Post by allymarty on Feb 21, 2010 5:07:13 GMT 10
Title: Time
Rating: G
Length: 871
Competitor: Joren
Round/Fight: 1/E
Summary: What if Lord Wyldon had refused to allow Keladry of Mindelan to become a page and she returned to the Yamani Islands with her parents and then became one of the ladies-in-waiting for Princess Shinkokami?
Time was running out for Joren of Stone Mountain. He and his year-mates would enter the Chamber of the Ordeal in a few days and the handsome squire was in great distress. Even his closest friends couldn't figure out what was wrong; they only knew that he'd been acting strangely ever since they had returned from the Grand Progress, when King Jonathan had introduced Princess Shinkokami, Prince Roald's royal betrothed, to the people of the realm. No one realized that Joren had fallen hopelessly in love with one of Shinkokami's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Keladry of Mindelan.
Everyone at the palace knew about Lady Keladry. She had wanted to enter the palace training as a page and become the first lady knight of Tortall since Alanna the Lioness had won her shield. When the Palace Training Master, Lord Wyldon of Cavall, stated that he would resign rather than train a girl, the king allowed him to reject her application.
Bitterly disappointed, the young Keladry returned to the Yamani Islands with her diplomat parents, Baron Piers and Lady Ilane. There, the emperor allowed her to be trained with the daughters of the Yamani court and she became Lady Kel. When one of the princesses, who happened to be Kel's close friend, was chosen as a 'peace sacrifice' to marry the heir to the Tortallan throne, the emperor chose Kel to accompany Shinkokami in the hopes that the foreigner would find and marry one of her 'own kind' and stop turning the heads of his young Yamani warriors.
Great curiosity surrounded the Lady Kel upon her arrival to her homeland. Unlike the other Yamani ladies-in-waiting, with their shiny black hair and almond-shaped eyes, Kel's looks were, of course, completely Tortallan. She was tall and slender, with long brown hair and dreamy hazel eyes. Her mannerisms, however, were completely Yamani. Joren, who had become incredibly disinterested in the boring ladies of the Tortallan court, found the contrasts evident in Lady Kel absolutely irresistible.
Joren often spied on the ladies of the Yamani entourage as they practiced what appeared to be defensive maneuvers with their frightful-looking weapons, called naginata, or glaives. Time after time, whenever he could slip away from his knight-master, Sir Paxton of Nond, Joren would find Lady Kel and watch her from his various hiding places. She was like no other lady he'd ever met - strong, quick, talented and pretty in her own way. The blond-haired, blue-eyed squire believed with all his heart that, if he could just spend some time with the young lady, he could win her heart.
Unfortunately, time was the one thing Joren didn't have in abundance. His father, Lord Burchard, had been diagnosed with a fatal and incurable disease of the lungs. As such, he demanded that Joren, his oldest son, become betrothed and married as soon as possible after he became a knight. Joren knew he had an obligation to marry well and secure his family's lineage, but none of the young ladies his father had deemed acceptable were even the slightest bit interesting to him.
Joren saw his opportunity to speak with Lady Kel on the day before it was his turn to enter the Chamber of the Ordeal. She suddenly had departed from the private practice court where the Yamani ladies performed their series of 'pattern dances' with their weapons - and she was alone. The young man hurried down the corridor after her and called out her name before she could turn the corner.
"Lady Kel!" Joren said. "May I have a moment of your time?"
Caught completely by surprise, Kel turned and blanched when she recognized the person who had called out her name. She and the other ladies had rated Squire Joren as the most handsome - and therefore, most unattainable - of the young men who had seemed to follow them around during the Progress. Kel was horrified that this squire, in particular, was now seeing her in such a state of sweaty dishevelment, especially since she truly did not feel well. Something she had eaten was not agreeing with her stomach and she had excused herself from morning practice to run to the nearest privy.
"Squire Joren of Stone Mountain?" She asked, swallowing back some bile.
Joren smile was dazzling and he said, "So, you do remember me! I had hoped--"
"I'm so sorry, Squire Joren," Kel interrupted him, "but there's no time. I'm afraid I must--"
He reached out and held on to her wrist to prevent her from running away. "My lady, please. I only want a moment of your time so that I can express my deep admiration for you. May I expect to see you when I exit the Chamber of the Ordeal tomorrow?" His eyes were bright and his expression was hopeful.
Kel wanted to cry; her stomach could wait no longer. Much to her chagrin, she doubled over and heaved the sour contents of her belly onto the flagstone floor, narrowly missing Joren's shiny leather boots. Horrified and disgusted, Joren quickly released Kel's wrist and backed away from the smelly mess and the obviously indisposed lady.
"I'll take that as a 'no', my lady," Joren said curtly. Then he turned and fled.
Rating: G
Length: 871
Competitor: Joren
Round/Fight: 1/E
Summary: What if Lord Wyldon had refused to allow Keladry of Mindelan to become a page and she returned to the Yamani Islands with her parents and then became one of the ladies-in-waiting for Princess Shinkokami?
Time was running out for Joren of Stone Mountain. He and his year-mates would enter the Chamber of the Ordeal in a few days and the handsome squire was in great distress. Even his closest friends couldn't figure out what was wrong; they only knew that he'd been acting strangely ever since they had returned from the Grand Progress, when King Jonathan had introduced Princess Shinkokami, Prince Roald's royal betrothed, to the people of the realm. No one realized that Joren had fallen hopelessly in love with one of Shinkokami's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Keladry of Mindelan.
Everyone at the palace knew about Lady Keladry. She had wanted to enter the palace training as a page and become the first lady knight of Tortall since Alanna the Lioness had won her shield. When the Palace Training Master, Lord Wyldon of Cavall, stated that he would resign rather than train a girl, the king allowed him to reject her application.
Bitterly disappointed, the young Keladry returned to the Yamani Islands with her diplomat parents, Baron Piers and Lady Ilane. There, the emperor allowed her to be trained with the daughters of the Yamani court and she became Lady Kel. When one of the princesses, who happened to be Kel's close friend, was chosen as a 'peace sacrifice' to marry the heir to the Tortallan throne, the emperor chose Kel to accompany Shinkokami in the hopes that the foreigner would find and marry one of her 'own kind' and stop turning the heads of his young Yamani warriors.
Great curiosity surrounded the Lady Kel upon her arrival to her homeland. Unlike the other Yamani ladies-in-waiting, with their shiny black hair and almond-shaped eyes, Kel's looks were, of course, completely Tortallan. She was tall and slender, with long brown hair and dreamy hazel eyes. Her mannerisms, however, were completely Yamani. Joren, who had become incredibly disinterested in the boring ladies of the Tortallan court, found the contrasts evident in Lady Kel absolutely irresistible.
Joren often spied on the ladies of the Yamani entourage as they practiced what appeared to be defensive maneuvers with their frightful-looking weapons, called naginata, or glaives. Time after time, whenever he could slip away from his knight-master, Sir Paxton of Nond, Joren would find Lady Kel and watch her from his various hiding places. She was like no other lady he'd ever met - strong, quick, talented and pretty in her own way. The blond-haired, blue-eyed squire believed with all his heart that, if he could just spend some time with the young lady, he could win her heart.
Unfortunately, time was the one thing Joren didn't have in abundance. His father, Lord Burchard, had been diagnosed with a fatal and incurable disease of the lungs. As such, he demanded that Joren, his oldest son, become betrothed and married as soon as possible after he became a knight. Joren knew he had an obligation to marry well and secure his family's lineage, but none of the young ladies his father had deemed acceptable were even the slightest bit interesting to him.
Joren saw his opportunity to speak with Lady Kel on the day before it was his turn to enter the Chamber of the Ordeal. She suddenly had departed from the private practice court where the Yamani ladies performed their series of 'pattern dances' with their weapons - and she was alone. The young man hurried down the corridor after her and called out her name before she could turn the corner.
"Lady Kel!" Joren said. "May I have a moment of your time?"
Caught completely by surprise, Kel turned and blanched when she recognized the person who had called out her name. She and the other ladies had rated Squire Joren as the most handsome - and therefore, most unattainable - of the young men who had seemed to follow them around during the Progress. Kel was horrified that this squire, in particular, was now seeing her in such a state of sweaty dishevelment, especially since she truly did not feel well. Something she had eaten was not agreeing with her stomach and she had excused herself from morning practice to run to the nearest privy.
"Squire Joren of Stone Mountain?" She asked, swallowing back some bile.
Joren smile was dazzling and he said, "So, you do remember me! I had hoped--"
"I'm so sorry, Squire Joren," Kel interrupted him, "but there's no time. I'm afraid I must--"
He reached out and held on to her wrist to prevent her from running away. "My lady, please. I only want a moment of your time so that I can express my deep admiration for you. May I expect to see you when I exit the Chamber of the Ordeal tomorrow?" His eyes were bright and his expression was hopeful.
Kel wanted to cry; her stomach could wait no longer. Much to her chagrin, she doubled over and heaved the sour contents of her belly onto the flagstone floor, narrowly missing Joren's shiny leather boots. Horrified and disgusted, Joren quickly released Kel's wrist and backed away from the smelly mess and the obviously indisposed lady.
"I'll take that as a 'no', my lady," Joren said curtly. Then he turned and fled.