The Gods' Chosen: Page

A New Journey

Lord Jespar of Skiyria considered himself to be a reasonable man. He set rules for his children and he expected them to be followed. He ran a hand through his graying hair. His daughter, Khaisa, had been seen by one of the guards playing with the village children, again. He had told her many times, as a young woman of noble breeding, she should not associate herself with those of lesser standing. He was running out of ways to get through to her, she was an embarrassment to him and her family. No decent young nobleman would have her for a wife if she was forever padding after commoners. 

He glanced over at a piece of parchment on his desk. It was a letter from his brother in law, Sir Galeren of Trevaji. He was once a noble Knight Commander in the Royal Army, but a grave injury had crippled him in the war with Skoaland 4 years prior.

Lord Jespar sighed as he thought briefly of his own son Artus, injured in that same war, and left unfit to inherit Skiyria. A cripple could never command the kind of respect the Lord of a castle required. He shook his head to clear it and read over the letter once more.

Sir Galeren had taken a post teaching weaponry to pages at the palace. The letter offered Khaisa a place in the ranks of the pages. Lord Jespar was hesitant, he did not know if Khaisa possessed the strength of will to succeed as a page. Knight training was rigorous and many who tried, failed. He had received the letter a day prior and would need to send a response within a fortnight if he decided to accept the offer. He decided to give her one last chance. If she still refused to listen to reason, he would send his response with the next courier to the capitol. 

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Childrens laughter echoed through the trees in the forest of Fief Skiyria. The young Lady Khaisa of Skiyria was engaged in a serious match of hunt and hide, and she was one of the hunters. She saw the brown of one of her companion’s tunic through the leaves of an evergreen and grinned. She snuck around behind him and tossed her dirt clod, hitting him square in the back. 

“Gotcha!” she laughed as he yelped in surprise. He turned around and glared at her, 

“Ah come on Khai! You always find me!” he grumbled. His name was Miles Gautier, his mother was a servant at the castle and they had grown up together. She smirked and placed a hand on her hip.

“Hide better next time!” she taunted. He growled playfully and scooped up a clump of dirt from the ground. 

“You’ll get it now!” he laughed, chucking the dirt and hitting her square in the chest. She gasped. 

“Now I’ll get you Miles!” she shrieked, and he took off running. She threw another dirt clod, but missed wide right and it hit another of their friends, Ammy Moolde. The other girl’s eyes widened. 

“Khai! You better run!” she hollared, and Khai whooped, taking off through the trees, laughing. She was looking back over her shoulder when she suddenly hit a large, hard mass in front of her. She fell back on her bottom and looked up, her eyes going wide as she saw Ricon, her father’s lead guardsman, sitting astride the horse she’d just run into. Miles and Ammy skidded to a stop as they reached her, their eyes immediately dropping to the ground. 

“Lady Khaisa. Your father wishes to see you.” he said, in his rumbling voice that always reminded Khai of a landslide. Ricon was well over six foot tall and built like a brick wall. He was a formidable man, and he always did exactly as Lord Jespar asked. Khai stood and dusted herself off. 

“Yes Ricon.” she muttered, glaring at the dirt mutinously. He glanced over at her friends and shook his head. 

“You had better run along to your mothers’.” he ordered them. They both nodded mutely, glancing over at Khai sadly.