First Test (22 page)

Kel blinked at him, startled. She supposed she knew that Lord Wyldon had a wife and family, but she had forgotten it. It was hard to imagine him with any life other than that of training master to the pages and squires.

"Now that you have made your point, consider the future. Soon your body will change. The things that you will want from life as a maiden will change. Pursue the course you have, and you might be crippled by an accident." He looked at his right arm and smiled crookedly. "What if you fall in love? What if you come to grief, or cause others to do so, because your thoughts are on your heart and not combat? This year was the easiest."

You think so? she asked him silently. It wasn't your year, was it? She opened her mouth to reply.

"Not now," he said, raising his hand. "Do not answer me now. Go home and think about it." He sighed. "You are dismissed."

She had to hear him say it. "I can't come back, then."

The training master shook his head wearily.

"Should you desire to return at the end of September, you may do so. I hope that you will choose otherwise."

Now Kel was really confused. She stood, her knees trembling. "I can come back in the fall?"

Lord Wyldon nodded. "That is what I said. You may return. Good night, Keladry."

"Good night, Lord Wyldon." Outside his office, she felt a wave of giddiness sweep over her. She turned and pressed her face against the cool stones of the wall.

Back in her room, she reread her mother's letter. Now she was glad the family would be in town. She could visit Peachblossom, ride him—maybe practice what she had learned so as to be in shape for autumn.

She threw down the letter and ran into the hall, trembling with excitement. "Neal!" she yelled. "Roald, Seaver, Merric! I can stay! I can stay!"

Two weeks after moving to her parents' town house, Kel returned there from an afternoon spent with Peachblossom. To her surprise her mother met her as she came in. Ilane looked at her, then shook her head. "I'm still shocked by how much you grew this year. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. How much was it? Three inches?"

Kel nodded. "I'm five feet three inches tall now," she said proudly. "Another inch and I'll catch up with Papa."

"He'll be delighted, poor man," said her mother teasingly. "I came to tell you that a crate arrived while you were out. There's no sign who it's from. I had a footman pry off the lid, but no one has touched it."

Kel ran up to her room. A large crate filled with heaps of wood shavings waited there for her. Kel worked her way through the shavings until her fingers bumped against something large, wrapped in cloth.

"Well?" asked Ilane.

Kel turned. Both her parents stood in the doorway, looking as puzzled as she felt. "I think I need help getting it out," she said.

Piers came over. Between them, he and Kel wrestled a bulky, heavy parcel wrapped in oiled cloth out of the crate. The minute Kel saw its rough shape, she guessed what it was. Her heart drummed in her chest. Using her belt-knife, she cut away the cords that held the cloth around the thing.

It was a saddle—not just any saddle, but a tilting saddle, made high in the front and back. It was dark wood with brown leather fittings, but the workmanship was beautiful, the materials the finest that could be had. She ran her fingers over the padding, feeling how soft it was.

"And there's no message of any kind?" demanded Ilane. "It's such an expensive gift! Not a note? Has anyone mentioned sending you a present?"

As she and her father searched for a note, Kel told them about her belt-knife and the bruise balm. When the crate produced nothing but wood shavings, she decided to take one more look at the saddle itself. This time she did it with her fingers, exploring each bump and crevice. When she pressed a stud set on the top rim, squarely at the center, she heard a click. A section of the wooden rim flipped up. The girl saw a bit of white parchment inside and drew it out with two fingers. On it was written, "Goddess bless, lady page."

Adalia of Mindelan: Kel's 17-year-old sister

Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau: the King's Champion, also called the Lioness, born Alanna of Trebond

Anders of Mindelan: Kel's oldest brother, a knight

Baird of Queenscove, Duke: chief of Tortall's healers, Neal's father

Balcus Starsworn: springtime god

Bonedancer: living archaeopteryx (dinosaur bird) skeleton

Chisakami, Princess: daughter of the Yamani emperor, betrothed to Prince Roald

Clean of Kennan: Page in his third year

Conal of Mindelan: Kel's third-oldest brother, a knight

Eda Bell: the Wildcat of the Shang order of fighters

Esmond of Nicoline: new page, starts the same year as Kel

Faleron of King's Reach: second-year page, Merric's cousin

Flyndan: captain, second in command of the King's Own

Gareth of Naxen, Duke: called "the Elder," king's counselor, training master in Alanna's time

Garvey of Runnerspring: third-year page

Gower Isran: gloomy servant in the pages' wing

Hakuin Seastone: the Horse of the Shang order of fighters

Ilane of Mindelan, Baroness: Kel's mother

Inness of Mindelan: Kel's second-oldest brother, a knight

Ivor: Mithran priest, teaches mathematics

Jasson of Conte: youngest prince

Jonathan of Conte: King of Tortall

Joren of Stone Mountain: handsome third-year page

Kaddar Iliniat: emperor of Carthak

Kalasin of Conte: oldest princess

Keladry of Mindelan: known as Kel, ten-year-old daughter of Piers and Ilane of Mindelan, first female page candidate

Liam of Conte: younger prince

Lianne of Conte: youngest princess

Lindhall Reed: mage, biology teacher

Metric of Hollyrose: new page, starts the same year as Kel, Faleron's cousin

Myles of Olau, Baron: Alanna's adoptive father, teacher, head of royal intelligence service (spies)

Nariko: Yamani armsmistress/teacher at the imperial court

Nealan of Queenscove: Kel's sponsor, called Neal, son of Duke Baird

Numair Salmalin: mage, born Arram Draper

Obafem Ezeko: sergeant, trainer from the Tortallan army, formerly from Carthak

Oranie of Mindelan: Kel's sixteen-year-old sister

Piers of Mindelan, Baron: Kel's father, diplomat

Qasim: Bazhir soldier in the King's Own

Quinden of Marti's Hill: new page, starts the same year as Kel

Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Lord: knight commander of the King's Own

Roald of Conte, Prince: heir to the Tortallan throne

Salma Aynnar: head of servants in the pages' wing

Seaver of Tasride: new page, starts the same year as Kel

Stefan Groomsman: Chief Hostler, has wild magic with horses

Thayet of Conte: Queen of Tortall, commander of the Queen's Riders

Tilaine of Mindelan: Kel's sister-in-law, Anders's wife

Timon Greendale: headman of palace servants

Tkaa: basilisk, immortal, teaches magic to the pages

Upton Oakbridge: palace master of ceremonies

Veralidaine Sarrasri: known as Daine, called the Wildmage

Vinson of Genlith: third-year page, Joren's crony

Wyldon of Cavall, Lord: training master of the pages and squires

Yayin: Mithran priest, teaches reading and writing

Zahir ibn Alhaz: third-year page, Bazhir

Balor's Needle
: a tower, the highest part of the royal palace in Corus, used mostly by astronomers and mages.

basilisk
: immortal that resembles a seven-foot-tall lizard, with slit-pupiled eyes that face forward and silver talons. It walks upright on its hind feet. Its hobby is travel; it loves gossip and learns languages easily. It possesses some magical skills, including a kind of screech that turns people to stone.

Bazhir
: the collective name for the nomadic tribes of Tortall’s Great Southern Desert.

blazebalm
: a thick, sticky substance like paste, which burns when lit (either manually or at a distance) by a mage or archer with fire arrows.

Carthak
: the slaveholding empire that includes all of the Southern Lands, ancient and powerful, a storehouse of learning, sophistication, and culture. Its university was at one time without a rival for teaching. Its people reflect the many lands that have been consumed by the empire, their colors ranging from white to brown to black. Its former emperor Ozorne Tasikhe was forced to abdicate when he was turned into a Stormwing (and later killed). He was succeeded by his nephew Kaddar Iliniat, who is still getting his farflung lands under control.

centaur
: immortal shaped like a human from the waist up, with the body of a horse from the waist down. Like humans, centaurs can be good, bad, or a mixture of both.

Code of Ten
: set of laws that form the basis of government for most of the Eastern Lands.

Copper Isles
: slaveholding island nation to the south and west of Tortall. The Isles' lowlands are hot, wet jungles, their highlands cold and rocky. Traditionally their ties are to Carthak rather than Tortall, and their pirates often raid along the Tortallan coast. There is a strain of insanity in their ruling line. The Isles hold an old grudge against Tortall, since one of their princesses was killed there the day that Jonathan was crowned.

coromanel
: a flat, crown-shaped piece fitted over the tip of a lance. It spreads the power of a lance's impact in several directions, to make the force less severe.

Corus
: the capital city of Tortall, located on the northern and southern banks of the Oloron River. Corus is the home of the new royal university as well as the royal palace.

Domin River
: runs through fief Mindelan.

dragon
: large, winged lizard-like immortal capable of crossing from the Divine Realms to the mortal ones and back. Dragons are intelligent, possess their own magic, and are rarely seen by humans.

Eastern Lands
: name used to refer to those lands north of the Inland Sea and east of the Emerald Ocean: Scanra, Tortall, Tyra, Tusaine, Galla, Maren, Sarain.

Galla
: the country to the north and east of Tortall, famous for its mountains and forests, with an ancient royal line. Daine was born there.

Gift, the
: human, academic magic, the use of which must be taught.

glaive
: a pole arm including a four- or five-foot staff capped with a long metal blade.

Great Mother Goddess
: the chief goddess in Tortallan pantheon, protector of women; her symbol is the moon.

griffin
: feathered immortal with a cat-like body, wings, and a beak. The males grow to a height of six and a half to seven feet tall at the shoulder; females are slightly bigger. No one can tell lies in a griffin's vicinity (a range of about a hundred feet).

hurrok
: immortal shaped like a horse with leathery bat-wings, claws, and fangs.

Immortals War
: a short, vicious war fought in the spring and summer of the thirteenth year of Jonathan's and Thayet's reign, named that for the number of immortal creatures that fought, but also waged by Carthakis (rebels against the new Emperor Kaddar), Copper Islanders, and Scanran raiders. These forces were defeated by the residents of the Eastern Lands, particularly Tortall, but recovery is slow.

King's Council
: the monarch's private council, made up of those advisers he trusts the most.

King's Own
: a cavalry/police group answering to the king, whose members serve as royal bodyguards and as protective troops throughout the realm. Their knight commander is Lord Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak. The ranks are filled by younger sons of noble houses, Bazhir, and the sons of wealthy merchants.

K'mir, K'miri
: the K'mir are the matriarchal, nomadic tribes of the mountains in Sarain. They herd ponies and are ferocious warriors and riders. The Saren lowlanders despise the K'mir and are continuously at war with them. There is a small, growing population of them in Tortall, where Queen Thayet is half K'mir and a number of the Queen's Riders are also of K'miri descent.

mage
: wizard.

Maren
: large, powerful country east of Tortall, the grain basket of the Eastern Lands, with plenty of farms and trade.

Midwinter Festival
: a seven-day holiday centering around the longest night of the year and the sun's rebirth afterward. Gifts are exchanged and feasts held.

Mithros
: chief god in Tortallan pantheon, god of war and the law; his symbol is the sun.

ogre
: immortal with aqua-colored skin, shaped like a human, from ten to twelve feet in height.

Oloron River
: its main sources are Lake Naxen and Lake Tirragen in the eastern part of Tortall; it flows through the capital, Corus, and into the Emerald Ocean at Port Caynn.

pole arm
: any weapon consisting of a long wooden staff or pole capped by a sharp blade of some kind, including spears, glaives, and pikes.

Queen's Riders
: a cavalry/police group charged with protecting Tortallans who live in hard-to-reach parts of the country. They enforce the law and teach local residents to defend themselves. They accept both women and men in their ranks, unlike the army, the navy, or the King's Own. Their headquarters is between the palace and the Royal Forest. Queen Thayet is the commander; her second in command, Buriram Tourakom, governs the organization on a day-to-day basis.

quintain
: a dummy with a shield mounted on a post. One outstretched "arm" is weighted with a sandbag, while the other is covered by the shield. The object in tilting at a quintain is to strike the shield precisely, causing the dummy to pivot 180°. The jouster can then ride by safely. Striking the dummy anywhere but the target circle on the shield causes the dummy to swing 360°, so the sandbag wallops the passing rider.