AN: I've edited both chapters of this story and made them much better. I'll probably be updating this very soon, because now it doesn't stink. Right then. Onward!
Disclaimer: I own not, you sue not.
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If Kel had the Gift, and it was stronger than Neal's…
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Keladry of Mindelan burst into her best friend Nealan of Queenscove's room, her face white. Her hazel eyes blazed with excitement, and a smile quirked her lips. The fourteen year old grabbed Neal's hands and pulled him off the bed where he was perched, reading a book.
"What in the name of Mithros happened at the practice courts?" Neal asked as Kel hugged him. He had never known the younger girl to show so much emotion.
"The Lioness!" Kel gasped as she broke away and sprawled on the bed. "The Lioness, she asked me to be her squire! She's going to teach me to heal!"
"That's great!" Neal said. He knew how much this meant to his friend. "Raoul just asked me. I accepted. My cousin Dom is in the King's Own."
"Goldenlake the giant killer?" Kel asked, sitting up and staring at Neal with a grin. "I guess we'll both be learning from legends."
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"Kel, you need to go deliver a baby in the infirmary," Alanna said one day when Kel was seventeen. "I have to go heal someone who opened their head in a jousting match. Everything is normal; you should barely have to do anything. If you can't get there in time, we're up to our eyeballs in healers on this thrice damned progress."
Kel got up from where she was polishing armor. Alanna still didn't understand how her squire could last the entire day always working. "Right away, lady knight."
"You will have to stop calling me that eventually," Alanna pointed out. "Once you're knighted, you'll realize how annoying it is."
"Of course, lady knight," Kel said as she ducked out of the tent and jogged towards the infirmary. She was running over which herbs to use in a pain reliever, and didn't even see the foot that a nobleman stuck in front of her.
She went sprawling onto the ground and jumped up, her instincts in battle mode automatically. The 'attacker' was a scrawny man with salt and pepper hair. She towered over him, as well as out muscled him.
"Why don't you just go home," the man said scathingly. "Everyone knows you only got this far because you're a witch."
Kel schooled her face into blandness. She bowed, a bit higher than protocol specified and said, "If you'll excuse me," before taking off towards the infirmary again. This time, she kept her eyes open for wayward feet.
Inwardly, the man's words made her think. Could she really have done it without her Gift?
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"You will report for duty at the northern border, under the command of Sir Jared of Nond," Lord Wyldon told Kel. He looked at her with steel in his gaze. "Don't get killed, Mindelan. I put too much work into you for that."
Kel stood up as Owen opened the door. "Bring in Queenscove," Wyldon instructed his squire.
"My lord? If you don't mind me asking; where will Neal be?" Kel asked, remembering her promise to Baird.
"He will be the head healer and in charge of a refugee camp. Hollyrose will be in charge of patrol," Wyldon said. Kel left, knowing a dismissal when she heard one.
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Official Notice
The Kingdom of Tortall is hereby to be called New Scanra. All nobles are stripped of their titles and property except for what they can put onto one wagon.
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Notice from Prime Minister to Captain of the Guard
The former queen, Thayet, is to be presented to His Majesty as a gift when he arrives. Likewise are Alanna Cooper (newly a widow), Alianne Cooper, Keladry Trader and Veralidaine Sarrasri.
Make sure they are clean, but dressed in rags. Everyone must see how far Tortall has fallen.
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All because Kel had a Gift that was stronger than Neal's…