(no subject)
Ingress kept busy on her holidays to Valdemar. Savil made sure of that. She performed her duties on the Duty Roster, attended to Megwyn's needs as all the other Heralds and Heralds-in-training did, and served as page to the court. She observed appropriate lessons in the Collegium once in a while. She had the opportunity to meet get to know other students and their Companions, and she made many friends amongst the pages and younger, unaffiliated students in the Collegium. Sometimes, she simply spent her time exploring her future world, with Megwyn by her side.
Today she had an afternoon free, and she went with her friends, and fellow pages, Larl and Byman to play in the woods near the Companions Field. Wooden swords, shields, and scrapes and bruises of varying severity comprised most of the play, but there was time for exploring, as well.
Joining them were two older girls from the Collegium who had drifted by as they had set off and invited themselves along. They were unaffiliated students in the Collegium who knew Byman's family well, all being highborns from Westmark. Ingress remembered one of the girls, Kessa, from her last visit. She hadn't been very nice, but it wasn't for Ingress to say they couldn't join in.
She could ignore Kessa's frosty looks and her bossing the younger pages about. It was a pretty day, and Ingress was having fun, in spite of the intrusion.
As they climbed over a large, storm-felled tree trunk, Larl spotted something slithering in the leaves below. "Look, a snake!"
Kessa grabbed Byman's sword from his hand and imperiously swung her legs over the trunk. "Don't worry. I'll kill it."
"No, no, wait!" cried Ingress, alarmed. She vaulted over the trunk and clambered between Kessa and the small black snake. "It doesn't have a pointed head. Those are the only kinds that are really dangerous." Ingress had learned much about snakes from Tom and his menagerie.
Kessa glared at Ingress and pushed her aside. "Snakes are snakes. I'm killing it."
Ingress' feet tangled in the undergrowth, but she grabbed for a dead limb jutting from the trunk in time to steady herself. "Stop it," she demanded. "That snake isn't doing any harm. Leave it alone." She'd managed to scramble in front of Kessa again, and reached down to skillfully scoop up the snake. It coiled around her wrist, and she walked over to a line of bushes where she could safely deposit it.
"Why don't you let her just kill it?" asked Kessa's friend with a sneer. "Do you love the filthy creatures?" Ingress ignored the girl, and let the snake slither from her hands to safety.
She couldn't ignore what Kessa said next.
"Of course she loves filthy creatures," sneered Kessa. "She is one, after all."
The girls laughed with gleeful malice. Byman walked over to Ingress, and Larl followed. "Don't you talk to her like that, Kessa, or you neither, Siddra. Ingress is going to be a Herald, and she's my friend."
"Thanks, Byman," Ingress said, her face flushed red and her stomach tight.
"She shouldn't be," said Kessa, advancing on them. "She's from outKingdom; she's not one of us. She shouldn't even be allowed in Haven. I bet you she's a dark mage's child, what with that hair and those eyes and her love of snakes."
Ingress stood her ground, her head lifted high. "I'm a Lady of the House of Arch, and I belong here. I was Chosen."
"You're nothing but a Rethwellan brat from some miserable freeholding no one's heard of," said Kessa. "No one wants you here, running about Court like you belong. Valdemar doesn't need foreigners for Heralds."
When Kerowyn befriended Ingress, Tom, and Door in Milliways, she, along with Megwyn, helped them create an origin story for Ingress that would make sense for her transition to Valdemar. Rethwellan was far enough away from Valdemar to explain Ingress' differences. Or so they'd hoped. Ingress was careful not to talk about the Underside or Milliways or even her opening abilities to anyone but Savil and Vanyel and the others in her closest acquaintance.
"My brother's best friend has a friend who knows a Herald, and she told him that her Companion spoke with Yfandes and they want your Companion to get rid of you before it was too late," said Siddra, leaning against the stump with her arms casually crossed over her chest. "They can, you know. They can repudiate their Heralds. One did, not too long ago."
Ingress didn't know what repudiate meant, but it sounded like refused, and she knew what that meant. She looked to Larl and Byman. "That's not true, is it?" she whispered.
Larl shrugged and didn't meet her eyes. "It can happen. But this one, he did something bad, I heard. That's why it happened."
"Yes," agreed Kessa with a cruel smirk. "He did bad things because he was born wrong. He didn't belong in the ranks of the Heralds."
"Shut up, Kessa," Bayman yelled. "You're just jealous because you were never Chosen no matter how many times you walked around Companion's Field."
Ingress didn't hear this last. She felt like she'd been slapped, hard. She was angry and hurt and confused and she could find no words. She hadn't felt like this since-
The creatures who'd taken her from her mother's side had said cruel things to her. The thugs who kept her prisoner made her feel much the same as she did right now. She didn't want to remember. Her ears roared with the sound of her heart beat racing in her chest and she was hot and sick. All she could do was call for her Companion. ::Megwyn!::
::I heard, Chosen:: replied her Companion, her voice serious. ::I'm coming to you. You'll hear my bells soon. Walk out of the woods, and I'll be there:: She sent Ingress a wave of love and acceptance, which Ingress clung to for dear life.
"I don't care what either of you think," she finally said, her voice hushed, but not quivering, as she expected it to be. With that she turned and walked towards the tree line, determined not to cry where they could hear her, though her gasps for air sounded like sobs.
She did care what they thought. She cared very much for the first time in her life.
Today she had an afternoon free, and she went with her friends, and fellow pages, Larl and Byman to play in the woods near the Companions Field. Wooden swords, shields, and scrapes and bruises of varying severity comprised most of the play, but there was time for exploring, as well.
Joining them were two older girls from the Collegium who had drifted by as they had set off and invited themselves along. They were unaffiliated students in the Collegium who knew Byman's family well, all being highborns from Westmark. Ingress remembered one of the girls, Kessa, from her last visit. She hadn't been very nice, but it wasn't for Ingress to say they couldn't join in.
She could ignore Kessa's frosty looks and her bossing the younger pages about. It was a pretty day, and Ingress was having fun, in spite of the intrusion.
As they climbed over a large, storm-felled tree trunk, Larl spotted something slithering in the leaves below. "Look, a snake!"
Kessa grabbed Byman's sword from his hand and imperiously swung her legs over the trunk. "Don't worry. I'll kill it."
"No, no, wait!" cried Ingress, alarmed. She vaulted over the trunk and clambered between Kessa and the small black snake. "It doesn't have a pointed head. Those are the only kinds that are really dangerous." Ingress had learned much about snakes from Tom and his menagerie.
Kessa glared at Ingress and pushed her aside. "Snakes are snakes. I'm killing it."
Ingress' feet tangled in the undergrowth, but she grabbed for a dead limb jutting from the trunk in time to steady herself. "Stop it," she demanded. "That snake isn't doing any harm. Leave it alone." She'd managed to scramble in front of Kessa again, and reached down to skillfully scoop up the snake. It coiled around her wrist, and she walked over to a line of bushes where she could safely deposit it.
"Why don't you let her just kill it?" asked Kessa's friend with a sneer. "Do you love the filthy creatures?" Ingress ignored the girl, and let the snake slither from her hands to safety.
She couldn't ignore what Kessa said next.
"Of course she loves filthy creatures," sneered Kessa. "She is one, after all."
The girls laughed with gleeful malice. Byman walked over to Ingress, and Larl followed. "Don't you talk to her like that, Kessa, or you neither, Siddra. Ingress is going to be a Herald, and she's my friend."
"Thanks, Byman," Ingress said, her face flushed red and her stomach tight.
"She shouldn't be," said Kessa, advancing on them. "She's from outKingdom; she's not one of us. She shouldn't even be allowed in Haven. I bet you she's a dark mage's child, what with that hair and those eyes and her love of snakes."
Ingress stood her ground, her head lifted high. "I'm a Lady of the House of Arch, and I belong here. I was Chosen."
"You're nothing but a Rethwellan brat from some miserable freeholding no one's heard of," said Kessa. "No one wants you here, running about Court like you belong. Valdemar doesn't need foreigners for Heralds."
When Kerowyn befriended Ingress, Tom, and Door in Milliways, she, along with Megwyn, helped them create an origin story for Ingress that would make sense for her transition to Valdemar. Rethwellan was far enough away from Valdemar to explain Ingress' differences. Or so they'd hoped. Ingress was careful not to talk about the Underside or Milliways or even her opening abilities to anyone but Savil and Vanyel and the others in her closest acquaintance.
"My brother's best friend has a friend who knows a Herald, and she told him that her Companion spoke with Yfandes and they want your Companion to get rid of you before it was too late," said Siddra, leaning against the stump with her arms casually crossed over her chest. "They can, you know. They can repudiate their Heralds. One did, not too long ago."
Ingress didn't know what repudiate meant, but it sounded like refused, and she knew what that meant. She looked to Larl and Byman. "That's not true, is it?" she whispered.
Larl shrugged and didn't meet her eyes. "It can happen. But this one, he did something bad, I heard. That's why it happened."
"Yes," agreed Kessa with a cruel smirk. "He did bad things because he was born wrong. He didn't belong in the ranks of the Heralds."
"Shut up, Kessa," Bayman yelled. "You're just jealous because you were never Chosen no matter how many times you walked around Companion's Field."
Ingress didn't hear this last. She felt like she'd been slapped, hard. She was angry and hurt and confused and she could find no words. She hadn't felt like this since-
The creatures who'd taken her from her mother's side had said cruel things to her. The thugs who kept her prisoner made her feel much the same as she did right now. She didn't want to remember. Her ears roared with the sound of her heart beat racing in her chest and she was hot and sick. All she could do was call for her Companion. ::Megwyn!::
::I heard, Chosen:: replied her Companion, her voice serious. ::I'm coming to you. You'll hear my bells soon. Walk out of the woods, and I'll be there:: She sent Ingress a wave of love and acceptance, which Ingress clung to for dear life.
"I don't care what either of you think," she finally said, her voice hushed, but not quivering, as she expected it to be. With that she turned and walked towards the tree line, determined not to cry where they could hear her, though her gasps for air sounded like sobs.
She did care what they thought. She cared very much for the first time in her life.