First Test by Tamora Pierce Page A

right.
    Lurching to the windows, she opened the lower shutters. The sparrow flock, brown and tan females and black-collared males alike, sat on the sill in a line, watching her.
    "I hope you had a better night than I did," Kel told them, getting her rolls and seed.
    In the mess hall, Neal squinted at her as she toyed with her breakfast. "You look as bad as I feel," he croaked. "Where's the sunny smile? The 'Hello, Neal, isn't it a wonderful day to be alive in the royal palace?' pain-in-the-bum greeting I usually get?"
    Kel considered shoving her porridge into his face and decided against it. "I don't know," she said at last. "Why don't you go look for it?"
    Neal sat up. "Ouch. It bites."
    "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded sharply, tired of hiding the way she felt. "That I'll say 'yes' and 'so mote' to anything, smile and go along no matter what? Never argue, never complain?"
    Neal looked more awake with every word. He ran his fingers through his hair. "What's gotten into you? Did somebody put hot peppers in your wash water?"
    "Nothing." Kel slammed her bowl onto her tray and carried it to the servants.
    Neal stopped her at the mess door. "Did anything happen last night after you left?"
    "Nothing," she said, biting off the words. "Not one gods-blest thing." She left him to finish breakfast and went back to her room for her practice jacket.
    She was halfway there when Cleon stopped her. He was a third-year page, a joker who still sported a tan from days spent in his father's fields, bringing in the harvest.
    "Page, I need my archer's glove," he told her with a grin. "Run to my room and fetch it." When Kel frowned at him, not wanting to be bothered just then, he flapped his hands. "Run along, now. Don't take all day. You don't want punishment duty for being late."
    As far as she knew, Cleon wasn't one of Joren's friends. He was just being a pain; the broad grin on his face told her that much.
    What if I refused? she wondered, even as her feet started down the hall, carrying the rest of her with them. What could he do to me?
    But she didn't refuse. If I'm to be a coward when I think someone goes too far with the custom, I might as well be one all the time, she thought bitterly. She ran to do as she was bid.
    She caught up to Cleon as the pages were filing into their first practice of the day, and thrust his archery glove into his face. "Very good," he said, taking it. "You know, we all thought you wouldn't last this long."
    Kel stared at him, thinking, What an odd thing to say! "Last this long today, or last this long for five weeks?" she asked.
    "In training. You know." He spread his arms, taking in their surroundings. "Everyone had bets on that you'd run home before a week was up." He shook his head, smiling. "You might want to run now, while you still have the strength. Lord Wyldon will never let you stay."
    "He might surprise you," Kel retorted, keeping her face Yamani-smooth.
    Cleon smiled oddly. "He never surprises anyone." He sauntered into the yard.
    Maybe he doesn't know Lord Wyldon as well as he thinks he does, Kel thought grimly as she followed him through the gate. I have to believe that.
     

Chapter 6: The Lance
    That morning, when the pages arrived at the stable, new equipment had been placed beside their normal gear. The most important item, a saddle, boasted a high, padded front and back.
    Extra hands had come to show the first-years how to handle the new items: saddle, reins, double girths, and breast collars. Kel was glad to see that the man in Peachblossom's stall was the hostler Stefan. He was no common stablehand, yet he didn't seem to mind teaching her. Once he'd put the new saddle on her gelding and fastened every strap, he removed it and told Kel to try. Peachblossom sighed and shifted on his feet, just as Kel did when she was tired of dress fittings.
    "Peachblossom says you didn't want Daine changing him," Stefan remarked, eyes following Kel as she positioned the saddle.
    "She wouldn't do it,"