Free First Test by Tamora Pierce Page A

Nicoline's. "And immortals are…?" he inquired.
    "Monsters?" replied the boy. He gasped, panicked. "I mean—I beg pardon! Not monsters, of course not." He fell silent as the basilisk laid a paw gently on his shoulder.
    "Beings from the divine realms, who may live forever unless they are killed in some way," Seaver said quietly.
    "Very good," replied Tkaa.
    "Some are monsters, sir," added Seaver, meeting Tkaa's gaze steadily. "My father was killed by a spidren." Kel thought of the one that she had faced at Mindelan and swallowed hard.
    "My sympathies," replied the basilisk with a bow. "Spidrens are monstrous. Let me tell you of their creation, and of their habits."
    The pages listened with fierce attention. Spidrens laired throughout the realm and were a deadly threat.
    Their final class of the day was etiquette, taught by Upton Oakbridge, the royal master of ceremonies. The room was hot and the work so boring that Kel had to fight to stay awake. She ached all over from the morning's activity. The new pages were taught bows to nobles of different rank, which only made her muscles ache more. The older boys hid yawns as they practiced writing formal letters.
    As the class drew to a close, everyone was given a book and assigned to report on its first chapter for the next day. When Kel saw the title, she grinned.
    Oakbridge was on her like a cat. "What amuses you, probationary page?"
    Can't he pretend I'm just like everyone else? thought Kel as she got to her feet. "Nothing, sir."
    "But you are amused, it was quite clear. You must share the joke with us, probationary page, now, if you please." He stood before her desk, one fist planted solidly on a hip. She could hear his foot tapping briskly.
    "Master Oakbridge—"
    "Lord Wyldon shall school you properly in the matter of excuses. I will accept no more evasion, probationary page!"
    Kel opened the book and pointed to the author's name. "Sir, the writer is my father."
    The master of ceremonies snatched the book away and scowled at the title page. "What of that?" he demanded. "The child does not have all of his father's knowledge."
    All of her father's knowledge, thought Kel irritably.
    "Excuse me, Master Oakbridge," Neal said in his friendliest voice, "but Kel doesn't have all of her father's knowledge. Not his."
    Dropping her blank Yamani mask-face, Kel glared at him.
    Oakbridge also glared at Neal. "The majority of you are lads. Proper usage calls for male pronouns when males are part of the group."
    "Except that you addressed Kel alone, which then demands the exact term."
    Kel clenched her hands behind her, where Master Oakbridge could not see them. She promised herself that from now on she would try to sit as close to Neal as possible. She could not kick someone eight chairs away.
    Oakbridge gave Neal a look that would have stripped paint, then turned back to Kel. "You have not answered me," he said. "Have you your father's knowledge? You are but a child."
    "Yamani etiquette is serious," Kel replied, her face once more Yamani-calm. "Especially at the emperor's court. People have their heads cut off if they don't bow right."
    Oakbridge stared at her for a moment. Then he pursed his lips. "Review this entire volume tonight, probationary page Keladry," he announced. "Tomorrow you will report on those parts that are familiar to you, and which parts, if any, are not. Should I be satisfied as to the breadth and depth of your knowledge, I may call on you to assist me in preparing for courtesies to the Yamanis." To the pages he explained, "As I am certain his highness is well aware"—he looked at Prince Roald, who nodded—"their majesties have arranged for a state visit next fall by Princess Chisakami of the Yamani Empire. When she arrives, we shall know how to greet her and her attendants properly, according to their own custom. To that end—"
    The final bell of the afternoon rang. Kel gathered all her papers and books and followed the other pages out of the room.
    Neal was