Wielder's Awakening (31 page)

When he looked at Kalista, he was always reminded of his beloved wife.  At first it had been almost too painful to be around Kalista because of the constant reminder.  When he had begun to overcome the pain of his wife’s death, he had wanted to repair the damage he had done by distancing himself from his daughter but did not know how to do it.  He had decided that he would try to talk with her more even though it had become awkward.  He wanted to do something to make his daughter happy and had decided she might be happiest if she were to find a husband and marry.  Raldon wanted her to be as happy in her marriage as he had been in his.  He remembered the way Kalista had acted upon last meeting Baron Mikel’s son and knew that the baron’s son would be a good choice.

Not only did he need to think of a man who would make his daughter happy, but he also needed a man who would be strong enough and wise enough to rule at her side as the future king of all Kalia.  His wife had been healthy when she was struck suddenly by a devious illness which had killed her.  He did not know when the same thing might happen to him and did not want to leave Kalia without a strong ruler by his daughter’s side.  Raldon had been impressed with the young man from Candus the last time he had seen him and hoped that he had continued to mature.  The Baron of Candus had long been a good friend of his, and he knew if his son was anything like him, he would make a good king.  Raldon hoped that by helping to fill Kalista’s emptiness, he could begin to fill his own.  It had felt good to talk with her at dinner, and he was determined to spend more time with his daughter.  It was sometimes hard for him to look at her and remember her mother, but he had learned there was also joy in seeing a part of his beloved Kineta living on in their child.

As Raldon changed his clothes and got into bed, his thoughts turned to the other reason why Baron Mikel was coming to visit.  The reports from the border of his land were disturbing, and to add upon it was the rise in bandits along Kalia’s highways.  Baron Mikel would return to Candus with a large detachment of royal troops, leaving a few along the way to quell the rash of highway banditry.  If the rogue army in Balthus dared to cross into Kalia, the baron would be ready to stop them at Candus.  If everything worked out as he hoped, Mikel’s son would stay at the Grand Palace and follow with another large detachment of soldiers at the end of winter.  This would not only give the new recruits in the army more time to train, it would also allow Kalista to become better acquainted with who he hoped would be her future husband.  The High King smiled as he rolled over to fall asleep and thought that maybe things were not so bad after all.

* * * * *

Kalista let out an excited giggle when she was sure her father was far enough away that he would not hear her.  She had been looking forward to the winter ball like she always did, but now there was even more of a reason to look forward to it.  She had always loved the balls that were held in the palace’s giant ballroom, not to mention the feast that always took place before the dancing.  The balls gave her a chance to get dressed in one of her nicest gowns and to wear her hair up elaborately.  It also gave her the chance to dance.  She loved dancing around the ballroom to the music.  When she was little, her mother and father would allow her to stay up late so she could attend part of the ball.  They would take turns dancing with her to a song here and there.  She had loved it so much and had always been disappointed when she was sent up to bed long before the ball was over.

Several years ago she had finally been allowed to attend the ball as an adult.  She had never missed a ball since then.  Usually one of the noble’s sons was picked by her father to be her escort.  The last ball, he had allowed her to pick her own escort.  She had seen a rather dashing young man who came to the palace sometimes and had chosen him.  He had turned out to be the worst escort she had ever had.  He was quite handsome, but he had spent the whole night yapping about how much money his family had and how much more he was going to add to the fortune.  He had never quit talking for more than a few seconds the whole night.  That was when Kalista had discovered that just because a man was handsome it did not necessarily make him fun to be around.

She had no worries about Baron Mikel’s son, however.  When she had seen him several years ago, she had been struck with his incredibly good looks.  She also remembered that he had been very polite and talked intelligently.  Her mother had always said that if you could find a man who had good looks, was intelligent, and loved you, you should snatch them up before they got away.  She knew that Gavin was definitely good looking and intelligent.  All she had to do was to work on the third part, and she would have a husband in Gavin.  Maybe she was about ready for marriage after all.  She could not believe her father had invited Baron Mikel and his son without saying anything.  Though, he had unquestionably made a good choice.

Kalista rose from the table filled with excitement and left the room.  She thought about going to the library to read a book but didn’t think she could manage to concentrate on a book at the moment.  She decided she might as well just go up to her room.  There she could relax and think about the good news that she had just learned.  Before she went to her room, though, she took a walk through the palace’s majestic halls.  She saw a few servants, but other than them she didn’t run into anyone.  After her stroll, she continued on to her room with a smile still gracing her face.  When she entered her sitting chamber, she was surprised to find that Nanny Frieda was sitting with her regular attendants.  Frieda rose as Kalista came into the room.

“Where have you been, young lady?” Frieda began in her usual chiding voice.  “I stopped by the library, but when I found it vacant I assumed that you would be here.”

“I was taking a walk around the palace before coming up to bed.  It is no big deal.”

“You do not think anything is a big deal, do you?  I needed to speak with you, but you were nowhere to be found.  What if it had been something important?”

“But it is not anything important is it!” Kalista exclaimed, irritated with her nanny.  “If it was important somebody could have found me easily enough.  It was not like I was hiding.  I was just roaming the halls in plain sight of anyone who bothered to look.  Frieda, I am not a little girl anymore.  I do not have to tell someone what I am doing every second of the day.”

“Calm down, Kalista.  I would think that you could control your emotions better if you were as grown up as you say you are.”

Kalista threw up her hands in exasperation.  She then calmed herself down before saying anything else.  Nanny Frieda would just continue to stand there berating her without telling Kalista what she had come to say if she did not calm down.

“I am sorry,” Kalista said, pretending not to be upset any longer.  “What did you come here to tell me?”

“That is better.  I knew you were a civilized young lady.”  Kalista gritted her teeth but kept a smile.  “I was looking for you because I needed to let you know of a change we will be having in your studying schedule.  The High King thinks that you should know everything you need to by now.  We will review for a while, and then you will take a test on all of the material.  If you pass all of the tests that I give you to my satisfaction, your schooling as you now know it will be over.”

Kalista’s mood changed back to happiness as she listened to what Frieda had to say.  She was ecstatic that her schooling was at last coming to an end.  She had thought the day would never come.

“It is about time,” she said happily.

“Do not get too excited, Princess.  You still have to pass all of the tests that I administer to you.  I also said that your schooling would come to an end as you currently know it.  You will still continue to study in many other ways.  You will regularly attend audiences at the High King’s side and will be expected to spend a certain amount of time each day in the southeast tower learning firsthand how the matters of state are taken care of.”

Kalista’s happiness only dropped slightly.  If Frieda was administering the tests, they would definitely be hard, but after she was done passing all of them she would be free of the boring lessons.  At least she would be able to see the things she had learned about actually being used.  Even if she would still have to keep to a schedule, anything was better than Frieda’s boring lectures and penmanship lessons.

“Thank you for informing me of this tonight,” Kalista said, expecting Frieda to leave.

“I am not done yet,” the old woman said.  “Since we will be reviewing so much material, you will not have time for your archery lessons or anything else.”  Kalista’s eyes widened in disappointment as Frieda continued on.  “You will be mine from right after breakfast until midday.  You will then have an hour break before returning to the study until dinner.  We will keep this schedule until we are done reviewing and you have passed all of your exams.”  Frieda paused as she continued to stare at Kalista.

“Is there anything else?” Kalista asked hesitantly.

“No, Princess, that is all.”  Frieda then gathered herself and strode for the door.  “I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning.  Come prepared to work hard.”

Kalista watched in silence as her nanny left the sitting room and strode out into the hall.  She let out an exaggerated sigh and headed into her bed chamber.  She motioned for her chamber servants to come and prepare her for bed.  They followed immediately and began preparing her for sleep.  One of them removed her necklace while the other undid her braid and began to comb her hair out.  She stood silently as they finished up pulling down a silk nightdress gently over her head.  Kalista then dismissed them and crawled into her bed.  She shivered as she pulled her blankets up tightly under her chin.  It was beginning to get cold at nights.  She would let her servants know in the morning to start preparing a small fire in her bedchamber’s fireplace to take the chill out of the air in her room.  They had begun making fires in the sitting room fireplace but had been waiting for her command to begin to make them in her bed chamber.

Kalista’s thoughts turned to all that she had learned throughout the evening.  While she was not excited about her new studying schedule, she knew that when she was done it would be worth it.  How wonderful it would be to not have to spend her days shut up in the study listening to repetitious lecturing.  Not only did she have her new freedom to look forward to, she also had the winter ball and Gavin’s forthcoming visit.  She smiled with the thought of seeing Gavin once again.  She giggled to herself as she moved around in the large bed trying to get comfortable.  She usually didn’t particularly like the coming of winter, however, this winter was going to be wonderful.

20

Traven stood as tall as he could, rising to his full height as Rudy moved to stand directly in front of him.  Rudy was half a head shorter than him but stocky and easily wider.  The other three students who were with Rudy stepped up behind him, offering their support as Thad leaned back against the wall breathing heavily, staring with wide eyes at the scene before him.  The other three were all smaller than Rudy.  Traven watched silently as Rudy cracked his knuckles and brought his hands up in fists.  Behind him, all three of his friends grinned.  Traven kept his palms open at his side, ready to deflect Rudy’s attack if he tried anything.

“You are new around here, so I am going to assume that the only reason you are acting the way you are is because you do not know who I am,” Rudy stated.  “My name is Rudy, and I make the rules around here.  You follow my rules, and you have nothing to worry about.  You break my rules, and I’ll break something of yours.  Do you understand?”

Traven just stared back at the snob in silence.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.  Now for wasting my time, how about you hand over that sword of yours?  These halls are safe.  I do not think you will be needing it.  As soon as you hand it over I will let you leave, but Thaddy is going to stay here so I can talk to him.”

Traven saw Thad gulp from the corner of his eye.  Rudy opened his hand confidently, waiting for Traven to hand him his sword.  He just stared back at the bully.

“Didn’t you hear what Rudy said?” one of the fellows behind Rudy spat.  “Hand over the sword!”

“No thank you,” Traven said as he quickly stepped around Rudy and, grabbing Thad, headed down the hall towards their rooms.

As soon as Rudy recovered from the shock of having someone disobey him, he turned and ran with a yell at Traven.  Traven waited until the last second before shoving Thad gently to the side of the hall and dropping to a knee.  The startled attacker found himself flying over Traven as Traven brought his shoulder up hard against his stomach.  Rudy came to a crashing stop against the wooden floor a span or two down the hall.  Traven positioned himself sideways in the hall so that he could easily see both Rudy and his three friends.  Behind him Thad was trying to disappear against the wall.  Rudy pushed himself up off the floor and turned a murderous gaze upon Traven.  Snarling, he started slowly towards Traven.  On the other side, the three fellows recovered from their shock and also began to advance toward him.  Traven readied himself to strike.  He knew if he waited for them to all attack at the same time, he would be in trouble.  Blaize had taught him that sometimes the best defense was to attack.  Traven figured this was one of those times.