? But the person to her left was undeniably female, short and stocky, with crinkly reddish-brown hair that fell to her chin. She was also slightly darker-skinned than the average Tortallan, almost imperceptibly so; Kellie wasn't sure she would have noticed if she hadn't been so conscious of her own golden complexion that came with being half Yamani. The other girl was wearing an impassive expression, as though she was bored with the whole ordeal.
"New pages." That was Sir Merric's voice; he had arrived while Kellie had been inspecting her neighbors. She hurried to bow to him along with the rest of the pages. "Today, you will be given sponsors to show you around and introduce you to palace life. Tomorrow, those sponsors will assist you in collecting your supplies, including your uniforms. The day after that, we begin training. I hope that you all are prepared to work harder than you ever have before, and will do the kingdom, your families, and myself proud."
He pointed at one boy, across the hall from Kellie. "Your name?"
The boy bowed, displaying no nervousness whatsoever. Kellie envied him. "Marius of Irimor."
The training master turned and inspected the group of gathered pages expectantly. A hand was raised, and Sir Merric assigned the new page to the sponsor's care with a nod.
Three of the new pages were on the other side of the hall from Kellie's room. Knowing she didn't have a hope of remembering all the names at once, Kellie did her best to imprint at least the names and faces of the other first-years in her mind. Marius of Irimor was dark-haired, with a pointed nose and a grin that spoke of mischief. Everett of Shaila was blond and tall, and skinny enough that Kellie thought he might disappear if he turned sideways. Farouk Rauf was a stout Bazhir boy, with dark skin and dark eyes that glittered with curiosity. One by one, each boy went to stand next to his sponsor.
"And you?" Sir Merric continued, indicating Kellie's blond neighbor next. "What is your name?"
The boy bowed, his hands and legs still shaking slightly. "Jarrod of Fenrigh, S-sir Merric."
A hand was raised almost before the training master could inspect the group. "I will gladly sponsor my brother, Sir Merric."
It took all of Kellie's willpower not to look up in excitement. The speaker was a girl, if the voice was any indication, and a moment later, a tall girl with short blonde curls and gray eyes behind wire spectacles emerged from the crowd.
"As you wish, Astara of Fenrigh," Sir Merric replied, nodding. He pointed to Kellie next. "Your name?"
Kellie bowed, taking a hair longer than was strictly necessary to compose herself before straightening. "Kelanna of Queenscove, Sir Merric." She was a bit more pleased than she ought to have been that her voice didn't tremble.
"Who will sponsor Page Kelanna?" the training master inquired of the older boys.
Kellie peeked through her lashes at the group of pages. Several regarded her with curiosity, a few with disinterest, and one with a slight sneer on his face that Kellie felt certain he wouldn't have been confident enough to wear if he hadn't been positioned so that Sir Merric had his back to him. A pit formed in her stomach—the boy did not look pleasant.
"May I, Sir Merric?" asked a voice. Kellie sucked in a breath, relieved, and her eyes found a young man with close-cropped brown hair and brown eyes. She recognized him as the one she had seen in the hall earlier, the one who had nodded in acknowledgement, but she couldn't put a name to him.
"Very well, Rowan of Nond," replied the training master.
Kellie's mind ticked as she went to stand next to the older boy, trying her best to recall her genealogy studies from over the summer. Fenrigh and Nond were both conservative-leaning houses, and yet here was a Fenrigh girl who had been permitted to train as a page, and a Nond boy who was willing to volunteer to sponsor a girl. Why?
She didn't have time to think on it for long, as the training master indicated the last of the new pages, the girl Kellie hadn't been expecting. "Your name?"
The girl bowed, still appearing rather bored with the exercise. There was a secretive gleam in her hazel eyes as she straightened, though Kellie couldn't for the life of her imagine what was so amusing. "Ulasu of Pirate's Swoop."
The pieces clicked together in Kellie's mind, nearly audible. Pirate's Swoop! This girl… was Lady Alianne's daughter, then?
Neal had served as squire to the Lioness, and the Pirate's Swoop family had remained close to the Queenscoves afterward. Kellie knew that Lady Alianne had been captured and sold into slavery in the Copper Isles, but had been freed by her owners and had married a raka nobleman. Rumors said she'd worked for Queen Dovasary before the family had returned to Tortall last year, but as far as Kellie knew, that was rumor only. She eyed her neighbor, Ulasu, curiously.
"Who will sponsor Page Ulasu?" Sir Merric inquired, when nobody volunteered immediately.
The boy who had sneered at Kellie gave Ulasu the same derisive look. The silence stretched even longer this time, long enough for Kellie to start fearing that perhaps nobody would volunteer at all, until a boy on Rowan's other side raised his hand. "I will sponsor Page Ulasu, Sir Merric."
"Thank you, Pathom of Goldenlake. Now, let us not waste any more time here, and proceed to the pages' dining hall. The evening meal will be promptly at the sixth bell, beginning tomorrow."
Goldenlake, Kellie thought. That was a known progressive house, and Lord Raoul and Lady Buriram were friendly to her parents, though not part of their inner circle of friends. Still, she had met Pathom before and counted him as a friend. She was slightly offended that he hadn't offered to sponsor her, but then again, Alanna the Lioness and Raoul the Giantkiller were known to be close friends, so perhaps it made more sense for him to sponsor Ulasu after all.
Ulasu went to stand next to Pathom, and the pages broke rank a moment later, following the training master toward the dining hall. Kellie tagged along at Rowan's heels, keeping pace with Ulasu. Pathom and Rowan were evidently good friends, since they stayed together the entire way. It allowed her a chance to size up the tall, broad boy. Pathom had curly black hair and dark eyes, but she hadn't been able to tell their exact color yet.
Once in the dining hall, Kellie had to resist the urge to cover her ears. The pages that had been so subdued in the hallway just a few moments ago were now excitedly speaking over each other, talking and laughing and jostling for places on the long benches at the tables. Each table already had pitchers of fruit juice, bread and cheese platters, and bowls of apples.
Pathom and Rowan led the way to the serving line, where they each picked up a tray and loaded it with napkins and utensils, before reaching for plates from the pile. Kellie copied them, Ulasu doing the same. Kellie's tray was soon loaded with a stew containing meat, potatoes, and carrots, a large roll with various grains visible in the crust, and a medium-sized helping of vegetables, covered in a sauce that smelled of rosemary and some other spices she couldn't identify.
"This way," Pathom murmured to Ulasu, indicating a table that still had enough room for the four of them. Kellie looked to Rowan, who nodded and began moving toward the table himself. She followed him, taking a seat on the bench, and did her best to ignore the two boys that were sat there already, regarding herself and Ulasu with undisguised interest. Rowan introduced them, but Kellie could barely hear him over the din.
Once seated, Kellie was reaching for the cheese platter with one hand and the juice pitcher with the other, when the sound of someone loudly rapping their knuckles on wood echoed through the hall. Sir Merric stood at a podium at one end of the room. There was a sudden silence as the pages stopped talking, and a moment later, the rustling of fifty-some people getting to their feet.
"To Bright Mithros and the Great Goddess, we give thanks and praise. May we strive to be worthy of such blessings, and pray that we never stray from our righteous path," the training master intoned.
"So mote it be," responded the pages. The redheaded man took his seat at the end of the prayer, prompting the pages to do the same.
Rowan reached out and nudged the cheese plate toward Kellie. "Here, now you don't have to stretch for it." He smiled at her as she helped herself. "And I apologize in advance if I turn out to be a poor sponsor. I think I can well enough, but I've never sponsored anyone before, so I will most likely spend a great deal of time asking this lump—" He poked Pathom in the shoulder jokingly; Pathom swatted his friend's hand away without looking away from his plate. "—all of the things I need to show you."
Pathom, filling his cup with juice, replied, "Ro, if you wanted to spend more time with me, all you had to do was ask." He set the cup back down and turned his smile on Ulasu, letting it become more of a smirk. "It's wonderful to see you again. I hope this time I can escape your company without singed hair."
Ulasu grinned. "Don't worry, my sister mastered that spell years ago. And she hasn't forgotten to raise a ward before experimenting with new magics since, after the scolding Ma gave her."
"That's a relief," Pathom remarked. He turned toward the other two boys at the table. "Are you waiting for it to grow wings and fly into your mouth?" he asked pointedly, indicating their as-yet-untouched plates. Both boys immediately turned red and began shoveling the food into their mouths, though the sandy-haired boy continued to regard Ulasu curiously.
"Do you always stare at people while they eat?" she asked him brightly, after a few minutes had passed and he'd barely taken his eyes off her. Kellie wanted to kick her fellow first-year under the table—it was saying things like that that made you enemies!—but unfortunately, Rowan had seated himself between the two girls, and she couldn't risk kicking him as well.
To the boy's credit, he blushed at being called on his rudeness. "I apologize, I didn't mean to stare. But isn't Ulasu a Kyprish name?" As an afterthought, he added, "I'm Jameson of Meron."
Ulasu did not blink at Jameson's rather pointed question. "Yes, it is. I was born in the Copper Isles—my father is a raka nobleman, and my mother is Tortallan-born. I was named after a dear friend of theirs." She reached for the pitcher, and as she refilled her juice, she added, "I lived in Rajmuat most of my life, until my parents decided to return to Tortall last year."
"That would explain it, then." Rowan buttered his roll and tore into it, then gave Ulasu a long, contemplative look. "The Copper Isles, you say? What is it like there?"
Ulasu didn't seem to mind talking. "The Isles are… a great deal of jungle, with a few cities and mountains. Rajmuat is the capital."
"What animals live in the Isles?" Kellie asked, her scholar's curiosity getting the better of her.
"There are lots of howler monkeys," Ulasu offered. "They're very intelligent creatures, that like to steal fruit from carts heading to market, and they make a dreadful racket at night. And many, many crows. They're sacred to the Trickster god, so nobody ever does anything harmful to them beyond chasing them away."
It seemed that Jameson had a scholar's curiosity as well. Within minutes, he and Ulasu were caught in a debate on the differences between the damp heat of the Copper Isles and the dry heat of the Great Southern Desert, and how that affected the people, animals, and plants that lived there.
Rowan groaned as he looked at his friend, then ruefully over at Kellie. "He'll never stop now, you know. Sometimes I wonder how he ended up in knight training instead of the royal university. Finish eating, then we can show the two of you around and I'll have an excuse to shut him up. Or at least leave him behind."
Kellie did as she was told, trying her best not to smile into her plate at Rowan's last comment. She didn't know her page-sponsor well enough for that yet.
Jameson finally broke off from interrogating Ulasu about the Isles to give Kellie a hesitant smile. "You're a Queenscove, right?"
Kellie nodded, unsure where he might be going with this line of questioning.
The smile on the boy's face grew wider at her response. "Then unless I'm mistaken, you and I are related!"
"We are?" Kellie blinked at him, confused. "How so?"
"Your late grandmother was born Wilina of Haryse, wasn't she?" At Kellie's nod, Jameson continued, "She and my grandmother, Lady Roxanne, were sisters."
"Oh." Kellie hadn't known that. Her genealogy lessons had been more about the various noble houses in general, and less about who in Tortall was related to whom. She frowned slightly. "Does that make us cousins?"
"Second cousins," answered the final boy at the table, the first words he'd spoken since the meal began. He had brown hair so dark it bordered on black, and a short, wiry build. He'd spoken so softly Kellie had barely been able to hear him over the din.
"He speaks!" teased Rowan, grinning. "And here I was certain I wouldn't hear your voice until classes began."
The boy rolled his brown eyes at Rowan, evidently not taking offense.
"What's your name?" Ulasu asked him, tilting her head in a way that reminded Kellie of a bird.
"This is Cassius of Tirragen," Pathom answered. "He's the smartest of all the pages, even the fourth-years."
"Tirragen?" Kellie repeated, surprised to hear the name. House Tirragen had been in disgrace ever since their former lord's actions on King Jonathan's coronation day, and the members of the house tended to keep to themselves rather than face the judgement of Court. Not that she could blame them. The current lord of Tirragen was a noted scholar, but Kellie knew nothing of the rest of the family.
Pathom narrowed his eyes at her, all joviality gone from his expression. "Will that be a problem? Anybody that has issue with Cassius being Tirragen will soon be taught the error of their ways." He cracked his knuckles, his meaning clear. "Do I need to teach you that lesson the hard way?"
The tips of Cassius's ears had gone red. "I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Pathom," he mumbled.
"You need someone to do it," Pathom replied. His eyes returned to the girls. "My question remains: Do either of you have a problem with Cassius being a Tirragen?" Kellie could hear the unsaid "disgraced house" in the way Pathom had worded the question. She tensed, shaking her head quickly.
"No issue," Ulasu answered. "Tirragen is an old house and should be afforded the respect it deserves, regardless of one man's actions."
"Nobody should be held responsible for the mistakes of their ancestors," Kellie added softly.
Cassius turned his eyes onto her, staring silently for a long moment. Kellie fought the urge to twitch under that intense gaze, until Cassius turned to Jameson and declared, "I like her."
He'd spoken the words in the loudest tone he'd used so far, and smiled as he turned back to her again. Kellie instantly decided that she liked that smile; it changed his entire demeanor, his face going from sullen to pleased, and she dared hope she might have made another friend.
A bell sounded, not the big palace bell that counted the hours, but loud enough that all the pages could hear it clearly. It seemed to signal the end of dinner, as all of the older pages immediately rose to carry their trays to the kitchen window at the back of the dining hall, with the new pages scrambling to keep up. Kellie turned her tray over to a round-cheeked maid and followed Rowan out the door.
Once in the hallway, Pathom and Rowan conferred quietly while Kellie and Ulasu waited. The older boys soon peered back at them. "We're going to show you most of our classrooms now, but we'll save the rest until tomorrow," Rowan explained. "The tailors' is closed for the evening anyway, and the libraries and other areas can wait. What have you both been assigned for your final-bell class?"
"Basic magic lessons with Master… Irial?" Kellie ventured.
"Ah, yes, the torture that every Gifted page must survive their first year," Rowan said, nodding sagely. "I couldn't tell you much about his class, as I have less magic than a dried-up stick, but to hear the others talk about it, Master Irial is a kind man. He's younger than most of the priests who teach us, I can tell you that at least."
Ulasu was fumbling with a piece of parchment. Running her finger down it, she finally replied, "Immortals study with… Tkaa? Did I say that properly?"
"You did," Pathom answered with a nod. "Tkaa is a basilisk, he teaches the pages about the different types of immortals that we are likely to encounter here in Tortall. Spidrens, centaurs, hurroks, unicorns, merpeople and the like. You probably won't be alone, but it will only be other first-years with you. We'll take you both to meet him tomorrow."
xxxxx
After Kellie had returned to her room for the night, she breathed a soft sigh of relief. She had made it through her first day at the palace. Her page-sponsor was a kind, if somewhat easily distracted young man, and Pathom, Jameson, Cassius, and Ulasu all seemed friendly.
But not all of the pages are so friendly, her mind whispered, drawing up an image of the sneering boy from earlier. Kellie considered for a moment, then gave a mental shrug. There was nothing she could do about him at this moment—she didn't even know his name—so why waste energy thinking about him?
Her sleep was deep and dreamless. Kellie rose before dawn and dressed quickly in her tunic and breeches to practice with her glaive before the breakfast, and forced herself to do the strengthening exercises Kel had taught her. The press-ups were still difficult, but she could do five of them in a row now before her arms gave out on her. Once finished, she took a moment to look out her window and survey the courtyard below.
Kel had adopted her sparrows—or, to be perhaps more accurate, they had adopted her—when the realm's second lady knight had been a first-year page. The birds had lived in the courtyard outside the pages' wing. Kellie had hoped that she might be able to find some sparrow friends herself, but to her disappointment, the only bird in the courtyard was a crow perched on a low tree branch. Remembering what Ulasu had said at supper yesterday, about crows being sacred to the Trickster god, Kellie pulled apart the half roll she'd been eating last night and not finished. She spread the small chunks on her windowsill and made a soft chirping noise with her tongue, hoping to attract the bird's attention. She could certainly do with some luck from the Trickster.
To Kellie's dismay, the crow cawed loudly and gave her such a disgruntled glare that she blinked in surprise, before it spread its wings and flapped up onto the roof, out of sight. Kellie stared after it for a moment, hoping that one crow's opinion of her would not affect her luck too terribly much, then, hearing a light tap on her door, went to let Tessa in.
True to their word, after breakfast Pathom and Rowan showed the two girl pages much of the palace, with Cassius shyly trailing behind, not saying a word. At the tailors', garments were thrust into their arms—undyed practice clothes as well as the formal red and gold uniforms that pages were expected to wear for their academic classes and for serving at banquets—and cloaks for cold weather were heaped up on top. Rowan took one from Kellie, holding it up, and Kellie couldn't help but stare. Wasn't it a bit large for a slip of a girl like her? Were all of her new clothes this big?
"Surprised?" Rowan teased her, nudging her in the ribs as she frowned at the cloak. Kellie was shocked at his forward behavior, until she saw Ulasu hide a smile. Perhaps Rowan was treating her as he might a little sister? "All the new pages get uniforms that are far too big for them, so we don't have to swap them for new ones as often. Bria can alter it for you so it fits a little better, or one of the other servants, and have it let out as you grow."
The two older boys kept up a lively conversation as they showed Kellie and Ulasu around. Not all of their chatter was about the various classrooms they passed; Kellie was interested to learn that Pathom was an only child, his parents not having married until they were twenty years older than most, and that since Fief Goldenlake bordered Fief Tirragen, he and Cassius had been friends since they were young.
"Though I spent most of my childhood riding with the King's Own," Pathom finished, "since Pa was the commander and all. Still, whenever we happened to be near home, we always visited Tirragen."
Cassius nodded silently, seemingly content to let Pathom tell the story.
Over the course of the day, Kellie not only learned her way around the palace, but also that Rowan had a brother and three sisters, all older than him except one, and that Ulasu was the youngest of triplets. Kellie spoke of her own sisters when asked, adding that she suspected neither of them were likely to follow in her footsteps and become knights.
"I think they'd rather go to university," she explained. "I'm the heir, so I have to be a knight whether I want to or not—and I do—but they don't."
Not watching where she was going, Kellie didn't realize Rowan had stopped walking until she bumped into him with an "oof!" She hurriedly apologized to her sponsor, but Rowan didn't seem to notice.
"You're the heir to Queenscove?" he demanded, looking shocked.
"Yes, I am. What of it?" Kellie challenged him defensively, not liking his tone.
"Queenscove allows daughters to inherit?" Rowan questioned.
Pathom frowned. "Hey now, let's not be getting into an argument so soon. Or at least, not here."
Kellie ignored him, her eyes fixed on Rowan as she informed him, "In the absence of a male heir, Queenscove inheritance law states that the fief goes to the eldest daughter. I have two sisters and no brothers, and my parents can't have more children, so yes, I'm the heir to Queenscove. Again, what of it?"
Rowan opened his mouth, seemed to notice how Kellie was glaring at him, and closed it again. He looked more than a little sheepish as he replied, "I didn't mean anything by it—I was just surprised, is all. Queenscove is one of the oldest houses in Tortall, and so I thought it would be more conservative."
Kellie relaxed a bit. "I think my grandfather added that stipulation to the inheritance laws. He became Duke of Queenscove when he was young, and very likely wanted to ensure the line of succession was secure."
Rowan nodded, accepting her explanation, and continued showing her around as though nothing had happened. Pathom exchanged a look with Cassius, who shrugged, before following suit.
Meeting Tkaa the basilisk was one of the most interesting experiences of Kellie's life so far. She had never seen an immortal before, not up close like this anyway, and the creature reminded her of the lizards that were so common in the south, only much, much larger.
"You act as though you've never seen a basilisk before," Rowan joked, grinning.
"Perhaps they have not, Rowan of Nond," the seven-foot-tall immortal chided him, in a voice that sounded like the wind whispering through dry leaves. "There are very few of us in Tortall, after all."
The basilisk had no lips, and thus couldn't smile, but Kellie felt that he was regarding her kindly. She studied him in turn, fascinated by the beadlike texture of his hide, and his five silver claws on each foot.
"I am glad to meet you, young ladies," Tkaa remarked. "I look forward to seeing you in my classes." He dipped his tail in a sort of bow; Kellie and Ulasu hurriedly bowed back before being hustled out of the room.
After lunch, the two boys showed their charges the outside of the palace, including the stables, the gardens, and the outdoor practice courts. The day had been such a whirlwind that it seemed Kellie had only blinked and suddenly it was time for supper.
It had been an exhausting day, but Kellie had at least learned her schedule and found her classrooms. Breakfast was at the seventh morning bell, and morning classes would be outdoors on the practice courts. Lunch would be at the noon bell, followed by academic classes in the afternoons, and supper at the sixth evening bell. After supper, the pages were expected to study. There would be no classes on Sundays, but all pages were expected to attend services at the Mithran temple.
"Of course," Rowan pointed out, "that only takes a bell, and the rest of Sunday is usually for catching up on punishment work. Or practice, or studying…" He gave a long-suffering sigh.
"I'm sure there's a troupe of Players somewhere who would appreciate talent like yours," Pathom murmured. Rowan retaliated to the verbal swipe by attempting to steal his friend's dessert; Pathom only rescued it by a second.
Kellie giggled; it had only taken a day for her to become less nervous around the two. She'd already noticed that Rowan had a wonderful sense of humor. The days ahead of her would no doubt be filled with difficulties, but as long as she could still laugh, she was going to, and her page-sponsor seemed likely to be a major source of laughter in the coming months.
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