First Test. Tamora Pierce

squires and pages had been forced into battle. They had done well, thanks to their training by Wyldon and the teachers he had picked.

      At last Lord Wyldon returned the letter to King Jonathan, who placed it on his desk. ‘The baron and the baroness of Mindelan are faithful servants of the crown,’ the king remarked. ‘We would not have this treaty with the Yamani Islands were it not for them. You will have read that their daughter received some warrior training at the Yamani court, so it would appear that Keladry has an aptitude.’

      Lord Wyldon resettled his arm in its sling. ‘I did not agree to this, Your Majesty.’

      Alanna was about to say that he didn’t have to agree when she saw the king give the tiniest shake of the head. Clenching her jaws, she kept her remark to herself as King Jonathan raised his eyebrows.

      ‘Your predecessor agreed,’ he reminded Wyldon. ‘And you, my lord, implied agreement when you accepted the post of training master.’

      ‘That is a lawyer’s reply, sire,’ Wyldon replied stiffly, a slight flush rising in his clean-shaven cheeks.

      ‘Then here is a king’s: we desire this girl to train as a page.’

      And that is that, Alanna thought, satisfied. She might be the kind of knight who would argue with her king, at least in private, but Wyldon would never let himself do so.

      The training master absently rubbed the arm in its linen sling. At last he bowed in his chair. ‘May we compromise, sire?’

      Alanna stiffened. She hated that word! ‘Com—’ she began to say.

      The king silenced her with a look. ‘What do you want, my lord?’

      ‘In all honesty,’ said the training master, thinking aloud, ‘I had thought that our noble parents loved their daughters too much to place them in so hard a life.’

      ‘Not everyone is afraid to do anything new,’ Alanna replied sharply.

      ‘Lioness,’ said the king, his voice dangerously quiet. Alanna clenched her fists. What was going on? Was Jonathan inclined to give way to the man who’d saved his children?

      Wyldon’s eyes met hers squarely. ‘Your bias is known, Lady Alanna.’ To the king he said, ‘Surely the girl’s parents cannot be aware of the difficulties she will encounter.’

      ‘Baron Piers and Lady Ilane are not fools,’ replied King Jonathan. ‘They have given us three good, worthy knights already.’

      Lord Wyldon gave a reluctant nod. Anders, Inness, and Conal of Mindelan were credits to their training. The realm would feel the loss of Anders – whose war wounds could never heal entirely – from the active duty rolls. It would take years to replace those who were killed or maimed in the Immortals War.

      ‘Sire, please, think this through,’ Wyldon said. ‘We need the realm’s sons. Girls are fragile, more emotional, easier to frighten. They are not as strong in their arms and shoulders as men. They tire easily. This girl would get any warriors who serve with her killed on some dark night.’

      Alanna started to get up. This time King Jonathan walked out from behind his desk. Standing beside his Champion, he gripped one of her shoulders, keeping her in her chair.

      ‘But I will be fair,’ Wyldon continued. His brown eyes were hard. ‘Let her be on probation for a year. By the end of the summer field camp, if she has not convinced me of her ability to keep up, she must go home.’

      ‘Who judges her fitness?’ enquired the king.

      Wyldon’s lips tightened. ‘Who but the training master, sire? I have the most experience in evaluating the young for their roles as future knights.’

      Alanna turned to stare at the king. ‘No boy has ever undergone a probationary period!’ she cried.

      Wyldon raised his good shoulder in a shrug. ‘Perhaps they should. For now, I will not tender my resignation over this, provided I judge whether this girl stays or goes in one year’s time.’

      The king weighed the request. Alanna fidgeted. She knew Lord Wyldon meant his threat, and the crown needed him. Too many great nobles, dismayed by the changes in Tortall since Jonathan’s coronation, felt that Wyldon was their voice at court. If he resigned, the king and queen would find it hard to get support for their future changes.

      At last King Jonathan said, ‘Though we do not always agree, my lord, you know I respect you because you are fair and honourable. I would hate to see that fairness, that honour, tainted in any way. Keladry of Mindelan shall have a year’s probation.’

      Lord Wyldon nodded, then inspected the nails on his good hand. ‘There is one other matter,’ he remarked slowly. He looked at Alanna. ‘Do you plan to involve yourself in the girl’s training? It will not do.’

      Alanna bristled. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

      ‘You wish to help the girl, understandably.’ Wyldon spoke as though the mild words made his teeth hurt. ‘But you rarely deal with the lads, my lady. If you help the girl, it will be said that you eased her path in some special way. There are rumours that your successes are due to your magical Gift.’

      ‘By the Goddess,’ snapped Alanna, crimson with fury. If the king had not forbidden her to challenge men on personal grounds years before, she would have taken Wyldon out to the duelling court and made him regret his words.

      ‘Alanna, for heaven’s sake, you know the gossip,’ King Jonathan said. ‘Stop acting as if you’d never heard it before.’ He looked at Wyldon. ‘And you suggest …’

      ‘Lady Alanna must keep from all contact with the girl,’ Wyldon replied firmly. ‘Even a moment’s conversation will give rise to suspicion.’

      ‘All contact?’ cried Alanna. ‘But she’ll be the only girl among over twenty boys! She’ll have questions – I could help—’ She realized what she had said and fell silent.

      King Jonathan gently patted her shoulder. ‘Is there no other way?’ he asked.

      Wyldon shook his head. ‘I fear not, sire. The Mindelan girl will be the cause of trouble as it is, without the Lioness hovering over her.’

      The king thought it over. At last he sighed. ‘Lord Wyldon has the right of it. You must stay away from Keladry of Mindelan, Alanna.’

      ‘But Jonathan – sire—’ she pleaded, not believing he would do this.

      ‘That is an order, lady knight. If you cannot accept that, say as much now, and I will find you work elsewhere.’

      She stared at him for a long moment, lips tight. At last she got to her feet. ‘Don’t tax yourself. I’ll find knight’s work myself,’ she told him. ‘As far from Corus as possible.’ She stalked out of the room, slamming the door in her wake.

      The men stared at the door. Each of them was trying to remember if Alanna the Lioness had ever spoken to Jonathan in that tone before.

      Baron Piers and Lady Ilane of Mindelan watched Keladry read the reply from the training master. A Tortallan who did not know them well might have thought the man and woman felt nothing, and that their ten-year-old daughter was only concerned, not upset. That was far from true. The family had spent the last six years living in the Yamani Islands, where displays of deep emotion were regarded as shameful. To get the Yamanis to respect them, they had all learned to hide their feelings. Home in Mindelan again, they still acted as Yamanis, hiding uneasiness and even distress behind still faces.

      Kel struggled to reread the letter, afraid to say a word. If she did, her shaking voice would give her away. Instead she waited as she tried to control the anger and sense of betrayal that filled her.

      ‘It is not the reply we expected,’ Baron Piers said at last. He was a short, stocky man. Keladry had his build, delicate nose, and dreamy, long-lashed hazel eyes. Her brown hair was several shades lighter than his. When Kel did not reply