Author's Note:
Hello, World of Fanfiction! I am Padawan Keladry of Masbolle, and this is my first ever fanfiction. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Milady Tamora's works, I receive no monetary means for this work of fiction, and I only own the plot.
On with the story.
Chapter 1: The Unexpected Secret
"You may go," said Lord Wyldon.
"I can't come back then," replied a tremulous Keladry of Mindelan, though she hid it well under a well-practiced Yamani mask.
"No," stated the bald, but strangely handsome training master. "You shall be leaving for your Barony townhouses in three bells' time."
"Yes, My Lord." Kel bowed out of the room at the dismissal, turned in the direction of her now-former page rooms, and fled, refusing the tears forming in her eyes access to her face. Only when she was safely within her refuge did she let them fall. Once she had vented her sorrow and anger onto her pillow, she looked up to find that her things had already been packed for her. Judging by the loving way her Lucky Cats had been handled, she guessed that Salma and the young lady Salma had taken under her wing—Lalasa, yes, that was her name, Kel remembered—had been ordered to pack for her.
She smiled fondly, only to be struck again by the harsh reality of why her things had been packed in the first place. Not wanting to face her friends, mainly Neal, Kel decided to move her belongings closer to the door to save time later. As she moved, her large trunk clipped the leg of her bed. "Former bed," she thought sadly. A thump echoed through the room following the collision, causing Kel to frown. "Thump? I thought these beds were solid, which means it should go 'thud,'" she murmured to herself with a trace of humor.
Upon further inspection of the bedpost in question, she discovered that a rod with some sort of star shape at the end was required to access whatever lay inside. Thinking quickly, she retrieved a Yamani hair decoration used only for very specific and special ceremonies. The decoration, a slender silver pin adorned with a lotus motif, was significant to Kel as a symbol of the restraint and dignity ingrained in Yamani culture—values she had strived to embody since her time in the Islands. While feeling that she was committing an act of sacrilege upon the hairpiece, she worked the short threaded rod that impeded her way out. Once complete, Kel propped her bed up with her trunk, removed the length of hollow wood she discovered, and carefully peered inside. Inside was a roll of parchment that had clearly been there for a long while.
Sitting upon a chair after ensuring her doors were securely locked, she carefully extracted the roll and spread it out. Kel's heart raced as she unrolled the parchment, the faint scent of aged paper mingling with a sense of trepidation. For a moment, she hesitated, her mind racing with possibilities—what secrets could this reveal? Then, with deliberate care, she spread it flat on the table and her breath caught at the elegant script that proclaimed:
To whomever may find this letter,
If you have come to find this, then it means many things. One of which is that I have died, for if I had not, I would have retrieved this and destroyed it. I hope I have died well, for a cause that I truly believe in, with no magecraft, blackmail, coercion, or brainwashing to blind me. Secondly, it means that you, who are reading this, are residing within my former page quarters. As well, I have made it so that this may only be found by those who are deemed worthy, as designated by the charms bought for this purpose. I was assured that they would never wear off, even if the caster died.
As you have been deemed a worthy successor, I wish to impart a secret upon you, one that I hope you will use wisely and that will aid you. I shall only tell you one thing at this time: the location of my journal, in which many more important secrets of these chambers and those of the castle reside. It is held within a secret chamber in these very rooms.
To access this, as well as many other rooms that only I know about in the castle, you must find beneath the picture depicting a Lion's Pride a knothole that can be pushed in. It cannot be found unless you are explicitly looking for it and thinking about it at the time. I have made it so. Use the space wisely. Use my words and secrets wisely, as well as what you are about to find.
With Great Regard,
Knight of the Realm
Tortall
434 HE
Alexander of Tirragen